Page 22 of Gilded Lies

In his hand, a gold rose gleamed. Each petal glinted, and tiny thorns marked the stem. King Aravitias had missed his daughter after she was gone, and she had mentioned the roses, their lack of sweet smell, and how she'd plucked one. Aurelius imagined Innogen gently pinching the stem of one to avoid pricking her delicate fingers while she wondered at their color and what had happened.

Roses must have been her favorite flower, and once she passed, he’d taken that one to remember her by. In turn, it had become a crucial item as a memento of the daughter he’d lost for nothing.

“Mammon said he would teach Aravitias how to use his power and make things properly gold,” said David. “If you took it, I wonder if you could make things solid since you’ve touched everything else, and you had the key for so long. It only allows me to gild, but I think you can make pure, solid gold.”

“I never gilded from afar with the hand.”

“You touched it. That’s all that matters.” David clasped his hands behind his back. “If I bring it to you, will you use it and do as I say?”

“No. You can lock me in your garden and torture me if you want. Get your sick kicks. I won’t be your slave who creates gold for you to sell or keep.”

“You’ve proven yourself quite adept at being stubborn. A year without speech. Somehow, you’re standing before me, and you’re quite stable.”

Aurelius’s heart thudded. The rose was so close. “You don’t know what the inside of my head is like.”

Or how he didn’t know how to lay down with Jari and let himself be held even though a part of him ached for it so badly, it hurt. Or how that one time he’d tried normal sex with someone, and it failed so badly, he knew he had to be broken beyond repair in his head.

David’s eyes drifted back to the rose, and for a moment, that hungry desire for gold was there. “I know you want these things too.”

“I hate gold.”

“That’s why I think you’ll last longer. Putting the key in you did something different, and I wonder if you’ll be able to make solid gold items. With a way to have gold from nothing, imagine what I could have. Horses to create lavish scenes in the garden, a gold carriage to ride in, gold statues of commoners kidnapped and brought in…there’s so much I could do besides selling it.”

“That’s murder.”

“No one will miss them if they’re homeless. If you do what I want, you'll live in luxury. If you turn on me, you won't get far.”

“You are mad, and I know you’re bullshitting me about living in luxury. Do you think I’m that stupid?”

David shrugged. “You’re stuck out here now. If you scream, no one will hear you, and no one will ever guess you’re here. Your options are to obey or suffer. I’ll be back.”

Aurelius watched him walk through the door and heard the lock being done.

It would get worse. He’d threaten, and the insanity would show itself in every cruel act while he pretended to be okay.

Even though a person could recover from an item, not counting the key, that didn't mean a form of madness didn't remain. A person would remember the power, and if they were greedy to start with, they'd want it back.

Since David certainly wasn't going to simply accept a refusal, Aurelius would probably lose his clothes, and food wouldbecome rare. He’d grow thin, and who knew what else David planned? Everything Aurelius had slotted back into place within the shaky confines of his brain would threaten to crumble every day.

They might break him down to where he couldn’t even remember Jari. Two years was a long time. David could stretch it out for far longer.

He could say yes, get ahold of the rose, and stomp it to pieces under his boot. But it wouldn’t really be gone. The pieces might still work, and Mammon wouldn't vanish. He’d wanted to melt the items and throw them in the ocean so they’d sink and never be found, but he was positive that wasn’t good enough either. Mammon himself surely couldn't be destroyed so easily. His main hope was to keep the items from being found.

Since he’d been thinking that items might wash up somewhere and start the cycle again, his other plan had been to go to Ash Island. More than one thing would be dealt with there.

As he stood there, his eyes kept flicking to the rose while the faint want in the back of his head tugged on him.

***

If one ignored the fact that an item with part of Mammon lurked a few feet away, the garden was rather nice. The small, private space was far enough from the city and blocked off so no noise could be heard.

Aurelius sat on the ground and observed the statue of Benjamin. It was strange to think of David loving someone like any other fairy. Losing the few dear to him had probably accounted a little for some of his lack of care.

But greed was the source of it. It’s too difficult to beat, and when a person constantly wants and nothing ever truly satisfies them, they’ll keep seeking it even if a hole in them grows wider and can’t be filled with materialistic things.

Aurelius pissed in a raised flowerbed and watered a bunch of roses for David. When he checked behind the tree, he saw an iron wheel that had been embedded into the trunk with two stout iron rods. Another bar locked it into place so he couldn’t turn it or undo the chain attached to it.

If turned, Aurelius could be given less slack. The chain could even be drawn up enough to choke or hang him entirely, although he was sure David had no plans to kill him for a while.

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