Page 41 of Gilded Lies

“No. That’ll cause a civil war with lords racing to the top.”

“I care more about Aurelius, not a bunch of greedy lords,” snapped Jari.

“David had no heir set down, and his son is dead. Whoever comes next might go against Nova to retaliate, and it’ll cause another war.” Este tilted her head. “If he’s dead, I have a feelinghow Aurelius managed that. I bet he got too close to the Prince. Do you want random strangers finding a gold statue of the King?”

Jari rubbed his face. “Then the Prince and I will go if you’re being honest. You can go wherever you want.”

In Aurelius’s state, how could he rule and keep himself under control? What if he still mentally declined and forgot who he was after a few years? Fuck. What if he only had months? He surely didn’t have as long as Eurig considering his current state. Jari might lose him soon anyway if the ocean didn’t work and keep him under control. Aurelius couldn’t rule from the water.

“I think it’d be better if you had me as protection,” she said. “You should probably ask him what he wants.”

Jari backed up a step. She could have attacked already, and she hadn’t. “Fine. Give me a minute.”

Aurelius listened as Jari explained what she’d said. “Let her have Zora. Or give it to Tomson since he’s the Regent. I don’t care what they do with Zora. I need to go to Ash Island, and if she'll help us get there, the army can come. Nobody will bother us.”

Jari squinted at him. “I’m taking you to the ocean. We can go through World’s Edge. All of the salt water might work.”

Aurelius shifted on Galadhad’s back. “I need to go to Ash Island anyway.”

“Why? There’s nothing there.”

“I want to burn the items and leave them in the volcano or at least near it. If they're buried in a good spot, they can't wash up. It's less likely someone will go there, look around, and dig for something.”

“John found them there.”

“They might not have been buried. Why would he dig anywhere? He'd only gone to walk around because they werewaiting, and he had little to do. Besides, if it erupts, the items will be lost forever. It’ll end this curse.”

“You wanted to melt and drop the items in the ocean before. That might work because of the salt.”

“What if it doesn’t? What if the gold washes up?”

Jari hadn’t thought of that. Occasionally, lost bodies from downed ships later washed up. Gold was heavy, but he had a point. He wanted to make sure this never happened to anyone else. Most people were too scared to go to Ash Island because of the tales of dragons being born there. The fact that it was so near the Mists was another thing.

“Fine. We’ll leave and go there.”

“We’ll stay for now and let Este deal with Zenith. Mercury needs rest.”

“You left a bunch of shit that shouldn’t be seen,” said Jari.

“She already knows. She just told you things.”

“The army doesn’t know!” hissed Jari.

Aurelius paused before he called Este over. Alone, she approached with her lantern. “Gather some of your most trusted men who can keep a secret and let them deal with the mess I made back at David’s. Threaten them with death to keep them quiet.”

“What mess did you leave?” she asked.

Aurelius leaned over, and the tone he’d had, which was mostly like himself, grew gleeful. “I turned them exactly into what I wanted and shattered them. I also killed the man who raped me for two years when I went missing.”

Este stared at him, and his nearly gold eye. “Excuse me?”

“I cut off Corvo’s cock and balls and shoved them into his throat. I only wish I could bring him back so I could kill him again and again-”

“Aurelius,” said Jari.

“And I opened up his guts and left him a pile of chunks.” Aurelius straightened up like that revelation was nothing.

“He hasn’t slept much, and he’s still in shock-” started Jari.

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