Page 22 of Gilded Crown

They’d both been rather quiet later with the servant’s death looming over them. Jari figured he’d have to settle for a nap at some point tomorrow once they figured out what the fuck had happened tonight.

Jari heard a faint but definite shriek in the hallway.

“Servant,” muttered Aurelius. Jari stood. “Wait. They’ll get the guards.”

It took a few more minutes before someone hammered on the door, and Jari jumped.

“Prince?!” came a muffled shout. “What is this? What happened?!”

Aurelius came with Jari, and they finally opened the sitting room door. A guard stood there with his mouth half open.

“Fuck,” Jari swore when he looked at the wood.

The hall was worse.

Two servants and a courtier lay on the floor. One servant was collapsed across the hall, and the other two looked like they'd crawled for a bit before finally collapsing closer to the wall several feet down. Blood stained their heads, their noses were busted, and their faces were swollen as if they’d bashed them against a solid piece of wood until they could no longer function.

“What the fuck?” The guard, probably around nineteen or so, appeared ready to shit his red, padded pants. A few others in the hall had their weapons out as if they expected the dead bodies to jump up and attack them.

“We stayed in the bedroom,” said Jari. “With the way they were attacking the door, we weren’t opening it. It went on for ages. We don’t know why.”

“How?! They look like they've been bludgeoned.”

“It must have been drugs,” muttered another guard.

“I think they were on turf too. Who’s that?” Jari pointed at the courtier. His wrinkled coat and trousers had dark spots on them.

“A lord’s son,” said Aurelius. “He came on his own quite recently. It was his first time.”

Blood and scratches marked the door. Smeared, red handprints dirtied the pristine white walls. Jari could make out darker patches on the floor where the three had bled as they flung their battered bodies into the wood and hammered their hands on it like rabid dogs. Two of the servants had bent fingers, and their nails were stubs with rusty, dried spots.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” muttered another young guard who probably hadn’t even had his first shave yet. “This is why Mum said don’t do turf.”

A couple of servants had gathered farther down with their hands over their mouths.

“Uh…” Aurelius appeared to be at a loss for a moment. “Go fetch others to help you so you can take the bodies. I need a minute too.”

The young crew scurried away, and the servants muttered as they followed them down the stairs. Aurelius waited until they disappeared before he crouched to peer at the closest servant.

“I can’t even recognize his face anymore.” He carefully lifted an eyelid. The eye had partially rolled back, and the pupil had a faint, golden tinge. Aurelius closed the eye and stood.

“That’s why they felt nothing,” said Jari. “Or it helped them to ignore it.”

“Mhm.”

“Eurig did this somehow.”

“But this isn’t Eurig’s way. Why would he make them attack my room?” Aurelius glanced down the hall. “Zylem or Gullveig did this somehow, and they conveniently heard nothing.”

“That figures. But how could they? Eurig’s-”

“This wasn’t him.” Aurelius stepped into the sitting room, and Jari shut the door. “The servant from yesterday seemed to have no goal like he’d simply been let loose once his purpose was finished. He didn’t focus on anything in particular like these three. That seemed like Eurig, who probably wouldn't know what to do with him.”

“Okay…”

“Gilding until you go insane wouldn’t do this. Tourwin wouldn’t have been able to focus on something for so long. These three had a goal, and that was to get to us and most likely me over you. They didn’t stop until they were on the floor. Eurig is insane, but he’s never done something harmful either-”

“He tried to give you to King David!”

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