Page 6 of Gilded Crown

Zylem cut off as he turned his head, his eyes widened, and the snotty expression dropped as Jari charged toward him. He opened his mouth, likely to issue a command. As if Jari would listen. He grabbed Zylem by the throat and threw him back on the floor.

“You fucking piece of shit!” Jari lifted his boot and slammed it down on Zylem’s gut before he could react.

With the air kicked out of him, Zylem’s face turned an interesting shade of purple, and he clutched his midsection.

“I should fucking kill you!” Jari’s hand itched to draw his sword, thrust it into the heart, twist it, and yank it back out. Zylem was no better than a damn outlaw, and he deserved to die like one.

But Eurig would probably notice if another kid was dead. Aurelius was crouched on the floor and clutching onto the edge of a chair to keep himself up.

Zylem wheezed as he struggled to breathe and slowly rolled onto his side. Jari grabbed him by his coat collar to drag him across the floor. The Prince weakly flailed his arms. Just like Jari figured. If Zylem didn’t get lucky or have the advantage of surprise, he was a pathetic prick who couldn’t cope when it was dished out by someone stronger than him.

“Your ass better be gone in ten seconds or less. Go cry to a guard or whatever if you want. Tell him how you assaulted the Crown Prince and what you were about to do. You’re absolute fucking shit, and you’re lucky I don’t fucking gut you.” Jari dumped him in the hall. “Ten. Nine. Eight.” He waved a hand at Zylem who managed to get to his knees as his face grew more red instead of purple, and hate flashed in his eyes. “Seven. Six. Five.”

Zylem started crawling away while he tried to drag air in.

“Four. You better crawl faster. I just sharpened my sword, and I want to test it out. I bet it cuts little bitches like butter. Three.”

Zylem got to his feet and bent over as he ran around a corner with an arm wrapped around his midsection.

“Two. One.” Jari was pretty sure Zylem’s hasty footsteps grew faster until they faded.

Satisfied, he closed the doors and hurried to the Crown Prince who was still crouched by the chair. Aurelius’s hair blocked his face, and his breath sawed in and out of him. Shit. If he wasn’t upyet, was this some kind of panic attack? What the fuck was Jari supposed to do for that?

“Aurelius, it’s me. I promise he’s gone. I stomped on his gut, and he’ll probably shit funny now.

Aurelius made a faint noise, and his knuckles, already whitened, looked ready to burst through the skin when Jari tried to take his arm.

“Don’t. Touch.”

Jari snatched his hand back as Aurelius fumbled to grab the arm of the chair. Maybe he’d been trying to stop a full panic attack from starting. Jari wasn’t sure, but at least the Prince was aware of his surroundings to some point.

Guilt dragged its claws down his insides again because if he’d come backwithAurelius instead of arguing and refusing like a prick, this wouldn’t have happened to start with. Zylem likely wouldn’t dare attempt something with another person in the room. The Crown Prince was whiter than a sheet when he stood, leaned against the table, and grabbed the edge on either side with shaky hands.

Another layer of trauma had been slapped on. Only someone who was severely sick in the head would attack a brother in such a way.

Aurelius’s eye slightly watered for a second as he stared at Jari like he couldn’t believe he was there.

“Do you have to stand so fucking close?” he asked through gritted teeth, and the little flutter in his cheek started as he turned his head.

“I’m sorry.” Jari backed up a step. “I came back because…I should.” How eloquent.

“Thanks for that,” mumbled Aurelius.

“Has he done that before?”

“No. No one was around, and I guess…” Aurelius’s chest heaved.

“We need to tell your Father-”

Aurelius shook his head. “It doesn’t matter anymore now which brother does what. He doesn’t care even if Zylem complains about things anymore, and he’ll just yell at us. That’s probably why Zylem decided to chance it. He’s fucking sick.”

“You’re really not going to tell anyone that happened?”

“Nobody is going to do anything about it, and you can’t feed Zylem attention in most cases. It makes him want more, and it’s never enough. Making a fuss will only increase his appetite, and it won’t get the results you want.”

Jari clenched his fists. Shitheads like that shouldn’t get away with whatever they wanted. “You can’t be around him anymore. At all.”

“I’m trying to act normal and not hide in my rooms every hour of the day.” Aurelius straightened up and seemed to be struggling to make his face blank while the muscle in his cheek ticked. “Come on.”

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