Page 17 of Gilded Crown

“There’s nothing more we can do.” Aurelius turned Galahad, and Jari followed.

Jari had almost caught the man, and if that damn rider hadn’t been right there…If he'd run a little faster…

When they were back on the road to the Palace, Aurelius snapped him out of his thoughts.

“What happened?”

“Can I get up and ride back with you?”

“No.”

“You’re really going to make me walk?”

“I’m certainly not getting down and letting you ride while I hoof it.”

Jari held back a frustrated noise. “We’d both ride. Your horse can handle it.”

“I’m not riding with anyone.”

More like he didn’t want Jari practically against him. He turned and started heading up the road alongside the horse. Fuck the Midas family, the Palace, whatever happened earlier, and the younger two Princes. He’d barely been back for a full day, and it was one thing after another.

“I’m assuming he ran, you didn’t catch him, and he jumped off that dwelling,” Aurelius said impatiently.

“Yes, Earl Brilliant Observer. That’s the gist of it.”

“His wife said he didn’t come home last night. She’s positive that he’d heard from someone that she kissed another man a few weeks ago. She assumed he’d gone to his parents to stay the night.”

“She didn’t go ask?”

“If he wanted space, that would create a big fight. When she came to work, her duties kept her cleaning upstairs, so she didn’t see him come in today. She heard a commotion and found him on the stairs while yelling to get something out of his head. She thinks someone found out about her kiss, told him, and that it drove him mad. She didn’t mention anything…unnatural.”

“What the-that barely makes sense!” Jari glanced up at him. “He definitely wasn’t with his parents. His eyes had gold in them. Your Father must have given him the crown and made him gild a bunch of stuff, and it made him go insane. He used someone to spare himself more insanity.”

Aurelius stared ahead as he seemed to consider that. “I would have said that was a bit much a few months ago because Father’s never been open with this. His Father wasn’t either, even though he was quite insane toward the end. I think Mammon seeks to keep himself hidden from most even though he’s not living. But…it’s possible with Eurig’s maddening logic that he thought to use someone who doesn’t know better, and…you know I need to get rid of Father, correct?”

Jari paused to wipe sweat out of his eyes and look up at him. “I’m not keen on being in on a plot to murder the King. Then again, I should have figured you’d think of that.”

Aurelius twisted a little in the saddle and jabbed a finger in the direction of Morning Glory. “After this?”

“Farm boys and carpenters don’t think of assassination plots.”

Galahad stomped a hoof, impatient to get moving again, and Aurelius peered down at him. “Well, when you tell me your plan so we can fix things easily and stick a damn bow on top, we’ll do that. Surely, you’ve already thought that this won’t end without death. It’s quite obvious.”

Jari ran a hand through his hair. “Peasantslike me don’t sit around and think of treason, and…I didn’t even think to kill myFather, and he was rubbish and treated me like shit. Most people don’t think like that.”

“Or you're too innocent.”

“I’m hardly innocent. I’ve killed to survive.”

Aurelius lifted his eye to gaze out at the rocky area to the side that hadn’t been cleared for city expansion. Shrubbery and bushes struggled in the poor soil. “Yes, to survive when your options were few and death was closing in fast. You’re not the type to kill or harm without a damn good reason or plot it in advance. The thing is, I already lost my Father a long time ago, Jari. Putting him down would be a kindness. One day, he’ll be so far gone, he won’t recognize me or himself. If a dog was on its last legs and suffering, would you force it to live and feel it all until its final breath?”

Jari hung his head. The King and a dog were vastly different things, but he couldn’t deny that the Prince was right. Eurig was already suffering and declining. The main difference was that the dog probably wouldn’t harm anyone. Eurig had, and who knew what else he would do? Blue was dead because of him, and Eurig might not even fully grasp the consequences of his actions.

“No, I wouldn’t force the dog to live.”

“My Grandfather didn’t recognize anyone or know who he was at a certain point, and they had to sedate him. I don’t want to see my Father like that. In the end, it’d be a mercy. I hope that if I ever reached that level of insanity, someone would put me down, make it quick, and end my suffering. Perhaps it’s a mercy that the servant died too. There’s no other way to fix this, and he’d never understand what happened to him or be able to fight at that point. His wife shouldn’t see that dragged out either.”

“How are we supposed to tell her? She’s not going to think it’s a mercy. She’ll think it’s her fault.”

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