Page 62 of Gilded Crown

Just like that, the man turned to him, and his mouth flapped as if he were speaking, but no sound came out. A last tear sliddown his cheek as he wobbled toward the Prince like nothing else mattered or existed. Aurelius held out his hand, and the man took it without hesitation.

“Turn around a bit.” He turned the servant a little toward the sun as it made its slow trip west, and Jari saw his eye had turned gold. Not a sliver of blue remained.

“Look at the light.” Aurelius reached into his boot to pull out a small, plain knife. “You see Elira welcoming you.”

“I see her,” gasped the man. One of his hands twitched.

“You see your sister next to her, and she’s perfectly safe. She’s waiting for you.”

Dear Elira, he had the power to make the man see anything. Jari hadn’t quite imagined the crown to be that powerful. Maybe he should have since it made everyone a mental slave. What had the three been seeing that night when they tried to burst into Aurelius’s room? He stared as more tears poured down the man’s cheek, and he mumbled.

Aurelius was doing something beyond kind for him, but his expression wasn’t kind. In fact, there was even a faint hint of glee around his eye as the tip of the knife touched the man’s neck. “You won’t feel any pain, and nothing will ever hurt again. Now, go see your sister.”

Quick as lightning, he dragged the knife across the man’s throat and opened it. Blood sprayed out, and the man made a strange noise. His gaze never wavered from the light, and he didn’t flinch. His legs buckled, and his head finally sagged as his strength splattered the dirt.

It was over, and he hadn’t felt a thing. He was with Elira now, and all of his past sufferings were gone.

Aurelius let him fall forward, and once he was down, he tucked the knife in the man’s hand and stood. The gold in Aurelius’s eye vanished, and he stared ahead for a moment.

“Is the suicide trick going to work again?” asked Jari.

“What else could have happened? I wouldn’t slit a man’s throat, right? All it took was my will, and I had total control of him.”

“Uh-” Jari glanced behind him at the trees. He could hear noises since an entire army can’t be silent, but nobody was in view yet.

“This war could be so easy.” Aurelius tilted his head as he let his gaze slide to Jari. “Wouldn’t it?”

Jari’s heart pounded as he wondered if the crown would somehow get a hold of him. Maybe the temptation and desire to get Nova back would be too strong. “Take that off, or I swear to Elira I’ll smack it off your head. People can’t know, and you don’t want that. And I’ll-”

Aurelius reached for the crown. “I want many things, but even this can’t grant everything.” He pulled it off. “You’ll do what, Jari?”

“I’ll knock you upside your head if you dare use that fucking thing. A couple of minutes with it on, and you're acting differently.”

Aurelius shoved the crown into his pack. “I’m still myself even with it on. It was the first time that it weighed so heavy. It was suicide. His wife took the baby and left him to be with another man. Remember that.”

Jari glanced back to see a few riders come around at a trot, including Este. When they were closer, Aurelius carefully rolled the body over.

“I don’t think he has anything on him at all,” he told Jari. “We’ll never know where he came from.”

“It was probably the nearest town,” said Jari.

“He looks like he’s been walking more than that.”

“What’s going on?” called a rider. “Is that the homeless guy?”

“Yes, and he killed himself,” said Aurelius.

“Your Highness, please don’t look,” a lord told Este.

“I’m going to war,” she snapped. “Do you think I won’t see a dead body then?”

“But this is different.”

She ignored him as she drew closer. “What happened?”

“He said his wife took the baby and left,” said Aurelius. “He said he didn’t want to go on anymore, so he took his knife and…well, you can see.”

Este’s mouth opened slightly, and she paused. “In front of you? Just like that?”

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