Page 74 of Gilded Crown

The man shrugged as if the answer wasn’t obvious. “Erm, I don’t know.”

“I doubt it. I won’t attack. Tell him to grow some fucking balls and come out here to face me.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” The rider fidgeted with the wooden stick, and the white cloth on the end fluttered. “Thepeople aren’t happy, Your Majesty.” With that, he turned his horse and galloped it back toward the pass.

“That works in our favor,” said Jari. “Maybe the citizens haven’t been pressed.”

“That doesn’t mean much now. The ruler in there is more to be feared than the one who hasn’t gotten in yet. Never bet on someone inside when you’re outside.”

They had to wait for the rider to make it back in and relay the message. Of course, Zylem would take his dear sweet time. The army could have taken a quick nap by the time he finally came out.

A few guards accompanied him, and two were carrying something in a hammock between them. Or at least that’s what Jari thought it looked like from a distance.

“What the fuck is that?” he asked.

The Prince squinted. “I’m not sure.”

He stayed alongside Aurelius as they rode forward and kept their hands away from their weapons. A couple of Wockstons hung back with Este, and the two with the hammock paused. A blanket covered it, and something was making it poke out on top.

As the golden-haired rider came on his own, Jari’s stomach dropped. The slightly fuller face and figure couldn’t be mistaken unless Zylem had started packing in the food and struggling to gain a few pounds in Aurelius’s absence.

“Hello, brother,” Gullveig said as he walked his horse closer. “How nice of you to return. You should get down and bow to your new King.”

Aurelius didn’t move. “Zylem didn’t hand things over to you.”

“You’re right. He didn’t. We had a feeling you’d return since we couldn’t find you and your pet ox. Sure enough, fliers reported you were returning with Wockston men, so we knewyou ran to sniffle to King Darlim. Did you think you could hide a whole army?”

“I wasn’t trying to.”

“Hmm. Zylem pulled in our army, but I was doing most of the real work while he took Dust and fucked his new harem. I guess he figured the army would fight and work things out all on their own while he lounged around. I figured, why shouldn’t I rule when I’m doing most of the labor anyway?”

Three gold streaks marked his eyes.

“So you’ve been planning to turn on all of us if the chance came?” asked Aurelius.

Gullveig smiled like the fucking snake that he was. “You have no idea how hard it is to be the youngest. You had Mother, Zylem and Blake had each other, and Father was no good for the most part. It’s no fun being left out and seen as an emergency heir if the first three die. Zylem only brought me closer once Blake was dead, and I’m tired of being the forgotten backup. Dull, boring old me had plenty of time to think. You’re not the only one with the Golden Touch, Aurelius. The people are going to know what I can do.”

The muscle in Aurelius’s cheek fluttered. “You never showed any signs.”

“I decided to try it when I was eighteen. Why not? Zylem and Blake were too stupid to realize the greed in their head was from the Golden Touch. For a while, I thought it was just there because we crave it so much, but that was passed down, and we have Father to thank for that.”

“Why no signs? You never had gold in your eyes.”

Gullveig laughed. “Do you think I’m that stupid? I knew it was better to keep quiet, wait, and see what happened.”

Jari glanced back at the guards and Este who surely couldn’t hear anything. He’d always discarded Gullveig as nothing morethan a follower who preferred to tag after someone else for acceptance.

“You’ll eventually be insane like Father,” said Aurelius. “Worse even. You’ve got more gold in your eyes compared to me which means you’ve been gilding all sorts of things in private. You’re already giving in.”

“No, I’m not. Zylem kept using the crown because he was having fun with it, but he never thought to try anything else. He never even thought of attempting to gild something. Now that it’s all mine, I’ll do what I need to keep my rule. I’ll let you live if you turn that army around and give me the crown. With that, I’ll show everyone my power as a warning and only use it as needed, which means if you ever come back, I’ll gild you too.”

“No.” Aurelius tilted his head. “Even with three gold streaks, you convince yourself that you’ll be different, yet you’ve used it more than me. The fact that you’re willing to sit there, gloat about it, and show it off to the citizens to solidify your position out of fear shows you’re skipping down Father’s path.”

“No, I’m not,” insisted Gullveig.

“Actually, you’re right,” Aurelius said stiffly. “You’re picking a worse one because at least Father never showed off. You’ll use your ability to punish, and you’ll end up worse off in a shorter amount of time.” He spread his hands. “All of this will mean nothing in the long run when you’re dead. Do you not realize that?”

“Then why do you fight for it if it means so little?” snarled Gullveig.

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