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Like it mattered now. “You were greedy from the start. The fact that you spoke with Eurig about taking Wockston shows that. You already had a Kingdom and wealth, but it just wasn’t enough, was it? If you’ve used the item a little, it’s there even if Mammon can’t control you much. The things you’ve done show that the base has cracked, and everything isn’t perfectly steady. You’re greedy, and after what you allowed your friend to do to me, it shows you’re a sick fuck who deserves to be put down like a rabid dog. Some of the craziest bastards in this world have no gold in their eyes.”
“I’ve got life left in me,” David said with a small smile. “You think I’m foolish for wanting things you consider silly, but what else do I have left? I married a dull woman for children because I knew I’d never find another man who would hold my heart like Eurig. I needed an heir for Zora. The only other person I ever truly loved was my boy. She died in childbirth, but I had him at least.”
Eurig had ignored the first request to send Aurelius over, and that’s why David had picked at the edges. It had been a warning and a reminder to Eurig. Once Aurelius escaped, David tried again later to get him sent back.
When that failed, he went to Darlim to work with someone else.
It was more proof that Eurig loved his son despite certain things because he hadn't sent Aurelius. He had tried to fight Mammon to protect his oldest. Until that one request came, and he instantly agreed. Eurig had lost that battle.
“Twelve is too young,” continued David. “I told Benjamin to be more careful and…one stupid accident and that was it. So many boys fall from their horses, and they get up just fine. Ithought he would too, but he wasn’t moving. The physician said his neck had snapped. At least it was quick, and he didn’t suffer.”
“And you expected Eurig to lose a son and suffer?”
“He had four,” said David. “One wouldn’t have been a great loss, and his mind was worse by then. I doubt he even missed you.”
“Do you fucking hear yourself? Have you ever heard of gold fever? Men will do insane things to get wealth even without Mammon.”
“I’m quite fine.”
“The key’s gone. If you want, I’ll cut open my eye right now and show you. There’s a glass marble in the socket, and no key lurks within it.” Aurelius pushed aside his hair since he had no eyepatch. “If you look closely, you can see the double scar. That’s where I cut myself to open the socket. I sewed it back up, and it healed fine.”
David regarded him. “That’s a pity. I experimented with my item and gave people things to gild. It causes insanity far faster than the key if they keep going. It’d be difficult to get so many people to use it. Maybe the key isn’t in you, but you can still gild.”
“I’ll last longer, but if I gild and gild to my heart’s content, I won’t last forever either. Eventually, I’ll crack and be worthless.”
“Which is why you’re going to tell me where the key is.”
Aurelius held his gaze. “Up your ass. Dig real deep, and maybe you’ll find it.” Like he would reveal that. If David planned to snatch vagrants and lone travelers to trap and hook with the key in the hopes that they’d last longer, Aurelius wasn’t aiding him. Nobody deserved to have Mammon latched onto them.
“I can have you tortured,” said David.
“You can also sit on your thumb. I decided to stop speaking after a year of imprisonment. Nothing Corvo did convinced me to speak. If you think I’ll break that easily…”
“You never know.” David reached into his coat. “I’ll let you have something if you tell me where the key is. I’d like all of the items, but I’ll take that one for this. An item for an item. I think that’s fair. I won’t take it back either.”
Aurelius was about to tell him to shove the reward up his ass until he saw it. For a split second, he saw the bedroom again where the men had used him. The silver gleam. The velvet box had been so soft in his hand.
Mother’s locket.
Chapter Four
Corvo or one of the men must have taken it later, and David had held it now. He let it dangle from his finger, almost within reach, but not quite. Like a lure for a fish to come and bite the hook.
Part of Aurelius’s mind said to give up all of the items to get his hands on that necklace. He was already doomed, so why not have it for a bit? He could still picture Mother in the mornings when he was small and thought she’d live forever. She used to stand in front of the looking glass in the bedroom, slip it around her fine neck, do the clasp, and arrange it so it was straight. He’d sat on her lap once so she could show him the lock of hair inside that had come from her Mother.
“I don’t look at it too much. It’s better if it stays locked away or it might fade.”
“We all want things,” said David.
“I was supposed to bring that back to her,” Aurelius choked out. “You might as well have snatched it from her neck while she lay on her deathbed.”
“It’s too late to give it back to her, but if you tell me where the key is, it’s yours. Wear it. Throw it away. Do whatever you want with it.” David leaned over a bit and laid it on the table, but he kept a finger hooked in the silver chain.
Aurelius had to swallow the rest of his wine to steady himself. “You won’t like the answer.”
“Try me.”
Aurelius reached for the wine. “Do you really think I’d let these items linger around to catch others in the future?”
