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Este watched them with suspicion on her face as Aurelius stood with the pack over his shoulder. He hadn’t told her the truth because he wasn’t sure what her reaction might be, she didn’t fully understand things, and it was better to simply go. If she knew, she might feel obligated to prevent him from leaving the ship.
Aurelius had a large pot inside of his pack along with a few other things. An ax was tucked into his belt. Jari had helped him do a bandage around his upper arm under his clothes, and it was filled with salt. He probably wouldn’t need it, but it was just in case Mammon somehow knew what was going on and tried to get deeper to stop him. It was hard to know just how much awareness Mammon had. Some consciousness was there despite not being in true possession like a spirit entering a body in a tale of horror.
If Aurelius failed and Mammon somehow grew too strong in a short amount of time to where he couldn’t kill himself, he’d probably gild everything on the island if Mammon completely took over. That was bad enough, but if he couldn’t turn a salt cellar into gold, he couldn’t turn the ocean either. That meant he wouldn’t be able to create a path to get to the mainland and continue his destruction.
Eventually, his body would surely die from a lack of fresh water within a few days. If he didn’t get to destroy the items, hopefully, no one ever came here again.
“Remember, leave if you see things turning gold,” said Aurelius. “Let me burn myself out here if that happens.”
Jari nodded with a face like stone. Maybe he’d cry once Aurelius left. The boat would stay for two days because Jari said Aurelius should melt the items. If that seemed to remove Mammon from him, he could return, and they’d leave together.
Aurelius knew that wasn’t happening. Anything at this point was like trying to grab air.
“Este, thank you for doing this. I hope you can have some peace in your family. If not, treasure your Mother. You only get one.”
“I will.” Aurelius allowed her to hug him, and she patted his back. “I’m sorry about betraying you-everything. I shouldn’t have done that or listened to my Father to start with.”
“Don’t.” They drew apart, and Aurelius tilted his head. “I have no hard feelings, and if you ever feel unsafe in Wockston or if your Father threatens you, go to Tomson in Morning Glory. He’ll do what he can. Jari has a letter he’ll deliver to Tomson, and you’ll be fine.”
“You’re not coming back?” she whispered.
“No. It’s better this way. Trust me.”
She ducked her head and backed off so he could have a last moment with Jari. A good deal of Aurelius’s rings had belonged to his Mother, and the snake one had been her favorite. Snakes were often thought to be wicked things that attacked, poisoned, and strangled their victims, and they could be, but they had another side.
Many wanted to simply live in peace.
They could still be cunning, so Mother had plotted and planned to keep Aurelius safe to the best of her ability once she was gone. She hadn’t been able to protect him from everything, but she’d tried, and a good part of his victory at Morning Glory had been because of her.
A snake is still venomous after it dies.
“I want you to have this.” Aurelius pulled it off and slipped it onto Jari’s pinky since it’d be too small for his ring finger. “And this.” He reached for the locket.
“But that was your Mother’s. She’d want you to have it.”
“I did for a while, and I’m giving it to you now.” Aurelius undid the clasp. “If she was still alive, she would have liked you.” He reached to put it around Jari’s neck, and he patted the heart resting near Jari’s.
Jari grabbed him in a hug and kissed him. Aurelius kissed him back and tried to burn the moment into his memory while wishing it could last forever.
“I love you,” Jari said as he buried his face in Aurelius’s neck.
Aurelius breathed in his rose smell tinged with salt. He’d remember this too, even once Elira took him and erased all of the past pain. “I love you too. You’re my lion. Don’t ever forget that.”
The last proper view Aurelius had as the rowboat was lowered was Jari’s face crumpling as he looked at the back of the locket and the words inscribed there. Aurelius looked down at the nearing water. He wouldn’t remember that look. He’d remember the kiss, his smell, his smile, and his soft, deep voice the morning before when he’d spoken words from his heart that were also on the back of the locket.
“I will always love you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Aurelius rowed as close as he could to shore before he hopped out and dragged the rowboat up the beach so it wouldn’t get caught by the waves. Then he remembered it didn’t matter because he wouldn’t be coming back.
When he looked back at the pink ship which looked so out of place in the blue water, it was small, and Jari stood by the railing like a lion on guard. He was too small for Aurelius to make out his expression. Maybe that was better.
He forced himself to turn away and walk up the beach. With the salt in the air, he still felt like before except for the urge to make an heir.
He trudged along the sand which was unlike anything he’d seen before. It was black, fine, and warm to the touch when he bent down to grab a handful. Beyond the beach, palms and shrubbery loomed. Rising above it all was the volcano. It looked more like a conical mountain, although it wasn’t perfect.
Aurelius had once read a book that spoke of volcanoes. The only other known volcano was on the opposite side of the realm in the Kingdom of Finkin which was an island. It was said to have erupted once, but that had been centuries ago, and little was known of it.
