The Task
Another mission, another success.
His target lays unconscious on the floor, her head lays on his thighs while he holds a damp handkerchief to her nose. Poison.
He takes his dagger in hands, putting the handkerchief away and slicing her throat, quick and effective, then rests her on the floor.
What did she do wrong? She threatened Elora's plans, trying to stop knights. Huge, huge mistake.
He's sat at the diner table, looking at his mom's smile, proud of him. For what? Another murder? That makes him sick.
He can feel her blood warm on his hands.
"I'm sorry." He murmurs to her before the handkerchief is pressed against her nose, her screams muffled by his hand.
Blood is pouring from his eyes, ears, lips, and he keeps smiling at his mom's proud smile.
The blood pools under his feet, flooding the room.
Wide eyes look at him, frightened, she knows her destiny, she knows the coat of arms that Regulus carries on his dagger.
It's down his throat, in his eyes, everywhere. Blood, blood, blood... He swallows like it's water, the irony taste is bittersweet on his tongue.
Making your mother proud. But at what cost?
The morning light invades the room in a sudden move, the bedroom curtains are drawn completely open, before the window is wide open, the chirping of birds invading his ears, making Regulus' eyes flutter open against his will, awoken from his dream.
"Good morning" The sweet and amused voice of his personal courtier and best friend, Pandora, makes him look around the room, trying to make sense of what's happening with his sleepy eyes.
"You slept more than normal, your dad asked me to wake you up" She explains as she observes Regulus slowly sit up and rub his eyes.
"What time is it?" Regulus asks with a low voice, looking at her with a frown.
"9am. You're usually up at 6" Regulus lets out a frustrated groan, slowly getting up and scratching. Pandora arches an eyebrow, an amused smile playing on her lips.
"Returned to home late, I assume?" Regulus confirms with a shake of his head. "I lost track of time reading."
Regulus and his brother, Sirius, never had an easy time at home, their parents, - the king and queen of the Elora kingdom - especially their mother, were very strict about their habits, routine and the way the kingdom sees them, taking their freedom and most of their childhood from them. The annoying voice of his mother yelling at his brother still echoes in his ears.
“You are a prince, Sirius, you need to understand you're not a miserable child. You have responsibilities and expectations, and you need to accomplish them.”
Regulus watches Sirius flinch in pain when he touches his bruises again. "Stay still, I'm trying to not hurt you" Regulus warns, trying to be careful as he treats the wounds on Sirius' shin.
"I'm trying" Sirius mumbles, face contorted in pain. Sirius has his leg on Regulus' lap, hugging a pillow while his brother takes care of the wound.
Sirius sneaked out to see Remus again, this time their mother noticed. She interrogated Sirius, but he refused to say where he was, frightened by the thought of being outed this way to their mother.
When Walburga noticed he wouldn't tell her, she decided to punish him, leaving painful marks on his skin. Regulus heard everything, their mom yelling, Sirius yelling back, but refused to cry in front of her, even if he broke down into tears when Regulus came in the room with bandages.
Sirius taught Regulus how to take care of his own wounds to keep Regulus safe when he's not around, and was surprised by Regulus starting to help him with his wounds.
"I'm done." Regulus announces when he covers the last bruise with a bandage, hearing Sirius let out something that sounds like a whine and then feels arms warping around him, Sirius pulling him into a hug, Regulus allowed immediately and hugged him back, not surprised when Sirius started crying silently.
They stayed like that, until Regulus noticed Sirius crying calming down and looked down at him. He was asleep. Regulus couldn't hold back the soft but sad smile that appeared on his lips when he saw his brother sleeping, and allowed himself to slowly drift off to sleep as well.
When he's ready, Regulus goes downstairs to the dining hall, seeing his dad sitting on the chair at the end of the table, an envelope next to his plate. With a deep breath, Regulus sits down near his father. His usual plate of pancakes is already there, as always.
"Bonjour, papa" He greets quietly, receiving a "Bonjour" back. Regulus eats silently, not daring to say anything, and his father does the same.
Elora kingdom was built up by foreigners, the Blacks, french people. The Black family is still up, Regulus is the youngest Black for now. Regulus and Sirius were taught french and english since they were born, so they're used to speaking french with each other and completely love confusing people by talking in french around people who don't understand it.
When he's almost finishing his breakfast, the silence starts getting unbearable, and he decides to ask. "Pandora said you wanted to talk with me" He doesn't look up from his plate, still eating.
"Je veux." His father nods, seeming deep in thought despite his neutral expression. "You know Selis, our neighbors, right?" Regulus shakes his head positively. "We're worried. Their king, Fleamont Potter, is getting worryingly sick, the doctors are struggling to diagnose him with something."
Regulus raises his eyebrows as if to say "Really?", even if he does not care. "They want to crown their heir, James Potter. I think they just didn't do it yet because James needs to pick a wife."
Regulus thinks with himself, confused. The Selis were friendly with them, so what happened now? A new king wouldn't be that bad, would it? He has heard their heir is someone really kind, which wouldn't be a threat for Elora, but something good instead.
"Their army is growing quickly, it could be a threat for us, so we want to take precautions." His dad proceeds, his voice is too serious, and that's not good.
Regulus holds back the urge to frown. If their army is growing, that should be good, they could be allies. But of course his father wouldn't see it like that. He's softening, but still needs to practice.
"And you want me to take this precautions?" Regulus asks, looking up from his plate to look into his father's eyes, settling his cutlery next his plate, suddenly not hungry anymore.
"Exactly." Orion says before sliding the envelope next to his plate to Regulus. Regulus furrows his eyebrows curiously and opens the envelope, which contains the map of the Selis' castle and some kind of document, a document stamped with the family coat of arms. Regulus knows what that means, and personally doesn't like that.
“Task submission to Prince Regulus Arcturus Black
Due to the threat coming from the Selis kingdom, the expansion of their army for unknown reasons, the Elora kingdom tasks Regulus Arcturus Black, as a trained and qualified soldier, to an official and completely secret task as a precaution to keep things under control. Regulus shall kill Selis heir, James Fleamont Potter and leave no trace behind.
Conditions: Keeping the total secret about this task. Bla, bla, bla...”
Regulus runs his eyes through the conditions, not really bothering to read it, he does tasks like that a lot, he's used, it's not something he cares about.
"Regulus Arcturus Black” Says the space he's meant to sign.
"Study the boy and find a gap when he's alone. You shall enter the castle using the hall window and be quiet until you reach his room.” His father explains as he points directions on the map on the table.
“Study, sneak in, kill, clean and leave." He says before handing Regulus a pen.
Regulus takes a moment to process the information, thinking about the task before signing the document and handing it back to his father.