Oath of Steel

5 |A Nightingales' Tale|

When the meeting ended without unnecessary pleasantries, Lord Regulus gestured to Steel to stay behind, nailing her to her seat with his stare as one by one the rest of the Apostles left the room, murmurs accompanying their footsteps as they descended to the fifth floor to retire for the night.

The last one to leave was Pharah, otherly known as Apostle II, who nodding at Rosalynde, pulled lightly the collar of her shirt - a secret signal known only between the two of them. A sign to meet in a secret place as soon as possible.

Rosalynde didn't nod, simply mouthed a series of weak words of understanding as Pharah's eyes grew apprehensive at the sight of her lady-in-waiting not replying.

"You were expecting this outcome weren't you?" Was the first thing that Lord Regulus said as soon as the others were fair away.

Rosalynde shifted her gaze as if to take a better look at the first Apostle, eyes slightly narrowing, but nevertheless shaking her head to negate his accusation.

She was lying of course, deep down she'd always known that between her and Katherine she'd always been the first choice.

"No, my Lord," a curt lie was all he got in reply, making Rosalynde smile as usual to conceal behind her fabricated mask of politeness a sneer that was trying to come out.

"The Empress wanted Katherine to take on the mantle of Haywire. I, on the other hand, thought that she was not suited for such a delicate task," he replied, crossing his legs together after seating himself in his usual spot.

Rosalynde went to touch her chest, barely feeling the golden coin pressing against her skin, her scarred fingers itching to have the golden coin back in her hands.

"What is it that you want to tell me, my Lord?" Rosalynde finally asked with a controlled voice.

Clear and concise as a stream cutting a mountain in half. Whatever thoughts that were swirling inside her head seemed to vanish instantly, a rush of adrenaline running through her back chilled her bones to the core.

No matter how many times she'd rehearsed for this moment, she'd been late in realizing that there was no way things would have gone like she'd always imagined.

"I was wondering when you would have confessed your crime," the words graving on her shoulders like a boulder kept in check from falling down the mountain by a stem of a growing bloom were slow to seep in her mind.

He wanted a reaction from her. And something told her she knew which one.

"These are serious accusations, my Lord. One thing is suspecting, the other is accusing someone of murder." She gave him another polite smile, no teeth showing as she let her hand slide from her chest down and over her lap.

"And this is the reason why I chose you to succeed him. Don't bother lying to me, I already have a full report on how you did it too." Rosalynde narrowed her eyes at him as Lord Regulus reciprocated her famous smile, making his elbows rest against the hard surface of oak wood.

"You even took care of him nicely too, as if you'd been planning it for a long time," another direct attack on her person.

"You've been spying on me," she stated, dropping all tones of reverence.

"Well, at least you're not pretending anymore." Rosalynde took the mask off, the black ribbon messing overlapping in between her fingers made the situation seem comical from her point of view.

"What's my first task?" Lord Regulus stood up at the question asked, circling the table once more before grabbing two thick envelopes which apparently seemed to be full papers from a nearby shelf, extending then his other hand to get a fresh inker, along with a new quill and paper.