Page 43 of Nightingale

The broken, shattered territories that were only becoming more damaged with each battle, each prolonged extension, each tally of death they were stacking up. Neither was excused from their share of the blame.

He considered putting Regulus out of his misery before leaving, finding it not to be as terrible of an idea as before. Just like with ending their father, Regulus had been up next on his killing list, even if there was no time limit alongside his name.

He was done packing his supplies, finding his sword on the bed and staring deeply at it as if it would come alive and tell him the correct thing to do.

In this world, there wasnocorrect thing.

Without a second to think about it, Castil grabbed Polaris, throwing his bag over his shoulder and striding out the door.

If his father was going to force him to leave, then he’d sure as hell stir up some commotion before departing. One lastfuck youto him before he was out of the King’s life for good. A final act of disobedience to show that he was just as strong, as devious as any of the other heirs. Just as worthy of the throne and crown, even if he was only the fourth Prince and third in line to rule.

Second, after this.

It only secured his decision.

He didn’t mind Brioc, and he didn’t want to be the one to end Rian. Truthfully, he hoped itwasRian on the throne of Carylim at the time. The man might have some terrible ideas, wretched plans and horrible thoughts of how to lead but he was the least amount of evil out of them all. Castil would take it up happily, but Rian wanted it more than he did- so stepping aside and letting him have it wasn’t an issue.

Rian had shared more of his plan with him before Castil left, stewing over the detailed, wonderfully devoted steps and contemplating joining them on the journey. He decided against it at the last moment, knowing full well that Vrea would be able to handle herself if something happened. She didn’t need him by her side like theWhite Knighthe was made out to be.

She didn’t want him.

She wanted Rian, if the heated, half-dressed encounter in the corridor was any indication. Rian could take her home, enact his ideas and bring about an end to the war.

He wouldn’t killher.

That was all Castil needed.

Castil stalked down the hallways of Hawksmoor, his home for the beginning of his life. He passed busy servants who glanced in his direction, noticing his supplies and rushing to find others to gossip about his leave. He didn’t give them any heed, centering his attention towards the end of the long corridor, turning left and then tapping down the singular set of stairs of wide stairs.

He pushed off the last marble step and found himself a couple feet from Regulus’s door, halting just before in case any part of him wanted to turn around and ignore the moronic idea of manslaughter. He checked with every part of himself, dug deep to the root of his soul and searched each inch of his heart to find nothing that held him back.

Perfect.

Murder it was.

Castil didn’t bother with the formality of knocking; instead twisting the handle around and swung the door open, propping himself against the frame like a sly fox as his older brother poked his head out of the adjoining bathing room to see who’d bothered him.

“Go away, I’m in the middle of something.” He said by way of greeting. He flicked his fingers in the air in a weak dismissal. As if that would do anything to dismantle his reason for coming here.

“Don’t you mean in the middle ofsomeone?”The fourth Prince corrected with a disapproving lick of his tongue. “I could hear her all the way on the floor above.”

Truth.

A feminine squeal of horror mixed with embarrassment sounded and a high, masculine laugh followed a second later. Regulus didn’t bother to shut the door behind him as he appeared fully naked in the bedroom portion of his chambers, bedecked in rich gold things and red furniture that contrasted quite well.

He’d never been shy about his body, even if he lacked the girth in certain areas. Regulus claimed it didn’t matter, since he knew how to useitproperly.

Itwasn’t very big.

“Why are you here?” His almost black eyes dropped to the bag at his siblings’ side. “Are you leaving?”

Castil nodded once. “The King’s ordered me off.”

“Have fun getting away from this place. The last time Father sent me on a trip, well I came back with a few more scars than before.” Regulus reached behind him and grabbed the girl by her forearm, yanking her out of the bathing area and playfully shoving her towards his large bed with a firm slap on her curvy backside.

She flipped around so that less was revealed to Castil, but there was still enough of her ebony skin on plain display. He saw that it was the same girl that entertained Rian a couple weeks ago, even if her shining head only bore a scented oil instead of silver swirls. Which meant that their diversion plan to distract their errant brother from entertaining the idea of bedding Vrea, had worked far more brilliantly than either had thought.

Though with who they were related to, they truly should have taken that into consideration.

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