A Broken Inheritance

Chapter 77: With All Due Ceremony

Anastasia didn't smile.

Regulus looked at her. "I heard about what happened at the manor."

Her stomach tightened.

He didn't let her dodge it. "Did you really erase that girl's memory?"

She didn't answer immediately. Just looked down at the drink in her hand. "It wasn't safe to let her remember."

"You're not denying it."

"There's nothing to deny."

He let out a slow breath. "It's spread. Not just among the others. Our parents heard. Everyone has."

"I assumed they would," she said quietly.

"They're restless," Regulus said after a pause. "Especially Mother. She keeps asking why Rosier got the Mark before me."

Anastasia's jaw tightened.

"She thinks it's a personal slight," he added. "That I've done something wrong. Or that you have."

Anastasia's mouth tensed. "He's older than you."

"I'm more important than him."

Her gaze snapped to his.

"I mean politically," he said quickly, correcting himself. "Our family still outranks the Rosiers."

She stared at him for a long moment.

"You sound like Walburga."

Regulus flinched. A small, involuntary tic of the mouth. "I didn't mean it like that."

"You did," she said. "And maybe you should."

He frowned.

She looked down at her glass again. Watched the pale green reflections of the chandelier ripple across its surface.

"You don't need to chase a Mark, Regulus. It's not a prize."

He said nothing.

She lifted her eyes, voice lower. "You should hear how Tom talks about the younger recruits when you're not in the room. He calls them mongrels."

Regulus stiffened. She saw the anger before he buried it.

"It's not an honour," she continued. "It's not some badge of elevation. It's branding. It marks you as property."

"That's not how they see it."

"That's exactly how Tom sees it," she said, low.

"You're not one of them," she continued. "You're not meant to be at the front of the line. You're not cannon fodder."

He looked away. "That's easy for you to say."

"No, it's not," she said quietly. "It's not easy. It's not even safe."

Another pause.

Anastasia moved closer. "Speaking to Tom hasn't helped. He wants obedience. Symbols. Fear. I tried to explain—about you, about what you're capable of. It didn't matter."

Regulus glanced at her.

"So I'll speak to her," she said. "Your mother. I'll convince her the Mark isn't the highest she can aim for on your behalf. That real power isn't branded into skin—it's worn in the spine."

He blinked.

"It might buy you time," she added. "Maybe even space. But you have to stop treating this like it's a race. Let them have their moment. Rosier and the rest. Let them play war. You stay above them."