He flinched as if he had been slapped. Of course he should have expected doubt, judgement even, and yet it still made his stomach twist in dread. All of a sudden he found himself put in mind of the little boy he had been, breathlessly waiting for his mother to pass judgement.

Regulus lowered his gaze, face solemn as he struggled with shame for something which he still didn't fully understand. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Although it was his third month since he had been taken from certain death and brought here, adjusting to his new surroundings had taken everything he had, and he had been glad not to think too much on the before. But now it had caught up to him.