The Brotherhood

30

Abel's funeral had come and passed. Now, the Brotherhood was in a whirlwind trying to prepare for the ceremony where Kane would officially take Abel's place as the new Supreme. Every inch of the compound was swarming with people from the village helping decorate the compound. Then there were the chefs helping to prepare a special meal, the florists bringing in flowers, the builders creating platforms, and on and on. The crazier it got at the Brotherhood, the more Finley found herself needing to escape. 

That's when she would go to the village to see Natalie. Natalie had been her saving grace the past few weeks. It was the only place where Finley felt like she could relax. The only place where she didn't feel the bone-crushing weight of guilt about Abel's death. How could she when Natalie was making her laugh? 

Natalie turned her blue eyes toward Finley as they sat in her little cottage, "What's wrong this time?" 

"I'm supposed to have something to wear for the ceremony, for when Kane's officially the Supreme. I have no idea what I want to wear," Finley confessed. 

Natalie snorted. "Well, it's a good thing you're here with me. I can make you look stunning in a way that no other tailor in the village can." 

"I know," Finley replied with a grin, "why do you think I'm here?" 

Natalie smiled up at Finley from where she sat by the cluttered desk. She picked up a pencil and a sketchbook with only a few pages left in it. It was clear how much business she'd been getting from the recent events at the Brotherhood. Kane claimed that she was the only one he trusted to take care of all the brothers. Finley wondered if there were other reasons why he'd asked her. 

"So," Natalie began, "let's start with an easy question: what color does the dress have to be?" 

Finley frowned, her nose scrunching up, "Does it have to be another dress?" 

Natalie's gaze whipped toward her, "All these boys ever see you in is ragged clothes that you can fight in. They never get to see you all dressed up. Please let me make you another dress. I want this one to be so shocking that Kane will be forced to admit that he's in love with you." 

Her words knocked the breath out of Finley's lungs. Natalie often joked about Kane being in love with her, but Finley always brushed it off. She hadn't spoken to Kane in what felt like forever. He was so busy being the new Supreme that Finley barely got to spend any time with him. Not that she particularly wanted to. She couldn't get over the fact that he'd just sat there and let Abel be killed by the Mother. Whenever Finley looked at Kane, all she could see was Abel's head lying in the snow, his dead eyes looking up at her. 

"Finley?" Natalie said quietly, her brows wrinkled with concern. "Are you okay?" 

"How do you know that Kane's in love with me?" Finley blurted unexpectedly. The words surprised her and she wasn't sure where the question had come from. 

Natalie's expression softened, "I know what it looks like when Kane cares about someone deeply. I've seen it up close." 

Finley flinched. She hadn't meant to. Natalie and Finley had never let the fact that Kane had been with her affect their friendship. To be honest, Finley didn't even know why it would. It wasn't like she was in love with Kane. Right?

"Oof," Natalie said with a grunt, "I'm so sorry. I forgot that you're in love with him." 

"No I'm not!" Finley said way too defensively. 

Natalie gave her a knowing smile, "Oh yes, you are. Both of you are too stubborn and dumb to admit it or even know that you are." 

"What makes you think that we love each other?" Finley asked, shifting on her feet uncomfortably. 

"It's the way that the two of you talk about each other. He talks about you as if you're what his entire world revolves around. Like you're his sun and his moon and all the stars in his sky. He'd do whatever he could to protect you. He would rip apart the whole world to make sure that nothing hurt you," Natalie said matter-of-factly. Natalie glanced up at Finley to gauge her reaction. 

Finley laughed. It was a big, hearty, ridiculous laugh. Then she said, "That's funny. I mean, that's really funny Natalie. It's too bad that there's no way it's true." 

"It is true!" Natalie demanded, swatting Finley with a swatch of cloth. 

"Sure it is," Finley said, rolling her eyes. "Can we just get back to getting me some clothes?" 

"Of course!" Natalie chirped. "So, what color?" 

"Black," Finley replied. "It's the color of the Brotherhood." 

Natalie plopped her arm on the desk in front of her. She propped her chin on her fist and stared up at Finley. In a quiet voice she asked, "What was it like growing up in the Brotherhood?" 

Finley sighed deeply. She'd expected that eventually Natalie would ask her this question. The problem was even with so many weeks of preparing for this question, Finley still didn't have a good answer. She probably never would. 

Finley tried to piece together an answer that would satisfy Natalie's curiosity and answer her likely endless questions. Opening her mouth, Finley said, "It wasn't too bad. It was a lot of time spent with dirty, stinky boys who wanted nothing to do with me. Sometimes they would get violent and try to beat me up. I was weak, a runt. I didn't belong in the Brotherhood and they had no trouble reminding me of that fact. But I had my pack with me. They're the only ones who didn't seem to mind that I was a part of their Brotherhood." 

Finley shrugged as if her words hadn't meant all that much. Natalie stared up at her, her mouth open a bit. Natalie looked as if Finley had her full undivided attention. She looked completely and utterly intrigued by Finley's words. It seemed as though Natalie wanted Finley to continue, but Finley just couldn't. Natalie nodded as if she understood, then she grabbed her sketchbook and went to work.