The Brotherhood

31

Another day had passed as slowly as the day before had. Finley was finding that she hated all the pomp and circumstance that was a part of the ceremonies of the Brotherhood. She'd rather hide away in her new private quarters than be out here, working so hard to make sure that everything looked pretty. That was the word that every single one of the village women used when they were directing the brothers. What they failed to notice was the fact that nothing about the Brotherhood could ever be considered pretty. The idea of it made Finley want to burst out laughing. Her brothers didn't share her opinion. 

"Come on," Finley whined to Xander as they walked through the halls to the Great Hall to start their work on the ceremony planning, "You can't like this either." 

"I don't like it," Xander said quietly, "but unlike you I don't feel the need to complain about it every four seconds." 

Finley snorted, "I don't complain about it that often." 

Xander slid his gaze toward Finley. Then he huffed a quiet laugh, "Yes, you do." 

Finley rolled her eyes and shut her mouth. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if she kept talking that she would keep complaining. She refused to give Xander the satisfaction of continuing to grumble about decoration duty. They could be doing much more important things if they were only dismissed from serving the Brotherhood in this capacity. She wished desperately that Kane would set them free from helping the villagers, but she'd barely seen him in the past few weeks. He'd been far too busy running the Brotherhood. Not that Finley cared whether or not she'd been able to see him. 

"What's your problem?" Xander asked Finley. "I don't get why you're always so desperate to get out of this stuff. At least we don't have to go on patrols out in the freezing cold. Being in the Supreme's pack comes with some perks." 

Finley snorted again. "I didn't realize you'd become such a pussy all of a sudden. I guess being in the Supreme's pack has some disadvantages as well." 

Xander laughed, a big, hearty bellow. "I think you're just pissed off that you haven't gotten to see Kane since he became the Supreme." 

Finley stopped in her tracks and whirled toward Xander. Xander stopped and faced her as well. His eyes sparkled with amusement and it made Finley want to hit him even more. He smirked down at her like he could sense her irritation. He probably could which made her even more upset. 

"I don't care whether or not I get to see Kane," Finley said, trying to keep her face neutral. "It makes no difference to me." 

"Uh huh," Xander tsked. "Totally believable there Fin. Maybe you should trying saying that in the mirror so that the next time you say it, people will actually believe you." 

Xander turned to keep walking, but Finley stopped him with a hand on his arm. He turned around and looked at her, confused. When his eyes met hers, his gaze softened. Finley let go of his arm and shuffled on her feet. 

"Is it that obvious to everyone?" She asked, not looking Xander in the eye.

Xander shrugged. "It's not obvious. It's also not a huge secret. You two care about each other. We don't really get what's going on between you two, but we know it's something. None of us care either."

Finley shook her head, "Kane doesn't care about me in any way other than as his sister." 

Xander laughed again, but this time he didn't sound quite as enthusiastic, "Neither of us believes that. And I think it scares the shit out of you. Which is okay. But just don't let it force you to deny the truth." 

"I'm not denying anything," Finley said, her face turning red, "There's no way that Kane thinks about me in any way other than as his sister. If he did then he wouldn't have spent the night at Natalie's." 

Xander raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know about that?" 

"How do you know about it?" Finley demanded. 

Xander shrugged, "Sloan told me. You know how he's always up in everybody's business. I didn't think that it was true." 

Finley felt her shoulders slump. If Sloan knew about it too then it was definitely true. She didn't know why she'd wished with all her heart that it wasn't. It didn't matter. She knew where she stood with Kane and there was no point in asking to be anything different. 

"Natalie told me about it," Finley said, "She didn't make a big deal about it, she just said that Kane had stayed the night with her." 

"That doesn't mean that anything happened," Xander said. His eyebrows were scrunched together in deep concern. 

"It doesn't mean that nothing happened," Finley argued. 

Xander rolled his eyes at her. "Look, if you can't see that Kane is completely obsessed with you then that's not my problem."

Finley laughed at him. He was wrong. Kane was completely obsessed with only one thing: himself. He didn't have time for anyone or anything else. Right now the only thing he was worried about was running the Brotherhood now that Abel was dead. As soon as she had the thought, Finley's chest ached. She knew with every fiber of her being that Abel's death was her fault. The guilt of that would follow her wherever she went. She didn't need the desperation of constantly seeking out Kane's approval or attention. 

She looked up at Xander and shook her head again. Then she said to Xander, "We should get going before the village mothers hunt us down." 

Xander shivered with horror. They both knew what the village women were capable of when they were provoked. Neither one of them wanted to invoke that kind of rage within any one of them. Brothers had shown up with bruised ears and tear soaked eyes from the ministrations of those women. They scurried off quickly, off to more work trying to make the Brotherhood look pretty.