I don't even have time to absorb this information. Evelyn goes on to explain the vast amount of theories Theo has about the factionless and the brewing war between factions, but most of what she says goes in one ear and out the other. Another Eaton? This is unbelievable. For some reason, I want to know if Marcus knows, and so I blurt out the question.
Theo stops mid-sentence. His face reddens and a sound that closely resembles a wild animal snarling erupts from his throat. "Don't talk about my father," he says in a monotone. These are the first words I have ever heard him speak, and his voice is very unlike Tobias's. Though both are low, Theo's seems more vicious and untamed, whereas Tobias is strong and assertive, if not a little bit seductive.
"Beatrice has met my... our father, believe me," Tobias stands between us, as if to protect me, though with this new revelation, all my trust for him has evaporated. Who is this boy, really?
"You need to stop defending this girl, Tobias. You need to choose a side," Evelyn warns, growing more and more impatient with my prescence. Maybe she thought before that I am an asset to her plans, but now she regrets bringing me into this at all. I am still in a stunned silence when Tobias grabs my hand, extending my speechlessness.
"You need to start calling her by her name, first of all. Second of all, for someone who wants to abolish the Faction system, you're pretty into this whole 'choosing' thing," Tobias says in his calm way that is still mildly intimidating.
"Abolish?" I echo in a voice that sounds small. Theo grins at this, baring all his teeth, and I shudder internally at the malevolence evident in his features.
"Yes, Beatrice Prior. We want to get rid of Factions, live as our ancestors once did."
"But the Factions bring order... they bring peace and unity and..."
"You sound like my father," he spits out. He takes a moment to compose himself before carrying on, and I realise that Tobias still has a strong grip on my hand. "I may be the only human being within the circle of the fence that has never been part of a Faction. I was born factionless, never kicked out after failing initiation or for unacceptable behaviour. But I turned out just fine, don't you think?" Apparantly it was a rhetorical question. "We need to get rid of the system that divides our nation, and soon."
"But why?" I ask, trying not to sound pleading. I pull my hand free from Tobias's and stand forward, desperate. "Why would you want to change a system that has worked for years? It's all we know - it's all we have." As i say these words, I feel my soul disagreeing within me. He has a point, but the destruction the demolition of the faction system would bring is unthinkable.
"There will be a war anyway," Tobias says quietly behind me. I turn to face him, eyes wide. That's why he left - he fears a war. He wants to be on the winning side. He meets my eyes, and I feel as if there is more to his story. There is a deep pain that rings his irises, but I cannot ask him why.
"There is something much worse to fear than war," Evelyn says gravely.
"Oh, and what's that?" I say sarcastically, but I fear the answer.
Theo answers my question, and this time it is the answer that sends a shiver down my spine, not his voice. "Whatever is outside the fence."
YOU ARE READING
Divergent: Before We Chose
Hayran Kurgu"I realize that if we had both chosen differently, we might have ended up doing the same thing, in a safer place, in gray clothes instead of black ones." What if Tobias and Tris hadn't met each other in Dauntless? What if fate won over chance, and t...
