The Brotherhood: Blood (19 page)

“Nova,” Katarina said, stirring him from thought.

Nova turned, a frown crossed over his face. She’d said nothing since they stopped at the top of a nearby hill, looking down at the town and the people within it who appeared to be nothing more than ants surrounding their hill. “Yes?” he decided to ask.

Neither have you.

He chose not to repeat his thought for fear of insulting the young woman. Instead, he smiled, set his hand over hers, then drew closer so the distance between them would seem less and more intimate. “I was just thinking,” he said.

“About?”

“You.”

When he realized the severity of his words, he swallowed a lump in his throat and turned his head away. Shortly thereafter, Katarina turned her head down to reveal the scarlet that now lined her cheeks.

For the first time since he’d began seeing her, Nova set his arm across her shoulders and drew her in close. “Is this ok?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

After she leaned and adjust herself against his chest, both she and Nova watched the sun’s glowing rays slowly fading on the distant horizon, marking across the world its passage over a full, complete day in which darkness seemed never capable of swallowing the light that seemed to rule both their lives.

She just wanted to know I was here,
he thought, closing his eyes.
That’s all she wanted to know.

He tightened his grip around her body and thought of all that could come from this.

Love was in the air.

It could have consumed him, were it a creature of blood and life—a dragon, mythical and dead, returning from the grave to haunt his spirit and devour his heart; a Harpie, young and wild, freshly-born and ready to tear into the world; a monstrous sea creature, lurking beneath the deep, ready to swallow the world whole. These were the things this feeling was made and created of, and it seemed in but that moment, on the last day of spring, that as Nova walked through town and toward Ketrak’s house, he would be engulfed by the very thing that plagued his conscience and ruled his heart.

He’ll come,
Nova thought, standing on the stoop of the very house where the woman he loved lived and ate and slept.
He just needs to get up.

The moment he finished his thought, a series of scrapes and clicks sounded from behind the door before it opened, revealing the very well-dressed mayor in hues of purple and blue. “Get in here!” the man said, pulling Nova into the house by the shirtsleeve. “It’s too cold to be outside!”

“It’s not that cold,” Nova smiled, trying to still his chattering teeth.

“Sadly, you’re wrong, young man. Come, sit with me.”

Ketrak led him into the sitting room. There, the mayor gestured Nova to seat himself in one of the fine, leather-and-plush chairs and turned his attention to the mantle—where, beneath its stone face, a fire lay brimming, trapped and displayed behind an iron fence.

“You need a coat, or some kind of long shirt,” Ketrak mused, turning his attention from the fireplace to Nova, where his eyes wandered his body until they eventually fell back to his face. “Do you have any spare clothes, Nova, or do you just go around wearing those all the time?”

Nova made no attempt to hide the sigh or nod that followed. “Yes,” he said, as humbly as he possibly could. “Well, no—I don’t have clothes, but yes, I wear this shirt and these pants every day. That doesn’t mean I don’t wash them though.”

“Nova.”

Nova turned his head up to find that, in the mayor’s eyes, a demon lay resting—curled, sad, confused and injured, licking its wounds and looking upon him for any and all sources of sympathy. “What?” Nova frowned, unsure what to think of the look or the feelings that lay behind it.

Ketrak nodded, but made no move to continue the train of thought that Nova had begun. Instead, his expression changed, as though scrutinizing the situation like any man would. A short moment later, he closed his eyes, tilted his head back, then revealed an unshaven neck, one of which seemed to have come out of arrogance rather than any form of laziness.

Is something wrong?
Nova thought, frowning, readjusting his position in his seat.

“My daughter’s very fond of you,” the mayor said, not bothering to look back at Nova as he turned his head down and allowed his eyes to fall to the fireplace. “I hope you’re aware of that.”

“I am.”

“And are you as fond of her?”

“I…” Nova took a deep breath. Though the mayor’s question seemed innocent enough, he couldn’t help but wonder if the question was, in fact, a trick, one of which used to reveal his emotions and just whether or not his intentions were true.

Do I say it,
he thought,
or do I stay silent?

Either way, the mayor would question him, so with thick, unconstitutional confidence, he took a deep breath and said, “Yes sir. I am.”

“You’re being honest then? You have feelings for her as well?”

“You should know I do.”

“I do,” Ketrak chuckled. This time, however, he turned his head and faced Nova directly. “I know it’s only been a few months, but…”

When the man trailed off and left the remainder of his sentence to the imagination, Nova frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, not sure what to say or do in response. The mayor had never been one to leave statements unfinished or sentences up in the air, so for him to do this seemed miraculous, even heavenly in a way.

What was he going to say?

Not wanting to wait any longer than absolutely necessary, Nova leaned forward and braced his hands against his knees. “What, sir?”

“Would you be interested in marrying my daughter?”

A fire could have started and burned a whole town asunder before the dots in his head finally began to connect with thin strands of wire. Strung, of course, by an old man’s heads, and pulled taut to make his puppet dance, it seemed to Nova that, for no reason whatsoever, a choir began to sing in the sky and the old man before him began to dance. Arms extended, head hung slack, mouth agape and legs positioned evenly—Ketrak the mayor of Bohren could have been nothing more than an apparition meant to confuse and dissuade him from his feelings, and for that Nova wondered just whether or not it would be proper to answer the question or just to leave it sit in the air.

What do I,
he began to think, but stopped before he could continue.

He looked up to find the man still suspended in animation—waiting, eyes watching calmly, face showing no emotion. Ketrak didn’t look angry for the lack of immediate response, nor did he appear troubled because Nova hadn’t answered immediately. If anything, he looked content, as though he could be given all the time in the world to answer the question.

“You’ve said this was the first time you’ve ever pursued a woman,” the man muttered, bowing his head and twisting the tangles of his long hair between his outstretched fingers. “I’m sorry, Nova. I had no right to put that on you.”

“I
do
care about her. If anything… I might even be in love with her, if you want my honest opinion.”

Unable to meet the mayor’s eyes, Nova bowed his head. He kept his attention fixed on the floor for several long moments before the mayor reached out to touch his shoulders.

“It’s all right,” Ketrak said, tilting Nova’s chin up with two fingers. “Take it slow. Take your time.”

After standing and shaking the older man’s hand, Nova walked out the door, all the while feeling guilty about just what he had done.

Though his heart yearned for many things, he wasn’t completely sure it desired marriage, at least not now.

For a good, long while, he waited. For the urge to get his feelings off his chest, for the anxiety to go away, for the need to finally tell Katarina about his true feelings and to open his heart, mind and soul for a bigger, brighter future—he waited for it all, silently praying to the one God he believed in that it would eventually come about. Sadly, as he soon came to realize, those kinds of urges couldn’t just be summoned and let out of their cage. For them to be true, earnest and honest, they had to come out and reveal themselves on their own, much like exotic fish when breaching the tide and coming forth to reveal themselves to humans. Though doubtful of his discovery and unsure of his emotions, Nova realized that answers would eventually come, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Nearly every day, regardless of the weather or the conditions of the sky, Nova and Katarina took their daily walk, hand-in-hand and wrist-to-wrist. Eventually, as the chill crept forth and eventually pressed snow across their land, Ketrak came to reveal to Nova a coat he had said was once his as a younger and much bulkier man. Startling-black—with red fur cuffing its hood, wrists and waist—Nova could hardly refuse when the man passed it into his arms, for such a treasure amounted to more than most of the entirety of his belongings themselves.
I want you to have it,
Ketrak had said, even as Nova had refused.
It’s yours. Take it.

He also thought of adding ‘or at home,’ but decided not to. What reason was there to remind his love of poverty when they were having such a good time?

“That’s all right,” she said, turning her head up as the bar came into view.

The moment they passed into the establishment, filled to the brim with drunkards and common civilians, Katarina laced their fingers together, as if beckoning for some form of response.

“It’s ok,” Nova whispered. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” she replied. “It’s just… I don’t like being around so many people.”

They settled themselves down at a nearby table and refused the advance of a waitress who came forward bearing two cups of fresh, ice-cold water. In the booth they sat in—together, content and even all the happier for their progress—it seemed to Nova that his emotions were beginning to thrust themselves down upon him, as if they were terrible creatures willing to pick apart each and every part of his personality.

You’ll have to confess soon,
those creatures said, kissing his cheeks and trailing their nails down his spine.
This isn’t going to work otherwise.

Though he didn’t make it last for fear that attention would be drawn to them and their situation exploited, the short moment that their flesh bonded filled him with a fire he had never felt before.

“I’m in love with you,” he whispered.

Likely unsure of what to say, as her eyes were filled with an emotion Nova had never once seen throughout the entirety of his life, Katarina kept her hand on his chest. At first, she didn’t look him directly in the eye, as the nerves within her heart were likely lighting her mind. But, gradually, after several long and undeterminable moments, she turned her head up and smiled.

“I love you too,” she said.

This is it,
Nova thought, bringing her into his arms.
I told her.

Regardless of the noise and of the commotion around them, Nova managed to rock Katarina in his arms without caring about what others might think or say.

He loved this woman.

Nothing would come between them.