And with that, it starts to fall into place – the empty shroud, and Four's disinclination to discuss his mother.
She sighs impatiently. "Are we going to do this yet again? I left you in the care of your father."
"He was a monster."
"He made you strong."
"I can't believe you're defending him."
She sighs impatiently. "I take much more interest in the future than the past. You'd do well to follow that example."
Four squares his shoulders and lifts his chin defiantly. "Will that be all?"
"You haven't introduced me to your… friend." She extends a hand to me, but I don't take it. "My name is Evelyn Johnson, leader of the factionless. And you are…?"
They have a leader? And they're armed. Why? I adopt Four's stance and remain silent.
"She's spunky for an Erudite. Where did you find her, Four?" Silence again. I sense she's like a dog with a bone and won't let us leave until she's satisfied. I can't give her my real name. Four must realize this as well.
"This is Tris." Tris? I like the sound of it, familiar, yet tough – functional.
"Tris Matthews," I volunteer.
"You must be related to Jeanine?"
"She's my cousin."
She clearly doesn't like the sound of this at all. She hisses at Four. "Exactly what the hell kind of a game are you playing at? Bringing..." she pauses, gesturing toward me and struggling to find a word to communicate her distaste for me. "Bringing that into my headquarters."
"You brought us here."
"I wanted to talk to you."
Four glares back at her. "So talk."
"Not in front her, you idiot!"
"There's no way I'm leaving her alone with your associates."
"They're soldiers. That's something you should be able to understand. I could have her removed by force."
"I doubt that," responds Four, dryly.
"Then we have reached an impasse. Shall we just scowl at each all night?" Her laugh is false, and too high-pitched.
Four sounds disgusted, but resigned. "If you let us leave, I will come back tomorrow night."
"Will you give me your word?"
"I just did." He spits the words at her.
"Very well then. Get out. And take your trash with you."
I see Four's jaw clench, but he says nothing as he pivots, takes my hand, and walks to the elevator.
Once outside, we walk in silence for at least a mile. The path Four leads us on is circuitous, but I make a point of remembering all of the turns. Finally, Four opens an unmarked door, and motions for me to enter. It appears to have been a store, but now the shelves are bare, and the floor is covered with dead leaves and garbage.
He finds an unbroken chair against the wall and dusts it off.
"Sit?" I comply, and he kneels down next to me.
"You must have been terrified."
I have a million questions. "Four, how long have you known your mother was alive?"
"About a year. I was in the Factionless zone at night – exploring and looking for places to hide. I found her instead."
"How did she become leader of the factionless?"
"When she left Marcus, it was because she was having an affair and had become pregnant. Marcus found out and had her banished, and faked her death to save himself the embarrassment. Turns out being an aggrieved widower does wonders for political careers. She went to be with her lover, who at the time was the leader of this group of factionless. He died a few years later, and she took over. It was shocking – coming face to face with her after so many years of thinking she was dead. You handled it a lot better than I did."
I take a deep breath. "I knew she wasn't dead."
"What? How?"
"At her funeral, I snuck back in and looked in the shroud. It was empty."
"When were you planning on telling me this? You would have let me go on thinking she was dead?"
I can tell he's getting angry. "Look, I was seven, I didn't know what to think, and all I knew was that she wasn't in that shroud".
"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"
I don't know why, but I sense that whatever binds us together is balancing on a knife edge, and if I lie to him now, we'll be lost to each other forever.
"There is one other thing. After the Ferris wheel, when I told Jeanine where I'd been..." I try to find the right words, but I know they don't exist. "She told me that Erudite had accessed Dauntless' computer system and..."
He looks shocked, and I haven't even told him the worst part. "She showed me your fear landscape."
It's as if I've slapped him across the face. "You. Had. No. Right."
"I know. I didn't ask to see it."
You've known all along? You've known about Marcus? How could you not tell me, Beatrice?"
I reach for him and wrap my arms around him. He is shaking. "How could I tell you?" I want to protect him, it's an odd feeling. "It's OK, it's just me."
I can't imagine what it must have been like for him, and I want to take all that pain away from him. "It's OK, it's just you and me, Tris and Four."
He pulls back and looks at me. "Tris is what I imagined your name would be if you'd chosen Dauntless."
"I like it."
He allows himself a shy smile. "That was a nice touch, by the way, saying Jeanine was your cousin. It's probably better if she doesn't find out who you really are."
"But Jeanine is my cousin."
Once more, Four pulls away from me. "What?"
"The Matthews and the Priors have been Erudite since the founding of the faction system." As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize that I've said them with the same proud intonation Jeanine had used, when she had said those very same words to me.
"You sound proud of them."
"There's nothing wrong with being smart." I sound more defensive than I mean to.
"That's not what I mean. You realize she's hunting Divergents, don't you? Do you know what would happen to you if she figured out what you are? Do you think being her cousin would save you? Believe me, it wouldn't. She would experiment on you, torture you, and then have you killed."
I know he's right, she said so herself, but I feel like I've been put on the defensive.
"What do you mean, torture?"
"I've seen photos. My mother showed them to me."
"Since when do you trust her?"
"I trust her about this. She is Divergent. Her entire group is."
"Is she part of the society?"
I realize as soon as the words are out of my mouth that I've just broken my promise to him. He realizes it too.
"You're too reckless, Beatrice. I can't protect you like this."
I open my mouth to question him further, but he puts his hand over my mouth and gives me a look of warning.
"The train is a block from here, I should get you home." It's clear this conversation is over.
As we walk, I reach out my hand to him, but he casually brushes it away.
"You can't come back here again, it's not safe."
"When will I see you again?"
"Not tomorrow."
"OK, but when then?"
"I don't know. I have to sort some things out."
"What things?"
"It's complicated. I'll get a message to you."
Just then I hear the roar of the train. I start running and pull myself up. Once inside, I look back, but Four is still standing by the track. I shout to him. "How?" But if he answers I don't hear it, and he rapidly disappears in the distance. I sink down to the floor of the train. I've never felt so alone in my life.
A/N Sorry about this, but it was necessary. It just seemed too far out of character for someone like Four to just suddenly have a girlfriend and act normal. Don't worry, he'll sort these 'things' out soon, I promise. Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you think. I really appreciate the reviews.
Standard Disclaimer: All rights to Divergent and its characters belong to Veronica Roth.