6: AU The Brotherhood: Kara: A Conversation with Lucas

[k_a_webb]

Lucas walked into the room. Kara looked at Conrad, raising an eyebrow because it wasn’t normal for Lucas to spend any time in the lounge in the evenings. Conrad shrugged, not bothering to look for Lucas, because they could both feel his power when he entered the room. Suspicious, Kara watched Lucas as he made his way towards them while his two best friends went to sit with other people. Their eyes met as he got closer and she could see the emotions in his eyes. He’d never been good at hiding them, which was part of the reason she avoided him most of the time. She didn’t need his pity.

“Kara,” he said, as he sat down opposite them, “Conrad, I wanted to talk to you about Tristan.”

A hand gripped Kara’s thigh and she knew what it meant straight away. Conrad was always telling her to listen before she reacted, but she could tell from the way Lucas spoke that he was planning something that she wouldn’t like. Swallowing, she looked down at the table.

“I think it’s time one of us took over from him as the leader of this house,” Lucas continued, his voice grating on Kara’s nerves. “I don’t care which one of us it is, but he’s not the right person to be in control here.”

“Why do you say that?” Conrad asked, his voice calm, tightening his grip on Kara’s thigh.

“Tristan can’t understand what it’s like to be one of us, no matter how hard he tries, and I don’t like him.”

Kara looked up, her eyes meeting Lucas’ again. She shook her head, unable to find the words she needed, and focused on the hand gripping her thigh. Conrad wasn’t going to let her move until he’d spoken to Lucas, so she wasn’t going to try, even though she was tempted to attack the boy opposite her, because he had no idea how important Tristan was. Lucas couldn’t understand.

“Your likes and dislikes mean nothing to me, Lucas,” Conrad replied. “Surely you have a better reason than his inability to know what it’s like to be one of us. It’s not as though I can know what it’s like to be you or Kara can know what it’s like to be me. Tristan makes sure that all the new arrivals have an older mentor and I think that’s more than enough.” He shrugged. “Personally I think it’s useful to have someone in control who can look at things from another point of view.”

“You’d stand in my way if I tried to take control?”

“We both would,” Kara said, emotion filling her voice.

Lucas shook his head. “I should have known that you’d both be too emotionally connected to agree with the logical point of view. He’s done a lot to help you both, I know that, but I can’t see how having him around any longer is doing this house any good.”

Conrad laughed. “Do you have any idea what Tristan actually does? Apart from greeting the new arrivals and listening to Kara’s emotional rambles.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

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No typos found.

Conrad makes a sharp point at the end: leadership is a lot harder than it looks, and a lot of it doesn't even show.