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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27686
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27686
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

To paraphrase your question slightly, "How do your lie to the reader?"

Answer: you probably shouldn't. Once the reader distrusts you, it becomes impossible to achieve any effect at all.

What you are trying to do here to to create what I call artificial suspense. Real suspense is based on what the character does not know, and what cannot be known because it lies in the future. Artificial suspense is based on what the reader does not know because the writer does not tell them, or, in your case, overtly lies about it.

It is a kind of reverse irony. If dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows more than the character, you are trying to create reverse irony, which the character knows more than the reader. But while the reader can enjoy dramatic irony, they are in no position to enjoy reverse irony, and are primed to resent it when it is eventually revealed.

Not knowing the brother's affiliation is fine as long as the story is in the sister's point of view. But to switch to the brother's POV without revealing his affiliation, when you have just primed the reader to wonder about it, is an act of betrayal of the reader's trust. The reader is going to be very confused by this, may well feel that there is no reason to continue a narrative that they find confusing and untrustworthy.

So, while, you may find a way to accomplish you immediate goal, you will not find a way to do so without losing the reader's trust. Use time and POV to conceal information from the reader by all means, but don't lie to them.

Original score: 2