Borderlines

Chapter Six

Fawn sat on her balcony at the resort, the brown chair creaking with each of her rocking movements. Her head swum with confusion. She had two weeks to fall in love and get married. That was impossible, and even if she did fall in love, if the Council didn't approve it wouldn't matter. Fawn closed her eyes. Was the world always this cruel? She thought about her deceased king and queen. If Travis didn't have anything to do with the murder like he said, then who did? The subject hadn't been brought up yesterday, but the question still lingered. Clay had mentioned that there were investigators looking into the murder, Fawn was curious to what they would find. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky a beautiful orange. The funeral was tomorrow. Fawn shivered. It wasn't right, saying good-bye to their king and queen so early in their reign. Suddenly Fawn felt a deep hate bubble up inside of her for whoever did this to them. She hoped they were caught and executed by the firing squad. Fawn stood up and went inside her room, changing into her nightgown. She looked in the mirror, cringing again as she looked at the horrific cut on her face. Hopefully that would heal soon. She crawled into bed, trying not to focus on tomorrow, for it would be a trying day for everyone.

~

Fawn got out of bed and took a shower as quickly as possible. Even though Fawn tried to rush, her body was sluggish. She was dreading heading to the funeral and as each minute ticked by, her feet felt heavier. There was a black dress waiting for her with a hat. The hat had mesh that would cover her face, to show her mourning. Fawn was surprised when there was a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Fawn asked, facing the door.
"It's Violet my-" Fawn didn't give her time to finish her statement, she rushed to the door and yanked it open. Violet was quite surprised by the sudden greeting.
"Oh Violet!" Fawn exclaimed, hugging her servant quickly. She had heard nothing about her servant since the fire and was glad to see her safe. Violet seemed embarrassed at Fawn's behavior as Fawn let go of her. She glanced at Fawn's hair.
"You cannot go to a funeral like that." She said, shooing Fawn back into the room. Fawn looked at her servant.
"I'd rather not go at all." She said. Violet seemed to sympathize with her while she pushed Fawn down into a chair.
"It is hard on all of us, but if the public doesn't see you they will think all hope is lost." Fawn looked at her reflection.
"Why did I pick this life?" She mumbled out loud. Violet didn't answer her. Fawn waited patiently as Violet did her hair up in a bun, then helped her slip into the black dress. Fawn looked at her reflection in the mirror while Violet pinned her hat on. She looked miserable, almost depressed. Violet swung the mesh in front of Fawn's eyes, making the outfit even more dreary against Fawn's pale skin. Violet looked at her and shook her head.
"Black does not suit you." She said quietly.
"Indeed." Fawn answered the servant. Violet walked Fawn downstairs where a black limo waited for her and Garrett. Garrett was already inside when Fawn squeezed in. Garrett was in a black suit with a tie to match, his hair slicked back professionally. His miserable expression matched Fawn's from where he sat across from her. His hazel eyes held her gaze for second before he looked out the window. Grey clouds were gathered, shielding the sun, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Fawn leaned back in her seat, taking a breath as she tried to think about something else. It would do her no good to start crying now. Garrett seemed to notice her inner struggle and stood up, sliding down beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Fawn put her head against his shoulder, allowing herself to grieve silently. It didn't take long for them to reach the cemetery and the wheels of the limo crunched on the gravel road. Fawn slowly extracted herself from Garrett's silent comfort and looked out the window. All the overseers and important government officials were gathered near a tent with two caskets. Fawn shifted her dress as someone opened the door, offering a hand to help her out. Fawn grabbed it and exited the limo, seeing now that the mystery person was Garth. Fawn noticed he had an umbrella and realized it had finally started raining, as if today wasn't dreary enough. Garth pulled her under the umbrella, shielding her from the drizzle.
"Hello, Fawn." He said softly while he led her towards the tent. Garth's shoes crunched noisily against the gravel.
"Hello." Fawn said when they reached the shelter of the tent and the rain wouldn't drown out her greeting. The two caskets loomed in front of them, draped in purple flags. Fawn averted her eyes, not bearing to look at them. She noticed the East and the West seemed to be separated into sides. The East on the left and the West on the right, with the center aisle dividing them. At least Garth was willing to put aside differences today. Fawn looked toward the back row on the Western side and could just see Ruth and Travis sitting together, both of their faces were expressionless, leaving Fawn to wonder if they were thinking about the accusations made against them. She and Garth sat in their seats, facing the caskets as Clay stood and spoke. Fawn didn't really listen to much of his speech. As he began talking about how they didn't deserve a death like this, Fawn turned her head away. She didn't want to hear anymore, tears began wetting her cheeks, salty and warm. Ducking her head, she leaned against Garth's shoulder to hide her already shielded face. Garth placed a tentative arm around her shoulder, rubbing her it slowly. Fawn stayed in the same position until they were told to rise. She stood shakily holding onto to Garth's arm for support. Guns fired in a salute as the caskets were lowered in the ground. Clay began reciting the funeral farewell and everyone else followed.
"Long live King Marcus. Long live Queen Lily. May their reign never be forgotten." Fawn's voice slowly got stronger as they repeated the phrase several times. She could feel herself shaking and it wasn't from the cold. As if by some unknown signal, everyone slowly began leaving the graveside. Fawn found herself walking with Garth to a limo, rain pelted the umbrella harder than it had earlier, almost like even the Earth knew what a sad day it was. Fawn could see camera crews looming all over the place, no doubt they had televised the funeral. It disgusted her to think they were making money from the king and queen's death. Garth stopped at the open limo door, he looked at her, finding eyes behind the mesh that concealed most of her face.
"It will be okay Fawn, it's going to get better." He whispered, pulling her into a warm embrace. Fawn almost collapsed right there. Would it? Right now she felt like nothing would get better. She choked back the tears that were falling all over Garth's poor jacket, making dark black spots all over his shoulder. Fawn was able to force a small laugh when she pulled away from him.
"Thank you for letting me soak your jacket." She said with a small smile that Garth returned.
"Anytime." He said as he let go of Fawn's arm, allowing her to enter the limo that Garrett was waiting patiently in. Fawn sat down beside Garrett who was somber, staring at the seat across him blankly. Fawn knew this would be a silent ride back to the resort. She looked out the window while they began to pull out of the graveyard, her eyes catching a glimpse of Ruth and Travis talking with Ashton and Lucas as they headed to their limos. Fawn sighed, it looked like things would shift back to normal with their rivalries. Fawn didn't know why she expected a change, Travis made it clear that nothing would change between their sections. Fawn looked at the floor silently. Would nothing ever change?
Fawn was glad Violet seemed to be temporarily missing when she entered her room. She shrugged out of the miserable black dress and threw off the hat, leaving them crumpled on the floor. She undid the clips that kept her hair up in a bun, letting it flow over shoulders. Sighing, Fawn seemed to feel a little bit better. The rain had finally stopped and the sun was trying to peek through the grey clouds. There had been no funeral dinner, which brought Fawn relief. She did not want to sit around and discuss the king and queen's reign while stuffing her face with food, the thought was appalling. Fawn changed into some loose sweatpants and a short sleeved shirt before traveling downstairs to the pool room. It was practically empty except for a few guys locked in an intense pool game. Fawn went to a table and set up her own game. She enjoyed pool more than most girls did. She shot the cue ball, dispersing the group of striped and solid balls around the table. She was about to shoot the one ball when she saw a pool stick lay across the table.
"Do I get stripes or solids?" Travis's voice drifted across the table. Fawn didn't look up at him, but shot the 1 into the 6 knocking it in.
"Stripes." She answered him. Travis nodded and scanned the table deciding which ball to take a shot at. Fawn studied him, his brown red hair was slightly disorganized, but he actually seemed relaxed as he leaned across the table, sinking the 13 ball. He took aim again at a different ball, but glanced at her before shooting.
"So what's going on between you and Garth?" He asked casually before shooting. Fawn narrowed her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Travis laughed while he motioned for her turn.
"You mean you two just casually walk together frequently." Fawn lifted her pole off the table, leaning against it.
"Excuse me? What's that thing you have going on with Ruth then?" She retorted back. Travis didn't answer her, in fact he looked away at the other people across the room. Fawn leaned over the table focusing on a solid ball, it was the 7.
"That's right, I notice the way she giggles at everything you say, and how you hold her." Travis looked back at her.
"You jealous?" Fawn shot at the ball, but it didn't go the way she wanted. She looked up in irritation.
"No." Travis nodded and began taking his shot. Fawn watched him closely.
"Why are you here?" Travis looked up after sinking two more balls.
"I just came here for a nice game of pool." He said calmly, but his green eyes flashed with mischief.
"Bull." Fawn said. Travis seemed surprised by her choice word, most people didn't use that lingo anymore. He smirked.
"Well you have me there. I actually came to thank you." Travis sat on the edge of the table. Fawn tilted her head.
"Is that so?" She asked. Travis nodded, suddenly serious.
"If you wouldn't have helped me, I would have been dead this morning. That was when my execution was set." Fawn looked at the table, studying its many nicks.
"I did what I thought was right." She said simply. Travis shifted.
"And I thank you for that." He stood up and aimed straight at the 8 ball,"but this," He shot at the 8 ball sinking it perfectly,"changes nothing." He set his pole down on the table and stood close to Fawn, his lips inches from her ear. Fawn swallowed, looking at the eight ball in its net by the table.
"Stay out of my way."