Borderlines

Chapter Seven

Fawn looked out the window as they pulled into the driveway of the White Palace. Clay had said the damage was mostly to the king and queen's room and they would be able to move back in soon. Turns out soon was today, the day after the king and queen's funeral. From just looking at the front of the palace it was hard to see any damage to the building, but Fawn had no idea what the inside looked like. There were still a few police cars at the front of the building, but everything seemed to be normal or at least trying to return to normalcy. Fawn stepped out of her car admiring the smell of the fresh air. She walked up the stairs and to the palace doors, letting a butler waiting there open them. She looked around the foyer of the palace, sniffing the air. She could smell smoke, but it was faint. They had done a good job at cleaning up this place. She walked upstairs where the smell of smoke was a bit stronger. She walked down the familiar hallway, stopping by her room. Opening the door, Fawn immediately knew the room was different. The furniture was new and the walls had been repainted. The fire must have affected her room in some way then. She noticed that her clothes were all there, but some seemed to have a newness to them too. Fawn sat on her bed stroking, one hand on the blankets. This afternoon Clay had said they would begin training for the now called "competition" for the crown. Fawn didn't like the wording, it just left an ugly taste in her mouth. The palace grounds would be crawling with camera crews to help give citizens something to look forward to and not focus on the fact they were without a king or a queen. Fawn looked up as she heard the swish as a dress, of course it was Violet. She was carrying a light green dress. Violet's cheeks were flushed as though she had been rushing to get here.
"You okay?" Fawn asked looking at her servant. Violet nodded quickly.
"I'm fine, but the police sure seem to think the servants are the ones behind this." The servant spoke boldly.
"How so?" Fawn asked, concerned.
"I had extensive pat down before I was allowed to set foot in the front gates." Fawn let out an annoyed sigh.
"I'm sorry you had to deal with that." She said to her servant. Violet shrugged, setting down the dress on the new desk along with some make-up.
"Doesn't matter now, what matters is you." She said, plastering a smile on her face. Fawn smiled and sat down in a chair Violet had dragged across the room to a mirror. Fawn stared at her reflection as Violet set to work on her hair. The bruise on Fawn's face was finally vanishing and the cut was healing just fine, allowing Fawn some relief. It would be even better once Violet put Fawn's makeup on. Waiting patiently, after her makeup was done, Fawn stood braced against a chair as Violet tightened her corset. She inhaled quickly when Violet pulled on the threads.
"Are you okay?" Violet asked, peeking over Fawn's shoulder. Fawn nodded.
"It's just tight." She seethed through clenched teeth. Violet let out a sympathising laugh.
"Well isn't that how they work, Miss?" Fawn just shook her head in response. Violet finished with the corset and slipped the dress over Fawn's head. The dress had straps that crossed in the back and left what Fawn thought, was a dangerous amount of skin exposed on her back. The dress was more fitted in the front and was flowing away from her in the back. Her hair was done up in the back and Fawn could feel the hairpins keeping her long locks up. Everything was topped off with a pair of matching green shoes, heels actually. Fawn cringed thinking about wearing them. Violet stood back and admired her work.
"You look stunning Fawn." Fawn smiled and looked at her reflection.
"I guess you could say that." Violet shook her head disapprovingly.
"You need to learn to be less humble." She chastised. Fawn looked at her servant.
"I will try harder next time." Violet nodded and began shooing Fawn out of the room.
"Go on now, you have some gents to impress." Fawn couldn't help laughing as she walked down the hallway. Impress, that was one word for it. She walked over to the banquet room on the first floor. All the overseer's were standing in the room, a table with an enormous amount of food had been set up against one wall. There was also a few tables set up throughout the room. Fawn wondered what Clay had planned as she entered the room. As if on cue Clay, tapped his champagne glass to get everyone's attention. All eyes turned to him immediately.
"Good evening everyone." Clay said loud enough so everyone could hear.
"It pleases me to see everyone has settled back into the palace nicely." Fawn saw a few nods from a couple of overseers.
"I know things are going to be different the next few weeks, especially with all these cameras around the palace now." Fawn noticed the cameras around the room, each with a news reporter controlling them. All cameras were trained on Clay right now who continued his speech.
"But we will try to make this process as normal as possible." Fawn had to keep herself from snickering, normal wasn't even close to the right word.
"Tonight we would just like everyone get acquainted with the people around them before anything else. So enjoy the food, enjoy the champagne, and have a good time." Clay finished. There were some applause as Clay took a full bow, no doubt for show, and then turned to talk to one of the camera crews. Fawn wasn't sure where to start and was fuming when Willow and Emma ran up to her.
"Isn't this exciting!" Willow exclaimed, looking around the room. Her hazel eyes were lit up with excitement as she dragged Emma with her. Emma's mocha skin matched her darker colored dress, making her look exceptionally beautiful. Fawn smiled.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?!" Willow shook her head,"You think all of this is a maybe?" She asked. Fawn giggled.
"Okay, maybe not." Willow looked around the room.
"Who should I talk to first?" She asked both Fawn and Emma.
"Don't you have a thing for that Garrett guy?" Emma asked. Willow elbowed the other girl playfully. Fawn couldn't help joining in with the fun.
"Do you?" She asked. Willow eyed Garrett quickly and it was obvious.
"Go talk to him!" Fawn exclaimed pushing Willow forward slightly. Willow latched onto her arm.
"I can't!" She protested. Emma laughed.
"Of course you can." Garrett glanced at them for a brief second, shooting a questioning glance at Fawn. Fawn nodded at Willow quickly and Garrett seemed to get the message. He started walking over, which silenced both Emma and Willow as they saw him. Fawn smirked when he stopped in front of Willow.
"Willow?" He asked. Fawn noticed Emma was stifling a giggle while she watched the two. Willow straightened.
"Yes?" She asked calmly.
"Care for a walk?" He asked, holding out his arm. Willow grabbed his arm slowly.
"Absolutely." She said, looking back at Fawn and Emma smiling. Fawn waited until they had walked away before turning to Emma.
"Anyone interest you?" She asked. Emma shrugged.
"I don't know.." Fawn glanced around the room.
"Try talking to Sean, he's pretty friendly." Fawn nodded toward the Section 3 Overseer. Emma studied him a second before walking over to where he stood. Fawn smiled, glad that her friends were having a good time.
"Playing matchmaker?" Garth's voice came from behind her. Fawn turned to look at him. He was dressed handsomely and Fawn was surprised the girls hadn't swarmed him. She smiled.
"I'm just being helpful." She stated as Garth came to stand beside her.
"But who is to play matchmaker for you?" He asked. Fawn looked at him.
"I will." She said. Garth nodded.
"That's a good practice." He praised her. His brown eyes watched her closely and Fawn was tempted to look away.
"You look beautiful." Fawn felt her cheeks grow warm.
"Thank you." She said quietly. Garth seemed pleased that she had accepted his praise.
"How is your..." He trailed off, seeming to try to find the right words. Fawn laughed.
"My face is fine, the bruise is finally healing and the cut won't be visible soon." Garth nodded.
"Good, good." He glanced around the room.
"Would you like a drink?" He asked. Fawn took his arm, surprising him.
"Yes please." She smiled sweetly as Garth led them over to the refreshments. Fawn wasn't much for flirting, but Garth was making her mood shift a little. He was pouring her a drink a little ways away when Travis and Ruth sauntured up to the table. Ruth was wearing a tight fitting red dress with bright red lipstick. The dress was definitely not appropriate for the overseers. Fawn averted her eyes, trying to keep herself from laughing at such an outrageous outfit.
"Hello." Ruth said, smiling sweetly at Fawn, the smile being obviously fake. Fawn faked her own smile.
"Oh hello Ruth, how nice to see you." Ruth pursed her lips, looking around at the table.
"So where's that pet that follows you around?" She played her statement off nonchalantly. Fawn shot a look at Travis, but he didn't seemed bothered by Ruth's insults, in fact he seemed amused, which angered Fawn,
"Garth isn't my pet." She said defensively. Ruth faked surprise.
"Oh really?! One would have thought-" Garth appeared at Fawn's side.
"One would have thought what Ruth?" He asked pointedly. Ruth sobered and Garth frowned.
"Cat got your tongue Ruthie? Or was that Travis?" He asked. Fawn saw Travis immediately stiffen, glaring at Garth.
"Why don't you say that a little bit louder." Travis said through ground teeth. Garth shook his head.
"I think once was good enough." He began to lead Fawn away, who was feeling uncomfortable with all the tension between Travis and Garth. Garth brought Fawn over to a table.
"Sorry about that." He apologized, running a hand through his hair. Fawn waved it off, Ruth had deserved it.
"I don't mind" She said.

~

The night continued until about eleven and Fawn was finally too worn out to stand on her feet anymore. She walked to her room, rubbing her back where the corset was beginning to bother her. Fawn heard laughing and looked down the hall to where Ruth was talking to Travis. He mumbled something her and she wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him. Travis kissed her back with something that could only be interpreted as want or passion. Fawn looked away, opening her door quickly. So that's what Garth had meant.