Chapter Four
The Unmarked, Book One.
River
The golden rays of the morning sun peeked through the window and shone upon River’s face.
Usually, River would be up and about at first light. But today River kept his eyes closed; allowing himself to bathe in the warmth of the morning sun. In the warmth of his thoughts about Dawn.
Last night he had kissed her. And now, after what felt like an entire lifetime, she was his.
His kiss with Dawn hadn’t been his first. He had kissed many girls before. Some that he had genuinely liked, others only out of boyish flirtations. But none of his previous kisses ever meant to him what this one did, because none of the other girls governed his heart like Dawn did. Kissing other girls had always been easy, because he had never feared losing them. If it didn’t work out, they could always remain friends, and if a friendship didn’t work out, then so be it. But that was a loss he hadn’t ever wanted to risk with Dawn. Better to just be friends.
Until last night.
River pulled himself out of bed, not wanting to be late for his training session with Dawn. He quickly dressed himself in his customary navy vest and pants, washed his face, combed his hair, and laced up his boots. He walked into the kitchen where his mother stood by the stove, stirring a pot of what smelled like oats and milk. She greeted him.
“Sit, eat my love” she said in her gentle and quiet manner. Her blonde hair was pinned back in a neat bun and she wore a simple linen dress and apron. Despite being the Governor’s wife, she still cooked and cleaned in her own home. “Servants belong in the Governor’s Hall. I can run my own household” she would always say.
River sauntered over to her and kissed her on the cheek. His mom perked up in surprise. “You’re in a good mood today” she said, “what happened to make you treat your mother so nicely?”
“You deserve it” he said, wanting to make his mother happy. He didn’t want to tell her that his good mood was actually because of Dawn. Not yet. Even though Mother did not seem to have any ill will towards Dawn, Father did, and he did not try to hide it. Mother wouldn’t offend Father by showing enthusiasm toward River’s newfound relationship with Dawn. Bringing up the matter would only make her feel awkward.
River knew that he would eventually need to tell his parents that he and Dawn were more than friends, but it wasn’t going to be today.
His mother simply chuckled at his comment. “Eat something before you leave”.
Eagerness at seeing Dawn buzzed inside of him from head to toe, but he forced himself to take a bowl of oats from his mother, sit at the kitchen table, and eat.
“If you eat so quickly your stomach will hurt” his mother chided him, as if he were still five years old.
“I’m in a bit of a hurry, Ma,” he said, swallowing his last spoonful of oats and then rising to rinse his bowl.
“Father is gone already?” he asked.
“Yes, someone requested a meeting with him first thing this morning. Apparently it was urgent and very important”.
“Interesting” River muttered.
His mother shrugged. “A busy man he is” she said more to herself than to him as she wiped a spill on the counter. River detected a hint of sadness in her tone. He couldn’t blame her. River rarely saw his parents together.
“I’ll see you later mom” he told her.
“See you. Have a good day”.
River grinned. A good day it would be indeed.
As River walked down the streets of Aura, practically skipping with giddiness, he mused over what he would do when he first saw Dawn. Should he go in for a kiss right away? Complement her? Act like they always had when seeing each other at the training ground? He couldn’t quite remember what that had been like anymore.
No longer able to contain his excitement, River broke into a jog. He ran down the isle of red-roofed cottages toward the eastern training grounds. There were four training grounds in Aura, each on the outskirts of the Heart of the city.
The Heart was where all important activity took place, like festivals, public trials, and trading. It was where the Governor’s Hall was. Being the Governor’s son, River lived less than a mile away from the building. But all Guardians who chose to live away from their parents were given a home within a kilometer radius of the Heart to accommodate them. Though choosing so sometimes meant being relocated to a different district from where you grew up in.
River and Dawn had grown up in the Northern District (that being where they had previously trained together), but when Dawn had become a Member and a Guardian, she had decided to move in with Lilly, who lived in the Eastern District. It was farther for River to go to the eastern training grounds to train with Dawn, but he was willing to make the sacrifice if it meant spending time with her.
Including the training grounds, each district also had it’s own tutoring hall, infirmary, and district center. The district center being an office for Guardians to oversee local affairs. After his training with Dawn, he would have to rush back to the Northern District Center to check in and receive his assignments for the day.
Training grounds finally in sight, River resisted the urge to break out into a run and instead slowed to his jog to a casual walk. He didn’t want to be panting and sweating when he arrived. He also didn’t want to come across as desperate.
But when he got there, he found the training grounds deserted. The fact that they were empty wasn’t unusual, most people skipped training after Festival days. But Dawn was always the first one of the two to arrive, since she lived so close. Maybe it had been a mistake to schedule training session the morning after the Festival? Dawn had drunk quite a bit and she would have gotten only a handful of hours of sleep. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well. But even if that were the case, she would have shown up anyways. Dawn was too proud to allow herself to be bedridden.
“Hey” River said to Ocean, a young girl of fourteen who volunteered to set out the training equipment every morning. “Have you seen Dawn today?”
The girl shook her head. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re here. I figured you’d be sleeping in” she said, casting a glance at the empty training grounds, “everyone else is” she added with a smirk.
Not knowing what else to do, River decided to go through his stances as he waited for Dawn. As he held each posture, River tried to clear his mind as he was supposed to, but instead he was assaulted by a series of worst case scenarios. Was Dawn second-guessing herself? Did she wake up this morning, regretting their kiss, and now was intentionally avoiding him? Or had something bad happened to her? Was she sick? Had she even made it home last night?
After the Festival, Dawn had insisted on walking home alone. River had reluctantly let her go, but he did not want to get into an argument over it. He feared that would upset her and cause her to second-guess their newfound relationship. He had never been worried about letting Dawn walk home alone, but that night had been different. He didn’t like how many unmarked were roaming about, especially with the recent knowledge of rebellions taking place. Even though they had been failed attempts, he’d heard from his father that they had still left Guardians severely injured. One Guardian had allegedly even gotten killed. He also didn’t like how that mystery traveler had disappeared. One moment he had been all over Dawn – the memory still making River fume – and the next he was gone. What if he’d stalked Dawn?
The more River tried to push the thoughts away, the more they branded themselves into his mind. Annoyed and overly concerned, River decided he should just go to Dawn’s house and check up on her. He’d waited long enough. If he made his way to her house now, he’d still have enough time to make it back to the District Center on time. Being late would earn him a strike on his record. And he’d never had a strike before.
As he was about to leave, a voice from behind froze him in his tracks.
“River!”
River replaced the cringe on his face with a smile as he turned to face the voice.
“Liv” he said placidly. “What’s up?”
“I figured you’d be here” she said with a hint of what sounded like disdain in her voice. Olive was not from the Eastern District. “I was sent to fetch you” she continued, “your father wants us on a city perimeter patrol”.
River frowned. “A perimeter patrol? Isn’t there already one scheduled for today? What happened to the team?”
Liv, her hair glowing a fiery red in the morning light, shrugged. “Nothing. Your father just wants a second patrol out”.
That was odd. Usually a team of Third Orders was sent out everyday to do a perimeter patrol around the city. An entire patrol would take about a day. But only one would be sent. If his father decided to send two patrols out at the same time, it meant he wanted more ground covered in less time. But why? He voiced his question out loud.
“I really don’t know River, I’m just the messenger”.
River sighed “Fine. Just give me a moment”. He walked over to Ocean. “If you see Dawn, could you tell her that I was assigned on a last minute patrol?”
Ocean smiled “sure”.
“Thanks” he replied and then reluctantly accompanied Olive back to their district.
“You didn’t happen to see Dawn today, have you?” he chanced asking Olive. “No” she answered curtly “why would I have seen her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she was assigned to do something in the Northern District”.
Olive shook her head. “Nope. Haven’t seen her”.
My mistake for asking River thought to himself.
Once at the district center, Olive and River went to the main desk to check in by signing their names on a list. The Guardian at the desk signed his own name next to theirs to confirm that they were indeed the ones to check in and not someone in their stead. That too would have earned them a strike, if it were the case. The Guardian at the desk gave them their assignments for the day. In return, Olive opened her satchel and slipped two documents across the desk. “We’ve been assigned to an emergency perimeter patrol” she said. A look of annoyance flashed across the Guardian’s face.
The joys of bureaucracy River thought in amusement. An emergency assignment was always a headache for those behind the desk at the district center. Every Guardians’ duties had to be clearly documented. One mistake could lead to a cascade of problems due to miscommunication or misunderstanding. Last minute tasks required of the guardian at the check in desk to assess every document. He would need to mark the current assignment as suspended and decide what tasks could be reassigned to someone else and what tasks could be postponed. Then new assignment reports would have to be written up for the postponed and delegated tasks. Annoying to say the least.
Documents revised and assignment updated, Olive and River went to the stables behind the center to get their horses for the patrol.
The patrol was long, dull and frankly frustrating. Everyone on the team acted as if it was urgent and important, but no one could tell him why a second patrol had been sent out, and he hadn’t had the chance to question his father about it. All the task did was make him feel like he was wasting his day. He also would have preferred doing something more physically productive. Several times he found himself dozing off atop his horse, the few hours of sleep after a long night of festivities catching up to him.
“Maybe your dad just wanted you to take it easy today” Olive teased after catching him with his eyes fluttering closed and head lolling forward, again.
“If only” River mumbled, knowing his father would never absolve him of his responsibilities in order to “take it easy”.
However, River couldn’t complain about the fact that the patrol gave him the opportunity to replay his moments with Dawn over and over again in his mind. He mused about the way that she looked in her burgundy dress, how her blue eyes encapsulated him, how her hair fell across her shoulders like black waterfalls, how soft her lips felt when they had kissed, how her body felt in his arms…
At the same time, there was a nagging distress in the pit of his stomach. He hoped that Dawn had shown up at the training grounds, but he worried that Ocean hadn’t gotten the chance to tell her that he had waited for her. He also worried that Dawn just hadn’t shown up.
After an entire day of what felt like pointless riding, River rushed to the District Center to write his task report outlining a very uneventful patrol. He would ask his father about the purpose of the perimeter check, but his first priority was to find Dawn. Report finished, River began to make his way out of the building, only to be halted in his steps once again, by Liv.
“Hold up!” she called to him.
River clenched his jaw. What now?
She caught up to him. “Why don’t we go grab something to eat together? It’s been a long day”.
“I was planning on going to see Dawn”. He said, taking up his stride toward Dawn’s place.
There was a moment of silence. “She’s probably busy” Olive replied.
River frowned. What did Olive know about Dawn’s schedule that he didn’t? “How do you know? I thought you said you didn’t see her today”.
And we’ve literally been together the entire day he thought.
“I haven’t. But she’s always busy. Especially since Lilly’s been gone. And if she’s not busy, she’s probably resting. Are you sure you want to bother her?”
Olive seemed to be rather persistent about convincing River not to see Dawn. He did fear bothering her. But he figured it was better to bother her than to have her think he had been avoiding her the entire day. “I just want to check up on her”.
“At least eat something first. Is seeing her that important?”
River stopped. He knew what was going on here. He’d hoped he didn’t have to have this conversation with Olive again, but it seemed like she hadn’t gotten the message the first time. He turned to look at her. She gave him a smile, her pink lips delicate, her nose brushed with freckles, her light green eyes shining. His heart inevitably fluttered at the sight of her and the memories that she evoked, even though the feelings attached to those memories were but faint whispers in the back of his heart now.
“Liv...” he began, choosing his next words carefully.
Just be straightforward.
“Olive. You do know that I want to be just friends right? I know it was confusing to understand at first, but now Dawn and I are actually…”
Liv’s face contorted into a grimace of confusion and shock. River was shocked himself by her reaction. He’d expected her to be upset or sad, but this…
“Liv?” He said gently. Then he realized she wasn’t even paying attention to him. She was looking beyond him. River turned. It took a moment for him to realize what had caught her attention.
At that moment, alarm bells began to sound.
Olive and River exchanged a look, then they both broke out into a run toward the column of thick, black smoke coming from the Heart of Aura.
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