Red Rose.

Chapter I.

Article 12 of the Castamarian Constitution: "In the case of the Kingdom's sovereignty being threatened by a foreign part, all unemployed men and women must take up on arms and aid those in the frontlines as soldiers, for it is their duty as Castamarians."

Despite Constitutions being often linked to democracy and whatnot, this was not voted by no one in Castamar. Yet us, citizens, must accept and comply. Among those, me.

The war has been going on for several months now. My best friend, Elena, hurriedly got herself a job in the local factory, trying to avoid being drafted. And even though I tried my best to also not get drafted, in the end, my effort was for nothing, as I am considered to be unemployed, yet I am not only a freelancer artist, but also a student in the University of Arts.

I received my draft letter not long ago, October 9th, specifically. I was called to arms by the 11th of the same month. This felt like getting salt on an open wound, but there wasn't much I could do then. But I tried. And so did Elena. Her, being as crazy as she has always been, told me to switch identities with her, among other stupid, risky plans.

Even so, I gave up on it, and presented myself in the recruitment office the 11th, as indicated, next to the train station of my town, one of the most beautiful towns of the country, yet also one of the smallest, to the point that the university was not in this town, but in the city near it, about thirty kilometres away.

What I did during my walk to the recruitment office was simply walking at a slow pace, enjoying the fresh air of the town before I had to breathe the smoke of flames up in the frontline. And, although I did not notice anything new or out of normal, I found in the fields, the streets and the people more beauty than I ever did. It felt romantic, yet nostalgic.

She, however, did not say her last goodbye before my depart yet, although the previous day she cried on my shoulder while choking me with her hug. It was just the one farewell before the actual last. I cannot forget the seemingly joyful smile drawn on her face, yet the tears of sorrow running down her blushing cheeks and onto her red lips, standing there, looking at me, next to the door that would get me a ticket to Hell. Her cry was contagious.

She did not say a single word, nor tried to. She just cried her soul out on my shoulder. For me, it was horrible to know I would not see her in a long time, maybe not again at all, so I, silent, hugged her for several minutes, enjoying my possible last minutes with her, before she finally spoke.

- Are you sure you don't want to try something else? – said Elena between tears. – I'm sure we can figure something out!

- No – I replied. –, there's no point anymore. But I have a last wish before I go.

- What is it?

- You must write a letter to me by, at least, the last day of the month. Tell me how you are doing, your feelings, about your family, your cat or whatever. Tell me anything.

- Only if you reply too. And weekly.

- Fine with me. – I smiled.

- Please, be careful.

- I will, and I promise I will return as soon as I can.

And this, although being the possibly shortest conversation I ever had with Elena, felt like a true farewell, the last kind words I would hear in my life, the mourning of my death while I live perhaps. And even so, unsure of my fate out there, I could not say everything I had to, for I am a coward.

Yet even with all of this sadness surrounding me, I finally headed in the recruitment office, before giving a last look to Elena, who avoided it. As soon as I walked in, I gave my draft card to the officer, to now wait at the train station, accompanied by a few town people, drafted like me, but alone on a bench, waiting for the train I did not want to take.

And then, I remembered everything I had lived until that minute, as if I were to meet Death. The moment I made it into high school was my favourite, for it was the day I met Elena. And because reminding myself of that day, I thought about the following years, months and days, the ones I shared with her.

I was not ready to die. So many years, and so many more to share along her. "Why do I need to serve a King I do not feel any empathy for?" I thought to myself, just as the bell rang, and the train made itself way into the station through the rails. As if I was in presence of the gates to Hell, the doors of the wagons were opened with an gloomy aura. 

Taking my little luggage, I walked into the wagon of enrolled people. Aboard were simply late teenagers and young adults, some of which I had seen walking the halls of the campus not long ago. But what surprised me the most was the enthusiasm of some of them, who were eager to, apparently, die for the King.

The train's engine began roaring the moment steam left through the sides. Its wheels began moving at a slow pace and leave the train station. As I, to my surprise, saw Elena running down the station towards the wagons, chased by two military police officers. She caught the attention of everyone in the wagon the moment she began screaming my name.

- Erina, take this! – she yelled, reaching my window, as she dropped something through it, onto my lap.

- Godspeed, Erina! 

She stopped before the station finished, and was surrounded by the two officers, who led her to the exit. After that embarrassing moment, I took the thing she gave me. It was a pendant, which I examined to easily find out what it was.

A few years ago, when we were eighteen, Elena and I went to the Capital City. It was during the National Day, in which the streets are decorated brightly. Those days it's just pure joy that runs through the towns. That day, I tried to confess one of those secrets I have to her, thus bought her a present at a local jewellery, a silver pendant, with her name engraved. In it, there was a picture of us two in our first year of high school.

Underneath the moonlight, next to the Arenne River, that through the city flowed, I gave her this present. Not having words to describe what I felt for her exactly, I got myself stuck with a pathetic speech, embarrassed, and halfway through it, she began laughing.

- What's so funny? – I asked.

- That you are saying so many things at once, yet at the same time none. 

- Look, I just don't want to make it weird.

- There's no need for it. I get the message.

- Really?

- Of course! You may be a little confused, but you got it through. – She smiled happily. – However, you know that's impossible, Erina... You know it.

And why deny the sad truth? She was right, such a relationship wasn't possible. But she did not reject anything, nor did she reject me. I hoped, and desired, that some day we would be able to say it, with the words I wish to say, yet I cannot. That some day I will be able to hear her answer, to know what she really feels. But sadly, it would not be that day, nor the following, and most likely not in months, terrible months of suffering. 

And without knowing it, I was already crying on the pendant. Death was approaching me while I was leaving her behind, far behind. Unfair truth it was, that I would die alone, when I did not deserve it, or at least thought I did not. But what I feared for the most was Elena's safety, more than my own. If you could call it so, I made an oath moments before arriving: I would defend this country, this King, but not for them, but for her.

------AUTHOR'S NOTE:-------

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Red Rose! I hope you liked it. English is not my first language, thus you most likely found (or will find) grammatical mistakes, perhaps smalll vocabulary... Things like that. I am sorry if that makes your experience uncomfortable: I will do my best to write properly.

Sincerely, Tomás.