There's Crows In The Garden | 3rd Life AU

.: Before The War :.

TWs: small mentions of war, blood, death, torture, and kidnapping

***

The strange thing about the war was that it didn't start right away. Instead, I was left in a perpetual state of fear, waking up every day thinking, surely, today was the day I walked onto the battlefield. And then, it never was. 

Now, of course, this could be a common thing with war. I'd only ever fought in battles (while Ren was on his campaign to become the king), not wars, so I didn't really know how they worked. According to the stories, though, they started quite quickly.

(I was aware this wasn't a very trustworthy source, but I didn't have anything else to go off of.)

So, life went on like that, a never-ending cycle of waiting for and dreading the inevitable. Someday, the first battle would break out, but until then, there could only be preparations.

That's how I found myself kneeling on the floor of our bedroom, a small, intricately carved wooden box in my hands. Inside of that box was a smaller box, covered in velvet, and inside that, a ring— the one Ren'd gifted me while we were in Cookie, to be specific. It hurt me to tuck it away like this, but I felt the need to. 

The ring was so, so important to me. I couldn't lose while on the battlefield. I couldn't let it get covered in mud and blood. I just couldn't. 

And so, there I was, burying it under a loose floorboard under mine and Ren's bed. 

Later that day, Ren and I took a walk around the gardens. He took my hand in his own— something that happened more often than I'd like to admit at this point— then glanced down at our interlaced fingers, confused. "Did you lose your ring?"

I blanked for a second before realizing Ren was holding the hand that usually held the ring. Quickly, I shook my head. "No. I didn't want it to get lost or dirtied during the war, so I buried it underneath our bed. Turns out there's a loose floorboard under there that's just the right size to hold a small box."

Ren paused, bringing us to a gentle stop. I waited patiently for him to sort through his thoughts. There was a blur of black far to my right, far enough that I only saw it out of the corner of my eye. I decided not to acknowledge it.

Finally, My King spoke. "Why?"

"Why what?" 

"Why do you care so much about it?"

It took me a second to answer. "Well, first of all, it was a really expensive ring. And secondly . . . I don't know. It means a lot to me, I guess." Bashful, I kept my gaze far away from Ren.

"Aw, really?" 

I swore Ren's voice raised an octave. I glanced back over at him to see that he was absolutely beaming at me, and also bouncing excitedly on his toes. 

"Well— yeah," I stammered, "it was really— uh, it was really sweet of you to gift it to me . . . mi'lord."

Ren took my other hand in his and forced eye contact, speaking so softly it could be a crime. "I gave the ring to you as Ren, not as your King."

All I could manage to say was, "Oh."

Ren squeezed my hands gently, with a smile to match. "Just remember that, okay?"

I couldn't think enough to speak, so I just nodded. 

As we continued to walk around, my brain whirred. What did all of that mean? Was Ren trying to hint at what I thought he was hinting at? Was the ring a gift of love, or just one of friendship?