She made her way back to her barracks and closed the door. Taking the ring out of her pocket, she looked at it in her open palm for some time. She lifted and looked at the pretty little ring. It had an odd pink stone in it that was sort of shaped like a rose. Petals adored either side of the gem on the band. She wondered if it had been crafted for her, or if he'd seen it in the window like that. She placed the gem on the desk and took out her board. She sketched the little ring. She flipped to the sketch of Renwa in the bed and began to fill out details. She worked for some time, but her gaze kept returning to the ring.
With a sigh, she sat her board to the side and laid her chin on the desk. She stared at the little ring for a long time.
The door opened but she hardly noticed.
"You really shouldn't spend so much time indoors." Grogek chided. "What is that?" He leaned down and eyed the ring.
"Renwa gave it to me. Apparently, before he disappeared, he was going to ask me to marry him."
Grogek's eyebrow rose. "And now?"
She sat up and sighed. "He tells me he's over it."
"And you don't believe it?"
"Actually I do." She sighed again. "Do I hurt you?" She looked up at him. "What I do?"
He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Of course not."
For a long moment she searched his face, before turning back to the ring. "I've tried to avoid emotional attachments." She frowned. "Not mine, mind you; but other people forming emotional attachments to me. If I thought a guy was getting too clingy, I ditched him in a heartbeat. If I guessed he was the marrying kind... well, then I limited my time. I never could give them what they wanted or needed. I was a warm body to grace their bed and away I went." She flicked the little ring, making it wobble. "I never had any idea that Jon-" She corrected herself. "Renwa was considering it. Much less that he'd bought a ring and spent months trying to figure out how to convince me."
"Why did he give you the ring now?"
"Because he finally realized that I was happy."
"That doesn't make sense."
She shook her head. "He doesn't want to marry me anymore because I have found happiness. The happiness he thought I was lacking. Some part of him thought that if I married him, he could give me the happiness I was looking for. When he realized you gave it to me, he... conceded."
"He loves you." Grogek said it so simply, without any malice, that she almost wept with relief.
After a moment she took a deep sighing breath. She turned in her chair and faced Grogek. "Do you... want to marry me? Actually, that's a stupid question. I meant, like do the whole ceremony, and things like that?"
He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up from the chair. "Of course I do. I want that more than breathing."
She nodded. "I'm ok with that."
Grogek squeezed her so hard she had trouble breathing.
"Gro..." She whimpered. "Air... need."
He released her and sat her back on her feet. "You just tell me when and where and I'll make it happen."
She gawked at the tears in his eyes. "I... well, that is..." She stammered.
He laughed. Putting his finger under her chin, he raised her face. "Making you my wife is the most important thing to me. However, you do not have to do it. I get closer each day to that, and that makes me happy. I do not want you to change. Understand that. You are precious to me. I see you, I know you. Do not think for a minute that a marriage to me would be the end of what you do, or who you are. Your heart is mine, your body is yours." He kissed her softly. "Do you understand?"
"I'm starting to." She whispered.
"Maybe if I keep saying it." He whispered back. He nodded towards the desk. "What are you going to do about that?"
She frowned at it. "What do you think I should do?"
He blinked at her. "Can you repeat that? I think I may have taken a hit in training."
"Ha. Ha." She walked to the desk and picked up the pretty little ring. She looked at it with a sigh. "It's kind of strange, but I wanted to put it on a necklace. I don't even know why."
"Then do that."
"You sure?"
He shrugged. "I will give you a trinket of our love. I have no reason to be offended by someone else's trinket of affection. If he is honest, and his pursuit of you has ended, I see it as nothing but a reminder of another time."
She nodded. "I'll see the jewel crafter in the morning."
"I have one final question."
She dropped the ring back on the desk. "Yes?"
"Did you...?" He shrugged. "Have him? I'm not sure how to ask that question some days."
She looked at him askance. "You certain you have no issue with me having other men?"
"Not a bit."
She sighed and looked down at the ring. "I think the best way to describe it in this case, is that I fulfilled a fantasy for him."
"Hm."
"I think I'm a terrible person." She muttered.
He wrapped his arms around her. "Why, my love?"
She felt herself blush. "Because I thought to myself, "two of his fingers, is one of yours"."
Grogek froze, before laughing hysterically. He stumbled backwards on the bed and dragged her down with him. When he finally came up for air, he wheezed. "Then we are both bad people."
