The Girl with the Fire Heart
Chapter 12

Damon shuts the barn door and looks at Valentina again. He makes his way to her, stopping when he's a few feet away.

“Come for dinner tonight,” he says.

“I can’t,” she replies.

“Why not?” he asks.

“I have nothing proper to wear,” she says.

“I asked for an informal dinner so you wouldn’t have to change. And so I wouldn’t have to either. Please, come for dinner tonight,” he says.

She stops. Valentina has been spending so much time with him, she realizes her initial assumptions about him were wrong. She would never outright admit that, but she lives content in that knowledge. She doesn't know why she is hesitant to go with him for dinner. She's been to his home before, for his birthday gala. He's been here at her home for her birthday two days after.

The nobleman and his wife had attended and they were delighted to be with her parents. They got along surprisingly well and Damon seems to have blended in with her friends equally as well as his parents did with hers. She enjoys his company. She enjoys the lessons. She especially enjoys those moments where they talk about everything and anything, just as they had in that moment in his mother’s private garden.

She studies him for a moment. He stands waiting patiently for her answer. With his hair slick against his forehead and the base of his neck, with his sweaty shirt and his trousers bunched up from squatting moments before the messenger arrived. His boots are stained with dirt, although she's sure her own boots mirror his in every way.

Standing this close to him, she can see his nose is crooked. Most likely from the time he fell and broke his nose as a child. She looks into his eyes, seeing how serious he is about dinner. She wonders if the real reason he asked for an informal dinner was because of her station. Before she has a chance to let that thought wander, she remembers his own insistence that he wouldn’t have to change.

He scrunched up his nose like the very idea repulsed him. She takes a deep breath.

“Okay, I’ll join you for dinner.” she says with a tentative smile.

Damon smiles so wide his entire face lights up with joy. Valentina is starstruck. She almost hopes that he never smiles this way at anyone else. She fears it would be less special if he did.

Together, they leave the barn and make their way to the house. They inform her parents of her whereabouts, where the shepherd waves them off without a second glance. The shepherd’s wife, Yasmin, laughs at their surprise at Jonah's behavior, leaving without another word.

Damon and the Valentina walk to the nobleman’s home, continuing their lesson as they stroll. They laugh and joke, clashing their elements together as they do. They are unaware of all the people staring as they pass. People look on as the pair are a blend of red and blue, fire and water, heat and cool.

Damon and Valentina are oblivious to the whispers that follow them as they make their way to the nobleman’s home. If they do hear, they don't care. They make it to the nobleman’s home just as the sun is setting.

They just cross the threshold when Joaquin and Carmen glide down the hallway, enthralled that their guest is Valentina, and even more so that this is the first effort their son has made to bring her along.

They usher Valentina and Damon to the private garden, forcing them on the same bench they shared at the ball.

“Before we head in for dinner, we need to discuss the invitation.” Joaquin says.

“Ah, yes, the invitation,” Damon replies. His mocking tone makes Valentina chuckle, before shoving him lightly to pay attention.

Joaquin and Carmen share a look before Carmen speaks.

“Dear, we've been invited to attend the blessing ceremony of the-” before she can finish, Damon stands and interrupts his mother.

“No,” is all he says.

“Son-” Joaquin says. Again, Damon interrupts.

“I am not going to a blessing ceremony for a child of some family who lives in some posh kingdom. We know why I received this invitation. It’s a way to match me with some overzealous daughter who has exhausted all her possibilities within her own kingdom. I refuse to be a pawn this way. I will not go,” he says.

“You must,” Damon replies. Before his son can speak again, he holds up his hand, effectively silencing his own son. “Do you honestly believe we don’t know why this invitation has arrived now instead of years ago when we first arrived here? You’re well established now. You’re more eligible now then you were when we first arrived. But that is not why we want to discuss the invitation. We wanted to discuss it with you because we think you should attend alone. If we go, it will only encourage the “overzealous daughters,” as you put it, that you are serious about being matched. Even more so, it will encourage the overzealous parents to outperform one another to gain our favor. If you go alone,-” Joaquin trails off.

Suddenly, Joaquin has a fantastic idea. And it's sitting on the bench, watching the entire encounter transpire. Before he can waste another minute, he lets the words fall out of his mouth with fervor.

“Take Valentina with you. If you go alone, it is possible that everyone will think your only interest is in the ceremony. Because your heart is made of an element, your singular attendance will make it clear you are only there to add to the blessing ceremony, not for a match. But there are some who might take advantage of that. If you go with Valentina, you will not only have a companion to attend the festivities with, but you will effectively eliminate all thought that you are there for a match. People will think you have already been matched!”

Joaquin's excitement over his new plan for his son is met with astonished silence. He looks first at Carmen, hoping she will support his idea. However, she sits with her eyes to the floor in quiet contemplation. Joaquin turns his attention to his son. His son towers over him, still standing from his previous outburst, looking at his father like he's lost his mind.

Joaquin wonders what his son is thinking, although he probably could have guessed. She is, in fact, a shepherd's daughter. This is a life they had raised their son in, and had prepared him to be a part of. She has no knowledge of this world, no understanding of its deception and is very likely naive about who can be trusted and who can't.

But when Joaquin looks over at her, he's surprised. He sees in her eyes a sort of resolve. Like she understands his son’s hesitation, or rather, outright refusal, and wants to provide him with comfort. No one says a word for a long moment. Then finally, Valentina speaks.

“I’ll go. If you’ll have me, I will go with you,” she says.