The Girl with the Fire Heart
Chapter 13

Damon turns swiftly where he stands, looking over at her as if he can't fathom the idea of her being in the same place with such vermin for people. He sits slowly, shaking his head in yet another display of refusal.

“I can’t let you do that. I won’t let you do that. You have no idea what these people are like. They will eat us alive if they get even a whiff that this performance of a match is just that, a performance. No. No, I won’t go and you won’t either,” he declares.

Valentina is about to provide reassurances when Carmen quietly says, “Then make it a real one.”

Everyone turns to Carmen. With conviction in her eyes, she turns her gaze on the young couple.

“Why should it be a performance of a match when it can be a real one? Truthfully, you two are more a match than your father and I were and we share the same blend of hearts. You have had more of an opportunity to learn from one another. Your father and I had the first years of marriage to do that. No one is saying you have to declare your undying love for one another, although I’m sure with enough time, that may very well happen. But if your intentions towards one another are declared, then attending this blessing ceremony will be as if you are announcing to every kingdom, not just the one, that you are wholly and truly committed. And frankly, it is better to be committed to one another than to people who could never understand the gift you two have and might later resent you for it.”

Valentina is stunned. This simple invitation has somehow turned into her future being decided. Although, is it? Does she truly like him enough to allow her intentions to be declared? Does she know enough about him to want him to have intentions towards her? All these questions and the only answer she could hear resounding in her mind is yes. Yes, this invitation has allowed her future to be decided. Yes, she really does like Damon enough to allow her intentions to be declared. And yes, she does know him enough to want him to have intentions towards her. She knows with absolute certainty, if nothing else, that she does want him to have intentions towards her.

Valentina looks over at Damon from beneath her lashes, unsure if what his mother said has resonated with him as much as it did with her. Damon can feel the stares of everyone on him.

He wants to give an answer. He wants to tell them that he's been looking for the perfect time to declare his intentions to Valentina. He wants to tell them that he already spoke to her father, that he already made the necessary plans to tell her in a grandiose manner. He wants to tell them that he's been waiting for the start of the summer months to come around, that there were a few short weeks left and then his time would come. He wants to tell them and he can't.

He doesn't want to give up everything he has worked so hard to keep a surprise. He wants to surprise her. But this forsaken invitation. It is forcing him into a spot he doesn't want to be in. He knows he has a choice to make: lie and say he doesn't want to declare his intentions, or do it now, elaborate plan be damned.

He drops his head, tucking his chin into his chest. Without lifting his head, he says, “Can you give us a moment?”

The nobleman and his wife stand silently and gracefully leave the couple, giving them the privacy they need.

Damon stands without looking at Valentina. There is so much he wants to say and he isn't sure where to start. He knows he has to say something or she'll fill the silence with her assumptions, yet not voicing a single one. Before he says anything, he turns back to look at her and knows instantly that flowery words will not suffice.

“I like you,” he stops himself. He lets the words hang in the air. allowing them to sink in with total sincerity. Her eyes widen at his words, and he smiles softly before speaking again.

“I had this plan. I was going to wait until the summer months and ask you to join me for a small getaway at the training oasis. I was going to naturally let you assume that we were only going there to train. When we arrived, I was going to have had the oasis filled with your favorite flowers. They would be a contrast to all the greenery, to the summer season, but then again, you yourself are a contrast to everything I have ever known having lived on this side of life. It would exemplify you, the black roses, looking like scorched earth. As you took in the scene, the way you do with every place you go to no matter how familiar it is to you, I would stand there with a bouquet in hand. When you finally looked at me with that curious gleam in those beautiful brown eyes, I would have had this entire speech planned out about all the things I know about you, all the things I admire about you. I can still do that, by the way, if you truly want to know. But my desire was to wow you with all the things I noticed that I’m sure you didn’t even realize about yourself. Then, I would reach for your hands, pull you as close as I did when we first danced together and I would tell you that your father was so ecstatic about our match, he gave me his blessing before I could finish asking him. I would tell you that your mother was already planning our wedding and was waiting for you to come home bursting with the news of our proper courtship. And when I was sure you understood the sincerity with which I was speaking, I would promise you all the things no one has ever promised you before. I would make pre-wedding vows, assurances that I would have no intentions of ever breaking. I would soothe all your fears, doubts, and anything else that could stop you from feeling as if you weren't worthy of being loved.”

Damon paces as he delivers his speech. He isn't sure if telling her all of this is a good idea, but he can't stop himself now that he's started. He makes his way over to her and sits on the bench, tilting his body to face hers. When he finally looks at her, he can see the gleam of tears lining her eyes, almost waiting for permission to fall.

“I truly do like you. In fact, I am falling in love with you. And I know that you have struggled to replace someone who could love you despite the fire in your heart. But please understand that while I like you for the jokes you tell, for the sarcasm that seems to drip from your lips at a moment’s notice, for the way that you tenderly love your mother and father, I am falling in love with you because of the fire in your heart. For so long, there have been too many people allowing you to believe that you would be more complete without the very thing that gives you life. But I replace that you are more complete with the fire in your heart blazing, than you are with its embers reduced to almost ashes and a steel cage hindering it from ever growing again,” he grasps her hands before continuing. “I may not have a bouquet of roses today, I may not have taken you to the oasis with the black rose petals lining the edges of the clearing and delivered a well thought-out speech about how much I see you, but the purpose of both this moment and what that moment would have been remain the same. I am declaring my intentions to you, because you are more than just the girl with the fire heart and the shepherd’s daughter to me. You are Valentina, and I am falling in love with you because of it.”