The Girl with the Fire Heart
Chapter 4

Time passes, the boy with the tanzanite heart having long since been married, and the shepherd’s daughter begins to feel lonely. She knows the villagers no longer recognize her. Her transformation was sudden, the steel cage the most glaringly obvious difference about her. The only people who know who she really is are her two friends and her parents.

She foolishly believed that her new identity, the protection around her heart of fire, would garner her more appreciation from the villagers. She worked so hard for so long to protect them from the dangers of what her heart, her fire, could do, but all she had done was make herself something to be feared even more.

One day, while the shepherd’s daughter is tending to the animals, her friend with the emerald heart comes running down the road to tell her of what she heard at the market.

According to the villagers, there is a wealthy and noble family moving to their kingdom. They have traveled a great distance in search of refuge from people who sought to use their son for his heart and their gain. The shepherd’s daughter asks her friend what his heart is made of.

The girl with the emerald heart says that the nobleman's family has a son whose heart is made of another element. His heart is made of water.

The shepherd’s daughter feels something give inside of her but she ignores it in favor of the tidbit of gossip. She listens as her friend tells her that he is the only person in all of the world who has a heart of water. Her friend tells his name is Damon. Her friend tells her that there is going to be a celebration of his arrival.

This makes the shepherd’s daughter pause. How could it be that she had lived in this village, in this kingdom all her life and she had never received even the slightest bit of acknowledgment the way this unknown boy would?

The shepherd’s daughter becomes furious. Her anger lasts only for a moment. She realizes that with her fire reduced to embers, she can't be angry about the celebration. She is no longer special. She is now the girl with the steel cage heart.

The day of the celebration for the nobleman's family arrives. The shepherd’s daughter isn't sure if she should attend but her friends convince her that she will be sorry if she doesn't. Ultimately, to avoid her friends’ incessant pestering, she joins them in the village square. There is a huge procession of all the notable kingdom leaders and advisors followed by the Royal Family. Seated next to the oldest princess is an unfamiliar young man.

Among the throng of people gathered on the sidelines of the square, the shepherd’s daughter can see all the young village girls waving brightly at the newcomer. He is painfully handsome. He has a solid jaw with full lips and dark eyes. His dark skin is a contrast to his pale companion. What strikes the shepherd’s daughter the most, however, is the wariness on his face.

Again, the shepherd’s daughter feels a tug in her chest, something in the steel cage gives way. Again, she ignores the feeling.

The parade of people continues and the shepherd’s daughter loses interest, pushing her way through the crowds to head back home. It isn't long before it is announced that the nobleman's family will begin making house visits. When the shepherd and his wife hear the news, they're ecstatic.

The shepherd’s daughter, however, is not. She's nervous. Twice already she has felt something in her necklace that makes her believe the fire in her heart is slowly growing again. She can't be sure, though, because she refuses to take the cage off.

It takes the nobleman's family exactly three weeks to be tired of the house visits. Or more specifically, Damon. In his last kingdom, they had gone so long without water that when they heard of what his heart was made of, they kept coming to him for help.

When the land had plenty of water to give, Damon had been so spent, he didn’t leave his bed for weeks. The people of that kingdom were too selfish to see the way they were depleting him. Eventually, the nobleman and his wife realized that their son was getting sicker and sicker every time he used his power and they decided to let the kingdom fend for itself and preserve their son.

They had heard stories of the village girl who’s heart was made of fire and had hoped that a friendship would form between the two. Having raised a son with such a unique and singular heart, they knew the struggles the family of this girl must have faced and they were hoping to make something good out of a difficult situation.

But Damon had refused. Damon was determined to stay in his kingdom. He didn’t want to travel to some distant land where there was a girl with a heart of fire. What if she tried to use his heart to her advantage? What if she was evil and corrupt? He couldn’t imagine the heavy burdens that came with the being the only person capable of saving a kingdom from another element.

Damon, however, knew staying in this kingdom would kill him before some mysterious girl ever could. So he relented. And here they are, in the same kingdom of this supposed girl with the heart of fire.

Damon had long since learned how to control and harness what his heart was made out of. The shepherd’s daughter could see that as he traveled through the towns and nearby villages when she made her trips to the various markets. She envies him. She envies the way he uses what his heart was made out of for good. Everyone adores him. Everyone fears her.

Two months after the arrival of the nobleman and his family, Damon decides to sneak out in the dead of night. He's tired of being paraded around and hopes to gain a moment of solitude. He leaps out of his window and crosses the garden before exiting the boundaries of his home onto the deserted street. Damon wanders the night, peering into closed shops, kicking rocks, and occasionally looking up into the stars.

Before long, he reaches the shepherd’s home. Damon stops at the start of the road that he is sure would lead to the house. He tilts his head, listening for any sound that would indicate someone is awake in this unfamiliar home. When he's sure he has waited long enough, he sneaks down the street and peers into the barn. There he sees the most beautiful girl he has ever laid eyes on. She is sitting alone at a workstation.

From where he is standing, he can't see what she is working on but he can see the way her head is bowed and the way her face contorts into a focused expression. For some reason, he can feel a stronger sense of heat radiating off of her. He doesn't know why that matters, but he registers this as a fact in his mind to her peculiarity.

The shepherd’s daughter is acutely aware of someone standing at the door of the barn. She had been working on modifications to the steel cage around her necklace when she felt a shift in the air. She can feel a coolness that doesn't overpower her like the winter months usually do. Instead, she feels calm and at ease. She hesitates, unsure if she should find out what has caused this change in the atmosphere.

The longer she is aware of the presence, the more it is providing her with a sense of comfort she has never felt before. When the feeling becomes impossible to ignore, she looks up. Standing at the door is the nobleman’s son. She's surprised. He stares back equally shocked.

Neither says a word. The shepherd’s daughter slowly rises from her seat, slyly hiding the materials and plans of the modifications of her steel cage and turns to face him fully.

His eyes scan her movements, like he is cataloging her every step in his mind. When his eyes land back on hers, he jolts. Before she can say anything, he turns and bolts from the door. She chases him out of the barn, past the gardens, beyond the house, up the road until she loses sight of him in the dead of night.

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