The Girl with the Fire Heart
Chapter 9

Damon takes another step forward. His entire body is drenched in sweat. He's only standing at the door of the ballroom. There is no reason for him to be sweating this much. He knows, with a quick glance at his father, that the real reason he is soaked is because of the girl standing before him. Something is happening underneath that steel heart that she claims is her birth heart. No one else in the room is as keenly aware of that as him.

But this isn't the only strange thing happening. There is something happening to him as well. He can feel the water in his heart begin to rage against his chest. Damon, much like Valentina, also wears a necklace that has a small amount of water to represent the element his heart is made out of.

The water inside the necklace is swishing wildly, desperate to leap outside of its constraints and straight towards Valentina. Step by step, the water inside of Damon grows stronger, from small waves to a raging sea. He can see Valentina's face is flush with heat.

Valentina watches as Damon inches closer to her. She doesn't know why, but she can feel the flames inside of her dimming again. She knows it's nothing like before. Her heart and the flames in her necklace are not being reduced to embers, simply settling, as if they had never died out in the first place.

When Damon is sure she won't run again, he stands in front of her and places his hands on her wrists, dragging her attention from his feet to his face. She locks eyes with him, her eyes welling with tears. Not one to show such emotion in a crowd of people, she shuts her eyes, hoping to keep the tears at bay.

Damon tugs on her wrists again and guides her out to the entrance, her two friends in tow. No one says a word as they make their way out of the ballroom and into the hallway leading to the grand foyer. Damon gently releases Valentina and steps outside, hailing a carriage and instructing its driver to take all three girls back to the shepherd’s home.

Once tucked inside the carriage, Valentina finally opens her eyes. She looks out of the open door and sees Damon gazing at her with something akin to adoration. He leans down and presses a small kiss to her forehead. When he straightens out, he finds himself amused at her shocked expression and he is surprisingly delighted that he can make her feel this way.

Damon tells the girls to get home safely. He steps away from the open carriage door, just beyond so he can close it. Before he does, he hears Valentina wish him a happy birthday. He looks at her, warmth filling his chest at her intentionality and thanks her with a soft smile on his face. Callie speaks up.

She tells the nobleman’s son that Valentina will be celebrating her 25th birthday in two days’ time. She's extending an invitation for him to join them at the shepherd’s home for a small gathering. Damon's grin grows wider. He assures the girls he'll be there, excitement filling him at the prospect of finally getting close to the woman who runs rampant in his dreams.

Finally, he closes the door and sends them on their way. Once inside, he is met with the apprehensive face of his father and mother. He reassures his parents, telling them everything is okay and that they should send everyone home. He is done with the festivities and he is going to bed. Before he ascends the stairs, he hugs his parents and kisses his mother on the cheek.

When Valentina makes it home, she goes straight to the barn. She stands for a moment, standing in the middle of the space and looking at her reflection in the mirror she fixed that is hanging on the wall next to her workstation.

She stares at the necklace, at its steel walls, how the edges of it have wilted from the heat of the flames inside. She lets her mind wander to Damon, the way that he knew just what she needed in that moment. She allows her thoughts to travel to the boy with the birch wood heart. She remembers the way he ran from her, feared her, made her feel helpless for being born with this element she never asked for.

She thinks of the boy with the bronze heart. The way that he pretended to truly care for her. The way that he tried to manipulate her status for his selfish purposes.

And then she thinks of the boy with the tanzanite heart. He had been so dedicated to her. She had been dedicated to him. She should have known things with him were too good to be true. She wished, more than anything, that she never met him. She knows how selective the people with tanzanite hearts are. She knows she could have never convinced them to break their long, outstanding, and archaic rule of marrying within their own heart type. Yet she hoped. And when her hope died, it had driven her to barricade her flames into something she no longer found useful.

She makes up her mind. She is going to destroy this cage. She's tired of the walls she has built. They only confined her more than the people in the village who ostracized her. She walks to the workstation, picks up a mallet and lays her necklace on the table.

She begins to hammer away at the weaker parts of the steel contraption. She repeats the motion over and over, until finally a wide enough opening appears. She quickly grabs another tool, peeling at the edges of the cage until she can rip the first piece off.

The second the flames in her necklace are hit with fresh air, they whoosh up and towards the shepherd’s daughter’s face. She barely even flinches. Instead, she feels free for the first time in a long time. She works even harder, tears streaming down her face, pulling at the other piece, breaking it off until the whole of the necklace is free.

She sits in the workstation, sobbing, clutching her necklace in her hands, happy to be the girl with the fire heart again. She isn't sure how long she sits there, tears streaming down her face. But she knows she's there long enough for the phantom weight of the steel cage to finally ease, for her body to grow weary from crying, for her eyes to become puffy. Valentina stays at her workstation in the barn long enough for a genuine smile, to fill her face. She feels a lightness seep into her bones despite her exhaustion. She stands and makes her way back to the house, falling into a deep sleep, her first one in ages.

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