Book 1: Youth of Delarn

Chapter 17: Concord

Delarn had taken a nap and taken the time to put on clean clothes since that morning, but she still felt incredibly nervous. She had even bathed, but was sure she would still smell like blood or the sewer or the mustiness of the library. Thinking back to when Daniel had found her, she was sure she must have stunk, and it made her cheeks burned. She kept thinking back to when he had invited her in, and her mind kept making it out as if his smile had been cruel and teasing and that he had, in fact, been making fun of her the entire time. She especially imagined it when he had come out to comfort her and invite her to this—this meeting to discuss differing views on religion.

The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to go and the more she wanted to turn back around and do anything else. She remembered the sheep again and thought about going to hide amongst them. It was something she would often do when she was a child, when she didn't want to do something, but her dad would always find her. That's the only reason she didn't do it now.

It wasn't logical.

She didn't think Daniel was, either. No matter how many times she tried to think he was making fun of her, she only realized he wasn't. It made little sense to her. There was no reason he shouldn't. She turned to head back the way she came but nearly ran right into him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't think you would make such an abrupt turn." His face was brushed with pink.

"Salvikans are known for being unpredictable," she said, her face reddening as she hadn't intended to let that slip, though he looked both embarrassed and impressed by it. She didn't understand why he would. She was still thinking about his nice and clean face and his innocent, honest eyes.

There was absolutely no way he was making fun of her when he had invited her, and that made her want to talk to him and spend time with him more. He definitely hadn't been.

"You clean up well," he said, wanting to compliment her, but she could tell he thought he said something wrong as he added quickly, "not that I think you weren't cleaned up before, but I especially like how you look now."

She felt both flattered and red in the face as she answered, "That's very nice of you to say. I think you look nice. Want to get ice cream with me?" She was already turning to go back to the shop, waiting for him to catch up so they could walk side by side.

She felt so aloof and unbothered, which surprised her; she could feel her heart pounding. Thinking she was handling it well was almost worse because she was now worried about saying something wrong that would scare him off.

"That would be nice. What kind of ice cream do you like?" He asked, and it wasn't an awkward question, but it took her a moment to figure out what that meant.

She then said, "I haven't had ice cream, so I guess I'll find out. Are we going to consider this a special occasion?"

She grinned and felt incredibly stupid, but he laughed and answered, "I really didn't consider that. I hope it wasn't bad of me to invite you here." He was tugging his collar, and it drew her eyes. It was only after he jerkily dropped his hand that she realized it was a nervous tick.

"Not at all," she said, and it didn't feel like her own voice as she added, "I think it was sweet of you—like ice cream." She felt dumb again. Hadn't she just said she never had ice cream? She berated herself but allowed it was logical to know ice cream was meant to be sweet.

"Oh, yeah?" He stuttered, and she didn't know why he seemed so nervous. She wondered if she was making some sort of mean face. She knew when she was talking to other people she spoke with sharp words and showed her teeth more than smiled. She tried to smile better.