Karena wasn't the only one who was confused, as Zacharias' thoughts of her were jumbled up too.
At first she had been so open, talking to him with a delicate smile on her face, and then the night of the Fire Festival, it seemed like she was so distant and shy, as she had closed herself off from him and wasn't fully willing to share everything with him. This caused him to come to two conclusions; either she disliked him a little, or she had something to hide.
It couldn't have been the latter, because she had told the truth, whether or not she was sharing with him willingly. Which only meant that she disliked him. In what way? He wasn't sure, but he would figure out how to eliminate that dislike in order for the two of them to become closer. For he had surprisingly developed feelings for her that could only be confirmed once she would agree to spend more time with him.
Luckily an opportunity arose sooner than he thought, as he had spotted her at the Marketplace, speaking with the produce man.
She had her hair styled back into the half updo, but instead of a bun, it was a sort of ponytail. He could also see that the hair that fell behind her back ran in small wavy rivers until they ended at the middle of her back. This time she was wearing a wide collared brown dress that ended just a few inches above her ankles, with puffed shoulders, which were tied underneath with dark red ribbon and were widened at the wrists. Underneath that was a tanned yellow dress, which was slightly longer than the brown one, as it was visible from the collar, sleeves, and bottom. Around her hips was a wide corset belt, on her feet were brown flats, and around her neck was a dark red ribbon choker. She had kept the locket tied around her next from last time.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Zacharias could hear the man saying as he approached. "You see all this?! If I agreed to sell your fruit on top of this, then I'd have too much fruit to handle! So go away, and take your fruit with you!"
"What is going on here?" Zacharias asked with concern as he stepped in, causing Karena to jump with surprise.
"S-Sir Barnham!" she said, blushing lightly. "I did not see you there…"
"I am glad to see that you decided to venture out sooner." The Inquisitor stated in response, showing her a charming smile. "And you took my advice to heart too."
"I had already been thinking of doing this from the beginning; you just gave me the means to go through with it." Karena replied, refusing to give him the satisfaction of giving him credit. "Anyway, I have brought some fruits to sell to this man, but he refuses to even give our deal a chance."
"Why is this so?" Zacharias asked the produce man. "Surely it would be easier for you to get as much produce as you can from areas closer to here."
"That would be true, but not today." The man replied. "She'd have to beat my main shipment or I'd end up with more fruit than I can handle. I'd have to give away fruit for free, and that's not good for business!"
"Why not cancel your main shipment?" Karena asked further.
"That's just the thing." The produce man answered with a shrug. "No one knows where the shipment comes from. It's just there when I start my day. So I'm sorry but that's how it is."
Karena thought for a moment, hoping to plan something to do to make him reconsider. When nothing came up, she sighed and went to one of the baskets in the back of the cart, before coming back up to the man with an apple.
She then offered it to him humbly and said, "Please take this as an apology for taking up your time sir." – the man received it casually – "Thank you for at least hearing me out. Goodbye then…"
The produce man watched silently as she walked back to her horse and started to lead it away. Zacharias started to catch up to her, and that's when the man stared down at the humble offering that he was given.
He looked it over with narrowed eyes and then shined it a little with his shirt before he took a bite. Instantly his eyes widened with surprise, as he then began to call Karena back. She quickly returned, asking the man if she had left anything behind.
"No, no. I was just wondering…" the produce man pondered aloud before he went on to ask. "Is this apple, by any chance, used in Patty's fritters?"
"Oh, yes." Karena answered truthfully. "She uses all of my fruit in her baking and pastries."
"No wonder the old girl hasn't been buying from me lately." The man said with a chuckle. "Tell you what; I'll make an exception for you. I take this basket off your hands, put out some advertising and free samples, and if your fruit sells out by the end of the day, then we have a deal."
At the mention of this Karena's face lit up with a bright smile, as she agreed and proceeded to give the produce man one of her big baskets of fruit. "Thank you so much for giving me this chance sir!" she exclaimed, brimming with happiness.
"It's no problem at all Miss." The produce man said in reply, shaking the back of his head. "Hey, give Patty my regards."
Karena agreed to do so, before saying her goodbyes and starting on her way to the bakery to give Patty her fruit for the day's baking. She was giddy for a while, until she realized that Zacharias was still by her side, walking with her to her next destination.
"Th-Thank you…" she uttered shyly, blushing all the while.
"What for?" the Inquisitor asked. "I did nothing. It was all you."
"Well yes, but you were the one who suggested I go to the produce man in the first place." Karena explained. "And for that, I thank you, Sir Barnham."
"Please, I was just doing my duty in helping you Miss Edwards." Zacharias replied, red tingeing his cheeks ever so lightly. "It is what any knight would do…"
The two then spent the rest of their walk in silence, until it came to them saying their goodbyes in front of the bakery.
"Miss Edwards, it is my wish to no longer be formal with you…" Zacharias suddenly told her as they came to a stop at the storefront. "May I…call you by your first name instead…Karena?"
At his utterance of her first name, Karena's heart stopped as she gazed at him with shock while a dark pink blush crept up on her cheeks. For a moment she was speechless and then she answered with, "Y-Yes I guess…I-I don't see why you sh-shouldn't…"
"Farewell then…Karena…" he said softly.
"Y-Yes…Goodbye…" she replied, still surprised and a little shaken up by what just happened.
Zacharias then walked away, leaving her with her scrambled thoughts. Once he had gone, she turned to her cart and took a deep breath to calm herself down.
'Why does my heart betray me so?!' she thought indignantly, holding a hand to her chest. 'I cannot feel the way I think I do for this man! Not when he-!'
She stopped, feeling the tears brimming up in her eyes and quickly blinked them away before telling herself that she needed to hide these feelings away forever. Unfortunately it was too late for that, as Zacharias was more determined now than ever to befriend her, now that he could call her by her first name.
He seemed to be everywhere Karena was, and everywhere she was going to be. She understood that it was quite a small village, but somehow she knew that he had planned to be where she was. Whether it was the Marketplace, on a walk in town, or even the Library, he would always seek her out and made sure to say hi before trying to make small talk with her. At first she had tolerated it for a couple of weeks, but as it went on longer than that, it was getting harder for her to keep the feelings that she had bottled up. So much so that she could bear it no longer and lashed out at him.
"Look, I appreciate your kindness, but I need some time away from you!" she uttered loudly, losing control of her words after he had greeted her on her way from her home to the main street. "Maybe even forever, because the truth is that I never even liked you in the first place!"
Zacharias' expression changed immediately, as if he had been petrified with shock and a broken heart, and that's when Karena had realized that she had made a terrible mistake. She gasped softly with sorrow filled eyes as her hands covered her mouth before she quickly went on to say, "I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean-."
"I know very well what you meant…" Zacharias told her stiffly with a hand held up to stop her from continuing. "I shall do as you wish and leave you…Goodbye…Miss Edwards…"
These words cut deep into Karena, as she could only watch the Inquisitor grow smaller as he walked further and further away from her….
Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I had to put it in, as this and the next chapter would be way too long for my liking. But don't worry, as I am one chapter ahead in writing so there will be no delay in putting up the next chapter! Just wanted to go ahead and put that out there for you guys, and thanks for reading, favoriting, alerting, and reviewing!