Ta daa! New chapter! I'm planning to leave A Tale of Sitia on hiatus because I seriously don't know how to resolve anything in that story :(. However, I want to start writing a story that I've had in my mind for about two years now, and have it all planned out.
Yelena gasped and tried to get free. How dare he? It was obvious that she didn't want to see him, and frankly, after what he did, he had no right coming to Sitia. And definitely no right to try meet her. He was the one who broke it off, he should be the one to stick to his rules.
Looking up, she was astounded to see blue eyes staring directly at her. "You! From the market? You were the one who I was writing to?"
Yelena got a good look at his face. He had strong, sharp features that resembled a stone statue, like those that he had told her he enjoyed carving. There was something cold and barely human quality that made him seem like he had no emotions, and would never feel joy, or love. She would never know that his entire face would transform when he smiled, and that his air of indifference would melt away to reveal the true man beneath. She would never know because he would never smile for her. To smile for her would be to admit weakness, in his opinion, and in his profession, that could kill a man.
"I was writing to a woman named Gale," Valek said flatly, letting go of her. "And unless I'm mistaken, your name is Yelena."
She seemed to collapse in on herself. True, she had been furious that he would come after causing her such anguish...but seeing him had given her a fragile hope, even though she would never admit that to herself. She had harboured a cherished hope, in a distant corner of her heart, that he would come for her one day. That they would finally be able to communicate in another means. Not just words on a page.
Valek watched Yelena and he felt a slight twinge of emotion but he brushed it aside. It would have been far worse he if hadn't lied to her. It would have given her more hope for something he would never be able to provide.
He turned and left. As he passed Janco, he said, " Fifty laps tomorrow."
"Yelena! I'm sorry! I truly thought that it was him, and I...I was just so tired to seeing you so depressed all the time." Nutty ran after her and gave her a comforting hug.
"It's alright, Nutty. It's just that...I just...Thank you for everything you've done, but I don't think I can stay here any longer." Yelena could feel her throat tightening and her eyes were suspiciously damp.
"If only he was the right man! I'm sure he would have leapt at the chance to be with you for even a few hours!" Nutty said in frustration.
Yelena stopped walking and there was a long silence. Baffled, Nutty stared at her cousin's back. "He was," Yelena said in a tight voice.
"He was...What are you talking about?"
"He was the right man. He was V." Yelena shook her head slowly.
Feeling apprehensive, Nutty blurted out, " But how did you know?"
"Because he was too cowardly to give us a chance. He wouldn't even try because he didn't want to risk it. And I don't deserve that. I'm leaving, Nutty and please don't follow me. I need some alone time. And I never want to see him again." And with that, Yelena walked slowly away, head bowed as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders.
Nutty could only stare after her, mouth open in shock.
Once Yelena was gone, Nutty turned to Janco. "We have to do something about this!" she said urgently.
"Why? You saw how he was. Do you really want to risk making you cousin feel worse than she already does?" Janco asked bluntly.
Nutty got a strange, panicked look in her eyes. "We have to convince him to tell Yelena how he feels!"
"Why? Obviously the man doesn't want to and I doubt anyone can make him do anything he doesn't want to do. Besides, what if...he truly doesn't feel anything for her?"
"Did you see the look on his face when he held her? If Yelena had looked up, she wouldn't be feeling this way right now. The man loves her, even if he's too thick-headed to know it or show it."
"That could be a possibility, but why are you so adamant to bring them together?" Janco asked as he slowly steered Nutty towards one of the best food stalls in the Citadel.
"Because if Yelena doesn't fall in love and marry another man before her twenty first birthday, which is the age of majority in Sitia, she'll have to marry Walnut."
To clear up a misconception: when I wrote the end of the previous chapter, I did not intend for it to be mushy. You guys were quite right in saying that it would be too sudden and I would have found it extremely unrealistic. I just meant that part as: Valek and Yelena circle around the fountain. He is curious as to why she is running away and so catches her. That's all :)
PS. Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but Walnut is NOT a first cousin of Yelena's. He is a fourth cousin, several times removed.