Life changed for Seble in one day. One, ordinary day, which became something quite out of the ordinary. However, to give more perspective of that day, one would need to know of the events that happened the night before. Seble had stayed in the barn awhile after her father came back in. She had felt heartbroken from watching her dog's death. (See The Man for more information) As she walked back into her house, her mother and father were fighting. It was not an unusual sight for Seble to see. Typically Seble just slipped past the two and hid in her room.
However, this time her father grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him before she could escape into her sanctuary. His gaze stern on her as he snarled out, "Seble, we need ta talk to ya."
Margaret, Seble's mother, however snarled out, "Rick, stop this. Save this for another day, or when she's ready."
Those words received Seble's mom a strike on the cheek. It was typical for that when her father was in that mindset. Seble know her dad loved her mom, but he still had such terrible tendencies such as that. Which he would do to both Seble and her mother. Though save for a bruise and a broken spirit, they were never harmed any worst. In retrospect of the rest of the world, Seble had to admit her life wasn't the worst thing in the world. But she still hated it in every way.
What her father had to say, however, made her hate it far more. His words echoed out as he said, "Is time ya got married, kid. I arranged ye a husban' who got 'is own farm now 'n can support ya 'n ya can give him kids."
Seble always wanted kids, but the thought she would be married and sold like some kind of goat so she could breed made her anger. Determination crossed her face as she glared at her father, the golden specks in her dark brown eyes glowing with anger and hate. He killed her best friend, her dog, and then he had the audacity to say something like that. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't take him anymore. She yelled out, probably the first time she yelled in her life to be honest;
"How dare you!? I am not some creature you can trade. Fuck off, dad." As she spoke she yanked her arm out of his grasp.
This of course earned her a slap on the face, "Curse ya Seble, why can' ya behave like a normal lass?"
"Because I'm me. Shouldn't that be enough? Why can't you just leave me alone? Let me choose for myself?"
"'Cause ya is young, Seble. Ya only ninteen. Is time ya get your own life. But I know ya gonna make a mistake 'n end up 'urt. So I'm protecting ya."
"Stop, stop protecting me. Let me make my own mistakes."
Her father grabbed her once more, throwing her into her bedroom as he snarls, "Ya gonna have ta learn some manners, kid. No man's gonna love ya if ya behave like this. You got no choice, yer weddin' is in five days. Whether ya like it or not."
With that, the door slammed in Seble's face as she just kicked her bed before landing face first on the blanket draped over the hay mattress. As she laid there, she whispered a promise to herself into her sheets, "I'm not letting this happen."
The night passed and morning came. Seble woke up as the sun's light began to peek in through the window, dressing herself in her old, dark dress. First she set up a fire in the fireplace to begin to warm up the house. Then, as she slipped out into the frost covered morning, she slid her hood over her head to ward off the frozen air that wished to chill her to the bone. She made her way to the barn, though she avoided entering it. She never wanted to enter it again, instead she just grabbed the bucket and made her way down the hill.
First chore of the day for Seble was always to gather water before her parents awoke. She would then be fed breakfast as her dad told her next set of chores. As the water flowed from the spring into the bucket, Seble considered not going in for breakfast but merely wait for her dad to come outside afterwards, but that would get her into bigger trouble.
She went back to the house to find her mother up, beginning to prepare breakfast. The house wasn't as cold as when Seble left, allowing her to pull her hood down as she set the bucket of water onto the table. Margaret nodded to her daughter, offering her a smile as she said, "Thank you, Seble."
Seble turned her gaze to her mother, a soft smile slipping over her face as she said, "Thank you mom."
Margaret kissed her daughter's forehead softly as she reached for the pot. She then carried it to the fire to let it heat up. Seble rested by the table to watch her mother prepare breakfast, the house remaining silent and warm at that moment. The women were up as Seble's father snoozed on till breakfast was ready.
After breakfast, Seble was instructed to go to a nearby farm that her father had made a deal with a pound of goat meat for some corn. So of course, Seble collected her basket and made off to the farm. She knew the owner of the farm, he was quite a friendly man and Seble had known him since she was little. He was like an uncle to him. She slipped out to his nearby field, which was close to the man's house, she noticed a hooded figure on the far end of the field.
The first thought that slipped in her head was to ignore the man, but Seble had a problem with curiosity and bravery. Nothing seemed to scare her from an outside perspective. So she walked to this man, hostility in her gaze as she demanded him for a reason of his presence upon a farm he did not own.
He looked at her, his eyes under his hood holding a beautiful glow of light green in contrast of the rest of his dark attire. However, Seble kept a stern, demanding expression. Though the question he asked took Seble back a bit. What an odd question it was indeed.
"How would you poison these crops?"
Seble's gaze turned to the crops he spoke of, her mind immediately flicking to an answer as she unconsciously says it out loud. Though the moment her brain caught up to her mouth, she immediately regretted it and covered up by telling the man to leave.
He interested her, and she was curious. There initial conversation was short, however he left with, "If you want to see the world, then follow me."
'No' Seble initially thought to herself with his offer. But then the recent events of her life made it more appealing. So she did.
Her time with the man became to change her life. She never went back home. And she learned to fight, to hunt, and to be herself in her own way. She began to explore, even into the Lone Lands. That is when she came up with one of her first lessons.
She sat in the house she had moved into, a paper and a pencil. Seble couldn't write or read, even when she tried to learn she couldn't figure it out. But she did learn to draw. So he began to draw a creature she had learned about. Her pencil moving across the paper smoothly as it left the dark trace behind her. She shaded the shadows darker and left the highlights light.
As she finished the drawing she smiled to herself. And as the dim light of the fire illuminated her drawing, she whispered to herself, "Don't piss a warg off."
