Sapphire had never really eaten right. Even when her mother was pregnant with her, she hadn't gotten proper nourishment. All through the months of pregnancy, her mother couldn't stand to eat fruit, or berries, or vegetables, only meat. And when the child was born, she kept those tastes. But eating was in no way the only thing that distinguished her from other children.
Unique to her was the fact that, though she had been born months premature in a time that even a baby born on time had no guarantee of living, she survived, and on practically no nourishment. A side affect of that was her size, though she ate practically nothing in the first several years of her life, she grew quickly, and within months was walking and talking. Although, the ability to talk did not make one desirous to talk, for the new parents soon realized that their little jewel had no desire to communicate with them, even though she was able to more quickly and more easily than any child her age, she refused to speak, and it was all her parents could do to make her say a simple sentence.
That left her by the time she reached ten. Though she still refused to eat on occasion, she made herself more often than not. Also ended was her period of great growth, she reached two inches short of five feet that year, and did not grow more than an inch over the rest of her life. About this time her parents realized also her amazing voice, and trained her in the ways of music, buying tomes and scrolls and books all centred around it. So she grew intellectually rather than physically in those years of life.
When Sapphire turned twelve, her father left them to go overseas and help run a colony in the newly discovered land across the sea. Before he left, he gave her a small dagger, telling her that she was old enough now to want to use it, and would be old enough soon to need to use it. In the next weeks, she quickly discovered that she had practically no aptitude for knife throwing, this was a thing that, like her shooting lessons, she needed training in.
Her father being as important as he was, her family had no shortage of money, and within a week of her decision, she had a tutor from the nearby village who would help her with it. Her mother also agreed to it because, without a man in the house, she had no way to perform the things that required heavy lifting, such as plowing the land near the house that was being used to have quick and easy access to fresh vegetables. And so it was quickly decided that the boy from the city would be brought down to the nearby village next month to stay with them, and he would be paid a large sum once a month, and he would be given a ride home with Sapphire's mother when she went to town to get fresh vegetables and whatever else they needed, and he would be allowed to stay there for a few days.
Sapphire, having only seen a very few people in her life, either her parents or their acquaintances, wanted very much to meet this person before he moved in. "Of course," her mother told her, "he won't be here until next month, you have a long time to wait until you meet him." Her daughter, however, was nowhere near satisfied with this, and so after a fortnight of begging, it was agreed, yes she could come with her mother when she went into town.
The next fortnight, of course, was spent in much excitement, so much so that her mother threatened to kick her out of the house if she "didn't calm down, sit down, and help with those onions." Sapphire promptly calmed down, sat down, and helped with those onions, waiting until the very last one had been chopped before jumping up again and asking, "What does he look like, do you think?"
Sighing, her mother slid down into her seat, defeated.
Finally, the awaited day arrived, but it seemed to Sapphire that her mother did not want to get help after all, for she wasted half the morning doing what Sapphire would describe as a waste of time, and her mother would describe as necessary preparation prior to leaving. Either way, they did leave eventually, but by that time both of them needed to talk to someone different, so perhaps this person would be perfect for them.
