val experienced the loss of his independence in stages; firstly longing to join the children in the city as they played and went home to their families, then by being prohibited from taking further classes with his peers, and finally in the moment that he 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 his first customer, immediately-

feeling a building sense of resentment towards the features he possessed that made him so sought after, and towards those that made him too plain to fit in with his elven kin. isolated, angry, and aching for freedom, the final straw came one night when his mentor attempted to force himself on val-