the Box

Sailors told stories about Daisen Bay and the woman you might meet on the shores. Her skin was smooth, golden from the sun and kissed with salt. Dark hair flowed around her shoulders, but was more often restrained into a woven plait. Most agreed that she was dressed in the faded and contoured blues of the Daisen nymphs. Some sailors said she carried four swords and six daggers, a few said she had a spear, others that she carried no large weapons at all. No one could say for sure whether she was a nymph, or just a girl who lived by the sea. They said that if she found you alone on the beach, she would kill you. Though how this rumor started no one is quite sure since the men who told it, were, in fact, alive. A few of the older sailors claimed that she was the daughter of Lord Caspian, the great noble who was killed by the Sorceress during the Dark Time. Some said that was impossible.
She was not always there, otherwise there would be no legend about her.
The strangest story about her, though, was told by a young man. Once, when he had gone ashore on the legendary beach to fill the ships casks with, he stumbled into a hole. This in itself was nothing special, but the hole thunked with promise beneath his feet. The Sailor bent to investigate the unusually hollow earth. In a moment he got his fingers under the lip of a box. He pulled it out of the hole and brushed it clean. It was white and bound with some metal that had seen better days. It was latched, but not locked, and he began to worry at the latch—which was stiff with age and little use. There was a peculiar, gentle, thumping sound coming from inside the box. A sharp cry startled the Sailor. When he looked up he was gazing along a gleaming blade into the deep brown eyes of a young woman. She rested her slim dagger under his chin and her free hand reached protectively toward the box.
In spite of the blade, he was not afraid. “Hello.”
“Let it go, sir.”
He let go of the box.
She curled her fingers around it and pulled it to herself.
“What is in it?” he asked.
She straightened, taking herself and the dagger away from Sailor’s face. She looked at him for a moment before speaking. “Who are you?”
“Tremlin, a sailor on the WindRunner.”
“I often feared someone would find this box.”
“What’s in it?”
She smiled. “Something many have sought, but belongs to me. As much as I wish it didn’t sometimes.”
To Tremlin’s surprise she opened the box and reached inside. The gentle thumping grew louder. A warm rose light emanated from her hands as she lifted the thing from the white box. The glow pulsed familiarly in her hands. She smiled again at the bewildered sailor. “Should your heart ever be broken, Tremlin, be glad, at least, that it is in your chest. You cannot live without it. And should any offer you the chance to bury it…don’t.”
Then she stood, and taking her beating orb she walked away.