Anita considered the box which sat on the table before her.

It was constructed of lacquered cherry wood, and had once born gems, though they had since been removed. From the scratch marks on the box’s surface, the removal had been done rapidly, or simply without care.

Her measurements revealed it to be a foot in length, six inched in width, and five in depth. Those numbers were exact, indicating that it had been crafted that way purposefully and with some care, possibly indicating arcane significance. The hinges were hidden inside the box, but there was a clasp on the front, which was made of gold.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of the box was that she could not open it. The clasp was fitted with a lock, but it had been bashed out of shape, apparently by the frustrated previous owner. Even if she had the key, which she did not, she would have some trouble getting it inside the lock itself.

The box had thrown back her every attempt to analyze its contents. She had used mundane means by shaking it, to see if it made sound (it didn’t). Smelling the key hole, to see it the contents produced any odor (they hadn’t). And had even stopped just short of licking the lacquer, when she realized that wouldn’t tell her anything.

After her senses failed her, she reached out to her goddess for help. She had prayed for the past half an hour and gotten no response.

Fifteen minutes later Anita had tasted the lacquer, and found that she was right. It didn’t give her any information.

She felt like crying, and even started to, before deciding that she needed to be strong. It would look silly, her crying over a box.

The box was the least of her problems, and she had felt like crying before she’d even found the box. Since finding it though, the container had seemed to become a focus for all her frustration.

A rumor had reached her shrine’s noble patron, Simon Half-man, that a group of hunters had crossed the border from the Alfsteppe. Supposedly they were looking for elven runaways in the Republic. The Baron had sent word to be on the lookout for strange high elves.

He had meant it as a kindly warning, Anita told herself.

Perhaps she was right, but still, the very thought of a slave hunter frightened her so badly it reduced her to shaking. Even now, her hands quivered.

Anita resolved to do something. She wrapped her hands around the box, and picked it up to send it crashing back down to the table. “Open godsdamn you!”

The box remained as it had before she smashed it on the table.

Then she decided that maybe she would cry after all.

An hour of crying over it had not compelled the box to open either, and it still sat on the table.

Anita decided to leave it for a time and go outside for a smoke.

The summer evening was pleasant. In the midst of the city, with the surrounding press of humanity, the heat quickly became stifling. Out here in the Whitewood, the shade of the surrounding tall pines kept the woods cool even during the day. The incense she burnt at the shrine kept the worst of the biting bugs away.

Sitting on the front step of the shrine, she lit her pipe and considered where the hunters could be. It was unlikely they were after her in particular, she told herself. After all, she was neither the first nor the last low elf to flee the oppression of the Alfsteppe.

Her people were nothing more than slaves to the high elves. Things to be sold, or abused, or even killed on a whim. As a child it had all seemed so natural to her. The way the free humans pitied her, so strange.

I was not allowed to think differently.

Only now that she had fled did she have sufficient distance to see the cruelty inherent in a system where a reasoning creature could be treated as merchandise.

Anita remembered her friends still living in the east. She hoped the masters had not punished them, when they found that she had slipped away into human lands.

They certainly did.

It was a secret she refused to speak of- as if acknowledging it would suddenly make it true, when previously it had not been so. Still the likelihood haunted her.

Her flight would encourage other acts of rebellion. That was something that her owner, nor any other, could not tolerate. Slavery was predicated on the foundation that the masters was superior and undeniable, every crack in that foundation undermined the entire institution.

She continued to brood for another half of an hour before her pipe-weed ran dry. Then she went inside to bed.

The next morning Anita woke in a brighter mood than the previous day. Over her morning tea, she decided that she would go to visit her friend Rosa in town. It was a market fair day, and perhaps some company and shopping would cheer her up.

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She did her chores quickly after breakfast. Feed the animals, water the garden, do the wash, and put out the laundry to dry in the sun. Everything was done with plenty of time to spare, and she saddled up her pony to leave. Before she left, she decided to take the box with her.

Perhaps Rosa would have some idea what to do with it.

Really, Anita just wanted to be rid of the thing. She supposed that she could just put it back where she found it, but that felt as though she was evading her problems rather than facing them head on. If she gave the box to someone else, at least she had done something to overcome the darn thing somehow.

She hadn’t let it defeat her.

Anita listened to the songbirds composing love sonnets to one another as she went. All the local farmers greeted her cheerfully as she passed. Two decades was no time at all to an elf, but the humans had already accepted her into their community completely. She was very grateful to them for it.

Anita offered the Earth Mother’s blessings to each of them.

The town of Ponte di Lo was a charming little coastal town. There was a small Velian community living there, residents who had emigrated during the Priests’ War.

Rosa was surprised by her visit, but very glad to see her. She was also a priestess of the Earth Mother; the first full-blooded human Anita had ever met. She was Anita’s first and closest friend in her new home. She was the one who had given Anita her new human name, for her new life.

Once they’d had several minutes to catch up, Anita put the box on the kitchen table and gave her friend time to examine it.

“Well,” Rosa began, at length. “There are certainly spells woven into it. I can detect their energy, but I can’t seem to identify any of them.”

“Then you’re stuck just where I am.”

“Where did you find it?”

“In the hollow of a tree. I just stumbled on it while collecting herbs. There were some signs of a campsite nearby, but it didn’t look like anyone had been there in weeks, maybe longer.”

“What a curious mystery. It looks like a jewelry box to me; I’d guess the spells are probably wards to keep the contents safe. Some looter probably just couldn’t get it open and threw it away. There was that trouble between the Baroness Stirba and Claudius several months ago. Perhaps it came from there.”

“I’ve never seen warding spells like this before.”

“Nor have I. That probably means it’s very expensive.”

Anita’s anxiety was being replaced with excitement. “Do you think there could be treasure inside?”

“I expect so. It might be very profitable to get it open. Of course, it could also be empty too, so don’t get your hopes up too high.”

“I won’t. It isn’t as though we know how to open it anyway.”

Rosa smiled. “I had a thought about that too. There just so happens to be a fortune teller who comes to the market on fair days. The fishermen have all been going to her whenever they can, and the sailor’s grapevine always knows how to sort out real diviners from the frauds. I’ve been meaning to visit her; this is as good an excuse as any.”

“Let’s go then.” Antia hopped to her feet. “We can buy lunch at a food stall there.”

The market was very busy and festive. The colorful banners on the stalls reminded her of the pavilions of an elven khan’s camp, and she began to feel a tightness in her chest until Rosa took her hand.

They ate fish pie, with plums, apples, and raisons, along with the local beer. They finished by buying a dozen fresh strawberries, dipped in honey, and sprinkled with sugar to take with them.

It was all absolutely delicious.

The fortune teller was located in a purple tent with golden frills. There were many moon signs on the exterior, and both of them were relieved to see that the occultic signs seemed genuine.

Anita froze in stark terror when she saw the woman inside.

The fortune teller was covered from head to foot in many cloth wraps of different colors, clasped together with works of silver. Only her pale eyes could be seen.

High elf!

She wanted to flee, but she could not move.

Rosa was just as surprised as she. “I didn’t know-”

The high elf seer held out an open hand to them. “There is no cause for fear. I knew you were coming. Please, you must trust me and hide quickly.”

Rosa answered for them, Anita was still too scared to speak. “What are you talking about?”

“One of the hunters you dread will be here in moments. However, if you hide behind that curtain-” She pointed to a curtain separating a private bedroom from the rest of the tent. “-I promise that you’ll be safe.”

Anita moved to obey at once.

“Is this a good idea?” Rosa asked.

“We don’t have a choice,” Anita replied. She pulled the curtain closed behind them.

Moments later, a high elven hunter entered. He was hidden under a heavy human-style cloak, but Anita knew him by his eyes. She gripped Rosa’s arm in horror.

Hunter’s senses were so keen, he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. And yet, he appeared not to notice them. Anita realizes that spells had been woven into the curtain they hid behind.

“Honor to you, priestess.” The hunter spoke in Sylvan.

“I know why you have come to me.” The seer replied in the same.

He bowed. “I am prepared to offer whatever you may ask, if you will tell me where to find the item I was sent to seek.”

“It is not for me to ask anything of you. It is not your fate to ever find this thing.”

The hunter looked shaken. Anita had never seen such a look of fear on a high elf before. “I… understand. Is there… nothing… that I can do?”

“Do not be afraid. It is not your fate to die now. Luna the Widow has severed the bond of honor tying you to the Khagan, for his act of treachery against divine law. Luna the Maiden has forged a new destiny for you to follow, in the path of the avenging son. Your father’s killer is among those sent with you to find the box.”

The hunter was astonished. “Who…?”

“His name has already been written upon your heart.”

A look of dawning realization passed the hunters face. “He will die by my hand.”

The seer nodded. “And you shall die by his. Thus, the honor of your family shall be guaranteed.”

To Anita’s utter shock, the hunter knelt to the ground and kissed the seer’s feet. “A thousand thanks to you, my Lady. I beg you for Luna’s blessing before I depart.”

“She shines on you, warrior. Go to your destiny with courage.”

Then, the hunter stood up and left.

“You may come out now.” The seer spoke in Imperial once more.

They were both so in awe that they followed her commands at once. Anita knelt before the seer. She tried to pull Rosa down with her, but the human resisted and remained standing.

The seer reached down and pulled Anita up. “It is not for you to kneel. Fate has chosen a singular destiny for you. These hunters have come for the box that you now hold.” Get rid of it! “And they are not the only ones. Many seek it, and most would gladly kill you for it.”

Anita held the box out to her eagerly. “Will you take it? Please, I don’t want any part of this.”

“Your destiny requires you to take it to the city of Whitegate. If you do that, you may leave it behind, and you will return home safely.”

“Where should I take it in the city?”

“It does not matter. So long as you take it beyond the city walls, your fate is accomplished.”

Anita looked over at her friend. “Should Rosa come with me?”

“It does not matter. Go swiftly, and do not show the box to anyone.”

“I’m coming with you.” Rosa declared.

Anita had never felt such warm kinship for another.

The seer nodded. “Then go now. The longer you hold it, the more uncertain your future becomes.”

That was all the encouragement the two of them needed, and they left at once.