Eilownia stared at the wooden box with a look of wonder appearing on her face.
The golden design swirled around the edges of the box that framed the scene of two lovers holding hands laid with mother of pearl made her body scream with joy.
Its rich wood coloring was polished to perfection creating an ethereal glow as she opened it up.
Emerald green velvet lined the interior that cradled various precious pieces of jewelry and coins.
Her tiny hands held up a gold necklace that sparkled with amethysts framed by diamonds. There was something about that one in particular that felt so enchanting.
She slipped the necklace over her tiny head, pulling her messy, matted brown hair out over it. The large amethyst pendant at the center of the necklace hung just above her belly button.
"I'm da pwincess and you hatta gimme gifts~" Eilownia told her plush rabbit, her smile flashing a few missing teeth.
Just then, the older maid entered the shed with a small doll made of branches, her eyes widening in horror.
"Eilownia!" She yelled in a hushed tone, as she slapped Eilownia's hand, hard.
Eilownia stared up at her confused, her lip trembling with fear.
The maid grabbed the necklace and ripped it off of her, tearing out a few strands.
Eilownia let out a yelp of pain. Tears flowed down her face as the downturned corners of her mouth deepened.
"Listen to me now and heed my warning," the maid grabbed Eilownia's arm painfully as she yanked Eilownia closer to her, staring her deep in the eyes.
Her gaze bore into Eilownia's with a sense of danger, "You must NEVER take this box out again. Don't let anyone know you have it. You must keep it hidden until the day comes that Lord Evans is gone from your life. Do you understand?"
Eilownia nodded slowly.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" She asked again, louder, shaking Eilownia.
Eilownia's tears fell down faster as she nodded frantically.
The maid let go of her arm, her fingers leaving a reddened and tender imprint as she began to put the box's contents back inside.
"Your mother wanted you to have these things. They are YOURS. Lord Evans will take them from you, so you can't let him. It's what your mother wanted."
Eilownia stared at the box, now a shell of its former glory.
The wood looked swollen and bruised, its corners split at the grain. The golden design that framed the two lovers had flaked off, leaving only a few areas here and there where it remained. Its colors now dull, leaving the impression of a ghostly embrace.
The lovers still held hands despite their cracks and chips; their gleam was gone but their love still in place.
She slowly opened it, its rusted hinges putting up a fight.
Once beautiful emerald green velvet lining now clung to the box like unwanted moss. Bits and pieces of it had fallen off and covered the jewelry within. Streaks of rust dyed the wood and splattered onto the interior.
It smelled strongly of mildew and metal.
Eilownia took a deep breath and sifted through the jewelry, flicking off the pieces of decayed velvet.
None of them glittered anymore. The silver and gold chains were tarnished, the gems were clouded, the diamonds and settings had debris clogging them up.
The coins had lost all their detailing, their edges misshapen. Some had turned green, others had turned white.
Her heart ached at the sight, thinking back to how magnificent they used to look. A lone tear trailed down her cheek, although she wasn't sure why.
Why was she feeling so heavy? Why was it bothering her that these things had aged? That they'd become damaged?
Her eyes trailed up to her mildewed rabbit and branch doll. They had aged, they had become damaged...….
She looked down at her long legs and her breasts, her eyes glancing over some of the bruises that decorated her arms. She had aged, she had become damaged....
If she could still love her dolls and her dolls could still love her, then why was it hurting so much to see the jewelry and box in this state?
She shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts.
"Don't worry about me. My mother left me these things so I could go to the festival." She looked up at her dolls with a smile. She shook her head and wiped her tears.
The maid's words then echoed in her head.
"Don't let anyone know you have it. You must keep it hidden until the day comes that Lord Evans is gone from your life. Do you understand?"
A shiver ran up her spine and she forced a smile.
"It's alright. Father won't know, he won't ever see them. I'm going to use them to get to the festival."
After making a selection of a few necklaces and rings, and pocketing all the coins, she placed the box back underneath the shed floorboards.
The next day, she crawled out of the hole early in the morning after one of the maids brought her 'breakfast'.
People passed by without even a glance her way. No one to scold her, no one to hit her, no one to throw her into a shed and condemn her.
Was this freedom?
A smile, reaching from ear to ear, spread across her face as her steps began to bounce, her long brown hair waved from side to side across her back.
Two women stood in front of a shop that displayed beautiful gowns in its windows. They were chit chatting about the weather and other mundane things.
As Eilownia approached, her body shook with nerves.
"Excuse me?"
The two women glanced up.
"Do you know if I can exchange these for coins?" Eilownia reached into her pocket and held up one of the necklaces.
They crinkled their noses in disgust and pointed to a shop down the road and across the street.
"Over there probably. They deal in jewelry."
Eilownia departed and headed towards the shop, hearing the two women's snickering growing more and more distance.
The merchant in the shop had a different reaction. His greasy, black hair was slicked back with not a hair out of place.
His eyes lit up at the sight of the jewels and he shot her a half smile.
"Well. You know. This thing here," he said with a slight laugh to his tone as he wiggled one of the necklaces in the air, "Lots of damage on it. I can give you...3,000 Relude. I'd offer a bit more but labor costs for repair and cleaning. You understand."
The maid's words echoed in her mind "Do you understand?"
She nodded her frantically and slid the pile towards him.
"I understand."
The merchant practically jumped in the air from happiness, his eyes twinkled with happiness as he took the jewelry and headed towards the back.
When he returned to Eilownia, he handed her a pouch of coins. "15,000 Relude for the lot."
"15,000?! That's so many!" She gasped as she opened the pouch to see for herself.
"Yes. I want you to know that….." He leaned on the counter and smirked, "anyone else would've given you even less, but I'm a fair man. I gave you a fair deal."
Eilownia looked up at him and smiled wide, securing the pouch back up, "Thank you so much!"
She left with a smile on her face, and the merchant remained with a smile on his, happy to 'satisfy' a new customer.
"Boss.....this would be worth may 30,000 Relude on its own if it was broken- Why did you charge her so little?" The younger shopkeep inquired as he approached from the back room.
The merchant waved his hand, "She probably stole them from somewhere. No one who owns such high value items would not know their worth. I haven't seen craftsmanship like this in a very, very long time..."