In a wide, luxurious room, a young girl sat staring at a wooden box.
The box was plain and simple with no carvings or decorations .
And yet her blue eyes would not leave it.
She leaned closer and Listened for any faint music .
But heard nothing out of it thus her face dimmed.
A key rested in her left hand with silver vines along its length, small gemstones set between them. It looked worth more than the box could ever hold.
Zara set the box down and stood.
Her blonde hair slid down her back. The jewelry at her wrists made a soft, expensive sound as she crossed the room.
She stopped at the window. The sea stretched beneath the moon, endless and silver. Down in the harbor, military ships sat anchored in neat rows. Each sail bore an insignia of a winged whale, pale against dark canvas.
Her eyes moved over them without thinking.
After a moment, her shoulders lowered.
*"Father has already left…"*
She forced herself to smile with her fingers lifting her lips upward.
*"A lady should always think positively."*
Her gaze drifted back to the box. A fingertip brushed her lower lip pushing with a bit upwards with a thoughtful expression.
*Should I ask Maria to take it to a workshop?*
She immediately rejected the idea as she could already hear Maria's voice, mild and patient: *"I told you so, Lady Zara. You shouldn't buy strange things from city vendors."*
Zara puffed her cheeks at the imaginary lecture. Then her eyes fell back to the key.
It really was strange how the key was so different from the box itself.
If a stranger walked in, their eyes would skip past the silver and silk and land on the plain wooden box. She was sure of it.
*Knock. Knock.*
"One moment, please."
She moved quickly. The jewelry chimed as she went.
She slid open the drawer beside her bed, placed the box inside, the key beside it, and pushed it shut.
*I'll have it fixed myself. Next month. In the city.*
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
"You may come in."
The door opened.
A woman in her mid-twenties stepped through black-and-white uniform, skirt to the ankles, every fold in place.
"Lady Zara. It is unbecoming of you to leave the party so early."
Zara pouted at once.
"I was being suffocated by those greedy, prideful morons."
"Language, Lady Zara."
Zara turned her face away and folded her arms.
Maria sighed.
"You have to endure it. For Lord Zoran and Lady Helia."
"What would the other nobles think? If their daughter behaved so rudely."
"Don't bring Father and Mother into this. You know I have a soft spot for them."
Maria's expression eased.
"I know."
She shook her head.
"I'll tell them you're feeling unwell. That you've gone to rest."
Zara brightened.
"Thank—"
She was cut half way as Maria strictly reminded.
"But this excuse won't work forever."
"You understand that, don't you?"
Her voice was respectful and also firm.
Zara held her smile and nodded.
"Good."
Maria finally smiled back.
"Then I'll take my leave, Lady Zara."
The door closed behind her with a quiet click.
The room was silent again.
And after a moment, Zara's eyes drifted back to the drawer.
————
In the small dim room, lit only by the gas lamp, Percy approached the music box.
The revolver stayed firm in his hand. He used the barrel to poke the box. Once and Twice.
But felt nothing from it . He let out a small breath that he had been holding for a while though his guard did not drop.
He pushed the box back and forth across the table with the revolver's tip before finally speaking.
"Hello?"
"Who are you, miss?"
He had simply assumed the owner of the voice was a woman. It had sounded like one.
A random thought drifted across his mind.
*Would it offend the box if I misgendered it?*
The idea was amusing but dismissed the ridiculous idea.
The room stayed quiet with no response coming .
Slowly, he began considering a more ordinary explanation.
Maybe the voice had been part of the mechanism. Or maybe the box was damaged broken parts making sounds that almost resembled words of a female .
Even as he thought it, he didn't believe it.
He had heard the voice. Clearly. Every word and understood and even remembered it .
The voice seemed to be talking about the box in a third person , maybe someone is talking throughout the box .
A phone maybe ? But there is no such device in this world according to Percy's memory and if it did exist it would probably be a large chunky box with antennas on it with wires .
And there was still that strange pull he felt toward the box the same feeling that came before encountering things that made no sense at all.
His expression grew complicated.
"Are you the box or someone else?"
Well he had some idea that the voice wasn't from the box itself but wanted to confirm it .
A minute passed. Then another.
Only silence answered. Eventually, Percy gave up.
"Fine."
He took a piece of cloth and wrapped the box several times, and tied it shut with a length of rope.
Then he placed it inside the drawer beside his bed. The unease did not leave so after a moment, he pulled out the small key that belonged to the drawer. He hadn't used it in so long he'd nearly forgotten it existed.
*Click.* The drawer locked. Only then did Percy feel slightly better. Well only slightly
He checked the revolver on the table which was still within arm's reach, he didn't want to keep it under the pillow anymore , with the fear of him accidentally pulling the trigger in his sleep last time he was too scared to part with it .
The room gradually fell quiet. Percy stared at the ceiling for a while before sighing.
"Well…"
His pouch now held a grand total of five copper crowns.
Tomorrow was going to be a very exciting day for a broke man like him.
With that last thought, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.