The Golden Locket
"M'lady" the woman asked, stirring her mistress from her deep thoughts.
"Yes, Eyja?" came the quiet response
"I just was wondering, you have so many beautiful things in your home that you have brought back from your travels "
"What is your point?" Sarayu interrupted, a little harsher than she meant to
"It's just that I noticed the golden necklace you have, it has no magical qualities at all yet I've seen you treat it with a lot more respect and care." Eyja said
"And you want to know why." Sarayu stated simply
"If you don't mind."
Sarayu looked down, her ebon locks shielding her pained eyes.
"I'm sorry, m'lady, I shouldn't have asked. I'll get started on the dishes" Eyja stood up and took their dinner dishes away before Sarayu could say another word.
"I'm going to bed" Sarayu announced as she stood up and left the room while Eyja made a small noise of acknowledgement.
As Sarayu ascended the stairs and eventually made it to the safety of her room she went and collapsed on her bed that sat on the far wall.
Eyja had been right, as Sarayu looked around her room. She had rare books that she had picked up in her travels, she had daedric weapons and she was famous for reforming the Knights of the Nine and putting back together the Crusader's armor among so many other things. She was also grand champion of the arena and she was also the head of every guild, legal or otherwise. She knew why, though, why she treated that one silly little golden locket with so much more care.
She pulled on the fine golden chain and the rounded piece of gold came out from under her armor. She stared transfixed as the locket caught the torchlight. Eyja had also been right, this locket held no magical properties. She had rings that told her any life that was close to her and she had armor that could mask her identity but this locket meant so much more.
She settled the locket in her palm and carefully popped the catch. There was nothing ground breaking or earth shattering inside, no ancient magical secret or long lost map to a hidden cache. There was just a simple inscription but the inside had been worn smooth with age and use but Sarayu knew what it said by heart "To VIcente, love mom"
She remembered Vicente telling her about his locket. The only thing he had left from his life. The only way he could remember the woman that had meant so much to him and had helped him through his life after his father had left.
"Tomorrow is that day again" Sarayu sighed, it had been more than eighty years but her heart still hurt at just the thought. She had been in love but then her love had been torn away from her in the worst way imaginable. She didn't even know if he had known, before he had died, what he had meant to her.
Sarayu closed her locket and drifted off into a tumultuous sleep.