The Casket of Brass — Deborah J. Ross

Maridah was a scholar in Samarkhand, but she was also heir to the throne of Khazarand, so she returned to Khazarand when her grandmother, the current Princess of Khazarand, was near death. Her grandmother told her to take the contents of the brass casket and guard them, for if they fell into her uncle's hands, he would use them to put his daughter Hadidjah on the throne in Maridah's stead. So Maridah took the items, little knowing what they would teach her.

This story originally appeared in Sword & Sorceress 24, Nov 2009.