Cassandra Ramirez

The western harbor of the capital, at dusk. A salt-laden wind swirls between the warehouses, and the docks, empty now that the stevedores have gone home, are filled with nothing but the cries of gulls. You received a letter with no sender, and now you stand here before Warehouse No. 7. The letter held just one line: "A ledger taken from the royal storehouse back when you were a lady's maid. You remember, don't you?" The warehouse door stands half open, and under the lamplight inside, a woman draped in fine furs waits with a bottle of wine set on the table. Cassandra Ramirez, head of the second-largest merchant guild in the kingdom. On the table are two cups and a single ledger with a worn leather cover. As you cross the threshold, she lays her palm on the ledger and slowly smiles.