"This is it," the guide said. "The Shadow Broker's office. She's expecting you." He held out his hand expectantly.
Aldric dropped a heavy coin purse into the palm. The guide counted quickly, nodded with satisfaction, and disappeared back into the market's crowds.
Taking a deep breath, Aldric knocked on the door.
"Enter," came a female voice from within.
The office was surprisingly elegant. Plush carpets covered the floor. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with ledgers and tomes. A large desk dominated the center of the room, and behind it sat a woman whose age was impossible to determine—she might have been thirty or sixty, her features ageless in that way that suggested elven blood somewhere in her lineage.
"Commander Aldric Thorne," she said with a knowing smile. "How unexpected. What brings a respected military commander to my humble establishment?"
