Clara stepped off the creaking ferry onto the dock, her boots sinking into the wet wood as the salt-laden breeze tugged at her sleeves. The town of Marrow’s End stretched before her, a cluster of weathered cottages huddled against the…
Clara stepped off the train at Seabrook Station, her boots crunching on gravel as the scent of salt and diesel hung heavy in the air. The town had not changed—same crooked storefronts, same rusted fishing boats bobbing in the harbor—but…
## Salt & Sky The courier’s hands trembled as he presented the package. Wax-sealed, thick parchment bound with crimson string – a weighty declaration from Venice. Cardinal Bellini accepted it with an almost theatrical sigh, beckoning Signor Rossi closer. The…
## The Coral Cartographer The air hung thick, saturated with salt and the insistent hum of unseen insects. Elodie traced a finger across the damp canvas, charcoal smudging against worn linen. The coral beach shimmered ahead, a chaotic sprawl of…
## The Serpent’s Spine The salt spray tasted like betrayal. Lin, barely nineteen and masquerading as a junior cartographer’s assistant, clung to the railing of the *Yongle*, watching the Java Sea bleed into a bruised sunset. He wasn’t charting currents,…