A merchant's disinherited daughter fights to keep the city from collapsing in the aftermath of the war with the Stone Elves. With the Stone Elves retreating back up into the mountains and the warlocks in hiding, Stasia would have expected that Verida would rapidly return to normal. The problem is that it hasn't, and what used to be a vibrant, dynamic city is slowly collapsing into violence and despair. Without any clear culprit to point at, Stasia and her friends are searching high and low for anything that they can do to put Verida back on the right path. Is it the warlocks? Is it the shock of the war? Or is it something else, something more deliberately intended to discredit the queen and her choice for the throne? When Stasia discovers that there may be more to the problems in the city's markets than meets the eye, she decides to go toe-to-toe with some of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the city. Fortunately, this is what she was born and raised to do. She's a merchant's daughter, after all.