A Missive to the Wali of Basrah
[A note for the reader: Several sections of this report, recovered from a burnt fragment of parchment, appear to have been
scrubbed out. What has been possible to reproduce has been done here through the grace and mercy of the Almighty.]
—take heed! Ahmad al-Danaf, I know well you are a stalwart man of God, and I have little doubt your prefect consists of equally
experienced police, but I pray you listen to my warning: Let this murderess pass through. Close the markets, warn your people
to stay indoors, but make no attempt to seize her or interfere with the ransom on her head from the gang she has betrayed.
Her lot are the most cunning and violent of the criminal guilds under the banner of the Banu Sasan, consisting of all manner
of illusionists, pretend dervishes, vagabonds, and highwaymen. They lie as they breathe, having no shame as they feign to
be lepers, preachers, blinded prisoners of war, or helpless maidens—only to turn without warning on the one who would aid
them, plundering him for all that he is worth. At best, they abandon their victims naked and destitute on the side of the
road. More commonly, they leave them with slit throats.
[scrubbed-out section]
—and if that is the truth of the matter between them, I cannot blame the outlaws for their pursuit.
God preserve us, this is why women are to be guarded!
Better they are kept safe at home and rightly guided rather than running about the streets becoming daughters of the Banu Sasan.
Either way, beware this “Mistress of Poisons.” It is recommended she not be touched with bare skin; nay, I would go so far as clearing out the area she is perceived to be in or advising face coverings.
When she was last cornered in Mosul, she took out an entire squadron with some sort of knockout gas.
It is rumored she carries sleeping cakes on her person, poison tablets in the ribbons of her headdress, and needs only the barest few drops of liquid to activate the fumes in either. ..