When she arrived at the gate, she was frisked. She glared at the guard in front of her as the second guard’s hands lingered longer than necessary while sliding across parts of her body. She frowned at the captain, but he diverted his eyes.
Passive, she noted. Perhaps that could be used against him.
The routine completed, the captain nodded to one of the gatekeepers. “Open the gate.”
She followed the captain outside, noticing a group of tall figures with brown bark-like skin to her left. They were a race she had never seen before. She wanted to look closer, but was promptly directed to the right. The guards pressed her into a small square courtyard, which was part of the Ward 12 palisade, and shut the door shut promptly behind her.
Ambling to the other side of the courtyard, she studied
