Eli spoke gently to them in their local parlance, calming them down.
The people smiled, and they laughed, and they addressed him in reverential tones. They rested under the shed and shared the little supplies and water they had with the people.
Their leader was an elderly man with a huge grey beard called Sintim, and he had been a District Elder under the reign of King Eli Kem. He explained that the kingdom had been divided into twenty-four districts, each with a ruling Elder who reported directly to the king or his appointee.
They had been sheltered in a community along the coast, but a couple of days previously, they had been attacked by a horde of Searots which had wiped out more than half their number. The survivors had fled, aiming to join the Church of Eden community.
“We’re h
