“Who are these people?” a giant taller and leaner than Joshua stops them at the entrance of the city. “It is forbidden for outsiders to enter the city.”
“They are guests of the Great Elder,” Joshua replies. “They are here to receive her instruction.”
“I received no word of this,” the man replies. “You are well aware that lying and allowing outsiders to enter the city is punishable by death.”
“There is no need for that, Malik,” a woman wearing a white dress approach. She wears a translucent purple fabric over her head that covers both of her arms and the sides of her head, including her back. A golden circlet fastens the fabric around her head. A faint whiteness is visible on her desert brown cheeks, and her lips are as red as a desert rose. Her eyes shine like the sun, with hazelnut ear
