Find this woman, Larxene had said, and shown them a picture, outside the city. Find her and hurt her. And so they were off, silently circling the domes like vultures, darting near but never entering the gates, as their orders had been to remain outside.

So when the first dusk found her, there had been an exodus from the gate, much to the relief of the citizens manning it, to the field where she had been found. And with slinking, flowing movements they moved toward her, like puppets on invisible strings.