"Come with me," Selene Marr said.
Lancet tried to ignore the stares as she led them deeper into the residential courtyard. More than a few conversations weakened when he passed, and he caught his own name being mentioned more than twice.
When Selene stopped near the entrance of the center lodge, six men and women in dark coats waiting beneath a gold crest immediately straightened at her call.
"Prefects," she announced.
Lancet raised an eyebrow, noting that they looked younger than the officers at the Control Tower, though none seemed remotely inexperienced.
He placed their ages around early to mid twenties.
One carried a spear across her back, another had a mechanical eye glowing blue beneath dark curls, and a broad man looked like he'd fought a tiger with those scars on his hands.
Selene turned toward the newcomers. "These are residential prefects. They manage the lodges, enforce building regulations, and help new arrivals settle in."
