Chapter Two
Outside, the courtyard was covered in shadow. Thankfully, it was dark. Maa’s audience hall had remained dimly lit since the first attacks. The flying insects were less active the darker it got.
The people of Haven quickly learned the biting flies retreated with the sun, only to return each morning. Anyone venturing out with the sun overhead risked a swarm.
Voices echoed in the vast room behind her, all decorum lost in the moment of the first attack.
“We can’t leave the dead out there to rot.”
“We haven’t the men to properly dispose of so many…”
Maa raised her hand, stopping the nameless, faceless functionaries from their senseless bickering. “We have no choice.” Maa looked out the glass, the fallen out of reach. “The flies have retreated. Take anyone you need, pile the de
