Empires of Moth (The Moth Saga, Book 2) by Daniel Arenson Page A

and
awnings forming a roof above. Rats scurried into holes. Linee
stumbled along at his side, face pale and hair disarrayed.
    "Who, Torin?" she
said. "Who is that?"
    "An . . ." He
hesitated. "An Elorian woman. A friend of mine."
    Linee gasped and tugged his arm.
"By the light, Torin! There's no time to save . . . to save
these creatures." Fresh tears welled up in her eyes.
    Torin grunted. "We are the
savages here, not the Elorians. Or, at least, Ferius and his thugs
are." He glared at Linee. "The Elorians are humans like you
and me, no different. We have to stop this . . . or at least save
whomever we can."
    She shook her head wildly. "We
have to flee this city! We don't have time to be heroes. Please take
me home. Take me back to Kingswall. Take me back to my palace where
I'm the queen and none of this happens."
    Torin stopped moving down the
alley, turned toward her, and held her arms. From across the city,
the chants of soldiers and the screams of Elorians rose in a din. The
smell of blood wafted.
    "Linee," he said,
looking into her eyes, "there is no more home for you in
Kingswall. The king is dead. This is a coup. If you return home
you'll have no more palace there, and Sailith will seek you
everywhere. Do you understand?"
    She shivered but managed to nod,
a tear on her nose. "But . . . maybe we can just . . . find a
new palace? And a new garden?" She clung to him and placed her
cheek against his shoulder. "What will we do, Torin? Oh, where
will we go?"
    He swallowed and sucked in
breath between his teeth. He did not know.
    "Somewhere safe," he
said. "I promise you: You will be safe."

    * * * * *

    As they traveled through the
labyrinth of alleyways, Torin's mind worked feverishly. He needed to
find Koyee. He needed to find his friends: Bailey, Cam, and Hem.
Koyee would still be at the hospice, but what about his friends? Were
they still in the Night Castle in the thick of the Sailith uprising?
Were they patrolling the streets or pleasure dens, and if so where
would they head?
    The
hospice is where we must go, he
decided. Koyee
is there, and if Bailey and the boys have any sense, they'll make
their way there too. Only a few hourglass turns ago, he had joked with Bailey how the
hospice—with the plague raging inside its halls—was the safest
place in the city, since Ferius dared not enter it. He had spoken
those words in jest, but now they might be true. Would Bailey
remember the conversation and head there now?
    Torin kept moving, darting from
alleyway to alleyway, avoiding the main streets. Stray cats fled
before them and bats fluttered above. Discarded scarves, broken
pottery, and fish bones littered the cobblestones. Few people
normally traveled these alleys, but as Torin and Linee raced here
now, dozens of Elorians ran to and fro. One woman, clutching a gash
upon her belly, stumbled into a house. An elderly man fell onto the
cobblestones, his mouth smashed and bleeding.
    "Please, sir!" An
Elorian child faltered toward Torin, his arm a dripping mess.
"Please, sir, mercy."
    From the city streets, more
screams rose, boots thumped, and swords whistled. When Torin peered
out into a boulevard, he saw Timandrian soldiers laughing as they
smashed windows and looted jewels within. Their boots stomped upon
the corpse of the shopkeeper. Shards of glass lay strewn across the
street like scattered diamonds.
    "Please, sir, mercy,"
begged the Elorian child in the alley. He turned toward Linee.
"Please, my lady, don't kill us."
    Torin approached the cowering
boy and held his hand. "Come with me. We'll get you somewhere
safe." He turned toward Linee, who stood staring with wide eyes.
"Linee, help the elder rise! Quickly. I know a safe place."
    As Torin held the child's hand,
Linee looked at the fallen elder. She shivered and grimaced, but
approached the old man and helped him rise.
    "What do I do, Torin?"
she asked in a whisper.
    "Help him walk. We're
taking them to the city hospice. Few people dare enter that place;
it's