As the Moon Walks
Chapter Three

The scream caught in her throat as Kaelyn closed her eyes and Alec swung the sword down upon her.

The night was silent.

She opened her eyes uncertainly when she felt herself trembling, the blood running cold in her veins a clear indication that she was still alive. Alec stood before her, a self-satisfied smile playing on his lips and two braids dangling from his closed hand. He sheathed the sword with a fluid motion and held out the hair.

“You could keep it if you would like.” Kaelyn looked from the dangling locks to him and back, uneasily trying to understand. He took her hand, though she flinched at his touch, and pressed the braids into her palm. She blinked slowly, eyes not leaving his face.

He sighed. “It was a necessary precaution.” He pointed at her qipao. “All we need to do now is replace that with a man’s uniform and you’ll be safe – at least from the search.”

Kaelyn’s fingers curled unconsciously around the hair, the strands of it silky to the touch. She reached up to her head without thinking, stroking the jagged ends of where the braids had once been, disoriented by the fact that they now sat limply between her fingers. She licked her bottom lip as she thought aloud. “You’re helping to disguise me?”

Alec shrugged and turned away. “It’s the best we can do for now.”

“…why?” she asked softly, as if scared that the question would shatter the truth and cause him to deny it.

He started walking towards the campsite without answering her. Instead he called over his shoulder, “We need to unbind these men and see what we can do for the princess. We need to do everything we can to help!”

Visions of the princess being struck suddenly leapt back into her mind, terrible images that made Kaelyn’s blood curdle and her knees weak. How could a man be so cruel? Kaelyn ran forward, the sand shifting beneath her feet as she headed directly to the princess.

The moon shone upon the girl, giving the trickles of blood tracing her body an eerie bluish tint. Her hair was matted with sweat and tears, a tangled mass that covered her face. Kaelyn grabbed a discarded sword from the sand and cut the rope binding the girl, first those at her feet, and then those at her wrists that kept her upright. Kaelyn seized her by the waist as the girl collapsed, a dead weight in her arms. Kaelyn knelt in the sand and rested the princess’ head in her lap. She brushed aside the girl’s bangs, feverishly looking for a sign of life in the girl’s eyes, pulse, or even breath. The sword still clung to the girl’s chest, gold and rubies shimmering in its hilt. Kaelyn dared not reach for it in fear that it would only bring the girl closer to death.

“Alec!” she called suddenly, ecstatic but scared. “She’s breathing!”

She heard Alec hustle towards her, a few groans behind him indicative of the soldiers he had so far untied. He knelt beside her, glancing at the girl’s wounds and removing his jacket to cover her bare breasts. He rested his fingertips on her throat where a faltering beat was hidden. “We need help.”

“We can’t leave her here.”

“You stay. I’ll go alone.” He got up to leave.

Kaelyn grabbed his wrist, letting go as soon as she had, blushing at the feel of his warm skin. “Alec, it’s not safe.”

He said confidently. “Her safety is all that matters.”

Kaelyn’s mouth opened slightly as her face grew hotter, his words reminding her of the situation. She quickly looked down, stroking the girl’s face and whispering to her urgently, “You’re safe now, Princess.”

Alec’s footsteps had disappeared when the princess spoke. “What’s your name, soldier?”

“Princess, please don’t speak. You need to conserve your energy.”

“Soldier, I asked you a question.” The girl’s voice wavered, but she persisted.

“I act under the Vega star, Princess,” she said dismally. Her freshly cut hair framed her face, reminding her of her act, as she leaned forward and closed her eyes. By not answering directly…was this a lie to her princess?

The girl opened her eyes slowly, the surface of them glassy from pain. “Is that the Falling Star?”

Kaelyn started. Of all the stories that were attached to Vega, no one had ever chosen to address it by its direct meaning. She nodded slowly. “Yes, Princess, that is one of its many names.”

The girl closed her eyes and smiled serenely. “Then let me bestow a wish upon you, my falling star.”

“But of course, Princess.” Kaelyn tried to remain calm and act confidently.

She opened her eyes again, but this time they seemed to draw further from Kaelyn with each word she spoke, her voice becoming frailer with each missed breath. “Promise me you’ll find her…find the Maiden of the Moon and save her…”

Kaelyn ran her hand agitatedly through her hair, pacing alongside the makeshift tent they had constructed in a hidden cove slightly offshore. She had changed into one of Alec’s spare uniforms, belted at the waist and cuffed at the sleeves to accommodate for her shorter frame. Luckily her legs were long enough to account for the length of the pants. She had freshly bandaged her hands, feet, and chest to flatten it, and fixed what she could of her butchered hair.

Fortunately for Alec, Grandmother had found him before he had lost himself in the unfamiliar woods. She had somehow known to bring with her his spare uniform, quickly addressed the princess’ wounds, and had pointed them in the direction of this cove. She had also brought with her four of the best trained soldiers, again somehow spared the fate of their comrades. Kaelyn marveled at Grandmother’s good fortune, though watching the old woman’s actions despite her blindness, Kaelyn could have sworn that somehow she had known.

“Your pacing is making me nervous.” Alec was leaned against one of the cove’s walls watching her. “What happened while I was gone?”

Kaelyn had been silent since the princess had shared her wish and Grandmother had almost immediately arrived with Alec and the soldiers. However, despite her lack of words, Kaelyn could not control her agitation or bring herself to settle down. Instead she walked back and forth between the two walls of the cave, mulling over something she could not understand. She paused to glance at Alec. “What do you know about the myth of the Maiden of the Moon?”

Alec considered. “I know as much as you do, I suppose. We’re both members of the Celestial Guard.”

“And you swore the oath to protect her?”

Alec seemed to hesitate, but he nodded. “With my life.”

Kaelyn walked away from him, tracing the sand with her toes. She was scared to voice the thoughts that had been raging in her mind. “Do you know who she is?”

“The mortal form of the maiden the Moon god’s dearest beloved. He gave her mortality because of her own willing and so she might accept eternity with him knowing that she would never have to leave him. He gave her a sorrowful life of fate so that she might love him for the infinite choice he could grant her.” Alec recited the reasons they had all been told to memorize.

“But…who is she?”

Alec frowned. “What are you trying to say?”

Kaelyn turned towards him, her body shaking with the blasphemy that was breaching her lips. What did she believe? Who was she to believe? “If you can’t name her or place her…who’s to say that she’s even real? To say that she even exists in this world?”

Alec tried to laugh. “But the princess –”

“She told me to find the Maiden of the Moon. She told me to save her!”

Alec studied her face, noticing the tears that were forming in her eyes and the trembling of her bottom lip as she kept back the desperation. “So you don’t believe that the princess is the Maiden of the Moon? You don’t believe she needed saving? That girl should have been dead when we found her. It’s a miracle she was able to speak to you at all; Grandmother says that one of her lungs was punctured. Thank the Moon it wasn’t her heart.”

“But she asked me to find the Maiden…if she had been referring to herself, wouldn’t I have already found her?”

“The Maiden is not entirely human. She has her own ways.”

“Alec is correct.” Grandmother interrupted them as she stepped from the tent. “But as is Kaelyn.”

The two quickly forgot themselves and knelt before her. “Grandmother.”

“Children, please stand.” She stood before them, leaning heavily against the cane. Her face showed signs of fatigue and the fine line that was now her mouth worried Kaelyn. She had never before seen Grandmother so concerned.

“Grandmother, please tell us what is bothering you.”

“The Darkness is coming.” Kaelyn had never heard the phrase before, and yet, even in the safety of the hidden cave and said with Grandmother’s familiar voice, Kaelyn’s heart trembled and felt its weight. There was silence as Grandmother continued.

“In three moon’s time, the night will be fully dark.” The mere suggestion suffocated Kaelyn, her mind rebelling against the idea of pure darkness. A night with no moon? “Of partial darkness you have each witnessed, but this darkness will not only be of light, but of life. The man that has inflicted these terrible wounds upon Hoata shall lead.”

Grandmother’s words slowly dawned upon Kaelyn. “But the princess…her name means that she was born three days into the lunar month…how—”

Grandmother nodded. “Kaelyn, you are correct. The girl that you have rescued is not the true princess.”

Kaelyn covered her mouth. Grandmother was blind and yet she could recognize Kaelyn. How had she ever hoped to conceal her true identity?

“Calm yourself,” Grandmother said, as if reading Kaelyn’s mind. “The one who names you shall always know you, regardless of your appearance. It is not the eyes that see, but the heart. In the same way, those with clouds over their hearts shall not be quick to suspect.

“The true princess was hidden at her birth. The queen and king risked their daughter’s life to protect the princess’.”

“So this was expected?” Alec stared at the ground, but his words were accusing.

“You blame us.” Grandmother was calm, despite his obvious anger.

“The girl was almost killed. She was tortured, treated worse than an animal. How could her parents make that choice for her? How could this country allow them to do so?” His tone was even, but the trembling in his palms that he had pressed hard into the dirt suggested his inner turmoil.

“It was her destiny.” Grandmother made no excuse.

“Destiny? I laugh in the face of destiny!” Alec had finally looked up and his eyes were daggers trying to pierce through Grandmother’s serene expression.

“Yours shall be fulfilled at length.”

Her words seemed to placate him, though his relief was still tinged with remorse. “So this girl…she is not the one?”

“Do you love her?”

Kaelyn looked up at those words, caught off guard by Grandmother’s brazenness. What did love have to do with the authenticity of the princess?

Alec became agitated once more. “How do you ask such things?”

“It is the obvious why you have taken interest in Kaelyn.” Grandmother continued to speak to him gently, her knowing, unseeing stare peaceful but stern, resistant to Alec’s stammering and reddening face. “You know she is the only female member of the Guard. You surmised that she would be the only one who might breach the princess’ personal walls. In these things you were correct. But answer me now: do you love her?”

Alec stared at the floor in shame. “I never met the princess. I would not know.”

“Look with your heart, child, not your eyes,” Grandmother chided him.

“N-no.” Alec was suddenly unsure of himself.

“Tell me why, child.”

He closed his eyes. “The sight of her did not move me. I felt no relief, only hopeless fascination. I…forced myself to pursue her even when I did not believe it would relinquish me from my fate.”

Grandmother nodded at his answer, satisfied. She turned then to address both of them. “The man that you have seen tonight is Dreza. You have seen his purpose and his wicked intent. He has waged war upon the world, denouncing both the Sun and the Moon, and with him the Darkness has begun to descend upon us. He lusts after the Maiden of the Moon if only to defile her and have her slain. You must not let this happen.”

Kaelyn protested. “Grandmother, send someone more qualified! What can a girl like me hope to accomplish?”

“You are a woman now, Kaelyn, you must remember this.”

“In a world where women are currently in danger!”

“And so it is right for you, as the only earthen female warrior, to protect their fates.”

Alec spoke likewise. “And me? I am not even of the country of Lunea. I hold no obligations to this princess you beg us to seek.”

“You may not as a soldier, but surely, you do as a man.”

Kaelyn did not understand Grandmother’s words, but she kept silent for she knew that Grandmother’s words were spoken to be understood by only those whom they belonged.

Alec gave Kaelyn a sidelong glance. “And we are to do this alone?”

Kaelyn glared at him. The corner of his mouth twitched with contempt. He doubted her abilities as a soldier.

Grandmother interceded. “More would be a burden. Fewer would render the task impossible.”

Despite the misgivings in Kaelyn’s heart and the ill-mannered conscience that reminded her of his pointed flirtation only earlier that night, Kaelyn bowed her head and closed her eyes.

The two said simultaneously, “We understand, Grandmother.”

A/N: Whoa! Sorry for the super long chapter (or you’re welcome?)! It’s packed with a lot of information to start introducing this world and building it up into something understandable. I want to make clear that this is not intended to be a pointed religious diatribe, but that’s not to say that I’m planning on shying away from the topic either.