Moon Blessed

Chapter 18 ~ Subjective Discussions

Nastasia was awake long before dawn. How could she sleep, knowing what she was about to face? She'd heard Lord Anton describe the first competition the night prior, and what little sleep she had was plagued by dreams of forgotten corpses and malicious spirits. She'd seen one of the Saints as well.

In her dream, Saint Daniil had been running through a forest while leaves of blood rained down upon him. Haunting wails followed his every footstep and starlight paved a glistening trail in his wake.

She never saw the spirits that were chasing the Saint, though he periodically looked back, pupil-less eyes wide with fear. Towards the end of the dream, Saint Daniil finally ceased running and held his ground. He'd sent forth a burst of starlight, and the wails ended.

Nastasia was certain the dream meant something, but what, she couldn't decipher. She recalled the fact that Saint Daniil's own martyrdom had taken place in the Rodt Woods, but the details surrounding it had always been murky.

    Most scholars and historians believed the Saint had been trying to rid the forest of the spirits condemning it, and that he'd been torn apart by them before he could succeed. Others thought he'd been killed by wolves or other creatures.

    The only thing known for certain was that from the bloody pile of remains that were found, one of Saint Daniil's unmistakable pupil-less eyes had been recovered.

    I suppose I'll have plenty of time to think about all of that while I'm in the forest, Nastasia thought. What else will I have to do while I wait for evil spirits to find me?

She tugged a chainmail tunic over her cloth one and began strapping down the many pieces of her lamellar armor. Her hair remained hidden by a scarf, which she was determined to wear even beneath her helmet. She wasn't going to risk any Nyctolian seeing her hair, especially not her parents.

Despite the glamour applied to her eyes, she knew her parents would piece together who she was if they received news that she was missing and then saw a silent Knight with white hair amidst their ranks.

Nastasia grabbed Morana and sheathed the sword at her hip. Another dagger was buckled to the back of her belt just in case. She would have to be careful using magic to defend herself. No one could spot her doing so, or she'd be found out for sure.

Nastasia lifted a dome shaped helmet and settled it over her scarf. She secured a veil of chainmail over the lower half of her face so that only her eyes were visible, and stepped out of the tent.

Knights were already gathering before the doors of Kobmand Hall, but Nastasia didn't join them right away. She hurried to the stable where Moxie was being kept. Like the grounds of the Hall, the stable was bursting with activity. Stablehands were saddling horses and leading them out to awaiting Knights.

Nastasia slipped into Moxie's spacious stall without hindrance and set to work. All of Moxie's tack had been stored at the back of her stall in a narrow area portioned off by a low wall. The mare held still while Nastasia buckled her tack in place one piece at a time.

At last, Nastasia lifted the saddle onto her blanketed back and cinched it beneath Moxie's belly. The mare snorted and Nastasia patted her neck. "There we go, Girl," she murmured. "You're all set." She took Moxie by the reins and led her out of the stable.

Nastasia was careful to hang near the outskirts of the crowd when they reached the other Knights. She clutched Moxie's reins tighter, knuckles whitening. Her breath caught when shadows appeared around her wrists. Nastasia willed them away, but they persisted. She bit back a groan and hid one hand beneath Moxie's mane, hoping no one would look too closely at the other.