Faith and Moonlight by Mark Gelineau, Joe King Page A

have?
    “What if I don’t make it?” Kay said quietly.
    “You will.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “Because I’ll make sure you do,” he said. “I’ll be there by
your side.”
    There was a pleading look in her eyes. “And if we fail?”
    His lips tight, Roan locked eyes with her. “Then we face
whatever comes after. Together.”
    Kay found his hand and gripped it tightly with both hands.
Roan squeezed back. She nodded softly, and then laid her head on his shoulder.
He could hear her soft breathing and in a few moments, she was asleep again.
    Despite her warmth, Roan felt cold.
    His mind brought forth memories of childhood, of being on
the ragged edge, fighting for every mouthful of food, desperation turning you
into a wild, feral thing that was barely human. That had been life, until Kay
and the others took him in. He could not allow her to fall into that existence.
It would change her. It would break her. As he had seen it happen to so many
others.
    No. He couldn’t let it come to that.
    He wouldn’t let it come to that.
    She had saved him. Now, he would do the same for her.
    He wrapped his arms around her and stayed perfectly still
as she slept. The thud of the team’s hoofbeats seemed to count down the moments
remaining in their journey to Resa, the capital, and to the Razor School of
Faith, where their new lives awaited.

Kay
    Kay was an orphan.
    In her fourteen years of life, that was the sum total of
all that she was and all she ever thought she could be. It wasn’t a sad thing
for her. She had seen others at the orphanage broken and tormented, but she
never felt that crying over her lot would change anything.
    In fact, Kay had learned long ago the secret to happiness.
It was simple. It was just learning to not want things. To not expect them. And
that secret had served her well in all her fourteen years.
    Until today.
    Today, standing in the crowded streets, surrounded by more
people than she had ever seen before, on the cusp of a new life, that
detachment seemed impossible.
    This was Resa, city of legend. The capital and the heart of
the kingdom. It was whirling, vibrantly alive around her, with people
everywhere she looked, wearing the latest colors and fashions. They were busy
with lives full of purpose and meaning she could not begin to fathom.
    She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to focus, but
her eyes darted from one new wonder to the next. Yet despite all the new
sights, it was Roan she kept coming back to.
    There was a tension and excitement in his bearing, and
quickness in his step. His long, lean form seemed drawn tight like a bowstring,
not with anxiety, but with a thrilling anticipation. His blue eyes seemed to
take in everything.
    Roan had always been different. Kay and the other orphans
had grown up on the dreams and stories of the old legends, playing the parts of
the great heroes. But nobody ever thought they could really become like them
when they grew older. Except Roan.
    He made her believe they were destined for great things. He
made her believe anything was possible, so long as they were together. His hope
was fearless and she was grateful for that. Loved him for that.
    “There it is,” Roan said, his voice breathless.
    In the distance, a shining white edifice towered above the
Crucis District. Sunlight played off the white marble of a massive central
dome, making the statues seem to sway and move as if they were alive.
    They were finally here. The School of Faith.
    A gate of intricately wrought ironwork marked the entrance.
Past it was a long, broad promenade lined with vibrant green grass and trees
shaped in strange and delicate ways.
    On the other side of the iron gate stood a young woman
dressed in the school uniform: a black leather jacket with a white cape that
snapped and danced in the wind. Now that she was closer, Kay saw the bright
shine of the jacket’s golden buckles.
    “Your business here?” the girl asked.
    “We have an audience with Preceptor