MoonChild

Midnight

It was a rainy and dark evening, the clock had just struck midnight when Priest Hevanst of the Holy Spirit Temple, was awoken by knocking on the front doors. He lazily got out of his bed and crept down the stairs, "My word... who could be visiting at this hour?" He mumbled to himself as he grabbed the door handle and flew one of the doors open. Standing out in the rain was a guard, he was from the small village a few miles north, in his arms was a swaddled infant. "My apologies for showing up so late... but I needed to see you as soon as possible" the guard said quickly, clearly out of breath. Priest Hevanst moved aside and quickly ushered the boy and child out of the rain and into the temple "It is no problem, son. What seems to be the situation?" He asked. The guard took a deep breath before he began explaining the situation, "The village.. there's a sickness spreading so quickly.. this little girl, we found her inside her house.. surrounded by her deceased parents. It seems they contracted the disease but they didn't reveal that information to the authorities. We need somewhere for this child to stay as the village isn't safe right now, could she stay here under your care until the situation is cleared up?" The guard asked. Priest Hevanst took the baby from the guards arms "Of course I would, son"  he said as he glanced down at the little girl who slept peacefully. The guard breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, sir! And you don't have to worry about the disease, we tested her already and the results came back negative. Now I must head out, they need my help back there" he said before heading back towards the door, "Yes of course, be safe now! Oh wait, does she have a name?" Priest Hevanst called out to the guard, but he was too far away to hear the question. Priest Hevanst shrugged and closed the large door and glanced back down at the baby, he noticed a light outline of a crescent moon on her forehead, but he thought not much of it at the time. "Hmm..Kamaria, meaning Beauty of the Moon, I feel that name fits you pretty well little one" he said to the child and smiled. He brought her to the play room and pulled out a small buildable  cradle, it was mainly used when new parents would bring their babies to religious services. He brought it up into his room and placed Kamaria down inside of it, "It's not the best but it'll work until we get you a proper cradle. Goodnight little one" he said softly as he smiled and got up to return to his own bed.