Wandering Star: A Zodiac Novel Read Online Free Page A

brilliantly sunny day. The only furniture in the cavernous space is a simple wooden desk with three chairs; behind the desk sits a stooped old man who must be nearing his centennial.
    He wears the same black robes as everyone else, the only distinction a lead pendant that hangs from a silver chain. It looks like House Aquarius’s Philosopher’s Stone.
    “Ah, welcome.” Sage Ferez nods kindly at the Acolyte who escorted us. “Thank you, Tavia.”
    He gestures for us to come closer, and as we settle into the chairs acrossfrom him, I notice a gold star in his right iris. On his wrist is a heavy Tracker, in the palm of his hand a Tattoo, and on the desk before him are a Sensethyser, a Wave, and—
    “I also have an Earpiece, a Perfectionary, a Paintbrush, a Lighter, and a Blotter,” he says, smiling at the growing surprise on my face.
    “But why?” I blurt before I can think of more polite phrasing.
    Far from offended, he pleasantly folds his hands together and asks, “Given the choice between possessing five senses and one, which would you choose?”
    “Five.”
    “Precisely.”
    The confusion on my face only grows, but Hysan smirks.
    “I apologize, Mother Rhoma, for not meeting with you sooner,” says Sage Ferez, “but, alas, I have been busy with troubles of my own. I suspect Lord Hysan will understand.” He slides his wrinkled gaze over to him. “I believe we have been facing the same transformations among our former friends.”
    Hysan shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “How do you—”
    “Know that you are the true Libran Guardian?” Sage Ferez smiles at him fondly. “Aging may weaken the body, but when done right, it strengthens the senses. There are few veils left my eyes cannot see through.”
    Hysan looks speechless for the first time.
    “Lord Vaz was a dear friend of mine, and on my many visits to him in his final year of life, I observed how deeply he cared for you. Since his passing, I’ve watched you zip in and out of Houses nearly as often as I. Though they don’t know it yet, your people are lucky to have you. Like your Cancrian colleague, you have proven yourself to be a unifier of the Zodiac.”
    Ferez’s black irises glisten like they’re filled with swirling ink. “My old friend would be so proud.”
    Hysan bows his head, averting his face from view, and I have to fight the urge to reach for his hand.
    “Dark Matter and the Thirteenth House.”
    I snap my gaze to Sage Ferez, who’s now smiling at me. Against the darkness of his skin, his teeth glow like stars. “Those veils, I’m sad to say, even I never saw through. You have a powerful gift—that alone would be enough to prove you are Cancer’s Holy Mother. Yet you have shown you have more than star-sight: Your vision for a united Zodiac isn’t a future you’ve forecasted in the sky, but rather a plan you’ve undertaken on the ground. That is quite wise for one so young.”
    “I led us into a massacre,” I say, shaking my head, unable to accept so much kindness. “I failed.”
    “Failure is not an end—it is the means to an end. Study your failures, for they are the scrambled secrets of success.” His black eyes crinkle in a mischievous, childlike grin. “There’s an old saying about the Cardinal Houses that asserts we are not only masters of our own elements, but we also possess an invincibility to another.
Fire can’t be shaken. The grounded can’t be blown away. Air can’t be drowned. And water can’t be
burned
.
”
    I bite down on my lower lip as Mathias’s words whisper through me.
You’re an everlasting flame that can’t be put out.
    “Your mother’s abandonment did not destroy you. Nor did your father’s passing. Even Ophiuchus could not kill you. You are strong and resilient, impermeable to fire or water: You will rise and re-form from the ashes of this defeat.”
    Now I’m the one silenced by Sage Ferez’s words. But while his generosity moves and humbles me . . . I know I’m not worthy of