Wandering Star: A Zodiac Novel Read Online Free Page B

Wandering Star: A Zodiac Novel
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his praise. So does the Plenum, and so does the rest of the Zodiac. I appreciate the few friends I have left, but I’m not kidding myself any longer—I should have refused the role of Holy Mother in the first place. I’m not—nor was I ever—Guardian material.
    “I have requested your presence to ask a favor,” says the aged Guardian, looking from me to Hysan again. “I’m leaving immediately after this meetingto visit Moira. She is a dear friend, one of the last I have left since Origene’s passing, and I fear for her future. Before I go, I would ask something of you. We represent three of the four Cardinal Houses, and as such, we are owners of Cardinal Stones.”
    “I don’t have the black opal anymore,” I interrupt. “It was returned to Agatha when she became the interim Guardian.”
    “The Talisman will only answer to a true Guardian—it remains in your service, whether it is physically with you or not. Once you are reunited with it, I must ask you and Hysan to seek out General Eurek on House Aries with your Talismans in hand. He will explain the rest.”
    “What will uniting the stones do?” asks Hysan, his speedy processing reminding me of Nishi.
    “I believe you may have guessed by now what strength the Thirteenth House once brought to the Zodiac.”
    “Unity,” I supply, the word sour on my tongue.
    “Precisely. I have hope that uniting the four stones will help us locate the Thirteenth Talisman, the one lost to time. Perhaps we can access its knowledge and discover the path to reuniting our galaxy.”
    Hysan and I are so awed by the notion that neither of us speaks for a moment. I still haven’t moved past the fact that Sage Ferez believes me—believes
in
me—and doesn’t think the Thirteenth House is my own fabrication. Then Hysan asks, “What about yourself?”
    The Guardian shakes his bald head, and the shadows on his face grow longer. “Only the stars know my fate, dear boy . . . but if I should have joined them by then, do not fret, for Eurek will know what to do.”
    Then his wrinkled features break into a genial smile, as though we were discussing happier subjects. “One more thing.”
    Sage Ferez leans into his desk, and Hysan and I instinctively come closer, too. “You will hear a lot about Risers in the coming war—and yes,” he adds, seeing my expression, “a war is coming. But there is something you mustknow before it starts. Risers are not a plague . . . they are part of the future.”
    He turns his glittering dark eyes to me. “You asked why I possess eleven technologies when one would suffice—can you now think of the reason?”
    For a moment I’m stumped, and I feel my cheeks heating with embarrassment—but then the answer bubbles forth from my mouth, like it’s been trapped there all along. “
Choice
. Because you have the freedom to choose.”
    He breaks into his childlike grin again. “Precisely. Each House operates a different way because it’s shaped according to the preferences of its people. Yet you both know better than most that we cannot control the circumstances of our birth. Not which family we are born into, nor which House. The truth is, our parents are but part of the equation that forms us—because the only thing more powerful than fate is free will.
    “Our
choices
define us: The stars may set us on a given path, but it is we who must decide whether we take it.”
    He gives us a moment to process what he’s said so far, but I’m still stuck on the bit about Risers being the future.
    “This wave of Risers is only the beginning.”
    His demeanor grows heavy again, and for a moment all one hundred years seem to be bearing down on him at once. “I know this is difficult to understand, but since you will lead us, you need to hear it. There may well be a time . . . in the not-too-distant future . . . when our House affiliation will no longer be determined by birth.”
    His inky eyes lock on mine, and I can’t even blink.
    “When

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