Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 25

"Tara, Guardian of Hope, Light and Unity. You may now ascend your throne," the Councilman's voice boomed throughout the Grand Hall.

"So Tara really is royalty. Can you believe that? She's so not the princess type. She's more like the clumsy hand maiden type," Dillon commented.

"Dillon!" Bella scolded.

"He's not wrong," Naudia shrugged.

"Thanks guys," I rolled my eyes.

Murmurs from the guests commenced as their wide and confused eyes found me and they struggled to look away. With my low profile thrown out the window I knew it was time and I had no choice but to step back into action.

"Well, I better get into place so we can start this thing already," I muttered and then turned away from my friends.

Peering up at the empty chair suddenly made me feel very light headed and like the room was spinning.

"Tara, are you okay? Your heart rate has increased," Trinkette pointed out.

"I guess I'm just a little nervous."

"Don't be! You'll do great!" Serena encouraged me.

"Yeah, it's not like you haven't done this before," Iris added.

"But will the fact that I ran away affect people's choice to tell me their hopes? And for a Guardian of Light, I don't feel very light. A part of me feels off, like I really don't know what's right or wrong lately. And what kind of Title is mine anyway? Who makes these decisions? Who's to say I know what it means to be light and unified and know hope is the answer? How could the Council just decide that I was meant to have these Titles?" I babbled aloud.

"You're already here and you've come so far. You'll never know the answers to any of your questions unless you get up there," Serena gave me a small push up onto the small platform where my chair resided.

I turned to face the crowd and just stood there as I looked around at everyone who began to pile into the room as the rest of the Guardians found their chairs that went around the circle. Since Aries was the beginning of the Zodiac and Pisces was the end I had both Nova and Nixie on either side of me which put me at ease. With Nova's reassuring grin I felt a little more relaxed.

Then I looked over at Addie who was waving at me. I smiled and waved back right as Amelia, her Handler, scolded her from over her shoulder, telling her that it was unprofessional to act out of character for a Guardian. She looked at me sadly but I still continued to smile so that she wouldn't feel so bad about it. But when I looked around at the other Guardians I noticed everyone else had a Sponsor standing beside them and that's when I realized that this was the first time I didn't have one. I forgot all about Sponsors and the way they resembled a Guardians importance to society. Depending on who chose to become a Sponsor would determine a Guardians place and the way they would be looked at by their peers and by the people they watched over. A Sponsor could be a Handler, a Guild or House Headmaster, or even a member of the Council. Someone of importance relevant to a Guardians journey. And I was up there alone with no Sponsor to fall back on or consult with.

"Tara?" Serena voiced cautiously.

My eyes were beginning to glaze over as I focused on my breathing with just my Sprites to comfort me. But then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me I was supposed to be up here with you? You really make me look like a jackass, ya know that?" Ryder held his head high and averted his eyes at first.

"I'm sorry. I forgot..." I almost didn't recognize my own voice as he glanced down and flashed his teeth at me.

"Geez, what are we going to do with you? We told you that we weren't letting you do this alone. So stop trying to hog the spotlight," Cooper winked at me as he jumped up onto the step below Ryder.