Tiger's Eye - Book 1

Chapter 23: Chosen Ones Are Here to Stay

Chapter 23: Chosen Ones Are Here to Stay

            The room filled with applause as I walked on stage. People moved out of the way in order to make a small path for me to get through. I walked up the stairs to the stage and found my mom’s arms first. I pulled away from her and found dad’s next. I found Pilote next. I stood in the empty spot next to him in the middle of the stage. His hand brushed against mine, asking for permission and I held onto his hand granting permission. The moment our hands touched, the crowd roared even more. I blushed a little trying to imagine what they were all thinking. Whether it was the fact that we were the Samoulte or the fact that we were the only soul mates in the chosen ones group. It’s fascinating to them. It made me sad to think about the fact that it wouldn’t be until after the war when the other chosen ones will be able to find their soul mates. They are too busy trying to help with the war to go searching Murera for their soul mates, and most of the Tigmas have already found theirs by the time they’re 16 years old.

We’re standing on a stage in the middle of a ball and you’re thinking about the chosen ones finding their soul mates?

I can’t help it. I feel bad. They don’t have what we do and they have to wait an entire war before finding it.

They’ll find their soul mate when they are meant to.

I know, but I still feel bad.

How do you even have time to think about them?

I can’t help it. I think about everything and everybody.

Have fun. The ball is almost over.

All this attention is weird. I feel like a celebrity.

We are celebrities here.

“And now for the speeches,” Dad said catching my attention again. “Here’s Rolla.”

            Speech? Nobody told me about having to make a speech. I’ve been too busy with Pilote and healing to have any kind of speech to prepare. Pilote let go of my hand and pushed me forward. I walked slowly up to the microphone to begin my speech. Everyone was staring right at me making me more nervous than I already was. I could feel my palms getting sweaty and I could feel my body starting to shake.

            “Uh… hey everyone,” I began, “I wasn’t aware of a speech, but I’ll try the best I can. It’s weird to me… being leader when I’m the one that was most out of the loop before all this happened. My adopted parents were spies so they didn’t provide me with the materials everyone else got to learn about our history. I didn’t train or try to perfect my abilities because I was scared of them. I grew up differently than most of the chosen ones here, but now that I’m all filled in I can assure you with certainty that we have nothing to worry about. We have more advantages to our side than the Silthra could even dream of. I’ve been sitting in on a bunch of the classes that are provided here and it’s truly amazing. Everyone is so talented and passionate about what they do and it’s a beautiful thing to see all of us coming together like we are. I’m really looking forward to getting to know every single one of you after this war is over. Thank you.”

            I quickly found my way back to Pilote. He held onto my hand again while the chosen ones exited the ball and we found our way to one of the meeting rooms. Pilote sat down and pulled me down onto his lap.

“That was embarrassing,” I muttered.

“Apparently they didn’t want to tell you about the speech,” Teegan said.