Her shock turns to glee, then she claps her hands enthusiastically. “Finally.” She sits up straight. “How does it feel?”
I’m having trouble finding my words. I didn’t exactly prepare for any of this. I’m just going with the flow, hoping something will click. All I know now is that I need to talk to someone, and whether I like it or not, Rose is the best person for that. “I don’t know, Rose. This is all so hard to come to terms with.”
“I know, dear, but it’s in you. It’s who you’ve always been—since birth. Don’t you see? You’ve never been strange or cursed. You’ve simply been becoming what you were always meant to be. You’ve got to see that now. That there’s been something in you just begging to be released?”
I can’t argue with her there. Then something clicks, and I have to ask, “Did my mom know about all of this?”
Rose nods, her eyes never leaving mine. “It’s why she kept you away, Katrina. She didn’t want you to become—” She sweeps a hand up and down, gesturing to all of me. “But there was no stopping it.”
“You spoke about divine intervention before. Are you saying that because she tried to keep me away from all of this, from you and from Apollo Beach, that it ended up killing her?”
Rose tilts her head, and I can see she’s trying to find the right words. “I believe so, yes.”
Sorrow fills me to the brim. “So, what now?”
“You embrace it,” Rose says. “You learn, you train, and then you find out how to exist in a world that desperately needs you.”
I take a few more steps to get to the lounge chair beside her and sit. “But why would the world need any of this? Nothing good has come from what I’m capable of.”
“That’s because you didn’t know what you possessed. We start to feel the effects of our Enchantings months, sometimes years, before we officially get our powers. That’s when the magic inside of us comes alive. Yesterday, on your eighteenth birthday, under the high sun of the summer solstice, your transformation was complete. That’s why at the moment noon hit, you could no longer hide from what you are.”
“Why didn’t you try to warn me?”
Rose shakes her head. “Oh no, dear. It’s Solstice law to not discuss one’s Enchantment until full development is reached. There are some exceptions to the rule, but the law book states that I had to wait.”
“There’s a Solstice law book?”
“There is. You’ll come to know it well. You’ll also learn to control when and how your powers are used. Trust me, Katrina. You’ve been bestowed such an incredible gift.”
“By who?”
“Many years ago, dating back to a time that is untraceable, as far as our family history goes, a goddess was born on the day of the summer solstice.”
“Astina Summer,” I say on a breath.
Rose smiles. “That’s right. Astina, the Goddess of Enchantment, is the original summer solstice goddess. Before the Horae existed, Astina came to be the most powerful goddess of our seasons. She was said to have grown to be a magical being with powers only to be used for the good of mankind. As Astina grew into her power, people did not fear her. They were captivated by her beauty and magic, and indeed, she only used her powers for good. Her Followers believed she was the purest soul on earth, and that her powers were bestowed to her because of that goodness. Her Followers strived to live a life as pure as her—to help others, to be generous—and as a thank you, they were gifted powers of Enchantment as well.”
I swallow. “So that’s it? That’s how the Summer bloodline began?”
“Almost, dear. When Astina was set to marry, she wished for an opposite to complete her, to help her carry on the bloodline of the solstice. She met two men, one of whom would turn out to be her Fated, her one true mate. The other, her nemesis for a lifetime to come.”
I shudder, but continue listening without a word.
“Her Fated was Zavier, another primordial god, who had been born on the day of the winter solstice. They grew together and created a family that commenced your bloodline—their children, the descendants of their power. Your grandfather, your father, and you are direct descendants of that blood.”
I frown as hundreds of questions form at once. “But what about you? Does that mean you haven’t always been a Solstice?”
Rose smiles. “I have. I come from a line of original Followers, those who were gifted Solstice powers by Astina. After Astina passed away, the ability to grant Enchantment died. We can, however, become Enchanted Solstices through marriage. We can also invite new Followers in to partake in our events and witness our actions. It’s one way we keep ourselves in check.”
My mind is spinning. “So there are Solstices, Followers, and—” I look up at her. “What do you call someone who doesn’t possess powers and who isn’t let in on the secret?”
“They are called Normals.”
“Normals.” I say the word quietly, as if I might offend someone.
Rose smiles. “It’s not an insult, Katrina. We all coexist, but our purposes are different.”
I swallow. “So, then what about my mom? Was she a Normal until she married my father? You said she knew what you all were.”
Rose hesitates for a second before responding. “Grace wasn’t brought into the secret until after she married Paul. She had to wait until she was officially Enchanted before she could be let in on our secrets. Like I mentioned, it is Solstice law not to disclose who we are to anyone else. Since she wasn’t a Follower, she had to wait.”
“That’s a little confusing.”
Rose nods. “As is any law, I suppose. But it exists to protect our kind from danger.”
A chill shakes through me. “Danger?”
“At the start of our existence, Astina grew to be an all-powerful goddess with thousands of Followers, both Enchanted and not. There was another—an opposite—who became jealous of Astina’s powers.”
“Wait. You said there was a second opposite when she was to choose her Fated. Is that who you’re referring to now?”
Rose nods. “Yes, the God of Darkness, Erebus. You see, there were two other primordial gods that came to be around the same time as Astina and Xavier. The God of Autumn and the Goddess of Spring. Together, they created an Equinox bloodline that worked and lived parallel to the Solstice bloodline. But the God of Darkness became jealous of what they were creating. He murdered the primordial Equinox Gods and created an army out of the Equinox descendants to rival Astina. Out of fear, the Equinox did as Erebus commanded to work against her, doing whatever they could to sabotage her position of leadership in the deity community. Erebus and his Followers caused the Great Enchanted War in ancient Greece in an attempt to overthrow Astina completely. Loved ones were torn apart, our bloodlines were compromised, and while the Solstice Army came out on top, the Equinox Army still exists to this day.”
Fear bristles in my chest. “Are you serious?”
“Quite serious, dear. The threat is real, but we’ve built a safe community around the world, one that thrives by constructing protections all around us. While Zeus created the Horae to preside over the seasons and time, it never changed our roles, even if the Greek mythology stories don’t reflect our history.” She purses her lips to reflect her annoyance. “As Solstice descendants, we believe in the purest of all things. We do not tolerate evil, sinning, or defiance of any kind. Our ancestry tells us that the purer our souls are, the stronger our powers grow to be. And that is how we live.”