Page 97 of The Child of Rue Royale
“What does that even mean?” Chantal asks.
Mother continues. “Those words, that spell, is something Grandma set all those years ago when she first saw Bastian in the alley. She must’ve had a vision right then, so she cast a spell that would sit dormant for decades until this very moment, when you could say the words. It had to unfold just this way. She placed the spell because she knew Aven would be a Visionary, someone with a gift to show scenes of the past visually. That he would take the evil out of this coven. The spell activated his power. Seers just have visions. While Visionaries not only have the vision, but they also show everyone the vision.”
“Is that a normal witch thing?” Bastian asks, utterly perplexed, and we all shake our heads.
“Never seen anything like that in my life,” Chantal whispers, and I agree.
The sound of a car pulling up shakes us from our conversation, and I look to my family, a ball of fire in my stomach. My coven, come to watch my trial, and my arms shake as I turn to Bastian. “Go hide behind the stage. I’ll tell them everything, but I need to talk to them before they see you.”
He’s hesitant, looking from me to Aven, standing protectively by our side.
“Do it,” I say, “I’ll keep him safe, I promise.”
He pulls a hand down his weary face, then shakes his head. I know it’s not easy for him, no longer having the strength or speed of a vampire. Relinquishing power. “Fine. But remember…” He pulls us closer, scanning my face. “Baby, let go,” he says, his thumb running along my knuckles. And then he’s kissing my bloody mouth, then presses his nose into my matted hair. “I love you, Aster Wildes. Desperately.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper, folding my hands around his hair, and then pushing him back. “Desperately.” He bends down to kiss the baby, and I try to keep it together as he walks away.
“What do we tell them?” I sigh, my chest unable to keep up with my lungs.
“Do you know what people who are Visionaries and Seers do on this earth? I’m not only talking about witches, I’m talking about artists, about creatives, scientists, and engineers. They see change in the future. They see a new way forward. And that’s what we must do. We are changing this coven today.” Mother’s chin quivers, the change on the horizon frightening, yet most change is, isn’t it?
“I can’t see the future. You think I’m the one that should implement change?” I shake my head, the grip of being forced to make such a decision tightening around every muscle, a responsibility too heavy for my arms to carry.
“You don’t have to see it through a vision. But Grandma saw it in you and gave you this new power. You have brought all this history out, the deceit behind our backs. You should lead them.” Mother’s eyes widen with tears. “This is our future. Take control.”
I look to Aven, then Chantal.
“What do you think I should change?”
“You were Grandma’s hope,” Mother says to me, a shudder of emotion shaking her shoulders, yet her head stays high. “What do you want to change?”
I’m out of breath, wondering how on earth I would convince a coven full of women unsure of my intentions, unsure of me, about what’s happened and how we can move forward. Aven can show them everything, but I can’t force them to be on my side.
I think about the witches that have betrayed us all. Who have looked down on my family since before I was born when mine was the family that started this coven. I look to Aven in my arms, my future. My Mother and Chantal. I will have to speak from a place buried deep inside of me.
The weight of family tradition is what has kept us in this vicious cycle of abuse, and it was my bloodline that created the structure of our organization. Somewhere along the way, a crack formed in the foundation, and we took wrong turns and lost our way. Breaking free from a legacy created for you to fulfill is an overwhelming thought, but taking control can be invigorating, freeing. I don’t know about everyone else. But I want to live a free life with my family. So we must start anew and carve an innovative way to move forward.
I look to the heavens, hoping my grandmother has my back, and say what I’ve wished for since I was a girl.
“I say, we collectively re-structure how we want this coven to work. And decide a new path forward in a way that benefits our lives, instead of takes from it. We’ll hold no woman captive; they can be free to leave. But I think the old way of our coven should end today. No moreforced pregnancies. No more financial systems put in place that only benefit the elders. We make our own way from here on. We help and we heal. We do good.
“And we don’t have to be enemies with vampires. We don’t have to like them, but we don’t have to hate them either. Bastian and I are free to be in love and live a life in the open with our son. I will show them everything they need to see through Aven.”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping you would say.” Mother smiles, pushing my hair back from my face.
Chantal looks at me, nodding, invigorated. I look at my mom with pleading eyes.
“But I’m not ready to lead them. I have a baby I want to raise and enjoy. You deserve this. Grandma was wrong. You weren’t just a vessel for me. You are part of me. You are intelligent and clever. You know so much more than me. I didn’t even know what a Visionary was. You’re a pain in the ass. But you deserve to be an elder.”
Her mouth forms a perfect circle, eyes sobering, telling me she’s up for the task, just as witches walk upon the grass. The first face I recognize is Jade, who has been by our side from the start. She breaks into a jog to reach us, her bewildered face taking in the state of us.
“I’ve been listening as much as I could on that stupid hour drive here. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here faster,” she says frantically, taking us all in. “They’re dead?”
“Yes,” I say, covering my mouth in disbelief.
“Good,” she spits out, her eyes wild with relief. “I’m in. I heard your plan. I’m in.”
“Of course you are, dear,” Mother says, knowing Jade’s always on our side, and all Jade does is nod.
