All in

Chapter 24

Salvete viri. Ergo deus est hodie Boreas. Gratias tibi. Fruor.

Translation - Hey guys. Today's god is Boreas. Thank you. Enjoy.

Boreas was the Greek god of the wind from the north. His name translates directly to "north wind." He was one of four seasonal wind gods. In addition, he was the god of winter. According to mythology, he would sweep down from the Thrake mountains and bring the cold with him, causing the air to chill through the use of his icy breathing. Beyond his home in the mountains was Hyperborea, which was a mythological land where spring lasted forever, untouched by the icy breath of the god.

At one point, Boreas wanted a wife. He chose to carry off Oreithyia, whose name translates as "mountain gale." She was the daughter of a king of Athens, King Erekhtheus. At the time, the girl had been playing by the riverside in a meadow. Boreas had multiple children with her, including Khione and the Boreades. Khione was the goddess of snow, while the Boreades were a pair of heroes with wings.

In many pieces of classical art and literature, Boreas and the other seasonal wind gods were pictured in the shape of horses. One old Greek folktale stated that Boreas would sweep down as a wind upon mares toward the end of winter, and that the mares would be fertilized. Horses born from a coupling of Boreas and a mare would be the finest and swiftest.

When Boreas is depicted on vases, he's sometimes shown to be a winged and striding god. In some depictions, his beard and hair both have ice spikes. Meanwhile, mosaics tend to depict him as a head blowing gusts of wind among the clouds, his cheeks bloated. This is the kind of imagery that is often found in old maps that were created in later periods.

Though the name Boreas simply means "north wind," some experts theorize that the word derived from the verb "borao," which means "to devour."

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Cat's POV

We drove home in silence, the two of us acting as if everything was fine, as if we were strangers sharing a ride home. As if the last twelve hours hadn't happened. As if the last year hadn't happened.

I should be so lucky, I thought.

For miles I watched the road, that anger that had been buried inside me growing as fast as the weeds in Mr. Harrison's backyard. It got so big that my hands shook because I couldn't keep it contained.

But I wasn't ready. Not yet. So I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut, as if not seeing him would help. What a joke. Nothing helped, and nothing would ever be the same again.

By the time we rolled into our driveway, the sun was peeking up over the trees behind our house, and our five a.m. sprinklers were up and at 'em. Dad pulled his car as close to the garage as he could and cut the engine. Some country song was playing on the radio, and just as the guy was about to belt out the line about his cheating wife, the song was gone.

Kind of ironic, if you ask me.

And there it was. The big silence that I'd been dreading since we left the hospital. The silence was different from the one that had followed us from Forum Verne. This silence was full of heavy, dark things that would hurt, and as angry as I was with him, I just couldn't do it. At least not right now.

Maybe it was because I need to believe that my father wasn't about to rip our family apart, at least for a little while longer. Or maybe it was because I was just too tired

He cleared his throat, so I knew I had maybe two seconds.

"I'm not doing this with you right now," I said, opening the door and practically throwing myself out of the car. Like literally. If not for my dress catching on the edge of the door panel, I would have fallen on my butt. As it was, the seam split, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from him.