Keys

Persephone waited for Hades to send for her. She didn't know which horrifying thought was worse: his twisted version of what he believed to be love, or the coldness which permeated the earth from her mother's loss.

Shivering against the clammy damp of the cell wall, she allowed a rare tear to graze her cheek. If it were not so humiliating to reveal her husband's tortures to her mother she would gladly oblige. Not for the first time, she longed to drop more than little hints that her mother's cloak of winter mourning did more than devastate the over-world -- it sent icy ripples out in this one too. Although part of her discomfort was tempered by the fact her mother, Demeter, thought Persephone's kidnap and forced marriage warranted a little sign of loss: winter was born as Demeter withdrew her natural bounty in protest of the marriage.

The shuffle of heavy feet moved beyond the heavy wood and steel door. She didn't flinch. The lock rattled, the key turned, and the door swung open soundlessly. Beltaine, the corpse keeper, came in as deferentially as his tortured frame allowed. His toes broke the ice on a puddle in the floor, cutting into his palsied feet. He seemed not to notice the blood well up into tiny tears, dropping little calling cards on the way to his queen.

Maybe she should try harder to sympathise with her jailer. After all, he never tried to hurt her, or mock her like the others did. The "others" were those who visited the peep-hole to her cell, tormenting her with vile whispers and lewd suggestions of what could happen to her if they only held the keys. Beltaine held the keys, and he never came in unless her husband demanded Queen Persephone's presence.

The metal cuff bit into her wrist while Beltaine's clumsy gentleness tried to free her without damage. She felt gravity try to take her arms down too fast and a wave of pain halted her muscles, leaving her crucified on air. Slowly she brought her arms down to her lap, grateful for Beltaine's patience at waiting for her to rise unassisted to her feet. Then she followed him out of the cell and into the Castle of Hell.

It was the same everytime. As soon as they rose a few levels and the air freshened slightly, they would come to the inner portcullis behind Cerebus' gate. On cue, Beltaine would bow to her until she passed him and took the lead to guide them on the upper floors. There was a tantalising moment of hope at this point for Persephone. Beltaine was prone, his keys visible. The three headed guard dog, Cerebus, was in the dividing chamber of the entrance, and beyond him was the ferry man: boat docked and waiting to cross river Styx. Could she do it? She didn't know. There were too many ifs.

Cerebus was essentially a "Good Dog" and technically hers; she was the Queen of Hell, but how would he react to her attempted escape? Beltaine was deferential and never showed any desire to hurt her, but did that mean he would allow her to knock him on the head and steal the keys? And what of the ferry man? She didn't have the coins for the fare. Would he let her commandeer the boat? Oh, and what about Hades? If she didn't make it, what would he do to her? Those keys might go into someone else's hand other than Beltaine's. They might not be so nice about her predicament - they might have ideas like the "others".

All these thoughts sent waves of hope, fear, bravery and frustration through her tiny frame as she took the lead and turned away from the gate and toward Hades Hall.

"Darling!" He grinned from the high table as she came in. "Happy Valentines."

He kissed her as she sat, the unmistakable scent of sulphur and clotted blood on his breath. She tried not to flinch as his cold, sharp fingers brushed away the trail left from her previous tear. In front of her the servants placed her meal: A raw, bloodied heart atop a timbal of fresh vegetables. Smoky ribbons of steam still curled from it on the frosty air as it cooled.

"I thought you might care for something other than Pomegranate, my dear? And I so wanted to show you possess the key to my heart."

Persephone tried very hard to smile. After all, Spring was around the corner, and she wouldn't need the key to his heart, just the one to the exit.

(747 words)