32
Because he Loves You
‘Queen of the Netherworld and seventh slave, you will come to me and…I will make you my slave in Hell.’
“Keira?” I heard my name being called in my mind in a questioning way that didn’t really make sense in the light of what was happening right now…or should I say, in the darkness of what was happening now. As I was still being dragged down through the water with the demonic hand I now knew belonged to Draven’s demon. He was still holding me, but with each call of my name, his grasp on me began to loosen. As if hearing my name from a voice he knew was having an effect on him.
“Keira!” I knew that voice, even though it sounded as if it was coming to me through a fog of jumbled memories. I decided I needed to look back, as though this was the last thing I needed to do before I ran out of air. So, with his hold on me slowly slipping away, I turned my body in the water so that I was now facing the surface.
Even through the cloudy black liquid I could now see a figure standing there looking into the pool as I once had done. I started to reach up, my arm floating as if that was all the fight I had in me and in doing so I heard the growl in my mind as an arm banded itself around my torso. It was as though the action was done as one last desperate attempt to keep me locked to him.
This was it, he wasn’t going to let me go. He would fight, which meant I would have to also. So, with the last of my breath, I twisted in his hold and I don’t know why it mattered, but I issued him a warning I was surprised he even listened to. I sent out the power of thought that even in my own mind, sounded like the desperate cry it was.
‘Let me go, you’re killing me!’ I don’t know why, but in that single second the arm disappeared as if this was never his intention. As if killing me wasn’t what he wanted, but more like abducting me was and this had been his only way. Then, as I made my way closer to the surface, I stared, stunned by what I could now see. It wasn’t the voice of someone I knew calling my name that belonged to the shadow above…
No, because that shadow was me.
I tried to make sense of this in my mind but came up with nothing other than still feeling the overwhelming need to breathe.
“KEIRA!” Suddenly the voice screamed this time, as I reached up trying to claw myself through the water back to the surface and back to my other body.
This was when I heard one last threat in reply, echoing around the confusion in my mind. I knew it was one I no choice but to take seriously.
As my fingertips were just about to break the surface, he told me as a demonic growl in my ear,
“I will be waiting for you…in Hell”
I woke with a startled breath as if gasping for air, bending my body over double in order to fill my lungs and rid myself of the burn.
“Keira?! Jesus, what just happened!?” I heard a voice shouting at me, but it started off sounding muffled until finally I was able to focus.
“Sophia?” I said her name as a question as she continued to rub large circles on my back.
“Yeah, it’s me, thank the Gods, because I think if my brother had found you he would have freaked, and shit soul weed roots!” I laughed at this only it came out spluttered.
“What happened?” I asked after finally feeling steady enough to stand up without swaying.
“I should be asking you that. I came down here when I saw the door was open and thought, hey this is Keira, my crazy, ‘I like to do dumb shit’ sister in law, she must be down here.” I shot her a frown and she motioned to the room and pool we were still stood in front of, making her point.
“Okay, so yeah, you can have that one…what else?”
“What else? I came down here and saw you just stood like a Jikininki demon staring down at the pool in some weird trance,” she said getting slightly more high-pitched, no doubt because she was still coming down from her moment of panic.
“A what now?”
“Think Zombie only with more teeth, none of which are rotting or blunt and also throw some self-loathing in there for good measure,” she said taking me by the arm and steering me away from the pool.
“Aww, that can’t be fun.”
“They eat the flesh of human corpses and then steal from them to use as bribery. We are not exactly talking pillars of society here, Keira.” I made a ‘Eww’ face and said,
“Fair enough. So, getting back to the Zombie Keira, that being the ‘less flesh eating and more zoned out variety’, what the hell happened?” I asked looking back over my shoulder at the shimmering dark pool.
“You tell me, I was only the one who found you like that, not the one who put you there…what did you see?” I stopped dead at her question and turned to face her stunning doll like features, beautiful even at the height of her confusion.
“How did you know I would see anything?” I asked frowning.
“A guess,” she said in a tone that even she knew I wouldn’t buy into what she was trying to sell me, which was basically supernatural bullshit. In the end all I had to do was pull a Draven and raise an eyebrow at her.
“Fine, jeez, my brother rubbing off on you much…you know I remember a time when you used to be more accommodating to my bullshit.”
“Yeah, well what can I say, a few trips to Hell and back and you learn a few things,” I said without even thinking about where I nearly just ended up…or had I? I mean it wasn’t like I had just been pulled out of the water. Or was it like there had been Draven’s demon down there shaking his fist at us like some defeated bad guy from Scooby Doo, shouting ‘You pesky kids!?’.
“I don’t even want to know what that look is all about,” she commented holding her hands up in defeat.
“No, you really don’t,” I agreed as I continued to follow her out of Draven’s private vault, just thankful that once we made it through the painting she started talking. She had just pressed it shut with both hands and then when the locks clicked into place, she leant her forehead on the painting and released a sigh.
“Is it that bad?” I asked, taking in the unusual sight of Sophia looking lost for words.
“Come on, I mean I gathered pretty quickly that it wasn’t some ancient pool of tranquillity or anything,” I said making her straighten her shoulders before facing me in an obvious posture that said, I can do this, but I just don’t want to.
“No, but it is a pool direct from the river Lethe.”
“Okay, well that doesn’t sound so bad.” I said obviously jumping the gun when she asked me back,
“Do you know what the Lethe is?”
“No, but it sounds nice…is it not…nice?” I asked when she started shaking her head at me.
“Well, that depends on your take on nice when referring to one of the five rivers in Hell,” she replied wryly.
“Wow, definitely not tranquillity then…and you’re right, not exactly what I would class as nice either,” I said after a sudden expel of air.
“That would be a no,” she agreed and let’s face it, with her being a demon and all, and not forgetting having a father that currently resided in Hell as one of its rulers, then yeah, she would definitely be the expert here.
“Aww man! Seriously, why is it all Draven’s pads have to come with weird shit? I mean rats I can live with. Hell, even a damn temple and creepy ass crypt I won’t draw the line at and well, don’t even get me started on dungeons, as no offense, but around you guys, my husband says he’s taking me to a castle for our honeymoon and I just know there will be a dungeon or two…but finding a bathroom surprises me, go figure…”
“Keira dear, your point?”
“My point dear sister, is that why is it always the last bloody thing I expect to find is the very thing I always bloody find! I mean Jesus, Ffffing Christ on a pogo stick!” I said dramatically throwing my hands up in the air so that my massive sleeves ended bunched up near my shoulders.
“Now who has been…?”
“Don’t say it!” I warned holding up a hand to stop her from throwing a Pipism in my face.
“So, these ‘normal’ things?” she asked, putting a hand on her hip as if what I was asking for was insulting and not having a strange demonic pool of water that tried to drag unsuspecting victims down to Hell was a completely reasonable request.
“Yeah, you know, like a home cinema or a hot tub…I mean at this point I would even shrug at a Playboy mansion style sex grotto, as it’s not exactly as though I don’t know what happens at your private parties. Seriously, why can’t you guys just have normal shit in your house, uh?” I asked making her laugh as we left the gallery and made our way presumably back down to where the party had already started.
“Because, I don’t know if you have noticed this yet, that in there is my brother’s version of ‘normal shit’,” she told me, making me wince because I knew she was right. But even so that didn’t stop me from saying.
“Yeah, well it wasn’t that long ago that I fell through the floor and into a pit of rotting rapist corpses, being eaten by a guy we always thought was a woman, so you know…God, I miss Ranka!” I said first with a shrug of my shoulders and then finishing this by looking up at Heaven as if this was where I would find her. Sophia just patted the top of my head until I was looking down, after giving me a little shake of my head to remind me where she had likely founding her resting place. If Hell could ever be filed away in that ‘RIP’ category.
“In my brother’s defence and at this point, what I like to think as a positive note, he didn’t know that was there either,” she reminded me referring once again to Ranka’s unconventional snack bar.
“That doesn’t exactly give me the warm and fuzzies here, Sophia,” I said looking at her side on. She looked thoughtful a moment and then shrugged her shoulders just like I had, before agreeing,
“No, I suppose not.”
“Okay, so I know it’s not what you would call the norm…”
“Having a Hellish pool of water in the middle of a private vault, one that had been cut into the mountain and hidden behind a big ass painting of yourself…no, definitely far from the norm there, Sophia,” I agreed sarcastically, one she smirked at.
“Why would he even have it?” I asked before she could try and convince me that it wasn’t that weird again. She sighed, (something that was quickly becoming a habit around me) and then threw another shocker my way.
“Because of you.” My mouth dropped open forming a little O shape before snapping shut again, looking around as if the walls held the answers and no surprises when they didn’t, my mouth dropped open again. Thankfully, these fish like actions were enough to get her to put me out of my misery and stop me imitating marine life.
“The water from the Lethe is known to have many properties, and the master of the Lethe is known to have control of them all as the river flows through his home,” Sophia told me as we walked through yet another long hallway, this time, instead of being adorned with my handsome husband, it was one lined with colourful tapestries of landscapes. There were even ladies lay in a garden full of fruit trees, draped seductively in the grass about to eat golden apples. Medieval Knights bearing the red templar cross across their white tunics stood proud against the back drop of a castle in the distance.
“Properties like…?” I questioned, leaving it hanging in the air and rolling my hand around to prompt her to say more.
“Well, to humans it is mostly like losing time, known as the Ameles Potamos, which means the river of un-mindfulness. Named after the Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion. It is said that one sip is all it will take to lose the essence of your mind that helps hold on to reality…although, you would think being in Hell this would be enough to achieve that.” I snorted at that and had to agree,
“Uh, I would say the verdict is a big fat yes on that one.” She gave me a coy look in return before carrying on.
“To our own kind of course it has a different effect, one quite the opposite in fact.”
“How so?” I asked in a curious tone, one overshadowing the worry I should have been expressing.
“Well, it can have the power to show you a glimpse into the future or, if on the receiving end, have the power to grant you strength to succeed in your goals. Bringing you clarity…of course it has also been known to drown those stupid enough to fall into its depths, succumbing to their own foolish power when being made to believe they are in no danger until it is too late…it’s fickle that way.” Yeah, I could believe it, considering it felt like it was trying to consume me whole at the time…or better still, the demon that lurked beneath it had.
“Where for humans it can conceal the truth, for one such as my brother, it can shine light on it.” My eyes grew wide hearing this.
“Okay, so I get it, handy thing to have in your private secret room. But the one question I do still have is…what does that have to do with me?” Sophia gave me a small smile before telling me Draven’s own truth.
“He would use it to try and seek out visions of you.”
“What?!” I shouted making my slightly overly dramatic response echo in the large space.
“Is it really so hard to believe? He may have been told by the Fates that you were destined to find him, but that didn’t stop him searching anyway he could. Trust me, if he had found you first, he wouldn’t have sat back on his heels and just waited another decade for you to come knocking on the castle door.” Yeah okay, so knowing her brother as well as I did, I could see that.
“Wow, I had no idea.”
“But of course you didn’t, and Dom would no doubt like to keep it that way.” Her look said it all. I gave her a salute and said,
“Mum’s the word.” Which ended in her cocking her head at me like a parrot listening to a new sound.
“It means I won’t say anything.” She frowned as if trying to make sense of it, which had me smirking to myself. All this time on Earth and there were still things her and her brothers didn’t know. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly state secrets or the cure for the common cold but still, it was enough for me to have my small moment of being smug.
“So now the important question remains.”
“And that is?” I soon wished I hadn’t asked.
“What did you see in the pool?” Her folded arms told me getting out of this question wasn’t going to be easy.
“Uhh…nothing much, anyway so this thing tonight, is there going to be haggis, ‘cause you know, not the biggest fan of the whole heart, liver, and lungs meat thing, stuffed into an animal's stomach.?” I said and as soon as I had, I wished that my voice had remained even (as a high-pitched voice was usually dead giveaway of someone lying). I also knew I had gone too far, too soon into the whole change of subject thing. Damn it, why couldn’t I ever be cool?!
“Keira! By the Gods woman, why can’t you go one minute without getting into some shit!” Sophia said stopping abruptly and calling me out on my lie. As let’s face it, if it wasn’t something bad then why feel the need to lie about it. Bugger, I knew I should have just gone with something light-hearted like, ‘Oh it showed us all drinking mulled wine around a roaring fire singing carols to a snowy Christmas this year’.
Alright, so yes that was probably an even more far-fetched vision to say, as I couldn’t exactly see Ragnar singing Frosty the Snowman wearing a fluffy Santa’s hat. If anything, it was more likely to be ‘Santa's got a bag of Souls’. The demonic Afterlife version of Soul Saints Orchestra!
“Okay so yes, some weird shit has been happening lately but please just listen to why I haven’t told you or anyone for that matter…well other than Lucius, but that totally didn’t count as, well he kind of walked in on it…although now that I think of it, I did kinda shout his name in my head and…” I finally stopped rambling on when I heard Sophia groaning. I looked back to where she had once again stopped walking, to see her rubbing both her hands on the side of her temple as if trying to ease the headache I knew she didn’t have, because I was pretty sure demons couldn’t get headaches. Although, this was me we were talking about here, I mean if there was one being alive that had the ability to evoke a first headache on any of the Dravens it was inevitably going to be me.
“Gods Keira, it’s not even been a month!”
“I know, I know!” I said throwing my hands up in the air before deflating back down along with my shoulders until finding myself sitting on the floor amidst all the material. I must have looked like a crumpled wilted flower.
“Hey, come on now, I am sure it can’t be that…oh…ooh right it’s bad isn’t it?” I nodded my head to indicate a big fat unfair yes and she winced. She gracefully dropped down beside me, once again making me ask myself the unimportant question of how in God’s name she could pull such a swan-like move without slumping down like a dead weight, as I had in such a dress.
“Well, look on the bright side, I am sure Pip is getting bored of being on Adam lock down and is just dying to get up to some mischief, so YEY on that one,” she said saying the word ‘yey’ and pretending to wave a little victory flag at me, making me laugh.
“Oh yeah, Pip will love this one alright,” I said on a groan and a roll of my eyes.
“Look, whatever it is we will face it and deal with it like we always do…don’t worry. Besides, I am sure once my brother knows what…” she trailed off when I started shaking my head desperately, telling her that one; he didn’t know and two; please don’t tell him. Then she closed her eyes and let out another groan of frustration, this time one that made her look a lot like her brother, as she was holding the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.
“I swear one of these days I am going to bash both your heads together,” she said before giving me her hand to help me up off the floor.
“Why?” I asked as it was clear now from the sounds of music that could be heard we were only a staircase away from joining the party.
“Because it’s clear neither of you have learnt anything over the past few years,” Sophia said, and on some level, I knew she was right. But then again, in this situation she had no idea what the consequences of telling Draven could be. Which was why I reached for her hand and made her look at me before telling her,
“I will make you a deal, if you just give me tonight, then tomorrow I will tell you everything and then at the end of hearing it, if you still think it’s a good idea to tell your brother, then we will…but please, just give me this.” I asked this last part in a pleading voice as I looked back over my shoulder indicating the party I knew was below.
She gave me a fleeting, conflicted look before finally giving in to my wishes with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Fine, but you have until tomorrow and then you will tell me everything.” I nodded frantically before grabbing her to me, pulling in for a grateful embrace. She made a kind of ‘Umpf’ sound before relaxing and patting my back.
“How are we going to…?”
“Leave my brother to me,” she said interrupting my question on how we were going to manage getting me away from Draven long enough for that unfortunate conversation to take place. After all, lately Draven hadn’t been too keen to let me out of his sight for long. But looking at Sophia’s cunning eyes, I knew exactly what she was planning so said with a groan of my own,
“It’s going to include shopping, isn’t it?” Her smile said it all.
After this we continued toward where the noise was coming from and I looked over the balcony to see the stunning ballroom below. I stumbled a step forward and had to grip onto the wooden railing in front of me just to hold me steady.
“Sophia?” I whispered her name in a hushed question as what now faced me was beyond anything I could ever have imagined. If anything, it looked just as beautiful as our wedding down there.
“My brother wanted it to be a surprise,” she answered, knowing what it was I was asking. Oh yeah, it was a surprise alright. Even from up here I could see all the effort that had gone into something like this. It was incredible and felt as though I had just stepped through another Janus gate into a very different past.
The massive room beneath us looked completely different now it was full of colourful life, no longer just a bare open space. No, now the wood panelling was a back drop to the ivy covered free standing candelabras reaching up like black iron hands. Each held massive church pillar candles in rich golds and reds that cast a warm glow against the dark wood.
Great long tables framed the sides of the room, leaving a huge space in the middle for people dancing. Twirling bodies covered in lush materials of twisting silks, velvet and satin as they were spun by their smartly dressed partners. A sea of colour all moving in perfect sync to the band that played, higher up on a raised dais over in one corner.
Even the red covered tables were filled with massive platters of food and decorations the colours of Autumn, down their centres. Sparkling silver goblets being filled by servants in costumes, also playing the part in a medieval party, were dotted in and out of the crowd.
Even the walls had been decorated with long swathes of red velvet, creating curtains to frame a slightly raised seating area at one end. A beautiful table of purples and golds setting it apart from the rest, that and the thrones set behind it just ready to be filled by the guests of honour…
The King and Queen.
“He did all this…just…just because I mentioned about going to a banquet?” I asked in a stunned tone that spoke volumes as to what I was feeling. I was completely overwhelmed. I heard Sophia’s sing song laugh behind me at the sight of my shock, before she approached next to me.
But it wasn’t her voice that answered me.
It was his.
The King…
“No, he did this because…he loves you.”