Leda knelt, her silvery ringlets sticking together in a blood-soaked mat on her head. A demon on each side kept her arms outstretched as Menelaus ran a blade over her skin, as if he were playing a violin of blood and bone. Her screams echoed through the royal chamber. The nobles in attendance stood silent. Their eyes burned with pleasure, thrilled at their king’s strength. To have kidnapped Zeus’s former lover? A triumph. To have her cowering before the great demon horde? A treasure.

The demon nobles’ thirst for blood was well-known throughout the Underworld. Regents were chosen based solely on their ability to maintain their position at the top of the heap through violence, bloodshed, and fear.

“Don’t, Helen. Just let him end me,” Leda pleaded.

My tears scorched my face, the pain my mother was enduring far too much. “I have to, Mother. Please.”

My brothers, Castor and Pollux, lay to Leda’s side, their eyes open and unseeing. Blood marred their once-handsome faces, and their lips had already taken on the dusky blue of death. Menelaus had slaughtered them the moment they’d tried to rescue me from the auction block. My tears for them mingled with the ones for my mother. I had none left to cry for myself.

Menelaus made another deep cut at Leda’s elbow. Blood pooled beneath her and colored her fine gown a deep crimson. She had been dressed in the purest white with a regal purple robe for my wedding earlier in the morning. I had never seen her look so beautiful. The sight should have made me happy. But there was no sliver of joy to be found in my situation. Leda was a prisoner just as much as I was. Both bought, paid for, and enslaved by Menelaus. The gowns and glitz were only for show. Menelaus wanted to impress his horde, show his strength and wealth.

And all had gone according to plan until Menelaus tried to touch me, to claim me after he’d forced me to wed him. I had incinerated him, melting his skin like candle wax, and almost set the palace afire with my magic. The only thing that stopped me were his skeletal hands at my throat, choking me into darkness. I awoke here, with my mother bleeding at my feet and an ultimatum in my lap.

Menelaus turned to me. “I could do this for days, months, even years.” He licked Leda’s blood from his knife. “Only you can save her, Helen. Just say the word.”

Menelaus approached me as I sat upon the dais. He’d forced me to watch my mother’s suffering for hours. My resolve weakened with every cut, every blow, but Leda would not relent, would not allow me to give Menelaus what he so desperately desired.

“My queen, do you not want to ease your mother’s suffering?” The demon king loomed close to me, his hot breath like the vapors of hell. “I appreciate your cruelty, I truly do. It warms my heart to see you enjoy the tortures of our enemies, those who would take you from me. But, if you consent, I will spare her. You have my word as your king and husband.”

I wanted to give in, but Leda’s gaze was hard, telling me that it was better for Leda to die than for me to accept Menelaus’s terms. The blood from her arms still flowed in spurts, and a fine sheen of sweat shone on her face. Still, she would not allow me to raise a hand to save her. Despite my mother’s pleas, I could feel myself bending, almost breaking. The tears continued down my face as they had for the past several hours. I made no sound, only wept as my mother endured Menelaus’s torments.

“Zeus will come for me and wipe you all into the mouth of Hades.” Leda tried to call down death as she fought against her captors. They did not move, just stood as if made of stone. Leda was so weak now.

Mother, please.

Menelaus backed away from me and put his blade to Leda’s throat. He looked to the ceiling and through the atrium that gave way to the sky above. “I see no Zeus coming for you. No assemblage of gods on your side.”

He slipped the blade slowly along her skin, carving a trail of blood in its wake. Leda made no sound and held my gaze. My magic was screaming, demanding to be released, to destroy Menelaus and all in the room. But I couldn’t risk my mother.

He nicked Leda’s jugular and sent blood pouring down the front of her dress. “The bloom is gone from you, whore. Zeus will not come for a haggard cow when he already had the milk when it was fresh.”

The demon nobles laughed, their evil erupting throughout the airy chamber and echoing away until it resembled a dirge.

I closed my eyes. I couldn’t bear to see Leda’s face, to watch my mother’s resolve crumple with my own.

The word slipped from me like water from a tilted cup. “Stop.”

“I’m sorry, my wife, I didn’t quite hear you.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I said that I will consent.” My voice was shaking, the knowledge of what I’d just given up too much to bear. Opening my eyes, I met the stark gaze of my mother.

“No!” Leda cried and fell to her hands, finally released by her demon captors.

I rushed to her. “I’m sorry, Mother. I can’t let you hurt anymore for me. I can’t bear it. Please forgive me for my weakness.”

Leda wailed and took me in her bloodied arms. Acid shredded my heart, my throat. Like Leda, I knew the deal would seal my fate. Fate. The pain of what I’d lost and what I would soon suffer overcame my voice, my soul. I was eclipsed by my doom.

“He will never stop hurting you,” Leda whispered through her tears. “He will never stop. Never.”

“I can’t let anyone else suffer because of me.” I glanced at my brothers, their deaths for nothing, no one. The weight of their sacrifice broke me. They thought they could save me, but I wasn’t going to be me anymore. Not after this.

“Now, my queen, prepare yourself.” Menelaus tore me from Leda’s arms and dragged me behind the dais. Leda screamed my name, and I knew that sound would never leave my mind. Just like the dead faces of my brothers, it would be there, lingering, forever.

Menelaus threw me down before his witch, an immortal who had no equal in the realm of binding and dispelling magics. She wore a robe of the deepest crimson, her dark hair coiled like snakes around her head. Already a fire burned next to the beady-eyed witch, the souls of the damned present in the flames.

“My queen is ready and has agreed to allow you to bind her. But only such that she cannot harm me. Do you understand?” Menelaus gripped the witch’s robes, drawing her face to his. She did not flinch before his menace, but her fangs extended, sharp and lethal. “You will not disturb her powers any further than that. If you do, your life is mine.”

He dropped the witch and glared at me. “Don’t think you can get away with harming those around me. I’ll keep your mother here for my amusement. If you try your magic on any of my servants or warriors—or even yourself—she will pay the price a hundredfold.”

He knelt beside me, coming as close as he dared while my magic still shimmered around us. “And after this, there will be nothing to stop me from claiming you.” He ran a finger along my cheek, smiling as he felt my tears.

I would never escape from the despair that took hold in my breast. Never again have a joyful or pleasant thought or feeling. I was trapped, undone by the curse of my abilities.

“And my payment?” the witch hissed.

“Do this, and I guarantee you will reign among your people as the most powerful, most feared leader they have ever seen.” Menelaus tipped his head slightly. “Queen Desmerada.”