“I’m not interested in her reasons.” I really didn’t care why she was putting us through this torture, all that mattered is that she was. Then I realised what he had said. “Hang on a minute. If I’m too young to settle down why is she okay with Death trying to marry you off?”
Ankou smiled at me. “Rachel asked the same question. Apparently Rhea does not mind my father trying to find me a bride as she knows he will never succeed.” I couldn’t argue against that statement.
We went quiet for a while, then I asked the other question that was preying on my mind. “Why did you look so ill when you arrived back here?”
Ankou grimaced. “I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind.” He tried to change the subject. “Rachel really misses you and bombarded me with questions about how you are and what you are doing. I didn’t let anything slip that I shouldn’t have.”
“So what else was said?” I was not going to let this drop and he knew it.
Ankou shifted uncomfortably in the sand and refused to meet my eye. “I asked her if she had a message she wanted me to pass on to you. I remembered the way she had kissed me the last time I acted as messenger and suggested it should be more physical this time, if you know what I mean. I was only joking, I swear.”
I know he wouldn’t have touched her in anything other than a brotherly fashion so I didn’t react. “And?”
“And she asked me how I planned on passing it on to you. I thought back to when I had to kiss you and my mind went from there to what I would have to do to you this time if she agreed to go to bed with me.” He shuddered as he recalled the moment.
I burst out laughing. No wonder he looked so green. The images his mind conjured up must have been awful. Maybe that will start making him think with his head instead of another part of his anatomy. Then again, he is Ankou, so probably not.
“It’s not funny,” he snapped, making me laugh even harder.
“Come on Romeo,” I said, slapping him good-naturedly on the shoulder. “I have a bathroom to tile and I could use some help.”
Reunion
It has been 19 years, 3 months and 8 days since I was last with Rachel and finally my wait is over. Today is the day that she is due to come back to the underworld. I am too strung up to relax as the minutes slowly tick by. Thanks to Ankou I know that my family have a big ‘welcome’ meal planned at my grandfather’s house and I will, of course, take Rachel there as soon as she arrives, but that is still hours away.
I am not concerned about her not turning up. I know that she is as eager to see me as I am to see her and she has the timing right, so nothing should stop her being able to pass through the border from her world into mine. My only concern is Rhea. I hope she has the decency to stay away and doesn’t do anything to prevent Rachel reaching me. If she does I will go to Earth and to hell with the consequences, as Rachel would say.
Ankou offered to wait with me, but his presence would only irritate me, so I sent him to wait with the rest of the family. He is the only one who can be sure that I will bring Rachel to see them and I want him with them in case they decide to do anything stupid like go to the beach where she is due to arrive. I want our reunion to be private, at least for a while.
There was still a lot of time left before Rachel was due to arrive when I left my island, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Being on the beach instead of in the house I had built would not make time go any quicker, but I felt an irresistible urge to be there.
My boat was tied up where it usually is on my grandfather’s side of the lake, but instead of sailing it across I decided to kill some time by swimming. Once I reached the far shore I called the boat to me and it sailed across, beaching itself not far from where I was standing.
Now all I can do is wait. Time means nothing to the gods or their offspring so how can one minute seem to take so long?
And then she arrived and everything I had been through over the last quarter of a century no longer mattered. She landed hard and I had to force myself not to run to her.
“Welcome home,” I said as I leaned casually against the boat, my hands in my pockets and a smile on my face. I sounded a lot calmer than I was feeling.
She ran over to me and threw herself into my outstretched arms. Her kisses distracted me so much that we ended up falling onto the ground and rolling around in the sand. Suddenly Rachel pulled away. “Your family can’t see us here can they?”
“Probably, but who cares?” I certainly didn’t.
“I do,” Rachel said and disentangled herself from my arms and legs before getting to her feet.
“Spoil sport,” I said, but I too stood up. “Come on then.” I took her hand and lead her to the boat.
I held her tight as we sailed across the lake and didn’t let her hand leave mine as we walked to grandfather’s house. Nobody heard us enter and we arrived at the dining room just in time to see my mother slap Ankou hard across the face. I guess she had just found out that he has been in contact with me the entire time I was in hiding.
“I have spent the last twenty years worrying about my son and you could have let me know that he was alright at any time, but you didn’t. You utter bastard,” I heard her say to him.
Ankou rubbed his cheek. He must be used to being slapped by women, but I bet they are not usually so forceful. “I was obeying his wishes,” he said in his own defence.
I decided I had better intervene before the argument got out of hand. It was, after all, my fault and I owed my cousin a lot.
I loudly cleared my throat and they all turned around to stare at us. The next thing I knew we were both being hugged and kissed by everyone, even uncle Len. They must have missed us.
“I think they are pleased to see you,” Rachel said.
“Not me,” I said to her. “Us.” This was not all for my benefit. Rachel was a member of the family now and they would all go out of their way to make her feel loved. “This is their way of welcoming you to the family.”
“You must be hungry,” mom said, putting her arm around Rachel in a motherly fashion. “A feast has been prepared for you both.” I wanted to scream that she was mine and mine alone as mom led her away, but that would be childish.
The dining room table was filled with food. Grandmother had really excelled herself. Grandfather must have lengthened the table as there were enough seats around it to accommodate everyone present.
Rachel paused in the doorway. “Are you alright?” I said in concern.
“I’m fine. Just a bit overwhelmed by it all.”
“Do you want to leave?”
“No,” she said. “This day is as important to them as it is to us. It would be rude and insulting to leave now.”
She allowed me to lead her through the doorway and we took our seats. The meal was a noisy affair with everyone talking as they ate. They all wanted to know what I had been up to and where I had been. I told them about hacking into the security cameras so I could keep an eye on Rachel and about the phone I had made for her.
“Is it me or is that kind of creepy?” Katana asked. “You were constantly spying on her.”
“No he wasn’t,” Rachel said, leaping to my defence. “He was looking out for me. I have never felt so safe in my life. I knew that if anything happened to me he would come out of his self-imposed seclusion and send someone to my defence. Like he did when Rhea visited.”
“Mother visited you?” grandfather asked in surprise. “Why?”
“To ask me to convince Kris to come out of hiding. I refused.”
“You said no to grandmother?” Death said. “You’re braver than I thought.”
“So why did you hide away from us all?” mom asked. She had been badly hurt by my actions and she deserved an explanation.
“I couldn’t handle your sympathy. It was hard enough being away from Rachel without everyone around me feeling sorry for me. I hope you all understand.” I offered no apologies for the worry I had caused, knowing that none were needed.
I notic
ed Rachel yawning. “Time to go,” I said loudly. “Rachel is exhausted.”
“That is understandable,” mom said. “It has been a big day for her. We rebuilt your room after you destroyed it and turned it into a complete suite for you both.”
I stood up. “Thank you, but I have already sorted out our accommodation. I have spent the last two decades or so working on a place for us to live.” I turned to Rachel. “I hope you will like it.”
Ankou slapped me on the shoulder. “Trust me, she will love it.”
“But you said the only place you are really happy is at home, with your family,” Rachel said.
I smiled at her. “You forget, home is where the heart is and my heart is wherever you are.”
I was inundated with questions in regard to what exactly I had ‘sorted out’ and where it was, but I refused to answer. My island was private and I intended on keeping it that way for as long as possible. Ignoring everyone I held out my hand to Rachel and helped her stand up.
“Leaving before even saying hello?” a voice rang out, instantly bringing silence to the room. Rhea stood at the end of the table, staring at me and Rachel in delight. “It is good to see you both.”
“I wish I could say that the feeling was mutual,” I said in a cold tone, “but I would be lying.” Why couldn’t she have stayed away? Was she trying to ruin this day for everyone?
“That is no way to speak to your great-grandmother,” she said, but she did not sound angry.
“Maybe not, but it is the way to speak to the person who is responsible for putting me through hell, as my adorable girlfriend would put it, for the last twenty years.”
“You chose to isolate yourself from your family. That was nothing to do with me.”
“It was your actions that made me do it,” I spat back. “And that is not what I am talking about. You kept me from seeing Rachel. That was the part that was hell.”
Rhea snorted. “That is nothing like hell.”
“Try it.”
“Actually, that is not a bad idea,” Rachel said.
“What are you suggesting?” Ankou asked, intrigued.
“Maybe she should spend twenty years on her own, never seeing any of those she loves most. Maybe that will make her see how hard it really was for Kris.”
I glanced at my cousin, silently asking for his agreement, but he shook his head. “No,” he said, but then grinned. If that grin had been on anyone else’s face it would have been called evil, but Ankou could make anything look good. “Twenty years is nothing to a god. It should be two hundred, minimum.”
Rachel and I both looked around us at the family. One at a time, each one slowly nodded. They would all help out. Finally we looked at grandfather.
“I will speak to my brothers,” he said. “I am sure they will agree.”
“But I did it for you,” Rhea said to me. She sounded like she was almost pleading. Almost, but not quite.
“I know,” I said. “And that is what makes it worse. You honestly believe that you were protecting me; stopping me from having my heart broken by Rachel, but what you did hurt me far more than she ever could. It is time you realised the damage your interfering does.”
Rhea looked around her and was met with stony faces. Her actions had affected them all so none of them were on her side.
“Alright,” she said, her attention on me once more. “I will make a bargain with you. I stay away from everyone for two hundred years and when I return you will let me back into your life. Deal?”
“That is not my decision to make.” I looked at Rachel. Everyone in the room held their breath, including Rhea.
“Deal,” Rachel said and the room filled with the sound of lungs expelling air.
Rhea walked up to Rachel and hugged her. “Thank you,” she whispered in her ear. “Look after Kris. I hope you will both be very happy, I honestly do.”
“I believe you,” Rachel whispered back then stepped aside so that Rhea could say goodbye to me.
I could not bring myself to forgive her so easily, so I moved out of her reach. “No. I will treat you like my great-grandmother once more after you have served your time in solitude. Until then you are nothing to me.”
She did not argue. She may be the mother of the gods and have more power than me, but she knows when not to fight. She said a teary farewell to the rest of the family and asked permission to see her other sons before leaving their realms. Permission was granted and she departed, leaving an uncomfortable silence behind her.
“That went better than expected,” Famine said eventually.
“Aunty Fam, Queen of the understatement,” Ankou said, grinning.
“Now we really must leave,” I said.
“One thing before you go,” Death said, stepping forward and addressing Rachel. “Please may I have my wife’s necklace back? You won’t be needing it anymore.”
“Of course,” she replied and reached behind her neck to undo the clasp. “Thank you for letting me borrow it,” she continued, placing it in Death’s outstretched hand and closing his fingers over it. “If it wasn’t for you I would not be here now. Well, not looking like this anyway.” Death hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, then backed away.
“Anyone else want to delay or can we now go?” I asked in fake irritation. The irritation stopped being false when Pestilence spoke up.
“Before you go I have to have the answer to the puzzle.”
“What puzzle?” I snapped.
“The one about the restaurant bill.” I had completely forgotten about that.
Rachel grinned. “There is no answer. It is a mathematical anomaly. You are supposed to get to the 25 from the 30, not the other way round.”
Pestilence stared at her. “I have been trying to work that out for the last 26 years and now you tell me there is no answer. You little... little...” I tensed, ready to defend Rachel if he said anything I wasn’t happy with. Then he grinned at her. “You are going to make a great addition to the family. Come and visit me any time.”
Rachel promised she would, then I hugged her close to me and made us both vanish.
“Where are we,” she asked when we materialised on a beach. The waves were lapping onto the shore and I could hear seagulls in the distance.
“We are somewhere in my father’s lands. I created this little island just for us. It cannot be seen unless you know it’s here. Nobody can disturb us, except for Ankou and he has promised to keep away for a few days.”
“It’s wonderful,” she exclaimed, looking around her at the golden sand and the palm trees behind us.
“Come with me.” I took her hand and lead her along the shoreline. We rounded a bend and she caught her first sight of a little cottage that looks a lot like Famine’s except the walls are made of brick.
“It’s amazing what you can do with magic,” she said, sounding impressed.
I shook my head. “I may have created the island from thin air, but the house I made by hand. I learnt how to do plumbing and thatching. I even created a kiln so I could bake my own bricks. It took a long time, but I believe it was worth it. What do you think?”
Rachel was speechless. Concerned that she hadn’t answered, I took my eyes off my creation and looked at her. “What’s wrong?” I asked, wiping a tear from her eye.
“Nothing,” she said. “It’s perfect. Just perfect.”
“Wait till you see inside.” Like a child showing off a new toy I enthusiastically grabbed her hand and dragged her after me into the house. It’s not large, but is more than enough for our current needs.
“I thought we could add a few rooms onto the back when we need them.” I grinned at her mischievously. “A nursery, for instance.” I winked, picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
The next morning I woke her up with the smell of coffee as I strolled into the bedroom, tray in hand, and served her breakfast in bed.
“I could get used to this,” she said in delight.
“I’m just making sure you don’t
regret your decision to live in Hell, as you like to call it.”
Rachel moved the tray out of the way and pulled me close. “I think I have made the right decision. You were definitely worth waiting for.” She kissed me passionately.
“No time for that,” I said when I was able to pull away. “Eat your breakfast. We have a busy day ahead of us.”
“Really?” she asked in disappointment.
“Really. There are a few gods I need to introduce you to. Zeus, Hera and Hermes, as you would like to call them, to begin with. Then I have been asked to take you under the sea to meet my aquatic relations. Everyone wants to meet you.”
Rachel leaned forward and began to unbutton my shirt. “They can wait. We have the rest of eternity to go relative visiting. Right now I want to work on needing that nursery you talked about yesterday.”
“Oh you do, do you?” I pulled my shirt off my back and dropped it on the floor. I slipped under the covers, pulled her close to me and set about letting her know just how good living in Hell could really be.
From Trudie:
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