112. ‘I Thought I Said No Visitors, Hekate’
‘I Thought I Said No Visitors, Hekate’
Charon and I both turned to see Styx
… but something was wrong.
Pallas had a protective arm around her
and she rested her head on his shoulder.
‘We bring news,’ he said quietly,
and for a terrible moment, I thought
that Styx may cry. Instead, she moved
her head from his shoulder and said,
‘I think it is news that should be shared
with a cup of wine.’ She walked to the kitchen
as Charon raised an eyebrow and I frowned
in deep confusion. She always told me
I was too young to drink wine.
But she reappeared with four cups
and placed one before each of us
before the wine rose and poured itself.
‘It’s about Prometheus,’ Styx said.
Prometheus the clever was our cousin
who had invented mortals out of clay.
He had sided with the Olympians,
even though he was a Titan, and now
held the position of Zeus’ closest friend
and confidant. We waited for Styx to explain
what had happened. But when she didn’t,
Pallas slowly told us, ‘Prometheus stole
Zeus’ divine fire to give to his beloved mortals.
And when Zeus found out, he punished him.’
His voice broke slightly and he took
a long sip of wine. Charon and I waited
for him to continue. He put his cup down.
‘Zeus had him brought to his halls,
chained to a pillar and whipped till he bled.’
A gasp escaped my throat, but Pallas
continued, ‘He made us all watch.
And when it was done and Prometheus
lay bleeding, he had him bound to a rock
on the mountains and his liver was eaten
by Zeus’ eagle.’ My stomach sickened at this
but Pallas was not finished.
‘Every night, his liver will grow back
only to be eaten again.’
A long, numb silence followed.
‘Was what he did so awful?’
I asked in a small, trembling voice.
Styx spoke softly, ‘It was not
what he did, but who he did it to.’
Charon’s eyes flashed as he looked up.
‘It was a message for the rest of us.’
‘Charon,’ Pallas warned quietly,
but my friend simply glared.
‘Tell me this is not a message from Zeus?
Tell me that this was not to warn
any Titan who works against an Olympian
that they will be destroyed in the worst way?’
Neither Pallas nor Styx spoke.
And I knew then that the war
may have ended, but Zeus still saw
every single one of us as a threat to his reign.