Page 124 of Styx

‘We will,’ Perses said, unperturbed.

‘But first I must take Asteria

to see my parents.’

He looked at Pallas and Styx.

‘You should accompany us.’

Crius and Eurybia

Their palace was built upon the clouds.

It was said that Eurybia used the flint

inside her own heart to make its doors,

walls, and windows. That Crius,

God of Constellations, crafted

each statue, each artefact inside

from the burning heart of a dying star.

That their three sons were so powerful

because each of them bore Eurybia’s

brute force and Crius’s powerful hands,

which he used to wrangle the stars.

When Astraeus, Perses and Pallas’s

oldest brother, sent the clouds to carry us,

we felt ourselves lifted and taken

so high into the sky that Styx and I

held on to each other tightly,

sure we would fall into the sea.

But then the clouds parted

and we saw it. A white marble

palace where no palaces should be.

Our consorts took our hands

and helped us down.

We walked together through

the ornate silver gates.