Week 2 Storytelling: Mother Knows Best

Kat wondered where her fiancé was.  He had gone to talk to her mother, Artemis, about their engagement, but he hadn’t been back for hours.  She was getting worried.  Her mother was quick to judge and had an even quicker temper.   Especially when it came to Kat and her life, in particular her love life. For all Kat knew, the two could be waging war right now.

Statue of Artemis.  Source: Wikimedia Commons

As Kat walked into her mother’s temple, she noticed that none of the other maidens were there.  They never left their posts at the entrance unless her mother commanded it.  This definitely didn’t bode well for her fiancé! 

“Mom! Where are you?” she shouted out. 

“I’m right here,” her mother said from behind her.  “There’s no need to yell.  Not to mention it’s very unseemly for someone of your age and status!”

Kat whipped around to see her mother looking surprisingly calm.  The talk with her fiancé could not have gone that well. She knew her mother too well to believe that. 

“Where’s Sin?” Kat asked.  “He was supposed to come talk with you.  You know we’re getting married whether you approve or not right? I love you, but I love him too!”

“He’s… working,” Artemis said with sly smile. 

“Working? Working on what?” Kat demanded.

“Just running a few of my errands for me.” Kat knew that couldn’t be good. “I think he’s on his way to ask Hades for a ‘bottle of death’ right now,” Artemis said with a laugh. 

“WHAT?!” Kat screamed.

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Meanwhile, Sin was trying to complete his final task.  He couldn’t believe that Artemis thought that his completion of this random jobs would prove that he loved Kat.  Just the fact that he was willing to marry Kat when he knew her mother was Artemis should be enough.  The woman was insane!

Sin had already bargained with Hades and was on his way out of Tartarus.  He couldn’t believe that he had to promise Hades that he would do something for him in the future for a freaking bottle of death.  If Artemis wanted someone killed, he could do it for her! Kat could do it for her for that matter.  She was the daughter of the Huntress after all. 

Door to Hell. Source: Wikipedia.

As Sin was approaching the exit to Tartarus, he noticed a strange smell coming from the bottle Hades had given him.  He would have ignored it, but it reminded him of… something.  What was that elusive smell? He knew it from somewhere. 

As he was sinking to the ground, he recognized the smell.  It was the Hypnos’s sleeping potion.

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“Don’t you yell at me young lady.  I’m just looking out for you.  If he can’t complete these simple tasks, then he’s not good enough for my baby girl,” Artemis declared haughtily.

Kat couldn’t believe her mother.  “I am a grown woman, mom.  I can look after myself.  I love Sin.  I’m going to marry him and start a family.  So tell me, where is my fiancé?”

“He should have left Tartarus by now…  Unless he fell asleep on the job.”

Just as the words left her mouth, Kat realized what Artemis had done.  What if her mother had accidently killed him with her underhanded schemes?  Without a word, she teleported from her mother’s temple to her soon-to-be husband’s side. 

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As she wiped away the sleeping spell, she realized just how much she loved Sin.  She realized that she couldn’t live without him.  She needed him by her side.

As Sin’s eyes opened, Kat immediately blurted, “Marry me today.”

“What?” Sin said, still not fully alert.  He could have sworn Kat had said to marry him today of all days.

“Marry me.  Today.  Not whenever my mother comes to term with it, but right now.  We’ll go to my father.  He can perform the ceremony.”

“Are you sure?” Sin wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but he was determined to roll with it. 

“I’m positive.  I love you.  I don’t care what my mother thinks.  I love you and my father loves you and that’s all that matters at this point. Artemis will come to terms eventually.  She’ll be pissed at first, but she loves me,” Kat said softly.

Sin grinned.  “Anything that will piss Artemis off is fine with me.  Let’s go.” He whipped out his phone and called Kat’s father right there.

Author’s Note:

This story is a twist on Apuleius’s Cupid and Psyche.  It’s based on the later part of the Cupid and Psyche tale, focusing on The Sleep of the Dead.   In the original story, Psyche is the one sent on a variety of tasks for Venus, although Venus is not really trying to prove Psyche’s worthiness.  She’s hoping that on one of the tasks, Psyche will either die or give up.  Cupid, meanwhile, is laying injured in bed, unaware of Psyche’s plight. To be honest, almost every romance novel follows the Cupid and Psyche story line to some degree!

I took my characters and a vague story line from the Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, specifically her book titled Devil May Cry. (I absolutely love this series and think that the storylines are really dynamic and action packed, especially for a romance novel.)  This isn’t how the book was set up, beyond the characters and the fact that Sin hates Artemis, but it was one of the first things that came to mind when I had to write my story.  I decided that it was time for the man to do the trials to win the woman’s heart, even though he was essentially trying to win the heart of Kat's mother.  

"The Sleep of the Dead" from Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).  Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook.