‘Perseus,’ she whispered, over and over again. ‘My darling, Perseus.’ Outside, the sound of footsteps at the base of the tower broke the false reality of calm. With a quickened pulse, she glanced around the room. Bloodstained sheets were draped across her bed. Cradling the baby in her arms, she lifted herself to her feet, only to drop back to her knees. The key sounded in the lock.
‘You cannot come in!’ Danae’s voice cracked. ‘You must fetch my mother. My mother. I need her.’
Silence. Uncertainty as to which maid had been assigned to her that day.
‘I am still a princess of the palace.’ Danae held Perseus to her chest, praying her shouts did not cause him to cry. ‘I am ordering you to fetch the Queen. If you do not, both she and the King will hear of this.’ The moment elongated, followed by the brief clinking of the key being removed.
‘Certainly, my lady.’ The voice trembled back.
‘My child,’ Eurydice fell to the floor, clasping her child and grandchild. ‘How?’
‘A gift from the gods. From Zeus himself,’ Danae repeated, knowing it to be true. ‘You will help me? You will help me bring him from here?’
Her mother paled.
‘You should have told me before now.’ She rose from her daughter’s side to pace the confines of the tower room. ‘I need time. There are people, but I need time.’ Her pacing quickened, her knuckles white as she clenched and unclenched her fists. ‘Your father rides out to hunt this afternoon. You must stay here until then, but we must have you gone before he returns this evening. I will go. I will find us a boat. I will —’
The door to the room swung open. A young maid, with a pail and mop in her hand, stood there. The fraction of time passed like an eon. The maid’s casual submissiveness was followed by confusion as her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. Finally, the flush of fear. The Queen leapt across the chamber to her.
‘Go!’ She shouted but an inch from the young girl’s face. ‘Go now, and you will speak to no one about what you saw here. You understand?’ She gripped the girl’s arm, causing the mop to slip from her grasp. ‘You will speak to no one, or it will be the end of you. Do you hear me?’ The girl nodded mutely, tears building in her eyes as she reached back down for her mop.
‘Yes, My Queen. I understand.’
‘Leave us!’
Eurydice slammed the door before turning back to Danae. Her hands trembled so much that they shook her gown.
‘She will not stay silent.’
‘But —’
‘She will not. You need to leave now. You need to come with me. I will fetch you a coat and gold. We will head to the harbour. Someone will take you.’
‘But, Mother …’ Danae clutched Perseus against her skin, praying for the sanctuary that came when he had been inside her. Eurydice was already back at the door.
‘Open for no one. No one but me.’
‘What if Father comes?’
‘You open for no one but me,’ she repeated, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, she hurried back to her daughter and landed a kiss upon her grandson’s pale hair before disappearing back into the palace.
They made it as far as the beach together. Eurydice had sent her most trusted friend to seek out a captain who would be willing to take a passenger on board with no questions asked. He would need to leave immediately and would be heavily compensated. Discretion was paramount. One was found quickly, and Danae immediately prepared to set sail.
Wrapped in a cloak of wool, Danae wore the clothes of a local as she edged down the steps of her tower, and out across the courtyard towards the shore. The horizon was barely in view when she saw her father, Acrisius, waiting for her, an army of men at his side. Either the friend or the captain was less trustworthy than Eurydice had believed.
‘You have lied to me.’ He spat the words at his wife.
‘My love, you must understand —’ Acrisius stepped forwards and struck his wife with the back of his hand. Eurydice and Danae gasped in unison as the older woman was knocked sideways, blood spilling from her split lips onto the grey-gold shingles of the beach.
‘Mother!’ Danae screamed, but she could make no move for her. She had barely taken a step when she was seized from behind. She wrestled against the hold, fighting to keep the new-born Perseus in her arms.
‘I wanted to save you. I wanted to save you from this, Danae.’ Acrisius spoke with a tone of confusion as if he were the sole wronged being, as his bleeding wife and weeping daughter stood by. ‘If you could have just obeyed me. If you could have simply listened.’
‘Do not take him from me. He is the son of Zeus!’ Tears streamed from her cheeks as Danae clutched a wailing Perseus to her skin. ‘He is the son of Zeus. Please, do not take him from me.’
‘I should have spared you all the pain.’
‘Father, you will be punished for this. You will be punished for harming the son of Zeus!’ The tears were salty on her lips as she spat out her words. ‘Do not take him from me. Please, the gods will punish you.’
Waves crashed at the shoreline, boats pitching back and forth as white foam thrashed at the hulls. He will get another man to do it, Danae thought as she was pushed to her knees, still clinging to her child. He would not perform the act himself. She considered later that, had Perseus been a normal, mortal baby
