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‘I didn’t even arrive on the river, so I doubt I can go back that way. What’s the third option?’

‘The intervention of a god, or a goddess, I suppose.’

‘Including yourselves?’

‘No, silly,’ said Discordia, with a wicked giggle. ‘If it were that easy, we wouldn’t still be standing here discussing it, would we? We don’t have that kind of power, sadly. Not any more.’

‘Could Minerva intervene to save me?’ asked Claudia. ‘Or even Diana, or Venus?’

‘Maybe, but it can only happen in the moments after death. If you have been gone for a while now, it may be too late… and remember, we have no way of contacting them.’

Claudia gave up, sitting down on a nearby boulder.

‘Who else can travel between the realms, besides Mercury and Pluto?’ she asked.

‘Dreamers, but you can’t dream your way back,’ said Discordia. ‘Dreamers aren’t really dead, so they are not really here to begin with. There are the psychopomps who reap souls, and Mors, the god of death, but he is hard to track down, and he won’t be moved by your story.’

‘What about Proserpina?’ said Claudia. ‘Pluto allows her to go back for the summer and spring. Maybe she can help me return.’

‘Her return is only possible because Pluto opens the portal. She would still need him to enable your escape,’ said Invidia, as if it was obvious. ‘Only he has the keys to the doors that lead to the other realms.’

‘I can think of a fourth way,’ said Discordia, brightly.

‘What is that?’ said Invidia.

‘We could wait until Pluto falls asleep, distract Proserpina and steal the keys right from his belt.’

No one spoke for a moment.

‘That is an utterly insane plan, sister,’ said Invidia.

‘I know. Isn’t it brilliant?’

‘Seriously?’ said Claudia.

‘Imagine the look on Pluto’s face if he woke up and the keys were gone,’ said Discordia.

‘What if he catches us and punishes us?’

‘We are already punished, and you are already dead. There is nothing to fear. Sure, he could turn us into birds or constellations or imprison us in Tartarus, but what is death without a little risk?’ said Discordia, bobbing up and down in excitement.

‘How would we do it?’ asked Claudia.

‘Pluto sleeps when dawn breaks in the mortal realm,’ said Discordia. ‘Proserpina will be at the palace, as always. He rarely lets her leave, and she is too scared to go out without him.’

‘While he sleeps, she continues to meet with the deceased and judge their worth in his absence,’ said Invidia. ‘She is more merciful than he. You could join the line and make your case to her in her court. We’ll take the keys while you keep her conversing.’

‘Then what?’ asked Claudia.

‘She won’t know what to do with you. She’ll have to wake Pluto up and ask him, because she won’t want to make the decision on her own, but she’ll be afraid that he’ll be angry at her for disturbing his sleep.’

‘If we’re lucky, they’ll get into one of their notorious quarrels,’ said Discordia. ‘That should give us enough time to flee.’

‘Do you think she could be converted to the cause?’

‘Why would she?’

‘Because she is a goddess, and goddesses help each other.’