The Keys

by Alyne de Winter

Beware the Scent of Tuberose and the Maniacal Music of the Keys!

At six years old, Lissette attends a concert by the handsome and dazzling concert pianist, Armand Guy de Rais. She is instantly infatuated. Ten years later, their lives destroyed by the French Revolution, Lissette's mother marries her off to a wealthy aristocrat living on a Caribbean island. Could Lissette's childhood fantasy be coming true? Or is there more than a whiff of decay in the flowers, in the house, in the music of the keys?

This is a short story of about 6,000 words.

ebook

First published October 11, 2013

About the author

Scribbler of dark fantasies exploring the ancient folk memories, night religions, psychic transformations, in historical, mostly European settings.

Gothic Faery Tales, Gothic Romance and Occult Thrillers are her preferred genres.

Though she always loved to read Gothic Mysteries and ghost stories, it wasn't until she unwittingly moved into a haunted house in London that Alyne began writing supernatural fiction. Her loves are castles, ruins, cathedrals, forests, Grimm's fairy tales, Shakespeare, folk ballads, ancient cultures, mystery religions, the British ghost story and mystery writers.... All things eerie and spooky.

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Reviews

[Riley G. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was free on iBooks, a retelling of Bluebeard. I thought I would try it… It’s weird. There are implications of sex and the pacing was a bit confusing. The sexiness put me off—I skipped past those few paragraphs, and skimmed the rest just to say I read it. I probably should have DNFed.

Also… It’s a bit uncanny to me that I read this and the author’s last name is De Winter, as I reread Rebecca.

Rebecca? Is that you?

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very short. The story is interesting, but it needed to be longer to explain some things. I'm familiar with the tale of Bluebeard, but if you aren't you might be confused.