I couldn't look into the trusting eyes that I would soon betray.
???
Persephone was no longer Kore, the Maiden—the Spring Goddess who embodied the vitality of budding new life, intertwined with Demeter’s sacred role. She would find her place as the great Goddess of the Underworld. I knew this from her keen interest in everything I showed her yesterday, and this was only the beginning of her journey.
I reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face. She stirred but did not awaken. Her lips curved into the faintest of smiles. Even in sleep, she is radiant, a beacon in the darkness that has been my only companion for aeons. How strange it is to feel this ache, longing to stay when I have always been bound to my duty. The underworld does not rest, and neither can I.
Reluctantly, I rise from the bed, the chill of the marble floor seeping into my feet as I step away. I cast one last glance over my shoulder, memorising how the faint light caught the curve of her shoulder. The way her hand rests so trustingly on the pillow where I lay. She was my respite and the light in my dark world.
I slip into the darkness, the shadows of my palace closing around me like an old familiar cloak. The corridors stretch endlessly before me, their cold, unyielding walls a stark contrast to the warmth of Persephone’s embrace. As I walked, I felt the weight of my crown settle. The underworld awaits, and with it, my responsibilities.
Though I must leave Persephone to rest, I carry the night's beautiful memories with me into the shadows of my realm. In my wife, I found hope—something I thought was lost to me. Perhaps hope was her gift to me.
Chapter 13
Persephone
When I stretched my body, the motion reminded me of the flowers unfolding at dawn, greeting the new day. A smile lingered on my lips from the memory of being awakened by Hades. As I opened my eyes, the obsidian room seemed to glow with a newfound radiance. I stretched languidly, savouring the sensations that danced across my skin, the silk teasing me.
My gaze swept around the room to find it empty. Hades had already arisen, his duty to the shades calling him away. The thought of him, so steadfast, brought a flicker of warmth to my chest. Yet, as my mind wandered to my mother, a sharp pang of guilt pierced my contentment. The vision of her face etched with worry and sorrow, searching the earth for me.
Did she know where I was?
My happiness suddenly felt bittersweet, tinged with the knowledge of my mother's anguish. I jerked upright, recalling Hades’s words. Anger began to simmer within me like a shadow passing over the sun. Zeus had given his permission for their union. The king of Gods, my own father, had orchestrated this. If anyone deserved my Mother’s wrath, it was Zeus.
My fists clenched, crushing the soft sheets, yet as the anger burned, it also brought clarity. I was no longer the Spring Goddess, bound to the earth. Beneath the same world, I was Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. There was no denying this after last night.
The weight of my guilt and anger began to sully my mood, but beneath it all, a quiet resolve began to form. I would find a way to honour my mother and bridge the divide. I relaxed and rested my back on the soft padding of the bed to allow myself a moment to bask in the afterglow of my mating with Hades.
Hades had been insatiable. His mutters were crazed as he took me in various positions. I glanced at the mirror, blushing as I remembered him taking me from behind while I watched our pleasure cumulate to the inevitable conclusion. A dull ache began to throb in my sex.
Hades wasn't the only one who was insatiable. I yanked the covers off to bathe and dress before I went to find him. No shade would prevent me from leaving the Palace. I frowned, wondering where the three-headed beast might be. Cerberus was the guard for the Underworld, ensuring no one escaped. He might be harmless to me since I wasn't trying to escape the Underworld. I would soon find out if I encountered him.
???
The shades processions had started by the time I reached the courtyard. There had been no soul awaiting to block my path. This was Hades’s doing, no doubt. Hades sat on his throne, focusing on the shade’s testimony. The lord of this shadowed realm sat tall and imposing, his dark robes blending seamlessly against his dark throne.
His head suddenly jerked up before swivelling around to catch me spying on him. My heart began to pound as his eyes trailed from my crown to my bare feet. I wore a sleeveless white chiton, but a deep red cloak covered my back, and one side was pinned at my shoulder as it trailed down my front.
For the first time, I used a gold belt, pin, and some arm bracelets. My gold crown was adorned with rubies to match the shade of my cloak. The heat that seeped from the ground to my bare feet was a precursor to the burning fire that Hades appreciative gaze lit inside me.
He slowly rose from his throne, causing the shade to become silent, and the three kings glanced at Hades, who was oblivious to them. He held his hand out toward me, and my legs began to move of their own accord.
“My Queen,” he said as I touched his palm. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, grazing his lips over my knuckles. “You honour me with the light of your beauty, Persephone.”
“My Lord,” I whispered before dipping my head.
“I look forward to showing you my gratitude,” he said, whispering the quiet words, but the dark heat in his eyes made me wish we were alone.
The ground rumbled beneath us as he raised my throne from the ground. The three judges nodded their heads at me as Hades guided me to my throne, but when he sat on his throne, he reached for my hand. It took me several moments to compose myself before I immersed myself in the shade's testimony. An eternal resting place wasn't to be taken lightly.
???
“You despise it here,” Hades said with an inscrutable gaze. His words were not a question but an acknowledgement.
He was watching me as he showed me the Asphodel Meadows, where the ordinary souls who lived neither virtuously nor wickedly resided. Their existence was a shadowy, monotonous plain of ghostly meadows where the shades wandered aimlessly, devoid of joy or suffering. The plain had greyish-purple flowers stretching endlessly under a dim, starless sky. The shade's forgetful state was worthy of pity, especially the ones who flocked to the banks of the River Lethe.
“No,” I replied, surprising myself. “It’s…not what I imagined, but it is a kingdom of shadows.” I hesitated before speaking, “You’ve made it endure. That is no small feat.”
