“Who is this?” a slight voice asked.
Hermes released Cyane’s arm, and she curled them around her stomach, bowing over, unable to lift her head, still overcome with failure. She had failed her goddess, her dear friend, her purest love, and even though time had passed, despite her new clusters of memories, of a new life given to her, and more time than she could comprehend, it still felt like it was yesterday.
“What’s happening? Who is this, and where is the court?” the same voice asked again, this time with evident agitation. A voice Cyane knew so well, its sound fueled her pain.
“Persephone,” Cyane rasped. Her wet hair covered her face and obscured her vision, but she swiped it aside.
Hades’s sinisterly gleeful laughter rang through the ballroom, so loud it vibrated through her. Hades began to clap as a dark figure strode forward.
Cerberus.Her heart seized.Don’t.
He bypassed her as she braced one of her hands on the ground to push herself up.
“You dare bring her back here?” Cerberus roared.
Hermes countered with a yell of his own. “She belongs here!”
The clash of metal against metal and the growls of rage from Cerberus's hounds filled Cyane's ears. She tried to turn to see what was happening, to plead for Cerberus to stop, that she wanted no more pain or death. But before she could move, cold fingers clasped her chin and forced her head upward and forward.
“Please don’t hurt him,” Cyane begged.
“You’ve come back.” Hades smiled. “I’m glad.”
“Not for you,” she choked. “Never for you.”
Persephone’s voice rang out with a cry. “What is going on? Stop this fighting at once!” Persephone rushed forward and yelled at Cerberus and Hermes. “Is this how you honor me?”
Cyane inhaled; the smell of blood filled Cyane’s nostrils.
The sound of fighting continued despite her queen’s orders. From the corner of her eye, Cyane could see Cerberus, blurred in a miasma of darkness she’d only seen once before. Fangs, serpents, snapping snouts, and all beat Hermes to the floor. The winged god had a staff in his hands, and was blocking what he could of Cerberus’s unrepentant violence. He was losing.
“Not for me, never for me,” Hades taunted with a whisper only Cyane could hear. He wrapped his cold fingers in her hair, drawing her attention back to him. “But always for me.”
Cyane slapped Hades’s hand off her, and the dark god’s laughter returned, making her insides shrivel up. She twisted to look at Persephone who stepped forward. Cyane drew the courage she needed from her long-lost friend.
The goddess, eyes alight with anger for being ignored, turned to Cyane.
Their eyes met.
“Persephone,” Cyane whispered.
Love filled her. Despite everything, it filled her soul and drowned her thoughts, drowned out the fighting. It pooled from her eyes and coursed through her body. Cyane’s flesh prickled with long forgotten delight, of perfection and cool waters under the bright light of day. Of fields of flowers and laughter that was anything but wicked. Persephone had the power to make every nightmare a dream, every dark place spill with light. She was perfect. Beloved. She stole Cyane’s torment away with a single look.
“Ciane?” Persephone said, confusion marring her face. “Is that you?”
Hades yanked her arm, forcing Cyane to her feet.
“Yes. It’s me.” Ciane wasn’t her name anymore, but it didn’t matter. Persephone could call her whatever she liked.
Persephone stepped forward; her eyes flickered from Cyane to Hades.
“A gift, my love. For you,” he said. “I’ve returned her from her woes of losing you so that you may be together again.”
Persephone’s face bloomed into the most beautiful smile Cyane had ever seen. She heard Hades’s breath hitch beside her.
The fighting ceased, but Cyane couldn’t take her eyes off of her friend, so afraid that if she did, Persephone would once again disappear into the darkness.
Cyane nodded, agreeing with Hades, understanding now what his claims of mercy had meant. Her hatred for the God of the Underworld could never compete with the adoration she held for his wife.
