“We must go,” Persephone tells me simply, pulling me from my thoughts, her arms around my waist. We stand in front of the mirror in my bedchambers. She is breathtaking in a black silk gown that gathers on the floor at her bare feet, the crown I gave her on her head, her hair in flowing natural curls over her pale shoulder. “The court is waiting for you.” Her voice is a lullaby. It soothes the beast inside of me.
“They’re waiting for us,” I remind her, then turn away from the mirror and take her chin in my hand. Her skin is so soft, so delicate. The love I have for her feels as if it’s on edge because of her admission: I must go back.
Persephone tips her face up to mine without hesitation, and I bend to kiss her without hesitation as well. The genuine affection soothes me. She is a balm to my broken soul.
Why would I ever hesitate? Why would I ever leave her unkissed? I would not. I will never again deny myself her love, however I may have it. I tell myself she’s here now and she would not betray me. She would not leave me. Although something inside of me screams that she will. That it is destined. The pain in my chest is unbearable and yet, I stay beside her. I ignore it. I bury it deep within me until the screams are silenced. With that I deepen the kiss, losing myself in her touch. Stay with me, my love.
Persephone makes a small feminine sound and pulls back, breathless. The blush on her cheeks is tempting. “Hades! They’re waiting!”
“Let them wait,” I tell her, my voice low with lust, and I kiss her again. The warmth of her embrace is everything I need.
The next time I come up for air, Persephone whirls away. I catch her around the waist and pull her back toward me loosely, kissing the side of her neck playfully until she twists out of my arms with a huff of a laugh and hurries out of my rooms ahead of me. “We must,” she urges and stops to wait for me. Not leaving my sight, which makes me grateful.
There are guards in the hall, of course, and the last time she was taken from the Underworld, I watched it happen and did not intervene. I allowed it. A foolish side of me under the spell of the Fates’ promise allowed it. Never again. She knows not what it did to me. Never fucking again will I allow it.
In the hallway, Persephone loops her arm through mine with her other hand on my forearm and stays close to me while we walk, guards ahead of us and behind. Her hip brushes against me. As if she cannot part from me either. I focus on that. On her desire to be at my side. I sink into that gratitude and the pride she has of being the righteous queen she is.
“You know it would not stop me,” I whisper by the shell of her ear.
“What would not stop you?”
“The guards. The daylight. Take your pick, my queen. None of it would stop me from having you here and now.”
Persephone gasps, mockingly she questions, “You would let them watch?”
My tone lowers as I respond coldly, “They would not watch if they knew what was best for them.”
“You could not punish them for watching if you chose to do such a thing.”
A bark of laughter leaves me. The laugh catches the guards ahead of us as they share a glance. Perhaps even a subtle smile. I do not watch them for long. I am far more interested in watching the color deepen in Persephone’s cheeks.
“Promise me you wouldn’t,” she demands, nudging me with her elbow.
“You have my word.”
Persephone purses her lips. “I suppose I will have to trust you.” The lightness between us is pleasing. I carry it with me as we walk, leaving behind whatever had come over me.
I lean down to speak into her ear again. “I would not punish them for watching. But they would not watch, either. You are their queen, and not one of my guards would look at you in a private moment unless you asked them to.”
She is quiet for too long.
“Truthfully though, I don’t care about the guards,” I say into her ear, like this is the most salacious thing I could imagine. “I don’t care who is watching. All I care about is you. Unless it bothered you.”
Persephone meets my eyes.
“I don’t care about who fucking sees us, Hades. Let them watch, so long as I have you.” She does not know how strongly she draws me to her. Tipping her chin up like that is nearly too much. I want to guide her into an alcove, push up her gown, and fuck her until she falls asleep from sated exhaustion.
Desperation is unbecoming, I know.
“Careful, my queen,” I tease and then allow her a gentle kiss in front of the guards.
It’s been too long since I held court, and it’s important to Persephone that I remain the ruler of my realms in more than name. That means passing judgments. That means hearing what the souls who dwell here would ask from me. Answering whatever questions they have with honesty and transparency.
The guards, donned in blackened iron armor with skeletal etchings and dark red capes the color of blood, pull open the wide doors before us, and we walk into the court.
Persephone stands taller as we make our way through those who have gathered for today’s session. The room, grand as it is, is crowded, but it is silent. The crack of the doors closing and the armored boots of the guards clinking is all that can be heard. Anticipation and fear mingle in the air. A twinge of guilt at their fear stirs in the pit of my stomach. Surely, these souls do not think I would destroy them at court.
Do they?
