Persephone Reimagined

Chapter 7

Persephone

I need to admit something. Yes, I love horses, but that time, when I ran to Hades' chariot, it wasn't for them. They truly were wonderful creatures, but I needed something to hide behind while Hades was with me. I felt too exposed, too vulnerable—not that he would hurt me or anything—no matter how tall and imposing he was. I just... When he looked at me, I felt like I needed to hold onto something. My thoughts were a jumble, and I needed something to tether me to the earth.

It wasn't hard to feign excitement over the horses. I really did love them as much as I let on. But they were the perfect buffer.

We stood with both horses between us. I avoided looking at the dark god as I tended the stallion. Instead, I focused on the horse's eyes—bright and intelligent. The stallion's lips moved happily as I scratched him.

I could feel Hades' gaze upon me still.

"Tell me more of the underworld," I said haltingly. "You have a gardener there?"

"Yes, Askolophos keeps a small garden on the palace grounds. Nothing too grand, but it's respectable, and he takes great pride in it."

"Is it," I hesitated. "Very dark down there?"

"No," Hades laughed and his serious face transformed. "That would be a miserable home, indeed. Well, I suppose Tartarus itself has very little light, but otherwise, it is as bright as the surface during the daylight. Brighter even, perhaps, because we have no nighttime there."

"You have no night."

"None, that is, unless Nyx or Hecate are in a particularly dark mood." He said.

Nyx. I tried not to flinch.

The stallion nudged me, protesting the lack of attention as my hands had frozen in place.

"But no. No night in the underworld," Hades replied.

I wouldn't let jealousy creep in. There was nothing to be jealous of. I had no interest in Hades. None whatsoever. And Clytia was wrong. He wasn't interested in me either.

I squared my shoulders.

"But how?" I asked. "It should be dark there always, shouldn't it? Helios only travels across the skies."

"True," he said. "But we have our own sun... of sorts."

"Of sorts," I repeated and scratched the stallion's chest harder.

The horse's mouth moved more animatedly. He turned to his partner and groomed her in tandem.

"What sun is there in the underworld?" I asked, holding back a laugh at the horses' shenanigans.

"Do you remember hearing of that business between Zeus and Ixion, son of Ares?" he asked.

"The foolish one who slayed his kin and tried to seduce... Hera?" I said the name as quietly as I could. "The nymphs spoke of nothing else for months."

"That's the one," he said. "Zeus cast him from Olympus."

"And threw a thunderbolt at him!" I added.

"Yes, but Zeus was so angry, the bolt missed the mark. Hermes dragged him down to the underworld so the king didn't kill anyone else with his little misfires. He bound him to a fiery chariot wheel and flung him into the air at a high spin."

He turned to me and smirked.

"This is our sun. Well, technically Aries' son but..."

I blinked.