enemies to lovers - arranged marriage - bi rep - POC MC
"I have had many names. Names you mortals have forgotten. Names the gods have forgotten. Names even I have forgotten."
Persephone is a goddess of two worlds. Queen of the Underworld, Goddess o...
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Hades, King of the Underworld, god of the dead, and my detested husband, did not answer my question immediately. Instead, he leaned forward, clasped his hands together, and studied me. In return, I studied him.
I saw what I had seen for centuries: black hair, black eyes, pale face. In the days before our power faded, we gods had shifted our appearances as frequently as the sun rose and fell. Even then, Hades did not change his appearance. I had often wondered why. Perhaps it was because there was no one around to care, or maybe he simply did not concern himself with Olympic affairs. Either way, his appearance had always been plain: he was not buff, but not thin; not childish, but not old; not ugly, but he did not have a too-perfect face like I had seen Apollo and Hermes dawn.
It was unsettling being watched. "You could have at least been here when I arrived," I said.
"I did not mean to waste your time,"
That was ironic, considering that I spent half a year in the underworld. "I waste my time down here, yet here I am."
I waited for a response from that. A sigh, a raised eyebrow, a snotty remark. There was nothing. Instead, Hades said, "I called you here to discuss your return to the Middleworld."
The Middleworld. What underlanders called the Mortal Realm, the domain of my mother and Poseidon. "What of it?" I asked.
"I wanted you to be informed that I'm sending Underworld goods up with you. The journey will take longer than normal, so I will let you leave by noon so you may arrive by tomorrow evening, like always. You will find the travel party on the outer bank of the River Styx."
That was odd. Normally, Hades would deliver me to my mother the same way he had stolen me: clutched to his side on a chariot of obsidian. There was barely any room save for me and a few scarce plants. He never brought up anything else. Maybe it was because of whatever Zeus was planning. It could be an excuse to deliver messages or plans to Olympus. Even odder, Hades never left the Underworld for more than a few hours. That was the reason behind the chariot trips to the surface: they were faster. My return this time would take a day, at least. Hades did not have time for that. Would he let me travel unaccompanied? A kernel of hope flared in my chest. "You aren't going with me?"
"No, I fear the matters of the Underworld have piled up and left me too occupied to take a trip to the surface. Hermes will escort you instead."
A trip. Did he consider my kidnapping a quick break, then? Whatever. It didn't matter. At least I didn't have to deal with his presence on the trip. "May I ask what you are transporting that is so essential that you find the need to delay my return to the Mortal Realm?"
"It isn't a delay; you will arrive the same time you always do. I thought you would be happy to be rid of me even an hour earlier than normal."
"Still, it's an inconvenience." I would have preferred not to spend hours in a bumpy carriage—or chariot, whatever it may have been. "Regardless, I would like to know."
