The Sovereign of Souls

Silver, spice and everything nice.

Rossiya Moretti Pov

"It's okay, Lucellion has sworn a blood oath to you," my uncle said. His eyes told me that he would explain all of this later, I wonder if a blood oath was as serious in the supernatural world as the human world, maybe more. I don't know how but the bond I felt to him now was something similar to the lamia I had encountered a few years ago.

All three of us were engaged in conversation when the announcer spoke again.

"Welcoming the god of the underworld, his majesty Hades." Silence befell the entire ball room, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I turned my focus to the staircase and my heart stopped.

If I had thought the lamia next to me was gods gift to women before, I was sorely mistaken. This man, was the most beautiful person I had ever seen and his sheer beauty surpassed Eros. He had long silver hair that seemed to bounce light off it as he walked, his skin was so flawless it practically shimmered and the way those ancient robes sat perfectly on a body you didn't have to look twice to know was sculpted to perfection had my jaw on the floor.

This man, Hades; was every woman's wet dream. The next thing that hit me was his scent; he smelled like exotic spices, a mix of cardamom and saffron. It was driving me crazy and then he turned his gaze to me.

My brain short circuited.

His eyes, gods his eyes were the most beautiful thing to exist. They were midnight blue. He stared me as we walked down the steps, completely ignoring everything else around him.

I could understand why, I felt the same. There was this strange pull I felt towards him and not because of his looks, it was something deeper than that. Much, much deeper. I felt like I had just found something I didn't know was missing.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, still transfixed. His eyes swirled with many unnamed emotions and I think he wanted to make a move to walk towards me but he was suddenly dragged away by his brother. Oh joy. Hades did however look at me one last time before getting lost in the crowd.
*

Hades Pov

I contemplated just leaving, I was already regretting coming here and I hadn't even gone in yet. Right now I was regretting telling Hera that I would be here, my brothers knew I would come if she asked. Thousands and thousands of years later and I still had a soft spot for her.

I didn't particularly like gatherings like this, they often came with sour memories and maybe leaving wouldn't be such a bad thing. Hera would only nag me for a few hundred years, I could take that. However, the thought of her barging into my home just to annoy me at the most awkward times made me shiver.

"Open it," I said with one last sigh.

My name was called out the moment I was at the top of the stairs. Pin drop silence followed it, understandably so. I hadn't left The underworld in a thousand years and I hadn't allowed anyone to see me either, well except Hera and Varda; they didn't care about my need to remove myself from the Olympians or even the supernatural community as a whole.

I stared making my way down the steps when I was hit by the most mouth watering scent I had ever encountered, more that her. It was a perfect blend of honeysuckle and chamomile with a hint of cypress. I searched the room for the owner of that scent and when my eyes stopped on a golden haired beauty something in me shifted.

I hadn't seen hair that practically shined like gold and her big whiskey colored eyes bore into my soul. The way that mostly see through dress complimented her body and slightly tanned skin made all my blood rush down south. 'Fuck' I thought as the ungodly thoughts swarmed my head by the dozens. I hadn't responded like this to a woman before, it was like something was pulling me to her. Beckoning me to just take her with me and leave, it took all my self control not to do just that.

The longer her scent lingered the more I noticed something was off. She smelled like Varda but not quite, she also smelled like something else I couldn't place but there was one undertone that stood out but I still couldn't place it. What was she? I looked into those doe eyes again and saw something else behind them.

Impossible.

I wanted to get closer, not just because of the overwhelming need to be near her but because I had to be sure. Obviously my idiot brother pulled me away before I had the chance to and for some odd reason my heart felt heavy.

For the rest of the night all I could do was sneak glances at her from afar, watching a lamia be too close for comfort. I had tried to leave multiple times but Zeus was latched on to me like a leech. It annoyed me more that he was acting like nothing happened, like he didn't ruin my life and condemn me to an eternity of misery. He was my brother yes, but that didn't mean I hated him any less. A thousand years was not enough, it would never be enough.

Music started to play and everyone broke off to dance, I had no interest in it so I just swirled my wine glass and pretended that I was back in the comfort of my own home drinking myself into oblivion. I wish I could say it was enough, it was a ball no different from this one that had ripped away the one thing I coveted throughout my immortal existence.

It was like I was back to that day when everyone voted against me; most of them knew what such a thing could do to a person but they still went along with it. Perks of being an outcast.

The scent of that girl brought me out of my reverie. It was stronger than before; I looked up from my glass and saw her a few feet away dancing with the person I now knew to be the lamia king, Lucellion. Him flashing a flirtatious smile and her laughing was the straw that broke the camel's back.

When the song ended I made my way to them and oh so graciously cut in.

"May I have this dance your highness?" She looked like a deer caught in headlights for a moment and I found myself wanting to see more of that expression among other things. She and Lucellion bowed to each other and she walked toward me.

Everything after that happened in slow motion.

Her dainty hand slipped into mine and sparks flowed to every nerve in my body. What came next was a stinging pain on the side of my neck prompting me to cover it. Through my own discomfort I heard the princess cry out in pain.

I managed to look up just in time to see her father, Lucellion and two unknown fae surround her. I felt something snap into place, and I'd be damned if I didn't know what it was. She looked at me, eyes flashing from whiskey gold to Obsidian and back to gold again. That was all the confirmation I needed.

"Mate," the world slipped out before I could stop myself. I felt my eyes grow wide and so did hers.