The nymphs dressed me in a virginal gown I would never wear again, white with real lilies and those embroidered. My hair waved around my waist in the bronze it always had, and they had taken pains to weave a thousand flowers into the braids. I was a blushing springtime bride, girlish and grown at the same time.
Hades waited for me in Hera's temple with the entire pantheon of gods in attendance to witness our marriage. Zeus called me towards the altar and I knelt at its steps, bowing to the kings of heaven and hell. In a few moments, I would reign as queen.
Hades stepped forward and guided me to my feet. We stood across from each other with lit candles between us, casting a glow across his face that warmed him and danced in his eyes. I had never seen him look so...happy.
The ceremony was performed in the language of the gods, and Hera tied my hands to Hades's with a white linen cloth. My mother wept viciously as I bowed my head to him and pledged my faithfulness forever. I wondered if they were surprised when he did the same.
The next moment, we were bound together in marriage. An unbreakable and celestial bond. Hades and I walked out of the temple first to the massive wedding feast, bursting with minor gods and goddess. Nymphs and spirits.
"Don't take her now," Demeter called, hurrying to catch up to us. Hades, in a show of kindness I had come to learn was not uncharacteristic paused to listen thoughtfully. "Allow her to attend the bridal feast."
"Is that what you want?" he asked me. Before I could respond, the gods burst out of the temple and swarmed around him.
"What, the Prince of Darkness doesn't carouse even on his wedding day?" Dionysus demanded in a drunken stupor.
"The Lord of Darkness," Apollo corrected.
"And besides," Ares growled as if he hadn't disparaged him in the temple only yesterday. "He has other things he wants to do."
They roared with laughter and went ahead to the feast, forgetting all about us with the wine. They hardly needed a reason to celebrate, and it seemed our marriage wasn't a particularly interesting excuse. Hades still awaited my response, as did my mother.
"An hour," I said.
"An hour," he agreed.
My final evening of maidenhood passed in an Olympian blur, with dancing and laughter, nector and wine. Hades was patient through it all, even though it was clear he enjoyed few, tolerated most, and avoided the rest. I had expected to feel separate from this world I was taken from, but just like the agreement we had made, I was entirely split in half.
Running down the hillsides with the nymphs was one of my heart's greatest delights. And yet I wasn't whole until I saw my husband, my husband, watching from over his chalice.
Ultimately, I honored our promise of an hour and met his chariot with the apprehension and anticipation that couldn't seem to be separated from each other.
My mother met us, and reached out as he helped me mount the chariot. I squeezed her hand and pressed it to my cheek.
"Please," she said weakly. "Please don't hurt her."
"You have my word," Hades said from beside me. I didn't know whether I imagined the hurt that came with her assumption.
She sighed and released me, promising we would meet again soon. Then, I was stolen away into the Underworld once again by Hades's chariot.
This time, however, I stood beside my husband.
YOU ARE READING
Hades and Persephone: A Fated Love
Romance"You can have anything you want," He plucked the ripest for me from the tree. "Everything in my world is yours." With all of my mother's warnings, I had been afraid to eat from his table or drink his wine. These were binding things, and I would sta...
