He was sharp, with eyes so emotive and dark I could see all of the mortal world in them. The weight of commanding the afterlife gave the god sitting across from me a stoic demeanor, one that set him apart from any of the boyish deities I'd known in Olympus. Some part of me knew him at once even though we had never met.
This was Hades waiting for me in the cavern. God of the Underworld.
"I know you must be frightened, but I didn't want you to wake up in a bed," he said finally.
I had been settled into the base of the chariot, with a heavy cloak draped across my body. It had a masculine scent I didn't recognize that brought back the few memories I had of winter. I pushed myself into a sitting position and he reached for my hands to gently guide me up.
"Why am I here?" I asked.
"I spoke to Zeus, and he agreed I should have company just as the other gods are allowed. It seems he finally showed remorse for casting me down here to spend eternity alone," he replied.
For a long moment, I didn't understand his words. Hades was seldom spoken of in Olympus, and usually news of him came in mundane updates of the Underworld or thrilling dramas he had settled with the moral world. Unfortunately, he usually acted with sense and moderation which never gave the Olympians much to gossip with. Which made him useless to them.
"You wanted to spend time with someone?" I asked slowly. "Why did you choose me, then? Also, why did you not come to Olympus for company?"
"I am confined to this world as my immortal duty," he said formally. A hard line formed on his mouth as he said, "And I have chosen you as my wife."
My blood froze to ice and I turned away from him, so appalled I couldn't speak.
"I know it is not what you would have wanted," he began.
"Stop," I whispered.
"But surely you must understand,"
"I don't want to hear whatever you rehearsed, and I do not understand!" I exclaimed. "I will not understand."
His throat bobbed as if I had caught him off guard, but he merely retreated into that formal mask. Yet he wanted me to be his wife?
"I will show you to your quarters," he said. It was like he didn't have any other plan of what to do. "We will talk more after you're settled."
I wanted to be hysterical. I wanted to scream and cry and demand he would take me back. But I was too prideful for him to see me so vulnerable when he hadn't earned it.
"My mother will bring me home. It doesn't matter who you are," I said, even though my throat was tight. I stepped forward and he stepped back, as if I were going to attack him. Good, I thought. I might.
"Follow me," he said quietly.
There were no more words between us as he led me into the Underworld. I promised I would try to remember I was still alive.
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...
