Hades and Persephone

Chapter 21

Persephone lay in her bed, sheets tangled about her. The light grey morning light filtered in through her window, making her skin glow. Her dress was tossed on the divan. One sandal rested on the floor next to the sofa and the other was hidden under the bed. Her dark curls, devoid of their green now, cascaded over her pillows. Drool leaked from one corner of her mouth.

The party had ended extremely late the night before; there were still a few drunken guests passed out in the great hall that Thanatos and the other servants were busy tending to. As soon as Persephone had said good bye to her friends and retired for the night, the glamour Hecate had cast disintegrated. 

Her skin had warmed up to its natural brown, she shrank several inches, and several curves noticeably diminished. She felt so relieved as she dumped her dress and threw herself on her bed. She was much more comfortable in her normal body than in the druid body Hecate had created.

There was a knock on the door. Persephone started. She sat up in bed and attempted to wipe the drool from her chin. 

"Who is it?" she croaked.

"Hades. May I come in?"

"Just a minute!" Persephone scrambled to grab something appropriate to wear. When she had gone to bed the night before she had been wearing next to nothing since she had been so warm from the party. She managed to find a clean shawl and wrapped herself up in it, trying to cover as much of her body as possible.

"Are you alright?" He sounded slightly concerned.

She pulled the door open a little harder than she meant to. "I'm fine, just wanted to make myself presentable." She smiled while attempting to flatten some of her wilder curls.

Hades pulled a crushed flower from her hair. "I was hoping you might join me for breakfast."

"I would love to!"

He raised an eyebrow at her outfit.

Persephone tugged her shawl a little lower and it slipped off her shoulder. "I'll get changed, I promise."

He chuckled. "Feel free to wear whatever your heart desires."

"I'll be there in a few moments," she said, gently shutting the door.

He smiled at her before heading down the hall.

She grabbed the closest clean dress and threw it on as fast as possible. She ran a brush through her hair, trying to tame it somewhat. 

Hades was sitting at the long table, platters of food in front of him. There were two smaller platters set in from of an empty chair. Hades was already digging into the food set before him, pulling various foods from the variety of platters.

Persephone sat down in the empty chair and took her food from the trays before her. She winced inwardly as she remembered that Thanatos had servants go out every day to gather food from the mortal world just for her. She stopped and stared at her food.

"Is everything okay? I made sure to get lots of fruit for you in case you're not feeling one hundred percent this morning," Hades said, eagerly leaning forward in his chair. 

She blinked and looked up. "Yes -- yes, of course I'm fine. I was just . . . it's nothing."

"Tell me. You know you can tell me anything." He sat there with his hands clasped on the table, leaning forward like an eager child. She couldn't say no to that face.

She sighed. "I just feel bad that Thanatos and the other spirits go through all this effort to get me food from the mortal world just so I'm not trapped down here."