Chapter 7.
Penelope
On rare occasions, something resembling sunlight graced the Underworld. Not quite as bright, not nearly as warm, but a welcome relief from the eternal twilight.
“I’ll have my breakfast on the patio,” I told Remus, gesturing to the little table overlooking my luscious gardens.
“Right away,” he answered warmly, retreating to instruct the other servants.
Leisurely, I took to my seat and basked in the faint glow. Day and night didn’t mean anything down here but I preferred to think of this as the morning. A gentle awakening in the land of the dead where nobody but the living and the peaceful slept.
Remus brought my daily tea and I savoured the bitter smell. It wasn’t quite like the Overworld coffee but it was similar enough to do the trick.
Halfway through my cup of tea, Molly appeared from the mansion with an annoyed look on her face.
“Good morning,” I said. “What brings you here this early?”
“You’ve got mail.” She held out a black envelope with Hades’ official seal. “It’s from… her.”
I ignored the distaste in her voice and accepted the letter. I didn’t receive a lot of post, the Underworld wasn’t exactly a popular destination, and certainly not from Hades.
“What does it say?” Molly asked, not able to hold her curiosity.
“It’s an invitation for dinner. Tonight,” I read, touching the handwritten note. I’d expected it to feel more demanding or expectant but it felt like a genuine invite.
“Dinner?” Molly pulled up her nose. “I’ll prepare a basket of flowers to accompany your rejection.”
“Don’t,” I blurted out, admiring the elegant lettering on the note again. An image of the new Hades struggling with calligraphy popped in my head and I felt a smile tug my lips up. “Actually, I’ll accept the invitation. You can still attach the flowers to my response.”
The snakes in Molly’s hair hissed. “Are you sure? I thought you hated the new Hades. She’s just like all the other incompetent candidates from Olympus. Why are you wasting your time?”
“That’s none of your business,” I returned calmly. “Just make sure the message gets to her right away.”
“Whatever you want, Mistress.” She sneered, her tone suggesting she meant exactly the opposite. “Anything else I can help you with?”
I dismissed her with a little wave. I had more important things to worry about than a sarcastic assistant. Regardless of my hopes for the new Hades, the Underworld was still a mess and things needed to keep rolling if there was ever a chance of improvement.
After breakfast, I requested my carriage and drove to the Docks to supervise. On arrival, Molly was waiting for me with the same dissatisfied glare.
“Morning,” she grumbled again, holding out my journal. “Your tasks for the day.”
“Thank you,” I said, walking past her to go to the shore. Immediately, I spotted a conflict at one of the terminals. Two guests fighting over a spot in line.
“Hey, you.” I addressed one of the security agents. “Don’t just stand there. Separate them.”
“R-Right away, Your Greatness,” he bumbled, hurrying towards the fight. He stepped in between the two women while another guard ushered them out of the line and to the side.
Despite their best attempts to de-escalate the fight, the two women weren’t calming down. One of them clawed at the other's face while the other tried to slap her. Their screeching insults caused plenty of people to stop and stare.
How annoying.
I joined the group and my presence immediately put a stop to the fight. “What’s the problem here?”
One of the women bowed deeply. “Persephone.”
The other wasn’t nearly as revering. She remained upright, her glare filled with disdain. “I’m not supposed to be here.”
“I’m afraid the Underworld doesn’t make mistakes,” I told her as kindly as I could. I knew this type of people, this wasn’t going to end peacefully. I turned to Molly, shooting her a knowing look. “You should find Seirios.”
My assistant nodded and flitted away to fulfil my request.
I turned my attention back to the defiant woman. “I know this is probably not how you planned your day to go but—”
“You think?” she screeched. “I just bought a new couch. This is so unfair. Send me back.”
“That’s not possible.”
“I know it’s possible. You just don’t want to. I’m just a nobody, no need to treat me special!”
“We treat everyone the same, I can assure you of that,” I said despite fully-well knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. People lived by convictions and they very rarely changed in death.
“You’re all unfair, greedy, miserable vermin down here,” she screeched, fighting to get out of the guard’s grip.
“I bet you’re giving this cow here special treatment because she has her fancy gold earrings.
Why does she get to go into the express line and I have to wait longer?
Well, I’m sorry I can only afford the bare minimum.
Not everyone gets to live a life of luxury. ”
“Again, we treat everyone the same and that’s not an express line, just one that was moving faster.” Relief filled me when Molly returned with Seirios and two enforcers in tow. I stepped back to allow them access and they took over for the guards, their grip a little firmer.
“Let go of me!” the woman screamed, her shrill voice ringing in my ears.
“You can rejoin the queue when you’re a little calmer.” I turned to Seirios. “Thank you.”
He nodded, not wasting any words, and pulled her along to one of the time-out huts. The guards dispersed, returning to their posts, leaving me with the other woman.
“My apologies,” I offered, hoping to resolve this quickly.
The other woman smiled sadly and reached up to one of her earrings. “They’re not even real gold. I don’t have anything of value with me, I didn’t expect to die today.” She touched her mouth. “Looks like they forgot to bury me with a coin too.”
I smiled. “Not a problem. You’ll want to go in that queue then, that’s where we accept alternate payments. Nothing nefarious, anything you’ve got with you with sentimental value will do.”
“Oh.” The woman looked a lot brighter suddenly. “I didn’t realise that was possible.”
“It’s a new system I’m trying out.”
She bowed deeply. “Thank you.”
I watched her join the right line, reassured that she wouldn’t have to linger for a hundred years. Maybe it put extra strain on the system but it was worth it. Nobody deserved to be stuck here for that long.
Next to me, Molly shook her head. “You’re too soft.”
“I’m exactly as soft as I need to be,” I returned firmly. “Let’s go, there’s lots more to do.”
The rest of the day passed in the usual way and I was cranky, tired, and frustrated by the time I got back to the mansion. I wanted nothing more than a quiet night in but unfortunately, I’d agreed to meet the new Hades for dinner.
As much as I wanted to cancel, nobody cancelled on Hades.
I picked one of my fancier dresses for the night, the smooth fabric cool against my skin. I selected a necklace with ruby stones and matching earrings to finish my outfit.
I briefly paused as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Why was I putting in effort to impress the new Hades? If anything, she was supposed to impress me.
Still. That wasn’t going to stop me from having. Nice evening. Being the Persephone was a lot of hard work so a night out was just what I needed. Whether I’d be in good company remained to be seen.