Persephone
My body and mind had been through every possible emotional conflict, and after being trapped in the House of Hades for days, my frayed nerves snapped with his sudden appearance. I felt his ominous energy behind me before I saw him, looming in the darkness like the slab of ice that he was.
Unable to move my hands, I squirmed against him, but his hands slid past my hips and rested on the curves of my backside. I froze at his intimate touch and tried to back away from him.
He wore a pewter-coloured crown with a matching cloak around his shoulders and a short chiton. There was little material to the scrap of cloth around his waist that his belt kept in place.
I paused when I noticed his chest, arms, and neck littered with various symbols and patterns.
There was a black pattern on his forearm that looked like the veins of a leaf spreading open as the picture grew larger.
I swallowed and tried to ignore the feel of his body pressed against mine.
Once I had gathered my courage, I glared into his eyes.
“I am not the Queen of the Underworld,” I hissed angrily at him while looking at his dark eyes.
His expression never changed and his eyes were always lifeless.
I glanced at his rich dark brown hair; like my mother, he had several shades in his hair and beard.
It reminded me of the peeling bark tree, which had several shades like Hades, going from a rich copper shade to a dull greyish-brown shade.
Many plants were chameleons because they had to adapt and survive.
I frowned at the thought, and many questions about Hades rushed around as they had done during my solitary imprisonment. Hades was brother to my father, Zeus, and mother, yet I had never seen him on Mount Olympus. It wasn’t a matter I had ever questioned before.
Hades' hand moved up to rest on my lower back, and the other covered the back of my neck and my hair. He lowered me until my back rested over the balcony, and my heart began to beat rapidly.
Would he throw me off the tower balcony?
I had never heard that he was cruel, only cold. The mortals feared him as much as they loved us, but they had such short lives they had every right to fear death.
“You are not only my Queen, sweet Goddess, you are my wife,” he murmured before his lips brushed across my cheek.
I gasped at the contact. It was the first touch I received since being brought here. I hugged and kissed my Mother several times a day. The shock of the contact left me, and my eyes filled with tears as the familiar ache stabbed at my core.
I missed my Mother.
“Find someone else. I am not a suitable match for you, Hades,” I choked out as the tears rolled down the sides of my face.
I blinked rapidly to clear my tears and read into his expression.
As soon as my blurred vision faded away, I looked into Hade's eyes and saw they burned with a determined desire.
It was a similar look to the one I had when I began a new project with my mother.
I closed my eyes, not wishing to see my reality mingled with his.
“I’m afraid it's too late, Persephone. I will never release you.”
I didn't need to open my eyes to see his regret because I heard it echo in his voice, but it was accompanied by stubbornness, which I knew all too well. It was a trait of the Olympians. The elders did not back down. His fingers bit into my neck, and I opened my eyes.
“I suggest you keep an open mind when I let you leave the palace. From the heavens to the deepest pits in Tartarus, there is a constant cycle of nature, life and death that must be balanced,” he said, pausing to glance at my lips.
Was he releasing me from my prison?
His crown kept his hair from falling over his face, but it gathered around his neck to blend in with his beard. His complexion was far from pale, as he was golden brown all over.
How was his skin so dark when there was no sunlight down here?
Whatever held my wrists unravelled, and I held onto his upper arms because I didn't want to fall.
He rubbed his cheek and bristly beard against my face until he brought his lips to my neck.
A strange heat built up inside me. It wasn't from my core energy, and I blushed when I realised it was further down.
“Let me go,” I said, trying to slide sideways away from him and the balcony.
He pressed his hips against mine until I felt his hefty manhood. I began to panic and took deep breaths to calm myself. That was when his fingers locked my neck in place, and the wet tip of his tongue trailed downwards until he reached my clavicle.
“Stop this madness. I will try,” I said, desperate to put some space between us.
Truth be told, I hated being locked inside his Palace. The darkness in his home was crippling me. I wandered aimlessly around the various rooms and halls, but whenever I tried to leave, the shrouded strange souls gathered in front of the doors until I turned away.
My eyes might have adjusted to the dim lighting, but my heart ached at losing the sun and the land. I missed watching Helios’s golden chariot, driving the sun from the East to the West.
Hades lifted me up and moved to the side.
I quickly rushed past him to run down the spiralled black marble staircase.
I lifted my dress with one hand and kept the other on the wall as I ran.
My mind was reeling from his words and touch.
I was too preoccupied to see Hades emerge from the hallway's shadow, and I smacked into him with a grunt.
The impact pushed me back as I rebounded off his chest.
“Careful,” he said as he grabbed a hold of my arms.
“It doesn't help that you lurk around in the shadows,” I muttered as I stepped away from him.
He never revealed himself in the time I was here, but at times, I could feel his dark energy close to me. He was in the darkest corners of the palace, from the windows, and there were moments when I felt him in my bed chamber.
The longer he left me to my own devices, the more agitated I became.
It wasn't only the vast and imposing cage, the stifling stale air, and the dark, dead place devoid of any life.
There were no budding blossoms or vibrant trees producing essential elements that drifted in the air.
Nothing here provided the natural beauty I was accustomed to.
Hades took my hand and pulled my arm beneath his before placing my hand over his forearm.
Unable to look away from our arms, he tugged me through the shadowy depths.
I ignored his close proximity because I was desperate to leave my prison, and my curiosity about the Underworld had peaked.
Staring out at my new world from the tower wasn't enough.