Persephone
When I stretched my body, the motion reminded me of the flowers unfolding at dawn, greeting the new day.
A smile lingered on my lips from the memory of being awakened by Hades.
As I opened my eyes, the obsidian room seemed to glow with a newfound radiance.
I stretched languidly, savouring the sensations that danced across my skin, the silk teasing me.
My gaze swept around the room to find it empty.
Hades had already arisen, his duty to the shades calling him away.
The thought of him, so steadfast, brought a flicker of warmth to my chest. Yet, as my mind wandered to my mother, a sharp pang of guilt pierced my contentment.
The vision of her face etched with worry and sorrow, searching the earth for me.
Did she know where I was?
My happiness suddenly felt bittersweet, tinged with the knowledge of my mother's anguish. I jerked upright, recalling Hades’s words.
Anger began to simmer within me like a shadow passing over the sun.
Zeus had given his permission for their union.
The king of Gods, my own father, had orchestrated this.
If anyone deserved my Mother’s wrath, it was Zeus.
My fists clenched, crushing the soft sheets, yet as the anger burned, it also brought clarity. I was no longer the Spring Goddess, bound to the earth. Beneath the same world, I was Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. There was no denying this after last night.
The weight of my guilt and anger began to sully my mood, but beneath it all, a quiet resolve began to form.
I would find a way to honour my mother and bridge the divide.
I relaxed and rested my back on the soft padding of the bed to allow myself a moment to bask in the afterglow of my mating with Hades.
Hades had been insatiable. His mutters were crazed as he took me in various positions. I glanced at the mirror, blushing as I remembered him taking me from behind while I watched our pleasure cumulate to the inevitable conclusion. A dull ache began to throb in my sex.
Hades wasn't the only one who was insatiable.
I yanked the covers off to bathe and dress before I went to find him.
No shade would prevent me from leaving the Palace.
I frowned, wondering where the three-headed beast might be.
Cerberus was the guard for the Underworld, ensuring no one escaped.
He might be harmless to me since I wasn't trying to escape the Underworld.
I would soon find out if I encountered him.
◆◆◆
The shades processions had started by the time I reached the courtyard.
There had been no soul awaiting to block my path.
This was Hades’s doing, no doubt. Hades sat on his throne, focusing on the shade’s testimony.
The lord of this shadowed realm sat tall and imposing, his dark robes blending seamlessly against his dark throne.
His head suddenly jerked up before swivelling around to catch me spying on him. My heart began to pound as his eyes trailed from my crown to my bare feet. I wore a sleeveless white chiton, but a deep red cloak covered my back, and one side was pinned at my shoulder as it trailed down my front.
For the first time, I used a gold belt, pin, and some arm bracelets. My gold crown was adorned with rubies to match the shade of my cloak. The heat that seeped from the ground to my bare feet was a precursor to the burning fire that Hades appreciative gaze lit inside me.
He slowly rose from his throne, causing the shade to become silent, and the three kings glanced at Hades, who was oblivious to them. He held his hand out toward me, and my legs began to move of their own accord.
“My Queen,” he said as I touched his palm. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, grazing his lips over my knuckles. “You honour me with the light of your beauty, Persephone.”
“My Lord,” I whispered before dipping my head.
“I look forward to showing you my gratitude,” he said, whispering the quiet words, but the dark heat in his eyes made me wish we were alone.
The ground rumbled beneath us as he raised my throne from the ground.
The three judges nodded their heads at me as Hades guided me to my throne, but when he sat on his throne, he reached for my hand.
It took me several moments to compose myself before I immersed myself in the shade's testimony.
An eternal resting place wasn't to be taken lightly.
◆◆◆
“You despise it here,” Hades said with an inscrutable gaze. His words were not a question but an acknowledgement.
He was watching me as he showed me the Asphodel Meadows, where the ordinary souls who lived neither virtuously nor wickedly resided.
Their existence was a shadowy, monotonous plain of ghostly meadows where the shades wandered aimlessly, devoid of joy or suffering.
The plain had greyish-purple flowers stretching endlessly under a dim, starless sky.
The shade's forgetful state was worthy of pity, especially the ones who flocked to the banks of the River Lethe.
“No,” I replied, surprising myself. “It’s…not what I imagined, but it is a kingdom of shadows.” I hesitated before speaking, “You’ve made it endure. That is no small feat.”
His face relaxed, and he inclined his head, a gesture of thanks that seemed to cost him.
He placed his arm around my waist, and within the blink of an eye, he transferred us to another location.
My eyes instantly tracked the bright light behind the tall black rocks.
I pushed Hades away to rush towards the light, ignoring his chuckle.
I recognised this light from the time I spent in the tower.
The Elysian Fields. The reward for courage, wisdom, and righteousness.
I gaped at the sunlit paradise of rolling hills, golden meadows, and orchards heavy with fruit. The sky glowed with eternal dawn. Hades' kiss on my bare shoulder snapped me out of my stupor.
“How?” I said, managing to whisper the word as I stared at the various plants and flowers.
“These fields are not bound to the natural laws of the mortal world. The eternal light is a divine blessing for these souls. The location is on a sacred site, and Oceanus provides gusts of winds through the river entrance,” he said, causing me to glance at him at the Titan’s name.
Now that he mentioned it, the air was not stale.
I took a long inhalation of the clean air, I never appreciated air as much as I did at that moment.
Hades took my arm and proceeded to give me a tour.
The residents dwelled in a happy state, heroes trained out in the open, and their homes were a creamy-white ivory colour, which made me question if Hades built his dark palace purposely without any light.
He pointed out the Isles of the Blessed, where souls reincarnated three times. The Underworld was as breathtaking as it was miserable. I paused in our stroll as my ears pricked up at the first sound of music I’d heard since leaving Earth.
“I think you will enjoy this,” Hades said as he pulled me off the path and directed us toward some trees.
The closer we got, the more urgent the melody of the lyre became, but a slow beat of the drums began to fill the air.
Through the tree trunks, I could see a clearing, and as we stepped into the clearing, I saw a woman wearing a pale blue dress, covering her from top to bottom with long flowing material from her sleeves floating past her legs.
She had a matching scarf wrapped around her head, but her long black hair cascaded down her back.
She abruptly changed direction and began to float away from us.
The belt on her waist cinched it in and emphasised her generous buttocks and breasts.
I glanced at Hades to see if he was watching her, but his eyes were looking at the far right side of the clearing.
When I followed his gaze, my eyes widened as I saw a man in a military uniform with a sword strapped to his waist floating towards the woman. No, they weren't floating. His feet were moving so rapidly it gave the impression of moving seamlessly on the ground.
The woman kept her eyes lowered, but the wide smile on her face indicated she was aware of his presence.
She stretched her arms out and began to move them with effortless grace like a large bird of prey soaring high.
The man came in so fast that I thought he would collide into her, but he stopped behind her and followed her as she made a swift movement away from him.
His dark blue uniform was nothing like the mortals I’d seen. They must come from a different region on earth. The beat of the drums increased their tempo, and the man made gestures, hitting his fist and forearm against his chest while he chased his floating woman.
Hades moved behind me and placed his hands on my waist before his fingers rested against the underside of my breasts.
“They move like majestic birds, never touching but yearning,” he said, his breath tickling my ear.
The man broke away from the woman, puffing his chest like a proud peacock.
The woman paused, a movement beneath her skirt showing her leg continuing to move beneath the long skirt of her dress.
The man began to twirl around before he landed on his knees, continuing to twirl around before jumping up again.
His hands moved in the air as if he were plucking something, but the sounds he began to make were guttural and threatening.
“This is his war cry. He is showing his love that he will protect her,” Hades said as his fingers moved higher. “She pretends not to notice and keeps her eyes down in a chaste manner.”
I glanced at the woman, and her gaze was lowered, but love, pride and joy radiated from her smile. The man began to dance towards her his feet shuffling in the ground with one arm over his chest and the other stretched out as he moved behind her.
When she began to move, I noticed he hadn't made contact with her back.
They moved in unison, creating swooping movements, her using both her arms and him moving closely behind her, outstretching both of his arms to mimic her motions.
The tempo of the music sped up and slowed to the dancer's rhythm.
Their performance was intimate and passionate, but they only focused on one another.
“A love forever lost in the mortal world but unified in this realm. A reward for two young would-be lovers for their thread of life cut short,” Hades said, kissing the crook of my neck, causing me to clench my thighs together at the touch of his lips and the trail of his beard as he moved them along my shoulder.
My eyes closed, and I leaned back on Hades only to feel his hard manhood pressed against my back. His fingers finally moved to my nipples, and he painfully squeezed them through the material until I struggled to breathe.
My eyes fluttered open to see the young lovers.
They only had eyes for one another. Their focus wasn't on their surroundings or their audience. I’d never witnessed such devotion.
My mother rarely let me attend the festivities on Mount Olympus.
The sweet, elevating ambrosia and nectar were what I missed.
“I think my Queen needs a few moments of privacy with her King,” he said before he licked a path up my neck, catching my earlobe in his mouth.
“Yes,” I said breathlessly as he squeezed my nipple with one hand and the other drifted down my stomach.
I couldn't wait for the privacy of our chambers.