Chapter 10 Persephone
Persephone
“Imust hold court today, I am days behind,” said Hades the next morning, rolling to the edge of the mattress and sitting up. I blinked the sleep from my eyes, and yawned.
“What do you do during court?”
“Judge the dead,” he muttered, his muscled back to me. I slowly pointed my palm at him, and a gold vine snaked out, creeping towards him.
“Sounds intense,” I said.
“Some days are worse than others. You should train with Hecate as much as you can today, and I'll see you at the Trial announcement tonight.” He started to stand, but my vines wrapped around his waist fast.
“Or I could see you some more now,” I grinned as I tugged.
His huge frame didn't move, and he twisted to look at me, a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“You're going to have to get much stronger than that if you want to move me,” he said.
“I don't need to move you physically,” I answered, and sent my power through my vine, recalling as much detail as I could from the night before. His eyes darkened instantly, and he stood up, turning towards me and giving me an eyeful of his now aroused naked body.
“I believe you win this one,” he murmured, and pounced.
Eventually he did leave, after filling the table in his living rooms with waffles and piping hot coffee for me. Again I felt the initial pang of panic at his loss, until the bond fired, reassuring and solid.
I could definitely get used to never feeling completely alone, I thought as I tucked into my breakfast. I could get used to magic waffles too.
Hecate and Sam arrived half an hour later. Sam was almost alarmingly bright and enthusiastic compared to the day before and I eyed Hecate suspiciously.
“What have you given him?” She shrugged and Sam answered me.
“Just some coffee, we were up all night talking about Olympus. It sounds freaking awesome, have you seen the giant trees or the underwater cities?” He was talking fast and I raised an eyebrow.
“You sound like you've had about ten coffees.”
“A few, I guess. What are we doing today?”
“Erm, training. The next Trial is announced tonight.”
“Can I train too?”
“No,” Hecate and I said together.
“Oh.”
“Skop, can you talk to Sam in his head?” I asked, a thought occurring to me.
The kobaloi didn't answer me but Sam's face changed suddenly, his eyes widening as he looked down at the dog.
“I'll take that as a yes,” I smiled. “Sam, you can practice talking back to him. You have to project the thoughts to him, concentrating hard the whole time.”
“You can talk to the dog in your head?” Sam shook his head in disbelief. “This place is crazy.”
“Actually, he's not a dog,” Hecate said. “He's a kobaloi. Which is a shape-shifting sprite.” Sam looked at Skop.
“How come you choose to be a dog then?” he asked. With a little shimmer Skop shifted, his naked gnome body taking the furry dog’s place. Sam's mouth slowly formed an O shape as he stared.
“Because I won't wear clothes and your sister didn't like this,” Skop answered, pointing with both hands at his genitals.
“Yeah, I can't say I blame her,” said Hecate. Skop grinned at me from under his beard before shifting back to dog form.
“There's a drinks thing tonight at the announcement,” Hecate said.
“Great,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Poseidon can glare at me some more, and Zeus can march around being a prick.”
“You did well turning him down,” said Hecate. I cocked my head at her. “I wanted to screw him from the other side of a flame dish, so the gods know how hard it must have been for you.”
“What did you see during the loyalty Trial?” I asked slowly.
“Him coming on to you, you saying no,” she shrugged.
“That wasn't what happened,” I said quietly. “He didn't try to sleep with me, though he was definitely turning on the charm. He tried to get me to renounce living with Hades if I won the Trials.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He said I could rule the new realm if I left Hades.”
“Fucking asshole,” spat Hecate.
“I know. I told him I would rather lose my soul to Virgo than leave Hades. And then I told him to fuck off and leave us alone, that together we would be strong enough to stand up to him.”
Hecate let out a long whistle, her eyes as wide as my brother's.
“No wonder they didn't broadcast that. Nice one.” I grinned at the pride I could see in her eyes.
“Yeah, well, he threatened to kill me if I made him angry again, so... making an enemy of the Lord of the Gods can be ticked off my to-do list.”
I trained hard with Hecate most of the day, and not just on dagger work and close combat. She set up archery targets on tall stands around the room, and I practiced launching my vines at precise points on the targets, as well as using them to lift and throw the structures.
I did OK, but I knew I was at the limit of the strength I could achieve. No doubt I could learn to control them better and be more accurate, but I couldn't get any more physical power into the vines. Unless you eat another seed.
The longer I trained, the more power I wanted. Each time I failed to tug over a heavy target, and each time my vines thudded to a stop instead of powering through whatever they had hit, I ached for more strength.
Which was exactly what I was scared of. Power corrupts. The more you have, the more you want.
But the difference was, I may need it, rather than just want it. Right now the most important thing for me was to survive the Trials. Zeus and Poseidon both hated me, and they were in charge. Whatever was coming would not be easy.
Plus, I couldn't bear the thought of Hades marrying another woman.
Other than a short break for lunch, we only stopped when it was time to get ready for the announcement. I was nervous about my brother, a human who was clearly important to me, being there but Hecate insisted she wouldn't take her eyes off him.
“Don't,” I said sternly. “Because there are plenty of folk who would try to use him against me.”
“I know, Persy. He'll be fine.” We were back in Hades' rooms, and Sam was completely distracted by Skop, laughing at something so hard his eyes were streaming.
“And will you find him something to wear so that he fits in a bit better?”
“Yes. I will look after him. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries. He's kinda cute to have around to be honest. He's like you when you get all excited about stuff, except he's better looking. No offense. I can't wait for him to see a minotaur.” Hecate's eyes were sparkling.
I made a mental note to keep a firm eye on both of them, and Hecate left, telling me she would pick me up again in an hour.
I made my way somewhat nervously into the dressing room off Hades’ bedroom, not sure what to expect.
He had told me that he had kept all my old clothes, and to help myself, but I'd yet to venture in there.
It was a large room with only the one door, and all three other walls were lined with open fronted closets. The closet opposite me was filled with black garments, jeans and shirts and togas, clearly belonging to Hades. But the other two walls were a riot of color and fabric.
I took in a breath as I ran my fingers along the rows of dresses, marveling that anyone could own such a huge number of beautiful gowns. Silk, organza, satin, velvet, cotton; every fabric imaginable hung in the closets, and beneath them rows and rows of stunning high-heeled shoes stood shining.
I closed my eyes and spun in a slow circle, deciding that the first dress I laid my hand on would be the one I would wear. I reached out blindly and gripped a soft, lightweight fabric, and opened my eyes.
The dress had a high choker collar and no sleeves, and the top half of it was made of intricate ink-black lace, tiny flowers dotting the pattern.
The bottom half of the dress was ocean blue, darker at the bottom than the top, and made up of lots of feather-light layers so that it puffed out from the tight lace.
It took me no time to shower in the epic bathroom, I was so excited to get the dress on. And I wasn't disappointed.
I found a tall stack of drawers next to the dressing room door which was filled with lacy lingerie and fortunately, given that the lace top half of the dress was see-through, a few practical bras.
The dress fitted me like a glove, and I swished and swirled in front of the mirror on the other side of the door, watching my white hair fall against the black lace.
I barely recognized myself and it felt good to like what I saw in the mirror. It wasn't just the hair and the clothes. My new confidence ran deeper than that. Heat prickled through me, the bond sparking. I wasn't alone. A god loved me, and I loved him. And somehow that was changing me.
When Hecate came back to collect me, looking fierce in a white PVC corset dress and even more silver jewelry than usual, I felt ready to face the gods and all their guests.
Including that douchebag, Zeus. I wanted to know what I would be facing next, nervous anticipation fueling my desire for the Trials to be over.
Sam was wearing a black toga, and even as his sister, I could see that it suited him. He was showing a smattering of chest hair and somehow looked even taller than usual.
“What do you think?” he beamed at me.
“Stay away from anyone Skop tells you to talk to,” I said seriously. “He's a pervert and a pest.”
“Excellent,” Sam said, rubbing his hands together.
“I mean it, you should stay well away from the gods, Sam. Stick with Hecate.” He gave her a sideways glance, and I saw his eyes dip to the high hem of her skirt.
“Stick with Hecate. Got it,” he said. Oh no. Sam having a crush on the celibate goddess of necromancy could not end well.
“Ready to go?” Hecate said, and I nodded. I would have to have a talk with my brother later.