‘But if he commands it –’
‘Then he will be starting a war,’ Hades says.
I glare at him. ‘You are not going to war for me. We’ll figure some way out of this that doesn’t involve dusting off old swords.’
There must besomething. We are more powerful than Mother and Zeus must know that.
‘It is an option,’ he says. ‘That is all I am pointing out.’
‘It is not a bloody option.’ I turn on him because he’s scaring me now. ‘Another war? How could you even suggest that?’
‘I thought it would reassure you,’ Hades says, leaning against the edge of his desk.
‘Reassure me?’ I repeat. Is he joking? ‘You’re still traumatized from the last one and you think the idea of another war would reassure me?’
‘I’m hardly happy about the thought, but if the alternative is to allow Zeus to force you from your home then it’s our only option.’
‘War isn’t an option.’
‘Sometimes fighting your oppressors is the only choice you have,’ he says grimly. ‘I may be haunted by the war, might see some things we could have done differently, but the war itself? What other option was there?’
I shake my head. ‘If –if– my father demands I return, that’s hardly on par with a child-eating monster on the throne.’
‘I’m not trying to be flippant, my love,’ he says. ‘For you I’d fight a dozen wars. But to declare the whole court at war? It would have to be something momentous – like a threat against their queen. Aside from our own feelings on the matter, symbolically you’re now much more than just Zeus’s daughter. You’re the queen of the Underworld. Zeus would be demanding the queen of one court live in another – can you at least see that for what it is? The first step towards dismantling the fragile peace between our courts.’
I understand what he’s saying – I do. I’ve always suspected Father wants to rule all. If we don’t stand up against him at the first sign he’s attempting to take power from the Underworld, why wouldn’t he make further efforts? Against Oceanus too. But war is so total, so overwhelming.
‘And for exactly that reason,’ Hades continues, ‘if he did try this, I imagine Poseidon wouldn’t be happy about it either.’
‘You’re planning allies already?’
‘Of course – it’s two courts against one.’
‘And that “one” is Olympus, which is far more powerful!’
‘It’s not as impossible as you think. Kings have been overthrown before. Twice, in fact.’ Hades steps towards me and I step back.
‘Don’t,’ I snap. ‘How many died to overthrow those kings? How many people like you suffered?’
‘You’re the one who wants to challenge Zeus.’
‘Not with violence!’
‘When one side is all-powerful, it’s already violent.’
‘And those with the least power, the humans, will be theones caught in the crossfire. I don’t know if you know your geography, but the exact middle point between Heaven and Hell is somewhere around Earth.’
‘If it were me,’ he says. ‘If, I don’t know, Demeter reversed her demands and said she’d stop starving the humans if I was brought to her, if I was to be punished for taking you in the first place, would you let it happen? If Zeus ordered me tortured like Prometheus or even just bound to an island somewhere like Calypso, would you just let Zeus command it? Or would you fight back?’
‘I’d …’ I trail off, growing incensed at the mere thought. I could easily see myself screaming at troops on a battlefield, manipulating my own powers – doinganythingto get Hades back. So is it war I object to, or warover me?
‘I don’t know,’ I finally say.
‘Yes, you do,’ he insists.
‘Fine,’ I snap. ‘If he took you, I’d burn the whole world down. I’d be so angry I don’t think I’d be able to do anything else. But I love you because youwouldn’tdo that. Because you’re ludicrously powerful, but you’re also kind and you’re gentle and you can make the choices that would be too hard for the rest of us.’
‘Don’t you dare,’ he hisses. ‘You don’t get to love me more than I love you – and you certainly don’t get to turn this into a moral issue when the problem is more than just Zeus manipulating his daughter – which, for the record, I’d fight against also. It’s him taking steps towards total, unyielding power.’
