‘Persephone.’ Zeus nods. ‘Hades, your presence was not requested. You are excused.’
‘With all due respect, my king,’ Hades says in a tone that implies the amount of respect due is none, ‘I will not abandon my wife at this moment.’
Mother’s brow furrows.
Zeus tenses and I can see him weighing up his options. He could force Hades, of course, but the fragile alliance between Zeus, Hades and Poseidon rests almost entirely on the latter two pretending they are obedient and Zeus pretending they do not have to be.
‘Very well,’ he says. ‘I suppose that is to be expected.’
‘It’s unusual for a citizen of my realm to be summoned before you, let alone the queen,’ Hades says. ‘So I’m somewhat curious as to what this is about.’
‘Zeus,’ my mother pleads. ‘Is all of this necessary? We’re family. We can take this somewhere less formal, less –’
‘You,’ he snarls, lightning crackling in his eyes, ‘have done enough. And you aren’t needed here at all.’
‘She’s my daughter.’
‘She’s notyouranything,’ Zeus says. ‘You lost, Demeter. She belongs to Hades now.’
I scoff at that and my parents turn to look at me. ‘Oh, do I? The man or the realm? I have questions either way.’ I raise the basket I brought. ‘For you, by the way. I hear there’s trouble with your usual suppliers.’
They stare at the basket before Zeus nods. ‘Set it over there.’
I am slow to place it and when I turn I see that Hades and my mother are watching my father with almost identical looks of contempt.
‘Let’s get to it then,’ I say. ‘Why am I here?’
Father clears his throat. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed the humans have been dying –’
‘Yes, we sent you a letter demanding action,’ Hades says, barely hiding the glare he gives my mother.
‘Oh, yes.’
It’s not exactly the first time I’ve thought my father a fool, but it’s the first time I’ve seen his foolishness in action. It’s clear the rest of the gods only let him keep his power because they don’t care enough for it themselves, or else they fear someone worse would pick up the crown, or maybe they just dread another war. It wouldn’t be hard at all to outwit him.
Something to consider, perhaps.
I suppose I now understand where my ability to lie comes from – Father has been pretending to be competent for years.
‘It needs to stop,’ he says.
I turn to my mother and speak with cold fury in my voice. ‘So stop.’
She looks like she might burst into tears. She starts towards me but I cut her off with a glare. Hades brings the smoke in closer, like it could protect us. Mother stumbles to a halt and shakes her head. ‘It’s not me.’
I turn to Hades, expecting to see my confusion mirrored but his eyes widen in realization.
‘What do you mean?’ I ask her. ‘You said people would continue to die unless I came to the surface.’
‘Why didn’t you just come?’ she asks quietly. ‘Why couldn’t you listen to me?’
‘Because you were killing people.’
‘Persephone,’ Hades says quietly. ‘The grass –’
‘No, actually, she wasn’t,’ my father booms, so smug that he understands something someone else doesn’t. ‘Why don’t you tell her what it is you were really doing, Demeter?’
My mother glances towards the floor, then straightens up and turns on my father. ‘I was protecting my daughter, because you refused to.’
