It is a tender balancing act. I must be hopelessly in love with this man and ludicrously excited for our wedding, yet aloof enough to make it clear that the throne is also my intent. If I’m to be a queen then people will need to see me as one, not a simpering bride in a tiara. Otherwise the position is no protection at all.
‘Rise,’ Hades commands and the surrounding gods get to their feet. I scan the gods and start when I see a familiar face looking at me with a calculating gleam in his eye.
I saw Hermes just weeks ago, vying for my hand with a caduceus.
He doesn’t realize who I am. Not yet at least.
But he is still the cunning god of trickery and that makes him a threat.
‘I haven’t seen a turnout like this in some time,’ Hades says, leaning back to survey the room with a cruel smile unfurling on his face. ‘Evidently there is some curiosity as to why court was adjourned rather suddenly a few weeks ago.’
There’s some awkward shuffling among the attendees.
‘I expect far greater punctuality in the future. I’ve beenworking on something new for the humans and it’s given me quite the taste for punishment.’
I bite back my laughter, schooling my expression into one of calm. Hades assured me he’s not usually such a sadistic jerk, but, given everyone is going to think he kidnapped me, he has to be more of a dick than usual. I’m glad I’m on the inside of his facade now, but I worry that having seen the real Hades I may struggle to take the fake one seriously.
‘We shall start, I suppose, with my wedding.’ The silence breaks and whispers storm across the room.
‘Silence,’ Hades snarls and the assembled gods are quiet once more.
He turns to smile at me but the corners of his lips are twisted enough that the grin suggests mockery more than joy. He is loving this charade as much as I am.
‘Court was adjourned because my betrothed arrived in this realm.’ His voice is barely louder than a whisper but I know that every single person in this room heard. Those at the back are arching themselves for a better look.
I smile, a small, intimate movement that conveys to everyone here that I don’t care for their whispering, just the man beside me.
‘I would like to present Persephone. You may know her better as Kore, goddess of flowers and beauty in nature. Soon to be Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.’
Hades does not demand silence again but instead grins greedily as the whispers spread, like nothing is more enjoyable than the sheer chaos that has erupted around us. Everyone is talking, shouting, calling rumours back and forth.
I keep that small smile in place, like I can’t hear them at all, and run my thumb over the hand that rests in mine.
‘We shall be married,’ Hades says and the room falls silent, ‘on the solstice.’
My lips part, the only suggestion of the gasp I manage to stifle. We had not discussed this but it’s perfect. Mother’s powers will be at their weakest during the shortest day. She won’t be able to stop us, which will give me time to tell her what’s really going on. And it’s only a week away.
Clever bastard.
‘I invite you all to the ceremony, to bear witness to our union.’ He kisses my hand in a manoeuvre so suave and practised that my returning grin is entirely natural. ‘We have much to discuss. So drink, be merry and celebrate.’
He stands, dismissing the official proceedings, and tables laden with food and drink appear round the edges of the room. Music starts playing, drowning out the shocked conversations that continue.
‘Hades, you sly dog.’ Hermes is before us with a grin nothing short of ecstatic plastered across his face. He’s shorter than he looked in the lake and he’s made some effort to style his slick black hair for court – though it’s already sticking up again. He’s not bad-looking – I suppose none of the gods are – but I can still barely look at him without thinking about the fact he bartered for my hand.
Hades wraps his arm round my waist, pulling me close to him almost possessively. He too has not forgotten this man was in the running for my hand in marriage.
I’m hyper-alert, pressed close to Hades’ side. My back is arched and Mother would be so proud of how I dangle in his arm like the perfect bauble, were it not for the wicked gleam in my eye or the twisted curve of my lips, both mirrored in my suitor’s expression.
I try to dispel every reaction my body goes through at the feel of his hip pressing into my waist.
‘I had no idea you had it in you. How did you manage it?’ Hermes doesn’t seem particularly upset to have lost his chance with me. He has nothing but respect for a trick well played, it seems.
Hades huffs in dry amusement. ‘Demeter warded against infiltration by sky, land and sea – no one said anything about reaching up from below. I could have taken her any time.’ Not technically a lie, I suppose. ‘It was like she was a gift waiting just for me,’ he adds, bringing his other hand to my chin and tilting it to face him.
I’m torn between the urge to slap him for such a statement and my desire to close any distance between us. He’s all I can smell: the salt of his skin, the lingering spices of his evening tea, the peppery smell of his soap. It’s like I’m drowning. I could kiss him right now, run my hands across his chest, anything to release some of this burning heat within me.
While I was having my hair twisted atop my head, what the hell was he doing to prepare? He must have worked some magic to have this effect on me.
