AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Persephone laughed, “Oh, I’ve seen his hair. I’ve dreamed of that hair! And how it would feel when I run my hands through it, or how soft it would be against my cheek.”
“Or how it would tickle as he nuzzles your necks while he shoves himself inside you,” Elektra said, her eyes glazed.
“Oh, gods,” Melia gagged. “Stop it. Both of you. This is gross.”
“Or his beard scratching against the inside of your thigh—”
Melia slapped Elektra’s arm. “I’m serious, stop it. You’re married; this is inappropriate! Both because of your husband, and that fact he’s going to be her husband!”
“Oh, whatever, Melia. Shove another fig in your mouth and let us live.”
Melia narrowed her eyes, but picked up another fig and ate it in silence.
Turning back to the wall, Persephone was grateful her friends wanted to make her feel better, but she still wished she could dive into that golden wheat ocean and never resurface. If only she could turn back time and save Pelops before the boar attacked, before he died. Then she wouldn’t be in this mess, and she wouldn’t have to marry the most despicable of the gods.
“We should have a going-away party! Dionysos would gladly provide more than enough wine; uncle’s love weddings!”
“It’ll be more like a funeral,” Melia said.
They ignored her and started planning both the soiree and the wedding. Melia must have realized she was not going to convince Persephone not to marry Hades because she started giving her opinions and throwing her own ideas into the mix.
“I guess there won’t be a procession from your father’s house to your husband’s house, seeing as the wedding is going to happen there,” Melia said.
“And you won’t have his mother welcoming you through the threshold with torches,” Elektra added.
Persephone hadn’t had time to think about all of the traditions she would be missing out on because she was marrying the King of the Underworld. “I doubt theepauliawill happen either. I don’t see many eagerly wanting to return to the Underworld two days in a row. Even if it is tradition.” She signed and played with a chunk of hair, braiding and twisting it distractedly.
“Who do you want handing you off? Your mother or your father?”
“Well,” Persephone said, “traditionally speaking, Zeus should do it.” She rolled her eyes at the thought of her absent father handing her off to her new husband, one hand shackled to her wrist replacing another. “I’d prefer my mother, though.”
“I would love to.” Demeter’s voice sang from behind her.
“I don’t think Zeus will allow that,” she said, turning to her mother and reaching a hand toward her.
She ignored Persephone’s outstretched hand and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, holding her tightly against her as she looked out at her wheat field. “We’ll make it work,” she said, kissing the top of her head and leaning back to look at her face.
As she marched back inside, she called over her shoulder, “I’ll make it work right now.” And then she was gone.
“He won’t budge,” Melia said.
“No way he does.” Persephone agreed.
“I have hope,” Elektra shrugged, “and if he doesn’t, we’ll change it so nobody hands you to him. It isn’t like this is a traditional wedding, anyways, what are the matrons going to do? Send you to the Underworld?”
They all burst out laughing at that, linking arms and heading inside to steal extra wine now that Demeter wasn’t in the house.
13
EPAULIA
The small party that Elektra and Melia threw to send her off was both hilariously fun and heartbreaking for Persephone.
Nobody was particularly keen on being in the Underworld longer than necessary, so this wedding was to be quite different than tradition. There would be two days, not three, and Hades was only part of one of them.
Rather than spending the first day with Hades, performing sacrifices and dedications together, they decided to add them to the ceremony itself. The second day remained the wedding itself, with the consummation ritual, and theepithalamiumthat guests would sing loudly at the door to hide any sound that escaped the room. The final day was normally reserved for gift giving, feasting and dancing, with both families in attendance, but was swapped for today, the first day.
Today, Persephone would receive gifts to help her transition from her mother’s home to her husband’s home, from a maiden to a wife and one day a mother. Tomorrow, she would sacrifice, dedicate and marry Hades in front of the Olympians, her friends and too many other gods; who would all listen at the door to wish them happiness as a couple.
