Page 23 of His in the Dark

PERSEPHONE

H ades is not in the bed when I wake, although I can feel that he was here last night. He left me to my own devices yesterday. I fell asleep waiting for him. Loneliness is all I have for my company this morning.

I wonder why he avoids me. Have I done something? Is there something that plagues him? Has he realized I’ve taken from him as easily as he took me from my own home?

It is completely different to be in bed with him when we are not at war.

I will always love you.

Some part of me wants to argue against the proclamation he made. It wants to argue that love can mean many things. My eyes drift to the bound grimoire on the table where I left it. It might not mean he wants me to stay here, for example.

If he loved me, would he not wish me to be with my family? Would he not regret the pain he causes me of losing my mother forever?

But—no!

I open my eyes and get out of bed before I can let those thoughts spiral too far.

I wash my face and dress simply, my mind caught between thoughts of Hades and the loneliness he’s left me with, choosing one of many pieces that appear in the wardrobe of the dressing room in the baths. Then I go out to the grate to practice my magic. If I concentrate hard enough, the flames disappear…

And I can make them come back again. I play with the fire now. It knows me and I know it.

It is only one fire, and only in this grate, but I love the sensation of having it work. For so long, I was filled with doubt that I would never have powers at all, and would become a nymph, wandering about the gardens aimlessly for the rest of my days. Nymphs cannot do this. And no one can take this away from me.

At the very thought, my body goes cold. Could I perform such spells in Olympus? Would my magic follow me there? It’s so difficult to keep that doubt away.

I make the fire go out, then light it again, banishing even its memory.

Silvie enters the room as I light the fire again and greets me with a smile. “My Queen.” Her tone full of pleasant surprise.

“Silvie.” I step back from the grate and match her smile. “How are you this morning?” I’ve grown so fond of the dark eyed witch.

“I am well.” She goes to the table and places her basket down. “And I see you are well.”

At her side, I question if I can confide in her as I could Beatrice. Should I tell her that Hades was not there when I woke? Should I tell her about the tiny prickle of unease I still feel? As if something is wrong. It is not as if he stays in these rooms all day with me. He goes about his usual habits, which do not include keeping me in the bed with him until the sun sets.

I’m free to go as I wish as well… within the confines of the castle, but still, something feels very wrong.

I decide against it. There may be nothing to worry about, and as much as I trust Silvie, I do not want her to have reason to tell others—which others, I do not know—that Hades left the room and I lost my composure.

“I’m grateful for the power of fire,” I say in reply. “I owe that to you.”

Silvie shakes her head, blushing slightly. “I am only showing you what is already within you.”

I think Silvie is both right and wrong. Some powers may have been inside me—I was born of a goddess, after all—but those powers do not exist in the Underworld. However, there are other powers, and it is because of Silvie that I have found it and learned to wield it. It is because of Silvie that there are enchanted bells at the threshold to the room.

I am about to tell her so when the bells chime gently.

Silvie looks first. It takes me another moment because I am still deciding what to say to her, but I turn my head as soon as my mind catches up.

“My Lord,” Silvie says. “Excuse me. I did not know you would be returning.”

Silvie scoops up her basket and bobs her head, but Hades holds up his hand. “Stay. I will have need of you.”

“Of course, my Lord.” Her demeanor with Hades is quite different. Less friendly and more subservient. Hades doesn’t seem to notice and I don’t quite know what to think of the difference.

Silvie does not leave the room, but she goes to stand near the door, quiet and unobtrusive.

I almost feel as though I am alone with him.

It is hard to look anywhere but at his tall, handsome frame and the possessive heat in his eyes as he moves toward me, stopping a few feet away. He looks me up and down as if he is trying to make a decision.

Or as if he has already made a decision, and now wants to see if it will suit me. My heart beats faster, fluttering up into my throat. My palms grow clammy and I don’t love the unease that comes over me. I keep my back straight and my chin lifted, though what I feel waiting for him to speak is not fear or anger.

A smile quirks the corner of Hades’s mouth, and he meets my eyes at last. “You will sit beside me at court.”

I had wanted to answer without missing a beat, but when I open my mouth, words escape me. He’s kept me hidden except to a spare few.

You will sit beside me at court.

The announcement echoes in my mind. This can only mean one thing.

“You would let them see me?” My voice is thinner than I would have liked, but there is nothing I can do to change it. I’m too shocked. Stunned.

“To rule beside me, you must sit beside me and rule, no?” he proposes.

A thrill runs through me, one I’ve not quite felt before. A power that has not taken hold before. The room seems to bend at the heady feel.

Who is the woman who has such thoughts? Have I truly changed so much? I did not feel it happening, but I suppose it must have.

Who is the man who would have me sit beside him for all to see?

Has he changed, as well?

Hades nods, as if this is nothing. “It is a small court today. It won’t take long.”

“What exactly does it entail?”

“Souls who the judges disagree on. We will preside over their judgment.”

“Understood.” I do not know what else to say as my heart hammers with a vicious need to be freed.

“Silvie,” Hades says, turning to her. “A maiden is waiting with a gown for my queen in the hall. Please gather it for her.”

Silvie does so, returning a few moments later with a gown draped carefully over one arm.

That is not all Silvie is carrying.

She is also carrying a crown in both her hands. I step to the side to let her pass, unable to keep myself from the gilded crown. Silvie sets it carefully on the table, then drapes the gown over a chair in the far corner of the room. Her head stays hung low although her posture straight.

When I turn back to Hades, his dark eyes are lit with amusement. “Dress. I will wait for you.”

“Will you?”

Hades takes a long step toward me, and I go to him. “Yes,” he answers. “I will be out in the hall.”

I tilt my face up, my heart pounding, and Hades leans down and kisses me. I’ve never felt the need to please him as I do in this moment. To stand beside him as if I know what I am doing. Hades breaks the kiss, and I bring my fingertips to my lips, my breath shallow. I grip him before he can leave me.

“Are you sure?” So many thoughts scour my mind. All the what ifs.

“It is time, my Queen. I am sure.” Something flashes in his eyes that I can’t place.

Despite my fears, I feel myself falling.

Falling in love.

Or maybe it is deeper than love. Maybe it is a love I did not know existed until I came to the Underworld.

“Dress,” he says again, in a low voice meant only for my ears.

Then he turns and leaves, closing the door behind him.

I whirl toward Silvie and the chair. “The court ?”

“Indeed, my Queen,” Silvie says evenly. “Come now. I will help you.” It’s evident her demeanor has changed. I do my best to mirror what she offers. The seriousness of the situation.

The new gown, the fabric a rich, luxurious silk that falls over my body like water.

I watch Silvie adjust the gown in the mirror, pulling the ties in the back, each drape becoming more exquisite under her hands.

But then she lifts the crown over my head and settles it down.

One blink, and I am transformed. There is a grounding that settles the anxious parts of me. Almost as if I was waiting to wear it. Like my soul once had it before.

The crown has not changed anything about me. It has not done magic.

And yet, it possesses me, more than I possess it.

“Beautiful, my Queen,” Silvie murmurs. “You are fit for the court.”

“Am I?” I catch her eyes in the mirror. Enchanted bells and fires in the grate—those are small things. How could they be anything else in comparison to passing judgment in the court of the Underworld?

“You are ,” Silvie says more firmly. “Is there anything else I can do for you, my Queen?”

“What should I expect?”

“Sit beside him on your throne. Watch and wait. It will not be hard, I assure you. Hades will guide you, my Queen. He will not lead you astray. Likely he will ask you your opinion. You are quite capable of giving such things,” she adds with a smirk.

With a huff of humor, I agree.

Silvie escorts me to the door. As promised, Hades is waiting on the other side—along with a cloaked guard. The only one of his men I recognize is Minox. The others do not offer me their names and they change frequently.

Hades’s eyes are hot and dark when Silvie opens the door for me. He offers me his arm. “My Lady.”

I put my hand on his arm, “My Lord.” I nearly ask him to allow me to simply observe today, but I bite my tongue, mindful of the audience. I know not what comes but intrigue has captured me.

“There is no need for nerves. It is your rightful title,” he states as if reading my mind.

Hades escorts me down the hall, all the while I stand tall and keep my head still so as not to compromise my crown. He leads me to a wall that opens with a wave of his hand. As if it was locked with a magic that disguised it. There are three more guards waiting outside the court. All three dressed the same, with the black cloak tied at their throat and hoods up nearly covering their faces with the shadows they offer. I can though make out slight differences in their faces although they don’t offer enough to recognize them.

In awe, I enter the massive room beside him.

“My Lord,” one guard in front greets us with a bow of his head. “My Lady.”

“Call her Queen,” Hades says abruptly. “I prefer the sound of it.”

“Yes, my Lord. My Queen.” The guard bows more deeply this time.

Hades leads us past, and the guards fall into step behind us. They stay close enough to offer protection, but far enough that we still have a bit of privacy. All the while the nerves run through me. My hands are nearly numb. The stone floors are slightly worn from centuries of passage. The ceilings so high but lit from candles that draw the eye up. And in the room that echoes the click of our footsteps sit what must be a hundred pews in four equal rows and at the head of the room, the raised thrones and several seats.

The thrones themselves are decadent. With velvet lining in a deep red set within the carved wood. The backs are at least ten feet high and the edges of the wood carved and touched with fire to give a burned flamed look to them. Both of equal height, but flames varying between the two so that it appears the fire starts from the left throne and carries to the right. It is quite obvious the throne at the left is newly made. Its wood fresh and the red velvet plush.

My throne , I nearly whisper.

It feels incredibly real, this procession. It feels like I am meant to be at Hades’s side, with guards trailing after us.

Or am I only tricking myself so I can cling to bravery?

I do not know.

“You will speak as you please, you will show the audience that you are here to rule, understood?” he murmurs as he leads me up the steps to the thrones.

“I will,” I answer him quickly and not thinking.

“You almost sound like you believe that, Persephone. Be careful,” he warns. “Our thoughts are powerful, and yours even more so.”

This, said so casually, renders me speechless once again.

Should I tell him about my vision of my mother? About her threats and her agony of losing me.

How much time for questions do I have before we will be in court and passing judgment on the souls of the Underworld? Before he shows the world that he thinks of me as his queen ?

In the end, I cannot form the question, and my heart beats too hard for me to speak.

I keep my mother’s warning to myself. For I do not know what is real and what is only in my mind, but at this moment I stand tall beside my lover and attempt to be his equal in a room that feels so very familiar and yet one I do not know I belong in.