Page 28 of His in the Dark

HADES

T he knowledge of the seeds weighs on me as I leave the bedchambers as quietly as I can. I’ve left Persephone in bed, dreaming in the tangled sheets, because she deserves to enjoy her pleasure. My queen does not need to scramble out of it like a prisoner. She can lounge in the afterglow of the many times I made her come with my hands and mouth and cock for as long as she pleases this morning.

With the on slaught of new souls and chaos at the River of Styx, I’m needed to survey the court. I don’t wish to worry her. As far as she knows, nothing is out of the norm. She has not much to go by and so I keep what’s occurred away from her. No one is to speak of it. No one is to know that souls are being destroyed faster than they can be judged. They wither to nothing as her flowers do in Olympus. Threats from Zeus and those who do his bidding aren’t heard by any but myself and Minox.

If she sits at my side for this session, I’ll have to explain the nervousness and fear permeating the air at court. I’ll have to explain the whispers. I’ll have to explain why all the attendants seem as if they are waiting for me to direct them. To guide them because they are lost and scared. Their threads were not meant to be cut so soon.

Change is coming, and it will not be kind. Demeter and Zeus have struck, what awaits is my reply.

In the wide hall outside the court, several figures detach from the wall and move to intercept me before I can enter for the morning session.

It seems as if the guards and the other attendants who keep the other courts in the Underworld—for there must be many if we are to accommodate the number of souls who pass through these realms—have chosen representatives from among their group.

“My Lord,” the man at the front says. He wears dark robes like the man and woman who accompany him, but he is the tallest of the three, with close-cropped dark hair. “If I may?”

“Go on,” I command him.

“May we speak with you for a moment?”

“Come this way.” I steer them back to the wall, where we will not be so conspicuous. “What is it that you want to speak about?”

They exchange a glance. “My Lord, there are far more dead than usual.” The timbre of his voice shakes.

“It is winter. There are always more souls in the coldest parts of the year in the mortal realm,” I offer, my forefingers running against the rough pad of my thumb. I act as if I do not know.

The leader shakes his head. “More than the heaviest winters we’ve had. More than we can recall in centuries.”

“It came on gradually, my Lord,” the woman guard adds. “The higher numbers could be explained by the winter in the beginning. Now we are certain.”

My hand stills and my body stiffens at her words. I take a calming breath, fighting down the strong, immediate concern that grips my chest.

“Certain of what?”

“Mortals are always the ones who pay when the Gods fight and these deaths… there is a war in the mortal realm. There must be.” Her eyes are wide with despair.

The three representatives wait quietly, but they cannot hide their own worry. Balance between the realms is a delicate business. Though the Underworld appears vast—and it is larger than most mortal minds can comprehend—it can become overburdened with souls. Their movements through the phases of the afterlife can be unbalanced. Souls lost forever signifies the end coming. It is an omen and one ancient souls like the men and woman before me, do not take lightly.

“We will do what we must to keep the balance on our side,” I tell them. “End the necessary souls.”

There’s a beat of shock, then the leader bows in understanding. His companions follow his lead. “Thank you, my Lord,” they murmur as one, then turn and hurry away, to whatever courts they work in.

They will need to deliver my message quickly, because it will affect the process of judgment today.

There is another option beyond hell or Elysium.

In times of great imbalance, souls can also be ended. We will begin with souls of weak morality—those who have had more than a single lifetime and remain weak and unworthy. Their threads will be cut then burned. They will not be awaiting rebirth in Elysium or paying penance in hell.

They will simply be gone.

Sometimes, difficult choices must be made. I have not shied away from that. It is them or Persephne and I will always choose my queen. Even if it means we will rule over a pile of ash.

I take my throne and the murmuring hushes. “Let us begin.”

The doors open.

The first soul of the morning is brought in.

The day feels more like paying my own penance. My stomach churns with the choice I have had to make. I waver every moment. It had to be done. No, there was still time to wait. It had to be done.

This, at least, is true. How far will Demeter take it? Will Zeus allow his mortal realm to rot with death?

I know it’s for the best to begin purging now, before the surge in souls trickles over into all the realms of the Underworld. Still, it is a terrible sign of things to come. Imbalance causes cracks at crossroads. The realms as we know them will cease to exist if such things are allowed to happen.

The balance must be maintained. The Underworld cannot be weighted too heavily, or there will be less and less reason for souls to exist in the mortal realm at all .

I’ve lived several lifetimes by the time court ends for the day.

I leave the hall behind and go to my rooms, desperate for Persephone to be close and to ensure she is still with me. Dread is cold and heavy in my gut.

Persephone is already at the door when I enter as if she sensed me coming. She greets me right away, taking both my hands in hers and looking up into my face with real concern in her expression.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask her, my heart racing with the fears of what has transpired.

“I missed you,” she whispers.

I lift her into my arms, and Persephone’s arms go around my neck. Her softness and warmth compared to the cruelty I displayed today forces me to keep my eyes open as she kisses down my shoulder. I can breathe again when her mouth is on mine. I can reassure myself that she is here with me. Whatever else comes, I can face it, as long as she is by my side.

They will not take her from me. Even if they shatter my kingdom and release the Titans which cannot be destroyed. Hell would be on Earth and Olympus would not be protected. If they bring war and that is the result. So be it. I will hide her in secret depths. For I know what it is to be alone and I know what it is to be with her.

I cannot and will not part with her.

She drops her head to kiss the side of my neck, nipping the skin and nuzzling at me in places that feel far too sensitive to be mine.

“You are not yourself. What can I do?” she asks, pulling back and looking at me from beneath her thick lashes.

I take my time, kissing her. Pressing my lips to hers and relishing in how her body molds to mine.

She can let me take off her gown. She can let me lay her out on the bed and lick her sweet pussy until I’ve lost track of how many orgasms I’ve given her.

Through all this, I let her touch me. Her hands in my hair could chase away any threat. I could defend the Underworld against any angry god with the strength of my love for this feeling, and for Persephone.

I turn her over onto her hands and knees. Persephone tosses her head, arching her back and spreading her thighs. I kneel behind her, lost in how beautiful she is. How soft. How wet. How accepting of my fingers when I push them inside her. How welcoming she is when I thrust in.

Her power goes through my entire body. Persephone moans, clenching on my cock, and another wave rocks through me, shivering through every single inch of my body and my power.

It is so strong that I have to grit my teeth to keep my release in. I am not ready for this to end.

This is closeness that I never expected to experience. I’ve heard of bonds between Gods before. I did not know they were overflowing with ecstacy. Like a drug more addictive than anything else. I would do anything for her. I’d let all the worlds burn.

Persephone gasps, coming on my cock again as I thrust ruthlessly behind her, my fingers digging into the soft flesh at her hips. I ride through her orgasm and then I pull her close and slow the pace. The insides of her thighs are wet with her arousal.

“Oh,” she says, taking deep breath after deep breath as she circles her hips in my hands. With her cheeks flushed and her lips parted, she is breathtakingly gorgeous. Taking every bit of me like the Queen she is. I need this moment with her. I need to remember how it feels to pause, even in this act, and feel every detail. I slide my hand to Persephone’s belly, then delve lower to find her clit.

“Oh, yes,” she breathes, rocking into my touch. She’s so sensitive that it takes nothing to make her pussy clench around me. The lightest brushes have tremors racing through her thighs. I bury my other hand in her hair at the nape of her neck and pull gently, making her arch a little more for me. Her next oh is much longer and makes my cock twitch with aching need.

Only when she calls my name, do I find my release.

This is what it means to be lost in a woman’s touch. This is what it means to have a queen. I did not have to face my dread alone. I did not have to remain trapped in my isolation, alone in the dark.

I lie in the blankets, stroking Persephone’s back, for a long time before she lifts her head from the pillow and studies me, running her fingers through my hair.

“Something is happening,” she says. “Isn’t it?”

I give her a nod. I do not want wars between the realms to come into our bed with us. I would much rather retreat into the deepest, most hidden places in the Underworld until there was no more danger.

Persephone frowns. “And…you do not want to tell me what it is?”

“Not tonight, my Queen.”

She traces my lips with her finger. “But you will tell me?”

“You are my Queen,” I tell her, then drop a soft kiss to her lips. It is practically innocent compared to how I have just fucked her, but a shock ripples through me nonetheless. “You are my world. I will not keep it from you.”

Persephone purses her lips, thinking. “You want to have tonight without worry?”

“I want to spend every night with you without worry.”

She rests her head on my chest, her perfect body all along mine. I could spend every last bit of every eternity stroking her hair, then down her back, and feeling her breathing settle as she falls asleep.

She does not know.

Persephone falls into a dream, her limbs getting heavy. For the moment, she does not know what I have done.

I’ve risked the world - all of the worlds - for her.

Nothing in all my years has driven me to risk so much. Not even my own soul. I could have fought Zeus to not be trapped here but I did not. I could have lived in the seas like Poseidon or the sky like Apollo. I did my duty and took my position trapped in the Underworld.

I did not want to risk imbalance.

But now I have done it.

It is a heavy choice, but as I lay with Persephone, I know it was the only way.

She does not know how worthy of this she is. If the worlds burn and the Gods destroy one another, Persephone would be worth it.

Because she is my Elysium. She is not just one version of heaven. She is not a fleeting ideal. She is the only place I will ever find rest or peace. She is the only place where touch is a haven.

My only Elysium.

My Persephone.