CHAPTER SIX

|// THE ENAMOURED LOVER

The Underworld welcomed its ruler in its dark, caliginous glory.

Persephone clutched Hades' hand tightly in her own as he helped her down the cart. She refused to acknowledge the fear clawing at her throat, eating away at her stomach. She refused to feel regret. Instead, she ignored the irregular beating of her heart and focused on the god besides her, the man holding her hand, guiding her to her new home, her new life. Had she committed a mistake? Had she just hopped from one cage to another, foolishly letting herself be enraptured by a charming stranger?

No.

She had done the right thing, she was free from her mother's clutches now. She would figure out what to make of the new situation she found herself in later. For now, she could only revel on what she had done, and where she now found herself.

Persephone couldn't help but look around, her eyes unable to stay put. A place so unlike all the other places she had ever known. Devoid of the warm kiss of Helios' sunbeams, the Underworld was cold and dark. She had heard many stories before, about it being a foul place, wretched, much like its king, and she could see it. A lonely place, so void of life, a place of lamentation and finality. But it had beauty, she saw it. Persephone realized that Hades' job was comparatively noble and that he was a just and stern ruler, not an evil tyrant. In all its desolate glory, the land of the dead was rather beautiful.

Before them, a large, opulent, obsidian structure materialized as they approached it. Once closer, her eyes fell on large wooden doors which upon reaching them, opened silently, revealing a seemingly endless corridor, its obsidian walls glowing on their own, giving the room enough light for it not to be pitch dark, yet still not enough to illuminate it.

"Persephone?" His alluring voice called to her. She whipped her head immediately, taking her eyes off the walls and fixing her stare upon his own. He blended well down here. His dark clothing and pale complexion gaining some sort of normalcy among the shadows that surrounded them. She glanced at her herself, noticing with a small smile how she was the one to stand out in her colorful attire.

"Yes?" She could not recognize her own voice. She sounded breathless. She sounded amazed. She sounded enchanted. She felt disgusted at herself for having softened to him so easily. Weak.

"Do you still wish to proceed? " His sounded unnaturally calm as if abducting young goddesses from their mother's meadows was something he did for a sport. She nodded, too anxious to trust her tongue from not twisting her words. Her fingers played with the newly acquired ring on her left hand. He held her chin between his cold fingers, her vibrant green eyes clashing with his midnight blue ones. "Persephone, I would never keep you down here unwillingly. Are you certain this is what you want?" He was stalling, all because he wanted to give her a way out. Because unlike her mother, he did not want to keep her caged against her will.

She had heard many stories before, it was the way of the gods to fall as quickly in love as out of it. She had nothing that could guarantee her that this was the right choice. Yet, she gave the leap of faith. She did not need love, she had been forced to learn how to lick whatever she could get of her mother's love from the same knife she used to cut her throat.

"Hades, I want this. I want you." The words left her lips with a new sense of determination. She felt the bittersweet taste of freedom on the tip of her tongue. At what cost? She vanished any sort of negative thoughts from her head as she glanced around the dark palace. She realized then that the gut-wrenching feeling on her stomach was not fear, it was hunger. She did not want to be anywhere else. "It is terrible what I want. What does that make me?"

For the first time, Persephone saw his pale face brighten with joy. He looked devastatingly handsome, and the unsteady beating of her heart was something she knew she would never get accustomed to. He was not smiling, not widely like all the flower nymphs did when they played and sang. But he did not have to, for he wore happiness, unlike anyone she had ever met before. It hovered over him and somehow brightened his brooding expression. It stirred something in her chest which propelled a whole-hearted smile to weave its way across her very own face. She felt oddly happy. "It makes you a Queen. The Underworld, its riches, and its King are yours for as long as you should want them." He bowed, placing a gentle kiss on her hand, which remained intertwined with his own.

Persephone felt like Icarus as he flew higher and higher, she felt the dread of the imminent kiss of Apollo as she flew too close to the sun. How long would this last? Everything that came up, must come down, and she was afraid that her downfall would be imminent. Demeter would bend heaven and raise hell in order to get her back.

And so they walked, hand in hand, into the throne room. In the end, two lonely ruby red royal seats that spoke of power and authority. She felt a cold hand on the small of her back, and turning to face him she realised how close they were. She stared at him with parted lips. "This is beautiful," Persephone breathed out, the strange feeling tightened in her chest. She felt a sense of belonging, "I—" She was cut off by his lips pressed against hers. She had been kissed twice now, on the very same day she gave her first kiss. If her mother knew...but her mother was not here. Knowing that Persephone smiled into the kiss, cocking her head to the side, she felt his fingers wrap around the back of her neck delicately.

She felt at ease. She felt the power ingrained in the insides of Gaia at her fingertips as she held him close. She could grow to love him, she realized as he traced his fingers down her spine. The eldest son of hefty Kronos. She felt powerful, for she could bring the eldest of the gods to his knees if she wished it. As his hands tangled in her tendrils, a crown of golden spines and polished gems formed on top of her head. She gazed at Hades through her lashes, his own crown perched on top of his black locks.

"My beautiful Queen," He mumbled, lips pressed to her jaw. She felt her skin tingle in a delightful way. As Hades's lips explored the crevice of her neck, the roots of her light hair began to darken. The black color dripped down her head, to the very tips, until the once golden strands turned ebony, much like the hair of her now-husband. In a blink, the viridescence of her eyes was gone, replaced by a cold greyish color, the fury of the clouds she conjured in the meadow now brewing storms inside her eyes for the world to see. She was no longer the meek goddess of Spring, but the rightful Queen of the Underworld. The only remainder of her past life was the tanned color of her skin, and even that wouldn't last in the darkness of her new home.

"Black suits you, my Queen." Hades sneered, hugging her body to his own. "I can't wait to taste you, to savor the sweet smell of flowers from your skin," Persephone smirked, throwing her head back to meet his eyes which had darkened considerably.

"Quite the contrary, my King, it is I who can't wait to make the smell of flowers linger in your skin."

That night, after consummating their marriage, Persephone realized two things: 1) A life of eternal maidenhood would have been a rather cruel punishment, and 2) Her husband was far less reserved in bed than he was outside of it. After having been pinned to the mattress, endless prayers escaping her lips in the form of whimpers, she kneeled beside their wedding bed and gazed at Hades' sleeping form. She bent her head to the ground and uttered two more prayers. One to Hera for her marriage to be blessed and the other to her father Zeus to keep her angered mother away.

Hey, it's been quite a long time, hasn't it? I know this chapter is rather dull, but bear with me, I've been a little uninspired. This chapter is not complete, but I wanted to give you something after waiting for so long. I shall be updating the complete version soon-ish.