AT THE END OF EACH LONG DAY DID THE EXHAUSTED SUN SET ON THE WEST BANK OF THE CYANE - DRIPPING GOLD, BLEEDING ITS METALLIC LUSTRE INTO THE ENDLESS WATERS.

The deep indigo skies shone dark and foreboding, streaked through the luminescent golden rays on his front lawns. The great Helios rose every day in the east, carrying his brilliant chariot through the misty grey skies - travelling over the vast, wide lands before retreating to his star flecked abode in the west at sundown. Ablaze were the great lawns with the fiery glow of his winged steeds reigned in by countless men, their noble, majestic cries ringing in the air.

They parted, bowing - dropping to their knees for grave mercy - watching the shimmering stalks of wheat in one hand and the sycthe in the other.

They would do well not to forget the hand that fed them.

Gilded entrance after gilded entrance finally did bring me to the splendour of the court of Helios.

The finery, the luminance, the mere excess of it blinded my vision, gold sparkling from everywhere. Riches of the earth adorned every carved pillar, every ornate column, every bannister, even the filigreed steps. Adding to it was the blaze of lamps, glowing from pitchers filled with velvety creme wax, soothed by the holy scent of incense drifting in the air. Candles gathered in heaps by the hundreds, thousands, arranged in constellations around the floor of his mighty throne.

“Demeter,” a mighty voice boomed from around me.

Helios was a powerful, handsome god that glowed with the luminescence of a thousand suns. Clean shaven, sharp jawed, wise eyed, he sat on his iridescent throne, rays emanating from every pore of his grecian skin to fill the room with irreversible radiance. In robes of deep indigo purple he sat clothed, like a blazing fire contained in thin folds of silk.

“Forgive me for calling on you at such unnatural a time, Lord Helios,” I said quietly. “But I come to you in search of my daughter, Persephone.”

“No offence taken, goddess.”

“I left her blooming in my cave, my lovely little girl - the flower of my bare life. Zeus called us to council, and so did I leave her at once, but imagine my wonder when I came back to find my home devoid of her presence. Relentlessly did I weep, searching for her long lost laughter, but nothing did I find. For the love you bear me, great Titan - help me if you saw her but once, and tell me which deathless god seized my flower against her will.”

“I do recall hearing her fragile cries at first,” the god said, solemn and silent in his speech. “They struck my ears when I made my daily pass over the aquamarine banks of the Cyane, nearly hid under the gurgle of its bubbling waters.”

“And?” Impatience gnawed at my insides.

“I saw her among the blossoms in the fields near your home, running through the gardens, fraught with fear. And… hmm, yes. She appeared to be running from something… or someone. And then I saw him.”

“Him who?” I tersed.

“Why, your brother, of course. Hades!” the words broke from his lip as a shattered cry left mine.

“Hades?!”

“The fair skinned one caught your daughter by her ankle, tapped his staff thrice on the bank - and the waters of the river swirled apart and opened for him, and in he went on his handsome steed, with your green eyed rosebud in his arms.”

Anger rose in me, seething, spitting, hissing. The devil himself had my daughter and I knew not how!

“He kidnapped my daughter-”

“Now, now, Demeter,” Helios rose from his throne, his brilliance nearly blinding my sore red eyes. “I believe the Lord of the Dead must have good reason to take her with him. Why weep, good goddess? If he means to take her as his wife, he lays all his kingdom at her feet, his crown, his throne, the riches of the earth.”

“Take her as wife?” I screech, the ear splitting tone threatening to crack fissures in the gold stained glass. “To fill her belly with his seed, the devil’s spawn!”

“Look now,” he said quietly, “I am sure the Lord Hades would not take kindly to being called the devil, and neither do I assume he intends to fill-”

“Enough!” I cried, covering my ears to stop that filth from entering my being. My own daughter - defiled by him - she ran from him in fear and he dragged her down to his realm of gloom. Tears flowed down from the corners of my eyes and dripped down my cheeks, scalding hot, blazing with fury. To find my little flower amidst all this chaos, and ending up at the start of this terrible truth.

“My apologies if you are upset, goddess,” Helios climbed down the stairs from his throne, face solemn. “But I must rest for my journey at dawn tomorrow, and there is no more help I can offer you.”

“I understand,” I whispered, wiping the dripping tears as I clutched the stalks of wheat tighter in my hand. “I must speak to the other gods, and tell them of the grave crime Hades has committed.”

“So be it, Demeter,” the Titan sighed. “So be it.”