Chapter Text
Persephone stared at her flushed face in the trifold mirror in front of her. Hera would be back any moment to do her hair and this was the first moment alone she’d had all day. All week, really.
Gods, what am I doing?
She looked up at the garment bag hanging from the door. Her dress. Her wedding dress. And she’d never even laid eyes on her fiancé. She let out a hysterical little giggle and stood up to pace. She was wearing a short little silk robe Hera had given her, with the word Bride rhinestoned on the back.
The guest suite Hera and Zeus had given her to live in the last few weeks was covered in wedding paraphernalia. Bottles of champagne for the bridesmaids, garment bags hanging from every available door and hook, a black box Hera had forbidden her from opening with a wink that made Persephone certain it was something that would make her blush. Flowers covered every surface, flowers Hera had had her grow in a large, empty lawn on the grounds of their enormous house.
I can always pay someone to do the flowers, the golden goddess had laughed, but I thought that would be rather like… me finding someone else to officiate the ceremony.
Persephone was grateful for the opportunity to release some of her pent-up energy and had gone to town on the patch of land she’d been given. At first, all she could grow were flowers of mourning, but the longer she stayed with her radiant friend, the closer she grew to freedom, the more adventurous her blooms became.
Freedom… she thought bitterly, Stupid old-world rules. I hate that everyone’s so afraid of mama. I hate that this was my only choice.
Demeter never would have let her daughter go, unless she agreed to devote her entire life to the Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood. But old magic governed the laws of marriage, too old for Demeter to fight. Persephone just had to get down the aisle, and then she would be untouchable. Well, untouchable as far as her mother was concerned. She swallowed hard, finding herself in the bathroom and her hands around the cold, sweaty glass of one of the champagne bottles on ice in her bathtub.
She fought to tear the foil away from the neck with trembling fingers.
- A few weeks earlier…
She’d told Hera in no uncertain terms what she wanted. What she could deal with. It had felt so strange, outlining her deal-breakers for marriage like it was some business merger.
“Umm, so, I want to go to school. That’s a big one for me.” She fidgeted terribly, tugging her dress over her knees and twisting it around her hands, “I don’t want someone too old-fashioned; I don’t want to be cooking and cleaning like a servant because that’s what they think a wife is for. Umm, nice? Sweet and kind and smart would be nice.”
“Good looking?” Hera had asked with a quirked brow.
“Would be a perk but… I would rather someone kind over someone handsome on the surface, you know? I value someone I would be comfortable around over beauty,” Persephone blushed.
“Hmm, okay,” Hera had a list of names on a pad on her knee and she’d been crossing them off one by one as they spoke. She’d scratched through her already tentative Apollo? with a sigh of relief. One name was left, the name she’d written first, the one she felt in her bones was the right choice. But she’d let Persephone tell her what she wanted, first, to make sure she wasn’t forcing things. “How do you feel about pets? Dogs, in particular,”
Persephone’s eyes brightened at that, her anxious hands falling away from her dress for the first time. “Oh, I adore animals. Mama would never let me have any of my own but I would love a household full of pups!”
Hera grinned, “My dear, I think I have found a match for you, but… I need your trust. Many will think the match strange. He will anger your mother more than most. And… you will have to move to the Underworld,” Hera winced a little at the younger goddess’s worried look, her hands returning to the hem of her skirt. “But the man I have chosen for you… he meets all of your requirements and then some. Not only does he have pets, he has at least… seven dogs? I’ve lost count,”
Persephone’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “Kind?” She asked, knowing how some mortal men trained their dogs to be vicious.
“He is…” Hera began softly, wistfully, “he is the kindest person I’ve ever known. Very easy on the eyes too,” She smirked as the young goddess blushed darker.
“What’s the catch?” Persephone laughed nervously; he sounded perfect.
“He has a lot of baggage and an occasional temper but only ever directed at those who threaten the people he loves. Or his realm.” Hera smiled softly, “Oh, and the most troubling flaw of all… he’s a great cook but a sub-par baker. His scones are always like rocks,”
Persephone laughed a little despite herself. As arranged marriages go, this was shaping up to a pretty good one. “Okay,” She said firmly, “Let’s do it,”
- Present… -
“Here comes the briiiiiide,” Hera sang, waltzing into the room with curlers in her hair, her own pink nightgown with Maid of Honour in rhinestones across the back, and two flutes of champagne.
She took in the young goddess curled up on the sofa before her, clutching a bottle of champagne like a doll. Hera downed her own flute and tugged the bottle from Persephone grip with a little difficulty. The bottle was three-quarters drained.
Hera raised an eyebrow, downing the flute she’d brought for Persephone. “I guess you won’t be needing this,” Hera chuckled a little. Persephone only looked at her with blank, terrified eyes. “Oh, my dear. If you are having second thoughts, you must tell me. We can stop this all right now, if that’s what you want,” The older goddess sat beside her on the sofa, brushing her hair out of her face with a tender hand.
“No,” Persephone said softly, pushing herself up into sitting position, “No. I want to. I just… I know the old rules say we can’t see each other before the wedding but… I need to speak to him first. I need to. I can’t do this without knowing what he’s like for myself,”
“Well, it’s against the rules but… I’m the queen and the goddess of marriage and I care a lot about both parties in this thing so… okay,” Hera squeezed her hand tenderly, “Let’s go meet your husband,”