Chapter Text
The differences from Persephone’s old, humdrum life frequently astonished her. Not so long ago, she woke alone each day, blinking in the blinding dawn light, automatically feeling guilty because she knew her mother was at work already. She would dress in a formless peplos, tie on her single pair of sandals, and start to sweat almost immediately in the Mortal Realm heat. Her days then were jam-packed with work and duty, with possibly the indulgence of a few minutes of conversation with a friend.
Nowadays, she awoke in the dimness of the Underworld, aware of the cool air around her, but warm and snug in Hades’s arms. While he nearly always awakened before her, he tended to stay in bed until she was ready to get up. He leapt at any chance to hold her close to him.
She smiled to herself one morning when she first opened her eyes. Hades wrapped his arm around her waist, his lips pressing soft kisses into her hair. Persephone held still and basked in the delight of not being alone—of discovering that the god she’d married was not only her distant protector—he was her devoted lover.
A giggle escaped her.
“Having a pleasant dream, little goddess?” Hades asked. His voice rumbled in his chest, vibrating under her cheek.
“I was, just a minute ago. Now I’m having an even more pleasant waking.” She snuggled against his side, hoping he might have certain intentions. The previous night’s activities had been wonderful and she was eager for another round.
He chuckled and curled slightly towards her so he could use both arms. “What are your plans for today?”
This topic was not what she wanted to discuss, but his interest was still gratifying. “I have to check in on a new group of nymphs at De—my mother’s house. They keep showing up there looking for help, and Mother is getting frustrated. I need to get them jobs.”
“Still not many who want to come here?”
“Just the few in the pilot program. I plan to bring those brave ones back to the Mortal Realm and have them tell the others about their new lives. It might inspire some to give the Underworld a try.”
“That’s a good idea.” He moved to kiss her neck, making her shiver. “Oh, do you like that?”
“Yes.” Persephone cupped the back of his head to keep him in place, enjoying the texture of his hair between her fingers. “I like waking up with you every day. I like touching you.” She wanted to say more, but the habits of long-ingrained reticence held her back. Appropriate behavior between married people was still a mystery she was working to unravel.
Hades studied her face carefully. “Where did you go, just then?” he asked, sounding deeply curious.
“Um. Away in my head, I guess. Overanalyzing.”
He smiled slowly. “Analyzing me? I suppose I could use it.”
“Well, you are fascinating,” she said tartly, then flashed a smile. “But I meant that I’m thinking about myself.”
“Ah, you’re feeling shy.”
She bit her lip. “I guess you see right through me.” Surely a queen should have more depths to her character than mere shyness, work ethic, and impulsivity.
“Well, you are fascinating,” he said, copying her intonation and giving a particularly naughty grin.
Persephone couldn’t resist. She kissed him, sucking his lower lip between hers and nipping, exulting in his impudence. I don’t need to worry about telling him what I want. When I kiss him, he gets the message.
Hades rolled slowly onto his back, Persephone sliding to lie on top of him. She squirmed, rubbing against the entire delightful length of his torso, her sensitive parts bumping against his raised thigh.
She reached deep into her courage and made herself speak. “Perhaps we can think of a way to fascinate one another, erastís. ”
Hades smiled as his hands slid down her bare back. “By all means, let’s invent a new euphemism.”
Spending the whole morning soothing the new nymphs was fracturing to Persephone’s nerves. She couldn’t understand why so many of them expressed so much terror of the Underworld. Why can’t they just believe me when I say it’s beautiful?
In the course of a few hours, she and the pioneering nymphs managed to convince four new ones to visit, but none would yet commit to moving to the Underworld. Persephone had confidence that her adopted realm, with its glamour and sophistication, would charm some of them. She left the details in the capable hands of her friend Thespeia and went off by herself to accomplish her more fundamental tasks.
Spring was approaching, and she felt the need to have a better handle on the new collection of crop plants. Besides her duties to her own domain and her nymph employment project, she had tasks as Queen of the Underworld that she was trying to take on, as well as the promises she’d made to Prometheus to look after the mortal race. All of that made for a full schedule.
She toured several fruit orchards, evaluating the performance of the new botanical candidates. After spending a few hours in the hot sun, she longed to return home to the Underworld. Hades had promised to give her an extensive tour and explain how everything worked, but she hadn’t yet been able to find the time. So far, she was treating his kingdom merely as a place to sleep, and not a true home.
Persephone wanted very much to do better for the realm that called her its queen. Not only did she owe it better treatment, the idea of wielding that kind of unfettered power was terribly exciting. Everything she accomplished as Goddess of Spring came as a result of much negotiation with others whose domains touched her own, especially Demeter.
She rested for a short time in the shade of a tree, checking off tasks in the list she kept in her journal. Persephone climbed to her feet, firmly rubbing her scarred leg. It was cramping, but she wouldn’t permit it to slow her. As she was tucking her journal away, a being materialized in front of her: a god middling tall with a slim build and a pair of spreading wings on his back, feathered like a bird’s. A bow and quiver were slung over one shoulder, and he was nearly as pink as herself. His hair was curled with such precision she couldn’t imagine how he managed it. He assumed a heroic pose with one hand in the air.
“Hail, buxom Queen of the Nether Regions!” declaimed the newcomer.
Persephone drew back in surprise. “You make it sound like I’m the monarch of—” she paused and blushed fiercely before continuing in a whisper— “private parts.”
The pinkish being standing before her relinquished his dramatic pose as he lost himself in giggles. “Nah, that’s my job!” He posed again, with his hands on his hips this time. “I’m here because at long last you’ve decided to acknowledge my power!”
“I’m sorry? I don’t know who you are.”
“What? How can you not recognize me! I’m the most handsome of all the gods!”
Persephone laughed in true amusement, not just because she wanted to poke at this god’s inflated self-importance. “I’m afraid you’re not even in the running with my husband.”
The god grinned and rolled his eyes. “Right, the teeny flower goddess likes ‘em big and menacing, I get it.”
Persephone tilted her head, considering. The rose-colored god was very forward in his manner, and spoke as if he knew her. He wasn’t truly rude, though, or making any attempt resembling seduction. And I should know, she thought grimly. In her long separation from Hades after their wedding, many gods had tried to entice her.
“Perhaps you’re right,” she said. “I never seriously considered anyone else besides Hades.”
Her companion nodded, looking fascinated by the topic. “You held out for a long time! It’s one thing for a goddess to be an eternal maiden, but I’ve never known a deity to go a whole century without greasing the weasel and then change their mind.”
“That…is the most disgusting metaphor I’ve ever heard.”
He giggled again. “Sorry. But seriously, it’s just weird.”
“Why is it weird?”
“Well, like…how did you control your urges all that time? It’s not natural!”
Persephone had a burst of enlightenment. “Oh, I see! You’re Eros. Did your mother send you to torment me?”
He drew back, indignant over her accusation. “I’m not her little errand boy!”
“Oh, really?”
“No! You should know what it’s like to have a complicated relationship with your mother. Or should I say, mothers?”
Persephone hissed in distress. “How do you know about that?”
“Please, I’ve always known. You think infidelity could sneak by me?”
She scowled, growing truly angry. “What do you want? A bribe to keep my secret?” If so, he’d come to the right place. She felt sure Hades would provide a large amount if it meant protection for both her and Hera.
Eros’s eyebrows flew up to his hairline and he gaped in shock. “Are you kidding? You’re a love child! Your kind is sacred to me.”
He was evidently sincere, so Persephone began to relax. Once again, she felt the strange contradiction of her position as the illegitimate daughter of the Goddess of Marriage. “I’ll ask you again, what do you want?”
The pink god twisted in agitation. “Oh. Um. I actually came to ask a favor of you.”
“Wait a moment, Mr. Nosey. We’ve never met, but you want a favor?”
“Yeah? I mean, I’m sure I can find a way to repay you. Um, let’s see. You don’t need me to make your husband love you. Is there anyone else you want? Even for a night? I can arrange that.”
“No!”
“Oh. I guess with the God of Wealth head over heels for you, you don’t need anything material.” He gestured, indicating the fortune in jewelry Persephone was wearing.
“No.”
“Well…you could have my eternal gratitude, and I’ll be in your debt.”
Persephone frowned. Debts between gods were considered on a level with the most solemn of vows. She still wasn’t sure if Eros was trying to trick her, but her curiosity was growing. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll consider granting your favor.”
“Okay. I—um…well…there’s this mortal woman.”
Persephone took a deep breath and willed herself to be patient. In her long experience helping nymphs, she had learned with nauseating detail about the boundless lust many gods exhibited. Their antics with young mortal women were, if anything, even more egregious than their behavior towards nymphs. “She didn’t want you, but you warped her mind or something, and now she’s upset?”
The love god wouldn’t meet her fierce gaze. His expression was one of total dejection. “I…I don’t know how she feels right now. I’ve screwed up everything.”
Persephone sighed. “I don’t doubt it. Come on, out with the story.”
Eros straightened himself, sighed, and took up a formal tone. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful mortal named Psyche. She was so ethereally lovely that the other mortals said she must be the daughter of Aphrodite herself.” He paused and gave a little smirk.
Persephone scrunched up her nose. “And you found that attractive? Anyway, I imagine your mother didn’t like that.”
“Nope. Not that my mother cares about inflicting her array of brats on Olympus, but the idea of having a mortal child? She got really mad.”
“So, in the usual manner of Olympians, she decided to destroy the poor mortal?”
“Exactly. She sent her firstborn son, that being me, to make the woman fall in love with a hideous monster.” He grinned and spoke confidingly, breaking his storytelling patter. “Because Ma thinks being in love with someone ugly is the worst thing that could happen to a person.”
“Did you use your arrows on her?” Persephone felt herself on the very edge of how much exasperation she could take. She folded her arms and considered how to bring him to the point.
“No. I couldn’t do it,” he said, drooping.
His tone of wistful tenderness tugged at Persephone’s heartstrings. “So what, you missed and hit your own foot? You fell in love with her yourself?”
Eros scoffed. “ My arrows never miss! But, yeah, I did fall for her. I took her away from her family and gave her a palace. Clothes, food, sweets, wine, everything she could want.”
The goddess felt a certain amount of resonance with this story. Hades had given her a generous home and all the luxuries she could desire. She wondered how the mortal woman felt about the dramatic changes in her life, over which she had little or no control. Despite her earlier hostility, Persephone was growing intrigued and a little sympathetic. “Was she happy?”
“Ye-eees,” Eros said, drawing out the word to indicate that the answer was really a great deal more complicated. “But I was a fool. I decided I didn’t want her to know who I really am. You know, that whole baggage of a god dating a mortal. So I disguised myself as a mortal while I was with her.”
Persephone folded her arms and frowned. “Right. Because beginning a relationship with lies and fear is such a good idea.”
The love god sighed. “I know. After a while her suspicions got the better of her. She sneaked into my room to try to learn my identity, and, well—saw me like this.” He indicated his wings and general divine splendor. “I was so upset that she didn’t trust me, I…I…lashed out.”
“Did you kill her?” Persephone asked bluntly.
“No! Gaia, no, I could never—well…I don’t think I did, but I was very upset.”
Persephone made a sharp gesture for him to continue. Eros sighed.
“I’m not sure what I did, but it hurt her. All I know is, once my temper cooled, I went back to find her and she wasn’t there. I’ve been looking everywhere for weeks now.”
“Maybe she realized she’d survived a close brush with terrible danger and went home.”
“No. She didn’t go back there, I checked.”
Persephone sighed. “Mortals can’t travel the way we can. She would have to walk, and that could take a long time.”
“Oh, I didn’t think of that.”
“So what is it you want of me?”
“Well, my mother—when she found out I didn’t curse Psyche as she ordered, she was pissed. I’m afraid of what she might do next. Maybe she’s the one who took her away, I don’t know!”
“And?”
“And I figured, since you can’t be Ma’s greatest fan, maybe you’d help me find Psyche.”
Persephone’s mouth compressed to a thin line. My father charged me to care for the mortals. She thought back on the long-ago day when she had killed many of their kind for the crime of desecrating a sacred grove. Perhaps it’s time for me to make amends.
“I’ll consider your request,” she said. “In the meantime, may I ask you a question?”
“Ask away, O Queen.”
“When Hera arranged my marriage a century ago, she said she would bring me all the unmarried gods to choose from. Why didn’t she bring you?”
Eros’s face crumpled and his eyes filled with sorrow. “Don’t you know? I’m flighty and unreliable. Ironic, isn’t it? The god of passionate love is the god no one would want to marry.”
Persephone patted his arm, his despair twisting her sympathetic heart. “It’s hard, changing patterns that are rooted so deeply within us. I should know. I can see that you want to be something other than unreliable. That’s a good first step.”
He nodded, wiping away his tears. “I’ve been so afraid for her! I took her away from everything she knew, it’s my responsibility to take care of her!”
“How long has it been since your…disagreement?”
“About a month. It took a week or so for me to cool off, though. So at least three weeks that she’s been gone from our home.”
“I hate to say this.” Persephone smoothed her expression, trying to project calm. “But you know she might be dead.”
“Yeah. That’s another reason I’m asking for your help. I figured you could find out.”
Persephone took her phone out from the pocket of her peplos and composed a text to Hades. “I can easily do that much, at least.”
Eros stared avidly at her phone, not making any pretense that he wasn’t trying to read her messages. “Wow, I haven’t seen one up close yet! I’ll bet you get the latest and greatest ilektronikós, right?”
“I suppose so,” Persephone said. She received a reply almost immediately: I’ll have an answer for you in a few minutes on that query. Are you having a good day, Sweetness?
Interesting, at least, she typed. You?
Eros squirmed a little closer, craning his neck. “So you just put in a message and it gets sent right away? And he replies to you?”
“Yes.”
“It must be neat having a king at your beck and call like that!”
“Um….” Persephone had never thought of her relationship that way. “I suppose.”
Her new friend grinned and nudged her with his elbow. “Aw, c’mon. You’re telling me he’s not panting to give you anything you ask for?”
She frowned, feeling uncertain. “Well…he is, actually.” She didn’t make it a habit to dive into personal details with a stranger, but on the other hand, Eros was the biggest authority on love and sex in existence. There would never be a better chance to get help with her issues. “I’m not quite sure how to ask him for what I want, though.”
Eros smiled knowingly. “You’re not going to shock him, you know. He’s been around the block a few times.”
Persephone sighed. “I know nothing I could say would be new to him. That’s part of the problem.”
“You’re worried about keeping him interested in bed?”
She drew breath to protest, but let it go instead. “I…yes, in a way. There are things I want, but my silly little requests must be so mundane to him.”
“Has he said so? Or hinted at it?”
“No, I…I can’t bring myself to say what I mean. It’s embarrassing.”
Eros pursed his lips, obviously thinking. “You’ve been sleeping with him how long? A couple months now?”
Persephone’s cheeks burned at this blunt question, but she couldn’t back out. She might get some useful information. “Yes, about that.”
“How often do you have sex?”
She emitted a little squeak, but Eros neither gloated nor smiled. His gaze conveyed an interest that seemed purely professional. She forced herself to answer. “Most days. Sometimes twice.”
“Seems like he’s enjoying himself, then. You’re getting off regularly?”
Persephone hesitated, struggling to interpret this term. “You mean…?”
“Having orgasms.”
“Oh. Yes.”
“If there’s particular things you want to do and you’re too shy to talk about them, maybe you could try leaving him little notes? Or you could just go for it, I doubt he’d mind.”
“Notes? Well, I guess I could do that.”
“And see, you talked to me about it. Surely talking to Tall, Blue, and Spooky shouldn’t be that bad?”
“Hades isn’t spooky! Not to me.” She paused to think it over. “I guess it wouldn’t be so scary. He’s never been anything but considerate to me.”
“Except for that whole leaving you alone for a century bit?”
Eros grinned and Persephone scowled at him. Her phone beeped, saving her from the trouble of framing a suitable response. She read the text and showed it to the love god: We have no record of a mortal named Psyche. Sometimes there are discrepancies in the census or incorrectly recorded names, but most likely she’s still among the living.
“There you are, not dead,” Persephone said.
“That’s such a relief to hear! So will you help me look for her, for the sake of a debt between us?”
Persephone hesitated a long moment before answering. “I will look for the mortal woman Psyche. If I find her, I will try to help her. I make no commitment to bringing her to you. It should be her decision.”
Eros’s eyes widened as he thought this over. “All right. If she doesn’t want me, all I ask is that you tell me. I’ll leave her alone if that’s what she prefers.” He choked slightly on these words.
“I’m glad you can accept my limitations. It bodes well for your plan of self-improvement.”
“Well, thanks, I guess. I’ve been wanting to ask you for the longest time—”
“One hundred years, by any chance?”
“Um, yeah.” He shrugged and grinned. “Anyway, what made you choose Hades?”
Persephone’s eyes widened and she leaned back. “Why did you wait a century to ask me? Surely you could have found me at any point at my mother’s house, if you were so keen to know.”
“Well, for all that time you lived apart, so everybody figured it was a marriage of convenience. Convenient for you, I mean.”
“And not for Hades? Living apart was his choice. I would have gone with him very happily, but he had these scruples about my age, you see.”
“Ooh, I’ll bet that ticked you off!”
“Yes, it did.” She smiled suddenly, thinking about her husband. “I chose him because he made me feel comfortable enough in the space of a few minutes that I could laugh and joke, and tell him deep truths about myself without judgment. I wanted…I wanted to keep his eyes on me. I liked how he made me feel.”
“So you were pining for him that whole time?” Eros grinned and bounced on his toes, enormously excited by the prospect.
Persephone was charmed into replying honestly. “Yes, I was. As it turns out, he was pining for me, too.”
The God of Lust sighed deeply. “That’s so romantic!”
“Is it? You were just moaning about being separated from your beloved for a mere matter of weeks.”
“Well…yeah, but she’s mortal. Who knows what could be happening to her!”
“That’s true. Listen, I have work to do, but I’ll keep my eyes open for any sign of Psyche. I have nymph friends who can look, too. They cover a wide territory and I’ll bet they’ll be thrilled to help.”
“Thank you,” Eros said, bowing his head. “I appreciate it so much.”
The pair made an agreement to meet again in a few days’ time, and Persephone transferred away to continue her work.
At the end of her workday, Persephone sat for a few minutes to prepare herself for the upcoming meeting. Every week, she went to the mountain location where Prometheus was chained, to visit with her father. It was painful to see him imprisoned this way, with the vicious marks of Zeus’s wrath slashed across his body. She stroked her own scar, which in its small way was a reminder of the temper of the King of the Gods.
Well, I am a queen now. I need not fear him. She drew a deep breath and transferred to the extinct volcanic caldera.
The dark gray god was chained by wrists and ankles to the bare rock of the mountain. He smiled upon spotting Persephone, delighted to see her, but he was not alone. Seated upon a boulder by his side was Hera. Persephone’s birth mother.
The pink goddess concealed a flinch and swallowed nervously. She’d been avoiding Hera for some time. I have no idea what to say to her.
“Good afternoon,” she said. Usually she addressed Prometheus with more affection, calling him Father or dáskalos. It didn’t feel right to do so in front of Hera. I can’t call her Mother.
“Persephone,” Hera said, nodding politely. Her expression was cool, even a little distant.
“Small one, it is so good to see you,” Prometheus said. “Hera kindly came to pass the time of day with me, as you can see.”
“Yes, hello,” Persephone replied, knowing it was a weak reply. So many conversational options were not available with Prometheus. There was no point asking him what he’d been doing since her last visit, or what books he’d read. Usually she told him about her week, reminisced a bit, and asked for a story from his youth. She didn’t quite want to take up these topics in front of Hera.
She chose instead to address the other queen. “How are things in Olympus?”
Hera shrugged, raising both shoulders and rolling her eyes at the same time. “Who knows? All the undercurrents are swirling in odd directions, that’s for sure. People are sneaking around and whispering in corners, but I’m only the queen. They wouldn’t share with me.”
Persephone glanced to Prometheus. He firmed his mouth and shook his head slightly. “Surely it’s just idle gossip,” he suggested.
“That’s possible,” Hera said. “Generally there are those who are happy to share gossip with me, even the malicious ones who want to burn me with tales of my husband’s…adventures. In this case, they’re all keeping mum.”
“Ares and Hephaestus don’t know anything, either?” Persephone asked.
“If they do, they’re not saying.”
Persephone thought hard. “I could ask around. Maybe Hermes will tell me, or the nymphs I know.”
Hera shrugged again and looked off to the distance, feigning indifference.
“How is everything in the Underworld?” Prometheus asked. “And spring will be coming soon, that must be keeping you busy.”
“Yes, it is. I’m bringing out new crops this year. Everyone is well. Hades sends his best.”
Prometheus smiled, pleased by the caressing tone she used in mentioning her husband. “And are you—” He broke off with a choking sound and his entire body began to tremble.
Hera leapt to her feet and studied him.
Persephone moved to her father’s side, stretching out a hand. “ Dáskalos, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t touch him!” Hera snapped. “He’s having a vision.”
She was proven correct almost at once, as Prometheus’s eyes opened, glowing with the silvery light of prophecy. A long, eerie groan issued from his throat.
“The age of heroes is upon us!” he cried. “There will come a herostheos who will free me in accordance with the will of Zeus! His name shall make mortals and gods tremble!” He blinked several times as the glow faded, then grinned at his visitors. “Well, that was exciting!”
Hera scowled. “Could you be any more cryptic? That wasn’t helpful at all. Not even a timeframe!”
Prometheus smiled reassuringly. “Now, my dear, you know perfectly well how these things work.”
Persephone swallowed hard, watching them. Their ease together, their attitude to one another, their phrasing, their tones: all spoke of a long-standing affection. Why did I never see it before?
She tried to smile. “I am delighted to hear that you will be freed, Father.”
Prometheus shrugged as much as his chains would allow. “Someday, dear child. Perhaps not soon, but I am patient.”
The rest of the visit was awkward and stilted. Persephone made comments or asked questions, and Prometheus helped the conversation as best he could, but Hera merely sat in sullen silence. When it was time to go, Persephone said her goodbyes with a great sense of relief.