The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 23

The Dining Hall was well attended at dinner that night. Cutlery clanging against expensive dinnerware accompanied the vivacious conversation occurring throughout the room. When I walked into the Hall, I unwittingly made eye contact with Persephone, who sat rigid at the head of the table. I slid into the closest spare seat I could find, a good fifteen metres or so away from her. I could feel the weight of her gaze on me as I tried to focus on greeting Artemis and Himeros, who sat nearby. I didn't even spare Hades a glance, to prevent myself from strangling him in a room full of supernaturals. My self-control was hanging on by a thread, and that piece of thread was being eaten by hatred.

Luckily, Himeros didn't bring up the events in the Throne Room and I was grateful. I fell into conversation with them easily and covered my plate in food from the dishes before me. With all of the physical training I'd been completing lately, as well as the mental drain of training my powers, I was eating three times the amount of food I would normally eat.

Merely thinking about exercise dragged my thoughts onto something – someone – else. Further up the table, Alek appeared tense as he engaged with Lillabeth in conversation. However, I knew that tension between them had nothing to do with the fact Lillabeth could kill him with a single touch, and everything to do with the fact she was a demigoddess from Wrath City. Lillabeth's stiff gait and downward gaze suggested she herself wasn't entirely comfortable. From what I'd seen of her, she didn't often engage in conversation with others. I was surprised to see her talking with Alek.

Artemis noticed the direction I was looking in and a smug smile formed on her lips.

"Are you wanting something else for dinner, perhaps?" She questioned.

I coughed on my salad and put a hand to my chest, looking her straight in the eyes when I recovered. "My dinner is fine. Is there a problem with yours?"

Himeros was glancing between us, sensing the tension. He raised his eyebrows at me over his wine glass, as if he concurred with Artemis' questioning.

"The dinner is below average," she said, despite it being a glorious feast, "but the accompanying entertainment is fantastic."

"What entertainment?"

She laughed. "Oh Serena, I don't need to be Himeros to sense the sexual tension between yourself and Mr Broody over there."

My jaw dropped open and I looked at Himeros as if he might provide me with support, but his eyes were sparkling at Artemis' accusation.

"It's true," he told me. "I think it's obvious to everyone, including Cleo, that there's something between you both."

I sighed and leaned back into my seat.

Instead, Artemis leaned forwards in hers. "I heard that Alek will be training you from now on, not Persephone."

I couldn't hide my surprised reaction. Somehow, people had already heard the news. Alek had approached me before dinner and offered to train me, knowing that I was reluctant to give Persephone my time of day. I had to keep learning to fight if there was likely going to be a physical test, and seeking guidance from Alek seemed like the best idea.

"You have that correct at least," I replied curtly.

"Why isn't Persephone training you anymore?" She questioned.

"Artemis," Himeros drawled in warning. Something like tension passed between them.

I glanced between them, sensing they were hiding something from me. "What? What is it?"

Himeros frowned as he took in my concerned expression. "There's a rumour going around that Persephone stopped training you so it wouldn't look as if Hades was favouring you."