❛THEY WOULD TELL YOU OF A KING WHO STOLE ME HELPLESS FROM MY SUNSHINE GARDEN.❜
They won't tell you about the woman who came to him sublime, lily eyes and lily lips. A king does not ask permission from his prize, but she, oh she, she knelt, kissing m...
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THE ROYAL CHAMBER, THE UNDERWORLD.
PERSEPHONE
NEITHER OF US COULD SLEEP THAT NIGHT.
Hades had settled himself into the couch, a bottle of wine empty by his feet. A second one lay clutched in the tight grip of his hand as he stared at his fingers, the wine, the bubbles on its surface.
By the fire, Cerberus curled himself into a ball in my lap as I wrapped the heavy shawl around my shoulders. It was all I could do to do nothing but just look into the depths of the flames, watching them flicker and dance and twirl in the shadows.
"Persephone," Hades spoke in the darkness, his voice hoarser than gravel. "You need to sleep."
My fingers kept playing with a frayed thread lingering on the edges of the shawl, even as my eyes refused to leave the fire roaring in the grate.
"Perse," he said again, softer.
"I'm fine."
The glass echoed against the floor in a dull thunk as he put down his bottle, leaning over to look carefully at me.
"Perse," he said again, and this time, his voice was filled with heartbreak. "I'm so sorry about the child, Perse."
My mouth was dry. There were no tears left in me. None at all. Only the ashes remained.
His tear stained face was all it took to break me into pieces all over again.
All of this - all of this had happened because of me. His listless, restless gaze, the pain in the depths of his eyes, those countless goblets of wine that could not help. All of this happened due to me.
"I should never have come into your life."
Eyes wide, he clasped my hand in his, feeling the goose flesh erupt all over my arm. He traced a finger over the lines on my palm, his gaze unreadable.
"Don't say that."
"It's true," my voice was breaking like crumbs in the wind. "It's true. None of this would have ever happened if I hadn't come into the Underworld."
"I took you away," he said quietly. "You are not to blame, Perse."
"You found me because I was screaming. I shouldn't have-" I raised my hand to wipe the stray tear escaping my eye, finding him there before me, softly brushing off the moisture clinging to my lashes. "I should have kept my mouth shut and... and let them have had their way with me."
He shot up, his face ashen, eyes horrified.
"Don't say that," he hissed. "Never say that."
"She would have found me sooner or later. In whatever state... she would have found me, Hades. And I could go on living there long enough to not make your life a living hell."
