Page 46 of Song of Memories

Eurydice squeaked and jerked away from the hearth. "Was that supposed to happen?" Hecate sat down next to Eurydice and gently patted her shoulder.

"Yes, yes, you'll have to forgive me. Getting Persephone's attention requires some dramatics. Now, drink your tea."

Eurydice's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Persephone?!" There was a tremor in her voice that she wasn't proud of. She remembered sitting in front of Persephone in Hades's throne room; it was the goddess's influence that got Hades to agree to let Orpheus attempt to leave the Underworld with Eurydice after all. Hecate was studying Eurydice's face, and she must have picked up on the hesitation in Eurydice's expression.

"Oh, darling," Hecate gave her a soft smile, squeezing her hand in encouragement, "don't be frightened. Persephone is no champion for Orpheus. She's just a romantic. She also likes to contradict Hades every chance she gets. She pushed Hades to offer Orpheus a deal for her own reasons, not out of any admiration for that fraud." Hecate sneered the last word, and Eurydice relaxed at seeing the goddess's response to Orpheus's name.

"I understand." Eurydice offered lamely, grabbing hold of the cup that Hecate had offered her. She brought it up to take a drink before pausing, hesitation suddenly coursing through her veins. Eurydice placed it back down on the table and grimaced, looking across the table where Hecate had taken her seat.

"I don't mean to be rude," Eurydice swallowed thickly, "but can you tell me what is in this? I've had a bit of a day when it comes to, um, ingesting things given to me by gods."

"Oh, yes, of course." Hecate didn't seem offended in the slightest to be questioned. "It's tea."

"Just tea?" Eurydice brought the cup to her face and smelled it. She was immediately knocked back by the heavy whiff of alcohol.

"Well, it's tea mixed with some ambrosia." Hecate chuckled to herself, dipping a spoon into her own cup and stirring it precisely three times. Eurydice was fascinated with everything Hecate did; every move she made seemed to be intentional. She tapped her spoon on the edge of her cup three times before setting it down and taking a long sip.

"Ah," Hecate sighed, "that always hits the spot." She looked at Eurydice and nodded at the cup in her hands. "I won't force you to drink anything you don't want to, of course, but I have always found that day drinking is really made better by drinking. According to my infinite wisdom." Hecate winked, taking another long sip.

Eurydice stared at her for a brief second before she burst into laughter; whatever she expected from the goddess of witchcraft, it wasn't this. Eurydice shrugged and knocked back half of her cup and its contents without a second thought. Frankly, there was no better way to be spending her day than getting a little shit-faced. It was well needed after finally fucking her best friend, realizing she was in love with him, discovering her husband and her best friend had lied, and she'd technically died twice.

"Fuck yes!" A cheerful, deep woman's voice echoed throughout the kitchen. Eurydice sat up straighter with a start, looking around to see where the voice was coming from. Hecate started laughing but didn't seem alarmed that a voice had called out from the ether.

The flames in the hearth crackled with pink sparks again and smoke started billowing out from the chimney into the kitchen. It was a swirling mix of pink and red, and scattered rose petals and pomegranate seeds started appearing on the floor. Hecate caught sight of the small whirlwind and rolled her eyes.

"Do you always need to make such a dramatic entrance?" Hecate called out to the ceiling, standing up from her seat at the table. She took her cup over to the counter, refilling it and filling a second cup before sitting back down. She placed the second drink across the table from Eurydice at an empty seat. The smoke continued to fill the room until Eurydice nearly couldn't see anything else; it obscured almost her entire field of vision. She was about to cry out to Hecate in confusion when all the smoke vanished just as quickly as it had poured into the kitchen.

Eurydice gasped in surprise to see Persephone sitting across the table from her. The goddess looked as picture perfect as Eurydice remembered her. She had long, wavy blonde hair that practically reached all the way to her waist, almost in the style of nymphs. She was wrapped up in a himation that was blood red in color and slowly faded out to pink. There was a thin circlet made of gold around Persephone's brow, with small, carved depictions of flowers and pomegranates. The circlet was set with black stones, which Eurydice rightfully assumed were memoirs of Hades.

"Eurydice," Persephone looked torn between grief and pleasure, "I'm so happy to see you, but not under these circumstances."

"That's why we're drinking, Persephone." Hecate smirked playfully. She snapped her fingers, and an amphora appeared on the table in the middle of the trio. "We're not writing love letters."

"Well," Persephone's smile widened. She picked up her cup and held it out towards Eurydice. "Welcome to the time-honored tradition of getting drunk in Hecate's kitchen when a man in the Underworld fucks up."

Eurydice couldn't help but start laughing, and she tapped her cup against Persephone's.

It didn't take long for the alcohol to keep flowing, and Eurydice was even more overjoyed when Persephone and Hecate didn't mention Orpheus or Pan once. They talked about anything else, from the weather to the latest in Olympic gossip. They kept going until Eurydice realized with a start that it was nearly sundown and they'd been drinking and gossiping all day. It hardly mattered; Eurydice had nowhere else to be, and the levity made her heart feel lighter than it had in weeks.

The sunset didn't stop them, and even Makaria joined them before the night was done. She also was careful not to mention Orpheus a single time, and she didn't bring up the last visit she'd made to Eurydice in Orpheus's garden. By the time it was nearing midnight, Eurydice was feeling as light as the clouds. It was partially because of the alcohol, but there was an even warmer feeling in her chest from being surrounded by strong women who didn't need to have a conversion with Eurydice around her relationship with Orpheus.

"Let's get you to bed, my child." Hecate hiccuped, still managing to sound graceful, as she pried Eurydice off the floor where she'd been dozing, using one of the dogs as a pillow. Eurydice murmured something in agreement and allowed Hecate to escort her upstairs, where she toppled into one of Hecate's guest rooms.

Eurydice was fast asleep before Hecate could even shut the door, blessedly free from the burden of wondering what mood Orpheus would be in when she awoke.

23

Eurydice woke up to the sound of arguing. A sense of fear and panic immediately started coursing through her veins. For a horrible second, she thought she was back in Orpheus's house, and there was some brawl happening outside. It took a few precious minutes for her to identify the voices; the screaming was coming from the courtyard outside. She picked up on Hecate's voice first, louder than all the rest.

"You have not been given a formal invitation or permission to enter this house," Hecate's voice dropped to a lower register and echoed, "which means you will die before the walls fall, you insolent fool."

Eurydice threw the blanket back and nearly fell getting out of bed, rushing to re-tie her chiton and go see what all of the commotion was about.

Of all the fools in the Underworld, who would attempt something so brazen as breaking into Hecate's house? Eurydice got her answer when a male's voice began shouting in response.

"Then I die! I'll go up against all the witchcraft in the world and every power of hell," the voice cracked, "but let me speak to her. I beg of you!"

Pan.

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