Page 23 of Hades

He let his eyes slip shut, but sleep eluded him, so he drifted in the darkness, allowing his body to regain its strength.

Sure that Hades would thank him for what he had done.

Chapter 7

Around her, birds sang and insects chirped. Persephone breathed deep of the warm air, tasting dew despite the arid lands that surrounded the lush pocket of green she had been working hard to create on the coastline. They called this the end of the world, and it had been a barren place before she had decided to transform it into something the mortals would no longer fear.

She paused halfway through picking a crimson flower as a feeling of déjà vu went through her.

Her head lifted and she looked at the bright green glade nestled among the verdant trees.

This place felt like a dream, but not a dream. It was too real. Too familiar. As if she had been here before.

She shook that off with a laugh. Of course, she had been here before—she had created this place. It had taken years of work, sneaking off whenever her mother wasn’t looking. By the gods, if her mother knew about this place and what she was doing, she would be locked in her room and kept under guard for the rest of her days.

Persephone smiled as she took in the forest. It was bright with light and life. Animals had flocked here, shunning the bleak lands in favour of sweet grass and berries. Birds had been swift to make their nests in the trees that were always heavy with fruit and things for them to eat. The vast swaths of flowers that formed a patchwork quilt across the forest floor provided nectar for the bees and butterflies and other insects.

This place was her haven. A place where she could be as alone as she could get.

Two of her maidens erupted into giggles a short distance away, reminding her that she was never alone.

Wherever she went, they followed, but she didn’t mind. Unlike her mother, they didn’t try to oppress her or marry her off to some halfwit god who happened to have offered the best price in exchange for her hand. As if she was meat in a market.

A breeze swept through the trees, carrying the scent of the sea, and she looked over her shoulder in the direction of the coast, catching a glimpse of the turquoise ocean. An image of when she had first seen this place filled her mind, the forest disappearing from around her. When she had seen the waves breaking against the rocks and the clear water sparkling in the sunshine, she had been bewitched. There was such raw power here. Strength. But beauty too.

She had stood near the edge, ignoring the pleas of her maidens as they had tried to get her to move back to a safer distance. The waves had pounded the rocks only feet from her, spraying her with salt water, but she hadn’t been afraid.

She had been exhilarated.

She had raised her arms and welcomed the tempest, letting it break over her, letting it make her feel alive.

Free.

The forest came back into being around her and she took it in. She had never felt as alive as she had in this place. She couldn’t be further from Olympus, and she loved it.

She heard one of her maidens say, “To the shore?”

“I will follow.” She didn’t want to leave. Not yet. Maybe she could convince them to let her linger a little longer. Her trio of maidens enjoyed lazing on the rocks as much as she did, soaking up the sunshine and talking about the latest scandals. “Meet me at our rock. I shall only be a moment.”

The eldest of them, a dark-haired female who had been in service of Persephone’s family for as long as she could remember, looked reluctant to agree, but the two younger females pulled her with them.

Persephone crouched again, her pale green dress pooling around her bare feet as she went back to picking flowers. It was strange that a crimson one had grown. She didn’t remember adding such a colour. She lifted her head. She couldn’t see another one like it anywhere.

She plucked it and added it to the bouquet before rising and moving on, heading through the forest towards the rock rather than towards the shore. The grass tickled her feet, cool against their soles, and sunshine streamed through the canopy, warming her skin.

A song played on her lips as she meandered through the trees, drifting towards the next patch of flowers. She just needed something lilac and then her bouquet would be perfect. The woods grew darker around her and she frowned and peered in all directions. Perhaps the sun had gone in for a moment. She had overheard one of the guards outside her home in Olympus talking about a storm that was coming. Sometimes, when a storm hit Greece, it affected Olympus too.

She looked up at the sky and sure enough, clouds were gathering.

Persephone abandoned her quest for the final flower and turned away.

Froze as a feeling tripped down her spine, a sensation that she was being watched. Dread followed it, chilling her blood, and she wanted to laugh at how silly she was being. Nothing in this wood would harm her.

It was probably just an animal watching her.

She turned in a slow circle, seeking the source of the sensation to prove it was just that and she was being foolish.

Froze again as her gaze snagged on a lone figure in a shadowy recess of a pale cliff.

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