Page 84 of His in the Dark

“Persephone,” I say again, unable to stop myself. “My Lady. My Queen. My Love. My Goddess. You are every name that can come from my lips. You own everything I do and everything I am.”

“Everything you are?” Persephone asks, her eyes shining.

"You misunderstand, Persephone." I draw in another breath. The magic of the bond overwhelms me, but not as much as Persephone. "You are my everything.Everything.” I close the last inch between us and kiss her hard on the lips. That is the taste of my queen. That is my Persephone. "To me."

PERSEPHONE

In the mornings, I spend time sitting at the table in the quiet period before Silvie comes, sensing my powers and thinking about what the future holds. Many mornings, I look through the book Silvie brought me. Books on magic and witches, in the history of Gods and what has been and what is foretold to come. I cannot say I understand all of what is written there and much seems contradictory, but I’m taking it page by page, reading carefully. Studying it as I release the idea that I’ll ever go back home.

Perhaps it will be like coming to understand my powers in the Underworld. We went over many small pieces of knowledge over and over again before it finally clicked into place.

I do not know if my mother and father think I’ve gone on my own. If they search for me or not. I do hope they are at peace and perhaps the Fates have told them I am well. There is a soft agony deep in my heart that even the love Hades gives me does not soothe.

Silvie still does not think she was the one to teach me magic, but this is not true.

She taught me something that might be more important than how to sense the powers available to me in the Underworld.Silvie taught me patience. She taught me that commitment must be stronger than fear. I would never have been able to set aside my own panic and study if it weren't for Silvie.

That is what I am doing on the morning I feel the pull. Reading in an attempt to understand and to escape and to find peace that evades me.

It’s after Samhain, so the days are shorter, even in the Underworld. The sun takes more time to rest below the horizon. Silvie comes to join me a bit later, as if the whole of the Underworld has adjusted to the sun. Because Silvie does not come early, I have more time in the mornings to sit at the table with the gentle light of a lamp and the book, letting my mind wander over the pages as I might wander through the gardens, touching the words with my fingertips without trying to make them into something they are not.

I am only getting to know them.

I ignore the tug at first. There is much magic in the Underworld, and it is not unheard of for me to feel it as it moves. I did not recognize such things when I first arrived here. Even with my powers at full strength and a deeper understanding of how they worked in various realms, I was too terrified to have noticed a sensation like this. Like the crackling behind the obsidian walls. I no longer fear it. I only wish to know what causes it and why Sylvie and Hades do not appear to hear it like I do.

It comes a second time, and I ignore it again. Magic is unpredictable. I have learned much about my powers in the weeks that I have been in the underworld. That does not mean I know everything. And what the Fates told me was unsettling. There is a choice to be made, apparently—and it is impossible to make the right choice. Lightning cracked across the sky not long after I left them. More souls are flooding into the Underworld.

They did not offer to take a message to my mother. They only told me she misses me as well, along with what seemed like a prophecy I could not understand.

The third time the pull happens, I close the book and put it on the table, then close my eyes.

Something isn’t right.

But what?

I open my eyes with a deep breath, and then look around the rooms as dispassionately as I can. I have had blankets and pillows and soft rugs brought in. I make a point of keeping the fire bright and hot. I cannot change how the sun rises and sets, nor would I want to, but I have made this place welcoming.

There is nothing wrong that I can see.

Silvie?

It is a bit earlier than she usually comes to join me, but I don’t feel a sense of dread about her. I might, if she were in great danger. We have spent enough time together that I know the feel of her magic, and I care about her enough to notice if something terrible had happened.

When the tug comes again, I concentrate on it as hard as I can.

It is like a calling.

My magic—or the magic of the bond I have with Hades—is calling to me.

I rise from my chair and find a simple cloak to put over my dress, then leave my rooms. At the end of the hall, two guards leave their posts and follow after me. I do not mind if they accompany me wherever I am being summoned.

If what has gone wrong is some kind of catastrophe, then at least I will have them with me. They are sworn to protect me afterall. And I am still so new to the Underworld and what lies beyond the castle.

And if there is nothing awry after all, no harm done. They will have done their duty and stretched their legs.

I follow the tug out along the path. More time had passed than I realized. The tug comes again, spurring me onward. I focus on following it, keeping my mind clear, like I do when I read from the book with its ancient spells. I travel through the stone falls like a maze, not quite paying attention to where I am, as I’m focused on the pull and not losing it. I do not want to read trouble into this feeling if there is none. I do not want to panic before there is reason to. But it calls to me with necessity.

At last, the call in my magic guides me off the path and into the outer fields of Elysium.

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