Page 29 of Hades and Persephone: Crown of Souls

Around a sigh, a soft smile plays at my lips.The man knows me so well. “It’s so charming here.”

“Did you expect something else?” There is dark amusement in his question.He knows I did.

“The Underworld isn’t exactly portrayed as a beautiful thing in myth, you know?”

“Oh?” His hand presses into my belly, his thumb shifting to caress me. “What did you imagine it to be, Persephone?”

Dragging my eyes from the passing city as Alastor lumbers on, I focus forward. Garnishing the distance before us is a stretch of softly rolling hills. Tall pockets of asphodel flowers sway in a gentle breeze between stretches of land that are painted a deep, midnight green under the brushstrokes of night. Beyond the life that drifts from the city is a faint sound of rushing water.

“I don’t know that I ever really imagined the Underworld,” I answer after some time has passed. “I suppose I thought it would be hot. Reminiscent to Hell.”

“Mmm,” Hades murmurs. “And what is Hell supposed to be like?”

I frown. “Hell is unimaginable torment.”

“There is unimaginable torment here.”

“You mean in Tartarus?”

“Yes.”

“Where is that?”

Hades is quiet for a long moment. “Tartarus is guarded by the river Phlegethon. Tartarus clings to the edge of this realm, across the marsh, opposite the Palace of Hades.”

“I see.” I don’t really. The Underworld is a maze.

“Tartarus is a dangerous place, Persephone. It is a place I never want you to travel, do you understand me?”

Instead of answering, I ask, “Do you go there?”

“I am the God who rules Tartarus,” he says in answer.

I bite down on the corner of my lip, my mind racing with thoughts of Hades—the man I’ve come to love deeply—in a place of indescribable torment. It hurts. The thought of him there is like a talon-tipped pinch to my heart.

I press, “But doyoutravel there? Into Tartarus?”

He sighs, seeming to understand that I have no intention of letting this go. “I do.”

“Why?”

“Again, I am the God who rules Tartarus, Persephone.”

I press. “What is your purpose there?”

His chest expands against my back with a deep breath. “Is this really what you wish to know, little goddess?”

“Yes.” No hesitation. “I want to know everything. I see no reason why we shouldn’t start with, what I imagine is, the worst.”

“It is the worst.”

“My father always said I should save the best for last. He was usually referencing dinner, but I figure his logic applies here, too.”

Hades lets loose a surprised chuff of laughter. “How can I refuse such logical reasoning?” I don’t answer his question. It’s rhetorical, anyway. “My purpose in Tartarus is exactly what you imagine it is. When I am there, I punish those who are deserving.”

“How is that decided? How can you truly know that a soul is deserving? Everyone sins. Everyone has regrets, but there are clearly a lot of souls who make it into Asphodel City.” I frown. “I can’t imagine that every one of those souls lived their entire human lives in the earthly realm and never sinned once.”

Hades pulls me closer, his thumb again sliding absently against my belly. I focus my thoughts determinedly on his answer so as not to encourage the hollow ache I feel threatening to yawn in my core.

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