Page 124 of All for her Forgiveness

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

One month later

GREECE

The cool breezegently blows my hair as the sea stretches out before my eyes, so beautiful it doesn't even seem real. As the yacht we're on slowly glides towards the island where Hades was born, I regret that it's already the eve of our return home.

I had seen many images of Greece on websites, but nothing that travel agencies try to sell us compares to the real beauty of the place.

Hades' island exudes a profound tranquility, and it was only after we arrived here that I realized how much I needed a break from the world.

We’ve been on so many trips. We’ve had lazy days of hiking and swimming in the sea. We’ve visited many beaches, where King had fun making castles while we lay in the sun, lulled by the soft melody of our boy's laughter. The olive fields where the olives that I love so much come from were a bonus, but I couldn't say what I like most about the country.

Every day, we take the boat out to the islands, and King loves every second of it. I don't think I'll ever forget the joy in his little eyes, so similar to his father's, when he got onto the yacht for the first time.

And our vacation was even more special because Hades was the best guide I could ask for. He told me in detail the stories of his people, legends about heroes, gods, and creatures that inhabit the universe of Greek mythology.

One in particular, which I loved, is the legend of Eros and Psyche.

I don't remember the full story, but I kept a summary of it in my memory.

Psyche was a mortal of stunning beauty who even aroused the envy of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

Her beauty, however, was the cause of her misfortune. People stopped worshiping Aphrodite and started loving Psyche instead. Furious, Aphrodite decided to punish her and sent her son, Eros, to shoot her and curse her to fall in love with the most horrible living being that existed.

Instead, however, Eros ended up being shot by his own weapon of love and fell in love with Psyche.

The first part reminds me a little of my story with Pam. I never did anything to make her jealous. She had everything; I didn't. The only thing she couldn't possess was Hades' heart, because that was mine from the first moment we met, and vice versa.

Thank God my saga has a happy ending, just like Psyche's.

Unable to fulfill his mother's wish, Eros visited Psyche every night, after making her promise that she would never try to see his face.

Curiosity and fear, however, ended up getting the better of her and made her break the deal. One night, while Eros was sleeping, Psyche lit a candle and saw him. He was beautiful. However, Eros woke up scared and, upon understanding what had happened, that Psyche had broken the agreement, he fled.

Desperate and regretful, Psyche wandered the Earth looking for him, submitting herself to a series of tasks imposed by Aphrodite, in the hope of recovering her lost love.

Finally, with the help of Zeus, who granted her immortality, they were together forever.

I feel Hades kiss the top of my head, bringing me back to reality. I'm sitting on the bow of the yacht, between his legs, and I have an exhausted King, completely asleep, on my lap.

"What are you thinking about, wife?"

"Psyche and Eros."

I intuit more than I hear his laugh.

"Our legends impressed you."

"Your country impressed me. I would like to come back often. We haven't even left yet, and I already miss it."

"The island will always be here—we can come as often as we want. For a long time, none of us did. It was where our Dad died. We had a good childhood, and then everything disappeared with their deaths. When Zeus married Madison and then Dionysus and Ares followed the same path, forming their families, little by little my brothers came back and rediscovered our roots."

“But not you,” I say.

"I had no reason to come. Now that I know you love my country, I do."

"If it brings back bad memories, we don’t need to return."

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