Persephone was so lost in thought, she didn’t hear Hecate when she started to talk and had to ask her to repeat herself.
“Thinking of our King?” Hecate asked.
She blushed. “Everyone knows, don’t they?”
“Well, he did carry you through the palace to his bedroom.”
She stared at the grass. She had not intended to have this conversation. Though it pained her to speak the words, she said, “I’m not sure it should have happened.”
“Why ever not?”
“For so many reasons, Hecate.”
The goddess waited.
“The contract for one,” Persephone explained. “And my mother will never let me out of her sight again if she finds out.” Persephone paused. “What if she can see it when she looks at me? What if she knows I’m not the virginal goddess she’s always wanted?”
Hecate chuckled. “No god has the power to determine if you are a virgin.”
“Not a god, but a mother.”
Hecate frowned. “Do you regret sleeping with Hades? Forget your mother and the contract—do you regret it?”
“No,” Persephone answered. “I could never regret him.”
“My dear, you are at war with yourself. It has created darkness within you.”
“Darkness?”
“Anger, fear, resentment,” Hecate said. “If you do not free yourself first, no one else can.”
Persephone knew darkness had always existed within her, and it had deepened over the last few months, rising to the surface when she felt challenged or angry. She thought of how she’d threatened that nymph at The Coffee House, how she’d snapped at her mother, how jealous she’d been of Minthe.
Her mother might claim that the mortal world had done this to her—grew the darkness into something tangible, but Persephone knew otherwise. It had always been there, a dark seed, fueling her dreams and her passions, and Hades had roused it, charmed it, fed it.
Let me coax the darkness from you—I will help you shape it.
And she had let him.
“When did you feel life for the first time?” Hecate asked, curious.
“After Hades and I…” she didn’t need to finish her sentence.
“Hmm,” the Goddess of Magic seemed intrigued. “I think, perhaps, the God of the Dead has created life within you.”
CHAPTER XXII – THE ASCENSION BALL
By Friday, Hades had not returned from Olympia, and Persephone was surprised by how anxious that made her. She knew he planned to be at the Ascension Ball this evening because when she arrived to the Underworld to help decorate, Hecate ushered her into another part of the palace to get ready.
“Lord Hades has sent your gown. It’s beautiful,” she said.
Persephone had no idea Hades planned on sending her a gown.
“May I see it?”
“Later, dear,” she said, opening a set of gilded doors. On the other side was a suite. The space was unlike the rest of the palace. Instead of dark floors and walls, they were marble white and inlaid with gold. The bed was luxurious and covered in fluffy blankets, the floors in soft furs. Overhead, a large chandelier dropped from a dome ceiling.
“These rooms, who are they for?” Persephone asked as she entered, trailing her fingers along the edge of a white vanity.
“The mistress of the Underworld,” Hecate replied.
Persephone let that sink in a little. She knew Hades had created everything in his realm, so adding a suite for a wife must have meant he'd considered having one. She remembered what Hermes had said about Hades wanting a wife at the gala. Did these rooms prove the god had hopes of marrying?
“But…Hades has never had a wife,” Persephone said.
“He has not.”
“So…these rooms have never been occupied?”
“Not that we are aware. Come, let's get you ready.”
Hecate called for her lampades and they set to work. Persephone bathed, and while she reclined in the tub, Hecate's nymphs polished her toes and nails. Once she was dry, they rubbed oils into her skin. They smelled of lavender and vanilla—her favorite scents. When she said as much, Hecate smiled.
“Ah, Lord Hades said you loved them.”
“I don't recall telling Hades my favorite scents.”
“I don't suppose you had to,” she said absently. “He can smell them.”
She directed Persephone to the vanity with a mirror so large, she could see the whole wall on the opposite side of the room. The nymphs took time arranging her hair, piling it atop her head. When they were finished, pretty ringlets framed her face, and gold clips glistened in her blonde hair.