Persephone & Hades

Chapter Six

Waking up in the Underworld was very different from the mortal realm. Up there, there is sunlight to greet and warm you. Down here, everything was unfamiliar, dark, and cold. The warmth of her future husband next to her reminded her that not everything was cold in this beautiful but very different world. She snuggled in closer to him, her eyes never leaving his sleeping form. She ran her hand down his chest to his stomach, admiring the feel of his muscles under her fingertips. Hades stirred next to her in the bed. He smiled at her when he opened his eyes. “Tell me this is real. I’m not just dreaming finally having you in my bed,” Hades spoke with a voice still husky from sleep.

Persephone pressed her lips to his stomach. “I’m as real as my lips on your skin, my king,” she teased him.

A smile played across his lips. “Good morning, my queen,” he greeted her before leaning forward to place a gentle kiss upon her lips. “I don’t believe I’ve ever felt as well-rested as I do sleeping beside you.”

One of his arms snaked its way underneath her and pulled her up against him. The bliss she felt was short-lived before one of the nymphs who worked in the palace rapped on the door, putting an end to their closeness. The voice on the other side of the door came off irate and a little sad, “Sir! The King of the Gods has arrived, with the Queen Hera to oversee your wedding.”

Their words practically dripped with malice. Persephone looked at her future husband with a raised brow. He waved his hand is indifference towards the voice on the other side of the door. “We will come out when we’re finished. Go entertain the guests,” he commanded.

Hades pulled her face towards his, pressing his lips gently against her over and over. She giggled, pushing him away playfully. “Who was that at the door?” Persephone meekly asked.

Hades heaved a heavy sigh, “That was a nymph I used to see, erm, romantically…before I met you.”

“Oh,” she managed to say as she dropped her gaze.

Tiny cracks were forming at the edges of who she had envisioned her love to be. She had never been with any man ever. For some reason, she had assumed he had lived a celibate lifestyle she had before she met him, even though it was obvious he was much older than she was. Persephone scolded herself internally, Zeus himself had several affairs outside of his marriage to Hera. In fact, he had fathered countless children with his mistresses. Poseidon as well! Why would Hades, King of the Underworld, be any different from his brother? She could feel the tears beginning to form, quickly turning her head so he wouldn’t see. She felt so foolish for running away with a man she, honestly, barely knew. After three years, she just found out his name the previous day. Persephone furiously swiped at her eyes, trying to wipe the tears before they had a chance to spill. Stop acting like a child, she silently told herself.

Hades took her hands into his. Looking into her eyes he told her, “That is my past. You are my future. You are my everything, Persephone. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Do you promise? That all of that nonsense is in your past?” Persephone asked. “That it shall remain the past, not to interfere with our present or future?”

He grasped her hips, pulling her up against him. His hips slowly rocked back and forth, gliding himself against her entrance. “It’s only you Persephone. For now, for always,” he reassured her before just barely pushing into her.

Persephone gasped. “Not yet,” she cried out. “I want to be your wife first!”

Hades immediately withdrew himself from her. Persephone’s face turned a deep crimson. What difference did it make if she lay with him now or a few hours from now? She felt juvenile as she recalled overhearing Ianthe retelling the things she had done with men in a most vulgar manner. If she was to be wed within an hour’s time, she would be giving herself to him before the end of the day. “We can wait until then, my dear,” he comforted her. “Nothing that you’re not ready for, will happen. You have my word.”

“I love you so much,” Persephone said smiling up at him.

He brushed hair from her face, “I love you too.”

Soon, they were taken to separate rooms to bathe and dress for the upcoming ceremony. Persephone felt slightly uncomfortable being nude in front of unfamiliar nymphs. Sensing her uneasiness, the nymph, Eumelia, began to scatter rose petals in the large marble tub. “Come help me with the flowers in the bath, Xenia,” she beckoned to the other nymph.

After they had both turned their attention away, Persephone undressed herself. Her clothes in a heap on the floor beside her, she approached the tub, hoping the water was at least lukewarm as she stepped gingerly into the water. A sigh of relief escaped her as the hot water touched her toes. Grateful that the water wasn’t cold, she eagerly descended the stairs. The water was just under her bottom when standing at the deepest end. There were enough rose petals that she would be concealed under the water. Persephone sank down into the water enjoying the way the heat relaxed her. She hadn’t realized how tense she was until now. The water came up to her neck when Persephone lowered herself on to the bench along the edges of the tub. She gently ran a pumice stone across her skin to scrub away any dirt.