The Consort

Demands

Days past with Hades shivering in his bed. The castle had almost fallen to ruins, but the staff turned me to, guided me, kept me strong. They helped me to survive. 

There was something missing inside of me - it felt as though everyone could see it. Something was broken, something was irreparable. I stayed away from the bedroom I shared with the King - someone would surely tell me if he awoke. Instead I allowed myself to focus deeply on the problems before me. 

The amount of souls that entered our sanctuary on a daily basis was astounding, and the  guardian of the river was unable to keep up with demand. So we held interview, for those in the fields of apostle, and those who had been damned for their lives - to work off their sentence by serving three lifetimes as a river guard. 

I increased the community meetings, one every hour. I had to keep myself busy. The longer I was left alone, the more I felt the insane emptiness inside me. The staff did not speak to me often, leaving me to the darkness within. I could feel it growing, emptying the parts of my heart and soul I had left.  

I was in the middle of a meeting when it happened. 

I held myself tightly, trying to rub some of the warmth from the fireplace into my heart. But no matter how long I stood there, inches from the flickering, orange flame, the warmth I expected did not come. It was if my heart had been frozen from the inside out. A knock on the door pulled me away from the fire, I had barely started towards the door when the young girl poked her head in, her eyes no longer held fear, but were instead alight with joy, and hope. 

“Your Majesty, the King has awakened.” I straightened at the words, peering at her cautiously, unable to tell if she was speaking in jest. She ran from the room, her voice calling along the halls repeating the same words over and over. 

Lacing my fingers in front of me I began to follow the girl, only knowing where she was going by the overjoyed look on the faces of the ghouls around me. Already people were lining up, waiting to see if their King was really getting better, or if, as they feared, it was all just a prank by a malicious apparition. The crowd parted for me, allowing me to come stand before the great wooden doors of his bedroom. I raised my hand to knock before the door was pulled open, the God of Death pausing, his eyes lifting in surprise. 

“Persephone... “ The way he said my name with such effort confused me. I peered passed the man into the room, though his body stopped me from seeing anything of importance. Thanatos raised a hand, reaching towards me. I stilled, watching his hand with indifference before the God dropped his hand and stepped to the side. 

I felt his eyes follow mine as I stepped into the room. The large doors creaked shut behind me, and the candles flickered on slowly, to reveal my husband sitting up in bed, with a spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth. The bandages around his chest had been removed, and the only inclination that he had been injured was the tiny circular scar on the middle-right of his chest. 

He smiled when he saw me, quickly engulfing his food and setting the now empty bowl on his bedside table. “Persephone….Thank the Gods you’re alright.” I gently sat on the edge of his bed, laying my hand on his leg gently, forcing a smile onto my lips. He tried to move to embrace me, but his strength was still returning and he only made it an inch off of his bed before collapsing

“And you - are you well?” My voice was strained, and it seemed for the first time that he noticed how tired I truly was. It had been days since I had slept properly, unable to close my eyes without nightmares haunting me.   

“Is all well?” My eyes flickered to the God standing in the corner of the room, pursing my lips until he disappeared with smoke of the purest charcoal. I breathed deeply - I could not have this conversation with him here.

“My Mother has demanded my presence on the world above - the seasons have revolted against my disappearance, and thus I must go for half the mortal year, to ensure the world does not fall into chaos.” A small lie. 

I promised myself it would be the only lie I would ever tell my husband, and despite the fact it caused an ache in my heart I knew I could not bare to spend more time than that here. Not when the man the God of Time had declared as my soul-mate had been torn from my heart. Not when the presence of him in my mind would mean an end to everyone’s happiness. 

Hades grabbed my hand. Trust, explicit and pure lay plain on his features. I couldn’t look him in the eye. Not when there was so much unsaid between us. He had been informed, I knew, that I had made some kind of sacrifice to Cronus to allow him to return to full health. No-one was certain what. 

No-one had dared to guess. No-one wanted to ask. They only needed to know that the King had returned. And the King and Queen were together. Happy. 

No-one needed to know the truth. Except the dark god who I could still feel lingering outside the hall, listening carefully.