Bride of Death

by Celina Summers

  A single incongruous note marred the masculine feel of the room. Against the wall opposite the bed was a dainty dressing table. A beautiful bronze mirror hung upon the wall over it, while on top of the table were jars of lotions and perfumes. An ivory comb nestled against a little chest. From that chest spilled ropes of pearls and gemstones, necklaces of gold and silver, as well as ribbons of every hue imaginable. A delicate chair sat demurely in front of the table, as if a girl had just risen from the seat to look at her reflection in the mirror.

  “Yes?” Hades was dressing for Aphrodite’s feast. He wore his formal tunic and chiton, edged in gold thread. He peered at the doorway, but no one stood there. There was only a dark mist. Hades smiled. The speaker was Erebos, the god of darkness and one of his most trusted lieutenants.

  “Sire, you wanted to know when the daughter of Demeter wandered from her mother’s side,” Erebos said. “Eros has just sent word. The maiden wanders the meadows of Nysa with two daughters of Nereus. Demeter is already upon Olympus, at the goddess of love’s feast.”

  Hades could hardly contain the excitement in his chest. The lovely girl he’d fallen in love with was alone and unprotected? At last, then, it was time to take what he desired! The god tore his chiton from his body. “Harness my chariot,” he commanded. He pulled on his black leather bracers, hurriedly tying the laces. “Use my four swiftest horses.”

  “Is there aught else, Master?” Erebos asked. The dark mist shimmered as he prepared to do the god’s bidding.

  “No. You may leave.”

  As the mist disintegrated in the aperture, Hades laughed in triumph. His days of solitude were nearly over. As he fastened his black cloak around his neck, he struck a small gong with the other. Immediately, a pale young woman answered his summons.

  “Yes, Master?”

  “Styx, make this bedchamber ready. Remove all that is mine from it and arrange this room in a manner pleasing to a young girl.”

  The river nymph started to move into the room, then hesitated. Her thick, golden hair waved around her face. “A young girl, Master?”

  “Yes,” Hades replied, his voice little more than a breath. “Make haste, Styx. I go to fetch my bride. My queen.”

  “As you wish, Master. Where would you prefer me to take your belongings?”

  “I care not as long as it is close.” He looked at the black granite walls and floor, thought for a moment, and nodded in satisfaction as the granite bleached into a soft, black-veined white.

  Hades turned to glance in the mirror. Even in the muted kindness of the polished bronze, his pale face blazed under the dark curls clustered on his brow.

  Will she consider me pleasing? What if she —

  “Master, you need have no fear.” Styx stood at his side, a slight smile on her lovely face. “You are handsome enough that any maid would consider herself blessed.”

  “This is a foolish thing I do,” he confessed. “My sister Demeter will be enraged.”

  “So you seek young Persephone’s hand?” Styx asked. “Master, she is lovely and kind. You have chosen well.”

  “Yes,” the god agreed. The uncertainty fled from his body. Hades felt strong again, invincible in the face of obstacles.

  “All will be well,” Styx murmured. “Go now, my lord, and bring back your queen.”

  Persephone sat near the shore of the lake called Pergusa, laughing as Amphitrite and Thetis played in the waves lapping against the beach. It was a lovely day; the hot sun shone overhead and the meadow smelled sweet. The edge of the forest began not far from where she sat, a few spindly trees breaking through the sweet grass at first and then moving swiftly into verdant clusters of tall oaks and white poplars that swayed in the light breeze.

  Amphitrite screamed with laughter and Persephone turned to look at her friend.

  “Come in and play with us, Persephone! The water feels divine.”

  “Maybe in a little while,” Persephone replied. “I’m enjoying myself; everything is so lovely here.”

  “Suit yourself!” Thetis cried as she splashed her sister. Both girls were drenched, water droplets glistening like jewels in their fair hair. Persephone laughed and got to her feet.

  She wandered aimlessly for a time, occasionally bending over to pluck a flower from the ground. As she neared the forest, a distinctive aroma reached her nostrils.

  Violets.

  A small depression in the ground was blanketed with tiny purple and white blossoms. She walked daintily through the flowers and dropped to her knees in the center of the glade. Persephone gathered several of the fragile violets and brought them to her nose, closing her eyes in pleasure. “Oh, how lovely!”

  “Persephone?”

  “I’m over here, in the violets.”

  “We’ll be there in a minute!” Amphitrite shouted. Persephone turned her attention back to the flowers.

  Maybe I can pick enough of these to make some perfume. Mother loves the smell of violets almost as much as I do.

  Persephone thought for a moment. She didn’t have anything to take that many flowers back to Olympus. At length, she decided to remove her outer tunic. Beneath it she wore only a sheer, gauzy tunic but it was enough. She made an impromptu bag and bent her head to her work. As the daughter of Demeter, she knew better than to pick all the blooms from this one spot. Some must remain behind, to seed the glade over for the next batch of flowers.

  There were more than enough violets in this one clearing to satisfy both demands.

  The sun was warm on the back of her neck as she worked. Larks and sparrows watched curiously from their perches on the trees around the glade, occasionally singing to each other and soothing their agitated young. After a few minutes, Persephone straightened and sat back on her heels.

  As soon as she did, a tiny rabbit stuck his head up from the violets a few feet away. Persephone laughed and held out her hand for him to sniff. His nose wiggled furiously for a moment, and then he turned and began to nibble at the leaves of a large dandelion on the sloped hillside. Persephone watched him at his meal, her mind wandering, when suddenly the rabbit startled and lifted his head.

  Instinctively, she looked up, expecting to see a hawk diving for the little rabbit.

  It took her by surprise when the earth gave off a loud, grinding roar and began to shake.

  Persephone leapt to her feet. “Thetis! Amphitrite! Where are you?”

  “Over here, Persephone — ”

  The side of the clearing suddenly collapsed. As dirt and rocks tumbled over the patch of violets, Persephone scrambled to the opposite side. Her bare feet slid in the shifting dirt. A gust of cold, dry hair blew her hair in front of her eyes, stinging her skin as long strands whipped against her face.

  As suddenly as the earthquake had come, it ended.

  Persephone stood panting at the top of the little hill. Thetis and Amphitrite, who’d been running toward her, slid to a stop a few feet away.

  “In the name of Zeus! What happened?” Amphitrite demanded.

  “An earthquake,” Persephone replied calmly. “Surely you know what an earthquake is? This part of the mortal realm has them often. Mother explained it to me once. She said when the ground shakes like this, one of the great brothers is on the move.”

  “The great brothers?” Amphitrite asked, perplexed.

  Her sister laughed derisively. “The three great brothers, you idiot — Zeus, Poseidon or Hades.”

  “One of them is probably leaving his realm for the feast on Olympus,” Persephone mused, trying to brush dirt from her tunic.

  “I think Poseidon is handsome,” Amphitrite said dreamily.

  “He is,” Persephone agreed.

  “Thetis doesn’t think so,” Amphitrite said with a sly look at her sister. “She has other interests on Olympus.”

  “Stop it!” Thetis snapped. “I do not!”

  “You could,” Amphitrite replied with a laugh.

  “What are you two talking about?” Persephone asked, perplexed.

/>   “Zeus came to see Father last week,” Amphitrite said, ignoring her sister’s averted eyes and flushed cheeks. “It seems the King of Olympus thinks that Thetis would make a good mistress.”

  “A mistress?” Persephone was horrified. Aside from the fact that Zeus was her father, she was shocked that any god would consider Thetis old enough to be involved in the convoluted sexual maneuvers of Olympus. “What did you say?”

  “What do you think? Father thought it was funny, fortunately. He sent for me and told me what Zeus wanted while Zeus was sitting right there! By the time I said no as politely as I could, Zeus was squirming in his seat.”

  “I thought his head was going to explode,” Amphitrite reported, laughing so hard that she collapsed into the grass. “Father just sat there with that stern look on his face. Then, after Zeus left, he congratulated Thetis on her good sense.”

  “I would never set myself against Hera,” Thetis said with a shudder. “I’m lucky that she likes me as it is.”

  “That and she likes the way all the men ogle her as she walks through Olympus,” the irrepressible Amphitrite added.

  Thetis gave her sister a dirty look. “Besides, why would I willingly do that to myself? I want to stay young. I want to fall in love and have someone fall in love with me. I don’t want to hop in and out of gods’ beds I guess I just don’t want to grow up yet.”

  Persephone laughed. “That I can understand. I don’t want to grow up either. For now, I have a bigger problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “My tunic is half-buried under those rocks. I should probably dig it out. I meant to take those violets home for mother. I thought I might make some perfume from them.”

  “Just leave the tunic. It’s probably ruined anyway. Thetis and I will help you gather more violets — there’s bound to be another patch around here somewhere. We can use my cloak to carry them in.”

  “Yes, and if we all pick flowers now we’ll get what you need quicker,” Thetis agreed.

  The girls spread out across the meadow. Persephone moved closer to the forest, scanning the grasses for more violets.

  The earth rumbled again.

  Hades held the reins in one hand and his scepter in the other. The scepter was a long, black staff, crowned with a single jewel — an ovoid black opal. The black horses fought against the bit, straining to run faster. Hades’ scepter parted the ground before his chariot, dirt and rock falling on either side as he raced toward the surface. The earth trembled and groaned around him.

  The red-brown crust that separated the Underworld from the mortal realm loomed ahead. With a cry of triumph, Hades sent his staff flying ahead of the chariot. It struck with a flash of fire.

  The earth screamed as her flesh parted. A cool rush of fresh air hit the horses. They responded with a surge of speed. As the horses burst through the last layer of dust and roots, Hades snatched his scepter from the rock.

  The chariot exploded into the mortal realm.

  Hades was blinded for a moment by the glare of the sun. He blinked and his vision began to clear.

  To the right, two beautiful young nymphs shrieked in fear.

  Ahead of him, Persephone stood alone, staring at the approaching chariot. Hades tucked his scepter through his belt. Expertly, he pulled the horses around so they would approach the girl from the side. As the chariot neared, his mind took in every detail of her appearance — the long, black curls pulled away from her pale face, the smudged and dusty tunic, the line of her slender legs, visible through the sheer fabric. In her hands, she held violets; in fact, the whole meadow smelled of their sweet fragrance. She watched him approach, more surprised than afraid.

  Why should she fear the approach of another god? She is accustomed to her mother’s protection —

  Hades bent over the side of the chariot. When his arm connected with her slim waist, he tightened his grasp and pulled her into the chariot. Her body slammed against his.

  With a scream, the girl tried to free herself from his arms. Hades sawed on the reins and turned the chariot toward the trees. He put Persephone between his body and the front wall of the chariot, pinning her there with his chest.

  “Do not be afraid!” he shouted, pulling out his scepter. “I will not harm you!”

  The god of the Underworld hurled the scepter into the ground ahead of the chariot. Instantly it parted, revealing a chasm into the darkness. Somewhere beside him, something screamed again.

  A water nymph raised her head from her underground spring and wailed in pain and terror. The spring heaved around her and exploded into the air, water raining down upon the god, the girl and the chariot as they dove into the earth. Hades pulled the scepter from the rock and the crevasse sealed up behind them.

  Silence fell upon the meadow. The earth sealed up as if it had never split.

  Chapter Three

  PERSEPHONE SHIVERED AGAINST THE rim of the chariot. The man’s body was warm and solid against her back but the cool bite of the metal rim chilled her flesh. At first, she closed her eyes against the rush of dirt and rocks flying toward them. Now she didn’t. Somehow, the horses and chariot were moving through the earth without impediment. The ground parted like water as they approached and not even a clod of dirt struck her.

  She snuck a peek up at the man who stood with his arms protectively on either side of her. He was concentrating on the horses plowing through the rich, black soil and realization struck her like a blow.

  Why had Hades taken her from Nysa? She had seen the god of death only a few times. He rarely came to Olympus. There was no mistaking the dark hair and stern profile, not to mention the intangible aura of power that pulsed around him. Persephone clutched her hands together and felt something between her palms. Bewildered, she opened her fingers to see what was there.

  Violets, crushed and dying, fell away from her fingers.

  I meant to get enough to take home to Mother —

  The earth gave way abruptly and the chariot dove onto a subterranean road. When the wheels struck the avenue, the chariot bounced into the air and dropped again with a teeth chattering jolt. Persephone couldn’t prevent a small squeak of alarm and Hades’ arms tightened around her momentarily. “We are almost there,” Hades said, his deep voice disturbing the tendrils of hair above her ear.

  She wasn’t afraid; not really. Actually, if she was honest, she was excited. She hugged herself tightly, warding away the dank chill of the air, as the chariot thundered down a long slope and finally came to a stop in front of a wall of stone.

  The wall reared above them as high as she could see, disappearing into the darkness well over her head. Three braziers spaced along the wall emitted enough light to bring a metallic glint to the chariot.

  The man behind her moved.

  Persephone turned curiously. He stepped out of the chariot, the dark cloak billowing around him as he did. He stopped for a moment with his back to her, as if he was gathering himself. Then he turned around, smiled, and held out his hand.

  Daughter of a goddess, Persephone knew the marks of immortality when she saw them. Hades’ beauty was beyond anything a mortal man could hope to have. His face was strong-featured and handsome, with a square jaw and high cheekbones. The only color that interrupted the flow of pale skin and dark hair was the deep red flush of his lips. Where the face was stern and implacable, the mouth betrayed a sensitive nature and —

  Persephone blushed. She hadn’t been prepared to confront the word passion in her thoughts. Slowly, she put her hand in his and let him help her down from the chariot.

  “We are in the Underworld?” Her voice sounded loud in the cavern, echoing into the darkness.

  “We have arrived at my kingdom,” he replied, his dark eyes twinkling. “Shall I show you?”

  Persephone nodded. He drew her around to the side of the chariot, so they faced the towering stone wall. He extended the scepter in his hand and touched the rock.

  The world shifted.

  Persephone watched in
awe as the stone wall dissolved before her eyes. The stones melted, running from before her like paint freed from a fresco. The braziers flared to reveal a black marble portico in the center of a tall iron fence that stretched as far as she could see.

  Behind them, a river twisted and twined through the cavern. On top of the water, flames danced like imps at a festival. Another river was on the other side of the gate, flowing upon its wandering path. Persephone was amazed. All that she thought she’d seen was nothing but an illusion. This was the reality, hidden from her until he’d touched the stone.

  Hades smiled down at her. “Are you surprised by the Underworld?”

  “A bit,” she confessed. “I thought it would be terrifying.”

  “Parts of it are. You cannot see Tartarus from here.”

  “Why did you take me?” she asked abruptly, tearing her eyes away from his face. She intentionally made her voice cool and distant, imitating the authoritative tones of her mother when she was displeased.

  Hades didn’t answer at first. His hand felt cool around hers but she felt hot. At last he said, “Will you permit me to show you my realm? I have long wanted you to see it.”

  Persephone looked up at him from under her lashes. Her stomach fluttered nervously when she met his gaze. “Of course.”

  Hades smiled. The expression lightened his face, making him seem boyish instead of stern. “Thank you. Come!”

  He pulled her toward the portico, settling his fingers comfortably around hers. As soon as they stepped across the threshold, the silence of the Underworld evaporated. A flurry of barking and the scattering sound of feet running toward them froze her in her tracks.

  “Cerberus!” Hades said sternly. “Come.”

  Persephone stared. The huge dog confronting them, larger than any mastiff she’d seen, had three heads. He was massive and black, with long rangy legs and a muscular frame.

  “Hold out your hand so he can smell you. He won’t hurt you.”

  Obediently, she did as he said. Each of the dog’s heads sniffed her in turn. Cerberus’ tail thumped several times and the center head swiped her hand with a rough tongue. Then the dog sank onto its haunches and began to scratch frantically behind the ears of its right head. Persephone laughed and looked up at Hades.