Gods Save the Princess (Grace of Gods Book 2)

by Kyleigh Castronaro

  "Why are you doing this?"

  "Because, you're important to me and it hurts me ever so deeply that you continue to avoid my advances."

  "I went to a dinner and a party with you! How is that avoiding your advances?"

  "Those were nothing more than a simple boy's sad attempt at love. What he doesn't understand is that love doesn't come that easily. Sometimes it is necessary to force love."

  "You're wrong, how could you think that?" I said, watching in horror as he walked around me and made his way toward the door. "Love only comes to those who deserve it and you're nothing but a sad pathetic man who thinks he deserves everything when he deserves nothing!" He laughed again as he reached the door and pulled it open, he turned around slightly to glance at me before shrugging his shoulder.

  "You'll see in good time that what I am doing is in your best interests."

  "Griffin!" I shouted at him, starting toward the door as it started to swing shut. "Griffin! HADES." The door slammed in my face and I made to grab the handle to try it but there wasn't one. There wasn't even a door anymore. I shrieked in horror, pulling back from the wall and looked around frantically for some kind of escape. But there wasn't any. He had locked me in a room with no exit or entrance. No door was available to anyone who wasn't the God of the Underworld.

  "HADES!" I screamed his name again knowing that he could hear me. I could feel that he was listening, even watching me. "HADES!" I kept screaming until my voice was hoarse and I felt defeated, I walked over to the couch where he had left the wine and hit it with the back of my hand childishly. The goblet fell to the floor with a clamour and the ground absorbed the liquid. I slumped down on the couch, burying my face in my hands. I wanted to cry but I was more angry and confused than anything. It felt like the revelation of my Goddess was at hand, like she was staring me in the face waiting for me to realise who she was. Hades certainly seemed to think it was obvious. I wished I knew Greek mythology a little better; maybe then it would be obvious to me. I turned slightly on the couch to look at the bookshelves. Maybe one of those tomes would have a list of Gods in it, some kind of hint I could glean. But I was afraid to open them again to see when my family would die. It was a heavy thought I wasn't prepared for.

  So instead I stood, deciding that moping on the couch wasn't helping anyone. I wasn't hungry, or thirsty, nor had my anger diminished yet. I walked into the bedroom and looked around. The bed was grander than the one in my apartment, it was a four-poster bed with lavish curtains of deep purple and gold hanging from each post. There was a down blanket thrown on top with another fuzzy foot blanket. There was a closet too but this one didn't appear magical, Hades had seemingly picked out the outfits in this wardrobe for me. I shuddered to think he might be able to watch me undress. Not wanting to sit on the bed quite yet I sunk to the floor, curling into a ball where I leaned against the bedside table with my arms wrapped around my knees.

  I wanted to know how he had known all those things about me without me telling him. They must have something to do with my Goddess. Thinking about needing a notebook I pulled away from the drawer enough to open it and freed the book that appeared there with a pen. I flipped it open and propped it on my knees, quickly jotting down the things I could remember him saying and marking them by importance with numbers.

  Except the things I found to be more important than others might be different for my Goddess.

  I frowned at the list trying to bring to memory all those personalities I had read about. She had to be there somewhere amongst them otherwise he wouldn't have made it seem so obvious. I longed for a computer though; a simple search of Goddesses that were important to Hades would give me my answer. Underneath my list of things Hades had spoken about I started listing Goddesses that might fit the profile. While one would work for point one it wouldn't work for point two and so on and so forth, I had no leads.

  When I ran out of names I started thinking of other clues I could think of. Jed's reaction to Cerberus, him calling me "Princess", other things and hints that Hades might've dropped even when Griffin was in control. I frowned at the list just getting more frustrated and feeling stupid for not knowing right off the bat. It had to be there, hidden somewhere in all these lists I had created.

  I rubbed at my tired eyes, feeling sleep calling for me like a mistress but I was afraid. If my Goddess knew what was happening, she might make me sleep forever to protect us. This had to have been what she was trying to keep from happening. This is what I stopped her from saving us from but instead had walked us right into it.

  If she was even slightly awake inside of me I had no doubt she was angry with me. This was entirely my fault.

  I had been so desperate for someone to notice me, to care about me... I was so enthralled with the idea of having a boyfriend I ignored the warning signs and there had been plenty of them.

  "Stupid." I muttered, throwing the notebook across the floor watching as it lodged itself under the crack of the door. I wished Cerberus were here, at least for company; the darkness of this cavern didn't make me feel any better about the situation.

  I pressed my forehead into my knees, letting my eyes close momentarily. I convinced myself that if I continued to think about the situation I would stay awake.

  Soon enough though, against my will, sleep pulled me under and I fell into a dream - the first I’d had since coming to Olympus.

  ~

  "I'm sorry." I turned toward the voice, surprised to find myself staring in the mirror. Only the Valentina on the other side of the glass wasn't a reflection. She wore different clothes; a deep purple toga intricately wrapped around her body and looping up over her shoulder, clasped in place with a flower. "I never thought... I never imagined that..." She frowned and shook her head, lost in her thoughts for a moment.

  "Who are you?" I asked, stepping closer and hoping for an answer. She looked up again, smiling sadly.

  "You." It wasn't the answer I was looking for.

  "No, I mean... As a Goddess, who are you." She reached out, her hand coming out of the mirror to touch my face. It was the strangest sensation; cool to the touch but soon it burned.

  "My husband is a fearful man: he fears solitude, he fears loss, he fears our light... Fear can lead men to do great and terrible things."

  "Husband. Hades is your- our, husband?" I blinked at the other Valentina and then gasped in recognition. A name coming to me out of the hundreds I had read about.

  "Persephone. You - I'm Persephone." She nodded and closed her eyes for a moment before looking up again at me, her pupils suddenly on fire, the brightest shade of green I had ever seen.

  "I'm sorry for this, I promise I will fix it but until then you have to stay here."

  "Stay where?" I frowned at my reflection as she started to fade away, disappearing from the mirror. "Persephone! Stay where? In this prison? Hey! Come back!"

  She was gone and I, decidedly, was starting to get frustrated with Greek Gods.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I woke not long after that feeling different than before. My limbs moved but I wasn't controlling them. I felt like I was floating outside of my body yet my perspective hadn't changed. I tried to speak, to ask questions but my mouth was no longer mine to command. Something moved me through the bedroom back into the main part of my apartment prison.

  I stopped in the middle of the room and looked around as if searching for something, "such an easy prey." I heard myself say but it certainly hadn't been of my volition. I crossed to the bookshelf and pulled down a tome different from the one of the night before. This one's pages were not blank as I flipped them open. Words were scrawled across the page and although my hands moved deftly to go through them I caught glimpses of what it said, "my dearest" "my love" "Persephone" "forever yours" "Hades". This book was a collection of love letters written to me - well, to her. That must be who was controlling me right now.

  She finally stopped three quarters of the way through and found the letter she was looking for, her fin
ger scrolling along the words: "I fear that you might one day see what others have seen in me and abandon our love. I know that despite our situation that is what it is, you are my one and true soul mate... I hope one day you will see that and our time apart will be limited. When you're ready my Princess I will be waiting--" I didn't get to finish as I reached out and touched a part of the letter and the whole book lit up. Stepping away from it I turned, crossing my arms over my chest as the door of the wall opened and Griffin - Hades - returned. He was grinning in that uncanny way as he walked in.

  "I knew it wouldn't be long."

  "Well, when you take to literally repeating history, it's a little hard to stay hidden away."

  "You weren't coming back to me."

  "I didn't want to." His face changed for a moment, the grin faded and it was momentarily replaced with one of genuine hurt.

  "What did I ever do to you to deserve this punishment?"

  "You tricked me! You lied to me! You took me away from my family."

  "A family that didn't appreciate you! That didn't love you... If Zeus cared about you as much as he said he did he wouldn't have turned you over to me as my wife so easily."

  "He was forced to because you tricked me into eating the food."

  "I remember it differently." He said flippantly, waving his hand at us before walking toward the couch.

  "You are controlling and manipulative, you are like a child. You need to have your way or you throw a temper tantrum and act dramatically."

  "Nothing about this has been dramatic."

  "Everything about this is dramatic!" My arms lifted above my head, signalling to the room around us. "Why couldn't you just play by the rules for once? Maybe I would've come to you..."

  "She would've never come. The boy is weak."

  "The boy is the perfect vessel for you!" He was up in a flash, towering over us with his hand tightly clamped around our neck. I felt myself panic, fearing I wouldn't be able to breathe but Persephone was the picture of calmness.

  "I am not weak."

  "You are. That's why you are King of the Underworld and nothing more, only the wills of ghosts may be bent by you because you'll never have the ability to command men."

  "I was never given the chance." He tossed me away from him and my back hit the bookcase where Persephone steadied us.

  "Gods, you're arrogant." I huffed, moving away from him and rubbing at my neck. I moved into the kitchen and found a glass, filling it with water.

  "You can fight me again but this time I will have you entirely to myself."

  "Why can't you see that leaving things alone is in your best interest? I hoped that maybe you had learned, that maybe this time it would be different and I could let myself love you organically. But instead you resort to archaic methods out of fear."

  "Again with this fear, this weakness.... Woman, you know me not."

  "Nor you I. I hoped we might have a thoughtful conversation but apparently I was wrong. You're dismissed."

  Hades laughed again and moved toward me, taking the glass from my hand and setting it down on the counter.

  "You're suited to be Queen and yet you settle for Princess."

  "I have no interest in challenging my father for his throne and I won't help you either. Besides, did you see what happened to your father just yesterday?"

  "I meant of the Underworld. You don't need to command men to control the world."

  "Control the world, such superfluous talk. It will do nothing but endanger you. Settle for what you have, thank Zeus and be happy for once. Holding grudges and plotting behind his back is the way of the past. You have a second chance, work with your brother and maybe he will raise you once more into glory if that's what you desire. But give up this sad fight for power against Zeus. We're here to work together once again... You heard the Titan; singular Gods have no place in this world anymore. The mortals need us to be united and strong."

  Hades stared at me long and hard for a moment, she might actually be getting to him. She was the voice of reason that he always needed, I saw that now. But he was struggling, old habits died hard - that much I knew. He turned away from me and started toward the door.

  "You're leaving then?"

  "You're not ready yet."

  "You just don't like that I'm right." He didn't answer as he conjured the door and I moved from the counter toward him, "bring our dog, she can't be here alone."

  "She has you, you both need time to catch up to the rest of us."

  "Hades, please." The inflection of my tone made him pause and then, in a barely perceptible motion, he nodded his head as he stepped out of the room and into nothingness. The wall sealed itself again and I took a deep breath. I hadn't even noticed how tense she had gotten through the exchange, she had been holding all that tension in her shoulders and as she relaxed I started to feel myself grow a little more in control.

  "Not yet." She said to me, walking us both over to the couch and sitting down. "He is going to come back and you're not prepared to fight with him yet. That was a milder fight, believe it or not. It can be worse sometimes and I wouldn't subject you to that. I know this isn't easy nor is it the way I would like for us to meet and be united, but Hades has put us both in a very terrible situation. I am worried about your friend Griffin; if he does not regain his control over Hades soon, he might be lost entirely. I will try and speak to Hades one more time but after that it will be up to you to guide your friend back. I, too, cannot stay too long. Hopefully after this we will be able to be united and from here on out things will get easier." I tried to open my mouth to tell her I understood but I remembered I couldn't and resolved to just agree silently.

  Persephone occupied us for the next few hours, moving around and making changes to the apartment like she knew its personality and how to make it work for her. By the time she was done it was far less gloomy and more welcoming, it suited both of us better. While watching her work I realised that Atlas was right - we were one in the same.

  By the time Hades came back his demeanour had changed but he had Cerberus with him. The dog seemed to sense the change in me, brightening more than before as he bounded across the room and leapt up onto my shoulders licking at my face happily.

  "Hello my love, hello... Yes, I missed you too." I laughed as my hands stroked down each face, kissing each nose before commanding him to sit at my side. I turned coolly to Hades who was watching with both amusement and some form of jealousy.

  "I never understood why he liked you better than me."

  "I understand love better than you do."

  "I understand love perfectly."

  "Love is not a possession you can simply grasp." He waved his hand dismissively before conjuring another glass of wine.

  "Have you changed your mind?"

  "Of course not, I stand by my original position. Let us go and let love form organically. Maybe there is a place for you in my heart but you will never know so long as you try to worm your way in like the maggots which claim home in the vessels of your subjects."

  "Beautiful imagery my love."

  "It's true. You act like nothing more than a parasite. And I will think of you as nothing but a parasite until you show me that the last few thousand years have changed you." Hades scoffed as he drank his wine and moved toward us.

  "Why don't I show you how wrong you are?"

  "Don't touch me, I am not yet yours to touch."

  "That didn't stop me last time."

  "Yes, I know. And that is what I am talking about. You cannot simply claim whatever you want, love is not like that."

  "My perfect brother claims what he wants."

  "No, he seduces what he wants."

  "There is not a seductive bone in my body."

  "No, but there is a romantic one. You are capable of loving greatly. I know you yearn for companionship, but not the kind Zeus craves. You are seeking a partner, someone who can love you without needing to change your dark ways..."

  "You've always understood me better
than others Persy..." He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, making me shy back from him.

  "Hades."

  "Please, my love... Don't torment me like this." Was she going to give in? This was another trick, I begged. He was pretending to play by her rules but he hadn't changed. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for her to back away more but it was useless she didn't hear me. This must be how she had felt all those times I had done things she didn't want me to do.

  "Hades. You must prove to me you have changed."

  He huffed in annoyance and backed off immediately like a scorned child, "and there is no way of doing that for once you have set your stubborn opinion, there is no swaying of it."

  "That's not true. For if it was, your cause would be lost as I would be completely incapable of loving you." His eyes lit up slightly at the idea of hope and he nodded.

  "Fine, what must I do?"

  "Well, for starters... Give the boy’s body back to him. She and I cannot love you if you do not set him free. He is your vessel for a reason, there are things you must learn from him and he will help you grow. He understands your torment even better than I and only together you may save each other."

  "He is weak."

  "Because you smother him." It felt like we were at a stalemate of glaring, Hades bore into us with his eyes and Persephone replied back with her own passively.

  "And your girl?"

  "She will be here when you return, and hopefully you return as Griffin." His jaw tightened, disliking the prospect of giving up his newfound control but I arched my eyebrow at him in a challenge so he ascended his head.

  "I'll think about it." He smirked annoyingly and turned like he was going to make his way out of the apartment. Suddenly he turned back and moved toward us so quickly neither of us had a chance to move back or stop him. He reached out and clasped my face between his calloused hands and kissed us.