Dangerous Liaisons meets the Greek Myth of Hades and Persephone. A stand alone fic completely divorced from my HADES trilogy. It sounded like fun to me *shrugs* enjoy, and please review xx -Miya
Malevolent Manipulations
Act One Scene One:
'Coming, Mama!' Persephone's voice rang out across the Olympian courtyard, drenched in the rays of the sun. It was another fine day in paradise. 'I'm coming!'
She lifted her many skirts above her knees to give her long bare legs a chance to move more freely, and dashed along in her sandals, careful not to slip and fall down the steps as she descended. It felt good to let her porcelain skin feel the beams of viridian heat like the warm massage of a lover; the whisper of the breeze like the breath of a friend on this balmy afternoon.
Her mother, Demeter, waited at the bottom of the long, winding marble staircase underneath an imposing archway enveloped in flora. A frown marred her beautiful face; and narrowed the eyes of clearest cerulean that her daughter had inherited.
'Hurry dear,' she said, and not without reason.
There was a man coming toward them across the garden, headed toward the staircase from where the young goddess flew down like some angel hurtling from heaven. He was a dark and tall man and Demeter, like everyone else in the Olympian court, was justly wary of him. Maybe it was her imagination, but the flowers themselves seemed to wilt in the wake of the dominating shadow he cast.
His angular face curved into an unmistakable smile-no, it was nothing less than a contumacious smirk-and he bowed deeply as he and Persephone reached Demeter at the same time.
'Ladies,' he said, in a low voice softer than lustrous black silk, the kind of silk that slipped unheeded around your neck and throttled you when you least suspected it.
'Hades,' Demeter nodded coolly, instinctively reaching for her daughter's hand.
Persephone was flushed and gasping from her brisk trot down the steps. The bloom on her lovely face was not only from her invigorating walk but her morning spent in the Olympian palace visiting her father-how she adored being in her father's presence as he introduced her to her many diverse, magnificent kin! Her young, firm breasts heaved against her constraining bodice, and realising she was in the presence of a man, she let go of her peach-hued petticoats and let them fall to her toes, hiding her long legs once more. She self consciously tucked a strand of raven's wing black hair, tousled by the wind, behind her ear as her blush grew as red as a sunset. She didn't see, because her oceanic eyes were fixed to the green grass at her feet, but Hades drank all of this in; leisurely memorising every feature of her for future recollection.
'Lord Hades,' she whispered breathlessly. 'It is a pleasure to see you.'
'The pleasure is all mine,' he replied, taking her hand-the one Demeter wasn't squeezing-and kissed it genteelly. 'If you will excuse me however, I cannot linger to bask in your company. I have been summoned.'
She offered forth a friendly smile but her face and eyes were closed to him. This was her mother's influence, of course.
He dropped her hand regrettably, and started up the stairs without another word, obviously keen to get wherever he was going. Persephone flexed the fingers that he'd grasped within his own slender grip, feeling a tingle and an odd void, but her mother took her by the shoulders and pulled her along.
'Oh Mama, can he really be as bad as everyone says?' she implored, wide-eyed.
'My lovely Kore,' Demeter sighed, 'while I cannot fault your charity and the innocent trust you place in every being you encounter, I must taint your view for your own good, as it is my job to protect my dearest and rarest bloom from the frosty touch of winter. Hades is a man of an evil disposition, and men of evil disposition will only cause heartbreak to women imprudent and foolish enough to give them their heart.'
She tucked a loose strand of her own dark hair, not black as Persephone's or that…man's…but a sleek mahogany, back into the tasteful bun tied at the nape of her neck as she walked her daughter along the meandering cobbled pathway to their humble cottage. She was musing.
'What can he possibly have been summoned here for?' she wondered aloud.
Her curiosity peaked Persephone turned, but though her summer sky eyes scanned for him, Hades was already gone, as swift and fleeting as a leaf in an updraft.