Chapter Four

Persephone followed him reluctantly, she didn't want to be shown to any rooms – she wanted to go home. How could she have been angry at her mother when at least she was kept confined to beautiful areas? There was nothing beautiful about the Underworld! She tugged the shirt self-consciously and continued clutching her torn toga, why was she holding onto it? He'd shredded it beyond repair, yet she didn't want to let go. It was as if the toga symbolised her freedom...let go of the toga and she would let go of her freedom.

"For now these will be your rooms." Hades gently guided her into a large room and Persephone looked around. It was depressing. The walls were stone. The floors were stone. She wandered over to the double bed and tapped it gently with her feet. Stone. She sat down on it and back a sigh – the mattress was feather soft and seemed immune to the feeling of stone beneath it. "What do you think?" Persephone looked at him bitterly thinking it best not to answer.

"What do you mean these are my rooms 'for now'?"

"When we're married –"

"We're not going to be married." She flinched as Hades looked at her with menacing eyes, she looked down at the shredded toga and decided to keep her mouth shut from now on.

"When we're married," he continued in a low and dangerous voice – daring her to interrupt him once more. "You will obviously sleep with me in my quarters. The move won't be too far," he smiled and Persephone could have sworn his eyes glittered cruelly. He walked over to the wall to the left side of the door; it was now she noticed the black door. He opened it to give her a glimpse of what was beyond it. "I want to be close, in case you get scared." Persephone didn't believe him – she knew she wasn't meant to believe him either.

Bowing mockingly Hades stepped into his own rooms and shut the door behind him. Persephone stood up and wandered around the room. It was neither large nor small, it was just...reasonable was the only word she could think to describe it. He didn't want to keep her locked up like a prisoner, but he didn't want to spoil her with luxuries. Maybe he thought if she saw how much more luxurious his rooms were he thought he'd win her over? Fat chance.

There was a small en-suite and she was half tempted to run a bath and just drown herself. Until she remembered she was a goddess and couldn't die...still a hot bath was tempting. She studied the decor of the bathroom, once again it was stone. Everything was depressing grey stone...

Trudging back into the bedroom Persephone couldn't hold back the emotion she'd tried so hard to conceal from Hades. Bursting into tears she collapsed onto the bed and buried her face into the black silk pillow to muffle her sobs.

Hades could hear the muffled sobs in his room, he felt pity for the young goddess – even though it was his fault she was in that state. If only she'd seen things from his perspective! They were two of a kind, both confined to areas although she did have the more luxurious setting. Sighing Hades pulled on a fresh shirt and rubbed his face wearily. He was going to have to think of a way to keep her down in the Underworld. Her disappearance would soon be noticed, it was only a matter of time before it was discovered he'd abducted her. Then what? Eventually he'd have to give in and return her, he knew that. Unless he found a way that bound her to the Underworld. Marriage would bind her to him, but it wouldn't mean she'd have to stay in the Underworld by law.

Think, he told himself sternly. He knew the answer; he was just lacking the concentration to think of it right now! He strolled down to the kitchens where various minions were beginning to prepare dinner. "There'll be an extra person dining tonight." He barked at them, suppressing a grin as they all jumped surprised and frightened by his presence. It was here he had an idea. Pomegranates. The seeds of the fruit bound anyone to the Underworld...if only he could get her to eat some he could bind her here forever. But was that fair? If she ate twelve she'd never be allowed to leave...would she ever love him if he trapped her here for eternity?

He could lie and say he hadn't known the seeds were being added to the food...and why shouldn't she believe him? If he went back to her now she couldn't accuse him of slipping them into the food. Smiling grimly he relayed his orders and departed for Persephone's rooms.

"You shouldn't be so sad." Persephone leapt up from the bed hurriedly wiping away the tears, she would not act like some helpless damsel in distress when he was around! She would not show any weakness!

"Don't you knock?" She snapped at him angrily crossing her arms over her chest, her hands still clutching the destroyed toga. She saw Hades look towards the toga and he shook his head sighing.

"Not in my own domain, why should I? Are you going to throw that thing away? You're sensible enough to know it's destroyed." Persephone had no reply for this – what could she say? She didn't want to throw away the remnants of her freedom? "Persephone please, I want you to be happy here. I truly do." He walked towards her and cupped her chin gently. "You're not trapped...not really. Yes you're confined to the Underworld, but above your mother kept you confined to forests and areas with no human contact. Here you're free to speak to whoever you wish." He neglected to mention she would have very few people to talk to.

He walked closer to her and placed his hands on her slender waist. Her hips felt so gloriously soft, they seemed to mould themselves to his hands perfectly. Mentally he cursed the fabric of the shirt that stood between his hands and her hips acting as some sort of protective barrier. Before she could protest his lips descended onto hers and he kissed her hungrily. His right hand slipped around and rested on her lower back, gently pushing her against him he deepened the kiss and studied her face intently.

What he saw gave him a small triumphant feeling. There was conflict in her eyes. It would be easy to surrender to him, give in to the kiss and accept this new life. But how could she accept this life? A life of darkness? A life of...death? She pushed away at last and looked up at him.

"I –"

"Accept this life Persephone." She heard the pleading in his voice.

"I can't." She said quietly biting back tears once more. "Please...Hades just...go away. Please." She was thankful he did. What had just happened? How could she have so easily given into a kiss? What was wrong with her? She sat on the bed and wiped her eyes angrily. It was just a momentary lapse of weakness. Nothing more.

Time passed slowly in the Underworld. Persephone wasn't sure how long she'd been in the bedroom, she had curled up into a small tight ball and stared at the wall ahead blankly. The sound of soft knocking didn't register, she didn't even blink in acknowledgement.

"Persephone?" She heard Hades step into the room softly. "Dinner is ready."

"I'm not hungry." She said quietly.

"You have to eat."

"Why?" For the first time in hours she moved, her head turned to look at Hades a dark look on her face. "I won't die, I won't starve to death or suffer from malnutrition. So why do I have to eat?" She bit back a grim smile at the surprised look on Hades face, obviously he hadn't expected her to argue back over a simple matter as food.

"I know you're angry," he walked over to her and gently wrapped his hands around her wrist. Carefully he pulled her up so she was standing upright. "But why stay here staring at the wall? Come to the dining room at least, you might change your mind when you see what we have." Silently she followed him, keeping a few paces behind and staring at the ground mutinously.

Hades pulled out a chair for her, for a split second she thought about refusing and taking another chair. Except there were none. The only other chair was at the opposite end of the table and it was clearly a throne – she dared not sit there. She took the seat wordlessly; she couldn't even bring herself to look at her captor. She realised now this was what she saw him as. As he took the throne like chair opposite her servants began bringing in food. The servants reminded her of nymphs except less...lively. Their skin was a dull grey, they had deep black hair all the same shoulder length and cut in the same straight plain style. The nymphs Persephone had mixed with had prided themselves on their appearances; they were beautiful and exotic creatures. The nymphs...they were plain, she felt sorry for them. Was it living in the Underworld that did this? Would she turn into something like this?

"These are the shadows of former nymphs." Hades explained seeing the look in her eyes as Persephone stared at the empty plate in front of her. The table was by now full of delicious smelling foods; fish, beef, pork, duck and wild board let of an attempting aroma. Salads, rice, bread, butter and cheese were all spread along the table. Persephone could feel her stomach beginning to growl – she was hungry. Hades stood up as she remained motionless and began to put a sample of each of the dishes onto her plate, her poured a liberal amount of sauce and salad onto the plate. "What harm can one bite do? You know better than to fear poisoning."

"I've not forgotten what I am – do you think I could forget I will never die?" She asked him sourly, she was beginning to resent her Goddess status. If she was truly stuck here...it would be forever. Sighing she stabbed a piece of pork covered in the sauce and added some salad to it. She looked at the food suspiciously, in with the sauce and with the salad were small seeds. "What's it made of?" She asked Hades not really caring as she brought the fork to her mouth. Her tongue was almost tasting the morsel when he replied.

"Pomegranates."