Hope in Dark Places
Chapter Twelve
"Well, I was hoping we could… share a bed."
Oh, jeez! Why did I have to say that?
Hades looks absolutely flabbergasted, his handsome mouth gaping open like a yawning lion. It's just, I don't want to sleep in Persephone's old bedroom. Even though this isn't what I chose, that I became Hades life on the whim of a being more powerful than I, I still want to be his wife. In any way, in all ways. Hades is my husband now, he's mine, and I'll be damned if I don't take advantage of that.
That's why I had to say that. Because I want him to belong to me, and I to him, in every way I can. I want to wipe all his memories of his ex-wife, and replace them with memories of me. Because I know that Hades won't be able to divorce again. Hera would never allow it; every divorce tears her apart. So, we're stuck with each other for the rest of our very long existence. And I really want to make the most of it.
However, my secret agenda remains in the back of my mind. That being, even after all this time, I still carried a little flame of love for him. An adolescent flame, almost snuffed out when he broke my heart, but survived enough that I could never bring myself to take revenge against him. I wanted this, marriage to him, in my heart of hearts. But never in this way. Never did I ever imagine that we'd be forced into this. Here we are, now. And we have to make the best of it.
Finally processing what I said, Hades closes his mouth. Eyes remaining wide, he brings his hand up to rub his stubble covered jaw.
"Are you sure?" He asks. I am unable to detect any nervousness in his voice, but I'm pretty sure it's there.
"Yes," filling the word with certainty.
"Why?"
Taking a deep breath, I reply.
"I had no choice, but I still choose you."
Before I had time to react, his lips are against mine, pressing desperately. Closing my eyes with a soft moan, I dig my fingers into his black hair. His hands go to the bottom of my thighs, pulling my up so I can wrap my legs around his waist. Stumbling around, Hades finds the door handle to his bedchamber, pushing it open and carrying me inside.
{Katy here! I want to keep this T-rated, so no describing the fun times right now. Instead, enjoy this dancing guy instead.
(ノ^o^)ノ (ノ^o^)ノ (ノ^o^)ノ
Whoo! So fun!}
Prying my eyes open with a groan, I attempt to roll over, but find that I'm being held down by something heavy and very warm. Man, what is that? Bringing my hand to touch the heated band wrapped around my waist, I find that it's rough with hair and very firm under a thin layer of squishiness. Man, what is that?!
Finally thinking to actually look at it, I drowsily peer down. Oh, it's an arm. An arm? An arm?! It's most definitely not my arm. It's a male arm. Slowly, the events of last night trickle into my head. Of hot kisses and silky touches. Of… yeah, I'm not going to get into it. Just letting you know, though, Hades is a very, very good lover.
I try to pull his arm off me, but he just makes a groaning noise and burrows his face deeper into my shoulder, while pulling me back against him. I think he's still asleep, but even in his slumber, he holds me as close as he can.
While sweet, it's annoying right now, as I want to get up.
"Hades," I call softly. "Hades, let me up." Damn, that accomplished nothing, but now he's started to snore.
"Hades!" I start to shake him as best as I could, which is hard, seeing as he's made sure to keep my back to him. The man stubbornly holds on to sleep, for so long that I eventually give up and sleep claims me once more. When I awaken again, Hades is gone, and my arm is stretched out in the empty space that is quickly losing his heat. A little upset that he just left me like that, even though I had wanted to do the same thing to him earlier, I sit up, my arms stretching high above the bird nest sitting upon my head. Yawning hugely, I look out the window to try guess what the time would be, but then realise that that is pointless when deep under the earth. The time is whatever Hades wants the time to be, as this domain is completely under his control.
When my arms fall, my hand lands on smooth, cool parchment, left on his pillow. Naw, he left a note. Heart-warming, from the King of the Underworld.
To my dear wife,
Good morning. I hope you are well. Oh, that sounds terribly blasé, doesn't it? I didn't intend it as such. As much as I would've loved to stay and be with you as you awakened, I had duties to attend to. I would love it if you would embrace being my queen, but I do not expect you to do such things straight away.
Feel free to explore the Underworld as much as you wish, but I please do beg of you not to go to Tartarus unless I or Thanatos is with you. Do not read this as insecurity about your strength, for I know you to be one of the strongest women in existence. But Tartarus is not a place anyone would willingly be in. It can ruin the sanity of those not accustomed to it. Please, I beg, do not go there on your own.
Other than that, there is no place unavailable to you.
I hope to see you tonight,
Your husband, Hades.
I want to keep this letter, this keepsake of our first morning together as a married couple, even if he isn't with me now. A warm, fuzzy, bubbly feeling spreads in my chest. I feel happier now than I have in a long while.
Thumping back down amongst the masses of pillows and bed sheets, I giggle like a little girl, hugging the letter to my chest. But then I stumble upon a conundrum; what do I want to do today? Truly, I didn't want to go to Tartarus. Who'd want to go there? It's a place of pain and torment. I don't want to go to Elysium either. Too many happy mortal souls, dancing and drinking to the music of lyrical geniuses as they celebrate their goodness in the life they once had. Oh, no, that's not for me. There would only be the nicest of people there, a collection of the best of humanity, but I really don't want to go to Elysium today. The Asphodel Fields sound completely and utterly boring, where all the average people, the ones that didn't do anything bad, but didn't do anything particularly good either, went and just sat there until Hades deemed that they could drink from the river Lethe.
There was no where I wanted to go. I suppose I could just lie there until Hades returns. But that would be lazy and not befitting for a queen. A queen… yes, that's what I am now. I had better start acting like that. Decision made, I stand and quickly run a hand over my form to dress myself. Having no idea how I'm supposed to dress, I take example from Hades, who always just wears casual modern clothes, like what I'm most comfortable in. So now, I'm wearing black skinny jeans and shirt, with a dark blue leather jacket. Not to mention, my fabulous ankle boots.
Strutting out the door, I glance at Perse- no, my, bedchamber. It was sweet of Hades to redecorate it for me, and was almost right in the décor. Personally, I would have preferred white and green, nice calming colours, to neutralise the effects of my usually chaotic and violet life. I love wrought metal artwork (Hephaestus has crazy talent in that regard) and am not the biggest fan of ultra-modern looks. I don't mind it, of course, I just enjoy more homely looks. If I ever decide to stay in there, I would simply ask Hades to change it. Though now, I'm entertaining the notion that we should just redesign Hades' bedchamber together, so it's something we both like and can life in.
Hades' bedchamber now is just so dark and gothic! Most mortals, the ones that do know of me, think I'm into that kind of thing, because my powers are rather dark, as the Goddess of Revenge, and I'm not known for being the most considerate person. But that doesn't mean I'm angry all the time and like all things gothic. Well, to be fair, Hades' bedchamber isn't that gothic. The walls are the same beautiful dark marble with gemstones, but all the furniture is black. It needs more light and energy! Like, maybe, some green and white. Just a suggestion.
Assuming Hades is in the throne room, I try to remember the way back, happening to run into my brother on the way. Thanatos is smiling, and gives me a brief hug.
"Morning, Nem."
"Good morning."
"You know," Tos says with a cheeky smile. "I don't think I've ever seen Hades with a bigger smile than I saw him earlier. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"
Laughing to cover any embarrassment, I reply. "No, not really. Hades is just a cheerful person. He usually hides it well; he's probably just letting it go today."
Tos laughs a full, loud, belly laugh. "Oh, Nem, surely you knew I wouldn't fall for that. I've worked with the man for thousands of years. Hades and 'cheerful' are not exactly synonymous. 'Cynical' on the other hand, and 'sarcastic' are much more fitting."
"Shut up," I retort intelligently. With a magnificent hair flick, I leave him in the hallway, continuing on to my destination.
Entering the throne room, I see Hades, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt just like I thought, sitting on his throne lazily. His advisors, the brothers Minos and Rhadamanthys, were bickering either side of him. Damn. I don't like Minos. He was a selfish bastard, and a coward. He sacrificed innocent people to the Minotaur, instead of dealing with the problem, just so his wife's little indiscretion would remain hidden. Got to admit, Poseidon's spiteful revenge was creative to say the least.
Rhadamanthys is a lot more likable. He was a good king, and a wise man. It also helps that he didn't actually marry Ariadne, his niece, like planned and she married Dionysus instead. I mean, gross. She's a good wife to Dionysus, and became the Goddess of Crete. She's a shy woman, though, and is intimidated by me and the other goddesses of birth. It would be hard, to be mortal one day then divine the next.
Hades smiles at me as he sees me, standing and walking towards me. This causes a bit of a stir in the throne room, as the Judges of the Dead stop their senseless arguing and watched. The souls stop their chattering also. Hades stops in front of me, taking my hand and kissing it.
"Good morning, wife."
"Good morning, husband," I reply with a smile.
"Do you want to join me today?"
"I suppose. Please, don't expect me to offer my opinion. I will observe, so I can learn what my duties will be."
"Very well," Hades says with a happy smile. Guiding me to my throne, Hades announces to the entire court.
"Welcome your queen, my people. Nemesis, the Queen of the Underworld."
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Katy's Note: Hey, guys! How are you? I hope you're all well. Well, Nem and Hades got a little naughty, didn't they? So, guys I'm still on the lookout for any fantastic reviews. Keep reviewing! By the way, I love it when readers tell me their favourite part/sentence of the chapters. I like to know what I'm doing well. So, to reply to reviews.
Murooj: Thank you! You're awesome, too. Yeah, Persephone is always portrayed in an innocent/stupid kind of way, so I thought it might be interesting to make her a cow.
Flatfoot88: I'm glad you're enjoying it. I will try!
TheAlabasterPhoenyx: Thank you so much! You put so much effort into your reviews and I am so flattered by them. If you're sure about the fic, then that is fine and I'll continue to pour my all into this story. I hope I satisfied your desire for equilibrium in this chapter.
Madame Thome: Your reviews made me laugh! Thanks for that. I hope I answered your question about Nem. Feel free to keep sending me questions, I find it quite entertaining trying to weave the answers into the story.
Moontse: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and forgive me for having to use google translate on one of your comments.
Okay, guys, that's pretty much it from me! Feel free to ask me questions, I enjoy hiding the answers in the chapters. Oh, and ask about any references to mythology, I'd be happy to oblige and answer them.
Have a great day!
Katy.
