AN- I completely forgot about this account! This story is definitely still one of my favorites, so I'll upload a few more chapters. Sorry for the long hiatus, I was finishing up high school and then college happened. I do not own Hadestown.

"Aren't you going to insist that I go back to the castle with you?" Persephone frowns as they reach the station. Hades had grabbed her suitcase and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead as he wished her a good day.

"Your kingdom missed you," he shakes his head. "Go, take a walk. Talk to your people."

"Aren't you afraid I'll do something?" She grabs his wrist as he turns to go, face full of confusion. "Hades, what's the catch here?"

"I need suggestions on how to fix things. You'll only get that from firsthand experience," he points out, the smallest hint of a smile at his lips. "I do expect a report later on tonight though. At dinner. Just the two of us. Besides, you were never slick. The foreman sees more than you think when his back is turned, lover."

He's gone before she has a chance to reply, her heart sped up as she thinks of all of the meetings with the shades. All of the horrible things she's said about him, all of the drinking and boasting. He's heard it, or so he claims, but he never stopped her. Why?

She walks off the train slowly, stopping to look around her in wonder. She can tell he's been working. Nothing huge, of course. But there aren't as many lights, the smell isn't unbearable, and the workers milling about the streets no longer stare at the ground in despair. A few are even laughing as they walk, hammers swung over their shoulder like they don't have a care in the world.

"Hey!" She calls hurriedly, grabbing the arm of the nearest shade to her. The young man glances at her, eyes lighting up in recognition.

"Your grace! Welcome home!"

"Thank you," she frowns slightly, looking at all of the passing people. "The one Hades calls songbird. Where is she?"

"The canary?" He smiles, pointing behind him. "Haven't you heard? She's running your old tavern, your grace. She can make any place feel better than home. Even Lord Hades spends all of his free time with her."

"Thank you," she smiles carefully, her heart sinking in her chest.

All of his free time.

She quickly walks to the castle, smiling politely at the shades who call her in greeting as she walks by. She keeps her face happy until she locates the room she originally occupied in the underworld, before she became his wife. When she was still young and naive to the ways of running a kingdom.

She shuts the door behind her, sinking to the ground quickly as the tears start to fall. She knew what he was doing, he even told her his plan in advance. She just never took the time to take him seriously. Gods, why couldn't she just take him seriously?

"If you don't even want my love,

I'll give it to someone who does

Someone grateful for her fate

Someone who appreciates

The comforts of a gilded cage..."

She still remembers the look he gave her when he said that. She remembers the way his eyes landed on the girl. The way everything else seemed to disappear from his sight except the girl. She tried to complain more, to get his attention back, but it was too late. She couldn't pretend that was the moment she lost her husband, she had lost him long before that, but it was the moment that the breath was knocked out of her lungs. It was the moment she realized he was out of her reach for good. She wanted to hate the girl, but as he approached her she couldn't bring herself to do it. The girl was just looking for someone to hold on to that wouldn't disappear. Persephone could relate.

Eurydice would appreciate all of the comforts that came with being a lover of Hades. Who else would he be fixing all of this up for? He's making his home more comfortable for his new lady. He might not get to make her his queen officially, Zeus and her mother would never let Persephone be shamed like that, but Hades is a king. He can take whoever he wants, and Persephone can have no objections. Even if it's in their bed, even if it's as blatant as Zeus is with his women.

She takes a shaky breath, feeling her heart shatter like it never has before as she stands, making up her mind to take this with the grace expected of a queen. She dries her face as she slowly breathes out in an attempt to calm herself. A queen doesn't cry, especially over something as mundane as her king. Hades can't know that he's gotten to her. Not like this. She looks around her old chambers, sure she'll use them later, but stops in her tracks when she sees the new decor.

There are paintings everywhere and Persephone has never had the patience for painting. Paintings of empty fields, half done sketches littering the floor. She picks up what she thinks to be a self portrait, but she quickly realizes that it's a sketch of someone else. The artist isn't practiced, but she can recognize Orpheus clearly. Her heart stops beating for a second as she looks around, slowly recognizing various articles belonging to Hades' songbird. Of course he couldn't give a lover his own room, but he is free to give up any other room in the castle. She had suspected that he had grown to hate her, and giving away her old room was like a slap in the face. Worse, even, she knew how to hide the effects of a slap after living with her mother so long. Public humiliation from the husband she's loved for centuries, however, is something she has no experience with. How do you cover something an entire kingdom probably already knows about? How do you hold your head up after something like this?

She walks out of the room quickly, desperately needing a way out. Hades took her coat with her things, the flask remained in the pocket. She assumes he had the stuff brought to their chambers, but she couldn't go in there. Not now. If he had left her old room so obvious, she doesn't want to see the state of the room they're supposed to share. She doesn't want to see the evidence of him defiling their marriage bed, even though it's his to defile. He is a king, and Hera has always told her to be thankful that he has been faithful this long. Zeus took a lover while he and Hera were still on their honeymoon. Besides, she isn't as young and pretty as she used to be. At least she won't have to suffer through any more disappointed sighs after another night of sex, and pretend they didn't plunge her deeper into her solitude. She just has to make sure word of this doesn't reach Orpheus, she can't have him break. Not any more. Not like this.

She walks to her garden, probably the only haven she has left here. She slinks through the familiar flowers, smiling as she notices a new addition. A bench now sits under her willow tree, a small pond directly in front of it. Hades never comes here, but the pond is surrounded by pomegranate flowers, so it must be him. It probably isn't for her, but she is impressed that he remembered a suggestion made by her a long time ago, when he was only half paying attention. She lays on the padded seat, letting her hand skim the top of the water lazily. She doesn't know what she should be doing now, crying or finding Hades to start another fight. Neither option sounds plausible, so she does what she has been these past few months when the numbness becomes too much; she sleeps.