Thanks everybody for the reviews, they mean quite a lot to me!  I hope you enjoy this next chapter, too. :-)  We take a little break from the humour, but I promise chapter eight will pick it up again.  Along with a little romantic angst! ^_~

Part Two: Rules of Engagement

Chapter Seven:

You'll Never Want to Leave Me

Sing you to sleep like Scheherezade

Wake your curiosity

Trap you with tales like Scheherezade

You'll never want to leave me

~Like Scheherezade by: Gwen Knighton

¤ ¤ ¤

Another silence descended, one full of a tension that had been wearing down at the steady pace of their conversation.  It was back full force, and not by anything he had said, but something she had done.  Ian had been innocent, and that meant she should have been the one to know better.

I did know better.  But she heard the implications of such a statement in her own head, and quickly turned the words around.  I didn't know better because it was a meaningless act.  I didn't mean anything by it, so he shouldn't be making something out of it.

She chose to ignore that she had made something out of it long before he did.  She didn't want to admit to the fact that she had seen the 'dangerous nature' of such an action and still carried through with it.

Ian, too, seemed lost in his own thoughts, though she couldn't tell if he were pleased or nervous.  His face was neutral, eyes dull with deliberation.  He placed his fork down beside his plate and looked at her.

"Do you know the myth of Persephone?"

Sara's eyes narrowed.  Suspicious of where this might lead, she said, "Yeah, sure.  She was a goddess, and the daughter of Demeter and Zeus.  She was kidnapped by the god of the underworld and he forced her to become his queen.  Her mother was so distraught that all life on earth became cold and barren, creating the first winter."

"There's a little more to it than that," he chided affectionately.

"Fine then, if I missed so much why don't you tell the story?"

"Alright, I will," he answered softly, sitting back and folding his hands in his lap.

She realized suddenly that he had just led her into asking him.  She blinked.   Looks like I just got maneuvered.  Nottingham, you sly dog.  She was definitely amused, and annoyed, and it wasn't the first time he had inspired such conflicting emotions in her.

"When Persephone was with her mother, spring walked the earth.  Their happiness and joy in each other flooded the world with love and hope.  And all was well.

"But Hades was God of Death and King of the Underworld, and his kingdom was beyond the gentle reach of spring.  It happened one day that he saw Persephone, in all her warmth and glory, and he instantly fell in love with her.  He went to his brother, the King of Gods, and asked him to bless the union, and Zeus did so because he thought it was a good match.  After gaining his brother's approval, Hades turned his attention back to the young Goddess and devised a plan to get to her without running afoul of her mother and her constant companions."

He took a drink of his tea, then continued, "There was a meadow on the edge of a dark wood.  Persephone and her attendants were picking flowers there one morning, laughing and chatting pleasantly.  Now, Persephone had been content with walking alongside her friends, taking in the sweet scent of spring and the warmth of the sun on her back.  But something had caught her eye on the edge of the meadow, where the dark shadow of the woods fell.  Nestled off by itself was a cluster of yellow Narcissus, delicate and glowing with an almost gold sheen.

"Drawing closer to them she became entranced by their beauty, and wanted nothing more than to take one or two, maybe one for her hair, and one as a token of love for her mother---"

"She's stupid," Sara said suddenly, not liking how she was getting used to, and even comfortable, listening to the rhythm of his voice.  "As soon as I saw that Narcissus I would have got the hell out of there.  They are always bad news in these stories."

He smiled at her interruption, and she was thinking that she maybe should have kept her mouth shut and let him get lost in his own words.  He gave her a look, not one of heat or lust or even wariness, but a slow glance that clearly said that he thought she was cute.  That was...new.

"You are correct.  Narcissus often appear as harbingers of death.  Not to mention their narcotic properties can be detrimental to one's health, if not handled correctly.  Though," at this point he had the grace to look away, his eyelashes coming down in one long sweep, "in some middle eastern cultures the essential oil is considered a great aphrodisiac."

She wanted to frown at him.  She really did.  She just couldn't seem to do it.  His attempt at flirting with her was so categorically odd, and so perfectly Nottingham, that it was almost endearing.  She placed emphasis on 'almost' and so was able to get away with the traitorous thought with only a minimum of self-chastisement.

"Well, isn't that interesting," she smiled back innocently.  "So she picked the Narcissus?"

"She picked the Narcissus, and instantly the ground split open at her feet.  And from the dark depths of the underworld, Hades came, in a black chariot driven by six black horses, dressed in gleaming black armor."

"I'm sensing a theme here."  And also your fascination with this story.

He continued on with a nod, "By the time Persephone realized she was in danger, it was too late.  Hades swept up his bride and carried her away in a matter of seconds, leaving her oblivious maids still laughing and playing in the warm morning meadow."

"I find that hard to believe.  Wouldn't they hear that black chariot, or those six black horses?"

"He was a god; they heard only what he wanted them to hear," he answered her.

She wondered if Nottingham was getting annoyed with her interruptions, and if he would even let her know if he was.  With a smirk she picked up her fork and waved him on, as if he needed direction.  "Please, continue."

"He took her to his kingdom and made her his queen."

"He raped her."

"Maybe.  Each story tells it differently.  In some she is the distraught maiden raped, and in others she is the innocent seduced."

"Let me guess, in your version she's 'seduced'."

He smiled, "I will leave that part up to your imagination.  Anyway, Demeter learned of her beloved daughter's disappearance, and immediately began her search for her.  She walked the world of man and heaven, but could not find her.  And with each mile she went her steps got heavier with sorrow; her shoulders grew weaker with despair, and the pain etched age into her face.

"The world around her mourned with her.  The flowers and trees wilted and died, the cold came, sweeping in rain and snow, and still she continued.

"Finally, the King of the Gods took notice and realized that Demeter would drown all existence in her grief if something was not done.  So he told the Goddess of her daughter's whereabouts, but it wasn't enough.  She demanded that Persephone be returned to her.  She said, while Persephone remained hidden away within the underworld, so would the seeds never break the surface of the earth.

"But Zeus had made a promise to his brother, and he thought all women fickle by nature, be they mortal or goddess.  And so he sent the withered Demeter invitations and honors and treasures of all kinds, offering them to her if she would just relent.  But Demeter truly loved her daughter and was not swayed by such materialistic things.

"The Father of the Gods then went to his brother and implored him to return his new Queen to the womb that gave her life.  But Hades refused to give Persephone up, for he, too, truly loved her.

"Then, to appease both Demeter and Hades, he offered a compromise.  Persephone would be allowed to return to her mother if, and only if, she had not tasted of any food or drink produced in the underworld.  But soon after her arrival Persephone had eaten the seeds of a pomegranate, one that Hades had personally given her."

Sara frowned, getting into the story more than she wanted to admit.  "So she ate some seeds.  Forcing her to stay just because of that doesn't seem fair."

"There is a significance to the pomegranate, and the fact that Hades offered it to her."

"Oh?"  Figures.

"Only one tree grew in the underworld, and that was the pomegranate, the apple of life and love.  When Hades offered it to Persephone, he was in fact offering her his love.  When Persephone accepted the pomegranate from him, she accepted him as her husband.  And that became an irrevocable bond."

"So he tricked her?"

"Maybe.  Or maybe she knew exactly what she was doing when she ate the seeds of the apple of love."  He seemed very serene in not knowing either way.

Put that way, she saw what he meant about it being more of a seduction than a rape.  Though she wouldn't tell him that.

Remind me to never, ever accept food from Nottingham.  He has way too much time on his hands.

It took her a minute to realize what she had just thought.

Her face instantly flamed red.  She coughed into her napkin, trying to hide the very real physical reactions she was having to her thoughts.  He started this whole conversation after I took a bite of his calamari...

Trust him to think of it in such terms!  Oh!  He's so infuriating!  Sara continued to cough into her napkin, set it down and picked up her water.  She took several more gulps and glared at her 'companion' over the rim of the glass.

He was back to playing the innocent.  "Demeter would not accept that she had lost her daughter completely, and Hades would not give her back.  So Persephone herself stepped up with a solution.  She had eaten six seeds of the pomegranate, so she would stay six months of the year in the underworld with her husband.  One month for every seed.  For the rest of the year she was free to walk with her mother aboveground.

"And so, the seasons change as Demeter changes.  In spring and summer Demeter lovingly watches over Persephone, the flowers bloom and the trees bear fruit.  And in the fall and winter Persephone returns to the underworld and her husband.  Demeter mourns her loss and the world turns cold and desolate in her grief...That is the myth of Persephone."

They both sat in silence a moment.  But it wasn't the same tense silence they had been plunged into before.  Sara folded the napkin in her hands once, and then twice, taking care to keep the edges even.  It was a waste of energy, but it seemed as good an idea as any.

"You tell a good story, Nottingham," she said quietly.  "Ever thought of volunteering some time to read to children?"

He glanced at her, as if trying to gauge what exactly she meant by that statement.

She was serious.

For all of two seconds.

Then she actually paid attention to the image flitting through her mind.  That of a black-garbed Ian Nottingham, assassin-extraordinaire, lost and drowning in a sea of hyperactive preschoolers.  She didn't know what was more disturbing, the fact that she could actually see it, or the panicked, helpless expression on his face as the eager four year olds swarmed over him.

My god, he always inspires some of the strangest visuals.  But she was smiling again.  It was too funny not to.

TBC...

Okay, there are several different versions of the myth of Persephone--this is just the one I like best.  Also, it's never just out-and-out said in the previous chapter, but Hades is Zeus' brother, making Persephone his niece.  Interesting parallel, huh?  I thought so.  ^_^