Hermes continued his argument with Hecate with one eye always on the pregnant Persephone, who was carefully moving forward. She hadn't faltered over the rocky ground once, despite her protruding belly. She had reached the point where she was so exhausted that she was almost drifting but they were on the last leg of their journey home and she would not keep Hades waiting for anything.
The bump that gave her such pride was obligingly not kicking her today, although she could still feel her daughter's slight movements. They thrilled her every time.
She hadn't spoken a word of her exhaustion to her companions, who were tirelessly arguing.
"Look, all I'm saying is that heroes lighten the world up a bit, alright?" Hermes continued, waving his caduceus. "They're the… spice of variety, that's all. I mean, we're eternal, yes? We're always going to be the same, at least, deep down. Humans do the weirdest things. They shake up the world. Add a dash of ichor to that and boom! So much possibility."
Hecate laughed at him, showing all of her teeth. Even in that dull, grey place they gleamed and her eyes shone with mirth.
"Didn't you aid Perseus to slay Medusa?"
Hermes frowned. "Yes."
"And by 'aid' I mean of course that Athena and yourself practically had to carry the man to the end of his fate. Perseus did little by himself except make a foolish oath that enabled his enemy to make eyes at his mother for several years."
Hermes spluttered but Persephone wasn't sure whether it was a cry of protest or amusement.
Hecate delicately leapt over a ditch in the ground and immediately turned to assist the pregnant queen over the same hole gently. Persephone was grateful for the help.
"Fate has designed everything," Hestia informed them. "It is the most sophisticated game you could imagine, woven across more time than anything can comprehend. Those of us who glimpse its movements can appreciate the awe of its design. But nothing escapes it. Heroes and heroines are no different – part of the tale already written."
Hermes snorted.
"So they just get the more interesting parts of the game, do they?"
Hestia smiled and shook one long-nailed finger delicately at the God of Messengers. "Rulers are servants, Hermes. Listen to Athena more often. The more power you have the more you serve the grand plan because you have the capacity to make great change. If you decide your existence is too boring and want to make some new friends and go off onto paths 'more interesting,' just know it has already been recorded what you will do. There are no surprises to the Moirae in any of the realms."
Hermes sighed and ran his hands over his face.
"See, this is why I don't hang out with Athena too much," he grumbled. "I get headaches."
"Ever considered starting a family of your own, Hermes?" Persephone asked as they passed the Styx. She did not notice the forlorn figure on the far side waiting for Himeros to return from his flight. "A family definitely makes life more interesting."
Hermes shook his head.
"I never had that kind of commitment to one person." He seemed to cheer at that thought and even dropped a wink at Persephone. "Variety is good for the diet."
Persephone mockingly hit his shoulder in reproof. He mimed falling to the ground in agony.
Hecate just rolled her eyes before piping up suddenly with glee. "Wait. I forgot to ask! Hermes, did you really sleep with Aphrodite?"
"What?" Persephone gasped.
Hermes blinked.
"How did you know about that?" he asked.
"What?" Persephone repeated.
Hecate was smug. "Ghosts know a lot more than they let on. I was talking to a young man who had died that told me an interesting rumour involving Aphrodite, Hermes and a stolen sandal…"
"Look, we all do stupid things," Hermes interrupted, turning his attention to Persephone. "Please for the love of all creation don't tell your mother about that one. Or Hephaestus. Or anybody, really."
Persephone just giggled and nodded, acknowledging that she'd keep his secret. Hecate, satisfied immensely, bounced on ahead. Her whole form swayed and danced along the pallid ground, shimmering and jingling merrily. She was quick and agile despite being weighed down in layers of dress and ornament.
"So no wife for you in the near future?" Persephone pressed Hermes when she had her breath back. He just smiled and shook his head, offering his hand to help her along. They could glimpse the main gate of the Underworld ahead.
"I don't believe that's in the grand plan for me." Hermes admitted, not sounding the least bit perturbed by that fact.
Persephone was not paying real attention anymore; she could hear the steady snarls of Cerberus and a kind of electric tingle came over her. She was so close to home, to Hades, to being where she was meant to be...
And yet, something made her pause.
She caught sight of the main gates where no one was waiting. She pushed past Hermes, even as he tried to warn her to stay put and entered the front door alone. The enormous doors opened at her touch and shut deafeningly behind her and her travelling companions.
Cerberus was inside, lying down on the floor with Shades milling around him as they queued for the passage across the river. And at Cerberus's head, patting him daintily, was a nymph.
"Minthe!" Hecate spat from somewhere close behind Persephone. "What in all creation are you doing here?"
Seeing her for the first time, Persephone had to admit that she didn't quite know how to feel. Hecate had not been idle and spoken with Persephone at length about this particular lover of Hades. She stood and eyed over Minthe with detachment. Yes, the nymph was very pretty but unrequited love gave a desperate and ugly cast to her otherwise perfect features.
I know what that's like. I've been there – so in love I could barely speak. So close to having everything pulled away from me.
But Hades had chosen her, not this sour thing in front of her.
Minthe tilted her head and continued to pat Cerberus. The great dog snarled and flicked his tongues from each of its mouths.
"I heard you were frightened of this one, at first," she told Persephone, carefully avoiding Cerberus's drool as she spoke about him. "Did you cry at the sight of this, a mere pet? Did you beg for Hades to rescue you?"
Persephone couldn't smile, though she longed to show this nymph she wasn't disconcerted by her mockery of the Queen of the realm.
"I was scared," Persephone admitted. "But I mastered that soon enough. Why are you here, Minthe?"
The nymph walked towards her. Persephone caught sight of movement behind her and realised that Hermes had grabbed Hecate under the arms to stop her lunging forward to attack the nymph. Persephone raised a hand.
"This is my business," she uttered over her shoulder to her friends. "You may watch, but don't interfere. I will deal with this."
Stay out of this Hades, she wished silently. I need to deal with this myself.
Persephone felt a cool breeze touch her back, as Hades would if he were there to reassure her. She instantly felt calmer. She could face this challenger by herself.
"Let… me… Hex that little… Bitch…" Hecate panted, trying to pry loose of Hermes.
"Go show her who's boss, my Queen," Hermes murmured back and then there was the sound of swift wings and they were gone. Obviously Hermes didn't think he could restrain Hecate and had moved her.
Persephone linked her hands over her widening belly and faced Minthe coolly. She took the face of judgement – placid, detached and contemplative. She was every inch the fair and noble queen.
Opposite her, Minthe was equally calm but her bitterness was there in the slight scowl and her rigid arms. She was keeping herself in check. But there was no sign of resignation – this was a woman who would fight until she could fight no more.
"Why did he pick you?" she finally asked, poison dripping from every word. "Why would anyone pick you?"
"We found each other."
"I was his favourite mistress," Minthe smiled but it was so very vicious that it hurt Persephone's heart to watch it. There was nothing but ice in her rival. "We would lie in the field of Asphodel and watch the Shades swarm. He called me his beauty… His one and only. Hades has such a way with pretty words, doesn't he? He loved me…" The smile widened, showing teeth. "He loves me still, you know. I have been visiting him while you were gone."
Persephone froze.
"He likes women who he can save, you see," Minthe went on, enjoying Persephone's discomfort. "It makes him feel powerful that he can help and save beautiful things. Maybe that was all your attraction was, in the end. Perhaps you forced him into marrying you with that seed trick. What will happen in a hundred years though, hmm? I think I shall only have to wait until he gets tired of seeing the same dull face every morning in his bed. There were other nymphs before you. There will be others after you."
Persephone felt the edge of anger and a terrible frustration start to grow in her chest. The way so many beings thought Hades would eventually be unfaithful was maddening!
"Hades is not like his brothers," Persephone tried to explain. "He won't leave me. We made vows. We are starting a family, Minthe. This is very different. Do you honestly believe Hades would marry someone because he had to? You discredit his intelligence and his sensibilities when you say these things. You insult him."
"Gods and goddesses!" Minthe started towards the Queen, irate. "I am going to cut that baby out of you and you will be nothing! You will be less than nothing! I will take the crown from your withered skull…"
There was a sound, some sort of rushing stream, like air sucked through a hole in a cave. Cerberus barked. The dim light crackled and split, shining white out of Persephone's tightened fists. Then the light hissed and surrounded Minthe. It became a soft green hue and she stopped, caught.
Persephone gasped, hissing out her fury. Tears dropped but they were from the fire within her; such a vile hatred she had never felt before.
"It will be sweet to crush you," she uttered and then the nymph Minthe was brought low and turned into the mint plant. It grew out of the soil as her body vanished. The light bled away.
The Queen of the Underworld wiped her tears away in the hush that followed. Calm returned slowly but as it did, she was a little horrified to discover what her power had manifested. A nymph that had existed for centuries was now nothing more than a tiny little herb. And she had accomplished that in one go without even meaning to. Persephone stared at her own fingertips, astonished.
"You are far more powerful than you know, love."
Persephone looked up. Far above, almost at Cerberus's highest neck, her husband stood with his helmet in the crook of his arm. He'd been watching, invisible, the entire time.
"She should not have threatened our daughter," Persephone told him.
Hades melted into the shadows and then his arms were around her, holding her, caressing her back and shoulders. Persephone sighed and leant into him.
His voice sharpened. "If you had not been so fast to act, I would have struck her into torment for her words against our child. I am relieved you acted swiftly and decisively." He kissed her and leant closer, his lips moving over her neck in a way that made her shiver happily. "When she threatened you, she threatened the realm," Hades whispered into her ear. "You have acted as befits a Queen, Persephone. Do not regret that."
Persephone took his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. The walked through the Gates and she deliberately stepped on the new mint plant. A wonderful sweet scent rose from underfoot but Persephone couldn't smile.
I did that. With my power, I did that. In my rage, I obliterated her. She was a threat and that's what I did to her.
Hades kissed her cheek again.
"I'll be fine," Persephone told him. "I'm just a bit shocked. That didn't even take that much effort and I…" She shook her head. "I didn't even mean to do that."
"It is the power of sovereign deities to make enormous changes in their fits of passion," Hades told her, hit hands gently brushing her round belly. That made her smile at last, but she thought Hermes had told her the same not moments ago in quite a different way.
We all do stupid things.
Persephone and Hades made slow progress, walking gently together over the threshold past Cerberus. Shades flickered around, giving them both a wide berth. Her husband suddenly stopped and gestured over the rushing waters of the Acheron.
"The white poplar grows along the banks of that river, along its entire length," Hades murmured. Persephone turned and stared into his eyes.
"Why is that?"
Hades grimaced. "I, too, had troubles with a nymph many millennia ago and did not think to consider the consequences of my emotions. It ended badly. Her name was Leuce and she was wonderful to my young eyes. She asked to visit the Underworld several times and I, being somewhat reckless and very flattered that any would want to visit my realm, gave her free passage."
Hades sighed. Persephone touched his cheek.
"It's okay," she told him. "I can hardly be jealous of someone born hundreds of years before I was even a possibility! Go on. What happened?"
"She was fascinated with the Isle of the Blessed and the Elysian Fields," Hades admitted. "She had little interest in its ruler. But I felt entranced by her and let her near the gates to the Isle. She was so hypnotised by the Isle that she attacked a guard and, before anyone could interfere, she was dead on the ground."
Persephone hugged Hades close.
"It wasn't your fault," she muttered into his cheek. "It was an accident. The guard was just fulfilling his duties."
"I knew the risks." Hades played his her hair with his fingertips, thoughtful. "I did, on some level, know that she was using my feelings for her in order for an opportunity to slip through to the Isle, which was not her right. I transformed her body into the tree to commemorate her. The white poplar has grown here ever since."
"She wrote her own fate, Hades."
He smiled down at her and Persephone caught the adoration in his face. "So do we. So did Minthe."
Persephone nodded, understanding the lesson he was trying to instil on her through the story. Her return had made Minthe desperate and in her haste, Minthe shown her true colours to everyone. Circumstance had dealt the cards that fate played out and now what was done was done.
We can move on, she thought, touching her swelling belly.
"Forgive all this unpleasantness," Hades beseeched her. "This was not how I wanted to welcome you back." He led her to his chariot, held by a servant not far from the river bank where Charon loaded his passengers. Her husband took the reins and guided her into her place, carefully seating cushions all around her.
Persephone laughed.
"I would give anything to lie down for a while," she confessed, holding on tightly. "My feet are aching."
Hades nodded. "Your wish, my command."
"Sire," the servant interjected. "My lord, there is a son of Zeus entering through the Gates who asks for an audience." He caught Persephone's huff of frustration and bowed. "I am so sorry, my Queen."
"Never mind," Persephone sighed and touched Hades's arm. Their duties always came first. "The Throne Room. At least I will be seated there and can rest my feet."
Hades cracked his whip. The horses screeched and pulled them into the air at an easy pace.
Persephone lounged back into the cushions, sighing at the comfort and how good it felt to be home.
Never a dull moment in the Underworld.