Part VI [conclusion]

"Do you realize what you've DONE?" Zeus thundered, the very magnitude of his voice shaking the timbers of the Olympian throne room. The room was huge and long, richly decorated as befitting his status as king of the gods, but right now it was empty of any other presence save for Zeus's and Hades's. Zeus had, with great dignity, commanded everyone to give him and his brother a little privacy to talk. That dignity then flew out the window as soon as Zeus had Hades all to himself.

Instead of resting on his throne and overseeing disagreements with a bored, regal expression, Zeus was on his feet and pounding his fists through the air. He stood on the stage while Hades remained where he was on the golden-edged carpet. Considering he was a full head shorter than Hades, however, Zeus only came to eye-level with his brother despite the stage.

Zeus stopped pacing and shoved his face half an inch away from Hades's. His blue eyes gave out sparks, contrasting with Hades's cold black eyes that refused to feed the flames.

"I ask you again, brother," Zeus said through gritted teeth, "do you realize what you've done?"

"I know what I've done," Hades replied flatly. "The question is whether you believe me."

Zeus bellowed and whirled around, pacing once more. Hades could feel the ground rumble beneath him, a sign of Zeus's frustration. But despite the hustle and bustle, throwing a thunderbolt was far from Zeus's mind, mainly because Hades knew that Zeus was more worried than enraged. He was only shouting because it was the one way that he knew to express his feelings.

"You have compromised Perseph!" Zeus yelled. "You have kept her in your domain for four days! Alone!"

"We were not alone. My demons were there, as always."

"Your demons are loyal to the death, you blackheart! They'd trade whatever they have left of a soul if it meant pleasing you! No one would expect them to contradict your words!"

Hades's eyes narrowed as they followed Zeus's erratic pacing. "That is because there is nothing to contradict. Perseph slept in my chambers. I slept in another room. Her integrity has not been compromised, and would never be. She is too strong for that."

"I know that, but does Demeter? Or the other gods?" Zeus whirled back to face him. "So you can swear you have not touched her in any way that was improper?"

Hades hesitated. He remembered touching Perseph's ankle, feeling it for injuries. He'd had good reason to, but he didn't think Zeus would see it that way. And Demeter would hit the roof if she ever found out.

She very nearly did, two hours ago when she had arrived in the Underworld. If she could, she would have brought the whole cavern down. Hermes, the messenger of gods, was with her too, as well as the skinny, pale one named Cyane. Demeter had also brought her underlings, as if their power combined could possibly overcome Hades's. Demeter was bold, Hades had to give her that.

Although she was an ungodly pain when she was shrilly indignant. As soon as Hades and Perseph had arrived at the scene, she had pulled Perseph to her side and launched a furious tirade aimed at Hades. How dare he do this, how dare he do that, did he think he could get away with it. For a brief instant, Hades pictured having her as a mother-in-law, and felt a headache at the thought.

Then he saw Cyane laying a hand on Pereseph's arm, and felt an irrational rage at the gesture. He'd managed to tamp it down, but only barely. Why should you feel angry? he told himself. You have no claim over her.

Perseph didn't seem to notice the hand. "Mother, stop, please," she tried to dissuage Demeter. "It wasn't Hades's fault. I asked to stay longer."

"Hades!" Demeter gasped, staring at her daughter. "You call him Hades? His lord Hades, have you forgotten?"

Cyane's hand was still on her arm. He looked distressed, more than any childhood friend had the right to be, blast him. "Perseph, how could you? Don't you realize you have compromised yourself by staying in his domain unattended?"

Perseph tried to shake off his hand, irritated. "We did nothing wrong, and even if we did it would be none of your business."

"Perseph!" Cyane stared at her in horror. "You would give yourself to this god? Is your virtue worth so little? Have you no honor?"

In the next instant Hades had leapt forward and plowed his fist right against Cyane's face. Demeter screamed, and Perseph gasped. The crowd around them began jabbering. Hades only stood there, looking down at the fallen Cyane and clenching his fist. "Never question Perseph's honor," he said coldly. "She has more home than this entire throng combined."

Demeter whimpered rather extravagantly in the background. "Oh, by Artemis's tiny arm-hairs. He called you Perseph. He called you Perseph."

"Mother. . ." Perseph looked exasperated. She cast an apologetic look at Hades. There was also something else in her eyes, something that she wanted to tell him. He just didn't know what it was.

Cyane stumbled to prop himself up on his elbows, clutching his nose. Hades tightened his fist, and Hermes chose that moment to step forward. "We cannot settle things this way," the messenger stated, the wings on his hat fluttering. His look warned Hades that any further folly on his part could result in war. Hades was, after all, very much feared throughout Olympus. If the gods thought he had hurt Perseph in any way, they would not hesitate to launch an all-out battle against him.

Didn't they understand that he could never, would never, hurt Perseph?

Demeter had wrathfully demanded an audience with Zeus. Hades and Zeus may be related, but she was certain the king of gods would prevail on her side. Now the brothers stood alone in the throne room, debating their dilemma.

Zeus folded one hand over the other behind his back. "This is Demeter we're talking about, you know. She will not be satisfied."

"You don't have to tell me that." Throughout the entire time, Hades's eyes never left Zeus. "But it is the truth. Nothing improper happened between Perseph and I. Nor will I say that it has. I will not force her to marry me because of it; I will not confine her that way."

"By thunder, Hades, this is not a matter of confinement --"

"It is. Perseph could never live in my world. It would dim the glow within her, and I would never want that to happen. For the four days she was with me, she had not gone to the gardens to perform her duties." It hurt him to say it, but he did anyway. "She does not belong with me."

Zeus eyed him over his shoulder. "Don't you realize that it does not matter what you or she did, or didn't do? The suspicion is already there, and will always be there. Ares will come after you with a blazing sword. Apollo will seek to place a curse on you."

"Let them. I am not afraid."

"No? Then recall this, brother: this involves Perseph too. No god will look at her in the same way again. Her life will never be the same because of this."

Hades felt his blood run cold. He did not care what anybody said about him. He was used to their worst fears and insults. But tainting Perseph's reputation. . .

He bowed his head and closed his eyes. He did not realize that Zeus had approached him until he felt his presence right next to him. He looked up and met the king of gods' sympathetic blue eyes.

"You love her, don't you?" Zeus asked.

Hades did not bow his head. His gaze never wavered. "Yes," he said softly. "I do."

Perseph's breath caught. Her hand flew first to her mouth, then to her heart, where its fingers trembled. She barely remembered to be careful where she shifted her weight, for she stood on the throne room's window ledge, twenty feet from the ground. She had been so determined on overhearing what Zeus told Hades that she'd managed to escape Demeter's notice and entreat Ahro's help in getting up to the ledge.

There she had listened in on the conversation. She had heard every word.

Ahro was hanging on in the ledge below hers. "My lady?" he asked in a hushed tone. She did not know how sharp his pointed ears were, and thus did not know if he'd heard anything too.

Hades loved her. He'd said so. Perseph had feared that the treatment he'd received his whole life had forced him to shield his inner being, rendering it imperceptible to all emotions. She had wondered if he would ever allow himself to open up his soul. And now she had her answer. He loved her.

She had grown to know him during her stay in the Underworld, and had learned more about him than Hades himself would have wanted to reveal. She had fallen in love with his dry sense of humor, the intensity of his gaze, the devoted attention he paid her every word. She adored their walks down the caverns, where he had told her of his experiences. He made her laugh with stories of his demons; he broke her heart when he quietly spoke of the grievances he'd suffered. His voice bore no malice, as if he expected no less from other people's reactions. But Perseph knew how much he hurt from their snideness.

His quiet dignity made her want to punch those people herself. It also made her love him more.

She remembered the first night she'd stayed in the Underworld. She had laid in his bed, breathing in his scent, and was overwhelmed by the utter silence and darkness around her. Finally she tip-toed to the door and quietly pulled it open. Ahro, who had been assigned to guard her door, had awoken instantly and skittered away. Before Perseph could even blink, he arrived with Hades, the dark god rubbing his eyes.

"Is anything the matter?" Hades asked, his voice slightly rough from sleep. It gave Perseph a funny feeling in her lower belly.

"No," she said, then hesitated. "It's too quiet," she confessed. "I am used to hearing life breathing around me while I sleep. Here I feel so. . . alone."

He gazed at her in silence for a moment, then lifted a hand to push the door further open. She stepped back, startled, as he entered and closed the door in Ahro's face.

He extended a hand towards the bed. "Go on," he said softly. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."

He settled in the chair next to the bed, his mantle barely rustling beneath him. Perseph was very aware of his presence -- how could she not be? -- as she lay down, but she did not send him away. Though overwhelming, his presence was also comforting. Safe. It was the same feeling she'd experienced in the temple gardens.

She gazed at the stars in the inner folds of his cloak, then, slowly, reached out her hand and touched them.

She sensed his head turn in the darkness; though startled, he did not move. The stars winked as she passed her fingers over them -- cold with little bumps, like silver sequins -- then they vanished from sight, as if assured of her presence.

After a while, Hades told her stories to help her sleep. His voice, dark and low, comforted her in the chambers. She almost fought against the sleep overcoming her just because she wanted to continue listening to him. As her eyes drifted shut, he pulled the covers higher over her and whispered to himself, "You're as beautiful as the red flame-flowers in the temple gardens."

It was then that she knew where the safe feeling she'd gotten in the gardens had come from.

He did the same for the next few nights that she'd stayed over. Sometimes they spoke quietly in the dark, smothering chuckles as they made fun of Poseidon's hairstyle. Sometimes he just watched her silently as she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

Once she was tempted to ask him to lay next to her, just to feel his tall, protective warmth nearby. She resisted the urge only because she was afraid he would be repulsed by her boldness.

Ahro's voice broke through her reverie. "My lady? Goddess? Are you all right?"

Perseph opened her eyes and looked at the sky beyond. Then she glanced below at the demon. "Yes, Ahro, I'm all right."

Then, to the demon's utter consternation, she pushed open the window and slipped into the throne room.