Chapter 23
It didn't take Apol o long to realize that holding Persephone was like hugging a corpse. He pulled back and studied her pale face.
"What's wrong? More problems with Demeter?"
Persephone shook her head. When she blinked, two perfect teardrops fel from her eyes and made glistening tracks down her cheeks. He was just considering whether he should kiss her or materialize a drink for her when a black monster burst from around the path and thrust his body between them.
"Be gone, beast from the pit!" he yel ed as he staggered back, trying not to fal . The stal ion turned and bared yel ow teeth at him.
"It's okay Orion. Apol o doesn't mean any harm."
The sadness in her voice touched the God. He peered around the black brute who was nuzzling Persephone. The Goddess caressed the horse absently. Tears leaked down her face, but she took no notice of them.
"Orion! I need to speak with your mistress." Eyes blazing, the stal ion turned his swiveled head to face Apol o. He held his hands out in an open gesture of peace. "I wish only to offer her aid." Orion seemed to study the God, then he blew through his nose and lipped the Goddess's cheek before moving a few feet down the path where he grazed while keeping one black eye focused on the God of Light.
Apol o took Persephone's limp arm and led her to a bench carved from bare rock. The Goddess sat. He made a spinning motion with his hand and a clear goblet appeared suddenly in a shower of sparks. He offered it to Persephone.
"It is only spring water," he said when she hesitated. "I thought you might need its refreshment."
"Thank you," she said woodenly. The water was cold and sweet. She drank deeply, but it didn't begin to quench the emptiness within her.
Apol o sat next to her.
"What has caused you such pain?" he asked.
She didn't answer for so long that he thought she wasn't going to respond. Then she spoke in a voice that was fil ed with such hopelessness that the God felt his own chest constrict.
"My own foolishness - that is what has caused me such pain."
Apol o took her hand. "What can I do to help you?"
She looked at him then, and the God felt as if her eyes could see through to his soul.
"Answer a question for me. What is it that loves - the body or the spirit?" Apol o smiled and began to respond with a witty reply, but he found he could not. Once again, she surprised him with her candor. Since their last meeting, the Goddess of Spring hadn't been far from his thoughts. His eyes met hers. He could not belittle her obvious pain, so he answered honestly.
"Persephone, you ask this question of the wrong god. As you know, I have had much experience with lusts of the body. I feel desire and I slake it. But love? That most elusive of emotions? I have witnessed it bring an undefeated warrior to his knees, and cause a single maiden to wield more power than Hercules, but I cannot say that I have ever truly experienced it." Wistfully, he touched her cheek. "But looking at you makes me wish otherwise."
The light was growing. It signaled the coming of dawn. His chariot had to be near, and his time was short. Apol o could see that, though he was close beside her and offering her comfort and compassion, Persephone was not even looking at him. She was staring at the mouth of the tunnel which led to Hades' domain. His hand dropped from her face.
"You love Hades!" He did not bother to hide the surprise in his voice. Persephone's eyes snapped to his. "And why do you find that so shocking? Because I am Spring and he is Death? Or is it because immortals don't real y know how to love?"
"I just didn't think it possible," Apol o said.
"It's probably not." The temporary fire in her voice was gone, and the hopelessness had returned. She lurched to her feet. "Orion!" The stal ion moved with supernatural speed to her side. Without another word, she flung herself astride the horse and dug her heels into his sides. Orion leapt forward, leaving Apol o to stare openmouthed at the dust that rose from his iron-clad hooves.
"Persephone and Hades? How could that be?" he murmured.
Hades was at his forge. He stoked the fire to a level that was almost unbearable and striped down to his loincloth. He wouldn't work on a horseshoe. That would not satisfy him. He needed something else, something larger. He would fashion a shield, wrought from the strongest of metals. Something that could protect a body, if not a soul.
He fed the coals until they screamed with the voice of searing heat. Then he thrust the naked sheet of unformed metal into them and pulled it out when it hummed with readiness. He began pounding it to his wil .
On and on Hades worked. His shoulders ached and his blows coursed through his body, and stil he could not pound the pain from his soul. He did not blame her. She was just a young goddess. He should have known better. He had been wise to set himself apart from the immortals. She had simply proven how wise he had been. His way had worked for age after age. He had been foolish to deviate.
He felt her presence the moment she entered the forge. Absently he wondered if he would always know when she was near him. How could his soul be linked to hers even though she did not love him? It would bear consideration. Later. When he was alone again, when he could think of her without feeling such raw yearning. Now he must end it. He must return to his old ways before he humiliated himself further. And before she caused him irreparable pain.
"I wish you knew how incredibly handsome you are when you work at your forge." When she entered the room he had stopped pounding metal against metal, and her voice sounded too loud in the echoing silence. He could not force himself to speak.
"Hades?" She cleared her throat and continued, even when he didn't respond. "I'd love to see more of Elysia today. Would you escort me?"
Her voice. It was so young and sweet. For a moment his resolve wavered. Then he remembered how easily she had al owed Apol o to take her into his arms. When he turned slowly to face her, Persephone did not meet his eyes. Hades felt a little more of his soul dissolve.
"I am afraid our travels have come to an end. As you can see, I have work I must complete." Lina felt her stomach rol . The man who turned from the forge to speak to her wasn't her lover. He was the cold, imperious God she had met when she had first come to the Underworld. No - she studied him more carefully and realized her initial impression had been wrong. He wasn't even that familiar.
"But, I thought you liked teaching me about your realm," she said inanely. He laughed, but his voice held no warmth and his eyes were flat and cold.
"Persephone, let us stop this - "
"But," she interrupted him, shaking her head. "Last night... I don't understand." The look of naive shock on her face sliced through him. It was al a cruel pretense! He wanted to scream his pain, and with the anger of a god he hurled the hammer across the forge. When it landed sparks exploded and the floor beneath them shook. His eyes blazed and his voice thundered.
"Silence! I am Lord of the Dead, not a lowly teacher!"
Lina felt her face lose al color. "Al this time you've just been pretending to - "
"DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF PRETENDING!" The wal s of the forge vibrated with the intensity of the dark God's rage. Before he destroyed the chamber in which they stood, Hades brought the force of his anger under control. Through tightly clenched teeth he hurled sarcasm at her. "Have you not been vacationing here, Persephone? Masquerading as Queen of the Dead?" His laughter was cold and cruel. "You may be young, but both of us know you are far from inexperienced. Yes, our lessons were amusing, but you must realize that it is time the charade end, and, as I sense your visit is also concluding, my timing is perfect. Unfortunately, I have al owed our dal iance to take me too long from my duties. If I do not find time to speak with you again before you depart, let me wish you a pleasant return trip to the Land of the Living. Perhaps you wil sojourn in the Underworld another time, perhaps not."