"Iapis!" Hades' voice echoed through his vast chamber.
"My Lord." The daimon materialized within two breaths after his name had been spoken.
"Go to her. When she has finished her meal, show her the way back to her chamber. Be certain she has everything she desires." Hades paced restlessly as he talked. "I insulted her." Iapis stayed silent, but he raised one brow.
"Then I left her there. She had not even finished her meal." Hades raked a hand through his hair, causing some of the shorter strands to come loose. He looked at his loyal friend. "You know I have never been able to do this."
"This?" Iapis asked.
"This! This! This mixing with them. This insane ritual of feint and stab they require to maintain their interest."
"Perhaps you mean conversing with a goddess?"
"Of course that is what I mean!" Hades exploded.
Nonplussed by the God's show of temper, Iapis kept his voice calm and inquisitive. "And was Persephone requiring much, as you cal it, feint and stab before you insulted her?" Hades stopped his pacing and rubbed his brow, considering lapis' question.
"No," he said truthfully.
"So you had been conversing with her?"
"Yes, yes, yes," he admitted and then reality caught up with him. He had been enjoying himself. She had shown such interest in his realm, and she had been so easy to talk to - so unlike Aphrodite or Athena or... his lips curled in a sneer as he thought of the other young goddesses he had known. They were spoiled, manipulative beauties who rarely thought beyond their own needs and desires. When Persephone's voice had hardened at what she had taken as an insult, he had instantly been reminded of those other lovely immortals and his reaction had been automatic. He had absented himself from her presence.
"Did you mean to insult her?" Iapis asked.
"Of course not!" He started pacing again. "I thought what she said was amusing." He gave Iapis a dark look. "She had mistaken you for one of the dead."
lapis' lips twitched as he tried not to smile.
"I laughed at her and then I spoke to her as if she were a child. That insulted her. She reacted as any goddess would have." Hades hunched his shoulders.
"You say she reacted as any goddess would have. Then may I assume the dining room has been destroyed and she has departed the Underworld?" Iapis said.
"No, she... no. She remains and she destroyed nothing." He stopped his pacing and met the daimon's inquiring gaze.
"Then it appears she did not react as any other insulted goddess," Iapis said logical y. "What exactly was her reaction?"
"She said that she was not accustomed to being used as comedic fodder," Hades said.
"And what did you say in return?"
"I apologized and left."
"Might I suggest that the next time you apologize and stay, my Lord?" Iapis said.
"The next time?"
Hades could feel the al -too familiar burning sensation building in his chest. He knew that soon it would spread to the back of his throat and he would spend another miserable, sleepless night. Too choleric. That is what Hermes said was wrong with him.
Iapis nodded. "The next time."
"She is different." Hades' voice had deepened and he spoke with a quiet, control ed intensity.
"She is, indeed."
"She does not shun the spirits. She..." Hades broke off, remembering her flushed reaction to him, the curiosity in her voice and the warmth in her eyes. His jaw clenched. "I should stay far from her for the rest of her visit."
"My friend" - Iapis rested his hand on the God's shoulder - "why not let yourself enjoy her presence?"
"To what end?" Hades rubbed his chest and shrugged off the daimon's hand. "So that I can taste life, and then when she leaves or loses interest in dal ying with me - as she must - I am left with what? It is not enough, Iapis. It has never been enough."
And there it was, Hades thought as he began pacing again, the thing that separated him from the rest of the immortals. Unlike the other gods and goddesses, he longed for something that he had witnessed over and over again between the souls of mortals, but he had not glimpsed once, not even briefly, between immortals.
"My Lord," Iapis said softly, "is it not better to experience even a smal amount of happiness, than none at al ?"
"I was not fashioned as the rest of them. I do not know how to treat love as a plaything." Iapis looked into the God's haunted eyes and saw there the loneliness that Hades had kept at bay for countless ages.
His spirit ached for his friend. The daimon thought about Persephone. There was something about the young Goddess that was unique, something besides her much-lauded beauty and her ability to breathe light into darkness. Hades must not shut out Persephone. If he did, he was afraid that the God of the Underworld would forever be closing the door to any chance of relieving the dark loneliness of his existence.
But how was he to coax Hades out of his instinctive reaction to withdraw from the Goddess until her visit was complete? His Lord was not used to visitors. His existence was planned and orderly and set, not at al conducive to disturbances from the other immortals. And the Goddess of Spring was a definite disturbance.
She was also beautiful and vivacious and intriguing.
If only Hades could feel as easy with her as he did with the unnumbered dead. lapis' eyes widened as an idea took root and grew.
"Perhaps that is the answer, Lord."
Hades gestured impatiently for him to continue.
"Imagine that Persephone is simply one of the unnumbered dead."
"Iapis, that is ridiculous."
"Why?" The daimon threw his hands up in frustration. "You're at war within yourself, Hades! You say you should withdraw from her, yet when you speak of her I see in your eyes a spark that has been absent for an eternity. What if the Fates have been kind and there has been another immortal fashioned as you have been? How wil you ever know if you remain sealed from everything that is living? Give the Goddess a chance, my Lord."
Before Hades could comment, Iapis cocked his head, as if he were listening to an internal voice.
"She has just cal ed my name."
"Go to her!" Hades commanded. But the moment after Iapis vanished the God shouted his name again.
"My Lord?" Iapis asked, rematerializing.
"Invite the Goddess of Spring to join me in the Great Hal tomorrow. Tel her if she is stil interested in learning about the Underworld, hearing the petitions of the dead should provide an excel ent source of information for her." Hades spoke the words quickly, as if he wanted to get them out of his mouth before he could change his mind.
Iapis smiled enigmatical y. "Very good, my Lord."
'Tomorrow, then, Goddess." Iapis said.
He had almost bowed his way from Lina's bedchamber when Eurydice rushed through the open door and ran straight into his backside.
"Uhf!" He staggered forward, tripped over his own feet, and fel head first onto the floor. Lina and Eurydice stared openmouthed at each other. Lina smiled. She couldn't help it. Iapis usual y looked so dignified and there he was, sprawled on the floor with his toga in the air. A choked laugh slipped from her lips.
A smal sound escaped from Eurydice. It was soft and fluid and delightful. It was also most definitely a giggle. And it destroyed the last of Lina's self-control. Iapis stood, struggling to regain his bruised pride, but the musical sound of feminine laughter more than atoned for any ruffling of his dignity, and he found himself joining them. How he wished Hades could be there. The God so needed laughter in his life.
"I seem to have found a slight" - stil chuckling, he glanced down at the smooth expanse of marble at his feet - "something in the floor which tripped me."
"I think its name is Eurydice," Lina chortled.
Eurydice tried unsuccessful y to stifle her giggles with her hand.
"Then I wil have to see that I pay special attention to that slight something." lapis' eyes were warm with good humor, and, Lina thought as she watched Eurydice's pale cheeks pinken, perhaps something else. She gazed thoughtfully after the daimon as he bowed to her, and this time successful y left the room.
"Oh, Persephone, I have had such a day!" Eurydice skipped over to the nearest wardrobe. She hummed a lively tune and pulled open drawers until she found the Goddess's nightdresses. "Iapis found some wonderful parchment and charcoals and I have already begun a preliminary sketch of the palace."
"That's nice, Eurydice," Lina said. Stil considering the warmth she had seen in the daimon's eyes, she wasn't real y listening as she absentmindedly nodded and al owed the girl to unwrap her robe and help her step out of it She held out her arms and Eurydice slipped the long nightie over her head. Lina ran her hand down the length of the material. It was white satin that had been intricately embroidered with narcissus blossoms. It felt like water against her skin.
"Come over to the table and sit down while I brush out your hair. You look exhausted," Eurydice said. She had been studying her Goddess and she hadn't failed to notice the dark smudges under her violet eyes.
Lina sank into the padded vanity chair, breathing a sigh of pleasure as Eurydice began brushing her hair with long, even strokes. She hadn't realized how tired she had become. The girl chattered happily about the process of mapping the palace while she worked. The sound of her young voice was almost as soothing as the touch of her hands. Lina felt her shoulders relax and her mind wander.
After Hades had stormed out of the dining room, she had finished her meal and the rest of the bottle of wine. No. The truth was first she had cursed and grumbled about men in general, then she had decided that she wasn't going to let another man's lapse in good manners ruin a perfectly good dinner. When she finished the scrumptious meal and the excel ent bottle of wine, she had simply said lapis' name aloud. In what seemed like seconds he answered her cal , ready to escort her back to her bedroom. During their walk he had made vague, nonspecific references to the lack of visitors in the Underworld and to how little practice he had in entertaining and conversing with guests. He had said that he hoped she wouldn't judge him, or the Underworld, too harshly or too hastily.
Lina heard the real message loud and clear. The "he" was, of course, not Iapis but Hades. He was obviously apologizing for the God's behavior. The wine she had finished by herself and her riled temper had made Lina want to tel Iapis to take a particularly colorful message (in Italian) back to Hades, but the remnants of her good sense had, thankful y, kept her mouth shut. Hades was a god and she was staying within his realm. It was not smart to antagonize him and now that she was out of his presence and had time to think about the evening, Lina was regretting her little temper tantrum. Hades wasn't a middle-aged divorce' with sweaty palms who had asked her to dinner so he could whine about his exes and then grope her for dessert. He was a powerful immortal, a being she knew little about.
And, just exactly why had she been so pissed off at him? Okay, he had been moody and unpredictable at dinner, but he had also been interesting and sexy. lapis' explanation about his God's lack of manners made sense. He wasn't used to visitors. Obviously, his social skil s were a little rusty. As an immortal being, just how polite did he have to be? She thought about Demeter's imperious manner and Eirene's rudeness. Actual y, Hades' temperamental behavior seemed to fit right in with those two.
Eurydice finished brushing her hair, but the little spirit obviously felt Lina's tension because her soft, cool hands began gently massaging her shoulders. Lina sighed happily and closed her eyes, letting the girl's touch soothe her nerves and clear her mind.
She'd real y had no reason to snap at Hades. He hadn't been making her the butt of his joke, he'd simply been treating her like the naive young goddess she was masquerading as, and her sil y show of temper had done little to prove his opinion of her wrong. If she wanted him to treat her like a mature adult, she real y should try acting like one.
Merda! She'd been there less than a day and she was already messing up. Had she completely lost her mind? She was, after al , in the Underworld to do a job. At least she'd had sense enough to say yes when Iapis had extended the invitation to join Hades the next morning to hear the petitions of the dead. She needed to get her head on straight and think of it as nothing more than just another part of the job Demeter had sent her there to do. She needed to be visible to the dead so that her presence could bring them comfort. It had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to spend more time with Hades because the dark God intrigued her, which was real y ridiculous... sil y...
foolish.
Yet undeniably true.
She knew it. As Eurydice soothed her frazzled nerves she could even admit it to herself. Hades fascinated her, but so did everything about the Underworld. She felt drawn to him, but it was probably because she had been displaced and everything in that incredible world was so new and unique. How could she not feel curious fascination about the magic that surrounded her? And that magic natural y included the God in charge. It was a perfectly normal reaction for her to feel compel ed to find out more about him.
At least that's what she told herself.
"Persephone, you're almost asleep," Eurydice said. She tugged on her Goddess's arm, pulling her toward the canopied bed. "Lie down. I wil sing to you. Just as my mother used to sing to me." Too tired to protest, Lina al owed the young spirit to tuck her into the voluptuous, down-fil ed bed. Eurydice nestled next to her. Stil stroking the Goddess's hair, she began to sing a soft lul aby about a child who rode on the back of the wind to a many-colored land of dreams.
"Eurydice," Lina said sleepily.
"Yes, Goddess."
"Thank you for taking care of me."
"You are welcome, Persephone," Eurydice said.
Sleep closed gently around Lina, bringing her dreams of riding the wind while she chased Batman's shadow.