The Great Hal lived up to its name. Lina had thought the dining chamber and her bedroom extravagant, but they paled in comparison to Hades' throne room. The room was enormous, even when judged on the scale of the huge palace. Three colors dominated it - black, white and purple. The floor, wal s and cathedral ceiling were al made of the unblemished black of the exterior of the palace, as was the raised dais on which stood a massive throne-like chair, which seemed to have been carved from a single piece of an ethereal y white stone Lina did not recognize. On the dais next to the throne there was a tal , narrow table made of the same milky stone. On the table rested a silver helmet which looked oddly familiar to Lina. She stared at it and realized where she had seen it before. It was the same helmet that was emblazoned on the flag that hung over the palace and adorned the uniforms of the stablemen. It winked and sparkled in the candlelight with an otherworldly beauty. She forced her eyes from the helmet to the other color in the room, purple. It came from dozens of chandeliers and wal fixtures, al made of a pure sparkling stone Lina did recognize - amethyst.
Lina hesitated on the threshold of the room, intimidated by its austere grandeur. She felt suddenly smal and insignificant and very, very mortal.
"Is something the matter, Persephone?" Eurydice asked.
Lina took a deep breath. She was Goddess, she reminded herself. Yes, it was only temporary, but she was Goddess nonetheless.
"No, honey, nothing's wrong. I'm just admiring the room." She smiled at the little spirit.
"Ah, Hades comes," Iapis said.
Hades entered the Great Hal from a doorway on the opposite side of the room. His gilded sandals rang against the smooth marble floor, and as Lina watched him she felt her heartbeat increase with each of his steps. He was wearing the cape again. It swirled behind him, accentuating his body's long, powerful lines. His toga-like robes at first appeared black, but as the light from the chandeliers touched him, the material shone like a raven's wing with glints of purple and royal blue. His hair was loose and it fel in a thick black curtain around his shoulders. His chiseled jaw was set and his face was dark, his expression somber. He exuded raw, masculine power. Lina's stomach fizzed. She had to force herself not to twirl her hair nervously. Hades took the steps of the dais in one stride. He turned and was about to sit when he noticed the three figures standing just inside the entrance across the chamber. His eyes met Lina's and held.
"Persephone," he said, inclining his head slightly, not breaking their gaze. "I am honored to welcome Spring into my Great Hal ."
Lina swal owed, wishing her mouth wasn't so dry.
"Thank you, Hades," she said, pleased that her voice sounded strong and clear. "I appreciate your invitation."
"Please, join me," Hades said. Then, breaking the spel that had locked her eyes to his, he shifted his attention to the daimon. "Iapis, have a chair brought for the Goddess."
"Of course, my Lord," Iapis cal ed over his shoulder, and a flutter of activity ensued. Within moments spectral servants carried a delicately carved silver chair to join Hades on the dais. Lina walked into the room. She could feel the God's eyes on her, and she lifted her chin with pride. Eurydice had helped her dress, and Lina was especial y pleased that the violet silk she had chosen reflected the color of the amethyst chandeliers blazing over her head as wel as her eyes. But she knew the lovely material that draped her body was incidental. That morning as she had been dressing, she had been struck anew by Persephone's immortal beauty. Lina knew that no matter what turmoil was going on within her mind, she crossed the room with al the beauty and grace of a goddess.
When she reached the dais Hades hesitated, then with a sidelong glance at Iapis he met her as she took the first of the dais steps. He offered her his hand, just as he had when he had helped her into his chariot the previous day. When Lina placed her hand within his, the dark God lifted it slowly to his lips.
"I hope you slept wel last night, Goddess."
"Yes, thank you, I did," Lina said, trying to ignore the way her skin tingled at his touch.
"It pleases me to hear you say so," Hades said.
Lina smiled foolishly and nodded. Hades was different today - more powerful and more sure of himself. And there was something else about him, too, a magnetism that today he seemed to have focused on her. Standing so close to him she could feel the strength of his presence, and she found it a little intimidating, as wel as very, very sexy.
Admittedly, it had been a long time since she had been around such a tal , virile man. She snuck a look at him as he helped her up the steps and led her to her chair. Okay, so she had quite possibly never been around any man like him before. She watched the cape wrap enticingly around his body as he turned and sat beside her. He definitely looked the part of God of the Underworld.
"Eurydice, you need not remain behind. You may stay with your Goddess," Hades cal ed to the girl, who was stil standing in the doorway.
Ashamed that she had forgotten about the spirit, Lina whispered a quick thank-you to Hades as Eurydice scampered across the room and up the dais steps to take her place next to Lina's chair.
"Carry on as usual, Iapis," Hades said.
Iapis nodded to the God before disappearing from the room.
"Iapis is going to the front of the palace. There he wil announce that I wil hear petitions. It wil not be long before the first begin to arrive," he explained.
"Do you do this every day?" Lina asked.
"No," Hades shook his head.
"Oh," Lina said. "How often do you hear their petitions?"
"As often as I feel it necessary."
"Oh," she said again, feeling uncomfortable at the shortness of his answers. Hades watched Persephone brush nervously at her hair, and the little gesture of discomfort made him realize that he had fal en back into acting Like he was made of stone. Give the Goddess a chance. His friend's words rang in his memory. Hades cleared his throat and leaned close to Persephone.
"I can sense the needs of the dead. It is not that I can hear their feelings and desires; it is more like I become aware of their increasing restlessness. I can sense when they need me, and that is when I open the Great Hal to hear their petitions."
"That's an incredible gift - to be able to respond to the needs of mortal souls." Hades turned his head so that he could look into the Goddess's violet eyes. Their faces were very close, and he could smel the sweet, feminine scent that clung to her body.
"It does not repulse you that I am linked so strongly to the dead?"
"Of course not," she said. He suddenly looked so vulnerable that Lina had an overwhelming urge to brush her fingers down his face, to soothe the lines of worry that creased his handsome brow. Instead she reached out and took Eurydice's hand. She squeezed it and smiled up at the spirit, who grinned back at her. "Some of my best friends are dead."
Hades looked from the spirit to the Goddess and al at once hope blossomed within his chest with such bittersweet intensity that he made a show of cal ing for wine to cover his heart-wrenching response.
The servants instantly settled a smal table beside them and Hades was able to col ect himself as they poured golden liquid into two goblets.
Lina nodded her thanks, sipped, and her face broke into a beatific smile.
"Oh, it's ambrosia! This is so delicious. Thank you for thinking of it." Fascinated, Hades watched her. Why was she so different? She wasn't repulsed by the dead. She obviously cared a great deal about Eurydice; she even cal ed her "friend." And things that most immortals took for granted, like ambrosia and the opulence of the gods, Persephone delighted in, as if everything was new and interesting to her. She was a puzzle, an intriguing puzzle he was beginning to yearn to solve.
"If it pleases you so much, I wil have to remember to serve it often," Hades said. He raised his goblet to her.
Stomach fluttering, Lina tapped her goblet against his. The stilted, wooden Hades who had abruptly left their dinner last night appeared to have been banished. He had been replaced by a charming, powerful God. Her cheeks felt flushed and her body was incredibly warm. His dark, magnetic eyes were mesmerizing. Feeling a little lost, she forced her gaze from his and looked around the Great Hal , reminding herself to breathe.
The light from the chandeliers glinted off the silver helmet that sat on the table on the other side of Hades. It winked with an eerie glow that somehow made it hard to focus on. She felt the God's eyes on her and she looked back at him.
"The helmet is beautiful. I've never seen one like it," she said.
"Thank you. It was a gift from the Cyclops," Hades said, smiling in obvious pleasure at the compliment.
Cyclops? Wasn't mat the guy with one eye? Cyclops, a one-eyed monster who gifted Zeus with thunder and lightning, Poseidon with his trident, and Hades with the helmet -
Okay! Lina broke into her internal encyclopedic monologue. Whoever he was, she certainly didn't want to get into a discussion about mythological creatures with Hades. So she did what any calm, col ected, mature woman would do - she changed the subject. Quickly.
"Your throne is very unusual, too. I don't recognize the stone from which it is made."
"It is white chalcedony," he said.
"Does it have special properties, too?" Lina asked.
"Yes, it banishes fear, hysteria, depression and sadness. I thought it a good choice for this particular room."
"I agree with your choice."
Hades turned his head and leaned toward her again,
bringing their faces close together again. "Do you recognize the colored stone in this room?"
"It's amethyst."
"It is the same color as your eyes, Persephone," Eurydice said in a happy voice of discovery.
"Yes, I have noticed that, too," Hades said slowly without releasing Lina's gaze. His voice had deepened so that it was an audible caress, and Lina felt an answering flutter low in her stomach.
"The dead ask to speak to their God!" lapis' voice carried his words with formal authority across the Great Hal .
Hades' attention shifted reluctantly away from her, and Lina mental y shook herself. How in the hel was she supposed to think about business with Hades beside her oozing Sex God? She almost wished he'd turn back into Mr. Wooden and Withdrawn. Almost.
She could only hope that Persephone was having better luck staying focused back in Tulsa.
"The dead may enter." Hades' powerful voice commanded.
Lina saw that Iapis was holding the two-pronged silver spear Hades had carried the day before, and with a sound like a crack of thunder, he banged it against the marble floor. One of the shadows from just outside the arched entryway quivered, and then moved into the Great Hal . Lina watched intently as the spirit approached the dais. She was a middle-aged woman. Lina couldn't see any obvious wounds on her semitransparent form. She was, Lina thought, quite attractive. Her hair was piled in intricate braids atop her head, giving the il usion that she was wearing a crown. She was swathed in layer upon layer of draped fabric that fluttered wispily around her as she glided to a halt at the foot of the dais. She dropped into a deep curtsy, which she held until Hades spoke.
"Stheneboia, you may arise."
The woman straightened, but as soon as her eyes widened in recognition of Persephone, she fel back into another deep curtsy.
"I am honored by the presence of Demeter's daughter."
The spirit's breathy voice reminded Lina of a bad Marilyn Monroe impersonator. "Please rise," Lina said quickly, wondering why she felt such an instant dislike for the spirit. Stheneboia straightened again. Having paid proper respect to the Goddess, she ignored Persephone and focused her large, kohl-ringed eyes on Hades.
"I have come, Great God, to ask that I be al owed to drink of the River Lethe and be reborn to the mortal world."
Hades studied her carefully. When he spoke Lina noted that his voice was fil ed with the confidence and authority of a God, so much so that the fine hairs on her arms tingled and rose in response to his tangible power.
"It is an unusual request you make of me, Stheneboia. You know that the spirits of suicides are rarely al owed to drink of Lethe."
Lina felt a jolt of shock. The woman had kil ed herself? Why?
Stheneboia lowered her eyes demurely. "And you know, Great God, that I did not truly mean to die."
She said the title "Great God" like a verbal caress. Lina felt her jaw set. She was actual y flirting with Hades!
The spirit's tone turned pouty. "It was a tragic accident. Must I pay for it for al eternity?"
"What have you learned as you have roamed the banks of Acheron?" Hades asked abruptly. Stheneboia paused, as if careful y arranging her thoughts. When she spoke her words were a slow purr.
"I have learned that I chose unwisely. I wil not do so again, Lord of the Underworld." Hades' eyes narrowed and his deep voice was laced with disgust. "Then you have learned little. You lusted after Bel erophon, a youth half your age. When he rejected your desires, you told your husband the lie that he had tried to rape you. Thankful y, Athena thwarted his attempt to have the youth kil ed. The Goddess was wise to give Bel erophon to your youngest sister. She was more deserving."
"That timid mouse did not deserve Bel erophon!" Stheneboia's sudden rage twisted her attractive features so that her face became hard and cruel.
Hades continued on as if she hadn't spoken. "You did not intend to kil yourself, this I know. You only intended to scare your family and cause them such pain and sorrow that they would reject Athena's matchmaking and send Bel erophon away in disgrace. It was your misfortune that your maid overslept and did not discover you until you had bled beyond saving." Stheneboia's eyes slid away from the God's penetrating gaze and she pressed one cool, white hand against her brow as if his words had upset her.
"I wil choose more wisely in my next life," she said breathily.
"Where is your remorse, Stheneboia?" Hades asked in a stone voice. "You tried to command love with lies and seduction. Love can not survive such poison."
"But you do not understand," the spirit was beginning to sound desperate. "I wanted him so much. He should have wanted me. I was stil beautiful and desirable."
"Love can not survive such poison," Hades repeated. "Lust and desire are only a smal part of love, but that is another ideal you have yet to learn." Then he shook his head sadly. "I deny your request, Stheneboia. Instead I command that you return to the banks of Acheron, the River of Woe. Perhaps spending more time there wil enable you to open your heart to more than your own selfish desires. Do not ask to come before me until another century has passed." Stheneboia's mouth opened in a wordless scream as a great wind rushed into the chamber and swirled around her like a miniature tornado before picking her up and sweeping her from their sight.
Iapis lifted the spear to signal another spirit forward, but Hades' raised hand halted him midgesture. The God turned his attention to Lina.
"What do you think of my judgment?" he asked.
"I thought you were wise," she answered without hesitation. "I don't know the whole story, but from what I heard she did an awful thing, and she certainly wasn't sorry about it. She did make me wonder something, though."
Hades nodded for her to continue.
"If she drank of Lethe she would forget al of her past life."
"Yes," Hades said.
"But would she stil be the same type of person? I mean, is it like wiping everything clean, or is there stil a residue of the old self left behind?"
"An excel ent question," Hades said with obvious appreciation. "When a spirit drinks of Lethe, memories are wiped completely away and the soul is reborn within an infant's body. But the soul can not help but to retain some elements of personality. Ultimately, the body is just a shel ; it is the soul which defines the man or woman, god or goddess."
"Then that just reinforces the fact that you made a wise decision. Stheneboia would have been reborn to make someone else miserable."
"She based her life on lies - most of which she told herself about her true nature. It was not riches or luxury for which her soul yearned; it was love. And love cannot exist with lies and deceit," Hades said.
"You're very insightful about love," Lina said thoughtfully. Hades paused before he spoke his next words, and as he paused he felt hope stir once again within him. "I have spent eons studying the souls of the dead, and I have come to understand that love is one emotion that mortals know infinitely better than the gods."
Lina blinked in surprise. Mortals knew love better than the gods? For a woman who had been divorced and hadn't had a decent date in years, his words came as quite a shock.
"Do you real y think so?" she asked incredulously.
Hades felt the flicker of hope falter. "Yes, I know it as truth," he said with grim finality before he nodded to Iapis, who cracked the spear against the floor again.
Lina had little time to ponder Hades' reaction to her question. At lapis' command, another shadowy figure detached from the waiting doorway and Lina watched a pale woman make her way hesitantly across the Great Hal . She was dressed in much more somber robes than Stheneboia had been, but her attire looked just as rich and her dark hair was intricately dressed in a similar fashion. A smal coronet circled her head. As she drew closer, Lina could see that she was a plump but attractive woman who looked to be thirty-ish. Then she felt a jolt as she realized that the splash of scarlet on the front of her robes was an open wound, which stil seeped blood. The spirit curtsied deeply.
"Persephone and Hades, I am honored to bow before the Goddess of Spring as wel as the Lord of the Underworld."
The woman's voice was strong and regal. Lina smiled and inclined her own head in welcome.
"Greetings, Dido. What petition does the Queen of Carthage have to set before me today?" Hades asked.
"Hades, I beseech your blessing that I may depart the Region of Lamentation beside the River Cocytus and pass into Elysia."
The God studied the spirit thoughtfully. "Have you overcome the grief of your unrequited love, Dido?"
The woman lowered her eyes, not coyly as had Stheneboia, but in a manner that Lina recognized too wel from her own past. She lowered them to hide the pain that was stil reflected there.
"Yes, Great God. I am finished pining for that which I cannot have." Lina shifted restlessly in her chair and glanced at Hades. Surely he wouldn't believe Dido. Hades rubbed his chin and considered the dead queen. "What have you learned from your time of lamentation?"
"That I should have believed more firmly in the strength of love. I should have known that Aeneas just needed time. He was ordered by Zeus to leave me, what else could he do? He was a pious man, a warrior of great faith. It was not his fault. I should have been more understanding, more wil ing to - " Her words broke on a sob and she covered her face with her hands.
"Dido, you have not overcome your lamentation." The God's voice was gentle.
"But I have!" Dido raised her chin and wiped her face. "It is simply that I am fil ed with the awe of a child at being in the presence of immortals, and it has made my emotions tremulous." Her shining eyes shifted to Lina frantical y, looking for aid from the Goddess.
Lina returned the desperate woman's gaze with sympathy. She knew too wel how it felt to be abandoned and left to blame only oneself.
"I grant your request, Dido. You may enter Elysia with my blessing." Hades' words shocked Lina to the core. She found herself staring blankly at the God as the exuberant Dido rushed from the Great Hal .
Again, Iapis moved to raise the God's spear and Hades' motion prevented him.
"You do not agree with my decision, Persephone?" He turned in his throne so that he was facing the Goddess.
Lina straightened her spine and met his gaze. You're a goddess... you're a goddess... you're - no. She stopped the litany. More importantly, she was a woman who had, in real life, loved and been rejected and she understood exactly what Dido was feeling.
"No. I do not agree with your decision."
Surprised by her answer he said, "Could you explain?"
"Dido's not over Aeneas. She's deep in the trenches of hurting and blaming herself. She's stil a victim. Whatever lesson the River of Lamentation was supposed to teach her, it hasn't taken hold yet."
Hades felt his anger rise. What did Persephone know of love and loss? She was a young goddess who had always been given everything she desired.
"And how would you know that?"
Lina's eyes narrowed at his condescending tone, but she caught herself before she spat a snide answer at him. To Hades she was only a young goddess. He had no way of knowing her true past and her heartaches. She took deep, slow breaths and got a firm grip on her temper before she began her explanation.
"Wel , there were a couple major hints. First, looking away and crying was a dead giveaway. Pardon the bad pun. Second, did you listen to what she said?" Lina barreled on, without giving him a chance to reply. "Her whole little speech was fil ed with I, I, I and poor me, me, me. Add that to the
"it's not his fault, it's my fault," and you have one huge victim complex. She doesn't need to go to paradise, she needs to go to the gym, or maybe to a shrink, and work out some of that selfhatred." Lina abruptly shut up, wondering if Hades had any idea what a shrink was. He cocked his head sideways and looked at her as if she was a very interesting science experiment. Then he did something that real y pissed her off. He smiled. And chuckled. She set her jaw and dug deep, trying to find her own voice somewhere in Persephone's youthful sweetness, and she was rewarded by a steely tone with a satisfyingly sarcastic edge.
"Check into one thing, Hades. This Aeneas guy. I'l bet you one of your diamond chandeliers against one of Demeter's golden crowns that he's in Elysia. And that would be the same Elysia Dido just manipulated her way into. I'l also bet that he's a new arrival, which is what has instigated her sudden interest in moving into Elysia."
Hades' chuckle died and his eyes flattened. "Perhaps the young Goddess of Spring would like an opportunity to do more than observe and comment. The next judgment is yours, Persephone. Fate wil , in turn, judge how wel you choose."
Lina nodded tightly. Two words passed through her mind. Oh and shit. Iapis struck the God's spear against the marble floor, and it rang its somber knel like it was heralding the end of the earth.
This time not one, but several shadows disengaged from the entryway and approached the dais. Lina counted almost a dozen spirits. Her heart pounded and her sweaty hands gripped the armrest of her chair. This wasn't one or two lonely petitioners, it was an entire herd. They were al women, but were of various ages, and their spirit bodies were in varying states. Some of them were almost as substantial in form as was Eurydice, and some were so transparent, they were practical y nonexistent. They moved as a group like frightened sheep, at first hesitant and unsure, then they caught sight of Lina in her chair next to Hades, and a definite change came over them. They lost their timidity. As one they walked purposefully forward, their steps becoming more eager the closer they drew to the dais. When they were at the foot of the stairs they stood silently, gazing in open fascination at her. Then one spirit, a woman who was obviously the oldest of the group, dropped to her knees and bowed her head. The rest of the women fol owed her example. For what seemed to Lina to be a long time, no one spoke, then Hades' strong voice cut the silence. .
"What petition have you brought form today?"
The oldest woman raised her head. She spoke her response to Hades, but her shining eyes never left Lina.
"We have no petition, Great God. We have come in supplication to the Goddess of Spring, thanking her for answering our orisons. We have been too long without the presence of a Goddess." The old woman motioned with her hand, and several of the younger women stood and moved forward. They carried within their skirts bunches of freshly cut flowers, which they placed at Lina's feet. Hades was looking at Lina with one brow quirked upward. He remained silent, apparently remaining true to his word and al owing her to handle the situation.
She cleared her throat and forced her hand to stay clamped to the arm of the chair when it real y wanted to twirl frantical y at her hair. She was a goddess, she reminded herself for the zil ionth time, and goddesses didn't pull nervously at their hair - at least not in public.
"Wel , this is certainly a surprise. I do appreciate you coming, and the flowers are lovely." She tilted her head toward the little spirit who stood by her side. "Eurydice wil put them in water for me, and I wil cherish them."
The women smiled and made happy, breathless sounds. Lina began to relax. They seemed like nothing more than happy wel -wishers. Even a baker from Tulsa couldn't mess this up.
"You wil not be leaving the Underworld soon, wil you Persephone?" the old woman asked.
"No," Lina said firmly. "I wil not be leaving soon." Six months was certainly not "soon." The spirits whispered together in happy relief.
"We are so pleased, Goddess..." The old woman began, but her words trailed off as an amazing sound floated through the chamber.
Lina blinked in surprise. The sound surrounded her. Music. It was incredibly beautiful music. Entranced, she listened to notes that rose and fel like an impossibly complex birdsong. As the sound moved closer it became musical water. Some of it glided smoothly over pebbles in a clear brook, some tumbled along the slick bank of her hearing and stil other notes cascaded powerfully over a rhythmic waterfal of tinkling sound.
"Iapis?" Hades' voice intruded on the music, causing Lina to frown and wish he would just be stil .
"My Lord I do not - "
The daimon was interrupted as the musician entered the Great Hal . He walked toward the God's dais and the women parted to let him through. Lina studied him, stil amazed at the beautiful music he produced. He was an average, normal looking young man and he was playing a smal wooden harp that was gilded with gold. The gold was reflected in his hair and in the fine cloth that draped over his body leaving one tanned, muscular shoulder bare. He continued to pluck magic from the harp as he approached the dais. He was humming a lilting melody, and Lina was surprised when she noticed that his attention was not directed at Hades or at her. Instead his eyes blazed at a spot directly to her left.
"Why does a living man dare enter the Underworld?" Hades' voice sliced through the music, instantly silencing it.
Lina felt a shock of recognition. No wonder he looked so normal to her. He was alive.
"Who are you?" Hades thundered.
The answer came from the little spirit standing to the left of Lina.
"He is Orpheus. My husband."