Hades And Persephone: Curse Of The Golden Arrow

by Heidi Hastings

  “So wonderful to hear that your first thought was that I was a liar,” she said. “Why did he attack me?”

  “I do not know. Either his hate for me or his lust for you -- possibly both. Perhaps it was merely that he did not want to see me happy with someone that he wanted. That question remains unanswered,” Hades said.

  “Why did you not tell me?” she questioned despondently, her rage beginning to burn out so that only desolation remained in its fiery absence; a cold emptiness that was covering her soul. “As soon as you knew, why did you not confront me?”

  “I told you,” he said in a tired voice, “at first I thought you were lying to me.”

  “And when you found out the truth? What reason was there for your lie then?” she asked.

  “I was selfish,” he said softly. “I was a coward and afraid you would hate me when you discovered the truth, when you found out that it was I who unknowingly must have led him to you; that I had loved you long before the curse.”

  Her eyes drifted to his chest and she gasped when saw the small white scar that stood out over his heart. But that meant… she sat stiffly on the chaise, her eyes fixated on his smooth skin. That small scar betrayed her and she almost fell from the divan, catching herself before she stumbled to the ground. His eyes were following her movements, but he remained still as she stood.

  “I want to be alone,” Persephone demanded.

  “Persephone, do not run away from this.” He moved then, blocking her path. “Everything I said in those letters is what I am, who I am. Every word was the truth. My love for you was written in those letters.”

  “Run away?” she repeated, her voice hollow. “It is too late to run away from the damage already done. My connection with you altered the course of my life. You should have told me who you were from the beginning. You should have warned me.”

  “Would you have given me a chance if I had told you who I was, the King of Death? You hated me so much when I brought you down to the Underworld. Do not hate me now for loving you,” he beseeched.

  “Through your omission you assured that our love was damned from the start. You made us fated to be apart. If you had trusted me…” her voice broke and she turned away from him, staring sightlessly at the crashing waves below them.

  She felt his hand move against her hair, and with her back to him, she closed her eyes at his touch. He said, “Someone interfered with our love. You are right to blame me. I was so blinded by my feelings for you that I was unable to see the danger.”

  “And how long will they continue to meddle? How long will they let us have happiness?” she asked.

  “You are right,” he said, dropping his hand to her arm and turning her gently towards him. “The choice is yours, Persephone. I release you from your oath, from your vows. The curse is broken. You are no longer a prisoner. You can go freely. You have fulfilled your part of the bargain and I will fulfill mine. You are free to choose.”

  “Free,” she said bitterly. “I am never free. Ares will wait for me and I will have no choice but to hide again in mother’s temple. And what of my life here? Olive and my father? You kept me here and now I am hopelessly entangled. I am half in and half out of both worlds now. I do not fit in anywhere. I will not be completely happy with either choice. You have ruined me.” She pushed his hands from her again, spinning away as tears began to fall from her eyes. “I need to be alone. Do not follow me!” She flew from the courtyard as she let her feet carry her away from him, and she felt her heart breaking.

  She ran through the dazzling landscapes of Elysium -- seeing nothing. The story of Eros and Psyche played inside her mind, how they had been destined to love and to lose. They were kept apart from each other through their mutual distrust. Their love had not been strong enough to survive their own self-doubt. How familiar her story was to theirs. Her feet caught on the earth below her and she tumbled, sprawling against the soft ground. As she lay alone and broken she gave in to her weakness and sobbed, letting the earth absorb her tears. When she was finally exhausted she sat up, wiping her face, and she saw that a white flowered tree of sorrow had sprouted from her tears. She touched it gently and suddenly realized who she wanted to speak to. She was still the Queen of this world and she knew she could find him with simply a command of her mind. “Where is Iasion?” she whispered. She saw his hut in her mind and she pushed herself from the ground, running to find her father.

  It took her only minutes to locate his house, nestled in a quiet valley. He was sitting near the window with a scroll in one hand, and he stood when he saw her. He appeared at the doorway but his smile quickly faded when he saw her face. She flung herself into his arms trying to explain her dilemna, but her words only came out garbled.

  “Come inside, child," he said gently. He took her arm and set her in the chair he had recently vacated, pouring her tea from a pot that was steaming on a nearby table. The scent of ginger filled the air as he passed her a cup. She took a deep steadying gulp of the hot drink. He sat across from her, bringing his chair near her, patiently waiting for her to finish her tea. “What is wrong?” he finally asked when her sobs had subsided and her cup was empty.

  “Hades and I… well you could say we quarrelled, but I think that is too tame a word.”

  “I see,” he said, a small smile on his lips. “What could you have fought about? He loves you, you know.

  She tried to smile, but her face merely crumpled into tears and her father wrapped his hand around hers. “Father, there is so much you do not know. I -- I am afraid it is too late for us.”

  “No,” her father said intensely, his hand tightening over hers. “It is not, Persephone. I was separated from your mother, my death creating a permanent divide between us that I can never breach. Do not allow a misunderstanding to keep you from the one you love.”

  “Father,” she whispered. “I am so sorry…”

  He shook his head. “That is long past my love, you have nothing to be sorry about. Tell me. Tell me your tale from the beginning and we will see if we can make sense of it all.”

  She moved to sit before him, laying her head against his knees as she started from the beginning. The first time she had seen the letter travel down the river towards her. Her father listened, weeping when she wept, smiling when she smiled. When she repeated Ares’ savagery in the forest she felt his body shake with rage, but his hand remained a gentle touch against her face. The sun began to set when she had finished, ending with Hades’ final revelation. The room fell silent, her voice hoarse from speaking for so long.

  “How he loves you, my dear,” he said softly.

  “If it is love, how can it be so hurtful, so flawed?” she whispered.

  “Oh, my dear Persephone. Love is nothing, if not flawed. Tell me, when your mother speaks of me does she regret our relationship?”

  She sat up, leaning back on her heels to look at him in surprise. “Of course not. You are and were the love of her life.”

  He nodded. "I was, and she is and was, mine. I was murdered before we fully got to know each other. We were parted quickly and I died for daring to love her. But, I would do it again. I would relive it all again. Even my death." He took her hand in his. "Life is unpredictable, it is flawed, it is messy and sometimes… sometimes it ends badly. But I can tell you from experience - it is better to have loved than to live with the memory of regret. Your mother loved a mortal, knowing he would grow old and die, always knowing she was meant to lose me. She does not regret it. And now we have you.”

  “Your love was selfless. Hades… and I… there is so much mistrust between us. Not only his, but mine. We are both guilty.”

  “A choice lies before you, Persephone. You can forgive, or you can move on with your life, away from here. Darkness lies between you, but between the strands of black, there is a destiny which calls for you.” He rested his face on his hand and watched the darkening sky. “You are afraid. You found out that the depth of your feelings for him run much deeper than you realized. I
t terrifies you to love someone so much, that one person could hold so much power over you. But Persephone, you must allow yourself to live. The deeper emotions in life are never safe to feel, but they are worth the price. They are the reason we breathe, why we dream of tomorrow.”

  She stared up at him in shock, that he had dared to speak the words that she had pushed to the deepest recesses of her mind. Her anger, her rage, it all stemmed from fear. Fear that she would never be enough for him. He stood and pulled her gently to her feet.

  “Do not live in the shadows, Persephone. You are a Goddess, eternity stands before you and that is a very long time to live with regret. Forgive him. Forgive yourself.”

  “I am afraid,” she said in a small voice, her hand tightening almost painfully over his.

  “I know,” he replied. “But all the things in life worth having inspire a little fear. Let yourself step from the shadows. Nothing but the truth lies between the two of you now, see what you can make of it. Now go my dearest. You have spent enough time with a surly old man.”

  “You are not old,” she said with a watery laugh.

  “I am older than you,” he smiled down at her.

  She embraced him fiercely as they stood in the doorway, and their heartbeats pressed against each other as the last rays of sunlight touched their skin. She turned away from him, stepping into darkness.

  It was nightfall and Hades paced the room. “This is intolerable!” he growled suddenly. He exited the temple and grabbed a torch from a sconce on the outerwall of the dwelling. Heading to the stables, he mounted Orphnaeus and urged him forward into the black night. He should not have let her wander by herself. He believed Elysium was safe, but how far Ares’ reach was able to extend now, was unclear. She had been reckless when she left. What if she had fallen and was injured and alone? He cursed himself as he sped through the forest and he was so absorbed in thought that he almost missed the small, pale figure in the forest. The horse reared as he pulled up abruptly and Persephone looked up at him as she was sitting on the darkened floor. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and shadows covered her face, shielding her expression.

  “Where have you been?” he asked, relief making his voice rough.

  “I went to see my father,” she said.

  “I see.” He waited for more but she said nothing. “And why are you sitting here?”

  “I was thinking,” she replied calmly, “on what he said,”

  “And what did your father say?” he inquired coolly.

  “That I am in love with you -- and it frightens me.”

  He was shocked into silence.

  Persephone continued, “And so I have been sitting here thinking. Do I love you? Or do I hate you? Or maybe I hate to love you.”

  “And what did you decide?” he asked finally.

  “I think,” she said softly. “That I love that I love you. That I have loved you for so long that you became as much a part of me as myself. Maybe the best part of me. And that scares me, that I have given you so much power over me, that you could destroy me so easily. But when I looked inside of myself, I found that the hatred I felt was never for you. It was for myself. And I have forgiven that poor lost girl. I decided I was worth a little absolution.”

  “Are you sure?” he said in a strangled whisper.

  “Search my mind.” she answered.

  “I-- what?” he asked, not sure if he had heard her correctly.

  She stood up then, stepping close to his horse. “Search my mind,” she said again. “I want you to.”

  He dismounted, extinguishing the light, plunging them into darkness. Only the faint light of the moon illuminated them. He moved to close that short space between them.

  “Are you sure, Persephone?” he asked again.

  “Yes,” she answered, and she moved his shaking hand to her temple, and closing her eyes -- opened herself to him. He was moving through her thoughts then, watching as she read his first letter, feeling her love grow until it overwhelmed everything else. She loved him with a fury that rivaled his love for hers, and it was in spite of the darkness, despite the scars that marked him from the inside out.

  I will love you forever, her voice whispered in his mind.

  “Forever,” she whispered, pressing her lips against his.

  Persephone felt him freeze, but there was nothing to stop her this time. No more fear, no more hesitation. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him closer to her.

  “Do not be afraid,” she whispered against his ear, as he trembled at her touch. She bent suddenly and pressed her mouth over that small scar that lay directly over his heart. “Love me back.”

  And suddenly he came to life, bringing her face to his, slanting his mouth against hers, kissing her, devouring her. She would have been afraid, except she wanted this darkness, she ached for the dark magic of his love to consume her.

  “Look at me,” he said fiercely, and she lifted her dazed eyes to him. “I love you. Say it back, say it again.”

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  And then with a groan he lowered his mouth to hers again and all thoughts were pushed from her mind. His mouth trailed over her neck and she felt his teeth move against her rapid pulse. Her white gown blew against them, enveloping them both in a pale, white, gossamer light. She pressed herself closer into him, as close as she could get, relishing the strength of his body against hers. And then his mouth was on her breasts, sucking her through the thin material of her gown and she gasped in pleasure, pushing his dark head closer.

  “It’s not enough,” he whispered against her, “it will never be enough.” He moved his mouth to her other breast and she felt her legs give out beneath her and he followed her to the ground. He was a shadow in the black night moving over her, pushing her legs apart. She felt the cool night air against her thighs and saw his dark head close to her legs, her gown lifted high. She tried to pull him up, back towards her mouth, but then his head lowered and she felt his tongue move inside of her and she could only helplessly writhe against him, holding his head as his fingers pressed against her thighs. His used his mouth ruthlessly and when he moved to that tiny bud at the apex of her womanhood, she gave a scream into the night. The world tumbled away from her until she was moving in a beautiful blackness filled with stars as she convulsed against his mouth.

  She came down from the high and she thought he would rise over her, join his body to hers, but then his fingers moved inside her and the slow build began again and she could feel her dampness soaking into him. He moved up, his mouth against her ear.

  “I have never tasted anything as sweet as you. Do you know you weep gold, my goddess? That it flows from you like ambrosia that was made just for me to drink.”

  She shuddered against him, almost climaxing at his words. Then his mouth clamped over her breast as his fingers worked their magic inside her, and she trembled against him, feeling herself go over that dark edge again. She spiraled over and over as he pleasured her. As she felt herself begin to emerge from that secret carnal place, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he smoothed her damp hair back from her tear streaked face, pulling his face back to look at her.

  “Did I hurt you?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. “More,” she said, “ I want more. I want everything.” She sat up and pulled her gown from her body, her pale flesh glowing in the dim moonlight, and then she was tugging on his clothing and he was helping her. She had a moment to appreciate the long, thick rigid length of him, and then he was pushing himself inside her. When he finally filled her, the blackness overtook them both and they seemed to become one with the night as endless waves of ecstasy moved over them.

  When he collapsed over her, she could only move her hand against his nape, stroking him gently. He was still buried deep inside her.

  “Does it always feel like that for you?” she whispered in an awed tone.

  He raised his head, pressing his head against hers. “Only with you,” he replied, brushin
g his lips over her face. “Always with you.”

  “Always?” she asked.

  His smile was wicked. She gave a small gasp as she felt his cock harden inside her and he began to move again. “Let me show you.”

  Chapter 23 - The Game

  ◆◆◆

  They woke in each other’s arms, her beautiful back pressed against the front of his body, and against all odds, he felt himself harden again. The morning light flickered through the trees to make patterns on their bare skin and Hades brought his mouth to Persephone’s neck, tickling and kissing her with his lips.

  She turned over with a smile and they lay nose to nose. “Good morning,” she greeted him contentedly.

  “Good morning,” he said, smiling as he saw the delicious blush that moved up her face.

  “You are a skilled lover,” she said suddenly.

  He laughed. “Thank you. I was using every skill I had learned over the centuries. I have had the advantage of time, you know.” He lifted her hand, letting his fingers travel lazily over the delicate bones of her wrist. He shook his head, reading her thoughts, as he brushed the dark strands of hair from her face. “There is nothing common about you, Persephone, including this. I have never felt these feelings before, or tasted something so… enticing. The light of the universe spills from you, my little flower.” He did smile this time as he watched her whole body turn red.

  “Well, how many Goddesses have you known?” she questioned.

  “I have known many,” he said. He saw the insecurity flash in her eyes. “Persephone,” he began gently. “You forget I once lived amongst the Olympians. After the war, the Gods would celebrate with orgies; their bodies so entwined you could not tell where one ended and the other began. I saw many things there. But I have never seen what pours from you.”

  “And were you...one of the entangled bodies?”

  “I was not,” he confirmed.

  “And my … my mother?” she asked.

  Hades gently took her hand. “After the wars your mother was absent from the temple, spending her time with Iasion.” The relief on her face was instantaneous. “Her commitment to him drove Zeus mad. He lusted over her until his desire became a sickness. He let everyone believe that he had caught her, used her, and discarded her.”