Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 94417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
My blood freezes as I gaze upon the dwelling. Zeus waits inside. His long white robe and golden cloak at odds with my darkly mirrored attire. His golden silk to my thick velvet. The stark white to my pitch black. I take a moment, as the door closes behind me with a soft click to note the darkness under his eyes and the growth of his beard. He is plagued and for a moment I feel certain sympathy for him.
“Hades,” he greets me and in his tone there is desperation. My head tilts as I answer him, “Zeus.”
Zeus sits in the center chair, but gets to his feet. A quick glance at the walls says they are more solid than they seemed before.
Perhaps that is Zeus’s wish. He wants them to seem like the walls of Olympus. As if he owns this place, too.
He does not.
The Fates are nowhere in sight, though their influence is all around us in the stillness of the air, as if they’re watching.
Zeus tampers his scepter on the old floor and his crown, a wreath of olive leaves, slips slightly. A challenge, of course. I can tell from his eyes that he is sizing me up. That he did not think of this as a meeting between equals, perhaps. That he thought this would be a chance for him to issue commands
If he thought so, he is discovering now that he is wrong. This is not a meeting between equals, nor one where he is free to issue commands.
I am more than he is. I am more than he will ever be.
Because I have Persephone.
She is what makes me more. She is what keeps my back straight and my mind focused. Together we will rule. The Fates told me so, if only I allow fate to be.
I clear my throat and pull a chair back, taking a seat across from where he was. My own crown of celestial bronze doesn’t slip as I lift my chin in gesture of him retaining his seat.
The silence stays heavy between us for some time before Zeus lowers his chin just slightly and he retakes his seat. He was already looking into my eyes, but now his gaze has a different intent.
“You have her,” he says. It is not quite a question.
“How is it that you come to ask?” I ask, my tone just as light.
Something flashes in his eyes, and he spreads his hands in front of him. “I did not know, but I was hopeful she was in your hands.”
“Were you?” A glimmer of hope lights within.
“It will be easy to acquire her back.” The glimmer is quickly vanquished by his statement. I rub my forefingers against my thumb, watching him, waiting for more but he does not offer it.
There are no words to express the rage I feel at his easy words, but I let nothing show. I let it burn inside me.
“I will not return her,” I answer and all air leaves my lungs.
There is a pause while Zeus takes this in, reacting only with a blink.
“I do not wish to be on opposite sides of a war with you,” he says.
“There is, perhaps, a deal to be made here,” I offer. There is no deal that will include me handing Persephone over. One does not hand over a queen.”
Zeus shakes his head. “You stole her. The terms have changed.”
“Have they?”
“What of Demeter?” Zeus questions, his brow furrowing. “What of the loss she has suffered?”
Ah—that is the change in the terms, then. Demeter’s sadness. Her demands. She has impressed her wishes upon Zeus.
Whatever Demeter feels, it will not sway me.
“Inform her of what you must. I will not live without Persephone.”
Zeus lets out a short scoff, a break in his usual control. “War is what it will come to.” His voice rises in disbelief. “War, Hades. I cannot stop her! You have not seen what terrors she’s already unleashed!”
“I will suffer the losses of war then,” I say simply. And the warnings of the Fates hiss at me. Consuming me. Demanding my words to be taken back.
“The losses of war could be beyond—”
“It would be nothing,” I interject, cutting him off with more feeling than I had intended to show. It is difficult not to show more, but I resolve to keep a tight leash on my voice. “Nothing at all compared to the loss of my Queen. We do not need to fight. Do not take her from me. She is at peace in my realm. She is a Queen. She must stay.”
Zeus’s expression shifts. It is a slight change, but I am watching for it. His eyes widen subtly and his lips part as if he cannot decide what to say. He controls it within a heartbeat, but I have already seen.
It’s fear. That’s what is written on his face. A small part of me wants to gloat at this small victory. Zeus should have known he was fucked from the moment he entered this room. He should have known what Persephone meant to the realms of the Gods and the Underworld—and to me.