Tomorrow for him, maybe.
Tonight… tonight she would show the gods that she was not a queen to be trifled with. Tonight… she made good on her word.
Tonight, Hades would learn who he was up against.
47
SHE DIDN’T SLEEP… How was she supposed to? Her mind raced, unraveling every word her husband had spoken, every fragment of knowledge she possessed about the god of the underworld.
Odysseus clung to her, fisting the sheets that wrapped around them both, clinging to her as if she would slip away if he wasn’t careful. It was with great effort that she freed herself from his arms.
She hesitated at the edge of the bed, breath held, waiting, watching. Odysseus did not stir. He wouldneverallow this. She had to do it now, tonight.
Before she lost her nerve.
Quickly swiping her husband’s dagger, Penelope took to the halls of the palace. After twenty years in this home, she knew each turn like the back of her hands. She kept to the shadows, and though she encountered no one, she couldn’t help but feel like she had eyes on her.
She slipped into the dark room, the candle on the table close to fading. The old man slept soundly, oblivious to her presence. She shut the door as quietly as she could, gliding across the room.
“Icarius,” she spat, pressing the dagger to the sleeping man’s throat as she loomed over him. “Get up.”
“Daughter,” he croaked, stiffening beneath the blade. “What in the hells are you doing?
“I said, get up.” Putting pressure on the dagger, she heard her father gasp beneath her.
Icarius shuffled. She withdrew the dagger from his neck, allowing him room to stand. “What in the hells are you doing, woman?” He hissed at her, rubbing his throat.
“Why did you come to my home?” Her eyes were hardened, void of emotion. “Why are you here,father?”
“I told you,” he mused, gaining his bravado back slowly. “Hades wanted to…” he stalled, “ensure your husband understood the consequences of tricking the god of the underworld.”
“Whyyou?” She snapped. The tightness in her shoulders caused her to shake. “You’re no one, Icarius. Not in the greater scheme. Not to Odysseus, not to Hades. Why did he pickyou?”
It was her father’s turn to laugh, his eyes darkening as he looked upon his daughter. “Why not?” He mocked. “Uncle to Helen of Troy, Father-in-Law to Trojan hero, Odysseus of Ithaca. My kin have sent many men to the god of the dead’s gates, who better?”
“What did he promise you?”
“You assume something had to be vowed for me to act?”
“Yes,Father, I do.”
Icarius sneered, eyes narrowing. “Only a fool would pass up the chance to start life anew, child.”
Penelope huffed, a scowl crossing her face, “A fool indeed, Father. Why did you demand an audience with me?”
“I had to get you away from that scoundrel of a king, daughter. You don’t know that man, not like I do. I have heard stories of his time at war.” His gaze did not leave hers, did notabate. “I had to try to bring my daughter to her senses. Can you fault an old man for trying to make amends?”
Penelope laughed into the darkness, the sound echoing off of the chamber walls. “I can fault you for many things. Iwillfault you for many things.” She raised the dagger again, leveling it between his eyes. “And I will not hesitate to run you through, should you speak of my king again.”
Icarius shook his head. “Ever the simple girl, so easily manipulated by a pretty face, a good lay.”
“Summon Hades. Whatever he has asked you to do, to deliver, call him here.” She hissed, eyes narrowing. “I tire of speaking to you.”
Icarius bellowed a laugh. “You think I cansummonthe god of death?”
Penelope did not falter. “He sent you here, did he not? Tell him I want an audience.” Her eyes never left the man. “That or… I can drive this dagger through your gut and let you bleed out on my castle floor.”
Her father did not lose his scowl as he turned from her. Lifting his own dagger from his bedside, he drew the blade across his palm, allowing the blood to drip into a shallow vase. “I hope you know what you’re asking for, girl.”
