Persephone moves about the room, instructing us on different positions and techniques to please Hades and satisfy his desires. I feel sick to my stomach as I listen to her words. If she would just give me a moment of her time, then perhaps all these lessons would no longer be necessary … but I know that, for now, I have no choice but to learn if I want a chance of surviving long enough to save my father.
Yet again, Persephone orders the others to practice on each other as she finishes demonstrating how to pleasure a man in ways I never even imagined. And, yet again, I am left standing awkwardly in the center of the room, watching on.
“That will be all for tonight,” the queen announces. “It is time to choose tonight’s seductress. Once more you will go to my husband to attempt to seduce him. But tonight, you are not wake him except by means of the pleasure I have just taught you.”
Her eyes meet mine, and for one horrible moment, I think she means to select me. That tonight is the night I will be forced to seduce Hades. The very thought of giving myself over completely to him, to be at his beck and call, to be nothing more than a vessel for his pleasure, makes my skin crawl.
I can’t do this, I—
“You,” Persephone says, nodding to a woman just behind me.
I glance back to find a beautiful dark-haired woman, curvier than either Persephone or me, standing there. Her ample cleavage is on full display even as her cheeks flush with color.
Running a hand through her dark hair, she gives me a challenging look, and I almost think she’s eager for this chance.
Of course, she probably is.
I suppose it’s not every day that one finds themselvesinvitedto seduce the God of the Underworld, and by his wife no less.
“Guards!” The woman holds her head high as the doors to the room open and Persephone’s men file into the room. “Take this one to the king and return the rest to where you found them.”
I watch as the chosen brunette is escorted quickly from the room, waiting for my own guards to appear by my side. Suddenly realizing this is may be my chance to speak with Persephone, I quickly turn toward her.
“Hazel, if you will stay,” she says before I can open my mouth, “I would have a word with you.”
I nod, trying to keep calm even as my heart leaps in my chest. My mind floods with everything I want to tell her as I wait for the others to leave.
Around me, the women slowly thin as they are led out of the room and back through the palace halls. Watching them, I can’t help but notice the way each of them is careful to avoid meeting my eye. As the last of the women disappears from sight, my attention returns to Persephone.
“I—”
She holds up a hand to quiet me, and I reluctantly do as I’m bid.
Silence falls over the room, and I anxiously wait for her to break it. Several minutes pass, but she says nothing, her gaze lost in the leafy foliage that covers the ceiling.
Walking across the room, she settles onto a thick bed of flowers at is seems to spring from nowhere. With a sigh, she plucks a soft pink flower, watching as its petals wither and fall to the floor.
I frown as she reaches for another and then another. Shifting slightly, the eerie light catches, sparkling over a trail of tears that’s wet her cheek. Especially after the past two nights.
Another moment passes, and I find myself unable to stop the concern that tugs me closer as she curls up into a ball in the middle of the wilting petals.
“Persephone?”
She glances up at me, as if suddenly remembering she’s not alone. All the ice and sharpness from before slowly melting from her face.
Letting out a sniffle, she pushes herself up into a sitting position and draws her knees to her chest.
"This is not the first time," she whispers.
I stare at her for a moment.
“What do you mean?”
“This is not the first time my husband’s eyes have strayed. Hell, he has a whole harem of women at his beck and call,” she says, her voice catching. “Each time I think it will be easier, but the pain has yet to lessen, and now … and nowthis.”
“I am so sorry,” I say, my mouth going dry as I work up the courage to tell her everything. “I—"
“I am afool, Hazel,” Persephone interrupts, not seeming to hear me. “Despite it all, I love Hades. I hate him with all my heart, but yet, I find myself forced to love him. I am bound to him, trapped here in a web of false hope. I cannot escape him, and yet, I do not know if I even wish to.”
