Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
My body is paralyzed by the sight of a dark cloud dissipating, and in its wake a cloaked figure lit by a torch. Hecate is here.
The guards open the heavy audience room doors as Minox and I make haste to our guest.
A servant brings a tray of fruits, a pitcher of water, and a cask of wine. Hecate sits at the head of the table, her hooded cape draped around neck while both water and wine are poured, then lifts her wine glass to her lips. The wine brings color to her cheeks and lips. The Titan’s face turns younger. The mother, the maiden, the crone. The three faces of a woman’s life fade into youth. The maiden. Surely, she thinks of Persephone as we enter.
“Ah,” she says when she puts it down, a small smile on her face. “I am refreshed.” As I pull the heavy wooden chair out beside her, the legs scrape against the floor. The servants line the room, but Minox requests their leave before leaving himself and shutting the doors so we may have privacy.
“Hecate. Thank you for coming.” She grants me a modest nod before admitting, “I saw that you would ask me to come.”
“Do you know what is happening on Olympus?” I question, the nerves caused by my queen’s absence still rattling in me.
“Sit, Hades.” Hecate gestures with her glass. When I do not sit, she gives me a look. “Sit down. We must talk.”
I take my seat although I’m restless.
Hecate sips her wine again, then gracefully reaches for a piece of cheese with honey and a single ripe berry on the silver tray between us. Her eyes close as she enjoys the decadence of the meal. I do not reach for anything. I don’t plan on indulging in the meal until she gives me another look, as if it is somehow rude not to eat when Zeus is making plans and calling meetings on Olympus and I am here, without Persephone.
Begrudgingly, I take a morsel. The doors open and a servant enters with a decanter.
“At your request,” she states and I motion for her to come in.
It takes a century to summon a servant and wait for wine to be poured. The taste of it on my tongue reminds me of Persephone. She tasted the wine, then when I returned from court, she kissed me, in those days when she was beginning to blossom. I would much rather be drinking with her.
Hecate thanks the servant and lifts her drink, all the while I imagine what may be happening on Olympus. A trial perhaps? The clock ticks as Hecate keeps me waiting. She exhales, finally seeming satisfied.
“You and I had an understanding,” Hecate begins. “We both knew of Zeus’s habits.”
“I did not betray you.”
“You had Persephone taken from her rooms in the middle of the night rather than waiting for her to be nearly mortal. So much so that Zeus would remove her from Olympus. How is that not a betrayal of our agreement?”
“Our agreement was to bring her to the Underworld when the danger to her was too great. Doing so was not a betrayal.”
She stares at me, unmoving. Hecate knew of Zeus’s actions and the deal I conjured with him. “It was to be me, Hades. She was to come with me at the new moon so that I could offer reassurances to Demeter, and Persephone could choose to be with you. Your impatience is your demise.”
“Yes.” I burn with the same anger I did when Zeus informed me that he would make her mortal. I never wanted her harmed. I only wanted her mine. “It was. That is what we agreed on. It is Zeus you should be angry with.”
“He moves against all his children,” Hecate counters. “This is nothing new.”
“He was the one who wanted her out of Olympus and reached out to me to begin with. Either way, it was Zeus who demanded she go. And if I had not—” I am not the same as I was that night. I had to stand in front of the mirror until I could hide how I felt. Now I know it is impossible. I cannot hide how I feel. Not even from Hecate. “If I had not taken her that evening, I do not know what would have happened or what she would have become.”
Hecate runs her finger along the edge of her wine glass and stares into the dark red pool. It was wine that Zeus used to poison Persephone. The rage and fear I felt that night mix into a deadly concoction. Perhaps I went around them all to attain my queen. But it is Zeus who bears the consequence, not I.
“Well, then.” Hecate places her glass carefully on the table, then lifts a sweet from the tray and eats it. I find my hands clenched on the table in front of me and unclench them as Hecate chews and swallows with a thoughtful expression on her face. “You had no choice. You had to take her.” Her tone is mocking and I grit my teeth.