Destroyer of Light (15 page)

The Boatman inclined his head to her. “Say the word, my lady and—”

“Charon, thank you.” She gave him a relieved smile and turned to Hermes, her eyes narrowed. “Hermes Psychopompos, you have no right to take me from here unwillingly. If you have orders from Zeus, you are to bring them before my husband!”

Hermes set his lips in a line, his worst fears realized. “Give me a moment then. I’ll fly to—”

“No, you will not,” she said with a scowl. His eyes widened.

“But—”

“From now on, if you come here on official business, you will enter our realm as all do.”

A smirk curled the Boatman’s lips as Hermes stared at her in disbelief. “You cannot be serious…”

“I suggest that you make your peace with the fact that your only path across the river is through Charon. And since I am empowered by my husband to speak on his behalf, I suggest you not disobey me,” Persephone said, raising her voice.

Hermes stared at her blankly, trying to form words, then jumped back in fright when a blazing ring of fire appeared in front of the little flower goddess, pointing her way through the ether.

“We will see you in the throne room once you arrive.” With that, she stepped through and waited until the gateway closed. When it shut, she curled into a ball and cried until she screamed. They were going to take her away. Forcibly.

Captivity… Obey…

She grew nauseous. Persephone wouldn’t get the chance to speak with her mother or fix anything. They were dissolving her marriage. She felt as though the very walls around her were collapsing and disappearing, and realized that she wasn’t in the throne room or the palace, or the Underworld itself, even. She was still in the crimson and silver twisting vertigo of the ether.

What if she just stayed here forever? Hermes didn’t come here. Hecate would surely welcome her, and no one couldn’t pull her from here. She held a Key that gave her access to every corner of every realm.

She chided herself.
Hiding like a little girl, are we? Aren’t they trying to take me away from because they still believe me to be little innocent, ignorant Kore?

Persephone wiped her tears away and focused. She had to speak to Aidoneus. Quickly. She willed herself to open a pathway to the palace, and stepped through. Persephone stood in the pomegranate grove.

Fates! Why have I been carried here again?
She picked up her skirts. Her sandals crunched across the gravel as she ran past a confused Askalaphos, her shoulders knocking against the carefully manicured asphodel, racing for the portico and the palace beyond. She had to find her husband. She had to get there before the Messenger.

***

“Delaying this isn’t going to make me disappear, Boatman,” Hermes said, shifting from one foot to the other on the center bracing.

“Would that it would.”

“Excuse me?”

Charon had remained silent, pushing slowly off the banks of the Styx and winding his way through the shallows into the river. “Is there a problem?”

“It’s not me you have to worry about, Charon.”

“How fortunate are you that it was I who discovered you, and not Hades? What could you have said just then, with your hand around his wife’s wrist, to keep him from tearing you limb from limb? I wonder…”

Hermes mouth went dry. “Wh-when Zeus—”

“And who am I to argue with the currents of the river?” he said slowly, deliberately aggravating the Messenger. “Or argue with the Queen?”

“Kor— Persephone is Hades’s consort. His— his duly acquired bedmate, for Fate’s sake. Not a Queen. Not in any real sense— she has no power. And I don’t care what your mother says.”

Charon lifted his oar out of the water and let the boat drift to stillness. The bow turned in an eddy and the Boatman turned with it to look back at Hermes. “Really, then? In your heart of hearts, I wonder… which one of our sovereigns would you rather deal with, coward?”

Hermes opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t get a word out before Charon continued.

“Answer her name, and you’re a fool. Answer his, and you’re a liar. You came here thinking to take her right out from under her honored husband’s nose and thought none of us would mind?”

“This goes beyond what any of you should be concerned with.”

“Perhaps I am wrong about you, Hermes. Perhaps instead, you are very brave if you think you can lay your hands on the Iron Queen without consequence?”

Hermes stayed silent. Charon plunged his oar back into the water, pushing the boat forward, a tiny wake the only disturbance on the crystal clear surface.

“Or perhaps, you are exceptionally stupid?” Charon added with a grin.

Hermes face grew red. “I only wanted to… speak with her. This is extremely urgent.”

“Urgent?” He slowly sunk the oar into the water again, the opposite shore growing minutely closer.

“Yes, urgent! Do you think this is amusing?” Hermes said, gesturing back at the rows of shades awaiting passage to the Other Side.

“I am the one who must deal with the shades you petty Olympians send down here every day,” Charon spat back at him. “Why would I find any of this amusing?”

“
Your
people call me Psychopompos! I am the one who has to find lost souls and bring them back here. Don’t act like you’re the only one who has to deal with this, Charon!”

“Then you should keep to your business and let us to ours. Why waste our time and intrude on us? Why try to spirit away our queen, God of Thieves?” Charon asked as he rowed the boat through the currentless marshes.

Hermes impatiently looked at the emaciated souls waiting at the river’s edge. “I wasn’t trying to spirit her—”

“You’re a poor liar for a thief.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why I’m even answering your questions, Boatman. I outrank you.”

“Did you come here as Zeus’s errand boy or as a cut purse to steal our beloved queen, you half-hardened prick of an immortal?”

Hermes bit the sides of his cheek.

“One or the other.”

“I have no time for this, Charon. And I know you can get us there faster than
this
!” he said, shifting again from one foot to the other. Charon looked behind him with wide eyes and a threatening grin and removed his oar from the water once more. The boat drifted slower, at the mercy of the current. “I come as the voice of the King of Gods.”

“And which king of the gods would that be?” Charon said with a smirk. “I only recognize the one.”

Charon rowed forward, silently delighting in the Messenger’s shocked expression. Hermes bristled. “That’s… heresy! When my father—”

“I do not see him here. Do you? Or are you merely seeing his handiwork,” Charon rasped, pointing a thin finger at the droves of souls standing on the banks of the river, “and calling
that
power?”

Hermes faltered, swallowing, and looked around him, “I—”

“This is Chthonia, boy. The eternal realm. You are an interloper from the corporeal world. And if you doubt my prior question, then remember that we didn’t come begging you for the flow of shades to stop. If Hades were to consign you to the Pit, there wouldn’t be a thing your lofty king could do to stop it. If our queen decided to have you flayed and scourged by the Erinyes for daring to touch her…” he said as the prow raked the shore and lurched underneath them. “…I would only be too glad to watch.”

Hermes paled and stared up at the black marble monolith of the palace, the towering gates, and golden poplar looming above them. The Messenger swallowed.

“Best remember those things, Psychopompos, when you stand before him who rules over the souls of all mortals, living and dead.”

“Who’s next?”

“The last one today. Inachus of Argos.”

“Your scrolls are out of order, Minos,” Aidoneus said with a measure of annoyance. “We received him a week ago.”

“Yes, my lord, we did,” the judge said, not looking up. “This is his son.”

Hades sighed and leaned back in his throne, recalling the judgement of Inachus the Elder, third in his line: sent to Asphodel. And his wife, Chryseis: Asphodel. Their son had been five years old, and with no suitable living regent, the prince was crowned king. Now he was dead as well, and his bloodline with him. It had been ages since a small boy had come to this room of judgement— ages since Aidoneus had even been in the presence of a child who wasn’t already a resident of Asphodel. A trial felt unnecessary, as there was nothing one so young could have done to warrant it.

Perhaps his wife was right. When the glut of newly deceased had been dealt with, perhaps he would turn over all hearings to his judges and only have a hand in the most disputed decisions. But right now, the child was his responsibility. “Get me the waters of the Lethe.”

“Doesn’t Aeacus usually—”

“Just do it!” he growled. “
Scores
of thousands of common folk wait on the Plains of Judgement, and the four of us sit here
coddling
the few souls of the rich and powerful! Take Aeacus and your brother. I’ll handle this myself.”

“Should I summon Inachus, then, my lord?”

“Yes.”

Minos left one of the ebony doors wide, and stepped outside to murmur some words to Aeacus. He returned with an earthen bowl, handed it to Aidoneus, then quickly retreated from the room. Hades held the red clay kylix and stared into the clear, dark water from the River Lethe. Nothing. The water itself couldn’t even remember a reflection.

Hades saw a pair of brown eyes and a small hand poke out from around the door, then a thin boy with dark curling hair slowly walked into the room, terrified. A tiny indigo chlamys clung to his shoulder, pinned over a child’s black chiton— the garments he’d been buried in.

The child crept into the room, his eyes cast down. He was too fearful to look upon Hades, the dark god his family had told him scary stories about whenever he fussed or talked back to his wet nurse. The boy’s face crinkled up as though he were about to cry.

“I’m sorry you had so short a time,” Hades muttered.

The little shade didn’t make a sound, trying to be brave, trying to hold back his tears and be a man like his departed father told him to be. Aidoneus stood, and the little boy gulped and took a step back.

“Don’t be frightened,” the dread King of the Dead said gently. The child’s lip trembled, and Aidon realized that Inachus didn’t understand. He awkwardly started again. “
Mi me fovasai
.”

The boy looked up in silent recognition. The Lord of Souls walked slowly, descending the dais with the kylix in his hand, his robes trailing behind him on the steps.

“
Ksereis poios eimai?
” he asked in the common tongue.

The little boy nodded. “
You’re… you’re the Invisible One, m-my lord.
”

Aidoneus knelt down, his gaze level with the child’s wide, fearful eyes. “
But you can see me now, no?
”

Little Inachus nodded again and brushed a knuckle past one of his eyes before looking up.

“
Ela,
” Aidon said, motioning him forward. The boy remained rooted where he stood. “
It’s alright. I’m not as scary as you’d think.
”

The shade took one cautious step, and then another. “
But you’re scary sometimes?
”

“
Only when I have to be
,” Aidon said, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his eyes. He held up the bowl. “
You know what this is?
”

“
They told me it makes you forget. And stop being sad.
”

“
Yes. They were right.
”

“
But I don’t want to forget Mana!
”

“
Was Mana your nurse?
” The boy nodded. “
You loved her very much, then.
” Another small nod. “
Well…
”

Persephone walked toward the entrance of the room of judgement, her steps uneven. Drawing nearer, she heard the welcome sound of her husband’s voice— and that of a small child, faint and trembling. She stopped just beyond the doorway, out of sight. The boy was already scared enough. He didn’t need to see the Iron Queen in this state, with tears streaming down her ruddy, panicked face.

“
You’ll see her someday,
” Aidoneus continued. “
But I will not lie to you. You won’t remember her as you do now. But the love you have for her here,
” he said tapping two fingers where little Inachus’s heart would have been, “
that you will always keep.
”

She stayed out of view, and fresh tears filled her eyes. If she weren’t already in love with Aidoneus, this moment would have made her his. Persephone wanted to rush to his side and kiss him. She wanted to tell him what she suspected, that she might be carrying their child, that they soon might have a little boy like this. She bit down on her lip and cupped her hand to her mouth, then squeezed her eyes shut and crumpled against the wall. Persephone cursed herself: she had waited too long for the right moment, waited to speak with someone else first, and now it was too late. Their world was coming down around them. She folded her knees to her chest, so the layers of her peplos would muffle her sobs.

Aidon’s insides twisted with sudden agonizing grief. He quickly schooled his expression, hiding his alarm so it wouldn’t frighten the boy. “
How did it happen?
”

“
I was so hungry. Mama and Papa… they went to sleep, Mana said, and then she said she had no food left.
”

He tried to listen, tried to stave off the dark emotions flooding into him from… Persephone. He was certain that something had gone terribly wrong He had to find her. Aidon pushed down his rising panic as best he could and shut his eyes, drawing a deep breath before opening them again and focusing on the little king. He placed a hand on Inachus’s tiny shoulder, hoping that it would comfort the shade, and took it as a good sign when the child didn’t recoil. “
Then what?
”

“
I was cold, it was hard to breathe, then I was burning up. I couldn’t move and I heard Mana crying
,” he said. “
I can still hear her crying.
”

Hades saw the boy dip his head to hide his face so the Lord of the Underworld couldn’t see it contort into silent weeping. He crouched lower. “
It’s all right; it’s over. All the pain is over. You’re here now as my guest.
” He gently tilted the little shade’s chin up until their eyes met again. “
You’re home, Inachus.”

“
Home?
”

“
Yes.
” Aidon forced a thin smile. “
Everyone is waiting for you.
”

“
Mama and Papa are here?
”

“
They are. But you must do something for me.
”

Inachus swallowed.

“
You must let go.
”

“
Of what?
”

Aidoneus smiled sadly. “
Of… the things you knew. Of the hunger and hurt and sadness.
”

The young boy thought for a moment, eyeing the kylix nervously. “
Mana too?
”

“
You won’t forget her love, Inachus. Only her tears.”
Aidon offered the vessel to him. “
Be brave, little one, and drink the waters of the Lethe.”

Persephone shook, weeping quietly, the effort starting to hurt her throat and chest. Any doubts she’d had about whether they could be parents were erased. She listened to Aidon, and rested her hand on her womb. If she was pregnant, if that was why her moon blood had stopped, then she would bring his child into this world joyfully and without hesitation. She wanted to give Aidoneus piles of children— to fill the palace with as many of their offspring as she could. The thought filled her with happiness, even as it overwhelmed her with sadness. She may not have the chance. Persephone might be taken away from him forever.
Captivity.
Hermes had said her
captivity
was over. Did Zeus call it that now, to make her union with Hades easier to dissolve?

Too late, too late
, she thought, angry at herself.
You should have told him you loved him! You should have shouted it from the porticos and passageways of the palace that you loved him! You should have told him a month ago that he had your heart… that you are his and he is yours. But you were a coward. A scared little Kore…
She wanted to scream at the injustice of it, but choked back her voice. It was too late. If she told Aidoneus what she believed she was carrying and they tried to take her away, he would tear apart the cosmos to keep her here. And then Kronos’s dread visions would truly come to pass. She needed to be strong. She needed to lock this knowledge away, find a way to set all of this right, or it would be the ruin— the death— of them all.

“
Are you ready
?”

“
Are there others here to play with
?”

“
There are quite a few
,
recently arrived,
” he sighed. “
You’ll find many friends. And one day, when you’re ready, you will go back to the world above
.”

Inachus looked up at him with his dark eyes. “
You promise
?”

“
I have no reason to lie to you
.”

The shade turned his head to the side and considered him, unsatisfied.

Hades relented.
“I promise. As a king to a king.”

“
Will it hurt
?”

“
Just the opposite. You’ll be free of all pain, all sadness
.”

Inachus nodded and reached for the kylix. As he lifted the heavy clay cup to his lips, Hades held it steady for him.

“
Slowly now
,” he said while Inachus sipped the water.

The boy finished his draught and smiled. “
The water is warm
,” he whispered.

Inachus watched his hand become translucent and tittered, experimentally wiggling his fingers. He reached for the cup again and gulped down more of the Lethe, then laughed, his form shifting about, visible one moment, then a clear blur the next. He took a few steps, looking at his feet, then darting his eyes around the throne room.

The shade turned toward the door, voices calling him to come play in the Fields, and then broke into a short run. He spun on his heels before he faded from sight and whispered. “
Efcharisties, Theos
…”

Then, he was gone.

Aidoneus nodded, then went to the balcony and set the kylix on the ledge, peering at the banks of the river, looking along the shoreline for his wife. He heard the heavy door of the chamber slam shut, then muffled sobbing behind him. “Persephone?”

Her face was hidden in the palms of her hands and she leaned against the door, crying.

“Persephone!” He ran to her and pulled her hands away, looking down at her tear-stained face. “What happened?”

“He… They’re going to t-take me— The woman from Eleusis— th-the one I told you about… I s-saw her and…” She could barely speak. Aidon wrapped his arms around her and held her.

“My love, calm down,” he said stroking her back. “Be calm. It cannot be as bad as all that.”

“Aidon… it’s worse—
so much worse
than w-we thought,” she sobbed.

“What do you mean?”

“All ice, everywhere… leveling the world. It’s dying, Aidon! The earth is… dying. Everything I ever knew is gone! It’s just flat and gray and ice and cold and there’s no food for any of them, and even Eleusis will run out— And they… the gods above…”

“That’s why you were going to Demeter, sweet one. To help stop this. What happened on the way?”

“Hermes.”

He darkened and looked her in the eye. “What about him?”

“He tried to take me from here. He said that m-my captivity—
captivity
, Aidon! That was what he said— he said that it’s ended and— and that he was o-ordered to take me
h-home
.”

Aidoneus seethed, grinding his teeth together. This had gone too far. “Demeter cannot—”

“She didn’t tell Hermes to come here!” Persephone cried. Aidoneus froze, the leaden feeling returning to the pit of his stomach. She wiped her nose and continued. “Zeus ordered him to take me away!”