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She stared at the nymph in front of her. Minthe had been scolding the new queen of the Underworld for the past 10 minutes or so — she was not sure, since she had started to zoom out a bit after the 5th time the being mentioned how she was much more beautiful and suitable for Hades than her. Persephone admired the conviction in her — she thought as her gaze shifted to the garden she had been trying to tend to (creating new life for the land of death from scratch wasn't easy) and then to her hands, which were getting more and more calloused by the day.
Persephone barely noticed when a light sigh left her lips, but it seems Minthe did, as the latter stopped mid-sentence (something about how being the personification of life only meant she'd wither at Death's hands) and increased her efforts to glare daggers at her. Persephone did look a bit embarrassed for being caught like that, but didn't divert her gaze, as she would have done once. Those times seemed so far to her by then, but for those much older beings it must all have been like the blink of an eye. She knew her mother had meant well, but she wouldn’t exchange this newfound independence in her life for anything.
"I don't have the faintest idea of what our king saw in a flower girl such as you." The nymph declared finally with venom, eyes now roaming the surrounds of the one she refused to acknowledge as the new queen. She had been sitting on the ground during the entire monologue, dirty with earth from the Asphodel Fields and silently looking up at her, as if she didn't know how to defend herself from insults. Minthe smiled to herself, pleased. "but surely you can't be so naive as not to see that you are as passing as spring itself to him, right? After he's gotten rid of your maidenhood and you won't be back for another year, Lord Hades shall seek again for a company more fitting of him. And then, we'll see who will sigh with boredom at the other's presence."
Persephone didn't care to correct anything Minthe said. Instead, she sat up, straightened her chiton, and looked the other woman in the eyes. The nymph arched slightly one eyebrow, surprised but not impressed.
"Is there anything else you would like to say?"
"I believe I couldn't make myself clearer if I tried."
The goddess nodded, sparing a quick glance at the work she had been doing before looking back at her husband's ex lover. She returned the smile, although the one she had did not hold any of the hard feelings Minthe's did.
"Alright. First of all, I must say I'm really impressed. I can admire your courage, to come and face me directly. However, I also think you should pick your battles better before fighting them so fiercely. The one your speech is directed to is clearly Hades. Even if I had not tried the forbidden fruit yet, I still wouldn't want to go back to my previous life - even if I did want that, it wouldn't guarantee that he'd look for you once I'm not here. It's him who you need to convince that you'd make a better queen than me, not me."
At Minthe's lack of verbal response (her slightly agape expression would be impossible to maintain while speaking, after all), Persephone continued her review, moving closer. She got an asphodel from her flower crown, licked the point of its peduncle, and started to write down on a leaf, each word of her notes in an unexplainable neat, golden paint.
"So, to your speech's content. I believe you started off by saying you're the most beautiful of all, right? Well, you said it pretty confidently — your confidence is definitely your best asset, by the way — so I'm sure you can pull this off, but still, I'd be extra careful using it. We may be all the way down in the Underworld, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if Aphrodite had a feeling that she's being challenged from her position and found out some way to make you pay for it. Next, you stated that you'd be better at ruling the Underworld than me, which is valid, don't get me wrong, however you didn't specify how you'd do better. It'd be much more powerful if you didn't let it be this vague. For example, I have been coming up with new fauna and flora species for the Underworld, it's my biggest task as queen." She made a hand gesture, attracting attention to her experimental camp, growing glowing poison ivies, and with an occasional angry pollinator animal flying by, the one which would soon be known as bats by the mortals. "Maybe you could say that, since you've been here for far longer..."
"Stop! For the love of Gods, stop!" Persephone's hand rushed to her ear, splashing golden paint in her hair as she protected her hearing from Minthe's sudden shout. "Are you mocking me, flower goddess!? You pity me so much that you're trying to teach your rival how to dethrone you, you want me to thank you in the end...!?"
Minthe's face, which had gone from death pale to bloody red in a matter of seconds, lost a bit of colour again when she noticed Persephone restoring the distance between them, one hand crumbling the leaf and the other pulling at the cloth over her heart, asphodel pen long forgotten on the ground. Her lips were slightly contorted, while her eyebrows were set in an almost straight line, making her lively eyes full of other emotions just as intense. It was the most offended that she had looked the whole day, and it wasn't for lack of trying on Minthe's part.
"Minthe. I was raised in an all female environment, and whenever a male figure appeared we had to reunite so that he wouldn't feel inclined to harm us. I absolutely do not believe in such a thing as 'female rivalry'!" She hissed, with as much venom as a nature being could possess, which is much more than one would expect. After a short pause, though, she reconsidered. "And I do include us all in this conception. Beings like to remember how Hera did this and Aphrodite did that, but it's not like we even have time and energy to be upset with each other for whatever reason when we've got Zeus and his colleagues out there doing no good."
The nymph was staring. She had imagined many outcomes for her attack, but this scenario definitely wasn't one of them. "What?"
Persephone let out a tired, low groan, as if she'd had this conversation many times before. Despite that, she still tried to maintain an open demeanor as not to scare or annoy the other woman. "That's what they want. To make us fight each other while they go around deciding our life for us. It's against their, uh… wrongdoings we need to stand, and we should help each other out to achieve real equality. I mean, if even us goddesses are looked down on by so many men, then how bad do we have it?" That said, she quickly checked their surroundings before stepping closer to Minthe once more, speaking a little lower. "Besides, I don't think they need any more reason to have their ego boosted, you know. I apologize for what my mother did to you in her moment of fury. That is exactly the sort of thing we should be avoiding, and I'm not pretending it's got nothing to do with me. I want to make up for it."
Thoughtlessly, the nymph touched her hair, where some leaves of mint grew, never letting her forget how she was cursed. Still astonished by such a turn of events, Minthe didn't put more distance between them as she'd normally do. Instead, she locked eyes with the goddess, her eyebrows all their way up, matching the total disbelief in her voice. "So, your way to support a... 'female bonding' between us is... giving me advice on how to seduce your soon-to-be husband...?"
"Oh, no, I'm aware you managed to do it many times in the past. It'd be totally unnecessary."
At that, Minthe finally diverted her gaze, a little ashamed. Since their king had decided out of nowhere that he was in love with what was practically the personification of life, all of her advances were either promptly refused or not even acknowledged by him, too busy worshipping his queen as no mortal could ever do to notice her existence again. She had hated Persephone since the beginning, and she was very good at hating, mind you. It was obvious that a sunbeam like his bride wouldn't survive in the lair of the dead anyway, with no sun or green to keep her up. And yet...
"Well, it seems my charm just hasn't been working lately." It almost caused her physical pain to confess, but the situation was so absurd that she couldn't hold all of her doubts and vulnerability any longer, under the kind touch of the one she swore to crumble under her feet like it was done to her.
'Touch?' When Minthe realised the heat on her shoulder came from the spring goddess, she lifted her head, coming face to face with gentle eyes that, in anyone else, would look condescending. In her, it looked like an welcoming invitation, spreading just as much warmth inside the nymph’s body, going as far as colouring her cheeks.
Maybe - of course, she would never admit it, but nonetheless - maybe she finally could see why their king had been so quickly taken by the lady who melts the snow and makes it possible for the mortals to harvest after long months of cold and longing.
Down there they were all oh, so very cold, after all.
…
Hades watched, in a mix of fright, amusement and curiosity, as his dear bri wife (he promptly corrected himself. They’d just gotten married, he could barely believe his luck.) waved excitedly to his past lover, who was on the other side of their newly acquired palace gardens. To his surprise, the nymph waved back, although a little reticent, and huffed before going back to the ballroom, not even risking a glance at him.
Persephone’s hold on his arm loosened a bit, as they stopped their walk under one of their pomegranate trees. Their gardens had dozens of those, just like they had dozens of narcissus and asphodel bushes back there. The new flowers and fruits his wife had been experimenting with were closer to the doors, so that all the guests could admire them even from inside.
After Minthe passed through the garden’s sideway entrancy, Persephone’s attention went back to her husband. She couldn’t contain her laugh, when her eyes met his arched eyebrows, directed at her. She did try to keep it only for their ears, though.
“I hadn’t realised you were friends with Minthe.”
“Oh, would it be that you dislike the idea of the women you’ve had being friendly with each other? Would you rather we were competing for your affections?" She pressed the side of her body against his, playfully sticking the tip of her tongue out at him. He also feigned offence, placing his free hand over his heart. "I hadn’t taken you for this sort of man.”
Gods, when was the last time he bantered before getting to know Persephone? That's an easy one, the lord of the Underworld simply didn't banter, ever. Ruling the kingdom of the dead could drain one's sense of humour pretty fast (you could even say his was, well… dead ). He couldn't even remember exactly when they had started transitioning from the cold quips in the beginning of their relationship to the heartfelt teasing they shared then. How was he supposed to keep on when she wouldn't be back for another 6 months, after their honeymoon, for which they fought so hard to have, was over?
“No, ‘dislike’ isn’t the right word. It’s just… I’m quite surprised, that’s all.”
“Pleasant surprise or bad surprise?”
“Pleasant, of course." They resumed their walk, strolling towards the west ward, further from the music and drunk chattering. "I have known Minthe her entire life, and rarely have I seen her being much agreeable with anyone who is not from her direct social circle. And, well, I believed our recent relationship wouldn’t make it any easier for her.”
“Maybe if you had held at least one proper conversation with her in lieu of simply setting her out of your life, she wouldn’t be so upset.”
Another thing the Unseen one was definitely not used to was being called out so directly. That hurt.
“Say the romance expert.” He protested, too weakly even for his own ears. He hoped she wouldn’t catch it, but her abrupt movimentation beside him, accompanied by a displeased grunt told him otherwise.
“Just so you know, I do have experience in this field prior to your arrival. And taking into consideration the events I have witnessed or heard of concerning your experiences, I’d even say I have been making better use of my own than you do of yours.”
“I indeed have heard of your long list of suitors, all rejected. Admittedly not by you but by your mother. Are you telling me you were able to sneak out with at least one of them?” Such a possibility actually managed to generate a tiny side smirk on Hades's face. “ That is something I definitely wouldn’t have expected from Demeter’s precious, all good daughter.”
It always got him a weird feeling of satisfaction, to relive the memory of Hermes arriving at the throne room to demand Persephone's immediate return in the name of Zeus, only to realise the goddess he had attempted to court not so long before was not a damsel in distress, and in reality was enjoying her captor very much. The pale shock followed by total horror on his face was priceless. Of course, the news about plants not growing in the mortal realm distressed his queen greatly, but they were able to find a solution for their dilemma in the end. Demeter's appalled expression when she came to get her little girl Kore back herself, but found a grown woman in a dark crown with a juicy purple smile to match his own instead, was a wonderful bonus.
His daydream, however, was interrupted when Persephone snorted. She snorted.
“Dear, I was raised in a garden, surrounded by only fellow young females to keep me company. Mother might have been rather vigilant when it comes to men, but there, in the mortal realm, she trusted the nymphs to be her eyes… and there were just some things that they were very enthusiastic not to tell her. So, yes, I suppose I have considerable experience, specifically with nymphs, much like you.”
The conversation died after her declaration, only the faintest sound of the orchestra filling the blanks that far in the gardens. It was not unusual for them to share a comfortable quiet time together, but the sudden stiffness in her husband's arm and steps made Persephone glance at him, eyes searching what could possibly have happened. Hades was scowling, as if deep in thought, until their walk finally ceased. He turned to her, his small smirk from before changing into a strained smile.
“Do you mean… you have a harem waiting for you up there?”
She blinked at him. He hummed at her, hurrying her up.
“Well, I would not go as far as calling it a ‘harem’ exactly, but… Yes, that sums up.” While she answered, his lips started to form a thin, still strained line. A glint of mischief, then, passed through her eyes as she honeyed her voice, all the worry replaced by amusement. “Now that you brought it up, if I remember correctly, we were about to have some fun when you came around and got me.”
“What do you say about updating our vows?”
“Hades!" She squeaked. His interruption in such a serious tone took her totally by surprise. "We haven’t even had our wedding night yet and you already want to renew our vows?! So romantic!”
“We both know that this nuptials is nothing but a formality at this point.” Hades didn't even acknowledge it when Persephone blushed slightly at the remark, too absorbed in his own head. He turned around, taking her back to where they had held their ceremony and some guests were still partying until they fainted. “We should correct the part where I promise not to look out for other women and you promise not to look out for other men, so that it says we both shall not look out for any other being, in general.”
"That's fair…" The goddess of spring and queen of the Underworld sighed, letting herself enjoy the moment while it lasted.
She knew that in the end, if someone had been kidnapped there, it was his heart, held hostage by her.