Persephone sprang to her feet, turned and fled. The hateful sandals had been lost during her struggle in the marsh, and so she ran barefoot, the muddy ground squelching under her toes. She had no idea where she was heading, only knowing that she could not stand Hades’ presence a minute longer.

“Persephone,” Hades called behind her, softly, her voice carried by the wind.

The eerie glow that passed as moonlight here was enough that she avoided tripping over her own feet. She reached Alastor, waiting patiently by the side of the road. He snorted in alarm as she drew near, as though startled by something in her bedraggled appearance.

“Whoa! What’s wrong, boy?”

What little light there was glinted off his bridle, and Persephone reached for it. As her fingers closed around the reins, Alastor reared, throwing her off balance.

A dark shape slammed into her side, and she fell into a roll just as Alastor’s front hooves came crashing to the ground where she’d been standing just moments ago. She righted herself and caught her breath.

After pushing Persephone out of danger, Hades had taken hold of Alastor’s bridle and was soothing the horse with a touch. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Should I be flattered?” Hades asked, her voice clipped.

Persephone’s hip ached where she’d bruised herself in the fall, but nothing seemed broken. “I don’t understand. He was so docile before.”

Hades gave Alastor one last pat on the nose and then walked to Persephone, crouching beside her. “Where are you running to?”

Persephone shook her head. “I don’t belong here.”

Hades reached out to touch her face, and Persephone drew back. This time, Hades allowed her to maintain her distance. “You will learn to see its beauty, one day.”

The taste of ichor was bright on Persephone’s tongue. She must have bitten her cheek during the accident. “If you must, then... take me as your m-mistress, if that’s what you desire. I will go to you every time you visit the surface. But please, don’t condemn me to live here.”

“Oh, Persephone. Is this world truly so awful that you would consign yourself to live such a life, without the protection of my claim, to suffer the predations of your father and others of his ilk?”

“I have been doing just fine without your protection!”

Hades gave her long look, then shook her head. “Your father had plans for you. Demeter would not have had the power to intervene.”

Persephone wanted to deny it, to defend her mother’s power, but she knew Hades was right. As for Zeus... It was unthinkable, but she would be a fool not to examine her father’s history and be wary. Still, Hades’ protection would only extend so far, unless the other gods recognized them as bound by marriage.

Persephone would never be her wife.

“We are not wed,” Persephone said.

“We will be.”