For the Love of Hades (The Loves of Olympus) Read Online Free Page A

along. “He would never have spoken to you if he thought you a mortal woman.”
    Myrinne finished, “Any woman.”
    “You know him?” Persephone gasped, turning to the nymphs. “Who is he?”
    They looked at her in surprise.
    “Why he is Hades, Persephone,” Myrinne sounded incredulous.
    “The Lord of the Dead.” Crysanthe shuddered.
    Persephone’s eyes searched for him in the distant meadow, but he was gone. “Hades.” She let his name slip, too warmly, from her lips. She could not help savoring the feel of it upon her tongue.
    ###
    Hades stood astonished. Rarely was the Council Chamber in such chaos. The room, a circular chamber of the whitest marble, echoed and shook from the Olympians’ overlapping conversation. Twelve marble thrones, a rainbow of colors and shapes, faced one another, but all were empty.
    Hera, Demeter and Artemis stood together, their murmurs lost beneath the roar of the rest. Hera, Goddess of marriage, would hear many prayers in the days ahead. Husbands, wives, and children alike, all would worry over this war’s toll. He would hear them too.
    Demeter’s harvest had been plentiful, easing the concerns over provisions for those fighting and those left behind. But the next crop might suffer, if none remained to tend it… or the Persians burned the fields to ash.
    He understood why Hera and Demeter looked grief stricken and concerned. Even wild Artemis looked resigned, holding her bow tightly to her chest.
    Hermes, Zeus, Ares and Poseidon carried on loudly, their voices rising and falling to be heard. Athena stood amongst them, more at ease amongst the Gods than her fellow Goddesses.
    His eyes swept the room. It seemed only Apollo and Aphrodite were absent.
    So he was not the last to arrive. He strode into room, prepared for a set-down from Zeus. But the others were lost in their debate, too embroiled in matters of war to note his late entrance. For that, he was grateful.
    “They’ll have no more success this time than the last,” Hermes spoke.
    “Better to drive them back,” Ares added. “Better to crush them once and for all.”
    Hades sat in his little-used throne and waited, considering their words.
    Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, offered him refreshments. Her normally bright smile was forced, and her eyes stared upon the floor. This was the effect he was used to having upon women. This was as it should be.
    He stared at the ambrosia. He did not like the taste of it. It was a cloying meal, weighing down his limbs and thickening his tongue. The drink, nectar and wine, he downed quickly enough and set the cup aside. He would welcome another cup, if Hebe dared offer him more.
    His hands ached, chilled still from their work on the meadow. He flexed his hands, noting that bits of dirt and blood still clung to his fingers. He had washed quickly, knowing his lateness would provide meat for his fellow Olympians to feed upon. And after the morning’s events, he feared his patience too far gone to tolerate their heckling.
    Truly, this morning had seemed to tilt his world completely. Now he must forget, and right it once more.
    Athena’s voice rose, filling the Chamber and grabbing his attention. “Athens’ hoplites are strong, trained well to defend the city.”
    “You would refuse my aid? You think your mortals can thwart the numbers that Persia will place upon Greek soil?” Ares stared, shaking his head. “This is war, Athena. My realm…”
    “Olympus will have no need to interfere or offer aid, you will see,” she snapped.
    He thought of the boy he’d left, his body surrounded by tiny blue flowers. His aid had done little to help the soldier.
    “We must decide such matters carefully.” Zeus turned a pointed gaze upon Athena, then Ares. “That is the purpose behind this meeting, to ensure Greece, and Athens, victorious.”
    “Our soldiers would do better without such a storm.” Apollo swept into the Chamber, his golden face tight with anger. “I fear we’ve lost more to the