“Hera,” he said. “I’m surprised you didn’t enjoy last night’s revelries with the others.”
She snorted and brushed the curtain aside. “Since when do I ever waste time with Olympian nonsense?”
“Many times,” Hades replied. Though there were few willing to argue with Hera, he knew their relationship was peculiar. They both were tied to Zeus and neither of them wanted to be. “Where is your errant husband?”
“In bed with a few of Athena’s favorite nymphs.” Hera looked down at her nails and he noticed them slowly growing into claws. “If you want to speak with him, you’ll have to do it before me.”
“Got a bone to pick?”
“Several.” She met his gaze with flashing gold eyes. “I thought I might take a few ribs to make him realize just how badly he’s embarrassed me this time.”
He winced. Hera was the only goddess he didn’t assume was joking when she said something like that. Where the others might want to tear Zeus limb from limb, they never would. Hera had, on many occasions, only to put her husband back together. Slowly.
Hades didn’t want to wait until Hera was finished. Besides, Zeus would be in a terrible mood afterwards.
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather get my business taken care of before you take a rib.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. What is it you want to speak to him about, anyway? Something new in the Underworld?” Her cruel laughter followed the words.
He knew what they thought of him. How the Underworld never changed and the spirits within worshipped him more than Zeus. Some Olympians would say they wished they were in his place, but none of them actually meant it. They didn’t even visit the cursed lands of the mortals.
“Oh, Hera. Are you still afraid death clings to me?”
She narrowed her gaze. “We both know it does.”
That would be Thanatos, but he wouldn’t correct her. He still smelled like grave dirt and human rot. He knew that. The Olympians were used to more... pleasant perfumes.
“No,” he corrected. “I’m not here to talk about the Underworld. I wish to take a wife.”
She made a choking sound. If she’d had a drink, he was certain she would have spit it out. “A what? Surely I didn’t hear you correctly, darling. Did you say you’re here because you want Zeus’s blessing to take a wife?”
“I did.” He knew how strange it must sound to her. It sounded strange even to him.
But he didn’t have a choice in the matter, and neither would Zeus when he was done with him. His affection for Kore was deeper than the river Styx, and it had hit him like a rock to the head.
Hera looked him up and down, seeming to weigh his words. She always weighed everything before she agreed to it. Finally, she nodded. “Fine then. I’ll wait until tomorrow to yell at him. Take your time, Hades. I hope she’s good to you.”
He heard the aching heartbreak in her words. He’d seen how Zeus had treated her over the years, and he knew how deep her pain ran. Centuries of finding yet another child with his eyes, his lips, his nose. Knowing that again she had been taken advantage of, or worse, that her husband hadn’t even asked before he had bestowed his “gift” upon the mortal woman.
But Hera was too strong to break. Even when her husband was a walking nightmare.
Without realizing he’d already moved, Hades took a few steps forward and caught her hands with his. He bent onto one knee, bowing before the Queen of the Gods. “I promise, Hera. I will treat her well.”
His vow burned in his throat and turned her hands to liquid gold. She cupped his cheek and smiled down at him, suddenly a woman made of blistering light. “I’ll hold you to that, Aidoneus.”
Even though she was forcing a vow upon him, it felt good to hear someone say his real name. Not just Zeus, but someone who cared for him.
He sighed and stood. “Where is he?”
She pointed behind herself. “Through there. Take your time, Hades. Convince him quietly. He’s had a long night.”
Suddenly, she appeared to be the doting wife once more. He knew the mask she’d pulled over her face was one that readied her for the gods beyond. She would awaken them and send each back to their own palaces in Olympus. Then Hera would return to her unfaithful husband and plaster a sweet smile on her face.