The Dark Wife

The Dark Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

Book: The Dark Wife Read Online Free PDF
Author: Sarah Diemer
Tags: General, Juvenile Fiction, Fairy Tales & Folklore
Hades was left with no choice but to reign over the kingdom of the dead, the Underworld.
    It did not come to light until later that Zeus had fixed the proceedings to make certain he would get his way—to become ruler of the greatest kingdom, as well as all of the gods. He would never have risked a fair game of chance. Could never have hidden away his splendor in that world of endless darkness.
    I shivered, wrapping my arms about my middle. Hades rarely appeared at Olympus, choosing to spend his time, instead, sequestered away in that place of shadows, alone.
    My eyes searched the murmuring crowd. Though I was uncertain as to Hades’ appearance, I assumed I would recognize the god of the Underworld when I saw him.
    But where was he? Over there were Poseidon and Athena, whispering behind their hands. I saw Artemis and Apollo break apart as Zeus moved between them, climbed several high steps and staggered into his towering throne, hefting his goblet of ambrosia aloft.
    “Persephone.” I jumped, heart racing, and Hermes grinned down at me, his face a handbreadth from my own. “You have a habit of startling me,” I whispered to him, but he shook his head, pressed a finger to his lips. My brow furrowed as he took my hand and led me out onto the floor of the great room, to linger again amidst the gods. I felt naked, misplaced, but Hermes stood behind me and elbowed me forward. I yielded and stumbled a step, two steps. Finally, my frustration rising, I turned to admonish him but paused mid-motion because—I had run into someone. Life slowed, slowed, slowed. I muttered, “Excuse me,” looked up at the woman I did not recognize, had never before seen, my heart slack until it thundered in one gigantic leap against my bones.
    Everything stopped.
     Her eyes were black, every part of them, her skin pale, like milk. Her hair dropped to the small of her back, night-colored curls that shone, smooth and liquid, as she cocked her head, as she gazed down at me without a change of expression. She wasn’t beautiful—the lines of her jaw, her nose, were too proud, too sharp and straight. But she was mesmerizing, like a whirlpool of dark water, where secrets lurked.
    I looked up at her, and I was lost in the black of her eyes, and I did not see her take my hand, but I felt her hold it, as if it were meant to be in the cage of her fingers, gently cradled.
    “Hello,” she said, her voice softer than a whisper. I blinked once, twice, trying to shake the feeling I had heard her speak before—perhaps in a dream.
    And then, “I am Hades,” she said.
    My world fell away.
    Hades…Hades, the lord of the underworld…was a woman.
    “But, but…” I spluttered, and she watched me with catlike curiosity, head tilted to the sound of my voice as I attempted to regain my senses. “They call you the lord of the Underworld.  I thought—”
    “It is a slur,” she breathed. I had to lean forward to hear her words. Her face remained still, placid, as if she were wearing a mask.
    I didn’t know what to say—that I was sheltered? Should I apologize that I hadn’t known? She still held my hand, fingers curled into my palm like a vine. “I’m sorry,” I managed. There was nothing else within me, and the moment stretched on into an eternity as my heart beat against the door of my chest.
    I’d forgotten Hermes was there, and he cleared his throat now, stepping alongside us, staring down at our hands, together.
    “Hades,” he murmured, chin inclined, smile twisting up and up. “It’s begun, now that you’ve met her.”
    “What?” My head spun; everything was happening too fast. Her eyes had never once left mine, two dark stars pulling me in. My blood pounded fast and hot, and I didn’t understand what was happening, but my body did. No, she was not beautiful, but she didn’t need to be. I was drawn to her, bewitched by her, a plant angling up to drink in her sun. Still, still, she had not let go of my hand.
     “Hermes, may I have a
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