Goddess of Spring (20 page)

The road took another abrupt turn and Lina slid to a halt, scrambling back from the edge of a lake that seemed to want to swallow her feet. Its waters were thick and black, almost oily. She looked to either side. Darkness surrounded the lake so that the water seemed to stretch endlessly before and beside her.

Lina shivered.

She was a goddess. She thought each word carefully.

Light the recesses,
her mind whispered.

With a gasp of relief she raised her hand and commanded, “I need light!”

The ball of brilliance popped from her palm and hovered expectantly above her.

“What is your desire, Goddess?”

Lina jumped and made a squeaky sound she was sure wouldn't qualify as goddess-like. Out of the darkness beside her a skeletal man materialized. He was wearing gray robes that dragged on the ground. He carried a long, hooked staff that reminded Lina of the rods gondoliers used to push their boats down the Grand Canal. But that's where his resemblance to anything mortal or romantic ended. This man was a grim being whose large, amber-colored eyes glowed with a strange luminescence. Lina did not have to delve into her memory to give him a name. He could be none other than Charon, the Ferryman of Hades.

“I want to follow Orpheus and Eurydice. Did you take them across the lake?”

“Yes, Goddess.”

“Then I want to go, too.”

“As you command, Goddess.” He made a sweeping gesture and suddenly a boat appeared nudging the bank at their feet.

Telling herself not to think about sinking boats, bottomless lakes or the scary stuff that might be lurking just below the surface, Lina climbed into the little craft, taking a seat near the middle of it. Charon stepped into the boat and leaned forward to touch his staff against the bank, but he stopped mid-motion and stood very still as if he were listening to whispered words. He nodded his head with the briefest of motions, paused and then he finally pushed them away from the shore.

“The passage is not long, Goddess.”

Lina nodded and tried unsuccessfully to relax. She kept her eyes focused on the distant shoreline. She didn't look down at the water. Unbidden, a memory came to her from the scene in
Lord of the Rings
when Frodo and Sam crossed the Dead Marshes. She shivered, afraid if she looked into the water she would see reflected faces of the dead. Her only consolation was the ball of light that hovered loyally close to her shoulder.

 

 

SHE looked afraid, so afraid that he almost tore the Helmet off his head and betrayed his presence. Then he remembered her reaction when he had chided her for being young and sheltered. Likely she would not look kindly upon his interference and the subterfuge of the Helmet. Persephone would not be pleased that he had hidden himself and followed her. But his heart whispered for him to take her in his arms and protect her from her fears. As always, Hades listened to his mind, but for the first time in his existence, he yearned to follow his heart.

Charon felt his god's presence. He knew when Hades boarded the boat. Charon also knew that Hades wished to keep his presence hidden from the goddess. The Ferryman was nothing if not discreet. So Hades stood at the opposite end of the small craft, his eyes never leaving Persephone. He saw how she clutched the seat on which she sat so tightly that her delicate knuckles whitened. She held her spine rigid, as if she could brace herself against her fear. Her little light illuminated the space surrounding her so that she appeared to be floating in a halo of brightness that was almost as brilliant as her beauty.

The boat hit a wave causing it to rock dangerously. Persephone's body shuddered in response.

Carefully and quickly!
Hades' anger burst through his thoughts to Charon. The Ferryman bowed his head in acknowledgment and shivered at the force of the god's fury. With the Lord of the Underworld standing vigilant attendance, the remainder of the passage was smooth and swift.

 

 

“FOLLOW the path that leads there, Goddess.” Charon pointed ahead into the darkness. Lina stepped from the boat to the shore. “The Gates of Hades are just beyond. Through them you will find the entrance to the world above.”

Lina realized she didn't really need his direction. Demeter had been right, it was as if her body felt the way to the world above. But she smiled politely at the Ferryman.

“Thank you, Charon. I know my way from here.” She took a couple of steps, stopped, and turned back to the tall man. “You will be here when I come back, won't you?”

Charon almost smiled. “Yes, Goddess.”

“Good.”

Lina and her circle of light moved away from the lake. Under the shroud of invisibility Hades followed.

The ivory gates loomed before Lina. Thankfully, there was no sign of the eerie fog of a bad dream. Jogging through the gates she narrowed her eyes, trying to catch sight of Eurydice's ghostly form, but she saw nothing except velvet layers of darkness. Lina stopped and strained to listen. She could hear music, but it sounded far away and indistinct.

Please, please don't let me be too late, she prayed silently as she broke into a sprinter's run.

Lina passed through the grove of opaque trees in a blur. Then she spotted the tunnel, and, she breathed a sigh of relief, within it she could clearly see the silhouettes of two figures. One was several yards ahead of the other.

Lina ran silently and swiftly, covering the distance that separated her from Eurydice in a single breath.

The music was so sweet. Lina felt her shoulders begin to relax and her steps falter. She should just rest awhile and then . . .

Do not listen to his music!
The words shouted within her mind, and with the power of a goddess they chased away the cloying notes of Orpheus' song. Suddenly clear-minded, Lina was able to hear something that had been hidden beneath the spell of music until that moment—the sound of Eurydice's sobs.

As if sensing her presence, the girl looked over her shoulder. When she saw Lina her face grimaced with the strength of her emotion. Lina could see that Eurydice was still struggling against the lure of Orpheus's song. Even though they were almost to the lip of the tunnel, the little spirit still stumbled and dragged her feet, pulling back with everything inside of her against the magical lure of her husband's music. With a powerful effort, Eurydice silently mouthed two words to her goddess,
help me.

Orpheus stepped into the sunlight of the World of the Living.

Hades raised his hands to pull off the Helmet of Invisibility and do something he had never before done: he would revoke his word by refusing to allow Eurydice to leave the Underworld.

But before he could act, Persephone moved. She grabbed Eurydice's hand and held it in such a tight grasp that the little spirit was able to keep from stepping from the edge of the Underworld and into the light. Then, in a voice pitched to impersonate Eurydice's naïveté, she called to the musician who stood with his back resolutely facing them.

“Oh, my goodness! Orpheus, look! This sunlight makes my robe completely see through! And I have absolutely nothing on underneath it.”

With a victorious shout, the arrogant young musician spun around, but the look of triumph vanished when he realized that he was staring at his wife and the Goddess Persephone. Both women were still safely within the dark mouth of the Underworld.

“NOOOOOO!” His shriek of rage echoed through the tunnel. He lunged forward.

Unseen, Hades threw his hand up and issued a silent command.

When the musician's living body tried to pass into the shadowy entrance of Hades' realm, the air surrounding him seemed to solidify. Orpheus set his square jaw and kept trying to move forward, but the invisible barrier prevented him. The harder he struggled, the more firm the barrier became.

“You belong to me!” His words were no longer seductive or magical; instead they had become hard and cruel.

Eurydice shrank back from him as if she was afraid he would strike her. Lina was filled with a wave of righteous anger.

“You sound like a spoiled brat. You can't own another person's soul. Go back to your world. Leave Eurydice at peace in hers,” Lina said.

“Never! She will always be mine!” Orpheus shouted.

Lina shook her head. She had known his type of man. He would never be content with simply loving a woman. His kind had to control and bully and subjugate. She felt the anger expand within her, lending power to the words she hurled at Orpheus. “Go away, boy!”

The command slammed into the musician, lifting him off his feet and tossing him end-over-end away from the tunnel, carrying him back farther and farther until he disappeared completely from sight.

Apparently she'd discovered another one of Persephone's goddess powers. Lina smiled grimly. One shouldn't piss off a goddess.

Unaware that she was being shadowed by the invisible God of the Underworld, Lina wrapped an arm around Eurydice, who was sobbing quietly. Supporting her slight weight, Lina turned away from the World of the Living and led Eurydice through the welcoming darkness of the tunnel and into the glade of white trees. Once within their shielding canopy, Eurydice collapsed onto the soft, dark ground. The girl had quit crying, but she was panting like she had just run a marathon.

“You c-c-came for m-me!” She struggled to talk while she fought to bring her breathing under control.

Lina sat beside her and hugged her fiercely. “Of course I did. I knew something was wrong. I'm sorry I let you go—it was his music. At first I couldn't think clearly because of it, but as soon as Orpheus left with you, I understood that you didn't want to go with him.”

“N-no!” She shivered, but drew strength from the embrace of her goddess. “I did not want to go with him.”

“That wrong choice you said that you made. It wasn't taking the path that led to your death, was it?” Lina asked.

“No!” Eurydice said. The strength of her voice grew as she continued to speak. “It was him! He was the wrong choice I made. I was so incredibly wrong. I met him one day and the next I pledged myself to him. I was blinded by the magic of his music. I did not look into his heart.” She trembled, but forced herself under control. She needed to say it. She had been silent too long. “If I had looked into his heart, I would have seen that it was filled with cruelty. I did not understand until it was too late. It began with little things. He did not like my hair when I wore it a certain way. He asked me to change it. I did.” Eurydice's words came faster and faster. “Then it was my clothes. Then my friends. I tried to tell my family, but they could only hear his music. They gave me to him willingly, believing that my hesitation was simple, maidenly reserve. After we were married he would not even allow me to visit my family. He could not bear it if I was not always by his side. He wanted to consume me. When I tried to get away from him, even if it was just to have a moment of privacy, he struck me. He struck me again and again. Life with him was a prison.” Eurydice's eyes were bright, but her tears had stopped. “When the fog separated us, I simply ran from him. I did not know about the nest of vipers. But I was glad of their bite. I welcomed the release.”

“You are so brave.” Lina touched the girl's damp cheek.

“Do you really think so, Persephone?”

“I know so. On that you have the word of a goddess.”

Eurydice's smile flashed. “Then I must believe it.” Her expression changed, and became introspective.

“What is it, honey?” Lina asked.

The girl was staring down the path that led back to the Underworld. “I have to go. I don't belong this close to the World of the Living. It does not feel right.”

Lina nodded understanding. She could see the need in the little spirit's eyes. This time Eurydice's steps were confident as she hurried through the grove of milk-colored trees. Lina followed her more slowly. When they broke through the trees, Eurydice glanced over her shoulder at Lina, who had stopped.

“Will you not return with me?” Eurydice's voice had become frightened again.

“Yes, don't worry. I'm coming”—she hesitated—“but, honey, would you mind going on ahead of me?” Lina pointed behind her. “I need to do something first, and I don't want to ask you to wait for me.”

“But you will return to the Palace of Hades?”

Under the Helmet of Invisibility, Hades held his breath, waiting for Persephone's answer.

“Of course! I just need to have a quick talk with Demeter.”

Hades and Eurydice breathed sighs of relief.

The girl understood Persephone's need to speak with her mother. In many ways the goddess had taken the place of her living mother. She nodded and smiled. “I can return ahead of you to the palace.”

“You won't be afraid to go by yourself?”

“No. I belong here. I am not afraid.”

Lina hugged her again. “I won't be long.”

Eurydice grinned and skipped through the ivory gates. As Lina re-entered the grove of trees, she heard the girl's voice echoing through the limbs. “I will see that a meal is made ready for you. You will be hungry when you return and I must make certain that . . .”

Lina smiled wryly. Eurydice would be fine.

 

 

FEELING like a voyeur, Hades shadowed the unsuspecting Persephone. He should not continue to follow the goddess. Eurydice was free; she was returning safely to his palace. That had been his reason for donning the Helmet of Invisibility and going after them. And it had been a credible reason. Now he should return to his palace. His task was completed.

But he didn't turn back. He couldn't. Not yet. He wanted to watch her as she hurried so gracefully through the trees. The ball of light touched her lovely features like a bright caress. He envied that light.