Dead of Spring: A Hades and Persephone Retelling by Colette Rhodes

Author:Colette Rhodes [Rhodes, Colette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The Judges of the Dead were so busy, they barely acknowledged me as I walked past the seemingly endless line of waiting souls to the enormous desk where the three of them sat at thrones only marginally less grand than mine.

“Finally,” Minos grumbled from his position in the center of them as I rounded the table to stand behind his chair. Aiakos and Rhadamanthys tended to make the judgments, with Minos observing and contributing when a decision couldn’t be reached between them. “I wondered if you’d ever bother to visit.”

“You’re not the only one who’s been busy,” I replied calmly. “Though I concede that I should have come earlier. Another war in the upperworld?”

I had been paying even less attention to the goings on of the upperworld than usual. Without Kore up there, there was no point. Nothing to capture my interest.

Minos snorted. “You,” he called, pointing at the next soul in line—a young man on the cusp of manhood. He’d evidently been given proper burial rites, which meant any injuries he’d suffered or the ravages of illness had been wiped clean before he’d entered the underworld, and I wondered idly what had killed one so young. It wasn’t unheard of to send boys into war when there weren’t enough men left to fight.

“Tell the King of the Underworld how you died,” Minos commanded. Aiakos shot his fellow judge an irritable look from his spot to the left of him, undoubtedly annoyed at their process being disrupted. I would find that aggravating too.

“Famine.” The boy’s voice trembled as he spoke, his eyes cast down.

I frowned. Famine? The upperworld had food in abundance. Only those who’d gravely offended Demeter died of famine. A sense of unease unfurled in my gut as I moved back down to the line of souls, some old, but many young. Mothers holding babes, children clutching one another, young men who should have been filled with life practically shaking with rage.

“What killed you?” I asked an older woman, second in line.

“Famine, o great Hades,” she replied gently, bowing her head. “Nearly all of us in this line, I should think. The ground is dead. There was fruit and wheat one day, the next it was all gone. Nothing will grow. The animals have starved, there is no meat.”

I gave her a curt nod, retreating back to the judges’ table. Famine. Demeter was starving the earth in her rage. Or perhaps her grief.

Minos twisted, sparing me a pointed look. “I take it you don’t need me to explain why famine would suddenly be ravaging the mortal population?”

“I don’t.”

“Does it bother you?” Minos pressed, narrowing his eyes at me. He’d once been mortal himself, perhaps it made him sympathetic to their plight.

“Why would it?” I shrugged. “My power comes from souls. The more here, the better off I am. Demeter will presumably adjust her behavior when she realizes that her rage is doing me a favor.”

“You aren’t endearing yourself to the mortals,” Minos pointed out, as though that would influence my decision in the slightest.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.