**PROLOGUE**
Soft sandy curls cascaded down a slender back, bouncing as she ran, chasing a dog through the courtyard. The mutt bounced and jumped with the girl as she ran, nipping at the piece of rope in her hand. She teased him with it, giggling as he lunged at it, and playing tug-of-war when he caught it.
"She's a beautiful child," Zeus said to his brother, Hades, as they hid behind a grove of bushes "Who will become a beautiful woman..." he trailed off, hinting at something.
Hades laughed, sternly, "She's beautiful, indeed. Her presence has been a blessing on Olympus, no doubt?"
"Indeed!" He placed a hand on Hades's shoulder. "I wanted to ask you for a favor." He turned his gaze away from the child and paced between the hedges they were hidden in. "I need use of the Titans." He turned a stern face to Hades. "In exchange, when the girl has grown, on her 18th birthday, I will give you Persephone as a wife."
Hades practically shuddered. He watched the girl, now sitting on the grass scratching the belly of the dog, lounging on his back. His heart ached; ached for the loneliness he felt, for the longing to hold someone - but someone so pure as Persephone? He shuddered again. "A wife?" His voice came as a whisper.
"Queen of the Underworld." Zeus emphasized, "She could bring so much light to a dismal place, as the Goddess of Spring."
"Spring? A-and such a young Goddess? I'm not worthy." Hades looked down.
Zeus almost chuckled aloud but kept it to a few light bursts of air, "You took the fall. If Hermes didn't summon you..." He trailed off, looking at the stumps that were once Hades's wings. Zeus coughed, disrupting his humor and taking a serious temper. "I know what you have sacrificed, brother. I know what you have given up in order to save the souls of the humans."
Hades looked down, trying not to remember the pain of The Fall: The removal of his wings, and the sacrifice of his godly powers to possess a sinister force. "I... I will consider this." He looked at Zeus, "I will not force her to be my wife, but I would like her to know me beforehand."
"She will not choose you if she believes Demeter..." Zeus trailed off.
"Demeter knows nothing of me!" Hades spat. "Surely you can persuade her opinion of the God of the Underworld."
"I think you can do that for yourself" Zeus chuckled, spreading his arms and encircling Hades in a blur, only to clear up when the child was sitting before him. Hades's eyes went wide as he found himself in the shadows before Persephone, his brother Zeus nowhere in sight. She sat up, and the dog jumped to his feet, slowly approaching Hades as he reached a hand out to the beast. The dog sniffed his hand, allowing him to reach out and scratch his head before scratching behind his ear. The dog fell to the ground, rolling on his back and Hades found himself on his knees, scratching his belly.
The girl giggled and crawled closer. "I've never seen you before." She knelt down on the other side of the pup, who was laying belly up, her jade eyes fixed on the handsome god before her.
Blue flames barely licked the air from beneath the dark silk train of his waste wrap. His dark black hair framed his chiseled pale face, and his pectorals heaved with his breath beneath a sash of deep navy silk, silver decal pins holding it in place.
"Hello." Hades smiled, and looked at her, completely pinned by her beautiful eyes. "I'm... Hades." He finally states.
