{Underworld, Time Unknown}

He stares into the roaring fires, blank eyes unmoving.  

Pupils black as death itself, show no emotion to the jumps and flickering of the red ambers as they crackled in the hearth.  A hand curls nears the side of his cheek – the god is thinking.  It is a hobby he likes to do during his spare time, although they were quite rare.  His other hand rests on the length of his thick armchair, fingers drumming as he waits. 

Any moment now.    

The speed of his fingers tapping at the cool leather never increases.  His heart, however, could not say the same.  The low thumps of his life source hitch up a little bit with each silent tap.  Is he waiting for something, or perhaps, someone?

“Lo-Lord Hades?”

The gentle squeak ends the god’s drumming torment, and he slowly swivels his chair around. 

A young woman trembles before him, her radiant golden tresses falling dim to the dark shadows around her.  She is nervous, maybe even scared out of her mind.  Her hands never stops fidgeting with the soft green satin that flows freely down her front – proof of her uneasiness in his powerful demeanor.

He feels his eyes betray him.  

Poor lamb.  She must be frightened to death right now.

“Come closer.”  Hades asks in his quiet voice. 

The maiden flinches, a bit surprised.  His voice is calm, yet smooth, and very velvet-like.  The wor