Hades sat alone in the private chamber of Bone Appetit, the finest establishment in all of Nox, its pale bone chandeliers glowing with the faint shimmer of ghostly fire, casting silver light upon the god who sat in silence, wine untouched before him.
His thoughts weighed heavily, tangled with the words Hera had spoken earlier, the questions she had asked, the truths he had admitted.
He wondered if perhaps she had already left, if she had decided her pride was greater than the uncertainty of waiting for an answer from him.
For a fleeting moment, the thought stirred a dull ache in his chest, a sensation so foreign that it only deepened his confusion.
Just then, the door opened with a quiet creak, and a female divine spirit, clad in robes of dark blue embroidered with silver thread, stepped in.
Her voice, reverent and formal, broke the stillness. "Lord Hades, Lady Hera requests your presence in the grand hall."
