The dining hall was magnificent. The black marble that cast itself on the floor seeped up the walls and pillars all the way to the ceiling. Candlelight flickered and brought the gold in the marble out as if it glowed. The room was taken up by two large rectangular tables covered with food that smelled so delicious that Victoria's head spun a little.

Gods and Godessess lined the tables dressed in finery. Chatter, the clinking of glasses and laughter echoed around the room.

As soon as Victoria and Hades entered, a few of the gods started whistling at them and applauding. Soon, a good majority of the room was joining in on the teasing. She was sure she saw some hand signs of intercourse.

Yet again, Victoria blushed head to toe at the vulgarity.

"Don't mind them." Hades murmured to her, placing his hand on her waist, as if to shield her, and guided her towards some seats in the middle.

"Brother! It's been many years! Were you able to last long?" Zeus hollered from across the room.

"Shut your fucking loud mouth Zeus." Hades growled, flashing him a glare before pulling out a chair for Victoria to sit in. "Sit." He said softly and helped her into her seat. Hades placed a chaste kiss on right temple.

"Perhaps my uncle's spear needs polishing." Athena teased beside Victoria before taking a gulp of wine. Apollo laughed and joined in.

"I doubt it need polishing, especially when it may be broken." He winked at Victoria.

"My spear is fine." Hades said in reply, "you should worry about your own before worrying about anyone else's. Since damage may be inflicted on it if you don't shut up."

Laughter erupted throughout the hall as his words and slowly people resumed back to their original conversations.

Victoria sat there, her appetite vanished.

They think we're late because they thought we were having sex.

Sex.

Sex with Hades.

As soon as the thought popped into her head, Victoria peeped over to the god himself. He was instructing a butler to fill his and her glass with wine. And checked him out head from the hair on his head to his feet. Her gaze soon returned to his lower regions.

Averting her eyes, she looked up and immediately made direct eye contact with Hermes. He wiggled his eyebrows at her and her skin flared again. He had caught her checking out Hades.

"Eat." Hades nudged her, in her embarrassment, Victoria had failed to notice that Hades had been filling her plate with food. With a lot of food. Different meats and roasted vegetables were piled on her plate like a small mountain. And he was adding more.

Her mouth went dry.

"Um Your Majesty?"

"Yes?" He was cutting up some food on his plate.

"I don't think I'll be able to finish this much food."

"Nonsense." He pierced some of the duck that he had been cutting with his fork and lifted it to her lips. "Here, try some of this."

His actions were so intimate for a public setting. The fork stayed in front of her lips as he waited.

Victoria leaned slightly forward and slide the meat off the fork. Eyes widening. It was delicious. Salt and sugar coated the outside and the skin was crispy, the meat tender.

"That's delicious." She said in surprise. Hades smiled at her and immediately lifted another morsel to her lips. She blushed at the realisation that a few people were watching them with surprise in their eyes. "My King, I am able to feed myself." Victoria said before eating from his fork again.

Heis chair was so close it was touching hers, he moved his arm around her waist, the other picked up potatoes, meats and vegetables with his fork as he fed her some more.

"You're too skinny," Hades said to her whilst she took a big gulp of wine, "you need to eat more otherwise you'll waste away." As soon as she put her glass down, he held a cut up potato to her mouth. His hand squeezed her waist. "Eat."

Victoria did have the heart tell him that she was close to being full. As he moved away to place more food on his plate, Victoria picked up her knife and fork and began trying to make a dent in the small mountain on her plate. At the sight of Victoria eating, Hades seemed to relax a bit and ate, engaging in conversation with the person beside him.

"Although we all know that you're my uncle's intended wife," Athena said, Victoria turned her head to listen. "I don't think any of us have ever seen him like that." She made a face. "It's quite gross actually."

Victoria drank more wine. "What is he usually like?"

"Very stoic, we all worry about him. He never likes to discuss how he's doing or even if he's looking after himself. He rarely comes to the palace because he'll know he'll be smothered by all of our concern and love." Athena laughed. "Sorry about earlier, it's rare that he replies when we poke fun at him. I couldn't resist."

Victoria giggled.

"How are you finding Olympus? Are you settling in well?"

Victoria finished her wine and a butler immediately filled it back up. "I like it here so far. Everybody is so friendly and warm."

Athena smiled at her. "I'm glad, Apollo, Hermes and I would love to show you around tomorrow. I heard from one of the maids that you had gotten lost?"

Victoria laughed nervously. "I did, this place is like a maze. A beautiful one at that." She added.

"Do you miss the mortal realm?"

Victoria stopped at the question. She stabbed at a piece of steak and chewed thoughtfully. Did she miss home? In a weird way, she didn't think about it much. Here, it seemed as though all of her problems melted away. Although she had liked Calum, it felt like an entire lifetime ago and they had only been together for a month or so.

"It's certainly easier since my parents have already passed away," she said carefully, "but I do seem to be rather content here. Is there some sort of magic here that's making me feel that way?"

Athena laughed and came in close, whispering in her ear. "It's because of your bond with Hades. Once you and your fated are set on your path, your feelings and perceptions change. Not in a way that alters you as a person but suddenly what you view as important becomes something different. I'm sure you know what I mean."

Victoria thought about it for a second. It would make sense why she thought about him so much. That everytime they were in the same room or in close proximity, everything seemed to fade away. She found comfort in the explanation.

"Ah that makes sense, I thought I was going insane a while ago."

Athena let out a peal of laughter and Victoria blushed in embrassment, gulping down more wine. This caught the attention of Apollo and Hermes across the table.

"What are you two talking about?" Apollo asked, playfully narrowing his eyes.

"Oh you know," Athena waved her hand. "The weather."

The evening carried on. It seemed the more Victoria chatted to the three of them, the more relaxed she became as they slowly became friends throughout the night. Apollo, she realised, was a charmer and very easygoing, she found herself amidst an intense discussion about the arts with him that lasted a couple hours.

Plenty of wine was drank in the room and different gods and goddesses introduced themselves. The man Hades had been talking to was Dionysius, beside Athena was Aphrodite. And countless more warm and friendly introductions were made.

Although, she noticed, everytime a male came to speak with her or kissed her hand, Hades would wrap and arm around her, or rest his hand on her thigh. If that didn't work, he was would dismiss them quickly.

His actions, Victoria thought whilst tipsy from the wine, were so sweet and protective. Her heart warmed and allowed her to accept him.

At the realisation, she blushed and more wine was drank.