AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kronos blots out the light as he passes over the houses of the lesser gods in the lower city of Olympus. Zeus watches from his gilded palace with fear slithering down his spine, into his stomach, where that terror squirms and makes him ill.
Hera stands at his side, a comfort Zeus knows he doesn’t deserve. He watches Kronos leisurely cross the distance. Kronos clearly intends to make his youngest child sweat. Zeus would do the same if their positions were reversed.
“You should go to the shelter, my bird,” Zeus says as he turns to Hera.
“Just give Hades Kore,” Hera replies. Her dark blue eyes are full of accusations. “You know this will end if Hades has what she wants.” Hera glances back in Kronos' direction, shaking her head. “Give Hades back what you made her take.”
Zeus feels her words against his skin—a lash across his pride.
“You made her take a consort,” Hera beats that point over him, her words tenderizing the bloodied mess of his heart. “Your choices brought your sister to our door.”
“I know,” Zeus grits out, curling a fist at his side. “But Demeter—”
Hera cuts him off. “To hell with Demeter, Zeus! You are theKingof the Gods. You don’t bow toanyone.”
Except, Zeus—as awful as the mortals find him—knows that a king should yield when it serves his people. He serves the mortals as much as they serve Zeus. Demeter starving his people won’t serve them.
Releasing another weary sigh, Zeus steps closer to Hera. She tenses, as she does when she feels betrayed, but he doesn’t stop. Zeus could wind up in Tartarus tomorrow, without physical form, and he wants to take her scent with him—the feel of her soft forehead against his mouth—to keep him warm while trapped in Hades' realm of icy darkness. Zeus' lips on her skin softens Hera. She senses this might be the last, and wraps her slender arms around his waist. He draws a deep breath, holding her in his lungs. Zeus wills this moment into a memory.
“Go to the shelter, my love. Stay with the little ones.”
This time, Hera digs her fingers into the small of his back, breathing Zeus as deep as he breathed her. He knows this is another moment turning into a memory. Zeus' memory will give him comfort; Hera’s will give her sorrow—the way many of her memories with Zeus do.
“I hate you,” she whispers. Hera’s voice is a broken sound, soft and scared like a whimpering kitten.
“I love you, too,” Zeus replies. The same reply he always gives when Hera says she hates him.
Hera releases his shirt, and Zeus' body craves the heat of her skin as she walks away. Abandoned in solitude, he turns toward the image of his father flying across Zeus'stolenrealm.
Athena lands on the balcony as Zeus steps through the open doors of his bedroom. A bloodied bandage peeks out from beneath her armor, and he shoots her a questioning glance.
“Ares. I’ll get him back.” Athena’s expression is dour, revealing her annoyance.
It’s not the first time Ares landed a blow, and it won’t be the last time he makes Athena bleed. They’ve fought many wars on opposite sides, but this is the first one where Ares and Athena had to declare their loyalties to a god. Athena chose Zeus, and Ares—Zeus' firstborn son—chose Hades.
He really is like me,Zeus thinks with a morose shake of his head.
“What do you want me to do?” Athena asks while Zeus stands, lost in thought, watching his father soar closer.
“Stay here,” he says. Zeus lifts his battle helmet, a seldom-worn accessory, and covers his golden hair with the metal. It feels heavier than any crown he’s worn.
Athena faces him; confusion dipping down her eyebrows, “What?Why? You need me out there.”
“I need you here, to lead other battles. This one is mine.” Zeus glances over his eldest daughter—his most beloved child—he adds, “If I don’t make it back from this, you will lead Olympus in my stead.”
Fear is an expression Athena never shows. Yet, there fear rests in the shadows of her eyes and in the dipped corners of her mouth.
“No,” she says. Defying Zeus for the first time in her life.
“Yes,” he commands, firmer.
A king can’t only be a king when it’s easy; Zeus must be a leader while ruling is hard. He does so at this moment, reminding himself of the boy he once was—hen his father ruled the heavens and earth with cruelty, when Rhea needed saving from her misery. Zeus took up his helm then, as he takes it up now. Only,now, it feels wrong to fight his father. Kronos stands as Hades' champion, and Zeus knows he’s done his sister wrong.
Forgive me, Hades. Forgive me, Hera.
Athena’s shoulders are strong and broad—a handsome goddess, handsome enough to sway the hearts of mortal queens. The statues of many of history’s great warriors bear Athena’s face. She is without equal, and Zeus knows she’s the best to lead Olympus. Athena is better qualified to lead than even Zeus. She looks just like him with her golden hair and wings, but her golden eyes are all Metis. Zeus sighs. There’s another wife he failed.
Mortals say all men walk with their penitence on the way to their death. Zeus must have the heart of a mortal man, for he walks with his now. Facing Kronos, Zeus feels each of his mistakes as his wings sprout from his back. Beating a test flap, golden plumes catch the light Helios shines over all.
