Chapter 22:

Zeus had gone to his office after the meeting to think. He had been staring at Hera throughout the conference, hoping to get her attention, but she ignored him. He hated it when she ignored him, not that he cared if it was because he did something. No, it was because she was disrespecting him.

She was disrespecting her husband and her King, and it could not stand. She had denied him sexually and now non-verbally, and it bothered him to no end. In the past, she would fight, especially the first time it had ever happened, but after a while, she knew he always got what he wanted, and so she would give up.

Yesterday, however, she was different. She had fought with more vigor than usual, which irritated him but also turned him on. He didn’t know what had gotten into her, but he had to guess that it was because of someone else, but it better not be another man for her sake.

He had once been paranoid that it was Hades in the past recent years that had her fight with all her might against him but knew that Hades didn’t have what it took to take Hera away from him. Hades had proven it when they were younger after Zeus had saved them from their father that even he couldn’t keep Hera from him.

He had noticed how Hera would never bite his advances and would always gravitate to Hades. He didn’t understand, he was beautiful, powerful, and would be King of the gods, but she had chosen Hades instead. Hades could do what he couldn’t, which was make her smile, genuinely smile to where it would reach her eyes, and laugh that beautiful laugh that she possessed, but with Zeus, he could do none of those. He even went so far as to show his love for her through gifts, flowers, chocolates, poems (though he never wrote the poems), and jewelry, but nothing worked. He eventually could make her smile and laugh but not like Hades, and it was becoming more apparent that he would never get her unless he had formed a plan, a plan to trap her and claim her as his.

His plan did work, he got her, but he didn’t truly have her. Sure, she seemed tolerable the first three hundred years or so and would even acknowledge him, but unfortunately, his lust for other creatures would eat at him until he satisfied himself. At first, he would feel remorse for hurting her, but he simply didn’t seem to care after a while. He was King and could do what he wanted and whoever he wanted.

Lately, though, she had changed, one that he didn’t like, and now that that child was around, she had changed even more. What was this child doing to his kingdom? She hasn’t even been here an entire week, and things had already changed. Ares was acting kinder and more congenial to his mother and even volunteered to train the child. Athena, his favorite, had even taken a liking to the child; he didn’t understand. At first paranoid, he thought the child may be the one from the prophecy, but he soon brushed it off. No woman could ever overthrow him. They were too weak, so he knew he had no worries when it came to her.

“Father,” a knock at the door had brought him back to the present, “are you alright?”

“Athena, come in.” Zeus noticed she looked worried. “Is everything alright?” Zeus questioned.

“Yes, or I believe so. The weather had changed, and I thought that maybe you were the cause.”

Zeus hadn’t noticed the storm brewing outside, for he was too lost in his own mind. “No, I’m fine. It could be possible that someone has pissed off Hera. I am sure that we will hear about it soon when she returns.”

“Are you sure you’re alright, father? You seemed a little distracted at the council meeting earlier.”

“Oh yes, I’m fine, my dear. Thank you for your concern, but it is not needed, I promise.”

“Okay, I will let you get back to what you were doing, father.”

“Thank you,” he replied as she was already leaving the room. He walked over to the window to admire the storm occupying the sky. It was darker than he had ever seen it, almost pitch black, and the wind was so strong, he was sure it was causing havoc in Poseidon’s domain. He wondered, ‘Is this truly the work of Hera or of another being?’