“Thank you,” I said softly. It was the most I could give him in return. “Until then.”
“Until then.”
Part Two
The wedding was everything I’d dreamed it would be. Zeus spoke his vows with the authority and compassion of a king, and any doubts Demeter and Hades had managed to plant in my mind vanished. I was happy, and the entire world celebrated our union. That was all that mattered.
Our marriage continued on, much as our initial time together had. We worked side by side, ruling over our subjects and touring the earth, and his loyalty remained with me. Every time he looked at me, I saw the love in his eyes, and it only reaffirmed that I’d made the right decision. I had the life I wanted now, and no one, not Hades, not Demeter, could take it away from me. I would do everything in my power to make sure of it.
Less than a month before I was set to give birth to our first son, Zeus cleared his throat outside the chambers we shared. “Hera?”
I frowned and sat up from my afternoon nap, my rounded belly hindering my movements. He never hesitated to enter. “Yes?”
Zeus stepped through the curtain, his cheeks pink and his hair windswept. In that moment, he nearly looked like a young boy again, and I set my hand on my belly. Excitement, that was all. He’d nearly burst with happiness when I’d told him about our baby.
“I have a surprise for you,” he murmured. “Close your eyes.”
Relieved, I did so, trying to guess what it might be. I expected him to set my gift on the bed, but instead I heard the sound of light footsteps. One of my sisters, maybe, though he no longer asked for Demeter’s help in choosing my gifts.
“Perfect. Now open them.”
As the room came into focus, I blinked. Beside Zeus stood the most beautiful little girl I’d ever seen. Her hair was the same shade of gold as his, her eyes were so blue that they put the sky to shame, and her skin was pink and porcelain. She was perfect in every way.
“Hera, meet Aphrodite,” he said, and he ushered her toward me. Aphrodite moved with more grace than the wind, and as she curtsied, her cheeks flushed. “I discovered her among nymphs on an island.”
“It’s an honor,” she murmured. Her voice was like honey, far more intoxicating than mine would ever be. I hated her already.
“A servant?” I said. “How kind of you. I could certainly use someone to help me with the baby.”
He cleared his throat. “Er, yes, well—of course, Aphrodite will be here to help you with our son, but not as a servant. As my daughter and a member of the council.”
Cold horror washed over me. A member of the council. Zeus wanted her to be our equal. My equal. “But she’s a child—”
“She is my child now,” said Zeus. “Ours. And she will grow, as will our son. They will both be members of the council, and perhaps one day she will be his companion.”
“But she wasn’t born into our family,” I said. “She cannot simply join us before we make sure she’s suited to rule.”
“And how would you suggest we do that?” said Zeus.
I shrugged. “A test, perhaps, to weigh her virtues.”
He scoffed. “None of us are perfect, Hera.” Something about the way he said it sent a shiver of foreboding down my spine, and I draped a blanket over my lap.
“No, we aren’t, but we must all share some key qualities to ensure we’re fit to rule. Not us, of course,” I said. “But if you intend on adding others to our council, we must make sure it is best for humanity.”
Sighing, Zeus patted the little girl on the head. “Very well. We will test her when she grows older, and in the meantime, coming up with the parameters is your responsibility. I expect them to be fair.”
“Of course,” I murmured. “They’ll be fit for a god.”
Aphrodite shyly took a step toward me. “Daddy told me all about your baby. Can I touch him?”
I eyed the little girl with distaste. The last thing I wanted was for her to go anywhere near my son, but I felt Zeus’s gaze and the hope that emanated from him. He’d done this with the best of intentions. He hadn’t meant to insult me with a gift that was far more beautiful than I would ever be. Perhaps he didn’t even see her that way, given how young she appeared.
But as she stepped closer, I noticed something ancient in her eyes, something that searched me even as I searched her. She wasn’t a child. I didn’t know where she’d come from or who she was, but she was not as young as Zeus wanted me to believe.
Without breaking her stare, I took her hand and set it gently over the spot on my belly where my son now kicked. Her eyes widened at the movement, and she giggled. “He likes to move.”
“He does,” I said. “Perhaps if you are good, when he’s born, I will let you hold him.”
She nodded solemnly, but that ancient look didn’t go away. How could Zeus have missed it? Unless he hadn’t. Unless he knew she was older and this was all a ruse.
No, he wouldn’t do that to me. He loved me, and he wouldn’t hurt me in such a way. We were about to welcome a baby together. But even as I tried to reassure myself, my uncertainty refused to disappear, and my sister’s poisonous words returned to me.
“Has Zeus already decided what you’re to be the goddess of?” I said. We all chose our assignments—the things we held most dear, the things that came naturally to us. Fidelity for me, of course, and marriage, which I’d chosen after our wedding. Fertility after I’d fallen pregnant. But the council mostly chose for the minor gods that roamed the world.