The tale of Hera Vol. 1.1 Chapter 3.2 - Zeus, the King of the Gods

The wedding took place according to the customs of Myrmidones. King Peleus of Phthia favored the culture of the Myrmidones tribe, which was most prevalent in the region of Thessaly he ruled over. Heracles, having spent a long period wandering, seemed familiar with their customs as well. While the centaur Chiron presided over the wedding, he only observed the overall progress of the wedding.

During the course of the wedding, humans remained seated and observed the ceremony seriously without moving, but the gods were not as restrained. Hebe diligently went back and forth, pouring nectar into their golden cups. The hungry gods grabbed ambrosia, which was placed in silver platters, and stuffed it into their mouths with their hands. They also did not forget to lick their fingers while picking up food. The sound of their munching and slurping was incessant.

The gods ate and drank sloppily while making comments about the bride and groom. Talking with food in their mouths made their voices much louder than usual. However, humans could only occasionally catch glimpses of dozens of empty thrones and a pair of golden thrones, as they could not see or hear the gods without their permission.

Zeus was looking into his wine cup with a pensive expression. I turned my head to look for Hermes. The cunning son of Maia was staring fixedly at Thetis, who was exchanging gifts with King Peleus, muttering something under his breath.

Only then did I realize what mischief was afoot. Zeus had manipulated Hermes’ line of sight so that he could see Thetis reflected on the surface of the wine, allowing him to steal glances without lifting his head. Having caught on to his sly tactic, I poured the nectar from my cup into Zeus’s cup. The surface of the wine rippled.

“…!”

Zeus raised his head and glared at me.

“Don’t hide and watch, Zeus. Just watch comfortably. You’ll get wrinkles around your beautiful eyes if you keep this up.”

“Hera, are you trying to find an excuse for more jealousy and malice, so you’re telling me to look at other women besides you?”

Zeus spoke with anger in his voice.

“Thetis is fine.”

“Fine, you say?”

Zeus smirked and looked at me.

“Just because she’s married to Peleus, does that guarantee that I won’t touch her? You can’t be sure either. After all, I’m the lustful one who doesn’t hesitate to touch married women.”

Zeus spoke proudly, as if it was something to brag about. I looked at Zeus, who had never felt ashamed of his shortcomings, with a disgusted expression. Zeus gave me a look as if urging me to answer quickly. After calming myself for a moment, I steadied my voice and started addressing his question.

“I know. If a beautiful woman catches your eye, you wouldn’t hesitate to dive under her skirt, even if she’s married and has children. It might be dangerous with other married women. But Thetis is different.”

“That’s why I am asking you the reason why you think that way, Hera.”

Zeus spoke irritably. 

“Why? Because Zeus, you’re a coward.”

I responded coldly.

“You claim to love Thetis, but Zeus, you haven’t truly loved her.”

Zeus’s thick eyebrows twitched as if they were alive.

“Hera, what nonsense is this? Are you really losing your mind? Or are you testing me? Is this the prelude to your wicked jealousy? Or do you hope that I will declare my love for Thetis in front of you? Trying to twist your words to give legitimacy to your jealousy?”

He snapped at me with a sharp, piercing voice, as if there was no doubt.

“Don’t even dream of ruining a good day’s celebration. And don’t try to manipulate my emotions at your will. Hera, this is my final warning. Don’t drag our already twisted marriage further into the abyss by your own hands.”

In his menacing tone, I sensed his shallow patience wearing thin. Glancing below, I noticed that the armrest of the throne he was holding was contorting under his immense strength.

“Zeus. Speak straightforwardly.”

I began to speak more openly to him as well.

“What do you know about love? You’re clueless. You don’t have a clue about love. You’re just putting on a façade.”

I stared at him squarely.

“If you truly loved Thetis, you wouldn’t have trembled in fear over some silly prophecy. You wouldn’t have cowardly surrendered her by marrying her off to a mortal king. But you’re only defeated by the fear ingrained in your mind.”

“… Hera.”

Zeus murmured my name softly. It was a chilling warning to stop. However, like a burst dam, my words continued to pour out relentlessly.

“If you want to completely deny my opinion, then go ahead and stand up right now to overturn this marriage. Zeus, you’ve transformed into a white bull to carry Io away, and you’ve turned into clouds to seduce women. Shapeshifting. Isn’t that your specialty? Why not kill King Peleus right now, abduct Thetis, and escape to Olympus? Who would dare to stand in the way of the king of the gods? Boldly and recklessly, in the midst of a bustling wedding ceremony, try kidnapping the bride and running away. But… you can’t, can you? You can’t do it.”

I pointed to the crown he was wearing with my fingertip. The sunlight filtered through, and my finger was tinged with a crimson hue. Zeus’ eyes flicked up towards my fingertip. As more of the whites of his eyes became visible, I couldn’t read his expression any longer.

“Zeus.” 

I asked.

“If you had to choose just one. The woman you love, or the throne of Olympus?”

Without answering, Zeus lowered his gaze to look at me.

“It’s obvious.” 

I said in a disappointed tone.

“You can’t bear to relinquish the throne, can you? That’s why you’re cowardly. Zeus, how can you claim to always fall in love and inevitably stray, when you don’t even know how to truly love? Have you truly loved those women before? If so, why do you hesitate to gain sons from them who might be greater than you? Like how you turned my son, Ares, into a war-crazed lunatic and reduced poor Hephaestus to a cripple with a repulsive appearance.”

Seething with anger, Zeus grabbed my wrist and threatened.

“Right now, it would be wise for you to keep your mouth shut before I have Hermes seal it with beeswax. Hera.”

I quickly changed my demeanor and spoke in a calm voice.

“Anyway, there’s no more to be said. Let’s just watch the ceremony.”

After glaring at me for a long moment as if I were an abomination for pretending to be an obedient wife, he let go of my wrist as if to throw it away. Then he grabbed his golden goblet and started drinking heavily. Even though Hebe poured new wine diligently, it was hard to keep up with his pace of consumption.

I gently massaged my wrist that had been grabbed by him. A throbbing pain remained. It felt like my wrist bone might have been fractured. It dawned on me. I had forgotten that the one who had given birth to the brutishly strong but ignorant Heracles was none other than Zeus himself.

The broken bone would likely heal within an hour. One of the advantages of being immortal is the quick recovery.

I left Zeus, who seemed to be in a sour mood, alone, and accepted the nectar poured by Hebe. Since my wrist was hurting and I couldn’t move it, I used my other hand to lift the cup. I took a small sip of the drink and let it settle between my tongue and lower teeth. The wine of the gods, which was usually so sweet that it could numb the root of the tongue, tasted unusually bitter today.

 

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