The Seduction of Hera
Who: Hera and Zeus What: Zeus finally woos Hera Where: Mt. Titanos When: Evening. Rating: PG-13 Status: Complete
Hera stood high atop one of the ruined towers her father's palace on Mt. Titanos, broodingly staring into the dark space between it and the castle her brother had formed for himself and the rest of the Gods on the facing peak. Overhead, the sky was a deep black dome with only a faint smattering of stars to brighten the dark night. Were it not for the glow emanating from the palace on the other Mount, she would never be able to see it for as yet there was no moon to lighten the depths of the heavens.
She shivered slightly in the chill of the night, noticing an increased dampness to the air around her. She pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, burying her face in its soft folds and breathing deeply the perfume of apple blossoms and roses she favored, a gift brought her by her niece, the child of her brother on her sister, the sweet, dark-haired child of the spring.
Thoughts of Kore, though, reminded her of her father. And tonight, Hera had come here to escape him. His ceaseless pursuit had surpassed tiresome. Was it not enough that he had Demeter? She loved him, though she feigned indifference. Why did he want to pursue Hera, too? Not that it surprised her. She had found that her brothers seemed to enjoy pursuit merely for the sake of pursuit, and a number of swelling bellies, both mortal and divine, seemed to attest to this. Of the three, only Hades seemed content to sit broodingly in his palace, although Hera was not naive enough to think that he was entirely solitary. Still, he didn't strut like her Peacocks, flaunting himself for the world to see, and admire.
It wasn't that she didn't admire Zeus. She did. He was her brother, and he had saved her life. But there was a large leap between admiring him and willingly parting her thighs for him to plunder her body. She happily gave him her admiration. She equally happily withheld her body.
The weather was turning sour, probably her brother's latest attempt to torture the poor humans, making them sleep in the mud like the lowliest of beasts. Although she understood his reasoning, that making them suffer made them more fervent in their giving of thanks, it didn't make the human condition any less appalling.
The rain began to come from the heavens in sheets, and Hera looked up into the sky, feeling it wash over her face, her eyes closing even as her hair grew wet to fall in long curls that plastered themselves to the back of her neck. She loved the rain, though she'd never tell Zeus that. After he'd released her from their father's stomach, the first thing she'd smelled, the first thing she'd felt on her skin, was the cool, clean rain as it coursed over her, washing away the years of stink and bile that being trapped inside Cronus's stomach had made sink into her nose and her pores and her very being.
Shedding her cloak, she let the water mold her gown to her body, the soft linen clinging to her curves like the morning mist over the gentle swells of the fields. Slowly, she began to spin in place, high atop that tower, just letting herself live in the moment, a giddy joy all but bursting forth from the depths of her soul as she suppressed a carol of pure love for the world around her.
Zeus watched his obsession on Mount Titanos and felt the wild passion tug at him once again. It felt like Helios' horses all running through him, pulling his heart along as the helpless chariot. This was out of control. He'd felt desire for Demeter and his previous conquests, but not this... wild passion. It made him feel at once out of control (which he did not like) and excited and thrilled for the hunt. Women had refused him in the past but their refusals hadn't lasted long before they submitted. Hera... had lasted longer than the others. Was that what was driving his passions? Her resistance?
No. It had to be something more. Maybe he truly did love her. Zeus snorted softly to himself in disbelief. Gods did not feel love. Love was for mortals and cattle (often one and the same), not for the mighty Olympians and certainly not for their ruler. Still, he would have Hera. If he couldn't force her to submit there were other persuasions.
Turning himself into a small fluttery bird, the type the Goddesses seemed to fawn over, he made his way from Mount Olympus to Titanos. By the time he got to the ruined mountain top he really was in trouble. The rain he'd sent was heavier than he'd realized and his feathers were soaked and he was floundering, fighting for every inch to the mountain. He'd intended to land at her feet and seduce her with his song but instead he squeaked with distress and collided inelegantly with Hera's chest. Exactly where he wanted to be just... not the way he wanted to get there.
Surprised, Hera let out a small "omph" at the impact, her hands automatically coming up to catch the small, wet, weight that slammed into her chest, cradling it gently in her hands as she lifted it to her face to see what it was. "Oh, you poor sweet little bird." The poor dear really was drenched, shivering in the cold and chirping pathetically. "You're cold!" she gasped, pulling it closer to her chest again, hugging it close so that it's shivers would be warmed by the heat of her body, her heart seeming to skip a beat as a sense of danger overwhelmed her, a danger she pushed aside, thinking that it was concern for the poor drowning bird.
A peace like Zeus had never felt before settled over him as she held him close to her bosom. If he could stay here forever, he'd be the happiest God on Olympus. Tweeting and chirping pathetically, playing up his already near-drowned appearance, he snuggled closer, soaking up her warmth for a few moments. He let her coo and fawn over him while he recovered a bit before revealing himself. Morphing and growing into his true shape and size, he caught Hera up in his arms and leaned down to kiss her. "I knew you'd take me in your arms one day," he murmured with a grin.
She stepped back, dropping her arms with a look of loathing creasing her face. "Trickery? You employ tricks now to try to force me to your bed? That is all I am? A trick?" Her chin came up defiantly. "I no more take you in my arms now than I did before, Zeus. And only your towering conceit would let you attempt to justify tricking me into taking you. Or are you so desperate for my touch that you would force yourself on me, rather than woo me with the respect I deserve?"
"Why are you making this so difficult?!" Zeus asked with exasperation, pacing around the ruined rock with the force of his emotion. "You're beautiful! I must have you! Why won't you submit like the others? Why do you resist me? Am I not handsome enough? Do you not love me enough? Have I not done enough noble things to woo your hand and your heart? I killed our father for you and saved you from a lifetime in his gullet! Is that not enough?"
"Because, brother, I do not wish to ever be numbered by you as 'like the others'! I am not like the others! You speak of love, of my hand and my heart, yet you offer me only a night in your bed in return? What do you take me for? A fool, like the others? No! If you wish me to give you what you seek, then you shall have to do the same! All of it! Your love, your hand, and your heart! I will settle for nothing less, and should you seek again to take it by force, I will call upon all that I am to punish you until the ends of the Earth! If you wish to have me, it shall be as your Wife and your Queen, your Heart and your Love. That, brother, is the only way you shall ever part my thighs."
"Fine, then you shall have it! Please, my Hera, my sister, my... love," he groaned, dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms around her thighs to bury his head in her belly. Gods didn't feel love did they? Maybe they did.... Demeter incited his passions but Hera... inflamed him, set his soul afire and while he could have any woman he wanted either by seduction or rape, he found his attempt at the latter was half-hearted. His Hera was a delicate flower, one that shouldn't be bruised with the force of his passions.
"Then swear it," she said softly, her eyes flashing as she looked down at where he knelt before her. "Swear it on the sacred water of the Styx that I shall be your only Wife and Queen, your only Love, the only woman to whom you give your Heart. Swear the sacred vows, Zeus, and..." she sighed, tired of the fight, "and I shall be yours."
He took a deep breath and sat back on his heels to look up at Hera. "I swear on the sacred waters of the river Styx that flow beneath the land and in our hearts that you shall be my only Wife, my only Queen, my only Love to whom you will be the only one who, should you so ask, I will cut out my still beating heart and offer it upon a sacrificial pyre for your pleasure." He was tired of the fight too, but tired of the fight with himself. He wanted her, badly, but the chase had grown old. He did love her, he realized. Gods could feel love and the king of the Gods felt it quite deeply. In that moment, he gave her his heart for safe keeping, because she was the only one he could trust to hold it.
She closed her eyes, knowing this was a mistake, knowing that she was only setting herself up for an eternity of hurt. Could she trust him? He was the one who had instituted the sacredness of oaths made on the Styx, but would he keep to his own laws? Would he hold himself to his vows? Would he... love her? And only her?
It was too late now. The vows were made, the contract, as it were, was set.
"Never forget what you swore me, Zeus. Your honor... and your heart... depend on it now," she whispered, then slowly bent at the waist and pressed a gentle kiss to his brow. "Love me, and I will treasure you always, Husband."
"I will treasure you always and never forget my vow," he whispered for not even the King of Gods and Men could reverse a sacred vow. He was immortal, all knowing, all seeing, and mostly all powerful, but even that power had limits somewhere. This was one of them. Of course, when he'd set up that vow, he hadn't realized nor intended it to be used against him but what was done was done. To dishonor the vow would break apart the peace and leadership he had worked so hard to make and that would plunge the fragile world into chaos again. But on a less dramatic note, he didn't want to take back his vow. For once he found himself wanting only one woman.
Standing, he cupped Hera's jaw and bent to give her a deep kiss. "My wife, my love," he whispered against her lips, wondering if this news was already all over Olympus by now.
"Zeus. Husband." She returned his kiss, forgetting for a moment her worries, her fear. "Come, my love. Let us return to the palace. We have much celebrating to attend to. And I do not wish to consummate your vows and our marriage here on a broken balcony." Pulling back she smiled, meeting his eyes, then laid her head on his shoulder. "For what it's worth to you, I offer you my own heart in exchange for yours. Treat it as you would have me treat yours," she whispered, knowing that what she said was as binding as his own vows, spoken here, tonight. "But enough. You have been chasing me for too long. You have caught me now. Claim your prize," she said, breaking the serious mood with a light tease. "Or is it now the case that since you have me, you no longer desire me? Have your vows robbed you of your lust for my flesh?"
"I cannot fathom myself ever tiring of you, my love," he chuckled, wrapping her up into his arms and spiriting them away to Olympus and what felt like a bright and happy future.