“Oh, I have proof.” Demeter’s expression hardened, and she stood. “I’ve been following him, for your sake. Making sure he remained faithful.”
“You had no right—”
“I had every right to protect my sister. Whether you choose to believe me or not, all I’ve ever wanted was for you and Hestia to be happy. You’re different from us, Hera—you want things we don’t, and sometimes it’s hard to see the world the way you do. But that doesn’t make me love you any less. And I would never sabotage your happiness for sport.”
I swallowed hard. No matter how often we argued, she was telling the truth—she would never hurt me on purpose. And that left me with two options: denial and playing the fool, or acceptance and putting a stop to it.
I’d never been very good at being foolish.
“Why tell me now?” My lower lip trembled, and I clutched Ares. “Why ruin today for me?”
Demeter sank down beside me again, cupping my cheek. “No one can ruin today for you,” she murmured. “Your son is healthy and happy, and he already loves you so much.”
“So why not wait until after I’ve had a little time to be happy with him? Why did you have to rob me of that?” I blinked rapidly, struggling to keep myself from crying. I wouldn’t give Demeter the satisfaction of seeing me come undone.
“Because,” she said, averting her eyes, “his mistress is about to give birth, as well.”
All at once, the world gave out from under me, and it was all I could do to remain upright. “He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, and bitterness and fury unlike anything I’d ever experienced before ate away at me like acid, consuming every good thing left. In my arms, Ares started to cry, but even his fear wasn’t enough to make me curb my wrath.
“Who?” I demanded, and Demeter flinched.
“Leto. She’s pregnant with twins.”
Twins. My eyes flickered shut, and I took several deep breaths, forcing myself to calm down. “That’s his plan.”
“What’s his plan?”
“To take over the council. To override all of us.” I opened my eyes again, the fire inside me compressed into a single burning need. “First Aphrodite joins the council. Then Ares. It’s only a matter of time before he asks for Athena to join, as well. And after that, these bastard children of his—”
Demeter shook her head. “We’d never allow it. You know we wouldn’t.”
“He has Poseidon’s vote, and Aphrodite’s, and if it comes to it, Hades’s, as well. He would never dare upset the balance. Even if the three of us voted against it, we would still be outnumbered. Even if he doesn’t manage to do so now, eventually he’ll find a way.”
Demeter was quiet for a long moment. “Do you really think he would do that?”
“Yes,” I said flatly. “He’s exactly like our father—greedy, hungry for power, convinced he alone knows what is best. Concerned only with his own wants and desires without any regard for those he claims to love—”
“Hera.”
“—and if he thinks I’m going to let him get away with treating me with such little respect, I’ll—”
“Hera.”
Demeter reached for Ares, and I stopped. He was wailing now, his cries loud enough to wake all of Olympus. Numb, I allowed her to take him. “I need to find her,” I said, my arms cold without the weight of my son. “She can’t give birth. She can’t destroy the council like that.”
“It isn’t her fault,” said Demeter. “I’m certain Zeus lied to her. Even if he didn’t, this is a choice he made. She didn’t seduce him.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” I stood on shaky legs. “I must go. Watch after him while I’m away.”
She opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, she seemed to think better of it. At last she nodded. “Do what you must. I love you.”
“I love you, too, sister. Thank you for telling me.”
And with that, I exited the room, determined to do whatever I had to in order to stop this atrocity.
* * *
Several nights later, Zeus stormed into our chambers. “What did you do?”
The joy he’d emanated since Ares’s birth was gone now, replaced by waves of anger that would have frightened any reasonable person. He was, after all, King. But I was Queen, and this war was between equals.
“What do you mean?” I said with mocking innocence. If he was going to dare grow angry with me for protecting the council’s interests, for protecting the fairness and equality upon which we’d all agreed, then he was going to have to confess to breaking the most important promise he’d made me. To breaking his vows.
His face went from pink to red to a shade of purple that couldn’t possibly be natural, and lightning encompassed his clenched fists. “You know what,” he finally said in his thunderous voice. “Leto’s been in labor for days.”
“And she’ll remain in labor for a very long time,” I said, cradling Ares as he slept. Odd how my anger affected him, yet he barely batted an eye at his father’s fury. “I hardly see why it matters to you. Your son is right here.”
“Do not play these games with me,” he snarled. “You will undo whatever it is you did immediately.”