Page 27 of Hephaestus
And I did. What other alternative was there? It was time for me to return to Hera’s palace and make things right, although deep down, I truly wondered whether this short amount of time having her bound to the golden throne was justice being served or not. Although I was working to correct my actions for her, she had never once done the same for me.
And that was what tore at me the most.
***
I made the trek from Hestio’s palace to Hera’s. As soon as I approached the ivory gates, they opened without any notice or command. Zeus’s servants approached me as they often did when I visited, but I was in no mood to be escorted by them to the King and Queen’s throne room. I knew my way around here by now and I did not need anyone to show me the way.
I brushed by the two male servants in white tunics and limped my way down the halls, arriving at the gargantuan throne room doors. They opened the very moment I approached them. Entering the room, I made my way down the long corridor, eventually finding Hera bound and still on the intricately designed golden throne just where I last left her. Only this time, she did not seem as berserk and untamed as she was the last time I was here.
As soon as she saw me, I could see her lips morph into a putrid smile. It left me feeling slightly queasy on the inside, as it always did when Hera expressed such an arrogance about her.
“Back so soon?” she asked, as if she was perfectly fine, without a bother or care in the world of her current predicament.
I knew this was Hera’s way of trying to play more mind games with me. Her acting unfazed by what I had done to her made it seem like she still had the upper hand in this situation, which I was not foolish enough to actually believe.
“Yes, although, if I had it my way, I would leave you remaining in this state for years to come. But lucky enough for you, other gods and goddesses have persuaded me to release you.”
“Hmph!” Hera grunted, quickly returning to her bitter ways. “The fact that other gods and goddesses had to provide their input to show you right from wrong speaks volumes of your own immaturity as a god.”
“If anything, I think it shows my strength and intelligence,” I countered her with. “I have the ability to listen to and understand the perspectives of others. I’m not being naïve and egotistical enough to act on my own opinions and experiences without taking the input of others into account, like most gods and goddesses do, including yourself, for that matter.”
“Is that the excuse you are using to appease yourself?” Hera acrimoniously stated. “At any rate, enough of this idle talk and nonsense. I think it’s time for you to remove these cords, or whatever it is strapping me down.”
I let out a deep sigh and reluctantly raised my palms towards her. An amber glimmer of light emitted from them, aimed directly at the golden throne. Soon, the luminescence dissipated, and Hera pushed herself out of the chair and to her feet.
She brushed her silver tunic and patted herself down, before directing her attention towards me. The Queen of the Gods stomped over in my direction, like the predator she was, ready to pounce upon her target prey.
“I have had enough of your games!” she seethed. “It’s long time I made you truly suffer with a fate far worse than anything I’ve made you experience before.”
Her hands were raised in the air, facing me, ready to cast some sort of spell that would likely be excruciatingly painful.
But before she could invoke her wrath, a low, deep, masculine voice called out, interrupting her. “That will be enough, Hera!”
The intimidating sound stopped her in her tracks, causing her to drop her hands to her side. “But do you have any idea what the foolish, deformed monster did to me?”
“I am very well aware.” The source of the voice finally revealed himself. Once I recognized the perfectly snow-white hair with a matching alabaster beard and the gorging muscles that practically roared with how huge and alive they seemed, I kneeled down on my stable knee, bowing to Zeus. There was a reason this man was named the King of Gods.
“Then it should be no surprise as to what I am about to do to the disrespectful heathen,” Hera further threatened.
“I think you have done enough to him, my dear,” Zeus stated, standing his ground against his wife firmly. “It is not your place to decide a punishment for Hephaestus. That decision belongs to me, and me alone.”
“But…” Hera began to counter him once more, but Zeus held his hand up, preventing her from uttering another word.
“That is enough, Hera. Now, I would like you to leave and allow me to have a private conversation with Hephaestus here,” he requested.
Hera groaned, realizing she no longer had any power over me. It was all in Zeus’s hands now. “Fine!” she gave in, proceeding to walk away.
As she brushed by me in haste, she whispered, “thank thekatasterismoifor looking down on you today, Hephaestus. You might not be so lucky next time.”
And with that, she trudged out of the throne room, leaving Zeus and me alone to ourselves.
“It seems you have made quite the spectacle upon your return to Mount Olympus, my boy,” Zeus said to me, with a disappointment in his voice. It made me nervous, knowing that this man held my fate in his hands and could tear me asunder.
“That was not what I intended,” I found myself admitting to him. “I wanted to make her face the consequences for all that she has done—abandoning me at a young age, throwing me from the cliff of Mount Olympus to the surface. I’m lucky to still be standing here today after that catastrophic fall.”
Zeus just stood there, scrutinizing me. The stern expression on his face remained fixed, leaving me clueless as to what he was thinking or how he was feeling, from what I had just shared.
Soon, he finally made his thoughts on the matter known to me. “And do you think Hera suffered enough from what she did to you?”
