Zeus chuckled. “More family.”
I stepped away from the curtain and hurried back into the chamber before Zeus could discover me. He wasn’t lying, after all. Once again, he’d proven Hades and Demeter wrong.
When Zeus returned to our chamber and lay down beside me, I curled up against him, resting my head on his chest. “I love you,” I whispered. “Every part of you.”
He kissed my hair. “As I love you. Never forget that.”
In that moment, I was certain I never would.
* * *
The day Ares was born was the happiest of my life.
As I held that squirming pink bundle, I understood why our mother had refused to fight at Cronus’s side against us. No matter how much I loved Zeus, no matter how loyal I was to him, Ares was as much a part of me as my heart. He was mine.
Zeus disappeared hours after Ares was born, presumably to celebrate with Poseidon and Hades. As soon as he’d gone, however, a knock sounded. “Come in,” I called.
Demeter pushed aside the curtains. I lay on the bed, curled up with the baby, who slept soundly against my chest. “Hera,” she murmured, slipping inside. “He’s beautiful. Congratulations.”
Regardless of any lingering animosity between us, I grinned. “Isn’t he? He looks just like me.”
“I’m sure Zeus took that well,” she teased. Sitting down on the bed, she touched Ares’s cheek. “He almost makes me want to have children of my own.”
“Maybe you should,” I said. “It’s about time you found someone.”
She shook her head, and something flickered across her face, something I didn’t quite catch. “I wouldn’t be very good at it. I think I’d rather plant roots first. Find myself.”
“Well, you do have eternity,” I said, and she smiled a bit sadly.
“I do.” She hesitated and pulled her gaze away from Ares. “I need to talk to you about something, and I need you to not panic or get angry. For your son’s sake.”
All of the contentment Ares’s birth had brought me drained away, leaving me with the same wariness that had plagued me before. “If you’re going to tell me you don’t think Zeus will be a good father—”
“He already is a good father,” said Demeter. “With Ares, with Aphrodite and with Athena.”
I made a face. Athena, his child with Metis during the war, before he’d married me. Thankfully, she rarely came around. The thought of being a stepmother didn’t hold much appeal to me, and dealing with Aphrodite was difficult enough. “I don’t see what she has to do with anything.”
“She doesn’t,” said Demeter. Another moment passed between us in silence. “Zeus has a mistress.”
My grip on my son tightened, and burning anger flared up inside me. “How dare you accuse him when you have no proof—”
“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.”