Hera's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Hera stood at the edge of the golden council mosaic and would not step forward. The other gods waited by the altar on the open hill. She gripped her lotus scepter and stared at the new tablet of law glinting on its stand. She wanted one thing only: to force Zeus to swear fidelity before this whole council, and never touch another lover again. Themis read the law aloud. No god above it. No god outside it. But not one line bound a husband to his wife. Not one word named marriage. Hera's hand tightened on the scepter until the lotus petals trembled. "I will not swear," Hera said. Her voice cut across the hill. "Your law protects thrones. It does not protect beds." Themis lifted her hands. She could not invent what was not written. No older law bound a god to a fidelity oath, so she could not compel Zeus to take one. The council fell silent. Zeus did not look at Hera. He looked at the tablet, relieved. Hera turned and walked off the mosaic. Her cuckoos still waited in the bright golden aviary where she had penned them, useless witnesses with no court to hear them. She passed the cage and did not free them. She would need them again. On the steps, her great peacock landed beside her, gold eyes blazing in his open tail. Hera pressed her palm to his feathers. "The law will not bind him," she said. "Then I will write the law myself, and bring it back to this floor." She lifted her scepter toward the altar, and the lotus glowed.