Zeus Thunderheart's Arc

Chapter 9 of 9

Zeus climbed to Olympus with the healer's oil still in his fist. He had beaten the hound, but Hades ran faster than any dog. His brother would reach Hera first and name the boy a threat. Zeus needed proof his son served Olympus, not a rival to burn it down. Without that proof, Hera would kill the child on sight. He turned toward the sunken sanctuary below the terrace, where a seer might read the boy's fate in stone. Athena waited at the sanctuary steps, cloaked in a plain cloth. She had covered his tracks before. She had lied to Hera's face for him. Now she looked at him without warmth. "He's already here," she said. "Hades. He's inside with her." Zeus stopped. "Then it's done." "Not yet." Athena pressed a thing into his hands. A crown of golden laurel leaves. "Chiyo sent it up with Hermes. It's the champion's mark. Fate stamps it. It only shines for the one who bears the prophecy." She met his eyes. "Show it to Hera. Let the crown speak. Your words won't." Zeus took the crown. "And if she smashes it?" "Then you learn what she is." Athena stepped aside. "Go. Before Hades finishes talking." Inside the sunken sanctuary, water dripped down carved walls. Hera stood among broken pillars. Hades leaned near her, his skin washed grey as ash, his voice low and steady in her ear. "He bred a hero to outlive your throne," Hades was saying. "The boy will grow. He will rise. And where will you be, sister?" Hera turned as Zeus entered. Her eyes were hard, but her mouth trembled. "You hid a child from me." "I did," Zeus said. "And I was wrong to hide it. But not for the reason he tells you." He lifted the golden crown. It caught the dim light and burned bright, gold spilling across the wet stone. "This is Fate's mark. It shines for one boy only. The one born to finish the twelve trials. To free men from monsters. To hold Olympus up, not tear it down." Hades reached for the crown. "A trick. He'll say anything." But the crown blazed brighter as Hera stepped near it. She stared into the light. Her hand rose, then stopped. "You never told me," she whispered. "You told everyone but me." "I feared you," Zeus said. "That was my mistake. Not the boy." Hera looked at Hades. She saw his eager face, his reaching hand, and something shifted behind her eyes. "You wanted me to strike blind," she said to him. "You wanted the boy dead before I understood him." Hades drew back. His grey face went cold. Hera did not touch the crown. She did not smash it. "I will not kill him," she said. "But I will not forgive you." She swept past both gods and climbed toward the terrace. Zeus stood holding the light. The boy would live. But Hades now stood exposed, and his hatred had nowhere left to hide.