Eros stood outside the hall on Mount Olympus, waiting for his name to be called. Inside, Hera's court was already in session. He could hear voices through the marble walls, sharp and formal. A mortal had accused him of breaking a promise. The woman claimed he had filled her son with love for someone impossible, then abandoned him when it all fell apart. Eros knew his mother would be watching from somewhere in that hall. She would see this as proof that love needed her control. He needed to show them all that love didn't fail because it was free. It failed when gods like Aphrodite interfered. The doors opened. Eros walked in and saw the court assembled before him. Hera sat at the front, her eyes cool and measuring. To the side, his mother reclined in an ornate chair, blue velvet and gold swirls. She didn't look at him directly. She never did when she was angry. He carried a small glass vial in his palm. Inside, something shimmered like captured starlight. It was all that remained of the mortal woman his mother had destroyed. Physce had loved truly, without commands or arrows. Her soul had chosen freely. Aphrodite had ended it anyway. The mortal woman stood and spoke her accusation. Her son had died of heartbreak, she said. Eros had given him impossible love and then done nothing to save him. Eros listened without interrupting. When she finished, he held up the vial. He told them about Physce. He told them how her love had been real, unchosen by any god. He told them how his mother had crushed it because she couldn't command it. The court went silent. Even Hera leaned forward. Aphrodite rose from her chair. She looked at Eros for the first time. Her voice was soft, almost kind. She said Physce's love had been beautiful but mortal. Fragile. It would have ended badly no matter what. She had only hastened the inevitable. Eros felt the old wound open again. His mother had just dismissed the only proof he had. But then Hera spoke. She asked Aphrodite why she had interfered at all if the love was already doomed. Aphrodite didn't answer. The silence stretched. Eros realized something had shifted. His mother had no explanation that didn't prove his point.