Zeus stood before the hall doors where the unfinished spear would soon be displayed. He had surrendered his lightning bolt to earn that weapon, trading power for accountability. Now Hera's songbirds watched from the rafters above, their black eyes tracking his every movement. She knew something he could not let the council discover. The birds scattered through the columns, carrying their visions to her tower. He followed their flight path across the courtyard. The neoclassical tower rose beyond the palace walls, gold waterfalls streaming down its Corinthian columns. Hera had built it while he fought the war, claiming she needed a place for quiet reflection. A lie. The songbirds circled its upper windows before diving inside. She was gathering evidence, storing what they had seen in some vessel he could not reach. Zeus descended from Olympus to the mortal realm below. He needed to understand what the birds had witnessed before Hera brought it before the council. A glass building stood along the river where his temple once commanded the skyline. Songbirds perched on its balconies, their dark forms visible against the lit windows. They had followed him here too. The network stretched farther than he'd imagined. He returned to the palace and found Hera in the throne room. She held a scepter crowned with a golden lotus bloom, its petals opening to reveal a thousand tiny eyes embedded in the metal. Each eye glowed with captured memory. She met his gaze without fear. "The birds have shown me everything," she said. "Apollo, Hermes, and Athena conspiring. Testimony buried. A plan to kill." Zeus understood then that his sovereignty no longer rested on his command alone. Hera held proof that could fracture the council beyond repair.

The council chamber filled before Zeus could reach it. Themis had called the session early, her voice echoing through the palace before dawn. Every god already sat in the jury benches when he arrived, their faces turned toward the empty podium where he would stand. Hera watched from her seat, the golden scepter resting across her lap. The thousand eyes embedded in its lotus crown caught the morning light. Zeus tried to delay. He asked Themis for time to prepare his defense, citing the need to gather witnesses. She refused. The law did not wait on convenience, she said, and Hera's petition had been properly filed. The other gods shifted in their seats but said nothing. No one challenged Themis when she invoked procedure. Zeus moved toward the throne set above the council floor, but Themis stopped him with a raised hand. Today he would stand at the podium like any petitioner. The throne remained empty. Hera rose and approached the raised stage at the chamber's center. She carried two cuckoo birds, their bright plumage vivid against her white gown. Their yellow eyes held the same unnatural glow as the scepter's embedded memories. She set the birds on the stage's golden railing. "These witnesses observed Apollo, Hermes, and Athena in conspiracy," she said. "They planned to bury testimony. They spoke of killing to protect the throne." The birds turned their heads in perfect unison, their gaze fixed on Zeus. Athena started to speak, but Themis silenced her. Only the petitioner could present evidence until the council heard the full accusation. Zeus understood he had lost control of the chamber the moment Themis called it to session. He could not dismiss what he had not convened. He could not silence testimony he had not authorized. The throne stood empty above him, a reminder that authority meant nothing when the law moved without his command. Hera had outmaneuvered him completely. The birds began to sing, and their song carried visions that spread through the chamber like smoke. Every god would see what they had witnessed. Zeus stood at the podium and waited for his sovereignty to fracture in front of the entire council.