Medusa Isn't So Bad

Gods. Drama. And the talk.

Among all the gods and goddesses there are a select few I don't ever want to anger. Persephone is number one. And a close second is the Queen of Olympus and the blesser of marriages, the goddess Hera. Why you ask? Because she freaking terrifies me! Oh, that and historically she either agrees with your cause or you get destroyed on the spot. Take Medea for example; The sorceress who believed she could happily marry Jason did all manner of things to be with him and he ultimately abandoned her. Know what happened to her? She went crazy and flew into the sun! Okay, to be fair, she flew back to her grandfather, a titan sun god, Helios, but same thing! And Jason? Well, I'm told he's being harassed by harpies everyday until he dies. Why? They pissed off Hera! And don't even get me started on the people who slept with Zeus! Seriously. Don't. 

So when I found myself laying out candles to pray to this goddess, I couldn't help the knots in my stomach. I'd never heard of her blessing a marriage between women, nor between a monster and a human. My fingers shook a little, and I kept checking that each candle was position correctly. Constance helped me lay out fine jewelry and coins to acknowledge Hera's status as a queen and a pair of rings to praise her blessings. 

"I'm sure she'll accept us," She whispered to me sweetly. "I'm also praying to Artemis and Athena. Surely they know where my heart belongs." 

I smiled gently and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. If only we had time! I cursed myself for passing on her offer to be intimate back on the island. What if something happened and we were separated? Yes, I wanted to honor her and be married first, but dammit I wanted to shred her dress now and leave every manner of kisses and markings for the world to see she was mine. 

Oh, poor Apophis. Nia comforted me. This is kind of like mating season for us! The mates have to compete to prove they are the best!

This is worse, Nia! Aspen hissed. We just hiss and roll around a lot. Apophis has to ask a goddess for permission! That's more stressful. 

That's more stressful? Wion laughed. Must I remind you all that Apophis is a virgin? In the last 300 hundred years she never learned anything about intimacy! If they do mate how are they going to-

Be quiet, Wion!

Yeah, shut up, Wion!

Excuse me, Wion, but have you forgotten we are just as bad?  Ventura grumbled. Since we've been cursed to Apophis none of us have gotten any pleasure!

Wion hissed and pouted, curling around the back of my head. I was just trying to help! No need to get personal!

I actually had to close my eyes during their conversation. Dammed nosy worms! I would figure it out somehow! But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was so excited to express my love for her, I didn't exactly think of how I'd really do it. Biting my lower lip, I kept setting up beside Constance, but she started laughed beside me as the serpents began giving me more advice. My eyebrows furrowed and her hand covered her mouth. She looked like she'd been caught and my smile gave way to utter shock. 

"You can understand them!" I realized. 

She shyly fiddled with her hair, and looked down at her lap. 

"Only recently." She muttered. "Whatever Circe did must have had an after effect." 

Oh, now I truly wanted to die. How many times had they mentioned our private affairs in the last couple of days? My face burned, and a large hand smacked my shoulder with thunderous laughter. Herakles grinned from ear to ear. 

"Your slithering friends are rather loud." He chuckled. "But it's good to see they support you! Hopefully all goes well my friend and you can uh...show your lady love your true affections."