The Queen's Curse

five | Hera's heart

Hera's heart

Her palm was pressed onto the rocky surface, tracing the small rocks with a look of amazement plastered on her face. They were colored in different shades and they were naturally carved into abstract shapes.

She chuckled at the creatures below who all but waited for her to leap. The blue dress she was wearing hugged her curves from being soaked. Yes, she climbed up, curious about how it looked from above. The horizon showed different shades of orange and purple as she watched Helios' chariot departing, slowly replaced by Selene.

With her knees bent, she dove right into the waters and swam towards her foster parents' abode, who was impatiently waiting for her on the porch with a frown on their faces.

Sensing another divinity behind her, her figure turned and stood. The surge of power was familiar, and the energy emitted from the individual contained something that opposed hers entirely.

Half of her ginger red hair went to her face as she faced him. His black hair and obsidian orbs. Her hazel eyes locked with his own and she reminisced the times they shared when they were young. The monsters she fought to save him from the darkness of his immortal soul, especially when they were trapped inside their father's stomach. Neither of them will admit it to each other but it was clear.

Once upon a time, when Zeus wasn't even born yet, Hera learned to have feelings for someone.

It was more than familial or sibling love.

Hades was Hera's first love.

For a time, she was his.

"What are you doing here, Lord Hades?" She whispered softly but it was carried by the wind and he, nonetheless, heard her sweet voice.

"I had to make sure you weren't going to take a leap." He joked momentarily but stopped once she threw him a scowl. Fixing his hair upwards, he took a few steps towards her. "Poseidon spoke to me and it occurred to me that we need to reconcile, for the both of us."

An eyebrow was raised in question and her lips parted to reply but he interrupted her.

"I followed you here when you left the palace. I remembered the times when you would sneak out of Tethys' palace at night. You would ask me to accompany you." He sat down in front of her, folding his legs into an Indian sit. He gave the ground a soft pat for her to follow his actions. Hera obliged and studied him. "And you would let go of your thoughts freely, informing me of what was troubling you, especially when your day was unpleasant."

What he was saying was, no doubt, the truth. Those days would always ease away her troubling thoughts, even if they were drifting apart with their immortal duties. Zeus was already part of her life, which was why she needed Hades by her side even for a short while.

"Not anymore." She muttered softly but for a moment, she wasn't looking directly at him when she said this.

Hades sighed and gazed at her wonderful orbs, those orbs looked at him with so much love in the past. Now, they were looking at him with suspicion, waiting for him to reveal his actual motive of coming here. "Soon, we drifted apart. And I was to blame, Hera. The moment Zeus started courting you was when I left. I was still yearning for you but it was selfish of me to get in the way of my brother and king. You desired him with so much curiosity evident in your eyes. The perfect match, they all said." His tone was laced with bitterness.

The Queen's lips parted as she took in a deep breath. This was unknown to her and she wanted to move her hand over his.

He gave her a sad smile. "I had no right to want you for myself when I was afraid of voicing out my feelings for you. Soon after, I left you confused then it turned into anger for I avoided you like the plague. The tension between us cannot be denied but no one dared to ask because they were afraid of the Lord of the Underworld and the Queen of the Heavens' wrath. And everyone forgot when you turned bitter because of your husband."