The Queen's Irony

8

"Have a good sleep, Hera."

"You too, you little vex."

Hera watched as the mortal ducked into her bedroom for the day. Hera smiled. What a nice birthday. Probably the nicest one. She turned away from the second floor and went back to the first. Adiya made nice company when Zeus wasn't involved. If it weren't for him, they could be friends.

Hera opened a packet of chamomile tea while her mind wandered around within her head.

Adiya was perfect. Kind, easy to get along with when she wasn't shagging Zeus, beautiful. She had all the perfect aspects of a woman. It wasn't too hard to see what it was Zeus saw in her.

She continued to relay her night. Sweden had been wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. She hadn't had such a peaceful, fight free birthday in decades and it was refreshing to see a change in pattern.

She sipped her tea quietly immersed in her thoughts. She was oblivious to the world around her. A pack of geese could've broken into her home and she wouldn't have noticed. So of course she didn't hear the footsteps coming down the stairs and was startled at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. Despite this she didn't show much fear. She barely even flinched, the only gesture she made which acknowledged the hand's presence was a slight turn of the head. Her eyes met Zeus' own. He stared back at her gently,"You're not coming to bed, my wife?"

She tilted her head at him narrowing her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed together. She analyzed his gestures and words carefully. He had a tenderness in his eyes that she had only ever seen Adiya receive. At this she was immediately on guard. He wanted something. What did he want?

"In a moment, I wanted something to drink."

"Might I join you?"

She rose an eyebrow her lip twitching,"Uh, er, of course. Just add a  tea bag to some hot water and let it sit for three minutes."

He didn't bother. He snapped his fingers and the tea was already made.

"The point of tea is to relax you. It's not very effective if you use magic."

Zeus chuckled and brought the cup to his lips. Hera stared on curiously, he had never taken the time to just drink with her before. What was it he wanted? Did he actually just want to bond? He gagged a moment later and spat out the tea,"That's disgusting!"

Hera suppressed a laugh,"That's because you're supposed to add sugar."

She dipped a spoon into a jar of sugar and dropped it into her cup, mixing it well with the water. Zeus huffed and waited for Hera to finish so he could add the truckload he wanted.

Eventually they reached the moment where they just stood in silence together, sipping tea. It wasn't a tense or uncomfortable silence. It was kind of romantic actually. He shifted a bit so his hand rested on hers gently and she smiled softly. This was all she ever wanted. Quiet tender moments together. She never thought big, flashy dates or sex showed true love. She always thought moments like these, the small ones, were the true test. Just enjoying each other's company. No conversation. Just being with each other.

Zeus brushed a soft gaze at his wife and looked away. Hera blushed, she had seen it out the corner of her eye. That's when she realized the catch. She knew what he wanted. He craved something he hadn't put on in awhile. He was trying to lure her in. Hera set down her cup upset. To think she thought he only wanted to spend time with his wife. That perhaps he was finally changing his ways. Turns out he needed a way to rub off his boner.

"Adiya's upstairs. She's probably asleep by now, so you either rape her in her sleep or wait until the morning," she said bitterly.

Zeus set his cup down, too. He squinted his eyes at her and scowled,"Excuse me? Did you think I was trying to seduce you?"

"I know you are, Zeus. You're always trying new ways, new tactics to get me on my back. It's not going to work this time. If you're really desperate there's some lubricant in one of the guest rooms. Go and make yourself handsome."

Zeus stared at her registering her words. Hera hoped he didn't understand what she was trying to say. If her intuition really was wrong. Her telling him to go fuck himself would only make things worst. Thankfully, he changed the subject.

"So, how was the trip?" He asked tensely.

"Interesting. Not as terrible as it could've been. Went somewhere new. Made new memories." Reminisced old ones, she thought.

Zeus picked up the cup and brought it to his lips, contemplating her words,"Good. Very good. So the two of you played nice."

Hera didn't respond. She simply sipped her tea and changed the subject again,"Were you waiting for me?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"Zeus, there's got to be a reason. You never bothered checking on me before."

"There's a first for everything."

"Not for you."

"For everyone."

"Except you. Zeus, you barely even sleep in the same bed as me half the time. Are you really surprised that I'm questioning your morality at the moment?"

He stayed quiet for a long while. At first she thought she had rendered him speechless, then she realized he was staring at her cleavage. She growled and began to storm away when Zeus caught her wrist,"Sorry. I- Hera, why do you care so much. I'm showing concern for you and you push it away with stupid questions and ridiculous assumptions."

"Because you filled my life with half assed reasons and undeveloped plans! Zeus, I've been your wife for more than a millennia​ and you've never even bothered leaving me a message so I at least know where you ran off to this time. So I at least know nothing bad has happened to you and you're safe in the arms of another woman. If you really did care this wouldn't be the first time you'd wait at home for me."

"It's not the first time, Hera. You see what you want to see. There have been nights where you don't come home. Where are you then? I spend entire nights worrying about whether my wife finally had enough and ran off on her own or with someone else or if she'd gotten into trouble, and the next morning you walk into the throne room like you simply went for a stroll. Where are you? Where do you go? Who are you with? What are you doing? Do you do this when I'm not here? Why do you leave?"

Hera stayed quiet. She had an answer for all his questions but none he could really understand. She sighed,"I can assure you that when I'm not here I'm not with another man."

"What abou-"

"Or woman. Zeus, it was my birthday, the little vex had never been anywhere but The Valley. I pitied her and I took her to Sweden. That's where I've been all night. That's who I was with. Not a lover of mine but a mistress of yours."

Zeus avoided making eye contact. Hera left the kitchen. She made her way into her garden and sat at the fountain. She spent her morning there, looking at the sun wishing she could follow it into eternity.