The Queen's Irony

11

Adiya stayed in the throne room despite it clearing after Hera disappeared. Ichor recolored the marble floor where Hera had been. There was a sinking feeling in Adiya's chest as she continued to look at the golden liquid.

This was her fault.

Hera had only stirred up some old memories Adiya would've rather forgotten, she tried to explain to Zeus but he wouldn't listen. He was livid with rage. She wouldn't let her have the time to explain. When Zeus found Adiya crying in her bedroom Adiya had never been planning on ratting Hera out. She was going to defend the queen's actions. The moment she said her name though, Zeus put it together. Hera did something. He didn't know what but she had to pay the consequences.

The mortal girl rested her back against the wall tiredly, she slumped down it, her eyes never leaving the stains. She wished she had never met Zeus that day in the park, she couldn't leave him either though. It was too late for that. Hera would get the blame.

And she was tired of Hera being the scapegoat for everything that happened to her.

As she contemplated her choices she started to feel cold. She rubbed her shoulders, trying to warm up. But the longer she did so, the colder it became and she began to feel a sense of loneliness. Her heart ached. Her body numbed. She looked over at the hearth expecting to see Hestia glaring at her, but was greeted with a scarier sight. The fire was dying. No, she thought. She stood up and ran to it. She had to save it. She remembered Hera telling her about the fire. It was at least a year ago. She couldn't let it die. She couldn't lose the strand of light this mountain had left.

"The hearth is supposed to be a home's fire, but ... it's more than that. It's sacred. To me. To Hestia. That everlasting flame in the throne room, it's sacrosanct for everybody on this mountain, Little Vex. The hearth is home, it speaks to family. It signifies a community. This is a symbol of unity among Olympus, for it to pass on implies Hestia has abandoned us. It would mean she has no family left to share a home. She has no home to give to a family. It is imperative to keep it alive. If this fire dies. Then she does too," Hera became quiet. A hero had been calling out to the gods during the week asking Hestia for guidance. At that very moment, due to this, Hestia was in the mortal world. So, without the goddess' knowledge, Hera allowed Adiya to go near the eternal fire. There would have been no way the goddess would've let Adiya near the hearth otherwise.

She looked at Hera's face. Her eyes glowing in the fire's light. Her chocolaty eyes held a heaviness and depth to them, years of stories and wisdom that had all gone untold. She didn't smile, it was rare to see the woman smile.

The wrinkles in her eyes said something else however.

The goddess looked back at Adiya catching her staring. Her pulse jumped. She had looked into Hera's eyes plenty of times before. This time it was different. There was an intensity that Adiya had never seen. The monarch's eyes didn't show her to be irate or disturbed. In fact, it was almost tender. Adiya's eyes scanned her features, her wonderful, delicate skin. Her full, red lips. Her big, dark eyes. The strands of grey hair that cornered her eye which contrasted her long, dark, Auburn hair. A tall, dainty nose which influenced her face to appear long. The tranquil, apple light of the fire painting her face, stroking it delicately as though it feared marring her appearance with a substandard shade of red.

The goddess tilted her head at the mortal.

The mortal looked away back at the hearth. She took a gander at the smoldering of the coals and relished in the heat. She wasn't sure whether it belonged to the fire. "Do you like Hestia? Forgive my intrusion, but you and her never really talk. Are you two even on good terms?"