The Queen's Irony

16

Her ears rang. Her body stang. She couldn't see. Tears blurred her vision. She held Adiya close to her. She looked up. She could see the sky darkening with smoke. Off in the distance she could see the news vans. The sounds of sirens and screams mixed together and added onto the ringing. On her back, she could feel the eyes of the ethereal watching her. Her knees scraped with the rubble of the building. She let out a cry of pain and held tightly onto Adiya. She didn't care if Zeus saw her. She didn't care who saw her. She wanted Adiya back. It's my fault. This is all my fault. She's gone, and it's because of me. Why-why-why did it have to be this? Of all the ways...why like this?

Hera let out a simian cry and she sat up in her bed. The moon's rays shone through the drapes again but it did little in lighting the room tonight. Her heart pounded in its chest. Her hair was a disheveled mess on her head and she had her hand over her stomach again. She let out a quiet sigh, the room was cold tonight giving her shivers due to her sweaty body.

She looked over at Zeus. His back was to her. Blankets covered both of their lower halves. His breathing had a steady rhythm to it. Similar to Adiya's breathing, calm and peaceful. What did he dream about that made him sleep so peacefully and deeply?

She was cold. She was tired. She wanted to see Adiya, but the blankets were so warm. She lay back down next to him. She hugged his waist. She wanted to feel the comfort of someone else. Someone she could lay with without consequences.

"Zeus," she croaked. The god didn't make a noise. "Zeus," she said a bit louder. Nothing. She placed her forehead on the small of his back and sighed. Her hand ran up and rested on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, her hand rose with his breathing.

She was beginning to fall asleep when she felt his hand fall on top of hers. She looked up at him and she could see his eyes, they glimmered like two pieces of coal, in the dark, "Hera?"

He turned over and she separated from him, "What are you doing?"

"I, I had woken up from a nightmare."

Zeus rose a brow, "Oh?" Her cue to continue.

"I-I had dreamt that I-that I had lost the-the love of my life. It frightened me awake. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. I didn't mean to distur-" she was cut off with him hugging her.

She took in his scent. She could never describe it, but it was pleasant. It reminded her of the times Zeus could be loving and kind. He would kiss her forehead and she'd have an arm or two wrapped around him. They'd kiss and talk. They'd never leave each other's gaze lonely. The nights were warm, they would spend them watching the big screen TV in their bedroom. Often their cuddling would turn into something more erotic and they'd find themselves naked under the sheets in the morning.

She rested her head on his chest and the two cuddled together. They hadn't slept like this in awhile. Hera smiled, her mind was at peace. She had forgotten the reason she had woken. She began to close her eyes when she felt his hand on the back of her head and he began to caress her hair lovingly. She sighed and held him tighter, taking in more of his scent.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here by your side, always," he chuckled. "Until I die."

Hera felt herself go cold. Adiya's limp body was in her arms. Metal, glass, and concrete dug into her skin, biting away at her pain. The ringing in her ears returned and all she could take in was an acrid, burning kind of smell. A mixture of vaporized, burnt plastic, electronics, paper, wood, steel and concrete, fuel, and ozone. It stung her eyes and irritated her nose. She buried her face in the mortal's neck, trying to remember what it was like to breathe in crisp air. When she opened her eyes she was back in her room.