Chapter 5: Meetings
Servants came and ensured Hera's curls were as perfect as the rest of her form. Her gold and white silk gown covered every inch of her torso, and after that embarrassing display by that pathetic king. He had been so useful in harassing Heracles and stressed Zeus to no end.
That had been pleasure in and of itself. Better than any sex from her husband in years. Still, she could not disguise her repulsion to Eurystheus and his pathetic performance. Even if the magic had not repelled him from touching her body, he would have never pleased her. Would he have gone deep enough for his paltry mortal seed to plant in her divine, fertile womb?
As she fixed her crown, Hera seethed, loosing a disgruntled sigh. It would be better to just forget her quest. Somehow, she couldn't. If the tree did not bear fruit, so to speak, she would find another way. Maybe the Fates or Gaia would have answers.
Falling into her chair in her dining hall, she was repulsed by the food. It all just reminded her of her failure, and the success of Zeus. It was all Zeus' in the end.
"What has you so flustered?" a young, sweet voice said.
Hera looked up to see Persephone, in a gown of black, silver, and gems, walk in. She was the young bride Zeus gave to Hades. Since Demeter all but tried to lock the child away, the match seemed a good one. With a crown of silver and gold on her head, Persephone looked every bit the queen of Hera once was. It would change when Hades decided to be unfaithful.
"Just another one of my husband's games," Hera said, standing up. She extended her hand as an offer to sit. There was something different about Persephone, outside of the fact that she was dressed.
There was a fragrant aroma about her. It was not the usual flowers or peat. This was a more rugged scent than the flower but more subtle than the peat. This was something sweaty, alive, but not one of the three kings. The smell sent a shiver down Hera's spine. For the briefest of moments, Hera's loins moistened in jealousy. She had to cross her legs to forget the indecency of it.
It had been so long since anyone but Zeus had aroused her. But the three kings did all have the same scent.
When Amphitrite appeared a moment later, Hera's point was made. She smelled of the aroma of Zeus but with sea salt and brine, which was Poseidon in every way. Though, if what Hera heard was true, Poseidon was obsessed with sea nymphs after Gaia rejected him and he came so quick on Aphrodite that she refused to take him to bed again.
Well, until he fixed his slippery bow. A woman could not have arrows being shot at her target until she was ready.
Amphitrite, in her white and silver gown, did not seem to mind. Poseidon had ravaged his wife. Marks from his passion were on her breasts. The smell of seed was oozing from her pussy. Hera considered helping it along to give Amphitrite a child. That might help Poseidon focus on where his attention should be, but Here thought better of it.
"Speaking of your husband's games," Amphitrite said, "how is that going? His attention on Heracles ruined," she paused to motion at her body, "this."
"I apologize for my husband's temperament. Did you at least get to enjoy yourself?"
The Queen of the Ocean nodded. "But is this Heracles really worth all of the trouble?"
"I should say so," the Queen of the Underworld mused.
The Queen of Olympus raised her eyebrow. Had Persephone and Hades seen Heracles? Or maybe just Persephone? Was the young girl better at playing the games of Olympus better than Hera? Had the girl succeeded in making Hades a cuckold where Hera had failed with Zeus? It did not seem fair for Hera or Hades. Hades had not been unfaithful...yet, but for the blood of Cronos, it was bound to happen.
"He plays the hero *very* well."
Hera rolled her eyes while Amphitrite looked dazzled.
"How so?" she asked.
"He came to the Underworld while still partially mortal. The land of the dead is meant for the divine and the dead, and still he fought and tamed Cerberus, with his godly strength failing him. He never thought of keeping Cerberus; Heracles returned our precious guard dog. And unlike most men, god or mortal, he never once leered at me or shamed me for being myself."
Hera scoffed and rolled her eyes again. Amphitrite, however, was captivated.
"There's something else, isn't there?" the sea goddess asked.
"Hug him," Persephone ordered simply.
"Excuse me?" Amphitrite said.
"What?" Hera mirrored.
"Hug him," Persephone repeated. "Let him pull you into your arms and let his body hold yours. I have never felt safer. There's something else. When you're that close and you hear his heartbeat and feel his body...Gods! I would have given him my body right then and there and bore him the children he so desperately wants."
She shivered at the memory and the feeling was contagious. The two other queens shifted in the infectious arousal.
"He wants children?" Hera asked.
"Oh yes!" Persephone said excitedly. "After what happened with Megara, he wants a family. And Deianira left a pain in his heart. I think that is what hurts him more than the poison she put on his flesh."
"Then why does Zeus not just give him a wife, like Hebe? Your daughter, Hera?" Amphitrite asked. "She would be perfect. She is the goddess of pardons and forgiveness, is she not? And if not her, Rhea? A fertility goddess would do the job wonderfully. What about Leto? She is the goddess of birth, isn't she?"
"Give up his mother? Or his mistress? I don't think so, and I would not give him our daughter if it gave him even a speck of happiness."
"Come now, Hera!" Persephone reasoned. "You would hold onto your anger against Heracles when it was Zeus who mistreated you?"
Hera sighed. "No. In truth, I do not hate Heracles any longer. My frustration at Zeus is what makes it difficult to want that young god happy. Maybe we could talk to my husband."
"Well, there is always another option," Amphitrite offered in a lower voice.
Hera turned her head. "Oh?"
"Well, to some degree, I am a fertility goddess, and Persephone is also the goddess of spring and newbirth. She would very much be a fertility goddess. What if, for the good of Olympus, we laid with Heracles?"
"Together or one after another?" Hera asked snidely.
Persephone paused, staring at the table. "No, no. Amph is right, Hera. Heracles only wants a family. And if he has a family with someone Zeus, or even you arranged, Heracles might be willing to set aside his pride for family or a child. I know him. He would love a daughter as well as a son. There's almost nothing he would not do for a family."
Hera stared perplexed. How could Heracles be so simple? Even then? He had beasts monsters, wrestled a river god before becoming a god. Since becoming a god, he bested Ares and even Zeus was flinching. Heracles was a being who could upset the balance of the cosmos, and he would give it up if only he could be a father again?
"And I am sure neither of you is motivated by the prospect of having the Hero of Olympus between your legs."
Amphitrite had the decency to be offended but Persephone, there was an intense curious desire in her eyes. What had Heracles' arms done to her?
"I heard that Heracles was nicknamed the true Cretan Bull after helping capture the beast."
"How was that?" Hera asked, having never heard *that* particular rumor.
"King Minos had been a cuckold to the Cretan Bull, as punishment by Zeus and my husband, and if you recall, Zeus had an affair with his mother, so it was Heracles' halfbrother who sat on that throne. But his wife fell in love with the bull that Poseidon had given to the king."
