The Heartbreak of Hera (Excerpt #1)
The story you know from the queen you don't
The day Hera was born, the world came to an end.
It was a pleasant day cut through with the screams of a woman being torn apart from the inside out. The warm afternoon breeze blew through the window of the hut and was lost in the stench of blood and shit pouring from the woman. The woman’s name was Eleni and she was no one in the grand scheme of things. But, to the baby girl she was pushing out of her body, she would be everything.
Eleni whimpered at the end of another unsuccessful push. Her labour pains had started days before but she was still no closer to holding her child in her arms. As excruciating as it was, it was not the pain that drained her of her energy but the belief that her daughter did not wish to be born. Despite all the horrors waiting for the girl in the world, Eleni was certain it was because of her. She was unprepared to be a mother and surely the child could sense this. Eleni could not even conceive the truth that her daughter refused to be separated from her mother because she already loved her so much.
The midwife’s hands were soft on Eleni’s knees as she squeezed encouragingly. Eleni fell back onto the hard, straw-lined floor, barely feeling the cold stone beneath as the shame burned hotter than the pain below her waist. She began to cry, something she had not done since she herself was a child. After her mother was taken by the plague that swept through their village, Eleni vowed to never waste her tears again. Unbeknownst to her, the gods took this as a challenge. They sent numerous hardships her way, taking bets on who would be able to break her. Many came close but none succeeded.
Eleni did not break when her father sold her favourite cow and the only friend she had as a child. All that escaped her when he learned the beef they were briefly blessed with came from the same market the cow had been sold to was the contents of her stomach. The tears that escaped her eyes when her first lover threw her to the floor were not from sorrow but from the sting of the hand that had sent her tumbling. No tears came as that same man continued to take what a lover demands long after Eleni decided she did not want to give it. She nearly succumbed when her home was struck in a lightning storm and reduced the only thing she had left to love to ashes. And, the gods decided that the tears of joy Eleni wept when she fell pregnant and the man who abused her body no longer wanted anything to do with her didn’t count.
Yet, it was on the ground of a guest hut that some nobles had taken enough pity on Eleni to offer that the gods finally won. The tears sliced down her cheeks and she lost the little control she had managed to retain of her breaths. Even the gods above looked away after a while, their heavenly ambrosia turning sour in their divine mouths.
“My lady,” the midwife said softly. Eleni had already told her that she was no lady but the woman insisted on the title. Part of it was because the midwife thought of this as practice for when her actual lady was with child. The other part was because she believed any woman putting herself in a position of such pain for another deserved a respectable title. “We must continue.”
“I can’t,” Eleni sobbed.
“You are not the first woman to doubt her strength as a mother and you will not be the last. This is your first task and it does not have to define how you handle all the other challenges to come. So, cry, my lady. Prove to your daughter that our strength cannot be washed away by mere water.”
Eleni stopped using her energy to uselessly fight her tears and channelled it into one final push. Her tears and screams were soon mixed with her daughter’s. The midwife’s own tears fell onto the baby’s skin as she handed her to Eleni. Mother cradled her child close and believed it would be impossible to feel sorrow ever again.
“What will you name her?” the midwife asked.
Eleni brushed a gentle thumb across the child’s forehead. “Hera.”
You would be forgiven for thinking that this woman had just given birth to the Hera. Unfortunately, the Queen of the Gods's birth was not as conventional nor as loving, something that would follow her throughout her immortal life. But, she was in the hut that day even though none else could see her. Usually, Hera would take great offence at a mortal child being given her name without her blessing. She supposed, however, that the blessing had been given unofficially when the goddess deigned to be present at the birth of the child. It was something she had never done before but decided it would furthermore be her responsibility to come to the aid of women during childbirth.
Hera had taken an interest in Eleni just as all the other gods had. She had come to Earth during this time because she was convinced this would be the final straw for the mortal woman. After all, the goddess had been responsible for the child being conceived in the first place. All Hera had intended was to reap the fruit of her labours. She had not expected to be so captivated by this insignificant woman's strength. Nor so touched by the process of mortal birth, so different and more intimate than that of the gods. Hera wanted to experience this feeling again and again so she would answer the call of any who prayed to her during the moment.
This first moment, like many in Hera’s life, would be spoiled by a pig-headed god.
Poseidon had heard the midwife’s claim that mere water cannot wash away strength. The surprisingly small ego of the god couldn’t let this go and he sent a mighty wave to drown the village where Eleni had given birth. Mother, daughter, midwife and all those who did not even know of their existence were killed. The god of the sea returned to the drink he was sharing with his brothers and sisters, believing the matter of women’s strength had been solved. What he, nor any of the others knew was that his act was only the beginning of Hera's strength.
Inside the goddess a fire began to burn, one Poseidon’s waters could not quell and Zeus’s bolts would not equal.
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