Fists against Hephaestus’ table, Zeus looked down at the tiny island where Melita slept peacefully. His lust satisfied, he began to look for another lonely princess locked away by a jealous father. Hearing steps approaching, he turned to meet the newcomer with the contented smirk of a successful hunter.
TWACK!
Zeus saw stars, twisting his body and knocking the air out of his lungs. He turned to face to find his wife, Hera, winding her hand above her head for a second slap.
“How dare you!?” She swung her hand down, slapping him over and over.
Zeus deflected her blows with his forearm. “Stop. Hera, stop.” His pleas only fueled her rage as she continued to swing at him. He took two steps back along the table to distance himself from his wife.
But the goddess did not let him escape and pursued him step by step. Whenever he came within reach, she swung an open hand to slap him. “I leave you alone for a moment, and again, you go gallivanting and bedding any woman you see!” As she talked, Zeus succeeded in putting the table between them.
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He pleaded for her to calm down, but failed to accomplish anything. “Hera, Please understand. The poor woman… she was alone. I merely comforted her.”
Hera stopped chasing him and crossed her arms over her chest, giving Zeus her death glare. “And you used your loins to rid her of her loneliness. What a great humanitarian you are! A great man. I had plans for her. Me! Not you!”
“Beloved, you’re overreacting.”
Hera interrupted. “Don’t you ‘Beloved’ me, Zeus! I catch you in the arms of a woman, and I’m the one who is overreacting? Me? I’ll show you–”
“That’s not what I meant. I wanted to help her. I wanted to give her a gift. Thanks to you, she has been a good, loyal woman to a man she’ll never see again.”
Hera screeched, reached to the table, grabbed a fistful of a mountain range, and flung the rock at Zeus. The stone struck him on the shoulder and bounced back on the table. As he regained his footing, Hera came flying around, hand held high, ready to slap him again. Her fury had not abated.
By now, the other Olympian gods gathered nearby to watch and sneer, making sure not to draw attention.