The Immortal Heart

Chapter 22

Demeter was in absolute awe when she examined her older brother’s chest the following morning; not only were the hard lumps of caked milk gone from under Hades’ skin, but his pain had been reduced to virtually nothing as well.

“I must say that I am at a loss for words,” the goddess confessed, marveling at the development. “And you say Zeus did this? With his bare hands?”

Hades nodded. “The milk hasn’t gone away, but at least it’s not stuck inside me anymore. It is coming out, sister. That’s a good thing, is it not?”

“Oh, it is, Hades. But I fear that unless we stimulate your breasts to expel the milk, it will soon cake inside you anew.”

Hades mood, once so lifted, fell back down into a sullen haze. The light in his eyes seemed to go dull. “Then…” he began, his tone of voice indecipherable. “How shall we go about this?”

“Well, there would be two ways I could think of outright. One would be the suckling of…” The goddess trailed off, refusing to speak further of the option. The very fact that Hades still produced milk was a harsh enough reminder of the absence of a child.

“The other would be expressing it from you by hand. It may cause you discomfort, but it would be no different than how we have produced milk from our livestock.”

Hades had become quite silent as his sister spoke, contemplating the issue at hand. He never wanted the agony of milk running thick within his flesh again, but to prevent such he would have to endure the expelling of the fluids. He obviously could not have it suckled from him. The very idea of Demeter or Zeus doing such a thing was ridiculous. Only one individual could have done it, and that candidate was dead. Still… the evacuation of the milk only filled his mind with nothing but misery. By all rights he should have presently been feeding his child this way.

Swallowing, Hades faced the unavoidable. “We will have to do it by hand,” he said, his voice low.

Demeter nodded solemnly and retrieved a small bowl with which to catch the fluid. Already in the time taken to return with the bowl, she saw her brother’s expression had saddened further. He blinked to push back the tears in his eyes.

“I will try my best not to cause you harm, dearest,” she said.

Hades only leant his head against her shoulder as she prepared to carry out the task. “I know.”

Having fingers, even those belonging to someone as gentle as his sister, tugging and tweaking on his still-sore nipples was a painful and humiliating experience to Hades, but he stubbornly endured, not wanting to go through the same agony once again. When Demeter was finished, the amount of milk that had left his flesh was small enough to be contained in a thimble, but even this was progress, and the goddess told him so.

“We will do this every morning until your flow dries up,” she said. “Or if you’d rather prefer Zeus to help—”

“No!” Hades’ response was swift and abrupt. The last thing he wanted was to experience the humiliation of his brother draining his chest, perhaps before or after he had pleasured the younger god in bed. The mere idea made Hades shudder, and he was once again grateful for his sister.

*

Poseidon quickly came to terms with the fact that another night with Hera was not to be expected. He was secretly proud to have bedded his eldest sister at least once, although he knew better than to brag about his conquest to Zeus. Before his interest in Hades, Hera had been the leader’s favorite, and Poseidon suspected that a mention of Hera bedding someone else might still stir Zeus’ jealousy.

The god had spent a day out on the sea without the company of his brothers, who had chosen to remain at the fortress. This did not bother Poseidon one bit. He could appreciate the solitude, and his catch of fish was almost the same as usual when Zeus accompanied him. Feeling triumphant and pleasantly at ease, Poseidon returned home carrying one large woven basket filled to the brim with fish that would feed their family for many days.

Entering the halls, he happened across his sisters, as well as Zeus. Hera was the first to greet him, coming forward with open arms.

Oh no, he thought.

“Brother, what a delight to see the wealth of your efforts,” she said with a smile. Turning to her sisters, she snapped orders at them. “Hestia, Demeter, our brother would do well without such a strain on his back after a long day of providing for this family. Take these to be preserved at once.”

Zeus stepped forward, arm extended to help. “I chose to stay behind, I should at least help with your catch.”

“No, it won’t be necessary!” Hera interceded, the sharpness of her voice causing her fellow goddesses to jump, startled. “Our sisters are doing quite well.”

Hestia and Demeter gave one another suspicious glances and quickly shuffled off with the basket of fish, happily making themselves absent.

“Many congratulations to you, dearest brother,” Hera said, her attention turned back to Poseidon as Zeus stood by. “Take my kiss as a reward for your endeavors.”

Poseidon stood motionless as a stone as he received his sister’s kiss, but this was no mere gesture of good will or platonic affection. His heart rate must have increased as he felt Hera’s lingering lips against his own, her hands cupping his face despite his beard. The goddess was deliberate in the intimacy of her kiss, and she clearly wanted Zeus to be audience to her zeal, completely disregarding Poseidon’s own fears of his youngest brother’s fury.

And then Zeus opened his mouth… and laughed.

Hera broke the kiss and both she and Poseidon turned and looked in disbelief at their leader.

“It cheers me to see the two of you getting along so well,” Zeus said with a grin. “And here I thought you wanted nothing to do with your brother, Hera.”

I certainly don’t anymore, Hera thought, now that it was painfully obvious that her little display had not had the desired effect. She quickly excused herself, presently not wanting anything to do with either of her brothers.

Poseidon found himself unable to look Zeus in the eye when the two were left alone, still a little uncertain of the younger god’s feelings regarding Hera.

Once Zeus’ laughter finally died out, he spoke. “Our dear sister’s pride is the most fragile part in her. I know it was wrong of me to laugh, but I just could not help it.”

“You are saying it is so entirely unfathomable that Hera would take an interest in me that you simply couldn’t hold it back?” Poseidon asked not without a hint of bitterness. He supposed he should be relieved that Hera’s strange behavior had not triggered any hostility between them, but the Olympian leader’s callous words still hurt deep within.

“I know you carry a torch for our sister, and she certainly hasn’t shown any signs of wanting you in the past,” Zeus said truthfully. “Perhaps this is your opportune moment, brother. You should take it.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow, surprised at the words spoken. “And you wouldn’t mind if I did?”

Zeus gave the older god look of equal surprise. “I have bedded Hera, but I have not claimed her as my own… though she wishes it. If you want her, she is yours to take. I intend to make Hades my consort.”

“Hades? You will marry our brother, even though he can never give you any children?”

“There is more to marriage than procreation,” Zeus replied, his tone now sharper than moments before. “Hades is respectful, obedient and eager to please. Those are qualities that I value in a consort.”

“And…?”

Zeus gave his brother a sideways glance. “And what?”

“Do you love him?” Poseidon elaborated. Zeus gave the question some thought before his face broke into a smile.

“I do,” he replied. “Very much.”

*

“Just a little more,” Demeter said gently as Hades grimaced against her shoulder. “You’ve done so well.”

“I just want it to end,” the god murmured, wincing at the sharp pain of his flesh being squeezed. “How long could this possibly go on?”

“I assure you that you have less tonight,” his sister replied, inspecting the bowl and the droplets of milk therein. “I know that sounds absurd when you produce so little…”

“Just…” Hades drew breath at the discomfort. “Just tell me… do I have much longer to wait?”

Demeter leaned her head against her brother’s, taking her hand away from his chest to rub a skinny shoulder. “No, I do not imagine so. Perhaps a few more days. It is better than letting the milk thicken, is it not?”

“Of course. I could never go back to that.” Hades sighed, lifting his head and watching the little amount of milk collect in the bowl. “I only wish I could stop the pain in my heart when we do this… It is not as bad as it was in the past but…”

“No one expects you to suddenly stop mourning, dearest brother,” his sister said, putting down the bowl and wringing the excess water from a rag. “You are the one who must decide when you can move on from your grief.”

Waiting for her brother to lay back down, she placed the wet cloth against Hades’ aching chest, allowing a little relief to the tender soft tissue.

Demeter had specifically asked Zeus never to be present during the mornings when she helped Hades with his predicament, merely because she knew what an embarrassing ritual it was to the elder god. Zeus fortunately seemed to understand, and he never entered Hades’ quarters until later in the day, when the awkward milking procedure was over and done with.

Hades never talked about it with his brother, but he would have liked to thank the other for his discretion and understanding.

*

About one month after the loss of his child, Hades’ chest ceased its production of milk, seemingly having caught up with the sad fact that none would be needed. The god himself could not be more pleased over this, and despite Hades’ fondness of Demeter, he was most certainly not going to miss his sister dropping in on a daily basis to help expel his milk.

Even though Hades’ bodily functions had mostly returned to normal, Zeus continued to treat him with the utmost gentility when making love, and he never purposely touched his brother’s chest, his sub-consciousness not allowing him to forget the response he received last time he tried.

Zeus had not discussed the topic of marriage with Hades; in fact he had not brought up the subject after his brief talk with Poseidon. Though he had since long made his choice, the Olympian leader knew in his heart that Cronos had to be vanquished before his consequent generation could afford the luxury of settling down.

*

Zeus quietly entered his brother’s quarters one evening to find Hades asleep. The younger god had already had his pleasure sated by Hestia, so he would not wake his older brother right away. Instead he was happy to watch him sleep. Easing onto the bed without waking him, Zeus leaned over and stroked the long, beautiful locks of hair spread out upon the pillow, observing the peaceful expression until he could no longer resist. Carefully, the leader of the Olympians edged closer and immersed his face into the crook of Hades’ neck, inhaling a familiar scent.

Hades felt the tickle of a beard almost immediately and squirmed in his sleep. Zeus pulled away to watch with amusement as his brother stirred within slumber and finally awoke. Those green eyes opened and Zeus smiled lovingly.

“Wake up, brother. It is time for bed.”

Pretending to be annoyed, Hades turned onto his side, though his youngest sibling did manage to hear a breathy chuckle. Using the space where the older god’s back had once been, Zeus curled up against his brother, wrapping strong arms around him and kissing the back of his neck. If they did not make love that night, the world would not end, but the Olympian leader certainly would not mind if coupling did occur.

“You make me feel so safe,” Hades said softly. His brother’s reply was a gentle squeeze in the embrace.

Hades shifted slightly within the grasp of the bigger god’s arms so that he could look at him over his shoulder. “Did you come just to sleep with me?” he asked, already feeling a growing erection against his backside.

Zeus gave a knowing chuckle. “I cannot fool you, it seems,” he admitted. “Perhaps you are just so irresistible, brother?”

Hades snickered in response, still drowsy from his sleep but certainly not averse to the idea of mating with the other god.

“I’m yours to take, oh mighty Zeus,” he said, grinning, as he turned over onto his back and his lips were instantly found and seized by his brother’s.


TBC...