"I'm her grand-daughter, Sophia,
daughter of Ares. I don't need an offering."

The priest grabbed her arm. "I'm
sorry, but no one, not even Ares himself can enter without an
offering."

"Really?" Sophia stared at the man.
He gasped as her eyes became pitch black and he quickly released
her arm. "How about you?" she said as she grabbed him by
the throat, "A pig like you should fit just fine on her
altar." The man shook with fear. "Now, if you don't
mind, I'm going in." Knowing she had made her point,
Sophia threw him aside and entered into the temple.

She barely made it into the inner sanctum
before shouting, "Hera! Hera! Show yourself!" When Hera
did not appear that very second, Sophia started tossing the
offerings of fruit, grain, and jewels off their pedestals along
with the priests foolish enough to stand in her way. "Damn it
Grandmother, show yourself! Or I swear to you that I will destroy
this place brick by brick!"

In a blaze of light, Hera stood before her
agitated granddaughter. She nodded to the priests and they scurried
away. "What is the meaning of this Sophia? Not even you should
dare barge in here like that."

Sophia spoke through gritted teeth. "Just
came to tell you that your little plan to kill Apollo's
daughter failed, that she survived Herodotus' abuse. Yes,
Gabrielle is doing fine, no thanks to you."

"Gabrielle is Apollo's
daughter?" She looked at Sophia and saw that she was barely
able to control her rage. "Listen to me please. I did not know
that Gabrielle was Apollo's daughter, not until you just told
me."

"Yeah, right. Tell me, was Herodotus one
of your priest or just a too willing servant to do your
bidding."

"I didn't send Herodotus into
Hecuba's life." Hera sighed as she realized that her
granddaughter did not believe her.

"I want the truth Hera. Did you know
him?"

Hera lowered her eyes. "Yes, I did know
Herodotus."

"So you admit it."

"No! Please listen to me. Herodotus was a
young man when I first saw him. He had come regularly to this
temple for a year. The High Priest thought that Herodotus should be
a priest. I looked into Herodotus' heart and saw a darkness
there that disgusted me; so I rejected him.

I knew that Hecuba was carrying Apollo's
child. And I had planned on destroying that child myself. I laughed
when I realized that Apollo and Hecuba thought that I knew nothing
about the child and were going their separate ways in order to
protect the baby. I wanted to hurt Apollo and I knew that the best
way was through this child. I watched for weeks, waiting for the
best opportunity to strike, trying to come up with the best way to
maximize the pain that Apollo would feel. But then the Fates
stepped in, and I saw that Hecuba and Herodotus were to be wed. And
so I decided to let nature take its course. Herodotus would destroy
the child, and I had no need to involve myself in the matter. So
then I turned my attention to other concerns."