"I should have told you the truth years
ago. There are so many secrets and keeping them has hurt both you
and Lila." She turned her head and looked at Gabrielle.
"You must believe me, I never meant for you to get hurt, I
just wanted to protect you." Hecuba took a deep breath.
"I have to start at the beginning. Herodotus and I married,
not out of love but out of need. He needed to fulfill his
family's expectations and I needed a father for my unborn
child. I needed a father for you." Hecuba looked up at her
daughter and watched as the confusion grew in her eyes.

Hecuba lowered her eyes to the floor.
"Your real father was at war with his step-mother. She wanted
to destroy all of her stepchildren and she would have us killed if
she knew of you. So we decided to part ways, that is when I met
Herodotus. He knew that the baby wasn't his, but he claimed he
would love it as if it was his own. But he didn't."

"He's not my father," Gabrielle
barely whispered. "Why didn't you tell me? Why are you
telling me this now?"

Hecuba tried to swallow down the lump in her
throat. "You always had this far away look in your eyes, like
a normal life wasn't enough for you. You have this heart of
gold, and you feel this need to help everyone, and then you started
to show extraordinary abilities. Herodotus beat you because he
wanted you to act more like a normal person. I too wanted you to
stop using your powers, I wanted you to stop dreaming of far off
lands, and I wanted you to be where I thought you would be safe but
for a different reason.

I knew that if you were to find out who you
really were, you would go chasing after your dreams because you
thought it was your destiny. And you would have died either by
chasing after your destiny or by Hera's hands."

"What does Hera have to do with any of
this?"

"Hera would have killed
you.Maybe…maybe she still does."

Gabrielle's voice grew louder. "Why?
Why would she want to kill me?"

"Because of who your father was."
Hecuba closed her eyes before continuing. "Mortal children of
the gods don't live long, especially if they have a hero's
heart."

Gabrielle dropped Hecuba's hand and stood.
Turmoil ripped through her soul as her mind tried to digest her
mother's words. Hecuba opened her eyes and looked at her upset
daughter's face. As Hecuba reached out to her, Gabrielle took a
step back. "Who is he?" Her voice had an eerie calmness
to it, like the quiet before a storm. "Which of the so-called
gods is my father?"