Chapter 5: Ouranos’ Betrayal

“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (2008)

Under the moonlit canopy of the clearing, in the realm under Olympus, Cronos approached Rhea; his heart brimmed with desire. The ethereal glow accentuated her beauty. After their Father’s outburst against the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, Cronos had asked Rhea to be his future bride.

Fear of a wrathful deity can motivate anyone to see that it is better to have their heart’s desire, rather than just surrendering to the potential end.

Rhea had said yes initially, and in that moment, her eyes sparkled with anticipation and trepidation. Time seemed to have tempered Rhea’s enthusiasm.

Cronos longed to take her in his arms, but she had stepped back over the past few days. They cared for one another; that much was clear. He had doted on her since they were children, and he had been lucky that she had reciprocated the preference.

That always emboldened the young Titan. Realizing that the event might have made her fearful, Cronos decided to take a drastic step. She should know how much he wanted her, loved her, and even lusted after her.

Approaching her in the clearing, Cronos was as naked as she was. He was not unimpressive in his physique or size, but he was a little chilled by the weather. His body was sculpted by the union of two Primordials.

His bald head might be his only imperfection. Otherwise, Cronos had a burly chest with short but thick hair upon it accompanied by powerful arms from the shoulder to wrists. His hands were seasoned from his agricultural work. Usually. he wore a burgundy tunic with the top removed or wrapped around his waist.

She looked at him and gasped. She did not recoil in disgust by what she saw. Rather, it was entirely a surprise to her.

“Cronos! What do you think you’re doing?”

Cronos hesitated. “I thought...”

“Did you think I would rush into a marriage with you because you came to me naked?” Rhea asked, indignant.

“No... “ he said slowly. “I hoped it would help you make up your mind.”

Rhea giggled at the simplicity of her brother and future husband. “I already made up my mind,” she said, motioning for Cronos to sit beside her. When he joined her, she stared out at the living realm.

She saw how different it was from Olympus. While she had never been to the Underworld (and had no intention to), she knew the lands were ever-changing. The world would never again be exactly as it was in that precise moment. Change would alter things. When she had children, Greece would be transformed again. None could be sure of how that revision would look, but it was coming.

Change would come was what she kept thinking to herself. She would not run from it as it was inevitable. This change meant differences for her world. Time would make those changes all on its own, but Rhea felt she would have power of her own over some of the circumstances.

“I do not want to be like our siblings,” she said to Cronos, motioning from him to her. “We are not entirely like them; I don’t want our relationship to be like theirs either. I don’t know. Maybe I am being silly, but something about us feels special, and I want our marriage to be special.”

“Special, how?” Cronos wondered. Though he listened, he was still consumed by looking at her body.

“I want our parents’ blessing,” Rhea explained simply. “Don’t you?”

That was not the response Cronos was wanting or expecting. He thought of recent events before talking. “After what Father did... “.

Rhea held her future husband’s hands in order to interrupt. “Let me worry about Father. You talk to Mother. We will secure our blessings and give our parents children to dote on. I am sure they will want that.”

“But Rhea,” Cronos started. Rhea silenced him with a kiss and gentle touch from his chest to his manhood. It was a touch that promised much more, so Cronos halted his complaint. They lay together that night under the stars. The promise of a blessing gave them both the sweetest of dreams.

The last few weeks had not gone well for Ouranos.

Gaia would have nothing to do with him. Almost none of the Titans would be alone with him. They no longer sought his counsel. Hyperion no longer shared tales of other lands with Father Sky.

The only child who still cared about him was Rhea. There were moments of love where he thought he could take advantage of her. He was close, of that much he knew. Those moments of affection had almost led to a kiss between them.

However, that was when an even worse realization struck him, with more force than any bolt of lightning. If the Primordial King lost Rhea’s support, he would have no allies left in his Kingdom. He might have believed in his heart of hearts that he was a power unto himself, and that was true, but he was not an island. He could not survive on his own.

A king is only a king if he had obedient subjects. By himself, he was just a man with a crown on his head.

Beyond coming to those realizations, he did not know what to do next. Should he succeed in taking Rhea, and she was willing to see him again, what then?

If he failed, he had nothing. If she was not interested and he pushed, he would be alone. If she was willing, his path ahead felt uncertain. He would need more children by her. He would need to outpace his Titan children and their offspring.

However, his children would multiply faster. It was foolishness itself to believe he could just imprison all of his offspring.

In the end, he was frustrated into exhaustion. He sat on his throne and observed his Kingdom. That was all there was to do. He could not go backwards without looking weak. He could not go forward at all it seemed.

He could see all of his children and Gaia existing under his sky. Whilst he could see it all, he could only hear, and be aware of, what he focused on. His gaze fell upon Cronos appearing before Gaia alone. The Primordial King’s interest was piqued for the moment.

His gaze was broken away from the sight when he heard the voice of his beloved daughter.

“Hello, Father,” Rhea said, kneeling at the foot of his throne. She was the vision of loveliness that was wholly unlike her Titan siblings in that she visited him many times.

“Little One,” he said, standing up. He hurried to stand her up, not wanting her to kneel. If she was willingly his guest, this must mean something. “I have been thinking of you.”

“Have you now?” Rhea asked slyly. Though she teased him for a moment, it was more childish than provocative. Upon observing his bearing, she straightened with the worry of a daughter for her father. “You seemed distracted.”

Ouranos laughed loudly. “I do have to pay attention to my other children as well, Rhea. After the debacle with your misguided siblings, there have been tensions.”

There was a momentary silence between them. There was no denying what he had done. When the news had reached Coeus, the most intelligent of Ouranos’ children was shocked by his actions. This reaction led the rest of the family to turn their backs on their father. If instinct had not told them what Ouranos had done was immoral, Coeus’ counsel certainly sealed it.

“No one would dare punish you for the actions of those monsters,” Rhea said. “I know you only did what you felt you needed to do, and deep down, so do my siblings.”

She also knew that no one had the power to punish her loving father. He was a pillar that stood alone, above all others.

Ouranos breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you for that, Little One. More and more these days, I am unsure.” He sat on the steps to his throne. Shaking his head, he was lost in his plans, his mistakes, the past, Gaia, his conquest, and even the Progenitor.

Rhea, ever the loving daughter, joined him. “Father, what is wrong?” She reached out to touch him and was shocked when he felt as cold as a night’s wind.

“I just feel alone, Little One,” he answered truthfully. He had been dealing with his aspirations, and it left him without his wife, children, or a single ally other than Rhea.

“But Father,” she said sweetly. “You are not alone.”

The look in her eyes told Ouranos his daughter meant well, and while he had plans for her, he recognized that she was telling the truth.

In that solitary moment of connection, he knew he had a choice: be a good and loving Father and accept her kindness or be a King and push the boundaries. The decision was made before he thoroughly thought it through.

“When you are near, Little One, I am not so alone.” He looked at her as if he had only looked at Gaia before. To his surprise, Rhea did not scream, nor reject the look of want, but seemed pleasantly surprised.

“Father, I came here for a reason,” Rhea said, unsure of all that she felt. Her breathing was getting harder to accomplish. She could feel a penetrating nature in his eyes, and her eyes longed to receive his ardor.

“Oh?” Ouranos asked. His mood was shifting from lust to one of suspicion. “Did you want something of me? I had hoped you had come to cheer me up.”

“Father, I would always want to make you happy...” Rhea breathed. She could not articulate why but her father’s very presence was becoming so necessary to her existence. Without his approval, she did not feel right breathing.

“You do, Little One,” he said with soft romantic intention. He could finally see it in her eyes. Rhea was aware of his intentions for her.

This was the moment of truth. She could reject him or accept it. If she rejected him, all he had planned would be for nothing. He could not even turn on her, for if he harmed her, all of his Titan children might band together against him.

“Father,” she said, blushing and looking away. “I have not been little for decades.”

“Perhaps, Little One,” he conceded, leaning closer to her, “but you were always my favorite. I am not ready to let you go.”

“Father ... Isn’t that what little girls are supposed to do?” Rhea asked, her breathing slowly changing to more audible. She could not even feel herself leaning into her father. He did not even need to touch her. Her body recognized his objective, and she instinctively wanted to fulfill it.

“Maybe others, but not you, Little One,” Ouranos said, touching Rhea by her chin. He looked into her eyes; she could see his intentions. When she leaned up into him, she would not deny his desired goal. His lips touched hers, and it was clear she had not been kissed as he was kissing her; not yet. It meant she had not been touched the way he planned. His hands went to her waist, hoping she would not stop him.

“Father, I came here for a reason,” she said after a struggle within her. Rhea had slightly pushed back to break the kiss from her father. She knew this was a betrayal to the love Cronos had shown her. While she had chided him earlier for his expectations, was not Ouranos doing the same thing?

“Was it not to show your father love?” Ouranos asked. There was a playfulness in his voice that exuded a sense of nonchalance. It could not be wrong to love both Cronos and Ouranos if the King of Olympus was not worried about the morality of it.

“Well, yes...” she said, still hesitating. Still, when she looked into his eyes, she saw something that burned more brightly than anything that her Titan partner had ever given her.