The League of Heroes members were entitled to a banquet to mark the first year of their adventures. While she'd spent most of her time recuperating, Megara appeared to examine the preparations.
The banquet would coincide with the wedding of King Megarion and Cassandra. It would be part of the weeklong festival that would astound the citizens of Thebes and those who came to visit from beyond the city limits.
Megara walked through the villa that had become their central hub, examining feast preparations with Harmonia on her hip.
"Look, Moni," she pointed at the large statue of Hercules in the courtyard. "Who's that?"
"Pa!" Harmonia shrieked.
"That's right," Megara bounced the child, satisfied that she had taught her well. She adjusted the sun hat and turned around to look back the way they'd come. "Do you see Pa anywhere?"
From under the cool awning of the colonnade, they could see Hercules talking with multiple League members. Icarus, of all people, was thrilling an audience with his anecdotes.
It seemed that the League had grown since the last time Megara was well enough to check in on them. The seeds she'd planted had already borne fruit. She'd had to walk away from them, though. Too many eyes were on her, no doubt wondering why a god on earth would have picked her of all people. That would not have been in question a year ago. She would have easily commanded awe and respect rather than pity. A few of those pitying looks escaped those who were newly assembled to join the League, and she thought she caught it as well from a few of the servers hired to prepare the food service for everyone in attendance.
"Pa-pa-pa!" Harmonia held out a hand toward Hercules and twisted her hand as if she were holding an object and turning it in the light.
Hercules whipped his head around, and his eyes fixed on his daughter. In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of Megara and Harmonia, checking them for injury.
"Malaka!" Megara hissed. "You can't keep doing that so abruptly!"
"I'm sorry, hon. I just had to be with you two as soon as possible, and I was here as soon as I thought of being here."
Harmonia raised both her arms toward Hercules and bleated plaintively at him.
"Do you mind if I take her?"
Megara shook her head. It might be nice to wander unburdened, but the truth was she'd carry Harmonia all day if she could. The only reason she passed him their daughter was the girl's preference.
"I'll bring her back soon," Hercules promised and kissed her cheek. "Would you like to come talk to the guys? Or I could try and find Atalanta, but she ran off somewhere."
"You go ahead. Everyone seems like they're having fun, and I'm…" she shrugged as the best illustration of how she was feeling. "Maybe for old time's sake, I'll take a nap in the back."
Hercules's lashes lowered over his gleaming eyes. "Yeah… Old times…" He shook himself.
Really old times now. On occasion, Megara entertained Hercules with hands or mouth but insisted that she wasn't comfortable being naked for him yet. While he respected her wishes, she knew he longed to be reunited with her. She wished it were so simple. He'd fallen for her that first day they met, but after so many changes, would he feel that way the next time he saw her without her himation?
Megara took a step back from him and bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Enjoy your time with your friends."
"You know I can't do that if something's bothering you." Hercules reached for her, and she evaded his grasp.
"You'll both be fine. Everyone loves you and Moni. They can't help but love the two of you together."
"You're the reason any of us are here." He bounced Harmonia. "That goes for both of us."
"Best things I've ever done."
"The sacrifices you made to keep me alive and bring her to the world are both incredible, Meg. If you're embarrassed by something, don't let that steal your glory today."
"Glory's a you thing," Megara shrugged. "I just need a moment of silence." She sounded almost like herself in her own ears, but she drew her himation more tightly around herself and turned away before Hercules could see more than exhaustion on her face.
"All right…" Hercules would bring this up later. It wouldn't be long before he approached the subject of intimacy in an oblique way. She couldn't deal with it. She disappeared down the hall toward what had once been the bedroom she shared with Hercules.
They'd first consummated their love in this room. Its shadows were familiar comforts, and they blocked out the laughter from beyond its door. She sank into the bed and wished she could sleep for days without rising. She was so exhausted, down to her bones, that she didn't know how much sleep she would need before she was ready to smile again.
Lying here was bound to ruin her hair and, moreover, her makeup if she allowed herself to cry. There was no fixing the latter. Slowly and with great reluctance, she hauled herself back up from the bed. Despite the urge to dive into the bed and try to remember a night she'd been resurrected and felt as if nothing in her life could ever bring her pain again, she couldn't leave her husband and daughter to be the only public faces of their family.
Underneath everything, she loved them. If only she were worthy of them.
As she wobbled out of the room and closed the door to temptation firmly behind herself, a man's whistle tensed her body.
"Are you one of the heroes or one of those girls Phil ordered?"
Megara thought she could sink into the ground and never be seen again if she imagined it hard enough. Nobody had spoken to her in such a way since Hades went down the drain. What was she supposed to do in this situation?
The speaker was an older-looking man wearing armor that no longer fit snugly against his body's heft. He had a long, curly beard and a tanned complexion that spoke of many days under the light of Helios.
This man didn't know her any more than she did him, and he was blocking the walkway to rejoin the others. The only escape routes were to the baths, where he'd have plenty of space to do whatever he wanted, and the sacred bed she couldn't allow to be defiled.
Why was her mind rushing to so many conclusions? This man was among the heroes. He ought to know better. To do better.
"Oh, did someone curse you not to talk?" the older man asked. "That's happened to me a few times, plenty of times actually."
"That's great," Megara said and decided the only way out was through. She barrelled past him with eyes fixed on Hercules and his friends in the middle distance.
"Hey, did I offend you?" the man asked. He followed her and stepped out ahead of her, so she had to stop abruptly. "I just joined the league, but I'm what you call a classic hero. We did a lot of the heavy lifting, so this guy Herc can do even more."
"And your name is?" Megara asked.
"Achilles," he trumpeted proudly, raising his nose into the air. "You've probably heard of me. He whose rage cannot be quenched?"
Megara plastered on a too-wide smile. "I heard you got poked in your heel, and everyone thought you were dead for over a decade."
The man drew himself up, but his paunch remained. "I've been around the local festival circuit! I'm here for my second chance. I'll pass my wisdom and experience down to the next generation."
"How fortunate for them." Megara eyed her escape route. The corridor was broad enough for Hercules to pass through comfortably and for doors to open without hitting the wall, but Megara was slow now, and her hips were wide. There weren't too many avenues to get out of this scenario.
"Back in the day, you know, I was the Hercules of my generation!"
Megara wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"I learned how to treat a woman. A mature woman like you probably knows a thing or two, eh? Hips like that? You've definitely had guys sniffing around for a long time."
"And I'm sick of it!" she spat. Megara drew her himation closer around herself. How was she supposed to take a comment like calling her mature? Why was he looking at her hips?
"My secrets are my own," she said. "I don't share, and–"
"Ahh, I see. You're not like the vase models Philly brings around. You've got class!" He took a step closer, forcing Megara to take a step back in retreat.
"That's right, I've got loads of class. And I'm not interested in anything with you. I'm already–"
"Now, hold on." Achilles took her by the hand. "I'm sure if one of these fresh heroes is makin' you promises he can't keep, but I can show you a good time. All you gotta do is say yes, and we'll go back to my room." He opened the door through which he'd emerged and held it open for her.
A distinctive "old man" smell wafted out of the room, and Megara knew she could not fight her way free of this man if that were his intent.
Her heart was racing. Not too long ago, she'd been a wild monster who could tear her enemies apart, and before that, she'd cultivated her tongue into the sharpest weapon to defend against threats both domestically and abroad. She couldn't allow herself to be defenseless now. "I know you're going after me because you think I'm just as desperate and washed up as you, but I'm not interested. I'm married, and my husband is right over there, holding our daughter. Do you want Hercules to know you're harassing his wife?"
"Hercules?" Achilles took a step away from Megara, his mouth hanging open. "Are you serious? How'd that kid nail a broad like you?"
"Ask him." Megara turned to retreat into the bedroom again, but this time, Achilles grabbed her by the arm.
"You're having me on because you don't wanna be seen with an old man, aren't you?" He tugged her backward down the hall, and Megara shrieked in both terror and rage.
Achilles had pulled her out under the colonnade, exposing her to the eyes of all the League members who were still talking to her husband. Her himation had come loose, and she struggled to cover herself again, but Achilles didn't pay attention to any of this.
He was stopped with his hand still clamped around her arm, staring up at the divine fury of Hercules.
"You'd better explain why this is a huge misunderstanding," Hercules snarled through his teeth. "Let. Her. Go."
Achilles dropped Megara's arm immediately, which left her to scramble.
Now that she was in the middle of a confrontation between two heroes, people gathered around to see what would happen.
Phil rushed up between them and waved his hands around, but he was so short that neither hero looked his way. "Guys, guys! We'll talk this through!"
"We're talking," Hercules said in a low, steady voice, his eyes fixed on Achilles. "Start explaining."
"I saw a voluptuous broad creeping around the villa, and she said–"
Scarlet had bled into the gold of Hercules's aura. "You're not helping yourself."
Harmonia had taken enough of the rage radiating off her father, and now she curled her pudgy fists against her face and screamed, "Ma!" in desperation.
Megara swept in and clutched Harmonia to her chest.
Even screaming and squirming as she was, Harmonia's presence resettled Megara's mind. Her weight and the necessity of calming her distracted Megara from any of her own problems. "It's all right," she whispered to the baby. She meant to abscond with her and leave the fighting to the men, but Hercules stopped her to wrap her himation around both her and Harmonia.
"Lots of broads give the runaround," Achilles said.
"Stop calling her that!" Hercules roared. He closed both arms around Megara and Harmonia. "How dare you come here to call yourself a hero again? You're no better than a common centaur, manhandling a woman like that! She clearly didn't want to go with you, or you wouldn't have had to grab her!"
"It's never been a problem before," Achilles said. Ladies always need some convincing, so I told her what she'd be missing out on."
"Maybe it was a problem, and you've always been too selfish to notice," Hercules said, rubbing Megara's back. "Did you ever consider that maybe a woman didn't want to go with you, and she was telling you so?"
"Well… usually a woman can't say she wants it, she has to act like she doesn't."
"And when I told you I was married to Hercules, did that register at all?" Megara asked. She squeezed one of Harmonia's legs, and the squishy sensation brought comfort.
Harmonia nuzzled into Megara's chest and gummed at her skin, seeking the stultifying relief of milk to make her sleep. It was almost like when Megara would reach for wine to numb the horrors of life.
"Me, too, girl," Megara whispered. She moved to leave, and Hercules pulled her behind himself.
"Achilles, you're doing a great job of teaching the new guys what not to do, but if I can't trust you around my wife, you can't stay here," Hercules said. "You can move in with Phil. The two of you have always been best friends, anyway."
"That wouldn't be so bad," Phil said.
"You get one more chance," Hercules said, stepping aside so that Megara was no longer hidden from view. You will get on your knees and apologize to her."
Every eye went from Achilles to Megara.
Her insecurities raged in her mind, warning her of every flaw they'd see just by looking at her. This was the wife of the famed divine Hercules, the only True Hero who had achieved godhood and been enshrined in the stars. And she wasn't worthy of him. A few months ago, perhaps she had been. But now, she was good only for a desperate old man trying to relive his glory days. He must have thought she was easy pickings because she'd be too desperate to refuse him.
Achilles dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry, wife of Hercules–"
"Her name is Megara," Hercules snapped.
"Megara," Achilles corrected. "I'm going to do a better job of living up to the title of hero. You're a beautiful lady, and I shouldn't have made any assumptions about you."
Megara nodded. "Fine. Don't do it again."
Harmonia squirmed, now actively snuffling and snorting as she rooted around, trying to pull down her mother's dress for milk.
"I've got to get out of here," Megara said and stormed off from this pathetic scene to the safety of the sacred shadows in the back of the villa. Behind her, she heard Hercules continue to berate Achilles for his tactlessness, but only when she was alone did she allow a few of her tears to escape.
Nobody could be allowed to see. They'd only sense weakness, and there would be no peace.