My sister was in love with Zeus but even her love was not enough for him to let her rule his descendants even though she was smart and wise and had all the qualities a queen should have. The man was too proud, he would not allow any woman to rule. It was like he was the patriarchy itself in a living form. How else would anyone describe a god who ordered his descendants to give a woman human offering for him and his fellow gods to help with procreation?

"Sienna, I can't...I really can't do it." I still remembered my sister, Cassandrhea, sobbing so hard that her whole body shook in turmoil.

I had replied to her, "It's okay, Cassie, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to."

Cassandrhea's lips trembled. "B-but they will kill me and the gods will be angry. A lot of disasters will happen, they will curse us."

"No, they won't." My sister stared at me, confused. "I'll take your place."

And when my sister had refused and I had stepped in to take her place, he would not accept any rejection, his pride was too wounded for that so he tricked her into sleeping with him and impregnated her anyway. Clearly, he didn't value us, women and I planned to teach him a lesson.

I remembered the story of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. According to Hesiod, Theogony, when Athena's mother, Metis, the first Goddess of Wisdom, was pregnant with Athena, Metis told Zeus a prophecy that sent him into a spiral of worry, that she would bear first the maiden bright-eyed Tritogeneia (Athena), equal to her father in strength and in wise understanding; but afterward, she was to bear a son of overbearing spirit, king of gods and men. As Zeus was the current king of gods and men, he feared being overthrown, so he swallowed Metis and his unborn child. Despite the odds, Athena was born as a fully grown woman from the head of Zeus, fully arrayed in armor. Rather than becoming a rival to Zeus, she became his valued advisor. But Athena did not exert her wisdom as superior to Zeus', because this would make him see her as a threat, just as the prophecy implied. Thus, Athena held a high position of power. If Athena could use her wisdom in order to manipulate Zeus, then perhaps, just maybe, I could best him. I could get what I wanted while teaching him not to underestimate women.

There was a vacuum of power in Hellenicus, no one dared to suggest a ruler but Zeus had already planned on naming Diomedes as our king. Personally, I had nothing against Diomedes. He was a decent man however just like the rest of the men population here, they often thought that they were far more superior than others. They would not let women be anything other than human offerings, bed warmers, and servants. Even those they claimed to be loved would not have any power or voice in their household. I planned to change that. Women had more value than just a means to procreate and serve men. So I started to plan my next meeting with Zeus, thinking of ways to best him while also proving my point.

The opportunity unexpectedly arrived on the day of my sister's death. I had warned her before, long ago when she had been in hiding, but she loved him too much to see reasons.

"I came to the cave every full moon but he never came. Maybe he finally came to his senses and realized that polygamy is not a good foundation for a successful marriage."

My sister giggled. "You know he didn't technically marry us, right? We're just concubines or perhaps mistress is a slightly polite way to say it."

"Still," I sighed. "It's not right. What if one of his wives decided to curse us? We're not gods and without our other halves, we're not even as strong as we once were. He can easily summon a lightning bolt and we cease to exist. How can we defend ourselves? Did the gods think about that?" I scoffed. "I don't think so!"

"There are different types of love, Sienna," my sister had said then and looked where it had gotten her. Out of pure jealousy, Zeus killed my sister's soulmate and then Hera, Zeus's wife, had her descendants mercilessly kill my sister's baby with my sister watching. Eventually, my sister followed her baby and her soulmate to the grave, taking her own life rather than having it taken away by the goddess Hera.

I watched my sister's grave. My baby sister. The only person I loved in this cruel world had left me. I turned and threw a dagger at Zeus, if only stares could kill him. "This is all your fault! If you didn't get jealous over a small matter and kill her soulmate with your stupid bolt and your poisonous wife hadn't ordered people to kill her baby, she would still be alive right now." I didn't even care if he was Zeus, in my eyes he was no less than a turd who destroyed my baby sister's life. "You know, I wish she'd never met you. You continuously put her life in danger. How can you say you love her if you didn't do your best to protect her? Are you a god or a dog?"

Zeus returned my stare with his piercing blues. "I was jealous because I love her."

I laughed humorlessly. "No." I refused to back down. "You were jealous because you finally realized that there was someone else who understood her better than you." I laughed humorlessly. "And what of us, the Hellenicus, then, if every god and goddess could easily command us? Which gods or goddesses are we supposed to follow? How would we know right and wrong?"

He didn't say anything but I could tell that I was hitting the mark from the look in his eyes.

"We need a ruler, Zeus. And not just any ruler, but an independent one who knows which one is right and which one is wrong. A strong ruler who will not be easily swayed by gods and goddesses or whatever they have to offer."

"Why else do you think I have been preparing Diomedes Ambrosia?" he finally answered and the thunder rolled above us.

"No, Diomedes would not fit the job," I answered, choosing my words clearly because Diomedes has been Zeus's descendant and his ego was too big to let his descendants take any blow.

"And who do you think will fit the job?" he laughed then glanced at me with his mocking eyes. "You?"

"Yes," I took a deep, calming breath. "Me. I can do the job well. I can be neutral and I know what's wrong and what's right."

"Really? No woman would be able to do anything other than housework, let alone rule my people."

"Do you want me to prove you wrong?" I dared him.

Zeus looked at me, narrowing his eyes. "Fine. I have been giving riddles to Diomedes but there are a few riddles to which he still finds the answers to. If you can give me the correct answer, I will put you in the running, Sienna." He waved his hand and all of a sudden we were no longer at the land where they had buried my sister. We were in a huge throne room with twelve seats and I immediately realized that he had brought me to Olympus. There were eleven other gods sitting there in their thrones made of gold, while I humbly stood before their eyes.

"At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen."

I thought long and hard. It was either the moon or the stars, but he said it was plural so it must be the latter. "Stars."

If Zeus was surprised that I had answered correctly, he did not show it. He simply nodded and gave me the next riddles. "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?"

"Man," I finally answered. "We crawl on all fours as a baby so four-footed, then walk on two feet as an adult, and when we are too old to walk on our own, we use a walking stick, thus three-footed."

"Apollo has two, but Aphrodite has none. It is Jupiter's fourth, then it was the start of a blizzard! It was Hera's third and last, the end of the Trojan War, the end of mythology?"

I gave it a thought and could not find the answer. I could see the humor in Zeus's eyes, he clearly found my frustration entertaining. I glanced at Apollo and Aphrodite, trying to decipher what Apollo had two but Aphrodite had none, but both were smiling at my misery. I didn't even know what the Trojan War was. Then I realized that I was thinking way too hard on this. I blinked as the answer slowly came to pieces. With a smile, I answered Zeus's riddle, "Library."

The humor slowly disappeared from his piercing blue eyes until there was none left and I knew that I had the answer correct once again.

"Apollo has two O's and L's, but Aphrodite has an O, so we start with an L. I is the fourth letter of Jupiter, B the start of a blizzard. Hera's third and last letter is R and A, the end of the Trojan War, the letter R, and the letter Y the end of mythology," I explained.

Every riddle was harder and more complex than the previous one and yet I managed to answer them all and by the sixth riddle, he started to look at me differently, as if he was not expecting a woman to be able to match his intelligence. "That was the last one," he finally announced. "The job is yours until I find a better man to replace you."

"I would rather another woman replace me as I plan to have a Queen and not a King to rule."

"You are playing a dangerous game here, Human. Male, I can accept, but woman, I cannot."

"Then how about we strike a deal? I have a riddle of my own for you to solve, Dear King of Gods, and if you manage to solve this, I will let a man be the next ruler after me. However, if you don't then what I said stands."

His piercing blue eyes glinted, accepting the challenge. "And what would that riddle be?"

"Who is almighty and powerful, would be able to summon a thunderstorm within a wave of its hand, to create and end the war within a means of its will, yet unable to look in the mirror, too high to ask for forgiveness, and too prideful to admit that he is not perfect?"

Everyone in the room knew the answer. I even saw Athena giving me a knowing smile, she knew what I was doing. The answer was Zeus himself but he would never admit that because he was too prideful, thus what I had said would stand, that a woman would rule over his descendants.

I watched Zeus's face turn hard. "Woman ruler."

"Yes, until you are willing to give me the correct answer," I replied to him with a smile. The first thing I did was to let women have a voice, freeing them from the doctrine that we were weak creatures who could not have a mind of our own. Many women were qualified to take a seat within the Councils and soon the Council's seats were not only occupied by men. Even a century later, Hellenicus was still ruled by a woman.