8. An Uneasy Reign
An Uneasy Reign
Although my father was the oldest
of all the Titan Gods,
it was Kronos,
the youngest of the Titan brothers,
who had overthrown Ouranos.
This meant that the throne,
the leadership of the Titan realms,
were all under Kronos’s rule.
He was not just a God,
he was king of the Gods.
One evening I heard
my uncle Hyperion, God of Light,
speaking with my father.
I was always listening back then.
A lonely palace has many hiding places,
and my favourite was the large sapphire rock
I could fit behind just next to my father’s chambers
where his river flowed so softly underfoot.
I could hear everything.
No one had told me I could not, but I still hid.
‘Rhea is pregnant,’ Hyperion said.
‘But the prophecy from Ouranos
lingers long on Kronos’s mind and crown.’
My father’s heavy, deep voice replied,
‘Then he must learn to wear the crown better.’
Hyperion’s voice lowered to a whisper:
‘Brother, you know as well as I
that Kronos is the most… volatile
one of us all. I fear that—’
My father’s voice was coral-edge sharp.
‘Hyperion. Kronos is king.
We never spoke. Do you understand?’
I did not hear my uncle’s response,
but I heard his footsteps leaving.
A question wormed its way into my mind.
What prophecy were they talking about?