Chapter 3 – The Wine and the King
High on Olympus, Zeus walked through the great hall still smelling of recent victory. The scars of the Titanomachy were still fresh in the air. Hera walked beside him in silence, her gaze attentive.
"They still exist," Zeus murmured, stopping before a window that showed the earth below. "Those Golden Humans. Made in the image of my father. Pure, empty, without inner fire… exactly as Cronus liked them."
Hera raised an eyebrow.
"And what do you intend to do with them?"
Zeus clenched his fist.
"I want no remnants of his era. I want beings that resemble me. Ambitious. Capable of hatred, of love, of defiance. These golden ones… are too beautiful and too empty. Soon, I will end them."
Then the prayer arrived.
A mortal voice, clear and formal, rising to Olympus like a thin thread of sweet smoke. Zeus stopped mid-step, surprised.
'A mortal… calling me? Already? They should not know my name so clearly yet.'
He closed his eyes and listened.
An offering of wine. The first made by mortal hands. And the name… Godwyn.
Curiosity won.
Zeus descended.
---
On the earth, I knelt before the altar.
The amphorae of wine stood aligned. The sweet scent of the dark liquid rose with the smoke of the herbs I burned.
I had already reached a conclusion weeks earlier.
Aphrodite existed. And if Aphrodite existed, then Cronus had already fallen. The throne belonged to Zeus.
That was why I called him.
"O Zeus, king of the gods, lord of Olympus… this humble servant offers the first wine born from mortal hands. Accept it, if it pleases you."
The wind stopped.
A dark cloud formed above me, slowly rotating. Discreet lightning flickered inside it. The silhouette of an immense man took shape within the cloud — no clear face, only the powerful form and a presence that made the air tremble.
A chill ran down my spine.
Real fear. Cold. Ancient.
And behind it, the ambition I hid in my chest like a knife.
'It is him. The king. The one who decides whether I live or disappear.'
The voice came from the cloud — deep, powerful, echoing in my chest.
"Mortal."
I lowered my head even further, body tense.
"My king."
The cloud descended a little. Zeus did not show a complete human form, only the cloud silhouette and eyes that I felt piercing through me.
For a moment he remained silent.
'That scent… Aphrodite was here. Recently. Very recently.'
The king of the gods observed the kneeling man more carefully. Well-kept golden hair. Clean, well-made clothes. Upright posture even on his knees. Eyes that were not empty like those of the others of the golden race. There was something there. A spark. A mind working behind the formality.
'Different… very different from the others.'
"What is your name, mortal?"
I answered without raising my face:
"Godwyn, my king. A name I myself chose in this world."
Zeus remained quiet for a few more seconds, evaluating.
"For a long time none of your race has offered anything that was not given by the earth. You planted. You tamed animals. You created wine. And now you bring me an offering."
The voice echoed, curious.
"Your devotion has been noted. Ask. One wish. Within what is permitted."
My heart was beating too hard. The fear was still there. The ambition as well.
'Do not ask to be spared. That would be too much. It would reveal that I know the fate. That I have worshipped with hidden intentions from the beginning.'
I took a deep breath and spoke with the same formality as always:
"O great Zeus… I ask only that you bless the most laborious creation of my hands. The ark I built with years of sweat and wood. That it may not be destroyed by anything — neither fire, nor water, nor time, nor the will of gods or mortals."
There was a short silence.
Then the voice sounded again, this time with an almost amused tone:
"Wise… very wise for a Golden Human."
A golden-white light came from the center of the cloud and descended in a straight line toward the ark. The impact was silent, but I felt it. The entire wood glowed for an instant, as if it had been touched from within. Then the light vanished.
"It is done. Your ark will not be destroyed."
The cloud began to dissipate.
"Continue offering, mortal. I will be listening."
And Zeus departed.
I remained kneeling for a long time, heart still racing, the wine still on the altar. The chill took a while to fade.
When I finally stood, I walked back to the ark.
Now it was more than wood.
It was inviolable.
I entered through the great gate I myself had built and looked at the vast interior. Space enough for plantations, for animals, for everything I might need.
I began immediately.
I brought saplings of the fruit trees I cultivated outside and planted them inside the ark. Some of them, after Zeus's blessing, began to grow at an abnormal speed — leaves opening in days, fruit appearing in weeks. I arranged them in rows, with water channels I myself had designed.
I separated areas for the animals: sheep, goats, birds, a few young oxen. I built internal pens. I stored seeds, tools, amphorae of wine, hides, ropes — everything I had accumulated over the years.
The ark ceased to be merely a project of paranoia.
It became a world within another world.
I sat on the wooden floor, looking at the trees that were already beginning to cast shade, and smiled quietly.
'One step at a time.'
'The ark is protected.'
'Now… let's see how far I can go before they decide to end us.'