At the birth of Helena, the Goddess of Victory, the three Fates prophesied: whoever marries her shall be worthy to ascend to the throne of the King of the Gods. For seven years, she accompanied Cassius, the illegitimate son of Zeus, into exile on a desolate island—enduring divine punishment, battling monsters, and braving freezing nights, giving all her youth and every victory to him. All the gods believed she would become Cassius's queen. Yet on the eve of his coronation, she overheard Cassius and a group of Olympian men mocking her, devising a so-called "queen's trial" in which nineteen candidate women would vie for favor with golden apples. He even said she had only three golden markings left—too stubborn, too dull—while the young and obedient Daphne was more fit to be queen. Helena did not weep or rage. She simply wrote a letter to Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, whom she had once rejected: If you still want me, I will place victory and the throne in your hands. Cassius believed she would never leave—so much so that he stole the Victory Crown, her mother's legacy, to lend Daphne an air of dignity. But on the day of the coronation, the Crown of the King of the Gods refused to settle upon Cassius's head. Helena herself placed the crown upon Hades's brow, causing Cassius to lose his throne, his queen, and his destiny before the assembly of the gods.
