Empress (a Percy Jackson AU)

A Village by the Sea

    They left early the next morning. Perhaps the sheer exhaustion and emotional weight of the journey had finally defeated her, but for whatever reason, Annabeth slept better than she had since the journey began. They had fallen asleep on mats, lulled by the sound of city life: laughs, footsteps, and the sounds of work animals.

     Annabeth noticed Percy's eyes were rimmed with darkness and his hair was messier than usual. "Slept badly?" she asked.

     They were riding their steeds and Percy avoided her gaze as he spoke. "I'm worried about what would happen to my mother if the emperor found out."

     Annabeth felt like she had eaten ash instead of the sweet figs and nuts Sally had given them for breakfast. "Your mother's kindness will be rewarded," she declared.

     Annabeth was wearing a tunica of Sally's. She had given them both a change of clothes and some provisions to take on their short journey. Her words of praise didn't seem to move Percy. Maybe he was having second thoughts about this journey or maybe he was just tired. Whatever it was, he held himself as if he was expecting to face danger.

They left the city and travelled for a couple hours by horseback before Percy began to slow down. "We're here," he said.

The village turned out to be a collection of huts and farms. The two dismounted and Annabeth followed Percy, breathing in the smell of the salty sea air as she led her steed forward. The ground underneath her sandals was soft, but firm. The village looked pleasant enough, but it was a far-cry the pastoral paradises Horace wrote about.

"Grover!" Percy called as we approached a tall, thin man with curly brown hair.

The man was busy weeding out some basil plants, but he looked up and broke into a smile. "Percy!"

He sounded as if a goat had been given a voice. There was movement and another figure appeared: a woman with red hair and eyes as green as fresh ferns. "Percy!" she said, waving.

"Juniper!" Percy said. "It's been a long time. Has your wish come true?"

Juniper shook her head and there was a sudden sadness in her eyes. "I have prayed to Hera and Aphrodite every night, but no luck."

Annabeth couldn't hide her gasp. Juniper looked up, her green eyes glittering with defiance so they resembled emeralds instead of ferns. Annabeth opened her mouth, "I'm sorry. I just—"

    How could she explain that their religion contradicted her own? How could she explain that she had been taught that the devil seduced people into pagan worship? Yet it had been a follower of Isis who had helped her escape the city and now she was being sheltered by people who worshipped the old gods of Greece.

      "Annabeth is a good person," Percy interjected. "She's just tired."

    Annabeth shot him a look, but didn't argue. After all, her life was at stake. The hardness in Juniper's eyes softened and with a twinge of regret, Annabeth realized she recognized that look. It was what she saw every time she looked in the mirror.