Empress (a Percy Jackson AU)

Plans for Greece

"I hear you're sending your brothers to live with your future mother-in-law," Travis said.

Annabeth threw him a dirty look. "Your job is to protect me — not bother me palace gossip."

     Travis shrugged. "I heard it from Chiron himself."

    Annabeth set down her ink pen. "Are people gossiping about me?"

      "They're saying stuff," Travis said after a moment.

    Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

      "Oh lots of stuff," Travis said. "Some day you're a secret pagan. A lot of them remark on your intelligence. One of the kitchen maids swears you're actually the Virgin Mary."

     Annabeth snorted. "I've had a kid and a husband."

     Travis shrugged. "There is no accounting for the conspiracies that people believe."

    Annabeth looked down at the blueprint she had nearly finished. "You're right about that."

***

Later than evening, Annabeth invited her brothers to dinner. The kitchens had prepared Matthew's favorite cheeses and they were laid on a silver platter. Bobby's favorite dessert, a ricotta cheese and honey mixture called libum, would be served later. For now, they were oysters, olives, and herbed breads.

Despite the costly food at the table, it was an intimate affair. Only Percy, Chiron, Bobby, and Matthew were dining with Annabeth. Piper poured wine for the guests, but otherwise, there were no other slaves present. Bobby looked around the table, his eyes darting like a rabbit that sensed danger. "Where is my mother?" he asked.

Annabeth felt like she had been slapped. Her plan to be merciful to her brothers seemed to be already unraveling before her eyes. Would she have to follow Cleopatra's lead again and have them killed? The thought made her queasy, but she remembered how Helen had acted. Had she agonized over the decision to kill Annabeth and her family or was that decision as easy as the snap of a finger? Annabeth would never know.

"Your mother is elsewhere is the palace," Chiron said.

"Is she going to be killed?" Matthew asked, his eyes round.

Annabeth dropped her gaze. Suddenly the food didn't look so appetizing. She inhaled and steadied herself. "Your Mother is going to be exiled," she said.

"And us?" Bobby asked.

"You two got real lucky," Percy said, grinning widely. "You're going to stay with my mother."

"Is she a patrician?" Bobby asked.

Percy shook his head. "Better: she's a good cook and the best mother anyone could ask for."

The twins still looked sad and Annabeth asked Piper to bring out the dessert. "Sally Jackson is a kind woman," she said, "and you'll be living in Athens. You'll get a taste of Greek life and spend your summers with Grover and Juniper. There, you'll build character behind a plow."

Matthew and Bobby exchanged glances. "You want us to be farmers?" Bobby cried.

"We're the sons of an emperor!" Matthew said. "We belong here in Constantinople."

"I lived with Luke's family for eleven years," Annabeth reminded them.

The twins were quiet. They looked a little happier when Piper returned with the libum, but Annabeth could sense their resentment simmering in the air. As dinner wrapped up, she wondered if there was any way to fairly punish someone who was innocent.