Wizarding Royalty

Chapter 13: Court

The throne room was made of beautiful marble that lined the walls. With windows that showed the beautiful fish that swam along outside the throne room. The floor was also marbled but had a bluer tint to it. Arches and huge columns lined the sides of the pathway to the thrones seated on a raised platform. In the very middle was Poseidon's throne. A throne made of coral and seashells with a place for his trident to fit. 

Right next to his was Amphitrite's throne. Hers was a calmer mix of light and calming corals and a few seashells intertwined. 

 Triton's throne was smaller than both his mother's and father's thrones but still fit for a God. It reflected his domain as Messenger of the Seas. The throne was made of simple rock but inscriptions on the throne made the throne seem more than it actually was. If he looked close Percy could see that the throne told stories of things that happened under the sea. 

The four made their way up to the platform where Poseidon conjured up another chair for his demigod son. This chair was plush and quite a bit smaller than Triton's throne but it was the perfect size for Percy. 

"Good day, ladies, gentlemen, and others. Let us begin the meeting today. The first order of business is to get an update on the rebuilding of the palace walls after the whale incident. Lord Rio if you will?" 

Lord Rio was the overseer of the construction group working on the palace walls after a whale, named Johnathon had run into them a few weeks ago because he was being chased by a herd of hippocampi. 

Rio cleared his throat his yellow skin seemed to almost reflect the glow coming from the bioluminescent plants that littered the room. The noble had short-cropped black hair. 

"The rebuilding of the palace walls is going well. The shields have held up thus far and the building should be complete soon." 

"Thank you, Lord Rio. Now onto our next order of business. Reports from the outlying kingdoms and minor gods." 

"One of the representatives from an outlying kingdom on the border of the Atlantic Ocean has reported that there is a spread of pollution around them, and that soon their shields will need to be strengthened to keep their citizens from getting sick but it is nothing they can not handle on their own," a chamberlain reported from one of his lists, "Most of the other kingdoms are reporting similar things but that can mostly be taken care of within their community. A few of the minor gods have also offered to help them." 

"Thank you," Amphitrite thanked the chamberlain, "I will go out to visit them sometime soon and make sure they are okay. If you will send a list to me." 

"Of course, my lady," the merman replied with a bow.

Percy must have zoned out at some point because the next thing he is fully aware of is a crash coming from somewhere. He jolts out of his seat with his hand in his pocket searching for Riptide. The chiton had surprisingly deep pockets. Guards stand at attention and are more alert from where they had been around the room. 

Everyone waited with bated breath as they waited for something to happen. About two minutes later an elder cyclops was welcomed into the throne room, where they bowed before the royal family before starting their report. 

"We are sorry for the scare, my Lord. It was a mistake. One of our works was accidentally blown up. Nothing besides pride and a small piece of machinery was harmed." 

"Thank you, Elder Palrin. You are dismissed." 

"Of course, sire." The cyclops bowed once again before taking his leave. 

"Now that that has been taken care of, let us resume our meeting. Lord Anthony if you will?" 

"Of course, so..." Lord Anthony began. 

Percy tried his best to stay focused he really did, but his ADHD did not help in the slightest. He was constantly fidgeting or tapping his fingers on his leg, or his foot on the floor. Once he was caught twirling Riptide around in his hand. Triton had elbowed him in the ribs a couple of times to make sure he was paying attention. How Triton did it with no one noticing was a surprise for Percy. 

The meeting took five more hours with Percy only catching snippets here and there. He had nothing to keep his mind occupied but he was watching the behaviour of his family and trying to learn. Amphitrite had a smile on her face that told him she was not overly fond of being here, but was here because of a sense of duty. While Amphitrite was also giving opinions and ideas when needed she was not overly engaged in the conversation.

Poseidon had a look of contemplation on his face as he addressed a particularly troublesome problem. 

Triton was looking just as cordial as his mother but throwing ideas out to the council as he needed to. 

Percy even gave an opinion or two when asked. Granted he did have to keep some of his snarkier comments back when he got upset with someone for being a douch. If his father could hold in his annoyance Percy could too, but Poseidon did have millennia more experience. 

In the five hours that they were seated night was closing in and Percy was getting tired. He tried to contain his yawns, but eventually one escaped. Poseidon noticed and dismissed the meeting. 

Percy didn't realize how tired he was from the past few days' events. He had learned that not only was he a demigod but he was also a wizard, a new prophecy, that to the wizards he was royalty, and now he was learning etiquette from Amphitrite. 

Sleeping had also become a rare thing after Tartarus. Memories of the Pit kept him up at night; afraid that if he was to fall asleep then he would have nightmares. 

So, when Percy stood up and was practically swaying on his feet, Poseidon rushed to stable his youngest son. He scooped Percy up in his arms bridal style and carried the exhausted demigod to his room. Percy made no move to get under the covers when Poseidon placed him on the bed, he was already out like a light. Triton came up from behind his father and placed a hand on his shoulder. Poseidon turned around and saw his son with a smile on his face looking at the sleeping half-blood. 

"I will watch him, Father," Triton said, moving to cover the demigod up. Triton carefully maneuvered Percy under the covers. Poseidon watched his sons with a smile on his face. They were becoming closer with every visit. Percy, Poseidon had noticed had the uncanny ability to win over some of the most dangerous foes but also make some of the most dangerous enemies. There seemed to be no in between people either liked the Sea God's son or they hated him. 

After two days of a meet, I finally have another chapter out. It is okay in my opinion. I'm not very political I am sorry. I'm only a teenager. 

I guess we need a chapter on Thalia's etiquette lessons with Hera now, don't we? Whelp there's my plan for the next chapter. 

Edit 6/16/23: I am much happier with how this chapter turned out, now that it has been rewritten. I wanted to keep in the kind of fluffy Triton and Percy moment. But I also don't know much about politics. I can be polite and cordial but I for the life of me can not write anything remotely to do with politics. So, yeah. 

I like the idea that there are multiple sub-kingdoms besides just Poseidon's main seat of power under the Seas.

--Scarlett.