Down in Flames - Rewritten Entirely

Chapter 6

"The others will see it as permission," Jason told him with a scowl, "to take prisoners whenever they want."

"I'll take care of it," Percy promised. Annabeth had told him the prisoners never left the base camps, but he'd make sure they were never even brought to the camps.

Hoping to turn the conversation away from Annabeth, he asked, "Has Octavian returned?"

Jason's scowl deepened and he nodded towards a nearby tent. The flap was closed and there were no lit lanterns, but Percy could hear muffled sounds coming from inside.

"You might want to wait until he comes out to confront him," Jason warned.

Percy nodded and after telling Jason they'd leave at daybreak, he returned to his tent.

Although there wasn't a crowd gathered outside his tent, he could see his troops staring. There were a few whispering a couple of yards away from his tent, but none were standing close enough for Percy to worry they had gone inside. At the sight of Percy's return, the men turned back to their own tents, slowly disappearing. Percy scowled at each of them until finally, no one was in sight. With a sigh, he ducked into his tent and pulled the flap closed.

"You must hold a lot of power," Annabeth said as soon as he stepped inside. "No one came close enough for me to hear what they said."

"That's good, isn't it?" Maybe she had wanted to listen to whatever his troops had been saying, but Percy was glad they hadn't come too close.

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe they're just waiting."

"You're safe in here," Percy assured her once again. "As long as you're with me, you'll be safe."

* * * * *

Annabeth stayed tucked away in the soldier's tent until daybreak. She'd asked if he needed to sleep, but he'd promised her he was alright and taken a few blankets outside with him. Against her better judgement, she'd fallen asleep shortly after he stepped outside and woken up to the tent flap being opened.

For a moment, she was terrified that someone else was coming for her. When her eyes finally focused though, it was just the same soldier as before. He looked tired and still half asleep, but she could see the sun rising outside and knew they'd be leaving soon.

After confirming her suspicion, the soldier said, "I don't have anything for you to wear, but you're welcome to use my cloak."

Annabeth nodded and together, they dug through the pile of supplies before finding his cloak. As she pulled it out and wrapped it around her shoulders, her eyes caught on the embroidered crest near the collar.

She had expected to find the symbol of Atlantis on the back of the cloak. The trident had become a familiar sight to her during the war and she knew well enough what it looked like from afar. What she had not expected, however, was the see the crest of the royal family embroidered to the right of the collar.

Her breath caught in her throat and with a curse, Annabeth dropped the cloak in her lap. In front of her, the soldier-the Prince!-frowned.

"Is it dirty?" he asked. He took the cloak from her but all Annabeth could do was stare at him with wide eyes.

The prince brushed off the collar of his cloak and handed it back to her with a lopsided grin, but Annabeth didn't move. It had been the prince who decided to spare her and it had been the prince who offered her a job at the palace. No one none of the other troops had bothered her. They would have crossed their prince.

"Are you alright?" the prince asked. He set down the cloak and gave her a strange look. "If you don't want it, you don't have to take it."

"You're the prince," Annabeth said in a strangled voice. Of all the people for her to encounter, she had not expected the prince to be one of them.

"Oh." The prince scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah, um, I am. I guess I thought you knew that."

There was really no way for her to have known that, but she certainly didn't say so. The last thing she wanted to do was offend him now that she knew who he really was.

"Look, you don't have anything to worry about," he promised. "I'll still get you a job at the palace and you can still stay there. Unless you don't want to."

"No, I—" She hesitated. "I do want to. I'm just a little surprised."

The prince nodded and the tent fell silent for several seconds. The sounds of soldiers cleaning up their camp came from outside, but Annabeth hardly heard it all. She was still staring with wide eyes at the Prince of Atlantis, entirely unsure what to do.

"If you'd prefer," the prince offered, "you can ride back with one of the troops. I have a friend here. He'll keep you safe."

Annabeth immediately shook her head. Prince or not, he was the only one she felt safe with. As long as she was surrounded by Atlantian soldiers, she wanted to know she was safe. Apparently, staying with their prince was the only way that would be happening.