Down in Flames - Rewritten Entirely

Chapter 16

"No, it wasn't," Annabeth agreed, "because it was mine. Who told you?"

"No one did. It was my own idea."

Annabeth's confused expression matched Rachel's and for a long moment, the two just stared at each other. Rachel was the first to break their silence.

"You've already thought of marrying him?" she asked quietly. Annabeth nodded numbly. "When?"

"This morning. When we received my mother's response," Annabeth told her, her voice just as soft.

Rachel looked down at her lap. "When will you announce it? To the kingdom?"

"We aren't," Annabeth replied. Rachel glanced up at that, so Annabeth briefly explained how it was their last resort. They would do anything else first, but they would resort to a marriage if they must.

"It wouldn't be the worst thing, milady," Rachel said. She reached across the sofa and grabbed Annabeth's hand. "He would love you. I see it in his eyes. He's confused by it now, but he'll figure it out."

"Why would you suggest this?" Annabeth asked. "You said that you wished to marry him yourself. Why give up?"

Rachel shrugged half-heartedly and Annabeth squeezed her hand.

"Atlantis isn't my kingdom," she said, "but I know what it needs. Besides, you seem to make him happy."

The room fell into an empty silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but Annabeth wasn't sure it was friendly either. She had only talked to Duchess Rachel twice before and both times were wildly differing. She had felt unsure of what to say then, but now it seemed even more difficult. Especially when the topic was about a potentially arranged marriage.

"You're a good person, Rachel," Annabeth murmured, glancing across at her. "And an even better friend to him."

Although Rachel didn't reply verbally, she did briefly smile at her and for now, that was enough for Annabeth. At least she had one lady of the court on her side.

* * * *

Percy arrived back in Annabeth's chambers immediately after he had finished dinner. Although she was invited once King Poseidon learned who she was, she had decided it would be better to take her meals privately. There was no need to dine with the king so long as their two kingdoms were at war. Staying in his palace alone would hopefully send a clear signal once the world found out more about who she was.

"My father's letter was sent this evening," Percy announced, walking into her chambers with hardly more than a knock. "I paid off the messenger to carry mine as well." With a sly grin, he said, "Hopefully that wasn't just a rough draft that you wrote up earlier."

Annabeth bit back a laugh, but couldn't hold back her smile.

"I can assure that it was not," she replied, looking away from her book.

Percy's grin widened and he joined her on her sofa with a careless flop. The momentum jostled her and she nearly tumbled into him, but she righted herself before she landed on his lap. The last thing she wanted was to wind up in an unexplainable position with him. Even though the odds of someone walking in on them were low, she had the strangest feeling they would increase the moment they found themselves in a difficult-to-explain situation.

"Rachel came to see me," Annabeth told him. She carefully memorised her page number and closed her book before turning her full attention to him. "Right after you left, in fact."

Percy's brow raised curiously.

In a near whisper, Annabeth told him, "She suggested we marry."

Percy's eyes widened and if he hadn't already been sitting, he would have tripped over his own two feet as he rushed to say, "I didn't tell her, I swear! I never would have told her without asking you-"

"I know," Annabeth said, putting her hands on his arm to calm him down. "She told me you hadn't. She just-said some things to make me think about it more."

"Gods, Annabeth," Percy groaned. He ran a hand through his hair and Annabeth bit back a smile at how he messed it up. "Did she tell anyone else? What did she say?"

"She was perfectly pleasant," Annabeth assured him, dragging his hand away from his hair. He'd already knocked his crown off, but the least she could do was make sure he didn't leave his hair sticking up in every direction.

"What did she say?" Percy repeated, looking at her worriedly.

Annabeth paused, taking a moment to look at Percy as her and Rachel's conversation echoed through her head.

"I've seen how he looks at you, so know that he would love you if you were to marry him."

She didn't see it. He just looked worried. Concerned, perhaps, that Rachel had said something to insult her. It was a reasonable fear. After all, if Rachel insulted her or tried to talk her out of a marriage, there would be no way to save Atlantis. He was worried about his kingdom and if their conversation had put it in danger.

"He would love you. I see it in his eyes."

She was looking in his eyes though. The only thing she could easily make out was worry. Worry, she realised, that had been brought on because there was a risk that Rachel would tell someone else of their plans.

"Why are you so worried?" she murmured, pursing her lips. "She didn't try to talk me out of it. You'll still be able to save your kingdom."

"Oh, yeah." It sounded more like an afterthought, but Annabeth was too busy trying to make out the dozens of emotions that flickered across his face. "I just-Rachel can be a lot sometimes. I wanted to make sure she hadn't said something that went too far."

And there it was: what Rachel had been talking about.

Annabeth watched as his face softened and the worry morphed into something closer to embarrassment. The worry she had thought was for his kingdom. He hadn't been worried about Atlantis, though, because he'd been worried about her instead. And now she had embarrassed him for it.

"She didn't go too far," Annabeth promised, her own face softening to match his. "I think she just wanted to help me find a new point of view."