"Here he is! The brand new Captain of the Guard. How on earth did you get this job?"
Percy Jackson looked up from his paperwork to see his best friend, Annabeth, leaning against the doorframe to his office.
"Well, the glowing recommendation from the crown princess certainly helped. Should I read you some of the things she said?" Percy picked up one of his papers. "'Perseus Jackson is a prime candidate for the Captain of the Guard. Not only is he extremely accomplished swordsman for such a young age, but he's good looking, too!'"
A blushing Annabeth stormed over and ripped the paper out of Percy's hands. "I did not say that!"
Percy laughed as Annabeth looked at what he was reading. "Wait— be quiet. What is this?"
"Some official visitation from some person."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Very helpful. No wonder you were promoted."
"A prince is visiting from across the sea. Your parents are hoping to become allies with that prince's country. He's arriving in a week to negotiate."
"Why didn't I know about this?"
Percy shrugged. "I don't know why you're getting worked up about this."
"Percy, what sort of negotiations do you think my parents, who have a daughter of marrying age, will arrange with a young and powerful prince?"
"A treaty?"
Annabeth slammed the letter on the desk, startling Percy.
"A MARRIAGE!"
"Woah! Calm down! Don't you think your parents would warn you about this? You're probably reading into this too much."
The next day
*knock, knock*
The door flung open, and Percy was yanked inside. Annabeth pulled him into her small lounge space, threw him onto a couch and started pacing.
"Um...Annabeth? Is everything okay?"
Annabeth turned and glared at Percy who realized everything was not okay.
"OKAY?! MY PARENTS JUST TOLD ME THAT I'M GOING TO MARRY A STRANGER FROM ACROSS THE SEA!"
Percy cringed from the loud yelling and hellfire in Annabeth's eyes. "I understand that you are upset about this, but maybe if you told me why this is so horrible, I could help you?"
Just as Annabeth opened her mouth to start yelling again, Percy grabbed her hand pulled her over to the couch next to him and said, "But no yelling. Otherwise it's hard to understand you, and I fear for my safety."
Annabeth sighed, "I'm sorry." They realized they were holding hands and quickly let go. After an awkward moment, Annabeth started explaining the situation. "Well, first of all, it's shocking to find out I'm going to meet a potential husband in less than a week when I didn't think I was getting married any time soon."
Percy chuckled. "That's a valid point."
"That isn't the worst part. Apparently, I get little to no say in marrying this guy. As long as he isn't awful, and I don't hate him, the wedding will happen in a month or two."
"That's really... fast," Percy replied, feeling a little anxious as well.
Annabeth groaned. "I know! I feel like I need more time to get to know the person I'll have to spend the rest of my life with. The nice thing is he is third in line to the throne in his own country so if we get married, we will stay here so I can become queen one day. Imagine if it was the other way around, and I had to live in a foreign country, with no friends or family, married to a man I barely knew!"
