A/N: I own nothing. Enjoy!
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Percy always seemed to have a good mood whenever he left Dahlia Palace. It was refreshing to be able to abandon his image of an invulnerable king for a while. Slowly, he would chip away at that frosty barrier she had put around her. He knew that he wasn't in love with her. At the most, it was just physical attraction between business partners or friends. He could see it in those strikingly sharp grey eyes of hers. For a brief moment, she, too, had been drunk in that haze of pleasure. If they hadn't been interrupted, how far could they have gone?
He doubted that with all the burdens of being king, he could afford that silly romantic notion of love. Love didn't exist for the royalty. At the very least, they could be respectful partners. But as to how trustful they could be to each other... Percy wanted to give the queen the benefit of doubt.
However, he also knew that his slightly more deferential treatment of the queen meant that made her the biggest target. Fortunately, he had let the rumors spread that the queen was tyrannical, helping to stay away from most of the assassins sent.
Unfortunately, Percy's good mood from Dahlia Palace did not last long by the time he reached Gardenia Palace. He looked at the report Sir Grover placed on his desk, lightly tapping the table as he pondered.
The dowager queen's birthday banquet plans had to be carefully examined. Of course, the dowager queen's officials would send over their proposed budgets and itinerary, but what was in Percy's hands were the secret information sent by his spies in Marigold Palace.
"She hired a troupe of special dancers again, huh?" Percy muttered as he lit the secret note on fire to get rid of the info.
Sir Grover furrowed his brows. To his knowledge, the dowager queen had never hired dancers before.
These dancers were a mixture of talented commoners and noble ladies the dowager queen had selected. Percy knew them well. After all, she had hired nearly the same set of people from his previous life.
Calypso Nereid. Percy's eyes fell on this name as an old memory flashed through.
"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty...I'm so sorry..."
Calypso's dark eyes were frantic and pleading as she clutched the knife now dripping with Percy's blood.
"She would have sold me off, I'm so sorry!"
Percy grunted, grasping at his arm. The cut wasn't deep, but the knife Calypso used was poisoned. Of course, with Percy's level of immunity, the poison merely dulled his senses. But it was enough to delay his reactions against the assassins sent to him after. All around Percy and Calypso littered the bodies of the assassins.
There were three more assassins left. Percy slashed at one, taking the black clothed killer by surprise when an additional burst of water enveloped the killer's face and entered his lungs. The second darted forward. Bearing the burning pain that was surging through his lungs, Percy parried the blade of the second assassin before stabbing the killer in the chest.
"Ah!" Percy screamed in pain as the third attacked from behind.
But the third assassin never made it to the final blow of the Eldoris king as Calypso lunged forward, grabbing at the assassin's legs and causing him to stumble. In anger, the assassin swung his sword at Calypso, who collapsed to the floor. Percy quickly finished the last assassin in the few seconds of distraction, spraying Calypso with flecks of blood.
Calypso was still breathing, but her breaths were labored. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty..."
Percy cursed as the caramel haired beauty's chest rose up and down for the last time in his arms.
The Eldoris king closed his eyes as the last of the memory faded away. He'd almost forgotten about this incident in his past life. Had he remembered, he might have made plans to prevent this from happening again.
Calypso Nereid was a distant relative of the dowager queen. She was the one the dowager queen most wanted to be his queen after Princess Annabeth's death so the dowager queen could control the throne through using Calypso as a puppet. But even when Percy refused, Amphitrite had gone ahead and tried to drug him during the birthday banquet and sent Calypso to his bed. If Percy still refused to bed Calypso, then Calypso was to kill him with the poisoned dagger, leaving Triton to take the throne while Calypso took the fall.
The combination of drugs and wine in his system had prevented Percy from fully defending himself. Calypso hadn't even tried to attack him with all her power. She had fully confessed to him that it was a setup by the dowager queen, and that Calypso would be trafficked if she did not kill the king. But Amphitrite had clearly believed that Calypso was unable to kill him in the first place and had sent professional killers as well.
It was then that Percy knew the horrible extent of the dowager queen's crimes that went beyond assassination. Trying to kill him was one thing since they had personal grudges. But to traffic his own people when slavery was banned in Eldoris was another.
This time, Percy was determined to prevent this all from happening. He had to keep Calypso alive as a witness as part of the evidence gathering. She was one of the few witnesses with a direct link to the dowager queen. Unfortunately, the dowager queen had hidden her quite well. It was probably that the birthday banquet was the only opportunity to get a chance to grab Calypso.
"Grover, how is the body double?" Percy asked.
"Still alive, Your Majesty. The face will be destroyed so the body would be hard to identify." Grover replied.
How fortunate for him that the seamstress who secretly placed poisoned needles in a dress meant for the queen had a similar shade of caramel colored hair. Once again, this seamstress was most likely tied to the dowager queen but could only relay that a mysterious masked figure had bribed her.
"Good, keep her alive until the birthday banquet. And on Baron Valdez's side?"
"He says he is ready to receive and hide the witness."
Percy nodded, satisfied at Grover's reply. Baron Leo Valdez was descended from a line of eccentric inventors, but an important person in his faction. When Dahlia Palace was being redone, Baron Valdez was the one to take charge of the design and had skillfully implemented all the secret levers and switches in the hidden tunnels. If Calypso was sent to Baron Valdez's, that man could hide her to the ends of the earth.
Now Percy was ready for one portion of the birthday banquet. But he couldn't be overconfident and rely on his past knowledge. Now, anything could happen.
The next morning, the queen rose earlier than normal. Percy had half expected his queen to be late, but the queen was cheerfully there at the training ground in a white shirt and trousers, stretching her limbs.
"Good morning!" Annabeth called out.
A soft smile spread across his lips. "Good morning, you're up early. Are you that excited about swordsmanship lessons?"
The queen nodded, her ponytail bouncing up and down. She looked behind him, as if searching for someone. "So, where's my teacher?"
Percy pointed to himself. "Didn't I promise you that I would find you the best swordsman in Eldoris?"
She looked at him in surprise, then laughter burst out of her mouth.
"I'm hurt," Percy said mockingly. "You don't believe me?"
The queen waved her hands. "No, I believe you. I just thought you would get someone like Sir Nico or Sir Rachel to teach me. Isn't your schedule busy?"
"I can always insert some time for the queen," Percy smiled. "Besides, the knights complain that I go too hard on them. So, unluckily for you, training won't be easy."
"That's fine. I am honored to have the great king of Eldoris teach me personally." She said in a chipper voice.
Percy tossed her a wooden sword. "We'll see how you feel about it after training. Let's learn some basics first."
He had her learn the basic stances first, mindful of her stamina. Even though the physician had cleared her for exercise, it was light exercise only. Fortunately, the queen didn't even seem bothered when he had her only work with a wooden sword and on basic posture for two hours. Despite her low stamina, Annabeth seemed to pick everything up fairly quickly. With Percy's expert eye in picking out knight recruits, Annabeth would have made a fine knight.
Percy could only shake his head at the Kirans. They could have had such a fine gem in their hands if they only took the effort to polish her up a little. Even if Annabeth didn't possess lumokinesis, she could have been highly skilled in swordsmanship, with intelligence and charm to navigate a cruel social world.
Well, Kiran had lost their princess, but Eldoris had forever gained a fine queen. That is, if he could convince her to stay in the position. He would just have to treat her so well that Eldoris would be paradise for her.
"Alright, that's enough for today. You did well," Percy praised after an hour.
Annabeth paused and wiped her sweat with a handkerchief that Lucy gave her. Towards the end, she had started going pale. For the next few days, Percy personally trained the queen. Every day, her strength and stamina improved.
"Widen your stance just a little," Percy commanded. "And when you strike out, extend your sword like this."
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to straighten them. Guiding her sword, he helpfully showed her how to go through with the sword technique in one smooth movement. If the queen thought that he was a little too close, then so be it. Percy smiled inwardly as he saw her ears turn a shade of delicate pink.
Stepping back again at an appropriate distance, Percy instructed her to practice again. Seeing the queen eye him, he merely smiled.
"What is it?"
"Are you sure you're trying to teach me?" The queen asked. "Or flirt with me?"
Percy pretended to have a stern face. "Now, how could you think of me like that as your swordsmanship master?"
The queen just shook her hand in half exasperation, half amusement. Before she could reply, Sir Grover approached and whispered in Percy's ear. Percy's face dimmed slightly.
"I have some matters to attend to, it seems. That's enough for today. Keep practicing if you want to, but don't go for too long!" Percy warned.
The queen cheerfully waved her wooden sword as a salute as he left.
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Rachel had been watching for a while from a distant corner of the training ground. Her stomach twisted a little in jealousy as she saw the king embracing the queen from the back as he adjusted her posture.
This must be fate, Rachel thought dully. Her fate was to forever be by the side of the one she loved, yet never receive his love. Meanwhile, even if the queen had commoner origins, she was fated to be adored by Rachel's first love.
What made Rachel feel worse was that Rachel couldn't even find anything to pick at the queen. When she realized what she was thinking, Rachel shuddered. She was the worst, she thought. Rumors were that the queen had been secretly abused and oppressed by the royal family of Kiran. No doubt the queen had an unhappy and fearful childhood, while Rachel had been the golden apple of her family's eyes. Perhaps the Fates had deigned to be kind to the queen by affording her a happy marriage.
In a little while, the king left on an urgent matter, leaving the queen to practice steadily on her own. The queen didn't have a bad foundation, Rachel begrudgingly thought. Rachel had trained hundreds of knights before and had a discerning eye for picking out the best recruits. If it weren't for the queen's weak stamina and position as queen, Queen Annabeth would have made a fine knight.
Rachel watched for a little while more until she couldn't bear it anymore. The queen was trying a new sword technique now. Without the king's guidance, the queen was performing the technique wrong. If she kept this up, she might injure herself.
"You should put your weight on your back leg instead of the front or you might tear your Achilles' heel," Rachel finally spoke up. "Forgive me for my impudence, Your Majesty."
The queen looked surprised to see Rachel there but soon gave a warm smile. She repeated the technique with what Rachel said.
"Like this?" The queen asked for affirmation.
The queen had picked it up fairly quickly. Rachel nodded.
"Thank you, Sir Rachel," the queen said, sincerely. "If there's anything else that I am lacking in, please feel free to speak up. I trust in your expertise."
Rachel felt her conscience prickle and her cheeks flame like someone had slapped her. She had been thought that the queen of Eldoris would be like any of the other knight recruits who sometimes resented Rachel for giving them advice when she was of a lower aristocratic rank. Perhaps Rachel had even been hoping that the queen would actually insult her. Maybe Percy would be then less enamored with the queen...
What was worse than having the one you loved hold hands with your love rival was when your love rival thanked and treated you with sincerity. Rachel was clearly never seen as a rival to the queen in the first place.
Rachel shook her head. It was dangerous to think that way.
Even after the queen left, Rachel remained on the training ground, practicing her swordsmanship. It was something she liked to do whenever she felt stressed. Rachel thought about the secret letter that she had burned after receiving the contents. Whoever had sent the letter had thought to use Rachel in their schemes to depose the queen and put Rachel on the throne as an incentive.
"Argh!"
With a final swing of her sword, Rachel dispatched the head of the wooden practice dummy. All around her were the remains of broken dummies. Other knights were coming into practice, whispering as they saw the carnage, though Rachel didn't notice.
Did the sender of the letter think that she was stupid? Judging by how the king was treating the queen right now, deposing the current queen would incur the wrath of the king onto the next queen, even if it was forced through political means. Would Rachel want to waste all the time and effort she had placed into reaching this position?
If they thought that she would agree, then they were mistaken.
But despite her statement, her jaw clenched. She knew the truth that was gnawing inside her heart, despite her mind stating that she wouldn't fall prey to other's political schemes. She had been truly tempted by the letter. To be able to hold her head high standing right next to Percy as his queen, instead of always behind him as his subordinate...
Rachel threw her shield onto the ground and stalked off the training grounds, her stomach twisting in jealousy.
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed this, and as always see you all next chapter!