A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
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Annabeth let the palace maid lead her through a side hallway in Marigold Palace. She could tell that while Marigold Palace had been meticulously taken care of, the palace was not as large or tastefully decorated as Gardenia or Dahlia Palace. To Annabeth, the overly gaudy decorations gave the appearance of wanting to portray power and wealth. The dowager queen's pride must have been stung to have to live in a side palace meant for concubines and see her enemy live in the central seat of power.
When the maid curtsied and showed her into a lounge to change her clothing, Annabeth didn't go in straight away, seeing that the maid had taken care not to enter the room. If Annabeth didn't know better, she might have thought that the maid was merely being polite, holding the door open to let the queen in.
Annabeth listened carefully for any sounds inside the lounge or from in the hallway. The king had guaranteed her safety by promising that shadow guards would be behind her always. But Annabeth couldn't tell whether they were there or not.
Annabeth's mind whirled. She had a sudden feeling that whatever waited behind her reeked of danger. She had been warned before not to enter any rooms without someone she trusted.
The maid bit her lip nervously as the queen paused, wondering why the queen was not entering.
"Your Majesty?" The maid asked.
Annabeth detected a hint of fear or anxiety in the maid's eye before the maid moved.
"Eeek!"
Before the maid could move to push the queen in, the maid shrieked as Annabeth suddenly grabbed the maid and shoved her past the door and into the lounge.
The maid stumbled into the room, crashing into a strange male who had been waiting secretly just behind the door. The man had not expected another woman but had been clearly waiting for the queen. The strange man stumbled as the body of the maid fell against him.
Annabeth pulled out a small bottle of perfume she had placed into a hidden pocket of her blue dress. Before either the man or maid could react, Annabeth had sprayed a blast of perfume onto their faces. But this was no ordinary perfume. Annabeth guessed the chemical was something akin to having the same effects of chloroform. She kept spraying the perfume, careful not to get too close to the perfume.
The male and maid coughed and gagged, but within seconds, they had passed out. Nice, Annabeth thought. She didn't even have to pull out her dagger hidden in the second pocket of her dress.
Now that Annabeth could assess the situation, she noted a cloying scent of musk in the air coming from the burning fire in the fireplace. Annabeth pulled out her handkerchief to create a makeshift mask for her nose and mouth. It was probably better to get out as soon as possible. Who knew what layers of trickery the dowager queen had implemented?
Annabeth opened the door to the lounge and peeked. No one was around. Perhaps the maid was supposed to lock the door from the outside and have no one else nearby to hear the sounds of a woman screaming.
"Your Majesty!" A whisper came around the corner. Sir Nico was there. "I apologize for not coming sooner."
Sir Nico's sword was out of its sheath and stained dark in the dim light.
Annabeth caught sight of a few other people being dragged off behind Sir Nico. Dressed in dark clothing, those unconscious men might have been the people the dowager queen had secretly used to follow her to make sure that no one interfered with her plans. Had the dowager queen's plans worked, the dowager queen's men would have stood guard to ensure that the lounge door was locked while whatever nefarious deed she had planned was being done.
No wonder the knights sent by Percy had not been behind her. They had been delayed, fighting against the assailants the dowager queen had sent.
Annabeth felt sick to her stomach. The novel's events were getting more and more dangerous as though determined to kill her off in the worst ways possible.
"I'm here. I'm all right," Annabeth softly called out. "When is the dowager queen coming?"
A soft hoot sounded in the night from outside. Sir Nico listened, then imitated the sound of a barn owl hooting back.
"Soon," Sir Nico answered. "Let us go quickly, Your Majesty. Lucy has a new dress prepared."
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There was an uproar in Marigold Palace. Guests and knights quickly ventured to where the disturbance had been.
"Oh, my!"
"What indecency!"
"What is the queen doing-"
People's ears perked up at the word queen. Then there was no more sound.
People filled the hallway towards a lounge, but because of the mass of bodies, no one could gain a good view of what was happening.
Then a slap was heard. Those in the front who had been touring with the dowager queen were shocked with the scene of an unknown female having a tryst with someone they supposed was her lover. The female appeared to be wearing the clothing of a maid, though half of it was torn off of her.
In truth, it might have been possible for the two "lovers" to resist the aphrodisiac. But they had breathed in the incense for a while after the dowager queen had delayed in "discovering" what was happening in the lounge. The man who had waited inside the room for a long time had been stimulated too much in particular.
"H-how dare you-" The dowager queen pointed her finger at the young woman.
One person with eyes muttered. "Hmm? That's not the queen, isn't it?"
Another ripple of scandalous confusion went through the crowd. Then the crowd parted.
"What is going on?" Percy asked.
Queen Annabeth was by his side, now changed into another formal blue dress. "I thought I heard someone mention the queen of Eldoris." The queen said, delicately. "Did someone call me?"
The dowager queen's shoulders shook with anger. She had fully expected the woman inside the lounge to be the queen, but clearly the woman inside was a brunette. Then, the queen appeared by the king's side. From an outsider's perspective, they might think that she was furious that a simple palace maid had ruined her birthday banquet. But Percy knew better. The dowager queen had made a mistake by mentioning Queen Annabeth before the man and woman had been identified clearly. Then, Queen Annabeth had deliberately brought up the topic to remind all the witnesses it had been the dowager queen who had tried to throw dirty water on the queen's reputation.
And by now, Calypso would have been carted off safely in Baron Valdez's network of hiding spots, and the body double was freshly prepared. The dowager queen should be tricked to think that her relative had been killed.
"Guards!" Percy shouted. "Take these two and throw them in the dungeons. How dare they spoil the dowager queen's banquet. What insolence!"
Knights quickly came in and threw blankets over the pair, who were still half copulating due to the effects of the aphrodisiac.
Percy covered Queen Annabeth's eyes from the indecent couple. He had no pleasant feelings towards the two people who had followed the dowager queen's plans. His orders of arrest were to make sure that they stayed alive and out of the dowager queen's clutches so he could extract confessions out of them.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
As the pair was dragged off, Percy's nose wrinkled. He had caught a whiff of musky incense that chilled his heart. Wasn't this the smell of that conium maculatum incense? The side effects may have been temporary aphrodisiac effects, but the main effect would be death if the victim breathed in it for too long while copulating.
Shit. He needed a physician right away. There was no way that the queen had been assaulted due to her own words, but there was no guarantee that the poison may not have had an effect on the queen's still physically weak body.
Percy cursed himself. He thought he had been careful enough on Calypso's side, but towards his own wife, he had failed in ensuring her safety.
"The queen looks tired, and the dowager queen must be weary as well. Everyone, I regret that such a joyous occasion has been marred. Please excuse us."
Without another word, Percy urged Queen Annabeth back towards Gardenia Palace. Along the way, he gave quick orders to his shadow knights to grab a sample of the incense, warning them to heed the dangerous substance.
"Your Majesty?" The queen wondered. "This isn't the direction towards Dahlia Palace."
She was walking too slowly in her high heels. Percy lifted her up and ran towards Gardenia Palace, not caring about other eyes. At most, people would just say that the king was too amorous.
"Call the physician," Percy spat towards the nearest attendant.
"But, I'm fine," the queen said, utterly bewildered.
"No, you're not!" Percy said angrily.
The queen's mouth dropped open at her shock of being yelled at. Percy's own fury was quickly cut by half at her dumbfounded expression. No, he wasn't angry at her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you," he quickly apologized. "I was just angry at myself."
Percy quickly explained what he had discovered about the poisonous incense that the dowager queen had employed. By now, the physician Solace had arrived and was ushered into the bedroom. Percy laid Annabeth onto the bed as the physician began taking her vitals.
"Ow!"
Physician Solace pricked her finger and let a small drop of blood coalescence into a small basin of golden magic. This physician also had lumokinesis, but his weak powers were only powerful enough to heal light wounds. Still, Percy trusted in this doctor's expertise and wide range of herbal medicine.
"How is she?" Percy asked.
The drop of blood that had merged with the magic stayed golden. Solace rose, satisfied with the results.
"Thankfully Her Majesty did not breathe the poison for long. She is much healthier than when she first arrived to Eldoris, but we should observe for a couple more days to be sure."
Percy let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
The physician bowed and left the room.
Percy turned back to the queen who had been quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Perhaps she was stunned about how close she might have been to death or how truly vile the dowager queen's plans had been. Was she worried that her hands were now stained with blood for framing the palace maid? But if Annabeth had not done so, the blood spilled on the floor would have been hers.
Maybe he had been asking too much of her, even if it was the queen who had first proposed the deal to help each other. Not even the king could predict what dire consequences would happen from the dowager queen's schemes. The queen should not blame herself. This was the result of the dowager queen's actions.
Sighing heavily again, Percy walked towards her somberly.
"I'm sorry," he said again.
The queen looked at him. "You already apologized."
"That was for yelling at you. I was just frustrated that I didn't do my job properly. You could have been seriously hurt today. Again."
He had nearly been late in saving her from the assassins sent from Kiran when she first entered Eldoris. Then, there was the canoe incident on the lake. Now, there was this poison incident. Even if she went willingly with the plan, there could have been so much that could have gone wrong.
"I know, but I can take care of myself," the queen said in a serious tone. "This was something I agreed to and helped to plan." Her grey eyes turned slightly distant as if lost in past memories.
Percy clenched his jaw in frustration. The assassins sent today were no joke. Sure, the queen was resourceful and clever, but what was intelligence against highly trained assassins and schemes of the royal court?
Finally, he sighed and sat down beside her. There were still a lot he and the queen did not know about each other. This conversation would have to be tabled for now.
"I also don't want you to feel guilty for what happened." He said, after a while.
The queen shook her head. But Percy felt a little more reassured that she understood what he meant. It was ruthless to survive in the royal family. Eat or be eaten. Provoke when being provoked.
"I know. It is a dog eat dog world out here. But don't feel guilty yourself, Your Majesty. You are only one man. You can't predict everything that happens." The queen said, softly.
Percy stiffened then gave a bitter smile.
"Couldn't I?" He answered softly.
Even if he had reverted time, it seemed that he indeed couldn't perfectly prevent everything that happened. He might as well have gone in blind or lost his memories of his previous life. What was the use of knowing the past if every little step in the present changed the future until he couldn't predict it?
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Annabeth observed the king. He seemed to be lost in thought, his green eyes brooding.
She recalled that there was a scene in the novel describing Sir Grover's death. Every word dripped with Sir Perseus' grief. She could feel his anguish and anger at having lost his closest companion. Somehow, Annabeth could sense a similar sense of sorrow and frustration coming off of the king. Was he really that much in anguish at the mere thought that she could have been hurt, or was he thinking of something else?
She could feel her heart melting just a little in empathy for this man, even if she was slightly miffed about his assumption that she could not defend herself. She was not the original Princess Annabeth who had never been able to fight back. But Annabeth understood that from the king's point of view, she didn't have superpowers like the characters in the novel did or was trained in the sword at a young age.
Still, after spending these weeks with this man, Annabeth could tell that while he was authoritarian in some ways as a ruler, he held the best interests of his people at heart. Everything he had to do was not just for his survival but for the survival and happiness of the people who trusted and believed in him. On his shoulders was the heavy and invisible burden of caring for his people and country.
"Here."
Annabeth opened up her arms. The king looked at her wonderingly.
"When you feel bad, don't hugs make it better?" Annabeth offered.
The king stared at her with a blank face. Had he never encountered something like this before? Perhaps he had been too young to remember the days when his mother embraced him as a toddler.
Well, this was getting awkward. But before Annabeth could retract her arms, the king had pulled her onto his lap, burrowing his head into the crook of her shoulders and neck.
Annabeth felt his warm breath caress against her skin. Her hands came up and softly stroked his hair.
Somehow, this sorrow and frustration made him feel less like a character from a novel and more like a human. Perhaps, unconsciously, she had been treating this world as a mere figment of her imagination like she had gone insane. But over the weeks the people she encountered were made of flesh and blood. The actions Annabeth performed or words she said produced real life consequences, like the maid she sprayed the chloroform on. No doubt that maid and the strange man would be dead, seeing as they breathed in the poisonous fumes. But if Annabeth didn't fight, then she would have been lying six feet underground.
Annabeth did not know what sort of future the fates had planned for her. Why she was the one who was selected to be placed in this story, why she had to do the things she did. All those were unknown. Perhaps some deity out there was telling her to change the destinies of those around her, or some deity really wanted to fuck up her life.
"Everything is going to be alright, Percy." She soothed. "I'm fine, didn't the doctor say that? No one's hurt. When we made the deal, you already warned me that I could be dragged into hell. I agreed to it. I knew the risks. We're in this together."
His arms around her grew tighter.
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Amphitrite sat in her quarters, looking at the moon.
How had her plans gone awry? Before she could even question the maid and the Kiran man, the king had whisked them away for questioning, although Amphitrite doubted the two would live long enough to answer any questions. The incense acted fast, after all.
Somehow, even the king had escaped from the assassins she had sent out. Had he not encountered them by the way he was acting?
"Mother?" Triton called out. He coughed.
Amphitrite quickly turned to her son. "My darling, why are you out of bed? Come, let's go back to sleep."
"Mother, about what happened to my personal maid today..."
A flash of disgust appeared then quickly went away on the dowager queen's face. The maid used today was a maid who served Prince Triton. Amphitrite had thought that the maid was getting too close to her son and used this opportunity to get rid of her as well as the queen. Pity only the maid was useless.
"Shush. Speak nothing of that whore. Didn't you hear what happened? That maid was only using you to get financial benefits while her heart lay with another! Mother will find you the most beautiful bride of noble blood who will obey your orders."
Triton was about to say something else, but a cough interrupted him. Amphitrite hurried him off to bed.
Prince Triton bowed his head and obeyed, but his green eyes were darkened. His brother would call for him tonight.
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A/N: If people recall in chapters past, Triton's maid was the one who told Triton about Percy getting married, and Amphitrite was not pleased. In addition, Percy and Annabeth still have much to learn about each other.
As always, stay hanging on to those cliffs. See you next week, hehe!
Also. Squid Game.