Jason's POV
The day was really exhausting. I hate the ministers. They are not letting me conduct the selection my way, obviously, it's my marriage, my kingdom, my court, and the girl winning would be my wife. Why do they have to interfere? They are telling me to spend time with them and go out with them. But I don't want to.
They know very well that I am not that type of person. If Percy was here...things would have been better. He had gone through this stage, he would have advised me.
Anyways, it's time to make my mood happy and I know where to go. I make my way towards the second floor and the first room. Being so desperate, I open the door to find... My eyes widen. Thalia. I stay there, trying to process what I am seeing.
It has been months since I saw her. Her hair has grown a little, she looks more confident and bold and strong. But she is the same person who took care of me like a parent, she is my dad, she is my mom and above all, she is my sister, the best sister in the world. Tears are brimming my eyes.
I see her walking towards me. I can see in her eyes, she knows it's me. Instead of hugging her tight, which I wanted to do, I bow. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty. " I say.
She raises her eyebrows and then smirks. "New way of greeting, huh?" She crosses her arms.
Before she says anything else, Annabeth interrupts her. "Thals, this is Sparky, the person we were talking about. "
Sparky! Why is she calling me Sparky? Oh gosh! I forgot I am in Piper's room, she must be here somewhere. My eyes search the room. There are Leo and Calypso too. They intimidatingly look at Thalia. Then, my eyes meet Piper's. I quickly avert them. Thalia looks confused.
What should I do? If I stay quiet, Thalia will open her mouth and expose me and everyone knows what's going to happen then. I can't afford it.
"Sparky? What are you saying-"Thalia starts.
A sound cut her words. We all move our heads towards the source of the sound and find that it was made by one only Leo Valdez.
" Umm... sorry. I haven't eaten for about an hour. That's why my stomach is rumbling. "
"Oh Gods, Leo!" Calypso says.
Annabeth meets my eyes and nods. "Well, I am starving too. Thalia, you also must have been hungry after your sword fight. Let's go to the kitchen! "
"Piper, we'll see you again, tomorrow," Annabeth says, grabbing Thalia's arm.
But before she steps out of the room, Piper stops her, "Annabeth, I have a question. When we were in the garden you said something about getting out of Thalia's brother's life, who I guess is the prince. I was just thinking what did you mean by that? "
(Did she say that?! )
"I... umm... Piper", starts Annabeth, stammering, " Yeah... Actually, during the selection, you have to meet the prince."
(What, I have to meet her as Jason Grace. She would surely kill me. Oh, Annabeth! )
"And you have already met him, right?" says Thalia.
Piper shakes her head.
"You ... haven't? " Thalia asks, narrowing her eyes on Piper and then look at me.
Annabeth says, "Let's go, Thalia. "
"But-" And she and Annabeth, Leo and Calypso move out of the room, leaving Piper and me alone.
I turn towards Piper while she crosses her arms on her chest.
"Where were you? " she asks totally angry with me.
"I... um... "
"Stop stammering, I know you were attending the Council Meeting but why did it take so long? "
"It's because I had a lot of work to do, Pipes. It's not easy. Someone has to supervise the things, especially if we have so many guests in the castle, their safety, their comfort, we have to take care of all these amenities. And moreover, this selection is driving me crazy. "
"Anyways, you can ask for help. I will always be there. Obviously, you are not expected to do all this alone. See, not everyone can be a leader all the time. You have to trust people and confide in them. You know, you can't do everything. And I have full faith whatever you do will always be right. And hey, come on I don't want to see a sad face. " Piper says. I don't know what to say. I smile. Maybe she is one of the few people with whom life seems to become easy.
"By the way, were you waiting for me? " I ask.
"Hmm... I checked two floors of the palace, then I saw spotted someone. I thought it was you. But it turned out to be Princess Thalia. Then, we met Annabeth and we came back here to find Calypso. Shortly afterwards, Leo too joined us."
"Oh... But you didn't actually answer my question."
"Um... I said right. Yes, I mean no. I was, ... I mean I wasn't... "
I have never heard her stammer before.
"You know you are a really bad actress. "
"They were my words! "
"No, I said actress, not actor. "
"Sparky, you are gonna get it from me. "
"What do you think you are, Ms McLean! "
"Let me tell then" She comes towards me. Closer. More closer. I can feel my heartbeat.
Then, something unexpected happens.
"You are gone, Sparky. " She is pointing my own sword at me.
"You think you can kill me? " I say, raising my hands in surrender.
"Do you have any doubt? " She says, smirking.
"Yeah," I say.
"Says a weaponless man," Piper says.
"I like your courage. Well, I will leave you for the next time then. I am not in the mood of killing people. " She says smiling. "You are free, little man. "
"But I want revenge! "
"Nooo... " I chase her.
~~
After running after each other for a while we are now tired. We lay on her bed.
"I want to know more about Hunters of Artemis," Piper says.
"Hunters of Artemis. This is an all-girls group who travel the world and help people. It consists of a really brave and courageous girl, whom I truly respect. They are under the command of Thalia Grace, the princess of Ilea. Once in awhile she visits the palace with all her girls and the third floor of the palace is their abode for that duration. "
"So, the girls I met today dressed in black, they were huntresses! " she says.
My home is now full of all types of girls! That's awful!
"Yeah, I guess. Why do you ask? "
"Cause Thalia said I can join if I want."
"Piper! "I stand up.
"What! "she says.
" No. you can't. I mean then you have to leave this selection. You can't compete in it. "
"But why? "
"Because you are competing for for-" I can't tell her she is competing for marrying Jason Grace i.e. me. If she joins this anti boys group...
"Because that's the rule. " I say.
"But-"
"Let's not talk about it."
"Ok. Anyways, what was the Council Meeting about? "
"It was about the various tasks the selection girls have to do. You will be having your classes tomorrow, they will tell in detail. On every Friday, elimination will be held. Selection of top 15 girls will mark the beginning of the Elite."
"The elite girls will ... "I gulp, "meet the prince every day during breakfast, lunch and dinner." Through the corner of my eye, I see Piper tensing.
She will meet the person she hates the most. Of course, she will meet the real me if she reaches that far. I don't what will happen and what will I do?
"The further elimination would be decided by the prince himself. The one winning at the end would be crowned after the Prince's Coronation."I finish, catching my breath.
"Why crowned? "
"That's the rule"
"You and your rules, Sparky! "
Rules. I have always believed in abiding by them but now I am breaking them. My life changed in a few weeks.
Future seems vague, everything seems unpredictable. I don't how I will reason with Thalia. She is my sister, she will understand. But I don't know if Piper will. One day or the other she will get to know the truth. What will she do? What will I say?
These questions haunt my nights and days, but one thing I have to understand whatever stands ahead cannot be controlled but whatever is in the present I can control it, I will try my best.
I will wait for the day when I will get out of this pool of lies.