Chapter One

Percy

It's going to be a long night. I am guarding the princess's chambers tonight. We have been taking extra precautions because the French are threatening to attack. I have been guarding all month. I am the Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's armies. That means the king can trust me to keep his daughter safe.

The princess's name is Annabeth. She has blonde ringlet hair which is normal here, in England. But she has the most astonishing eyes I have ever seen. They are a dark stormy gray color. No one that I've seen has this color of eyes. All I know is that the king's first wife had gray eyes just like Annabeth's. I've never really seen the princess, but I've seen her portrait.

King Fredrick was married to Princess Athena of Greece at first, but Athena died while giving birth to Annabeth. The king has since remarried to Duchess Helen of York. The new queen has since given birth to a set of twin boys. Matthew and Robert are their names. They cause so much trouble throughout the castle.

Here I am standing guard for the princess. I've been poor my whole life. My real father left my mother before I was even born. My mother started to wash laundry to make enough money to support us both. Then she married a man by the name of Gabe Uglino. He was an alcoholic, but he was rich. He wasn't the nicest either. He would hit my mother when she didn't do something he asked fast enough. He was finally drafted to war when I was about twelve years old. We never saw him again.

After he died I decided that I could find a job at the castle. My mother, Sally Jackson, disagreed. I told her I wasn't going to do anything dangerous. She finally let me go work. I've been working at the castle ever since. I started off as a stable boy. Then when I was old enough to be a solider I signed up. I worked my way up through the ranks. Now I am in charge of it all. I get the highest pay, which still goes to my mother, and I get to stay at the castle. I get to eat with the king sometimes and this is considered an honor. I am very proud of myself.

I look out the window. The moon is almost in the middle of the sky. I sigh. It is going to be a long night. I lean against the door. I will be gone by the time the maid gets here. A new guard will replace me. Then I'll finally get some sleep. Aaahh, sleep I could really use some. I keep my eyes open anyways. I need to stay awake.

0o0o0o0o

Around six in the morning the guard and the maid come.

"Hello, Percy," says Jason, the new guard.

All I can manage is a grunt. Jason is my Second-in-Command. He is also my cousin. Our fathers were brothers. I trust him with anything. I start to walk down the hall to my room. I turn left and walk down a flight of stairs. I keep walking until I'm at my room.

I go in. I strip off my leather armor and my shirt. I walk to my bed in nothing but my trousers. I get in bed. I flop onto my stomach and pull the covers up to my waist. Once my head hits the pillows I'm out cold.

0o0o0o0o

There is a knock at my door. But it doesn't wake me up. The person bangs on the door and barges in after that.

"PERCY! WAKE UP! The king wants to talk to you," someone says. This statement gets me up.

"Leo, I am not presentable. Can you give me five minutes?" I ask.

"Yeah, yeah sure I can give a few minutes. I'll go tell the king." He walks away muttering in Spanish.

I shake my head. I close my door. I quickly get dressed in my armor. Then I walk up to my mirror. I try to comb my hair. It doesn't help any so I just leave it.

I run through the halls towards the throne room. Leo Valdez never told me where to meet him. The throne room seems like the place to start. I slow my pace as I walk through the doors. I was right. King Fredrick sits at his throne. On his right sits the queen and on the left sits Annabeth.

She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Her portrait doesn't look a thing like her. Her hair is a much brighter gold color and her eyes are even more storm like. She has a cute little button nose, long black eyelashes, and plump pink lips. She also has an athletic figure.

I realize I'm staring so I look away. I kneel in front of the king, head bowed.

"Please rise, Perseus Jackson." I stand and look at the king. He looks older than I remember. Then again I haven't seen in a few weeks. "You have been called here today because France threats are becoming more and more. We need to be prepared. I think we should draft new men. We will need all the help we can get." I nod my head. "We need to get the word out. Can you get some of your men to put fliers in the town squares?"

"Of course, Sire. You're Majesty, if I may ask, who is going to watch the princess if I am training soldiers?" I nod towards Annabeth.

"We will have Jason Grace train soldiers and you will become Annabeth's bodyguard." I nod. I am confused, but it is not my place to argue with the king. "You are dismissed."

I turn to leave. I don't know where to start. Annabeth has never had a bodyguard. Annabeth is no longer heir to the throne, but if she marries before her younger brothers she will have the throne when the king dies. This seems likely. Her brothers are only eight years olds.

I wait outside the doors for the princess. When she finally comes out she doesn't give me a second look. I wait a few paces until I follow her. I think she is going to her room. Until she turns left instead of right. She walks to the library. She opens the door and holds it open for me. Now I'm confused. She waits impatiently for me to go in, tapping her foot.

I go in. There are so many books in here. I've never been here before. I give the princess a questioning look. She smiles for once.

"It's my favorite place to be," she says. "So Perseus, what types of books do you like?"

I think for a moment. "I haven't really read any books. The words just swim around on the pages."

"Dyslexia." I give her another questioning look. "It's what all the modern doctors are calling it," she explains.

She goes off to find a book. I just sit down at a table. The princess is kinder than what people say. I'm almost asleep when Princess Annabeth comes back. She smiles at me.

"You know you're supposed to be guarding me, right?"

I give a nod and say, "Late night." This was true. I was woken up at twelve in the afternoon, way too early. "As always I was guarding your door last night. I usually sleep during the day. I was rudely awoken by one of my soldiers at noon."

"So you're the one that talks to yourself." I smile at this. "I don't get why I need a personal guard. I've never had one before."

"I don't understand either, Princess."

"Call me Annabeth."

"Alright, Prin-Annabeth." She smiles at this and sits down to read her book. I yawn.

"Go to sleep Perseus. You'll hear if anything goes wrong." At this I start to drift into sleep. I hope Annabeth doesn't run away while I'm sleeping. I'm too far gone to do anything about this. At this last thought I am gone.

0o0o0o0o

BANG!

I jerk awake. I look around the room. I see the king at the doorway. I decide to keep quiet.

"Annabeth, I think I have found a suitor for you," His Majesty exclaims.

"But father I'm only seventeen years old," Annabeth says shocked. She stands up knocking the chair she was sitting on backwards.

I look in between the father and daughter. King Fredrick looks pleased with himself and Annabeth looks furious. The father-daughter did not look pleased with each other