So I decided to write a new story after I stopped my old one My Exquisite Savior. I hope you all love it.
I would call this the Prologue, but it's not reallly like that so you can call it the writers little corner of information.
READ AND REVIEW remember review are like food for writers :)
Mermen have long been at war with the kingdom of Olympus, since the reign of the first king Zeus. When the seaside Kingdom was first built the mermen directed attacks on cargo and fishing ships. Desperate the king tried to talk with the mermen but they would not see reason. Then the king declared war with our water dwelling neighbors. For ten long years our side struggled to fight. Finally the mermen retreated into the depths, never to be seen again. Long since the mermen have become legends and myth, tales told to keep young children from straying too far from shore. Any claims that are given in this age cannot be taken seriously as they mostly come from drunken sailers.
I closed the book that contained much of the beginings of our kingdoms history. It has been many years since anyone even believed in mermen & mermaids. Even though no one has spotted a mermen for hundreds of years my father still tried to drill into my and my brothers heads that the mer people would kill us, given the chance. I've never taken his threats seriously. Especially now when in two months as he reaches the age of eighteen, my brother Malcolm will take over the throne of Olympus from my father.
"Annabeth hold still. How do you expect me to lace this dress up if you keep squirming around in it?" My hand maid , Lisa orders me. I grip the footboard of my bed as she wrestles with the glossy blue fabric of my embellished dress.
"Sorry," I mumble as she begins to thread the laces through the holes. I hold my breath as she tugs hard on them to hold my corsett in place.
"There, all finished." Lisa stands back to admire her work. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My dress is tightly fitted around the bust and flows out into an emire waist, coming to an end just centimeters before the material touches the floor. "Now don't you dare ruin this dress or your hair. You need to look presentable for the dinner tonight."
"Lisa how on earth could I ruin this dress?" I ask innocently.
"Sweet girl I have been with you since you were born, trust me even as a baby you would find a way to ruin your clothes." she gives me a disapproving look, but her eyes twinkle kindly at me. We both know that I'll find a way to destroy the dress, and no one will deny that. I give her a grin and dash out of the room to find Malcolm. My shoes make hollow sounding noised echoing off of the stone walls, as I walk through the corridors out to the garden.
"Annie there you are," my brother Malcolm grins, and walks down the garden path to me. Just from looking at Malcolm you wouldn't be able to tell that he's the next in line for the throne. Between the fact that he's always got dirt on him and that he never bothers to run a comb through his messy brown hair Malcolm could pass for a commoner. Because Malcolm has always had an interest in botany and nature, most of his free time is spent in the greenhouses or the garden, and he is almost always has dirt on his hands.
"Yes here I am, are you ready to go?" I ask my eyes lighting up. He nods and I smile.
"Just let me wash my hands and then we'll leave," I looked down and see that his hands are caked with dried soil.
"Neither of you will be going anywhere any time soon, I have let you both run rampid far too long for anyone's good." My fathers voice booms across the courtyard. I turn around to see him coming towards us. Unconsciously I stand up straighter.
"I would hardly call it running rampid," Malcolm jokes trying to lighten the mood my father has cast over us all.
"It does not matter what anyone would call it. It is not something a future king should be doing. Malcolm you should be with me in the senate meetings. Not engaging in childs play with your little sister." I feel anger rise up in me, I am not a child anymore. I open my mouth to tell my father what I think when Malcolm speaks up from beside me.
"Yes father," he hangs his head low in repentance. My father sighs angrily and begins to walk back up to the castle with his head held high and back straight. Malcolm is only seventeen, but in Olympus the new king must take the throne at the age of of eighteen. With his birthday coming up in two months our father has been harder on him than ever before. Father is always telling Malcolm that when he took the throne, the kingdom was at war, and that Malcolm is lucky that he will be there to guide his decisions. Basically our father will run the kingdom from behind the scenes until he dies. Even though Malcolm shall hold the title, he will merely be a puppet with our father pulling the strings.
"Sorry," Malcolm mouths to me me and follows our father back into the palace.
"He truly is only looking out for your best interest," a voice sounds from behind me. I turn around to see Lisa standing behind me holding a dark cloak in her hands. She has a sad smile on her face.
"By what, caging me?" I ask. "I feel like he blames me personally for her death."
"Sweetheart it wasn't your fault your mother died. He knows that, but you look so much like her, I fear he still misses her everytime he sees you." I have been given this speech my whole life, whether from Lisa or one of my fathers advisors or a close friend of my mother's.
"I know," I whisper hoping to avoid going further into the conversation. Sensing this, Lisa changes the topic.
"Well if you want, I can accompany you to the market." She offers.
"How did you know about the market?" I ask. Malcolm and I never told anyone where we went on the rare days that we were allowed out. Lisa laughs.
"Good lord girl, stealth isn't really your's or your brother's style," she chuckles. Lisa thrusts the long cloak into my hands. Taking it, I wrap the fabric around myself and fasten the ties around my neck. I pull the silken hood over my golden curls and Lisa and I begin to walk towards the south end of garden that faces the heart of the city's market. As we pass I look over to the east out into the ocean. Not too far out large cargo ships begin their journey to the harbor. Their white sails stood out from the serine clear blue color of the ocean. Small waves lap up against the rocks that lead up to the edge of the garden.
"Come on child we don't have all day to dilly dally, I only agreed to go to the market with you because I figured we would be quick. Now come on, hurry along." I quicken my pace to catch up to Lisa. As we walk toward the market the air is filled with the sound of rolling carts and horse hooves. Small children giggle and chase each other through the crowded market streets.
Lisa leads me over to a cart that has a large array of spices hanging from various racks all along the cart. All of the different smells combined make my nose tickle, and I fight the urge to sneeze. I pull my hood tighter around my face making sure that no one will know who I am. It's not that I don't love the townspeople. I do, but making a scene in the middle of the market is not one of my favorite things to do. Generally when Malcolm and I come to shop we wear clothes that any normal citizen would wear, but today with my extravagant dress on, I have to be more careful to hide my face from view.
As Lisa peruses the different spices I begin to wander to the different stalls. Not staying long at any of them. One woman tries to coax customers over by telling of the riches that can await them. The last time I fell for that was when I was eight. I ended spending two pence to find out that something I had, would be stolen by a mermaid. Yeah right, cause we just have a few extra mythical creatures lounging in our indoor swimming pool.
I keep heading past the stands selling perfumes, wines, thread, and jewelry baubles. I don't really come to the market to buy anything, the only reason that I come here is to just see what life is like outside of the castle, and to visit my friend Reyna. Reyna is the daughter of a wealthy businessmen who controls all of the fisheries off of the coast of Olympus.
I spot her standing over at one of the stalls inspecting a bright purple bolt of fabric that makes her black locks look even more striking.
"Hey there," I say coming up from behind her. Reyna spins around, and she breaks into a smile.
"Annabeth, I was afraid that you weren't going to make it. I didn't see Malcolm anywhere around so I figured that you were both obtained by more important matters."
"No it's just me today, Malcolm couldn't come, the King has been very hard on him lately, he thinks that Malcolm and I have too much freedom."
"Yes he is very strict," immediately Reyna covers her mouth with a delicate hand, a gasp escaping her lips,, afraid that what she's said would anger me. I laugh loudly. Slowly she takes her hands away from her face and begins to join me in my laughter.
"I'm so sorry," she gasps. I shake my head at her.
"You shouldn't have to be afraid to speak your mind around me." I remind her, "really what could I do?"
"You could have me exiled for even less than speaking my mind."
"No I probably couldn't, I would wager that your father has more say in what goes on in the kingdom than I do." it wasn't right, but that's how it was, even though I may be a princess my rights were very limited.
"Come on let's go down to the water." Reyna urges me tugging on the sleeve of my dress. The bolt of purple cloth lays on the vendors stall forgotten. I glance over my shoulder to see where Lisa is. I can't see her through the throng of people. I shrug my shoulders and let Reyna lead me out of the crowd and towards the sandy beach. The sounds of the waves is calming and slowly the sounds of the market begin to fade into the background. As the uneven rock begins to transition into warm sand Reyna and I begin to remove our shoes. I carefull unlace the ties of my boots and slide them off of my feet. My toes sink into the soft sand and I sigh at the familiar feel of the small grains of sand between my toes.
"I'll race you out to the waves," Reyna calls out to me, starting to sprint towards the water's edge.
"No fair," I dart after her, the sand trying to hold me back. In the end Reyna makes it to the water first. The water hits my dress and soaking the sleek fabric through and through. I know that I've ruined the dress, but right now I could care less, the feeling of the cool water on my skin makes up for all of the scolding I will receive.
"I beat you," Reya laughs. I just smile at her and wade deeper into the water. By now I am submerged up to my shoulders.
"Let's play marco polo," I suggest. It may be a childs game, but that doesn't change the fact that it is still a fun game. I close my eyes and call out.
"Marco," a polo sounds from behind me and I spin around, trying to follow the sound of Reyna's voice. I call out again.
"POLO," two voices call out at once. I hear Reyna gasp loudly, my eyes fly open quickly. I see a boy sixteen or seventeen years old with black glossy hair, floating in the water right near me. My mouth opens in shock. I look down into the water. From the waist down it looks as if he has a sea green, long slim tail. Realization dawns upon me. I begin to let out an ear shattering scream. Quicker than any normal person, the boy is by my side and his hand is wrapped around my mouth, effectively cutting off my scream. I try to thrash, but he holds my arms tightly against my sides.
"Let her go," Reyna yells at the strange boy, "let her go or I'll scream, someone will hear me and then they'll kill you," she threatens.
"I promise that I will let her go when she promises that she won't scream." Yeah right like that will happen, my only chance of getting either Reyna or I out of this alive is to scream.
"Do you promise that when I let you go you won't scream?" He asks. I nod my head yes, after a moment of hesitation he takes his hand off of my mouth. I fill my lungs with air and then let everything out. The result is an unearthly broken sound. My only hope is that we are not too far away from the market for anyone to hear us. A few seconds later a large hand covers my mouth, again. Reyna's eyes grow wide and she too begins to scream at the top of her lungs. Suddenly another figure rises out of the water. He has very curly brown hair and brown eyes with a blue tale. His hand swiftly covers Reyna's mouth.
"Darn it Percy," the second merman calls out, "I told you to stay away from all of the humans, now look at the mess you've gotten us in."
"I'm sorry," the merma- monster, mumbles from behind me.
"Yeah well you should be more than sorry, hundreds of years we have been able to remain relatively hidden, and now look what you've done, shown two commoner's that we still exist, you've most likely brought another hundred years of war upon us."
"If they truly are just commoners then why should we be scared what they say no one will believe them," the one behind me says. Commoner my butt, I won't stand to hear my honor being questioned. Without thinking I sink my teeth into the soft flesh for the mer persons hand. He cries out and releases me.
"No one will believe me will they? Well I'll have you know that I'm sure the King will listen to his daughter."
"Annabeth no," Reyna warns, but it is too late the damage has been done. Both of the boys eyes widen with shock. The one I assume is named Percy grips me by the shoulders, and spins me around.
"What did you say?" his voice is deadly calm. I just stare at him wide eyed. He holds my gaze.
"Great now you've done it, the one human you've ever met you have to scare her and she has to be the king's daughter. Percy when your dad hears about this he will make sure that you never leave the ocean floor." Percy finally turns his head breaking our eye contact. Then he looks back at me.
"You're not screaming, I'm not covering your mouth, why aren't you scared." Percy looks into my eyes. It is one of the rare times in my life that I am speechless. Out of the corner of my eye I see Reyna throw the other man's hand off of her face.
"Well don't forget about me here," she says icily. I crack a smile, one thing Reyna and I have in common is that we don't like to be left out of things. I think about what would have happened if Malcolm would've come to the market with me. Despite the still eminent danger I laugh. Reyna shoots me a look but all I say is,
"Can you imagine the look on Malcolm's face if he were here?" Soon we both are laughing like fools, Percy and his still unnamed companion are looking at us like we're crazy.
So READ AND REVIEW, tell me how you guys felt about this one, just so you know this is a MULTICHAPTER FIC. Who do you think Percy's friend is? I don't think its very hard to guess, I meant to tell what his name was but the characters never got around to saying it, but don't worry next chapter you will all find out.
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