Annabeth was exhausted and dirty. Every muscle in her body ached. Her wrists started bleeding a couple of days ago, no matter how still she tried to hold them. The days and nights were beginning to blend she wasn't sure how long they had been on the road. But everyday was the same. After a hard days ride, she would get a quick meal and a restless night of sleep on the cold hard ground. Even Artemis was beginning to look worn from the rough traveling. Today was no exception. They drove the horses at a ruthless rate. Annabeth saw how the sun was hanging low and longed for the ride to be over, but they continued on. Just when Annabeth thought they were going to ride through the night, a large looming structure came into view. In the fading light it looked black and foreboding. As they approached it, she noticed camps on either side of the road. Men had noticed the oncoming company and had lined the road, laughing and shouting lewd comments that made Annabeth cringe. They rode through a gate with an iron lattice hanging above them. The walls, Annabeth noted, were at least two horse lengths thick. Annabeth felt more and more hopeless. They rode into a courtyard, where they finally dismounted.
"Excellent." A voice said excitedly. Annabeth felt a chill run up her spine as she realized that she recognized the voice. She turned to see Luke descending the stairs from the fortress. Her heart dropped. Her captors saluted. Luke saluted back. "Report." He ordered, eyeing Annabeth.
"All went according to plan. This one was a bit of trouble." Thorne motioned toward Annabeth. "Took out ten of my men."
Luke actually laughed at that. "I'd be disappointed if she didn't. And her escort?"
"Dead by the side of the road."
Luke narrowed his eyes at that. "You're certain? You checked him?"
"Well . . ." Thorne looked nervous.
"Percy Jackson has been thought dead before."
"It wasn't him. There was no black stallion." Thorne rushed to explain.
Luke narrowed his eyes again. "It matters not." He now looked at Annabeth as though she were a prize. "He'll come here, if his previous record shows us anything." Annabeth fought to control her panic. If they knew Percy was dead, would she hold any value to keep alive? She didn't want to find out. Luke moved onto Artemis. "My lord is eager to meet you, my lady. But first, you must be weary from your travels. I am sure you would appreciate a bath," he eyed Annabeth's bleeding wrists, "both of you." He turned to one of the guards. "Fetch a medic." he ordered. "Release their bonds. They are our guests." His eyes glinted maliciously. Annabeth's arms shook from exhaustion after her wrists were finally free of the rough rope. "If you will follow me." He motioned for the girls to follow them.
They began their ascent up the stairs. Annabeth's leg screamed in protest, then she stumbled on the steps. Luke caught her, which angered her. She pushed herself away from him giving him a look of distain. Luckily for Annabeth, Artemis lent her her support. Luke continued to lead them into the fortress and then into a bath house. Artemis began tending to Annabeth.
"I should be tending to you, my lady." Annabeth said weakly as Artemis removed her once fine dress that had been reduced to rags.
"You're untended wounds have been drawing your strength. See, they are infected." Artemis pointed to her thigh. An angry red patch starting from her hip and ending just before her knee looked swollen. "Let's get you washed." She guided Annabeth into the bath. The water stung her wounds. Scraps and scratches littered her body. Artemis washed her, taking care to be gentle around her wounds. "Exactly how did you get these wounds?" Artemis asked.
"The horse we were riding to evade capture was shot from under us. My wounds are from being thrown from the horse. All except these." She motioned to her bleeding wrists which she was desperate to keep out of the water.
"Then they are battle wounds. Did you really take out ten of their men?" Artemis washed her arms.
"Technically, I only took out five. The rest must have been hit by the carriage." Artemis looked at her with some amazement. Annabeth felt uncomfortable under her gaze. "I don't think Percy Jackson will come for me." Annabeth whispered.
"Why not?" Artemis whispered as she moved to her back.
"He was the escort by the side of the road." Artemis stilled for a moment. "If Luke finds out, there will be no reason to keep me alive."
"I will not let anything happen to you." Artemis whispered then spoke louder, "Now let's get that dirt out of your hair."
Once they were washed. They found fresh clothing for them in the next room. Artemis helped Annabeth dress. Annabeth hated the fact that she felt so weak. Once they were dressed, Luke guided them up several flights of stairs. Each step made her right leg throb in pain. Artemis helped, but her limp was a dead give away to Luke.
"Just a little bit further." He encouraged.
Annabeth merely scowled and kept climbing. It was something her mother had drilled into her. Never show weakness. So Annabeth refused to show that she was hurt, refused to cry from the pain, and refused to give Luke the satisfaction of giving her any help. It must have been five floors up before they finally stopped at a heavy door. It was black inside, but Annabeth immediately felt the cold. Her body involuntarily shivered.
"Princess Annabeth." Luke motioned her inside the room.
"I would like to stay with her." Artemis declared. "She needs tending to."
Annabeth was grateful to Artemis, but also disliked the fact that she needed tending to. "I'm sorry my lady, but I have been given strict orders. You will be in a separate room. Perhaps my lord will let you visit from time to time."
Annabeth gave Artemis one last encouraging look before entering the cold dark room. She was plunged into complete darkness when the door was shut. She shivered as she tried to feel her way around the room. She found a hard bench, she guessed, and sat down. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on breathing.
She wasn't sure how much time had past, but it was getting increasingly harder to relax in the cold. She started when she heard keys in the door and it opened to reveal Luke Castellan. He held a lit torch that he brought in. He lit a fireplace that Annabeth hadn't noticed. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I am feeling fine." She sat up properly, despite her body's protest.
"You don't look fine." He noted. "I brought some medical supplies. Let me at least tend to your wrists." He pulled out some clean linens from a bag she hadn't noticed him holding. He reached out for her hand. She immediately retracted.
"Don't touch me." She sneered at him.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He soothed.
"You expect me to believe that? You've tried to kill me twice. Once when I stopped you from killing my mother and the other at Polyphemus'.
Luke sighed, "Things have not been going to plan. You weren't supposed to be there."
"You misjudge how far I am willing to go to protect Athens."
"You're right. I have misjudged you. I've misjudged a lot of people. Percy Jackson for example. What exactly happened with him and that stallion?"
Annabeth gaped at him for a moment before snapping her mouth shut and looking determinedly away.
"I had hoped that the stallion would be mine to lead our armies into victory."
Annabeth was trying to figure out how exactly a stallion could lead armies to victory. Her curiosity must have shown as Luke continued. "Haven't you heard the tales of Abercio? my mother used to tell me about his adventures." This peaked Annabeth's curiosity. "As a young boy he tamed a wild stallion. Not just any stallion, but the lead to the wild horses. How? No one knows. What we do know is when he became a man, he lead the people into an uprising against a cruel master of the land. Every army he led into battle upon the lead stallion never lost a battle. I have no doubt that it was because of the stallion."
"It could just as easily be because of the boy. He could have been a brilliant strategist." Annabeth reasoned.
"True, or it could have been both, working together in perfect concert. What we do know is that armies trembled at the mere sight of the boy atop the stallion."
"Sounds like a bunch of superstition." Annabeth sniffed.
Luke didn't get a chance to answer as someone else showed up at the door. "Ah, doctor, you finally made it. This is Princess Annabeth." He motioned toward her.
Annabeth looked at the doctor warily. His hair was gray and his face was wrinkled. He leaned against the door, trying to catch his breath.
"I tried to tend to her wounds, but she is distrustful of me. Perhaps you will have better luck." Luke offered.
The doctor approached her slowly. "No one is going to hurt you. May I please see your wrists?" he asked hopefully.
Annabeth looked between the doctor and Luke. "I want him to leave." she motioned to Luke.
The doctor looked at Luke expectantly. Luke gave Annabeth a pleading look, but at her glare gave up and left.
The doctor turned back toward Annabeth and held out his hand expectantly. She hesitantly extended her hand. His hands were warm compared to hers as he examined her wrists. He then reached down into the bag Luke had brought and pulled out a jar. He rubbed the ointment on her wrists, which stung painfully. But she refused to show it. He then wrapped them in clean linen.
He went to put the jar away, when Annabeth stopped him. "Could I use this?" She asked.
"I don't know, your highness. It depends on what you want to use it on."
Annabeth didn't want to answer, but the doctor waited patiently. So Annabeth then slowly lifted her dress just past her right knee, revealing part of her wound on her leg. The doctor leaned in closer in the poor lighting. His eyes widened when he realized the severity of the wound on her leg. "That's infected." He stated.
"I know." Annabeth deadpanned.
The doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. "We need to stop the infection. This would help, but I would prefer you use this." he pulled another jar out. "It will be very painful. Prepare yourself." He opened it and made to put it on her.
"No. I'll put it on." she took the jar.
"Are you certain?" His tone made Annabeth hesitate.
"Turn around." She ordered.
The doctor did as was instructed. Annabeth lifted her dress higher, exposing her entire leg and hip and opened the jar. She dipped a finger in and felt liquid. She gingerly touched her thigh with the liquid on her finger she hissed in pain. It felt like fire.
"My Lady?" The doctor called worriedly.
"Stay where you are." She said with clenched teeth. She then half way lay down, braced herself, and poured the contents over the length of her wound. She wanted to scream, it hurt so much. Instead she gasped, trying to focus on breathing, which was becoming difficult. Her stomach clenched painfully and she felt nauseous.
"My Lady?" She could vaguely hear the doctor call.
She felt the blood drain from her face and a rushing sound filled her ears.
"My Lady!" He sounded muffled.
She dizzily lay down as her vision darkened. Then everything went black.
Annabeth woke to the sun shining brightly through the square hole in the wall directily into her eyes. She blinked, groaned, and shielded her eyes.
"My Lady." she heard the doctor call.
"I'm fine." she groaned.
"We were worried."
"I don't know why, you're only going to kill me later."
"I was threatened with my life if you did not recover. I am fairly certain they wish you alive."
Annabeth moved out of the light and sat up. It was then that she realized her leg had been bandaged. "You touched me!" She panicked at the thought of strange hands on her while unconscious.
"Forgive me, my lady, I had to finish dressing the wound while you were unconscious, but I kept the upmost respect for your virtue." The doctor knelt.
Just then Luke appeared. He looked relieved to see Annabeth sitting up. She took the blanket that had been draped over her and pulled it up to her chin as she glared at Luke. "It's good to see you back to your old self." He grinned. "I meant what I said. No harm will come to you."
"So you'll tend to my wounds like you did last time up until my death would serve your purpose?" She glared at him, remembering Polyphemus' cave.
"I was hoping that we wouldn't need to go there." He looked at her meaningfully.
Her stomach dropped at the unspoken implication.
"I brought you something to eat. Get your strength back."
"You want to be King of Athens?" she concluded as she ate.
"I will be king anyway. Thought you would want to be on the winning side." He smiled charmingly.
"Is that why you had me kidnapped?"
"Partly." He said noncommittally.
"You really are planning on Percy coming here."
"I told you, I need the stallion."
"To make the armies tremble." she finished. "And if the stallion refuses?"
"Then I will kill it and Percy Jackson." he said it as though it were the most obvious conclusion.
Annabeth's heart ached painfully at the thought of Percy being dead. She carefully chewed her food. She had to think of a way out of here. Her life depended on it.
