The entire room went silent.

Percy was trembling, but the look in his eyes told me everything. He wasn't lying. If I had Leo walk the plank, he would slit his own throat. Of this, I had no doubt.

"I'll do it," He said. "Last time I checked, dead princes weren't worth much."

This was so out of character for him. Every report, every rumour I had heard about him, they all said the same thing. That he was a stuck-up, spoiled brat who slept with a different woman every night. Yet here he was, threatening to kill himself for a servant.

"Put down the knife, Percy," I said softly. "I won't have Leo walk the plank."

"Swear it on the River Styx," He demanded.

My body stiffened. That was an oath I could not break. I'd have to say my next words carefully.

"I swear on the River Styx that I will not personally have Leo walk the plank, or order anyone to have him walk the plank, for the act of trying to escape today," I said slowly.

There was a long pause, but eventually, Percy lowered the knife from his neck.

"Take Leo back to his cell, and tie his arm to the wall like the others. Make sure to check his pockets for anymore metal," I told Calypso, who had a strange look on her face, like she was half-relieved and half-angry.

She nodded and hauled him up, and then my three men lead my three captives out of my study.

It took my brain a couple minutes to process what just happened. It had been so strange. I had never even heard of a noble putting his life on the line for a peasant, yet I had just witnessed it happen.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered about Percy of House Jackson. How much of his personality was I wrong about?

I hated not knowing.