Annabeth has to stop herself from showing how truly common she is when she sees the clearing. Following the prince, she steps out onto the cliff and is entirely stunned by the sight before her. Bright flowers adorn the ground at her feet but she doesn't focus on them, despite their obvious beauty, there is too much to see, and she's much too busy being entranced by the sight directly in front of her. Rushing water cascaded over the rocks, flowing down and falling into the pond below the pair. Reluctantly pulling her eyes away from the mesmerizing sight of the waterfall itself, she stares I awe at the fauna surrounding it. Flowers in all sorts of colors, and arching trees line the area above the cliffs, until a couple of inches of soft sand which lines the edges of the pond until the solid rock. The water flows into the area, before making a sharp turn and heading at almost a right angle along its way.
"The pool was the beginning of somebody's construction project, a church I think, until a storm caused the river to flood and start taking a new route. The area was abandoned, until I found it when I was seven on my first trip to Electra." Percy explains, and she jumps a little, having forgotten about him in the face of all the beauty. "As far as I know, outside you and I, there's only one person who knows about this place." At her quizzical look he answers, "My squire at the time, was with me." He admits. She nods, still transfixed by the beauty around her, and out of the corner of her eye, she sees the prince fidgeting with the scabbard of his sword, so much so that, it starts to slip from the proper place on his belt. With reluctance, she turns back to him, sure that look of commoners' awe is still plastered to her face pathetically.
"So, what do you think?" She doesn't pay attention to the question at first because she's too transfixed by the flowers behind him that she hadn't noticed before. What she picks up on first is his tone. As a servant, you have to be very careful with tone. A sharp tone will mean it's necessary for her to keep your head down and work quickly. A warm tone can allow for a little more relaxation on her part. When a noble's tone is stressed, she could offer assistance, or get out of there, depending on the circumstance. Percy's tone wasn't any of these, unless Annabeth's mistaken, there's something dangerously nervous in his voice. Something that should not have been in a prince's tone. Something that had her stomach doing somersaults and her heart trying to mimic the gallop of a race horse. His eyes were suddenly much too green and much too innocent looking. The regal prince façade was slipping steadily and she wasn't sure what would happen if it fell away all together.
…
Her face lights up as they enter the grove. She took in the waterfall and pond below with her mesmerizing eyes. Lingering on some areas longer than others, she smiled slightly and abruptly he felt strangely insecure. As if he had bared his soul instead of just a place, he fidgeted, unable to meet her eyes. Gathering his meager courage, he caught her attention and forced his mouth to form the words despite the lack of oxygen reaching his brain.
"So, what do you think?" He asks, grimacing when he hears how non-prince-like that sounds.
"It's a different world." She answers after a moment and for once he completely understands what she means.
…
A grin breaks out across his face and she bites her lip to keep from grinning back at him. The innocent expression does strange things to her emotional barriers, especially when he continues.
"Wait till you see this!" He calls, tearing off along the cliff of the grove. For a moment she just watches him and the carefree way he moves, before taking off after him. As the foliage whips by, she runs her fingers through the green leaves. She could just see Percy in front of her, his long legs propelling him along the edge. Her foot slips slightly and she's immensely glad for her practical shoes.
After another moment, he stops and through the spray she can just see the edge of the waterfall. He grins and gestures for her to follow before sliding along the edge of the cave wall. Looking up she see the thin outcrop that sit just above the prince, sheltering the path from the gushing water. Nervously, she starts to protest, slipping back into the responsible maid much too quickly, but her voice is drowned out by the thunder of the fall. With a deep breath, she follows him.
…
The ledge is slippery and for a moment he considers warning Annabeth to be careful. He gets as far as opening his mouth before he remembers the crashing water just in front of the pair. Taking a peek at her face, he sees she is clearly nervous and anxiously eyeing the fall less than an arm's length away from her face. Without thinking too much, because the prince was well aware if he had thought about it, he wouldn't have followed through, he takes her hand in his to offer support. She turns to him, surprised at first, before nodding and pasting on a neutral expression.
As it always does, Percy's heart races as he slides along, the adrenalin at taking such ar risk by being in such a precarious environment pounding through his veins. He could just imagine Amphrite's reaction if she knew the heir was taking such a chance. He glances at the girl beside him and decides sometimes a risk is just what you need.
…
Percy's hand tightened a little as she once again eyed the water in front of her. One slip and she's dead, one slip and Annabeth Chase will no longer exist, and the maid will be forgotten. To her relief, the wall opened up a little, going deeper into the rock, and farther away from the water, even though the overhang above stayed where it was. Taking in the small cavern, immediately behind the center of the waterfall; her breath caught. The walls were dotted with little flecks of stone that caught the little light and reflected it back at her. Some light filtered through the waterfall behind her, barely bathing the room in the luminescent glow.
Percy gently pulls her over to the back corner where a blanket, which Percy must have laid out a few days ago, rests. He sat with his back to the wall, wedged into the corner, and she sat beside him, glad once again, that she had not worn a dress that day, as she pulled her knees up into her chest. Most of her hair had come loose from her hasty bun, but she couldn't find any desire to care.
"My prince?" She murmurs after a few minutes of silence and he whips towards her, his eyes ablaze.
"Please, do not call me that, not here." His tone sounds rough, almost desperate, and she nods, unable to do anything else, not when he's looking at her like that.
"Of course… Percy." It took a ridiculous amount of effort to get the little word out, but it seems to appease him as he leans back and closes his eyes.
"This is the one of the few places where I can be anything outside of the Prince of Seachester. No one can order me around or dictate everything I do when I'm here. I need that." He confesses, and as surprised as she is by his admission, she's glad he said it, as she takes his hand in hers, and slides a little closer to him. She doesn't know what to say to that, so she just keeps quiet for a while. As he gently runs his thumb over her knuckles, she closes her eyes and prepares herself for what she's about to say.
"My father had always been… distracted… and it didn't change when I was born. His second wife wasn't pleased with me, just because she knew I reminded my father of my mother... she told him his best option was to marry me to another: wealthier, merchant, despite the fact that I was barely thirteen then." Percy didn't stop his movements but she could tell he was listening intently and it felt excellent to admit all of this. "When I protested, he told me I could either go along peacefully with the plan, or he would disown me, so… I told him to disown me." His thumb paused now and she thought for a moment she had finally scared him off.
"That was very brave of you." He told her and just "hmm"ed in response, not really believing it. Rolling her shoulders, the lack of sleep from the previous few nights finally catches up with her and her eyelids droop a little as she leans back against the wall behind her. A light draft passes through the room and when she breathes in Percy's scent she jerks up, remembering her place.
"I'm sorry, that was disrespe-" She starts but he shakes his hand hushes her, gently pulling her back.
"I feel bad for stealing you away on your day off, you deserve some rest." He tells her, and surprises her even more when he shifts her so her head lies on his shoulder. "Just go to sleep for a while." And to her surprise, she does just that.
A/N: I wrote the majority of this when I was on vacation... without wifi so I'm sorry for the lateness of my update, I've had a crazy couple weeks, my updates should speed up shortly.