Over the next few months, Annabeth wasn't allowed to be alone at all times, except to bathe. Piper was moved from the servant quarters into her room (which neither of them really minded; it made daily life like a fun sleepover). Malcolm escorted her all over the castle.
One day in early November, Piper and Annabeth were sitting outside (watched over by a guard). It was the same guard who had failed to save Annabeth. Three months had passed since Annabeth's escape into the world. She hadn't been able to write back and forth with Perce because, one, Annabeth would never have the privacy to read the letters, and two, according to Percy, his mom was on to their romance and suspected that Percy had been the one to free Annabeth.
Annabeth sighed, and leaned on her knees.
"What's wrong, prisoner?" Piper joked.
"You know what's wrong," Annabeth sighed.
"Awww, don't worry, you're parents have to let you out someday! I'm pretty sure that when you get married, you're going to move in with your husband until it's time to ascend to the throne," Piper told her for the billionth time.
That thought used to make Annabeth feel better whenever she felt like she was under house arrest. Ever since she met Percy, though, it made her feel worse. She finally found a suitor whom she liked, and he wasn't allowed to court her.
"You're lucky, Piper. You'll get to marry for love," Annabeth said. Piper patted her friend's back.
"You never know; you might end up loving whomever you're arranged to," Piper comforted her.
"That reminds me, Mom's inviting some duke's son here tonight," Annabeth said.
"A suitor?" Annabeth groaned. "Well, that sucks for you." Annabeth grinned shortly.
"Whatever."
"I was only kidding, Annabeth!" Piper said. "Where's he from?"
"Luke Castellan of Stele," Annabeth answered, imitating her mom's fondness for him. She groaned.
"So, if he becomes a Duke..?" Piper asked grinning.
Annabeth sat up. "Yeah, he'll become Duke Luke." The two giggled.
The guard walked up to them. "Princess, it's time to get ready."
Annabeth stood up. "Thank you Frank."
Frank led Annabeth to her room. Earlier, Frank had told her that he had a wife in town; Hazel. Hazel owned a jewelry shop, and, according to Frank, was the best at carving jewels in the world. Although, his opinion was maybe a bit biased, he admitted.
Annabeth went into her room where several servants waited for her. A couple of hours later, she had been made up like a doll for her new suitor.
Piper came out, not as made-up as Annabeth, but also dressed to impress. "Aww, you look so pretty!" she told Annabeth.
"I didn't even dress this fancy when we went to Apaisios!" Annabeth complained. "And we were meeting royalty!"
"Yes, Princess, but you were not looking for a husband on that trip," Piper pointed out.
Annabeth wished to voice her thoughts, but people were showing up, and she had to be a graceful princess.
She stood by the great doors and greeted her guests. Piper stood next to her, watching Annabeth's graceful smiles and curtsies as she greeted people. Piper could tell she wasn't in the room, not mentally anyway. Her body was operating very simply: see person, smile and curtsy.
Her mind was probably off in Apaisios with Percy, a place Annabeth confessed that it wandered often.
Piper bumped into Annabeth on their way into the ballroom. "Please, your highness, return to Mataris." Annabeth's eyes retained their glassy look. Piper pinched Annabeth.
Annabeth shook her head as her mind returned to her body. "Thanks," she whispered.
Annabeth sat next to her parents, and only danced when someone would ask her. Well, he did. Judging by the way her mom beamed at him, Annabeth assumed he was the one trying to court her today.
"Apparently, your highness, our parents plan on setting us up," he said.
Yep, definitely him. "You don't seem so happy about that," Annabeth said.
"Well, I'd always planned I'd marry for love," he answered.
"I wish I had that luxury," Annabeth replied.
Luke laughed. "Well, you never know; you could end up falling in love with the one you marry."
Annabeth sighed. "I've been told that before."
"It could come true," Luke told her.
"Well, if there's a chance that we're going to end up…married…you might as well tell me what you like to do for fun, or your interests. And I'll tell you," she said.
"Okay then…" Luke thought for a moment.
"You first."
"I know." Luke thought some more. "I like hunting," he told her.
"Sounds interesting. In books, hunters are often bold and brash and mean," Annabeth told him. "And yet, everyone but the main hero loves them," she continued.
"I'm not like that," Luke said. Annabeth smiled. "Well, what about you?"
"I don't get to do many outdoors activities," Annabeth admitted. "I've spent my entire life inside the castle walls. Usually, whenever I don't have lessons, I'm in the library, reading," she answered.
"What are girls who like reading like in books?" Luke asked.
"Imaginary," Annabeth told him. "I think I've only read one book where the heroine likes to read."
Luke laughed.
"Is there anything else you—" Annabeth was interrupted by someone wishing to cut in. She waved to Luke and the rest of the day went by quickly.
Luke was seated by Annabeth at dinner that night, not a surprise to either of them. He was flirting with her all through the meal. Annabeth felt a little angry that his flirting had an effect on her.
After dinner, Luke took Annabeth's hand. "You know, now that I've gotten to know you, maybe ending up married to you won't be so bad," he told her.
Annabeth smiled at him, blushing. "Yeah, but just because you find me appealing doesn't mean that we are totally compatible," she told him.
Piper, who had been hanging around as an unofficial chaperone, said, "And this, Annabeth is why smart people don't get dates."
"What!?" Annabeth asked.
Piper grinned. "What? Did you hear something? I thought I—hey!" Annabeth pushed her playfully.
"It's Piper right?" Luke asked. Piper curtsied and nodded. "Piper, is there a reason you're here?"
"Oh, you see, sir, ever since Annabeth's disappearance a couple of months ago, her parents don't want her to be alone ever. They fear that she might be abducted," Piper answered.
Luke wrapped his arms around Annabeth. "But she's not alone; she's with me," he said, kissing Annabeth's forehead. "So you are dismissed."
Piper opened her mouth in shock. She closed it again, curtsied quickly, and replied. "As you wish. Bye Annabeth."
When she disappeared, Luke ran a hand through Annabeth's hair. "That worked. That's never worked before. Usually, the ladies-in-waiting hit me after I try that."
"Piper's not technically my lady-in-waiting; she's a servant who adopted that role, and my parents like the idea," Annabeth told him, shrinking away.
"Well, if what she said was true, you want to escape before someone else comes after you?" Luke asked.
Annabeth stepped back. "What? Leave? The security's probably been doubled because of the guests, and if I—"
Luke grabbed Annabeth's hands and held close, pulling Annabeth back to him. Annabeth went red. "I can get around them," he told her. "I'm good at sneaking around."
Annabeth pulled her hands away from him. "No, Luke, I don't want to leave," she said.
"Why not? Here we'll never be alone. If we could just leave the castle grounds for a couple of hours…"
"Then they'll send out the army to look for me! I'm not leaving the castle. You can, but—"
Luke heard footsteps. He grabbed Annabeth—covering her mouth—and pulled her through a doorway. Annabeth shrieked through his hand.
Malcolm could have sworn he heard people talking. There were no people in the hall, though. He shrugged and walked down the hallway.
Inside the secret staircase, Luke looked around. "Where does this lead?" he wondered.
Annabeth thrashed around. She bit his hand, making him jump in surprise. She ran away from him, but Luke grabbed her and pulled her down to the area where Annabeth had been kidnapped several months before.
Luke let go of Annabeth to analyze the grate. Fool.
Annabeth locked him in there and ran up the stairs to the main party. Piper was at her side almost immediately. "Where's Luke?"
"He went for a walk," Annabeth replied coolly. On the inside, she was shaking from anger, but she held a calm façade.
"Any clue when he'll be back? His father has been looking for him," Piper replied.
"Nope," Annabeth said, in the same, cool tone.
"Do you know where he went?"
"Hell, I hope," Annabeth answered. She didn't even bat an eyelash as she curtsied to a foreign embassy.
"What?! Annabeth!" Piper shrieked.
"I'm going to bed," Annabeth said to a passing guard, ignoring Piper's complaints.
The guard nodded. "I'll follow her," Piper told him. The guard nodded again.
Annabeth's façade burst as she entered the hallway. She screeched in anger as she ran down the hall.
"Annabeth! What's going on?" Piper shouted. She kicked off her heels and sprinted after Annabeth.
Inside their room, Annabeth flopped on her bed and glared at the ceiling.
"Annabeth," Piper said, shutting the door, "tell me what's wrong. I'm your friend." Piper put her shoes in the closet and sat down on her bed.
Annabeth grunted angrily.
Piper nodded. "I see; do go on."
Annabeth cracked a grin, but only for a second. "Luke tried to smuggle me out of the castle."
"So? You've wanted to sneak out for years!" Piper said.
"Yeah, but I'm not stupid enough to sneak out during a party!" Annabeth said.
"Well, the security on you today has been surprisingly lacking," Piper said.
"Yeah, but…" Annabeth trailed off. She rubbed her arm around her waist where Luke had grabbed her. "The one time I'm alone, something bad happens," she mumbled.
"Did Luke hurt you?" Piper asked.
"He should know by now that when courting princesses that abducting them is probably a bad idea," Annabeth grumbled. "And if he must do it, he should at least do it gently."
Piper grunted disgustedly. "He's a jerk."
"I know!"
"Come on, let's go tell the Queen what happened," Piper said, dragging Annabeth out of the room and down to the Queen's quarters.
I can not believe it is 2015 already. Where have the years gone?!
New Years Resolution: Go to band, and practice playing trumpet so I can perform.
I wonder if I should have Annabeth let Luke out of the basement...