Annabeth rubbed her face tiredly. She had chased Clarisse down the hall, but the daughter of Ares simply disappeared behind a steel door. There was no way to open it, and none of the demititans seemed keen to help. She had gone back to the meeting room only to find Artemis and Reyna staring at each other. When she tried to back out, Artemis told her to stay.
Now, they were sitting in silence. It had been like that for the past twenty minutes. Reyna refused to look up at Artemis, and the goddess refused to look away from the daughter of Bellona. It was probably the awkwardest situation that Annabeth had ever been in.
The door opened behind them. Annabeth slowly turned. She saw Frank walk in followed by a woman. Annabeth stared at the two but was glad that something had interrupted the staring contest.
The woman's mere presence demanded respect. She wore a full set of Roman armor and had to be about six feet tall. The woman had tawny hair and piercing eyes. There was something about her that was familiar, but Annabeth couldn't put her finger on it.
"Are we interrupting something?" Frank slowly asked. Artemis stood and looked at them. She walked towards Reyna and stopped in front of her.
"You killed two of my Hunters. How many more people are you going to unjustly kill before this war is over with?" Artemis demanded. When no response was given, Artemis shook her head in disgust. She stalked out of the room.
A heavy silence blanketed the room. The woman cleared her throat. She made a motion towards Reyna and spoke, "I assume this is the exile."
"Yeah," Frank replied. "Reyna, this is Boudica. She's one of the Speculatores. Lupa sent her here."
Annabeth had no clue what a Speculatores was. It seemed to be something important. If Lupa was sending someone, they had to be pretty skilled.
"I'm suppose to stabilize the Romans, and I will do whatever I must do," the woman said. Reyna slowly looked up. "Now, you are an exile, but you still interact with those from Camp Jupiter."
"Are you going to ban me from talking to them?" Reyna asked. "You don't any authority to do that."
The woman smiled coldly. She spoke, "If I was in charge, I would have you flogged. Fifty lashes for the fifty Romans that died because of your mistakes."
"They sacrificed their lives to stop Ouranos," Reyna said. Annabeth could see how angered the daughter of Bellona was. She was keeping her temper though.
"And, you ran from the battlefield like a coward," the woman commented. Reyna closed her eyes. "That alone should have forced the Senate to exile you. Instead, they made you a dictator. Why punish failure?"
Reyna stood and tried to stalk away. The woman grabbed her shoulder and spoke, "Don't talk to another Roman. Understood?"
"No," Reyna hissed. "You have no authority over me, so I do not have to listen to you. If you'll excuse me, I need to talk to the Senators."
Reyna walked out without another word. The woman watched her go. A small smile came to her face. Annabeth examined the woman again and tried to find out what was so familiar about her.
"You must be Annabeth Chase," the woman said turning on Annabeth. She held out a hand. "My name is Boudica. I am a spy of sorts for Lupa."
Annabeth slowly shook Boudica's hand. She tried to guess what Boudcia's age was, but nothing came to mind. Annabeth spoke, "It's nice to meet you."
"It's odd being here," Boudica admitted. "I haven't had much interaction with Camp Jupiter. When we go to Lupa, she pulls us aside if we are special. I trained for ten years for this position."
"What do you do?" Annabeth questioned. "And, I feel like you sought me out for a reason."
"I gather information for Lupa and Camp Jupiter," Boudica answered. "Protecting the Romans is my only job. Now, I need to know about the daughter of Bellona. She seems to be long past the verge of a mental breakdown."
"Reyna's had it really hard for the past month," Annabeth began. "The world has been put on her shoulder, and it's just getting to her. Reyna needs time."
"What has she done that can be considered an abuse of power or an outright crime?" Boudica questioned. She stood with her arms behind her back. There was something hungry in her eyes.
"I don't know," Annabeth replied with a shrug. It felt odd to lie, but there was something about Boudica that she didn't like. "I've been focused on just trying to keep the Greeks together."
Boudica watched her for a long moment. She finally nodded and walked out of the room. Frank nodded to Annabeth and walked out of the room as well.
Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes. It seemed like Reyna was in trouble, again. There was a good chance that Reyna would need help out of her new situation. When didn't she need help though?
Her mind drifted to the news about Leo and Hazel. They had been spared by Atropos, but it didn't matter. Reyna was only trying to make up for all of the bridges she had burned. She would have to do a lot more.
Annabeth sighed. After the war, she thought about cutting ties with Reyna. They were friends, but the daughter of Bellona had done horrible things. That destructive path could only get worse.
Maybe, she wasn't giving Reyna enough credit. Reyna did manage to get Atropos to spare Leo and Hazel. That was an impressive feat. She had also been taking steps to make things up to Annabeth. She even saved Annabeth's life.
After thinking it over, she decided to give Reyna one more chance. The daughter of Bellona was struggling, but she was also doing her best. If Reyna kept trying to make things up, it would be okay.
Annabeth sighed and opened her eyes. She took off down the hallway. Her next step was to find Reyna. They needed to talk about the Huns and Sixth Legion. Annabeth wanted to work out a plan for how to use them in battle.
She remembered that Reyna was going to see the Senators. With any luck, Reyna wouldn't kill them. Annabeth sighed and pulled a map out of her pocket. The new demititan base was vast, and she had yet to learn every hallway.
Most of the map was in the language of the Titans. Whoever made it had been nice enough to add in some English translations. Hank and Larry had their own room next to the stadium sized room that the Romans were in. Annabeth headed there.
It took three minutes to walk through the hallways. Many demititans ran past her as they ran errands. Some nodded to hers. Others gave her a glare. Annabeth felt like they knew more about her than she did about them.
Annabeth stopped as she heard a yell. Then, she ran towards the noise and stopped outside of the room that belonged to Hank and Larry. What she saw should have surprised her, but it didn't.
Reyna was holding a sword in her left hand. The sword was covered in blood. Both Hank and Larry were on the ground. Hank had been stabbed in the chest, and Larry had been stabbed in the throat. They were both dead.
Boudica was on the opposite side of the room with her sword unsheathed. Reyna slowly looked at Annabeth and shook her head. There was a shocked look in her eyes. She spoke, "Annabeth, I didn't. I swear."
"Don't lie to her," Boudica ordered. "Drop the weapon."
"I didn't," Reyna protested. She looked like she wanted to say more, but the words weren't forming. Reyna closed her eyes and took a few, deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, there was an even more desperate look in her eyes. "Annabeth, you have to believe me."
Annabeth shook her head. Her eyes stayed focused on the blood on the sword. She spoke, "Why?"
"I found her threatening the Senators," Boudica interrupted. "She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, there was a crazed look in her eyes. That is when she attacked the Senators and killed them."
Reyna dropped the sword and stared down a her hands. She shook her head like she was in shock. Reyna slowly spoke, "I...I...I didn't do it. I swear."
Boudica moved faster than Annabeth could blink. The Speculatores grabbed Reyna and slammed her into the table. Reyna cried out in pain and tried to struggle. Boudica easily kept her pinned to the table.
"Where is the rest of the Senate?" Boudica asked Annabeth. She pressed Reyna's face into the table, but Reyna looked like she was in another world. Her eyes were unfocused.
"That was the Senate," Annabeth whispered. "Between the war, assault on Camp Jupiter, and the prison camp, it has annihilated the Senate. Frank is the only one alive above the rank of centurion."
Boudica closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Boudica spoke, "This has gone on too long. I am going to call the Romans together."
"What are you going to do?" Annabeth slowly asked. She met Reyna's eyes. Annabeth couldn't believe that she had been willing to give Reyna one more chance. The daughter of Bellona was beyond redemption.
"She has gone unpunished for too long," Boudica replied. "I am going to publicly punish the exile. Then, I never want to see her near my Romans again."
"I didn't do it," Reyna whispered. She sounded like she was about to have a panic attack. Annabeth met Reyna's eyes. This was not someone that Annabeth knew.
"I'll get the Romans for you," Annabeth offered. For a moment, she stared at Reyna. Then, she turned her back on her former friend and walked out of the room.