Chapter 21
Friday afternoons were the worst part of Percy's week. They were the part where his father somehow tested the progress he had made during the week. Best case scenario, he set him to some sort of sword fight or riding challenge, but the more Percy did well with those the less they seemed to come. Honestly he was debating starting to fail a few just so he got more of them over the stupid history or strategy tests.
To be fair, Percy had known basic math and how to read prior to all of this, but he had never been good at it. Reading just didn't come easily to him, no matter how hard he had tried to figure it out. Math was a little easier, but he had had little to no reason to use it before, so he didn't have a tone of practice.
Realistically Percy did understand the point of testing him regularly. The king needed to know how far along he was, and the only real way to do that was to test his ability. They were more skill checks then actual tests, but Percy couldn't help but feel nervous about them. Even though logically he knew it wasn't likely, part of him couldn't shake the feeling that if he didn't do well maybe the king would realize this had been a mistake and it would all fall down around him.
So when he had arrived at his father's study, he was hoping that the guard outside the door would send him out into the yard to wait for the king. Instead the man just nodded to him, before entering the room to inform Poseidon that he was there. A few seconds later the guard was back, holding open the door for Percy to enter.
Taking a deep breath, Percy straightened his posture as much as possible, before stepping forward to enter the room. Upon entering, Percy turned his attention to Poseidon, nodding to him for a moment, before simply turning to head towards the extra desk at the side of the room. Upon reaching the desk though, he found that it was empty, and so with confusion he turned back to the king, not saying anything as he waited for him to explain.
"There will be no test of your progress today," He said simply, voice deep and powerful. Sometimes Percy wondered if his voice was going to sound like that someday, and he couldn't decide if he wanted it to or not "Have a seat Perseus. For today we will merely do an oral check of your progress."
Percy was surprised, but he wasn't about to protest. He eyed his father for just a moment, before moving to take the seat he had been offered. Poseidon did not sit, instead pacing about the room as he began to speak again "Instead of a test today I want you to meet a group of guards a the stables tomorrow at noon. Dress plainly, but prepared to fight if need be. There will be no need to bring your guard with you. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir, but why-" Percy started, looking at Poseidon in confusion, but before he could even finish the question the man was speaking again.
"Good. Now, what have you to say about how your lessons have been going?" Poseidon paused in his pacing to turn back to Percy as he asked the question, looking at him as he waited for the answer.
For a moment Percy hesitated, wondering if this was somehow some sort of trap, but decided there was nothing to do but answer honestly "I managed to beat Jason a little under half the times we spared, but to be honest it wasn't always done in a way my sword master would approve of. Math is still coming better than reading, and I have been doing slightly better in history."
"More than slightly from what Chiron has told me," Poseidon stopped pacing again, raising an eyebrow "Which lead me to believe you were either slacking off before, or something has changed. I do hope it's the latter."
"It is," Percy assured quickly. He hesitated for a moment before speaking "You know how Mr. Chase brings his daughter to work with him pretty regularly to help with tasks like sorting files and to make sure someone is in the library while he is helping you?"
Annabeth did a whole lot more than just sort files and mind the library, but Percy wasn't sure how much Poseidon knew about the whole thing, and he wasn't about to risk getting either Annabeth or her father in trouble. He also didn't want to risk Annabeth not being able to come with her father anymore or something of the like.
"Yes, I know the girl," Poseidon asked, looking slightly confused "What has she got to do with anything?"
"Well, she knows almost as much about history as her father." Annabeth knew more about it than Frederick, but again Percy decided that was probably not a good thought to share "I didn't want to bother Chiron or Mr. Chase, as they are both very busy, so I asked her for help. She has a way of explaining things to me that I understand."
For a moment Poseidon just looked at him, and Percy couldn't help but hold his breath as he waited. Then, the man nodded and moved to start pacing again "Well if it keeps up I may need to hire her as a tutor for you. See if she can help with your other studies as well."
"Yes sir," Percy said with surprise, only just managing to keep himself from grinning at the comment. He was sure Annabeth could help with his other studies, which would mean he would get to see her even more than he did now. It was hard not to grin at the idea of that.
Silently he wondered if Poseidon had any idea they had known each other prior to him coming to the castle. Probably not. The king had been trying to keep him away from anything related to his past. That was why he had to keep slipping out, the only reason he had relented to letting him go into town with Piper was because she had wanted it.
"And how are things going with Princess Piper?" It was as if Poseidon had read his mind. Except, the look the king gave him told Percy that this had really been what he wanted to ask the whole time.
"Well," Percy couldn't help but feel a little awkward about this whole topic, but he was doing his best to hide it "I'm fairly sure we have become friends, or at least I would consider her one, which according to her is better than most of the other men she's been paired with, even if she doesn't actually love me."
"Good, but it needs to be more than that," Poseidon had stopped pacing all together now and was just looking at Percy "You need to charm her, make her love you. Only that will ensure she won't pull out when she learns the truth, or that she will help convince her mother to still go through with it. Do you understand?"
For the briefest of moments Percy wondered if he should tell Poseidon. If the fact Piper already knew would be good news or bad. He and Piper had agreed to decide when to tell their parents together though, so instead he just nodded "I understand."
"Good," The king nodded again, before waving a little dismissively "Then we are done for today. Make sure you are at the stables by noon tomorrow."
"Yes sir," Percy pushed himself up, and was about to just happily leave the room when something occurred to him. Taking a deep breath he turned back before reaching the door "When do I get to see my mother?"
Of course, Percy had been sneaking out to see her, but he wanted to do it without having to sneak around. More than that, he wanted Poseidon to keep his word about the whole thing. The king just sighed "Perseus- you know we can't risk it while the princess is here. It would raise to many questions and she may figure it out."
"You said I would still get ot see her. You said the quicker I adjusted to life here the sooner and more I could. I've done everything you've asked," Percy insisted, not backing down just yet "It's been over six months."
"Improve the rest of your studies," Poseidon replied, not really seeming overly interested in this "Then we will see."
Percy wanted to push, wanted to argue, but he knew that was the best he would get. Sighing, he reluctantly nodded "Yes father. I will see you at dinner."
A little reluctantly and a little relieved, Percy turned to walk out of the room, only relaxing when he heard the door close behind him.
