Chapter 64
It took longer then Percy had expected for his father to finally send for him. Part of him had been wondering if he should have just gone to speak with him directly after the duel. He had said that Poseidon had until the end of it to figure out what he was going to do, and well, the duel was over. In the end though, he had decided it would be best to let the king have the time he needed to prepare, planning to only confront him if the king didn't talk to him before dinner.
Besides, Percy could use the the time to prepare too. He wanted the answer to be yes, that he could stay a prince and be with Annabeth, but he needed to be prepared for it to not be. He wouldn't beg. If Poseidon said no, then so be it. He would simply walk out of the room and go back to his life before all of this happened. The eight months he spent as a prince would just become a fun story to tell people about, some of whom probably wouldn't even believe him.
Of course, he still felt nervous when the steward had finally come, but when the door to the study was pulled open, he also felt a sense of calm. Everything was decided, worrying wouldn't change Poseidon's mind at this point. In a few minutes he would know the answer, no more waiting. There was something reassuring about that.
Percy didn't sit when he entered. Instead He just moved over to the desk where Poseidon was sitting, naturally letting his hands rest behind him as he looked down to meet his father's eyes. Of course, Poseidon stayed seated, but Percy noted that for once there weren't any papers on his desk for him to be looking at while he waited for Percy. Instead the king's full attention was on him.
Despite Percy having his full attention, it still took a long moment for Poseidon to speak. He just looked over at him, before sighing a bit, which didn't exactly make Percy optimistic.
"You're disappointed that I won," Percy tried to keep his voice even as he said it "You wish I'd lost because then I would be abdicating the throne on my own. You wouldn't have to be the bad guy who made me."
"No, Percy," Poseidon replied, shaking his head "I'm proud that you won the duel, though I wish you would have been a bit more knightly with the way you fought. And I don't want you to step down, I want you to be my heir."
Percy looked at him for a long moment, a flicker of hope popping up, but he pushed it down "But?"
"But, the duel itself was impulsive. With it you've risked offending Princess Piper and her family, alienating the lords who already doubted you should succeed me, and created doubts in those who weren't before. You embarrassed a wealthy, powerful man who would've been better to have at your side then as an enemy. There are a lot of things will need to be addressed and done to get this mess cleaned up, and well I will help guide you I expect you to do most of it." Poseidon reached up and ran a hand through his hair. The motion seemed so common, a habit that Percy often had to fight back while wearing a crown, and yet so utterly odd being performed by Poseidon of all people.
"As for Ms. Chase- I'll have to meet with her and Frederick to work out a schedule. I may be able to find some title to give Frederick or small chunk of land to make him a lord of to help ease the whole thing. He's served me for many years and always well, so such a promotion shouldn't cause to many complaints. I'll have to find someone to start giving Annabeth lessons- if she's as smart as you say I'm sure she'll catch on quickly, but there is more to being queen then just knowing the country's history. She'll need to-"
"Wait," Percy cut in, some of the formality he'd been so careful to keep intact slipping as his brain worked to process what Poseidon was saying. "You mean your not disowning me or kicking me out or whatever?"
"No, I'm not," Poseidon agreed, and Percy could make out a slight hint of a smile on the man's face as he did so "You may court Annabeth while retaining your title and position in the castle, granted that Annabeth agrees to begin lessons as well and you have her father's blessing, which I'm assuming you already have."
"But why?" Percy realized that he had spent so much time preparing for the king to send him away that he hadn't really prepared for the alternative. He hadn't really expected Poseidon to agree, despite everything he'd told Annabeth "I mean, you just learned that I've been sneaking out of the castle, I disobeyed your wishes by calling things off with Piper, and disrespected you during our last conversation. Why would you still want me here?"
"Because you finally acted like a prince," Poseidon replied, and there was an actual smile now, even if it was small "We still need to work on putting the needs of the kingdom over your personal desires, but other then that you acted exactly as you should. You stood up for what you believed in, even to someone far more powerful than yourself. You were willing to fight for it, even knowing the high risk should you lose. You thought out every aspect and figured out a plan based on what you knew instead of just acting rashly, making sure to talk with everyone involved to avoid as many lasting grudges or bad feelings as possible."
As Poseidon spoke Percy just looked at him, dumbfounded. His arms had fallen to his side at some point, and he suddenly wished that he had sat down, but it seemed like it would be odd to do so now.
Poseidon thought he had acted princely, and when he explained laid it out that way, Percy couldn't help but agree, but that hadn't been the intention. He hadn't been trying to act like a prince. In fact over the last few days he had thought he was doing the exact opposite, following his own instincts and just acting naturally rather then trying to maintain the princely persona his tutors had been trying to mold him into.
Percy's disbelief gave Poseidon enough time to pause for a moment before speaking again "And you are my son. I do care about you and want you to be happy. I didn't think about how much I was asking you to give up by coming here. I would like to rectify that as much as possible. So, if this is truly what you want and not just some flight of passion that comes with being sixteen, then I will do what I can to make it happen."
Again, Percy just looked at his father for a long moment. Then he felt one side of his face turn up into a small smile. "Thank you."
Poseidon nodded, but the smile he'd been wearing fell as he added "However, if you ever speak ill of Queen Amphitrite again we will be having a very different conversation. I understand it is a tricky subject, but I will not allow her to be disrespected, especially because of my actions. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir," Percy agreed quickly, the comment doing little to bring down his mood. He'd known that the comment about the queen had been to far and he hadn't been planning to touch the subject again anyway. "Was there anything else?"
"One more thing, then you can go find Miss Chase," Poseidon replied, and well his voice was still serious Percy thought he picked up on almost a bit of teasing at the comment. "From now on Sunday afternoons are your's to do with as you wish. As soon as service is over you are released from duties for the rest of the day, barring special circumstances of course."
Percy blinked. "Like, whatever I want?"
"Within reason of course, and if you leave the castle grounds you are required to bring a guard with you," Poseidon replied, but nodded "As I said, I did not think about everything I was asking you to give up when I asked you to come here. We both rushed into this decision, and I feel I pressured you to do so. There is only so long you can be away from the castle and your duties, but a few hours once a week shouldn't hurt. So, from now on, you may use that time to do whatever you like."
"I- Thank you-" Percy replied, still in slight disbelief over the comment.
"You're welcome, Percy," Poseidon nodded and gave him a small smile, before waving his hand "Now go on. I'm sure you are eager to find Miss Chase and share the news with her and I have things to figure out. I'll expect you back here Monday morning so we can begin rectifying some of the consequences of the duel."
For a moment Percy hesitated, feeling like he should say something else, but he wasn't sure what and Poseidon was already pulling out papers to go through. So instead he turned and headed back into the hallway. Besides, if he did figure out what it was he wanted to say, it looked like there would be plenty of time for him to say it.
