A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
STOP! Before you read this: If you missed the surprise update of chapter 23 on Wednesday October 6, go back a chapter!
Arc 2 Begins
The music swelled from the orchestra, signaling the start of the dance. Were it not for the fact that she knew there were possible assassins mixed in with the dancers, Annabeth might have dropped her guard as she watched the dancers perform.
The dancers were truly superb in their talent as they circled around each other in complicated yet graceful choreography consisting of leaps and flips. Thinking wryly as she sipped her wine, Annabeth could tell how the limberness and athleticism of the dancers could contribute to skills of murder.
As the music seemed to build up to a climax, one single female dancer was left in the middle of the circle of dancers. This dancer was veiled with silk scarves around her face, adding to a layer of mysteriousness. Far above on her throne, Annabeth couldn't tell what this dancer's expression was. But from the dancer's caramel colored hair, this was the dancer that the king had told her to pay particular attention to.
The lights in the hall began to dim except for the lights above the solo female dancer. She swung her arms around as her feet lifted high up in the air in joyful circles. Many of the guests at the birthday banquet were enthralled by this seductive dance. But to Annabeth, the dancer's dark eyes were not full of concentration on the dance so much as they held the fear of messing up. The dowager queen's lips curled up in a genuine smile of satisfaction. The king only gave a smile that belied his true emotions.
When the dance finished, the dowager queen called upon the solo female dancer.
"What a beautiful dance you gifted us, my child," the dowager queen praised.
She had one of the ladies-in-waiting bestow a pair of gold anklets to the solo dancer. Percy sipped his tea. Those anklets seemed like a pair of gilded chains.
"I shall reward you once more, graceful one," dowager queen Amphitrite continued. "What do you think of this young woman, Your Majesty? If you like her, I'll give her to you. You work so hard for Eldoris, surely you can find the time to relax with her dance."
The dowager queen's words were pretty on the surface, but everyone in the banquet hall knew that the dowager queen was trying to stuff the king's bedchamber. Whether it succeeded or not, the nobles were far more interested in seeing the queen's reaction and whether the king would accept other women. But the queen's expression didn't change from her simple smile.
"Thank you for your kind thoughts. But I am afraid I am a rough man who is unable to appreciate the arts. You'll have to forgive me if I decline." Percy smoothly refused.
"Is that so? You," the dowager queen spat at the dancer. "What have you done to displease the king? You shameless, vulgar woman!"
Those were the same words that the dowager queen had said in the king's past life. In order to save this innocent woman, the king had accepted her, planning to never touch her.
The dancer's shoulders trembled. Whether she was accepted or not, either route would end in death.
"Your Majesty," the queen cooed. She intentionally encircled her arms around Percy's arms. "It would be a pity to refuse the dowager queen's good intentions. I see that this dancer has some talent."
Percy smiled at her indulgently, stifling his laugh. The queen was intentionally going overboard but he found her acting quite cute.
"Since the queen likes her, then I shall take her in. She can dance for you whenever you're bored."
The people watching this were stunned. Why did the queen accept another woman into her marriage?
Before the dowager queen could say or do anything more, Percy had his people take the dancer away.
He could see some of the nobles' greed grow in their eyes. Some of them pushed their unmarried daughters to the front of the hall, hoping to catch the king's eyes. Others sent their daughters to flatter the queen, in hopes that the queen would give them a concubine position.
Percy hid a dry smile. The party had only started. If they thought that the king taking in an unknown but beautiful dancer was the climax of the birthday banquet, then they were wrong. He had yet to finish gifting his final birthday present to his stepmother.
"Oh, dear!"
A palace maid, unknown to Percy, had accidentally spilled some wine on the queen's clothes as the maid leaned over to fill the wineglass, staining the queen's beautiful blue dress a dark purplish-black. The queen frowned but didn't yell or lose composure at the maid.
Percy almost yawned. This was a classic trick he had seen in many variations. This maid was clearly not from Gardenia nor Dahlia Palace.
"Y-your Majesty, please forgive me!" The frightened maid began kneeling and banging her forehead against the ground.
Fortunately, the queen had the maid stand up before her forehead began bleeding. "There is no need to be scared. It was just an accident, after all, was it?" The queen said kindly.
The queen's words and tone were gentle. Her reputation would be seen as magnanimous and forgiving.
"Your Majesty, I shall be back with a proper change of attire." Queen Annabeth said.
"All right. Come back soon," Percy returned.
Grey eyes met green. The stage was set. It was time to diverge from the script of its directions.
Lady McLean made to follow, but the queen stopped her. After the queen left, Percy stayed in his seat for a few more minutes before slipping out of the banquet hall. Some nobles who were eyeing the king surmised that perhaps he was heading to have a taste of the new dancer before his wife could come back. Others thought that the king was retiring for the night with his queen, although it would be a breech of protocol to retire before the dowager queen did on her own birthday banquet.
As Percy strode towards the auxiliary palace where he had the dancer held, he intentionally drew attention, bringing just a small set of attendants behind him. Soon, the word would be sent back to the dowager queen only about the attendants. Quietly in the night, small dark figures descended upon the auxiliary palace.
Percy only hoped that Annabeth would stay safe as she played her part.
Calypso shivered as she was made to stay in a bedroom. The room felt cold, despite the warm late spring air. Tonight, she was going to die, she felt. In her hands was a poisoned knife.
"Use it on the king," the dowager queen had said. "Or else it shall be plundered into you. Are you willing to die in exchange for a king who only sees you as a toy?"
Calypso shuddered. She was not willing to die, of course. But she also knew that the king was not a completely horrible person. The king of Eldoris had a reputation as a just but strict king among his citizens.
But what could she do? She was powerless, and her own family had sold her to the dowager queen.
The door opened, and Calypso went on full alert. Shadows flickered through the open doorway. Surely, the king must be coming in.
Then a body flew through the open door and crashed into the wall. Calypso's mouth was agape as another man stumbled through the door before a sword pierced into his chest.
"Are you all right, miss?" A female voice asked.
Calypso looked up from the bed to see a female knight with her sword out. The knight's red hair was tied neatly back, looking like a fierce warrior queen.
Within minutes, the rest of the assassins were taken care of by Eldoris royal knights who had been lying in wait in the dark and in hidden rafters to take care of the assassins that had been sent.
"You can drop the knife now." The female knight ordered.
Calypso unclenched her hand, letting the knife slide through her fingers.
The female knight frowned. "Careful," she said.
Another knight gingerly wrapped the knife in a cloth, careful not to touch the poisoned blade yet. Calypso was then hushed away. As she left the room, she saw a body being brought in with a similar shade of her caramel brown hair color. What was going on?
That was the last thing she saw before a hood was pulled over her head.
Amphitrite was in a very good mood tonight. When the queen left with the palace maid, Amphitrite had ordered people to quietly follow the pair to make sure that her plans did not go awry. She had also received word that the king had gone to visit Calypso in the auxiliary palace while that bitch queen was stuck in the side lounge with a rough man. Amphitrite had probably given them enough time.
"Oh, my, where is the queen?" A lady close to Amphitrite asked, laughingly.
"I imagine that the wine stain must have been hard to take care of. What a pity. That dress the queen wore was made out of Barinian silk, isn't it?" Another woman asked.
"You should punish that maid, Dowager Queen Amphitrite," the first lady said. "How rude to make such a mistake in front of the queen."
"Indeed," Amphitrite said.
She was planning on eliminating the maid anyways to tie up any loose ends and open mouths, threatening the maid with the death of her family if the maid did not cooperate. Who had allowed that filthy maid with dirty blood to mix with her precious son?
"It has been some time since the queen has gone to fix her dress," Amphitrite frowned. "I should go check up on her."
"Why don't we go together?" Someone proposed. "It has been a long while since I visited Marigold Palace."
"If you do not disdain this little palace of mine, I would be glad to give you a tour," Amphitrite said with a generous smile.
It was her goal to attract as many people as possible. That way, there would be many eyes to witness the downfall and ruination of the queen. Amphitrite had even prepared a man from Kiran to act as the part of the queen's secret lover, as well as a poisonous aphrodisiac so strong that it would eventually kill the users. No matter how loving Perseus was to his wife, he couldn't possibly stomach the possibility of his wife cuckolding him now, would he? Even if the king didn't kill the queen on his own, the poison would.
Amphitrite took her time in giving a tour to the ladies, pointing out various things of interest like a tapestry gifted to her from the former king or a set of paintings presented from a previous ambassador of Kiran.
"Why don't we rest here, ladies?" Amphitrite suggested as they approached a side lounge. "I find the music a little raucous, so I would like to rest here to clear my head. Would you dears mind?"
Of course, no one disagreed with her suggestion. Amphitrite smiled and had the lounge doors opened.
"Oh, my!"
"What is this indecency!"
"What is the queen doing-" Amphitrite's voice cut off sharply.
There in all their glory was a man and woman half naked, their bodies twisting around each other.
The man was not the king of Eldoris.
A/N: Well, I did say we were going from 0 to 100 in Arc 2. Heh. Sorry, don't kill me.
Last time I posted chapter 23, not 3 minutes later there were already like 6 of y'all who were reading. How are you all so fast?
Anyways, welcome to Arc 2. As always, see you next week!