ROYAL RUNAWAY

The princess grunted as Luke stumbled over his feet again.

She was carrying most of his weight. He could barely move, as his limbs were still sore and bloody from the guard's harassment. His face was unrecognizable, covered in blood and grime. Luke's hair was messy, his bangs hanging on his forehead. His legs were visibly shaking, his chest heaving with rapid breaths. His head rested on top of hers, despite the height difference.

"Come on, Luke." Annabeth sighed, readjusting her arm around his waist. "We're almost there."

One traveling in the town of Athens would find it didn't take more than fifteen minutes to walk from the castle to the gate. Taking more than fifteen minutes was traveling from the underground dungeons of the castle to Will's house. The stroll should've taken a good ten minutes, but with the jetlag on her side, Annabeth considered changing that low number.

They were so close, Annabeth could feel it. The moss was getting thicker, the stone beneath her feet was getting dirtier, and the homes were getting smaller. The poorer side of town was near the back, and Annabeth had no question why William lived near the back.

Annabeth was sure that Will didn't want to be caught, so he had to live low. Of course, Annabeth was positive he brought a sustainable amount of money with him, but he wasn't one to show off. Annabeth had met him before when they were little, and he was very much like herself.

Within a few more grunts from Luke and a few more words of encouragement from Annabeth, they had arrived at Will's. Or at least Annabeth had assumed it was Will. There was a doctor's sign outside of the home, resting near the door. Who else would it be? Will had aspired to be a doctor, even from a young age.

Before Annabeth even spoke about arriving, Luke groaned and stumbled. He trampled into the wooden door, causing a loud bang to ring through the crisp night air. He grunted as he fell back into Annabeth who was covering his mouth with her hand.

Her older friend had been worse than when she had visited him a day or so ago. The guards must have given him another beating, which Annabeth rolled her eyes at. What was he going to do? He was already locked up? If anything he'd escape, but with all the guards her parents hired and paid. There was little chance of that, even for Luke.

Although, running out of the palace from the back was a different story. Not to mention when you're the princess, and you know where the cellar door is for the dungeons. It's near the rocky shore on the beach, and so she always told the guards that's where she was going. That was the only place she had been without her parents, without their knowledge. She had been there with them during the day, but the group of guards kept it from them.

Annabeth had promised them extra pay at the end of the month for it.

"Oh, dear,"

Breaking Annabeth out of her head, she peered up at the blonde in front of her. His eyes did an up and down scan of Luke then he faced Annabeth. There wasn't much to see with her face hidden under the hood and all.

Will didn't ask any questions, coming up beside Annabeth and taking half of Luke's weight. A muffled moan pushed through Annabeth's hand, and Will raised an eyebrow at her. He said nothing as the princess took the other half of Luke's weight and they carried him inside. William led her around his tiny home, occasionally cursing when he ran into corners.

The lights in his house weren't on, so the blonde must have woken him up. "Sorry about waking you up, William."

Leading her to the back of the home, William entered a larger room and pulled on the light. The chain rattled as a blinding light flooded the room. He yanked on Luke to signal to Annabeth to follow him, so that's what she did. They carefully laid him on a bed in the back of the room, and Annabeth took her hand off his mouth.

With the light on now, Annabeth did not doubt that anyone would be able to see her face, so she jerked her hood off. William wouldn't care anyway. He and Annabeth had done the exact thing: rebel. Will ran away from home, and around that time she found out a doctor issued in Athens. She had thanked the poor peasant that her parents sent to death, but now knew she had someone to talk to, if or when she could leave the castle.

She had remembered what he had told her of wanting to help the sick townspeople when they were little and not be a prince. The princess did not doubt that when she discovered a new doctor that it was William. Why else would he have run away? He didn't make rash decisions for no reason. Will didn't want to take on the responsibilities of being king, so he ran off.

Running away from problems was something Annabeth found herself doing often, even though she hated doing it. Sometimes, it seemed like the only way when you were royalty.

"Annabeth?" William questioned, as he turned around from getting supplies. He had a wet rag in his hands and some bandages. On the counter near the door, he had medicines lined out besides needles and string.

Annabeth looked at him before turning away. She grabbed Luke's ripped shirt and began to tear it, the tear going down around the middle of his shirt. She carefully peeled the rip off his skin, the bright light on the ceiling making the blood on his torso gleam. His chest was ruined; infected cuts, wounds looking close to stab wounds, bruises, and dirt. It was a terrible sight and Annabeth winced at it before moving on to his pants.

At the sight, Will rushed over and set the healing materials on another small set of counters. The room was very small, with the two counters on opposite walls only being five feet apart. The bed was near the left wall if you were facing the room, and it was diagonal from the door. Although, it was a very steep slope. Altogether, the room was only a third of the size of Annabeth's bathroom.

The princess shoved any feelings down her throat and focused on Luke. His eyes were fluttering, his fingers twitching uncontrollably. Annabeth watched with pain as her friend groaned when Will placed his hand on a bruise, pushing lightly. Glazing up at Will, they met eyes.

"The guards beat him at the castle. He tried to rebel against the rules and was caught." Annabeth said, snatching Luke's hand. "He wasn't sentenced to death, but the guards make it out that way."

"I see," Will answered, searching Luke's torso once again. He took the wet rag off the counter behind him and dabbed at the pooling blood from his cuts. Some of the blood was dry and crusty from previous beatings, but most was fresh and crimson. "Do you know how many times a day he's beat?"

Annabeth winced as Will applied more pressure to the bloody cut, making the blonde on the table inhale sharply. Annabeth turned her head to the nearest wall, the pale blue starring her in the face, calming her. Sighing, Annabeth squeezed Luke's hand in comfort when Will quickly swiped some antibacterial on the cloth. Then she shut her eyes tightly in pain when the patient crushed her hand with his.

Waiting for the crushing ache in her hand to leave, Annabeth breathed deeply. Her little discomfort was nothing compared to what Luke was most likely feeling. When Annabeth had known him as a peasant before he was captured, he had been far stronger than her. Despite the clear agony running through his veins, Annabeth wished their positions flopped. Annabeth was the one injured in bed, with Luke to comfort her. Seeing her friend in pain was a stab at her heart.

"I have no idea," She replied honestly, hating herself. If she cared enough for Luke, she would've surveyed the guard's behavior, seeing how much they harmed him. Instead, she had to spend more than enough time moping in her room because her first ball was approaching within the next few days.

"Thanks alright. I'd say two to three times a day, if not more," Will guessed, continuing to apply medicine to Luke's wounds.

"One for every meal of the day," Annabeth muttered, leaning back on the wall with Luke's hand in hers, a squeeze coming her way occasionally. Her head fell back onto the wall as well, a headache beginning to form.

Annabeth was much like her mother in that way. Whenever she got too stressed, migraines began to pound her brain. If anything she needed peace and quiet, but with Luke's gasps and groans producing so commonly, Annabeth was positive her headache was only going to get worse. Her stomach churned, and the sounds coming from Luke's fragile skin did not make it any better.

She closed her eyes, the light too much for her head. She wondered why she had to live this life. Why did she have to be a princess? Why couldn't there be more economic equality in the world? Shouldn't there be a money minimum for each person? That they're guaranteed that amount of money for the year? Wouldn't that allow all people, peasants, merchants, and hunters to gain even pay? There wouldn't be any royals, and everyone was equal.

Of course, Annabeth knew she was far better than the townspeople. She knew she shouldn't be complaining for that reason, but it was so hard not to. The peasants thought royalty life was rainbows and money baths. They got forced into marriages, into love, and a life they didn't want to live. They got forced into leadership, something, not all kings and queens were good.

The only good thing about becoming queen was that she could help change Athens. Athens had one of the worst economies in the world. Annabeth could use the Kingdom's savings to help the kingdom by cutting down the vines and trees in the overgrowing forest and making more homes for peasants to live in. She could extend the borders to the town of Athens, making more room for office buildings.

The only person that had to agree was the king and council, and if they didn't agree, Annabeth royally screwed. Annabeth didn't want the peasants to believe she was brainwashed by her parents. She didn't want to disappoint the three hundred or so peasants she gave items to when she was fourteen.

Maybe this was why William ran away? If so, Annabeth one hundred percent understands why he did it. He escaped his impending duty, and would probably never have to return. Will left in wish to do something he loved, while Annabeth would be dead within days.

She dreamed of being an architect one day, but dreamed was the keyword. She loved to explore the castle and the small huts of the village. It was just to see what she would've done differently if she were the one planning the build.

Architecture had always been something that gained her attention. Outside of her schooling, she's been studying architecture books from the library. This had been unknown to her parents, as they would've procrastinated her for reading stories on false dreams. Anything like that was what her parents wanted. Annabeth's interests suddenly didn't matter.

It was much like when she tried to convince them to either lower taxes. Or to do things other than buying more useless shit for themselves. Of course, that played into Annabeth getting these new gowns and shoes, but the townspeople suffered.

That causes people to root, much like Luke. It was the poor's decision to rebel, but it should be expected. Athens was if not the worst, one of the worst, kingdoms economically. When the peasants get treated like shit they're going to get upset. Some may not do anything and suck it up, but there were people like Luke.

People like Luke were in agony. Bloodied and bruised because they dreamed of equality. It was a giant circle that Annabeth wanted to put a stop to. She'd use her status as an heir to fulfill her second wish; fairness. Since she couldn't escape her inevitable position, she'd face it. Whether she liked it or not. She couldn't accomplish becoming an architect by running off. She would do all that she could do to make her citizens happy.

Much like her mother had called it duty a few weeks before. Although, if Athena was being the best queen she could be, she was failing. If the way Annabeth's mother was ruling was a duty, Annabeth would change that definition.

Yeah, she didn't want to become queen, get married, or have kids, but it was all sacrifice. That's what Annabeth would call her impending spot. It wasn't a duty to screw over the humans that make up your kingdom; it was a sacrifice to give up dreams to make your people happy.

Annabeth would call it a sacrifice, but it would be harder to make than she thought.

"I gave him some more pain killers, so the way back to the palace-"

"Will, no!" Annabeth interrupted, raising her voice a bit. She was sitting on a stool beside Luke, her back against the wall. Her head pounded still, but with William's healing skills, her stress plummeted. At least, Luke was now somewhat healed. That alone would not be sending him back to the castle. "I can't take him back to the castle. He'll just keep getting beat up."

Will clicked his tongue, his sky eyes peering over Luke's naked torso and bare legs other than his boxers. Luke's legs had been in much better shape than his chest and back, but with little food, they were weak.

"Want me to keep him here? I have a spare room." Will suggested, meeting Annabeth's eyes.

Annabeth watched Luke with careful eyes. His chest moved up and down with steady breaths, although with every wince of pain came an uneven breath. Even with the pain-killing medicine, he had been knocked out from the small section of manual stitching Will had to perform.

If Annabeth took Luke back to the castle, his stitches wouldn't be able to heal correctly. With the beating, he'd continuously get Will's skills would be going to waste. Also, if anything were to happen to Luke's body, like a reaction or puncture of some sort, he'd need to see Will again. William would know what to do to heal or stop the reaction, where the palace guards wouldn't give a care.

And, there was no way Annabeth would be able to hide Luke within the castle. When the guards find Luke missing, the whole castle would be searched from top to bottom. Then, Luke would be punished to death for attempted escape. That would backfire in Annabeth's face, seeming as she was trying to help him instead of getting him into more shitty situations.

"Are you sure? When my parents find out he's gone…" She trailed off, squeezing the pale blonde's hand. She wanted to do what was best for Luke, but that's hard to do when he was a criminal. One way or another it may be hard to hide the evidence that someone wants to keep the rebel alive. Annabeth and Will can't afford to be caught.

"What will they do? Search every home in the entire kingdom until he's found? By the time they find out he's gone, it's most likely going to be the end of the day." Will stated, walking over to his two nearby counters to clean.

"My parents are smarter than that. They'd be able to calculate the estimated distance he'd be able to go with all his wounds. Without my help, Luke wasn't able to move very far. They'd know that." Annabeth stated, sighing as she examined Luke's pained face. "They'd know he's still in the city. They would search the city."

Annabeth would've done the same thing, using the best calculations to conclude where the prisoner would most likely be in a certain capsule of time. After all, Annabeth got her brains from her parents. Like mother, like daughter.

"Why would they think-" Will started, glancing from his medicine counter to her.

Annabeth stood up, wobbling because of the cramped space. The stool pushed her legs into the workbench and vise versa. Annabeth squished her way through the two, standing at the foot of the bed.

In the process she let go of Luke's hand, making it twitch without something piecing it together. Her hand cooled, Luke's hot skin leaving hers. She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Will as he washed his hands off with a washed rag. "Where's your spare room? We can figure out if it's possible to camouflage."

Nodding, Will spared an eye towards his patient, before leading the way. He stepped out of the office, and back into the dark hallway. Annabeth's vision was spotted, but with multiple blinks, she could faintly see. At least with the darkness, her headache wasn't getting worse.

A door must have been on the left side of the hall because Will placed his hand on the wall and pushed. A tiny room appeared before Annabeth's eyes, and she gasped at the size. Junk loaded in the room; bags, tools, clothes, coins, posters, and trash. If they could get Luke a mattress in the back of the room, they could use the garbage to hide him. The guards wouldn't suspect a thing.

Annabeth knew. They let her outside without her parents' permission, just because they got a few extra dollars. If the King and Queen found out, they'd get fired. They took the risk for extra money, so they wouldn't be doing this job efficacy. They'd see all the useless items and assume there is no room for anything else.

"Look," Will said, pointing to the back of the room. "We could fit a mattress back there, and put all my trash around it. Would that work?"

Annabeth nodded and grinned at Will. "I was thinking the same thing."

For a split second, Annabeth was a toddler again, running around with Will in his castle. Back when they were younger, their kingdoms had to come up with a compromise. Apollo had wanted to expand his borders, while Annabeth's parents hadn't wanted to. Although, they came together and Apollo ended up gaining more land. That's how Delphi was the perfect kingdom. Large population, large size, and lots of money. They were able to obtain a balance, unlike Athens.

Annabeth had remembered playing multiple games with Will while their parents negotiated. Athena must have thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Annabeth to find a future husband. Annabeth smiled wider at her idiotic thought. Of course, her mother hadn't been thinking that at the time, right? Maybe Apollo had accepted to let a toddler Annabeth and Will run around so they wouldn't be bothered by their children?

A giggling toddler raced down the grand stairs, her small dress trailing behind her. Her fingers captured the front of her dress as Will chased after her. A wide smile on her face, laughing as Will called out at how much of a meany she was.

At the bottom step, Annabeth turned around and stuck her tongue out at the sky-eyed boy. "I'm just faster than you, Will!"

Bunching his eyebrows together, he crossed his arms and pouted. His freckles on his cheeks and nose stood out when with his red face. His curly locks fell into his eyes, and his navy suit crinkle with his crossed arms. "But I've been chasing you forever!"

"That's the point of the game!" Annabeth groaned, sitting down on the bottom step. She was no longer facing Will, bending her knees and resting her elbows on them. Her face cupped in her hands, she looked off into the long hall of the castle.

William's pout fell as he smiled, slowly creeping down the steps. Right behind the heir of Athens, Will reached out for Annabeth's shoulder. Although, he missed when Annabeth stood up smirking. "What?"

"Fooled you!" Then she ran off with William chasing after her with a groan.

Chasing each other around the place was their favorite. It replicated where they now were in life. They were running away from their duties or at least finding a hole in the system. They ran off like they were the animal and their parents were the hunter. It was funny.

Annabeth snapped back to reality when there was a strong rasp on the outside door. Jumping, both Annabeth and Will rushed into the main room, bumping into items. Another bang on the door was heard, followed by many distressed voices.

What would people be doing up at this hour? The town was like a graveyard when Annabeth carried Luke in. How could no one have noticed if they were all awake?

The room was still dark, and as Annabeth stood in the middle of the hall, Will peeked out the window. Light haloed his face, his iris' moving back and forth as he surveyed the area. His head swiveled from side to side, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

"What is it?" Annabeth whispered, unsure if the person outside would be able to hear her. She wasn't positive about how thick the walls in the town were. She needed to be as cautious as possible.

"I don't know. Where a lot of people gathered in the center of town when you arrived from the palace?"

Forgetting William wasn't looking at her, the princess shook her head. When the click of the door sounded, Annabeth dashed behind the wall to the hallway.

"Will!"

Annabeth could almost hear William jumping away from the window of his home. The person must have been a woman because her voice got higher pitched. The women continued rambling about a blonde that had been beaten up. "He's in the town's square! He needs urgent medical help!"

Holding her breath, Annabeth pushed her back against the hallway's wall as Will rushed past. He sprinted into the room Luke was in, clamoring around for medical materials. Annabeth saw him out of the corner of her eye, a yellow blur as he rushed.

Once again, Will ran through the hallway and out the doo. The woman continued to babble about the torn-up blonde. Annabeth smiled at how well William got his job done. With her head leaning against the wall, she sighed, closing her eyes. Will was an amazing healer, and Annabeth was happy that he got to chase his dreams.

She was thrilled to see a lifelong friend happy and achieving his goals. She pushed out the jealousy that threatened to appear. She knew she'd never been as happy as Will. She'd suffer from a husband who could be unbearable, or she'd be with a child.

Soon Annabeth heard the door slam shut.

"Annabeth!" Will called. "You need to see this!"

Immediately, the princess threw her hood over her curls and found Will panting against his closed door. His eyes were wide and wild, his hair mused. Annabeth said the first thing that came to mind. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain," He panted, leaning forward and snatching her arm. He whipped around and pushed open his front door. "I told the lady I forgot something."

"Was that something me?" Annabeth teased.

Rolling his eyes, Will told her to shut up. Doing so, Annabeth let herself be led through the town and to where the disaster was. As they traveled, Annabeth prayed Luke would be alright for now. She also hoped that whatever she came across wasn't the end of the world. William had made it seem quite bad.

When they arrived at the center of town in the blink of an eye, Annabeth's jaw dropped.

Words: 4,042

Not my best work, but next chapter will be better! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows!

[ANY RECOGNIZABLE CHARACTERS GO TO RICK RIORDAN]

-Bookworm-2026