A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
Annabeth sat straight up on the bed, her mind no longer groggy. "What did you say, Lucy? Assassinated?"
Lucy nodded, her eyes teary.
Annabeth's heart pounded. There was no way that it was true, was it? Percy had been perfectly healthy and alive when he left the palace.
"No. Don't tell me that it's true!"
Stay calm, Annabeth steeled herself. This was a mistake. She was just too tired and still recovering from her wound. Clearly, she had heard Lucy wrong. The king was merely attacked at most.
But one look at the true desperation in Lucy's eyes told Annabeth that her worst fear was true.
She stumbled out of bed, nearly falling to her feet before Lucy caught and steadied her. Just as she had started to recover, she was feeling lightheaded again as her body caught up to her mind in shock.
No, Annabeth thought, no. It was impossible. She clutched her chest as her heart felt pained. Why was it hurting so much?
Lucy couldn't support Annabeth any further as her knees gave out, collapsing to the floor.
"Your Majesty!" It was Sir Nico. "The nobles have begun gathering at the Great Hall. It is mostly the nobles of the dowager queen's faction."
This quickly? Someone had to be keeping the faction informed if they arrived at the Great Hall before Annabeth, the queen of Eldoris did.
"I-I fear that they are planning to oust you from the throne and put one of their own on the throne."
Annabeth's gray eyes blazed in fury as hot tears welled up. No doubt this was a trap set by the dowager queen.
But she couldn't believe it. Percy had overcome all the traps so far only to die now?
Percy had jokingly said that he would be back by the time the kiss mark on her neck would fade. The last coloration of the pink mark had faded when Annabeth went to sleep that night. And she didn't even get to tell Percy that she… Percy had mouthed three words to her before he left. Words that Annabeth could never say back now.
Too late Annabeth regretted. She had been lying to herself that she was not in love with the Eldoris king all this time, claiming that she had only liked him very much. After all, this was in Clarisse's story, not real life. It was a mechanism for Annabeth to protect herself from when she felt she would go back to her original world, to her home in New York. She would have to leave Percy eventually.
A couple days before, she had surmised that the night she had that dream, she had actually been back in the modern world. Perhaps if Annabeth wanted to or concentrated more, she could have pulled her consciousness and gone back to her modern life and everything she knew. But a part of Annabeth didn't want to, choosing to remain in this dangerous world. Because he was there.
If she could, Annabeth would want to return to the past and tell Percy again and again how much she loved him. But she had no powers, no magic to help her. She was just a nameless extra mentioned in passing in this stupid story who was always supposed to die.
Annabeth pulled herself up from the floor, suddenly fueled by angry determination.
So what if she didn't have magic powers. So what if her character was meant to die. Magic didn't exist in the modern world, but Annabeth still had her wit. She had survived this long without anything but her intelligence, and damned she was if she had to admit that her wit was useless.
No, she would not let the throne fall in someone else's hands, certainly not to someone who had killed the one she loved.
"Lucy, help me get dressed. We will not let Eldoris fall."
Amphitrite was not asleep despite it being the wee hours of the morning. Her nerves were far too excited to calm down. Triton was still sound asleep. Amphitrite restrained herself from wanting to shake her son awake and tell him the good news.
The dowager queen took a deep breath. The king should be dead by now. Judging by the flurry of activities and lights in the main Gardenia Palace still on despite the late night meant that something large had happened. Still, Amphitrite strove to tamp down her excitement.
There was light tapping on the window. Amphitrite jumped up and hastened to unlatch the glass to let the carrier pigeon in. Her hands shook as she snatched the note attached to the pigeon's foot, ignoring the squawking of the pigeon.
The rotten oak tree has fallen.
Her fingers trembled. At last, at last. Finally she had won.
She had long prepared a note to send after receiving the messenger pigeon. Amphitrite quickly attached it to the carrier pigeon and sent it flying.
Some time later, the pigeon arrived at its destination. A man pulled the note off and read it.
Then it's time to pull the oak from its roots.
"Ready the soldiers. It's time to storm the royal castles." The man ordered.
Back at the palace, Amphitrite heard word from a maid that Gardenia Palace was in an uproar. The queen was in shock and had even fainted. It would be even better for Amphitrite if that bitch had passed away in a heart attack.
"Mother!"
Amphitrite whirled around. Her beloved son had woken up, arriving just in time to witness their greatest triumph.
"Oh, my son! My handsome, new king of Eldoris!" Amphitrite cried out, pulling Triton into a hug. "We have succeeded."
"New-new king of Eldoris?" Triton was incredulous. Amphitrite didn't seem to hear the horror laced in her son's voice.
'Yes, my love. Finally, finally! We must reclaim the throne now. Our supporters have gathered here in the castle."
Triton swallowed nervously. "Reclaim the throne? Mother, what are you talking about!"
"The throne has always belonged to you," Amphitrite insisted. "I was the Queen of Eldoris when your father died. As my son, you should have been the crown prince, not that bastard."
"But you were the second queen back then! There is no way that I would be the crown prince." Triton protested. "Even if my brother is gone, what about the queen, my brother's wife?"
"That bitch will prove no problem for us." Amphitrite's eyes glittered with a madness that made her son shrank. "We will execute her at dawn."
"No, Mother! You can't do that! Besides, I-I don't even want to be king!" Triton protested.
Before Amphitrite could say anything, a knock on the door interrupted.
"They have gathered in the Great Hall."
The Great Hall in the Gardenia Palace was packed with nobles who were officials. Even from outside the door, she could hear the buzz of people and voices shouting.
Annabeth took a deep breath and entered the Great Hall.
"All hail Her Majesty, Queen of Eldoris!" The steward guarding the door announced.
The talking ceased as Annabeth walked through the crowds to the throne set at the far end.
Former Queen of Eldoris, they should call her.
Annabeth's eyes immediately caught onto the noble who had whispered those words. He flushed as he met her glare, probably not expecting Annabeth to hear his words. Still he kept his gaze up. Annabeth's anger flared up, though she had to tamp her anger down. They would pay for killing Percy, all of them.
The people were split into roughly three camps. To the right was the camp that supported the dowager queen. In the middle kneeled the faction that supported the throne and Percy. And finally, to the left was the third and neutral faction. The third camp showed very little emotion on their faces, as though watching a great play to see which victor would land on top. It was this third camp that Annabeth had to convince with her wits. For if she could not, then no doubt her head would be disconnected from her shoulders.
In Eldoris, the nobles in the court held little power individually, but if they all banded together, they could sway the influence of power over the king. The faction supporting the king and the faction of the dowager queen were about equal in power. To tip the balance of scales in her favor, Annabeth had to persuade the neutral faction of her side. And of course, the faction supporting the dowager queen would be trying the same.
Annabeth could feel her heart beating fast as she willed it to slow. Behind her stood Piper, there to give support through her light magic if needed. Knights stood behind the queen with swords sheathed in hilts, their presence indicating that no funny business would be tolerated.
She could do this, Annabeth told herself. For Percy, for all of Eldoris. She would not let his death be in vain. No, she wouldn't even believe in his death until she saw his body brought before her.
Annabeth raised her hand. Everyone in the Great Hall bowed their heads. For now, at least, they were respectful on the surface.
"Let us commence. No doubt you have all heard some form of news that the king has been attacked."
Rumblings in the Great Hall started. The queen had deliberately used the word 'attacked,' and not 'assassinated.'
"Your Majesty, we have heard otherwise. The king has been assassinated!" One courtier cried out.
"Yes, we must elect a regent in his place to take command, immediately." An elderly noble stated, stamping his cane onto the ground.
The dowager queen's faction took up the marquis's cry in support.
Annabeth's eyes flared. "You're quite hasty to want to put someone on the throne when my husband has not even arrived at the Eldoris palace, just as you wanted to push your daughter to my husband's bed."
The noble flushed. Annabeth recognized him as one of the nobles who had intruded into Annabeth's office. He ignored the latter part of Annabeth's words.
"It is precisely so that a regent must be elected to carry out our king's funeral proceedings as per Eldoris tradition." The courtier insisted. "So that the proper rites may be said when the king's body arrives at Eldoris palace."
He was far too rash. One of the dowager queen's faction pulled the marquis back a little, as if to remind him not to be too hasty in revealing his intentions.
Vultures, Annabeth thought in disgust. They were all buzzards trying to peck at the throne before Percy's body was even cold.
"Why is it that it seems you all seem to want the king to be dead?" Annabeth countered. "His Majesty is not dead. Until the very body of my husband is in this hall, His Majesty is still alive."
Her voice rolled out through the Great Hall, daring anyone to overturn her words. It would be alike to treason if they did.
The dowager queen stepped forward from the crowd of her faction, like she had been hiding in the shadows like a snake. Annabeth curled her fingers on the armrest of her throne, stopping herself from strangling the insane woman. It was her who had caused Percy's death, she just knew it.
"I understand your grief." Try as she might, the dowager queen did not look sad at all, the corners of her mouth almost up in excitement. "The king is dead. It is understandable that you would be sad about his death. As such, why don't we let Prince Triton take over your duties while you–"
"The first cause of business is not to determine who will be regent." Annabeth interrupted. "You are all so concerned with who gets the throne of Eldoris, it makes me think that the assassination of the king was planned by the very people in this room. Shouldn't we first investigate who dared to attack the king of Eldoris?"
The dowager queen and her faction were too far drunk on their success. Perhaps they thought that Annabeth would be easy to overthrow, forcefully or not.
"Besides, the Eldoris laws of inheritance of the throne are clear. The crown passes down to the first born of the former king first before the closest relative to the royal bloodline of the king. Naturally, that would go to—"
Annabeth touched her stomach.
The Great Hall erupted as the implication spread throughout the room. Some were in delight while others were in shock and fury.
"Impossible!" The dowager queen cried. "I ensured that—"
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Perhaps realizing that she had said too much, Amphitrite's mouth closed to a thin, hard line.
"Oh, you have ensured what exactly? Ensured that I could not have children by planting infertility drugs in my palace?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Or did you mean to say you have spies among the physicians?"
The dowager queen stiffened. She had been notified of the news that physicians had been in and out of the queen's room. Annabeth had counted on Percy clamping down on Ceto's knife stabbing that no one knew what was truly going on except for a select few.
"The physicians have been in and out of my room because they were checking on our baby's health." Annabeth said, the lies coming smoothly out of her mouth.
She was buying time, she knew. There was a small chance that she was pregnant, but it was tiny, especially since she had been injured and her body was not in the best state. Even if she weren't pregnant, Annabeth needed time to investigate Percy's death.
"As the queen of Eldoris and the bearer of the next child of Eldoris' royal faction, I will be regent not when but if the king's body is delivered to Gardenia Palace." Annabeth injected as much confidence in her words as she could muster. "And my next orders will be to investigate the treason that is occurring today!"
Amphitrite frowned. "It doesn't matter whether you carry that bastard's spawn in your belly."
There were gasps all around. Even the neutral faction did not like the dowager queen's crass words.
"Mother, please, it is not too late to take everything back!" Triton cried out, pushing his way through the nobles. "I do not want to be king." He begged.
He had been locked up by Amphitrite in her palace in fear that he would ruin the plan by precisely saying that he did not want the throne of Eldoris. Somehow, Triton had escaped.
"You fool, shut up!" Amphitrite screamed. "What are you saying?"
Smack!
Everyone stared in shock as Triton collapsed to the floor, clutching his cheek from Amphitrite's raised hand.
"M-mother…you hit me." Triton was incredulous. The pain of palm striking cheek was not as painful as the action itself.
"Triton, I–I. This was for your own good!" Amphitrite tried to reach for her son, but Triton shrank back from her approach as though scared she was going to hit him again.
A monster, his green eyes seemed to say. Amphitrite was reflected as evil in her beloved son's face.
"Your words and actions are insolent," Annabeth stated, breaking her silence. "And you will pay for it all."
And Annabeth meant every single word of it. If there weren't that many witnesses in the Great Hall, she would probably grab Sir Nico's sword and chop off the dowager queen's head herself.
Just then, loud scuffling sounds outside the Great Hall were heard, like the sounds of swords clashing together. Annabeth stood up from her throne. There was fighting inside the castle! Behind her, Annabeth heard the royal knights unsheathe their swords to prepare to protect her. All the other nobles in the Great Hall shifted nervously. Weapons were not allowed on their persons when they entered the Great Hall, so they were all sitting ducks.
Amphitrite grinned at Annabeth, her smile making her look like a crazed clown with her cracked red lips, her eyes showing a glint that her sanity may not be all there. Amphitrite cackled gleefully and pointed to the door. "It is too late! My soldiers have the palaces already surrounded!" She turned and gripped the shoulders of Triton, who was still kneeling on the floor. "You will be king today, my son, whether you like it or not!"
The Great Hall's door opened as soldiers charged in.
A/N: Hello, it's me again, after writing some very demigod specific stories. Check those out if you haven't while you cliffhang. Meanwhile, I'm going to set a very lofty goal of trying to finish this story before 2022 ends and I get way too busy again.
Thanks for sticking with me and with this story! Loved reading all the reviews and predictions since last chapter. Heh, did your predictions come true?
Anyhoo, I shall see you all in the next chapter! Toodle-loos!