Set at the start of the Son of Neptune
After hours of paperwork, Reyna's eyes were beginning to blur.
She sighed, leaning back for a moment to clear her head before picking up her pen again.
She stared at the pile of papers on the table. Still a dozen or so left to go.
She skimmed the dense text, barely registering the words.
Restocking… Imperial gold… shortage… she scrawled her signature at the bottom of the page and set the forms aside. She'd have to look it over more carefully later. Right now, Reyna was just focused on getting it done.
The table was a mess, with scattered files and forms all over it. A cup of cold coffee sat to the side.
She put her head in her hands. Gods, she wished Jason was here. She couldn't handle this much longer, shouldering a job meant for two people. Under the mask of authority, she was still a sixteen-year-old girl.
At the thought of her partner, her mind wandered to Octavian. Reyna clenched her teeth. That lying, cheating, blackmailing scum. She knew what he was doing, bribing or threatening everyone he could to elect him as Camp Jupiter's new praetor. The nerve of him, and when Jason was still missing…
A torrent of emotions flooded through the daughter of Bellona. Jason. She missed him so much. As her partner, as her friend and maybe something more, though he'd never shown any sign of reciprocating the last feeling.
Reyna pushed her chair back and stood up, taking a sip of her long-cooled coffee. She looked around the Praetorium for a clock.
1:00 a.m. Oh gods, was it really that late? No wonder she was exhausted.
Reyna grabbed her jar of jelly beans and tossed a few to her metal greyhounds. Aurum and Argentum barked excitedly, catching the candy in their jaws.
The praetor rubbed her temples as she paced, thinking. If Jason wasn't back soon, they would have to elect someone to replace him. As much as she hated to give up on him, Jason Grace had been missing for months. They had no sign that he was still alive. The son of Jupiter had disappeared overnight.
She refused to accept Octavian as a praetor. The scheming augur would have no qualms about stabbing her in the back.
She sincerely doubted that he had the Twelfth Legion's best interests at heart, especially compared to his own interest.
Reyna exhaled. She really should get some sleep. There was no point in wearing herself out.
But first, paperwork.
Finally, she was done.
Reyna pushed the papers back and capped her pen. She headed to her bathroom to brush her teeth and change.
She had a strange feeling about tomorrow- technically today, as it was well past midnight. Just a strong gut instinct she couldn't shake off.
Something big was about to happen. Good or bad, she couldn't tell.
And as Reyna drifted off to sleep, an image flashed through her head.
A pair of eyes, somehow familiar.
A boy's eyes, confused and upset and a little desperate, but full of unflinching bravery.
Eyes she'd seen before, though she couldn't recall when or where.
Eyes the exact color of the sea.
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