Chapter 8

"Reyna"

Someone was shaking her gently

"Reyna, wake up"

Reyna slowly opened her eyes, hand tightening on her dagger, her dark eyes meeting tired golden brown ones, Damien looked down at her

"I found something" he said as he stepped back, dropping his gaze looking a little nervous

Reyna rubbed her eyes and put away her dagger, she sat up to see no Hazel, just Damien moving back to her desk. As she approached he pulled her chair out for her so she could sit, she looked at the papers and the scrawls of Damien's. Her eyes landed on a name she hadn't heard of before

"Thamyris?" she asked looking up at Damien, who kept his eyes firmly on the page placed on the table, she could tell he was trying to avoid her gaze after what had almost happened last night

"He was a mortal, son of a Thracian king" he said pointing at the paper "He was said to be one of the greatest singers of his time, but as always there was a down side"

"Of course there is" Reyna sighed

"He boasted that he was the greatest vocalist, even then the God Apollo… And let's face it, that didn't go down well with Apollo or the muses, Apollo was so confident in his own musical abilities that he even vowed that if he lost Thamyris would be able to wed any of the Muses, he chose Euterpe, Muse of music"

Reyna looked at him for a long moment, realising that he had possibly solved who had taken the muse, he glanced down at her but swiftly moved his eyes back to the book

"I know it's not much to go on" he admitted "But it is the best lead I could find in the research we have here"

Reyna looked back up at him, studying his features, It was then that the praetor realised the exhausted look in his eyes "Did you sleep at all last night?"

His silence was all that she needed to confirm her suspicions

"I appreciate the work but you need your rest Damien"

"No its okay I'm fine" he said attempting a smile at her "Got any Redbull?" He joked, he turned to lean against the window, looking out at the view of Camp Jupiter and the rolling fields that surrounded it.

"Damien go rest, I will take over and besides I need to do some Praetor duties today so I will be out" she moved to stand beside him "I need you to stay in here, no going on the roof and keep the door closed and locked"

"Yep" he answered, leaning his forehead against the cold smooth window pane, sighing, he hated the feeling of being locked in, like he hadn't had enough of that over the past 10 months

Reyna watched him for a moment seeing reluctance in his tired half open eyes, she placed a hand on his arm "Damien..." she turned him so he faced her "Go lay down"

Damien shook his head "I'm fine, go do your duty, just bring back some food?" he gave her a sloppy half smile and a wink that seemed to take forever with his exhaustion level

Reyna nodded and squeezed his arm "Please try and rest Damien, I will be back in a couple of hours to check, don't open the door except for me or Hazel"

He nodded and returned to looking out the window

Reyna dropped her hand and grabbed her cloak, quickly redoing her hair and opening the door, locking it behind her

She took a deep breath closing her eyes for a moment, composing herself, she straightened and put on her stoic mask before turning and walking regally down the corridor, pretending to the world that everything was as it should be.

As Reyna approached her office she wanted to turn straight back around, standing there looming over Rebecca was Samson, Son of Apollo, he seemed to be demanding something from her, Rebecca squirmed a little under his intense gaze but held her own.

"Where is she?" he glared down at her

"I would appreciate it if you didn't talk to my assistant like that" Reyna said commandingly as she came to stand behind him "She is doing as instructed"

He turned in surprise "Ah Praetor Ramirez, I was just trying to find out where you were as I didn't receive an answer yesterday" he said straightening away from the younger demigod

Reyna resisted the urge to roll her eyes "It hasn't even been 24 hours, I have other duties to perform with the rest of the camp, it will take time to get your answers Samson"

She began to go into her office but felt his presence behind her, she turned sharply "That is your answer" she said firmly, she stared him down, using her powerful gaze until he nodded in respect and walked back down the corridor.

Reyna turned to look at Rebecca who was watching Samson leave, dislike covering her eyes

"You okay?" Reyna asked placing a comforting hand on her shoulder

Rebecca nodded "Yer, he was just being his usual charming self" she grumbled, she glanced down the hallway to check if anyone was there "How is your friend?" she asked quietly

"He is at least conscious now, but there is much troubling him and that's not even starting with what I have dumped on him" Reyna felt a little guilty, she shook her head "Anyway I have to do some research, is there anything major on the agenda for today?"

Rebecca tapped on her computer "No meetings as of yet, just looks like the usual paperwork" she looked back up at her Praetor "Is there anything I can get you Praetor?"

Reyna shook her head and smiled down at her "No thank you Rebecca, I just don't want too many interruptions today I have a lot to do not to mentions the usual workload"

"Of course" she smiled

Reyna entered her office and closed the door behind her, she took a deep breath it hadn't even been 24 hours since Moneta had come to her and she already felt exhausted, she had thought her life was getting back to normal, getting back into her natural rhythm but now her head was spinning with everything that happened.

She sat and took another deep breath before opening her laptop, a gift from Annabeth and the Camp Half-blood camp, it was like her Daedalus laptop and had all known files on both Roman and Greek history and Gods.

She typed in the name Thamyris and clicked search, she began to read he files on him finding more information to add to the stuff Damien had found last night… her mind drifted to the demigod upstairs, she hoped he was getting some well-earned rest, but with what he had told her and Hazel yesterday he was probably afraid to sleep. Her heart dropped slightly but she had work to do.