Chapter 15
"Reyna?"
The Praetor opened her eyes slowly
"Reyna?"
Reyna sat up at the sound of her name, her eyes adjusting and what she saw made her blood run cold, standing before her were the leaders of New Rome, all five of them stood before her in her office accompanied by a very nervous looking Rebecca and a stoic faced Frank
Reyna was on her feet in an instant, giving them the traditional Roman salute
"Augustus, Antonia, Caius" she greeted "Lucia, Gaius" she nodded to the other two
They all nodded back in greeting but none smiled and that made Reyna feel very uncomfortable, this was not a social call
"How can I be of service?" she said standing tall
Augustus stepped forward "May I?" he gestured to the chair in front of him
"Of course" she said and offered seats for the others, but they were a little younger than Augustus and decided to stand
"Reyna we have received concerns by some of the other campers" Augustus began, keeping eye contact with the young Praetor "They have said you have been acting out of character recently and we want to make sure that you are still fit to carry on your Praetorship" he said blandly
Reyna was stunned for a moment "Concerns?" she asked
Augustus nodded "Your absence has been noted from some compulsory events Praetor Reyna"
"Even over the past few days you have cancelled and pushed back important meetings with your fellow campers" spoke Lucia from behind "They have said that you have been locked away in your room, the head of the medical facility is worried that it is all getting too much for you"
Reyna resisted the urge to clench her fist "Samson has been in contact with you?"
Lucia nodded
Reyna kept her composure "I can assure you that I am well, I have…" she paused for a moment deciding she should tell them about Moneta "I have been visited by the Titaness Moneta and she has bestowed upon me a quest, I have been doing research on the matter"
"A quest from Moneta?" asked Augustus "Did she say why she approached you and not another?"
Reyna faltered for a moment, should she tell them about Damien or lie to her superiors in order to keep him safe, neither choice seemed appealing, so she decided to split the difference
"Last year when Lupa bought the boy with no memory, we went to retrieve his memory with the help of Moneta" she paused as the faces changed in front of her
"We remember, we still haven't discussed that yet Reyna, but continue" said Augustus, waving his hand for her to continue
She took a breath "She gave him his memories on the condition that when the time came, we would help her with whatever she needed"
"You gave an open ended promise to a titan!" exclaimed Caius
Reyna bit her toungue, Caius had been good friends with the ex-Praetor Octavian and had it out for Reyna ever since he had being killed of his own stupidity long ago
"I made no such deal and I tried to persuade Damien to do the same" she argued politely "But he was hell bent on getting answers and Moneta took that to mean that he had agreed for all of us, would you like to refuse a Titan Caius?" she gave him a pointed look
Caius stayed quiet but glared at her, Augustus brought her attention back to him
"So she came to you instead of this Damien boy who made her the promise to begin with?" asked Augustus calmly
Reyna thought quickly "She said he was in no fit state to accept the quest" she held their gaze wanting to show her strength
The older demigods thought for a moment before the oldest spoke "A quest have you determined who else would go with you or even where to begin?"
Reyna swallowed "I have some leads and as for quest members I would like to take Hazel Levesque, she is a strong Roman and a good ally to have your back, I trust her with my life"
"And a second?" asked Lucia "A quest is normally done with three"
"Or are you planning on breaking Roman tradition again?" quipped Caius rudely
"Another will be joining us" she snapped back
"Who?"
Reyna fell silent for just a moment, her brain working over time to think of an answer "A demigod who knows more about the situation than us, we would meet him along the way"
Caius scoffed "Sounds a little far-fetched to be honest Reyna"
Far-fetched?
Everyone jumped at the voice that echoed around them, a bright light appeared before them, Reyna drew her weapon but was disarmed instantly
"You think the kidnapping of my daughter far-fetched" the room trembled slightly as they were able to gaze upon the source of the voice
Moneta stood there looming over everyone, she was dressed in traditional roman attire, she glared down at Caius
"Lady Moneta" Augustus stumbled to his feet and bowed to her "M'lady please we did not mean to offend, we are just trying to get to the bottom of this"
"This girl" Moneta gestured to Reyna "Is on a quest for me to save my daughter and every second you spend interrogating her is another second one of the muses are missing and the world falls into decay" she raged
The room fell silent as they all stood there stunned at the titaness's sudden appearance and the gravity of her words
"Leave us" she commanded turning away from the leaders of New Rome, there was a moment when nobody moved, all stunned by what had just happened
Moneta glared at them as they got to their feet and shuffled out the door, once they had closed the door behind them, the titaness turned to Reyna
"I have done my part and located Hyacinth now do your part Daughter of Bellona" she touched the desk again where her golden map was etched, a new ink, silver this time "He is here"
Reyna stepped forward and looked down at where the silver ink had pooled
She exhaled "That's a long distance to cover m'lady"
"Then I suggest you leave immediately" she responded coldly "You cannot waste any more time here"