As they walked towards what Ryker assumed was some sort of holding area he sidled over to Annabeth. "Get Silver some sort of medical treatment." He told her in a low voice. "She's acting tough but she needs treatment."

"I'll talk to Reyna." Annabeth told him. She made to move off towards the Praetor when Ryker's hand shot out and grabbed her. "What?" She asked confusedly.

"Let me make something clear to you." He murmured. "If anything happens to her, I promise you I will tear this camp apart."

"Don't worry." Annabeth chided. "Reyna is angry at you. Not her. If anyone should be worried, it's you."

She stepped away and hurried forward to speak to Reyna. While she was doing that Silver moved forward to take her spot. "What was that about?" She asked.

"I told her to get you some medical treatment." Ryker muttered. "If things go badly with Reyna I want you to have a good chance to escape. That's the best I can do, and they'll patch you up."

"I doubt they'll do anything to harm you." Silver said confidently. "Since the gods sent you on this quest, it has to be important."

Annabeth returned and took Silver by the hand. "Come on," She said warmly, "Let's get you a shower and some clothes."

Before being led off Silver fixed Ryker with a stern look. "Don't do anything to get yourself into more trouble." She ordered him.

"She's… something." Frank remarked as he watched Annabeth lead her away. "How long have you known her?"

"About four days now." Ryker said after a moment's consideration.

"You seem to get along pretty well." Hazel remarked. "You act like a couple."

"A what?" Ryker asked.

"A couple."

"I understand that. A couple of what? Friends?" Ryker considered his last question. "I suppose we could be considered friends."

Hazel and Frank exchanged bewildered glances and let the matter drop there. Thalia watched their exchange and broke out into laughter. She laughed until tears were streaming down her face and she was clutching her sides. "I'm sorry," She said once her laughter had been beaten down to a slight hiccup. "But that was really funny."

Hazel grabbed the Hunter's arm and steered her away from the group. Reyna lifted a hand and the soldiers came to an abrupt uniform halt. Reyna turned back to Ryker and glared at him. "You. Come with me."

The soldiers parted ranks and Ryker followed Reyna into her tent. She walked around the room to sit behind a desk that was guarded by what looked like two metal dogs. Ryker narrowed his eyes at the beasts. Reyna saw his expression and smiled slightly, rubbing one of their heads affectionately. "Do you like my dogs?" She asked. "They are rather special. They have the ability to tell when someone is lying to me. If you tell the truth they are harmless… mostly. If you lie however…" She let the threat hang in the air.

"What do you want?" Ryker asked simply.

"Why did you attack my men?" Reyna snarled. Her hands were on the desk in front of her, but they were curled so tightly into fists that her knuckles were white.

"Because they were going to kill my friend." Ryker growled back. The dogs stirred, but they didn't move. Reyna seemed almost disappointed. "By the way, I've already told your friend Annabeth, but if anyone in your camp tries to hurt Silver, I will tear them apart."

"You seem protective of her." Reyna remarked. "Do you realize the position you have put me in? That you have put the two camps in? That you have put yourself in?"

"No, not really." Ryker admitted.

"How long have you been at Camp Half-Blood for?" Reyna asked with a weary sigh. "If you are being sent on a quest, a prophecy no less, you must have been there for some time and yet this is the first time I have ever seen you. And I never forget a face."

"I was there for about a day." Ryker told her. "From what I can tell I'm not your typical demigod. From what Silver told me both Greek and Roman half-bloods are taken in from a young age to protect them from monsters. I was raised in the forest."

Reyna looked to her dogs as though she expected them to leap forward and tear Ryker apart. When they didn't she sent him an astonished, disbelieving look. "That's not possible." She said simply. "You would have been devoured long ago."

"He's not lying." A beautiful, singsong voice laughed. A woman strode into the tent garbed in some sort of pure white toga. Ryker blinked as he beheld her. She was absolutely stunning in every way possible. To say that she was beautiful would have been a grave understatement. In fact, she was too beautiful. "But I assume that you can already tell that. Lovely little dogs you have there."

"Venus." Reyna gasped, moving out from behind her desk and sinking to one knee. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard about this one and I simply had to meet him." She looked Ryker over eagerly and seemed to appreciate what she saw. "Aaah yes." She breathed, her eyes closed in apparent ecstasy.

"Uh…" Ryker took a step back from the woman. "Venus… Roman goddess of love right?"

"Oh, I am not just the goddess of love." She said off-handedly. She studied Ryker some more and a slight shiver seemed to pass through her. "But for now that title is good enough. Young demigod… Your love life will be some of my finest work."

"My what?" Ryker frowned, thrown by her statement. "Your finest work? What does that mean?"

"You, who doesn't look for what a heart truly needs, will only find what you want when it is well and truly gone from you." Venus smiled winningly at him. "But I believe that will only make you stronger. Stronger in what way however, that much I would very much like to see."

"My lady, I have been told that he is here on some sort of quest." Reyna said uncertainly. "Could you perhaps, possibly, give us some direction on the matter?"

"Hm…" Venus pursed her lips and considered the question. "I suppose a helping hand is warranted here, before things get too out of hand. You are having trouble keeping the camps from going to war, correct? Well, he is who the gods have agreed upon to help you with the matter. Good luck!"

"Hey! Wait!" Ryker tried to grab her arm but the goddess vanished before he could do anything. He cursed and kicked at the floor of the tent with his boot. "Are they deliberately this unhelpful, or am I just not having any luck?"

"By their nature the gods are usually less than helpful when it comes to these things." Reyna said tiredly. She returned to her desk and collapsed into her chair. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. "But they did at least give us something to help with our current problem."

"Current problem?" Ryker asked warily. "What problem?"

"You said you were raised in the forest, right?" Reyna asked. Ryker nodded and she continued on. "Well how much do you know about the current situation between the camps?"

"Everything, I think." He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly. "Silver told me everything she knew. The two camps are aware of each other now, which hadn't happened before right?"

"Correct." Reyna nodded. "I'm sure you can imagine, but this had posed some problems. For the most part everyone is happy with the arrangement… or at least they were. Recently tensions have been rising again. Monster attacks have become as frequent as they were when Gaea had been rising. On top of that it is my belief that not everyone was happy with the cease-fire agreement between the Romans and the Greeks. Annabeth has been here in an attempt to assure the senate that the Greeks mean us no harm. It is that much harder because of what you just did."

"They attacked first." Ryker said stubbornly.

"I understand that, which worries me greatly." Reyna told him. "I was the one who put those three on guard duty myself. As I said, not everyone is happy with the peace. Some Romans are of the opinion that we should wage war on the Greeks. Prevent treachery as it were. Those three have been on that side, I have been told. At first the idea did not seem to have much backing, but recently…."

"But recently, what?" Ryker prompted.

"Recently several Greeks from Camp Half-Blood have gone missing as I understand it." Reyna said heavily. "We have lost several of our own as well. It is not uncommon to lose soldiers. It is even more common to lose demigods. At the sites of all the attacks have been some sort of clothing or item from the opposing camp."

"You think that some of the Romans and Greeks are behind the attacks?" Ryker asked.

"I do not think so." Reyna shook her head. "Each of the Roman demigods who are missing were key parts of the senate or were well-known leaders among their cohorts. The most recent was a Centurion by the name of Dakota. A camp Half-Blood T-shirt was found beside his flash of Kool-Aid."

"Kool-Aid?" Ryker inquired.

Reyna waved a hand dismissively. "It's a drink he was fond of. It matters not. What does matter is that these attacks are causing fear and panic to set in at both camps. With those come blame. The Romans are pushing for the senate to deny any Greeks entrance to the camp. I understand that Camp Half-Blood is dealing with similar issues."

"So if it's not any of the campers, then who is it?" Ryker asked.

"We do not know." Reyna said heavily. "But what I do know is that I can't continue to ignore these issues any longer. I firmly do not believe it is the Greeks, but soon enough I will be forced to act. I would rather avoid that. A war between the Greeks and Romans has never ended well."

"He will build the new ties…" Ryker muttered, quoting the prophecy Ella had spouted in Camp Half-Blood. "I bet this is it. Don't know what door is open though."

"I beg your pardon?" Reyna asked.

"Nothing." Ryker said, waving a hand. "I think the gods sent me to fix your problem."

"Yes, I believe that as well." Reyna nodded. "Which doesn't make this any easier."

"Doesn't make what any easier?" Ryker asked warily.

"A Greek intruded on our camp and wounded our soldiers." Reyna sighed. "As Praetor I have to hand out a punishment befitting the crime. If I didn't, my leadership would be called into question and I would be thrown out as Praetor. I am one of those who stand in the way of this conflict. If I am to remain there, I need to issue you a punishment."

Ryker was by no means a stupid person. He understood completely what Reyna meant and he found himself actually growing to like the woman in spite of their tense first encounter. "I understand." He said after a time. "I don't like it, but I understand. What did you have in mind?"

Reyna bit her lip and sighed. "How high is your pain tolerance?" She asked finally.