AN: I'm so sorry for not updating. I was out of town for Winter vacation and then I got a small case of writers block. I hope you guys are not mad at me! I'm sorry. I am already working on the next chapter and I want to give a special thanks to my awsome beta reader arianscorp. I might edit the other chapters and you should expect the next chapter by next week.

Disclamer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I felt as if I had been chained to a rock or thrown in to the sea. I just couldn't accept the thought of marrying someone I hardly knew, it pained me, compelled me to think about it over and over again if this was the best thing to do. I knew that my father would always want the best for me, like any father he would want his daughter to marry and have a family of her own but was the Prince of Sparta the right choice... for some reason I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

I prayed to my mother, Athena, Goddess of Wisdom to enlighten my thoughts and the path that the fates wanted me to follow.

I continued to pray and although I didn't get the answers I searched for, I found peace, for the time. Had I been overreacting? It was normal to be nervous; after all I am about to marry someone who I only knew by his royal title and not in person. The Prince of Sparta was known to be an exellent and a master of swordsmanship.

Maybe all I needed was time to clear my mind and try to adjust myself but who am I kidding? The reason I didn't want to marry him is because he's a Spartan.

I sighed to calm myself down, I needed peace and some relief from being a princess and the only way that was possible was to go outside the palace walls and into the city, maybe spend some time with my closest friends.

The thought of being with them brought a smile to my lips. I didn't trust many people and that meant I had very few close friends. Thalia and Piper were my confidants; I respected Thalia's judgement and I appreciated Piper's innocence and loyalty equally there was a special bond that Thalia and I had forged over the years.

It was late at night and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go and visit Thalia by myself so I decided to visit with Piper and then ask her to accompany me. Piper came from an affluent and noble family. She lived close to the palace grounds, her manor wasn't far away from my wing in the Palace all I had to do was scale a wall and wade across a moat, something pretty simple for a demigod like me.

I had to be careful as I ran across the palace grounds, like a shadow I swept through the corridors and the wall. It was the moat that proved to be a nightmare, it was filled with sea water; the moat was deep enough to drown a person in the depth of salt and muddy water. How I wish Poseidon favoured me but I was a daughter of Athena, why would he? And then magically the water in the moat receded to a level that it could be walked across, the water level went down and it was hallow enough to walk through it. I jumped into the moat and made my way across it, once on the other end I grabbed a pillar of the bridge and climbed out of the moat. I was dirty and needed a change of clothes, I had the smell of the sea over me and I hated it.

There was no choice now, I had to visit Piper. I made my way across the gardens of Aphrodite and there on the far cliff stood a mansion carved in stone glistening a luminescent indigo in the faint light of the full moon. The guards recognised me on sight and so did the chamber maid when I entered the courtyard of the manor. I was shown to Piper's chamber where I rudely awoke her by hitting her with a pillow on her head.

"What are you doing here?" Piper grumbled obviously in sleep. "Get up and I'll explain everything to you?" I whispered because I didn't want to draw any attention. She was a mess but as she was she got out of bed and sat up, her blankets bundled around her. "Now, tell me." She said rubbing sleep from her eyes. "All right" I took a deep breath to hide my hesitation and as I exhaled in one single breath I said, "I'm getting married." "WHAT!" she screamed, it sounded as if a bell had fallen from the highest tower into the foyer.. I put my hand on her mouth to silence her.

"Calm down!" I half whispered half screamed. "Someone is going to hear us and my father will have our heads, mine for telling you a secret and yours because you heard it. Now, shut up and listen." "Annabeth, what's going on? "Piper said perplexed. There was no way I could calm all that bubbling excitement away. "I just don't know and it's bothering me to death." She squeezed my hand in hers, an act of comfort but it didn't seem to work. "My dad is forcing me to marry the Prince of Sparta." but before I could say anything else I was cut off by Piper's squeals. "Prince of Sparta, He's so cute." She said out loud in her excitement.

"That's it Piper, we're going to find Thalia in The Clearing of Artemis." I said in an angry voice. I grabbed her arm and dragged her out, trying my best to escape the premises without drawing any attention to ourselves.
As soon as we were off the property and on our way to the sacred garden I broke my silence, "Don't you know what, to be quiet means?" I asked my voice dripping with sarcasm while my lips curved in a smirk.
"Maybe. But this is too much to take in." She said gleefully her voice bubbling with excitement.
"And how do you think I felt?" I asked my voice without of emotion. I'm sure she understood how I felt for she didn't say a single word while we walked through the city and into the forest. After walking for a few miles into the forest we came to thicket through which lay a magical path only a demigod could see, it was hidden from the view of the mortals.

Thalia had lived in the sacred clearing for years now. It was weird at first and I had tried to persuade her to come live in the palace with me, there was obviously space and her stature as a daughter of Zeus demanded that she be treated with respect and in luxury but Thalia had too much self respect and her maiden vow to Artemis meant a lot to her. She was a devout follower of Artemis and preferred to live close to her shrine.

Our friendship goes long back, Chiron had brought the three of us together to train us in combat and strategy. Thalia and I were powerful since birth our mind and body honed and hard wired for battle and strategy, Piper on the other hand being a daughter of Aphrodite was one of the first to be trained in the art of physical and close weapon combat.

I was nine when Athena led me to Chiron, Piper eight, and Thalia ten. Chiron told us about our heritage and how important it was for us to train so that we could lead our lives.

As time passed we all developed our expertise, Thalia mastered physical combat and mastery over archery, while Piper and I trained ourselves in close combat with weapons of arm length.

When we arrived at the temple, Piper and I had to look for Thalia. She almost never went more than a mile from the temple. She lived in a silver tent with a symbol of the moon above the door but at present she wasn't there.

"What are you to doing here in the middle of the night", asked a firm voice from behind us. We turned to see Thalia, a girl with ebony locks and electric blue eyes dressed in luminescent silvery blue camouflage uniform.

"Thalia, nice to see you" I greeted her with a smile unlike Piper who went over and hugged the strong, solitary hunter of Artemis."Really, your actions and expressions speak otherwise." Thalia asked questioningly."I need to talk to you about something important." I said trying to gather my wits and maintain an aura of calmness. "My father has arranged for me to get married to the Prince of Sparta." I said in one breath and nearly inaudible voice.

"Who?" Thalia asked...and then it hit her, "Wait. Your father has wants you marry who?"

"The Prince of Sparta" Piper chimed in.

"So what do you want me to do? I believe congratulations are in order." Thalia asked with a smirk on her face. "The problem is, that there's nothing I can do about it." I said and I sat on the ground by knees to my face and my head buried in them." I just needed to get it out of me...I feel so helpless" I wanted to cry, but I hate showing weakness.

After a few minutes of silence Piper finally spoke." You can always count on us, Annabeth. Right Thalia, Thalia!" Thalia was lost in her thoughts and had to be brought back to reality by Piper who nudged her.
" It's almost dawn you both should leave." Thalia said she then walked over to Annabeth and sat beside her and whispered in her ear, "I'll be there for you" she helped me on my feet and told us goodbye.

She whispered something to Piper and we walked into the cold forest.