There really is no excuse for how long it took me to update this. I suppose I could beg school work and the overall suckiness of getting through the whole 'careers' stage of just about everything, but anyway, here it is, the long awaited Tyson chapter.
The Lord and Lady were out of breath when they arrived at the young Prince's bedroom. Percy's younger brother was four, said Prince had told a curious Annabeth, and very big for his age. The door opened after his knuckles had pressed a knock, and an excited eyes peeped out to greet them.
"Big Brother!" Tyson yelled, throwing open the door and engulfing Percy in a hug.
Tyson was indeed large, and with huge feet, he was expected to become much larger. His eyes were an ochre blue, one fixed straight ahead, milky white and unseeing, but the other took in the image of the fiancé's with a delighted vigour. He wore simple clothes, clothes to get dirty, Sally would fondly put, as she partook her dutiful role as their nurse. And Tyson seemed to be a ball of energy and light, a beacon full of happiness and hope and aspiration. A little boy that saw much more than was permitted than through his one, overused eye.
Then he turned to Annabeth. "Pretty Blonde Lady!" And she, too, was subjected to the young boys affections.
"Hello, Tyson," Percy said, grinning, ruffling the boys hair, a head that only stood a few inches below his own. "This is Annabeth."
Tyson turned to Annabeth, and when he grinned, she could see that a hole was where one of his teeth should have been. "Hello, Annabeth," he chanted.
Annabeth couldn't help but be intrigued and fond of this overgrown ruffian. He seemed, for the first time, genuinely welcoming. Annabeth had been walking around as till then with an unsought sting of nostalgia and homesickness. Her mother and brother still walked around the house, mingling with guests and happily making full use of the Esther facilities, but they would be gone soon. They'd leave her here. And now, that Tyson was jumping around her, tugging her hand and eliciting a small, cautious smile from her lips, she felt, if but slightly, it wouldn't be so truly and utterly terrible after all.
"Careful, Princess," Percy called from behind them, as she and Tyson moved through the room. "Tyson is horrible at putting things away."
"I'm very good at getting them out, though," Tyson informed her, nattering away about the things he was most particularly prone to play with, while Percy watched, amused, kicking away odd toys and other ends, and unashamedly looking around for the golden pastries that Maureen had promised would be there.
"Where are we going, Tyson?" Annabeth asked, smiling, despite herself, as she was lead through the room. The curtains were drawn and the oil lights lit, so the room was cast into a surreal glow. The books and trinkets scattered over the floor gave the spacious room and smaller feel, even though it couldn't have been less than what Percy's had been. His bed clothes were strewn unceremoniously over the mattress, the cutlery and crockery from what must have been his breakfast lay near the fine wood table in disarray, and although Annabeth couldn't see into the other rooms and to the balcony, she assumed that they were likewise pig sty-esque.
"To see Sally, of course!" Tyson said, chuckling as if the older girl had made a hilarious joke. "Where else?"
"And Sally is...?"
"Our nurse," Percy said, stepping forward out of the gloom to where Annabeth could make out more of his fine features. "She is more our mother than the woman who birthed us, although, knowing our dear queen, that isn't saying much."
Annabeth shrugged off the discomfort as his easy talk about the shortcoming of Amphitrite and looked ahead into the first room, the one Tyson was tugging her into.
In her the windows were free to let in their light. The gold, from rushing through the stained glass windows fell warmly on Annabeth skin, catching the blonde in her hair. On a table, quietly knitting away at a purple scarf, sat a woman who would have been in her late 30's, perhaps early 40's. She looked up and smiled at their entering, unsurprised, having been warned by their none-so-quiet passage.
"Hello, Percy, my dear," she greeted the prince, smiling up at him with a delicate mothers love. "So kind of you to visit."
"You know I'd always take the time," Percy replied, grinning easily, although Annabeth could feel a strong utter belief in the words that he spoke. He kissed her on the cheek and she stood to hug him.
"This is Annabeth," Percy gestured, moving over to her side. "The Princess of Skyla."
"Well, I suppose our eventual meeting was an almost certain," Sally said, with a small wink. "But I am glad that it was so soon. The castle has been singing your praises, sweet Princess."
"I am too, glad that we met thus," Annabeth said, smiling, almost shy in the woman's warmth of presence. "Percy hasn't spoken much of you, as of yet."
"Well, I cannot be surprised," Sally said, shooting her near-son a half-smirk, allowing her hands to follow their learned pattern and take over the clicking of the knitting needles. "He rarely talks, but to joke."
Percy grinned. "Well, I have not taken it upon myself to ask you of your evenings with the stable manager, Paul Blofis. Is there anything you particularly care to discuss regarding to him?"
Sally turned a deep red. "My dear, Paul and I are simply not of your wildest concern."
Percy's smile turned a little, from the light teasing into something more serious. "I know. Mr. Blofis is a good man." Annabeth could almost hear the echoes of the unsaid words that Percy uttered only in his heart. Should he proven not to be, he would not so quickly waste the affections of good women.
"As a matter of fact," Percy said, turning slightly to grin at Annabeth. "We're not here for you at all. Rather Maureen, or her genius."
A smile of understanding climbed over Sally's face. "The pastries?"
"Oh, yes," Annabeth said, starting when she realised she had said it out loud.
Sally's eyes were twinkling. "Tyson, I'm sure you have a few left. Do you mind sharing?"
"Of course I shall share!" Tyson said, almost roaring with excitement that he would be eating with both his brother and his new friend. "They are almost as good as peanut butter!"
He disappeared into the main room again, things fell to the ground and the sound travelled to a slightly concerned and bemused Annabeth.
The rest of the day was spent in the room of the toddler, what was left of the suns passage anyway. Percy made the young Princess laugh, mimicking some of Tyson's more entertaining particulars and then doing a scarily accurate representation of the rulers of all of the kingdoms.
He was halfway through the Reyna sketch when the door was met with a knock.
Sally, who sobered the first, walked over, announcing, when she came back, that the young prince was to now go to bed, and that dinner was being set in the Grand Hall.
It was then that Perseus and Annabeth took their leave, bidding the other characters of that afternoon a cheery goodbye, the oil lights lit and candles decorating the clearer surfaces in the main room.
The Hall was rife with buzzing voices when Percy and Annabeth arrived.
Voices that only heightened in volume when they entered together.
Annabeth frowned, only slightly, and mostly on the inside, but frown she did. She had almost forgotten the obsession some of the members of the court had with trivial matters and gossip. For such blessed people, who had been given everything when the lands had changed hands, you would have supposed, and rightly expected, that they'd at least attempt intelligence and reserve. They sipped flutes of champagne and gossiped about old news while young children cried in orphanages, wondering when someone would start looking out for them.
It was a world that seemed no different from the world of before, to Annabeth. The slightly lesser of two evils. The smarter of two sins.
She was given a chair next to Percy, who looked equally uncomfortable with the curiosity presented towards his disappearance and hers throughout the majority of the day.
Annabeth felt as though if one person made an insipid comment close enough for her to hear, she'd snap, scream at them and forever tear the good relationship that would be developed between Skyla and Esther through this union.
"Wine?" Percy asked, passing down the jug. "You might look but slightly less constricted if you're slightly intoxicated."
Annabeth frowned again. "I do not look constricted-"
"Unfortunately, sweet Princess, you do," Percy said, grinning as he used 'sweet Princess' to patronize her.
"Well you look as if you have drunk far too much wine," she sniped back, miffed.
Percy's grin spread wider. "What are you saying? This is but the face I usually have."
Annabeth tried to hide her smile by sipping from the glass of water in front of her, but Percy caught the humour, an easy glint in her eye.
"Ah! Success! I have made the princess laugh. My life is fulfilled."
Annabeth poured herself a glass, spared him naught but a careful glance out of the side of her eye and started a boring and dead-end conversation with the duchess to her left, about the recent price of silk.
Percy had not much chance to continue harassing her for conversation, as the King and Queen were announced and all were commanded to stand. As soon as Poseidon had greeted everyone with a warm smile, and Amphitrite with a cold curtsy, the first course was served and Percy's mouth was distracted by the flavours Maureen had wrought over the setting to badger at the blonde Princess of Skyla for much longer, even if that badger was only to see her smile again.
Annabeth, no longer occupied by the antics of the young prince, then found time to look around herself, at the paintings on the walls, at the gowns worn by the women and that of the men, and then the ceiling, where a mosaic of ancient gods celebrated a feast.
Servants stood by heavy wooden doors, open to the corridors that lead off through the other areas of the castle. Annabeth was surprised at the number of guests, and once careful with her inspection of the clothes of those she was surrounded with, noticed some who seemed very overwhelmed by the kind kings hospitality.
She finally decided to elicit some conversation to the, as between their conversations, quiet prince.
"Who are they?" She inquired, tilting her head subtly and turning her eyes.
Percy looked at who she was talking of with much less tact then her. "Oh, yes, the Invitees. Every family in Esther is asked to one dinner, asked to send only one person to enjoy a night of the kings hospitality. It was a very popular notion when announced."
"So they will come here to eat..." Annabeth began.
"And sleep, and relax, and read," Percy continued for her. "For one day."
"Who of the family usually comes?" Annabeth asked.
"The eldest," Percy said, and Annabeth glanced over and affirmed that many of the men and women seated there were getting well on in life. "Or the sickest."
Annabeth looked pensive for a moment. "That's fantastic."
Percy looked as though he was agreeing with her, but not at the same time.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You disagree?"
"Well, it is simply that..." Percy set his lips and tried to think of the right words to say. "Why should they need to be shown this needless splendour? Why should they be so utterly grateful, as well? Should they not have food enough at home that they do not need, as a snake, to gorge themselves here and hope that it lasts longer than a few days?"
Annabeth's eyes widened as she understood. "Why have the dinners, if you could just close the gap."
Percy looked relieved as she summarised what he had been trying to say. "Precisely."
"You have not brought this up with your Father?" Annabeth asked, tugging slightly at the fork that was sitting, finished, in the middle of her plate.
Percy shrugged, looking down, as if suddenly shy. "I do not want to so easily dash ideas he thinks are good ones."
"He might appreciate it," Annabeth said, almost wanting to place her hand on his arm.
Percy looked doubtful. "My Father is one of the few nobles I would respect, Annabeth. I would not have him think that I do not care for him."
Annabeth didn't want to push the conversation any further, she had heard stories about the king and his mood swings, wondering if she would ever see a dark side of him, or whether they would never properly meet at all. The Tempest, was this king of Esther, as called by the people of the Lands.
And one cannot reason with a storm.
Thanks for reading!