Welcome to another fic by yours truly. Gunna jump right through this intro and into the story as quick as possible. This is obviously a PJO and GOT crossover. Percy and Annabeth are reborn as the trueborn children of Robert and Cersei. Changes ensue.

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Lets get into the story.


Chapter One

The Royal Twins

Cersei nearly wept as she held the two babes in her arms. Their birth had been difficult. Pain unlike any she could have imagined had wracked her body for hours longer than she had thought humanly possible. However now at the end she could understand why other women would be willing to go through it again and again. She was at least.

Her sweet babes, twins like herself and Jaime, laid in her arms. The boy had his father's black hair and the girl had her own golden locks. From there their eye colors switched to match the opposite parent. With the boy's green looking around in apparent awe of this new world he had been brought into and the pale, almost grayish blue eyes of her daughter staring up at her.

"Cersei." Jaime murmured from nearby, finally bringing her out of staring at her children.

"They're Robert's." She said simply to him. The room was clear save for the two of them and the two little children.

Jaime's expression darkened considerably but he did his best to hide his angry thoughts from her. Like always he failed and Cersei knew he was disgusted at the thought of Robert fathering children on her at all. She wasn't exactly pleased about it either but she was happy enough that the oaf had taken her if it gave her these two little bundles of joy in her arms.

"They're mine more though. Look, the girl's eyes aren't quite the same blue as her fathers. Diluted perhaps." Cersei said, trying to quell any foolish thoughts in her brother that could lead to a fight.

"And the boy? He's a Baratheon through and through."

Cersei frowned at him. The prodding nature of his question and the intense look he had directed at her son. She thought perhaps he would try to imagine the girl as his own, but it would be impossible with her son.

"His father's hair and my eyes. You had best fetch Jon Arryn, brother." Cersei said sweetly. Jaime needed to be away from her children until he had relaxed.

"By your leave, your Grace." Jaime snarked before leaving.

The exhausted Queen could only sigh. She didn't have it within her at the moment to be dealing with anything but her babies. She wasn't fond of Jon Arryn but at least if he was here she could put off Jaime's petulant attitude that would no doubt rear its head now that he knew Robert's seed had beaten his own.

She turned her attention fully to her children who had taken to staring at one another now and entwining their tiny little hands together. A smile spread across her pallid lips as she leaned down to press a kiss on the forehead of each of her children.

As she did so an odd feeling passed through her. A sudden bout of nausea and dizziness. Then as quickly as it had come it was gone, but both her sweet twins were now staring up into her eyes steadily. Giving her their full attention.

It was a surreal moment for the young queen. The children seemed to be enraptured by her, just as she was by them.

That was the scene the Hand of the King had found when he came into the Queen's chambers. The familiar scent of sweat and blood filled his nose, but this was far from the battlefields he had partaken in. There was no death to accompany the smells. Just the soft burbling sounds of two infants and the cooing sound of a mother.

Jon could almost forget this woman was the daughter of Tywinn Lannister and every bit as conniving and cruel as her father. She looked almost like the Mother herself or perhaps the Maiden. The way she looked down toward her children softened the old Arryn's heart marginally toward her. He supposed simply being a Lannister did not make her truly vile.

After all, the babies in her arms were clearly fathered by Robert. The dark hair of one confirmed it and upon closer inspection the blue eyes of the other reminded him of the King as well.

"Your Grace." He softly called out, causing the woman to look up at him.

"Oh, Lord Hand…I didn't hear you come in." Cersei said quickly, adjusting herself to cover what she could of her modesty.

"Forgive me. Your brother said you had given birth to twins and called for me. They both look quite healthy. The blonde is the girl, yes?" He asked while putting on his most grandfatherly of smiles.

Cersei relaxed ever so slightly. She could at the very least trust Arryn to do whatever was best for her children. If only because they were also Robert's.

"She is. Robert is still out on the hunt?" She asked.

"Yes, it seems he wishes to start a tradition of gifting his wife and newborn with a fresh kill." Jon said awkwardly, knowing that Cersei would find that distasteful at best.

"How…kind, of my husband." She said not trying to reveal the uncaring truth of her reaction.

"Yes, well while it's normally the father that helps to name the child or I suppose children, I believe it's best you go ahead and name them. I know the grandmaster was growing rather anxious down the corridor waiting to record the names and features of the new Royal twins." Jon suggested.

Cersei glanced at him before glancing at her children once more and smiling. She initially intended for any son to carry the name Joffrey and any girl the name Myrcella. Good westerlands names. Now though new names formed in her mouth.

"My daughter's name is Annabeth. And my son, the heir is Perse-..Percival." She said as if fighting through a slight daze.

Jon almost thought he imagined it. She had immediately gone back to cooing over her children and seemingly becoming more mesmerized by them by each moment. He again felt his heart warm faintly toward the young Queen. She was difficult to remain wary of with her beauty alone. With the loving looks she sent toward her babies though it was practically impossible to consider her a political threat.

The Lord Hand knew better though and quietly excused himself to have the names and features of Percival and Annabeth Baratheon recorded.

With Robert's heir now born and a daughter as well, the new era of Baratheon rule had just become much more secure.


The twins were strange. There were a great many superstitions surrounding the birth of twin children. Usually they were just wives tales or the obvious closeness that two children born at the same time from the same womb would naturally have.

Not so with the Royal twins though. Normality for them was a relatively strained term. Even their mother and father knew that there was simply something abnormal about them. Though it wasn't a bad thing really.

Percy and Annabeth were inseparable. A fact that had delighted Cersei even if it had initially annoyed Robert. The king hadn't cared much about his daughter after all. No, all his attention went to his son and heir at least briefly. By the twin's third birthday any interest he had in any of his children had evaporated.

Whoring and drinking were far more interesting than little needy children. Not that Percy and Annabeth were all that needy.

They were abnormal after all. Gifted perhaps. They didn't move or think or talk normally. Cersei knew better than any others in the Red Keep about the abnormalities that were her children.

It was curious to her but she didn't care. Since they had come into this world they had become her life. As she watched them grow, she knew they were special. More special than simply being the Prince and Princess of the Seven Kingdoms.

The first real evidence she'd had about it had been when they had told her of their dreams. Initially they seemed like simple nightmares. But sadly they never stopped and her poor darlings were tormented by them nearly every night.

As time passed the dreams became clearer and clearer. Terrifying in their detail. Horrifying in their content. Finally Cersei came to believe they were more than normal dreams. She'd had a suspicion for a time before that but wanted it not to be true.

She brought a Septa up to hear of the dreams from her children. While the holy woman seemed bothered she also claimed they were merely dreams. What was more worrying was the way she condemned the parts of her children's dreams centered around these gods that both helped and hurt them. The Septa was adamant that belief in such heathen figures was the root cause of the children's trouble.

When Annabeth had asked to never tell anyone about their dreams ever again, Cersei had agreed happily. The Septa found a sad end to a band of cutthroats while passing nearby fleabottom a day later, and the dreams of her twins became a thing spoken of only between herself and the two of them.

That wasn't the last or only thing that made the Queen realize her firstborn were perhaps divinely touched. The two of them seemed unnaturally gifted. Annabeth was far more clever than any child had a right to be and devoured knowledge at a level that bothered her tutors. Rumors of her even wishing to seek entry into the ranks of the maesters had circulated despite them being an order of males only. Of course when asked Annabeth had simply said she had little interest in joining a group of close minded, stuck up, old men. Despite that, Cersei was happy to ensure she could get her hands on any book or time she desired anyway.

Percy was gifted as well. Both children lacked the usual clumsiness a small child would normally have. But while Annabeth was more dexterous than she should have been, Percy was stronger and more agile than Cersei could believe.

Of course the moment his father had realized, Robert had slapped him into some padded training armor, many sizes too big, and set him to training in the yard.

The many other boys in training had hidden smirks and small chuckles at seeing the prince in such a state. Those smirks were short lived when Percy began to absorb his lessons with ease.

Many seemed to believe that Percy had inherited his father's gift for combat and war. Cersei and his twin knew better though. Robert was a brute with all physical force and power. Percy was a being of grace as well as power. He almost reminded Cersei of Rhaegar Targaryen. She was wise enough to never say so. Not that it mattered. Others saw the similarities, none more so than Robert and once again the King lost any real interest in his heir and returned to his drinking and whoring.

Shortly after her twins had both turned eight, they had both come to her demanding that Annabeth be given the chance to learn martial skills as well. Cersei wasn't fooled.

By now the Queen had noticed that her twins were walking a path toward a similar point she had. They were just little children now but Annabeth had her brother wrapped entirely around her finger. She knew that she should have set them straight before they grew old enough to become curious, but when it came to her twins, Cersei was far from the lioness that the rest of the Red Keep knew to keep wary of. Even her other children knew not to push her too far, but Percy and Annabeth got practically whatever they wanted.

Perhaps it was a little because Annabeth reminded her so much of herself or at least what she saw as herself. Percy…Well he was like the perfect blend of Baratheon and Lannister. Not to mention, the most typical insult sent his way was that he was a momma's boy. Glued to her side and always trying to make her happy.

What was wrong with that though? Her son was just a dutiful and noble prince caring for his queen mother. Cersei was certain all sons should strive to be half the loving son her precious boy was.

Between her twins though Cersei had a great difficulty in saying no to anything. That was how Annabeth began receiving some lessons that would normally be reserved for her sons only. Robert didn't care though and Jon Arryn was amusingly enough convinced of the decision by Annabeth and Percy themselves.

Now Annabeth took part in practically every bit of training her brother did, although she did far less of the physical studies that he had. She could very clearly defend herself though. Sparring with a few boys around her age had humbled them fully and a few had been outright humiliated by the princess. Of course word about such things had spread and so all manner of rumors about both of the twins abounded just adding to the abnormal nature most people in the realm considered them with.

As the twins grew so did the responsibilities that they had to bear. As well as the amount of eyes focused on their every action. With their tenth name day their grandfather came to King's Landing to ostensibly celebrate. Of course Cersei knew it was more likely for the Old Lion to assess his grandchildren than anything else.

Like herself, Tywin could tell there was something unnatural about the children. He didn't know all that she did. He didn't love them like she did either, he simply saw the chance of his legacy being heralded into the next era with Percy and Annabeth leading the way.

He was far less pleased with Joffrey, the boy he was to take back with him to foster at the Rock. He was a vile brat and petulant. The Lannister patriarch intended to whip him into shape harshly. He even openly struck the second born prince when he had whined about being "commanded like a common servant" by his grandfather. The child had seemed stricken when no one, not even his parents argued against such an action.

Cersei felt somewhat guilty about how she had handled things with her second oldest son. He was after all the first of her pure Lannister children. Fathered by her own twin.

She still had far less time or energy to give him than she likely should have. Her focus was and always would be on Percy and Annabeth after all. Even if they didn't truly need it being as they were quickly coming into their own in court even at the tender age of ten.

Still, she felt guilty as she said her goodbyes to both Tywin and Joffrey. The guilt mostly came from the fact that her thoughts were focused elsewhere. With her twins as they were recently met with distaste from the High Septon and the rest of the Church of the Seven. It was to be expected though, both Percy and Annabeth had openly announced their faith in the old gods of the first men and even found the money to have a somewhat undersized weirwood transplanted into the Red Keep's Godswood. There had been nothing more than old oaks prior to that.

Robert had thought it was all quite humorous, but Cersei had seen the church turn the people against nobles for far less. She stood by them though. Even as they knelt in the dirt before that eerie white tree and carved a face into its trunk.

That was likely the first time she had felt worried about how independent and strong her twins were. They spoke their minds, did as they wished, and expected the world to bend to their will. Of course, they were in their right to expect as much. She raised them to that belief. One day Percy would be King and Annabeth would always be the one leading whatever house she married into. She was far too clever and willful not to.

The twins continued to grow up before their mother's eyes. Before long they were young adults and spent more and more time away from her. She felt almost abandoned. Even as she tried to remind herself that it was natural.

Myrcella and Tommen were happy to have their mother doting on them for a change now that the twins seemed to desire their independence more. She did love all her children. Perhaps not equally but surely every parent had their favorites.

Slowly but surely Cersei became aware that perhaps her eldest children had distanced themselves for another reason though. She was conflicted when it proved to be true. The twins were like herself and Jaime in more ways than she had expected. She knew that once again the proper thing to do would be to separate them. To stop them before the curiosity of two sixteen year olds led to the church having even more reason to hate her children.

She couldn't though. It was abnormal yet every time she thought about it her own mind filled with thoughts she knew to be wrong. Almost as if she wanted them to wed like the Targaryens had. It echoed her own dreams when she was their age.

It was too far. Too much. Instead she simply made sure that Annabeth was careful about it. The more responsible of the two. Then she turned a blind eye. At least for now.

It seemed the right decision. Her twins were happier and spent far more time with her once again after they knew that she knew about their time together. She didn't simply dump her youngest children once the twins had returned to her of course but she once again felt involved in their lives completely.

Well almost completely.

Annabeth and Percy knew that they would one day run the kingdom. Percy had already made it clear his twin's words were his own in nearly everything and so together they had already embarked on the task of bettering their future kingdom.

Kingslanding received the lion's share of their attention. Rightly so being as it was their seat of power and needed much done to improve it. They helped the common folk where they could, earning more favor with them than Robert or his predecessor had while doing so.

Annabeth seemed particularly interested in building and she happily tore apart the dragon pits used by the Targaryens and used the material and space to begin rebuilding the housing areas for the people. It provided work and thereby income to a huge amount of people in the city that had been falling gradually into deeper poverty by the day.

They had converted the top of Rhaenys hill from the Dragon pit into an arena. It doubled as a theater and even occasionally as a market. However it's greatest draw were the fights. Some of the greatest fighters in the realm came to duel one another and massive amounts of wealth changed hands alongside the games. The crown of course took its cut in every transaction.

Percy had made a name for himself. His black tinged armor and skill in a fight had made him an idol for the commoners. Much to the chagrin of the High Septon. Still the income from the weekly fights helped marginally with the many debts that the Seven Kingdoms found themselves in.

It would never be enough though. The crown was far too deeply in debt despite all that they made. Annabeth couldn't figure out exactly why that was though. She had tasked her grandfather figure Jon Arryn to look into it.

He seemed to know more about the twins than he was comfortable with and had distanced himself over time. Still he was happy to help Annabeth as she tried to help the realm.

He never finished his investigation though. He had been interested in several establishments across the city including the remaining slums of flea bottom and had managed to catch a fever. He was dead in a matter of no time at all and the Royal twins were left with questions unanswered and an obvious problem on their hands.

Sadly, their father felt it was a good time to pull them away from any projects or tasks they had and march the entire family north to Winterfell. They would even be joined by their brother Joffrey on the way up and he would return to King's Landing with them.

The Twins weren't so sure that was a good plan, though their mother was quite excited to have all her children back home.

—-

It had taken far longer than even Annabeth could predict for their party to reach the ancient walls of Winterfell. What's more she found herself more often than not locked up within the oversized wheelhouse alongside her mother and youngest siblings. At least since Joffrey had seen Percy on horseback he had insisted on remaining on horseback as well rather than riding with them. Several of their company had been murmuring about how much Joffrey had changed since being taken under her grandfather's wing.

Annabeth suspected that wasn't completely true. He still eyed Percy with utter loathing, and spoke down to his siblings with complete disrespect. He was quieter now though. Smarter as well. That was worrying to her more than she had expected Joffrey ever could be. Especially when he had made a point of loudly saying prayers to the seven, especially when others were nearby. Putting on a wonderful show for the devout members of the royal party.

"Annabeth, look, the walls are so much taller than I thought they would be. Joffrey said they would be falling over because they are so old." Tommen caught his eldest sister's attention.

The blonde turned her eyes up to look at the cold stone of the northern fortress. She was impressed. She'd wanted to study the projects of Bran the Builder for quite some time. She was a student of architecture herself, despite it being considered rather unsavory for a princess to obsess over such things. She didn't much care though. Between her mother and her brother, Annabeth was largely safe from anyone openly speaking ill of her. If the Crown Prince didn't skin you the Queen made sure you drowned in some well. Both seemed like such personable people publicly but they showed their real faces when someone demeaned their family.

Annabeth often liked to consider herself the reasonable counter to her more emotional brother and mother. Perhaps not always, she knew she had her flaws, but compared to them, especially to her mother she more or less appeared the less extreme of the royals. Such a reputation had its unique uses. Like the fact that when someone wanted something from her brother they had slowly started to gravitate to trying to curry favor with her to acquire the Prince's approval.

The Princess blinked as she refocused on the excited face of her baby brother. With a laugh she pulled him into her lap and pressed a kiss to his hair before turning her eyes to look at her mother and sister. Myrcella, like Tommen, had focused her attention toward the ancient fortress as they approached. Her mother, though, was simply smiling fondly as she watched Annabeth hold Tommen in her lap.

"I imagine Winterfell's walls will outlast almost any other holdfast in all the realm. Some say there's magic imbued into the castle itself." She said with a smirk as the little boy's eyes widened and he gently pushed up beside his other sister to keep looking at the looming form of the North's capital.

"Magic?" Cersei asked with a small smile of her own knowing that Annabeth wasn't normally one to include the fantastical in her tales for her siblings. Then again Annabeth had made it quite clear she had faith in both magic and the old gods even if it was a rare topic of discussion.

"It wouldn't be the most unbelievable thing. If Bran the Builder really did have the Wall constructed and built Winterfell as well I don't see why he could have used magic for one and not the other."

"Legends. You and your legends." Cersei said, feigning an exasperated sigh. Truthfully she was happy to see her eldest daughter be more than the breeding stock expected of ladies and princesses. Even if it meant odd quirks, and fascination with things that seemed pointless.

"All legends start somewhere mother." Annabeth replied with a chuckle.

"Oh! Father and Percy just rode past. They must be moving up to the head of the line." Myrcella said happily. She, like the rest of them, was enticed by the prospect of finally getting out of the wheel house for a time.

Annabeth tried to smother the sigh bubbling up from her chest, though she didn't quite manage to quell it fully. Her mother patted her hand consolingly, having once felt much the same as Annabeth currently did. Even if the Princess had received quite the freedom to do as she pleased, she remained ever the princess and a certain level of standards were required. So she wouldn't ever get to be out there riding alongside Percy as she longed to. At least she could ride with him when they were back home in King's Landing.

As much as she enjoyed the sights of such ancient villages and castles, she missed her time spent alone with her brother back in the capital.


Arya Stark knew she would be getting a tongue lashing from her mother but the excitement of seeing the king's contingent making its way up the road toward the castle. A long line of pennants and banners trailed along the wide open countryside. She had never seen such a large party of riders and carriages.

As the first of the riders made it into Winter town she decided it was best not to tempt fate, or rather the wrath of her lady mother. Luckily she knew both Winter Town and Winterfell like the back of her hand, so unlike the riders coming in along the road, she could cut straight away to the gathered members of the Stark household.

When she had arrived, her father caught her first and snatched the old helmet off of her head before ushering her into line alongside her sister. She might have preferred to stand over with Jon out of the way. She was interested in the royals but she didn't really want to be front and center like Sansa.

The elder of the Stark girls had made it quite clear that she wanted to try and catch the eye of the Crown Prince. After all, as the eldest daughter of one of the Lord's Paramount she was one of the best matches for him. Arya didn't find the idea of marrying some boy and becoming a proper lady very appealing though. Even to the future king of westeros.

Almost the same moment she thought that the Crown Prince himself rode into the courtyard. Sansa quite clearly liked what she saw, staring and smiling at the young man with a goofy smirk. The prince didn't seem to notice though. He smiled faintly at all of the Starks in attendance.

He struck the look of a prince well. Thick waves of black hair, bright green eyes, and a tall lithe build. Sansa practically swooned at the sight of him, even more so when he was joined by his younger brother. The second prince was not as tall or strong looking as his brother but he too was very handsome, though his hair was the gold of the Lannisters like the rest of the royal children were said to be.

Arya rolled her eyes at the looks her sister was sending the way of the princes. She was more interested in the hulking black armored brute beside the younger prince. A man wearing armor forged to look the part of a snarling hound.

The aptly named hound was supposed to be the spare prince's sworn shield and a vicious warrior. He was far more imposing than the Kingsguard that were there, however the white cloaks they wore did make them look like the knights from children's tales that Old Nan would tell them all.

Arya's attention turned to a massive wheelhouse that ambled into the courtyard next, and then following it the King himself. She was rather disappointed in him. Still, like the rest of the House of Stark, she followed her father's lead as he took a knee before the king. She even made sure to stay on her best behavior and not laugh when a pair of servants moved forward to place a stool down to help the king off of his horse.

The mammoth of a man stomped over to her father and stopped to stare at him a moment before motioning for them to stand. Despite looking so fat, the king was still massive and a bit intimidating as his stony face regarded her father.

"Your Grace." Lord Stark said with a slight bow of his head.

The King continued to stare at him for a moment.

"You got fat." He bit out rudely.

The courtyard seemed to tense at that before Stark made a point to glance at the King's rather pronounced gut. Neither man lasted long after that and broke into laughter before embracing one another tightly. From there he warmly greeted Arya's mother with a hug of her own and a loud drawl of 'Cat!'.

"Ned, Nine years. Why haven't I seen you? Where the hell have you been." He asked the Lord of Winterfell moving back to face him once more.

"Guarding the North for you, your Grace." Ned said with a grin. Arya turned her attention back to the wheel house where the crown prince was helping the Queen, his youngest brother, and the two princesses out of the carriage.

Likewise Sansa focused on the royal family. They were all very pretty, just as royalty was supposed to be, she guessed, but they didn't interest Arya all that much and so she turned her eyes back to scouring the royal party looking for interesting members to gawk at.

"Where's the imp?" She asked.

"Would you shut up?" Sansa bit out at her little sister.

King Robert began making his way down the line of Starks at this point.

"What have we here? You must be Robb." Robert said as he shook the heir of Winterfell's hand.

"Ah, you're a pretty one." As he passed by Sansa.

"Your name is?" He asked Arya as he paused to lean down to her level.

"Arya." She replied. He nodded then moved on to Bran.

"Oh, show us your muscles." He said getting the boy to flex his thin arms.

"You'll be a soldier." The king said with a wheezing chuckle. Bran clearly delighted in that, and Arya had to say, despite being so fat the King wasn't so bad after all.

Arya however had already returned to skimming the faces of the royal party. One Kings Guard removed his helmet and Arya whispered to her sister that it was the queen's twin only to be told to shut up once more.

Speaking of the Queen, she and the rest of the royal family had been led by the crown prince over to the Starks. The woman offered her hand to Arya's father allowing him to kiss her knuckle and bow his head with a soft 'my queen'. Catelyn followed soon after with a deep bow of her own repeating her husband's words.

"My Prince and Princess." They continued the process bowing to the royal twins.

"Lord and Lady Stark." Percy greeted warmly. The Princess smiled just as warmly and as she allowed Arya's father to kiss her knuckle as well, Arya noticed that despite wearing a fancy gown like her mother, the Princess had a very large dagger belted along her waist.

Even here in the North they had heard rumors of the royal twins. How Prince Percy was so skilled in his use of weapons and made it clear he was a follower of the old gods, just like Arya's father and most people of the North. Arya of course had been more interested in the rumors regarding the princess. She was said to train to fight like her brother.

It was disappointing to see her in a dress, but the fact that she had a weapon at all had definitely garnered her interest. The sudden glare she saw from the Prince and Princess directed at the king brought the youngest Stark daughter out of her thoughts.

With a jerk of his head and a call of 'Ned' the King strode off followed somewhat hesitantly by her father. Arya was a bit surprised by the reactions of the Prince and Princess until she noticed the agitated expression of the Queen. She was quite good at hiding it, but Arya had seen the same expression on her own mother's face practically every time Arya or her other siblings had spent time with Jon.

Her attention was stolen away from the royals as she and the other children of House Stark were ushered off by her mother. That is except for Robb who took a moment to introduce himself to both the Crown Prince and his twin sister. Arya almost rolled her eyes at the way her older brother tried to impress the Princess. She was polite but didn't seem all that interested in Robb. Her focus remained almost entirely on her and Arya's father's as they made for the crypts.

As much as Arya wanted to go and talk with the princess, her own mother seemed to find that entirely unnecessary and insisted that she would see both of the princesses over the next several days as they joined them for their studies and things like needlepoint. That was bound to be awful but perhaps the inclusion of the royals would make it a little bearable. Especially with Princess Annabeth's reputation.

With Robb leaving after Prince Percy seemed to be stepping between him and his twin sister, Arya left the courtyard with a smile despite only having stitching and the like to look forward too.


Percy didn't necessarily dislike the North. The weather wasn't exactly his favorite but it was better than he imagined the dry desert of Dorne likely was. The countryside itself seemed nice. Some good open spaces that would be perfect for riding.

Unfortunately he didn't have much opportunity to enjoy that aspect of this land. Instead he had to contend with the niceties of meeting the Lord Paramount and his family and playing the role his birth had forced on him. He had hoped to lean heavily on Annabeth and Cersei to handle such troubles for him for the most part while he tried to slip into the background. The young heir to the North would not allow that though.

While Percy didn't necessarily dislike the North he also didn't necessarily like its future ruler. If he were honest with himself it was because he greatly disliked the way the boy looked at Annabeth. Or spoke to Annabeth. Or said Annabeth's name.

The Prince was already annoyed by his father's newest if admittedly tiny slight against his mother. Adding the sudden pulse of petty jealousy he felt toward the Stark didn't help. Thankfully Annabeth and his mother separated them before he did something that was unbefitting the Crown Prince.

He could at least rely on them for that.

"Oh calm down Percy you're acting like a child…or worse like father." Annabeth said as they gained some privacy.

"That's too far." Percy grumbled though he did relax at the feeling of his sister's hand gently brushing down his arm.

"That really is too far, Annabeth." Cersei chided.

"He knows he has nothing to worry about from Robb Stark; he just needs to get over himself." Annabeth said teasingly before pushing a finger into her brother's side making him squirm out of her way.

Percy smiled faintly as his mother tittered at their by play. He and Annabeth had perfected the art of distracting their mother from the words and treatment of their father. Cersei might cuckold her husband just as he shamed her, but she couldn't openly show him the disrespect that he bombarded her with.

"I still dislike the way the Stark heir looks at you. You know my wishes." Percy said as his mind turned toward the source of his jealousy.

"And you know my plans to make those wishes come true." Annabeth replied easily before kissing Percy softly on the cheek. Here, they couldn't afford to act improperly without being certain of their surroundings.

"Then the little whispers you've had father hearing since we left for this frigid hole had best work their magic." Percy said, causing Cersei to raise her brow.

"Well kept secret sweet brother. Mother, I promise to explain tonight if you're up to visit my chambers tonight." Annabeth said with a look toward the woman.

"Once I've tucked in Myrcella and Tommen I would be happy to spend a little time with you before bed." Cersei easily responded.

Percy turned his attention out the small window looking into the castle yard below. It was small enough to help with defense but did provide some view to the stunning and legendary Winterfell. He looked forward to the start of the feast tonight and hoped to get some time in the training yard the next day. Unfortunately he also expected that he would be spending tonight away from his lovely sister and that was…annoying.

"Off you go to prepare for the feat. We have to make sure our hosts are happy with our participation." Cersei began to usher her children off.

Percy rolled his eyes. He knew what was to be expected of him during the evening. Sitting and talking with Sansa Stark was going to be a boor. He could already tell the girl was drooling over him and his younger brother. He doubted she would have anything all that interesting to talk about. It would have been better if he was to sit with Robb and the bastard of Winterfell as well as the Greyjoy boy. He'd heard both of Ned Stark's eldest sons were gifted in fighting and the Greyjoy wasn't bad either.

Hopefully the next day he could be in the yard with them rather than seated with the girl he was certain his father was trying to betroth him to while they were here.

"Percy, I can already tell what you are thinking. You really need to work on controlling your face, it's like a book. I can read every line." Annabeth said as she slipped her arms around while they walked down the unexpectedly warm corridor.

"What does my book say?" He asked with a roll of his eyes. He knew better than to think he could hide even his deepest thoughts from her.

"You are dreading with cute little Sansa and having to pretend that you care about court and all the fancy things a girl like her enjoys." She replied.

"A girl like her only enjoys court because she hasn't seen what it's actually like. How you and mother find so much enjoyment in it I will never understand." He griped.

"It's the battlefield that we are allowed to show our strength on. The place where we can flex our muscles." She said.

"Yet you step into the yard more than any girl outside of Dorne." He replied.

"Hmm, but one day you will win glory and have your name etched into history because of your skill with a blade. I will at best be remembered for the Princess who never married but still bore children to an unknown man. Even when I am the one telling you how to run our kingdom. Politics is the only way I can be more than that." Annabeth said in a whisper so that only he could hear.

He frowned at that but nodded. He sometimes thought it would have been better if he and Annabeth had both been born boys. They wouldn't be close like they are now. Percy was not interested in men the way he was in his twin sister. However Annabeth would never be queen. Not really. Even though she was far better for the role than he himself was as far as he was concerned.

"Besides, she might be innocent but remember the plan. Eventually she won't be so naive and she might actually surprise you. We need to make sure we do things right though." Annabeth said as she tugged him along the hallway.

"Yes, your grace." He replied, getting a playful smirk in response. One that reminded him he needed to look around for a private place for the two of them during their stay.


The feast had been better than any Sansa had ever experienced before. She had been to a few, mostly when some of the more important bannermen her father lorded over had come to pay homage or some other event like her elder brother's birthday. Those had been enjoyable. Good food, lots of people, she could almost squint her eyes and imagine it was a feast in some southron holdfast.

Unfortunately the gruff, stoic, and honestly a bit savage people of her homeland always found a way to break that daydream. Whether it was the way they ate, the raucous laughter and crude jokes, or simply the looks of the men of the North, she could never quite picture what she imagined a southern gathering would be like.

Now though the royals themselves had come. She wondered if her mother felt a little embarrassed by the relatively humble looks of Winterfell and the North in general. After all she was herself originally from a southern court.

None of that mattered at the moment though. Instead she was to enter the feast, escorted by the Crown Prince himself. Everything that she imagined for him wrapped in a very real person was holding escorting her into the hall in front of all of the gathered parties of both Winterfell and the King. She couldn't fully keep the blush from her cheeks as they strode in, no doubt looking every bit the future King and Queen she imagined.

She hoped desperately that her father would talk to the King about a betrothal. She'd heard her mother discussing either herself being wedded to Prince Percy or Princess Annabeth being wedded to her older brother. She hoped that wouldn't be the case. Not that she would wish for a poor match for her brother, she just doubted they would be as good of a match as herself and Percy.

Annabeth as a little intimidating, like her mother but even more so. She thought maybe it was because of the rumors about her being able to put boys her age into their place at point of a blade with the King's blessing, or maybe the dagger belted to her waist even now. Sansa thought that it was more likely that it was those blue eyes. They seemed to follow her as the groups entered the hall.

She ignored Robb almost entirely and instead seemed to be measuring Sansa up. At first she felt rather frightened by such a thought before realizing that the princess was more than likely just judging whether or not Sansa would be a good fit for her brother. Practically everyone in Westeros knew that the royal twins were incredibly close.

The auburn haired girl did her best to fill the role her mother had prepared her for and was both attentive to the Prince and as courteous and lady like as she could manage. Prince Percy seemed to look to his sister for approval at times which Sansa only knew to confirm the fact that the Royal twins were far closer than she was with her own siblings. She almost wished that Robb treated her with the same weight that Percy seemed to treat Annabeth. Still her handsome prince was friendly and sweet and as they all enjoyed their meal told her plenty of stories about King's Landing just as she hoped he would.

His version of the city was a bit different than what she had imagined. Darker. Dirtier. However it sounded like Percy and his family were trying hard to improve it from the state that the Targaryens had evidently left it in. He seemed awfully wise and kind in how he spoke about the works for the city even if she wasn't all that interested in the construction of new housing or market places.

"I think besides the Red Keep you would be most interested in the Dragon's Pit arena. Most of the city's improvements have only been possible because the shows and tournaments held there have made so much money. It's a work of art too. Made from the old Dragon pits there that the Targaryen's used, it's been completely rebuilt and the skulls and bones of some of the beasts have been pulled out from their storage and built into the arena as decoration. Even the head of Balerion the Black Dread hangs beneath the royal viewing box. When you come to the capital I'll sit up there for some of the shows or duels." Percy said, causing Sansa to smile trying to imagine it all. It must be a spectacle. The roaring crowds, the ancient bones of dragons, and the majestic knights and warriors proving their worth.

"It sounds amazing." Sansa said with a smile before frowning as her little pest of a sister leaned forward with some question or other on her lips.

"Is Balerion's skull really as big as they say it is?" Arya asked, causing the Prince to turn away from Sansa to look at the younger girl and making the redhead frown a bit before regaining her proper ladylike smile.

"I would have to say even bigger. It's hard to picture how massive it is by words alone. I'd be happy to show both of you around to all the dragons or whatever is left of them." Percy said pleasantly before beginning to turn back toward Sansa.

"Do you really fight in the arena too?" Arya blurted out another question pulling the Prince's attention back to her and drawing a slight glare from Sansa.

"Yes. It's the best place to really test myself between when tournaments are held. My father makes sure that we never have to wait for long before another is held but it is still nice to compete when I wish to." Percy said with a genuine smile.

Sansa sighed slightly. The prince was too kind to not respond to Arya's stupid questions. Still it warmed her heart that he was so pleasant even if her sister didn't deserve it.

"Does your sister really fight and train with you?" Arya asked causing Sansa to scoff slightly.

"Arya, no lady actually fights. I'm sure the rumors are a bit of an exaggeration. They probably just mean the Princess has been taught to defend herself." Sansa corrected.

"I would say Annabeth can do more than just defend herself. She's better than a lot of the boys I've fought with in the past." Percy said as he sent a look toward his sister who was close enough to hear them despite the din of noise in the room. The blonde simply grinned back at her brother.

"That's unusual but-" Sansa began before trailing off as she noticed the prince suddenly look annoyed. She stammered a moment wondering what she had said wrong before her eyes followed the path of his look.

In the center of the room the King made no attempt at subtlety as he slid a hand up under the skirts of one of the servants and pulled her into his lap with a bellowing laugh. Clearly the king had no qualms about shaming his queen, and Percy and Annabeth were obviously none too happy. Sansa had to admit that Queen Cersei looked simply used to such action.

She sat up at the head table, stone faced and reserved. Every bit the gorgeous queen that Sansa had heard stories of. Though she could also see that the blonde woman was not enjoying herself even as she seemed to make small talk with Sansa's own mother.

Hoping to not only lighten the queen's mood but also perhaps draw herself into the good graces of the royal family as a whole, Sansa excused herself from her table and made for where Cersei and Catelyn both sat.

"Hello little dove." Cersei greeted Sansa as she stepped before them. "You are a beauty, how old are you?"

"Thirteen, your grace." Sansa replied.

"You're tall, still growing." The Queen said more as a question than the statement that it was.

"I think so your grace." Sansa meekly smiled.

"And have you bled yet?" The Queen asked next, causing both Sansa and her mother to startle slightly at the blunt manner of the question. The young girl looked to her mother for a moment but the Lady of Winterfell gave no reaction, leaving her daughter to answer as she would.

Slowly shaking her head and a bit more timidly she told the Queen no, that she hadn't yet. Cersei seemed unbothered by such a thing, as if her most recent question were as normal as all the rest. She even continued on asking Sansa if she had made her dress herself.

"Such a talent." Cersei said with a smile shared by Sansa who happily nodded. "You must make something for me."

Sansa nodded happily before quickly taking her leave, unsure of what else she could have offered for conversation to the Queen. She was now certain that she had been wrong earlier. The princess did still strike her as intimidating, but there was simply something odd in the way the beautiful Queen spoke that made Sansa practically want to keep her head bowed in her presence.

She wondered if she would possess such a quality if she could find herself as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

As she returned to her seat she found herself blushing and avoiding the eye of Prince Percy before he gently tapped her hand to grab her attention. It did nothing to calm the burning blush she was fighting back.

"Thank you for that. My mother needs distractions at times, life for nobles and royals is not as easy as some make it seem. I'm sure you already know that after all." Percy said with a warm tone.

"Of course. She shouldn't have to worry about…things as I am sure she does." Sansa replied.

"My parents are not very complicated people. My Father is a great warrior and a passionate man, and my mother is a great mother and a very protective woman of her family. I hope that myself and my siblings can possess the best of both of them. I'm sure you feel the same for your family." He asked.

"Yes." She said before she felt him gently push her aside and a spoonful of food went sailing past her head onto the floor. Arya groaned at having missed before Robb snatched her up to take her off to bed.

"Your sister is a wild one, you two must have a lot of fun together." Percy said with a chuckle.

Sansa didn't find the event funny at all, though she plastered on her best smile and gave her best tittering laugh. She didn't want to disagree with the boy when she might be his betrothed by the next sundown.

"Well, I think I will go for a walk. Perhaps your handmaiden and Septa would join us as I walk you back to your chambers?" Percy asked before Sansa caught him glancing toward Annabeth. The princess smiled and nodded approvingly, though at exactly what Sansa was unsure. She hoped it was at the prospect of her as a future sister.

"That sounds wonderful, I'll gather Jeyne and Septa Mordane and we can go. Thank you." Sansa said before stepping over to where the Septa was washing down her dinner with something a bit stronger than she probably should have and Jeyne was sneaking an extra cup of wine.

She frowned at them slightly but they were not about to ruin an opportunity to secure the attention of the Prince. She knew that it would take work to secure the position of Queen and she was willing to do it.

Though what such a role would entail for Sansa was nothing that she could ever imagine or prepare for.


That is a wrap. More to come soon, I promise that. We will see a little more at Winterfell next chapter before heading back to King's Landing. Lots of fun things to come, I plan on really taking the story my own route one that may be familiar but is also quite different than what we got in canon.

Anyway

Till Next Time