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gatesofember · 6 years

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Meadows of the Sea: Chapter 2

PJO Arranged Marriage/Royalty AU Part 7

Rating: M | Pairing: Percabeth, Jiper, Solangelo

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Summary: Prince Percy couldn’t be happier. After years of waiting, he is finally marrying the friend and lover he has been betrothed to since childhood. Prince Nico invites his fiancé to accompany him to the wedding, where he can’t help but dream about his own pending marriage. Prince Jason, who has been unable to secure a new engagement after Reyna’s rejection, may finally find the right woman to make his empress.

Nico and Will had arrived in Neptune a day before the wedding began. They hadn’t gotten much of a chance to explore the city on their own yet; Percy had taken the time to meet with Nico for a while and then Jason had accompanied them for the remainder of the afternoon. Nico had been obviously displeased about it, but Will hadn’t minded. Will thought Jason was easy to get along with. Besides, he knew that he would have plenty of time alone with his fiancé later on.

Will had never been with Nico for so long before. Other times they’d met, it had been for a few days at a time, a week at most. This time, however, they would be together for over a month—from the time Nico arrived in Phoebus, during their journey to Neptune, through Percy and Annabeth’s wedding festivities, until they went back to Pluto and Will left to continue his schooling in Venadica.

It had taken a day to travel by carriage to the Dianan coast. Reyna had been in the carriage with them while Hedge was seated on the outside with Mellie, supposedly acting as Nico’s guard. Mellie was accompanying Will as a chaperone after a suspiciously sudden change of plans made Chiron unable to leave Diana.

Reyna’s presence in the carriage left Nico and Will with a pleasant excuse to sit beside each other instead of opposite. However, it also made Will too nervous to enjoy their time together. He’d always been a bit intimidated by Reyna, but her rage following their disappearance in Delphi had terrified him. He had been careful to act like the perfect gentleman ever since.

Nico had not been so concerned. He had touched Will’s hand, then held it, then linked their fingers, which left Will’s mind occupied with uninvited images of holding and kissing him. He tried to subtly and politely communicate his discomfort, but Nico hadn’t appeared to have gotten the message. Reyna finally scolded them when Nico started to inch a bit closer, so then Nico had behaved for a little while. Soon after, however, he reached out and put his hand on Will’s and the cycle repeated itself. The third time Reyna intervened, she banned all unnecessary physical contact.

Naturally, that didn’t completely stop Nico. Will was beginning to understand that Nico did not enjoy being told what to do. He was somewhat glad for it, even if it did get Will in trouble now and then.

After reaching the Dianan coast, they’d gone the rest of the way by sea. Will had seen the Juvian coast and he had been on the water before, but sailing to Neptune was an entirely different experience. The Prata Pontonia had grown more beautiful the closer to Neptune they got, and Will fell more in love every second he spent with Nico. He suspected that the voyage from Diana to Neptune was not one that he would forget.

Will had entertained Nico with stories about his friend Leo’s silly ideas about using steam to propel boats through the water. They’d tried—and failed—to steal a few secret kisses when they thought no one was looking. They’d met clandestinely on the deck late in the evening, only to be caught by Reyna and Hedge. There had been a long lecture about their behavior before they were sent off to their private rooms onboard the ship, but when Nico smiled at him during breakfast the next morning, Will nearly forgot that it had even happened.

Nico was falling in love with him. He could hear it in Nico’s voice and he could feel it every time Nico reached out to touch him. When Nico looked at him, he gazed with an intensity like Will consumed his whole mind. Nico’s expressions had been so blunted at the beginning of their engagement, but Nico had begun to show Will so many new faces. There were gentle smiles like the ones he wore when talking about his sister, shy blushes that Will had never expected to see from the Prince, and serious, passionate faces that made Will feel like he was melting.

And Will was falling in love, too. He always had admired Nico, but something about the realization that his feelings were reciprocated made the entire thing so much more real. Could it be that Nico saw something in Will that was just as amazing as what Will saw in Nico? What did Will look like to Nico’s eyes? Did Will have the same effect on Nico’s heart that Nico did on his? Was it possible that Will occupied Nico’s mind even half as often as Nico occupied his? These were terrifying and alien ideas. Will still hadn’t quite been able to grasp that it was true: he was important—just as important as Nico.

I am in love and I am loved, Will had been telling himself every day since Nico had asked Will to kiss him. I am in love and I am loved.

They had arrived in Neptune the night before the wedding celebrations began and Reyna sent them both to their rooms, allowing them no time to explore the city. On the morning of the first day of the wedding, they met for a meal but separated to prepare for the evening’s masked ball. Mellie helped Will get ready, but she seemed very distracted by concerns about her own appearance, constantly checking her hair and the gathers on her skirts. Will suspected it had to do with Nico’s guard.

It was early in the evening when Will left with Mellie to meet Nico before the ball. Will was glad that he had time to compose himself while waiting for Nico to emerge from his quarters. He couldn’t stop looking at his coat for imaginary wrinkles or touching his hair, which Mellie had relentlessly managed to tackle into something somewhat tamed. Mellie had told him to stop. Will had responded to good-naturedly tease her about how she was similarly concerned with smoothing out her skirts.

Will hadn’t grown used to the mask on his face quite yet. Although Apollo had offered to have a new one made when Will learned that there would be a masked ball on the first day of the wedding, Will had asked if he could use an old one that belonged to Lee instead. He’d seen Lee wear it when he was still courting Lou Ellen and remembered being in awe of the golden sun emblem of the Dianan house that was on the forehead. Lee, having noticed how much Will loved the mask, had promised to pass it down to him. Lee’s nose was smaller than Will’s, however, so the mask didn’t lay quite right.

Will was still running his hands over his coat when the door opened and he immediately snapped his arms to his sides. “Your Highness,” he greeted with a bow, and then he looked up. Nico was wearing green, just like he had on the night they first met. His coat was lined in black and silver and his mask was green like his coat, with a vaguely reptilian texture that made him look terrifying—but still handsome.

Nico looked at him in silence. His expression was indiscernible and unnerving behind his mask. “Your Highness?” Will asked.

Nico cleared his throat. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear black,” he said.

“Oh,” Will said, glancing down at his own coat. “No, I don’t usually. But it is a masked ball. There’s no better time to pretend not to be yourself.”

Nico was quiet for a second, and Will hated that he couldn’t read Nico’s expression. “Yes,” Nico said, his lips finally smiling. “It has been a very long time since I have been to one.”

“Then I’m delighted to escort you,” Will said, offering his arm. Reyna hadn’t lifted the ban on unnecessary physical contact, but touching arms to escort each other was permitted. He glanced at Reyna and Hedge nervously to make sure he hadn’t done anything wrong. Hedge was too busy ogling at Mellie, who looked very pretty in her pale dress and mask, but Reyna seemed to be on high alert. She was also masked, but still wore the Sorority’s silver gown and looked as intimidating as ever. Despite Nico’s assurances that Reyna approved of him, Will always felt like he wasn’t meeting her expectations.

Reyna nodded to him, which Will took to mean that he had permission to continue, so he led Nico out of the guest wing. “You look stunning,” Will said, realizing that he’d forgotten to compliment Nico earlier. Hopefully, his absent mindedness hadn’t made him seem like a neglectful escort.

Nico was quiet for a moment and Will wondered if Nico had heard him. Then Nico cleared his throat and said, “Well, you...you look very...good.”

“Thank you,” Will said, deciding not to question Nico’s strange tone. He did wonder, though—was it because Will had complimented him? Will always felt flustered when Nico complimented him. Or perhaps Nico really meant what he’d said; he thought Will looked nice.

Will was glad that his mask would cover most of his blush. He still hadn’t quite grown used to the idea that Nico actually loved him and he hadn’t considered that Nico might find him attractive. Will knew that he wasn’t especially handsome, but it didn’t bother him much. His older brothers were the most attractive ones in the family, so Will wasn’t used to people commenting on his appearance; he was more often praised for his kindness. It was embarrassing and almost uncomfortable to think that Nico might consider him handsome. But he was also flattered, even if he did feel a bit confused.

“I don’t think Hedge will be a problem tonight,” Nico said in a low voice.

Will looked over his shoulder to see Hedge and Mellie whispering and blushing. It seemed that Hedge would be too occupied to pay them much attention.

“So we only have to worry about losing Reyna,” Nico continued.

Will couldn’t decide whether to sigh or laugh. “Your Highness, I am trying to make a good impression on Lady Reyna—”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve told you, Reyna knows I’m the troublesome one. I have years of practice sneaking.”

“I don’t her to be upset with you, either.”

“I can deal with it. Anyway, I think she’ll be more lenient tonight because of the masks.”

Will wondered if Nico was thinking about kissing him again. He hoped so. The first time they’d kissed, Will had been so overcome with a desire to wrap his arms around Nico and hold him that he’d almost given in. He had been careful not to overstep any boundaries, however; he hadn’t been absolutely sure what Nico wanted and he’d feared that he’d only ruin it.

The corridors were lined with guests outfitted in gorgeous costumes and the hall was already crowded when they entered. Will gawked at the blue and gold walls, the massive windows overlooking the sea, and the painted ceiling depicting Pontus and his children, but Nico hurried him along. “We’ll lose them in the crowd, just as we did the last time,” Nico was saying.

Will sighed, but followed him anyway. “And I do recall warning you last time that it was a bad idea to hide from the chaperones.”

“Yes, and you were wrong. It was a brilliant idea last time and it is brilliant this time. Didn’t you enjoy being alone in Delphi?”

Will blushed. “Of course I did,” he replied quietly. He knew that those secret first kisses would always be among his favorite memories.

Nico glanced over his shoulder again before leading Will to the chocolate fountain. Will reminded himself that he would have to mention it to Leo; he had never heard of filling a fountain with chocolate rather than water before. Percy was known for being rather extravagant when it came to celebrations. Although it had only just begun, Will suspected that Prince Percy’s wedding would be remembered for years to come.

Will left Nico for a moment to get cups of chocolate for Nico and himself. “I love Neptunian chocolate,” Will said as he offered Nico his drink. “In Diana, we import cocoa from Venus.”

“My mother grows cocoa, but even with our conservatories, Plutonian chocolate isn’t quite as good as Neptunian,” Nico replied. “Our weather isn’t right for it.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Will said. He’d had Plutonian chocolate in Venadica. “Nothing is ever quite as good when grown outside of its native range.”

“Cocoa is not native to Neptune,” Nico corrected. “The climate may be good for it, but cocoa comes from islands south of Aegyptia.”

“Does it?” Will asked. He really did need to pay better attention in his trade and economics lessons.

“Neptune merely made chocolate famous in the Romanus Terris,” Nico said. “Neptunians have a habit of claiming things that are not theirs. For another, Neptune is famous for its masked balls, but Pluto is where they originated.” The corner of Nico’s mouth quirked up, but his eyes remained unreadable behind his mask. Once again, Will felt a bit intimidated by the reptilian features obscuring Nico’s expression. But it was still Nico, whom Will had grown to not only admire but love. It was still Nico, whom Will had kissed in a hedge maze while smoke from fireworks cooled in the dark sky. It was still Nico, only wrapped back up in the mystery that had absorbed him before Will had grown to know him.

“Of course, masked balls are rare in Pluto now,” Nico continued, walking off towards the side of the hall like he was unaware of exactly how much he captivated Will. “I have not attended one since....”

Nico hesitated. Will thought he understood: Nico had not attended a masked ball since he was a child, since Pluto’s wealth was depleted, since the Scarlet Delirium ravaged his kingdom.

“Bianca and I used to play games when we donned our masks,” Nico went on after taking a sip of chocolate from his cup. “We would pretend to be legendary heroes or farmers or miners or even animals.”

Will couldn’t think of a response before Nico turned to look at him. His dark eyes were still beautiful and frightening and made Will stop in his tracks. Nico took a step closer to Will, so close that Will almost moved back. “I don’t see Reyna anymore,” Nico said.

The sudden switch in conversation confused Will for a moment. “Reyna...?” he asked, glancing around and realizing that Nico had led him to a less crowded corner of the room, where one wall was lined with windows and the other was paneled with gold.

“It has been a while since we managed to be alone,” Nico continued.

“Less than a week,” Will pointed out nervously as Nico stepped even closer—so close that they were only separated by the cups of chocolate they held in front of themselves. “And we aren’t really alone right now, so perhaps—”

“We are alone enough,” Nico said. “With masks, we can pretend.”

“Pretend...?” Will asked, looking over his shoulder again. He was almost relieved to spot a blond head in the crowd. Most of the guests had dark Neptunian hair, so Will did not have much trouble recognizing Jupiter’s prince. “I think that might be Prince Jason,” Will commented as he glanced back at Nico. “Would you like to—”

Nico’s lips set in a firm line. “No.”

“I really don’t understand why you dislike him so much,” Will said. After Nico had left the Expo that summer, Jason had extended a few invitations to dine with him, Thalia, and Annabeth. He had even gone to Will’s exhibit with Annabeth one morning and seemed genuinely interested in Will’s project. Will thought that Jason seemed very likable, but Nico disagreed whenever Will expressed that. Eventually, Nico had explained his discomfort with the fact that Jason had courted Reyna, but had admitted he knew his fear that they might resume their engagement was groundless.

“I don’t dislike him,” Nico replied in a bitter voice. “He’s very difficult to dislike. Did I tell you that he wrote to me a few times over the past several months?” He said it like he was scandalized by Jason’s insolence and resentful that Jason was so agreeable.

“His Imperial Highness seems like a very kind young man,” Will said, suppressing a smile. He found that Nico’s stubbornness could be quite endearing, even though it did sometimes confuse him.

Nico pursed his lips. “I’d much rather spend the evening with you,” he said, then his lips softened and he smiled up at Will.

Will had to wonder if Nico had only said that because he knew that it would silence any further arguments. Will hadn’t bothered to keep his admiration of Nico secret and Nico was clearly cunning enough to take advantage of that, as demonstrated by his tendency to cause trouble for his chaperone and guard. But Will also knew that even if Nico was taking advantage of Will’s feelings, he hadn’t lied. He did want to spend the evening with Will. And how could Will argue against that?

“Stop thinking about everyone else,” Nico said, setting his cup down on the ledge of the window beside them. “Are you trying to escape from me? Do you not want to be alone with me?”

Will was fairly certain that Nico was taunting him. Nico may not have had Will’s education, but he was intelligent and cunning. He must have known exactly what he was doing to Will.

“Of course I want to be alone with you,” Will said. “I only...I’m...I’m a bit nervous.”

“Why would you be nervous?”

“I don’t think I’m allowed—”

“Don’t think about what is allowed.” Nico’s hands slid over Will’s and brought Will’s cup to his lips. Will flushed when Nico took a long sip of chocolate, his dark eyes fixed on Will unblinkingly.

“Your Hi—” Will started.

Nico put his finger against Will’s lips to silence him. “Don’t call me that now. That’s the fun of masks, isn’t it? I’m not Prince Nico. You’re not Lord William.”

Will swallowed nervously as Nico’s finger slid back away, tugging gently at his lower lip. His eyes darted around, looking for either Reyna or Hedge and fearing their disapproval, but then Nico stepped even closer and Will’s worries disappeared. After all, it was a masked ball. If they were not the Prince and his fiancé, what did they need chaperones for?

“Who shall we be?” Will asked.

“You are a healer in a small town in Ceres,” Nico answered. “I am a local hunter. We have known each other all our lives and we’ve been friends since childhood.”

“Are we engaged?” Will asked in a whisper.

“Not yet.”

“Will we be engaged soon?”

Nico grinned. “That depends on how the game plays out. Are you prepared to woo me?”

“I’ll certainly try,” Will said, but he didn’t know how. Why had Nico wanted to kiss him in Delphi? What had Will done to make Nico start to love him?

“You must,” Nico said. “I’ve nearly given up on you. You’ve barely spoken to me this past year. We were so close when we were young, but then we suddenly grew apart. I hardly see you anymore; we only meet occasionally if we’re both in the square or I find an excuse to visit your clinic. What happened?”

Will wet his lips nervously. It wasn’t easy to be creative with Nico standing so close or with Nico’s bottomless eyes staring at him from behind a terrifying, reptilian mask. He thought back to times when he had played make believe with his siblings or his friends as a child. He remembered how just a few weeks ago Kayla had suddenly handed him a doll and demanded he play with her. He imagined the night that he had met Nico as a child, recalling how immediately he had been captivated by the other boy. Even the next morning, he hadn’t been sure if it had really happened or if he had made the whole incident up. For years after that, Nico had been a character in every childish fantasy Will made up. Will had been imagining silly stories of a life with Nico since he was only six years old, but had never expected that Nico would make up those stories, too.

“I suppose I was afraid,” Will said slowly. “I admired you even as a child, but you became so beautiful and strong as the years went by. I thought you had outgrown me, so I let us go our separate ways.”

Nico shook his head. “I didn’t want that.”

“Then what do you want me to do now?”

Nico didn’t answer immediately. He plucked Will’s cup from his fingers and set it beside his on the window ledge to be collected by the servants. “Ask me to dance,” Nico finally said. His fingers touched Will’s wrist and slipped down to hold Will’s hand. “We used to dance together as children, but we haven’t in so long. You didn’t even dance with me last Chronalia.”

It took Will a second to realize that Nico wasn’t talking about dancing as children in Aether’s Square at his aunt’s inauguration; he was still talking about their made-up life in Ceres.

“I was too nervous,” Will said, slowly starting to understand Nico’s game. “I loved dancing with you when we were children. We would dance together every time we heard music and sometimes when there was no music at all. But last Chronalia, I...I thought I would only burden you.”

“You made me feel so lonely. I thought you had tired of me.”

“Never, Your Highness.”

Nico put his finger against Will’s lips again. “You mustn’t call me that tonight, remember?”

“What shall I call you?” Will asked, his lips brushing against the pad of Nico’s finger. Without thinking, he took Nico’s hand but kept it close to his mouth. He barely was able to stop himself from kissing it.

Nico’s lips smiled, his eyes still dark and unreadable. “You will call me ‘dearest,’ and I will call you ‘treasure,’” he answered.

“‘Dearest,’” Will repeated. His thumb brushed over Nico’s hand. “My dearest.”

“My treasure,” Nico answered, then he pulled their hands away from Will’s mouth and towards his own to kiss Will’s knuckles. “Pretend we are celebrating my cousin’s wedding in the town square. Tell me you want to dance with me.”

“Of course I do,” Will said. His mind felt fuzzy as Nico kissed his hand again. “Will you come share a dance with me, dearest?”

Will didn’t know what to make of the smile Nico gave him. Was it sweet and kind? Was it teasing? The mask made it impossible to tell. “I would love to,” Nico said, tugging on Will’s hand to lead him to the center of the hall, where a group was preparing for an allemande.

Will lost count of how many dances they shared. He was blinded by the gleam of lights reflected on gemstones, by the dizzying whirl of skirts, and by the masks obscuring the faces of each dancer that passed him. Will lost Nico to another partner for a while, but it didn’t take long to find him again. Even when masked, there was a quality about Nico’s presence that had always drawn Will to him. Will had felt it even as a child, when he had been in awe of the strange, brave, and talented prince Artemis had introduced him to. He had felt it again when they met ten years later and Nico had grown into a handsome, mysterious young man who Will did not understand, but desperately wanted to know. Whatever games they might play, something as mundane as a mask couldn’t disguise Nico’s distinct aura.

Will wanted to reach behind Nico and untie the ribbon holding his mask in place. He wanted to see Nico’s face and read his expressions. But when Will found those words tumbling past his lips, Nico shook his head. “Not tonight,” he said. “For now, let us have our game. After all, my treasure, it is the last night that we will see each other for a while; I am going on a hunt and I won’t return for at least a week. You have told me that you admire me, but you must promise that you won’t forget me while I’m away.”

Will shook his head. “Forget you? How could I ever forget you? I’ll think of you every day, my dearest. I won’t be able to sleep until you return.”

“And so after my cousin’s wedding, I left on my hunt,” Nico said, tangling his fingers in Will’s. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to see you again.”

“You came home early,” Will said. “You were attacked by a wolf while hunting and your wounds forced you to stay in my clinic for three days.”

“And then I decided to stay forever.”

Nico’s smile became gentle and Will could almost believe he saw love in Nico’s eyes. Will didn’t think, he didn’t plan, and he didn’t even recognize that he ought to restrain himself. In one moment, his lips had found Nico’s and Will was kissing him for the first time since Delphi.

He came to his senses quickly and drew back, stammering his apologies. “I should have asked, I—”

But then his lips were on Nico’s again, except Nico had initiated.

“Kiss me again,” Nico said. “And then again. And again. Kiss me and dance with me until the night ends and we must stop pretending. Kiss me like nothing else matters, like you have wanted to forever, like it’s our wedding and you have been waiting for this day your whole life.”

* * *

It seemed that the Fates had bestowed upon Jason the curse of terrible luck with women. It wasn’t just women in the sense of suitors, but all the women in his life. He always seemed to be left behind or let down.

Firstly, there was his birth mother, a courtesan of Emperor Zeus who had never cared for her children very much. Jason had been so young when Beryl died that he couldn’t even remember her enough to hate her, but he still thought it was odd that he had absolutely no memories of interacting with his mother whatsoever. Hera told Jason enough about what a nasty woman she’d been before getting herself killed, and while Jason usually would doubt his stepmother’s account, the fact that Thalia had verified it made Hera’s story seem much more credible. It was hard to tell which of the two detested his mother more.

But Thalia, like Beryl, left him behind. Although Jason did not blame her, Thalia was the hardest to lose. She had always been his one reliable ally in Olympus, but when she left, she had dropped all the responsibilities of being heir to the empire on him. When they were children, she had shared her fantasies about running away late at night when she and Jason were alone, but Jason had never realized how serious she’d been. Of course Thalia had offered to take Jason with her to Venadica, but Jason hadn’t had a choice. If Jason didn’t take her place as heir, there was no telling what kind of upheaval the battle for succession would cause. It was Jason’s duty to stay, carrying the responsibilities that two older sisters had denied—first Athena, then Thalia.

Athena had never been much of a sister to begin with, so he couldn’t accuse her of ‘leaving’ him. She was emotionally distant and generally disinterested in Jason, only bothering to approach him when she needed to discuss some sort of duty. Even then, she usually sent Annabeth in her place. Annabeth had always been more of a sister than Athena and had acted as his one remaining ally after Thalia joined the Sorority, but even Annabeth was leaving him. Jason would return to Jupiter not only fiancée-less, but adviser-less, as well. Judging by Jason’s record, he doubted he’d be any more successful at finding a new adviser than he had been at finding a new fiancée.

And that brought him to Reyna. He had not loved her in a romantic sense—although he believed that he would have come to in time—but Jason had cared deeply for Reyna. She had been perfect. She was intelligent, reliable, persistent, and strong, and Jason had found her to be empathetic underneath her tough façade. They had always gotten along well. Jason had felt safe knowing that she would be both his wife and adviser; he knew he could trust her. But Reyna had sought a different path in the end.

So now that Annabeth, his final ally, was leaving, Jason felt alone. When he returned to Olympus, the only person who cared enough to speak to him would be Hera, but Hera wasn’t any more of a mother than Beryl—except for the fact that she actually interacted with Jason. She was manipulative and calculating, resentful towards Zeus, and only interested in Jason to use him. Jason wasn’t ignorant of her manipulative intentions, but there was very little he could do to resist.

“I’m letting you see your sister,” Hera had told him before he left for Neptune with Annabeth. “It’s the second time I’ve allowed it this year. You ought to be grateful.”

As though she controlled every decision made in Olympus.

Maybe she did.

Jason had fought to stay calm. It was the only way to deal with Hera. “Yes, Mother,” he’d said evenly. He had no choice but to tell her what she wanted to hear.

He truly was glad to see Thalia. It was always a bit awkward between them for a little while every time they met. Jason knew that Thalia felt terrible for leaving him behind and although she’d had every right to choose the Sorority over the Empire, Jason might have held the smallest of grudges. He would never tell that to Thalia, however. She felt guilty enough already.

But yes, Jason was glad to see Thalia. He knew that even from afar, she remained his constant ally. “I may have become a sister to all, but you will always be my favorite brother,” she had told him after joining the Sorority. Despite the tiny twinge of resentment he still felt, Jason knew that Thalia hadn’t truly abandoned him. He trusted her more than anyone.

Thalia had only just arrived in Neptune the day before, while Jason was attempting to make friends with Nico. Jason had been in Neptune for about a month, having made the journey from Olympus to Salacia with Annabeth long before the wedding. Earlier, Jason and Thalia had been in the city together, but neither of them had seen the wedding couple all day. It was to be expected, as Percy and Annabeth would have been busy with their prayers, but Thalia was quite irate that she had barely seen either of them since her arrival. And now, Percy and Annabeth were nowhere to be seen. Jason wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d already found an opportunity to sneak away from the party and were spending the evening alone together. They could be sneaky when they wanted to.

Jason glanced at Thalia. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, but her posture softened when she noticed him watching her. “I can’t believe the two of them,” Thalia said. “Their own party, and they can’t be found.”

“Perhaps they’re just very well-masked,” Jason suggested.

Jason knew Thalia well enough to imagine the expression behind her mask. Really, Jason? it would have said. Do you really believe that?

“We both know they’ve run off somewhere to cause one last scandal before they’re married,” Thalia said, but she sounded amused. “But anyway, tell me more news from Olympus. How has the bitch been treating you?”

“Thalia,” Jason scolded.

“What? There’s no reason to paint it over and make it pretty.”

Jason sighed. “I’m trying to remain polite. She’s the Empress, whether we like it or not.”

“Brother dear, I find it hard to believe that anyone likes it. Besides, she’s not my Empress. I serve no one but Artemis and the Protogenoi. So tell me, is everything alright?”

Jason made a vague sound in weak affirmation.

“Jason,” Thalia said in a warning tone.

“I won’t complain,” Jason said. “It is what it is, Thalia. Hera will always be Hera, and I can’t expect anything else from her.”

“It’s perfectly reasonable to expect her to be a decent human rather than a reptile,” Thalia scowled. “You know that you’d have the Sorority’s protection if—”

“No,” Jason interrupted. “My answer hasn’t changed. You know I can’t do that.”

“And there’s your obnoxious sense of duty again,” Thalia sighed. “Your answer may always be the same, but I’ll never take back the invitation. You are welcome in Venadica. Olympus doesn’t deserve you, Jason. You shouldn’t have to put up with that snake.”

“This has nothing to do with what anyone deserves, Thalia.”

Thalia sighed tiredly. “Let’s not fight over this again. It’s rare for us to see each other.”

Jason nodded in agreement. He admired how independent and adventurous Thalia was, but he was not destined to be like her. Although part of him wished he could run away from Olympus and forsake the throne like his sister had, he knew he could not. Jason and Thalia had argued about it in the past, but his place was Jupiter.

“Any progress on finding a fiancée?” Thalia asked. She held her hands up in surrender when Jason narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m only making conversation.”

“No progress whatsoever,” Jason said stiffly.

“I’d send you a few suitors, but most of the women I know are sorors,” Thalia said.

Jason snorted in amusement. “I appreciate the offer, but I think our family has caused enough scandals.”

“I’m sure they can afford a few more.”

“I am not going to have affairs with sorors, Thalia.”

“No, but you should let yourself have a bit of fun,” Thalia replied.

Jason sighed. If there was anything he feared more than falling in love, it was that someone would fall in love with him. Jason didn’t think he’d be able to bear the pain of heartbreak, but it would be far worse the other way around. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he hurt someone that way.

That was part of the reason he’d been so unsuccessful in finding a new suitor. It was also because Reyna had been so ideal that everyone else paled by comparison, but more than that, Jason was terrified that he would only end up hurting someone. Nullified engagements were messy, scandalous affairs; if he ended up making an unwise decision, Jason feared that he’d go through that again. He certainly didn’t want to put someone else through it, either.

And then, if he did end up married to someone, that was hardly a happy ending. What if something went wrong in their marriage? What if he couldn’t make his wife happy? What if he only made her life miserable? How could anyone have a happy life in Olympus?

“I’d rather spend the evening with my sister,” Jason said.

“How sweet of you,” Thalia said in a mocking tone, but Jason knew she was being genuine. “But really, you ought to take advantage of the mask. Hera isn’t even here! No one will be throwing power-hungry women at you tonight, so you have an opportunity to actually enjoy yourself. That’s all I’m suggesting, Jason. I’m not asking you to find a wife.”

It almost would have been easier if she had asked him to find a wife. Jason did not excel at ‘enjoying himself.’

“Thalia—”

“Oh, look over there,” Thalia said in a staged voice. “Another soror. I ought to greet her.”

“Thalia!”

“Enjoy your evening, brother,” Thalia said without listening to him, and then she disappeared into the crowd.

Jason sighed. Yes, he considered Thalia to be his strongest ally, but they often had very different ideas about how his allies could help him.

Enjoy his evening? Not likely. Thalia had abandoned him, Percy and Annabeth were nowhere to be found, and Nico wouldn’t spend time with Jason unless he was forced to. He could try to find Reyna—he’d always enjoyed her friendship—but he got the feeling that would be a bad idea. Reyna was probably busy playing chaperone for the Pluton Prince, anyway, and he was fairly certain Nico would hate Jason even more if he attempted to speak to her.

Which left Jason alone as usual. Thalia thought it was good for him to exercise his independence (and perhaps she was right), but she didn’t realize that what Jason really wanted was to take advantage of what limited time they had together. Jason might as well get used to it, however. Now that Annabeth was leaving to get married, he’d find himself even more alone than before.

But perhaps it was for the best. Because neither Annabeth nor Percy were going to inherit significant land or power, they could have decided to live in either Jupiter or Neptune. It was only natural that they chose Salacia over Olympus; Jason would have done the same. Between Zeus’ hubris, Hera’s selfishness, and the rest of the court drama, no one could have a good life there. Jason wouldn’t ask anyone he cared about to live in the imperial palace.

So as much as Jason yearned for Thalia and Reyna and Annabeth to come back to him, he knew it was better that they stayed away. And as much as Jason yearned for a friend and ally to keep him from feeling so alone, Jason couldn’t allow himself to bring anyone into his life. Jason was alone, and alone he should remain.

Of course, he would need to marry. He was beginning to think that he ought to give in to one of the suitors that Hera kept throwing at him. After all, might be better if Jason didn’t love his wife; it would save him the pain of knowing that he had ruined someone’s life by bringing them to Olympus. Jason doubted that any of the Empress’ picks would be much different from Hera herself.

Sighing to himself again, Jason turned to leave the hall, thinking that maybe he ought to spend the evening on the balcony. Neptunian nights were pleasantly cool and Jason might even be able to snag a book to read under the moonlight. That seemed like the best way for him to enjoy himself.

“No partner?” asked a voice. “What a coincidence, neither have I. Would you like a plantain chip?”

Jason turned to the woman’s voice in surprise. His first impression was that she was very pretty, and probably Neptunian. She had the characteristic coloring of the people of Neptune—of course, that might not mean anything, as the upper classes often married foreigners. Her gown and pearls were enough evidence of her wealth and high birth. But the young woman also had the accent of the islanders, although Jason couldn’t discern exactly which part. His untrained ear had never quite been able to pick up the subtle differences in Neptunian dialects.

“Have we met?” Jason asked.

“Not that I’m aware of,” said the woman. When Jason didn’t take the fried plantain, she shrugged and munched on the chip, as if to say, ‘suit yourself.’ Jason tried to suppress an amused smile. Pretty, humble, and even-tempered, it seemed. A nice combination.

Jason scolded himself for the thought. He wasn’t there to look for a wife. He was celebrating the wedding of his friends.

“Well, we did run into each other earlier this evening,” the young woman continued when she finished her chip. “Quite literally. You complimented my gown. Personally, I hate this gown, but I was flattered nonetheless.”

“Oh, right,” Jason said. “By the chocolate fountain?”

“That’s it. I hope I didn’t embarrass myself so much that I’ve lost the opportunity to ask you for a dance?”

“Oh,” Jason said in surprise. “I...um...” He glanced around for Thalia, hoping that she’d come to his rescue, but she was nowhere to be seen. Although he was used to having women thrown at him at every opportunity, Jason was terrible at rejecting their advances and found himself tangled in awkward situations more often than he’d like to admit. Thalia sometimes fought off the worst of them. That was, if she was present and not too busy coaching his independence.

“Unless you already have a partner,” the young woman continued. “I saw that you were speaking to someone before.”

Jason got the sense that she was offering him an opportunity to politely refuse her. True, he had been with Thalia earlier, but Thalia dressed as a soror even while masked. It would have been obvious to anyone that they were not partners.

“I’d be honored to dance with you,” Jason said. “May I have your name?”

“No,” she said, the corner of her mouth quirking up like she was amused by the question. “What would be the purpose of a mask if I told you my name?”

She had a point, but Jason was disappointed. He had to remind himself that she’d only asked for a dance; she hadn’t offered her hand in marriage. It wasn’t fair of him to expect more—especially not at a masked ball, which was meant to be a night of hedonistic disregard for duty.

“But perhaps I’ll tell you later in the evening, depending on how good a dancer you are,” said the young woman. She grinned playfully and tapped him with her elbow before taking his arm and leading him to the center of the hall for a dance.

Looking more closely, Jason was beginning to see that she must not have a completely Neptunian ancestry. Her hair was long and beautiful but slightly lighter than typical Neptunian hair—dark brown rather than black. Her eyes were not Neptunian either, although he couldn’t begin to guess where they might have come from. Perhaps it was because of her mask, but every time she moved, the light seemed to reflect different colors in her eyes.

She was a wonderful dancer. It was obvious that she had received excellent lessons from a capable instructor, which was further proof of her eligibility to be a suitor. “You dance beautifully,” Jason said as she passed him, trying to keep himself from thinking about marriage for at least one evening.

“As do you,” said the young woman. “Dancing is one of the least exhausting part of a ball. Almost makes it worth how tightly they tied this awful stay.”

Jason was so surprised that his laugh came out as a snort. “Well, you look beautiful,” he tried to console.

“I’d still look beautiful in a softer bodice. I’d probably feel less restricted after making my rounds through the snacks, as well. Have you tried the coconut shrimp yet? It’s amazing.”

“I haven’t had a chance to try anything but the chocolate,” Jason admitted.

“Fantastic! I’ll show you all the wonderful food, and you’ll get me a cup of chocolate. My mother wouldn’t let me have any.”

“Your mother wouldn’t allow chocolate?” Jason asked.

“It’s the most barbaric form of torture, I know,” the woman sighed. “She thinks I’ll ruin my gown.”

Jason laughed as the music came to an end. “How very cruel,” he agreed as he bowed to her to finish their dance. “The chocolate is worth a ruined gown.”

The woman smiled at him. “I’m glad you agree, monsieur. Seeing as we’re both here unaccompanied, would you like to be my partner for the evening?”

Jason hesitated and glanced around for Thalia, but didn’t see her. She was probably watching him from hiding, applauding herself for leaving him to manage on his own. But the young woman he had met seemed to be of a high enough status for the court to approve of, so—

Jason stopped that thought there and reminded himself that he wasn’t supposed to worry about marriage that night. He was supposed to enjoy himself. The young woman was pleasant company, and that was why he would accept her offer.

“I would be honored to accompany you,” Jason said. “Will you give me your name at the end of the evening?”

She grinned at him mischievously. “We shall see,” she replied. “Come, I must show you the shrimp.”

The young woman took his arm and led him away from the assembling dancers, telling him that as much as she enjoyed dancing, the most important part of any ball was the food. She found the shrimp first, then grabbed a few more plantain chips. She fed Jason crab cakes and told him that they were good, but she preferred king crab to blue crab. Jason told her that blue crab was Prince Percy’s favorite, and she laughed and commented on Percy’s odd appreciation of blue food. Either Percy’s strange preference was well-known in Neptune or she knew Percy personally, which might be further evidence of her high status.

Of course, Jason was getting ahead of himself again. They had barely met. They weren’t courting. He didn’t even know her name. She may not be seriously interested in him.

Jason shook his head and forced the thought away just as the young woman was returning with an oyster and eating another fried plantain. “Here,” she said, pressing the oyster’s shell against his lower lip. “Try this.”

Jason obeyed. “It’s amazing,” he said.

“Where I come from, we are known for our oyster dishes,” she told him.

Jason tried to remember which areas of Neptune specialized in oysters, but he couldn’t recall. To someone from Jupiter, it seemed that all of Neptune specialized in oysters. “Are you from Jafilius?” he asked.

“No, no, the oysters here aren’t nearly as good as they are in my home,” she said, then she grabbed a few more plantain chips before pointing to the chocolate fountain and requesting a cup.

Jason wondered if he’d ever meet her again after that night. Would it all be over in the morning? Would he ever even know her name?

And how would she react after learning his identity? What if she decided she didn’t want him? Or worse, what if that became the only reason she sought him out again?

He couldn’t help but feel like he was toying with her feelings. Jason was looking for a wife. And not just any wife—as heir to the throne, he was very restricted when it came to searching for suitors. If it turned out that she wasn’t from a birth high enough for the imperial court to approve of, Jason would have to leave her.

But once again, Jason was assuming too much. She might not be looking for a husband. Perhaps Jason’s expectations were not the same as hers. For all Jason knew, she could already be engaged—even married. Besides, no one went to a masked ball to seek out a potential spouse.

Masked balls were the sort of events where scandals began and where hearts were broken. It wasn’t uncommon for the first night of wedding celebrations to be masked; they were meant to be nights without inhibitions, to revel in the freedom of being unwed and anonymous before the bonds of marriage tied one to responsibility. For Annabeth and Percy, it was an excuse for them to have their fun together without the threat of repercussions, not a night of unrestricted lust. But for Jason, it was too reminiscent of his father’s adulterous habits.

Jason wasn’t looking for a brief affair; he had decided that long ago. He’d seen enough evidence of the consequences that went along with lust and infidelity. Affairs, he had learned, only ended with chaos and tragedy. If Hera’s rage had taught him anything, it was that hearts were fragile and he must never even look at anyone but his wife.

Jason’s resolution had never wavered before. Even when he’d been engaged to Reyna, he had never allowed himself to think of anyone else. No, they had never been romantically involved, but he’d been arduously loyal to her. He had sworn that he would never hurt her the way Zeus had hurt Hera. Jason had cared for her and it had broken his heart when she left. He’d never blamed her for it, however; Reyna had the freedom to make her own choices and he would not hold that against her. Losing her had only solidified his resolution to be the perfect husband. He never wanted to make anyone to go through the pain he had when Reyna left him.

But would it really be so wrong for Jason to allow himself to enjoy an evening with a strange, exciting, beautiful young woman? He hadn’t made her any promises. He hadn’t even made himself promises. So why did he feel as if he was doing something wrong?

Because he knew that if he ended up with a wife like Hera, she would hunt the mystery lady down and drown her life in misery. She would want do the same to Reyna, but Reyna had the protection of the Sorority.

Jason tried to stop himself again. It was just one evening. He wasn’t having an affair; he was talking to a dance partner.

The young woman celebrated when Jason retrieved a cup of chocolate for her. “I have been waiting all evening for this,” she said before taking a sip, then she sighed happily.

Jason smiled, but his thoughts wouldn’t stop. He heard himself clear his throat, then he said, “I know this isn’t an appropriate topic for a masked event, but if I may not have your name, will you at least tell me if you are...if...is there anyone...?”

She finished taking a long drink before she answered. “I am unmarried,” she said. “I have no serious suitors at this time. But I am looking.”

“And if you don’t mind my asking, what sort of marriage are you looking for?” Jason asked. Depending on birth order, number of siblings, and the needs of her family, she may not be eligible to marry him.

“I am not the eldest,” she said. “I have enough siblings to have the freedom to choose what sort of marriage I’d like. And you?”

“I’m...um...I’m the eldest,” Jason said. He wasn’t the eldest, but his older sisters had both pulled out of the succession, so it was simpler to claim that he was. “I will inherit and take a wife.”

Another happy sip of chocolate. “And am I to assume that you have yet to find a wife?”

“Yes, I’m...I’m looking. I apologize, I know that a masked ball isn’t the place to play suitors and I don’t mean to assume—”

The young woman put a plantain chip in Jason’s mouth to make him stop talking. “Then for tonight, we’ll have our fun. If it goes well, we will play suitors tomorrow. Are we in agreement?”

Jason chewed the chip and swallowed it. It was the first one he’d had all evening; the young woman had ended up eating all the ones she’d picked up. He suddenly understood why she hadn’t shared. “I...yes. But I don’t...if it doesn’t work out....”

“I’m not about to get my heart broken by a man I’ve just met,” she said. “I can handle rejection. There are no promises between us, and no expectations past tonight. Just for this evening, forget everything else.”

Jason didn’t know how. Thalia loved to remind him that he was too much of a worrier, but none of her advice had made it easier for him to stop. And very little scared him more than marriage.

But then the young woman tilted her head back to empty her cup of chocolate and ended up spilling it on her dress. She and Jason laughed so hard that he finally managed to forget.

After trying and failing to fix her gown with Jason’s handkerchief, the young woman dragged Jason back to the center of the hall to dance again. Jason couldn’t recall the last time he had laughed so much. Had dancing ever been so enjoyable? Had Neptunian cuisine ever tasted so good?

The worries had stopped, but Jason couldn’t help wondering about the identity of his mysterious partner. She was from somewhere in the Neptunian isles. Somewhere known for oysters and pearls. Surely he knew enough about Neptunian trade to figure out where she was from. He thought her accent was slightly different from Percy’s, so it was unlikely that she was from the islands around Jafilius. Perhaps she was from one of the more southern isles, then?

Oysters. Pearls. South.

He suddenly recalled Hera bragging about a new gown that was being tailored for her. She’d claimed that she intended to wear it to the Neptunian royal wedding, but Jason was certain that she had never really meant to attend. She despised Annabeth and her opinion of Percy wasn’t much higher, so it had most likely been an excuse to get an expensive new gown. It was vibrant turquoise, accented with peafowl feathers imported from Bacchus and Venusian pearls....

Venusian pearls. It was the island of Venus that was most known for its pearl trade. Could his mystery lady be from Venus?

Jason wasn’t brave enough to ask. They danced and ate and danced again, and Jason’s partner spilled chocolate on her gown a few more times. He invited the young woman onto the balcony and loaned her his coat, and they stayed there talking and laughing until Jason noticed her eyes drooping shut.

“Perhaps we’ve stayed out too late,” Jason suggested, as much as he wanted to stay even longer.

“Definitely,” the young woman said. “I don’t think I’ll wake up until noon tomorrow.”

“Then is this goodnight?” Jason asked.

“Perhaps,” she replied. “But only if I may meet you again tomorrow.”

“I would like to,” Jason said. “You haven’t told me your name.”

She looked up at him with a mischievous smile, like she knew something he didn’t. “Find me again tomorrow evening and I will introduce you to Piper of Venus,” she said.

“Piper of Venus,” Jason repeated. So he had been correct; she was from Venus. “And I’m....” he stopped himself before continuing. Would she even believe him if he told her he was the Crown Prince of Jupiter? Would it frighten her away? Would it change the way she acted towards him?

“I know who you are, Your Highness,” Piper said before Jason could worry himself more. Her smile faltered a bit. “Even a mask can’t stop gossip, especially not for someone of your position.”

“Oh,” Jason whispered, unsure how he ought to feel about that. She’d known all along? Had that been why she sought him out to begin with?

“I would have approached you regardless, and I wouldn’t have spent the entire evening with you if I didn’t enjoy your company,” Piper said, as though she’d heard his thoughts. Her mischievous smile was now gone, replaced by one that looked more serious and perhaps even apologetic. “But I won’t lie to you; I knew. I would like to meet you again tomorrow evening, Your Highness. No masks. Face-to-face. But I won’t seek you out again; it’s only fair that I leave the choice to you. If you would like to meet, then ask for Piper of Venus.”

Before Jason could collect his thoughts enough to reply, Piper returned Jason’s coat and kissed the back of his hand, then she left him alone on the balcony.

* * *

Nico was not pleased when Reyna interrupted him while he was busy kissing his fiancé. They had spent the evening dancing and kissing and making up ridiculous stories about planning their pretend wedding in Ceres. Hedge had been busy with Mellie and Nico thought he had spotted Reyna conversing with Thalia, but Reyna had eventually found them again to say that it was time for the evening to end. She had brought Percy with her, as he had apparently been looking for Nico to invite him to the ritual bathing ceremony that was to take place on the second day of the wedding. Usually, only brothers or other close male kin attended a groom’s ritual bathing ceremony, so Nico was scandalized by the invitation. He had barely spoken to Percy since arriving in Neptune. Before that, he hadn’t met Percy since they were children. He had tried to turn Percy down, but a glare from Reyna was enough to remind him that a rejection would seem rude.

“I’d be honored, Your Highness,” Nico grumbled.

“Oh, don’t call me that,” Percy said. “People only call me ‘Your Highness’ if they’re upset with me.”

Percy started to ramble enthusiastically about the palace’s baths. Nico had heard that Neptunians bathed together in large pools, but he’d assumed that it was only a malicious rumor. He hoped that Percy did not expect Nico to join him in the baths. That was a line Nico refused to cross.

After Percy left to deliver the same invitation to Jason, Reyna ordered Nico to stay put so she could get Hedge to take Nico back to his bedchamber while she tried to locate Jules-Albert. “Lord William can escort me to my guest chambers instead,” Nico said, tightening his grip on Will’s arm. He didn’t want to part with Will just yet. He wanted a moment alone with Will. He didn’t want to let go of Will.

Reyna looked at Nico disapprovingly and Nico blinked at her with the best pleading expression he could muster. Please, Reyna, he thought. Just this one time, allow me this much.

As strict as Reyna was, Nico knew that she had a soft spot for him. If he looked at her with a pitiful enough expression, she sometimes gave in. Reyna couldn’t always resist wanting to see Nico happy. “I will send Jules-Albert to ready you for bed shortly,” Reyna said in a stiff voice. “You will have only a few moments to say goodnight.”

Nico let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her thankfully.

Will bowed his head politely. “I will behave appropriately, Lady Reyna; you need not worry about that.”

“I trust you, Lord William,” Reyna replied tiredly. “You are not the one causing me concern.”

Nico tugged Will closer and led him away from Reyna, happily resting his head on Will’s shoulder. “I enjoyed this evening,” he said. “My treasure.”

“As did I, my dearest,” Will answered.

Nico tilted his head up, expecting a kiss, but Will did nothing. Sighing, he supposed that Will had taken his promise to Reyna a bit too seriously. He tried to lure Will into kissing him a few more times, but Will didn’t appear to realize Nico’s intentions. Nico wondered if it would always be that way or if Will would eventually start to understand.

“Well, Your Highness,” Will said when they reached Nico’s door. “This is where we part.”

Nico didn’t want to let go of Will’s arm. He wanted to stand close to Will. He wanted Will to kiss him. He wanted Will to touch him, even if it was only to brush his hand against Nico’s.

Nico reached behind his head and untied his mask, then he looked up at Will and untied his, too. Like Nico, Will had black makeup smeared over his eyes to hide them even more behind his mask. The makeup did nothing to hide his eyes, however. It only made them brighter and more blue.

Kiss me, Nico thought, as though Will would be able to hear him if he wished hard enough. He wanted Will to kiss him suddenly and passionately just like he had earlier that evening, when they were pretending to be people they weren’t. But even when Nico removed their masks, Will did nothing but stare at him. Will wouldn’t kiss him again—not unless Nico gave clear permission.

Nico returned Will’s mask and clasped his hands together behind his back to keep himself from reaching out. “Yes. Um. Sleep well, Lord William.”

“I wish you the same.”

“And I suppose I’ll meet you after the ceremony in the morning?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Nico reluctantly put his hand on the door to his room. “Goodnight,” he said.

“Goodnight, Your Highness.”

Nico forced himself to look away and face his door. Will started to leave. Don’t look up, Nico told himself, squeezing his eyes shut. Don’t ask him to come back. Don’t—

Nico looked back up. “Will?” he called.

Will turned, his blue eyes as bright as ever, shining against the black makeup. “Yes, Your Highness?”

Nico knew he should make an excuse and go to bed. He was making himself look like a fool. He needed to stop. He—

Nico’s feet were already carrying him away. He stopped in front of Will and put his hands on Will’s arms, then leaned up and quickly kissed him. Will looked shocked when Nico pulled back. “Right,” Nico stammered. He felt like his heart was going to burst and he knew his face was flushing, but there was nothing he could do about that. He stepped back, folded his hands together behind his back, and said, “Well, goodnight, then.”

Nico turned away and fled to his room, only leaving the door open long enough for Asterion to follow him in. He did not look back at Will again out of fear that he’d do something foolish, like invite Will into his bedchamber and ask him to stay—

Nico leaned against the closed door and hid his face in his hands, his mask dangling from the ribbon around his fingers. He did want Will there with him. What would it be like to share a bed with Will? Would Will hold him while they slept? Would Will kiss him in the morning?

Nico bit back the impulse to curse as he remembered the black silk that Will had worn that evening. It had been in such stark contrast to his bright, warm skin and golden hair. Will’s clothes had looked like ink every time he moved, with an almost liquid sheen that had Nico imagining the clothes melting off and....

What would their wedding night be like? How would Will touch him? Would Will blush when Nico kissed him? Would he call Nico pretty names like he did in his letters? Would he...?

Nico whimpered in embarrassment, sliding down the door until he sat on the floor with his knees against his chest. He was disgusting, thinking about things like that. Nico would wait until his own wedding. They would marry in a year, and then they could....

Nico shook his head, stood back up, and composed himself, then he waited for Jules-Albert to come ready him for bed. Nico’s unbanished thoughts kept returning, however, and he dismissed Jules-Albert after being undressed only halfway. Nico had suffered enough mortification for one night; he didn’t need anyone discovering what sorts of effects his thoughts were having on him.

Nico finished dressing for bed on his own, then he took a sip of his sleeping medicine and climbed into his bed, where Asterion was already lying down. He didn’t take the sleeping medicine nearly as often as he had a few years before, but he knew that if he did not take it that night, his racing heart would keep him up with thoughts of his fiancé until morning. As he curled up under his blankets, he could not help but imagine Will being there with him. Will would be warm, similar to the way Asterion was when he cuddled next to Nico, but Will would put his arms on Nico and make him feel loved and secure. Nico imagined Will holding him—and he could be happy with just that much, with just Will’s arms around him and his arms around Will.

Nico reached out to hug Asterion instead, burrowing his face in his dog’s coarse fur to hide his sudden giggle. “I’m very fortunate, aren’t I, Asterion?” he said, pulling back to rub his side. He avoided the scar on Asterion’s hip; it had healed nicely, but Asterion still flinched if Nico pet him too close to the old wound.

“I know you like him, too,” Nico said. “He gives me reasons to be happy. He has a very pretty smile, don’t you think?”

Asterion responded by sloppily licking Nico’s cheek.

“Oh, you’re disgusting,” Nico said, but he wiped his face dry and pecked the top of Asterion’s head affectionately. Asterion rolled onto his back. “Don’t worry, you can still sleep with me after I’m married,” Nico said, rubbing Asterion’s belly. “He’ll have his own room, after all, and if he comes to stay the night with me, then...well, it’ll be a bit crowded, but I don’t think he’ll mind.” Nico yawned and stretched out on the bed, smiling sleepily. “I think I will like being married to him. I will like it very much.”

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phthalology · 7 years

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HZD: Winter’s Bargain Chapter 1

Read here on AO3. Rescued by Aloy and now under the watchful eye of the Carja court's many spies, Sylens reluctantly helps put Meridian back together after the attack on the Spire. Someone seems to want to keep the Carja nervous, and Sylens needs to find out whether they're an enemy or an ally. The one with Marad’s spy shenanigans. Aloy/Sylens, 2300 words.

He must have been thrown onto the ice.

That would explain the hard surface underneath him, the concussed confusion as his eyesight blurred. Shamans stood over him, songs distorted behind heavy wire-and-cloth headsets. Their voices cracked and reverberated. Sylens had done something terribly wrong. Of that he was certain. The tribe had decreed this cold vengeance for what he had done.

Aloy said, “If I had known you were the person who needed rescuing, I wouldn’t have come.”

Sylens opened his eyes.

Red desert dust caked his hands, the orange blankets in front of him, and Aloy’s jacket. Heat washed off her. It felt like the desert sun, but something metallic too, like the HADES unit. She looked more muscular than he remembered, heavier, as if she had been given gravitas by her conquests.

The red-and-gold battlement walls around him looked Carja. Not ice at all; heat and heavy blankets covered him. There were more people in the room than he had seen in months, more than he cared to see. Three masked guards were arranged behind Aloy like nervous Watchers. They were extraneous, a sign of a nervous sovereign. Aloy could have attacked him while he was asleep if she had wanted. The guards did serve to partially hide a man dressed in the lighter finery of a Carja noble, who waited patiently beside the closed wooden door.

Until now, Sylens had imagined that he could have walked through Meridian at almost any time unobserved; although his markings might be memorable, most people who knew his face were dead. In the course of their business he and Bahavas had met once at a shrine near the edge of the city and once in the holy circle near the apex. On other days, he had gone to the markets on the outskirts with his arms and head covered, to forestall questions from Carja who found Banuk memorable.

He had certainly never been here before.

“Why did you bring me to the palace?”

Aloy ignored the guards as surely as Sylens had done. “You were hurt. Do you remember the Vantage near the prison?”

The prison? Ah, she meant the one in the Sundom. Sylens still had a feeling that exile should be cold. Maybe that was why the avalanche-prone cliffs of the Alpha site had sometimes been a comfort. Now, though, the palette of his life was not blue and white but shades of green.

He had had months wandering in deserts to disprove his fear of the cold, not to mention the time spent here, in the humid forest. The idea had never departed, though. When he had been a child he had seen an exile taken onto the ice, the shamans singing in praise to the justice of the rime. The man had been half-mad with poison, but he had been alive enough to weakly struggle.

That wasn’t what Aloy was talking about, though. “Yes, of course I remember. The Vantages are made to be difficult, and this one was no different.” The cache up in the mountains would have been a good place for a relay signal. Not an essential part of the plan, but something in him had wanted to take a journey that long. He needed to stretch his legs, to ride without needing to go anywhere. Maybe, he needed to look at the mesa and wonder whether Aloy was in Meridian.

“Someone yelled. It turned out to be you. Avad’s people wrapped your arm, but it will take a long time for the bruises to heal.”

“You brought me to Meridian?” He lowered his voice, both for their secrets and because he was angry. Afraid, too; he doubted that Carja justice was any kinder than Ban-Ur’s.

Aloy nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. She knew it was a weighted decision.

“Foolish. I suppose I should thank you for saving my life, but I didn’t think you had any particular love for this city.” Sylens sighed. She might have saved his life. It had been a careless fall, and now that the tattered dreams were clearing, his left arm ached fiercely.

Instead of asking anything further, Aloy turned away fast, the beads in her hair jangling against the metal sewn into her clothing. “Let me talk to him alone,” she said, talking through the guards to the nobleman still half out of sight behind them.

“A minute, no longer.” The man had a clipped voice full of confidence. It sounded familiar, but Sylens had intentionally stayed out of bloody Carja court politics when he was luring Bahavas and the other members of the gang that would become the Eclipse. The king had only mattered as much as Helis’ revenge demanded he did.

Aloy nodded. Sylens sat up as the guards walked out, leaving him with a better view of the single door in the little tower room and the bench on which they had placed him. Aloy folded her arms, looked like she considered sitting down and then decided against it.

“There were bandits near the Vantage,” Sylens said. “Some of them caught me on the cliff and must have fled when you came. I did not just fall off the ledge.”

Aloy smirked, did not directly reply. “I haven’t told Avad and Marad who you are,” she said.

“And why not?”

“You gave me the tools I needed to defeat HADES. And out last conversation was … unusually civil. Now we’re even.”

Sylens chuckled. She didn’t know that the spear had included the virus a virus that was meant to send a version of HADES, caged again, back to his new hideout. There was something appealingly reasonable about the exchange of debt, though. Hadn’t they all been paying the debts of the Old Ones, all this time? Hadn’t humanity deserved what it got, for Faro’s sin of erasing APOLLO? Sylens wasn’t sure. Aloy, though, was the only other person likely to understand any of that at all.

“In fact, that’s why I was in the forest in the first place, setting up relays. If we could use Eclipse equipment to speak to HADES, we could learn so much more,” he said.

Aloy was taken aback. “You’re just … telling me that? You trust me with that? Did it not occur to you what HADES did last time? Did you want to do that again?”

“I was in the desert. I thought that if the Faro robots rose up out of the ground it would be a terrible loss but at least I wouldn’t be around to see civilizations destroyed again.” He shifted, found that his arm ached only slightly less if he tucked it against his side. “We make scant few pieces of information now. For them to be consumed again …”

“But now you’re telling me you want to do that exact same thing again.”

“No. Not to unleash it. To control it. To talk to it, as you talked to GAIA. With the spear, with the Alpha Override, I think we could do it.”

“I was here.”

“What?”

“I was here, in Meridian, when the world almost ended. You know that. I would have had to watch innocent people die, not just myself. I will not face that again if I can prevent it with my own hands.”

“Exactly! Exactly.” Sylens sat up, swinging his feet to the floor. It didn’t hurt to move that far. How had she carried him here? Drugged with hintergold, on the back of a Strider? “Aloy, if we learn what HADES has to tell us we can find out more about the kind of technology that created GAIA in the first place.”

“I can still work with GAIA, in the Nora lands.” She uncrossed her arms, sat heavily down on the side of the couch where his legs had been.

“Then you understand the knowledge they both could give us.”

“I heard the recordings. Quantum processing, was that the one? That’s what you would have destroyed us all for.”

“That is what I trust you with now. We could remake the Earth, Aloy.”

“I won’t allow it. The Kestrels won’t allow it.”

“I know. So I’ll help you. Whatever you’re working on here … I don’t doubt my knowledge of the city will help you.”

“Locked together by a bargain again. I’m beginning not to regret rescuing you, if this sort of fight results. Too few people …”

“Even though the world is at stake?”

“It won’t be. Because you won’t leave my sight.” She stood up. “This is good timing. Marad has me working on some things in the city. We can both stay out of trouble.”

“Good. You deserve a place as Avad’s investigator. You deserve Marad’s place as advisor, really.” It was a guess, based on the name she had used, but it was also honest. Sylens did not doubt that Aloy was more intelligent than any of the Carja courtiers.

Aloy pushed a sigh out in a loud burst. “I won’t tell them who you are. I’m saving that one for when I might need it.”

“To use against me? A good decision for both of us, I think.”

Aloy rapped on the inside of the door.

The guards hadn’t gone far. Almost immediately, the door opened and the man in the robes, the one Aloy had called Marad, walked in. Sylens carefully stood.

Aloy looked between them. “Sylens, this is Blameless Marad. Sylens helped me … prepare for the attack on the city.”

“Greetings. You come highly recommended, and Aloy … I’m sure you know how much she did for the city.”

Was he probing, wanting to know where Sylens was during the attack? Aloy had seemed to think everything would go smoothly. “Blameless. That’s a … notable name.”

“Is it? Some people certainly say so.”

“…Do they.”

“Right now, my advice is that Aloy consider her work,” Marad said. “After the attack, some people are rebuilding and others are taking advantage of the chaos. The Hunter’s Lodge has been taking in scared farmers. There’s plenty to do, if you want to help us while your friend recovers.”

Aloy did not hesitate. “Yes. I already know a few places where we could help out with supplies. The Nora have already left, but … like you said. Lots of refugees.”

“You know where to find me,” Marad spoke with clipped authority, like a teacher telling a child how far they were allowed to stray. When he went out, leaving the door open behind him, he conspicuously gestured for the guards to move out onto the next lower balcony, far enough that they could see the doorway but not so far that they were obviously watching the tower. Sylens watched him go. He had a feeling that Marad was more than an advisor; someone so effortlessly practiced at giving out no information at all was more likely a spymaster. Sylens could admit when he was outclassed — to himself, at least. Unfamiliar with the city as he was, Marad would be able to track him easily.

Aloy nodded at the door. She always looked ahead, didn’t she? Always forward.

“You’ll be able to stay here in the palace,” Aloy said, and led him out. “But I have work to do. Machines are all out of their usual territories after the attack.”

Years ago, Sylens would have thought that he might never walk the streets of Meridian again. He had little use for the city itself as long as he could lure people like Bahavas out of it. The chaos in the court had worked to his advantage. Now, Sun priests did not walk in bloody-minded procession but hunched their shoulders on their way to shamed and profaned alters. Sylens almost laughed at how unlikely it was that someone would recognize him. As soon as they crossed the bridge from the palace, people crowded them. Farmers from lands shelled and shredded during the attack, hunters who had made their way to the Spire to seek their fortune, and thrill-seekers now seeking no more than hot food and passage north thronged the streets.

People recognized Aloy, though.

Vendors called out to her, not to sell but to thank. She greeted some people with clasped hands and a nod toward the Hunter’s Lodge. “Tell Talanah I say hello.” Soon enough, though, Aloy found her own apartment door and opened it onto a large, cool room. Sylens shut the door behind him. The trap door on the left side of the room had recently been broken, and sharp pieces still stuck out from the edges of the stone passageway. Otherwise, the room was decorated in Carja finery.

“They gave me this place,” Aloy said bluntly, setting her bow and arrows down beside the door. She followed them with the spear Sylens had given her, and met his eyes. “The last owner is gone.”

“How convenient for you.”

“He was a complicated man.” She let the spear go, moved to sit on a cushioned bench beside it. ��But now we have a chance to do more. Let me explain what we’re working on here.”

“Wait.You kept my secret, for now. The thing that could put me in greater danger than any other person in this city. You trust yourself with it. Why?” Sylens did not hesitate to be blunt.

She looked down. “Because we’re the only ones who know.” She stood, faced him furious. “If I told Avad that you had helped call HADES down on this city, they could kill you. I don’t know if Avad would, or if Marad would sway him. And then our last piece of information is gone, a lifetime worth of research. You’re wrong about so many things, Sylens, so very many. But you did the work. And I won’t see the only other person who understands that work destroyed.”

So fierce. So … he watched the line of her jaw as she tilted her face up toward him. The thin, white scar was barely visible from one side of her neck to the other, like a terrible smile.

He nodded. “And what is our work?”

“First, we’re going hunting.”

#Horizon Zero Dawn #writings #Aloy/Sylens #Aloy #Sylens #Blameless Marad

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