Percy and Hazel lived behind a facade.

The princess and her loyal knight, the heir to the throne and her bodyguard. The delicate girl adorned with pink lace and gold and the tough, cold, hulking man always looming behind her.

On the rare occasion that they were seen in public, Percy always walked two steps behind, making sure to keep up with Hazel's quick, measured pace. How she walked so fast on such sharp heels was beyond him. He always kept his head down and his sword in the scabbard unless Hazel's health or mental well-being was at risk.

Hazel always talked to people, sunny and outgoing, and Percy stood behind her, silent and unblinking.

A prop, because no one dared to invoke the rage of Queen Marie Levesque.

A shield, in case some fool decided to invoke the rage of Queen Marie Levesque and try to harm Hazel.

Eye candy, in the case of two high-ranking ladies: Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Calypso Circe Pasiphae, the princess's greatest rivals in two fields. Lady Rachel was a rival in art, and Lady Calypso was a rival in a field that was seen as...scandalous, but not in the way that all of you dirty-minded fools think.

When they were safe inside Versailles' walls, Hazel was still bright, kind and outgoing, but talked about darker topics that didn't exactly fit with the word princess. Percy laughed more, and his posture was more relaxed. He always had some sort of sweet in his hand and he was usually within ten feet of his mother.

There were rumors that Princess Hazel was in love with her bodyguard, but these were small and instantly silenced with Lady Sally Jackson's quick wit and her signature poisoned cookies.

The court of Queen Marie was more of an armory. Take the case of Lady Jackson, one of the queen's most trusted advisers. Percy's mother, Sally, had previously lived in the forests of Germany under the title witch that bakes blue poisoned food, but after a nasty run-in with two brats who had tried to eat her blue candy house, she had moved to France. There, she had given birth to Percy, but his father had left. She desperately needed to keep off of the streets, so against her better judgment she married a revolting pile of trash -sorry, man- by the name of Gabe Ugliano, who told her if she wanted to keep her son out of the orphanage, she had better drop the blue food and stop talking back. After a while, she employed her rather witchy talents to make him a delicious batch of warm, completely normal-colored, delicious-smelling chocolate chip cookies.

(Containing just a little bit of the essence of a lily of the valley, which are usually known to be poisonous. When explaining to the police, Sally said that she had thought they smelled nice after her son had brought them home. How on earth was she supposed to know that they were deadly?)

So she had been paid for her loss and she and her son went on as usual.

When news of her accomplishments and history spread, the newly appointed Queen Marie wasted no time taking her into the court, where Sally got all of the luxury and privilege she deserved.

Other members of the court were Zeus and Hera Aetos, who were Greek nobility and had come to France because Greece was "too rural". Their estranged son-in-law and granddaughter had moved away. Percy could understand why, too-the queen only kept them around for diplomatic reasons.

Zeus was skilled with a spear for his age, and was now a general in the army. Hera just sat around and spread rumors that usually ended relationships, killed people or both.

They both hated Percy and Hazel with a passion.

Hazel was sitting on a marble bench with Percy in the gardens, and the two were munching on Lady Sally's cookies, joking about how Hera's face had turned purple when it was mentioned at the court meeting how many times Zeus had cheated on her.

"Did you see? Her face just went from, like, porcelain to eggplant in two seconds!" Hazel cackled.

Percy snickered. "It did!"

Hazel threw a cookie at Percy, who caught it in his mouth.  "And Zeus, too-good God, he looked like he was having a heart attack!"

The two laughed even harder.

A maid walked quietly up to them. Her dark hair was hidden beneath a cap, but her bangs peeked out. 

Hazel stood up, brushing crumbs from her pink satin dress. "Hello, Zoe. How are you?"

Zoe smiled softly, not acknowledging Percy at all. "Good afternoon, Your Highness. I bring a message from your mother." She handed a scroll, tied with a shining golden ribbon, to Hazel and departed. 

Hazel opened it and immediately sighed. "We have a trial to attend."

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