Percy had half a mind to shout at his father and half a mind to leave Atlantis entirely. The council met regularly to discuss plans for dealing with Athens, but not once was Tartarus mentioned. When Percy had tried to bring it up, he had been removed from the council room and forbidden to mention Prince Kronos ever again. With only two days until Queen Athena's reply would arrive, it had been a very frustrating event.

Fortunately, Annabeth seemed to have an endless supply of good ideas and solutions for dealing with the royal council. Even though most of his concerns revolved around the continuing war and his father's inaction, Annabeth was still able to convince him to pause and take a breath. That was usually followed by a walk through the gardens where she helped him work through his frustrations by meticulously picking his brain. Sometimes, he thought she could read his mind. Other times, he knew she was simply reading his face.

Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, they had developed the habit of going on walks in the morning, shortly after lunch, and around sunset. Percy argued that this was because she was good to talk to after council meetings, but he'd been skipping a few just to walk with her.

"If I was king," Percy grumbled, staring down at the garden path, "we wouldn't have so many useless council meetings."

"I know," Annabeth hummed, patting his arm softly. "You would have attacked Tartarus without a second thought."

"It's the only logical plan!" Percy exclaimed, pulling his arm from hers. "The longer we wait, the more advantage they have."

"Your father has a lot to balance," Annabeth said. She gently grabbed his arm again and Percy sighed. "You'll be king soon enough. You'll have to balance it all then."

"I'll do it better."

Annabeth laughed as Percy continued to grumble under his breath. It only took a second before Percy was too distracted by her to continue grumbling, though.

"Face it: you have seaweed in your brain," Annabeth teased, leaning against him. "You'll need someone exceptional to help you rule."

"That's why I've got you, Wise Girl."

Percy froze as the words tumbled out of his mouth. He could feel the tips of his ears beginning to heat up in embarrassment, but he didn't take it back. Maybe she wouldn't read into it. If he didn't say anything, she wouldn't notice, right?

"You think I'm going to stick around forever?" Annabeth asked, grinning up at him teasingly.

Dumbly, Percy nodded once. Annabeth's grin slowly slipped away and they came to a stop behind a row of hedges.

"Do you want me to stick around forever?" she asked. The teasing tone she'd used with him earlier had disappeared.

"I do," Percy said softly. "At least, I think I do."

Annabeth's lips twitched into a soft smile and Percy felt the tips of his ears start to burn again.

"You're smart," he told her. Annabeth's grin widened. "From what little I remember about us as children, we got along well and we get along well even now."

"Well, that's only from your perspective," Annabeth said matter-of-factly. "You haven't asked my opinion on the matter."

"Should I?"

Annabeth's jaw dropped and Percy chuckled. As she tried to pull her hands from his arm, he caught them and pulled her back, effectively stopping her from hitting him.

"It's not fair to you," Percy said, holding her arms firmly as she attempted yet again to swat him, "but you're the only one I trust to help me fix this war."

With a small smile, Annabeth stopped attempting to swat at him and her arms relaxed. Percy stared at her, hoping he hadn't made her uncomfortable with his half-there proposal.

"Duchess Rachel said you would love me," she said softly. "She sees it in the way you look at me somehow."

In a mere whisper, Percy asked, "Do you see it?"

Pulling one hand away from Percy's, Annabeth reached up and traced her thumb across his cheekbone. Percy held perfectly still, worried he'd ruin whatever she was about to admit if he so much as breathed.

"I do," Annabeth whispered, still tracing his cheekbone gently. "I didn't know it until she told me herself, but I do see it."

It was a long several seconds before Percy had even processed what she said. It was several more seconds before he had a response.

"I don't want to marry you as a backup plan," he admitted quietly, "I want it to be our only plan."

Annabeth began to draw away and Percy could see the confusion settling on her face. Before she could start to question him, he pressed on.

"I want to marry you because we make a great team," he told her. He grasped her hands in both of his and pulled her further behind the row of hedges. "You're wise and you don't think like the rest of the court. You're also really pretty, which is a bonus because I don't-"

Annabeth interrupted him abruptly, covering his mouth with her hand.

"Stop while you're ahead," she told him, biting back a smile.

With a nod, Percy pulled away and pressed a featherlight kiss to the palm of her hand.

"You'll marry then?" he asked, looking at her seriously. If this was a cruel trick, he wasn't sure he'd recover. "You'll do it for more reasons than just because of this war?"

"Yes, I will-Percy!"

She had hardly gotten the words out of her mouth before he pulled her into a crushing hug. In his sudden spurt of excitement, he didn't realise he had lifted her off of her feet before she was pounding on his back and insisting he let her go.

"Someone is going to see," she warned, pushing out of his arms. Even though she looked nervously over her shoulder, she didn't let go of his hands. Percy couldn't keep the grin off his face.

* * * * *

It quickly became apparent that they needed a plan. Unfortunately, until they received a response from Queen Athena, Annabeth wasn't sure she could come up with one. One thing she knew, however, was that they needed to wait before announcing their engagement.

As far as Annabeth could figure, they couldn't just announce it so suddenly. Although Percy wanted to send out an official announcement the moment they returned to the palace, Annabeth convinced him to wait. They needed to know how Queen Athena was going to respond to Percy's letter before an engagement. Percy did make it clear though that he intended to marry her whether Athena agreed with his proposition or not.

"You need to wait," Annabeth insisted, giving him a look of warning. "I won't change my mind, but we need to wait."

"Until Athena provokes a real war?" Percy replied. Annabeth gave him a look and Percy grinned.

Pulling her under his arm and against his side, he led them both through the palace halls until they arrived at her chambers.

"Are you sure we have to wait?" Percy asked with a slight whine. "Athena won't hear about it for days."

"She can tell time," Annabeth reminded him. "She would know the engagement was announced before her letter reached us."

Percy grumbled and moved to step through the door, but Annabeth blocked him. He frowned and glanced down at her, but she didn't budge.

"You have appearances to uphold, Your Highness," she taunted, stepping in front of him again when he tried to sneak past her. "We'll talk more this evening. Until then."

Before Percy could ask what she was talking about, the door was closed in front of him and he was left standing alone in the hallway.

"She's certainly not like the rest of the royal court."

Percy jumped and turned down the hall to find Rachel smirking at him.

"I'm not surprised you fell for her," Rachel admitted, gesturing to Annabeth's closed door, "as soon as you laid eyes on her."

"I didn't fall for her as soon as I laid eyes on her," Percy argued. Turning away from Annabeth's door, he started back down the hall. "It took a day."