Percy's POV:

I was born at the war front. My mom was killed in an attack on the camp. My father is a nobleman and never knew I was born. A Red soldier saved me from the rubble and brought me home to raise as her own son. She and her first husband raised me in Archeon, and I was ignorant of my birthright or my unique ability until this morning. And now I am returned to my rightful place. I go over the story given to me by the king and queen. Oh, and Istvan is my half-brother. This will be interesting.

I used to think in the mortal world there was only the divide, Silver and Red, rich and poor, kings and slaves. But there's much more in between, things I don't understand, and, like usual, I'm right in the middle of it. Before I went to Camp Half-Blood, I grew up wondering if I'd have food for supper; now I'm standing in a palace about to be eaten alive. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm used to being in situations where I'm about to be eaten alive, but now it was more figurative than literal.

Red in the head, Silver in the heart, I remind myself as the doors at the end of the hall open.

~~~time skip to just before Percy is announced~~~

Istvan's POV - third person limited:

Istvan sat with the other Princestrial contestants, fingers tapping lightly against his leg. The king and queen were still talking about his father's late wife and he was getting impatient.

Suddenly the queen stopped her dramatic speech. After a while, her eyes drifted to the back of the room. Istvan followed her gaze to see the boy who had nearly drowned him this morning standing at the top of the stairs. The boy looked exactly the same as before, same sea-green eyes, same troublemaker grin, same relaxed and easygoing, but powerful and dangerous aura, except now he was wearing a suit in the colors of House Osanos. Istvan frowned in confusion. Why is he here? What's happening?

"This morning we saw a miracle. We watched a Red boy fall into the arena like a flash flood, wielding a power he should not have," the queen said. Murmurs rose, and a few Silvers around Istvan even stood.

"The king and I interviewed the boy extensively, trying to discover how he came to be. He isn't Red, but he is still a miracle. My friends, please welcome back to us Lord Perseus Osanos, son of Calista Nolle and Lord Thanases Osanos. Lost and now found."

Istvan was frozen. He had an older half-brother. Wait, older? His blood started to boil with anger. That would mean Perseus was the heir to House Osanos. The fact that the winner of Princestrial hadn't been announced yet was the only thing keeping Istvan from destroying Perseus right then and there. He was confident that he would win, he was after all the one who had seen Annabeth with some other girl, entering Stuyvesant High School in September and had reported it to the Sentinels, the king would for sure take that into consideration.

He couldn't be more wrong.

With a twitch of her hand, the queen beckoned the boy, Perseus, closer, to the open seat right between Istvan and Evangeline Samos. He obeyed. When he sat down Istvan glared at him. Perseus just smiled back.

"Saved from his mother's fate, Perseus was taken from the front and brought to the Red slums of Archeon," the king said, continuing where his wife left off. "Raised by Red parents, he worked as a Red Servant. And until this morning, he believed he was one of them." Everyone in the room, except Istvan, the royal family, and Perseus, gasped in response. Perseus snorted, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Istvan narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion. "Perseus was a diamond in the rough, working in my own palace, the son of my friend's late wife under my nose. But no more. To atone for my ignorance, and to repay his mother and his house for their great contributions to the kingdom, I would like to take this moment to announce the joining of House Calore and House Osanos."

Istvan's glare deepened, his normally pale blue eyes were like a hurricane of wrath and anger. He wanted to drown Perseus, make him feel the pain and humiliation that he had made Istvan feel that morning, but he couldn't do it with all these people watching. All he could do was continue to glare at Perseus.

The king only said the 'joining of House Calore and House Osanos,' he never said that Perseus would be marrying Annabeth, he might've been referring to me, Istvan thought, trying to reassure himself. But he knew it was pointless to hope, the king had made it clear who he had been referring to.

When Annabeth stepped forward, Istvan tensed in anticipation. "Lord Perseus."

Perseus stood, not at all nervous. On the contrary, he looked happy. So did Annabeth, her smile was genuine, not forced or fake the way it usually is. Why?

"In the eyes of my royal father and the noble court, I would ask for your hand in marriage. I pledge myself to you, Perseus Osanos. Will you accept?" Istvan willed the moisture in the air into an iron grip around Perseus's arm, as if to say "Accept, and I will kill you slowly and painfully."

Perseus didn't seem to notice. He stared at Annabeth passionately as he spoke, his eyes soft, gentle, and full of love. "I pledge myself to you, W- Annabeth Calore," he responds. "I accept." The tone of his voice matched the love in his eyes.

This confused Istvan, no one here ever loved the person they were married to. Power was the only factor Silver nobles took into consideration when it came to marriage, Cal's parents were the only exception.

Next, Maven stepped forward, repeating the proposal Annabeth had spoken. "Lady Mareena," Mareena stood with a cold grace and elegance. "In the eyes of my royal father and the noble court, I would ask for your hand in marriage. I pledge myself to you Mareena Titanos. Will you accept?"

Lady Titanos didn't hesitate to answer. "I pledge myself to you, Maven Calore. I accept."

The two took their seats, and Cal stood, taking his brother's place. The air seemed to go out of the room as every girl inhaled, waiting for his decision. "I am my father's heir, born to privilege and power and strength. You owe me your allegiance, just as I owe you my life. It is my duty to serve you and my kingdom as best I can - and beyond. I need a queen who will sacrifice just as much as I will, to maintain order, justice, and balance."

The Queenstrial girls lean forward, eager to hear his next words. Istvan yawned, wanting to skip to when he could kill Perseus for ruining his life.

"Lady Evangeline Samos."

With fluid, cold grace, Evangeline rose to her feet. She barely looked at Cal, instead turning over her shoulder to sneer at the crestfallen girls. She basked in her moment of glory. At least Perseus didn't do any of that, Istvan thought.

When Evangeline turned back around, Cal echoed his younger siblings' proposals. "In the eyes of my royal father and the noble court, I would ask for your hand in marriage. I pledge myself to you, Evangeline Samos. Will you accept?"

"I pledge myself to you, Prince Tiberias. I accept."

When they're seated, Istvan griped Perseus's arm, and leaned over to whisper in his ear through gritted teeth, "You're dead."

Perseus turned his head to look at Istvan. He raised an eyebrow in a questioning look. "Good luck with that," he replied nonchalantly.

Annabeth's POV:

I watch in amusement as Percy practically stuffs his face with food. "Hey, Wise Girl?" He says suddenly.

"Yeah?" I ask while cutting up the kobe beef steak on my plate.

"Why would you run away from this place if they serve food like this every day?"

Sighing, I set down the dinner fork and steak knife. "I didn't run away because of the food Percy," I said. "Besides, they don't have pizza," I add to lighten the mood.

Percy stopped eating and stared at me with pure horror and shock. "THEY DON'T HAVE PIZZA!!!"

"Try and be a bit louder, I don't think they can hear you," I tease.

Percy sticks his tongue out at me playfully. I smirk, knowing that Lady Blonos is probably having a heart attack, if she's watching.

Suddenly Percy's expression becomes serious. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"Do you think they could make the food blue if I asked?" I laugh, earning a few stares from my mortal family. "What? I'm being serious Annabeth," he says.

"I mean, yeah, probably," I answer, still laughing. By now almost everyone is sending us weird looks. I glare at them and they go back to their own conversations. Istvan, however, continues glaring at us. We make eye contact and a triumphant smirk forms on my lips; if he was going to be a dick and take me away from my old life, then I had no problem mocking him over the fact that he didn't get what he wanted.

Percy follows my gaze. "I prefer Tyson over Istvan, he didn't seem happy about what happened during the announcement."

"Istvan? He's just jealous, and not because he cares about me. Istvan only cares about the crown."

"Oh," Percy says as he sends Istvan a death glare before focusing his attention back on the food on his plate, proceeding to eat his mashed potatoes with a soup spoon.

"You're supposed to use the dinner fork," I say, pointing the closest fork to his plate.

He frowns. "Does it matter?"

"To Lady Blonos it does. She's the person who Elara's going to have teaching you protocol."

"Why would people care what I eat my food with, it's not like the country's watching me while I eat," he complains.

"Don't say that to Lady Blonos, unless you want to sit through three to four hours of her explaining the importance of table etiquette. And I speak from experience when I say that you don't, it's not fun," I answer. He grumbles something about how strict the rules are here, but he switches out his spoon for his dinner fork.

After a few minutes, he speaks up again. "I've missed you, Wise Girl."

I look up from my plate, smiling at him. "I've missed you too, Seaweed Brain," I say, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek, not caring who saw.

A/N:

I'm back! Sorry this is a week late, it took me a while to figure out how I wanted to write this chapter.

On Thursday, my little sister, who's in 7th grade, asked me what the decimal value of ¼ is... 😤 must not lose patience.

Anyways, hope you all had a lovely December-January.

XOXO, HamiltonFanGirl