The Seasons Gloom

A New Praetor

That night, like most nights, I couldn't get much sleep. I was thinking about the previous day and I couldn't help but worry. Jaidyn's face and words appeared in my mind. Daphne's conviction and Nora's new vision. What would become of the peaceful society we strived so hard to achieve?

* * * * * * * *

When I woke up, I saw light streaming through the window next to my bunk. I sat up, tired, and got out of bed. When I was dressed, I left the barracks and headed to the dining hall for breakfast.

"Autumn!" I heard a voice call from one of the tables. Aiden Lockhart. His chapped lips and dark blue eyes formed into a smile when I made eye contact. He had short brown hair and subtle muscles bulging from his t-shirt. He was a Venus kid, so I, like many other girls at camp, had a crush on him. Mine had started when he saved me one time in war games, and I was so happy that we had recently become friends.

"Hey Aiden!" I called back. "Can I sit with you?"

"Sure." I sat next to him and a lare brought me a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries. My favorite dish as a child. I picked up a spoon and started to dig in. "Did you hear the news about Nora?"

"Maybe, why?" I said as I took a bite of oatmeal.

"She had a vision of Praetor Christina with another praetor so now, she's the new augur and we're having a praetor election."

"Really? Wow. Who's running?" I wasn't actually all that surprised, I figured this would happen after the previous day's events.

"Cal, obviously," he looked at me and I nodded, "and Bella."

"Ooh, Bella doesn't stand a chance, poor thing."

"Actually, Cal's been pretty out of it since yesterday's senate meeting and Bella's only down by one point."

 I scoffed, "That's not because of Cal's behavior, is it? It's that jerk, Daphne. She's probably getting people not to vote for him by spreading rumors."

"You're probably right, Daphne's swaying the votes, but Cal has been acting different, the things Daphne is saying aren't rumors."

"Hmmm.... he was acting kind of weird yesterday. I hope he's okay. Maybe I should ask Christina to talk to him."

After I finished up my breakfast I headed to the principia. Christina was surrounded by papers and looked as though she hadn't slept all night. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and her eyes were droopy. She glanced up at me and smiled, relieved. "Thank the gods, Autumn."

"Chrissy what's wrong?" I inquired, walking over to her.

The praetor gave a humorless laugh. "Well, everything."

I pulled over a chair, sat next to her and said: "Spill."

Christina explained her worry about Nora and how she had already gone through three augurs and didn't want Nora to suffer the same fate. She shared her stress about choosing a new praetor, and her worry about Cal. "He's just not acting like himself," she sighed. "I think it's the pressure of praetor and Jaidyn's death. She was one of the few people who didn't judge him differently because. . ."

"Ahh," I nodded my head in acknowledgement.

Cal was a different type of demigod. Well he wasn't actually a demigod. His mother was Hecate and his father was Hades. He was technically a god, having his parents both be gods. His power was stronger than any demigod, which meant he had to watch his anger. And no one really liked sons of Hades to begin with.