CHAPTER TEN
FINLEY BRIGGS
₊࿐࿔✸⋆｡° ⚘༉ . ⊹
The Senate House interior looked like a high school lecture hall. A semicircle of tiered seats faced a dais with a podium and two chairs. The chairs were empty, but one had a small velvet package on the seat.
Finn, Percy, Hazel, and Frank sat on the left side of the semicircle. The ten senators and Nico di Angelo occupied the rest of the front row. The upper rows were filled with several dozen ghosts and a few older veterans from the city, all in formal togas. Octavian stood in front with a knife and a Beanie Baby lion, just in case anyone needed to consult the god of cutesy collectibles. Reyna walked to the podium and raised her hand for attention.
"Right, this is an emergency meeting," she said. "We won't stand on formalities."
"I love formalities!" a ghost complained.
Reyna shot him a cross look.
"First of all," she said, "we're not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we here to debate the choice of Frank Zhang's companions."
"All four from the Fifth Cohort?" called out Hank from the Third. "There shouldn't even be four! That's not fair."
"And not smart," said the boy next to him. "We know the Fifth will mess up. They should take somebody good."
Dakota got up so fast, he spilled wine from his flask. "We were plenty good last night when we whipped your podex, Larry!"
"Woo, Dakota!" Finn chanted. She couldn't help herself.
"Enough, you two," Reyna said. "Let's leave Larry's podex out of this. As quest leader, Frank has the right to choose his companions. He has chosen Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, and Finley Briggs."
A ghost from the second row yelled, "Absurdus! Frank Zhang isn't even a full member of the legion! He's on probatio. A quest must be led by someone of centurion rank or higher. This is completely—"
"Cato," Reyna snapped. "We must obey the wishes of Mars Ultor. That means certain... adjustments."
Reyna clapped her hands, and Octavian came forward. He set down his knife and Beanie Baby and took the velvet package from the chair.
"Frank Zhang," he said, "come forward."
Frank glanced nervously at his three friends. Then he got to his feet and approached the augur.
"It is my... pleasure," Octavian said, forcing out the last word, "to bestow upon you the Mural Crown for being first over the walls in siege warfare." Octavian handed him the bronze badge shaped like a laurel wreath. "Also, by order of Praetor Reyna, to promote you to the rank of centurion."
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