Royally Screwed

Chapter 19

~Annabeth~

"Oh Rapunzel, let down your golden hair!" Leo exclaims mockingly from below, dramatically stretching his arms out, promptly ignoring my suggestions (or rather threats) to be quiet.

Thankfully, Thalia whacks his arm for me. "Knock it off, Repair Boy," she whispers harshly, and Leo recoils.

"Jeez, it was just a joke, Thals."

"Yeah, and us getting arrested and possibly executed is just a joke," Thalia retaliates, and I hide my smile.

Leo raises his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay. I'm done."

"Good," I mutter as I toss one end of a rope down, tying the other end to my bedpost sturdily. Night had finally arrived, and so had the gang, waiting for me to let them up so we can get to the dungeons without being spotted.

"You got the keys?" Thalia whispers up to me, cupping her hands over her mouth. I grin and hold them up by my index finger, making the metal keys glint in the moonlight. "Yep."

Setting the keys on my dresser, I move back on to the balcony to see my friends climbing up the rope one by one.

"Good," I breathe as soon as they all land safely on the balcony, and start hauling up the rope, so as to avoid suspicion. The piled rope goes under my bed, making Leo grin.

"Speed cleaning, are we?"

"Shut it, Valdez," Nico mutters and grabs the keys off my dresser.

The moment I open my door out into the hallway, we automatically lapse into silence. I grab Percy's sword, Riptide, out from under my nightstand. I had managed to swipe it from the General's office the same night I had stolen the keys.

The hallway is dark and eerie, shadows covering every inch of the corridor that is not bathed in moonlight from the windows.

We move silently and efficiently down the hall, pausing only when we have to hide and watch as a maid stumbles to the servants' quarters for bed.

Soon enough, Nico and I are approaching the guards that hover over the entrance to the dungeon, using the butts of our swords to knock them out quickly, catching them before they hit the floor to avoid making too much noise.

Then we all slip inside the dungeon, padding down the steps and over to Percy and Beck's cells. They're both already awake, nervously pacing across the stone floors.

"Percy!" I whisper urgently, and his head snaps up, green eyes glowing when they meet mine.

He grins at me as I steal the keys from Nico and swiftly unlock his cell. Thalia then takes the keys from me to unlock Beck's cell, but I'm too preoccupied to notice.

"Annabeth," Percy says softly, wrapping his arms around me for the first time in a week.

I bury my head in his chest and try not to cry out of sheer relief. I wind my arms around his neck and pull back from the hug, smiling. He still smells like the sea, even with being in this dank place for a week.

He presses his hand to my lower back, pulling me closer, and captures my lips in his. The kiss is soft and slow, and I run my fingers through his hair while he tugs me impossibly closer by my hips.

By this time my heartbeat is accelerating fast, and I'm sure Percy can hear it by the way he smirks into the kiss.

"Oi, lovebirds, I know this is kind of a reunion and all, but it's still a prison break," Thalia interrupts, smirking.

My cheeks flush and I have to straighten my dress while Percy tries to tame his hair.

"Right," he breathes heavily, "let's go."

"Wait!" I take Riptide from Leo's grasp and help him strap it to his belt. Kissing me on the cheek, he waltzes over to the stairs.

Without any unwanted encounters (besides a maid stumbling into servants' quarters), we manage to make it to the front gates, only to find them wide open, and both guards on either side unconscious.

I frown. "That can't be right," I whisper to Percy. "My parents and the general always make sure the gates are closed."

Percy threads his fingers through mine and pulls me after him until we're near the gates, our backs pressed into the stone wall just to the right of the metal gates.

Percy inches closer to the opening and peers around while I try and control my breathing.

Thalia, Leo, Nico, Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers silently join us with questioning looks on their faces. "What is it?" Thalia whispers, and I hold my index finger to my lips at the same time that Percy looks back at me.

"It's Luke," he growls. "He's leading an army into the castle. He's planning on taking over. Turns out he was a spy the entire time."

My eyes widen in shock, then narrow. "I always knew he wasn't quite right," I mutter under my breath.

"What do we do?" Travis asks, ruffling his brown hair anxiously.

Looking around the castle, I answer, "We have to warn the general. We don't want to personally wake him up, because heaven knows what kind of weapon he sleeps with, but I can signal him."

"How?" Percy asks, and I grin.

"Fire."

The next thing I know, we are all racing towards the nearest guard tower. Panting, I climb up the steps and rip the glowing torch from the wall.

"Stay down there!" I warn the others, not wanting them to waste time by running after me.

Percy, against my will, barrels after me and watches as I toss the torch into the huge vat of oil on the roof of the tower.

The oil explodes with fire, and I watch, triumphant, as six of the seven other guard towers copy my signal.

"Annabeth," Percy places both hands on my shoulders and turns me toward him. "We'll stay and fight, you need to go get your parents."

I blink. "What? No! I'm not leaving you!" I protest. "I just got you back," I finish softly, brushing away one solitary tear.

Percy sighs. "I know, Wise Girl, but your mother is pregnant with your twin brothers. You need to help her. Besides, I've got Riptide. Go," he gently pushes me down the stairs and out of the guard tower in the direction of the castle.

I only glance back once, to see Percy and the others, all in fighting stances near the opening of the gate. This only increases my urgency, and I sprint inside the castle and through corridors at full speed until I reach my parents' chambers.

I am not remotely surprised that Luke is a traitor; in fact, it makes perfect sense, factoring in his strange behavior from last night. It seems to me that he had scoured maps for routes to attack from.

"Mother!" I exclaim, flinging open the doors. "The palace is under attack!"

Probably not the best way to wake up a pregnant woman, but I do not really have time to properly shake her awake.

"Wha-"she murmurs sleepily, sitting up from her place on the bed next to my father.

I rush over and help her out of the bed, effectively waking my father in the process. "Annabeth, what's going on?"

"The palace," I tell my father, "it's being attacked."

So what did y'all think? Eh, it was okay, I suppose.