The Glory That Is Rome (a Percy Jackson AU)

Egyptian Princess

      Hazel had known since she was two that she should have been an Egyptian princess. Her mother, Marie, had belonged to the harem of the Pharaoh. Hazel could have been the daughter of a Pharaoh, but Marie was kidnapped by a Roman soldier and sold as a slave. Instead of being born in a palace, Hazel was born on the dusty floor of the slave quarters. Marie died soon after the birth from an infection, leaving Hazel with one parent: the man who owned her.

    Hazel had been freed since the day she had turned five and had saved her half-sister, Bianca, from a stampeding horse. She had climbed up the social ladder  from a slave girl to a freedwoman and illegitimate daughter of one of the wealthiest men of Rome. Hades was a rich merchant who sold luxury items such as jewels, precious metals, and exotic goods. He was the brother of the emperor, but he always joked that he got the better lot. "I'm almost as rich as him and I have less fear of assassination," he'd always say.

     Still, Hazel could see as well as anyone that Hades was jealous of his brother. He had grown up in a palace and no villa, no matter how luxurious, compared to it. Recently, Hades had grown more discontent and Hazel wished more and more that she had been born in Egypt. Sometimes, Hazel would visit the Egyptian corner of Rome and gaze at the goods that were exotic to her when they should have been familiar. She would inhale the spicy aroma of kyphi and wonder if that was what Egypt smelled like. She peppered Zia and Carter with questions about Egypt that gave her an idea of what life would be like in Egypt.

      As the daughter of a woman from the harem, Hazel likely would have ended up in the harem herself. If she was lucky, she would have married another man. Otherwise, she would have been forced to compete with dozens of women for the affections of the pharaoh. This thought sometimes made Hazel grateful that she lived in Rome, but most of her daydreams about Egypt involved being married to a scribe. She had named her imaginary husband Sammy and imagined that he would treat her with fine linen dresses and beads for her dark, curly hair.

       Hazel was pulled out of her daydream by her father's voice. She looked up to see Hades frowning slightly at her. 

    "Pater?" she said cautiously.

     "Hazel, you've grown," he remarked.

       It was true. In the last year, Hazel had grown taller, though she was still much shorter than Nico. As a 16 year old, she had finally matured from a girl to a woman, much to her relief. Hazel's moonblood had taken so long to come that she had feared she was barren. Now, she had the body of a woman and had lost some of the baby fat on her cheeks, though the slaves still said she looked much younger than she was due to her small stature.

      Hades gave her a small smile. He was stingy with his smiles and Hazel felt like she had just ridden a horse. Her father left, but Hazel felt happy long afterwards.