Empress (a Percy Jackson AU)

The New Empress

It was a few hours after her father's burial and Annabeth was holding council in the throne room. She hadn't had any sleep, but her maidservant, Piper, had helped her change from her funeral garb into an outfit befitting an empress. Her tunica was woven of silk and embroidered with patterns of roses. Silver, owl-shaped earrings hung from her ears and her shoes were red.

"The coronation ceremony should take place immediately!" Ethan declared.

"Now wait a minute," Helen said, raising her chin. "Things like this take time."

"We need to secure the throne swiftly," Hermes said, pacing as he spoke. "In times of transition, the empire is at its most fragile."

"I know that," Helen said, "but one can not hardly blame me for wishing for us to be prepared."

"Forgive me, Lady Helen," Ethan said, "but you are merely the mother to the spares. Your word is of little importance now."

Helen tossed back her head and there was a fire in her eyes, but she left the room calmly.

   "That was not a good move," Hermes fretted.

"Truth and justice are not always kind," Ethan said.

"So it's settled," Annabeth said.

The eyes of everyone in the room looked to her. It was the first time she'd spoken. "The coronation shall be held in two days."

****

"You deliberated well," Chiron said.

      Annabeth looked up from the letter she was penning to her cousin, Magnus. He lived at a court in a northern province, so the two rarely saw each other.

Annabeth smiled at Chiron. Her tutor from childhood was an eunuch who had once been an educated Greek whose city had been enslaved after a rebellion. He had taught Annabeth to speak in four tongues: Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic. Once her own child was old enough, Chiron would teach him.

     "Thank you," Annabeth said. "Your praise is as dear to me as that of my father's."

     In the absence of her mother, Annabeth had grown close to her tutor. He had lavished her with the attention her father had given mostly to his sons and new wife. Now, Chiron offered Annabeth a hug and she obliged, letting herself shed a few tears as she breathed in his woody scent.

     "I know one shouldn't say mean things about the dead," Annabeth said, "but my father seemed to have time for everyone but me and—"

       Her voice broke off into a sob. "And I sometimes wonder if he would've loved me more if I was a boy."

Chiron patted her back and then slowly let go of her. He gazed at her with his kindly brown eyes. Though he was a slave, he wore finer clothes than most freepeople. "Annabeth, you are not defined by love from your father," he said. "You are lovable. I have loved teaching you and your subjects will love you one day as you deserve."

A few more tears escaped Annabeth's eyes. Until that moment, she hadn't realized that was what she had always needed to hear. "Chiron, until Frederick is one, can you serve as my advisor? You have been a great tutor to me and for your great service, I hereby free you."

Chiron smiled and his face looked as if years of stress had been erased. "I would be glad to, Empress Annabeth."