Banished

51

Artemis PoV

Percy was fast asleep with an arm draped over my waist.

I smiled and kissed him.

He groaned in fake annoyance as he pulled me closer. "Good morning, Mrs. Jackson."

With another smile, I ran my fingers through his hair. "We're not getting married for another few hours, honey."

"I know, it just sounds nice," he replied, kissing my cheek. "So, I guess we're supposed to be preparing for the wedding now?"

I nodded. "We're supposed to go to Hera's palace, and she'll tell us what to do when we get there, which we have five minutes to do."

The man I would be married to in a few short hours groaned. "That isn't even enough time to make out properly!"

I chuckled and got out of bed, appearing in clean clothes with a snap of my fingers.

He followed suit and we were ready to go.

"Before we go, I just have one question," I started. "Do you have any regrets?"

"No," he replied. "It's kind of crazy how big the wedding is going to be since you're an Olympian and all, but you're completely worth it."

We appeared in the foyer of Hera's palace.

"You're la...," she stopped mid-sentence, looking at the clock to see that we had arrived right on time. "Time to get started. Percy, you'll be going with Hestia. Artemis, I'll be helping you."

"Shouldn't we eat breakfast before we get to all the other stuff?" I asked.

"Normally, yes," the queen agreed. "But this is a wedding. We have to go over proper etiquette, during which you will be having breakfast."

"I've already passed the etiquette classes," I argued.

"A few thousand years ago," she rebutted. "And Percy never took it to begin with."

My future husband and I groaned collectively before being dragged off to our own personal torture classes.

Once we were alone, my step-mother looked me dead in the eye. "Are you sure you want to marry him?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He's the greatest guy I've ever met, and I love him."

"You don't want to have a couple of children with him first? See what kind of father he is?" She continued.

I nodded again. "Isn't part of the reason people get married to make sure they stay together as a family?"

"Marriage between immortals seems pointless, honestly," the goddess of marriage started. "Marriage is supposed to bind two people for the rest of their lives, and for us immortals, that means forever. The first few hundred years can be great, sure, but someone eventually has an affair, and the marriage is ruined from then on."

"I think it'll be different for Percy and me," I rebutted. "He's special."

"Artemis, listen to me," Hera implored. "There has never been a marriage between immortals in which there was no affair. You're just setting yourself up for a painful heartbreak that you'll never be able to escape from."

"I think Percy and I will be able to break that bad pattern," I insisted.

She sighed. "Just think for a moment. For the rest of your life, which is eternity, you will be married to this man. Are you absolutely certain that you want to go through with this?"

"Yes!" I replied loudly, hoping my increase in volume would get her to stop.

The goddess nodded. "Alright, but don't come crying to me when Aphrodite gets her hooks in him."

I shook my head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but can we just get to the etiquette training already? At least I'll know what kinds of torture to expect from that."