Born To Rule

Chapter Twelve: Laws of the King

Kronos' pov (a few days later)

I have been putting off Walden's punishment for days now. Percy keeps distracting me. Telling me he did nothing wrong. That it was just a harmless prank. But to me, it's not. What if it was an attack? What then? Someone could have gotten hurt. 

I hear a knock on the door, "Quinton! Enter!"

The door opens to reveal Quinton. A young boy, no more than 20.

"Sir, the court is ready for you." he says, motioning towards the door.

"Alright, double check that everyone is there. This is important." I tell him, my face emotionless.

"Yes sir." he says, vanishing from the room.

I smooth out the wrinkles in my shirt and straighten out my jacket. I look at myself in the mirror and look at my reflection. My eyes glow darken than they have in awhile, my anger clouding my thoughts. 

I straighten my shoulders and exit the room. I march through the halls to the court. I reach the door and grab the golden handle. It rumbles as I open it, alerting everyone in the room. I look straight, ignoring everyone in the room. My footsteps echo around the room, drowning out the silence. Guards are standing in the room, spread out in different spots.

I walk up to my throne and sit down. I let myself gaze out to everyone. I see Walden, his face ashen. I move my eyes and see Nico sitting next to Walden and his family. Phoebe looks close to tears and Koios looks paler than I have ever seen him. I won't let their reactions change whats to come. I then turn towards Percy, whose sitting in the front row. A look of anger on his face. 

Well, so be it, let him be angry. I'm just protecting him. He will know soon, even if he doesn't now.

"We have gathered here today because Walden here has broken the laws of the king. He could have gotten someone killed with his actions. Whether it be him or someone else. Now breaking the laws have been punishable by death. But taking into account that it could tear us apart, I have come up with a different punishment. Either he accepts sixty lashes from a whip or he be exiled for his crime." I announce to the crowd, pointing a Walden.

"Please, Lord Kronos, my baby boy doesn't deserve this." Phoebe cries out. 

"Silence, this is a crime to my laws and I will not stand for that. Either he chooses or I chose for him." I say, anger seeping through my voice.

"This is so unnecessary Kronos. It was just a prank. No harm was done to anyone. And besides even if it was a crime, the punishment is way too severe. Walden doesn't deserve that." Percy shouts, standing from his seat.

"I am the king, I do as I want!" I shout at him, my voice echoing around the room and a sneer spreads across my face. 

"Fine then, your Lord Kronos." he spits out in disgust and storms out of the room, the doors slamming shut.

"Now, lets continue this later." I say, standing from my chair.

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Percy's pov

I can't believe he talked to me like that. I can feel the anger rising in my chest.  My chest tightens so much and it's getting harder and harder to breathe. 

"Percy! Where are you going?" I here a voice behind me shout, so I glance back and see it's Kronos. 

I continue you to walk down the hall, ignoring him in all of his attempts to talk to me. I reach my destination, the battle arena. I need to let go of this anger and it's probably best to do it in a reinforced space, so nobody gets hurt. I reach for the door, but his hand grips my wrist and turns me to face him. I glare at him.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he asks, confusion written on his face.

"Are you serious Kronos? The way you spoke to me in there, said it all. I really thought that you would be different than everyone else. I put my heart out on the line and you go act all high and mighty. Not everyone has to be punished because you only care about power." I shout which causes the ground to tremble, my anger growing. 

"Oh come on Percy. I'm enforcing the laws. The laws may be hard, but they are the law. And you can't go against that." Kronos tells me, his eyebrows pulling together. 

"I get that the law needs to be followed, but banishment is so unnecessary. Or how about the whipping? It's so wrong to get punished like that over a prank. It's barely even a crime. Once you realize how wrong this is, you'll know where to find me at." I say to him, pulling hand from his grasp.

"Its not a big deal. It's how it works around here Percy." he tells me, trying to grab my wrist again, but I pull back before he can.

"It's Perseus to you right now. Only friends call me Percy." I say, hurt and anger in my voice. "Which clearly you aren't right now."

After that, I flash myself away. I can't be near him right now. I thought now that we would be taking things to the next step, that we would be working through stuff together. He clearly doesn't think so.

Once the light dies down, I can see where I'm at. I'm standing in the middle of a field. Red, blue, yellow and nearly any color of flowers decorated the landscape. I can see a waterfall in the distance. I take a moment to fully take in this amazing view. Then I make my way towards the waterfall. Knowing I can find peace there.

I just hope that in due time, Kronos can stop being to uptight about power. But with days dwindling with the up coming war, all you can do is hope.

(Sorry its a short one, but it's the first fight of the story. And for the dinner date chapter, I have different plans for it. Hope all enjoy this chapter and have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you celebrate it)

(Also, if you enjoy this book, please go vote for it on the PJO Watty awards. I entered for the LGBTQIA+ category. Here is the link if you are interested: https://www.wattpad.com/story/278888553-pjo-watty-awards-2021-voting-book )