How to Seduce an Earl

Chapter 9

Even in the past, Annabeth and Piper enjoyed attending the Imperial sword practices. Usually, they would use Jason's influence to pressure the poor sword master into teaching them sword skills. Usually that meant bribing Luke with food and showing him their best puppy eye looks (or rather Piper did it, because when Annabeth did her puppy eye look, she looked like she was about to strangle her target).

Today was another mission in mind. The Earl from Atlantis was attending the practices. There were always quite a few women who attended the practices, sometimes to sneak a peek of men in their sweaty glory states or perhaps to snag a marriage partner, or even sometimes to marvel at the one female knight Lady Reyna, who was just a pure badass at the spear. With the Crown Prince and the dashing General Luke now engaged, many women focused their attention on the enchanting unmarried Earl.

Annabeth and Piper settled in their seats situated above the training ground. She spotted Percy in just a few moments, laughing and talking to Jason. Her cousin's face lit up as he spotted them.

Piper leaned down as Jason kissed her lovingly on the cheek unabashedly in front of his men and all the other spectators. A soft sigh of mixed adoration and jealousy rippled through the spectators. The couple was quickly becoming a popular model of the ideal marriage. Even the commoners had quickly taken note of their future rulers and were enthused.

Annabeth motioned Percy to come closer. As he did, she handed him a blueberry scone.

"What's this?" He popped it immediately in his mouth as Annabeth fed Jason one.

"Annabeth and I made them. You should have seen our first batch. Burnt to a crisp," Piper laughed.

"I thought the cook was going to have a fit when he saw what we did to his poor oven. Good thing Leo came by and helped us." Annabeth took a bit of the fragrant pastry herself. Hmm, delicious. Almost as yummy as the sight of Percy's biceps peeking out out from his armor.

"Leo? Oh man, he was such a great cook on the battlefields. I swear, he could turn anything into a fantastic meal. Morale was kept up because of him. If he hadn't found his calling as an inventor, he would be an excellent royal chef," Jason said.

General Luke blew his whistle and the soldiers began to gather. Jason blew Piper one last kiss, and Percy winked at Annabeth before both fell in order. Annabeth ignored the hushed whispering and gossip of other ladies. A message had been sent out to the ladies and men. Earl Percy and Lady Annabeth were paired.

The men soon started with some warm up drills. Annabeth's eyes stayed on only Percy.

She could tell how the man was revered in so many ways on the battlefield. Jason had been a leading figure on the field, with only Luke (and Thalia, although that was a secret) as the main competitor. Percy was right up there with them. It was hard to tell who was better at the sword.

A few spectators squealed with delight as they watched Luke easily thrash his second-in command. But Annabeth was far more interested in Percy's and Jason's duel. A glistening sweat drop slowly made its way down Percy's cheek, but he was far too concentrated to notice.

Jason feinted and Percy took the bait. But the Earl caught the back swing of Jason's swipe easily and forced the Crown Prince back one step. Both men seemed to be dancing around each other, light on their feet but steady in their blocks.

Annabeth's sharp eyes started breaking down their fighting techniques. Jason was trained in the Imperial royal style of fighting in fast and accurate stabs with his sword, aimed with precision to maim and disarm. Percy seemed to have learned both the commoner and Atlantis royal style of fighting, displaying his background as both an illegitimate child of the throne and his commoner status. He was like a whirlwind, using slashes at the feet and other unguarded areas of the body. Their duel was like a deadly choreographed swirl of gold and bronze metal, where one false step could mean bloodshed.