"you could be the king, but watch the queen conquer"
-
Rosalyn Carter is the daughter of Aphrodite and the last thing Percy expected to find at Camp Half-Blood.
But he wouldn't want to fight deadly battles with anyone else.
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Rosalyn's year was much more eventful than Percy's. Chiron sent her on six separate trips across the country, all of which she had to keep a secret.
But it's still a secret if you tell your best friend, right?
"You have a black eye."
Rosalyn sighed and faced Clarisse, who stood with her arms crossed at the bottom of Cabin Ten's stairs.
"I'm fine. I just ran out of ambrosia," Rosalyn smiled tiredly.
Clarisse rolled her eyes and yanked the duffel bag off of Rosalyn's shoulder, pushing past her to get into the cabin.
None of Rosalyn's siblings weren't due back at camp for another few hours, so the two girls were alone. Clarisse was angrily putting things away that were previously in the duffle while Rosalyn gently lowered herself onto her bed.
"You're going to get yourself killed."
Closing her eyes, the red haired girl said nothing. She'd been told something similar every time she returned to camp, albeit the other five were over the phone. Clarisse always came back to Camp Half-Blood early to keep her company, and Rosalyn was grateful for it.
"So?"
Popping one eye open, she saw her best friend with her arms crossed again. The look on her face clearly said, what in Hades happened to you?
Rolling her sore shoulders, Rosalyn said, "It was all going fine. I was just checking in on Lee Fletcher and his mom... but then I found a lead on Luke."
"By the goddess—"
"I know," Rosalyn interrupted. "I should've left it alone."
"You're right, you should've!" Clarisse yelled. "You had no backup. No one but Chiron and me even knew why you weren't at camp. Did you even think about that?"
The brunette girl was breathing heavily and pacing. The frustration in her voice was leaking into the air, and her eyes developed a dull red glow. Anger was a big part of her power as a child of Ares.
"No, I didn't. I'm sorry."
"Who hit you in the face? Luke?"
A bitter laugh burst from Rosalyn's mouth as she said, "As if Luke could get the drop on me. He's got these stupid bear monsters with him."
Clarisse walked over and dropped down onto Rosalyn's bed, glaring at the dark bruise around her left eye. Rosalyn could only offer a sheepish smile in response.
She knew it was stupid to go looking for Luke when he'd joined Kronos, but she couldn't stop herself. She'd known Luke forever, it felt like. Luke was one of the few year-round campers that she spent her days with in the off season.
He was family.
"You're lucky I'm such a good friend," Clarisse grumbled, reaching into the pocket of her leather jacket and pulling out a wrapped square of ambrosia. "Your brothers would freak if they saw that."
