Bride of the Sea God

Chapter 6

A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!

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Annabeth was given a room in Perseus's underwater palace. Everything was of much higher quality than she had ever seen in Pegai. A comfortable bed made in the largest open seashell she had ever seen. Her own desk and chair constructed out of the finest wood. Empty shelves to store any scrolls were she to own any. It was even specially enchanted to have air underwater to mimic that of a room on the surface.

It was a fancy prison given to her so she would not complain or escape. But Annabeth would not escape anyways. Where would she even go, even if she could somehow leave the sea? Even the other occupants of the sea were hostile towards her.

The attendants were cordial if Perseus was there, but when he was gone, quite a few sent Annabeth cold glances. Fortunately, she didn't need to interact with most Nereids. Ione and Doris were the two Nereids who served the sea god most closely.

"Hmmph." Doris turned her nose haughtily. Annabeth watched as the Nereid went away, the blue starfish hair clip on the Nereid's dark hair giving off a cold air.

The other Nereid, Ione, looked quite similar to Doris but had pink pearls dotting her hair. Ione gave Annabeth an embarrassed smile.

"My apologies, lady," said Ione. "Doris...she...."

"It's alright. Thank you, Ione, for showing me my room. It's lovely." Annabeth said, gently. She was used to having others treat her like that back at the archon's household.

"Still. Please don't misunderstand." Ione looked down at her billowing robes in the sea. "Doris is usually a kind Nereid. She is just a little...envious. She has feelings for Lord Perseus, but when she heard word that you were to be his bride, and to see that you're quite beautiful..."

Annabeth wanted to tell her that she had no feelings for the sea god, and that Doris was welcome to take Annabeth's place at any time. But she had been warned by the sea gods to pretend that she was amenable to the situation of being a bride to the sea gods.

Annabeth didn't appreciate being used in whatever scheme she had fallen prey to, but she was promised that she would be taught the ways of being a demigod. And when everything was over, she would be free to go back to the surface. After what Perseus had told her, what awaited her on the surface lands was danger as monsters were drawn to her demigod scent. At least, she was somewhat safe here and would learn how to protect herself for the day she would be released. Not to mention, she hadn't experienced anything much in Pegai, and for the past three days, her whole life was upturned. A part of her looked forward to the adventure.

"Truly, Ione, I am fine. I understand."

Ione gave her a small smile. "Well, shall we go to the lord's office now that you're settled in?"

The sea god was in the midst of listening to his administrators give reports. At least, Annabeth thought they were administrators. A sleek gray dolphin was chattering excitedly as it seemed to report from a scroll it held. Waiting in a line outside the office were an octopus holding a scroll in each of its arms, and a myriad of other sea creatures.

The office itself was decorated plainly but was messy. There were only two desks in the room, one of which was occupied by the sea god. Shelves took up two walls, holding a multitude of scrolls haphazardly strewn about. Weapons decorated another wall. A long table was full of scrolls and maps, the evidence of someone's research.

"Lord Perseus. The lady is here." Ione announced their presence.

The sea god didn't even look up as a squid attendant squirted ink for the sea god to use. "Sit there and read those scrolls for now. Write a report based on the questions I have set for you."