𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒༄ • Jᴀsᴏɴ Gʀᴀᴄᴇ

Chapter 15

Everything felt great. Between holding hands with Jason and looking around the department store at pretty seashells- Freya felt great. The boys shared her sentiment. Leo laughed as he tried on multiple hats, the latest made out of raccoon fur. Jason wondered around with Freya in tow, looking at men's clothes. Freya found it quite odd that they were spending so much time looking at silly things such as sea shells and hats, but whenever her brain begged to differ that there was something they were supposed to be doing- something much more important then shopping- it was like somebody flung a blindfold across her face. She couldn't remember.

And plus, what was there to remember? She was perfectly content here, with Jason and the nice princess that offered them nice gifts. She was staring at a fox coloured scarf when Jason saw something and tugged her along. He looked a little giddy. That's when Freya saw the purple t-shirt that he was pointing at. It looked very familiar, but the fact that it was shredded like ribbons made her uneasy.

"Hey! Check it out!" Called Jason. Piper was there in an instant, her face mixed with fear and fury. The princess was right behind her.

He frowned. "Why does this look so familiar?"

"Jason, it's like yours!" Freya said, excitement lacing her words.

"Now we really have to leave. " Piper pleaded.

"Nonsense," the princess said. "The boys and Freya aren't done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular—trade-ins from previous customers. It suits you. "

Leo picked up an orange Camp Half-Blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it had been hit by a javelin. Next to that was a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion—acid, maybe?—and a Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that looked disturbingly like dried blood.

"Your Highness," Piper grit out. "Why don't you tell the boys how you betrayed your family? I'm sure they'd like to hear that story. "

Their heads snapped towards the princess, and Freya suddenly felt very interested in hearing what she had to say.

"I love story!" She said gleefully.

"More story?" Leo asked.

"I like more story!" Jason agreed.

"Oh, one will do strange things for love, Piper. You should know that. I fell for that young hero, in fact, because your mother Aphrodite had me under a spell. If it wasn't for her—but I can't hold a grudge against a goddess, can I?" Her Highnesses' words were breezy, but her gaze however was hard.

"But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis," Piper remembered. "Didn't he, Your Highness? He married you just as he promised. " Freya narrowed her eyes in confusion. What story was this? And why did Piper and the princess look close to dissembling each other?

"At first," Her Highness admitted, "it seemed he would keep his word. But even after I helped him steal my father's treasure, he still needed my help. As we fled, my brother's fleet came after us. His warships overtook us. He would have destroyed us, but I convinced my brother to come aboard our ship first and talk under a flag of truce. He trusted me. "

"And you killed your own brother," Piper said, a look of triumph on her face. At that, Freya almost fell on her ass.

"You what-" She started. Her mind felt clearer.

"What do you mean killed your own—" Jason stirred. For a moment his eyes sparkled.

"No," the princess snapped. "Those stories are lies. It was my new husband and his men who killed my brother, though they couldn't have done it without my deception. They threw his body into the sea, and the pursuing fleet had to stop and search for it so they could give my brother a proper burial. This gave us time to get away. All this, I did for my husband. And he forgot our bargain. He betrayed me in the end. "