To the Sun, To the Stars, To the Sky

21: Spies Revealed, A Royal Killed

Nico POV

We ran past nobles' gardens and mansions and sprawling land one by one, forming a short line of rebels. We kept our hands on our swords or knives or bows as we went. A few nobles watched us with wide eyes from distant windows, but they didn't move and they didn't seem to warn anyone that we were coming. I was hardly surprised⁠—nobles weren't loyal to anything except the source of their income, which they probably assumed was less important than keeping their lives. Good.

We arrived at the soldiers' barracks, and I quickly led the group to a laundry room, which wasn't attached to the actual housing and which would be relatively low-risk to enter. There was no one inside. We took suits from laundry baskets and quickly changed into them. In a few moments we were out the door again and knocking on the door of one of the soldiers' quarters. The general would start at the end closest to the attack, so the barracks on the west side wouldn't be called for duty for at least a couple of minutes.

We heard screaming and swords clanging faintly, from the other side of the castle. It had begun.

Someone opened the door, probably expected us to be the general already. Their eyes narrowed in confusion, and I pushed them aside.

Confused and seeing that my rank card was higher than theirs, they each fell into form, lining up at the ends of their bunks and saluting. What rank card did I have? How high up did they think I was?

I looked down and read it. 642?

Wait.

Oh God.

I heard his surprised laugh from across the barrack. He walked quickly, apparently knowing already that we were about to be in a very desperate situation. The other soldiers frowned at me as they realized I must have stolen the rank card from the legend in front of them.

And after all, what kind of idiot would steal from Percy Jackson?

~~~

Will POV

I had a guard.

Watching me.

Doing nothing but watching me and my fellow prisoner, Hazel. Well, maybe we weren't prisoners, but it felt like it.

He wasn't even doing his job very well. In fact, sometimes he would stare at the battlefield longingly for minutes at a time without even a glance in my direction. Actually, I could probably try to...

~~~

Thalia POV

Running away. That's what I saw William doing when I glance up for only a moment in order to check on him. He was already running towards the castle, moving through the training ground to get there. Soon he was at the front gate.

I hit someone with the flat side of my sword, which I didn't care for as much as my arrows. The guy fell over.

That idiot prince was going to get us all killed. He better know what he's doing.

"To the stars!" I screamed as I charged further into battle. Rebels around me echoed the cry and soon the battlefield was filled with our fear-filled song.

~~~

Nico POV

He was looking at me with guilty eyes. "Ten-Seventeen, I'm sorry for what happened to your sister. For what I let happen to your sister."

"We can talk, later, but⁠—"

"Percy?" It was Annabeth, who stood there looking like she'd seen a ghost. Percy froze when he saw her, and then his lips turned into a happy grin.