Percy grinned. "My mother was the nicest lady I ever met. She baked the best cookies, told the best stories, and always knew how to cheer me up. We used to live in a much bigger place but moved here once my father died. She was an author; she wrote most of those books over there," he explained, gesturing to the bookshelf.

"Really?" I asked, and when he nodded, I smiled. "Can you go get me one?"

Percy stood and continued to talk. "I never liked reading, but always read her books, even though they are cheesy romance ones. She died in the crossfires of a rebellion, and I miss her every day."

"Insurgents?" I inquired.

He shook his head, handing me a book. "No, the townspeople against the Royal Guard."

"What?" I looked up. "Why were they fighting?"

Percy shrugged. "Same reason as always. The people wanted a change, and the king and queen weren't giving it to them."

I didn't remember any rebellions occurring five years ago. Wouldn't my father have told me that things like that were happening?"

"Do things like that happen often?" I questioned.

"Here, yes, as well as in other small villages. The bigger towns are more apt to stay in line."

I rested my hand on Percy's tanned forearm. "That's awful. I had no idea things were that bad. I - I guess I live in my own bubble back at the castle. That's the second time I've heard that the people are suffering and the royals aren't doing anything to stop it today, and the second time I've heard that in my whole life."

"Who else did you hear from?" he asked curiously.

I frowned. "This man named Ethan. He was at the ball talking to me about normal things before suddenly switching the topic to how bad the conditions are in villages and how the council does it on purpose. But he was an Insurgent."

With a hum of acknowledgment, Percy stood up. "You should get some rest. I'll lend you my bed and wake you up tomorrow, alright?"

"I can sleep here," I argued.

He shook his head and picked me up. "I would rather sleep on the couch than let you, Princess."

Percy walked over to the ladder leading to the loft, which was in the kitchen. "Hold on," he instructed, so I slung my arms around his neck and held on tight. He walked up the ladder and set me on the mattress.

My dress fanned out around me and I frowned. "I'm assuming you don't have any spare pajamas that would fit me."

He chuckled. "No, but I can find you something to wear. I'll grab the medical kit and rewrap your leg as well."

Percy went back down the ladder to fetch the required items, leaving me in the loft. I looked around. There was nothing up there but the mattress and a small bedside table with a lit candle on it. The sheets were blue and soft, with the scent of the sea. I breathed in deeply, still grateful I wasn't wearing a corset.

After a while, I heard steps coming up the ladder. Percy was holding a small box in one hand and a pair of cotton pants and a tunic in the other. "These are the smallest clothes I could find," he told me. "Hopefully they fit."

He walked over to me and set the items on the bed. He bent down, lifted up my skirt, and carefully took off the fabric surrounding my wound. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't throw up and breathed slowly.

I felt his fingers brush my leg and tried to ignore the shivers running up my spine. He slowly wiped the area with some sort of antibiotic that stung a lot before applying a fresh bandage and tying it tightly. He also slipped my grey heels off my feet.

"Is that okay?" Percy asked me.

I nodded, opening my eyes. "Yes, thank you."

He stood up. "Do you want to see if you can stand at all?"

I shrugged, saying, "It wouldn't hurt to try."

Percy held out both his hands and I held on to them. I placed my good leg on the floor first, then my bad one, and attempted to get up. A burst of pain exploded from my wound and spread throughout my entire leg. I immediately collapsed back down to the bed.

I winced. "Bad idea. Bad, bad, bad idea."

"That's not good," Percy agreed. "Let's get you changed, alright?"

I nodded. He lifted me up and turned me around so I was facing the wall opposite him, with my legs straight in front of me. He unzipped the back of the dress and pushed the sleeves off my shoulders. Once the top half of the dress was off my torso, I raised my arms and Percy slid his blue tunic onto my body.

The more complicated part was putting on the pants he had for me without disrupting the dagger still sticking out of my thigh. Percy once again grabbed me beneath my armpits and lifted me up, but this time the dress fell to the floor. I did my best to ignore the ferocious blushes on both our faces. He turned me around so I was facing him and guided my legs through the pant holes.

I smiled sheepishly at him. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Of course, Annabeth. Call me if you need anything."

I laid down and spread the blanket over my body. Percy put out the candle and grabbed my dress and the medical kit. Then he walked over to the ladder and went downstairs, presumably to the livingroom.

I sighed. The day had been extraordinarily eventful, and lots of new things had been introduced to me. I had no idea that Olympus was genuinely a poor and broken country. I didn't realize that the council was pulling the strings behind the kingdom's failure.

I was nervous about what the next day would bring, but I trusted Percy to keep me safe. With that in mind, I drifted off to a peaceful sleep.