Chapter Text
The landlocked kingdom of Arcadia was located at the crossroads of many merchant routes.
It was a relatively young nation, compared to the Olympus in the North and Erebus in the West
Yet, they found themselves at the cusp of a historic marriage pact with the long-established Seafaring City-State of Atlantis.
Servants ran up and down the royal halls, hurriedly making the preparations to welcome the newest member of the Lord's household.
“Bring me the drapes from those Lydian traders!”
“The porcelain! Where is that oriental porcelain?”
“Oh, I hear the new princeling is a beauty unlike any other.”
“And the Atlanteans paid a dowry of a thousand white pearls, her highness was beside herself!”
“How wonderful!”
There was excited chatter all around as the maids readied the bedchambers of the Atlantean Prince. They giggled like children even as they arranged pillows and paintings and exotic perfumes.
The adjoining room was not nearly as lively.
These were the bedchambers of the Crown Prince, Luke Castellan, and he was sitting at his writing desk looking like the very picture of misery. He'd been this way ever since he found out two days ago.
“You knew this day would come.” Hermes was kind even as he scolded him. His son had refused all company today, opting to wallow in his own thoughts. This was unacceptable behavior for a Prince on this special day. “I know this wasn’t what you wanted, but this is the best possible outcome for both our kingdoms, given the…circumstances.”
Ah, yes, circumstances.
Luke despaired.
Everything had been perfect, back then.
Luke had been young and handsome, set to marry his childhood best friend, Thalia Grace, a daughter of Zeus---King of Olympus, the most ancient of kingdoms on the mainland…and then everything went to shit.
All things considered, he was very, very lucky that Lord Poseidon was willing to marry off his second son to someone like Luke. Of course, the King of Atlantis probably had his own reasons for doing so…but that wasn't Luke's problem here.
“Well, Father ,” Luke hissed, frustrated beyond belief, “you didn't tell me that my future spouse just turned twelve . At least Thalia and I were almost the same age.”
Hermes was quick to dismiss him. “The wedding is years away. He will mature in due time, and he will do so as a member of our court. Until then, you are simply betrothed.”
Luke wanted to punch a wall.
“Then why is he moving in before marriage? This is ancient even by your standards.”
“The Atlanteans were very insistent that we follow their traditions. We should secure the agreement at the soonest opportunity.”
“Oh really.” he snarked.
Hermes leveled him with a Look that spelled trouble for him if he pushed further.
He knew he was being immature for his age, but Luke really didn't care right now.
“It's not my fault that I look like…!” He gestured to his scarred face “... this . Tch, I almost lost an eye and all you cared about was how we lost the proposal. Now you're pairing me off to a child—”
Hermes' eyes were ablaze with anger. With one hand, he grabbed Luke by the chin, squeezing his face into an even more unsightly expression, and pulled him upright so forcefully he nearly fell out of his chair.
“The daughter of Zeus can have her pick of any Alpha in the twelve kingdoms. Carve these words into your soul, boy . We are extremely fortunate that King Poseidon even looked in our direction, so let. It. Go.”
Luke gulped, and nodded. Hermes released his hold on him and he fell back into his seat with a huff. If he's lucky, he won't bruise until after dinner…the dinner to celebrate their betrothal.
Hermes turned to leave the room.
“Perseus Jackson will arrive by sundown. I will send George and Martha. They will dress you in the appropriate attire.”