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"I wanted to hear it from you," Reyna said
Annabeth turned "Hear what from me?"
"The truth," Reyna said "Convinceyou Tell me about yourself Tell me about Camp Half-Blood Your friend Piper has sorcery in her words I spent enough time with Circe to know charmspeak when I hear it I can’t trust what she says And Jason…well, he has changed He seeer quite Roman"
The hurt in her voice was as sharp as broken glass Annabeth wondered if she had sounded that way, all thefor Percy At least she’d found her boyfriend Reyna had no one She was responsible for running an entire camp all by herself Annabeth could sense that Reyna wanted Jason to love her But he had disappeared, only to coirlfriend Meanwhile, Percy had risen to praetor, but he had rebuffed Reyna too Now Annabeth had coain, shouldering a job meant for two people
When Annabeth had arrived at Caotiate with Reyna or even fight her if needed She hadn’t been prepared to feel sorry for her
She kept that feeling hidden Reyna didn’t strike her as someone ould appreciate pity
Instead, she told Reyna about her own life She talked about her dad and stepmom and her two stepbrothers in San Francisco, and how she had felt like an outsider in her own family She talked about how she had run ahen she was only seven, finding her friends Luke and Thalia andIsland She described the ca Percy and the adventures they’d had together
Reyna was a good listener
Annabeth was teht with her ht, she’d alo on this quest But she couldn’t bring herself to open up quite that azed over New Ro at bees in the honeysuckle Finally Reyna pointed to the cluster of te," she said, "there on the northern side? That’s the temple of my mother, Bellona" Reyna turned toward Annabeth "Unlike your mother, Bellona has no Greek equivalent She is fully, truly Ro the ho She knew very little about the Rooddess She wished she had studied up, but Latin never cao II gleamed as it floated over the forum, like some o to war," Reyna continued, "we first visit the Teround that represents ene that we are noar You see, Romans have always believed that offense is the best defense In ancient tihbors, they would invade to protect themselves"
"They conquered everyone around thee, the Gauls--"
"And the Greeks" Reyna let that co "My point, Annabeth, is that it isn’t Rome’s nature to cooperate with other powers Every tiht Conflicts between our two sides have started some of the most horrible wars in human history--especially civil wars"
"It doesn’t have to be that way," Annabeth said "We’ve got to work together, or Gaea will destroy us both"
"I agree," Reyna said "But is cooperation possible? What if Juno’s plan is flawed? Even goddesses can et struck by lightning or turned into a peacock Nothing happened
Unfortunately, Annabeth shared Reyna’s doubts Hera didbut trouble froive Hera for taking Percy away, even if it was for a noble cause
"I don’t trust the goddess," Annabeth admitted "But I do trust ether"
Reyna finished her cup of chocolate She set the cup on the terrace railing and gazed over the valley as if i battle lines
"I believe you o to the ancient lands, especially Ro you should know about your mother"
Annabeth’s shoulders tensed "My--my mother?"
"When I lived on Circe’s island," Reyna said, "we had many visitors Once, perhaps a year before you and Percy arrived, a young man washed ashore He was halfat sea for days His words didn’t make much sense, but he said he was a son of Athena"
Reyna paused as if waiting for a reaction Annabeth had no idea who the boy ht have been She wasn’t aware of any other Athena kids who’d gone on a quest in the Sea of Monsters, but still she felt a sense of dread The light filtering through the grapevines s
"What happened to this deod?" she asked
Reyna waved her hand as if the question was trivial "Circe turned hi, of course He made quite a crazy little rodent But before that, he kept raving about his failed quest He clai the Mark of Athena"