HAZEL CONSIDERED MAKING A RUN FOR IT.
She didn’t trust Queen Hylla, and she certainly didn’t trust that other lady, Otrera. Only three guards were left in the room. All of them kept their distance.
Hylla was armed with just a dagger. This deep underground, Hazel might be able to cause an earthquake in the throne room, or summon a big pile of schist or gold. If she could cause a distraction, she might be able to escape and find her friends.
Unfortunately, she’d seen the Amazons fight. Even though the queen had only a dagger, Hazel suspected she could use it pretty well. And Hazel was unarmed. They hadn’t searched her, which meant thankfully they hadn’t taken Frank’s firewood from her coat pocket, but her sword was gone.
The queen seemed to be reading her thoughts. “Forget about escape. Of course, we’d respect you for trying. But we’d have to kill you. ”
“Thanks for the warning. ”
Hylla shrugged. “The least I can do. I believe you come in peace. I believe Reyna sent you. ”
“But you won’t help?”
The queen studied the necklace she’d taken from Percy. “It’s complicated,” she said. “Amazons have always had a rocky relationship with other demigods—especially male demigods. We fought for King Priam in the Trojan War, but Achilles killed our queen, Penthesilea. Years before that, Hercules stole Queen Hippolyta’s belt—this belt I’m wearing. It took us centuries to recover it. Long before that, at the very beginning of the Amazon nation, a hero named Bellerophon killed our first queen, Otrera. ”
“You mean the lady—”
“—who just left, yes. Otrera, our first queen, daughter of Ares. ”
“Mars?”
Hylla made a sour face. “No, definitely Ares. Otrera lived long before Rome, in a time when all demigods were Greek. Unfortunately, some of our warriors still prefer the old ways. Children of Ares…they are always the worst. ”
“The old ways…” Hazel had heard rumors about Greek demigods. Octavian believed they existed and were secretly plotting against Rome. But she’d never really believed it, even when Percy came to camp. He just didn’t strike her as an evil, scheming Greek. “You mean the Amazons are a mix…Greekand Roman?”
Hylla continued to examine the necklace—the clay beads, the probatio tablet. She slipped Reyna’s silver ring off the cord and put it on her own finger. “I suppose they don’t teach you about that at Camp Jupiter. The gods have many aspects. Mars, Ares. Pluto, Had
es. Being immortal, they tend to accumulate personalities. They are Greek, Roman, American—a combination of all the cultures they’ve influenced over the eons. Do you understand?”
“I—I’m not sure. Are all Amazons demigods?”
The queen spread her hands. “We all have some immortal blood, but many of my warriors are descended from demigods. Some have been Amazons for countless generations. Others are children of minor gods. Kinzie, the one who brought you here, is the daughter of a nymph. Ah—here she is now. ”
The girl with the auburn hair approached the queen and bowed.
“The prisoners are safely locked away,” Kinzie reported. “But. . . ”
“Yes?” the queen asked.
Kinzie swallowed like she had a bad taste in her mouth. “Otrera made sure her followers are guarding the cells. I’m sorry, my queen. ”
Hylla pursed her lips. “No matter. Stay with us, Kinzie. We were just talking about our, ah, situation. ”
“Otrera,” Hazel guessed. “Gaea brought her back from the dead to throw you Amazons into civil war. ”
The queen exhaled. “If that was her plan, it is working. Otrera is a legend among our people. She plans to take back the throne and lead us to war against the Romans. Many of my sisters will follow her. ”
“Not all,” Kinzie grumbled.
“But Otrera is a spirit!” Hazel said. “She isn’t even—”
“Real?” The queen studied Hazel carefully. “I worked with the sorceress Circe for many years. I know a returned soul when I see one. When did you die, Hazel—Nineteen twenty? Nineteen thirty?”
“Nineteen forty-two,” Hazel said. “But—but I wasn’t sent by Gaea. I came back to stop her. This is my second chance. ”
“Your second chance…” Hylla gazed at the rows of battle forklifts, now empty. “I know about second chances. That boy,
Percy Jackson—he destroyed my old life. You wouldn’t have recognized me back then. I wore dresses and makeup. I was a glorified secretary, an accursed Barbie doll. ”
Kinzie made a three-fingered claw over her heart, like the voodoo gestures Hazel’s mom once used for warding off the Evil Eye.
“Circe’s island was a safe place for Reyna and me,” the queen continued. “We were daughters of the war goddess, Bellona. I wanted to protect Reyna from all that violence. Then Percy Jackson unleashed the pirates. They kidnapped us, and Reyna and I learned to be tough. We found out that we were good with weapons. The past four years, I’ve wanted to kill Percy Jackson for what he made us endure. ”
“But Reyna became the praetor of Camp Jupiter,” Hazel said. “You became the queen of the Amazons. Maybe this was your destiny. ”
Hylla fingered the necklace in her hand. “I may not be queen for much longer. ”
“You will prevail!” Kinzie insisted.