Chapter Text
“I appreciate the drink.” Reyna Ramírez-Arellano said, gesturing to the three untouched shot glasses in the middle of the table. “To what do I owe the pleasure of hosting the praetor of the Twelfth Legion and a princess?”
The princess straightened her already iron spine. “You need to kill someone.”
She’d reserved a room in the back of the bar so they could speak freely. Of course the princess kept all her straight laced formalities, passed directly down from her mother. “Obviously. Who is it?”
“He’s not known.” The praetor’s voice was low and smooth, perfect for senate meetings and rallying warriors. Her own SPQR tattoo burned under her sleeve at the commanding tone. “He’ll be traveling alone on horse back to the intersection of Sun, Messenger and Wisdom.”
“Hm.” Reyna tapped the plates of her armor in acknowledgment. “Is this your first dealing with me?” They blinked. “Of course it is. Name, age, and connections to the High Lords and Ladies.”
Formally, arcena didn’t abide by any rules. Most assassins didn’t. But she‘d developed a few over the ten years spent as High Lady Venus’s champion.
No killing anyone under twenty one. No killing anyone with child. No killing any chosen champions of the High Lord or Ladies. Kill anyone Venus orders her to but never say no to another patron, hence why she was here with two people no older than her.
Well?” The assassin pushed when the two remained silent.
The praetor and the princess looked between each other. They held themselves in the same regal way-sharp expression, tense shoulders, cutting gazes, and airs of superiority. “His name is Perseus Jackson. He’s twenty one and he’s,” The praetor-Jason Grace, bastard of High King Jupiter-ran a hand through his neatly cut hair. “Riding on official invitation of High Lady Athena. To be at a debutant ball.”
The princess of Wisdom paying to have her mother’s guest murdered. Reyna knew Annabeth Chase was protective of her mother’s love but gods. This was pathetic.
Her eyes bowled into Reyna’s like she could hear her thoughts. A ring with the Wisdom Court’s insignia burned on it hung around her slender neck. “Fine. Is there a due date?”
“Tomorrow.”
Her snort reverberated around their small wooden room. Her patrons kept faces straight as stone. Reyna sighed. She was supposed to attend one of Venus’s ladies baby shower, celebrating the start of life. Not the end of one.
The praetor took her brooding as stubbornness. Reaching under the table, he produced six bags. “Each bag has 300 drachmas. We have the same amount in denarii, if that’s what you prefer.”
They were willing to pay 3600 drachmas and denarii for this man. She had a feeling it wasn’t coming from the Roman treasury but the purse of Athena herself. Maybe the High Lady had more involvement than she thought. The invitation had simply been a trap. One of the reasons why Venus let her take jobs from other people was to collect information about the wants and wishes of her fellow Lords and Ladies. She wasn’t just Venus’s killer but her spy too.
Reyna nodded. “That’ll be enough.”
“Will you contact us when the job is done?”
“You’ll know when he doesn’t show up for the gala.” She was already sliding out of her chair and heading towards the door. The obvious bulge of gold in her pockets would make her a clear target on the way back to her pegasus, if she was anybody else. In her black armor, patterned with the shadows of running woodland creatures, nobody would dare meet her eye.
“Wait.” Annabeth called after her. “Your patron won’t hear about this.”
She made the face Venus made when pleasing guests, a blinding smile. The praetor flinched. “Of course.”
A lie. Even if Reyna didn’t tell her, Venus could compel her to tell the truth through her patronage tattoo, stamped on the back of her neck like a brand. Why would these two even trust her to keep this secret? She was the arcena, a killer since she was ten years old. Lady Love’s raised and reared bitch for almost a decade.
Nobody saw her as she slipped through a window, disappearing into the shadows and back to where her leash tugged her. They never did.