The top floor of the palace contained the master bedroom, two bedrooms for each of my stepbrothers, and my room. The second floor consisted of the throne room, the library, my father and his wife's offices, the schoolroom, several guest rooms, and the medical ward. The main floor was made up of the kitchen, dining room, ballroom, courtroom, chapel, and the art gallery. The courtyard and horse stables were behind the castle, and the entire building and surrounding land were surrounded by a moat and a wall. The basement was where all the servants slept and where the saferooms were. Coincidentally, all ten holding cells were also in the basement, although the prisoner area was guarded heavily.

I stepped into the dining room and was greeted by four people: my father, Frederick Chase, my stepmother, Helen Chase, and my twin brothers, Bobby and Matthew Chase. My father sat at the head of the table, with Helen at his right. Bobby was next to her and Matt was across from him, leaving an empty seat at my father's lefthand side. The rest of the table was empty, ready for a large dinner party.

I took my seat across from Helen and beside my father. Once I did so, servants rushed in carrying trays and trays of the food we would be eating for breakfast. I took in the scent of pancakes, sausage, porridge, hashbrowns, and many fruits. There were also fresh rolls and muffins. Mugs of tea were poured out for the two adults and glasses of apple juice were given to the remaining minors. After the table was loaded up with enough food to feed the entire castle, the servants rushed off, leaving only the five royal members and ten guards in the room.

We all dug into the food, not wanting to let it get cold. About halfway through the meal, my father cleared his throat.

"So, Annabeth, today is your birthday."

I nodded, my mouth full of potato hash.

He slurped some tea up before continuing. "Tonight we will be hosting a ball, as is tradition."

I hummed in agreement, sipping some of my juice. Across from me, Helen was stirring her porridge with a smug smile. What did she know that I didn't?

"The king and queen from all three neighboring kingdoms will be there, as well as their children. Of course, it is an open door party, so everyone from our kingdom is welcome. All in all, there will be a lot of potential suitors for you to choose from tonight."

I spewed my apple juice straight into Helen's face, just like the actors portrayed in the cheesy plays they put on downtown. "What?" I exclaimed.

"Annabeth!" Helen scolded.

Matthew and Bobby held in giggles as my father called in a maid, who took my stepmother by the crook of her arm to get her cleaned up.

"That was very irresponsible and childish, Annabeth," my father chided.

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to come up with an explanation for my behavior. Instead, I changed the subject. "What were you going on about? I thought I didn't need to choose a suitor until my twentieth birthday."

"That was how things used to be, yes, but at our last international meeting, the coronation age was lowered to twenty. To be coronated you need to be married, and of course, you need to get engaged much before then. All in all, we decided that our descendants would choose their future co-rulers on their eighteenth birthday."

I was shocked. My mouth was opening and closing, but no words were coming out. I was blinking like a fish. "So I'm supposed to find my future husband tonight? That is absurd. Why was I not informed of this ahead of time?"

My father clasped his hand. "I was going to tell you as soon as the decision was made, but your mother convinced me that it would be best not to stress you out."

I narrowed my eyes. "This amendment was made recently, yes?"

He nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Within the past eleven years?"

Once again, he nodded.

"Then my mother was not alive to convince you of anything. You mean Helen."

He sighed. "Mother, stepmother, it's all the same to me, dear."

"Well, it isn't the same for me."

My mother, Athena Chase, was the lone daughter of Zeus Olympiad. When Zeus was struck down by his rival, Poseidon, Athena was made queen of Olympus. She was forced to select a king out of a crowd of one hundred noblemen, but she found none of them suitable. She had already fallen in love with Frederick Chase, who was but a struggling scientist who had no royal blood in him. They met at a young age and Athena would have no one rule by her side but him. After many meetings and arguments with the council, she changed the laws so that her co-ruler did not have to be of royal descent and the two got married.

Soon after, I was born. My father and mother ruled together happily for about seven years, Athena being the more dominant leader and Frederick working mainly on his experiments. A few weeks after my seventh birthday came the first-ever terrorist attack on the castle during Frederick and Athena's rule. A group of men and women who became known as the Insurgents burst through the castle doors and shot at everyone they saw, not discriminating against women or children.

Before us three royal members could be hidden away in a safe room, a tall man ran at us with a sword. The tip was heading straight for my head, but my mother shielded me behind her. The blade cut straight through her chest and embedded itself in her heart. She died on impact.

My father and I were hustled away from the scene, tears streaming down our faces. As we were being escorted into a safe room, other guards chased after my mother's killer and struck him down. We stayed in the bunker for what felt like an eternity while the guards battled against the Insurgents. Once most of their attack group had depleted, they retreated. In the damage, my mother's killer was found dead on the ground and identified as Poseidon Atlanta.

This caused the belief that the Insurgents were not a new group. They had been around for over a decade and were also responsible for Zeus' death. They may have lost many soldiers, but in the long run, they won. They killed Queen Athena Chase and got their name and cause out to the public.

Around a year after the attack, another coronation was held for Helen, a noblewoman my father chose to marry. The twins were born not too long after that and were crowned as princes.

"Tonight you will choose a suitor, Annabeth. I'm sorry you weren't informed earlier, but the decision isn't going to change."

I nodded, looking down at my meal. "May I be excused?"

My father nodded. "Yes, dear. I'll see you for the ball, okay?"

I gave an affirmative response and stood up, exiting the dining room. I passed Helen, who was leaving her bedroom, and replied to her coldhearted glare with one of my own.