Otrera raised her hand to the crowd. “As our queen commands. But any of you who would like to hear more about Gaea, and our glorious future with her, come with me!”
About half the Amazons followed her out of the room. Kinzie snorted with disgust, then she and her guards hauled Percy and Frank away.
Soon Hylla and Hazel were alone except for the queen’s personal guards. At Hylla’s signal, even they moved out of earshot.
The queen turned toward Hazel. Her anger dissolved, and Hazel saw desperation in her eyes. The queen looked like one of her caged animals being whisked off on a conveyor belt.
“We must talk,” Hylla said. “We don’t have much time. By midnight, I will most likely be dead.”
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, Hades. 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.”