The Shadow Archer Twins

Katie’s tomorrow passed quickly. She told my Mom about her crush on Malcolm, and how it had transitioned into a crush on Octavian, the Roman augur, who she had scheduled a meeting for the next day.

The problem of having a mortal at Camp had been solved easily, as my Mom slept in the back room of the building where the Camp had set up a fake strawberry stand many, many years ago. The building was painted white, with faded strawberries decorating the sides, and stood near the base of Half-Blood Hill, close to the Big House. Katie and I carried in a cot, extra sheets and a portable lamp. It wasn’t much, but it didn’t have to be. My Mom looked like she would have been happy to sleep standing up. In fact, she ended up falling asleep after putting the fitted sheet on, snoring softly. We left her in peace and walked back towards the cabins, trying to take our minds off of the second round of meetings, which were bound to be more hostile.

Without showing any signs of slowing down, the day arrived, and Malcolm and I helped set up the meetings exactly as they were. I put on my leather jacket and stealth-pants, and got settled into the back corner just as Octavian walked in.

Katie stood up and formally greeted him, beckoning him to the seat across from her. Her shoulders were just as tense, but I could hear that her breathing was slower. She wasn’t nervous of talking to him, but she knew that the situation hadn’t been helped by my Mom showing up.

On the other side of the table, Octavian’s lightning-blue eyes shone with a rage that was only held back by his feelings for Katie. He stared at her accusingly, as if she knew that she had done something wrong. But Katie wasn’t defiant. She looked guilty. A hot wave of anger swept through me as I realized that she didn’t want to displease Octavian, even though all she had done was save her own mother. What had Octavian expected her to do?

Breaking the awkward silence, Katie said, “Octavian, I know you’re still angry about what happened with the manticore, but—”

“Shut it, Greek,” He snapped, “You do realize that you made me look weak in front of two of my most trusted officers, right? You do realize that having a mortal enter this equation does not bode well for either side, right?”

Grimacing, she replied, “I know those things. And I feel bad about them, but I also realized that you chose to spare my life. I realized that you don’t want me to be your enemy, don’t want to fight me. I realized that at some level, you do care about me.”

His facial expression softening, he said, “Yes, I do. I want you to be safe, and happy. I want you to not have to worry about fighting and risking your life. And I want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have these meetings be the only way I can be with you.”

Octavian reached across the table and touched Katie’s face, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. Her shoulders visibly relaxed at his touch, and she said,

“Octavian, are you saying you want to be my boyfriend?”

“Yes, Katie, I am. I’ve seen parts of your camp, and I’ve seen the people who live here. I want you to do the same. I want you to see New Rome, or at least see how we run things, how we think, how we live.”

“So,” she said slowly, “You’re asking me on a date? To a war camp?”

“I’m asking you to observe how peaceful we can be when we’re not at war. I’m asking you to be somewhere safe before the fighting breaks out, before people die. I want to protect you, Katie. I hope you know that,” He responded with finality.

She may not have caught the implication that he wanted her to stay with the Romans during the fighting, or maybe she wasn’t showing it, because she didn’t respond immediately. Octavian had put on an expression of pleading, his face begging her to side with him. The expression on his face made him look like he knew what was going to happen, and wanted to prevent it. I realized that this was probably the first time he had used his augur powers to read the future of anyone other than himself, or his camp.

“Octavian, you know I can’t stay with you. Think of the reaction your campers will have. They’ll string you up for treason!”

“I can protect you!” Octavian shouted. Then, he did the unthinkable. He started sobbing softly, saying, over and over, “Please, Katie, let me protect you, let me protect you. Please.”

He was literally begging her now, torn apart by his feelings and trying to pull himself to one side of the executioner’s axe. He had chosen the side where he had a relationship with Katie, not the side where he destroyed our camp.

Katie knew that this was her chance to put him in a check-mate, to deal a finishing blow. And, despite the raw emotion in his voice, she took that chance.

“Octavian,” she said, “I can’t let you do that. I have to stay at my camp. I promise to visit you at Camp Jupiter when I have the chance, but for now, I have to, we have to, get through this conflict between camps. I won’t need protection if there isn’t any danger to be protected from, right?”

Devastated by his knowledge of the future, but not wanting to go against Katie, Octavian said, defeated, “I guess so. But I still feel as though we can have a real relationship. We can still be together, Katie.”

“I know,” She responded softly, “I know.”

Staring at each other with pained expressions, there was another awkward silence. And then, Katie slowly reached forward and pulled Octavian into another kiss. This time, it wasn’t spontaneous. They were in love, and they knew they weren’t supposed to. Both of them had their eyes shut tightly, pained expressions on their faces as they caressed each other, and when they pulled away, Octavian smiled, half-heartedly.

“I guess this concludes the meeting, then,” He said. “I hope the next time we see each other isn’t on the battlefield.”

The way he said it again made me think that he had seen that the next time they saw each other would be on the battlefield, and he was hoping, knowing that he would be wrong, that that particular destiny could be avoided somehow. But, dropping his head, he exited the tent.

Five minutes later, over the earpiece system, I heard Malcolm say, “All clear. Every Roman has left the campgrounds. Tox, we successfully got the officers, with a little charmspeak, to agree to a peace treaty. All we have to do is draft one and hope war doesn’t break out before we get the signatures.”

I realized that that would never happen. Like a sneeze about to occur, I could feel the oncoming of war. I knew a storm was gathering, and all I could do was stare at the sky and pray that Zeus forgot his thunderbolts.

Notes

Sorry I'm late, but it's a Friday so I'll be able to post more, seeing as the weekend is coming up. I'm also taking more time with these chapters to make them more interesting. Enjoy.