HISTORICAL DISCLAIMER:

ALL HISTORICAL INFORMATION PRESENT IN THIS STORY MAY NOT BE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE. I DID NOT DO ANY RESEARCH FOR THIS STORY, SO IF SOMETHING ISN'T ACCURATE, PLEASE DO NOT INFORM ME ABOUT IT. I DO NOT CARE. PLEASE DO NOT WORRY IF SOMETHING ISN'T ACCURATE, JUST READ THE STORY FOR WHAT IT IS. THANK YOU.

Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan, so Percabeth does not belong to me. The only thing that I own is the story and the additional characters.

Now here's The Princess and the Peasant, Chapter One. Enjoy!

Chapter One: Percy POV

After my father's death, we moved to the United Kingdom. Actually, it was still Wales back then, but within two years the UK was formed, and we were stuck in the state of Wales.

We moved to a small village around an hour away from the castle of Lord Ares, who ran the thirteenth district in the fifteen-district UK, and only one of two districts in Wales.

My mother set up a restaurant in the village and my sister Abigail and I helped her run it. We weren't rich enough to buy a separate house, so we cut off a corner of the restaurant as a sleeping area.

We scraped by. As my sister and I grew older we were able to help our mom more and the restaurant got more business. I worked other jobs throughout town and when I was thirteen I had finally saved up enough money to buy my dream horse.

I originally noticed him when I was nine years old. He was a pure black stallion and he could run like the wind. I immediately went home to my mom and told her about him. The next day, my mom and I went out and talked with the owner and made a deal. My mom put down a deposit and told me the day I had paid off her for the deposit and had enough money to pay off the rest of the price I could have him. The owner held him for me for those four years before I was able to pay for him.

I named him Blackjack and he became my home away from home. Every day before dawn I would take him out and let him run free.

My freedom was short-lived, however, because when I got back to the restaurant, I knew a hard day of work was ahead of me.

Abigail would always be waiting for me on the front step. She would give me a hug and tell me to get ready for the day.

I loved my sister more than the world. The world was cruel. It took our mom's parents in a house fire. It took our mom's sister when she was twelve. And it took our dad, a twenty-three year old guy who I have no recollection of whatsoever, just after Abigail was born, when I was barely one-and-a-half years old.

My mom always tells me that I look exactly like him. I have his messy black hair. His sea green eyes. His confidence. I like to tell her that I don't like thinking of myself as my father, but she would just smile at me with that misty look in her eyes and tell me that no matter how hard it was, I would always look like him.

If I looked like our dad, Abigail was a pure rendition of our mother. Her blue eyes shone like a clear autumn afternoon. Her long brown hair was stringed with strands of blonde and her smile could light up an entire room. I learned not to mention this to them though as it would set off another 'me-and-my-dad' comparison.

My mom found out she was pregnant with me when she was seventeen, and she married my dad less than a month later.

Five months after I was born, my mom became pregnant with Abigail. Ten months after that, Abigail was one month old when we got the news of our father's death and we immediately moved to Wales.

Life moved on. Our mom was able to cope with the help of us kids and life was livable.

Blackjack gave me a thrill once a day when we had our morning rides, but even that sometimes wasn't enough to counter the hardships of the restaurant.

For my thirteenth birthday, my mom presented me with my father's sword, which she had held in our locked chest ever since she had received it after his death.

"Keep it safe," she had said.

For the first time in my life, holding the sword gave me a real connection to my father. The sword was perfectly balanced and had a double-edged blade. The leather grip molded itself to my hand.

I was determined to get good with the sword. It was the only connection to my dad, and I wasn't about to let it go. Whenever there was a slow period during the day I would practice out back using the trees as opponents.

When I got Blackjack, I took my sword with us on our morning runs. I would make a small fire and practice my swordplay by firelight.

I was getting quicker with my strokes, but I couldn't tell if I had the right form or not.

I mean, I might have been getting quicker, but I knew that without the proper form I wasn't going to get any better.

That problem was solved around three weeks after I had gotten Blackjack when I received a letter from the castle.

Normally when we get mail (if ever), it's always addressed to our mom, but this one was clearly addressed to me. On the front of the envelope, in elegant handwriting, was my name, Mr. Perseus Jackson. I carefully opened the envelope and took out the letter from inside. When I opened and read the letter, I was surprised with what I saw.

The letter read,

Dear Mr. Jackson,

Let me first introduce myself. I am sure that you know who I am, but I would also like to let you know that I have been keeping tabs on you as well.

My name is Ares. I am one of the head swordmasters for the great King Frederick and currently the leader of your District 13.

I would like to make a preposition to you, although it would be better if we could talk in person. I have been made aware that you have recently purchased a horse. This would make travel between your place of residence and mine easy and unstressed.

I would very much appreciate it if you could accept my offer and join me for a day. Your decision could change both your life and mine.

Please let my messenger aware of your decision.

I look forward to meeting you.

Lord Ares Warstriker

It was signed underneath. I looked over at the messenger.

"What is it Perce?" My sister asked. I handed her the letter. She read it, along with our mom over her shoulder.

"I don't know, Percy," My mom said, sounding uncertain.

"Oh, come on Mom," Abby said. "We don't even know what he wants yet. I think he should go."

"It's not just that," our mom was saying, "I don't want him going alone."

"My lord said his sister could accompany him on the journey," the messenger said. I had forgotten he was there.

"Come on mom," I said. "Let me just see what he wants. It doesn't mean I have to accept his preposition."

She sighed. "Very well. You may go. I hope we have a slow day."

I turned to the messenger, a smile plastered on my face. "Tell Lord Ares he's got a meeting."

"Very well. I shall inform my lord of your arrival first thing tomorrow morning," the messenger replied.

My smile immediately turned into a frown. "Tomorrow?" I looked over at our mom. "Tomorrow's not going to work, I'm afraid. We can't just leave our mom here alone without getting supplies ready beforehand. It's going to have to be in two days."

"Very well," the messenger said again. "I shall inform my lord of your arrival at first light the day after tomorrow."

"Thank you," our mother said. "It's very difficult to work around here without the help of these two."

"I can see if my lord could send one of the chef's assistants for the day," the messenger said.

"No, no that's-" Our mom started, but I cut in.

"That would be great." I turned to our mom. "You could use the extra help mom." I looked over at Abby, hoping she would get the idea.

"Yeah mom," she said. "And you might be able to learn something new, which could help the business." Our mom was silent. After a while, she spoke.

"Fine. You guys have convinced me." She turned towards the messenger. "I would appreciate it very much if Lord Ares could spare one of his assistants for the day."

"I'm sure my lord will oblige," the messenger replied. And with that he bowed and took his leave.

The next two days passed by quickly. Before I knew it, Abby and I were on our way to the castle of Lord Ares, riding on the back of Blackjack.

After an hour of riding, the castle came into view.

The castle itself was massive. It probably could have fit a thousand of our mom's restaurants. The walls surrounding the castle were made of stone and rose thirty feet high. Six stone guard towers were spaced equally along the outside wall. The central part of the castle rose higher than the rest of the castle. Lord Ares most likely lived in that part of the castle and we would most likely meet him there.

A twenty-foot-wide moat surrounded the castle and a wooden drawbridge was lowered across it, which we crossed now.

Inside the walls, you could see several red banners that hung from the walls of the castle. In the middle of the banners was a picture of a boar, the symbol of Lord Ares.

A man of around twenty approached us as we entered through the gates. I recognized him as the messenger from the letter. A teenager of around sixteen or seventeen followed him.

"Lord Ares is expecting your arrival."

"What about Blackjack?" I asked.

"Brandon here will take care of him," the messenger replied, motioning to the guy behind him.

Abby and I dismounted and very wearily I handed Brandon the reins, but kept a hand on them.

"He will be well cared for. Brandon is one of our best handlers."

That quieted my fears. I let go of the reins.

While Brandon led Blackjack towards the stables, the messenger led Abby and I towards the central part of the castle. We walked through a set of massive wooden doors and up several flights of spiral stairs. I started counting around halfway and got to 724 before I gave up. The stairs were lit by torchlight and several small paintings were hung on the walls.

We eventually reached the top of the staircase and walked through another set of wooden doors which led into a long corridor. As we walked along the corridor, we passed several family paintings of the Warstriker family. Fancy couches lined the walls. When we reached the other end of the corridor and a final set of wooden doors, the messenger held up his hand.

"Wait here," he said. He walked in through the doors and Abby and I were alone.

"Ready, bro?" She asked.

"No," I admitted. She laughed. "Hey, you don't have anything to worry about. He doesn't want to talk to you."

"That's true," she conceded. "But I still have to meet him."

I was about to come up with a witty comeback when the doors opened, revealing the messenger.

"Lord Ares will take you now."

I looked towards Abby and took a deep breath.

And together we walked through the doors to meet with Lord Ares.

A/N:

No Percabeth yet guys, and I'm sorry about that, but we have to get the fluff out of the way. Chapter Four will give us our first insight into Percabeth. You guys can wait that long, right?

So, now for the question of the chapter. I'm going to post one of these every chapter, and it would be interesting to hear some of your answers.

Let's start off with an easy one first: Who is your favorite character in the PJO or HOO series and why?

I appreciate the answers.

Make sure you guys review!

Thanks!

-Percy Son of Neptune