The Son of Neptune (40 page)

The
Argo II.
It was the most incredible ship he’d ever seen.

“Praetors!” the messenger cried. “What are your orders?”

Octavian shot to his feet. “You need to ask?” His face was red with rage. He was strangling his teddy bear. “The omens are
horrible
! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!”

He jabbed a finger at Percy. “His
friends
are attacking in a warship. He has
led
them here. We must attack!”

“No,” Percy said firmly. “You all raised me as praetor for a reason. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren’t enemies. I say we stand ready, but do
not
attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, then I will fight with you, as I did last night. But it is
not
a trick.”

All eyes turned toward Reyna.

She studied the approaching warship. Her expression hardened. If she vetoed Percy’s orders…well, he didn’t know what would happen. Chaos and confusion, at the very least.

Most likely, the Romans would follow her lead. She’d been their leader much longer than Percy.

“Hold your fire,” Reyna said. “But have the legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trus this word—unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our…new friends.”

The senators stampeded out of the auditorium—whether from excitement or panic, Percy wasn’t sure. Tyson ran after them, yelling, “Yay! Yay!” with Ella fluttering around his head.

Octavian gave Percy a disgusted look, then threw down his teddy bear and followed the crowd.

Reyna stood at Percy’s shoulder.

“I support you, Percy,” she said. “I trust your judgment. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends.”

“We will,” he promised. “You’ll see.”

She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. “You say Jason is aboard…I hope that’s true.

I’ve missed him.”

She marched outside, leaving Percy alone with Hazel and Frank.

“They’re coming down right in the forum,” Frank said nervously. “Terminus is going to have a heart attack.”

“Percy,” Hazel said, “you swore on your life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. You know that, right?”

Percy smiled. He knew the stakes were high. He knew this day could go horribly wrong. But he also knew that Annabeth was on that ship. If things went
right,
this would be the best day of his life.

He threw one arm around Hazel and one arm around Frank.

“Come on,” he said. “Let me introduce you to my
other
family.”

absurdus
out of place, discordant

Achilles
the mightiest of the Greek demigods who fought in the Trojan War

Aesculapius
the Roman god of medicine and healing

Alcyoneus
the eldest of the giants born to Gaea, destined to fight Pluto

Amazons
a nation of all-female warriors

Anaklusmos
Riptide. The name of Percy Jackson’s sword.

argentum
silver

Argonauts
a band of Greek heroes who accompanied Jason on his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the
Argo
, which was named after its builder, Argus.

augury
a sign of something coming, an omen; the practice of divining the future

aurae
invisible wind spirits

aurum
gold

basilisk
snake, literally “little crown”

Bellerophon
a Greek demigod, son of Poseidon, whodefeated monsters while riding on Pegasus

Bellona
the Roman goddess of war

Byzantium
the eastern empire that lasted another 1,000 years after Rome fell, under Greek influence

Celestial bronze
a rare metal deadly to monsters

Centaur
a race of creatures that is half human, half horse

centurion
an officer of the Roman army

Cerberus
the three-headed dog that guards the gates ofthe Underworld

Ceres
the Roman goddess of agriculture

Charon
the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of thenewly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron, which divide the world of the living from the world of the dead

cognomen
third name

cohort
a Roman military unit

Cyclops
a member of a primordial race of giants (
Cyclopes
, pl.), each with a single eye in the middle of his or herforehead

denarius
(
denarii
, pl.) the most common coin in the Roman currency system

drachma
the silver coin of ancient Greece

Elysium
the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous in the Underworld

Erebos
a place of darkness between Earth and Hades

faun
a Roman forest god, part goat and part man. Greek form: satyr

Fields of Asphodel
the section of the Underworld where the souls of people who lived lives of equal good and evil rest

Fields of Punishment
the section of the Underworld where evil souls are eternally tortured

Fortuna
the Roman goddess of fortune and good luck

Fulminata
armed with lightning. A Roman legion under Julius Caesar whose emblem was a lightning bolt (
fulmen
).

Gaea
the earth goddess; mother of Titans, giants, Cyclopes, and other monsters. Known to the Romans as Terra

Gegenes
earthborn monsters

gladius
a short sword

gorgons
three monstrous sisters (Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa) who have hair of living, venomous snakes; Medusa’s eyes can turn the beholder to stone

graecus
Greek; enemy; outsider

greaves
shin armor

gris-gris
a voodoo amulet that protects from evil or brings luck

harpy
a winged female creature that snatches things

Hercules
the Roman equivalent of Heracles; the son of Jupiter and Alcmene, who was born with great strength

Hyperboreans
peaceful northern giants

ichor
the golden blood of immortals

Imperial gold
a rare metal deadly to monsters, consecrated at the Pantheon; its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors

Iris
the rainbow goddess

Juno
Roman goddess of women, marriage, and fertility; sister and wife of Jupiter; mother of Mars. Greek form: Hera

Jupiter
Roman king of the gods; also called Jupiter Optimus Maximus (the best and the greatest). Greek form: Zeus

karpoi
grain spirits

Laistrygonians
tall cannibals from the north, possibly the source of the Sasquatch legend

Lar
house god, ancestral spirit (
Lares
, pl.)

legion
the major unit of the Roman army, consisting of infantry and cavalry troops

legionnaire
a member of a legion

Liberalia
a Roman festival that celebrated a boy’s rite of passage into manhood

Lupa
the sacred Roman she-wolf that nursed the foundling twins Romulus and Remus

Mars
the Roman god of war; also called Mars Ultor. Patronof the empire; divine father of Romulus and Remus. Greekform: Ares

Minerva
Roman goddess of wisdom. Greek form: Athena

Mist
magic force that disguises things from mortals

Mount Othrys
the base of the Titans during the ten-year war with the Olympian gods; Saturn’s headquarters

muster
formal military inspection

nebulae
cloud nymphs

Neptune
the Roman god of the sea. Greek form: Poseidon

Otrera
first Amazon queen, daughter of Ares

pallium
a cloak or mantle worn by the Romans

Pantheon
a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome

Penthesilea
a queen of the Amazons; daughter of Ares andOtrera, another Amazon queen

Periclymenus
a Greek prince of Pylos and a son ofPoseidon, who granted him the ability to shape-shift. He was renowned for his strength and participated in the voyage of the Argonauts.

Phineas
a son of Poseidon, who had the gift of prophecy. When he revealed too much of the plans of the gods, Zeuspunished him by blinding him.

pilum
a Roman spear

Pluto
the Roman god of death and riches. Greek equivalent: Hades

Polybotes
the giant son of Gaea, the Earth Mother

praetor
an elected Roman magistrate and commander of the army

Priam
the king of Troy during the Trojan War

principia
the headquarters of a Roman camp

probatio
testing period for a new recruit in a legion

pugio
a Roman dagger

Queen Hippolyta’s belt
Hippolyta wore a golden waist belt, a gift from her father, Ares, that signified her Amazonian queenship and also gave her strength.

retiarius
Roman gladiator who fought with a net and trident

River Styx
the river that forms the boundary betweenEarth and the Underworld

Romulus and Remus
the twin sons of Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia who were thrown into the RiverTiber by their human father, Amulius. They were rescued and raised by a she-wolf and, upon reaching adulthood, founded Rome.

Saturn
the Roman god of agriculture, the son of Uranus and Gaea and the father of Jupiter. Greek equivalent:Kronos

scorpion ballista
a Roman missile siege weapon that launched a large projectile at a distant target

Senatus Populusque Romanus
(
SPQR
)
“The Senate and People of Rome”; refers to the government of the Roman Republic and is used as an official emblem of Rome

shades
spirits

Sibylline Books
a collection of prophecies in rhyme writtenin Greek. Tarquinius Superbus, a king of Rome, bought them from a prophetess named Sibyl and consulted them in times of great danger.

spartus
a skeleton warrior

spatha
a cavalry sword

Stygian iron
like Celestial bronze and Imperial gold, amagical metal capable of killing monsters

Tartarus
husband of Gaea; spirit of the abyss; father of the giants; also the lowest region of the world

Terminus
the Roman god of boundaries and landmarks

Thanatos
the Greek god of death. Roman equivalent: Letus

Tiber River
the third-longest river in Italy. Rome wasfounded on its banks. In ancient Rome, executed criminals were thrown into the river.

trireme
a type of warship

triumph
a ceremonial procession for Roman generals and their troops in celebration of a great military victory

Trojan War
the war that was waged against the city of Troyby the Greeks after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband, Menelaus, the king of Sparta. It started with a quarrel between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite.

The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three

THE MARK OF ATHENA

The Lightning Thief

“Perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats.”

—The New York Times Book Review

The Sea of Monsters

★ “In a feat worthy of his heroic subjects, Riordan crafts a sequel stronger than his compelling debut.”

—Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

The Titan’s Curse

“All in all, a winner of Olympic proportions.”

—School Library Journal

The Battle of the Labyrinth

★ “Look no further for the next Harry Potter; meet Percy Jackson, as legions of fans already have.”

—Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

The Last Olympian

“The hordes of young readers who have devoured Rick Riordan’s books…will no doubt gulp down this concluding volume as greedily as they would a plateful of ambrosia, or maybe pizza.”

—The Wall Street Journal

The Red Pyramid

★ “The first volume in the Kane Chronicles, this fantasy adventure delivers what fans loved about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: young protagonists with previously unsuspected magical powers, a riveting story marked by headlong adventure, a complex background rooted in ancient mythology, and wry, witty twenty-first-century narration.”

—ALA Booklist
(starred review)

“Riordan fans young and old will eat this new book up.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“Fans of the Riordan magic—equal parts danger, myth, and irreverence—will embrace this new series with open arms.”

—Horn Book

“This tale explodes into action from chapter one.…Readers pining for Percy Jackson will find new heroes in Carter and Sadie Kane.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Once again, Riordan masterfully meshes modern life with mythology and history, reinvigorating dusty artifacts such as the Rosetta stone and revitalizing ancient Egyptian story lines.”

—The Los Angeles Times

★ “A truly original take on Egyptian mythology…A must-have book.”

—School Library Journal
(starred review)

★ “…Riordan kickstarts the action, never lets up on the gas, balances laughs and losses with a sure hand, and expertly sets up the coming climactic struggle without (thankfully) ending on a cliff-hanger. It’s a grand ride so far, showing nary a sign of slowing down.”

—School Library Journal
(starred review)

“As in his earlier novels for children, Riordan combines hard-hitting action scenes, powerful magic, and comic relief with the internal waves of love, jealousy, and self-doubt that make his young heroes so very human. Lit by flashes of humor, this fantasy adventure is an engaging addition to the Kane Chronicles series.”

—Booklist