The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2)(86)

Hazel’s heart sank. “So I guess we’re both dead. Me for the second time.”

In the corner cage, the stallion Arion whinnied angrily. He reared and slammed his hooves against the bars.

“The horse seems to feel your despair,” the queen said. “Interesting. He’s immortal, you know—the son of Neptune and Ceres.”

Hazel blinked. “Two gods had a horse for a kid?”

“Long story.”

“Oh.” Hazel’s face felt hot with embarrassment.

“He’s the fastest horse in the world,” Hylla said. “Pegasus is more famous, with his wings, but Arion runs like the wind over land and sea. No creature is faster. It took us years to capture him—one of our greatest prizes. But it did us no good. The horse will not allow anyone to ride him. I think he hates Amazons. And he is expensive to keep. He will eat anything, but he prefers gold.”

The back of Hazel’s neck tingled. “He eats gold?”

She remembered the horse following her in Alaska so many years ago. She had thought he was eating nuggets of gold that appeared in her footsteps.

She knelt and pressed her hand against the floor. Immediately, the stone cracked. A chunk of gold ore the size of a plum was pushed out of the earth. Hazel stood, examining her prize.

Hylla and Kinzie stared at her.

“How did you…?” The queen gasped. “Hazel, be careful!”

Hazel approached the stallion’s cage. She put her hand between the bars, and Arion gingerly ate the chunk of gold from her palm.

“Unbelievable,” Kinzie said. “The last girl who tried that—”

“Now has a metal arm,” the queen finished. She studied Hazel with new interest, as if deciding whether or not to say more. “Hazel…we spent years hunting for this horse. It was foretold that the most courageous female warrior would someday master Arion and ride him to victory, ushering in a new era of prosperity for the Amazons. Yet no Amazon can touch him, much less control him. Even Otrera tried and failed. Two others died attempting to ride him.”

That probably should’ve worried Hazel, but she couldn’t imagine this beautiful horse hurting her. She put her hand through the bars again and stroked Arion’s nose. He nuzzled her arm, murmuring contentedly, as if asking, More gold? Yum.

“I would feed you more, Arion.” Hazel glanced pointedly at the queen. “But I think I’m scheduled for an execution.”

Queen Hylla looked from Hazel to the horse and back again. “Unbelievable.”

“The prophecy,” Kinzie said. “Is it possible…?”

Hazel could almost see the gears turning inside the queen’s head, formulating a plan. “You have courage, Hazel Levesque. And it seems Arion has chosen you. Kinzie?”

“Yes, my queen?”

“You said Otrera’s followers are guarding the cells?”

Kinzie nodded. “I should have foreseen that. I’m sorry—”

“No, it’s fine.” The queen’s eyes gleamed—the way Hannibal the elephant’s did whenever he was unleashed to destroy a fortress. “It would be embarrassing for Otrera if her followers failed in their duties—if, for instance, they were overcome by an outsider and a prison break occurred.”

Kinzie began to smile. “Yes, my queen. Most embarrassing.”

“Of course,” Hylla continued, “none of my guards would know a thing about this. Kinzie would not spread the word to allow an escape.”

“Certainly not,” Kinzie agreed.

“And we couldn’t help you.” The queen raised her eyebrows at Hazel. “But if you somehow overpowered the guards and freed your friends…if, for instance, you took one of the guards’ Amazon cards—”

“With one-click purchasing enabled,” Kinzie said, “which will open the jail cells with one click.”

“If—gods forbid!—something like that were to happen,” the queen continued, “you would find your friends’ weapons and supplies in the guard station next to the cells. And who knows? If you made your way back to this throne room while I was off preparing for my duel…well, as I mentioned, Arionis a very fast horse. It would be a shame if he were stolen and used for an escape.”

Hazel felt like she’d been plugged into a wall socket. Electricity surged through her whole body. Arion…Arion could be hers. All she had to do was rescue her friends and fight her way through an entire nation of highly trained warriors. “Queen Hylla,” she said, “I—I’m not much of a fighter.”

“Oh, there are many kinds of fighting, Hazel. I have a feeling you’re quite resourceful. And if the prophecy is correct, you will help the Amazon nation achieve prosperity. If you succeed on your quest to free Thanatos, for instance—”

“—then Otrera wouldn’t come back if she were killed,”

Hazel said. “You’d only have to defeat her…um, every night until we succeed.”

The queen nodded grimly. “It seems we both have impossible tasks ahead of us.”

“But you’re trusting me,” said Hazel. “And I trust you. You will win, as many times as it takes.”

Hylla held out Percy’s necklace and poured it into Hazel’s hands.