"In Latin my name, Aurelia, basically means 'the golden one.' My mother literally named me her golden light through the storm that was her life. That is my job. To be everyone's light at the end of the tunnel. And I got stuck worrying so much about...
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Aurelia wasn't angry.
That annoying voice in the back of her head that had kept insisting that Jason had moved on from her, or found someone else was right. And for some reason, she just couldn't be angry about it.
Did she believe Jason loved her enough to not move on? Yeah, she had hoped so. But had they actually been together or had that type of commitment before he disappeared to really make this a betrayal? That was questionable.
And it was because of that she couldn't be angry. It had been because of her she and Jason never officially dated—she had cared too much about what people would think. So that fact that he had moved on shouldn't have been too big of a surprise considering that they had never been together.
Although, emotionally, it still felt like a betrayal.
So much of a betrayal that Aurelia barely looked in Jason's direction as they went to dinner.
Set of couches and low tables were carted to the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans were lounging in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while the aurae swirled overhead bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh baked cookies. Fauns wandered around the edges of the feast, pedaling food and spare change, and Aurelia gave Don the faun a pointed look when he veered too close to her plate. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O'Leary, and children played tag around the statue of Terminus that lined the city limits.
Reyna and her senior officers (including Octavian, freshly back from sacrificing a stuffed bear for the gods) joined the Greeks at their table. Aurelia sat near the edge of the table, on the right of Reyna Percy, Frank and Hazel settled at their table as well and a tornado of food platters settled in front of them.
Reyna nudged Aurelia in a tell me what happened gesture. She had been pestering Aurelia to explain what happened during her short exchange, but her cousin kept refusing.
Aurelia shook her head, gestured around, before taping her wrist. Not here. Later.
Reyna made a fist, tapping into the palm of her hand. Bitch.
Aurelia rolled her eyes.
"Do you guys know sign language?" Annabeth asked, interrupting their non-verbal argument.
