RECLUSE ?Leo Valdez?

Piper is bilingual??

"Votre Majesté," she spoke. "Je suis Piper McLean. Et c'est Jason, fils de Zeus, et voici Maisie, fille de Nemesis."

The king smiled with pleasant surprise. "Vous parlez français? Trés bien!"

"Piper you speak French?" Jason asked.

Piper frowned. "No why?"

"You just spoke French." Piper blinked. "I did?" The king said something else, and Piper nodded. "Oui, Votre Majesté."

The king laughed and clapped his hands, obviously delighted. He said a few wore sentences and swiped his hand at his daughter, as if to shoo her away.

Khione looked miffed. "The king says—"

"He says I'm a daughter of Aphrodite," Piper interrupted, "So naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea. His majesty says Khione won't have to translate now."

Zethes snorted behind them, and Khione sent him a murderous  look. She bowed swiftly to her father and stepped back.

Jason stepped forward and bowed. "Your majesty, I'm Jason Grace. Thank you for, um, not killing us. May I ask ... why does a Greek God speak French?"

Piper had another exchange with the king.

"He speaks the language of his host country," Piper translated. "He says all gods do this. Most gods speak English, as they knew residents in the United States, but Boreas was never welcomed in their realm. His domain was far to the north. These days he likes Quebec, so he speaks French."

The king said something else, and Piper turned pale.

"The king says ..." She faltered. "He says—"

"Oh, allow me," Khione said. "My father says he has orders to kill you. Did I not mention that earlier?"

"Kill us?" Jason asked. "Why?"

"Because," The king said, in heavily accented English, "My lord Aeolus has commanded it."

Boreas rose, stepping down from his throne. Khione and Zethes bowed as he approached, causing Jason, Piper, and Maisie to follow.

"I shall deign to speak your language," Boreas said, "as Piper McLean has honored me in mine. Toujours, I have a fondness for children of Aphrodite. As for you Jason Grace, my master Aeolus would not expect me to kill a son of Zeus ... without first hearing you out."

Maisie wasn't sure to be fearful or grateful she wasn't mentioned.

"Aeolus is the master of winds right?" Jason asked. "Why would he want us dead?"

"You are demigods," Boreas said, as if that explained everything. "His job is to contain the winds, and demigods have always caused him many headaches. Asking for favors, unleashing winds and causing chaos, but the final insult was the battle with Typhon last summer."

Boreas waves his hand and a sheet of ice like a flat screen tv appeared, images of the battle flickered across. A giant wrapped in storm clouds, wading across a river to the Manhattan skyline. Tiny, glowing figures— the gods, Jason guessed— swarmed him like angry wasps.