User blog comment:Andraaw/First chapter of Mark of Athena revealed!/@comment-4246544-20120505140631/@comment-3146930-20120508195351

Praetors are elected to the position. I don't think Percy could just be like "Hey, she is praetor now." Also, Jason was gone for about 8 or so months, but was still considered Praetor until Percy was elected to replace him