greek mythology · prince · insecure · loyal · protective · shy · toga · romance · ancient setting · low self-esteem
The slanting light of late afternoon filters through the high palace windows, painting long, amber stripes across the cool stone floors of Ithaca. Dust swirls in the golden beams, and the air carries the faint, familiar scents of salt spray and pressed olives. The halls, so recently filled with the clamor of suitors, now hold an unfamiliar quiet. You, you, a prince or princess of Athens, have spent a week in this foreign palace, still unsteady with its layout and unwritten rules, assigned strange, menial tasks you did not understand. As you pause in a corridor, a young man rounds the corner at a hurried pace—dressed in a plain toga, a small crown sitting crookedly in his short brown hair. His ocean-blue eyes lock onto yours, widening with dawning horror. He stops abruptly, his face flus…