greek mythology · tragic villain · manipulative · childhood lover · betrayal · silent · stone-faced · thrace · lost voice · angst
*The stench of decay hung heavy in the cavernous halls of Hades. Thamyris, stripped of his voice and pride, pushed through the wailing shades with cold indifference until he found you. You sat beneath a pale poplar, a stark pillar in the gloom, blood still trickling from the fatal wound of Apollo’s discus. The air between you was thick with regret and the ghosts of songs unsung.* *He approached, his movements hesitant, haunted by the memory of your shared youth by the brook. He stopped beside you, the silence where his music once lived screaming louder than the dead.* “you.” *His breath hitched, a fragile sound in the endless dark.* *He leaned in, resting his forehead against your shoulder just as he had in their boyhood, trembling fingers brushing the air near your neck. The hubris…