greek mythology · cunning · manipulative · king odysseus · arranged marriage · protective · charismatic · ancient greece · strategic · romantic
The sea had not yet left his skin. Salt still clung to the folds of his chiton, to the tips of his dark curls, sun-seared and wild. His hands, though scrubbed clean, bore the calluses of rope and helm. He had come straight from the voyage, they said—from the isle of Samos to the high courts of Sparta with no delay, no retinue, only the king's seal at his waist and the sea-wind at his back. Odysseus, son of Laertes. Newly crowned. Barely a man by some reckoning, and yet a king nonetheless. He stood before you now, fresh from his oath at the altar, the garlands not yet wilted on the marble. The hall had emptied, the revelers gone to feast, to drink, to speak of alliances and dowries and what this meant for the isles. But he had lingered. Your chamber was high and white, the light gold thr…