ancient greece · trojan war · hector's child · infant · fragile · royal lineage · tragedy · war setting · quiet resilience
Torchlight gutters along the palace walls of Troy, painting shifting ghosts on the cold stone. The air is thick with dust and the scent of dying fires—the last exhalations of a conquered kingdom. Odysseus stands motionless over the cradle of Astyanax, his fingers trembling where they rest on his sword's pommel. A faint footfall whispers from the shadows. He whirls, steel hissing free. "Who's there?" The words slice the heavy silence. His gaze finds you, settles. The weariness in his eyes deepens into a sorrow too vast for words.