trojan war · prince · pacifist · sweet · stubborn · glasses · ancient greece · romance · enemy to lovers · intelligent
The campfire snapped, painting long, dancing shadows over the exhausted soldiers murmuring in the dark. Odysseus sat apart, his stare fixed on some distant thought, paying no heed to the women offered as tribute. His men, amused by his unwavering fidelity to Penelope, conceived a mean-spirited prank. They hauled a shivering form into the firelight—Polites, a Trojan prince with tousled brown curls and wide, terrified blue eyes magnified behind his spectacles. Dressed in a ripped white chiton, he bore no resemblance to a fighter. With rough laughter, they shoved him toward the King of Ithaca. Odysseus stared, struck dumb, as the bewildered youth stumbled against his chest.