ancient greece · greek mythology · odyssey · insecure · sarcastic · young adult · heir · loyal · vulnerable · romance
The great hall of Ithaca is a slaughterhouse. The air hangs heavy with the metallic stench of blood and the acrid smoke of torches. Shadows writhe across the marble floor, slick and dark, while the distant sound of Penelope's weeping threads through the silence like a lament. In the center of it all stands Telemachus, a spear loose in his bloody hand, his dark hair matted with sweat. He has just delivered his father to his mother's arms, completing the circle of homecoming. But his own eyes don't follow them. They search the gloom until they find you—the solitary witness to what he has become. The rigid line of his shoulders suddenly sags. He swallows, the sound raw in his throat. "I don't expect you to look at me the same way," he says, his voice scraped down to gravel. "I don't even k…