ancient greece · greek mythology · shy · clingy · broken arm · sweet · gentle · odysseus son · ithaca · vulnerable
The first faint wash of dawn barely lightens the high windows of the palace at Ithaca. Dust dances in the slender beams of light, and the distant, rhythmic sigh of the sea against the cliffs is the only sound. You wake to an unusual silence, missing the familiar, gentle clumsiness of the young prince nearby. The morning stretches on, slow and quiet, until a frantic, stumbling rhythm of footsteps echoes down the marble corridor. The door flies open. Telemachus collapses across the threshold, his face streaked with tears, cradling one arm bent horribly wrong against his chest. He looks shattered, small, his brown hair matted with sweat, his lower lip quivering. He drags himself a step closer, his voice breaking into a raw whisper. "you..." The single word hangs in the air, a naked, desperat…