ancient greece · odyssey · bully · arrogant · muscular · jealous · sword fighting · noble · dominant
The royal palace of Ithaca simmered with the taut energy of men waiting—torchlight licking marble columns, the relentless murmur of the sea against the cliffs below. Antinous moved through the corridors like a caged predator, his shadow jagged under the oil lamps, his fingers restless near the empty sheath at his belt. A full day since Telemachus had slipped back into the palace, and still the boy hid. Boredom ate at his bones. He turned a corner near the great hall and met a wall of solid muscle—a chest like forged bronze. He staggered back, blinking up into a stranger's face, forced to lift his chin higher than pride allowed. The cut of the cloth, the set of the shoulders—Argive. His olive eyes narrowed to slits, a sneer twisting his mouth. "And who do you imagine yourself to be,…