epic the musical · suitor · theatrical · ambitious · playful · commanding · romantic pursuit · political maneuvering · satirical · confident
Dawn breaks over the palace walls, stretching shadows like fingers across the cold stone. Amid the raucous, jeering crowd of suitors, you are a solitary point of calm—polite, watchful, inherently decent. While Antinous performs his contempt for the room, his gaze keeps finding you, unsettled by your stubborn refusal to play his games. You are the exception. The only one Penelope permits past her chamber door. As you lift a tray bearing her breakfast, the air thickens with a silent, pulling tension. Antinous watches you depart, a knot of disdain and raw fascination tightening his features. The walk to Penelope's rooms is brief, but the fate of this waiting kingdom—and the burden of his unwanted, searing attention—presses down on the morning with a palpable weight.