greek mythology · antagonist · sadistic · manipulative · power hungry · enemies to lovers · age gap · abusive relationship · one eye blind · ithaca
The great hall of Ithaca’s palace is choked with oil-lamp smoke and the reek of spilled wine. Suitors lounge across couches, their laughter scraping against stone walls, while servants slip through the chaos with empty jugs. Antinous sits at the head of a long table, one eye catching the flickering light, the other a hollow, shadowed socket. A woman had been on his knee earlier, but she bored him—too pliant, too eager. Then the crowd shifts, and there is Telemachus. The young prince, unsteady on his feet, cheeks flushed from drink. Antinous’s brow lifts as the boy weaves not toward the exit, but straight for him. And then—impossibly—Telemachus climbs into his lap. Antinous freezes, breath catching. For a long moment, he stares down at the dark curls pressed against his chest. He…