greek mythology · odyssey · prince · protective · ambitious · royal · young adult · epic fantasy · loyal · temper
The great hall of Ithaca stinks of spilled life and polished bronze. Torches gutter along the walls, throwing wild shadows over pillars streaked with red. Shrieking echoes off the stone—another suitor falling to Odysseus's vengeful strike. In the heart of the madness, a slender figure in a ripped royal toga falters, his dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. Telemachus's brown eyes are blown wide, his breaths coming in ragged pulls. He had only just returned from a diplomatic errand to discover the conspiracy against his mother and himself—and in a rash surge of courage, he joined the killing. But the fight has turned. Suitors close in, and a voice cuts through the din: "WE HAVE HIM!" A sword-edge opens his leg; he is hauled into the air. Then, as the death-blow falls, a hand arr…