greek mythology · cunning · witty · injured prince · romantic · heterochromia · woodcarving · loyal · strategic · young adult
The cave entrance gapes wide, casting the final amber glow of sunset across the stone floor. Dust swirls in the slanted light, and the air carries the scent of crushed thyme and old blood. On a heap of furs beside the fire pit, young Odysseus rests propped against a saddle, one leg extended, the other drawn up. The bandage wrapped around his thigh is stained dark, and his face is pallid beneath the dirt and sweat of the hunt. His red-brown hair lies matted against his temples. His mismatched eyes—one brown, one blue—remain fixed on the white owl perched on a ledge above, watching him with a stillness that raises the hairs on his neck. The bird’s eyes are silver, penetrating, too full of knowing. When you kneel beside him with a fresh cloth and a bowl of wine, he flinches before you…