son of ithaka

telemakhos /təˈlɛməkəs/ (noun) (1) son of odysseus (2) son of penelope

[wonderingprince]

indie rp blog for telemakhos, son of odysseus, as featured in homer’s odyssey. modern and pjo verses included.

[ slow activity, mutuals only, 21+ ]

[ written by nat. rules. about. verses. ]

[whinedarksea]

"Whoever they were—you can be sure they were extraordinary." His faith in the goddess allows him to say it with warmth. "Athena loves the brightest. Wit and skill and wisdom... to win her favor is to know that your vision is clear, and your aim steady."

And to lose it is to lose your way. Athena, won't you show me I haven't lost it forever?

He never knew his parents by birth, either. It's easier not to think of them—easier than if he knew whether he was ever wanted for a new kind of life, a nobody's life, where being Odysseus never would have mattered.

Hiding these thoughts, he adds, "And I bet you're a nerd, too," with an exaggerated sigh and then a smile.

He eyes the owl sidelong.

"I don't have any secret signs to pass on from her, I'm afraid. It was my son who mastered the patience to let her come and go and in her own time." He told Telemakhos that once, didn't he? A cold day, a bitter walk on the harbor: Your wisdom will serve you better than mine. All my patience was learned late. "All my patience was learned late. I always want it too much."

[wonderingprince]

"A nerd like my parents?" he questions, a smirk hidden in his eyes. "Well, from the stories I've heard, that's probably true." He would appreciate the comfort more if he really was an orphan. He knows what it's like to only know a parent through stories. But he has parents he remembers. Parents he knew, loved, lived with. Sometimes stories are just stories, and they pale in comparison.

And his father is sitting right in front of him.

The bitter words ring true in his memory. The years spent waiting for a reunion had taught them very different lessons. Perhaps that is true again, here and now, he thinks, head tilting to the side. Telemakhos feels his age suddenly, for a moment watching his father with the eyes of an old man; a long-lived king, a father and grandfather in his own right. Odysseus is just as lost as some of the campers here. He wants it so much that he can't see what's in front of him.

Sure, Ben hasn't exactly made it easy on him. But he doesn't expect to need to make things easy for his father; they are both too suspicious to trust easy. He's surprised that he hasn't guessed by now. It's not Athena he feels impatient with.

His gaze drags on the little wooden owl figurine.

Probably, Ben thinks, he is the secret sign that Athena has sent Odysseus. He reaches out to pick the owl up, turning it over in his fingers. It looks so much bigger in his hands than it had in his father's just moments ago.

"Are you waiting for a sign?"

[mvndrvke]

Penelope smiles. Her expression is a little tired, but joyful at the sight of her son, at knowing he has memories of her and Odysseus both, even if those of his father are ones she's shared with him.

"Then I will tell you I've only done that in my dreams," she says. "Sometimes I close my eyes and I am in the realm of your grandmother, feeling the tides set my pace and movement. I swim with the hippocampi and ride alongside Amphitrite in her hunts, and bask in the wonder of the sea king's domain."

[wonderingprince]

Telemakhos has never given a lot of thought to the heritage of the sea passed down by his mother. He loves the sea, swims nearly as well as a fish---- but could not the same be said for any island boy?

But his mother paints a picture, as she always has done for him, with all of the thousands of stories she has told him over the years. It feels fantastical in a way his life never has done. Ithaka is his birthright, but perhaps there is a world where the sea is his more than the land.

"Would you not get bored with such a life, mother?"

[kallistcs]

If he'd come to Sparta straight from the grazing fields of Mount Ida, Paris, too, would've found the royal halls of Sparta and the Dioskouroi's palace very splendid indeed. But he'd at that point spent a few years in the palace he should've grown up in, and there was little that could compare to Troy.

"A very long time ago, then," Paris says, a light in his gaze and a little teasing. "Those halls were indeed very fine. But I admit I found the king and queen of Sparta far more breathtaking than the surroundings they called their own. Though I was fond of the view, the way the valley was surrounded by the mountains."

Especially Helen had been breathtaking, of course. What else could compare? And it's absolutely ridiculous to put Menelaos next to Helen and to in any way compare them and judge them equal, but that doesn't mean Menelaos hadn't been stunning in his own way, too. Beauty isn't just about physical appearance, after all, and that certainly goes for Helen as well.

Paris doesn't sigh, not really. But he closes his eyes for a moment, fingering one of his necklaces. He misses...

Well. It doesn't matter, does it?

[wonderingprince]

Telemakhos' memories of Menelaos and Helen are fuzzy now--- though perhaps less fuzzy than they were not so long ago, when he still rested in the orchards of Ithaka rather than the plains of Elysium. Still, he'll agree, breathtaking is an apt word for them. But everything about that visit, every time he'd met them subsequently, was eclipsed by the hope he'd found then, when Menelaos had told him that his father yet lived.

The feeling is vivid still. A bright, hazy memory. And closely following, memories of the stories they told him, stories of the war and their troubled journey home. Stories that were meant to speak of glory, but even at that age Telemakhos could read between the lines. The untold cost of war.

Still, they were talking about landscapes. Palaces and beauty, and the young man chose to draw attention to the beauty of the people, instead.

"You have regrets, my friend," he suggests calmly, and perhaps some of his age sounds in his voice now. His suspicions are stronger, but he still feels the same as he did moments ago when he discovered this man was Trojan---- he has no desire to make enemies. No wish to fight.

But he's not sure he wants to offer friendship, either.

"Perhaps I should leave you to them."

[harvestshope]

The girls fall naturally into a chain, with Nausikaa at the head. She navigates in the dark with exceptional care, though once under the cover of the trees, she picks up her pace. With every step, she is aware of her heart beating faster at any sound that might be pursuit. But each time, it turns out to be only the sounds of their footsteps in the woods, or a mouse in the underbrush, or an owl on the hunt.

Nausikaa has studied the young man long enough now, and in better light, not to have to use his remark as another opportunity for questioning. He may very well be serious, though he isn't clinging to her knees about it—well, after all, that would get in the way of the escape. Her mouth twitches in a smile at the thought.

"Yes. Men have said such things to me before," she says, neither flustered nor with any arrogance, other than the assurance of the truth of it.

Debt is a strange burden for a princess to hold. After Odysseus left, she caught herself at the thought in idle, daydreaming moments—while her handmaids twisted her hair, or with one foot drawing circles in the river—He owes his life to me. Something she did not ask for, had no need of. What could she do but give his life back to him? That had been enough.

But letting it go again made her realize how lonely she could become.

Shivering suddenly, she folds and squeezes her arms. For a moment, she appears to be trying to hold herself together. Even her eyes screw shut. Then, with a deep breath, the moment passes.

"I would rather be home and hear no praises."

[wonderingprince]

Eyebrows raise, probably unseen in the darkness, wondering how many other men she has rescued from precarious situations. Somehow he doesn't think she is referring solely to her duties as a princess, whatever they may be in this land.

Telemakhos opens his mouth to ask, but when he glances back at her, the moonlight passing over her face as it screws up, as she seems to tremble. A bad memory? An omen? Or just a delayed reaction to the danger they were in, perhaps. Either way, they keep moving as if it never happened, picking their way through dark trees.

"You will be home soon," he says, and there is now a promise in his words, a calm confidence that surprises himself. He doesn't know the way home or what other dangers may be lurking around the corner. He has neither weapon nor masterplan. But he doesn't say it just as a comfort, empty words. He uses the words to give him purpose. A goal that they were already working towards, but one that now matters more to him.

He doesn't know what the bandits put her through, doesn't know how long she was at their mercy. He doesn't want to ask, and make her think more about it. Instead he gently pushes her thoughts forwards.

"Tell me about your home."

[harvestshope]

"More and less. It is safer, yes. Nothing is certain but Fate."

She decides not treat his speculation as something waiting for an answer, but with her free hand she touches him. She seems taller than him now, though Mentor isn't. She doesn't stroke his cheek or his hair, as a mother or father would, but grasps his shoulder companionably—then chucks him under the chin.

So much to say: That's for me to know, and for you to find out.

"Which is just as well. Didn't you wish you could have seen Pylos and Sparta without certain danger to call your mind away?"

A kingdom safeguarded, the fighting ended, and the whole world on the horizon.

[wonderingprince]

He laughs but his humour is short lived. Because Athena asks another question, an offer? A hint? An instruction? Whatever it is, he pauses to think about it.

And oh, he wants that.

Perhaps it's not until Athena speaks the words aloud that Telemakhos can even admit them to himself. He thinks about it and the realisation, the sudden understanding of himself washes over him. He wants to see the islands beyond this one. He wants to not just listen to the stories of the men passing through, but experience his own stories. Perhaps he does not yearn for glory the way he should, but this would be his own glory---- to see the tide lap at the sands of a different beach, to see the sunset over a faraway town, to watch the stars from a hill he's never climbed before.

Daydreams.

He blinks up at Athena, and then grins. "I probably did say that," he admits, quieter than you would expect with the thrill running through his heart. "Where are we going?"

[whinedarksea]

Mentor, of course, would recognize him. (Or is that just his hope? That he looks enough like who he was twenty years gone?) No one has indicated that he is here on the ship, however, only with the prince. Odysseus probably shouldn't laugh, or he'll give himself away. Eperitus has no reason to, spirits lifted both by the play on words and the familiar name. But he smiles, all the same, at the captain's sly over-serious look.

After this, he observes the business of the ship for some time, as if by listening to the voices of his countrymen he will arrive at his destination any faster or more safely. Any more used to it. The idea of being home. Having some sense of the dangers that await helps him to focus his dread; he drifts off, wrapped in the borrowed cloak, still spying and scheming.

Otherwise the gods are kind, and his sleep is heavy and dreamless. A respite from his own mind.

He would have felt more secure with a weapon at his time, and he wakes reaching for something that isn't there, but even so, Odysseus wakes undisturbed. He is alert at once. Old soldier's habit. He knows that a ship has been rocking him to sleep, though it takes a moment longer to remember—how.

The sun lies low in the sky, ready to vanish over the western edge into Hades. Odysseus stands, goes to the helm, feels the spray on his face. In a hoarse voice: "How close now?"

[wonderingprince]

Telemakhos busies himself with the ship, helping wherever spare hands are needed. He knows how to sail and how to navigate, but there are those here with far more experience to learn from and he might as well take the opportunity. He'd spent most of the outward journey with Mentor, and when they'd hit the storm they fallen together in their struggle just to survive---- but now they have some time.

A chance to talk to the men, his men. To get to know them a little better. And yes, he's assessing, figuring them out as best he can, but he's letting them do the same in return. The feeling that he has to prove himself won't leave him alone, but at least he's making a start.

But he keeps his eye on Eperitus as he goes about his duties, passes nearby when he can. Telemakhos feels glad when he sees that he’s sleeping. A strange feeling to have about a stranger. Stranger still to feel so protective of him. Because they saved him, so he is now their responsibility? Or because he wants to help? He supposes it doesn't matter.

But, as he works, Telemakhos still can't help but wonder why the man had reacted so strongly to mention of the Queen. A mystery that he thinks needs solving before he dares to let the man enter the palace.

They sail with the sun mostly behind them now, the clear darkness of night ahead. But in the shadows on the horizon loom shapes, smudges that should soon coalesce into familiar shapes, Ithaka nestled between them. "There," he says, flinging an arm out with pride as Eperitus approaches him, "not long now. We are within view."

He turns to Eperitus then, a hand on his shoulder as he surveys him. "You look better for a rest, my friend. I am glad."

[when-you-wish-upon-a-meme]

The Lion King Sentence Meme

"What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?"

"Well forgive me for not leaping for joy. Bad back, you know."

"It's our motto."

"Let me get this straight. You know her. She knows you. But she wants to eat him. And everybody's okay with this?"

"We're gonna fight your uncle...for this?"

"I can't go back. What would it prove, anyway? You can't change the past."

"You said you'd always be there for me! But you're not. Its because of me. Its my fault."

"Its your fault he's dead. Do you deny it?"

"Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy."

"Let me tell you something my father told me."

"Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I."

"Before sunrise, he's your son."

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

"A kings time as ruler rises and falls like the sun."

"I know what I have to do but going back means I'll have to face my past. I've been running from it so long."

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it."

"Perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me."

"As far as brains go, I got the lions share. But, when it comes to brute strength I'm afraid I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool."

"Ha! Pinned you again."

"There's one in every family sire. Two in mine, actually. And they always manage to ruin special occassions."

"Danger? Ha! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger."

"You could have been killed! You deliberately disobeyed me!"

"I'm only brave when I have to be. Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble."

"I'm surrounded by idiots."

"It's to die for."

"Yeah! You hear that? If you ever come back, we'll kill ya!"

"Yet out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era."

"You're an outcast! That's great, so are we."

"Let me get this straight. You're the king? And you never told us?"

"You think you can just show up and tell me how to live my life? You don't know even know what I've been through."

"Run. Run away and never return."

"Life's not fair is it? You see I, well, I shall never be king. And you shall never see the light of another day."

"Everything you see exists in a delicate balance."

"Bad things happen and you can't do anything about it. Right?"

"When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world."

"There's more to being a king than getting your way all the time."

"Long live the king!"

"Hakuna Matata. It means no worries."

"Remember who you are."

[scavengememes]

THE LIGHTNING THIEF MUSICAL SENTENCE STARTERS

PROLOGUE/THE DAY I GOT EXPELLED

“you never listen to me!”

“it mostly gets you killed in very nasty ways.”

“i’m less a player and more the played.”

“honestly i’d totally be fine if i could make it to the next grade.”

“is it me, or is greek mythology not deeply weird?”

“she’s a monster! not literally. i don’t think.”

“dude. i’m your only friend.”

“hey, don’t talk about my mom.”

“you think i’m trouble. just like everyone else.”

STRONG

“i can’t tell you all my secrets.”

“we’re better off without him.”

“yeah, he sounds like a real winner.”

“was he a screw up too?”

“normal is a myth.”

“the things that make you different are the very things that make you strong.”

“the only thing i seemed destined for is detention.”

THE MINOTAUR/THE WEIRDEST DREAM

“when i say run… run.”

“don’t pass out! don’t pass out! don’t pass out!”

“this is weird, but a good weird.”

“you drool when you sleep.”

ANOTHER TERRIBLE DAY

“it means a lot more paperwork for me.”

“of course, being alive is temporary.”

“this is way out of my pay grade—which is saying a lot, because i don’t get paid.”

“well, technically i am cursed.”

“yeah, and i half-care.”

“the best thing is to break up with the guy!”

“i don’t have time to fill you in on all the details.”

“you can hate it here but i hated it first.”

THEIR SIGN

“it wasn’t a dream? she’s really gone?”

“you mustn’t blame yourself.”

“we’ll help you adjust.”

“he’s got a lot to answer for.”

“the guy didn’t need to be ‘dad of the year’.”

“it could be… that is to say, the prophecies suggest…”

“no one can blame you for holding a grudge.”

“welcome to the dysfunctional family.”

PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE

“prepare to be pulverized, newbie!”

“it’s gonna be bloody murder she wrote.”

“i’ll put you in your place!”

“you losers are a total drag.”

“stay there. it’s your first day. we don’t want you messing this up.”

“heard you were tough—but you don’t look it.”

“you got some issue with me, it’s pretty clear.”

THE CAMPFIRE SONG

“is the food here really that bad?”

“offering to the gods. it’s not enough that they’re omnipotent and all-powerful. they need to feel appreciated.”

“i met the guy once, and once was enough.”

“i ran away.”

“no one has seen him for thousands of years.”

“i’ll bring home a boy and she’s there in her nightie.”

“if i tried to sing, it’d probably cause an avalanche.”

“too bad he’s the worst and my life is a mess.”

THE ORACLE

“i have a destiny?”

“you shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.”

GOOD KID

“everything i ever do is wrong.”

“i keep my head down, i keep my chin up, but it ends up all the same.”

“guess i’m good for nothing at all.”

“the only family that really mattered? well she vanished.”

“i never mean to hurt anyone.”

“no one ever tells me that they’re proud.”

“all i need is one last chance to prove i’m good enough for someone.”

KILLER QUEST

“so what if no one’s come back from the underworld? i’ll be the first.”

“i can’t ask you to come.”

“if you’re going to save the world, i’m the best person to keep you from messing it up.”

“i’m needed here, but how about something for the road?”

LOST!

“is the whole trip going to be like this?”

“all our food was in there!”

“it’s not safe to stay out here in the open.”

“i don’t smell.”

“well, i don’t wanna die in the garden state!”

“i’m not saying sorry to a squirrel.”

“i think the gods are trying to tell me they hate me.”

MY GRAND PLAN

“‘smart girl’ only gets a girl so far.”

“someday soon someone will notice me.”

“most girls never win if they’re polite.”

“the best thing you can do is run away.”

“i’ll never be invisible again.”

DRIVE

“look how far we’ve come, we can’t give in.”

“people are counting on us, and i’m counting on you.”

“aw, is that a chihuahua?”

“whoa, whoa, whoa—why are we fighting?”

“relax! i come in peace.”

“tonight, we need a place to sleep.”

THE WEIRDEST DREAM (REPRISE)

“this is… scary.”

“everything is unfolding as i—as we planned.”

“sacrifice is necessary to remake the world.”

THE TREE ON THE HILL

“i should’ve told you, but i—i thought that if i did, you’d never want me on this quest.”

“maybe if i’d been a little bit braver…”

“‘maybe’ doesn’t make it alright.”

“we only survived because she stayed to hold off the monsters. she paid for her sacrifice with her life.”

D.O.A.

“you ain’t getting out.”

“who do you feel like listening to?”

“you’re dead!”

SON OF POSEIDON

“everything i try to do will fail.”

“maybe he did the best that he could do…”

“hey, that’s life, and life ain’t fair.”

“i’ll come back for you, i promise.”

“we were set up. and i think i know who did the setting.”

“let the slugfest begin!”

THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER

“what do you do when the battle’s won?”

“stay or go: pick one.”

“there’s something left i still need to find.”

“sometimes family is worth the trouble. believe me.”

“i’ve barely seen you since i got back. you avoiding me?”

“time someone put them in their place.”

“it’s about wiping them out and taking our turn.”

“i don’t care if i hurt anyone.”

BRING ON THE MONSTERS

“there still might be a war.”

“are we ever gonna once have it easy?”

“i’ll make mistakes, but my own, and it frees me.”

“if you’re looking for trouble, then count me in.”

“you’ll see me again.”

“i’ll be back next summer.”

[whinedarksea]

Most half-bloods are lucky to get a satyr protector in time to save them from being eaten by the kind of monster that was already going extinct in Odysseus' time. A personal invitation—that seems to speak to an unusual favoritism.

But familiar to Odysseus.

"Only in dreams."

He used to doubt she even watched over him, still. He didn't get a glowing aegis over his head as a sign, a definitive claim on him for all to see, nor did he get what he was looking for. What he still wants, in quiet moments walking the sound, homesick so acutely he can almost conjure Mount Neriton on the Atlantic horizon. But what is this camp, if not a promise kept by the gods, and a homecoming where he never thought to find one again? As a mortal, technically, he shouldn't have been able to pass over the hill. Yet here he is.

"What I wouldn't give for some good dreams..."

Odysseus lifts the carved owl to the light, mapping out finer details in his mind's eye. Then he sets it on the bench between them.

"You were sent for by letter? Did you know what you were, before that?"

[wonderingprince]

"No," he answers, and it's only half a lie. He hadn't known he was a demigod. "I'm--- my birth, uh. Mortal? Parents?" He shrugs. Ben's sure they loved him, those two strangers, but they were just that. Strangers. "They died when I was a few months old. I don't even know which one of them was…" His brow creases. It's genuinely the first time the thought has occurred to him. "one of them was involved with Athena?" The thought of Athena being involved with anyone feels utterly bizarre to him, and yet there's more than a dozen pieces of proof here at camp alone.

"Chiron said there's less halfbloods in Europe, because the gods tend to hang out around here more. Which means there's less monsters. And less satyrs sniffing around. So maybe she just felt that… that I wouldn't find out otherwise?"

And yet Odysseus' words give him some feeling of hope. If Athena sending letters was unusual…

It's not that he'd ever fully doubted her, of course not. But it's still a good feeling, all the same.

But if she hasn't spoken to his father---- maybe it is only because Ben's her son. Maybe it's not because his father's here….

She must know. Mustn't she?

"I always knew that I was, well. Different."

[whinedarksea]

He continues in silence for some time, feeling as well as hearing his son try not to weep. He has not had Odysseus to show him, amongst all the other losses, how a man may weep openly and without shame.

"Telemakhos," he says, instead of saying All is well. I'm here. It's all right, whatever you do. But it bears the same weight.

And his father pulls him, gently but inexorably, into a real embrace.

To be loved is to be known. He has always believed that. But for all they do not know, for all he wants to know and love better, Odysseus does love Telemakhos any less in this moment, holding him, than he did the very first time.

Finally, the tears fall.

[wonderingprince]

The rush of emotion is perhaps not as fierce and heady as it had been, that day in Eumaios' hut, but the tears pour down his face all the same. The ebb of the tide, rather than a tsunami. He is too tall now to curl into his father's chest, but he buries his face in his shoulder.

It's not the reunion he imagined as a boy. It's not picture perfect, but it feels better for that all the same. His father's embrace is warm and steady and the care in his voice, in his arms, it threatens to break Telemakhos in two. His father's embrace. His father. His father.

It's not as if he hasn't cried in the last few years. Out of frustration, and anger, and desperation. Grief. But this still feels like the first time he's really let everything out. This is bone deep, aching relief. This quiet moment is a height of joy that he's never known before.

[wonderingprince]

CHARACTER ASSOCIATIONS: Telemakhos

repost & fill in the words you most associate with your character.

animal: dog

color: gold

month: july

season: late autumn

song: i have just now realised i have no telemakhos associated music. i dont listen to enough music y'all

number: 20

day or night: day

plant: olive trees

smell: the smell of salt and sand when you're stood on the beach

astrological sign: ehh

element: water

food: goats cheese and honey

drink: wine

tagged by @harvestshope tagging anyone who wants to do the thing

[harvestshope]

It is precisely this kind of answer that delights bright-eyed Athena—how to spin a clever argument of whatever one says.

"Let that be a good lesson: The better part of wisdom is borrowing it from your elders. And even to the old, there are always those elder and better." He makes a fair point. If he has the ear of a god, why wouldn't he ask whatever he can?

"But your future is not a problem to solve, Telemakhos," she says fondly, leaning on the spear to gaze down at him. "You yourself are the opportunity."

[wonderingprince]

"An opportunity for myself, or for others? Or maybe both." He grins up at the goddess, his laugh warm and bright.

"My future feels more certain than it ever has done," he remarks thoughtfully. With his father home, he is free to contemplate the future in open-ended possibility, to look beyond the pessimistic necessity of the here-and-now he has grappled with for so long. But at the same time, with his father home, his future is no longer a question. Unless more ill fortune blows their way, he will be king of Ithaka one day.

Another sneaky glance up at Athena. "And I am still sure that you have a plan. You always do."

[kallistcs]

Oh, he recognizes some of that.

"The endlessly blue sky above the mountain on clear days was like having the whole world, just within reach if I just stretched my hand out. I was really fond of the reflections of the sun caught in the waters of the bay looking out over bay from Mount Ida, or from Troy, too."

The glitter of sunlight on water had been the closest he'd come to jewels for a while, and just as untouchable as real ones, too. The emptiness of the sky had made him feel a lot less helpless, as strange as that might perhaps seem.

Paris laughs softly at the question, shaking his head.

"No, not really. Salamis, extremely briefly, and Kythira for a day or two. I spent longest in Lakedaimon." He pauses, weighing his options, but he's not in danger here, really, and if he has to temporarily leave, he will always have this spot back soon enough. "A few days with the Dioscuri, and nine more in Sparta."

It might not be entirely telling, but Paris holds no illusions being that specific isn't revealing at all.

[wonderingprince]

Telemakhos is slow to recognise the journey the young man describes. He is lost in thinking about his own voyages in comparison, his own visits to the lands mentioned. Eager to compare details, rather than dredge up ancient history.

To him, it was all so long ago. Songs from traveling bards that swept through Ithaka during the war, tales he was told once he was old enough to ask why his father was gone. The politics of it all that Mentor had explained to a sulky youth. So it feels familiar, even if the reasons for knowing the such a route feel hard to grasp at. He probably would never put two and two together if not for the simple detail that this man is from Troy and therefore the war remains at the forefront of Telemakhos' mind.

But he has no reason to link this man to the war. He has no idea whether he has been in Elysium for years, or decades, or centuries. But there is something in the way he pauses, in the weight to his words, intentional or not.

Telemakhos is silent as he considers the young man in the light of new information. The carefree boy is gone, if only internally----- now the king chooses his words with more care.

"When I first travelled to Sparta, I was much the age I now appear to be---" A shadow of a smile as the corner of his mouth turns upwards, a lazy gesture to the youthful form he now wears. "-- the halls of Menelaos were bright and splendid and breathtaking to me." He laughs, "I remember now comparing it to the beauty of Elysium. Ridiculous, of course, but that visit did me a lot of good."

He had only wanted to compare details of their journeys. Now he invites the comparison of their times in Sparta, if only to satisfy his suspicions.

[harvestshope]

Watching him snap himself free, a kind of calm settles over her. If he was able to do that, they can attempt an escape. She can't freeze in fear like a deer hearing the a branch snap, whether it signals the hunter's footsteps or not. The only thing to do is take the chance before them.

"This is not their home," Nausikaa says simply. A serious answer for an offhand comment, but it is to say: They have no hospitality to offer. "It's mine. When I bring you back with me, you will be treated more kindly."

Her chin lifts as she watches him a moment longer. Curious, and a bit imperious. That smile looked familiar for a moment.

I am asking, she wants to say. But even if the laws of xenia do not apply here, among bandits and thieves, she is still the daughter of the thing.

Once he undoes the ropes, she can't help rubbing at her wrists with a wince. The pain is only a light burn, but her raw skin is beaded with blood, unused to rough treatment. A ripple threatens to break her calm, but she draws a slow, deliberate breath. Gods give her the courage and nerve they need.

She puts her hand over Lykaste's mouth, then rolls her over gently, shh-shhing like a nursemaid. In the same way, together they wake Xantho, who has a tendency to moan in her sleep even safe at home among the princess's bed-companions. Keeping her head clear, Nausikaa focuses on finding and unworking the knots in the dark.

She looks to the stranger again for guidance, if not for leadership. He seems to have no intention of fighting a battle he would lose. So he's no idiot, at least. But her expression takes the measure more of his willingness to trust than hers. She knows Scheria, and he doesn't, but that might make some men less trusting. Will he follow her?

"Let's reach the trees quietly, if we can. The gods have blessed us by laying sleep on them. We shouldn't waste it."

[wonderingprince]

Her voice is serious, calm. A promise, lurking in her words, given with the authority to back it up. He's caught for a moment watching her silhouette, the way she lifts her chin.

The trees are dark, shadowing what moonlight there is. Safer, certainly, than the open ground, except for the very likely probability of getting lost. Except that he has with him a princess of this land. There's every reason to believe that she knows her country just as well as he knows his beloved island.

An owl hoots somewhere far away in the trees.

Telemakhos smiles, inclines his head in agreement. He looks around the camp one last time, and pauses only to pick up the length of rope they were tied with. He might not be skilled enough to use it as an effective weapon, but it's better than nothing, even if only to give him something to hold.

He gestures for the princess to lead the way, following close behind her and the two handmaidens. Telemakhos does not try to speak again until they have reached the green shelter of the trees. Even then, he waits until there is good cover behind them before he relaxes.

"We must, of course, thank the gods for their kindness in aiding our escape, but I must also thank you, my lady, for your part. I am sure that I am in your debt."

[harvestshope]

Does he trust that? Enough to bet Polyxena’s safety on it? Hektor is not a betting man. He loves the ash spear and bronze shield, solid things he can hold to, not promises and omens interpreted by men.

And Polyxena still looks so young to him. A woman now, but still younger than he was when the war began.

Then the prince stops, and rather than turning himself Hektor lets him turn to face him, as he opens up a way to them that Hektor did not see. Or at least did not see being presented so easily.

It occurs to him at long last that the king and queen of Ithaka may not have wished to send their son away to find a bride, so soon after such danger. On the other hand, they may have thought it safer for him to spend some time in calmer waters (can Troy be said to be that?). In either case, they will likely care more to see him returned in one piece than to see him wedded.

His tight mouth unknots, a bit.

"It pleases me to hear you say so."

Hektor's pleased is most men's gravely composed, but he is honest. The peace of Troy is his first concern. He would not be an oathbreaker, either, with so much at stake. To hear these concerns laid out plainly strikes a note within him.

To propose parting on mutually good terms is one thing. They cannot very well send the prince on his way immediately after his arrival, but this allows them time to come to a real decision. He would like Andromache's counsel. And others'.

"Perhaps," he says with a nod, "we should discover what my honored sister thinks. Do you wish to meet her?"

Hektor watches, as he says it, for some measure of the prince's actual eagerness. He is, after all, still a young man, and though he has kept his temper so far, no doubt he was hot-blooded enough when the chance for revenge came to him.

[wonderingprince]

His heart thunders in his chest as he waits for Hektor's response, trying to read the expression on the king's face, trying to trust his own instincts and not betray his own wariness on his face. He doesn't know whether or not he succeeds; and if Hektor relaxes at all, it's only slightly.

Still, he says that he is pleased. It may be a bald-faced lie, but even if it is, it gives Telemakhos some time to prove his own part of the argument true. And somehow he doubts the man who had earlier expressed such disdain for Odysseus' legendary tongue would be so inclined to play such games.

The offer is unexpected. The princess' reaction to him, and Hektor's clear protectiveness

"I would like to meet her," Telemakhos admits readily. "But it need not be today. I am sympathetic to the shock it must have been, to have a suitor show with no warning."

After all, he may have no desire to forcibly claim Polyxena as his prize and carry her away to Ithaka immediately, he might be willing to sail home alone, but he is not against the idea of marrying her either. A Trojan princess would not have been his first choice without his father's intervention, but it's not as if Telemakhos had ever put any thought into choices before Nestor had told him of this one.

He would like to meet her. To have a chance to get to know her. To be more than his father's son, perhaps, for once.

"There is no rush. If we can come to an agreement before ten years is up, we will both have beaten our fathers' records."

[kallistcs]

"Ah. You lived on an island, then? Achaea has a lot of those, I noticed."

It says nothing at all about where, exactly, this young man is from, or who he is, even if Paris would recognize either the name of the place or his family, having the island's name. Hopefully it won't matter either way, but he should maybe go back to be a bit more guarded about who he lets up here. Playing his lyre is just... distracting, and pleasant.

"The side of Mount Ida I usually was on didn't face the sea fully, but high up enough I could still see it... It makes for a pretty sight, to see the sea like that."

Up here on his fake Mount Ida, there's no ocean to be seen. At best, a shimmer in the distance to smudge out the actual view, giving the suggestion of endlessness that could be either sky or sea. It's good enough. Peaceful. Shaking his head, Paris touches one of the gilded carvings of a deer head that ends each of the lyre's arms.

"What was your favourite view, at home?"

Idle conversation, perhaps, but that's the charm itself; Paris likes it, and he's going to indulge in it if he's humoured.

[wonderingprince]

It's no hardship to humour the other man, and Telemakhos smiles gently as he considers his answer.

"As a boy I would sit at the window, watching the sea for the sail of my father's ship. The sea would keep me entertained for hours." It sounds sad now, to his ears, but it was such a long time ago. And his childhood was lonely. It's merely a truth of his life.

He gets the feeling that this young man understands that.

"As I got older I preferred to watch the stars. The moonlight over the olive trees, perhaps. The reflections that danced in the waves. It felt like you could see the whole world reflected in the bay of the island." When the suitors had lurked in the palace, the darker hours had been the only time he'd had to himself, and the habit of late night walks and watches had stayed throughout his life. Climbing trees or rocks to sit hidden in peace, or later just on the sands on the beach.

"Did you visit much of Achaea?" he asks, part of conversation, genuine curiosity. The urge to seek out more information is only natural. "When I travelled, I never did venture as far as Troy."