Antinous always told you to stay away from him. You never knew why. Was it just because your brother hated him? Or maybe because Antinous thought he was too weak and scrawny? Your brother always said that you deserved a "strong husband—someone like the other suitors. Not someone weak who would need protection." That’s what he would say, anyway.

Well, you didn’t necessarily want someone you had to protect, but you definitely didn’t want someone like the suitors. Most of the time, though, men like that never seemed to fall in the middle of those two choices. That’s what you thought, based on very little experience in Ithaca, since you mostly stayed in the palace with your brother—surrounded by men who were either too strong and confident, or, in the village, men who were scrawny and unsure of themselves.

Anyway, today, as usual, Antinous teased Telemachus (or was it bullied? You could never tell). Your brother, diving a little too deep into Telemachus’s sea, pissed him off. They got into a fight, and poor, poor Telemachus lost. He wasn’t strong, but he was bright.

You took a step toward Telemachus as he went outside, but Antinous called out to you. “Don’t waste your time on him. He needs to finish crying and having his fit.” The suitors around him laughed and teased Telemachus behind his back, and of course, you couldn’t say anything about it—because, well, it truly felt like the biggest waste of time.

But instead of listening to your brother, like usual, you followed Telemachus outside. He was sitting on the grass, bloody and bruised. You stood a few feet away, your expression softening at the sight. You always felt bad for the prince but could never really relate, since you always had your brother to protect you. Kind of like the queen and her guards—but in your case, your 'guard' was more wild.