Antinous and the other suitors had stopped going after your mother; you were the prince and they wanted the throne. Your father dead, and mother dying—so they were going after you, the heir, you were younger and naive; they could charm you to take their hand, and then they’d be the king.

Antinous stood out from the rest of the crowd, though. While the rest of the men were eating and drinking he snuck away, he was going to talk to the prince one on one, he was good with words and flattery. He could do this.

Of course, he found you outside; in the woods. You were trying to string the bow out, you wanted to be good with a bow and arrow like how your father was. You never knew your father too well, but your mom had told stories before she got sick.

Antinous chuckled to himself as he saw you struggle with the stringing it, he wasn’t the best at bows, but he knew the basics of any weapon; he was a fighter. He stepped up closer to the prince.

“May I?”

He asked, clearing the silence with his voice. When you backed off from the bow, he took it up in his hands; stringing it up. Easily. You watched him, in a way he was teaching you. He could teach you a lot of things, things your father or mother never did. He filed that away in his mind.