“I told you Eumaeus was handsome,” Eurynome murmured to me with a conspiratorial smile.
Thratta boomed a laugh. “The pig boy?”
“He has always shown me kindness,” Autonoë interjected. “I think Eumaeus is a fine match, Melantho.”
“I agree!” Hippodamia chirped. “So go on then. Give us the details!”
I covered my face, feeling the hotness of my cheeks burn into my palms. “No thanks.”
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Autonoë crooned, toying with my curls. “Your hair is a mess. You must’ve had a good night.”
“Her hair is always mess.”
“Thanks, Thratta,” I muttered, peeking through my hands to see the Thracian woman grinning at me. “Can we move on from this now, please?”
“Absolutely not!” Hippodamia seemed outraged by the suggestion. “You have to at least tell us how it happened…”
Memories seared through my mind—Penelope’s skin bathed in moonlight, the intensity of her eyes, filled with something I could not dare hope to name. The brush of her fingers on my lips. The shape of my name on hers…
I flinched, shaking my head. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“If she doesn’t wish to tell, it means it was very bad,” Thratta deduced, scratching her chin like a wizened oracle. “I am sorry for this, Melantho.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not true.”
Hippodamia grinned roguishly. “So itwasgood then?”
“What was good?”
We all turned to see Penelope entering the room with Telemachus at her side.
The sight of her made my insides constrict with a nauseating intensity. Around me, the handmaids shared knowing glances, stifling giggles. I stared at each of them in turn, hoping enough violence was laced into my glare to keep their mouths shut.
“Why doesshehave a knife?” Telemachus asked, pointing at Actoris.
She grinned. “Jealous, princeling?”
“Mother, can I have a knife?”
Penelope sighed inwardly. “No, Telemachus. Actoris, I appreciate you are new here, but we have a firm ‘no weapons’ rule inside these walls.”
Actoris rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll go outside. Princeling, do you want to be my target practice?”
“All right!” Telemachus chirped, eagerly following Actoris out of the room.
“I’ll supervise,” Eurynome added quickly, and Penelope flashed her an appreciative smile.
Once they had left, Autonoë, Hippodamia, and Thratta began discussing the previous night’s celebrations, mercifully avoiding the topic of Eumaeus. I tried to listen to their conversation, but my focus was consumed by Penelope. Though I did not dare look at her, I could still feel her as she moved across the room, her presence tingling over my skin like a phantom breeze.
When I could bear it no longer, I slipped away to the balcony, keen to let the crisp morning air chill the fever inside me. I closed my eyes, steadying my breathing in time with the sleepy hush of the waves below.
“Why do I feel as if I am missing something?”
My heart stumbled at the sound of Penelope’s voice.
“What?” I feigned ignorance as she came and stood at my side.
“The others are giggling about something, but they won’t admitwhat. Thratta keeps making snorting sounds, like a pig.”
