“The Fates have seen fit to delay my husband. That is what happens when you are beloved by the gods. As you know, they like to test their favorites.”
“I’ll admit, your faith in your husband is…endearing,” Eurymachus said, voice dripping with condescension. “Though I am somewhat surprised. I was told you were a woman of pragmatism.”
Penelope did not rise to the bait. Instead, she smiled with a smooth, hollow politeness. “I am sorry to disappoint you, but it appears your journey here was wasted. Of course, I will offer you food and lodging for as long as you require before your journey back to Same.”
Eurymachus bowed his head again. “Thank you. That is most gracious.”
“I will send for someone to escort you to our guest wing,” Penelopesaid. “I hope you will make yourself at home.”
His eyes glinted. “Oh, I certainly plan to.”
***
Eurymachus’s presence was like a bad stench. I could smell it everywhere I went, the reek setting me on edge.
I watched him strolling around the palace, barking commands at the other slaves. Begrudgingly, we obeyed, praying our deference would hasten his departure.
Penelope had girls shadow him constantly, reporting on his every action. She also had Thratta tail Telemachus, much to the prince’s distaste.
“I am not a child, Mother. I can fend for myself,” he complained.
“It is just until Eurymachus leaves,” Penelope assured him.
But Eurymachus did not leave.
He lingered, day after day, stretching Penelope’s hospitality thin as he enjoyed her food and wine and even dared to push his luck with some of the slaves. A few entertained his attentions, though I knew this compliance did not stem from their own desire, rather an ingrained belief that they had to serve his. It made my blood boil.
“I want him gone,” I said.
“He will grow bored soon enough,” Penelope assured me. “Once he realizes the uselessness of his endeavor.”
The second suitor arrived shortly after.
His name was Antinous, son of Eupeithes, a nobleman of Ithaca. He was comically young, only a little older than Telemachus. Yet despite his youthful appearance, there was something hollow and ancient about his eyes, as if he had lived many lives before and lost all love for this world.
“I already have a husband,” Penelope told him, just as she had with Eurymachus.
“Tell me, my queen, can a corpse be a husband?” Antinous replied as he picked his teeth.
I could tell Penelope was unsettled by his words, but she repliedsmoothly, “King Odysseus is not dead.”
Antinous tilted his head to the side when she said that, his dark, lank hair spilling over his narrow face. He was an ugly, hawkish man.
“He has abandoned you then?” he mused. “I had heard those rumors too. I suppose a goddess’s cunt is as good a reason as any to abandon a throne.”
Penelope stiffened, stunned by his vulgarity.
“May I be shown to my rooms now?” Antinous asked when he grew bored of her silence. “I hear your hospitality is mostexcellent.”
***
That night, I lurked in the banquet hall, watching as Antinous and Eurymachus stuffed their faces and slurped their wine. It had been so long since the palace had been stained by the presence of noblemen. I had forgotten how suffocating their company could be.
“One could get used to a life like this,” Antinous said as he beckoned for a slave to refill his wine.
Eurymachus smacked his greasy lips as he helped himself to another plate of meat. “One certainly could.”
They shared a look, and a heavy realization crept over me.
