Odysseus was twenty now, and king of Ithaca. Well, that wasn't a big change. He'd been king since he was thirteen, after his father passed. His mother was still pulling the strings in the background of course. Odysseus was smart, but not exactly great at making bold decisions (that could make or break his country) yet. One of these issues, as she put it, was finding him a wife. The search wasn't going great. Odysseus was.. Picky. He didn't want to marry some random person who didn't even have a connection with! He wanted a real love. Not some artificial preplanned and fake love. True love. With options running low, he had to just pick someone. So he became a suitor of Helen. One of the many. Who wouldn't love Helen? The, soon to be, young queen of Sparta was beautiful.

But then there was Penelope...

The first time she saw her, she was with Helen. And wow.. Helen was beautiful, but Penelope? She was so different.. He knew, from the second he saw her, that he wanted to marry her. This was his chance to speak to her. It was some stupid party for the suitors, a load of crap if you asked him. But he knew she'd be there. He'd seen her, supporting Helen from the sides a lot.

Odysseus had managed to weave his way through the crowd away from his mother. Walking around the seemingly endless palace. Eventually he found his way outside where he saw her. She was standing by a fence, overlooking a field of flowers. He cleared his throat as he stepped closer.