Fiercest Love

Author's Note: This is a bit of a short chapter (a longer one is ng..ng... I SWEAR!). Thank you to angelfromfire. It's because of her that I'm posting this and continuing the story. Oh, and I should've mentioned this before, any sentences with * around them indicate a thought.

A widow. That was what one of the suitors had called her. A widow. She had heard no news of his death, but on her doorstep now stood an assembly of suitors, each wanting the queen of Ithaca for their own. "He isn't. He cannot be." Penelope whispered to herself, staring out the bedroom window out at the sea. "Odysseus, if you are fighting... stop. Stop and come back to me. Come back to Ithaca because I cannot bear to be without you." She had sat at the window for the last three weeks, whispering her pleas to the ocean as though it would bring her words to Odysseus... if he still lived. "My lady," a maid's voice came from behind her "the suitors wish to..." before she could finish her words Penelope spun around, looking angrily at the maid. "I do not care what they wish. My husband still lives and until I know that he no longer draws breath I will not speak to them. Go! Tell them that! GO!" she screamed the last, regretting her actions immediately after the maid disappeared into the hallway. Instead of letting sorrow overcome her, Penelope sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, remembering how her husband had tried using one of his tricks to keep from having to leave her and Telemachus for Troy.

"Lord Agamemnon, he's gone mad. There is nothing I or any of the members of our household can do to bring him about to reason. He will not speak, nor take food, nor lie with me. All he does is..." her voice broke as she spoke. "Where is he?" Agamemnon asked shortly. Menelaus stood quietly beside him, looking none too concern about the mental state of her husband. Penelope led them to a field near the seashore, Telemachus cooing blissfully in her arms as she walked. "There is my lord." She said, pointing to the figure in the field. And there was Odysseus walking up and down the field with a plow yoked to his back with a sack slung around his neck from which he pulled handfuls of salt and scattered them about the plowed field as though he were scattering seeds. Penelope stood, gently rocking Telemachus as she let Agamemnon and Menelaus take in what had become of her husband. "Give me the baby." Agamemnon suddenly demanded, taking little Telemachus from Penelope's arms before she could protest. "What are you doing? What do you want with my son?e dee demanded, trying to get Telemachus away from Agamemnon. But it was no use for Menelaus was already holding her arms in place at her sides. "Do not worry, my lady. I merely wish to see whether your husband is cracked enough to drive a furrow over his own son." He said, turning to smile wickedly at Penelope. He knelt and placed Telemachus on the dirt in the path of Odysseus's plow. Penelope screamed, trying to fight against Menelaus as Odysseus moved closer and closer to their little son. "Stop this! STOP THIS!" she screamed, begging any god that would listen to come down and save her baby. Then Odysseus turned his plow away so that the baby was not harmed. Penelope's voice failed her and she nearly lost balance, racing towards Telemachus, when Menelaus let go of her. "It seems your husband is not quite as mad as he would have me believe." Agamemnon said, looking quite pleased with himself for having outwitted Odysseus. Sobbing as she lifted her baby from the dirt, Penelope looked at her husband and was met with the saddest look she had ever seen. Then he turned his eyes away from her and Telemachus, focusing them on Agamemnon with a look of utter and complete hatred.

Penelope was taken away from her thoughts of Odysseus by a light lick at her hand. Her eyes flicked open and she glanced to the side of the chair to see Odysseus's faithful dog sitting beside it. "Argos." She said, stroking the dog's head gently. Within a moment Telemachus came barreling into the room and nearly threw himself onto her lap. "Mother..." he whispered, an unspoken question hanging in that one word. "What is it, darling?" she said softly, kissing her son's forehead. "What those men are saying about father... it's not..." "Every last bit of it is a lie. Your father lives still." She said, hoping that she was not lying to her son. “They are only here because they want to usurp your father’s wife... they know nothing of what is happening to your father.” Penelope said, gently stroking Telemachus’s hair as she looked into the face of what her husband must have looked like as a little boy. “If it will ease your mind, darling, we shall offer a sacrifice to the gods everyday so that they will keep father safe.” she said, kissing Telemachus’s forehead.

Author's Note: Okay, that's it for now. Sooo... let me know what you think so far.