𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐄

Chapter I

  Dardania was a beautiful land. If I knew any other kingdoms aside from the one I was blessed to live in, I'd still say this is the most outstanding place on earth. Dardania was located deep in the land, which brought a lot of benefits to us, for example potential attack couldn't come from the sea, but our kingdom as any other one had neighboring nations. The kings tended to be proud and greedy, always thinking that the greener grass grows elsewhere. This is why my father, King Tros, made the decision to build special walls on the borders of the land with special guard towers for the masters of the bow to stand there with their arrows at the ready in case of a sudden attack. Other kingdoms envied Dardania for its fertile grounds, wide rivers with strong currents, beautiful architecture and more. My father knew about it even though, when other kings traveled great lengths to meet him, their voices were dripping with sweetness as they spoke of alliances, trade trails and similar things. He never fell for their mild act. The king politely welcomed the other leaders and listened to their speeches patiently. Even though he sensed falseness from the beginning, he never treated his guests disrespectfully. He let them feed and sleep in the most comfortable beds and then politely dismissed their offers. King Tros kept alliances only with the kingdoms he'd learned were worth trusting. He had never done anything impulsively...aside from when he fell in love with my mother.

   My father was known to be a wise king. Everyone in Dardania loved him, and he loved all the citizens and his land. He was known to make plans for any occurrences, which made people feel secure even when some neighboring kingdoms clashed in battles to change the lines on maps and take more land for themselves. He always knew just what to do and what to say, so if I hadn't heard this story from my mother, I would never have believed that at some point...my father lost his composure and sober thinking. One day, when he was traveling to another polis because of some political matter, he was forced to cross one of the rivers. He got off his horse and began to lead it through the strong current. The water of the river was reaching the top of his chest when his eyes noticed something, or rather someone, on the other side of the river. The most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid his eyes upon. Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders which contrasted with her pale skin. Such appearance was really rare here where the sun wasn't really merciful and most people owned more tanned complexion like my father did. She was kneeling by the shore and seemingly washing something in the clear waters of the river until she looked up like a startled doe - as if she could feel my father's eyes on her. They stared at each other as if trying to read the intentions of the other instead of saying anything. However it didn't last longer than a few seconds because the king must've stepped on some rock that rested on something else. It moved under his weight, which surprised the man enough to have him lose his balance and catch some water in his mouth. My father says he doesn't remember what happened after the current pulled him along with it, not until he opened his eyes just to realize he was laying on the ground on the other side of the river and my mother was kneeling by his side, worriedly checking him over for any injuries. Once the king finally sat up, the two of them decided to exchange a few words. My mother introduced herself as Callirhoe - the daughter of Scamander, who was the god of the river that was named after him and which happened to be the same river my father almost drowned in. There was nobody else around them. That's why the ruler of Dardania believed it was this beautiful woman who saved his life - he wasn't wrong. My mother however was touched by the soft voice of the stranger. He didn't use the fact that she was alone around here to his adventage, in fact he was very eloquent and immediately tried to get to know her better. This unexpected meeting was like a seed planted in fertile ground. It quickly grew into something beautiful beyond words.

After earning the blessing from Scamander, King Tros took his life savior as his wife, who was supposed to stay by his side. He obligated himself to providing her happiness, safety and love. I never doubted my parents' strong feelings for one another, even though we all lived in times of arranged and often unhappy marriages. Both my mother and father were realy lucky. The gods certainly had something to do with it. I believed so. I swear, I could listen to this story over and over again, even though I know it by memory after so many times that my mother agreed to tell me about it. Both of them ended up being a happy pair who ruled over a great and strong kingdom with people who loved them. After some time, Callirhoe gave birth to three sons. The two elder brothers, with a difference of one year between them, were named Ilos and Assaracus. Then, after another two years, her youngest son was born - me. My father named me Ganymede. Some people doubted that my parents would be interested in raising me with as much care as they did with my older brothers, especially because I was born sooner than expected, which resulted in me being too small even for a newborn. Some even didn't give me much chances of survival. My parents had their heir and someone to take over the throne in case something happened to the eldest of the siblings, so why would they pay attention to someone like me? I certainly wouldn't grow up to be a warrior nor work physically due to my blood status which put me far above physical workers who worked in the fields. Those people couldn't have been more mistaken. My parents fell in love with me from the start. They didn't care for my size or my questionable future. I was theirs. In fact, I quickly found myself in the center of attention but not only because of my exceptional beauty which assisted me since I was born. Both the king and his queen were worried that their youngest son could fall sick easily because of being born too soon. That's why they did everything they could to prevent it from happening. I spent my early childhood inside the castle, often accompanied by my mother, who kept me company but also kept an eye on me. I often found myself sitting by the window when she wasn't looking. I was staring at my older brothers playing together, training with spears and wooden swords after what they were resting on that beautiful green grass as they stared up at the sky that contrasted with it so much, yet matched it with the vividness of it's colour.