Lila's POV
We were walking on the road, and Xena appeared and used her whip to pull me away from the giant thing, and Gabrielle used her staff to vault it, it crashed to the ground.
"Thanks, Xena. I could have saved myself but not Lila."
"So this is Lila, what is she doing here?"
"My parents are dead. I need to take her to Melosa. By Amazon law because she's my blood, I can ask Melosa to adopt her into the tribe and she has to say yes. I may have to stay with the tribe I'm not sure, but I can't leave her Xena."
"Of course not, it won't take long to get to the Amazon village, just shy of two weeks, you've already traveled a ways."
"Thank you, Xena."
We journeyed for several hours before camping for night watching Gabrielle and Xena set up camp was something else. Xena caught something and Gabrielle cooked. I eat it of course even though I didn't like the look of it. I was hungry. Then I remembered Gabrielle was a good cook.
"Slow down Lila. You'll make yourself sick." Xena said. She wasn't a monster like father said she was. She seemed nice. She was tall and imposing looking like father had been but he always looked so cruel, he was a monster he did horrible things. She didn't seem like a monster. "How long since you've eaten?"
"We've been traveling four days, Gabrielle's kept me fed since then…..before Gabrielle's visit food was scarce, and my parents were already dead."
"So you weren't a priority."
"Makis took care of me, but he didn't have much, he less food than the other farmers because he's just an old man….."
"Makis?"
Gabrielle explained. "He's an elder in our village, who looks remarkably like an owl, reads, writes, teaches anyone who comes to him. He's the one who taught me how to be a bard, my parents weren't about to teach me to read or write even if they could, it was useless knowledge as far as my father was concerned. Makis is a good was a good man, slightly insane, and drinks far too much, but unlike my father he's not violent or cruel. He's sweet."
"He only drinks to make the pain in his arms and legs stop." I said. "He's really old."
Xena nodded. "It happens…."
The next morning. We had more of whatever Gabrielle had made. Then we packed up, and got ready, to leave. Xena rode on Argo, and Gabrielle and I walked for awhile, finally Xena let me ride with her. Four days into our journey we came to a town, we stayed at an inn, I liked sleeping outside better they had things crawling in the beds. I ended up borrowing the firs and sleeping on the floor. Gabrielle woke up and looked at me.
"How come I never thought of that?" it took another 6 days before we got to the Amazon tribal lands. Xena, and Gabrielle put their arms up and told me to do the same. I did. A woman came down from the trees.
"Princess Welcome, Home. I see you brought visitors…."
"Hi, Stephania. I must speak with Queen Melosa as soon as Possible…."
Gabrielle's POV
I was brought to Melosa immediately, I bowed of course she greeted me. "My Queen."
"Welcome Home, sister. You brought a child with you…."
"My True sister. Lila, Our Blood parents are dead."
"You did right, child. Keeping her with you and Xena traveling would have been foolish not to mention dangerous, Normally you wouldn't be out there yourself but as you are 16 and the age of learning, you chose her as your mentor. It's not unheard of for Amazon princesses to have non-Amazon mentors to learn from them so they become better Amazon Queens."
"Queen."
"You may not have knew what you were accepting when you took my sister's right of caste but you did before you left with Xena, you are my heir unless, I have a daughter. That daughter would have to be my child, not adopted into my house, but into my blood as if I gave birth to her, it's a specific adoption only for Amazon Queens…."
"Why me?"
"Because you did try to save Terrieus who was a stranger to you, you had no training, you only knew enough to know you were danger and so was she. That combined with you using Xena to challenge me, when I was out of my mind with grief and not thinking clearly, tells me more about your strength of character than anything else. I'm proud to have you sister, Gabrielle you are my true sister now, by taking her right of caste, I am responsible for you because under Amazon law you are still a child…."
"and Lila…."
"Will adopted into my house, as my youngest sister. There is precedence, and even if there wasn't. I am Queen I could simply make it so. Once you became my True sister, Lila did too."
"Our parents were not good people. I think they were once, I know my mother was when I was small I remember her being kind and funny, but by the time Lila was born she was shadow of what a human being should be and our father was cruel, At least I think he was, you know as well as I do that who someone is when they're drunk and who someone is when they've had no ale, or wine is not the same, there wasn't a time that I knew my father where he wasn't drunk, on his way to becoming drunk, or passed out from drinking too much. He was violent, paranoid, cruel, affectionate, incoherent, overly generous, insane, kind, his moods changed moment to moment we never knew exactly who we were going to get. It was madding, despite or maybe because of his drunkenness he managed to work the farm, tended the pigs, well enough to survive, even do a little better than our neighbors."
"when he die?"
"Not long after I left actually, he drank himself to death….my mother killed herself either grief or because she just didn't know survive without him. My sister was taken by the man who taught me to read and write. He's used to a scholar, a teacher in Athens, now he's old man in a sad little house who runs small farm just big enough for himself and teaches anyone who comes to anything ask."
"I thought were too well taught for farmer's daughter. And Lila?"
"She lived with Makis full time after my parents died, she's well educated for her age. It is all she did every day, for almost a year."
Melosa's POV
Gabrielle and I were in the Queen's Huts, The little girl was standing there behind Gabrielle staring me she looked a little scared. "Leave us this is a family matter….." I said to my advisors and my guards left. "So you're Lila. It's nice to meet you."
" Yes, Queen Mmmmmelosa….."
"Young one, when we are alone you may call me by name."
"Why?"
"Because I am your family. Gabrielle when attempted to save my sister and accepted Terrieus's right of caste she became my true sister as if she was born to my mother, and you being Gabrielle's true sister, makes you mine as well. All we need to do is a small ceremony and you will become Princess Lila, of the Telaquire Amazon tribe, sister of Melosa, Gabrielle, and Terrieus, daughter of Elorah."
"I'm a Princess?"
"You are. And we will take care of you.
she took my sister's right of caste became my true sister. As her true sister, you are also my sister. My true sister, my blood sister."
"I am, that makes you the Youngest Princess, You will be taken care of here, and given the education all Amazons are."
"No one will hurt me."
Lila, look at me. We protect and love but importantly cherish our children here. We use firm discipline but there are guidelines a child never beaten, never left with scars, or permanent damage. And most importantly if a child comes from the outside from an abusive home as you do, we wouldn't impose physical punishments until that child could understand the difference between the beatings they used to get and any sore backside they'd get themselves here. No one will touch you until you feel safe here."
