It had been a long night. Xena had spent it in Lila's room making sure that she didn't somehow take a turn for the worse. After grilling Sarah she figured out exactly what was causing the poisoning. The only food that mother and daughter had not shared and that the others in town that were sick had eaten was this apple turnover concoction that the warrior had never heard of. It had just suddenly shown up at the bakers shop. A sweet tooth just like her sister.
Toris had slept in the stables. At first the warrior princess had objected to that not knowing if she could trust him just yet. But then she looked deeply into his eyes and something. It was something she had seen as they traveled. He had the same look on his face that plagued her every day of her life. Though she knew deep down that she had made the ultimate sacrifice on several occasions there always felt like there was still blood on her hands.
Her brother now was having to go through the same thing. He still hadn't opened up to actually killing anyone but he had almost killed the queen and he had a part in almost killing Lias. That could be enough to break someone that wasn't used to harming others. But then what had he been doing the past twenty some years? That was a discussion for another time. Right now lives were at stake here.
They were now in the main little entrance sharing a meager bread and cheese breakfast. It was all that was left in the house and not much more left in town. The warrior knew she'd have to go hunting maybe even bringing Toris with her so that they could chat a little. For now they sat in silence. Sarah was too worried about her mother. Gabrielle was worried about the whole town. While Potadeia had not been her home in years it still had a few people that she cared for in it most of all her sister and niece.
Already Xena had discussed the situation about having to go hunting for the day and taking her brother with her. Usually the warrior liked to go at first light but with Lila and a handful of the other village people being ill she had stayed and showed the local healer exactly what to administer each person. Now she was just staying because it was hard to let her bard out of her sight. Danger is a part of our lives. It will be when we get to Amphipolis I know but still…
As if reading her mind her soul mate touched her on the knee. "I'll keep checking on all those affected by this and I'll try and find out more at the bake shop." Soft blue eyes met those twinkling green eyes for the longest moment. There was another squeeze of her knee before she reluctantly moved her hand so that she could take up another bite of cheese and bread. The bard turned to Sarah. "Is there anyone that can show me around? I know I'm from here but it's been so long. And I'm sure that you'll want to stay with your mother."
The girl's features flushed a little and she got this dreamy look upon her face. "Well, there is the youngest son of the blacksmith." Her eyes got a familiar look in them that the bard knew well reflected in her own whenever she looked at her soul mate. "While he's too young to be apprenticed by his father he does still spend most of his days watching. He's almost better than his father."
Xena's eyebrows rose a bit at the mention of a blacksmith. Though I'll be living a little more relaxed life, I hope, when we do get to Amphipolis I'll still need weaponry, armor and of course horse shoes for Argo. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. We'll walk you over. If I'm not mistaken the blacksmith is on the other side of the stables. We'll need to get the horses anyways."
Gabrielle knew in an instant there was more to what her girl just said. But as always she just went with the flow and followed where her lover was to take her. "I'll just pack a small ration pouch for you both." At the look of her niece she sighed. "Relax. It's from our travel pouch. I'm not taking anything extra from anyone. Besides if I know my wonderful warrior princess we'll have fish and various meats to eat probably for the next two months."
That got a roll of the eyes from Xena but also a smirk of knowing. "Well let's just see how the fishing around her is." With that all four were on her feet. Toris was out the door and standing on the steps. Gabrielle quickly went to check on her sister leaving the warrior princess and Sarah. "First off your mother is going to make a full recovery. I want you to think about something. You and your mother are all alone. We'd love to have family in Amphipolis. It won't be easy building it back up but…"
Sarah smiled a sad smile. "There's nothing here for us. Ever since you rescued me I've been treated rather shabbily by the rest of the town. There's only one person that even gives me a measure of respect." Her eyes could not face the older woman's. They were so strong and sure of themselves. Once I felt like that. Then my whole world was shattered.
"I can understand that." Xena reached out and took the younger woman's hand. "The first time I went home after being an evil warlord I was threatened with a stoning which I probably deserved." The younger woman gasped. "But one person that was almost a total stranger to me stood up for me. She now means everything to me. By the way, what is his name?"
That made the young woman blink several times. I've always been so careful I thought about hiding my feelings for Liam. Was it that obvious to everyone? If it is I hope no one is treating him badly for treating me with some measure of kindness. "His name is Liam. He I suppose you already guess is the son of the blacksmith. Just mention my name and he'll take excellent care of Aunt Gabrielle."
"Oh, she can take care of herself. In many, many ways." The warrior got a dreamy look on her face one that she tried keeping off when they were in public. "I trust her with my life." A few more minutes of the dreamy luck and she snapped out of it. Damn that's been happening a lot ever since I returned. Gotta be the outfit. The ever shrinking ever revealing outfit. Another look replaced the dreamy one and she cursed under her breath as she saw the blush on the young woman's face. "I'll just be outside."
It was only a few more minutes before Gabrielle made her way out of the room her sister was in. She paused as she saw the blush on her niece's face. "Is everything all right?" Sarah only swallowed hard and nodded her head. "All right. I'll take your word for it. I'm going to introduce myself to this Liam. Are you sure you're all right? You almost look like you're over heated."
Sarah burst out laughing. She could see the questioning look on her aunt's face but could not bring herself to tell her why her face was so red. Something tells me you are one lucky lady. I envy you oh aunt of mine. "Tell him I said hi. Did you know that Xena was going to ask…" She stopped asking the question. "Of course you did. You two share everything don't you?"
The bard hadn't wanted to do this now especially since she knew that Xena would be waiting patiently for her outside. Quick conversation and then I gotta hit the road. "Sarah, in case you and your mom missed it the last time we were here Xena and I are soul mates. That means we are the other half of one another. So yes we share everything. And yes I want both you and your mother to come with us just as soon as we make this place safe for everyone else." Sarah smiled and made her way to where her mother was.
Xena was actually patiently waiting for Gabrielle just off the steps to the house. The warrior princess pulled her into a hug wanting more but knew that there were a lot of eyes watching the two strangers. "So you'll be off playing matchmaker then?" At first the bard wrinkled her eyebrows but then realized what her girl was talking about and nodded. "We might not be back until well after dark. You know what I want to say so I don't need to say it."
"Goes both ways." Gabrielle smiled and they were off to the blacksmiths and the stable. Unbeknownst to the bard she and her soul mate had kept their hands interlaced the entire walk. It wasn't until Xena and Toris had to turn the corner did either of them realize what had been going on. They both just smiled and the bard watched her lover for a little while before turning to her own task.
The bard could feel the heat almost as soon as she heard the clanking of metal on metal. There was a fair haired old man with gray flecks in his hair happily pounding away on what appeared to be a horseshoes. A slightly smaller version of the same man with the gray was standing out of reach of the hammer but absorbed in watching every single movement.
The older man stopped his pounding when he saw her slight form enter from the main doorway. He pulled a rag of cloth out of his back pocket and wiped first his hands and then his sweaty brow. Slowly he made his way over to where the bard stood. "Hello there lass." He held out a hand which she eagerly took. "My name is Ethan. This here is my son Liam. You look a little familiar. Are you from around here?"
Inwardly she sighed as the bard hated going through the explanation. "I'm originally from here." She watched his face as he struggled to recognize her. "My name is Gabrielle." The look on his face was priceless as he put the name and face together. "I was frozen for twenty five years." That look was even more priceless. Gods if I told him I've died a couple times and come back what would he say then? "There's more to it than that of course. Sarah is my niece. She told me that Liam would be happy to show me around if he's not too busy. After all been a long time since I've been here."
The older man just stood there speechless. It was clear that he was not able to process what she said not that anyone ever did. It was little Liam that moved out of his spot to the back and came up and stood next to his father. He had the biggest grin on his face. "So the story that Sarah told me was true! I just thought she was trying to impress me by telling some tall tale about our most famous bard ever!"
That got a little bit of breath out of his father. Finally the older man just shook his head and turned back to his work. Gabrielle watched him for a long moment hoping that he wasn't going to hurt himself. A curse and the hammer being thrown to the ground made her fear come true. She started to walk toward him but a gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her. "I was only going to help…" She stopped as she looked into pleading hazelnut eyes.
"He's extremely old fashioned." Liam gently took her by the arm and led her out of the heat and tension of the blacksmith shop. "I'm not sure if he reacted that way because of your experience or if it's because you are related to Sarah. I know I shall surely get a whipping when I return because I admitted to hanging out with her and getting involved in one of her stories."
That sounds vaguely familiar. Guess Potadeia hasn't changed as much as I'd hope it would. Be nice to get my sister and niece out of here to a loving accepting place. "Well at least she has one friend here." They walked in silence for a few moments. They stopped outside of the bake shop. One eyebrow rose as she realized he had taken her directly to where she wanted to go. "I guess word gets around in a small little village."
Liam blushed a little. He tried to look anywhere but at the slightly older woman's face. "Well it's not exactly that." Finally he managed to garner his strength. "I followed Xena around last night. I could tell she could sense me but I guess she felt I was no threat. Heard stories how you really have to be careful how you approach her."
Gabrielle nodded. "She's a warrior first and foremost. That means she's worked her entire life on reacting. Sometimes even with me still she just reacts." The young man's eyes grew and she knew what he was thinking. "But with a stranger that might not be true. You were lucky she sensed what a good heart you have." That got a full-fledged blush out of her new friend. "That's why Sarah is so smitten with you."
The young man's face was a shade of red so deep that even Gabrielle's bard side could not come up with the word to describe it. "I..." He took several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. "I mean…" Once again he was just all stuttering and unsure of himself. "I mean I like her too." He kicked at a pebble absently. "I'd love to marry her someday. But my Pa won't let me."
"Well, there might be a situation that Xena and I can offer you." The bard watched as he finally brought himself up to meet her steady gaze. "We are, after fixing whatever is going on here, going to build back up Xena's home village of Amphipolis. We are going to need all sorts of skilled people. Sarah tells me that you are almost as good as your Pa. If that's true you would have a job there and you could support my niece." He was totally speechless. "Just wait here for me while I have a chat. Just think about it?"
After a few moments there was still no movement from her young friend and took that as a good sign. The petit blond made her way into the bakery. The shelves were fairly bare as with all the shops in town ingredients were sparse. Of course the connection found to the poisoning had not helped with business in days. A grave looking fifty something auburn haired woman looked up as she entered. "Not much here for ya. But we'd love to help you in any way we can."
The bard made her way to the counter and put out a hand. "My name is Gabrielle. My partner and I are trying to help find out who is behind the bad things going on here. Was sorry to hear that your little shop was the one they used for the first source of attack." Her hand was tentatively taken. "I remember you had the greatest little sweet cakes. You'd save some for me if I told you a story or two, Milla."
The older woman's eyes grew big and she looked like she was going to pass out. "Gods sake it can't be!" She managed to get to the little stool that was kept just behind the counter. "Not the little Gabrielle that used to come in here and bug first my mother and then me for little sweets if only for a story or two. You should be my age by now."
"It's a long story to tell you the truth." Gabrielle came up to the woman and put her hand on her knee. "I might be persuaded to tell it at the inn sometime before we leave. But right now I'm more concerned how those apple things got in here and you sold them." The knee flinched under her touch. "I'm not accusing you. I'm just wondering why you sold something you knew that you hadn't made?"
Milla took a heavy breath. She looked around the shop. "This place has been in the family for a very long time my old friend." The older woman winced as she saw the cracks in the wall she simply could not afford to patch. "I swear it's this town. Ever since you left it's like some part of it died or something. The supply trains don't come through her as regularly as they used to." Her sad gray eyes found her green ones. "I don't want to make you feel bad but after what happened with your…" A flicker in green eyes told her she understood. "It was like the village started to slowly die."
Gabrielle hated hearing that more than anything. Which part? How your daughter and grandson almost level the village? Or the fact that they basically started to kill the town? "I'm sorry on so many levels." Never easy. Just want to start a life with the woman I love. Complicated much? "Well we're going to try and get this all straightened out. Now, can you please try and think of how this happened?"
The older woman thought for several moments. "It's just me and my grandson. He's busy in the back with what little flour we have left it'll be the last day to offer any baked goods I'm afraid. This town is going to starve to death." She looked as if she wanted to cry. Instead she stilled herself and called for her grandson. "Natan this is Gabrielle. She was wondering if you knew anything about those apple sweets."
The boy was only about fourteen years old. It was obvious that he had not seen much of the world. His clothes looked practically brand new. His pale blue eyes never met with the bard's. They didn't have to. "He knows." Gabrielle came to stand directly in front of this young boy trying so hard to be a man. "They offered you dinars to let them sell the treats, didn't they?" He bowed his head and nodded. "It's all right. You were just trying to provide for your family. You couldn't have known. Do you know any of their names?"
The boy finally found his voice. "No." He sighed heavily. "The only thing I can tell you is that they are camped just out to the west of town. There are about forty there in the camp. I heard tell that there is a much larger came just to the south of here. Then there is another small camp to the east and to the north. They got this place surrounded."
Gabrielle's heart skipped a beat at hearing this. She's out there. I know she is armed to the teeth and all but she's out there not knowing what is going on. And she has Toris to think about. It's just like when I first started traveling with her. He's more of a distraction then a help. "Thank you, Natan. You've been a great help. I have to go. I'll explain later."
The bard ran out of the bake shop. She heard the calls from her new friend Liam but she paid no head. Where did you go, Xena? Was it the north, south or east? Oh Hades if it's to the south. I have to get a horse and find you my love. The bard was off like a shot to the barn hoping she could somehow find her soul mate.
()()()()()()()()()()()
They had hiked for almost five hours. They had borrowed a small wagon from the stable and had Toris' horse and a borrowed horse pulling it with Toris in the driver seat. Xena was on Argo. Her senses were tingling and she paused her brother. "Get the hell back to the village!" Her brother looked at her but saw the wild look on her face and he took off. From out of nowhere it seemed there were thirty fighters surrounding her. One of them had a crossbow aimed right at her head.