TAKING THE FIRST PAINFUL STEPS

It's been two weeks now and I'm having the most boring day of my life once more the truth is I have nothing to do in this palace. No that's wrong there's plenty I could do but I have no one to share it with anymore. I lost my love of doing things with others back when my husband tried to kill me back in Rome and now I just feel empty. Maybe that's why finding this young woman has given me something to do with myself which doesn't involve drinking. I doubt she'll stay here once she's healed fully. She probably has a life beyond these walls which is waiting for her, no doubt her friends and family are worried about her and once and I find out where she was born maybe then I can send her home.

For now though she's a welcome distraction which takes my mind off the boredom of my days. I turn looking at her wooden box which has been in my study now ever since it was handed to me. I confess I took out one of the little bird carvings and put it on my desk, I know it's not mine but I really like looking at it it's so beautifully carved. I turn signing another scroll as I look up from my desk which is in my personal study its next to my bedroom. There's a second door here which people can knock on which means they don't go in to my private bedroom. Frankly I don't like anyone in there other than Ceto, she does all my personal cleaning and brings my food and that's how I want it to stay.

A harsh knock on the door brings me out of my thoughts. "Come in." I turn watching as Chara walks in with two documents, this is what I've been waiting for some information regarding our guest. Chara slowly stepped towards the Empress feeling a smile form. "I have good news and bad news Empress." Xena watched as she placed two scrolls down in front of. "Go on." Chara breathed in deeply. "Well the good news is there aren't many Gabrielle's on record it's not a very common name." She eased up the first document. "I found fifteen in total thankfully though all the records come with the person's description which is a blessing as I was able to find a matching description."

Xena slowly eased up the first document looking at it. "This is good isn't it? How is it bad news?" Chara sighed aloud. "This is the problem Empress, the woman matches the description short stature, fair skin blonde hair and green eyes, born in the town of Potidaea twenty seven years ago." She shook her head. "If you read on though it says she was presumed dead when she was sixteen." She took in a deep breath. "There was an incident outside Potidaea something terrible happened, no ones written what went on in full only that two young men died and six young women were abducted on the outskirts by slavers trying to make an illegal profit." She eased up her finger. "But here's the thing that makes even less sense three days later four of the women returned."

She looked up slightly. "They say they were attacked by monsters they don't say what kind only that this Gabrielle saved them by breaking the chains with a hammer so they could flee but she left her self still chained in process." She eyed the scroll. "All the slavers were killed sadly so was one of the women. She eyed the last passage of the scroll. "Potidaea then sent out a search party to retrieve the woman's dead body and give her a proper burial and to find Gabrielle. Her body though was never found and she was presumed dead dying the noble death to save others. She stood up folding her arms. "But she's very much alive and both of her parents are also still alive as are her younger sister and brother. Yet she's never returned to them in all these years."

She breathed in deeply. "This now makes it very hard for us to find her in the records or even what she's been up to over the past eleven years. She's basically a ghost no history, no full record and the only way to find out is to ask her when she's well enough. Though rumour has it that she's beginning to walk a few steps a day but its hard work for her. Being in a pit on your knees for a long amount of time does nothing for your muscle tone." She paused feeling that it was time to change the subject. "Iona has returned from Crete, she's walking in fresh blood and dirt all over your floor as usual." Xena put a hand on her face, Iona was her second in command but unlike Demetrius, she was not an elite royal guard. She was part of a darker problem solving elite unit.

This unit fix issues like killing warlords who betrayed her trust after signing arguments that they'd stop there campaigns they also killed illegal slave traders on site. They find out about all the dirty secrets in the governments and councils and broke people's fingers to get information about illegal activities. Personally she preferred diplomacy, but even she'd learnt that when it came to keeping stability with in Greece there had to be a few jaws broken and arms twisted at times. Iona had always slightly disturbed her may be it was the fact that she loved her role far too much. It was probably due to her past her parents had died and she'd been brought up by her grandfather who was a seasoned mercenary. He had trained her to fight and as soon as she was old enough she'd joined the army but the truth was that she didn't fit in with them at all, she far more aggressive than the typical warrior.

She'd had later created this specialist unit and put her in charge of it and she'd embraced passionately. Demetrius and Iona respected each other as warriors but they didn't get on personally. May be this was because they did their jobs in very different ways, Demetrius embraces the warrior's codes of honour and would never kill surrendering men. Iona on the other hand killed people for being disloyal and breaks their necks in quite corners. She beats up men until they talk because the information they have could be used to undermine my leadership. I only have one rule she can kill the army, but she has to bring the leader back to me alive, because I stand by the rule of not killing them unless theirs no choice and as I know most break after time spending time in prison.

Iona isn't the most well mannered of people, oh she's very loyal but she has a habit of walking in to my palace covered in mud as well as blood, which the servants hate because they have to clean and re-polish the floors. Tiara the head of the cleaning staff is a rather crumby woman in her fifties and she's forever complaining about this saying that there should be a no boots rule in the throne room. I have told Iona about her boots but it appears that she's not listening I feel its time to enforce that rule. She turned to Chara who was in deep thought. "Thank you for all this information on Gabrielle." Chara nodded as she stepped back. "You're very welcome Empress I'm just sorry there isn't more, as I said the situation is very strange."

She was about to say more only to stop as Iona pushed the door open forcefully she met the woman's reddish brown gaze. "You're meant to knock!" Iona stepped forward pushing her long braided black hair back giving her a smug smile. "Oh Chara how nice, come to greet me again, it's been so long." Chara sneered moving away from the Empress. "Excuse me Empress I have important documents to write." Xena watched her leave the room closing the door behind her, she breathed in deeply putting her hands together. "You know I have told you about you, your manners before." Chara put her hand on her chest. "Chara has never liked me Empress."

She put a hand on her leather armoured chest unlike Demetrius she wore light leather clothing which consisted of a dark brown leather shirt with long sleeves and darker brown trousers along with knee high black boots and a silver decorative belt. She smiled raising a bloody bag. "I did as you commanded Virilius is dead for betraying your agreement and going back to his illegal activities." Xena eyed the bloody bag putting a hand on her face, gods why did she always do this? "How many times do I have to tell you, that I don't want you to bring severed heads back to the palace!" Chara eyed the bloody bag. "I do this as a matter of honour Empress." Xena narrowed her gaze. "I don't care I know you do your job I don't need proof!"

Chara eyed the bag. "But you told me that you needed proof." Xena rolled her eyes. "Proof can take many forms, a witness a ring the warlord's wife. It doesn't have to evolve severed body parts which bleed all over my floors and annoy my servants." Iona raised an eyebrow. "I thought your servants were paid to be annoyed?" Xena stood up sharply. "Be quite Iona and do as I tell you!" She watched as the woman stepped back lowering her head in respect as she realized that play time was over and her smugness wouldn't wash with her. She sat back down slowly. "How did you kill him?" Iona raised her head slightly. "I pushed him off one of the city walls it broke his neck killing him instantly."

Xena looked up. "Why do you have to always kill people like that, wouldn't a knife to the throat work the same?" Iona breathed in deeply. "I was sending a message to his followers and doing what was requested off me, which was to kill him." Xena narrowed her gaze. "Well now you're requested to go and clean your self up and get rid of your present by burning it, is that clear?" Iona nodded. "Yes Empress." She paused before looking up. "I heard about the young woman you found that was most unfortunate to find her in the pit like that. I send my condolences and hope that she gets better soon, I also hope that you find who put her down there and see them hang as its vile thing to do that to another human being."

Xena looked up slightly it was almost ironic that Iona should say that since she did very cruel things to those who tarnished her country, but maybe that's was what made the world so strange. Iona bowed slightly. "I'll go and get cleaned up." Xena nodded watching as she left closing the door behind her. She breathed in looking at Gabrielle's document again before gently picking up the wooden crafted bird ignoring the blood spots on her newly washed floor. Maybe she'd spent too much time looking at literature years in Rome watching plays by her husband's side it had given her time to begin to question the world and the words of bards and scribes.

She ran her finger over the wooden Goldfinches little black and silver painted eyes, gods she wished she could keep her hands of this little wooden bird it wasn't even hers but she would love to have it. She wasn't one for sculpture despite that her palace was filled with ornate things most though were gifts and she didn't pick them they'd been brought by her servants because they looked nice in certain rooms. This though was something she'd like to own, just because it was beautiful to look at, someone's had put their heart and soul in to the carving. If Gabrielle did make this then it was sign that she was a skilled crafts man and carpenter who puts real effort and joy in to her work. Hopefully by next week she'd be able to walk across her room.

She wanted to talk to her again when she felt less venerable she knew from personal experience that people liked to feel strong when speaking to others they didn't like to feel that they were at a disadvantage. Sometimes she wished that she had all the answers to all the questions but that's the way of life was, people were always searching answers. She was sure she'd read that in a scroll once she couldn't remember the bard who had written it but it had been a great read.

8

Chara folded another document staring at the long scroll which was stretched across two tables Phrixus was looking at it scribbling notes on a scroll opposite. He was a tall man who was very well muscled and had a thick beard but only his chin. His hair was short and red in colour and he had dark blue eyes, he had once been a Spartan warrior but he had given up a warrior's life in the pursuit of knowledge. He'd left Sparta to pursue this life and he was very good at it, he could decipher most languages, but this scroll was turning in to his worst nightmare he'd been working on it for ages and even now he couldn't work out the backwards Greek. She watched as he adjusted his white kolpos with its golden embroidery as he tapped his high brown sandals on the floor in frustration.

Two years work and still no breakthrough, she felt bad for him he was a man who couldn't stand to be beaten and this was beating him. It was just his Spartan pride wouldn't let him quit. She stood up walking towards him looking at the scroll with its many pictures all finally painted as she watched him sneer in anger. "You know you'd think they'd make it easier." Phrixus narrowed his gaze. "To make it easy would not be a worthy challenge." Chara looked at the different images there were seven spread across the huge scroll and unlike the other images they were the similar. Each was of a werewolf with what looked like deer antlers on its head but they all looked very different in appearance. She put her finger on one. "What do you suppose these images are all about?"

Phrixus put his finger on one of the horned werewolf's images. "All that I can work out is that these are leaders at least that what's the drawing seems to say as there are always normal werewolves below them raising their hands to them. I think their all from different times in history because their clothing changes, but I don't understand their significance. Also no one has ever seen a werewolf with deer antlers it's unheard off, which I why I think this might be a god of some kind." Chara looked at the images. "You know I think the problem is that werewolf heads are worth fifty dinars a piece under the hunting law and no hunter who would kill a werewolf like that would give it up, it'd be too much of a trophy." Phrixus shook his head. "Such a waste if you ask me I mean if they wrote this wouldn't it mean that we've got everything wrong?"

Chara shook her head. "Your Spartan I thought you'd embrace something like this I mean we are killing these monsters for the good of the country." Phrixus shook his head. "That is the reason I no longer serve Sparta destroying other city places and people in not an absolution in my mind understanding and learning is and if this was written by werewolf hands then we are destroying an intelligent race." Chara looked at the long scroll. "May be some day soon you'll work out the backwards Greek on this and all the answers will be revealed I mean your so close and you have some of the letters already worked out." Phrixus put his hand on the beautiful scroll running his fingers over the exquisite imagery which was beautiful detailed and highly coloured. "I can only hope that day comes soon."

End of part 4

Silvermoonlight

Thank you everyone for your many review I did not expect this many as I know this very different from my others stories.