AN: well, good luck to all :)

Chapter 4 –The Leader

Xena walked into the falconry room and took the veil off of her face. Now that she was able to breath, she wiped the sweat off her upper lip. Dajan waited with the blind falconer and held the small note in his hands. She frowned and made her way over.

"It is from Ankara," he said.

She bit the tip of her leather glove and slipped it off her sweaty hand. She unrolled the small paper and read through it carefully. She smiled and knew instantly it was from Solan and recognized all the small abbreviations he wrote down. She taught him from a very early age how to write letters with abbreviations so nobody else would be able to understand the message.

As she kept reading her face contorted and she growled, ripping the note in several pieces. Dajan's eyes widened and he took a generous step backward.

He dared to ask, "what was it?"

"The Crusaders went to Ankara and are trying to persuade Osman to join Rome and attack me!" she growled and put her gloves back on. "I want Osman brought to me now!" she demanded and Dajan sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He followed her down the hallway. "Your men are on their way to Ankara as we speak."

"They are taking too long! They've been gone for three days now!" she snarled and put the veil back over her face. "If they don't bring him to me, heads will fly, I promise you that," she hissed.

Alexander frowned, "whose head?" he said and Xena frowned down at her curious son.

"What are you doing back here?! Didn't I tell you to stay in the west wing?"

He blinked and bit into a large date. "I got bored."

She groaned and grabbed his arm and began forcibly pulling him along down the hallway. He dropped his bag of dates and tried desperately to keep up with her strides.

She marched up the stairs in the west wing and opened her bedroom door and tossed him onto the rug. "You will stay here until I tell you to leave," she commanded and he gasped and stood up.

"But mom!" he ran to her and she then closed the door. He heard her locking the door and he pressed his cheek against the door. "Come on!" he whined. "Mother, please!"

Kara passed by with a basket of linen and she lowered her eyes, seeing Xena. "Mistress..." she greeted softly.

"Do not let him out until I say so," Xena said and brushed by the servant girl and went back downstairs.

Kara fixed the veil on top of her head and looked over the railing, watching Xena storm off down the marble halls. She sighed and heard Alexander from the other side, begging to come out. She smiled softly and put the basket of linen down.

"Alexander," she said and he stopped whining.

"Kara!" he pressed his face against the door.

"Your mother said I can't let you out of her room," she said sadly and she heard him groan loudly. "I'm afraid she also took the key with her."

Alexander huffed and slid down against the large doors. "Well, this is just great," he grumbled.

Xena returned to the training and saw all of the girls laying on the sand, worn out already. She frowned and adjusted the gloves on her hands. "Why are you all sitting around?" she asked and stepped over one of the girls.

Gabrielle lifted her head and frowned at the sultan. "We are exhausted. It is impossible to finish this training exercise."

Xena turned around and folded her arms. "Nothing is impossible, Gabrielle. Besides, you are to blame for your teammates' suffering." She glared at the blonde girl.

Finally, Gabrielle stood up and brushed the sand off her clothing, or what little of it there was. "It is my fault so why punish everyone else?" she said and walked over to the sultan, staring into the steely eyes, glaring down at her. She was inches away from Xena.

Xena leaned down, coming dangerously close to Gabrielle's face. "Because you are a team. One person messes up and everyone suffers. And since you don't like playing by the rules, this is the consequence."

Gabrielle huffed and did not avert her eyes and kept staring into the sultan's bright blue eyes. She wasn't going to back down this time, but since this entire situation was her fault, she thought it'd be best to be more cooperative.

She spoke softly, "what can I do to fix what I have done?"

Xena smiled and looked up at the dagger at the top of the stone pillar. "Retrieve the dagger." She said in a low voice and Gabrielle's frown deepened. She then took a step away from her blonde trainee.

"Well, I have an important meeting to attend. I will all check in with you tomorrow morning," Xena turned and walked off. "Remember, work as a team," she called out and disappeared into the palace.

Xena entered the council room and everyone stood, taking off their turbans. The orator was about to announce her entire status and she waved him off and he closed the door behind her. She walked over to the chair and plopped down, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her gloved hand.

Dajan cleared his throat and peered down at Xena. "Sultan Xenophon, we have a man from Mongolia here to see you," he whispered.

She eyed the Mongolian man instantly, by the shape of his eyes and tanned skin. She frowned and shifted in the chair. "What do you want?"

The Mongol stepped forward, removing his fur hat and bowed his head. "Your majesty, I have traveled a long way to meet with you. My name is Oktai and I work for Genghis Khan, the Emperor of Mongolia."

"I know who he is," Xena answered curtly. "What is it that you want?"

Oktai smiled generously and looked straight into the sultan's eyes. "He wishes to take your land under his reign. If you do not surrender then he will raid your empire."

Xena clenched her jaw and stood irately. "Get him out of here!" she demanded and the two guards at the door grabbed Oktai by his arms and began dragging him out of the room. She snarled, "wait!" she asked and her men halted.

She walked to Oktai and looked at the military pendant tacked to his armor. She smiled and ripped it off and slipped it into her pocket. The Mongol stuttered and shook his head violently.

"You can tell your khan that I surrender to no one," she said and then the men took Oktai away. Everyone in the room fell silent and she sighed heavily, taking her seat once more.

"So," she began, "who is next?" she smiled, adjusting the veil around her ears. All the men eyed one another, afraid to step forward and speak to the sultan after what they witnessed. Luckily, she spared that man's life only so he could return to Mongolia and relay the news to his khan.

After the sun went down all of the girls tried for hours to climb the pillar and while some girls were close, they failed and fell down into the sand. Everyone was exhausted and they weren't able to eat at all while they were outside.

This was Gabrielle's second time spending her evening outside. She never realized how cold it got in the desert and she was mindful of the small icky creatures that crawled in the sand. She sat with Helena leaning against the wall, staring up at the bright moon in the sky.

Helena sighed heavily and began picking at her dirty fingernails. "We're never going to get that dagger, no thanks to you."

Gabrielle frowned, "hey, nobody can do it!"

"But you lied to the sultan, Gabrielle! Why would you do that?!" she chastised.

Sighing, she nodded. "He was watching me last night when I grabbed the dagger with the rope. I saw him from the balcony up there," she pointed to the far west wing and Helena's eyes traveled to the large balcony on the second floor.

"He knew the entire time I was lying. He was playing a game with me," Gabrielle groaned and kicked the sand with her sandal. "I should have never cheated in the first place." She hung her head and Helena leaned on her shoulder, rubbing her arm.

A few silent moments passed by and Gabrielle lifted her head, staring up at the tall pillar. It was her worst nightmare. She then thought of what Xenophon said to everyone. Work as a team. She smiled and hopped off the ground and ran to the exhausted girls huddled together in the middle of the garden.

"Girls, I have an idea!" she smiled brightly and they all frowned up at her. She knew they weren't exactly thrilled with her at the moment. "I know how to get the dagger."

Penelope stood and frowned, towering over the petite blonde. "Are you going to use the rope again and make us spend another night out here?" she raised her eyebrow. All the girls nodded and glared at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle nervously grinned at all the girls. "No, the sultan said we should work as a team. So, maybe if we work together we can retrieve the dagger."

Amelia stood and looked up at the pillar. The dagger glistened in the moonlight. She then turned back to her teammate. "What do you have in mind?"

Over the next few minutes, Gabrielle organized all the girls by height and convinced them to build a pyramid in order to retrieve the dagger. The taller girls acted as the base and each one kept climbing on top of one another. Gabrielle was the smallest of the girls and volunteered to get the dagger. She thought it was the least she could do.

She tied the sash around her waist and huffed, glaring at the dagger that seemed to be teasing her. She stepped on Penelope's and Amelia's shoulders, hoisting herself up on top of the other girls. She grunted, trying to be careful as possible. A few girls groaned, feeling the weight of everyone on top of them.

Gabrielle grabbed Helena's hand and smiled down at her as she climbed onto her back, standing tall, at least fifteen feet in the air.

Amelia, Penelope and Astremia groaned as their arms shook. "Hurry up, Gabrielle!" Amelia cried out.

She steadied herself on Helena's back and felt the pyramid of girls teeter. She untied the sash from her waist and wrapped it around the pillar. She took in a deep inhale and then hopped off her friend's back and wrapped her thighs around the stone pillar. Grunting, she scooted herself up the pillar slowly, wrapping the sash around her wrists as tight as possible.

The girls began jumping off one another, relieving the girls at the base. Helena, once on the ground, looked up and smiled. Gabrielle crossed her ankles and kept inching closer to the top. Sweat dripped down her cheeks and she groaned and slipped a bit.

"You can do it Gabrielle!" Helena yelled from below.

Penelope was helped up by Amelia and she brushed the sand off her knees. She saw Gabrielle barely three feet away from the top and grinned. Folding her arms she raised her eyebrow. "Well, I didn't think this was going to work."

Xena peered out from the curtains on her balcony and saw Gabrielle climbing the pillar and all the girls below cheering her on. She frowned and then stepped outside, folding her arms. Gabrielle clutched onto the top of the pillar and pulled the dagger out and hoisted herself up. She sat on the pillar and smiled at everyone, holding the dagger high in the air.

Xena raised her eyebrow and smirked. She slowly turned around and went back into her bedroom.

Gabrielle threw the dagger down into the sand and she glanced over at the sultan's balcony, seeing the lights were still on. She smiled softly and never thought that this was possible at all. In fact, she thought that this exercise was stupid and ridiculous, but perhaps the sultan had a method to his little game. Teamwork was the most important thing and Gabrielle finally understood what the sultan meant by perseverance and patience –something she didn't have.

The following morning, all the girls were lined up in two rows waiting patiently. They were too exhausted to talk to each other, especially spending the night outside, sleeping under the stars.

Xena slipped on her gloves and then walked outside into the gardens and came to the front, staring at all the girls. "Good morning," she greeted everyone and they lowered their eyes. She played along and glanced at the pillar with the dagger now gone.

"I see one of you has retrieved the dagger," she smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Who was it?" she feigned surprise.

Amelia stepped forward with the dagger and Xena frowned at the girl. She definitely remembered seeing Gabrielle climb to the top of the pillar, not Amelia. The young girl held out the dagger to the sultan.

"We worked together to retrieve the dagger," Amelia said and Xena lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "It was Gabrielle's idea."

Xena took the dagger and tapped it against her palms. "You girls surprise me." She sighed heavily and sheathed the dagger in its holster on her belt. "Congratulations, you have completed your first exercise." She said and all the girls smiled at one another. "And now I have another task for you all," she said and all of their smiles disappeared. She smiled, "follow me," she turned and walked off, beyond the gardens.

Gabrielle was sure that the sultan would allow them to at least go back inside to their quarters and bathe and at least eat something, but no. Of course not, she thought. There was always something new! She grumbled and followed behind everyone else trailing behind the sultan.

Finally they reached the end of the dry barren gardens and Xena pulled out her bow and arrow. All the girls caught up to her and stared at the desert land beyond the palace grounds. Xena squinted her eye and shot the arrow high into the sky.

All of their eyes traveled the arrow and it landed in the middle of the desert, far, far, far away. She turned around and saw all of their horrified faces. She then walked over to the first girl in line and shoved the bow into her arms.

"If you can shoot at my distance or further, you complete the exercise," she said and all of their jaws dropped.

Melanie held the bow in her hand and was horrified. She turned to the sultan with fear written all over her face. "I...I don't know how to use a bow..."

Xena frowned and looked at all of the other girls faces. "Do any of you know how to use a bow?" she asked and by the doe wide eyes gawking at her, she got her answer. She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Alright then, change of plans," she ushered them back to the training area in the garden again.

Within the hour, she gave each girl a bow and she held a large war bow, walking through the first row and the second, examining all of the girls' stances. She fixed a few girls holding the bow incorrectly.

She then came to Gabrielle and noticed her finger placement was off. She hooked her bow around her back and came behind Gabrielle, placing her hand on her shoulder. Gabrielle's body tensed immediately feeling the sultan's gloved fingers on her bare skin.

"Never lock your elbow," Xena said gently and then took Gabrielle's arm, relaxing the muscles. Her gloved fingers traveled down the blonde's arm and grabbed her fingers. "And never hold your fingers close to the arrowhead." She advised. "Unless you want to lose a finger," she teased.

Gabrielle smiled softly and then allowed the sultan to adjust her fingers in the right place on the bow. She could feel the sultan's hot breath against her ear and her eyes widened. So close, she thought, he is really close to me.

Xena's hand then traveled to Gabrielle's waist and she placed her hand over her midsection. "You must tighten all of your muscles before you shoot or you will have bad aim," she said and Gabrielle said nothing. "Do you understand?" she asked and the girl nodded silently.

She then proceeded and turned Gabrielle's thigh outward, fixing her footing. Gabrielle's entire body was stiff as a board. She didn't think this was going to be as awkward as it was right now. A whiff of that floral scent appeared again and she frowned, peering down at the sultan as he was fixing her foot placement.

As soon as Xena stood, Gabrielle immediately averted her eyes back to facing forward. Xena pulled out an arrow from her back and placed it carefully in Gabrielle's grasp. She had herself pressed against Gabrielle's back and then placed her hot gloved fingers on the blonde's shoulder.

"Now, aim for something," Xena said and Gabrielle squinted her eye and saw a small tree in the garden. Xena's fingers traveled along Gabrielle's arm and pointed the bow in the direction of the tree. "Always aim more to the right, even if you think it is off center. Understand?"

Gabrielle nodded and then released the arrow, hitting the tree's small trunk dead and center. She grinned and turned around, looking into the sultan's blue eyes. She suddenly felt even more awkward and embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed in color and saw the sultan raise her eyebrow subtly.

"Not bad, for a troublemaker," Xena teased and then moved onto the next girl in line.

That evening, all the girls were more than thankful to return to their quarters to bathe and eat food as they hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. Gabrielle ruffled her damp hair with a towel and sa Helena huddled in her bed, reading a book.

She smiled and her friend glanced up at her. "Where did you get that book anyway?" she asked.

"There is a library down the hall," Helena answered. "Do you like to read?"

Gabrielle nodded, "of course. Are we allowed to go in there?"

Helena shrugged her shoulders, "nobody stopped me." She smiled and then went back to reading.

Gabrielle threw the towel down onto her bed and decided to go to this library. She had been stuck here for over a week now and while things had been more than interesting than anything in her life, she wanted to do something normal for a change. She left the quarters and tread down the long hallway and surprisingly, nobody was standing guard in this hallway. Strange, she thought.

Well, the library was technically still part of the east wing, right? She guessed that's why nobody stopped Helena from going in there in the first place. As she walked down the long dark hall, she ran her fingers through her damp hair.

She saw there were two large double doors which could only be the doors to the library, since there were no other rooms in this hall. She frowned and saw one of the doors was slightly ajar. Cautiously, she crept up by the door and peeked inside.

Scanning the room she saw someone sitting in a chair, reading quietly. Raising her eyebrow, she decided not to say anything. She figured that she had brought enough attention to herself already. Creeping inside, slipping through the small crack of the door she padded over to a large book shelf that almost reached the ceiling.

Gabrielle peeked through the books and saw a woman with long black hair, flipping through the pages of a book. She hadn't seen her before in this place and it definitely wasn't any of the trainers either. She walked in between two book shelves and poked her head around the shelf.

The dark haired woman was drinking some wine and wearing a dark robe, crossing one leg over the other and barefoot as well. Gabrielle picked out a book from the shelf and crept out from behind the shelf and watched the oblivious woman continue to read. She felt like she was being a stalker, but she was more than curious to see who it was.

Suddenly the woman stood up and Gabrielle panicked and quickly ran back to the shelf, hiding her face behind the book. She peered over the edge of the book and saw the tall brunette walk to a bookshelf and began scoping out through the large selection.

She moved further down the shelf and Gabrielle slowly followed her path and peered in between the shelf, trying to be as stealthy as possible. She then saw the woman bend down to take a closer look at the books and saw her face. Gabrielle's eyes widened as her lips parted, gawking at her.

Finally, the brunette chose a book and then someone walked into the library. Gabrielle gasped and then ducked down, hiding behind the bookshelf.

"Mistress, Alexander keeps asking for you," Kara said.

Gabrielle frowned. Alexander? I remember that name. That sassy boy from upstairs in the west wing. She set the book down on the ground and crawled behind the shelf, peering out to see the servant and the tall woman throw the book on the table.

"I told him that he cannot come out of my room for whatever reason," Xena said.

Kara nodded, "yes I know, but he already tried to escape twice!" she cried. "The last time I checked in on him, it didn't sound like he was just waiting around..."

Xena groaned and finished off her wine. "That child, I swear." She handed Kara her empty wine glass and slipped on her shoes. "Tell Dajan that I want to speak with him."

"But the hour is late..." Kara said and then received a menacing glare from her mistress. "Yes, of course I will tell him," she curtly bowed her head.

Xena added, "and I wish to go to the girls' quarters once I am finished with Dajan."

Gabrielle's eyes widened in fear and then she scooted back into the depths of the library. She leaned against the shelf and breathed heavily. She began putting the two together. She had not seen another woman in this palace since she got here until now. That woman was talking about meeting with the adviser and nobody does that if they are part of the council or...the sultan himself. Gabrielle covered her mouth and realized that the sultan was not a man, but a woman.

She quickly got up off the floor and made a run for the doors. As she got up abruptly, one of the books fell off the shelf.

Xena snapped her head around at the sound. She raised her eyebrow and then began scoping out the library. She walked through each bookshelf aisle to see if anyone was here. She came to an aisle and saw a book lying face open on the floor and frowned.

She then heard a creaking sound and turned to the doors. She saw one of the doors creaking open and she grimaced.

Gabrielle ran down the hallway and then into the sleeping quarters to see almost everyone was asleep except a few group of girls, talking to each other, telling stories. She breathlessly ran to her bed and plopped down.

Helena raised her eyebrow and set her book in her lap. "Did you find the library?"

Gabrielle slowed her breathing and turned on her side. "Yeah..." she said and scratched her arm anxiously. She didn't think she was going to make it back in time, but she was glad that she did.

"Are you okay?" Helena touched her friend's shoulder. Gabrielle then jumped and Helena pulled her hand away. "Gabrielle, did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened. Nothing," she said as she curled her legs close to her chest. "I think I'm going to go to sleep now..." she said softly and pulled the blanket over her body, staring at the doors. She didn't think she was going to get any sleep tonight at all.

Xena put on her sultan attire for the last time before heading to bed. It was the middle of the night and after meeting with Dajan, she really wasn't in the mood for any more surprises. She wanted to see if she could get the girls a set of armor and he questioned why she'd do something like that.

She went on to say that the girls were more than experiment to her. The girls that actually made it through the training, were very good fighters so far. Some of them were a bit more difficult to train, but she promised herself that she would make this dream of hers come true one day.

She slipped on her gloves and opened the doors to the east wing and saw all of the girls sleeping in their beds. She walked through the room, stepping in between the mattresses, looking carefully at all the girls.

Gabrielle opened her eyes and saw the sultan walking through the room. She panicked and hunkered down in her blankets and kept one eye open, watching her, not him, as she found out, walking through the maze of beds. She hoped that the sultan wouldn't come near her or she might do something stupid, as Helena often said.

Xena kept weaving through the beds and looked down, adjusting the veil on her face. She spotted a book laying next to Helena's bed and frowned, narrowing her eyes.

Gabrielle felt frozen as she watched her come closer and closer to her bed and Helena's. She then realized that she spotted the book next to Helena's bed and silently cursed to herself.

Xena bent down and picked up the book. She opened it and began flipping through the pages and Gabrielle bit her bottom lip, as the sultan was dangerously close to her, barely a foot from away from her.

Xena turned her head and saw Gabrielle. She closed the book and placed it quietly back down next to Helena's bed. She reached forward and pulled the blanket up, covering the rest of Gabrielle's upper half.

Gabrielle tried to remain calm and felt the gloves touch her bare skin and urged herself not to open her eyes and say something by mistake. You're supposed to be asleep Gabrielle, she kept telling herself. She then heard footsteps descending from her bed and opened one of her eyes, watching the sultan, or sultana she should say, leave the room as quietly as possible.

When Xena left the room and closed the doors behind her Gabrielle threw the blanket off of her, feeling incredibly hot and sweaty. She wiped the sweat off her brow and sat up, leaning against the wall, burying her face in her hands. This was something that she needed to keep to herself, she thought. Nobody else must know about this.

Nobody.