~X~
Xena's eyes furiously flicked around the room, taking in the exits, the possible weapons to use in case she needed them, and her mind whizzed as she thought up a perfect excuse for servants finding their healer knocked out, but as Dorian walked slowly around his desk, his sagely eyes observing every move she made, something told Xena he wasn't a threat. Like a child discovering a chariot for the first time, Dorian crept close but stayed far enough away that he felt safe. He never made a move to attack or to call for anyone. He just stood there. Waiting.
Xena considered lying and telling him that she had just gotten mixed up with someone else. She started to. But when Dorian stared at her with nothing but honesty and fatherly concern, Xena felt she couldn't. There was something about him that made her want to tell him everything.
She raised her hands slowly. "Please, don't be alarmed."
Dorian backed up a step. "You are not the prince."
It wasn't a question.
Xena shook her head. "No, I'm not. But please, please, I need your help."
"Why do you look like him? Who are you really? What are you?"
"I am human, I assure you."
"How can you prove it? How can you prove to me that you're not a shape shifter?"
Xena paused and looked down at her body. "I can't prove that. But I can tell you who I really am."
Dorian frowned. "And you are…?"
Xena stood straight and looked at him directly, hoping to reassure him that she was actually telling the truth. "My name is Xena."
Dorian's thick, bushy eyebrows pulled together further. "Xena is a woman's name if I am not mistaken?"
"You're not mistaken."
The healer's eyes travelled over her very masculine figure. She could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile pull at the corner of his mouth. "You're a funny looking woman."
Xena couldn't help but smile herself. Even when faced with a potentially dangerous stranger, Dorian retained his sense of humour. She felt a sardonic smile form when she looked back up at him. "Believe me, if I'd been given the choice to look like a man, this would not be the body I would choose."
The two stared at one another for a long moment before the healer released a chuckle. "If I hadn't believed you were not Tobias before, I would now. That boy is one of the vainest people I know. He wouldn't talk about himself in such a way."
"I agree he is vain. And irresponsible."
"What do you mean?"
Xena gestured to her body. "He is the reason I look like this – why I'm even here in the first place!"
"Xena? Hmm, I have indeed heard of you. You are that warrior who helps those in need. The one who used to be a warlord, aren't you?"
At her nod, the healer narrowed his eyes. Dorian stepped a little closer. Xena noticed his shoulders drop a little and his hands loosen. Regardless of whether or not he said he believed her, he was starting to relax. It seemed some part of his instincts trusted her words. Every so often, Dorian glanced up at as he circled like a curious vulture, watching to see if she would make any sudden movements.
Finally, Dorian returned to his desk. He moved aside the delicate scrolls he had been working on and looked up at her with aged eyes. "So, Xena, do you want to try and explain the situation to me? You see, I'm a little confused."
"How long have you got?"
"How long do you need?"
The weary warrior moved to sit in the chair he gestured to. "Tell me, how well do you know the prince?"
Dorian sat forward, his fingers laced together. "I am the royal family's healer. Of course, being so close, I have known the boy since he was born. He has been somewhat of a pupil…"
Xena noticed the way his eye ticked. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I am not only the castle healer, I am somewhat a bit of an alchemist as well. I have been trying to create a potion that will help thicken blood when a person is wounded, giving them more time. I just can't get it right."
"Potion?" Xena remembered the acrid smell of her water skin the morning she awoke a man. "Did Tobias ever make potions?"
Dorian looked surprised she had even asked. "Tobias? Bah! That boy could not create an air refresher with the correct herbs even if I had guided his hand myself! No, I doubt Tobias would ever be able to create a potion that would work," he replied, his voice tinged with regret.
"How long did you spend trying to teach him?"
"Every day. After archery, in fact. He would come to my room and I would spend at least three hours a day trying to encourage him to listen or practice. Every second was wasted though. Unlike his sister, Tobias showed no interest at all in potions or alchemy. Although if I recall, he did somehow manage to set fire to water one evening. I still don't know how he did it."
Xena had heard of Tobias's sister, though she hadn't seen her once in the castle. "His sister? Where is she?"
"Alexa frequently visits the city. She is more of a charitable soul; like her mother, Alexa helps those in need. She sees me often. Mostly to complain about Tobias's behaviour."
Xena made a face. "I see the prince is popular around here."
Dorian smiled. "I know you haven't been given a good impression so far, but regardless of his behaviour, Tobias is well liked. He is strong, smart – when he applies himself, and as you can tell whenever you look into a mirror, quite handsome, too."
Xena stroked her hard jaw. "Hmm, yes, I noticed."
After she had gotten over the initial shock of her new appearance, Xena had found herself admiring the planes of the prince's face and his strong features. There was no wonder the women had been excited to see their prince return when she had first arrived at the city. The eyes, however, seemed to be the only thing she saw that closely resembled her own. It was the only thing about her new appearance that looked so similar to her own and reminded her she was still in there and that she wasn't just caught in a horrible nightmare.
Dorian looked her over. "Where is Tobias? Is he alright?"
"I honestly have no idea. My companion and I found him under attack outside of the city when we saved him. Tell me, do you know who might want him dead?"
"Dead?" The healer sat up suddenly. "I can't imagine so. Tobias has his faults, but he isn't a bad man. Sure, I will not deny that he is childish and irresponsible, but that is no reason to hurt him. I know a heart of gold lies under all of his bravado. Do you know who was attacking him?"
"No." Xena frowned. Thinking back to when she and Gabrielle found him, she remembered the prince mentioning something unsettling. "Prince Tobias didn't know who the men were, but the uniforms were the same of the king's soldiers. They killed themselves before they revealed who had sent them. Their master must be someone powerful if they had enough influence to make the attackers kill themselves so readily."
"This is disturbing news."
Xena stared into the troubled eyes of the old man and felt a pang of sympathy. It was clear that the healer cared greatly for Tobias. As she had watched him and listened to his words, Xena had looked for any sign or discrepancy or disingenuous tones, but nothing but sincerity rang in his words. It was that sincerity which had captured her, she realised, to tell him so easily who she really was. She knew without a doubt that she could trust this man.
"Dorian?"
The healer looked up at her. "Yes?"
Xena leaned forward and touched his wrinkled hand. "I promise you I will get to the bottom of this. I will find Tobias and find the identity behind his would-be killer. In order to do that I need you to keep my true identity a secret. No one must know who I am. If I am going to be able to find the prince, everyone must believe that I am him."
"Alright," Dorian agreed, "But what are you going to do? If the person behind the attack realises Tobias is still alive, surely he will mistake you for the prince and try to attack you personally?"
Xena's mouth stretched into a wide grin. "Precisely."
~X~X~X~
Gabrielle looked up when the blonde head of a woman who was becoming a familiar sight in the kitchen appeared. Layla passed her with empty platters and propped them in a pile next to the sink. After a quick look around at the empty kitchen, she leaned against the counter and sighed.
"Good afternoon," she said.
"Good afternoon." Gabrielle smiled. "Where is everyone?"
"The princess is returning from the city later. Most of the staff have already gone out to greet her. Are you going too?"
Gabrielle shrugged. She didn't know anything about the princess. She had been there less than a week. Going out to greet the princess with her everyone might be a nice change to the four walls she was becoming too accustomed to. "Has the princess been away long?"
"No. The princess leaves the city now and then. She has been away for almost a week so the people have gone to welcome her back."
Remembering how it had been when Gabrielle and Xena had arrived at the city and how swamped they had been with excited citizens, the bard sympathised. "The prince and princess are well loved here."
Layla looked down, the tiniest of smiles visible. "Yes. The whole family is. Every single one of them are beautiful of heart. The king is wise, the princess smart, Tobias strong and the queen, when she had been alive, was the kindest of people. She saved me when I was a child."
Gabrielle turned, curious. "Really?"
"I know you're not from the city, but you know about the attack ten years ago, don't you?"
Gabrielle shook her head. "I'm afraid not. What happened?"
A dark look passed over the usually cheerful woman's face. "When the Persians attacked, they completely destroyed the city. The only thing that survived the attack was the castle. At least, it was enough to hold them off until reinforcements arrived. I had been only a child when the attacked happened. The year before, I had been begging on the streets, pleading for something – anything to eat. Poverty was a much bigger problem back then. Everybody ignored beggars. Not just because they didn't want to help, but because they couldn't. Famine had taken care of the fields; crops were no longer growing. Those who had food either used it to feed their own families or sold it to those who could afford it for a high price."
Layla's usual smile faded and she looked at her hands. Gabrielle noticed the way her eyes glazed over; as if her mind had left the present and she was a child again. "I was starving for food and water, and no one was giving me it. It didn't matter to me that I had nowhere to sleep. I was dying. It was when I was at my lowest that I met the queen."
"What happened?"
"I stole her purse."
Gabrielle gasped. "What?"
Layla smiled again. "If it makes it any better, I didn't know who she was. She was in disguise. It was dangerous for the queen to walk the streets of the old poverty stricken city, but it certainly didn't stop her. She just covered herself and did what she had to." The blonde woman closed her eyes when a memory returned to her. "I was only seven. Weak, barely conscious and frightened, I knew I wasn't going to be much of a challenge, but I still ran for my life. Tell me, have you ever seen a queen run?"
Gabrielle resisted the urge to reveal her own queenly position and smiled instead. "Not recently."
"Queen Amyntra could run faster than any one I had ever met," Layla announced as if the memory of it still shocked her. "She was like a graceful wild horse; she didn't stop for anything. She caught me very quickly. At first I expected her to scold me or punish me in some way, but instead she pulled me aside and pushed back her hood, smiling at me as if I was the only person in the world."
"What went through your mind?"
Layla looked at her seriously. "That she was crazy."
The bard chuckled. "Crazy?"
Layla shrugged. "When you are a child and you know you have done something wrong, your first instinct is to expect some kind of repercussion, not a smile, right? She explained that while what I did was wrong, she understood the necessity of my actions and made me promise never to do it again."
Gabrielle paused. "What did you say?"
"I was a scared, hungry child. I promised her what she wanted, but at the time I didn't mean it. I said whatever I could to make her leave me alone sooner."
Gabrielle could see the sadness in Layla's eyes. It was clear that she regretted lying to someone who had come to mean a lot to her. Over the past week, Gabrielle had come to know a lot about Layla. Using the skills Xena had taught her, Gabrielle had quietly read the woman from afar and knew the woman had a hard time lying to people. Whenever she did, even if it was the littlest thing, Layla would always come to her to unload her guilt, seemingly finding her a trusting soul when Erika wasn't around to go to first.
Another thing Gabrielle had noticed was that, regardless of what happened to Layla herself, whether it be something bad or something good, the young woman seemed determined to make sure they were okay. She would take on someone else's duties to give them a much needed respite in an otherwise busy kitchen or offer counsel to the young servants who had come to work in the castle recently. She was like the oldest sister among a large dysfunctional family. Gabrielle found it hard not to like her. In fact, because Layla was the only one who spoke to her every day, whenever she was nowhere to be seen, the kitchen felt like a much harder place to work.
Gabrielle reached out and squeezed Layla's shoulder. The woman looked up at her sadly. "You still feel guilty, don't you?"
"I wish I hadn't spoken to her so harshly. Living on the streets and learning to fend for myself…I didn't have time to be nice. Not even for a well-dressed stranger."
"I'm sure she didn't take it personally."
"I sincerely hope not," Layla said.
"So what happened afterwards?"
"She offered me food and then left when I handed over her purse. Once she was gone, I followed her back and spied on the castle from the bushes. It wasn't long before I was found, of course. Heavy footed," she explained, pointing to her feet with a roll of her eyes. "The guards snatched me up. I expected to be thrown in a cell or executed, but when I was stood before the king and queen, you can imagine my surprise when I recognised the queen."
Gabrielle and Layla quietened when some of the staff walked into the kitchen, talking amongst themselves. They took no notice of the two women chatting at the sink. Instead, they picked up trays of food and left once more without a word nor a look in their direction.
Gabrielle nudged Layla. "What happened? You must have been pardoned if you are working here?"
Layla's eyes brightened. "In a way, yes. I think she took pity on me. They both did. The queen had no daughters and when she made the king see the state of me, I think they thought I wouldn't last very long if they threw me out again. They asked if I had any parents. When I said no the queen vouched for my skill for being quick and nimble," Layla said, her mouth stretching into a knowing smile, "and placed me under the tutelage of the Erika. I've been here ever since."
Gabrielle found herself liking the family the more she heard of them. "She sounds lovely. What…what happened to her, the Queen, I mean?"
Tears began to swim in Layla's eyes. She pulled away when Gabrielle reached out to comfort her again. "I…I'm sorry. I just…when I think of it. What they did."
Gabrielle frowned. "Who? What who did?"
"The Persians. When they attacked, they-,"
"Layla!"
Both women jumped at the shout and turned to its owner. Erika stood in the doorway with her arms full and her face expectant. "Come on, I thought you were coming to greet Princess Alexa?"
Layla discreetly wiped her eyes. Gabrielle worried, her hands wanting to comfort her, but when Layla turned to face Erika, her usual, cheery smile was back. It made Gabrielle sad wondering just how much pain she'd had to mask in her lifetime.
"I am!" Layla called back. "You're coming, aren't you, Gabrielle?"
"Umm,"
"Please?" Layla looked at her pleadingly. "Please, come?"
Gabrielle glanced to the tall stack of unwashed dishes then her pruney hands and knew what she would truly rather be doing. She smiled. "Okay. I'll go."
~X~
