CHAPTER 8

The room was a lot brighter than what Gabrielle had been used to in the past couple of weeks. The window was large, and the moonlight gently nudged at the thin curtains with a little help from the gentle breeze.

It was also devoid of smell, she was devoid of smell. Well, apart from a slight tinge of flowery spice that was barely perceptible to an oversaturated olfactory sense.

It was luxury even beyond the Amazons, and she dreaded what it was costing her just to spend a few candlemarks in a room such as this. Even if it was only temporary and against her will.

She brought her hand to her left shoulder and rubbed diligently yet futilely, then made another attempt at the side of her torso.

It was useless, as useless as scratching an itch under one's skin. The robe made her itchy, and every extra piece of fabric or clothing that touched her made her feel like she was being prickled or strangled. If they had really wanted to torture her, this was probably the most efficacious way.

She had been bathed and groomed, and the healers did their best to treat the cuts and bruises, reducing them to barely visible patches on her skin.

She had also been relatively well fed, or hadn't exactly been on the brink of starvation anyway, since the day her meal portions had been increased.

Overall, she didn't look too bad, she thought, as her reflection in the lengthy mirror nodded back at her in agreement

Gabrielle heard shuffling from the side of the door that connected to the Empress' chamber, and saw the thin line of light underneath it go out. Xena must've been preparing for bed, or pretending to anyway. The assassin would not be audacious enough to go through the Empress's door directly, so that left the door that opened up directly into the hallway to watch out for, although that door had always been locked. And there's always the large window to keep an eye on.

Taking her cue, Gabrielle strolled to her own bed, a bed larger than any she had ever dreamed of sleeping in, and climbed in.


Gabrielle's eyes snapped open as she heard the shuffling of footsteps and immediately lunged at the source of the sound. Her mind was still a bit hazy but her body reacted instinctively towards the assailant.

She was unexpectedly blinded by a flood of light and during the confusion, a heavier form moving faster than she gripped her and pinned her to the ground. She gasped mildly in surprise though her sense of danger had receded for some reason.

"Relax, he didn't show up."

Gabrielle couldn't tell whether the near transparent eyes staring back at her were disappointed because he didn't show up, or because she was still alive. She secretly cursed herself for having fallen asleep, for this embarrassing moment, and then for strangely noticing that Xena's dark hair was draping loosely over one shoulder, barely touching hers.

"You may remain in this room." A single, exasperated sigh. "Guards will be posted at the doors and meals will be brought to you." Xena pushed off her. "Under no circumstances are you to leave here – my men are under the instruction to kill you on sight outside of these four walls. Do you understand me?"

Gabrielle remained on the floor, still looking slightly baffled.

Without waiting for an answer, Xena took the door that led to her own chamber and slammed it behind her.

"Well, good morning to you too…" Gabrielle muttered under her breath as she passed a hand through ruffled blond hair.


If she were able to occupy herself in an empty cell with a bed of straws, she was surely able to find something to do now, in a lavishly furnished bedroom.

Sadly, Gabrielle couldn't deny that she was bored. Truth to be told, she has spent more occasions being locked up in dingy cells than she has being confined to a palace bedroom. The unusual environment was slightly disconcerting and her senses were overwhelmed and confused by the excess of color and materials.

She paced towards the large window and looked down into the same courtyard she had only been looking up into days prior. Not much was happening, save for a few servants combing down the sand with rakes to cover dark blotches.

The courtyard was devoid of crosses, and no bodies were being dragged away. Overall, it must've been a good day.

Gabrielle wrung her hands, an anxious gesture she hadn't had the habit of upholding for years. It seemed silly how it was coming back now.

Only not long ago, her own blood had stained that courtyard. The grains that were marked from her torture sessions were probably by now buried and scattered along with countless other grains.

In the end, every one of them were all just grains of sand; important in masses, but individually, they were no different from the rest and easily discarded.

Ultimately, they would all eventually dissolve into that mass again, becoming unmarked, forgotten.


She watched her from the opposite end of the room, tray held in both hands. The meticulously carved and fitted door behind her was closed with barely an audible scratch.

Xena watched the slightly angled profile of the smaller woman staring out the window carefully, inquisitively. There was something so serene about the way she looked.

It seemed almost like Gabrielle possessed an inner force that did not stem from pride or discipline. The strength came from a source that had nothing to do with being an Amazon. Maybe that's why the little savage was able to hold out this long, and stay sane. Maybe it was because she was so different.

Maybe that's why she kept her alive, to find out just what exactly it was.

In that candid moment Gabrielle's guards were lowered, and Xena almost sensed an ethereal warmth emanating from her. It made her almost wish she could simply reach out and touch her, maybe get infected by some of that aura. Maybe cleanse herself a little.

Perhaps if she hadn't decimated the Amazon nations, or maybe if she had given up her pillaging altogether during her warlord days, then she possibly would've met Gabrielle under quite different circumstances.

Xena suddenly felt like she needed to break loose from those thoughts and that silence. This moment had to remain a secret. The Empress does not have regrets.

"You better not be thinking of escaping through that window."

The voice startled Gabrielle but she tried not to let it show. In all her years with the Amazons, no one has ever been able to sneak up on her like that, especially more than once.

Slowly, she turned, the fabric shifting around her body made her want to scratch herself mad.

"I wasn't." The very thought was absurd. Unless Gabrielle had a very long rope, or had learned to climb perfectly smooth walls, the only place she'd be going from that window was to her death.

"What were you doing then?" Xena set the tray of food down on a low table. "Pondering the meaning of life?" She offered sardonically.

"Something like that…" She regarded the tray curiously.

"I believe the guards are too afraid to come close to you unless they have to," Xena began answering Gabrielle's unspoken question, "and I don't trust any servants to not have the food poisoned."

"So… you prepared a meal for me, personally."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, it may be the last you'll get." The statement was so literal that it sounded like a concluding remark, one that usually accompanied a swish of Xena's robe before she would exit.

But Xena found herself rooted in place.

The fact that Xena wasn't leaving made Gabrielle start to sweat. Or maybe it was the fabrics. There was just something unusual about the way the Empress was acting. Perhaps the palace environment just made everyone act differently, compared to the dark holding cells.

"Gabrielle, why do you think I do what I do?"

"You mean by setting this trap to catch you servants-murderer?"

"No, I mean rule the way I do."

"Why are you asking me? I am not one of your subjects, I have no concern for the state of your Empire."

"I'm just asking for professional opinion. You used to be a ruler yourself, no?" The second part of the sentence was meant to sting but it was more out of reflex and not intent. "But, maybe… you might be all that is left of an Empire I would've preferred to rule to be honest."

"Well, it's a shame you didn't leave more of my kind around, perhaps there would've been more to rule." The conversation was starting to make Gabrielle bitter.

"Perhaps." Xena paced towards the window and stood next to Gabrielle. She looked out, noting the clean courtyard. Maybe she could have someone whipped later during the day. Soldiers and servants who were busy with tasks tended to think less and not let their minds wander.

"Why don't you humor me?" She said to the smaller woman beside her.

Gabrielle took a moment to think about it. It had been entirely tempting to tell Xena that the only reason she ruled like that was probably to have an excuse to be a bitch. At this point, she probably could've gotten away with it because nothing horrible was likely to happen to her until they caught the perpetrator.

Still, she pondered the question seriously.

"I suppose," Gabrielle didn't move away from the window though she definitely felt a tension on her personal boundary. "You're just trying to make a difference. Like everyone else."

Gabrielle noticed that Xena was wearing a loose robe, and possibly not much else underneath. Perhaps the layers of clothing that she was made to wear were simply a new form of torture after all.

The taller woman nodded at the answer and turned towards Gabrielle. "Is there anything else you need?" she attempted.

Was it really that important? Surely Gabrielle was already more comfortable than she had been. It was a ridiculous question, especially since the Amazon was in no position to make demands.

"Those scrolls on that table, may I read them?"

But maybe sometimes a little harmless exchange was okay.

"No one's stopping you."


It was night again, and this time Gabrielle made sure she stayed awake.

She had spent the day sitting around, reading the scrolls and was surprised to find that Xena possessed a collection enriched by many famous storytellers and prophets.

In was frightening almost, to find out that the vicious Empress was after all, human. Though she was nowhere near as relentless in torturing her anymore, or even just deriving pleasure from watching her being tortured, Gabrielle still wanted to believe that Xena spent most of her time only wanting to hurt people.

She had been lying motionlessly, until she sensed a shift in the air around her and quickly rolled out of the way.

Soon she was on her feet and ready, and pounced at the shadow that had swung a knife at her, tackling it to the floor.

No doubt having heard the raucous, Xena burst in from the next chamber, assessed the fight but made no move to interfere. She paused as she stepped towards a small object that fell out from the assailant's belongings and picked it up to inspect it.

The trinket was a small round metallic coin, with four strange symbols embossed on each side of a square hole that was in the middle of the coin. A red string was lassoed around the hole to turn it into a makeshift necklace.

She recognized it as the necklace Master Bai wore, a relic something he had kept from his homeland and would not have parted with no matter what. This meant that somehow the assassin was connected to Bai's death.

"Who hired you, fiend?" Xena demanded of the man.

By now, Gabrielle had him on the ground and his own dagger was embedded in his chest, just not quite fully. The man wheezed from the pain but he made no attempt to fight the blonde woman off. He made a painful grin, showing a row of red and ivory.

"Not all of Rome or its cities believe in the Empress' rule!"

Gabrielle looked up from her victim to the tall form, waiting to see whether a decision was going to be made.

Their gazes locked. It was faintly reminiscent of the first day they had stared each other down. There was that battle of confidence, and intentional defiance. But on top of it, there was a certain kind of mutual appreciation of a woe shared between rulers.

"We are not friends." The blonde woman said, her hand wrapped firmly around the dagger in the man's chest.

Xena's jaw tightened. "I understand."

Gabrielle forced the dagger down, and elicited a gurgled cry from the man's throat. A twist of the weapon silenced him completely.

She left the dagger in the body and got up, wiping the blood on the sheets and going back to her bed. As she brushed by Xena, it suddenly seized the darker woman to ask.

"Do you still hate me?"

The smaller woman paused, then got in between the sheet, uncaring of the dead man lying and bleeding on her floor, or the Empress standing only a few paces away in the dark.

"No, I pity you."