AN: very long battle scene and it was difficult to write. Good luck to all, as usual, and enjoy :)
Chapter 10 –Gates of Fire
Gregory sat on his horse outside of the sultan's palace with his men surrounding the large fortress. He trotted along the front gates of the palace and saw the sultan's men running around inside the compound gathering up supplies and then he glanced up and saw the sultan on the wall, glaring at everyone.
"Xenophon!" he yelled upward. "Surrender now! You are surrounded!"
"Never!" Xena growled and ran along the wall to the other tower on the south side of the wall. "Prepare the archers," she whispered in Dajan's ear and smiled, looking down at the Templar master outside the gates.
A line of archers sat against the walls, loading their crossbows. Once the crossbows were loaded then peered over the north wall, aiming at all of the knights. Xena climbed the tower and raised her hand, Dajan watching her every move and he nodded.
"Fire!" Dajan ordered.
Joseph gasped and put up his shield protecting himself from the arrows. "Shields!" he shouted and all the knights on the ground formed a wall of shields and the arrows pierced through the shields, killing some of the men, but not many.
Xena growled and climbed off the tower and walked behind the line of archers on the wall. "Again!"
"This is insanity!" Joseph trotted next to his master. "He will not surrender without a fight!"
Gregory frowned and watched the sultan walk to the south wall, lining up more archers. He raised his eyebrow. What are you doing, Xenophon? "Get the catapults then. We will destroy his palace from the inside out."
"Fire!" Xena ordered and hundreds of arrows rained down on the Templar Knights. She smiled and then saw some of the Templars in the back of the fleet with three catapults and her smile instantly disappeared. She quickly ran down the stairs and unsheathed her sword, marching towards the south tower.
"They have catapults!" she yelled up at Dajan. He turned his head and saw the knights loading the catapults very quickly. They were going to destroy everything in just a few blows. The bad news was that Xena did not have anything as powerful as a catapult in this palace. In Thebes yes, but not Persia.
Xena panicked and saw the knights lighting the catapults. "Do we still have that Greek fire?" she shouted up at her adviser.
Dajan's eyes widened. "It's in the cellar but your highness...that is very deadly."
"I don't care!" she growled and grabbed four men along the wall. "Go to the cellar and get the Greek fire. I want all of the barrels brought up –"
The Templar Knights fired the catapult directly into the west wing of the palace. The explosion knocked several men off the wall and Xena was knocked back into a wall. She groaned and rubbed the back of her head and looked around to see the stables filled with horses on fire as well as the west wing. Her eyes widened and thought of Solan and Alexander. They were locked in their room as was everyone else. She crawled across the ground and grabbed her sword then took off running to the entrance of the palace.
As she ran up the stairs, the two large marble pillars in between the entrance collapsed and toppled over onto the staircase, blocking the entrance. She coughed from the large cloud of dust and debris filled the air. "No!" she cried out then snapped around, glaring at the arrogant Templar Knights.
Growling she ran to the four men finally getting to their feet. "I want that Greek fire now!" she demanded and they nodded, adjusting their helmets and ran down to the cellar.
Solan lolled his head to the side and his eyes fluttered open. He lifted his head and groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. The last thing he remembered was playing a game with Alexander and then a really loud explosion. He kicked off a piece of large wood off his legs and hissed. He looked down and found a nail sticking out of his arm.
He turned and saw the entire opposite side of the room was on fire and pieces of the marble ceiling crumbling. His eyes grew in fear and he pulled the nail out of his skin as he cried out loudly, biting his bottom lip. He tossed the nail aside and gripped his arm, then thought of his brother.
"Alexander!" he called out and a large portion of the ceiling fell right in front of him. He panicked and quickly got to his feet in search of his brother. "Alexander!"
He picked up pieces of debris, desperately trying to find his brother. He heard another explosion and the entire room shook. He dropped to his knees and then saw the large marble pillar in the room begin to crack. "Alexander!" he crawled on the floor and saw a small hand from underneath a large pile of rubble.
His heart stopped and he began throwing the debris aside and picking up large pieces of wood from the ceiling. He saw his brother covered in ash and soot. He grabbed his arm and pulled Alexander out from underneath the pile of wood and debris. He frowned sadly and put his ear up to his face and heard him breathing softly.
Solan smiled and picked up his small brother in his arms, then quickly ran for the door. The large marble pillar broke in half and timbered down in front of the door, blocking the only exit. "This is not good," he muttered and looked at the window on the far side of the room, the only part of the room that wasn't up in flames.
He ran to the window and then carried his brother on his shoulders, hanging onto his skinny leg. He opened the window and leaned over the ledge and he felt his stomach churn. That was a long way down. "Don't worry Alexander, I'm going to get us out of here..." he sighed heavily, "somehow."
He climbed out the window onto the narrow ledge, holding onto his unconscious brother's legs and arms. He leaned against the wall and slowly began side stepping along the ledge, trying not to look down. "Just don't look down, Solan, don't look down," he coached himself and exhaled heavily.
A few moments later he looked over and saw that there was not any more ledge space. There was a fifteen foot gap between the west and east wing. He grunted and looked for another way out. The cool breeze brushed against his skin harshly. He looked down and saw the gardens below and he sighed.
"Solan..." Alexander grumbled.
Solan smiled nervously. "Hey buddy...glad to see you're awake, but listen, whatever you do don't look down."
Alexander opened his eyes and he was hanging upside down on his brother's back. He saw he was up really high, too high for his liking. He frantically grabbed onto his brother's shirt and kicked his legs. "What are we doing up here?! Solan!" he began heaving heavily.
Solan growled and hung onto his brother's uncontrollable legs. "Alexander! Remain calm!" he sighed heavily and glanced upward at the roof. Looks like the only way is up, he thought. He switched the position of his brother and wrapped Alexander's arms around his neck.
"Hang on really tight and don't let go!" he said.
Alexander nodded and wrapped his legs around his brother's waist, shutting his eyes tightly. Solan frowned and put his leg on a window ledge and grabbed the top of the stone ledge and reached over to the other ledge, slowly climbing up the wall.
The girls in the east wing kept hearing loud explosions and a few chandeliers fell to the ground. Astremia tried to open the doors and rammed her shoulder against the door with the help of Francesca. "We can't get out of here! The sultan is trying to murder us all!"
Gabrielle frowned, rolling her eyes. "No, he's not."
Penelope smirked, folding her arms. "You know the sultan very well, Gabrielle. What is going on out there?"
"The Templar Knights attacking probably," Gabrielle grumbled as she sat on her bed. She felt completely useless sitting in this room. Who knows what was going on out there especially after what happened last night.
"And how would you know that?" Astremia smiled, nudging Francesca's arm playfully. "Is the sultan good in bed?"
Gabrielle stood and pushed Astremia. "Quit it, Astremia. I am not the sultan's sex slave. You should be grateful to be in a place like this."
The tall brunette cackled. "Grateful? That's wild coming from you! You complained about this place for weeks! You couldn't stand the sultan and now you're like his best friend. What's up with that?" she shoved Gabrielle gently.
Helena frowned and stepped in between the heated girls. "Stop it, both of you! We shouldn't be arguing like this."
"Helena's right," Astremia grinned. "Gabrielle is not worth my time. Not yet anyway."
Gabrielle rolled her eyes, "oh brother," she muttered under her breath.
Suddenly a loud explosion sounded throughout the east wing and many of the candle lanterns hanging on the ceiling came crashing down, igniting the fabric on the beds. All the girls panicked, screaming and tried to put out the fire with their pillows.
"We can't stay in here!" Yasmina cried out, panicking. Soon all the other girls began frantically talking over one another, fearing the worst. Another blow hit the east wing and the columns inside their sleeping quarters toppled over.
Gabrielle covered her ears listening to the girls arguing and bickering with one another. "Everyone, be quiet!" she yelled and all the girls gawked in awe at her. "Okay, now," she began, now that she had everyone's attention. "I'm sure none of you want to die so we need to create a plan to get out of here. Anyone got any ideas?"
"They're obliterating my palace!" Xena groaned as she saw the knights loading the catapults again. She turned to the men dousing their arrows in the barrels of Greek fire. "Do not get your clothes near this. It will ignite and you won't be able to put it out."
The men nodded and once their arrows were doused in the dangerous substance, more men lit the arrowheads on fire. The archers ran up the stairs quickly and aimed for the catapult loaders in the back of the fleet.
They shot the flaming arrows at the knights and they screamed in agony and others in terror. All the knights frantically moved away from their comrades who were now on fire, crying out for help. One of the ignited knights grabbed a friend's arm and his arm caught fire. The knight yelped and wagged his arm trying to put out the fire, but it just made it worse.
Gregory narrowed his eyebrows and saw the sultan next to several barrels, surveying the soldiers as they dipped their arrowheads into the molten liquid.
"Xenophon has Greek fire," he grumbled.
Joseph frowned and glanced over at his master. "Sir, what is Greek fire?"
"Something very deadly..." he looked back and saw some of his men rolling around on the ground trying to put the fire out, but it was no use. They were dying and didn't even know it. "Fire at the archers," he instructed and Joseph nodded then trotted off to tell the men to aim the catapults at the north wall.
Xena ran to the top of the tower and looked down at the archers with the Greek fire arrows. "Fire at the catapults! Destroy them all!" she yelled and the men loaded the arrows into their crossbows at her command.
Dajan frowned looking at all of the knights surrounding the palace. They were beginning to load the catapults again. He turned around to look at the palace and saw that more than half of the west wing was destroyed. His eyes drifted upwards and his mouth gaped. He saw Xena's two sons running across the roof of the palace.
"Your majesty..." he tapped her shoulder.
"What?!" she griped and he pointed to the roof. Her frown faded once she saw Solan running with Alexander across the roof. Her eyes widened and her heart palpitated.
Alexander ran behind Solan, stepping over large parts of the palace and breathed heavily. "Solan, you're running too fast!" he cried out and put his hands on his knees, heaving.
Solan sighed and ran back to get his little brother. "We gotta keep moving, Alexander. Just a little bit longer, okay?"
"Well, okay..." Alexander grabbed his brother's hand and they continued running across the large palace, now over the east wing.
They came to the edge of the east wing and Solan peered down to see a large balcony. He smiled and jumped down onto the balcony. Alexander frowned nervously and looked down at the far jump down. Solan held out his arms and smiled up at his brother.
"Jump! I will catch you, don't worry!" he shouted up.
Alexander shook his head. "It's too high, Solan!"
"Don't you trust me?" Solan smirked and his brother nodded. "I'll catch you! Come on! You can do it."
The younger brother sighed heavily and crawled over the edge of the building slowly. He held onto the roof and let his legs dangle in the air. He felt his fingers slipping because of the sweat. He bit his bottom lip then fell down. He yelped and landed right into his brother's arms.
"See, told you I would catch you," Solan winked and set down Alexander. They then unlocked the window and climbed inside.
All the girls turned around and saw two boys coming into their sleeping quarters. Solan brushed off some soot from his shirt and then turned around to see a lot of young women gawking at him. Alexander crawled inside and then his eyes widened, remembering all of these girls naked, burned into his brain.
"That's the little rat that came here while we were changing!" Joan yelled, pointing at Alexander.
"Uh oh," Alexander hid behind his brother, clinging to his pants.
Solan put his hands up as the girls approached them cautiously. "Ladies, we don't have time for this. This palace is being attacked by Templar Knights. We need to leave!"
Gabrielle smirked as some of the girls looked her way, realizing everything she said was true.
Solan saw the awful expression on Joan's face and folded his arms. "You know, I don't think the sultan would appreciate you calling the prince a 'rat'." He smirked and Joan's mouth gaped. "Follow me!" he ran off to a door hidden in the wall and pushed on it, leading to the dark hallway that connected to several rooms within the palace.
He walked down the hallway with Alexander trailing behind. All the girls poked their head inside the hallway, leary of following the two boys. "Are you coming or what?!" Solan called out as he continued down the dark hall.
Gabrielle grinned and pushed through the girls, running after Xena's two sons. She touched Solan's shoulder. "What is going on out there?"
Solan wagged his head. "It's a mess, Gabrielle. My mother taught you girls how to fight right?"
"Yes, but –"
"Okay good. We're going to the armory." He opened a door that lead to another hallway behind his mother's office. Soon, the other girls began following behind them, realizing they weren't going to get anywhere just staying in the locked room.
"There's an armory?" Gabrielle alleged.
Helena grimaced at the dark lit hallway she was walking in with the rest of the girls. She grabbed Gabrielle's arm and whispered, "Gabrielle, where are we going?"
"To the armory apparently..."
Helena's eyes bugged out and she watched the boys enter into a new room. "Do you know these boys?"
Gabrielle smirked, "the sultan's sons. I think we should trust them. They know this palace like the back of their hand!"
Everyone entered the armory and all the girls gasped. "Holy shit!" Helena said and covered her mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed that even came out of her mouth.
Solan picked up a sword and tossed it over to Gabrielle. "Everyone choose a weapon." He said and all the girls stood frozen, staring at all of the weapons in the large armory. "Get to it, ladies!" he yelled out and they began grabbing any weapon that caught their eye.
"What a bossy little twerp," Penelope muttered. She felt something hit her on her behind and she yelped.
Alexander chuckled and handed Penelope a scimitar. "Your sword, miss," he winked. Penelope hesitantly grabbed the sword, looking at the small boy. "Oh and my brother is not a twerp," he frowned and brushed past the girl, running towards Solan.
Gabrielle found a sword that was to her liking and then walked over to Solan, whom was handing out weapons to the other girls. "So, what's the plan?"
"I thought you had one?" Solan whispered.
"What? No! Solan, are you serious?" Gabrielle grunted and smacked her forehead with her palm. He shrugged his shoulder and she sighed. "Alright, okay...don't panic," she tapped her chin. "How many men are out there?"
Xena ran along the wall, snickering at all the destroyed catapults because of the Greek fire. "I will never surrender to you!" she spat at Gregory and Joseph.
"Lord have mercy on his soul," Joseph said and made the sign of the cross.
Gregory shook his head and pointed at the far wall, ordering his men to climb over and attack the sultan's soldiers. The Roman knights grabbed their ladders and put them against the west wall, climbing up as quickly as possible. The Persian soldiers ran along the west wall and knocked over many ladders as possible.
Bastards, Xena cursed under her breath and ran down the stairs. She was beginning to lose hope and was already frustrated at the amount of vigilance that these Templars had. They were not only stubborn, but they were incredibly annoying and wouldn't give up no matter what. Most of their first flank was gone and all of their catapults were gone, finally, but they still wouldn't stop.
Gabrielle climbed up a narrow staircase and stared out a small window. She saw a lot of the Templar Knights trying to come over the wall. Her eyes darted over to the north wall and saw Xena walking back and forth, yelling at her men then yelling at the knights below.
"Are we going to go outside or what?" Joan asked.
"Um...yeah," Gabrielle went through the opening of the tower and huffed audibly. She paced down the wall and then swung her sword at a Templar and kicked the ladder off the wall. She smiled and the Persian soldiers glanced over at her in shock.
Soon all of the other girls came out of the small staircase and ran across the south, west, east and north walls, helping Xena's men ward off the Templar Knights.
Alexander peeked his head out the window watching his mother's trainees wiping the floor with those Templars. He grinned and then tried to leave the tower until his brother grabbed him by his waist. "Oh come on, Solan! I want to see!"
"Alexander, I think we're in enough trouble as it is!" Solan carried his brother down the staircase while Alexander whined and complained the entire time.
Gregory frowned and nudged Joseph, pointing up to the walls. "There are women..."
Joseph looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. "By God. What the hell is this? Women attacking our knights! The sultan is insane, hiring women to do work for him! We cannot attack women, master."
"But they work for Xenophon..." Gregory said and noticed all of his men were being slaughtered by these young women. "This is ridiculous!"
Gabrielle came to the north wall and held up her sword, then bumped into Xena. "Your majesty..." she smirked.
Xena turned around and her eyes grew seeing Gabrielle and the rest of the girls attacking the Templars. "What are you doing here?!"
"You look like you needed some help," the blonde grinned mischievously and then swung her sword downward and knocked the Templar Knight's sword out of his grip and knocked the ladder over, sending him crashing to the ground, along with the three other knights on the ladder steps.
Xena raised her eyebrow watching Gabrielle fend off the Roman knights. She then saw all of the Templars riding away from her palace, including Gregory and his master in training, Joseph. She then ran to the far tower on the north wall and climbed to the top, overlooking the fleeing the knights.
"Are you surrendering?!" she called out and Gregory gave her a deep frown.
"This is not a surrender, Xenophon! This is only the beginning," the master Templar trotted off with the rest of his men.
Xena smiled seeing the knights leave her territory. She then turned around and frowned sadly, seeing the destruction that was done to her palace, her home. Almost the entire west wing was destroyed and part of the east wing was gone as well. She worked so hard to obtain this palace and now parts of it were gone.
Gabrielle ran to Xena with a big happy grin on her face. "We got rid of them!" she cheered and Xena kept staring at destroyed palace. "Oh...your palace." Her big smile turned upside down and her head hung.
Xena shook her head and turned around, facing Gabrielle. "Have you seen Solan and Alexander?"
The young trainee nodded. "They're safe. Solan gave us the weapons." She grinned and then saw Xena narrow her eyebrows. "He was a big help..." she added.
The Templar Knights camped out in Masada close to the Dead Sea. Gregory sat by the fire outside of his tent and always hated camping in tents. He had not been on a crusade in years and certainly hadn't lost as many men as he did today. He planned to attack Xenophon's palace and hopefully persuade him to surrender, but it ended horribly.
Xenophon not only had archers with Greek fire but he also had a lot of young women, no not women, girls, helping and knocking off the knights left and right. Why would the sultan have an entire extra army of women? Not only was that unorthodox but it was also strange and he began to question the method of Xenophon's madness. Nothing he did make any sense. He was like a concealed monster.
Joseph came to sit by his master, drinking some water out of a wooden cup. "The sultan had a lot of unexpected guests." He gathered.
Gregory nodded and tapped his fingers together, sulking in front of the campfire. "I am beginning to become suspicious of the sultan and his mysterious ways."
"He hides his face as if he were a leper," Joseph grinned.
"Forget his face!" Gregory growled, waving his hand dismissively. "He has women working for him! Do you not think that is odd?"
"Definitely not the work of God to make women fight in wars. It's barbaric," Joseph wagged his head slowly.
The Templar master sighed heavily and rubbed his beard pensively. "It's heinous. We must send word back to Pope Innocent to warn him about Xenophon and his Greek fire."
Lindel, one of the knights approached his master and Joseph. "Sire, we have word from the Grand Master in Constantinople." He handed the letter to Joseph to read.
The second in command frowned as he read quickly through the message. "The chieftain of the tribes in Ankara have allied with Genghis Khan. He is going to send his men and Xenophon's men to collude in the Golden Horde."
Gregory raised his eyebrow. "Xenophon? He is working with the Khan too?"
"The sultan made it clear that he would not surrender to anyone. Why would he ally with the Mongols?" Joseph added and his master agreed, though he was still highly suspicious.
Gregory stood and grabbed Lindel's cape. "Send a message to the Grand Master and tell him to blockade Ankara to prevent them from colluding with the Golden Horde."
Xena brought her two sons into one of the guest rooms on the first floor of the west wing, since they were no longer able to go upstairs because it was completely destroyed now. Alexander sat down in a chair while Xena kept wiping his dirty face with a warm wash cloth.
She rubbed his cheeks harshly and Alexander groaned, slapping his mother's hand away. "Mom, stop!" he whined. "I'm not a baby."
She smiled and kept cleaning his face, ignoring his whining and groaning. "Yes, you are."
"Mother, I am seven years old!" he got off the chair and Solan pushed him back down by his shoulders. "Not you too, Solan!"
His elder brother chuckled softly. "I think I liked it better when you were a baby."
Alexander grimaced, "oh really? And why is that?!"
"Because you couldn't talk," Solan rolled his eyes and his brother gasped loudly.
Soft raps at the door interrupted the three and Xena turned around to see Gabrielle standing in the doorway. Gabrielle smiled weakly at Xena and Alexander's eyes lit up as soon as he saw her. He instantly ran to her side and tugged on her arm.
"Gabrielle! Are you going to tell me the rest of that story?" he wriggled his dark thick eyebrows.
Gabrielle gave him a big grin and bent down to his eye level. "Maybe later, if your mother will let me."
He gasped and turned to Xena. "Mother, can she –"
"Another time, Alexander," she folded her arms and he whined. "Solan, take your brother somewhere else."
Solan blinked. "Where?" he scoffed. "Our rooms are gone."
"Some place where he won't get into trouble..." she hissed and he nodded. He grabbed Alexander's hand and left the room.
Xena sighed and took off her turban, throwing it onto the chair beside her. "You shouldn't have come outside." She said lowly.
Gabrielle pursed her lips then closed the door behind her. She walked over to the sultana and saw her tired eyes. She had stayed awake all night preparing her army to guard the palace and then she had to deal with her two sons as well as fighting against the Templar Knights. It had been quite a long day for sure and she saw that Xena was not willing to put up a large fight. She was too exhausted.
"The girls and I cleared out most of the debris in the east wing, but there's still a lot of work to do." She said and Xena stared off into space. "I...I'm sorry about your room and the rest of the palace. Those Templars sure know how to give a warm welcome!" she joked, hoping that would get onto Xena's nerves, but it didn't.
Gabrielle's smile faded and she cleared her throat, rubbing the back of her neck. She didn't like this silence and much preferred Xena to yell at her or make some smart remark. Her silence was more eerie. Maybe she's mad? Gabrielle shook her head, telling herself that couldn't be it. Well, of course she's mad, parts of her palace were destroyed.
"Um...it was Solan's idea to allow us to help you. I hope you won't be too angry at him..." she suggested.
Finally Xena frowned and turned her head slowly, glaring down at the short blonde. "I'm not angry at Solan. I'm angry at you!"
Gabrielle's jaw dropped and she threw her hands in the air. "Me? But I helped you! We all helped you!"
"I didn't ask for your help and now you've exposed yourselves!" she grumbled underneath her breath. "Now all of the Roman Empire will be onto me, because of...you!" she pushed Gabrielle backward.
"Without us your entire palace would be a pile of rubble!" she spat and Xena widened her eyes. Suddenly she felt like she should have just agreed with Xena instead of mouthing off again. Slowly, she began backing up, but there was nowhere to go, unless she ran out of the room.
She opened the door carefully and Xena slammed her hand on the door, preventing her from leaving. The sultana smiled eerily down at Gabrielle then grazed her fingers along the blonde's soft cheek.
"Your mouth..." Xena whispered and her fingers ran along Gabrielle's lips. "Gets you into heaps of trouble." She grinned and Gabrielle held her breath, staring into her blue eyes. "Perhaps...I have been too lenient with you."
Oh no, definitely not too lenient for sure. Gabrielle shut her eyes and Xena pinched her cheeks.
"Open your eyes, Gabrielle!" she growled and the petite trainee opened her eyes, seeing the sultana only a few inches from her face. "You believe I am fair, don't you?"
Gabrielle nodded her head slowly and Xena gave her a closed lipped smile, humming under her breath. Dear god, what is she doing?
"Those councilmen down below have probably faced their fate already. It was fair of me to get rid of them because they wanted to get rid of me. Wouldn't you say so, Gabrielle?"
She nodded again.
"I am not a cruel person, otherwise I would have killed you already," Xena laughed and Gabrielle's eyes grew in fear. "But since I am fair, I didn't kill you. Isn't that right?" she put her finger over Gabrielle's parted lips. "Your mouth is dangerous, Gabrielle. It is a powerful weapon, but you will not use it around me." She smiled, stepping closer, their bodies touching. "Do you understand?" she whispered.
Gabrielle lowered her eyes and Xena finally stepped away from her then she was able to let out a heavy exhale. She felt like she was holding her breath forever. Those girls had no idea what they were talking about. They believed that the sultan was using Gabrielle as a sex slave or a pet, but it was far from that.
Xena sighed and took off her heavy soiled cloak off of her shoulders. "I have trained you how to use a weapon but I haven't trained you how to talk it seems," she chuckled.
Gabrielle frowned. "We could have died in here. Don't you care?"
"And there it is! Your mouth again!" Xena marched over to her and grabbed her long hair. "Forgive me, Gabrielle..." she looked into the young girl's emerald eyes and they were filled with fear. "I had a lot on my mind at the moment..." she released her and Gabrielle fumbled backward, rubbing her scalp.
"You are like a chameleon." The blonde began and Xena raised her eyebrows, folding her arms. "You change yourself according to who's around you. One minute you're a sultan, ruler of Greece and Persia, next, you're a mother, then you're...well, I'm not sure what this is right now." She huffed.
Xena smirked, quite impressed with this young farm girl. She had never met someone as feisty before. Willing to speak her mind no matter the consequences. Foolish girl, she thought.
"You think you have me all figured out, don't you?"
Gabrielle quirked her mouth. "No, I don't and that's the problem." She scoffed and placed her hands on her head. "I don't understand you and it's driving me insane!" she finally said and then she looked at the bewildered expression on Xena's face.
Xena raised her eyebrow and pursed her lips. "If I treated everyone the same, do you think I would still be alive today?" she said calmly and Gabrielle relaxed a little, steadying her harsh breaths. "The problem with our little...relationship," her lip quivered. "...is that I can't kill you and you have a big mouth. I don't trust you."
The blonde frowned sadly. "But I haven't told anyone about your secret! I've known for months now!"
Xena's eyes widened and she didn't know that little bit of news. She thought that she only knew for a short time, not months.
Oh dear, bad move, Gabrielle, she cursed silently to herself. "The girls think I'm your sex slave! They tried to get me to talk but I didn't! I wouldn't tell anyone..." she said and lowered her head.
Xena's anger dissipated and she softened a bit. She placed a hand on her hip and looked over at the petite blonde. Troublemaker she is, but she is honest, only when it benefits her, but she has not broken her promise to keep my secret as well.
"And I suppose those girls did that little number on your mouth?" Xena hinted. "Some chair," she jested and Gabrielle lifted her eyes, seeing a subtle smirk on the sultana's face.
"I would never tell anyone about who you really are," Gabrielle lifted her chin and Xena eyed her curiously.
"You don't even know me, Gabrielle. Why would you do that for me?" she asked, eager to hear this answer.
Gabrielle's cheeks flushed. "I know it means a lot to you." She said and saw the sultana's eyes narrow, studying her. She had no idea what she was thinking and it was incredibly hard to read her with that blank expression.
"Sometimes, it's okay for people to keep secrets," she added with a small grin. "I understand if you don't trust me but...I wouldn't betray you."
She turned the door knob and anxiously wanted to leave the room. "I'm going to help the girls some more..." she said and then left the room.
Xena frowned, folding her arms. Interesting girl, she thought. The thought of a person so young and a complete stranger knowing her secret would probably end in death, but not this time. She thought that Gabrielle wasn't going to withstand all the training and be one of the first girls to quit but when she didn't, that only made Xena push her harder. Although, Gabrielle's own curiosity killed any trust that Xena had in the girl, until now.
"Clever girl," she snickered.
Penelope threw a large board into the pile of debris to be thrown out tomorrow morning. She turned and saw Gabrielle coming towards everyone. She ran over to Gabrielle. "Hey Gabrielle! Were you with the sultan again?" she pried.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Are you and your friends going to punch me in the face again?" she chided and kept walking.
"I'm sorry about that Gabrielle," Penelope followed beside her. "You were really great out there earlier. We've never been in an actual real fight before!"
"You thought that was fun?" Gabrielle frowned, not believing this girl.
"Well, no, but it was pretty exciting, you have to admit," Penelope grinned, trying to make light of this situation, besides their room being destroyed. "So, what is the sultan like?"
Gabrielle grunted and picked up a board that was handed to her by another trainee. "He's...interesting."
"Have you seen his face?" she grinned mischievously.
Gabrielle smiled softly. "No, sorry." She made a promise to herself to keep Xena's persona a secret and she wanted Xena to trust her, if she didn't change her mind already.
Solan and Alexander were joking together until they came upon the girls. Alexander panicked and hid behind his brother, fearful of the girls. Joan, specifically looked over at the young brunette boy with distain.
"Help me, Solan..." he begged.
"Relax, brother, nobody is going to hurt you," Solan chuckled.
Joan folded his arms and three other girls joined her, approaching the boys. "That little worm came into our room while we were changing."
"Ladies, I'm sure it was an accident," he gave them a sweet cheeky smile and their frowns deepened.
"Yes, ladies, I'm sure it was," Xena walked into the room and Alexander ran to her, clinging to her dark robes.
All of the girls stepped away and unfolded their arms upon seeing the sultan. Xena smiled beneath her veil and placed her hands on her younger son's shoulders. "I hope my sons were not inconveniencing you all."
"No, your majesty..." Joan said and Alexander snickered.
"Since your room is destroyed, you will sleep in the west wing," Xena said and all the girls whispered with each other.
Gabrielle dropped a piece of debris and looked over at Xena. She was shocked that she would even suggest something like that. Xena looked her way and winked over at her. Gabrielle smiled softly and brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.
Xena cleared her throat, addressing all of the girls. "That is enough cleaning for tonight." She motioned for the girls to follow Kara to the west wing to their new room.
Gabrielle waited until all of the girls left the area and hesitantly came up to Xena. "That was...nice of you."
"I won't let them sleep on the floor, Gabrielle," Xena said and Alexander tugged on his mother's arm. "Oh Gabrielle, I need your assistance in my room tomorrow. Can you draw?"
Gabrielle pursed her lips, thinking that was an odd question. "Sort of..."
"Good..." Xena grinned, "I expect you in my room at first light."
"Mother," Alexander tugged on her arm. She peered down at him and he smiled. "Can we read tonight?"
Xena sighed heavily and Gabrielle knew that she was really tired. "I can read to you, Alexander," she offered and Xena raised her eyebrow. "Maybe we can finish that story?"