This story will contain the following: two women as life partners and mothers, spankings to minor children, and anyone else whom the author deems needs it.
The rights of Xena, Gabrielle, Cyrene, Argo, etc. belong to REN pics and whomever else makes a profit from using them. I own nothing.
All that said, enjoy.
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Chapter 11
We had been back in the village for three days and during that time, Mom had forced me to attend a council meeting. I had been none too happy at the move, but had not been given a choice when she told me that she would be explaining to them about what would happen in five years' time.
As usual, Tylee and Brenda were the most upset about the turn of events and I finally sat back and allowed Mom to verbally tongue lash them both while Ephiny threatened to make sure they were lost in a hunting accident if they tried to interfere with anything. Listening to the rest of the meeting had been dull but informative and I realized that I would have to start attending these meetings on a regular basis the fall I turned sixteen. Sighing at the thought, I was glad when the meeting finally ended and was given permission to find my friends and just hang out.
Waving to Mom as she crossed the village heading towards home, I began to run to the practice field, hoping to be able to do some sparring before practice was over for the day.
Waving to her daughter, Gabrielle allowed herself to relax somewhat as she headed towards home. Hoping Xena was there, she rubbed her belly as she entered the hut and immediately smiled when she saw her wife sitting on the couch, her legs stretched out and feet on the coffee table.
"How long have you been home?" Gabrielle asked grinning as Xena opened her eyes.
"Just a few minutes, I was waiting on you." Moving to sit lengthwise on the couch, Xena watched as the bard managed to kick her sandals off before crawling in between her legs and relaxing her head on the warrior's chest.
Placing her hands over Xena's she put them on her belly and sighed happily, "I hate council meetings."
"That bad, huh?"
"Well, Brenda and Tylee decided to challenge things regarding Sam and the gods, again."
"Need me to crack some heads?"
"No, but that's sweet of you to offer," the bard smiled. "I let them know my thoughts on the matter and Ephiny reminded them that not all hunting expeditions came back with all the members of the party unharmed.
Chuckling, Xena began to rub light circles on Gabrielle's stomach. "I still can't believe we're going to be mothers again in a few months' time."
"Yeah, mothers to an almost twelve year old, two year old, and newborn twins. It's going to be crazy," she shook her head and then leaned back once more.
"When isn't our life crazy?"
Lifting up one of Xena's hands, Gabrielle kissed the palm, "True. Xena?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do you think I'll be a good mother to these little girls?"
Stopping her rubbing, Xena held onto one of Gabrielle's hands, "What brought this on?"
"I was just thinking about Sam and Eve," she sighed. "It's been so hard with Sam for me. She took to you so easily, but we're still working on it, even with my memories, it never seems quite right."
Kissing the top of her wife's head, Xena placed her chin on the woman's shoulder, "Have you ever thought of how strange it must be for her in certain respects?"
"What do you mean?"
"You were thirty-seven when she left the future. Then, she shows up here to a woman that's barely thirteen years her senior, but is supposed to be her mother. It's no wonder it's been harder for you," Xena pulled the blonde close. "You are still coming into your own, Gabrielle, and you are still only thirteen years older than that almost twelve year old. The fact that I have a few years on you is probably one of the reasons it makes it easier for me."
"I never thought of that," Gabrielle sighed. "I just feel so bad about how hard it was for her last year, especially on her birthday. We are not going to mess that up again, Xena."
"I know." Xena leaned back onto the couch and brought Gabrielle with her. "Her birthday will be fine this year. Just remember, you may have to take it easy on her when you spar with her."
"Why?"
"You'll have recently given birth," Xena reminded her.
"Yeah," Gabrielle smiled once more and fully relaxed into the warrior. "So what are we going to name these two?"
"I was thinking about that," Xena said softly. "How about we ask Sam what she thinks we should name them?"
"What brought this on?"
"Well, Solan named Eve..." the warrior trailed off.
"And it would be nice if Sam had the same opportunity her brother did."
"Yeah," Xena agreed. "Is that okay with you?"
"I think it's a wonderful idea," Gabrielle confirmed. "Let's just hope she doesn't pick anything crazy."
"She won't," Xena chuckled. "And if she does, they can be the girls' middle names instead.
"We're giving them middle names too?"
"Yeah, I think it's only fair to have them be like Sam."
"What about Eve?"
"Well, maybe her mommy would like to choose her middle name?"
"Maybe her mommy would," Gabrielle affirmed before she and Xena finally were quiet, merely enjoying each other's company.
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA* **
Running into our hut, I stopped short when I noticed my mothers napping on the couch together. Wishing I had a camera, I sighed and slowly moved to my room. Stripping out of my now, filthy clothes, I quickly moved to the bathing room and decided to wash myself off before I even got into the tub. Doing so, I finally relaxed in the warm water and jumped when the door opened slightly.
"Sam?"
"The gods, Mama, you scared the Tartarus out of me." I ducked under the water and came up to find piercing blue eyes staring at me.
"What happened?"
"Can I finish my bath before the inquisition begins?" I asked.
Shaking her head, she knelt next to me and took another clean cloth from the side of the tub. Helping me wash my back, she then shampooed my hair. Finally rinsing, I stood and happily moved into the towel she held for me. "Go get dressed and meet me in the other room, I have a feeling your mom is going to want to hear the story as well."
"Yes ma'am." Moving to my room, I looked in the mirror that Aphrodite had given me and suddenly understood Mama's actions. My left eye was starting to color underneath it and I sported a nasty bruise on my chin and a few were beginning to form on my arms and legs. By the feeling in my back, I knew I was probably bruised there as well. Pulling on my last clothing from home, the now short sweats and sweatshirt, I moved into the living area and happily sat between my now awake parents.
"Care to tell us what happened?" Mama asked as she gently moved me forward and lifted my sweatshirt. "These are starting to color nicely."
"A little friendly sparring match got a little bit out of control," I finally admitted.
"Out of control, how?" Mom's tone left me no doubt that I needed to answer her question.
Sitting back, I winced and decided to lay on my side instead. Placing my head in Mama's lap, I allowed my legs to hang over Mom's lap and began to relax when I felt Mama's hands gently run through my hair.
"Sammy?"
"Well, we decided to have a bit of a mock battle," I began slowly.
"Mock battle?" Mama joined in the questioning now.
"Yeah, our age group against the older girls."
"Sam," Mom's voice was warning now.
"Okay," sighing heavily I continued. "The twelve and thirteen year olds took on the fourteen and fifteen year olds. We went all out and tried some new moves, some old moves, and some of the fifteen year olds decided to add swords to the mix."
"Swords?" Mama turned my head so I was looking into her eyes, "And?"
"And we kicked their butts," I grinned. "But victory comes with a price, you know that. In our case though, it was just some bruises and bumps. Poor Elma ended up with a fractured wrist and Althea managed to flip into a tree, gave herself a nasty concussion."
"Whose idea was this mock battle?"
"Do I have to tell, Mama?"
"You do," Mama looked into my eyes again.
"Chryssa, Telema, Daria, Zivah, and I decided it would be fun to practice our skills without any of the adults around telling us to stop before we really got going."
"So how many casualties did this mock battle have?" Mom tapped my leg and I slowly sat up, being sure to lean into Mama.
"You don't want to know."
"Samina, I do want to know." Mom's voice was quiet.
Crawling into Mama's lap, I hoped that she wouldn't hand me over once Mom heard the official body count. "Oh, this should be good," Mama muttered as she allowed me to stay on her lap.
"Well," my answer was interrupted by an insistent knock at the door.
"Come in," Mom called.
"Angela, what can I do for you?" Mom asked standing as one of Cesya's apprentices approached slowly.
"Cesya says she needs to see the three of you in the healing hut right away." Turning, Angela looked at me before looking at my mom again. "I'm sorry, my queen," she stuttered before running from the hut as fast as she could.
Rounding on me, Mom's eyes were blazing, "Get changed, Samina, now."
"Yes ma'am," moving off Mama's lap, I kept far from Mom's reach as I headed to my room to change into more suitable clothing before we headed to the healer's.
Mom and Mama hadn't pressed me for any more information as we made our way across the village, but Mama had a tight hold on my hand as we walked and I knew that I would not be able to run before we got to the hut.
Finally walking into the hut, we were stopped by the crowded condition, "Cesya?" Mom called as she looked around.
"Everyone on a table or out of my way," Cesya moved to us quickly. "Care to tell me why I have twelve girls here with everything from concussions, to sprains, to fractures in the twelve to fifteen age group?"
I shrugged. "They were the casualties of war?"
"Hey Sam," one of the girls on a bed waved to me, her wrist in a splint.
"Hi Elma, how's the wrist?"
"Not bad, you were right, just a mild fracture. Should be good as new in a few weeks."
Smiling, I tried to move closer to her, only to be stopped by a heavy hand on my shoulder. "How did she hurt her wrist?"
"Zigged when she should have zagged?"
Shaking her head, Mama led me to Elma. "Hi Elma."
"Hey, Xena," Elma grinned at Mama despite her pain.
"How did you hurt your wrist?"
"Oh, I decided to try that handless cartwheel out of the tree that Sam's been teaching us. My foot slipped at the last minute and I reached out with my wrist to stop my fall. Nothing major."
"Feel better, and keep it in a sling for as long as Cesya tells you to," Mama instructed.
"I will, thanks, Xena."
Moving me away from Elma, Mama walked us back to Mom, "I'm going to help Cesya with the fallout of Sam's war games. I think the queen needs to take care of a few things too."
"Oh, I plan to," Mom glared at me. "Come on, let's go round up the leaders of this war and decide what to do with you." Stopping, she looked at the room once more.
"Girls," she addressed the room. "How many more of you were hurt, but not badly enough to see the healer?"
All eyes dropped to the ground or began watching boots and feet at her question. "That's what I thought." Mom sighed and then, taking my hand, tugged me from the hut.
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA* **
Telema, Chryssa, Zivah, Daria, and I were lined up in front of our queen, our weapons master, and our mothers. The final count of injured had been given to us, and I knew we were going to pay the highest price of the lot. Including Elma and Althea, six more in twelve and thirteen age group had to be seen by the healer; the older girls faired a bit better in that only six total needed to be seen by Cesya. However, once Mama and Cesya made a few house calls, it became apparent that everyone had a large degree of bruising, and many were nursing sprains, or bumps. In fact, nobody had come out of the battle completely untouched, there just happened to be various degrees of injury.
Mom stood, and paced for a moment before addressing us. "First, since you are all so gung-ho to have battles, you, as well as every other girl who participated today will be receiving extra training from Xena and Eponin until they deem it is no longer needed. For the girls too injured to participate now," Mom sighed. "They will be taught how to keep weapons clean, and how to dress battle wounds in the appropriate way. After they are healed, they will be joining in your extra training."
Staying quiet, we waited as Mom continued to pace. "I would like to know whose idea it was to steal weapons from the practice arena to use today."
"Excuse me, my queen," Telema spoke up and I bit back a groan.
"Yes, Telema?"
"I just wanted to point out that we had every intention of giving the weapons back, we just borrowed them."
Mom nodded and turned to Zivah, "Zivah, what do you think of Telema's argument?"
Gulping, Zivah looked down and her toes and then back to Mom. "I think that borrowing without asking permission is just a nice way to say stealing," she whispered.
"Glad you remembered your lesson." Mom's voice was hard and I tried very hard not to make eye contact.
"So, I ask you again, whose idea was it to steal the weapons?"
"Ours, my queen," this time it was Chryssa who spoke. "Telema and I took some of the older girls to get the weapons, we never told anyone that we were going to do it."
Eponin stood up at that point and waited for Mom to allow her to speak, "Chryssa, and Telema, you will be helping me clean and fix all the weapons you took today. You will also write an essay for me on the value of weapons to an Amazon and why you never show such disrespect for weapons."
"Yes, weapons master," Telema spoke quietly and Chryssa nodded.
"Who were the generals in the battle?" Mama stood and addressed us next.
"I was," I admitted. "Zivah and Daria were my seconds in command.
"And for your group?" Mama addressed the older girls once more.
"I was," Telema sighed. "Chryssa was my second in command."
"And how did you decide your battle strategies?" Mama pressed.
Taken aback by the question, I allowed Telema to speak first. "I used what we've been taught in class, and took information from some of the practice scrimmages we've had in the past."
"Were you successful?"
"No, Xena," Telema shook her head. "No matter what I did, Sam managed to be two steps ahead or counter the movements easily."
"Sam, how did you decide what strategies to use?" Mama stood in front of me and I decided that studying the toes of my boots was now in my best interest.
"Samina?"
Looking up, I quickly switched to English, not caring at the looks I knew we would get. "I used some of the battle history from the Civil War, not to mention various maneuvers you used, especially the ones Mom wrote about in her books. Oh and I figured the older girls would go with what they know, and you know, sometimes Amazons aren't real creative when it comes to battle."
"Great, just great," Mom's voice was now in front of me and I eyed her warily. "So, anything else you need to tell us?"
Looking at my friends, I sighed, "We've been playing a version of battle strategy."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Mama began.
"Using real people in our movements," I added quickly before once more staring at my boots.
"Real people?" Mama looked to the roof of the hut and began to mutter in the now familiar Gaelic. "And how do you play it with real people?"
"You don't want to know," Zivah spoke for the first time and ducked her head after the words left her mouth.
Moving to stand in front of Zivah, Mama glowered, "I do want to know Zivah."
"No, really Xena, you don't want to know," Daria protested. "I mean, you're already upset, we really don't want you to spontaneously combust or something."
"Samina, now."
"Think Amazon warrior's chess rather than wizard's chess," I whispered in English.
Hearing the Gaelic once more, I dared look up to find Mama pacing, Mom trying to calm her, and Ephiny and the rest of the mothers looking lost.
"Face the wall now," Mom directed and we scrambled to move. Hearing chairs scrape, I figured they were deciding our punishment as a group and closing my eyes, I began to focus beyond my space. Smiling when I started to pick up bits and pieces of their conversation, I allowed my concentration to end when the words queen and wooden punishment sword were thrown into the mix.
"Turn around girls," Mom's voice had a definite edge and I slowly turned to face her.
"You have, without a doubt, exceeded all of our expectations today on using poor judgment. Therefore, you will not only be subject to whatever punishments your mothers deem appropriate, but your queen will be punishing you as well." Moving to the wall, she removed the wooden sword and gave us a final look. "Spread out, hands on knees and do not break form, or I start over."
Knowing that the queen was going to make quite the point today, I moved as far away from the others as I could and waited my turn. The queen was now behind us and I heard her move to the end of the line. Telema was first and by the third and final stroke she was no longer able to stop the cries or yelps. The queen slowly moved down the line and each girl was given three strokes of the sword before being told to stand once more.
Finally reaching me on the other end of the line, I felt the sword being lined up and gasped as the first stroke made contact. I had never been paddled this hard, and could only hope if Mama decided to make an impression on me, that she would at least wait a day or so. Deciding to take my punishment like a true Amazon princess, I held my cries and managed to have only silent tears fall.
When the final stroke was given, she finally allowed me to stand, and it was all I could do not to fall into my mother's arms. Instead, I stood at attention and waited for my queen to return us to our mothers. Finally doing so, I waited until the hut was empty before falling into both of my mothers' arms finally allowing the cries to flow freely.
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA* **
Reaching our hut, I was wary as we entered. "Go sit down," Mom directed.
Sighing, I winced as I sat in the chair as directed pulling my knees to my chest. "Are you going to spank me again?" I finally asked.
Sitting on the end of the coffee table, Mama's fingers found my chin and tilted it until she was looking into my eyes, "No, Samina, you are not getting another spanking. However, you are grounded, young lady."
"Grounded?"
"Grounded," Mama confirmed. "You will have extra chores, you will clean out all of our family's stalls in the barn until I tell you otherwise, and you will be going to bed early."
"Anything else?" I asked quietly.
Mom moved from the couch and kneeled in front of me, "Yep. You are going to show your Mama and me exactly what maneuvers you used to defeat the older girls today." Standing, she gave me a kiss to the top of the head, "We'd like to know what a future queen thinks are good battle maneuvers at such a young age."
Looking at her with wide eyes, I saw the twinkle in her green eyes and then noticed the sparkle in Mama's blue orbs. "Come on, little one, let's set up your battle strategy game on the table and play at least a bit before mom brings Eve home."
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