AN: I wish I could reply to guest reviews. Thank you for reading, everyone! A slow burn so far, but this chapter will put a fire underneath the next few chapters. Good luck!

Chapter 11 –Think like a Man, Act like a Ruler

Solan and Alexander finished eating breakfast really early in the morning. Solan wanted to help his mother's soldiers clean up the debris upstairs in the west wing, which also meant that Alexander would need to help too. This time he wasn't going to let his little brother out of his sight. He figured that he had disappointed his mother enough during his stay here and it hadn't even been a month since he got here.

The two went outside their room and Alexander yawned. "Do we really have to help them? I mean, my arm is broken. I can't really do much," he gave a smug grin.

Solan rolled his eyes and pushed his brother down the hallway. "You still have one good arm, Alexander. Besides, mother will kill me if I let you out of my sight again."

"Can I go into the gardens instead? I promise I won't get into trouble," he begged.

"No way! You said that when you were four and you nearly burned down father's yurt!"

Alexander sighed heavily. "That was one time..."

"Oh yeah? How 'bout that that time you dyed all of Natassa Khatun's dresses yellow instead of black?" he said and his brother pouted. "Or that time you broke all of mother's wine bottles in the cellar? Or how about –"

"Okay, I get it! Jeez," Alexander grumbled and folded his arms. "Am I really that bad?"

Solan chuckled and squeezed his brother's shoulders. "You're not bad, Alexander, you're just...spoiled."

"What? I am not spoiled!" he frowned.

"Your highness!" Dajan ran up to Solan a bit out of breath with a letter in his hand. Solan turned around with a smile and Dajan handed over the letter.

Solan read that the letter was from Ankara and shook his head. "Oh thanks, I'll give this to my mother. I'm sure –"

"It's um...for you," Dajan lowered his eyes and bowed curtly. He quickly left the hallway to go upstairs to begin clearing the debris from the halls and rooms.

Wow, for me? Solan grinned and ripped open the letter. He read over it as quickly as possible. He also felt his brother tugging on his arm, trying to sneak a peek at what he was reading. Solan began laughing aloud and his brother frowned in confusion. He continued reading and then his laughter died down softly.

"Who is it from, Solan?!" Alexander whined, jumping up to see the letter.

"Father," he answered in a soft voice. "Belach is no longer second in command anymore."

Alexander beamed. "That's great! Wait, what is 'second in command'?" he quirked his lips.

"Mother is going to be so upset. Father wants me to come back to Ankara and..." he sighed, folding the letter back up and put it in his pocket. "Mother has to agree."

"Oh..." Alexander frowned sadly. "She's not gonna let you, Solan. You heard what she said –her house, her rules!"

"I know..." he grabbed his little brother's arm and went to the staircase. "Let's get started on cleaning."

Borias paced back and forth in front of his son, glaring down at him. Belach hung his head, ashamed to even look at his father. Osman's nephew, Bahri, had come Belach's yurt to spar with him. Now that Solan was gone, he didn't have anyone as good to spar with except Belach. When he came into Belach's yurt he found his sister, Dilara, in bed with Belach.

Horrified and angry, Bahri ran to his uncle and told him everything. Knowing that his older sister was sharing the same bed with Belach, considering she was already engaged to someone else, he wasn't going to allow her to continue to have this relationship with Borias' son.

"Are you insane?!" Borias shouted and his son winced at his loud voice. "How could you do this?"

Natassa shook her head. "Not only have you embarrassed Osman, but now Dilara is no longer engaged!"

"I'm sorry," Belach mumbled.

Borias sighed and said, "you are no longer my second in command. I gave the position to Solan."

Belach's eyes widened and he lifted his chin, glaring at both of his parents. "What?! But father, I proved myself to have that position!"

"You should have thought about that before you decided to sleep with Dilara," Borias growled.

Natassa grabbed her son's chin and glared into his dark eyes. "You bring shame to our family, Belach. You knew that she was promised to someone else! What if she's pregnant?"

Belach blinked, staring at his mother. He hadn't really thought of that although it was rather ironic that he was ousted by Bahri and not his half brother, Solan. He swatted his mother's hand away and stood from the floor, grimacing at his father.

"You gave my position to that little rat?! I earned that position!" he growled.

Borias grabbed him by his jaw and inched close to his face. "You cannot talk about your brother that way, Belach. That position was taken away from you as a consequence."

"Half brother," Belach narrowed his eyes and Natassa smirked. "You giving away my rightful position to your whore's son, is the biggest mistake you will ever make, father."

Borias felt his blood boil and then snatched his hand away from his son's jaw. Belach rubbed his chin and both glared at one another. "You better pray that Dilara is not carrying your child," he hissed and his son gave him a smug smirk then stormed out of the yurt.

Natassa wrapped her arm around her husband's broad shoulders. "Perhaps, giving away his position as second in command is too harsh of a punishment, Borias." She chuckled softly, "and besides, Xena will never agree to allow her son to move back here!"

He frowned and grabbed her wrist, spinning around to face his righteous wife. "What did you say?"

She smiled nervously and ran her fingers along his chest. "Borias...you know how she can be."

He shook his head and grabbed her hands firmly. "No, how did you know that I needed Xena's permission?" he asked and she scoffed with that nervous grin planted on her lips. "Natassa..." he growled and his grip tightened around her wrists then she cringed. "Have you been reading my letters?"

"Borias..."

He pushed her backward and she fell onto the floor. He pinched her cheeks together and knelt down, staring into her frightened blue eyes. "My letters to Xena and my son are confidential. Remember, I am with you not her!"

Natassa narrowed her eyes and slapped her husband's hand from her cheeks. "Yet, you father two sons from her!"

"We have a son of our own, Natassa! And Xena has Solan and Alexander now! What more do you want?" he scoffed and left their home in a hurry. She grunted and slapped her hand on her knee.

Gabrielle walked into the guest room Xena was now living in, which was also in a secluded part of the lower west wing, far enough from the girls' room. She saw a huge piece of parchment on the floor that covered the entire Persian rug and she frowned.

"You're late," Xena said as she tapped the long pen against her palm.

"Sorry," the blonde nervously apologized then she waltzed over to the empty parchment. "So, what's this?"

Xena walked over the edge of the parchment and pointed to it with the long pen, tapping the parchment. "I want you to draw a battle plan to attack Anatolia."

"Um, and how am I supposed to do that?" Gabrielle folded her arms.

Xena smiled and came around behind her trainee and grasped her shoulders. "Think of this as another training session, Gabrielle. I will teach you how to strategize. Most wars are not fought physically but mentally. Smart people don't attack the enemy with their sword, but with their mind. You understand?"

Gabrielle raised her eyebrow and felt a bit uncomfortable having the sultana incredibly close to her. Her cold hands on her shoulders and long hair grazing her backside. Too close, she thought, she's too close.

"Am I speaking a foreign language or something?" she frowned.

"No, no," Gabrielle scratched her cheek anxiously. "I understand. Where do I begin?"

Xena drew a few X's on the parchment with the long pen and Gabrielle looked over at her, analyzing the look in her eyes. So much fire, she thought, yet she was very calm and determined to oust the Anatolians. She was not such an awful ruler, Gabrielle realized. She was very smart and knew what she wanted when she wanted it and most importantly, she didn't let other people get in the way of her goals.

"We go through the mountains on the border of Persia and enter Anatolia through there in the west pass." Xena said and saw Gabrielle gawking at her with wide doe eyes. "Are you paying attention?"

Gabrielle's cheeks flushed and she averted her eyes down to the parchment that was now marked up with several X's and A's. She hadn't heard a word that Xena said and feared that she'd get angry, so she pretended to follow along, nodding her head.

"You weren't paying attention, were you?" she asked with a subtle frown and Gabrielle gave her a cheeky grin. "You have the same look on your face as one of my son's when he is in trouble," she grumbled. "Gabrielle, I need you to focus. Do you think you could do that?"

Gabrielle sighed and nodded. "You want to attack through the west pass..." she observed and walked around the large parchment, cocking her head. "Why not attack by ship instead?"

Xena smirked and wacked the pen against the parchment. "Ankara is far from the sea. It will do no good to attack by ship. Try again." She folded her arms, watching Gabrielle circle the parchment.

"There's a port by Constantinople," Gabrielle said. "You could go through that city to get inland instead of going through the mountains?" she suggested.

"The Grand Master of the Templar Knights has Constantinople heavily guarded. My men are great warriors, but we would never be able to get through without losing two to three hundred troops. Try again, Gabrielle," she bit her lip as she smiled, seeing the frustration growing in the trainee's eyes.

Is this another one of her games again? Is she trying to make me angry and create a ridiculous plan to attack Anatolia? Or is she trying to push me to try harder to come up with a different strategy better than hers? Or maybe she's trying to make me look stupid.

Xena chuckled under her breath and drew a circle around Anatolia's soldiers and a box around hers. "I am trying not to lose a lot of men in this war. Some of my men are employed to work for Osman in Ankara. He has several bases along the coast, thanks to me," she frowned. "I also have three bases in Greece –"

"In Corinth, Thebes and Athens," Gabrielle interrupted and Xena raised her eyebrows, surprised to hear her say that. She half smiled. "I pay attention sometimes..."

"Very good," Xena smiled. "So, I have a lot of military bases in Greece and two in Persia. What is your strategy to attack Anatolia?"

Gabrielle frowned and rubbed her chin, staring at the map. It was a mess now. Xena had marked it up with her pen so much it was all so confusing. "Can I see the pen?" she asked nicely and the sultana handed it over to her.

She drew circles around Xena's bases in Thebes, Corinth and Athens, then drew arrows pointing to the bases on the coast of Anatolia. She also drew a circle around Jerusalem and drew an arrow directly at Ankara. Xena frowned, folding her arms, overlooking Gabrielle's strange design on the battle map.

"What if...you use your military bases in Greece to attack the coast of Anatolia. That will distract the men and create a diversion so you can go through the west pass into Ankara?" she offered and Xena raised her eyebrow, thinking silently to herself.

Oh no, she hates the idea. Her silence was impenetrable and a bit eerie as well. The longer she stayed quiet, Gabrielle was convinced that Xena hated the plan and she was just formulating a cynical phrase to combat her with to make her look dumb.

"Interesting strategy, Gabrielle," Xena spoke finally and Gabrielle smiled widely, happy to hear that and not some smart remark this time around. "But there is just one problem."

Of course there is, always a problem when it comes to me, Gabrielle cursed to herself.

"Using all of my men to attack Anatolia is foolish. That would leave Greece open for an attack by the Romans. Anatolia is smaller than my entire empire. I don't need to use so much brute force. That would just be..." she grinned deviously, "showing off."

Well that wasn't as bad as I anticipated it would be. "Okay, what if you just use the base in Athens to blockade Anatolia's coast? Athens has a stronger navy anyway."

"Actually, Gabrielle, Corinth has a stronger navy. Athens just has a larger port," Xena said and saw the disappointment in the girl's eyes. "But your idea is not bad. I will take it into consideration," she smiled and Gabrielle nodded, glad to hear that at least.

Xena walked over to her desk so she could jot down some notes. Meanwhile, Gabrielle stood over the map, tapping the pen against her knee nervously. Glancing over, she saw Xena concentrated on her writing and she wrote quickly, very quickly in fact. She looked so focused and determined to get rid of the problematic supposed allies in her empire. Another side I see from you, sultana, Gabrielle mused.

"You are very good at strategizing," Gabrielle said, interrupting Xena's writing.

"Years of practice," she curtly answered and continued writing.

Obviously. What a stupid thing to say, Gabrielle, she chastised herself. "I have a question..."

Xena sighed and lifted her eyes. "Of course you do."

"Are you training all of us so we can help you fight the Anatolians and the Mongols?" she asked and saw a subtle uncertain frown on the sultan's face. She wasn't quite sure what was going through the woman's mind at the moment, but her lack of response was enough to confirm her question.

"You girls don't know how to fight an entire army," Xena said and Gabrielle pursed her lips. "All of you girls were picked off from the streets. I don't expect to turn you into warriors overnight."

Gabrielle frowned and approached the desk. "I was captured by mistake. I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place."

Xena smiled eerily up at the blonde girl. "And now you wish you would have stayed at home, don't you?" she winked. "But now you're stuck here with me," she said and looked down at the paper and continued to write her thoughts down. "You are not my slave, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle scoffed and folded her arms, setting the pen on top of Xena's large stack of papers. "What about all the servants in your palace? Aren't they slaves?"

The sultana frowned and rose from her chair, leaning over the desk, barely a foot from the blonde's face. "I pay my servants, Gabrielle. Whatever lies you heard about me in Greece are not true. I don't allow slavery in my empire. My servants are free to leave when their contract is up with me. I don't keep people here against their will."

"Except me," Gabrielle blurted out and Xena's eyes widened. She instantly regretted saying that. Word vomit I can always count on you to get me into trouble.

Xena then laughed and Gabrielle's eyes grew in fear, watching her laugh loudly in this silent room. Suddenly, she felt so small standing in front of the dark haired woman, smaller than a mouse.

"You believe I am keeping you here against your will? Oh Gabrielle," Xena shook her head. "You did this to yourself! You were too curious for your own good! You couldn't just be like everyone else and mind their own business but you decided to spy on me! You know who I am and I cannot and will not, let you leave my side until I can trust you and by the way, I don't."

Gabrielle frowned and leaned on the desk, coming closer to the sultan's face, feeling bold all of a sudden. "So, you're punishing me?!"

Xena growled and grabbed Gabrielle's jaw firmly. "This is not a punishment!" she hissed through her teeth. "I am teaching you a lesson." She let go of her jaw and Gabrielle winced, rubbing her cheeks.

"Words go a long way in the diplomatic world and you would fit in much better with those arrogant diplomats than spending time with me. You don't know how to control your mouth. You speak your mind and while I am not against free speech, you have lost that privilege around me, Gabrielle. I am fair and I have been more than fair with you. Don't make me change my mind," she warned.

Gabrielle rubbed her arm and bit her bottom lip, gazing into Xena's eyes. "I don't know what you want from me."

"I want you to listen to me," the sultana answered. "You need to understand that I am not your enemy. I am your teacher, your mentor, just like I am with all the other girls."

I can get behind that, Gabrielle nodded. "I have another question."

Xena rolled her eyes and plopped back down into her chair. "What is it?"

"Why do you hate it when I ask questions? I am here to learn after all," she slyly hinted, playing the sultan's game.

Xena smirked and tapped her nails on the desk calmly. "You ask questions about me, not about training. You are not here to be my friend, you are here to train."

"Do you...have any friends?" Gabrielle asked another question and saw the sultana's lip quiver slightly. "Not allies, but friends."

"I don't need friends. They are a distraction. Do you have any more questions for me? Maybe something that pertain to training..." she smiled and Gabrielle shook her head.

An awkward moment of silence filled the room and Gabrielle's eyes wandered around the room. It was considerably smaller than Xena's room that was upstairs, but she gathered that Xena wasn't a very materialistic person. She gave up her identity as a woman to rule two territories. If that wasn't impressive, Gabrielle didn't know what else Xena could be good at. She was an excellent fighter, strategist and even a good mother, a bit strict, but she obviously never let her sons go without. She was good at everything! This only frustrated Gabrielle even more as she thought about it.

Although, Gabrielle once thought that Xena was a tyrant and a horrible person, she couldn't have been more wrong. Xena was pretty fair, as she said many times before, but there something missing. Something vital, something that Xena wasn't good at.

"I have a special job for you, Gabrielle," Xena blurted out, interrupting Gabrielle's inner thoughts. "I am promoting you to a position of authority. You will be in charge of all the girls' training, with my supervision of course."

Gabrielle blinked rapidly and began shaking her head, thinking this was a bad idea. "Oh no, no, no. They don't really like me."

"They don't have to like you," Xena smiled and walked around her desk, facing the nervous trainee. "I want to push you Gabrielle. You are a smart girl but you don't listen. I am giving this position to you not as a punishment, but a reward."

A reward? A reward for what? Not listening? Gabrielle frowned, not understanding why the sultan would give her such a large task and a position of authority. She obviously doesn't trust me so why give me a hard job? To push me? What does that even mean?

"You will start today," Xena grinned widely and saw the fear in those eyes. "I smell your fear again," she hummed and tapped Gabrielle's nose. "Don't let your subjects smell that fear." She whispered then grabbed her veil and turban. "I will be waiting for you outside."

Gabrielle let out a breathy exhale and collapsed against the wall. "She's trying to get me murdered out there."

Xena walked down the hallway and a few girls sat outside their new room, talking together. They turned and saw the sultan walking right past them and their eyes widened, gawking at her. The girls began whispering and Xena frowned then halted.

She turned around and walked back to the girls and smiled. "What are you all doing gossiping?" she asked and the girls stood up immediately. "Just because there was an attack on the palace does not mean we take a break from training. Go put on your armor!"

"Teenagers," she murmured. The girls hurried and ran back to their room and Xena smirked then continued to walk to the gardens, waiting for Gabrielle, which should be interesting, very interesting.

Gabrielle stood in front of the girls, holding a sword in her hand. She looked at all the eyes on her and felt extremely nervous. Her stomach churned and the longer she stood in silence, the more anxious she became. What was Xena thinking? Putting me in charge was not a good idea. I can't even talk to these girls.

Xena smirked and rest her cheek on her gloved palm, observing Gabrielle gawking at all the girls as if they were some kind of monsters getting ready to attack her. Though, the girls remained silent and kept their eyes locked on their new leader. She chuckled under her breath and could smell Gabrielle's fear from far away, it was pathetic.

Gabrielle turned around and saw Xena gloating in her chair underneath the shade. Xena smiled and waved at her. Oh great, she's mocking me already. Slowly turning around she was faced with the gawking girls again, some had smirks on their faces, while others looked confused. Okay, she coached herself, Xena gave me this job for a reason, so I need to impress her.

She took in a deep breath and tried to not let Xena's glare behind her bother her too much. "Okay, so today I will be training you all." She began and some girls snickered. That fear, they smell my fear. "We will..." her eyes darted to all the girls whispering and she frowned. "We will begin with hand to hand combat." She tossed her sword aside.

"We already know how to fight in hand to hand combat," Yasmine shouted from the back row.

Gabrielle huffed. This is not working and she could feel Xena's eyes burning into her backside. "Everyone could use more practice."

"Yeah right," Astremia laughed and some other girls joined in.

Gabrielle frowned, now growing frustrated. She snapped her head around and saw Xena waving her hand to continue the training session. Oh I see what you're doing now. You think I don't listen to you so now you're putting me in your shoes. Another game, Xena, I understand now. Fine, you want to play this game, then I will play along.

"Astremia, since you think you're the best. Come up here and show us all," Gabrielle smirked and Astremia frowned then dropped her weapon and approached Gabrielle in the front row of the girls.

Astremia steadied herself and put her fists to her face. Gabrielle turned and looked at the sultana, basking in this training session. "Oh you're not going to train with me." She said and Astremia frowned, lowering her guard.

Gabrielle grabbed three other girls from the front row and positioned them around the arrogant brunette. Astremia turned around herself and saw she was surrounded. Gabrielle adjusted the girls and took a step back with folded arms.

"You will fight your teammates. You will sometimes be faced with more than one enemy."

Astremia cackled. "This is ridiculous! Who put you in charge anyway?"

"Do as she says, Astremia," Xena finally spoke and the brunette lowered her eyes and snarled over at Gabrielle. She sat up in her chair, gripping the armrests, watching eagerly what Astremia was going to do. This should be interesting and maybe someone will end up with a broken nose. She smiled and looked over at Gabrielle. The two shared a glance at one another. Clever girl, she thought.

Joan looked apologetically at Astremia and blocked her face. Gabrielle came up behind Joan and fixed her stance. "Astremia is not your friend or your teammate right now, she's your enemy," Gabrielle sneered, glaring at Astremia. This is what you get for attacking me in the baths, she thought.

Astremia shook her head and then was caught off guard by Joan socking her in the jaw, sending her stumbling backward. She ran into Julia behind her and was pushed forward and collapsed to her knees on the hot sand.

Gabrielle smirked and looked over at Xena, but she wasn't amused, she was frowning. I can't win here can I? What am I doing wrong?

Valerie grabbed Astremia by her neck and kneed her in the nose. Astremia groaned and fell on her back, moaning in pain. All three girls leered over their beaten teammate and frowned sadly, eager to help her. Joan grabbed Astremia's wrist and lifted her off the ground slowly.

Julia and Valerie aided Astremia as she hung her arms over their shoulders. Gabrielle looked at the blood streaming down Astremia's face and her eyes widened. The brunette grimaced at her and hobbled off with the two girls.

Xena stood from her chair. "You will continue training with my men and use your weapons." She waved her hand over and the girls immediately grabbed their swords and walked over to the opposite side of the gardens, waiting for the male soldiers sitting off, waiting patiently for them.

Gabrielle's jaw dropped and she grabbed her sword then marched over to the sultan. "I thought you wanted me to take charge?"

Xena narrowed her eyelids, glaring down at her trainee. "I asked you to take charge, not vengeance. You failed," she said lowly then walked back to her chair to observe the other girls in their training.

Fail? I failed? Failed what? Astremia beats me up because I'm spending too much time with the sultan and then I get put into a leadership role and still fail? This is insane –she's insane! No matter what I do, Xena will never be happy, or maybe I didn't play her game correctly. That must be it, or she set me up to fail. No, Gabrielle, this is your fault, not Xena's.

Below the kitchen, Silvia saw a man carrying barrels of wine through the back door. She wiped her flour drenched hands on her apron and smiled, running over to the wine merchant. Frowning, she pushed one of the barrels to the wall.

"Where is Hasan? He normally brings the wine," she said.

The man smiled weakly and kept pushing the barrels over to the servant woman. "Oh, well, Hasan is busy delivering wine to Susa. He asked me to fill in for him."

Silvia nodded, cautiously looking at the strange wine merchant. "Where is this wine from exactly? These aren't the same barrels that come from Delphi."

He ignored her subtle comment and question then pulled out a dagger from his belt. He charged at her and thrust the dagger in her back. She gasped breathlessly and he put his hand over her mouth, muffling her screams. He twisted the dagger in her back and she closed her eyes and continued screaming. He pushed the blade deeper in her backside and she fell unconscious, slumping over his arm.

He took the dagger out and blood poured from her wound. He then grabbed her from underneath her arms and drug her off. He began panicking since this was not part of the plan. Why did you have to ask questions you stupid woman? Grunting he drug her across the floor, trying to find a place to put her body.

"Silvia! Where are you? I need two bottles of wine!" Miriam called out from upstairs in the kitchen.

Shit, he cursed to himself. He looked around the cellar and then a pool of dirty water. He drug her over, grunting and groaning then tossed her in the water, wiping his hands on his pants.

Miriam ran downstairs and frowned seeing the wine merchant still unloading wine barrels. "Where is the maid that came down here?"

He smiled at the young lady, "she stepped out to grab something. She told me to continue unloading the wine."

Miriam nodded her head slowly. Odd, she didn't think that Silvia would leave. They had everything in the kitchen they needed, except yeast, maybe she went to the market to get that? "Well, alright. When you're finished just exit out the back." She instructed and the man nodded.

Gabrielle walked down the hallway and was exhausted from training. She hadn't seen Xena in an hour since she left the session early. I don't understand what I did wrong? "What did I do?" she lifted her head and saw Solan with his little brother, covered in soot and dirt.

"Wow, what happened to you two?" she smiled, now a bit amused.

"We were cleaning upstairs," Alexander said and Solan rolled his eyes.

"More like I cleaned. He sat around, avoiding us all day!"

Alexander frowned and hit his brother in his ribcage. "Hey, I helped!" he pouted and Solan sighed heavily. "At least I didn't get in trouble today!"

"Yeah, right," Solan turned to Gabrielle. "How was training?"

Gabrielle groaned and shook her head. "Terrible. Solan, can I ask you something?" she asked and he nodded. "How do I get on your mother's good side?"

He chuckled softly. "She's hard to get along with sometimes." He then remembered his father's letter and knew that he would eventually have to face her wrath and tell her what was going on, but he needed to work up to that.

"Listen, Gabrielle, my mother doesn't really get along with a lot of people. She must like you since she keeps talking to you. Just be patient with her," he advised and she frowned, rubbing her chin. "Come on Alexander, let's go to the baths," he grabbed his brother's hand, brushing past Gabrielle.

Patient? How can I be patient with someone I don't even understand? Not even her own sons were patient with her, how am I supposed to do this? This is impossible! That's it, I'm going in. Gabrielle marched towards Xena's room.

Kara came into Xena's room and set down a tray of wine and some fruit. "Wine from Delphi came in this afternoon, mistress." She poured the wine in the glass and Xena took the glass, continuing to take notes on her potential war with Anatolia.

Gabrielle barged into Xena's room and marched over to the bed, glaring over the sultana. "I need to talk to you!"

Xena smiled softly and set the wine down on the table beside the bed. "Kara, that will be all," she said and the young servant nodded then quickly left the room. "What can I do for you? Since you think I am always available at all hours of the day." She teased.

Gabrielle rest her hands on her hips and grimaced. "What did I do wrong today? I thought you wanted me to instruct the girls? I was just doing what you asked me to do! And I know you wanted me to understand how you feel when I don't listen to you, but I don't understand you!"

Xena pursed her lips and folded her arms, leaning against the large pillows. "You know what you don't understand, Gabrielle? How to listen."

"I thought we established this already," the blonde curtly answered.

"That's what I'm talking about. You don't listen, you act without thinking. You weren't trying to train the girls. You wanted a piece of Astremia because you don't get along with her. Just because you don't get along with one of your teammates does not mean you get to act on your emotions. You are using your emotions to fight, Gabrielle. You can't do that."

Gabrielle scoffed and stared at the sultana, whom had a big smile on her face. "So what you're saying is that I should fight without emotion? What if I kill someone? Do I remain emotionless?"

Xena shook her head. "I didn't say to be emotionless, but you need to separate your feelings from those you dislike. Feelings are a distraction and they have no place in war."

"But...don't love and war go together?" Gabrielle pried.

Xena lowered her eyes and really hated that word love. It was a hard word for her to except and had been more of a burden her entire life than a blessing. She loved her sons and maybe at one point she loved Borias too, but the two grew apart quickly after Solan was born. All they could do was bicker and argue, even before Solan was born, mostly due to his wife, Natassa. Love and war, indeed.

"Sometimes they go together, but they shouldn't," she said then took a large sip of the wine.

Gabrielle sighed heavily, still not quite sure what Xena meant by that. "What can I do to improve?" she asked, almost hesitant of the answer.

Xena felt her lungs constrict and she held her hand over her chest, frowning. She sat up and breathed heavily. She looked up, staring at Gabrielle and her vision blurred. She shook her head and tried to get out of the bed, nearly falling over, she grasped the bedpost and hoisted herself up slowly, watching the room spin around her. She blinked rapidly, hoping it would go away.

"Are you alright?" Gabrielle furrowed her eyebrows, looking into the sultana's eyes darting back and forth as well as holding onto the bed for dear life.

Xena reached for the wine glass, tapping her fingers on the table, trying to grasp the wine. She ran her hand along the stem and picked up the glass and sniffed the wine. Her eyes widened and smelled the foul stench from the wine and dropped the glass then heard Gabrielle yelp.

"Hello?" Gabrielle grabbed Xena's arm, trying to make sense of what was going on. She held onto her arm tightly, shaking her. "Your highness?" Xena's eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fell backwards onto the bed, bringing Gabrielle with her.

Gabrielle gasped and she was on top of Xena and panicked, immediately crawling off of her. "Oh god," she muttered. She leaned over Xena and hesitantly put her ear over her mouth and heard her breathing. Oh good, you're alive. Alive and unconscious. She bit her bottom lip and pat Xena's cheeks softly. "Xena?" she whispered. She cupped the sultana's cheeks in her palms and shook her, but she was not waking up.

"This is really bad, really bad!" she frantically began fidgeting with her tunic as she sat next to an unconscious woman...on her bed.

She then heard loud banging on the door and she jumped. "Your majesty! I need to talk to you!" Dajan called from the other side of the door and Gabrielle bit her fingernails anxiously. Great, he's going to think I did this to her.

When Dajan didn't hear an answer he opened the door and stormed in. "Your highness, some kitchen maids found Silvia in –" he saw Xena laying on the bed with one of her trainees leaning over her. His eyes widened and ran to the bed's side. "What happened? What did you do?!" he growled.

Gabrielle shook her head. "Nothing! I didn't do anything! She passed out, I –I" she stuttered and Dajan lifted Xena up, checking to see if she was breathing.

He leaned over and saw a broken wine on the rug next to the bed. "She drank the wine?" he feared the answer and the blonde nodded. He sighed heavily and moved Xena's body to lay against the pillows. "I am going to put this entire palace under arrest. You stay here!" he rushed out of the room.

"What?! You can't leave me in here!" she yelled. Oh great. She sighed and looked over at Xena and frowned sadly.

Solan held the letter in his hands and walked down the hall, approaching his doom. He saw his mother's temporary room at the end of the hall and sighed. "Now, just remain calm. Explain to her that father means well and you are awarded this position because of Belach's stupidity." He smiled, nodding, thinking that was a good thing to say. That ought to soften his mother's wrath, yes.

"Your majesty!" Dajan yelled at Solan and he jumped, hiding the letter behind his back.

"Oh hello, Dajan. What can I do for you?" he put on a false big smile.

The adviser skid to a stop and caught his breath. "I need your help. You are your mother's second in command if she is not available."

I am? He frowned, not knowing that his mother gave him such a high position of authority. He smiled, quite excited and then realized that the only reason his mother probably entrusted him with this role was if...something happened to her.

"What's happened?" he asked, grabbing Dajan's shoulders. "What happened to her?!" he snarled.

"I can't explain right now." He didn't want to worry the boy even more than he already was. Besides, it would just cause him to become distracted. "Nobody is to leave the palace. I need you to round up all of the trainees to scope the palace. Can you do that?"

Solan nodded and Dajan walked off in a hurry. "Wait! What is going on?"

Dajan cringed and spoke over his shoulder. "Someone poisoned the wine."