AN: this is very important, Velasca's betrayal hasn't happened yet in this story, so technically Gabrielle is still an amazon princess right now and I have made a mistake without realizing it, as the plot was already formed in my mind (if I recall this correctly) I might have once referred to Gabrielle as Queen of the Amazons while in fact she still is a Princess, I beg pardon for this little slip, it happens!
AN: sorry for the irregular updates but I have a few exams in these days and I don't have much free time. Also from this chapter I'm trying a slightly different writing style, I hope it to be an improvement!
AN: ok, last one I promise, special thanks to Lady Shadow 92 for her reviews, and all of you other guys following this story as well! I'd love to see some reviews from you too but again, thank you lady shadow!
Chapter 11
It was cold, the chill of night still inside her bones although the rising sun was slowly heating the blonde girl who fought the cold with nothing but a simple blanket while sleeping for just a few hours. She woke up when it was still dark and moved quickly towards the amazon village, reaching the outskirt of town at the same time the sun started to peer over the crests of the eastern mountains
She moved quietly using the cover of threes as she was taught by the same people she was now sneaking on. She didn't have a plan and was running out of time, she couldn't wait the cover of darkness for the Warrior Princess would be here before nightfall and so she was forced to move now, hoping that the feeble light of dawn would still provide the bit of cover she needed to move safely across the huts
One of her advantages as an Amazon Princess was to know every single patrol route and their timing, she lingered a bit on the word "Princess" with a bit of sadness, but moved on nonetheless and reached safely the border of her village, like an intruder in her own house, and for a moment was surprised to see no one in sight. She approached the nearest hut, running the last few paces until she was in contact with its fabric and lowered herself in the proximity of the window. she reached its corner and started to peek over
After a moment of silence, she heard some footsteps and hurried to take cover against the thatched wall, disappearing from the line of sight, she breathed in deeply, fighting the increasing adrenaline and fear and forced herself to move. She leaned over the same corner and saw a small group of amazons moving towards the center of the village.
She looked at them, raising an eyebrow in suspicion as she noticed their ceremonial dresses, she thought it to be rather curious especially considering it was barely past down
What if Xena's already here?
The thought instilled a deep fear in her heart, she needed to move and quickly; she followed the small group almost recklessly before they disappeared out of sight. She quickly traced them nonetheless and found them in the village's square along with the rest of the tribe. The early hour and the whole tribe reunited confirmed her earlier suspect and she felt her legs shaking, immediately her mind raced, creating thousands of different scenarios in which Xena somehow had gotten to the Chronos Stone before her.
In that moment, Gabrielle was frightened, she would have started panicking if not for one small detail that caught her attention. Immediately the fear lingering in her heart was replaced by something worst, for there, in the middle of the square were Ephiny, Solari and two more of her amazon friends, chained against a pole
She couldn't hear the words spoken by the Queen, but as soon as she removed her ceremonial mask the bard was hit by a wave of confusion first and horror then, as the face behind the mask didn't belong to the Queen she knew, instead it was the one of a dark haired amazon, with a coldness in her eyes that sent chills crawling down Gabrielle's spine, and In a moment of terror she realized this was no welcoming committee for Xena but was in fact a public execution
She dared to move closer to the mob, partially relying on the fact that their attention was drawn by the young woman on the wooden platform shouting words against the bounded amazons and receiving a loud roar every time she finished a phrase, although the blonde princess realized not everyone was cheering
She kept moving forward until she was whiting earshot and looked again at the amazon towering over her friends; her face seemed familiar yet she had no memory of her
"for the betrayal of our nation, of your Queen and our traditions; blessed by the approval of the elder council" she moved closer to the prisoners, slowly unsheathing her sword while covering the last step from Ephiny "I, Queen Velasca of the Amazons, by the will of our Goddess Artemis" she raised her sword over the amazon's head, ready to strike against her exposed neck, and started to charge the blow "sentence you to death"
"WAIT!"
a shout, a yell was heard in the square and then only silence, hundreds of people there, waiting, not making a noise, their breaths only witnesses of their presence. The mob departed quietly, while an enraged Queen was scanning it looking for the one who would dare to defy her will, and there she was, as soon as the mob split into two separate groups, leaving an empty space in the middle, there, only one person stood tall and proud. Velasca had to double check to make sure she was seeing properly but then her surprised expression was replaced with an evil grin
"it is our Princess!" she raised her arms as to welcome the newcomer, hiding her hate behind the fake smile
A glimmer of hope lightened the chained amazons, who cheered her name but were soon shut down by Velasca
"they are responsible for betraying me" she smiled at the woman in victory, trying to justify her actions "their Queen"
"what happened to Queen Melosa?" the bard asked defiantly
"she killed her" Ephiny answered her question, enraged, and continued "but now that you are back she has no power anymore, you can claim it" she shouted before Velasca hit her with all her strength on the jaw
"this is none your business, this is not your tribe, not anymore" she coldly spitted at the bard who found herself in a hard position
The implications of Ephiny's words were huge, she couldn't be the Queen, surely not with Xena, although it could make thing easier for the stone it also meant fighting against Velasca, but she had to fight her nonetheless, to save her friends' life. She had no choice
She observed her opponent and suddenly wasn't so sure anymore, although the bard looked calm and composed on the outside, inside she knew her chances with the amazon were very thin, she was afraid to lose for this time it wouldn't just mean her life but Ephiny and the other's as well
She had to be strong, somehow, she found the courage she needed deep within her and approached the evil Queen, it was her only chance for saving them
"I challenge you, Queen of the amazons, in a royal fight; this madness ends now" she yelled, strong and clear, receiving a boar from the mob that could be heard from miles away
"so you choose death, how heroic..." she mockingly whispered, making sure only the bard could hear her
She walked on the platform, ignoring the cold stare from the Queen, and approached her wounded friend; she crouched to look into the amazon's eyes and saw the happiness and faith she was creating in her, she focused on her jaw, one hand softly caressing it softly, always trying to look out for others before herself she was satisfied when she saw no other injuries and focused back on the blue eyes scanning for her, which reminded her of someone else, and immediately a fit of sadness hit her, watering the green eyes with the first tears
"Gabrielle, I know you can defeat her, you gave us hope again, thank you"
She raised, turning slowly to the waiting Queen who'd been starring at her back pondering whatever to stab her right there right then but decided to go wait for the fair fight
"choose your weapon"
Gabrielle had no doubts on her choice, there, just a few feet below her she could feel the piercing glares of a whole nation watching her, every breath, every move she made it was followed by silent eyes.
"staff" she said calmly, while at the same time she could feel her hands starting to shake for the pressure on her, once again she gazed at the blue eyes seeking some courage from them
This wasn't the way she expected this day to go, it wasn't the way it was meant to, she silently sent a prayer to the gods and followed Velasca below, in the middle of the square where the other amazons had already formed a circle while shouting both names in a vain attempt to cheer them, or at least it was for her. She could feel her heartbeat pounding strongly against her chest, almost hurting her; closing her eyes for a moment she could even hear it such was its strength, pulsating in her veins. She realized it was looking as if she was walking for a procession, heading to a slaughter and certain death, so she mustered all her courage and pride remaining and raised her head proudly while entering the circle of amazons, while one was offering her the weapon
"thank you" she could barely speak but tried to thank the woman anyway, although she found her voice cracking on the last word for the stress
She moved the staff in her hands, weighing it, the familiar feeling already relaxing her a bit
She saw her opponent dancing elegantly with the staff in her hands until she was ready to fight; they met each other in the middle of the circle, she could feel the hateful glare from the Queen but paid no attention, no words were spoken, no idiotic one liners, showing the importance of the fight and the tension gripping the two women, although one was successfully hiding it behind the hate.
At first they started circling each other, studying one another until the first blows were dealt, Velasca struck in a couple of extremely fast hits although they held not a lot of strength, to brake the bard's defense but she proved it to be well built as she parried every blow with grace, without exposing herself
Gabrielle decided to wait, she had faced opponents like her she just had to wait until Velasca's patience would run short and decide to go for a reckless attack, giving the bard all the chance she needed to defeat her, only it wasn't happening, the bard was starting to fear for her plane as the Amazon Queen was still calm on her feet and circling the bard until she decided to go with faster hits which the bard barely had the time to deflect with her staff, and after this second wave of faster attacks she worryingly found herself short of breath, with her heart pounding fast against her rib cage, almost deafening her
It was so fast that only a few experienced amazons saw it coming, but the blonde girl wasn't one of them, instead she felt like a chariot was running over her, for a moment her vision went white and felt something warm on her face, her vision came back to her and for a moment she had two Velasca before her. She quickly shaken it away but was taken by surprise by the next couple of hits who struck her sides, sending her in a jolt of pain, she could feel her ribs protesting against the powerful blows and needed time she didn't have to catch her breath, she limped away from the Queen trying to buy a few seconds, one hands sliding away from the staff, reaching her wounded side
Velasca took the opportunity and charged a powerful blow against the bard, which she managed to deflect as she expected and quickly went for another fast strike on the bard's belly which she didn't see and sent her to the ground
In a moment, the little girl found herself starring at the morning sky before it faded away and darkness took her, she found herself starring at a couple of very familiar blue eyes and raised a hand to reach for the warrior's face with a tear threatening to leave her eyes but when she was close enough to touch it, it disappeared, leaving its place to a grinning dark haired amazon
In a desperate move, mixed with hate and anger the bard struck at her opponent's leg, catching her by surprise and sending her to the ground; she stood up, taking her former place, and started to hit the fallen amazon in the face and on the head with forceful blows, feed by the anger flowing in her veins and didn't stop her rampage not even when blood started to sock her clothes and staff, or when the amazon under her went still from the attack, only when every last piece of strength left her she stopped. It was over, Gabrielle had won
It took her a few moments to realize that, as she tried to shake away the rage in her, she found herself shaking uncontrollably
But the wrath of her actions and the immediate after effects made her lower her guard and didn't noticed the glimmer coming from beneath her, she only screamed when an inhuman pain struck her leg, she looked down and saw the tip of a blade coming out of her right leg, just above the knee, on her thigh
She almost passed out from the view, blood now trickling down, covering the skin and soaking the ground under her she had never felt such tremendous pain and met the ground with force once more, only this time she saw an enraged Velasca, her face an indistinguishable mix of blood, standing above her with the same dagger she used against her, ready to pierce her heart. Instinctively she put her hands up on the line of the blade, fighting against the crazed Queen
It was just a moment but it was enough for her to truly fear for her life, the last thing she saw before passing out where the other amazons moving against their former Queen, quickly stopping her from doing any more damage, before darkness decided to claim her once more.
She woke up a few hours later, the first thing she noticed was the excruciating pain on her leg, she immediately tried to touch it when a hand stopped her from doing so; she looked up and found herself starring at a curly blonde woman that was giving her a warm smile
"don't touch it" she lifted the bard's hands and delicately placed it on her belly "you saved our lives today little one" she smiled, loosing herself in her green eyes "thank you"
"Ephiny…" the other blondie tried to sit up but was promptly stopped by the amazon
"easy there, just try to rest ok, it's a nasty wound" she said, referring to her leg "but if we are lucky it will heal in a couple of weeks, if you treat it properly" the taller woman grinned, but then seemed lost in her thoughts for a moment and suddenly turned serious
"Gabrielle, we need to talk"
The smile on the bard face all but disappeared at the seriousness of Ephiny's stone, guessing what was on her mind
"Xena's coming in a few hours, what are your orders?"
At that the bard fell silent, lost in the meaning of the amazon's words until the truth hit her at once, she was Queen of the Amazons a, whole tribe was depending on her. It come to her as a shock but then she focused on the next problem, she had the Warrior Princess, her once friend, coming to the tribe to get the Chronos Stone and she had to stop her, although it could mean endangering the whole tribe, even if she ordered Xena to be killed, but quickly discarded it, she couldn't, no matter what, allow herself to give such order, she had to act, first she needed to move the stone away from the village only that it could prove to be a problem as not even a Queen was allowed to come close to the Stone since Artemis Gave it as a gift to the whole tribe
She was thinking about it, when the solution decided to present itself in the form of the man Solari was dragging inside
"my queen, we found this scum of a man sneaking around the village" she said reluctantly, pushing him in front of her before the queen
Gabrielle grinned at that, relief showing on her face as the solution to all her problem was chained right in front of her
"Autolycus" she smiled and then ordered the amazons to leave her
"but my queen" they punctually protested but after a glare from the bard they were gone
"how nice of you to come" she teased the king of thieves
"how nice indeed" the man answered sarcastically
"seems like I have the perfect job for you"
Her smile faded when she noticed, against her orders, the same amazon of before rushing inside her hut once again, only this time with a more worried look on her face
"sorry to interrupt my queen…" she tried to buy some time, waiting for some kind of reaction from the bard but when saw none she swallowed and continued "Xena is here, she reached our borders and we are escorting her here as we speak"
It took a moment for the bard to steady her heartbeats but quickly gained control over her emotions and tried to put together a plan although Solari still standing there awkwardly and looking at her was throwing the blonde off focus
"is there something else wrong?" she asked sarcastically
"Velasca has escaped"
"WHAT?!"