AN: it's been quite a long time since I've updated this and I'm sorry for that. I had to do a lot of stuff this summer and was not able to have access to a computer. Sorry if this a bit drawn out but it's all I got for now lol. Enjoy ;)

Chapter 14

The Capitol –Athens

Xena decided to go into the city to look around and inspect the rest of her empire. She had not been outside of the palace for quite some time and after being trapped in that awful dreamscape she needed some fresh air. The palace sometimes felt more like a prison than a home especially when war was brewing. Whenever there was a war approaching everything was put on a hold in the palace so she could focus on battle plans and new strategies. Her strategies for war were never the same and that's what made her unbeatable until that one time she lost. Xena knew that she lost because she was being lazy and unfocused. Her mind was in several places and she remained distracted throughout the entire war with the Romans. She would make sure that wouldn't happen again. Gabrielle mentioned that she would handle everything in the background, which she did, but Xena didn't ask her to do this, she wanted to do it.

While she roamed the city many of the people smiled at her, happy to see her back in the public eye. It had been a long time since she had shown her face to her people. She had been absent far too long and that lead to an immense amount of guilt in her heart. She used to not care about these commoners at all until Gabrielle came along. Xena realized that she would probably be dead because of her carelessness if Gabrielle hadn't shown up in the strange way that she did. She never expected a small blonde village girl to befriend her even after what she did all those years ago. And here they were yet again, their third war together and still with the same people –the Romans. Xena was growing bored fighting Romans, she thought that they should just be exterminated. If they were gotten rid of then she would have nobody to fight with which made being an empress very boring and tiresome. Although, she enjoyed having the freedom to wander around her city without any interruptions as she was alone. Gabrielle was back at the palace writing up a storm to scholars in Persia, Allat in Assyria and some colleagues in Egypt.

A month went by and Xena had not heard from Eve and her whereabouts. She told herself not to worry as that only lead to awful thoughts and horrid memories of her own past. She only hoped that Eve was not making a mistake staying with Samuel. It wasn't that she didn't trust Eve but as she grew older she noticed the fire slowly building up inside her daughter. Eve was far too much like Xena at that age; unpredictable and spontaneous. These were good traits some of the time and could be used wisely. In her heart she knew Eve was a smart young woman and she had grown so much in a short amount of time, but there was one problem, one little thing that separated her from Xena. Eve was somewhat a spoiled brat at times and often times threw tantrums when she did not get her way. Xena was never like this when she was growing up and she blamed that on the lifestyle that she gave Eve.

Her daughter had everything and anything that she could ever want, which was a good thing, but Xena never had the things that Eve had. She lived a life of luxury and never suffered at all or went through the amount of pain that Xena did, but she didn't want her to go through that. In fact, Xena promised herself that she would never allow Eve to see the awful things that she did when she was that age. The empress recollected the young years of her life and at Eve's age she had already a child, many warrants out for her and she was on several kill lists. Not to mention that she was a warlord and a ruthless murderer at that age.

Looking back at those times Xena could not even recognize herself being like that anymore. She didn't want Eve ever to know that old Xena. She never saw that Xena but Solan did for awhile when he was a teenager. Eve had only known one Xena, the good one. Throughout Eve's life she knew that she had done some questionable things and could be a bit overprotective of her but she didn't want her to turn out like she did. Xena knew that she wouldn't as long as she kept an eye on her, but she was her own person. She couldn't control Eve especially since she was a woman now, not the little stubborn girl she once was –still stubborn though. She was capable of making her own decisions.

Eve took it upon herself to stay with the Persian King for awhile longer to devise a plan to make him ally with the Greek Empire. Xena knew that was only half of the reason Eve wanted to stay. She knew that the two liked one another when they were children so long ago. It was obvious even back then. They had good chemistry together and got along very well with each other. Now that they were adults, it was different because now they had adult feelings, more uncontrollable emotions and desires.

A subtle smirk crossed Xena's lips as she thought of her daughter's sneaky ways. She knew all too well why Eve wished to stay, though she would keep these thoughts to herself when she saw Eve again. She didn't want to cause a rift between them because of a man. Still, she wanted to hear back from Eve to see how things were fairing in Persia, but she decided to be patient and patience was a virtue that she had not gained yet even after all these years.

She tread down the narrow alleyway back to her black stallion waiting for her. Smiling, she hopped onto the horse and swiftly left the city to go back to the palace. A few hours of solace was all she needed to regroup her thoughts. She will need to be focused for Octavius and his devious plans. She was ready for him and she had the feeling that he was underestimating her because of her absence in the battlefield. Xena was going to make sure that she would defeat the Roman Emperor and take over once and for all. It wasn't just about winning anymore, but about ending the awful aristocratic nature of the Roman Empire. The Greeks were more free thinkers and although Xena was not by nature a true Greek, she was a mere cousin of them and ruled their people. She felt the need to preserve the Greek culture and not have the Roman culture come swooping in. divide and conquer, as the great Caesar once said. Xena grinned thinking of that Roman. It was a shame she didn't kill him first, but his own beloved friends and senators did that for her. He dug his own grave with his arrogance to be a great king of Rome, king of the world.

She didn't desire to rule the world. She desired peace, something Gabrielle taught her. She hoped that she could live up to that goal.

Gabrielle sat outside in the atrium focusing on inner peace and tranquility. She had her legs crossed in front of her with her eyes closed. She exhaled slowly and tried to make her mind very still. Her mind had been so chaotic lately especially with stupid Octavius in the way and Xena's constant demands of this document and that. She wanted to be left alone for awhile and was actually thankful that Xena decided to take some time and go to the inner city for awhile.

Finally, some peace and quiet, she thought.

Xena's heels clicked on the marble floor as she came closer to the atrium and saw Gabrielle sitting...on the dirt? Her footsteps ceased and she folded her arms, amused at Gabrielle's stillness. She quietly padded outside and rounded the blonde, coming to stand in front of her, blocking the bright sunlight.

Gabrielles eyebrows creased as she felt a shadow blocking the warm sun. she opened one eye and looked up to see Xena with a large smirk planted on her face. She groaned and now her concentration was broken. "I was in the middle of something," she tersely grumbled.

Xena's eyebrows lifted in shock. She was tempted to laugh but remained calm, setting her hands on her hips. "What are you doing?" she mocked.

"Meditating. But now you have ruined that," she sighed and stood up brushing the dirt off her pants. Xena blinked once she saw what Gabrielle was wearing. She had never seen her wear something such as this. The pants were airy and brightly colored with a subtle pattern of orange diamonds. She was also not wearing...shoes?

"Since when do you meditate? Are you a monk now?" Xena teased, not knowing that Gabrielle had taken some serious thought into this. The blonde snapped her head around and frowned at her. Xena's smile disappeared and suddenly she felt like she let out a side of Gabrielle she rarely saw. "It's just a joke." She lamely added. Too late for fixing, she told herself.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes and grabbed her wineskin to retreat to the palace. Xena followed her quietly and she felt like Xena wanted to keep asking questions but wasn't really in the mood to answer any of them. She went to get her bag of scrolls and dug through it, pulling out a large scroll. "This is for you, it's from Persia."

That made Xena's eyes light up and her smile reappeared. "What did it say?" she took the scroll then saw Gabrielle walk off without answering. "Gabrielle?"

"I didn't read it," she called out. "I'm going to take a bath, maybe I can meditate in the bath in peace," she tartly added as she rounded the corner, disappearing for good. Xena cocked her head and shook her head, confused at Gabrielle's sudden spoiled behavior. She wondered what bit her in the night for her to act so sour towards her.

No matter, she thought. Happy that she got word from Eve she hastily went to her room to change and read what the scroll said.

Once changed into something more comfortable she sat on her bed alone with the scroll. She opened the seal and began reading it as quickly as her eyes and brain allowed her. A strange feeling came over her when she read that Eve was coming here to Athens with Samuel. She didn't call him king, she called him Samuel. This letter was so informal, which was fine, but usually Xena got a letter from the king or emperor. This entire meeting was informal and that struck her as very odd. Though, she was excited that Eve had decided to come back to Athens and maybe even bring a possible ally too.

She set the scroll aside and stared blankly at the wall almost hoping that it would talk back to her. The door opened and Gabrielle waltzed in looking happier and more relaxed than she was earlier. She saw Xena's blank stare and became concerned. Must have been the letter from Eve, she guessed.

"So what did the letter say?" Gabrielle inquired. She sat next to her then picked up the scroll skimming over it as Xena remained quiet. Once she read it, she didn't see anything wrong with it. she thought Xena would be happy to hear that Eve was coming back to Athens but her reaction was...empty.

"Aren't you excited?" she asked yet another question and got silence as her answer. Sighing deeply she grabbed Xena's hand finally getting her out of the daze she was in.

Xena smiled weakly at her blonde friend, "I was lost in my own thoughts once again."

Gabrielle hadn't the slightest idea what Xena meant by 'again'. The two hadn't seen each other all morning. She began to wonder what Xena exactly did when she took that small trip to the inner city. It wasn't like her to sit and think or even delve into her inner thoughts. Xena was quite reserved when it came to rehashing the past and she hid it very well. She wasn't a talker unless it was to get something that she wanted, like Rome for example. No, Gabrielle saw Xena was lost deep in her own mind. Xena once told her that her mind was her own enemy and it definitely was. Xena was her own worst enemy when it came to her psyche.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she grinned, hopeful that Xena would comply. She scooted closer to her, feeling the warmth of her skin touch hers. She felt Xena relax though inside she was tense, she knew it just by looking at her mannerisms.

Xena shook her head, "I feel there is something wrong, Gabrielle," she said quietly.

The blonde nodded, unsure how there could be anything wrong at the moment. Everything was going very smoothly and Eve was coming back home. What could go wrong? There was always something wrong apparently in Xena's mind. "What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking a lot about Eve since she left," she began and waited for a response but instead Gabrielle listened quietly. "She reminds me a lot of myself in many ways. She thinks she knows what she's doing, but the truth is...she doesn't," she smirked. "At her age I thought I knew everything about the world. I thought I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. In my mind I was invincible." She sighed heavily and folded her arms. "But I wasn't invincible. I knew nothing about how the world worked at the time. In my youth I believed that the universe revolved around me and everything had to be done my way on my time. I fear that Eve thinks this way. She said she wanted to fix what she had wronged, but I feel..." she placed a hand over her heart, "she is doing more harm than good."

A few moments of silence passed and Gabrielle now understood what had been bothering Xena, but if she was so distressed, she could have said something about it. she said there would be no more secrets, yet Xena still kept some, of course. She wasn't offended by this, Xena was just this way and probably would never change no matter how old she was.

"You feel like convincing Samuel to ally with us was a bad thing to do on Eve's part? She only wants to help, you know how she is," she soothed her friend. Xena remained still and calm on the outside, remaining glued to the wall ahead. "Eve is her own person you know. She has a lot of your traits yes, but she's not really...like you," she said awkwardly.

Xena eyed her curiously. "You didn't know me when I was her age, Gabrielle. I was wild and untamable. Borias knew that which was why we always fought and disagreed on everything," she snickered remembering her old ways.

"And you feel like she is following in your footsteps?" Gabrielle questioned, still uncertain what Xena was getting at here. She was going back and forth, not really making a whole lot of sense.

The empress shook her head, "Eve is her own person, like you said. She and I are nothing alike in that aspect. I told myself that she would never have the life that I did and I've made sure of that so far."

Gabrielle now understood everything. "So you're just worried about her?" she glanced over into Xena's ice blue eyes and saw an understanding. She smiled, "she'll be fine. You have nothing to worry about. If that Persian King has done anything to her I'll make sure to get him before you do." She pulled out of her Sais and tapped it on one of her palms.

Xena grinned, "I can always count on you Gabrielle," she teased. Standing up she pulled Gabrielle up off the bed. "She didn't say when she was coming and this letter probably took a few days to get here so I assume...they will arrive soon, very soon," her eyes narrowed. Gabrielle didn't like that look in her eyes one bit. A sly smile appeared. "We should prepare for them..."

Gabrielle followed Xena out of the bedroom hastily down the stairs. She had something up her sleeve for sure. Xena had a plan and it was mischievous.

Eve rode in the caravan with Samuel through the mountains of Assyria, taking the back roads towards Anatolia to grab a ship to sail to Athens. He advised that this was the fastest route not to mention he really enjoyed the scenery. It was much better than traveling through the flat plains of Persia and Assyria.

She stared out the window, peeking behind the curtains, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap. She didn't know why but she felt nervous going back to Athens to see her mother and Gabrielle. She felt as if they would be disappointed in her. Somehow, she convinced Samuel to ally with Greece, which was good. Her plan had worked, but her mother was tough to impress. Samuel was a good king, but he was still a Persian and it was more than just that.

The young king looked up from the map he was reading and saw Eve's nerves getting the best of her. He grinned and folded the map up. "Hey, you need to relax," he said jarring her. She breathed out sharply and looked across from her into his green almond eyes. "You are nervous to see your mother, right?" she nodded as a response. "You're not the only one. One trick my brother taught me was to bite the inside of my cheek whenever I became nervous. It works every time."

Eve scoffed with a smirk. "Your brother is strange," she sighed. "It's not that I am nervous to see my mother again. It's just...that you're here...with me," she pointed at herself.

Samuel nodded, now understanding everything. "I apologize if I am making the situation more uncomfortable." He said so sincerely and Eve smiled sweetly.

"It's not you, it's just me that's over thinking this meeting. I just hope everything goes well," she hoped. Samuel grinned and pat her knee gently, reassuring her.

Jazzar, the king's vizier rode on his horse alongside Balal in front of the caravan. He looked back with a face of disgust. He really did not comprehend why the king was hanging around a Greek princess. She was Xena's daughter which only meant trouble down the road. Although, Samuel was good at getting what he wanted within reasonable measures of course. Jazzar tried to warn the king about coming in close contact with the Greeks. They were not the same people as the Persians.

The vizier saw the Greeks as inferior to the Persians. Their culture was less developed and the Persians had accomplished so much. Gifted in so many things –math, science, architecture, astronomy, alchemy –the list goes on. The Greeks had philosophy and art. Worthless things to learn according to the vizier.

Jazzar had been Phraates' vizier for many years. He was old as sin but still very quick. He himself had never held a sword, but did most of the battlefield exercises and planning over the years. Samuel had kept Jazzar on the back burner ever since he became king once he hit puberty. When Phraates died, Jazzar appointed one of Samuel's elder brothers to be king but he failed miserably and ended up making a mockery of the Persian Empire. When Samuel turned twelve Jazzar appointed him as king but acted as his advisor for awhile until the young age of sixteen. Samuel told Jazzar that he no longer needed a vizier and sent him on a sabbatical for a few years, asserting his independence.

Samuel believed that Jazzar was holding him back and doubted his authority to rule as a great king of Persia. It wasn't until a few years ago that he decided to allow Jazzar to resume his role as vizier again, but only as an advisor and nothing more.

The thin vizier rubbed his chin as he stared at Balal, the short Persian man riding on the horse across the way. "Balal, what do you think of the princess?"

Balal blinked and stuttered, "oh well...I –I think she is very nice. Princess Eve is a polite girl, very sweet and kind," he grinned.

"hmm," Jazzar nodded his head slowly, pretending to care. "I believe the king has become too close with the princess," he whispered. Balal said nothing and remained quiet. Jazzar snickered. "He has you wrapped around his little finger doesn't he?"

Balal frowned, "his highness is very generous to me. I would never betray his trust, vizier."

"I'm sure," Jazzar replied tersely. He pulled back on the horse's reins and tapped on the caravan. He saw Eve's slender hand pull back the curtains and he smiled creepily at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, princess."

She half grinned but said nothing. She felt Samuel come sit next to her and she set her hand on his lap, assuring him not to intervene. The vizier smirked and trotted alongside the caravan. "We should be reaching Anatolia by night fall. I wanted to make sure you are feeling well. Sometimes these long caravan rides can make others ill."

Eve raised a brow, "I'm fine thanks for asking," she scooted away from the window and felt Samuel's eyes burning into the side of her face. She frowned and snapped her head towards him. "Why does he have to come along?" she whispered forcefully.

Samuel sighed, "if I don't bring him it would look unprofessional in front of your mother. Remember Eve, this is a political meeting between two empires. This cannot be informal. What will she think of me if I just showed up with nobody to represent me?" he asked and she nodded, understanding his reasons.

"I don't like him," she folded her arms and cringed. "He stares at me like I'm the next plague."

The king hid his amusement at Eve's terrible joke. He didn't wish to upset her or bring more fire to the situation, but the things she said sometimes were quite funny. "You're definitely not a plague," he winked and Eve's cheeks reddened. He pulled out some fruit from the bag he carried with him and handed her a pear.

She shook her head refusing the fruit, although it looked really good right about now. The air was crisp and much colder than it was in Persia. Samuel frowned and scooted closer to her. "You still don't feel well?"

She shrugged a lazy shoulder, "I'm just nervous. I'm sure my appetite will return once I am back home," she smiled reassuring his worries. He put it off as being nerves and decided not to bother with it anymore. It was unlikely that she was going to budge anyway. She was very stubborn and she was probably the only woman who refused anything from him. He wasn't used to it, but actually didn't mind it coming from her. He secretly enjoyed her abstinence towards him.

Suddenly he shifted and sat across from her scrambling through his pocket to grab something. She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows as she watched him dig further into his pants to find whatever it was he desperately wanted. Finally, after a few struggling moments, he pulled out a really large locket. It was much bigger than any coin Eve had seen. He flipped the locket open and it was a sun dial in miniature form.

"What's that?" she leaned in closer and saw the dial's shadow slowly shifting.

"A sun dial that my astrologist gave me the other night before we left," he grinned and closed the locket back up. "He told me that he predicts great things will happen in the next year for me and my people."

Eve folded her arms disbelievingly and chuckled, shaking her head. "You and your astrology. You put too much faith into those scholars," she claimed. The king looked shocked and a bit hurt that she'd even say that. She saw the strange absence in his green eyes. "No offense, but I don't believe in those sorts of things."

Samuel grinned, "right. You have your Greek gods to predict stuff for you," he teased.

She frowned, "I don't rely on the gods for anything." Huffing she ignored his teasing manner. "My mother always told me that nobody can predict the future or your fate. We make our own fate."

"Perhaps I may have underestimated your mother, princess," he smiled knowing that really bothered her when he called her princess.

Eve smirked, "she has her moments of wisdom." She watched him as he twirled the sun dial locket in between his fingers. He was in awe with it. "She's not that bad you know," she admitted quietly. His eyes lifted with a small smug smile on his lips. "She's just..."

"Scary? Intimidating? Frightening?" Samuel teased although inside he was deeply serious. Xena scared him ever since he was a child. After she killed his father he never forgot the look on her face. She seemed relieved that he was gone, but once she saw the fear in his young eyes, she seemed to almost soften immediately. Samuel remembered that cold glare in her blue eyes change for a split second to concern for him as a child. He knew at that moment that she did not kill because she wanted to or liked to, it was just the opposite. He was too young to understand at the time because his eyes were blinded by hate for the Greek empress. But now, he felt the utmost respect for the woman and secretly thanked her for killing his father. He wasn't a good person nor a good ruler for Persia. He knew this even at the age of nine and now that he is king, he wanted to make Persia and Greece whole again.

"Just a joke," he lightened the mood and saw a smile appear on Eve's face. He really enjoyed seeing her smile. She had a beautiful smile and aura about her that he had never seen on any other woman before. He hadn't been around a lot of women in his life, at least not ones that he cared about. Since his mother and father were gone and his brothers remained absent, he was all alone. The vizier often encouraged him to marry one of his cousins to keep the family line pure, but he never wanted to do that. His cousin was gorgeous yes, but too shy and much too young, not to mention that she was his family. It wasn't so odd to marry family members in his culture, but it disinterested him. The vizier quickly found out that he could not force anything down the young king's throat like he did to his late father.

Xena was picking out fabric that was laid out on a large table downstairs in the atrium. She walked down the table and carefully examined each set of fabric and ones that she did not like she tossed away with a wave of her hand then one of the maids would grab the fabric and fold it into a basket. After many trials she finally picked a fabric that she liked –a nice dark sparkly burgundy. Pointing to that one the young maid grabbed it and opened up the long piece of fabric. Xena nodded her head overlooking the cloth once more. Smiling she decided that'd be the best fit for what she had in mind.

Later she came into her bedroom and saw Gabrielle meditating on the floor in a strange position. She closed the door behind her and raised a curious brow at her dear friend. "How can you stay in a position like that?" she circled Gabrielle like a hawk, examining her twisted body.

Gabrielle opened her eyes and saw Xena staring down at her. She smiled, almost tempted to laugh at her hilarious confused expression. "It's called yoga and it takes practice."

Xena folded her arms nodding her head, trying to understand just what she was doing. "Is this what you do when I give you time off?" she smirked. "Remind me to give you more work to do," she teased.

Gabrielle collapsed finally as Xena had distracted her enough. "You should try it with me sometime," she stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow. The empress turned her head slowly with a laughable 'are you insane' face.

"I don't think my body can contort in those positions anymore, Gabrielle. I may look younger but I am not," she shook her head and opened her closet to look for a set of clothing to wear for when Eve and her Persian consort arrived. "I picked out the fabric for Eve's dress I am going to have made for her."

"Oh you mean you finally chose one?" Gabrielle grinned and Xena frowned. "Xena, you must have gone through over fifty different colors. Let me guess, it's either blue, green or some shade of red." She rested her hands on her hips.

Xena pursed her lips, "actually it's burgundy," she said defensively. "It's sparkly too," she added.

Gabrielle chuckled, "figures. So predictable," she wrapped the towel around her neck and saw Xena's jaw drop as if she were surprised.

"I am not predictable," she argued.

The blonde clicked her tongue and folded her arms, ready to challenge the empress. "Okay, so you either have that emerald green dress or the dark navy blue one with the mesh sleeves in your hands right now."

Xena looked at her hands and she indeed had both gowns of those exact descriptions in her possession. She put the gowns back on the hangers. "Lucky guess, Gabrielle," she mocked, rolling her eyes. The blonde giggled. She knew her too well. She then pulled out a black gown with silver trim on the sleeves and showed her blonde companion. "How's this for predictable?"

"You would pick black next," Gabrielle teased with a smug grin. Xena frowned and threw the gown on the bed feeling a bit defeated.

"I'm wearing it," she closed the closet doors and mumbled to herself. "Predictable...yeah right."

After a long week of traveling Eve and Samuel finally made it to Athens and came inside the palace entrance. Eve stepped out of the caravan, still exhausted from the long journey. She hardly slept or ate anything unlike Samuel. Her eyes scanned the palace and it brought a smile to her face. She missed seeing the grand white columned palace. This place was her home. Everything here was so different than the Persian palace she had grown to like. Everything was white and pristine. The gold finishes on the columns and doors was always a nice touch. It was so odd to see the statues of female goddesses in front of the palace instead of lions like the Persian palace. The large staircase in the front of the palace was also something she missed. It made for a grand entrance and also made visitors a bit intimidated as the empress stood at the top of the stairs.

She felt a hand came to the small of her back and she turned to see Samuel. "Happy to be home?" he asked and she nodded her head, unsure what to say or how to feel. She felt like she had been gone so long and never realized how much she missed her home until she was gone. Looking up at the top of the stairs she saw Gabrielle and then her mother coming out slowly from the entrance. She looked happy, but yet reserved or somewhat containing her emotions. Probably because Samuel was here and so was his Persian entourage.

Eve left his side and immediately ran up the mile of stairs to greet them both. Unexpectedly she crashed into her mother, hugging her tightly as if it were the last time she'd ever see her again. Xena's eyes widened and somehow forgotten what it felt like to be embraced like that from Eve. The only time she remembered when she hugged her like that was when she was about ten years old.

She pulled away and then hugged Gabrielle tightly as well. Gabrielle felt her lungs constrict and couldn't take in a deep breath enough for her to react equally. "I've missed you both so much," Eve said with a huge smile on her face.

"We missed you too, by the gods," Gabrielle exhaled deeply, catching her breath. She never knew that Eve would react like that. Xena smirked then saw the lonely king standing at the foot of the stairs pacing around in a circle, waiting patiently.

"Eve aren't you going to invite your guest in.." she eyed Samuel and Eve gasped, almost forgetting the poor guy was down there.

Eve hurried down the stairs and smiled at him. "Mother says I should invite you in."

"I don't know, I kind of liked staying outside?" he teased then took her hand and walked up the stairs into the palace following Xena and Gabrielle.

Once all were inside Xena lead everyone to sit down in a more comfortable area. Samuel was anxious and sat far away from Xena and Gabrielle but not too close to Eve. He was afraid of what she might say. Gabrielle eyed the two and smiled at Eve. She seemed just as nervous as Samuel was, although a different kind of nervous. She now understood what Xena meant from their conversation a few days ago about Eve. She really liked Samuel and it was very obvious even if she didn't intend it to be. The young king couldn't keep his eyes off of her even when Eve shied away from him.

Xena sat down and observed Samuel and his tense stance. She smiled, "am I making you uncomfortable?" she asked with a bit of mirth in her eyes.

Samuel nervously chuckled, "yes, very much," he answered.

"At least you are honest," Xena smiled. She saw the fear in his eyes, a different kind of fear. It had been awhile since she had dealt with such a young ruler. He was younger than Octavius was when she met him for the first time in person. This Persian king was a fine ruler and very polite, unlike his father. She admired his bravery for even coming up here no matter what Eve convinced him to do. "Well, I'm not here to make you feel uncomfortable as much as I'd like to. For the sake of my daughter, I'll be civil with you, Samuel," she winked. Her gestures only made him feel more uncomfortable but he did his best to hide it.

Eve sighed and leaned back in the cushioned chair watching the two exchange a silent conversation with their eyes. Samuel seemed the most nervous out of everyone. Meanwhile Gabrielle had her notepad ready to go. She was always taking notes but Eve had forgotten that this was technically a business meeting. She also forgot that her mother was in the room and that she was the empress and he king.

The longer he stared at Xena the more he realized that this was a challenge for him to assert himself. He now understood her game and she was very good at it. she had many years on her plate as a ruler and he had so few compared to her. She couldn't possibly take me seriously, he thought.

"I came here to ask if I could ally with your empire. It was brought to my attention that you and Octavius are now at war with one another yet again. He will try and come to me for help. While E..." he eyed Eve and corrected himself. "...the princess stayed with me I realized that it would seem odd not to ally with her mother's empire. The Persian Empire used to be friends with the Greeks and I'd like to rekindle that relationship. I believe that it would do both of us some good especially since Rome is expanding her empire further into the eastern lands."

Xena nodded her head quite impressed with the king's little speech. It seemed that Eve had done well, although she felt that most of those words were his own and not her doing at all. Perhaps Eve's going to Persia was a good thing after all. She sat up and crossed one leg over the other. "I never had a problem with the Persians you know. Some people just made it more difficult for me to like them..."

Samuel smiled softly, "my father was a pain I understand. I grew up with him as a father and a ruler. I would listen to him rant about you and the entire Greek race. It never made any sense because my mother was half Greek," he admitted this to no one until now. Only his father knew of this. Gabrielle's eyes widened and she continued to record everything he said down on the parchment.

"so technically, I am one of you," he smiled and Xena smiled in return. She was enjoying this young man's company and his manners as well. She almost didn't want to believe him since he was the seed of Phraates but he truly was unlike his father. "We are all the same people no matter where we come from. It is silly that we have our lands divided because of our color, culture, food and language. For a long time I've wanted a better world and ever since I became king I wanted a better Persia for my people. Everyone deserves to be more educated about other people's cultures. We could all learn from one another."

Xena blinked, unsure of what to say after that lengthy speech he just gave. "You have a way with words that I do not have. I am impressed with you Samuel but you have not won me over yet. You may have been gifted by Virgil The Poet, but are you good with a sword?" she grinned deviously.

Samuel became serious and curtly nodded his head. "I have been trained by some of the best assassins in Persia, empress. I may have not been in a war but I have seen it. I want to avoid it," he said honestly.

Xena shared a glance with Gabrielle and both smiled at each other. She focused back to Samuel. "War is unavoidable in this world, but anyone who enjoys war is a fool. I used to look forward to wars because it meant that there would be a victor and a loser. It is different when you are not alone and I once told a good friend of mine that it is not a nice feeling to be alone," she eyed Gabrielle once more.

Samuel followed her eyes and hid a grin when he realized that someone was Gabrielle that the empress spoke of. The words that his father said about Xena were all wrong. She was intimidating but she was not the snake that he made her out to be. She was compassionate and strong. She was not the Xena that his father ranted about for years and years.

"Forgive me but...I was not expecting you to be like this," he began.

This did not surprise Xena one bit. "Were you expecting a hydra with six heads?" she teased. He shook his head unsure how to respond to that. "Small joke. I make those a lot. Octavius loves them," she winked.

Eve rolled her eyes, "she's joking again," she told him and Samuel smiled for the first time, no longer feeling uncomfortable. He looked at the princess with soft eyes and Xena tilted her chin watching the two exchange a silent stare with each other.

Xena interrupted the two's little conversation. "This meeting is very informal and I am eager to learn more from you, Samuel but I'd like to steal my daughter for awhile. We will revisit this conversation, yes?" she stood up and he copied her. He nodded her head and she replied with a smile.

Eve stood up and felt a rush overcome her and an instant headache emerged. She fell back down into the chair placing her hand over her forehead. Gabrielle stood up coming to her aid but Samuel had beat her to it. He knelt down next to her and placed his hand on hers. Gabrielle looked to see Xena a bit confused. Xena creased her brows and watched the young Persian and his genuine concern for her daughter. It was an odd sight to see and she somewhat wished she had that when she was her age.

He stood up and folded his arms. "She hardly ate anything the entire way here. I am sure she is overly tired," he nodded.

Xena frowned and grabbed Eve's hand gently pushing her to Gabrielle's arms. "Take her to her room, Gabrielle," she pushed them along. Samuel began following them and Xena put her arm in front of his chest. "We can handle it from here," she curtly said.

Samuel didn't like that but he had to remember that he was a guest in her home and after that nice conversation, he'd hate to spoil that. "Will you let me know if she's alright then?" he felt a bit out of bounds when he asked this but he didn't really care.

Xena raised an eyebrow at the young king. He truly cared for Eve, very strange she noted. "I will."

He sat down watching the three women disappear upstairs. He sighed heavily and his head hung low as he waited. He figured that he would be waiting here for a long time and he was rather impatient with these things.

A few hours later Gabrielle had managed to get Eve to drink an abundance of liquid and tried to make her eat something but refused many times. She sat up in bed as she listened to Gabrielle talk to her constantly to keep her busy from impending boredom.

Xena walked into the room and leaned against the wall listening to Gabrielle talk and talk. She could talk her way out of anything, she thought. Gabrielle caught a glimpse of her and smiled. Eve saw her eyes travel elsewhere and turned around to see her mother standing in the doorway. The empress grinned at her daughter and Eve smiled weakly.

"He keeps asking about you," she meant Samuel and Eve let out a sharp sigh. "How are you feeling now?"

Eve shrugged, "alright I guess. I haven't been feeling myself for awhile. He told me to tell you...but I didn't want to worry you," she mumbled.

Xena sighed and sat down on the bed next to her with Gabrielle on the opposite side. "So you think telling me now makes me any less worried?" she grinned as her finger traced Eve's slender cheek.

Eve shook her head with a small smile. "No..." she admitted shyly, almost feeling like a child again. "I just wanted to do things on my own."

Gabrielle looked at Xena and saw the color fade from her face. "Where have I heard that before," she saw Xena look away then she got up and turned her back towards them. "It's alright to do things on your own. We both encourage it but...you don't have to be alone. We are both here for you, you know this right?"

The brunette princess nodded, "I understand that but you both can't mother me forever."

Gabrielle saw Xena staring out the window and decided that they should both leave. She got up and squeezed Eve's hand. "I think your mother and I will leave you alone for awhile. I can send Samuel up here to keep you company if you'd like?" she eyed Xena and saw that she did not even flinch. Eve's eyes lit up at that. She expected her mother to protest but got silence instead. "Xena, let's go," she grabbed a hold of her arm and they left the room closing the door behind them.

"Did you hear what she said?" Gabrielle whispered outside of Eve's room. Xena remained quiet and Gabrielle slapped her arm.

The empress frowned, "Yes I heard what she said." She turned to look at the closed door and closed her eyes recollecting herself. "She has been gone for far too long," she narrowed her eyes. Her mind began ticking and she thought of all the scenarios running through her mind.

Gabrielle was confused at what Xena said. She didn't understand but what she did see were the gears turning in Xena's head. "What does that even mean?"

"You will see, Gabrielle."