AN: I wanted to reiterate that every single person in this story that is not canon to the Xena: Warrior Princess series is in fact a historical character and all of these events between Attila, Theodosius and Valentinian III actually happened. The added characters (ex. Ellac, Kreka, Dengi, Ernak etc), the Hun tribes, and places, are real as well.
In the series when Xena was with Borias, judging by their clothing, lived together in a Hunnic tribe in the Balkans (Pannonia/Aquincicum/Onogur/Akitziri), Anatolia (Nicaea/Constantinople/Troy), China (Chin [Qin]) and Mongolia (Ashina/Gokturk). Just to give a better visual for you all.
Reading reinvented history , guys. Enjoy and I appreciate your feedback, it's great ;)
Also, sorry for the really long author's note.
Chapter 19 –Art of Seduction
"We should attack from the sides," Xena traced her finger along the map. "They won't be able to escape. They'll be surrounded by us." Aetius scoffed and she frowned, glaring at her commander. "Is something funny?"
He folded his arms and looked down at the map, shaking his head. "That is an old tactic. We will be attacked in a matter of seconds. It's better if we attack from the front."
She placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head. "And risk losing most of the best men? I don't think so," she pointed to the map once more and placed a marker on the outer circle of Rome. She picked up two more markers and set them on either side of the lonely marker, representing Theodosius' men. "We attack from the sides," she moved the two markers further out on the map. "We spread out and use archers in the back of the line, hidden in the trees."
Aetius frowned, not understanding why Xena wanted to use this tactic. It was outdated and nobody used it anymore. It has proven to fail over the years which is why the Roman army had stopped employing it. "Our front will be open and they'll see our plan if we spread out."
She smiled, nodding. "I had a feeling you'd say that," she moved one marker to the front line, "once they start moving in on us, the two front lines move to the center of the field. With the hidden archers in a circle they will be completely surrounded and have nowhere to flee." He sighed and rubbed his chin, now understanding why Xena wanted to use this strategy. She liked to trap her enemies and did not like to drag out battles. She liked to avoid lengthy battles and usually finished wiping everyone out in a few hours or a day at most. "Does my commander approve of the plan?" she hissed, narrowing her eyes and he glared at her.
"Fine, but I want to lead the charge."
She shrugged, "oh, you'll be in the front line, no worries," she winked and walked off out of the conference room. "I want to ride out tomorrow morning before sunrise. Be ready."
Lucas stepped beside Aetius once he waited until Xena was gone. "She put you in the front line, sir..." he felt worried and the commander exhaled heavily.
"Make sure the men are ready for tomorrow. Wouldn't want to disappoint the general now would we?" he sarcastically said and stormed off.
Gabrielle walked down the hall with Xena, holding her stack of parchment in her arms. "Did I hear you say you want Aetius in the front line?" she frowned.
Xena turned to her scribe, "he wants to lead the charge. Why not give the man what he wants?" she chuckled.
"That is the quickest way to die, Xena," Gabrielle didn't know much about warfare but she knew that the men in the front always died first. Putting Aetius in the front line of the charge was risky for Xena to do so. Aetius may be bitter about his demotion and Xena as his superior, but she wasn't thinking straight.
"Then I guess he should learn to be quick on his feet," Xena walked into her bedroom and took off her cape clasps and began unbuckling her gauntlets around her arms. "Why do you care what happens to Aetius, anyway?"
Gabrielle set her parchment on the table near the vanity set. "I don't, but you made a promise to the emperor –to Rome –to protect the people, soldiers and empire. Putting Aetius in the front line is a death sentence and you know it."
Xena sat on her bed and began taking off her boots. "Aetius doesn't like me, we both know this. He undermines my authority. Perhaps when he stares death in the eye, he will listen to me," she showcased an eerie smile and Gabrielle rolled her eyes.
"You're treating this like a game," she sat down in the chair at the table, folding her arms disapprovingly.
Xena threw her boots aside, "you still don't get it do you?" she scoffed and began unlacing her corset. "I don't care about Rome, Gabrielle. I couldn't give two shits about the Roman Empire," she exhaled heavily as the corset loosened and she tossed it on the bed. "I already have the Black and Caspian Seas that I took from Attila," she grinned, "and what has he done? Absolutely nothing. He hasn't even tried to attack me even after what I did in Pannonia."
Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, "so what are you saying? You want Attila to attack you?"
"No, I want him to join with me. He doesn't need any Roman by his side whether it is Valentinian or Theodosius. He only allied with the emperor because he was upset at me. I can make him join me and attacking Theodosius' men will be the perfect opportunity to reunite." Her eyes widened with excitement and Gabrielle wasn't so sure she liked that face at all.
Sighing, the scribe leaned her cheek on her palm, staring at Xena bemusedly. "And how exactly will you do that?" she wondered.
Xena stood up and walked over to her wardrobe filled with new dresses that she had made for her. She hadn't been one to wear dresses at all, especially Roman ones. She pulled out an off white gown, "with some persuasion," her smirk grew and Gabrielle's eyes widened.
"You're going to sleep with him?!" she exclaimed.
Xena raised an eyebrow, seeing the reaction from her scribe was most odd and not the one she had been expecting. "It's a business transaction, Gabrielle. Not personal."
Gabrielle frowned and instantly felt her body heat up once she heard Xena say that. If she didn't know better, she'd say that she actually liked the warrior woman, but she didn't want Xena to know that. She didn't want to ruin what they had and what they had so far was nice when they were alone.
"If you're not waging war, you're having sex?" Gabrielle shook her head, not believing this at all.
"I get whatever I want in whichever way possible. Attila and I have always been very close which is why it will be easy to seduce him," she placed the dress back onto the hanger and noticed her scribe wasn't too happy to hear that.
"He has a wife," Gabrielle muttered.
Xena sauntered over to Gabrielle and lifted her chin with her finger, staring into her green eyes. "I don't care," she smirked. "That wife of his and I have never gotten along. She hates it when I'm around him. If his first wife hadn't died, I would never dare come close to Attila."
Gabrielle's eyes grew, "he had a previous wife?"
Xena let go of Gabrielle's chin and nodded, "she was a very nice woman. We got along very well. She is Ellac's mother."
Gabrielle's head hung as she thought that must have been devastating for Ellac to lose his mother, but she still didn't think it was right for Xena to go through with this little persuasive plan of hers either. "Why does Attila's wife hate you?"
Xena chuckled, "jealousy is an ugly thing, Gabrielle."
Oh, so she doesn't like jealous women. Note to self, don't show any sort of jealousy at all in the future, if there is a future. She cleared her throat and grabbed the parchment, organizing the pages accordingly of the meeting with Aetius. "I should prepare the report for the emperor. He will be expecting it by the end of the day," she looked outside and saw the sun setting and sighed. "Which will be soon..." she muttered and began jotting down a few notes on the pages of Xena's additional commentary on the attack for tomorrow.
Xena smiled and grabbed a bottle of wine on her way out of the room. "Well, don't let me distract you."
Gabrielle turned and saw Xena about to leave even though they just got here. "Where are you going?" she tapped the quill on the desk anxiously.
"Going to celebrate with my new soldiers before the battle tomorrow," Xena smiled.
Gabrielle snorted, "you're going to have a party before a giant massacre?"
"Very optimistic, Gabrielle," the warrior said playfully. "I would invite you, but you're busy," she eyed the report and Gabrielle nodded, getting back to work.
Once Xena left Gabrielle looked at the door and threw the quill down on the desk. She stared at the lengthy report and knew that she would probably be here for hours. A party? She's going to celebrate pre-death of hundreds of men? Scoffing she couldn't believe that Xena would do that, although, she couldn't believe a lot of the things she did. As she continued gawking at the pages spread out across the large desk she sighed heavily. She began contemplating why she felt the way she did right now. She wanted to go to the party with Xena and ignore this report but if she did that then it would ruin any future relationship between the emperor and his new general. She just couldn't do that to Xena then she questioned why she was even helping her in the first place. She kidnapped me, cut me, hit me and treated me horribly many times. Why am I even here? With her of all people? She is the kind of people that people run from and fear. Yet, Gabrielle had lost her fear of Xena awhile ago once she decided to open up to her, but Xena was a ticking time bomb. She was very unpredictable at times and Gabrielle never knew when she'd turn into a horrible tyrant. Anything set her off it seemed like.
"Focus Gabrielle!" she groaned and picked up the quill to correct a few things on the report, watching the sun setting in the sky.
Anastasia sat at her desk inside the classroom of the school. Ms. Alexandria was giving a lecture about a few ancient Greek philosophers though Anastasia wasn't paying attention. She had received a letter from her mother this morning and was dying to read it. She slipped the letter out from her bag and carefully opened it, reading it silently to herself.
Her eyebrows furrowed and she gasped, "WHAT?!" she yelled out, interrupting the class and the teacher paused in her lecture.
Ms. Alexandria frowned, folding her arms. All the girls in the room turned around staring at Anastasia in the back of the classroom. "Something you want to share with us, Anastasia?"
She lifted her eyes and saw everyone gawking at her confusedly. Her cheeks reddened and she tucked the letter underneath her thigh. "No, that's okay," she smiled nervously.
Ms. Alexandria nodded, "good, then you can explain this quote by Plato for us," she grinned and Ana's eyes widened. Ana sighed and stood up, walking to the front of the class, embarrassed at herself for her little outburst.
After school ended Anastasia grabbed her bag and walked out, holding her mother's letter in her hands. A voice from behind called out, "Ana, do you want to come to Larissa's house tonight?"
Anastasia slipped the letter in her bag and turned, smiling at the three girls. "Oh, no thanks. I think I'm going to go home and write a letter to my mother."
Larissa smirked, "how come she doesn't live with you?"
"She...she lives in Rome," Ana sighed and folded her arms. If only that was still a lie, but after she read her mother's message, it was definitely true now. Xander's lie came true somehow and she had no idea how her mother was able to land a position in Rome, especially as a General of the Roman army.
Larissa nodded, "well, if you change your mind you know where to find us." She smiled and walked off with her friends. Anastasia frowned then stormed down the street to go back to her home.
"Xander!" Anastasia slammed the door and charged through the hallway and found him sitting down reading a letter. She threw her bag on the chair and he lifted his head, raising a curious brow. "Mother is a Roman General?!"
He smirked, "I know, she sent me a letter too," he pulled out a box and set it on the table. Anastasia walked forward, glaring at the box.
"What is that?" she asked curiously.
Xander opened the heavy box and it was filled with Roman pounds and her jaw dropped. "Your mother sent this over this morning. I may have told her that you wanted some more dresses," he teased and the teen smiled.
"Wow, I've never seen so much money in my life," she sat beside him and then sighed. "How did she get that position, Xander?" she was more curious about that instead of the large box of coin sitting on the table in front of her.
He sighed, "your mother has her ways," he exhaled heavily and saw a solemn look on her face. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out with your friends instead of hanging out here with me?" he nudged her arm and she smiled.
She turned to him with a devious grin on her lips, "well, there is a party at Larissa's house tonight."
He frowned, "no boys, right?"
"No of course not. I remember the rules," she raised her eyebrows, leaning into his chest. "Can I go?" she begged and he rolled his eyes. "Please?" sighing, he finally relented and she kissed his cheek. "Thank you!" she hopped off the sofa and took a handful of the coin and he gasped.
"What are you doing?" he watched as she grabbed her bag, already heading out of the room.
"Going to buy some new dresses," she winked and ran off, "I won't be back late!" she called out and shut the door behind her.
Xander folded his arms, shaking his head. "Teenagers," he scoffed.
Anastasia came into Larissa's home and all the girls from the academy turned, gawking at her as their eyes scanned her gold dress. Julie ran over to her and touched her dress, "wow, where did you get this?"
Anastasia smirked, "I bought it."
Julie's eyes widened, "this dress must have cost a fortune!" she grinned, linking arms with her friend, "how did you get it?"
"My mother sends money from Rome," Ana grinned and all the girls surrounded her, awing over her gorgeous dress.
Larissa raised an eyebrow, "what does your mother do in Rome exactly?" she asked and Anastasia lifted her eyes nervously.
"She works in the military..." she didn't want to tell anybody that her mother was the general of the Roman Empire. That would probably give everything away, but these people were pretty much clueless about the Roman political climate and affairs. She noticed Larissa staring at her longer than usual.
Julie pulled her along, "you should meet some of the boys from the academy. I'm sure they would love to meet you!"
Anastasia's eyes widened and she halted, "boys?" she whispered and Julie frowned. "I can't be around boys, Julie."
"Why not? Come on, you're gorgeous. Any boy would fall for you!" the brunette grinned and all other girls agreed.
The dark haired Hun teen smiled nervously and began backing away from her group of friends, "no you don't understand. My mother will kill me if she finds out I were around boys."
Larissa smirked deviously and linked arms with Anastasia, "well, she's not here, is she?" she teased. "What is she going to do? Kill them?" she laughed and the other girls joined in.
Anastasia sighed. If only you knew, Larissa. She was now being forced to go outside in the atrium where all the boys were mingling with the girls from the academy. Her eyes widened as Larissa dragged her along with her. She was pushed outside and a few boys turned their heads, staring at her.
Julie whispered in her ear, "you should talk to Said, he's from Antioch," she urged her and Anastasia remained frozen.
Larissa saw Anastasia falter and chuckled, "what's the matter, Thrace?" she teased her calling her by her school nickname she received on the first day of class, "haven't you ever been around anyone from the opposite sex before?"
Anastasia frowned at her redheaded friend, "of course I have." I used to be one of the boys. "I told my uncle that there were no boys at this party. If he finds out that I lied, he's never going to let me hang out with you again."
Larissa laughed, "relax, Ana. He's not going to find out because you aren't going to tell him, are you?" she frowned, semi threatening her.
Said, the boy from Antioch in the eastern Roman Empire, approached her and her eyes grew anxiously as she stared into his dark brown eyes. Well, this can't be worse than that opium party on my birthday. "Anastasia, right?" he asked and she nodded. "I've heard a lot of things about you."
Her cheeks paled, "you have? What did you hear?" she was beginning to become paranoid that her Thrace story had failed and everyone would know who she really is.
He raised an eyebrow, "Larissa told me you're from Amphipolis. My cousin lives there. Maybe he knows your family?"
She laughed nervously. "Highly unlikely," she mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
The Roman army stood in the outfield of the country side of the city. Xena rode in on her horse to join Aetius by his side. She adjusted her red plumed helmet and surveyed the area. Theodosius' men saw them immediately and began scrambling, mounting their horses and grabbing their weapons.
She smirked, "we will ask if they want to surrender before attacking them," she said and her commander frowned towards her.
"I beg your pardon? That was not part of the plan."
Xena chuckled, "that is the problem with you Romans –you always follow the rules," she kicked her horse and rode down in between her army and Theodosius' army.
Aetius' eyes widened, "she's mad!" he growled and Lucas joined him.
"What is she doing?" he asked.
The commander shook his head, "acting like a fool..." he muttered and folded his arms as he sat upon his horse, watching Xena approach the horde of men fearlessly.
Xena halted and frowned, looking around at all the men. They all appeared to be the same, dress the same and everything, but someone had to be the leader here, but who? "Who is in charge?" she yelled out.
A man trotted forward, raising his sword, "I am," he smiled, bowing his head at her and she lifted her chin, scanning the man. He looked too ordinary, she thought –just like every other soldier here. "Commander Magnus of Constantinople," he announced himself.
She nodded, "I am giving you a chance to surrender to me. If you behave," an eerie smile graced her lips, "then we can go our separate ways, deal?" she hissed.
Magnus frowned, peering behind her he saw Flavius Aetius sitting on his horse impatiently. "Surrender for what exactly? We were given this land by Emperor Valentinian," he was so confused as to what was going on. He hadn't heard word from Theodosius about this at all and definitely didn't know that Xena was in charge of this expedition, especially working with Aetius.
"It's not your land anymore by orders of Valentinian himself. One last chance..." she teased and he frowned, pulling out his second sword from its sheath. She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Alright, if that's the way you want to go about this," she pulled out her sword, lifting it high in the air.
Magnus cried out and thrust his sword forward alerting his men to attack and suddenly a wave of arrows came out of nowhere and struck his army from the sides, front and rear. His eyes widened as he spun around to see most of his front lines being shot and falling off their horses, crying in agony.
Xena laughed and yanked on the horse's reins and rode up the hill to join her army. Aetius' jaw dropped and saw Theodosius' men dropping like flies. Xena rode along the front line waving her sword for the first row to attack with full force. She turned around then rode behind to the second row and pointed to her left then to her right. "Spread out!" she yelled and the soldiers dispersed at her command.
Trotting to Aetius she grinned cheekily, "front line is all yours," she said and rode off to the top of the hill to observe from afar. He groaned and pulled on the reins as he began riding down the hill to the middle of the battlefield.
Magnus fought off Xena's men as quickly as he could, slicing through their thick armor wasn't working. He began attacking their exposed legs instead, able to hold them off as long as he possibly could. Growling he pulled his blade out of a Roman's chest and breathed heavily, lifting his eyes to see none other than Flavius Aetius riding towards him.
"Aetius!" he frowned and the blonde commander halted on his horse in the middle of the battle. "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted.
The commander glanced around and saw Theodosius' men falling, some retreating, others fighting for their lives. He never thought that the two Roman co-emperors would be fighting against one another and he certainly never thought that Xena would be in charge either. What was Valentinian thinking? Oh that's right he wasn't. Ever.
"The emperor wants your men gone from Rome!" Aetius answered.
Magnus scoffed, "and Xena is the General?!" he couldn't believe it and by the looks of it, he saw Aetius felt the same. "This is madness!"
Aetius sighed, "call off this fight and surrender, Magnus. You are losing," he begged him though he knew his counterpart would not be willing to give up a fight. He leaned down atop of his steed, "is she watching?"
Magnus looked passed Aetius and saw Xena on her horse, watching the entire massacre on the top of the hill by herself. He nodded slowly, "yes."
"Surrender now! Call off your men!" the Roman commander was now pleading and Magnus frowned, looking around at his defeated men. He had already lost too many and the archers in the shrubbery was not helping either.
Magnus lifted his sword, "halt!" he yelled out and his men left standing stopped fighting and began backing away from the Romans. He pointed his sword at Aetius as he slowly stepped away from him, ashamed that he had succumb to this woman and to Valentinian as well. He was the emperor yes, but an awful one at that.
Moments later Xena rode down to the middle of the field and saw Magnus lined up with his men, at least fifty of them, glaring at her. She smiled at them all. "Should have surrendered when I gave you the chance," she sighed and Mangus' lip quivered as his blood began boiling. She slowly trotted along the front line of the eastern Romans left standing and frowned. "I want all of these men."
Aetius' eyes widened, "for what?!" he snarled.
Xena turned around and smirked at the commander, "to teach them a lesson," she waved her hand, "tie them up," she commanded. Aetius pinched the bridge of his nose and he knew what was coming. This was Rome, this is not Pannonia, he kept telling himself, though Xena didn't seem to care where she was. She would never change.
Once all fifty of the men were tied up they were brought to the center of the field and forced down to their knees. Xena smiled, taking off her gloves and unsheathing her sword, her eyes grew wild, staring at the unfortunate souls in front of her. She walked over to Aetius and handed him her sword. "Execute them," she hissed.
He turned to her with malice in his eyes, "are you insane?!"
She gripped his wrist as he held her sword tightly in his hand. "I command you!" she yelled. "Execute them all!" He stood, refusing to move and she growled, snatching the sword from his grasp and went over to the first man in line and with a quick swing, she decapitated the soldier. "I will kill them all by myself if need be," her eyes widened as she stared at the soldier, staring up at her with mercy in his eyes. She smiled and thrust her blade forward right into his throat and blood poured from his mouth onto his armor.
She kicked the man in his chest, pulling her blade out and he fell onto his back. She turned around and looked at all of her men. "I want all of these men beheaded except Magnus," she demanded and the soldiers pulled out their swords, nervously staring at each other. She wiped the sword on one of Theodosius' soldier's clothing and walked over to Aetius. "You ever defy me again and I will have your head mounted on my wall," she whispered and stormed off back to her horse.
Aetius folded his arms and Magnus approached him, grabbing his arm firmly. "Am I supposed to stand here and watch all my men die by her hands?!" he hissed.
Aetius sighed, "she is my superior, Magnus. I cannot defy her."
"Bullshit!" Magnus growled, "she is out of line! You must go tell Valentinian about this!"
"I can't!" the commander shouted back, "he's the one who hired the woman! I can't go against her word or she will have me removed from my position," he groaned, glaring at Xena as she trotted off with a group of soldiers back to her villa in Rome. He saw the Romans beheading all of his Theodosius' men one by one and he could tell none of them wanted to do this, but since Xena commanded them, they had no choice. "She has so much power."
Magnus nodded, "do you believe she is incompetent in fulfilling her duties as a general?"
Aetius disagreed, "she is not incompetent, my friend. She knows what she is doing," he rubbed his chin, "I just need to find out what her motive is..."
In the evening Xena and Aetius were summoned to the Roman palace to meet with Valentinian to tell him of the outcome of the exclusion of Theodosius' men from the city. Xena walked into the throne chamber with Gabrielle by her side. She noticed Valentinian had his scribe next to him as well and frowned, feeling a bit worried that her plan wasn't going to go accordingly if he too had his scribe, though she trusted Gabrielle to record everything just as she had before.
Aetius came in after her and the doors were closed. The emperor sighed and looked to both of them, addressing Xena first. "I trust the plan was successful?"
Xena smiled, "of course. Everything has been taken care of," she eyed her commander and his face said otherwise.
"And what say you Aetius?" Valentinian asked.
The blonde commander glanced over at his superior then to his emperor. "All those men were brutally executed," he sold out his general and Xena's eyes widened.
"You had them executed?" the emperor turned to Xena now.
She smirked, "not me, emperor. Aetius wanted to lead the charge. I gave him the go ahead to execute the soldiers at his disposal," she alleged and Aetius snapped his head around, with his mouth agape. Gabrielle sat behind them, looking from Xena to Aetius and felt the tension rising between the two. She didn't think that's what happened given by the commander's shocked expression.
"Excuse me?!" Aetius yelled and pointed at the emperor, "I did no such thing! She is insane!" Xena kept smiling and Valentinian frowned, not sure who to believe. "Your majesty..."
"I asked for them to be pushed out, not to be brutally massacred like a flock of sheep," Valentinian spoke directly to the commander and Aetius' eyes grew in shock and he became speechless.
"But your highness, I did not execute anybody!" he shouted back and the emperor rose from his throne.
"Commander! You are on thin ice, I suggest you fix yourself," he urged and the commander folded his arms, quieting down. Xena had a smug smirk on her lips watching the emperor reprimand him and rightfully so, she thought. "Xena, Theodosius is inviting Attila to Constantinople next month. There will be a bacchanalia there and I want you to attend. You will spy for me and find out what Theodosius is telling Attila."
Xena's eyes lit up, "of course," she turned around and took one last look at Aetius and he was furious. She laughed underneath her breath and walked out with Gabrielle trailing behind her.
Arriving back in her new home Gabrielle folded her arms, "you beheaded all of those men didn't you?" she asked.
Xena said nothing in reply and began picking out some dresses to bring with her to Constantinople. Gabrielle let out an exasperated sigh and plopped down on a chair. Xena turned around with two dresses, one a dark navy color and the other an old fashioned white Grecian dress. "Which one do you think is better?"
"Which one is Attila's favorite color?" the blonde replied with some bitterness in her tone.
Xena smirked and threw the white dress on the bed, "why do you care who I sleep with?" Gabrielle's face paled once she heard that and Xena glanced over her shoulder, "nothing to say?"
"I just don't see the point of having sex with Attila. You worked with him for many years and you two never slept with each other before," she assumed and Xena remained quiet. She raised a curious eyebrow and her eyes glared at Xena's backside as she casually kept searching through her wardrobe. "Did you...?"
Xena frowned and folded her arms, "almost," she muttered and heard Gabrielle's audible gasp, not even trying to hide her reactions at all. "Am I in the confessional now?" she scoffed, "it's really none of your business nor do I care what your opinions of me are."
Gabrielle bit her tongue at that. She was so tempted to say something but figured that she had already crossed her boundaries and she didn't want to incite Xena any more than necessary. It was obvious that she had struck a chord in Xena and she was irritated even talking about the subject. Though Xena said she didn't care what people thought of her but she sure got angry whenever her life or motives were questioned, or perhaps that was only when she was around her, Gabrielle thought.
She decided to change the subject, "so you gave Aetius the front line because you wanted to frame him?"
Xena smiled, "you're catching on now, Gabrielle."
"Why?"
"Because Aetius is scum and he doesn't deserve the position he has in the army. He has been a commander for fifteen years and Valentinian never once offered him the position of General?" she laughed, "he is useless, but then again...so is Valentinian," she smiled. Sitting down on the bed she thought of something. "Although Theodosius' commander was very chummy with Aetius. They must be friends," she tapped her fingers on the bed as she contemplated. "Friends do not belong in the art of war."
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Gabrielle spoke aloud and Xena lifted her head, staring at her with confused muddled eyes.
"I thought you only quoted Greek philosophers?" Xena teased.
Gabrielle shyly glanced away, "I study all philosophers from around the world, including the ones who study war, not just love and life, you know," she protested and Xena nodded, finding that rather interesting to know. "To know your enemy you –"
"...must become your enemy" Xena finished her sentence and her eyes widened as did the smile on her face. "You are a genius, Gabrielle!"
The blonde's mouth gaped and Xena began picking out more dresses for the bacchanalia for next month. "What...what are you talking about?" she felt so lost all of a sudden and what did this have to do with dresses.
"Attila is not my enemy, but Theodosius is just as much as Valentinian is!"
"So you're not going to sleep with him?" she asked.
Xena smirked, "oh no, I'm still going to do that." She picked up the golden laurel crown that she was given at her coronation and held it in her hands, admiring it like it was some treasure from the heavens itself. "I have been going about this all wrong. I need Aetius to trust me or he will turn against me. I will have to keep up this charade for awhile longer..."
Gabrielle frowned, "charade?" she was definitely lost now.
"The Roman Empires are going to fall, but not by my hands," Xena smiled deviously and Gabrielle didn't like the sound of that or the look on her face either. She had known her long enough to know that face was never a good sign. "It is better to capture the enemy's army than to destroy it..."
"I don't follow." Gabrielle folded her arms, leaning back in the chair.
Xena turned around and set the laurel down on the table, "I need allies to fight in this political world, Gabrielle."
"What about the Onogur and Akitziri tribes that you captured? Will they help you?"
The warrior frowned, shaking her head. "They are not my allies, they are my prisoners. I need to go further east, beyond the Caspian Sea."
Gabrielle lowered her eyes, trying to think of what could be further east. She didn't know much about that world, but Xena certainly did because she lived over there for many years. "China?"
"I like your thinking, Gabrielle," Xena smiled. "The Ashina Tribes in the Gokturk Empire know Attila very well. We should go there and I can convince them to ally with me."
Gabrielle blinked, "we?!" she couldn't believe she was being roped into Xena's plans all of a sudden. Before nothing was her business, but now it seemed all of Xena's plans had her incorporated in them and she wasn't sure it was such a good idea. She wasn't supposed to be here, she was supposed to be teaching in Greece and now her job was to help this crazy woman overthrow an empire and go across the world to find allies. She really is insane, she thought. "Do you honestly think that these...Gok..people will ally with you? Do they even know who you are?!"
Xena frowned, "Borias used to live with the Ashina until he moved to the Caspian Sea. They will know me."
"Oh god..." the scribe muttered.
"What did you say?"
Gabrielle smiled falsely, "I said, oh great," she chuckled nervously thinking this was either going to be a disaster or...no, definitely a disaster.
"And what will you be wearing to the bacchanalia, Gabrielle?" Xena decided to switch subjects, now that her mind was flourishing with ideas and goals as the seconds passed by.
"Will I be jumping into bed with Attila too?" Gabrielle laughed jokingly.
Xena raised an eyebrow, "do you want to?" she had a sly grin.
Gabrielle ceased laughing and cleared her throat, "no, that's all on you. I want no part of this ridic –of your plan," she carefully corrected herself.
Xena chuckled softly, "and you must think of me as a harlot now too, right?" she walked over to her, standing in front of Gabrielle, towering over her.
Gabrielle nervously shifted in her seat seeing Xena so close to her. "I didn't say any of the sort..." Xena then placed her hands on the armrests, leaning downwards, close to her face, too close in fact. This made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she felt her breath against her cheek. She tried to look away.
"Seduction..." Xena hissed, "has nothing to do with pleasing the other person." She smiled seeing the blonde quite nervous at their close proximity. "Verbal seduction...is the surest road to actual seduction. Sexual seduction..." she leaned in closer, "is an opportunity. Wouldn't you agree, Gabrielle?" her smug grin widened, "you remember that word don't you?"
Gabrielle nodded, "yes I definitely remember that word," she lamely replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable, yet, exhilarated and wily at the moment.
Xena pulled away and hummed lightly, "good," she waltzed over back to her bed, "so what dresses are you going to bring?" she winked.
Gabrielle held in her breath and was still not able to process what just happened. She was so close, yet not close enough, or maybe she was too close. It was like she wanted to get inside my head and make me think but in reality, all she does it make me jumpy, nervous, anxious and yet happy? No Gabrielle, not happy, wrong adjective. Scared? No, not anymore, sort of. Courageous? No, not there yet. Curious? Yes, definitely curious.
"Um, maybe the pink dress I got in Troy?"
Xena nodded, "excellent choice."
AN: quotes taken from Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu.