AN: it's always fun when Xena tells stories, or is it? ;) thank you for reading along.
Chapter 36 –Shahanshah and Shahazada Part I
Six Months Later
Samuel and Solan decided to watch the twins while Eve spent most of her time with Xena, Gabrielle and Hatima today. Hatima suggested that she and Gabrielle work together to plan for a wedding, a long awaited wedding, everyone thought, but this was much better now. Xena didn't seem too interested in it like all the other women were, but she stood on the side giving her daughter the support she wanted. In some respect, Eve wasn't like Xena at all but more like Gabrielle. While Xena hated shopping, fancy clothing and jewelry, Eve loved all of those things like Gabrielle did.
Solan picked up Layla off the floor and sat her down propped up against some pillows, "alright, squirt," he sat down beside her, "you're going to stay right here and don't move!" he smiled.
Samuel smirked, "yeah right," he held Luca in his lap as he casually played with Samuel's boot laces. He saw Layla beginning to crawl towards him completely and expectedly disobeying Solan. "I don't think she is listening to you," he chuckled and Layla came to his boot and rolled over on her stomach, smiling up at her brother. Luca began whimpering and reached out to his sister and Samuel sighed, putting Luca down on the floor beside Layla.
"Those two are inseparable," Solan shook his head as he saw Luca pulling on his sister's sleeve.
"Tell me about it," Samuel said and then Luca hit Layla in the face and she began crying loudly. "Alright, that's enough play time," he scooped her up in his arms as he cried on his shoulder. "You should really stop before your mother comes out here and yells at me again," he said to her and walked down the hallway, "or even worse, her mother," he smiled.
Solan laid down beside Luca and pointed his finger at the baby, "you shouldn't hit girls, Luca, it's not very nice," and Luca began giggling and Solan stared at him firmly, "it's not funny!" he smiled softly and the boy grabbed his finger tightly. "Brothers are supposed to protect their sisters, so next time, don't punch her in the face, okay?" he smiled and Luca screamed loudly with glee. Solan's eyes widened, "holy crap," he picked up Luca in his arms and apparently he thought it was funny to laugh loudly close to his ear and Solan cringed.
He walked to his mother's room and knocked on the door. "I have a very happy baby with me," he said and opened the door to see Gabrielle and Hatima talking with Eve about the wedding and Xena looked incredibly bored but soon smiled as she saw Solan with Luca. She stood up and came towards them. Xena lifted Luca from Solan's hold and rested him on her hip.
Luca grabbed Xena's hair, which had grown a lot in the last six months which she was glad. She smiled down at him, "I didn't wear earrings today, sorry," she saw the look of disappointment on his face but her hair seemed to suffice. "Thank you for watching them, Solan. Where is Samuel?" she wondered.
Solan smiled sheepishly, "well, he's with Layla right now. Luca punched her in the face and she wasn't very happy about it," he shrugged.
Xena's mouth gaped and she stared into Luca's bright blue eyes, "you can't do that," she said seriously and then he started chewing on her hair, "it's not very nice, you know?" she said firmly and he nestled his head against her chest playing with the jewels on her gown. She smiled and grabbed his small hand.
"That's what I told him!" Solan smirked folding his arms. "Well, I'll let you get back to..." he looked at the other three women, "to whatever you were doing," he winked as she rolled her eyes and he left the room.
Xena came to join the rest of the women and Eve lifted her head and saw her mother carrying Luca. A big smile came to her and Xena handed Eve her child and she set him in her lap. She ran her hand over Luca's dark hair and flipped through the parchments. He grabbed one and threw it aside. "You were good for Solan, right?" she looked at him and he smiled at her then she kissed the top of his head.
Xena sat down in a chair resting her cheek on her hand, "so finally, you will get married next week. How does that feel?" she smiled.
Eve grinned, "it's taken us a long time to get to where we are now," she said. Luca leaned back against Eve and toyed with her long wavy hair, now almost reaching her waist.
Samuel came into the room and finally was able to put Layla down for a nap after she stopped crying. He looked at Eve and stared at Luca sitting casually in her lap. "If you don't mind, I need to take him," he smiled gently at all the women now staring at him.
Eve pulled her hair away from her son and she pointed at Samuel, "look, who is that?" she smiled and Luca giggled lightly. Samuel smiled and picked him up and he began whimpering softly, reaching for his mother.
"Yeah I know, you want to be with the ladies," he smirked and Xena stood up with her arms stretched out.
"I can take him," she smiled sweetly and he sighed handing him off to her. This was a good excuse to get away from all this unnecessary fussing over the wedding that they had been going over for months now and she was bored.
She left the room and walked down the hall "don't cry," she said to him and wiped his tears off his cheek. "Your mother is busy right now, but you saved me from boredom," she touched his nose and he stopped crying, sniffling softly and stared into her eyes. "See? Nothing to cry about, right?" she smiled and he yawned resting his head against her chest.
Xena came into the twins' room and saw Layla sound asleep. She closed the door quietly and Luca was still wide awake, clinging onto her gown. She tried to put him down in the bed next to his sister but he began to cry. She sighed and lifted him up back into her arms and he stopped crying. "It's going to be like that today?" she inwardly groaned and sat down in a chair, "fine," she smiled and brushed her hair behind her shoulders. She adjusted him in her arms and he stared up at her with his big blue eyes and she brushed a few tendrils away from his face. "You're going to have to fall asleep eventually," she whispered and he smiled at her as he began chewing on his fingers.
The longer she stared at him the more he reminded her of Eve when she was a baby and she was quite difficult when it came to nap time up until she was about four years old, then she saw Eve fall asleep in the strangest places in the palace and in the strangest positions too. One time she found Eve asleep on a chair upside down with her hair touching the ground.
Xena sat near the window with Eve in her arms and she had been trying to get her to fall asleep for the last four hours but every time she put her down, she would start wailing so loudly she was forced to stay with her. Xena felt her own eyes become glued open, and she was incredibly tired constantly waking up every night at odd hours every other day. She thought this was much harder than going to war and being sleep deprived.
Gabrielle came into the room with a warm blanket, "I got the blanket," she sighed and saw Eve wide awake in Xena's arms. "She's still awake? By the gods this child never sleeps!" she was becoming frustrated as well because whenever Xena got up, so did she. As she said, she would help Xena whenever she needed.
"Gabrielle, I'm going insane," Xena stared at her with wide eyes and Gabrielle saw that she was beyond tired. The blonde smiled and took baby Eve from her. She began to cry and Gabrielle wrapped her in the warm blanket. Xena sighed lolling her head back against the chair almost feeling like she needed to cry too as she listened to her daughter crying so loudly.
"Why are you crying?" she smiled and touched Eve's cheeks gently, "your mother is over there, see?" she turned and Eve looked at Xena and slowly her whimpering began to stop. She wiped her tears away from her cheeks with the blanket. The five month old looked up at Gabrielle breathing slowly, and she was about to start crying again. "No, no!" Gabrielle said firmly, "your mother is very tired and you are too, don't act like you aren't." And Eve stopped.
Slowly Eve closed her eyes and she yawned, stretching her small arms in the blanket. Gabrielle held her breath and put Eve in her crib, swaddling her in the warm blanket. Xena came to the crib and looked to see her daughter finally asleep after hours of trying to settle down.
"How did you do that?" Xena asked, in complete awe of how Gabrielle was able to put Eve asleep so easily.
Gabrielle smiled and rubbed Xena's arm. "She just needs to understand that she can fall asleep without you holding her," she whispered. "She loves you," she rested her head against Xena's shoulder and Xena smiled tiredly, so joyful that Eve had finally fallen asleep.
Solan came into the room and he was about to say something and Xena shushed him. He covered his mouth and came to the crib to see his baby sister sleeping. The fifteen year old grinned, "she finally passed out, huh?" he whispered.
"Thank the gods," Gabrielle said with a slight chuckle.
"She's so cute," Solan leaned over the crib watching his sister sleep soundly. "She's not so bad when she's not crying and stuff," he smiled. "why can't she be like this all the time?" he joked.
Gabrielle shrugged, "she'll grow out of it, right Xena?" she looked over and saw Xena slumped over the crib, asleep standing up. Solan blinked and Gabrielle stifled a laugh.
"Man, Eve really took it out of her, didn't she?" Solan whispered and nudged Gabrielle in the arm playfully.
"Would you help her?" she asked and he nodded, clearing his throat he tapped his mother's shoulder.
"Mother," he whispered in her ear and she opened her eyes immediately standing up straight, completely wired. "You should go to bed," he smiled and she ran her fingers through her hair and nodded.
Xena smiled as she looked out the window seeing the bright sun shining into the room. Coming out of her daze she looked down and saw Luca sleeping in her arms soundly. She stood up and gently laid him down in his bed next to Layla and covered him with a blanket. He squirmed a bit and yawned, stretching his arms over his head.
Gabrielle came into the room and Xena put a finger over her lips and Gabrielle smiled, being as quiet as possible she tread closer to the cribs. "You finally got him to sleep?" she whispered.
Xena nodded, "Yes, now let's get out of here before he wakes up," she smiled and quickly left the room with Gabrielle trailing behind her. She closed the door quietly and Solan came up to them.
"Hey, you two!" he said loudly and both women shushed him and Xena especially, glared at him. "Oh, they're sleeping...got it," he winked. "Listen I wanted to talk to both of you..." he said and they all stepped away from the babies' room not to disturb them while they took their nap.
They walked to the atrium and Solan sighed clamping his hands together, "so after Eve and Samuel get married, I wanted to go with Allat. He's traveling to Qin and Japa and asked me to come with him."
Gabrielle nodded, "that sounds fun!" she smiled.
"What are you two going to do in those places?" Xena wondered, tapping her fingers restlessly on her knee.
Solan shrugged, "just to explore," he grinned. "I know what you're going to say, be careful and all that motherly stuff, but I'll be fine." He stared at his mother's blank face and he wasn't sure if it was a look of disapproval or not.
Xena sighed, "those lands are not like ours. I've been there before, just be aware of your surroundings."
Gabrielle turned her with her jaw dropped, "you've been to Qin and Japa? Since when?" she seemed upset.
"Before I met you, Gabrielle," Xena smiled at her and Gabrielle folded her arms. More surprises, just more surprises from you Xena, Gabrielle thought to herself.
"I promise I'll be safe," he came to her and kissed his mother's cheek. Xena waved him off and smiled weakly and he left the atrium to tell Samuel.
Eve spoke with Samuel in a corner of a separate hallway so nobody would hear them. She held onto his hands tightly and shook her head. "I don't know, Samuel," she said unsurely.
He brushed a few tendrils behind her ear and looked into her worried eyes. "You'll be with me, it'll be fine!" he smiled hoping that she would agree with him.
Eve sighed, "my mother will be really upset if I tell her that I want to live in Persia with you."
"Why? She knows I'll be with you and my mother will be with us. I still am king, you know. I have to take care of my people too," he said and Eve nodded, thinking that over as well. "It would be easier if you and the children came to live with me, so we wouldn't have to go back and forth."
Eve nodded again, understanding his reasonableness but she hated to tell her mother that after the wedding, that she would leave for Persia. "Alright, but let me tell her." He smiled and kissed her generously which caught her off guard, but she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Solan came walking by and saw Samuel kissing his sister. "Whoa, hey, you already have two kids!" he said and Eve pulled away blushing, she turned her eyes away from him covering her mouth. "Samuel, I got something to tell you. Sorry Eve, I gotta borrow him." He grinned slyly.
Samuel smiled and gripped her hand, "let me know what she says," he said quietly and she nodded before he went off running towards Solan. "So what is it?" he asked and they walked together leaving Eve alone in the hallway. She exhaled deeply and folded her arms, leaning against the wall, she bit her lip nervously. She really was dreading to tell her mother, but she was sure that she would understand, but it would really upset her if she was separated from Luca and Layla. Xena loved them a lot as did Gabrielle. They were constantly around them so the twins were very familiar with both of them just as much as they were with Samuel and Eve.
Gabrielle sat next to Xena in the atrium still and stared at her smugly. Xena raised an eyebrow and looked away, feeling a bit strange the way Gabrielle was looking at her. "So, Japa huh? When did you go there and why didn't you tell me?"
Xena sighed, "I went to Japa when I was with Borias a long time ago and you never asked," she smiled mischievously.
"Well how was I supposed to know? Met some Amazons, traveled to Qin and Japa too. What else don't I know about you, Xena?" she leaned in closer and Xena rubbed her forehead anxiously.
"I was a pirate for awhile," Xena mumbled and Gabrielle's jaw dropped.
"A pirate?" she said and Xena nodded confirming her skeptical question. "No way, I don't believe you," she folded her arms shaking her head, refusing to believe that.
"You don't have to believe me Gabrielle but it's true," Xena grinned sneakily and Gabrielle pulled Xena close to her so she wouldn't leave. "What?"
Gabrielle bat her eyelashes sweetly at Xena, "I'd like to hear about it."
Xena frowned, "no," she tried to get up and Gabrielle clung to her arm and forced Xena to sit back down. She huffed and Gabrielle pleaded with her big green eyes.
"Please Xena?" she begged.
"You know I'm not good at telling stories, Gabrielle and it was so long ago I just don't think I can remember everything –"
Eve walked in and heard stories, "mother is telling stories?" she sat down on the floor spreading her dress out around her.
Xena glared over at Gabrielle, "look what you did. No I'm not telling any stories," she got up and Gabrielle pulled her back down. "Gabrielle!" she sneered.
"Come on mother, you never tell stories, I want to hear one since those two are sleeping I have time," Eve said anxiously and Xena rolled her eyes sighing heavily. She didn't know how she got roped into this and Gabrielle waited eagerly to hear Xena's past stories.
"Which one should I tell first?" Xena grumbled.
Gabrielle got comfortable sitting closely to the empress, "the pirate one."
Eve's eyes lit up, "pirate? You were a pirate?" she chuckled. Xena pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay sorry, continue," she stopped laughing and Xena tried to remember everything in the back of her mind. It was several years ago so a lot of it she pushed to the back of her mind never to resurface again, but thanks to Gabrielle's curiosity she had to dig deep in her mind –a place that she never went.
Thirty Eight Years Ago
Xena had left home just a year ago and she turned seventeen earlier in the year and she felt like she was on the top of the world. She felt super invincible, as if nothing could take her down. All the men she had with her, followed her into battle when a selfish warlord came to destroy her village and take her little brother's life away from her. After she defeated the said warlord and her brother's death, she swore that she would avenge her brother's death and take it out on anyone that came her way. She wanted to make sure that she was not a person to mess with and though her army was small, they were loyal to her.
Most of the men with her were considerably older than her, but she had no problem maintaining her status as their leader as a young teenager. After her mother's disgust over her vengeful acts Xena decided to leave home and not to return until she gained status as a warlord. She wanted to be the best warlord, the only female warlord throughout Greece and Thrace.
She wanted to get rid of the awful warlords that sacked villages and killed innocent people in her brother's name. She did not want daughters, sons or mothers to feel the same way she did when her brother was taken from her and her village was pillaged. She was going to annihilate them all. She made that promise to herself a year ago.
Her men had found a ship docked at one of Thrace's ports and she stole it, sailing to Greece's coast. She stood on the ship late at night and felt the cool ocean breeze wisp through her long silky black hair and a smile came to her lips. Everything was so new to her, she had never traveled before, except to a few neighboring villages in Thrace close to Amphipolis, but that was hardly traveling. She also had no idea where she was going and allowed the men to guide her and even found a handmade map in the ship. She decided to become familiar with Greece's territories.
She thought to herself that one day she wanted to rule Greece and she would have to climb many ladders to get there. But it was a dream of hers that she wanted to make come true, one day, she told herself, one day.
Docking at Corinth she stepped off the ship and looked at the area. It was a grassy plain and filled with fertile trees, growing oranges and apricots. It reminded her of home, but now, she didn't have a home. Amphipolis exiled her, or rather, she exiled herself from her own people.
She spotted a group of men on horses wearing dark clothes and silver helmets. They had people tied up behind them. Instantly her blood began to boil and she pointed her sword at the men, "stop them!" she yelled and her men trailed out of the ship running towards the said warlords invading Corinth.
Xena smiled as she saw the men begin to scramble and try to escape on their horses. She swung her sword and sliced a horse's kneecaps and the animal fell to the ground in agony and the men atop fell down and tumbled down close to her. He groaned and stared up at her. She was quite a beautiful woman, he thought and she was very young too, he saw it in her face. "Who are you?" he griped.
She twirled her sword in her wrist, "your savior," she plunged the sword into his chest and blood poured from his mouth. She kicked the man and took her sword out wiping the blood on his clothes. Slowly she sauntered over to the captured soldiers that her men had tied up. "Well, well," she sheathed her sword and folded her arms.
One of the men began laughing hysterically, "who are you supposed to be? Shouldn't you be at home with your mom," he laughed and others began to join in.
Xena frowned deeply and stared at all of them as they laughed at her. They obviously didn't take her seriously. She growled and unsheathed her sword plunging it into the funny man's gut and he gasped for air. Everyone stopped laughing and their eyes grew in fear. "People like you don't deserve to live!" she said and kicked the man down on his backside as he continued gasping for air, staring up at the sunny skies.
"What about the prisoners?" one of her men came up to her and she looked at everyone tied up. They looked like farmers and she waved her hand.
"Let them go," she instructed and he nodded running off to free everyone. She noticed one man though, he was definitely not a farmer. He had Roman armor on and he was young, like her, maybe a few years older than she was. She smirked and walked up to the Roman as he was being untied. "You look important," she set a hand on her hip sassily.
He grinned, "I am. Thank you for freeing me um..."
"Xena," she said and he nodded beginning to walk off.
"Wait, where are you going?" she asked wanting to know more about this Roman. He stopped and turned to look in her beautiful ice blue eyes. "Why did those warlords want you?"
He chuckled, "perhaps they don't like the way I look," he said lamely and continued walking off. She frowned and took the whip off her hip and snapped it forward tying the Roman's legs up and she yanked on the whip. He fell down face first into the dirt and groaned.
She knelt beside him and whispered in his ear, "you didn't tell me your name," she smiled sneakily.
"Brutus," he choked and coughed up some dirt.
"Brutus," she nodded and lent him a hand. "You should come join me on my ship. I'd like to know...more about you," she traced her fingers against his golden armor. He smiled nervously at her and he really needed to return to his commander but he figured since this woman saved his life, that he should at least show his gratitude, fearful that she might slice him up too if he refused.
Below the deck Brutus stood awkwardly waiting for Xena. The men instructed him to go down below into the single room and wait for her. He breathed heavily and then saw Xena come out a jointed room looking quite different than he saw her earlier. She was not wearing any armor, but a green dress and her hair was neatly piled on top of her head. She also had perfume on, he could smell her from a mile away.
"Lavender," he smiled, "it's a nice scent. From the land of the Persians," he said and Xena smirked sitting down on the bed, making herself comfortable.
"Yes well, I found it on a dead merchant a few months back," she said and smiled at him. "So, who do you work for?" she gestured to his armor. "I know you are Roman."
Brutus nodded, "afraid I can't say...Xena. I'm on a mission," he said.
Xena raised her eyebrows, "a mission?" she leaned forward, "me too."
"Oh? And what mission is that? Who do you work for?" he smiled at her nervously.
She chuckled, "I work for no one!" she said seriously and he was a bit taken aback from her assertiveness. "I plan to get rid of all the warlords that pillage their way throughout Greece."
He nodded and stood silent for awhile then looked to her as she waited for his response. "That's mighty ambitious of you," he finally said.
"Strategic is the word I'd use," she tapped her fingers on her knee and then stood up coming closer to him and he began to back away from her. She chuckled beneath her breath and reached for the map that was on a table behind him. She unrolled the map and pointed at Greece. "See that?" she smiled and he nodded. It was obviously a map of Greece, he knew that. He'd seen it before but didn't understand why she was so excited about it. Her eyes lit up wildly. "I'm going to rule this land one day," she said confidently.
He looked at her incredulously and began laughing. She then frowned at him. "What's so funny?" she asked, a bit insulted.
He cleared his throat, "it's just that...that's a big dream you have, Xena, but I'm afraid that land is already taken."
She raised an eyebrow and took a dagger out from in between her breasts and pointed it at his neck. His eyes widened in fear and she stared into his dark eyes. "By who?" she hissed.
"By –by Caesar!" he said and she lowered the dagger and he silently thanked the gods above that his throat was not sliced by this woman.
"Who is Caesar?" she asked curiously.
He inhaled sharply, "the man who is founding the Roman Empire," he stuttered. She turned around and folded her arms thinking that this man, Brutus, as he called himself, was more important than she thought. This Caesar, must be his boss, the man he worked for. And this Caesar, wanted to create a new empire and claim Greece as well. She wasn't going to allow that to happen. She wanted Greece and she would have it, maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day, she would rule Greece and become a fearless empress. She smiled just thinking about it. A dream she so desperately wanted to become a reality. She would be the best ruler there was, she thought.
Turning around slowly to face Brutus she smiled deviously at him. "You can go tell your Caesar that Greece is mine and if he wants it, then he'll have to take it from me," she tapped the dagger's blade with her fingertips. She already had claimed Greece for herself even without a proper basis or foundation. She had no connections to rule an empire, but she would find some and take Greece into her hands.
"You may leave now," she said nonchalantly and he blinked at her, quite shocked at her abrasive attitude. He quickly left the room and hurried up the steps. She chuckled lowly and looked at the map on the table. She stabbed the dagger in a random spot and leaned in closer to see what city she struck. Athens, of course, the most progressive and powerful city in Greece, coming in second was Sparta. Yes, Greece was in dire need of a ruler.
She decided on that night that she wasn't going to get anywhere just by slaying warlords, no she needed to do more. She needed people to know her. She needed to spread her name across the map.
She didn't know who this Caesar man was, but she hadn't even met him and he was already pissing her off. She took the dagger out of the map and threw it at the wall angrily. She grabbed the map furiously and tacked it to the wall. She took a quill and dipped it in ink and wrote a giant on X on Athens. She smiled staring at the spot, the spot that would become hers.
Eve blinked and her mouth was slightly agape. "You were seventeen?" she asked, quite shocked.
Xena nodded, "I was pretty foolish back then to think that I could take Greece at such a young age and from a Roman elite too," she smiled weakly.
"I don't think foolish is the right word," Gabrielle said. "More like insane!" she chuckled and Xena nudged her in her ribs.
"So what happened after that? Did you take Athens like you planned?" Eve asked, anxious to hear the rest of her mother's story.
Xena shook her head, "no, I became incredibly greedy and strayed from original path to avenge my brother. I forgot about his existence and became so enraptured with the idea of instilling fear into people." She never thought she'd be telling Eve all of this, but in truth, she had never told Eve about her past life, only a few things that Eve had heard over the years, but it was towards the end of Xena's evil reign and that was the least gruesome and less terrifying. " I made sure everyone knew who I was and it was at the time when the Roman council became aware of my existence. I was considered a threat to their new empire because they feared that I would take over Greece, but they made sure that wouldn't happen."
Eve waited for her mother to continue with her story, "and thennnn..." she begged to know more. She saw her mother look a bit wary and slightly uncomfortable.
"I became aware that the Romans didn't like me very much," she smirked, "so I decided to go off the radar for awhile. I found another army and decided to combine my army with theirs in hopes to rule together," she sighed not really feeling like continuing this story because Eve didn't know so much about her past life and this is where things got extremely complicated. "It was then I met Petracles."
Gabrielle caught onto Xena's slightly distance attitude and realized Eve was completely clueless. Eve had grown up with the idea that Aphrodite had gifted her to Xena, but she didn't know anything other than that. Xena didn't tell her, not even when she became of an appropriate age. She kept that locked away in the back of her mind, just like everything else.
"Who's Petracles?" Eve asked curiously with a sly smile. Xena smiled at her daughter and felt Gabrielle inch closer to her. "Was he your boyfriend?"
"Something like that," Xena said solemnly. She turned to Gabrielle for answers and she smiled at her warmly nodding her head. Eve frowned noticing her mother's attitude about this entire story changed completely.
"What?" Eve asked utterly confused.
Xena exhaled sharply, trying to think of the best way to say this without it sounding ridiculous. "Eve, I'm going to tell you something that might shock you." Eve leaned in forward listening carefully. "Petracles was your father."
Eve sat there silently and began chucking softly, "what? No he's not. I don't have a father," she shook her head in disbelief.
"Yes you do," Xena said seriously and Eve saw both her mother and Gabrielle had serious expressions on their faces. "You think that you just magically came to me?" she said seriously.
Eve's smile disappeared. "But...Aphrodite..." now she was really confused and didn't know what to believe anymore. Obviously her mother had more secrets than she thought and she came to realize she knew very little about her own mother and about herself. "This doesn't make any sense," she creased her eyebrows in puzzlement.
"It's a really long story, Eve," Gabrielle said and the princess eyed her bemused at this entire situation.
"Well I want to hear it," she said and looked into her mother's eyes and she smiled warmly. "Please?" she pleaded.
Xena sighed, "after I joined my army with his, my naive self decided to sleep with him and I thought that he truly cared for me. Now I realize that he didn't care for me at all. If I could see him one last time I'd kill him myself," she frowned and Eve listened intently, bringing her knees close to her chest. "Anyway, after spending a year with him I became pregnant with you," she said and saw her daughter's eyes widen. "He didn't care about you or me, so I decided to leave, to make this story short."
Eve frowned, "okay, but that doesn't explain how am I here today...I'd be a lot older than Solan if that was the case!" she smiled wanting her mother to continue.
Xena didn't really want to talk about the next part of this horrible story, but Eve was eager to know. "Something happened when I left," she began slowly and felt Gabrielle grab her hand. "I was attacked and I foolishly went alone because I was upset at Petracles. That night, I thought I was going to bleed to death, but I didn't and unfortunately," she sighed, "I lost you in the process because I couldn't protect you, I let that stick in my mind for many years."
Eve frowned sadly, "wow," she felt like she couldn't say any more. She had no idea that her conception was at one point, so long ago, instead of twenty three years ago, it was thirty eight. "I'm sorry," she said, unsure what to say to all of that.
Xena smiled and reached down touching her daughter's hand, "don't be sorry. I have you now and that is what is most important to me."
The princess soon began to realize why her mother was super overprotective of her throughout her life and now she felt bad for acting like such a brat sometimes. She thought that her mother was always overreacting to everything, but now she understood why. "So that's why you never want me to leave your side..." she said and Xena frowned, not really liking the sound of that coming out of Eve's mouth.
"That makes me sound like a controlling mother," Xena laughed lightly and Gabrielle smiled warmly.
Eve grinned, "you're not, but...I'm sorry I was such a brat growing up." She apologized and her mother winked at her, not the least bit insulted at all. Eve then thought of what Samuel said about moving to Persia with him and that would probably break her mother's heart but, she would have to tell her eventually, but perhaps not right now. "So, are you going to finish the story or what?" she smiled moving onto the next topic.
Xena sighed heavily, "well I don't know if you're ready for that," she teased.
Eve pouted, "please? I want to know what happens next," her eyes widened with excitement.
Gabrielle smiled smugly, "yeah Xena, tell us what happens next. I don't think you've told me any of these stories before," she added and the empress glared at her playfully.
"After I left Petracles, he took my entire army and I had to start over. When I was eighteen I was able to find a group of men to follow me since my name was more known then. We decided to travel north of Greece. I realized that the Greeks were not very fond of me so I left to Anatolia and soon the northern Steppes. It was there I found Borias and his tribal army in the mountains," she raised an eyebrow thinking of that moment –a moment she'd never forget.
Eve and Gabrielle both seemed interested and Gabrielle had heard many stories but she hadn't heard any of the detailed stories, just bits and pieces here and there over the years.
"I have noticed you had a lot of men...in your life, mother," Eve teased and actually found this piece of information incredibly fascinating to know that her mother was once a wild teenager who had no boundaries. She was such a different person now, she definitely wasn't the same. Back then it seemed like her mother acted without the thought of consequence –the problem with a teenager's mind. Teenagers don't think before they act and Xena did plenty of that. She thought that her mother was such a strict and firm woman, someone who did not take no for an answer but she carefully planned out her attacks and she was very strategic in warfare and politics. This teenager that her mother spoke of, she almost didn't want to believe her because it didn't sound anything like the Xena she grew up around. Yet as her mother told bits and pieces of her past life, she somehow related to her more and more, connecting with her on a different level, minus the evil reign of course.
At eighteen Xena felt like she accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. People in Greece, Thrace and Rome knew who she was. It was time to expand her superiority and so then she took her small band of fifty men with her to the Steppes. Anatolia was a barren land in the north, and she stayed there only for a short time.
Stealing some horses in Anatolia was a necessity to travel and she didn't think anything of it. She even stole some garb from some merchants while she was there. Donning animal pelts, pants and thick boots to protect herself from the harsh weather in the Steppes, she rode on. She also found a coined cloth headpiece that she took from a fallen villager, though she was not at fault for those dead villagers. That was someone else's problem and she didn't need other people's problems.
The air was much dryer up here in the desert mountains but she had arrived in spring, where the lands were lush and green. The winters here must be awful, she thought. She rode ahead with her men behind her and found a camp of tribal men and even some women. She smirked and kicked her horse riding into the area.
Many of the men in the campsite saw a woman who was dressed liked them and thought she might be from another tribe nearby. "Travelers approaching," one man said and Borias stepped forward, folding his arms looking at the woman riding ahead of all the men.
"A group of men and one woman?" he smirked and saw the woman hold her horses and she hopped off, coming to say hello to everyone. She was very young, but beautiful as well. Her dark long hair glistened in the sun and her big white teeth sparkled. She definitely wasn't a poor woman, gathering by her appearance.
"My men and I were traveling through the area and thought we stop by and say hello..." Xena spoke to Borias with a subtle smirk on her lips.
He smiled, "and you are?" he asked curiously staring at her extremely light blue eyes.
"Xena," she said softly, "and your name?" she came closer to him and he folded his arms staring down at her.
"Borias," he kissed her hand and she raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips. "This is my tribe, you are welcome to stay here."
She smiled warmly at him and brushed passed him taking a good look at his camp. Many of the men appeared to have wives though she saw no children, except for one, a small boy probably no older than five years old. He was cuddled next to his mother, as it appeared to be, as she was preparing some food for him.
Borias came to stand next to Xena, finding her extremely nosy. "My wife, Natassa," he said and Xena nodded finding that interesting that he was the only person in this tribe to have a child. He must be the leader of this tribe, she thought to herself. Natassa noticed him staring at her and she smiled at him. She also noticed a beautiful young woman standing next to him as well.
She made her way over to them both and brought her son with her as he clung to her colorful skirt. "It is our custom to welcome guests as our own," she said looking at Xena with her light blue eyes.
Xena smiled curtly at her and noticed the child staring up at her with his dark brown eyes, resembling his father no doubt. She snarled at the child and he hid behind his mother's skirt, fearful of her. She smiled and Borias grabbed her hand, startling her.
"Please, come sit with us," he said and she smiled mischievously at him.
"If you insist..." she followed along with him to sit down with Borias and his wife inside their yurt.
Gabrielle interrupted the story, "whoa, wait a minute!" she said and Eve blinked at her and Xena had a feeling Gabrielle would have some questions. "Borias has a son? And he had a wife?" she was shocked to hear that and Xena never mentioned that before.
"Yes. I'm afraid his wife soon did not like me very much because I took him away from her," she added sheepishly, feeling embarrassed suddenly.
"So you were the other woman?" Eve said.
Xena frowned, "okay now, let's not get into –"
"A concubine?" Eve teased further.
"Alright, story time over!" Xena stood up and both Gabrielle and Eve pleaded for her to stay. Gabrielle pulled on her arm and Eve scooted forward on the floor closer to her mother, pulling on her other hand. Xena plopped back down on the sofa and sighed.
Gabrielle smiled grabbing onto Xena's hand, "please continue," she bat her eyelashes at her and Xena rolled her eyes.
"Yes please," Eve said eagerly.
Samuel came to see Xena, Gabrielle and Eve huddled close together and Xena was talking to them quietly and saw her hands rise into the air looking quite passionate at whatever she was talking about. He approached them and said, "what's going on?" he smiled.
"Not now, Samuel," Eve said and shooed him away. He looked confused and Xena stopped telling her story. Eve looked to him, "we're talking about womanly stuff," she smiled and he held up his hands for surrender and soon left the area, not interested at all anymore.
"Say no more," he shook his head and left the atrium to go check on Luca and Layla. He hadn't heard any sound from them in awhile and hoped they were still asleep.
Xena tapped her chin, "where was I?" she frowned losing her train of thought.
"Borias invited you to eat with him and his wife," Gabrielle reminded her and Xena nodded.
"Eve!" Samuel called for her and Eve groaned. She got up quickly and stared at her mother eagerly.
"Don't start without me!" she smiled and hastily went to see what the problem was.
Xena watched Eve leave in a hurry and heard one of the babies crying. "Should I go help her?" she asked Gabrielle.
Gabrielle smiled, "if you want to," she said and without question Xena got up and strode down the hallway with Gabrielle following her.
Eve came into the room and saw Layla crying on Samuel's shoulder and Luca was standing up holding onto the railing of the crib watching his sister, who was obviously not in the best of moods. He turned and was thankful to see Eve arrived, "oh look, it's mommy," he spoke to his daughter and Layla turned her head and saw Eve smiling at her.
He handed Layla to Eve and she smiled at her. "Hey there," she said softly and Layla slowly stopped crying. "Why are you so upset?" she asked calmly and Layla looked up into her eyes and her eyes grew as her mouth gaped slightly.
"She just wants to be with you," Samuel folded his arms then heard Luca making small gurgling noises. He turned around and Luca reached up to him. "What do you want?" he smiled leaning forward and Luca smiled at him, grabbing his tunic. Samuel picked him up and Luca grabbed Samuel's hair.
Xena came into the room and Samuel smiled at her then saw Gabrielle come in after her. Luca saw Xena and immediately reached for her. Xena smiled at the child and came forward grabbing him out of Samuel's arms. "I guess I'm not important enough," he joked.
"They love you Samuel, stop it," Eve said and sat down with Layla calmly in her arms.
He nodded, "did you tell her?" he said aloud and Eve's eyes widened.
Xena looked at him curiously, "tell who what?"
Samuel realized that Eve hadn't told her yet and suddenly it became very awkward and silent in the room.
Eve rolled her eyes and figured that she wouldn't be able to avoid this forever. "After the wedding Samuel and I decided we should move to Persia with the children," she said and waited for a response from her mother.
Xena remained silent and she smiled softly, "well, I can't control where you live or what you do with your life," she said calmly.
"So you're not upset?" Eve said and saw Gabrielle remaining quiet the entire time, though she looked to Xena occasionally.
Xena smiled, "I could never be upset with you, Eve," she said sincerely. She thought that Eve wouldn't stay with her forever especially since she has children now and a husband. And she also seemed to forget that Samuel was a king and respectively stayed in Greece for over a year to help with the war and to be with Eve too. He was absent from his kingdom leaving his vizier to do all the work for him, which wasn't always the wisest decision. Xena never had a vizier and knew that Persian kings were keen on keeping viziers to make the political decisions for them in their absence.
Gabrielle smiled at Luca in Xena's arms, she brushed her finger against his cheek. "Too bad they will be gone when you both leave!" she pouted and the boy grinned at her.
Eve smiled as Layla calmly began playing with her gown. "You can both visit them often!" she said with a big grin on her face and Gabrielle still didn't like the idea that she would be separated from both.
"Oh we will," Gabrielle smugly grinned up at Xena, "right?" she hoped. The empress grinned, nodding her head to Gabrielle's eagerness.
"Mother, are you going to finish your story? I'd like to hear more about it," Eve was rather fervent.
Xena sighed, "if you really want to hear the rest of it, I will tell you, when you're free of course." She handed Luca to Samuel, "but for now, take care of them first," she winked and grabbed Gabrielle's hand reluctantly pulling her out of the room.
"You never said anything about Borias having another son," Gabrielle said trying to ease her way back into Xena's story.
Xena rolled her eyes, "you never asked," she smirked.
"Do you think he is still alive?" Gabrielle asked, anxious to know more.
"I have no idea," she sighed, "although I don't think he would be very happy to see me if we ever crossed paths," she admitted sadly.
Gabrielle's face contorted in confusion, "why? Were you mean to him?"
Xena didn't really want to get into the specifics, "something like that. I took his father away from him, Gabrielle. How would you feel?" she said and realized that what she said was all too true. Xena took Gabrielle's parents away from her when she was a child, much like she did to Borias' son. "I didn't mean –"
Gabrielle grinned softly, "it's alright Xena. That was a long time ago and I forgave you eons ago," she pat her hand gently reassuring Xena's apprehension of the sore subject.
"Perhaps it is my curse to tear families apart," Xena said solemnly. "I'm apparently good at it," she jested lightly.
Gabrielle halted and held onto Xena's hand, tightening her grip. "I don't think you give yourself the credit you deserve, Xena." She said seriously staring into her ice blue eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, you united two warring empires and even rekindled your relationship with the Persian Empire." Xena lowered her eyes, refusing to look at her. "You've waited so long to achieve your goal and now that you finally have, I don't think it's sunk into your mind yet." She smiled lifting Xena's chin finally looking into those unforgiving blue eyes of hers. "Cherish the things dearest to you, Xena because you never know when they'll be gone," she winked.
Xena smiled at her and felt imminent tears swelling in her eyes. "What would I do without you?"
Gabrielle sighed and continued walking with Xena, linking arms with hers. "Become a grumpy old empress?"
Xena chuckled softly, "too late for that."
"You're not grumpy!" Gabrielle protested, "at least, not all the time," she teased and Xena nudged her in her rib.
"I'm working on it." Xena smirked.
AN: Shahanshah and Shahazada means "King of kings and Princess" in Persian.