Chapter 36 –Loss of Innocence and Bound by Fate Part II
Attila and Theodoric stormed inside of the gated city with a stamped of Huns and Goths riding behind the two kings. They bypassed the civilians and rode directly through the square towards the large palace in the center of Barkeno. Many of the Vandal civilians ran in panic trying to escape the sudden invasion. Attila and Theodoric parted ways, each going a different direction, knowing that the Vandal king would send out his troops eventually to blockade them.
Xena and Gabrielle rode to the opposite side of the walled city to enter through a different gate and were met with Ranark, the tall handsome blonde Vandal standing on the hill outside of the walls with his men clad in armor, blocking the way into the city. She skid to a stop and her small entourage of Hun soldiers was not nearly enough compared to the amount of Vandals ready to stop them.
Ranark clapped his hands, "well done, Xena. Your daughter was very adamant that you would come."
Xena's upper lip quivered at the sight of him and then she had a realization that she had seen this man before. Not in real life, but in her dream she had awhile back, the dream where she stabbed Gabrielle. The blonde long hair definitely gave it away and he was standing on a slope, just like in her dream. They were surrounded by soldiers and Huns were fighting against them relentlessly in her dream. This cannot be happening, she kept telling herself.
Gabrielle frowned and nudged Xena's backside. "What are we waiting for?" she hissed in her ear. The dark haired warrior shook her head, snapping back to this déjà vu moment, which Gabrielle told her it was just a dream, but it was more than a dream.
"My vision, Gabrielle. This is it!" Xena said and Ranark raised his eyebrow confusedly. He was waiting for her to attack, but instead she blankly stared at him as if he were a ghost.
The blonde rolled her eyes, "screw your vision, Xena!" she hopped off the horse, grabbing Xena's sword out of her sheath and walked towards the center standing in between the Huns and Vandal soldiers. She pointed the blade directly at Ranark. "Give us back Anastasia or die."
He chuckled, folding his arms. "Are you threatening me little girl?" he laughed louder and Xena pinched the bridge of her nose, wagging her head. "You are no threat to me. Your Latin is perfect yet I sense you are no Roman, and definitely not a Hun. What are you doing hitching along with the Hun witch?" he smiled.
Gabrielle growled and took another step forward. The Vandals pointed their javelins at her the closer she got. "Release her now!" she hissed and Ranark waved his hand and the troops behind him threw the javelins at her. She gasped and dropped to the ground, dodging all of the flying spears.
Xena caught one of the javelins and threw it back at them. She whistled and pointed towards the Vandal soldiers instructing Attila's men to attack. The Huns rode forward with their swords in hand, straight for the hill. Xena snarled and rode up to Gabrielle and picked her up by her cropped blouse, lifting her up off the ground. "Are you stupid?" she growled and threw her on top of the horse and retreated away from the fight.
Gabrielle turned her head and frowned, "what are you doing?! The fight is back there!" she yelled.
Xena shook her head and trotted to a stop, a few yards away from the battle. "I am not going to let anything happen to you!"
"Is this about your stupid vision again?!" Gabrielle slapped her forehead. "Xena, I don't want to hear about your vision! None of it is going to come true! You aren't going to kill me! Go back there and fight!" she urged and Xena refused to move. "You can't be serious?" she sighed heavily and couldn't believe herself, wanting to fight the enemy, but Xena refused to fight all because of her vision she had. She wasn't going to stand by and allow these men to be slaughtered. "Fine," she grabbed Xena's sword and hopped off.
Xena's eyes widened, "Gabrielle!" she called out and saw the blonde poet running back into the battle with her sword. "Damn it," she whispered to herself and then winced. Glancing down at her ribs she saw the wound had opened again and blood was seeping through her cloak.
A Vandal came running towards her and she cried out, then kicked him in the throat and he stumbled backward onto the ground. She winced and held her side, then pulled out her second sword and rode forward into the battle.
Theodoric and Attila met back up in the center of the city in front of the palace which was now heavily guarded. King Genseric stood at the top of the stairs and Attila pointed his blade towards him from below. "You have something that belongs to me," the Hun king smirked.
Genseric nodded curtly, "indeed I do. I commend you for coming all this way for your son, Attila."
"You also have Theodoric's daughter, don't you?" Attila pressed and was now surrounded by Vandal soldiers. "Release them and there will be no bloodshed."
The king chuckled, "no bloodshed? That doesn't sound like you!" he smiled and saw the blonde Visigoth king glaring at him. "Your daughter, Katarina, has grown to love it here, Theodoric. I'm not sure she would want to leave. My wife has taken very good care of her."
Theodoric growled and trotted forward and was met with swords pointed at his horse. "You took her from me!"
Genseric smiled and stepped down a few steps. "She was just a child when she came here but she has blossomed into such a fine young woman. She probably wouldn't recognize you."
Attila had enough of these games. "Release my son and Xena's daughter and Katarina, Genseric. You have no business with these children. If you don't release them, I will burn your city to the ground and leave no survivors."
The Vandal king clapped his hands, "now that is the Attila I remember. You simply cannot have them. They belong to me now just like all of your people that live here."
Theodoric snarled and charged forward and his men immediately followed behind. Attila smiled and waved his hand at the archers behind him. Many arrows were shot at the Vandal soldiers and Genseric panicked, immediately retreating back into the palace. Attila hopped off his horse and ran up the stairs with an entourage of troops. They broke down the doors and marched inside. He kicked down all the large candles in the hallway, igniting the curtains along the walls.
Genseric ran into a secret room with his elite guards and Arykan casually walked into the main hallway and saw Attila and his men destroying everything in sight. Her eyes grew in fear at sight of him and instantly ran the opposite way.
Attila frowned and saw her running away. "You!" he shouted and she rounded the corner. "Spread out. Look for Ellac and Anastasia," he told his men and then ran off to find the mysterious woman running from him.
Arykan breathed heavily and ran down another hallway and Attila caught up to her. She came to a door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She looked back and saw him approaching closer, so she ran the opposite way. "Stop!" he yelled and then quickened his pace, coming closer and closer.
She came to a dead end and Attila wrapped his arm around her neck, choking her. She gasped for air and he slammed her against the stone wall. He stared at her for a few moments and a dark frown appeared on his face. "Arykan?" he said and her eyes were filled with fear. "You! You are one of us! You have betrayed me, your king!"
Arykan shook her head, denying any truth to that at all. He gripped her throat and she clutched her hands around his. "Please..." she choked.
"Xena exiled you because you tried to murder her," he smiled. "How convenient that you would be here...holding Anastasia and Ellac prisoner in this God awful place." He grip tightened and she scraped her fingernails on the wall, begging for mercy. "Where are they?!"
"In...the prison below," she said and he let go of her throat and she gasped for air, choking to death she felt like.
Attila nodded and then he plunged his sword into her midsection and she let out a breathless exhale, holding onto his blade inside her. "You are lucky that I killed you," he said and she lifted her dark brown eyes, staring at him. "If Xena got to you first, she would have tortured and mutilated you. I did you a favor," he pulled the blade out and she wrapped her arms around her stomach and slid down the wall slowly, staining it with her own blood.
He ran to the center of the palace and regrouped with his men that already slaughtered most of the guards. Theodoric obviously had his hands full outside. "Any sign of Genseric?"
One man shook his head, "no my king. He is hiding somewhere."
Attila sighed, "Anastasia and Ellac are in the prison below. Find them and I'll go after Genseric," he stormed off to go find the cowardly king.
His men after some searching found the prison and killed the guards. They unlocked a large door and found Anastasia on the floor with her hands tied behind her back. One of the men ran up to her and cut the ropes around her wrists. Anastasia's eyes fluttered open and he smiled down at her. She smiled weakly and he scooped her up in his arms and she clung to his chest.
"Where...is Ellac?" she asked, licking her dry lips.
"We will find him," he said and carried her out of the room. She frowned and then closed her eyes, falling limp in his arms. "zavallı kız..." he whispered. "Find the prince!" he said and the other men began looking in all of the other rooms in this prison.
Gabrielle was in the middle of the field fighting alongside the Huns and Vandals surrounded them. She kept her back against two soldiers as her eyes constantly darted from one direction to the other. The only thing she kept thinking about was Xena crashing down to the ground back in Aquincicum, with those arrows in her limbs. At that moment, Xena was helpless and severely injured and that was the moment that Gabrielle snapped. That image of killing those Romans kept replaying in her mind over and over again.
She held Xena's heavy sword with both hands and her mind went blank, no longer thinking about the Vandals attacking at all. One of the Huns next to her cried out and she snapped out of her daydreaming state and turned to see a Vandal had plunged his sword into the Hun's heart. She looked around herself and saw many people dying right before her eyes. She thought she had seen it all when she was with Xena, but the truth was, she hadn't seen it all. She was seeing death repeated, recycling through her mind and it wouldn't go away.
Xena swung her scimitar and sliced a Vandal's throat then trampled over his body with her large black horse. She saw Gabrielle in the middle of the field surrounded by fallen soldiers and many Vandals slaying Attila's men left and right. "Gabrielle!" she rode faster towards the center of the field.
Gabrielle dropped Xena's sword and slowly peered up at the large Vandal, staring her down with his sword in hand and shield in the other. He smiled at her then lifted up his sword and her eyes grew in fear and her heart raced. She was stuck in the middle of this battle and a man towered over her with all the strength and power in the world to strike her down.
She shut her eyes and clamped her hands together, praying silently to herself. It was then she heard the man groan loudly and she opened her eyes and saw a large sword sticking out of his chest. Inhaling heavily the Vandal fell to the ground face forward and Xena stood behind him, holding her bloody sword, glaring down at her.
"You..." Xena said calmly, "will be the death of me." She lowered her sword and Gabrielle ran to her then wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly. She winced and the blonde pulled away and saw blood all over her arms.
Frowning she looked at Xena's wound and blood was seeping out into her clothes. "You're bleeding!"
Xena nodded and grabbed Gabrielle's arm, ushering her to the horse. "I'm aware. Get on," she said and Gabrielle climbed aboard. She steadied herself then slowly got up on the horse, wrapping her arm around her wounded ribcage. "We're going to go through the main gate. Attila and Theodoric are not out of the city walls yet."
"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Gabrielle asked, now concerned for Xena and her well being.
The warrior smirked, "do you have any better ideas?" Gabrielle remained silent. "I didn't think so. They will be able to hold off the Vandals out here while we ride into the city." She trotted off leaving the battle behind to head to the main gate in search of Attila and Theodoric. She looked over her shoulder, "you remember where those Hun women are?"
Gabrielle smiled and grasped Xena's shoulders as they rode back to where they started.
Attila kicked open the final door in the third hallway within this place trying to find the Vandal king. "Genseric!" he yelled and his voice echoed throughout the hallway. "Come and fight me like a man!" he rounded the corner and saw two large doors. The royal bedroom, of course, he thought. Smiling he stormed to the chambers and saw it was well guarded.
He twirled his sword and four guards pulled out their swords ready to fight. He grinned and grabbed a flaming torch off the wall and threw it at one two of the soldiers. They panicked and their boots and pants caught fire. Dropping their weapons they tried to pat themselves down and Attila growled, plunging his sword into one of the guards and kicked the other down.
The remaining guards ran towards him and Attila ducked his head, then swiped his leg across, knocking down one of the guards. He grabbed one of the guard's swords lying on the floor and thrust it into the standing guard's gut. Blood splattered all over his face and he groaned, standing up finally and stomped his boot on the guard's face.
He wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve and opened the double doors. He ran inside and then saw nobody inside until he looked above him. Genseric hung himself with bed sheets tied to the chandelier. He sighed and the king's lifeless body swayed gently from side to side. "Damn it," he mumbled then exited the bedroom.
Below the palace, the Hun soldiers found another room on the other side of this maze and kicked open the door. They saw a young man lying in the middle of the cell. The two men ran inside and stared at the body with a pool of blood surrounded his head. "Your majesty..." one of the men whispered and they received no response.
He knelt down and rolled the body over and frowned seeing the face of the young male. "This is not the prince," he grabbed a blanket and covered the young man's body.
Both men heard banging on a different door across the way and ran out of the room. The banging continued and they kicked the door open and saw Ellac smiling at them both. The Hun soldiers grinned and looked down at the teenage prince with his arm in a makeshift sling, shirtless and shoeless as well.
"We're glad to see you are alive, your highness."
Ellac nodded then brushed passed them. "Where is Anastasia?" he immediately asked.
"She is safe, do not worry, sir. She is probably outside of the city walls by now," the Hun said and saw the prince take off running out of the prison.
He kept running down the hallway and rounded the corner then bumped into someone. He groaned and then realized it was his father. He smiled and Attila's eyes lit up as soon as he saw him. Attila wrapped his arms around his son and squeezed him tightly. "I knew you would come for us," he said.
Attila kissed his son's head and looked down at his arm, frowning. "Is Anastasia safe?"
The Hun soldiers nodded and the king sighed a sigh of relief. "Raphael is taking her to the outskirts of the city, your highness."
Ellac grabbed his father's sleeve firmly, "where is Xena?"
Attila smirked, "off doing her own thing, I'm sure. Come on, we need to leave. There is nothing left for us here," he grabbed his son's arm and they hurried out of the palace as fast as they could.
Xena and Gabrielle rode through the narrow alleyways, turning very tight corners, knocking over fruit and vegetable stands in the process. The alleys were like a ghost town, nobody was around. Gabrielle pointed ahead and Xena continued onward and they came to a small square.
Many of the women saw her riding in and they grabbed their children instantly running from her, not sure who she was. Xena pulled the scarf off from around her face and Gabrielle looked to the three Hun women that she spoke to earlier and they stepped forward out of their large home. Their children hid behind their dresses, cowering in fear.
"How would all of you like to return to your homes?" Xena asked and all the women and scarce amount of men stared at her confusedly. "Come with us and leave this place behind."
One of the Hun women, the one from Pannonia, approached her and Xena looked down at her. She smiled staring at Gabrielle, remembering exactly what she said. She said, "Xena..."
"Yes..?" Xena frowned at the woman and was becoming impatient, there was no time to waste here.
"You are freeing us," the woman stated as a fact more than a question. "We are free?"
Gabrielle smiled and Xena sighed heavily. "We are going to Pannonia. Anyone that wants to come with us is...welcome," Xena said.
Meanwhile, Attila and Ellac were trying to find their way out of the house and saw Theodoric standing outside of the palace doors with slain Vandals on the steps and streets. The Visigoth walked up the stairs and wiped his sweaty brow. "I see you found your son," he nodded curtly at the boy. "And Xena's daughter?"
"She is safe," Attila said. "We couldn't find your daughter anywhere in the palace."
Theodoric lowered his head and Ellac frowned. "I did see a young woman with the queen when she came to see me in the cell." The prince said and Attila turned around, folding his arms. "Blonde hair, blue eyes. I thought she was the king's daughter."
"Genseric has no children," Theodoric scoffed. "Did you think she might still be in the palace?"
Attila shrugged his shoulders, "if she is, she is hiding. The palace is huge and there are many rooms."
Ellac stepped forward, "I can help you look for her! I know where most of the royal rooms are." His father gave him a disapproving look. "I can help, father."
"Fine," Attila rolled his eyes then saw Xena trotting out into the square with a horde of mostly women and children following behind her on foot. He frowned and left the steps as soon as Theodoric and Ellac left his side.
"Xena!" he ran up to her and she halted her horse.
She nudged her head, "lead them out of the city wall," she told Gabrielle. The women, children and men followed Gabrielle through the streets, hoping they wouldn't run into any more Vandals along the way. "Ellac and Anastasia. Did you find them?"
He smiled, nodding. "Yes, Anastasia is safe." He saw a expression of relief on her face. "The king killed himself in his room."
Xena frowned, "I want his body."
Attila shook his head, "not here Xena. Not now," he stepped forward and she smiled down at him.
"I want it," she pressed.
"It is not the time for this, Xena."
She leaned forward, "I want his body," she hissed. "We are not leaving until I have it." she smiled eerily and he rolled his eyes, realizing she wasn't going to stop this game of hers and he definitely knew she was not one to bluff on her threats either.
Minutes later Ranark trotted towards the palace and saw the king's body being dragged out of the palace. His blood boiled and he charged up towards Xena, seeing her alive and well of course. "Xena!" he shouted and she turned her head, smiling wickedly.
"So glad you could make it," she chuckled softly then pointed to the large wooden cross in the center of the square. "Put his body on the cross!" she demanded and Attila's men drug the deceased Vandal king to the cross.
Ranark growled, "you can't do this! Kill her!" he thrust his sword forward and Xena frowned deeply.
"You have no power here anymore!" She hissed. "Your king is dead, your queen is gone. Your men are outnumbered. You lose!" she spat on the ground in front of his horse and Ranark smirked at her arrogance.
"Attila!" Ranark pointed his sword towards the king. "You will leave my city and...prepare for an invasion," he winked.
Attila smirked, leaning against the palace's column outside. "I will be ready for you. What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't," Ranark snarled. He saw his king's body being tied to the large cross and he clenched his teeth. "This is not over!"
Xena smirked, "you're right, it's just beginning," she kicked her horse and rode off out of the palace square. Attila smiled at Ranark and then Ellac appeared with Theodoric and a blonde woman that seemed to be his missing daughter, Katarina. He walked down the steps and mounted his horse with his son and Theodoric did the same with his daughter.
After leaving Barkeno the Huns decided to camp outside of the city certain that the Vandals wouldn't dare come and attack especially with what happened. Their king was dead and so was their queen. Gabrielle lead all of the Hun refugees safely out of the city and they were all huddled together talking with one another around multiple campfires.
Ellac waited outside of the tent where Anastasia was with Xena. Gabrielle came up to him and he smiled weakly. "Hey," he said and picked at the grass anxiously.
She sat beside him on the ground, staring at all the misplaced Hun women sitting with their children. "How's your arm?" she asked.
He shrugged, "I'll live. It's just a broken arm," he sighed and toss the grass out in front of him. "Xena's been in there with Ana for hours. Do you think she's okay?"
Gabrielle smiled, "you are very worried about her, aren't you?"
"Of course I am!" he almost yelled and then sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Of course I am..." he murmured. "Gabrielle, does Xena hate me?"
The blonde frowned and looked at the young prince, "no she doesn't but you have to admit, you two really shocked her when Anastasia came back."
He hung his head in shame and felt embarrassed. "I –I didn't know. I just want to help."
Gabrielle pat his shoulder gently, "I'll go check on her for you, alright?" she stood up and went inside the tent while he anxiously waited outside for awhile longer, yet again.
Xena sat beside her daughter as she lay asleep on a few wool blankets. She ran her fingers through Ana's hair, smiling down at her while she slept peacefully. Gabrielle walked inside and Xena lifted her eyes.
She sat beside Ana, opposite Xena and exhaled heavily. "How is she doing?"
Xena cocked her head and touched her daughter's pale cheek. "She's been asleep for the last few hours. She's so thin..." she frowned sadly.
Gabrielle nodded, "Ellac is worried about her, you know."
The warrior sighed and brushed her hand over Anastasia's head softly. "You can tell him to come in." Gabrielle smiled and left the tent to go retrieve the very anxious prince waiting outside.
Moments later Ellac walked in with Gabrielle and he approached slowly. Xena stared up at him and he nervously smiled. "How –how is she?" he asked in a soft voice.
"She ate some food and then she's been asleep ever since," Xena answered and the prince nodded his head slowly.
"And...um, the baby is okay too right?" his hand kept shaking as he patiently waited for her response. All he saw was a slight smile on her lips and that made him even more nervous. "I'm really...sorry about everything, Xena. I didn't know, she didn't tell me when I left, I –I just want to help as much as I can now. I want to do the right thing and I tried to protect her –"
She raised her hand and he shut his mouth, biting his bottom lip. "I know, Ellac and thank you for taking care of her." He pursed his lips and kept staring at her with wide eyes. "And yes the baby will be fine."
He let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Then he sat down beside Ana and stared at her as she slept calmly, her chest rising and falling slowly. He touched her arm gently and she didn't even stir in her slumber. "Can I stay here with...her?"
Xena smiled warmly, "sure," he bobbed his head with a huge grin on his face. She stood up and folded her arms, "I'll leave you alone with her. I trust you will come get me if she wakes..."
He cleared his throat, "of course, yes ma'am."
She rolled her eyes, "stop calling me that." She walked off and grabbed Gabrielle's arm, heading out of the tent for awhile since she had been locked away for hours now.
The two women sat together around a campfire alone though they weren't exactly alone. There were so many extra people here and it was very overwhelming. Gabrielle poked the fire with a long stick while Xena sat in silence.
"Gabrielle, I want you to know..." Xena sighed and Gabrielle set the stick aside, listening attentively. "You don't need to protect me, I can take care of myself. I've been taking care of myself long before you came along."
Gabrielle smirked, "but I wanted to help."
Xena shook her head, rubbing her face, "you sound like my daughter."
The blonde sighed, "look, I think you've been taking care of yourself for a long time now and you had nobody to look out for you. Why do you want to push me away for that?"
Xena frowned and turned to face her blonde haired companion. "I don't want...to push you away. Do you think that I am doing that?"
Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "It's hard to read you sometimes, Xena. You said you took care of yourself before I came along, but I don't think you did. You were just killing everything in sight. Now that I am here...I make you question everything you do –second guess yourself." She stared at the flames in front of them, frowning sadly. "I distract you and...that's why you got hurt."
Xena scooted closer and grabbed her hand. "It wasn't your fault, Gabrielle. I let my anger cloud my mind. I didn't want you to get hurt so I panicked and when you wouldn't listen to me..." she sighed, "it was my fault, not yours."
The blonde smirked, "it seems like we're both blaming ourselves for the same thing."
"I have put the blame on myself for a lot of things in my life and I don't blame you for anything. Ever." Xena smiled softly and Gabrielle squeezed her hand firmly, assuring her that she understood where she was coming from. She saw the sadness in the warrior's eyes. She was not an old woman by any means, but her eyes were. She had seen so much, done so much, lived a tough life from such a young age. Where they both came from, a person in their late fifties hadn't seen even half the things Xena had seen or experienced.
"You know what?" Gabrielle grinned and Xena frowned at her, hoping she wasn't going to go all philosophical on her again. "You should stop blaming yourself so much."
Xena chuckled lightly, "I have done a lot of horrible things Gabrielle. It's easy for you to say that." Her hand slipped away and back into her lap. "I can't fix what I've done in my past."
Gabrielle nodded, "you can't fix your past, yes, but you can learn from it."
The warrior scoffed, "looks like I'm not good at that either." A small ball of twigs and twine was thrown in her direction and she caught it midair. She frowned and looked ahead to see a young boy running up to her and then halted immediately seeing her. She smiled and held out her hand with the ball.
The dark haired boy ran up to her and snatched the ball from her palm, then hesitantly stepped back. "Thanks.." he muttered. He turned and began walking away then looked over his shoulder and stopped. "Um...you're Xena, right?" he asked.
Xena looked to Gabrielle and saw a playful smile on her lips. She answered the boy, "yes. What is your name?"
"Mirac," he smiled and Xena kept smiling at the young boy. "You work with Attila, don't you?" she nodded. "My mother told me that she used to live in Pannonia with you."
The warrior raised her eyebrow, "oh really? Well...I've lived with a lot of people."
He nodded, "is Pannonia pretty?"
She didn't have the heart to tell the boy that the tribal city was destroyed now and a barren, but she simply smiled at him with warmth. "Yes it is. I'm sure you'll love it," she winked and he chuckled lightly.
"Mirac!" his mother came running towards her son talking to Xena and immediately grasped his shoulders, cuddling him to her dress. She nervously stared at Xena and spoke softly, "I'm sorry...if he was bothering you."
Xena shook her head, "he wasn't bothering me. He is a sweet boy."
The woman smiled and shooed her son away to go back playing with the other children. "Um..." she folded her arms and averted her eyes, "thank you for saving us. I was beginning to think we were never going to get out of there."
"You shouldn't thank me," Xena turned to Gabrielle, "you should thank her. She told me about you all," she nudged Gabrielle's arm gently.
The Hun woman nodded, "thank you. Both of you," she clamped her hands together, bowing to both women. Gabrielle's cheeks flushed, especially since Xena kept staring at her and this woman was showing her utmost gratitude towards her. It was rather overwhelming. "I...didn't know you had a daughter," she said and Xena looked at her with a big frown on her face. The woman nervously added, "my friend hid her from the Vandals."
Xena softened her hard exterior and lowered her eyes. "Make sure to tell your friend that I am very grateful for that."
The woman bit her bottom lip and sighed, "she is dead. The royal guards killed her," she saw some sadness in Xena's eyes and never thought that a woman like her could show that emotion. But she too knew a mother and child relationship and never wanted anything to happen to her son, so she could only imagine what Xena felt when her daughter was taken from her. "She was from the Caspian Sea. Sugay was her name."
That name sparked in Xena's mind and her eyes widened, staring at the woman, making her feel uneasy. Gabrielle touched her thigh gently, "do you know who that is?" she whispered and Xena nodded.
"She was a shamaness. She never stayed in one place for a long time." Xena sighed and ran her fingers through her hair then stared up at the woman. "I'm sorry about your friend. She was a good person."
The woman smiled and began backing away, "I'll leave you alone now...sorry for disturbing you," she nervously said then head back to her friends and the children playing a few tents away.
Gabrielle watched the children playing together, chasing one another and the women sitting around talking, as if they were now free and comfortable to speak now. They had smiles on their faces, something she didn't see back in Barkeno. They were solemn and their eyes were heavy with a lot of baggage and pain deep inside them.
"So..." the blonde leaned onto Xena's shoulder. "You know shamanesses? What else don't I know about you?" she teased.
Xena rolled her eyes, "not exactly."
"I didn't think you would have any affiliation with those types of people!"
"I don't," Xena said. "You'll find a lot of those women in the tribes. They aren't very...vocal about who they are. They tend to keep to themselves."
Gabrielle nodded and sat up straight, folding her arms. She knew there were shamanesses in Greece, though they weren't normally seen as good people and were feared by many. "Are all the shamanesses good?"
Xena smirked, "most of them are harmless but like with anyone, there are bad seeds everywhere." She threw a few sticks into the fire. "We used to have a shamaness in Pannonia a long time ago."
"What happened to her?" Gabrielle was more intrigued now, scooting closer.
"Attila banished her. He was convinced that the woman kept cursing our people," she frowned. "One year, we had a lot of people die from disease. I kept Anastasia inside our home for the entire year with no outside contact, except for myself. We lost over two hundred people. After the disease disappeared, we had a terrible famine and all the wells dried up. A lot of children that year."
Gabrielle frowned sadly, "I'm sorry. No children should have to die before their parents.
Xena nodded, "Attila found out that the shamaness was using the dead bodies for strange rituals and decided to banish her. I don't know where she is now, or if she is even alive." She scoffed. Exhaling heavily she continued, "after she left, we didn't have any more problems," she looked at Gabrielle's shocked and horrified face and smirked. "I don't really believe in magic. Do you?"
Gabrielle's jaw dropped, "well, I don't know...I mean, I didn't before but..that's really weird that everything stopped after she left." Xena shrugged her shoulder and stretched her legs out, wincing at her injury on her upper thigh. She then saw the pain on Xena's face, though she tried her best to hide it. "How's your leg?"
"It's fine," the warrior curtly replied and carefully stretched her leg out and tried to lean back, though her rib wound was not allowing her.
"Sure it is..." Gabrielle chuckled. "You're a mess."
Xena shot her a glare, "thanks," her voice dripping with pure sarcasm. "It's going to take at least a month to move back to Pannonia," she dreaded that long journey and process, but Attila had a deal with Theodoric. They would leave Aquincicum and return to Pannonia, as promised.
"It won't be as bad as you think it will be," Gabrielle tried to ease Xena's worries and concern.
The dark haired woman wagged her head, "we still have Aetius and his Roman dogs. They will come back and this time, we will be ready for them."