Chapter 24
Gabrielle being the talkative investigator she was, decided to corner Xerxes' mother and ask her a few questions. It was clear that Nousha was not thrilled to be trapped in a small space full of Huns. She made that very clear earlier in the market before they were accosted by a group of Persians. Her sour attitude towards foreigners reminded Gabrielle of Kreka.
"We're going to start from the beginning," she told Nousha. "Tell us what happened in the palace."
The Persian woman stood at almost equal height to Gabrielle. She had her arms folded and glared up at her son before answering.
"Shehzade Kawus came into the harem and two men carried me off," she began. "I was locked in a cell below the palace and Shahbanu Sambice came to see me."
Xerxes groaned. "Sambice…" he punched the wall. "She's hated me ever since I was born. She's always been out to get me! Now I know how my brother is operating within the palace. His mother is in on it!"
Gabrielle held up her hand to stop his raging. "Go on Nousha."
His mother huffed and looked over at Xena tending to Arielle. "Sambice told me that my son sided with the Huns to overthrow the Shah. I didn't believe her. You can't believe anything that comes out of that snake's mouth."
"Mother!" he shouts and grabs her shoulders. "Kawus is trying to overthrow father, not me! He has everything planned out and now he's using me as a scapegoat! Don't you get it?"
"Well, I can see that you have grown very close to the Huns," Nousha sends a nasty glare towards Arielle. "You've developed feelings for that savage woman."
Xena's eyes darkened and she stood from her knelt position and marched over to the petite Persian concubine. Looming over her like a tower, she backed Nousha into a corner of the room.
"That is enough." She slammed her palm on the wall and the Persian winced. "No more badmouthing my granddaughter. She is injured because she was trying to save you! We are not your enemies!"
"Xena."
The only calming voice that was able to clear the clouds in her mind, echoed from across the room. Xena backed away from the frightened woman at the call of Gabrielle's stern voice. She locked eyes with Xerxes as she passed by and bumped her wife's shoulder.
"She's going to be a problem," she whispered.
To put a halt in the tense air, Gabrielle continued her questioning as if nothing happened.
"Who is Tegin Irkin? I heard you say his name back there," she asked the prince.
Xerxes looked over to Xena and frowned. "He…works for my father. He's a Pasha which is similar to a governor in your empire," he explained. "He's half Persian and half Mongol so he scouts all of eastern Persia. He used to work for my uncle, Hormizd."
"Hmm. Is he dangerous? He didn't attack you. He rode off without his men."
"He's probably going to tell my father that I'm here. I normally don't have a problem with Tegin but if he truly believes Kawus' lies then we got ourselves a problem."
She nods her head and glanced at her wife who was wiping blood off Arielle's backside wound. "Xena and I will raid the House of Karen. You'll stay with Arielle and your mother."
"But you don't know where the palace is."
"I have the map of Persia memorized. I draw maps for a living you know," she grins at the prince. "Besides if you need to leave I trust you with Arielle. You know your home better than we do. We wouldn't know where to go if we stayed behind."
Xerxes sighs and scratched his beard. He peered over to his mother who was unhappy about the entire situation she was placed in. He knew that she hated Huns but it wasn't them who sold her to the slave market. She just didn't understand and he didn't expect her to.
"Alright. We'll wait here," he finally decided.
Gabrielle clamped his shoulder then walked over to her wife and sat down on the stool. She told her wife the plan while Xerxes stood by his mother, watching the khanum nod her head and locked eyes with the governor.
Nousha arched her eyebrow and pulled her son aside.
"I don't see why we have to stay here. I want to go back to the palace. Why can't you tell the Shah what is going on? Tell him Kawus is planning a rebellion! There's no need to go to the Karens!"
His head throbbed and he patiently turned to her. "Mama, you can't go home. Sambice will kill you and Kawus has his minions scattered around Persia. If I go out there I will be killed!" he emphasized. "Kawus has people working for him in the palace. All of his lies are being told directly in my father's ears. There is nothing I can do."
"So…where am I supposed to go?!" she spat.
He explained, "After the raid we are going to Balaam, Armenia. Arielle's father has an army for us. From there we'll go to Scythia."
"Scythia!" she shouted, alarming both governor and khanum on the opposite side of the room. "I am not going to Scythia!" she hissed. "You've lost your mind! I am not cohabitating with Huns!"
"I'm not leaving you to the wolves, mother. Trust me. You'll be safe with us."
XXXXXX
Banat
Csaba stood in the center of the palace with his sister in law and gave her very clear instructions to keep the palace walls guarded at all times. He knew deep within him that Eksama wasn't stupid and she'd figure out that Banat was an allied state with the empire. After all, she had access to all of the documents in the Adame.
"I want everyone to stay inside. Nobody goes in or out. Do we have enough food supply to last if we're all stuck in here for awhile?" he asks.
Rabia nodded. "Yes. We have a cellar below filled with grain, wine and water. I've made sure that we have extra stock just in case."
"Good. What about safety for all the children?"
"We have cisterns below the palace. If there is an attack then the children will be transported there."
He tapped his boot on the floor and waved his hand to dismiss her. Rabia sauntered off and he was about to head in the opposite direction when he caught his mother soaring down the hall. He cocked his head and watched her run swiftly with Navaz picking up speed to catch her.
"Csaba!" Anastasia came to a stop and caught her breath. "Csaba," she put one hand on his shoulder and the other over her rapidly beating heart.
"Mother?" he grabbed her arm for support. "Is everything alright?"
"I –I," she coughed and took in a deep breath. "I want to go to Kazakhstan to see Cera," she managed to say in a quick sentence.
Csaba half smiled and looked over to Navaz who seemed very agitated. "I can't let you do that, mother. I forbade everyone from leaving Banat."
"Csaba!" she gripped his arms firmly. "I need to be with her! I got –I got a letter from her. She said that she's pregnant. Please! Navaz will come with me."
His eyes widened as did his smile. "Ah, so my baby sister is having a baby," he marveled. "I'm very happy for her but I'm sorry mother. You have to stay here." He kissed her forehead and walked away.
Anastasia clenched her jaw and she yanked his entire body backward with great force that he almost fell over. He gawked at her and felt his shoulder almost dislocate by her forceful pull.
"I am not going to be robbed again!" she hissed. Her son exhaled shakily and gaped into her horrifying eyes. "Your sister ran away and she came back when she was eight months pregnant. You also ran off with Farah for months! I am not letting that happen to me a third time."
He hesitantly cupped her cheek, fearing that he might be slapped or something worse. He didn't like to face his mother's wrath. Navaz stared at him with worrisome eyes and he nods his head slowly.
"Okay mother, okay," he relented. "I'll let you go."
She happily kissed his cheeks and brought him into an embrace. Csaba tensed at his mother's touch and gently rubbed her back.
"Thank you, tatli cocuk." She kissed his cheek again and he cringed. "Tell Farah I want some fabric to take with me."
"Yes mother…"
She grabbed Navaz's hand and ushered him down the hallway. "I want to leave in a couple of days."
Navaz looked back helplessly at the young king.
XXXXXX
Hamadan, Persia
Xena gathered the very few soldiers that they took with them from Banat and met up with Gabrielle outside the Karen's palace. It certainly wasn't as large as the Sassanian's but it was large enough. Xena sized up the home and it looked to be about the same size as the Banat palace.
She had some doubts about these Szekely soldiers. They weren't trained by her or Arielle but Csaba reassured them that he picked out the best of the best. Rabia personally chose the soldiers presented to her by a leading officer of the military.
While Gabrielle was looking over the map of the House of Karen, Xena huddled up with the men and pulled the scarf down her face.
"Here's what we're going to do. There aren't a lot of us to do this raid and without Xerxes and Arielle to help, this will be quick. We won't be able to kill every single Karen but we need to make sure they know we were here."
One of the soldiers spoke up for the rest of the crew. "We're willing to do whatever you say, commander."
She smirked and slapped the soldier's shoulder. "Thanks boy, but I'm not a commander anymore. Just filling in." she sighs. "Anyway, Gabrielle do you know where all the exits are?"
"Yes," the governor stood and presented the map to the men. "All of the bedrooms are downstairs except for Pamira Karen's room. She's upstairs."
"We'll take care of her," said Xena. "Kill as many members of the household as possible. They'll probably run and if they do, leave the palace. Got it? No point in sticking around chasing people. We don't have time for that."
The soldiers nodded their heads. They were about to head out until Gabrielle stopped them.
"Wait," she interjects, "we should kill all of Sukhra's sons. Let's keep him alive so he can report to Kawus. We need someone to stay behind and act as a spy. Who wants to volunteer?" she grins excitedly.
All of the young men looked to one another and Xena pulled one soldier forward by the arm.
"He'll do it. Won't you, boy?"
"Y…yes, khanum," he nervously replied.
"What's your name?"
"Noes, khanum."
"Noes," she smiles at her blonde wife. "You'll stay behind in Persia. Follow every move that Sukhra makes and when you have some juicy information," she wiggled her fingers, "you send a message to Balaam. Clear?"
He nodded.
XXXXXX
Estakhr, Persia
Tegin Irkin walked into the Shah's bedroom after he was allowed entry. He bowed his head and stared at the back of his ruler's head. "Shah Kavad, I have spotted Shehzade Xerxes in Persia."
The Shah spun around and eyed the disheveled Pasha. "Where is he?"
"In Nahavand, your highness. He had three women with them, two were Hun women."
He wipes a finger on one of the chairs and looks to the Pasha with disappointment. "I'm assuming you didn't catch him since you're here."
"No," Tegin regretfully informed. "But there is something else. He had Banu Nousha with him," he says with concern. "She was dressed like a slave, hair matted and drenched in filth from head to toe."
This caught the Shah's attention. "Nousha?"
"Yes, Shah. Would you like –"
He ran out of the room before Tegin could get a word in. He pushed open the doors and stomped down the long hallway towards the harem wing of the palace. All of the servants backed away and bowed their heads as he swiftly brushed by everyone.
The Shah kicked the doors open to the harem and all of the women stood. They covered their hair with the veils on their heads and he weaved through the women, searching for his favorite concubine. Frustratingly he grabbed one of the women's arms.
"Where is Nousha?" he growled.
"Shehzade…Kawus, Shehzade Kawus took her, your majesty," she said with a shaky voice. "The guards locked her away."
His dark eyes grew and he stormed out of the harem and Sambice wandered the halls. He spotted her and rushed over then rammed her into the wall. He wrapped a hand around her throat and ripped the veil off her face.
"Kavad!" she yelped.
"My son took Nousha out of the palace. She is forbidden to leave!" he spat.
The Shahbanu choked and his grip tightened around her neck. She pleaded and grabbed his wrist, trying her best to pry him off her.
"If you have anything to do with this I will personally execute you, Sambice."
He released her and took off, yelling at the guards. She slid down the wall and coughed violently. Rubbing her throat she glared at her husband and several maids came to her aid. She snarled and pushed them away and slowly she rose.
XXXXXX
Hamadan, Persia
They charged through the front entrance of the Karen household. Xena sliced through one of the guards trying to protect the entryway. She ripped the scarf off her face and turned to the men and waved her hand. They spread apart and ran to the bedrooms belonging to the sons.
Gabrielle looked around the home and couldn't hear anything except for their men's boots stomping all over the marble tile flooring.
"This isn't right," she says and backs up against her wife.
"You said it."
One of the soldiers ran towards them from the west wing. "Khanum! The rooms are empty!"
"Dammit." Xena's eyes drifted to the staircase. "Come on, Gabrielle."
The team ran upstairs and began to search every single room there was. The men kicked the doors open and there were several rooms. Xena halted at two large double doors and kicked them open with her boot. She smiled at Pamira who was sitting on her bed, brushing her long dark hair.
Pamira stood, fearfully staring at all of the intruders in her room. She looked left and then right. There was no way out except for the balcony but that was a bit of a jump. Xena walked forward and grabbed the girl's arm and pinned it behind her back.
"Where are your brothers and father?" she questioned. "Where?!"
"They…they left earlier! This morning!" Pamira said and gazed into those blue eyes. "You're the khanum from…Pannonia."
"Yes, I am. You're coming with us."
She tossed the girl into the soldiers' arms and they knotted her wrists together behind her back. She was pushed along outside of the bedroom and Xena shook her head, glancing around the room. She felt her wife's touch and jumped slightly.
"Do you think they knew we were coming?" Gabrielle asked.
"No, they're not that good. They probably went to meet with Kawus to devise their next plan." She tapped her fingers on the hilt of her sword, lost in thought.
Gabrielle turned and raised an eyebrow at the teenage girl. "What are we going to do with her?"
"We'll see just how badly Sukhra cares for his daughter when he comes back and finds her missing," she grins maliciously. "We're taking her to Balaam with us."
"You're not going to hurt her, are you?"
"Gabrielle!" she pinched her wife's cheeks together. "Pamira is innocent. I would never hurt an innocent child of course but…she is great bait."
"Uh huh." She shoved her wife's hand off her face. "You don't think it's strange that this entire house is deserted?"
Xena folds her arms. "No, it's definitely strange but I don't want to stick around to find out why it's strange. The soldiers will take Pamira to Balaam. We need to get back to Xerxes and Arielle."
She marched off and then her wife grabbed onto her. She turned around, seeing those green eyes filled with uncertainty and concern.
"What's wrong?"
"It's been awhile since we've had to deal with Persians and now we have three of them in our custody. We're supposed to be the Shah's ally but now we're his enemy. If Kawus is really going to start a rebellion against his father then we're in for a wild ride, Xena. I don't know how we'll be able to quell the Persians and Gepids at once."
The tall brunette smile and tilted her wife's chin upward. "One step at a time, Gabrielle. I have a plan to get the Shah to see the truth but first, we get back to the apothecary shop, alright?"
Gabrielle sighs. "Alright. Hey, you better not scare that girl." She punched her wife's arm.
"I won't!"
"…."
"I won't okay! Can we go now? I don't like it when you and I have these little chats."
"Why? Is it 'cause I make you think before you act, huh? Huh?"
"Gabrielle!"
"Coming, güzel hanim," she teases and heard her wife growl. "I thought you liked it when I called you that? You know what you're turning into a grouch, Xena. I don't know how I've been able to put up with you this long." She laughs.
"Shut up."
"See what I mean."
XXXXXX
Xerxes hovered over Arielle and felt her cheeks and forehead. Her body was very warm to the touch. She began to shiver as she lay on her side. Sweat poured down her forehead and neck. He dipped a cloth into a bowl of cold water and dabbed her forehead. He wasn't sure whether to cover her body with the blanket since she was shivering or leave her exposed.
She moaned lightly in her unconscious state and he crinkled his eyebrows together. He didn't enjoy watching her suffer and grabbed hold of her hand. He felt her fingers grip his hand gingerly and a smile came to his lips.
"Mother, what should I do? She won't stop trembling and she has a fever."
Nousha stopped walking around the room and came close to the wounded queen. She bent down and ran her palm over Arielle's forehead.
"She's burning up. She should be stripped of her clothes."
He didn't hesitate and ripped the blanket off Arielle's body and immediately took her boots off. Nousha raised her eyebrow at her son as he began untying the laces around the Hun woman's pants and slide them off her legs. He came around and grabbed the blouse and his mother put a hand in front of his chest.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking off her blouse," he informs her and ripped the blouse in half and pulled it over Arielle's head and gently slid her arms through the large sleeves.
Nousha gaped at the amount of tattoos covering the Hun's body. The entirety of her arms, legs and stomach were filled with black tribal ink.
"My god! Look at her skin!" she slapped a hand over her mouth and turned her son who was not shocked at all. "You've seen her naked haven't you?"
He rolled his eyes. "Mother, I'm not having this conversation with you right now."
"You slept with her?!" she shouted. "You are the Shah's son –a shehzade!"
"Yes and I'm a fugitive in my country!" he yelled.
Gabrielle came in like a race horse and saw Arielle's near naked body on the table and looked up at Xerxes. "Um, there are Persians searching the area. I think they're looking for us. Xena said that we should leave immediately."
The prince whipped around and frowned sadly at Arielle. "But she's too injured, governor. She has a fever and her body is drenched!"
"Carry her. We don't have time. Xena has a horse outside. You can ride to Balaam without us. Come on!"
He reached down and scooped Arielle into his arms and draped the blanket over her body. "What about you two? What about my mother?"
"She'll be safe with us. We'll follow you when it's safe. You remember the way to Armenia, right?"
He nods. Gabrielle pushed him out the door and stared at Nousha then grabbed her hand.
Xerxes exited the shop and Xena stood in the dark, holding onto a horse's reins. He held Arielle close to his chest and Xena narrowed her eyes at the prince and guided the horse towards him. He set Arielle on the horse first then climbed aboard and adjusted her on the saddle.
She yanked on the reins, not allowing him to ride away. "You take care of her or I'll gut you like a pig."
"I promise to protect her with my life, khanum," he swore and she curtly nodded then stepped away. He smiled and rode off through the streets.
Gabrielle struggled to get the stubborn concubine out of the shop and having been fed up with her ever since she came into the picture; she shoved Nousha against a wall.
"Listen now and listen good, Nousha, I know you don't like us and we aren't very fond of Persians either. Your son put us in charge of you and you're going to do what we say whether you like it or not!" she spat in the woman's face.
"If you want to go back to the palace, by all means go! You'll be murdered by Kawus' mother and not only will the Shah mourn you, so will your son. Oh and if you make one more remark about Arielle you'll have to deal with me first before Xena," she added.
Xena smirked and saw the fear in Nousha's eyes. This was definitely a proud moment for her. It was rare to see her wife act so blunt with someone but obviously the Persian was getting on her nerves more than she was letting on.
The heated governor composed herself and wrapped the thick scarf over the bottom half of her face. She inhaled and looked to her wife.
"Let's get the hell out of this place."
Xena threw a black veil at the shaken concubine. "You heard the woman." She skipped ahead and poked her wife in the back. "I like it when you're feisty like that," she whispered.
"She should be more grateful. If she wasn't Xerxes' mother I'd slap her."
"Ah, that fire. Tell me more," she wriggled her brows.
"Xena, focus."
"I am very focused! I just like seeing you riled up. It really gets my blood going. Now all we need are some men to beat up." She balled her fists up and her wife sent her a mean glare. "Okay, we'll save that for another time."
XXXXXX
Balaam
Gathered in the prince's bedroom were two Gokturk soldiers who frequently visited the Adame. Soran took advantage when his father left the kingdom and even went as far as to throw extravagant parties while his father was away. Despite his previous hatred for the Sabirs, he befriended a few young Sabir men who joined his father's army and invited them to the Adame.
The parties weren't anything crazy and he even paid Zolten to keep his secrets from his father. Today, he and his friends played a game of chess while smoking opium out of large copper water pipes, each of them had their own pipes and lay on the floor while taking turns playing against one another.
Zolten entered the smoke filled bedroom and coughed. "Your highness…" he spoke loudly.
Soran turned and smiled up at the general. "Ah, good afternoon, Zolten. What do you need?"
"Szekely soldiers arrived with a Persian hostage. They were given orders by Xena to come here." He covered his mouth with a cloth and felt his eyes stinging from the opium smoke clouding the area.
The prince nods his head slowly and chortled. "Very good. Let them in." he moved a chess piece and cheered. "I win! Checkmate, boys!" he kicked over the board and his friends were too high to be sore about their loss.
"Your highness!"
"What?!" he yelled back at the general.
"Prince Xerxes is here as well. Queen Arielle is with him and she is very injured. I've allowed him to take her to her old bedroom. The physicians are examining her."
Soran blinked his red eyes and stood up clumsily. He ran over to the mirror and smoothed out his short thick hair. "My sister is here?" he asked and Zolten sighed dramatically. "I must go see her."
"What do you want to do with the Persian hostage?"
"I don't know? Put him in a room or something." He shrugged and brushed past Zolten.
"The hostage is a woman, your majesty."
Soran halted. "Oh I see. Give her a suite and whatever she needs. I'll deal with her later."
XXXXXX
Not long after Xerxes and the Banat soldiers arrived, Gabrielle steered the horse up to the Adame and Xena hopped off. She marched through an aisle of soldiers who bowed their heads as they passed by. She ran up the stairs and everyone in her path quickly moved.
Gabrielle helped Nousha off the horse by grabbing her waist. They followed Xena who was on a mission and pretty much unstoppable at this point. Nousha looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and wrapped her arms around her tattered clothing.
Upon seeing the khanum approaching, the guards opened the doors without command. She stormed into the foyer and Zolten turned around and bowed his head with a smile. She halted with a stomp of her boot and took a quick glance at the foyer. It looked much the same since she last came here, which was a very long time ago.
"Where's Arielle?" she asked.
"She's in her old bedroom with Prince Xerxes and Prince Soran. I've already assigned our best physicians to look after her."
She nods and Gabrielle came to her side. She spun around and grabbed Xerxes' mother and pushed her forward gently.
"This is Nousha. She is Xerxes' mother. Give her a room, food, fresh clothes and show her the baths."
Zolten's eyes widened at the small striking woman. "Y-yes, Xena." He whistled to a couple of maids standing by and waved his hand. The women immediately came to Nousha's side and escorted her down the hallway.
"That hostage is very important. She's not to be mistreated by anyone here. She is a guest," she pressed.
"Of course."
She smiles briefly and then made her way out of the foyer with Gabrielle trailing behind.
"Would you like me to set up a room for you?" he called out.
She waved her finger in the air. "That won't be necessary! I'll be taking the queen's suite." She snickers as she rounded the corner.
XXXXXX
Pannonia
Eksama made her rounds in the tribe like she did every once in awhile. This was a perfect opportunity for Ebnedzar's sons to sneak into the Adame without going noticed. Talat and Tolan snuck in through the women's quarters and checked around to see if there were any Gepid soldiers around.
The Adame wasn't very guarded inside and since Eksama was the only person living in it, the teenagers decided to go upstairs to find out which room she stayed in. it didn't take them long to find out that she in fact had claimed Anastasia's room.
Once inside the bedroom, Talat closed the doors quietly. His brother let out a laugh and looked around the room which had been refurbished with new furniture, a large wooden four post bed, a hand carved table low to the ground with huge pillows around it.
"What a piece of goat shit she is," he marveled. "She took Öm Ana's room!"
"Now isn't the time to get angry, Tolan. Spread out and look for anything she could be hiding."
The brothers took two ends of the large suite and Talat found a surrey of documents on the desk by the window. He leaned in closely and picked up several parchments and found they all had the same name on them.
"Oh fuck…" he muttered.
Tolan ran over and grabbed his brother's shoulder. "What'd ya find?"
"All this time we thought she was sitting in here doing nothing." He kept looking through the documents. "She's been going through the governor's office and reading all of our treaties and proclamations!"
"And?"
"Tolan! These are all Banat treaties. She knows that we have direct ties with Banat because of Farah."
"Hey I bet the clan is there!" Tolan said with a smile then realized what his brother was saying. "Oh…damn. She knows everything. What if she's going to attack Banat? We need to go there and tell everyone!"
Talat grabbed his brother's arm. "Wait, wait. How do we know that the clan is there?"
"Where else would they go?"
He rubbed his chin. "Good point. It's only a two day ride from here. We'll ride out tonight."
"I sure hope that she isn't going to attack Banat. God knows that the Szekely army isn't the best," said Tolan.
XXXXXX
Balaam
Gabrielle awoke to an aroma of cinnamon in the air. Her eyes fluttered open to bright sunlight beaming in her face. She rolled over and stretched her arm out, hoping to spoon her wife but found the bed cold and empty. She sat up and her heart dropped for a second and then her eyes drift to her favored person sitting at the desk, writing.
With a smug smile she crawled across the bed in a skin tight black knee length gown and set one foot on the ground softly. The other foot followed and she crept up behind her wife. That smell. She sniffed her wife's hair.
The quill pen skid across the parchment and Xena lifted an eyebrow, aware of her wife's unsubtle way of greeting her.
"Good morning," her voice smooth and soft.
Gabrielle grinned and wrapped her arms around her wife's neck and kept smelling her clean hair. "You should wash your hair with cinnamon oil more often."
She began to toy with the long locks and couldn't help but notice the thick streak of silver in her wife's hair. It was considerably visible considering the rest of her hair was black as night.
"I don't want to hear any comments about my hair."
"I wasn't going to say anything!" the blonde wandered around and leaned one hip against the table. "You've hardly aged at all! Except for these wrinkles here," she grazed her fingers close to the corners of her wife's eyes.
Xena slapped her hand. "Stop that," she chided and folded up the letter she was writing and grabbed a bar of wax. "Pointing out my imperfections like it's some joke to you."
"Hey, your imperfections are perfect to me," she sweetly adds.
"Nobody's perfect, Gabrielle."
She let the hot wax drip onto the letter and looked around for a seal. She saw a ring on her wife's hand and yanked her hand forward and jammed the ring on the wax.
"What the hell!"
Xena smiled. "Thanks." She blew against the hot wax and waft the letter in the air.
"You could've just asked…" Gabrielle glanced at the wax on her ring and sighed. "What is that anyway?"
"A letter for Shah Kavad. I've explained everything and hopefully he'll listen to me. Give this to Zolten, will you? I want this delivered today."
Gabrielle ripped the letter from her wife's hand. "Thanks for consulting me," she says, feeling a tad insulted.
"You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful."
"Right…"
Three loud knocks from the other side of the door alarmed them both.
Xena smiled at her grumpy wife's face and kissed her forehead. She smoothed out her hair and tightened the sash of her robe about her waist.
"Come in."
Prince Soran walked in and didn't bother to greet either of them. "That Persian bastard has been in my sister's room for two days now!"
"Good morning to you too, Soran," Xena mused. "Where's that sweet boy I used to know? When did you develop such a foul tongue?"
He grunted. "Aren't you gonna do something about it?" he looked at the two and they stared blankly. "I don't want that man near my sister!"
"Too late for that," she mutters. "Xerxes has been very helpful and he respects Arielle very much. I like him."
The prince gasped. "Has he been intimate with her?" he eyed both of them and they shied away. "I'm going to kill him!"
Gabrielle ran over and blocked the doors. "You're beginning to sound like Csaba. Listen, I know you're very protective of your big sister, Soran, but Xerxes is very kind. He's not like the other Persians."
"I don't care! Get out of my way, Gabrielle!"
"Your mother was a Persian," she quickly reminded and all the anger contorted in his face faded at the mention of his deceased mother. "Fairuza was a very wonderful woman and we miss her dearly," she says and Soran frowned sadly. "Xerxes shares the same kindness your mother had for your father. He hasn't hurt Arielle at all. He's our friend…"
Soran turned and Xena gave him a warm smile with a slow nod of her head. He sighed and rolled his shoulders backward.
"Fine. I won't kill him but if he makes her cry, I'll mar him," he walked around the governor and swung open the doors. She exhaled and put a hand over her chest.
"That was a very nice thing you did," Xena complimented her wife.
She shook her arms out from the adrenaline rushing through her body. "He's definitely not the little boy we once knew."
"Definitely not. You can smell the opium on his clothes. He better stop that before it becomes a habit. Wouldn't want his bride to see him as a repellant."
Gabrielle glared at her wife and slowly approached her. "Xena…what are you on about?"
The brunette's smile increased and she poured some wine into two glasses.
"Oh no." She wagged her finger. "Oh, no. Xena! No!"
"Wine?" she offered.
"This early?"
"Why not?"
Gabrielle bit her lip and stared at the tempting wine. She shouldn't. She really shouldn't. She snatched the glass and watched her wife take the first sip. Slowly, she tilted the glass to her lips, eyes locked onto her wife's devious blue eyes.
"Don't drink too much of that now. Wouldn't want you to have dreams of bedding Kreka again," she winked.
Gabrielle spewed wine and wiped her lips. "That…is NOT funny!"
XXXXXX
Arielle moaned and upon awakening after being unconscious for a week, she opened her eyes. She felt an immense amount of pain in the center of her back. She tried to sit up and then realized she was in a very familiar place. She reached over to get out of bed and knocked over a carafe of water.
Xerxes jolted in his sleep and ran over to the side of the bed and gently pushed the queen down to the pillows. He smiled and brought the sheet to cover her bare chest and sat on the bed, holding her hand.
She gaped up at him with bemused blue eyes and tried to sit up again. She cried out and fell onto her wound. Squirming she tried to reposition her body and gripped the prince's hand firmly.
"You took a big hit back in Persia. We're in Balaam now," he told her. "This room was swarming with nosy physicians," he tried to make light of the situation.
Arielle's chest rose and fell heavily. "You brought me here?" she wondered.
He nodded. "Your grandmother told me to. I was following orders; something you don't do."
She smiles faintly. "Is your mother…is she alright?"
"She's here. Everyone is here. I had the pleasure of meeting your little brother. He hates me."
She rolled her eyes. She wasn't the least bit surprised to hear that even though her brother was half Persian, he hated all Persians.
"Did you…stay with me this entire time?"
Xerxes emit a crooked grin. "I would feel pretty awful if I left you alone. I should've been struck with the dagger, but I guess you want to be in charge of being the most injured too," he teased her.
The wounded queen laughed lightly and winced from the slightest movement.
"So, I –I was out for the entire mission then."
"Your grandmother and Gabrielle handled it."
She crinkled her eyebrows. "You didn't go with them?"
"I stayed with you to make sure you were alright." He saw the anger rising, her eyes widening and her jaw muscles tightening. "Don't make that face," he said firmly and her eyebrows rose in shock. "You really hate it, don't you?"
"What?"
"You hate it that I care about you."
"No I –"
"Get used to it because I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."
She let out a painful sigh and narrowed her eyes. "Xerxes, why do you like me?"
"Why does anyone like anybody?" he kissed her hand and stood. "I'm going to tell the others that you've woken up."
Arielle watched him vacate the room and she then stared at the ceiling. What just happened here? She placed her hands across her chest and twisted her mouth, going over what Xerxes told her. After Bayan she didn't want to let anybody in her little bubble but that Persian, oh that Persian. He kept pushing and persisting. Nothing was going to stop him and the strange thing was that she let her guard down around him several times which was out of character.
