Barbarian . . . Queen
Chapter Two
Looking around Xena commented, "Nice room. Lots of space. Good mattress." She said as she bounced on the bed.
Looking through her clothes, Gabrielle was having a hard time finding something that would fit Xena. She finally found a wool and linen dress that looked like it would almost fit her.
"I'm sorry it's so short, but it's the best I can do until we can have some made for you."
"That's okay. I like my legs to breathe."
Gabrielle ordered supper for them, but Xena wouldn't let her eat until she had tasted each item, and then made her wait just in case any of it was laced with a slow acting poison.
After the meal Xena talked about the battle King Belos and his soldiers were riding toward.
"It will probably take them three of four days to reach the open field," Xena was saying.
"Figure another day to dig the pits and get them ready, and get the archers in position. Another day or two before the actual battle, which should be over in less than a quarter of a day. Another few days coming back. Ten days at the most, and you husband will be back in your arms, and you in his bed." Xena added with a grin.
Gabrielle gave a small self-conscious laugh. "I don't know why, but I still get embarrassed whenever anyone talks about Belos and me ... you know, even just hinting about it. I mean, I know everyone does it, but I still feel funny."
"Don't worry about it, some women are just like that, but since you brought it up . . . "
"I brought it up?" Gabrielle interrupted, laughing.
"Whoever. Anyway, as I started to say, since you and the king have been married for so long - where are the children?"
Gabrielle then grew serious. " I was pregnant, twice. But both times I lost the baby."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, I'm glad you did. No one has ever let me talk about it before." Tears dampened her eyes as she spoke.
"The first time was about a year after we were married. The king was so happy, and of course, so was I. But we were out riding, he was doing some hunting, and my horse was startled by a wild pig that seemed to come out of nowhere. I was thrown and ... uh ... and I lost the baby. I think is was a boy, but no one ever said."
Xena sat next to Gabrielle and put her arm around her, letting her silently weep.
Wiping the tears away, Gabrielle continued. "I got pregnant again, I don't remember, a year, maybe a year and a half later. But I was sick, very sick. Chills, fever, I couldn't keep anything down. Eventually I got so weak I had nothing for my baby, and the gods took her away. I was going have a daughter. I know my husband wanted a son, an heir, but I wanted a daughter so much. . . . "
Overcome with grief Gabrielle could only hold onto Xena and sob. She eventually cried herself to sleep. Xena gently stretched her out on the bed and covered her.
As Gabrielle slept, Xena began a thorough examination of the room, looking for secret doors, loose stones in the walls, testing the locks and hinges. To her satisfaction, all was secure.
As night fell Xena let the room darken, leaving the candles unlit. Standing at the window and looking out over the city, Xena thought about the odd turn of events of the day.
"A half a day ago, had I been standing in this very spot, I would have been out of this window and over the city walls before anyone missed me." She thought.
Then she turned to look at the darkened form that was Gabrielle. "But now, I wouldn't leave, I couldn't leave, if my life was to end tomorrow morning, not even if I was to be flogged. How strange that things should turn out like they have."
Walking slowly to the bed Xena lay down next to Gabrielle, sleeping on her side. Xena curled up her body to match Gabrielle's, put her arm over her, kissed her cheek, and allowed herself to fall asleep.
When Gabrielle woke up the next morning, Xena was sitting on the edge of the bed. As Gabrielle started rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Xena moved her hand and began to gently wash her face with a soft linen cloth, wet from a copper bowl filled with water. Xena then offered her water from a silver ladle.
Xena next began to feed Gabrielle the large juicy grapes they both seemed to love so much.
After Gabrielle had finished eating, she sat up on the bed, and Xena went to one knee, her head bowed.
"It is now my place to serve YOU, My Queen ... My Lady ... My Love." Xena said quietly.
Gabrielle placed her hand on the top of Xena's head, running her fingers through the long black hair.
"There are two things I think you must know." Gabrielle said as she raised Xena's head, looking into her deep blue eyes. "First, in my private chambers, you are not to kneel or bow down to me, and you are to call me 'Gabrielle.' That is my name and I expect you to use it. And secondly -- your hair is absolutely filthy! I think it's time you had a proper bath." She added smiling broadly.
"As you wish, My -- Gabrielle." Xena answered with a smile of her own.
Gabrielle instructed the guards to drag in her large copper bath tub from the Bathing Chamber. "If we can't visit the rest of the palace, then we will bring what we need in here." She said to Xena. "And then after your bath I will have my dressmaker come to take measurements so she can make you some proper clothes.
As Xena sat in the tub, Gabrielle poured bucket after bucket of hot water over the Warrior. She then added scented oils and began to shampoo the dried blood and dirt from Xena's hair.
"I don't think this is proper behavior for a queen." Xena said in mild protest. " I CAN wash myself, you know."
"When I am finished with you, you can return the favor, then we will be even."
After both baths, Gabrielle had her dressmaker come.
"Nothing too tight, or too long." Xena requested. "Should the occasion arise, I need to be able to move freely. And nothing too bright, I should blend in, not stand out."
Laughing, Gabrielle said, "No matter where you go or who you are with, you will always stand out. But she is right, Dressmaker, she should not outshine the Queen."
"While we are waiting for you new clothes, I guess I should tell you about some of the rules and codes of conduct that will be expected of you when we are in public. I already told you to call me Gabrielle when we are alone together, but when there are others present you should address me as 'My Lady' or 'My Queen.' You should stand behind me on my right side since I am right handed. That way if I need to hand you anything you will right there to take it. You are not to touch me at any time, unless of course there is danger of some kind and you need to do so to protect me. And you need to keep your head up to watch everything and everyone, so you are not to kneel or bow down, even if the king enters the room."
"I think I know how to guard someone." Xena said, "But if that's the way you want it, I have no argument."
"These are not my rules, they have been handed down through the years. It's the way things are done."
"Like I said, whatever you want."
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The next few days were quiet, too quiet. There was no word from King Belos about the battle with Jobyna. Gabrielle and Xena were confined to the one room. As large as it was, it was still only one room.
"By the gods! I really hate this! I can't even walk into my own garden. I feel like I'm a prisoner!" Gabrielle complained one afternoon.
"Yes, you're certainly right. This certainly is not a cell fit for humans."
As she realized what an insensitive remark she just made, Gabrielle couldn't apologize enough, "Oh, Xena, I'm so sorry I said that. You must think I'm the most inconsiderate, unfeeling, coldhearted . . . ."
"Of course I don't." Xena interrupted. "I know what you mean. My problem with us being locked in here is that I know there is an assassin roaming the halls of this palace and I can't try to find out who it is."
"Well, once Belos returns, he'll find out who it is. Trust me, I know my husband."
"I'm glad you feel that way. It's good to know there is someone you can trust no matter what."
"Actually, I have two people I know I can trust completely, my husband -- and you."
Xena's smile expressed more gratitude for the comment than any words she could find.
As the days slowly passed their time alone was only interrupted in the early morning when food was served, and when the king's advisors and consultants brought parchments for Gabrielle to read over and to sign. Even with the king gone, the obligations of running the palace and the village had to be dealt with. Consequently, most of their time was spent just talking to each other.
Gabrielle talked about her childhood, and growing up in Poteidaia; and about the chance meeting with her future husband (he was not yet king so he spent his time traveling the countryside, and almost ran over Gabrielle when she spooked his horse as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere - running to pick the season's first wild blueberries).
Xena would not talk much about her past after she left Amphipolis, but didn't mind telling Gabrielle about her parents and two brothers during the earlier, and happier days of her youth.
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"Gabrielle," Xena said one morning after breakfast, "Didn't I hear you say something about a Seer living in the palace? Since we don't have anything else to do, why don't you summon her. I'd kind of like to get a look at her. Maybe she has some other predictions to tell us."
"That's a good idea. Maybe she knows how my husband is faring."
As the old woman entered the room, Xena saw she carried a walking stick that she held in front of her, moving it back and forth.
"She has been blind since birth," Gabrielle whispered to her. "She claims because of that she can see things others can't."
The old woman approached Xena, and as she got close to her she put out one gnarled, arthritic hand, her palm facing outward. Nodding slowly and smiling faintly, she appeared to be confirming an unspoken prophecy. She then moved her hand to the side until it was centered on Gabrielle's breast. Her smile got wider, exposing yellow-stained and broken teeth.
"Just as I saw," She cackled "Just as I knew."
"Knew what?" Gabrielle asked, then whispered to Xena, "Sometimes she doesn't make much sense; she is really getting old."
"Smoke. Smoke and coal and embers. Untainted essence and smoke."
"See what I mean," Gabrielle whispered again. "Makes no sense at all."
"Hey!" Xena barked. "What in Tartarus are you talking about?"
"You! Your heart. There was a time not so long ago when it was as black as coal, but it has warmed, like the embers that comfort your feet on a cold winter's night. Warmed by the purity of gentleness that is My Queen. Two life forces, entwining and blending as the smoke from two separate fires, until you can no longer tell one from the other."
"Do you know what she's talking about?" Xena asked Gabrielle.
"I think so. You, old woman, you are excused."
After the Seer had gone, Gabrielle absently walked to a window, the one that looked out over the Royal Gardens, her favorite view. Xena gently guided her away from the window to the bed and sat with her on it .
"Well?" Xena asked.
"Do you believe in The Fates?"
"You mean the ones who control everyone's destiny with some great big loom? I don't think so, that seems kind of impractical to me."
"Then you don't believe things happen for a reason?"
"Naw. Things happen because we make them happen."
"Oh. Well, I do. I think there is a reason for everything that happens. I don't always know why, but I think the Fates control at least some part of our lives."
"So what's that got to do with what the old woman said?"
"Everything. She said your heart used to be black as coal, but it has warmed, thanks to my gentleness and, I guess, my compassion for you. And she said our two life forces were joining, as if we were meant to be together. Can't you feel it?"
"I don't know about things like that. It's never made much sense to me."
"But what about your feelings for me? Didn't you think it strange how quickly your feelings changed from hate and loathing to love and - and devotion?"
"I never thought about it. It just happened."
"I think it happened for a reason. When I first saw you I was terrified when you only looked at me. And that first time in the dungeon, I was just as horrified. And even the first few days when I treated your cuts I was so scared. But then the fear just seemed to vanish and somehow I knew I was in no danger."
"Why DID you come down to tend to me and give me food and water? I expected to die before the ten days had passed."
"I don't know why. I was just drawn to you. Belos told me it was the Seduction of Evil, but I don't think that was it. I believe we were Fated to be together, and since you couldn't come to me, I had to go to you."
Xena was silent, not used to thinking about mystical things like life forces, and Destiny, and the Fates.
For the rest of the day neither said much. Xena was trying to make sense of her feelings, trying to sort them out and understand them, something she never bothered to do before. She usually just went with her gut feelings, but this time it was different.
Gabrielle was content to leave Xena alone so she could think about what she said to her. She was just glad that Xena was there.
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"My Lady! I have news! My Lady!"
Both Xena and Gabrielle were instantly awake, dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky.
"What do you want?" Xena yelled out Gabrielle hurriedly changed from her bed clothes into something more appropriate to be seen in.
"It is the King! We had just gotten word that has been wounded in battle and is being brought to the palace in a wagon. He should be here by midday."
Gabrielle started to throw open the door, but Xena was there to push her to one side before the door was opened. When she saw it was one of the palace guards she recognized she allowed Gabrielle to speak to him.
"How bad is he hurt?" Gabrielle asked.
"I have no way of knowing, My Lady. The messenger only said he was wounded, I think he said a stab wound to the side."
"Then you will get a fresh horse for the messenger and instruct him to ride back to find out all he can, and then come back here. The royal Physician will need to know how bad his wound is so he will know what medicines and what treatment will be needed."
Before the guard could answer, gab turned to a second. "You will inform the members of the Royal Court of the king's injury, but assure them that he is alive and will make a complete recovery."
Turning to a third, she instructed, "Make ready the King's chambers. Make sure there are extra blankets, plenty of fresh water and clean cloths. Your King is especially fond of pitted dates; make sure they are in good supply by his bed."
Turning to Xena, she said, "It looks like our bed chamber exile is over. I will personally prepare the medicine for my husband, the same as I used for your cuts. Now is when I will need your eyes and ears for protection."
"I'm impressed. You've suddenly become a real, governing Queen." Xena said.
"When the King is well and in the palace, his word is law. Now, it is my word that rules. This is not the first time I've had to govern in his absence. But thank you for the compliment."
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When the king was brought into the palace he was unable to walk and was near unconscious so he was carried in on a stretcher. Gabrielle had him taken immediately to his bed. With Xena's help his clothes were removed and the Physician began to wash out the stab wound with the potion Gabrielle had prepared.
Examining the wound the Physicain assured Gabrielle that nothing vital had been cut, and his weakness was due mainly to a loss of blood.
"Don't any of the King's men know how to slow down a bleeding wound?" Xena complained as she made her own examination. "They should have cauterized it right away."
"I think they may have been afraid to do something wrong. His subjects love him, but they also fear him. He does have a bad temper sometimes." Gabrielle answered her.
"He'll live, but he won't be up for at least two months." The Physician reassured them.
King Belos was unconscious or asleep for the better part of four days. On the fifth day he was lucid enough to talk.
"So how was the battle?" Was Xena's first question.
"Speaking barely above a whisper, Belos replied, "It could have gone better. My archers, the ones with the fired arrows, were reluctant to shoot the horses. They killed the riders, but the horses didn't stampede as they should have. Fortunately, they were still chasing my men into the open field with the pits. But because there was no panic, only the first dozen or so horses fell. Of course there was much confusion, but in the end, most of Jobyna's men were killed. . . ."
"What about Jobyna?" Xena interrupted.
"He died an inglorious death with arrows in his back as he tried to escape."
"So how were you wounded?" Gabrielle asked.
"I did a foolish thing, the very thing Xena warned me about -- I tried to show mercy. There was a young boy, no more than fourteen or fifteen years. I was about to run him through with my sword, but the pleading on his face made me hesitate. And in that instant, he got me instead."
"Did this young boy have a scar above one eye running up into his hair?"
"Yes he did. Do you know him?"
"I know him, all right. That was Caspero, Jobyna's son. Did you kill him?"
"No, he got away."
"Then you can expect him to return in a few years, with an army, and looking for revenge."
Barely whispering now, King Belos said, "Then I will prepare for him." And he fell back asleep.
As night began to fall Gabrielle and Xena sat beside the king's bed. Gabrielle had another one brought in so she could stay at his side throughout the night.
Even though she and Gabrielle had shared the large bed before, Xena now insisted that she would be more comfortable with just a straw mattress on the floor. And she would be less visible if an intruder were sneak in.
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By the end of the first month, the king was able to sit up and resumed running his kingdom.
Xena continued to be at Gabrielle's side. And even though he still had his questions about Xena's trustworthiness, he decided she was more valuable watching over the Queen than in the dungeon, for the time being.
By the beginning of the third month, King Belos was almost completely healed and it was almost as if he had never been wounded. And it was then that he decided he had to determine exactly what was to be done about Xena.
Despite her value as a battle tactician, and as Gabrielle's bodyguard, she was still considered by many to be a murderous barbarian who's single episode of flogging was not punishment enough to compensate them for the death of a husband or son at her hands, or at her army's.
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"Xena, we have a problem with you. For more than two months you have been living in the palace as a free woman. There has been much unrest and dissatisfaction among my subjects. Some say the floggings should continue. Others want your head mounted on a post at the city gates. In good conscience I cannot ignore the rumblings of the people. They have good reasons to want you dead. On the other hand, not only did you save the life of the Queen, but you provided a valid battle plan against Jobyna. So the question is -- What should we do about it?"
"My Lord," Xena answered, "Since it is the people who want 'justice,' then maybe I should go out and face them. Let them decide my fate."
"No! Xena you can't do that. They will kill you! You know that!" Gabrielle protested.
"Gabrielle, My Lady, there is no other way. We both know it has to be done. They are your subjects, and you can't ignore them, not if you are to be the kind of queen that they know will do what is right, no matter what."
"Xena's right, Gabrielle, it has to be this way. Guard! Spread the word, at midday tomorrow Xena will face her accusers on the portico of the palace."
As the guard bowed and left the throne room, Gabrielle did also, in tears, running up the stairs to her bed chamber, After a quick nod to King Belos, Xena followed Gabrielle up the stairs; her place was still at her side.
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At midday King Belos and Queen Gabrielle walked out of the palace onto the portico at the top of the broad stairway leading up to the palace. Xena was in her usual place just behind Gabrielle, on her right.
"Hear me!" The king shouted to the crowd. "Xena, the Warrior Princess, the one many have called the Barbarian Bitch, has volunteered to face you, to let you judge her concerning her crimes against you."
As King Belos stepped back, Xena walked from behind Gabrielle to the center of the portico, standing four steps away from the stairs leading down. As she looked out over the crowd of several hundred people, she could hear the mumblings and mutterings gradually growing louder. Then someone shouted out that she should be hanged. Another yelled for her head. Another, then another called for flogging.
As the crowd grew louder, the individual shouts were drowned out by the single incoherent roar of the mob. Then someone threw a stone that hit Xena in the shoulder. Another stone bounced off her right leg. More rocks were thrown.
But it was more than Gabrielle could stand. Unwavering, she walked toward the hail of stones, and then deliberately walked into the path of a rock that hit her in the forehead just above her right eye.
As though hit with a club, Gabrielle fell backward, to be caught by Xena. As blood poured from the wound down into her eye, Gabrielle struggled to stand. But when Xena tried to wipe away the blood, Gabrielle pushed her hand away.
"Help me to stand. " She commanded. As Xena complied, on quivering and unsteady legs Gabrielle walked to the edge of the portico. Silently she stood there for all to see the blood running down her face to drip off her chin and soak into her gown. The crowd was stunned into silence at the sight of their beloved queen wounded and bleeding.
In the meantime, King Belos had ordered two guards to go into the crowd to capture the man who threw the stone.
"There are many of you who have called for the death of Xena!" She finally said. "I can understand why you wish this to happen, for it is true that she and her army have caused many deaths and much destruction throughout our land. But if that is so, then why have I heard no cries for the death of Ares, God of War? For if anyone is to blame for the death and bloodshed War brings, is it not Ares?"
Wiping blood from her eye, the Queen continued, "And when the crops fail because of a lack of rain, or from flood, no one curses the name of Demeter, our Goddess of Agriculture."
As she wiped her eye again, the guards were dragging the man up the stairs.
"Bring him to me." The queen demanded, and the guards threw him down at her feet.
"Please forgive me, My Queen." The man cried. "I didn't mean for the stone to hit you. In my anger and despair over the loss of my two sons at the hands of Xena's army I was trying to stone her, not you. I beg your forgiveness!"
Gabrielle looked down at the man for a short while, then said to him, but loud enough for the crowd to hear, "Since it was Xena you wished to stone, then it is her forgiveness you must beg for."
Looking over her right shoulder at Xena, she then stepped aside so Xena could better see the man.
Speaking to the crowd as well as to him, Xena said, "Striking a member of the Royal Family, even by accident, is punishable by death!"
"Please," the man said as he started to weep, "I have a wife and three daughters. Without me, they will have no one to provide for them. I am all they have, and they are all I have. Oh, Mighty Xena, in all humbleness, I beg you, I plead for your forgiveness."
Seeming to ignore the man's pleas, Xena continued. "While I lay bleeding in the King's Dungeon after my flogging, no one but the Queen would tend to me. It was She who nursed me back to health. And in doing so, she found something in me she felt was worthy of her mercy, her forgiveness, and her love. I can do no less for this pitiful man as she did for me without dishonoring her."
Looking down at him, she said, "Go back to you wife and daughters."
AS the man started to kiss Xena's feet in appreciation, she added, "Before I change my mind."
Bowing to the King and Queen, he half stumbled as he backed down the stairs to his waiting family.
Now that the crisis was over, Gabrielle could no longer stay on her feet, but as she fell, Xena was there again to scoop her up and carry her into the palace.
King Belos walked to the edge of the stairs and shouted to the crowd. "It is over! Return to your homes and your fields and your vineyards!"
When he entered the palace, Gabrielle was sitting in one of the chairs in the entrance hall to the Throne Room, and Xena was kneeling down as she wiped the blood from her face while the Royal Physician hovered around helplessly.
As the king walked up to them, Xena handed the cloth to the Physician, stood up to meet him, and nodded slightly. "My Lord."
King Belos looked at Xena but didn't speak. In her eyes, instead of the hatred and rage that was there when she was first brought to him, he saw respect and loyalty.
In the king's eyes, Xena saw forgiveness, and acceptance. The king put one hand on Xena's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Later," he said as his eyes flickered to Gabrielle and then back again, "We will talk."
With another slight bow, Xena replied, "As you wish."
As the king turned to one of his advisors, the running of the kingdom still vital, Xena picked up Gabrielle and walked to the stairs leading to her bed room. Gabrielle's arms were around her neck, her head on the Warrior's shoulder.
Looking up to watch them, King Belos was pleased that he would never again have to be concerned with the safety of his Queen.
And he was surprised at the unexpected wisdom of his Wife, who, just five short years ago, was but a naive, yet enchanting young woman -- a Writer of Scrolls, a Teller of Tales.
Chapter Two
Looking around Xena commented, "Nice room. Lots of space. Good mattress." She said as she bounced on the bed.
Looking through her clothes, Gabrielle was having a hard time finding something that would fit Xena. She finally found a wool and linen dress that looked like it would almost fit her.
"I'm sorry it's so short, but it's the best I can do until we can have some made for you."
"That's okay. I like my legs to breathe."
Gabrielle ordered supper for them, but Xena wouldn't let her eat until she had tasted each item, and then made her wait just in case any of it was laced with a slow acting poison.
After the meal Xena talked about the battle King Belos and his soldiers were riding toward.
"It will probably take them three of four days to reach the open field," Xena was saying.
"Figure another day to dig the pits and get them ready, and get the archers in position. Another day or two before the actual battle, which should be over in less than a quarter of a day. Another few days coming back. Ten days at the most, and you husband will be back in your arms, and you in his bed." Xena added with a grin.
Gabrielle gave a small self-conscious laugh. "I don't know why, but I still get embarrassed whenever anyone talks about Belos and me ... you know, even just hinting about it. I mean, I know everyone does it, but I still feel funny."
"Don't worry about it, some women are just like that, but since you brought it up . . . "
"I brought it up?" Gabrielle interrupted, laughing.
"Whoever. Anyway, as I started to say, since you and the king have been married for so long - where are the children?"
Gabrielle then grew serious. " I was pregnant, twice. But both times I lost the baby."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, I'm glad you did. No one has ever let me talk about it before." Tears dampened her eyes as she spoke.
"The first time was about a year after we were married. The king was so happy, and of course, so was I. But we were out riding, he was doing some hunting, and my horse was startled by a wild pig that seemed to come out of nowhere. I was thrown and ... uh ... and I lost the baby. I think is was a boy, but no one ever said."
Xena sat next to Gabrielle and put her arm around her, letting her silently weep.
Wiping the tears away, Gabrielle continued. "I got pregnant again, I don't remember, a year, maybe a year and a half later. But I was sick, very sick. Chills, fever, I couldn't keep anything down. Eventually I got so weak I had nothing for my baby, and the gods took her away. I was going have a daughter. I know my husband wanted a son, an heir, but I wanted a daughter so much. . . . "
Overcome with grief Gabrielle could only hold onto Xena and sob. She eventually cried herself to sleep. Xena gently stretched her out on the bed and covered her.
As Gabrielle slept, Xena began a thorough examination of the room, looking for secret doors, loose stones in the walls, testing the locks and hinges. To her satisfaction, all was secure.
As night fell Xena let the room darken, leaving the candles unlit. Standing at the window and looking out over the city, Xena thought about the odd turn of events of the day.
"A half a day ago, had I been standing in this very spot, I would have been out of this window and over the city walls before anyone missed me." She thought.
Then she turned to look at the darkened form that was Gabrielle. "But now, I wouldn't leave, I couldn't leave, if my life was to end tomorrow morning, not even if I was to be flogged. How strange that things should turn out like they have."
Walking slowly to the bed Xena lay down next to Gabrielle, sleeping on her side. Xena curled up her body to match Gabrielle's, put her arm over her, kissed her cheek, and allowed herself to fall asleep.
When Gabrielle woke up the next morning, Xena was sitting on the edge of the bed. As Gabrielle started rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Xena moved her hand and began to gently wash her face with a soft linen cloth, wet from a copper bowl filled with water. Xena then offered her water from a silver ladle.
Xena next began to feed Gabrielle the large juicy grapes they both seemed to love so much.
After Gabrielle had finished eating, she sat up on the bed, and Xena went to one knee, her head bowed.
"It is now my place to serve YOU, My Queen ... My Lady ... My Love." Xena said quietly.
Gabrielle placed her hand on the top of Xena's head, running her fingers through the long black hair.
"There are two things I think you must know." Gabrielle said as she raised Xena's head, looking into her deep blue eyes. "First, in my private chambers, you are not to kneel or bow down to me, and you are to call me 'Gabrielle.' That is my name and I expect you to use it. And secondly -- your hair is absolutely filthy! I think it's time you had a proper bath." She added smiling broadly.
"As you wish, My -- Gabrielle." Xena answered with a smile of her own.
Gabrielle instructed the guards to drag in her large copper bath tub from the Bathing Chamber. "If we can't visit the rest of the palace, then we will bring what we need in here." She said to Xena. "And then after your bath I will have my dressmaker come to take measurements so she can make you some proper clothes.
As Xena sat in the tub, Gabrielle poured bucket after bucket of hot water over the Warrior. She then added scented oils and began to shampoo the dried blood and dirt from Xena's hair.
"I don't think this is proper behavior for a queen." Xena said in mild protest. " I CAN wash myself, you know."
"When I am finished with you, you can return the favor, then we will be even."
After both baths, Gabrielle had her dressmaker come.
"Nothing too tight, or too long." Xena requested. "Should the occasion arise, I need to be able to move freely. And nothing too bright, I should blend in, not stand out."
Laughing, Gabrielle said, "No matter where you go or who you are with, you will always stand out. But she is right, Dressmaker, she should not outshine the Queen."
"While we are waiting for you new clothes, I guess I should tell you about some of the rules and codes of conduct that will be expected of you when we are in public. I already told you to call me Gabrielle when we are alone together, but when there are others present you should address me as 'My Lady' or 'My Queen.' You should stand behind me on my right side since I am right handed. That way if I need to hand you anything you will right there to take it. You are not to touch me at any time, unless of course there is danger of some kind and you need to do so to protect me. And you need to keep your head up to watch everything and everyone, so you are not to kneel or bow down, even if the king enters the room."
"I think I know how to guard someone." Xena said, "But if that's the way you want it, I have no argument."
"These are not my rules, they have been handed down through the years. It's the way things are done."
"Like I said, whatever you want."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next few days were quiet, too quiet. There was no word from King Belos about the battle with Jobyna. Gabrielle and Xena were confined to the one room. As large as it was, it was still only one room.
"By the gods! I really hate this! I can't even walk into my own garden. I feel like I'm a prisoner!" Gabrielle complained one afternoon.
"Yes, you're certainly right. This certainly is not a cell fit for humans."
As she realized what an insensitive remark she just made, Gabrielle couldn't apologize enough, "Oh, Xena, I'm so sorry I said that. You must think I'm the most inconsiderate, unfeeling, coldhearted . . . ."
"Of course I don't." Xena interrupted. "I know what you mean. My problem with us being locked in here is that I know there is an assassin roaming the halls of this palace and I can't try to find out who it is."
"Well, once Belos returns, he'll find out who it is. Trust me, I know my husband."
"I'm glad you feel that way. It's good to know there is someone you can trust no matter what."
"Actually, I have two people I know I can trust completely, my husband -- and you."
Xena's smile expressed more gratitude for the comment than any words she could find.
As the days slowly passed their time alone was only interrupted in the early morning when food was served, and when the king's advisors and consultants brought parchments for Gabrielle to read over and to sign. Even with the king gone, the obligations of running the palace and the village had to be dealt with. Consequently, most of their time was spent just talking to each other.
Gabrielle talked about her childhood, and growing up in Poteidaia; and about the chance meeting with her future husband (he was not yet king so he spent his time traveling the countryside, and almost ran over Gabrielle when she spooked his horse as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere - running to pick the season's first wild blueberries).
Xena would not talk much about her past after she left Amphipolis, but didn't mind telling Gabrielle about her parents and two brothers during the earlier, and happier days of her youth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Gabrielle," Xena said one morning after breakfast, "Didn't I hear you say something about a Seer living in the palace? Since we don't have anything else to do, why don't you summon her. I'd kind of like to get a look at her. Maybe she has some other predictions to tell us."
"That's a good idea. Maybe she knows how my husband is faring."
As the old woman entered the room, Xena saw she carried a walking stick that she held in front of her, moving it back and forth.
"She has been blind since birth," Gabrielle whispered to her. "She claims because of that she can see things others can't."
The old woman approached Xena, and as she got close to her she put out one gnarled, arthritic hand, her palm facing outward. Nodding slowly and smiling faintly, she appeared to be confirming an unspoken prophecy. She then moved her hand to the side until it was centered on Gabrielle's breast. Her smile got wider, exposing yellow-stained and broken teeth.
"Just as I saw," She cackled "Just as I knew."
"Knew what?" Gabrielle asked, then whispered to Xena, "Sometimes she doesn't make much sense; she is really getting old."
"Smoke. Smoke and coal and embers. Untainted essence and smoke."
"See what I mean," Gabrielle whispered again. "Makes no sense at all."
"Hey!" Xena barked. "What in Tartarus are you talking about?"
"You! Your heart. There was a time not so long ago when it was as black as coal, but it has warmed, like the embers that comfort your feet on a cold winter's night. Warmed by the purity of gentleness that is My Queen. Two life forces, entwining and blending as the smoke from two separate fires, until you can no longer tell one from the other."
"Do you know what she's talking about?" Xena asked Gabrielle.
"I think so. You, old woman, you are excused."
After the Seer had gone, Gabrielle absently walked to a window, the one that looked out over the Royal Gardens, her favorite view. Xena gently guided her away from the window to the bed and sat with her on it .
"Well?" Xena asked.
"Do you believe in The Fates?"
"You mean the ones who control everyone's destiny with some great big loom? I don't think so, that seems kind of impractical to me."
"Then you don't believe things happen for a reason?"
"Naw. Things happen because we make them happen."
"Oh. Well, I do. I think there is a reason for everything that happens. I don't always know why, but I think the Fates control at least some part of our lives."
"So what's that got to do with what the old woman said?"
"Everything. She said your heart used to be black as coal, but it has warmed, thanks to my gentleness and, I guess, my compassion for you. And she said our two life forces were joining, as if we were meant to be together. Can't you feel it?"
"I don't know about things like that. It's never made much sense to me."
"But what about your feelings for me? Didn't you think it strange how quickly your feelings changed from hate and loathing to love and - and devotion?"
"I never thought about it. It just happened."
"I think it happened for a reason. When I first saw you I was terrified when you only looked at me. And that first time in the dungeon, I was just as horrified. And even the first few days when I treated your cuts I was so scared. But then the fear just seemed to vanish and somehow I knew I was in no danger."
"Why DID you come down to tend to me and give me food and water? I expected to die before the ten days had passed."
"I don't know why. I was just drawn to you. Belos told me it was the Seduction of Evil, but I don't think that was it. I believe we were Fated to be together, and since you couldn't come to me, I had to go to you."
Xena was silent, not used to thinking about mystical things like life forces, and Destiny, and the Fates.
For the rest of the day neither said much. Xena was trying to make sense of her feelings, trying to sort them out and understand them, something she never bothered to do before. She usually just went with her gut feelings, but this time it was different.
Gabrielle was content to leave Xena alone so she could think about what she said to her. She was just glad that Xena was there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My Lady! I have news! My Lady!"
Both Xena and Gabrielle were instantly awake, dawn was just beginning to lighten the sky.
"What do you want?" Xena yelled out Gabrielle hurriedly changed from her bed clothes into something more appropriate to be seen in.
"It is the King! We had just gotten word that has been wounded in battle and is being brought to the palace in a wagon. He should be here by midday."
Gabrielle started to throw open the door, but Xena was there to push her to one side before the door was opened. When she saw it was one of the palace guards she recognized she allowed Gabrielle to speak to him.
"How bad is he hurt?" Gabrielle asked.
"I have no way of knowing, My Lady. The messenger only said he was wounded, I think he said a stab wound to the side."
"Then you will get a fresh horse for the messenger and instruct him to ride back to find out all he can, and then come back here. The royal Physician will need to know how bad his wound is so he will know what medicines and what treatment will be needed."
Before the guard could answer, gab turned to a second. "You will inform the members of the Royal Court of the king's injury, but assure them that he is alive and will make a complete recovery."
Turning to a third, she instructed, "Make ready the King's chambers. Make sure there are extra blankets, plenty of fresh water and clean cloths. Your King is especially fond of pitted dates; make sure they are in good supply by his bed."
Turning to Xena, she said, "It looks like our bed chamber exile is over. I will personally prepare the medicine for my husband, the same as I used for your cuts. Now is when I will need your eyes and ears for protection."
"I'm impressed. You've suddenly become a real, governing Queen." Xena said.
"When the King is well and in the palace, his word is law. Now, it is my word that rules. This is not the first time I've had to govern in his absence. But thank you for the compliment."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the king was brought into the palace he was unable to walk and was near unconscious so he was carried in on a stretcher. Gabrielle had him taken immediately to his bed. With Xena's help his clothes were removed and the Physician began to wash out the stab wound with the potion Gabrielle had prepared.
Examining the wound the Physicain assured Gabrielle that nothing vital had been cut, and his weakness was due mainly to a loss of blood.
"Don't any of the King's men know how to slow down a bleeding wound?" Xena complained as she made her own examination. "They should have cauterized it right away."
"I think they may have been afraid to do something wrong. His subjects love him, but they also fear him. He does have a bad temper sometimes." Gabrielle answered her.
"He'll live, but he won't be up for at least two months." The Physician reassured them.
King Belos was unconscious or asleep for the better part of four days. On the fifth day he was lucid enough to talk.
"So how was the battle?" Was Xena's first question.
"Speaking barely above a whisper, Belos replied, "It could have gone better. My archers, the ones with the fired arrows, were reluctant to shoot the horses. They killed the riders, but the horses didn't stampede as they should have. Fortunately, they were still chasing my men into the open field with the pits. But because there was no panic, only the first dozen or so horses fell. Of course there was much confusion, but in the end, most of Jobyna's men were killed. . . ."
"What about Jobyna?" Xena interrupted.
"He died an inglorious death with arrows in his back as he tried to escape."
"So how were you wounded?" Gabrielle asked.
"I did a foolish thing, the very thing Xena warned me about -- I tried to show mercy. There was a young boy, no more than fourteen or fifteen years. I was about to run him through with my sword, but the pleading on his face made me hesitate. And in that instant, he got me instead."
"Did this young boy have a scar above one eye running up into his hair?"
"Yes he did. Do you know him?"
"I know him, all right. That was Caspero, Jobyna's son. Did you kill him?"
"No, he got away."
"Then you can expect him to return in a few years, with an army, and looking for revenge."
Barely whispering now, King Belos said, "Then I will prepare for him." And he fell back asleep.
As night began to fall Gabrielle and Xena sat beside the king's bed. Gabrielle had another one brought in so she could stay at his side throughout the night.
Even though she and Gabrielle had shared the large bed before, Xena now insisted that she would be more comfortable with just a straw mattress on the floor. And she would be less visible if an intruder were sneak in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the end of the first month, the king was able to sit up and resumed running his kingdom.
Xena continued to be at Gabrielle's side. And even though he still had his questions about Xena's trustworthiness, he decided she was more valuable watching over the Queen than in the dungeon, for the time being.
By the beginning of the third month, King Belos was almost completely healed and it was almost as if he had never been wounded. And it was then that he decided he had to determine exactly what was to be done about Xena.
Despite her value as a battle tactician, and as Gabrielle's bodyguard, she was still considered by many to be a murderous barbarian who's single episode of flogging was not punishment enough to compensate them for the death of a husband or son at her hands, or at her army's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Xena, we have a problem with you. For more than two months you have been living in the palace as a free woman. There has been much unrest and dissatisfaction among my subjects. Some say the floggings should continue. Others want your head mounted on a post at the city gates. In good conscience I cannot ignore the rumblings of the people. They have good reasons to want you dead. On the other hand, not only did you save the life of the Queen, but you provided a valid battle plan against Jobyna. So the question is -- What should we do about it?"
"My Lord," Xena answered, "Since it is the people who want 'justice,' then maybe I should go out and face them. Let them decide my fate."
"No! Xena you can't do that. They will kill you! You know that!" Gabrielle protested.
"Gabrielle, My Lady, there is no other way. We both know it has to be done. They are your subjects, and you can't ignore them, not if you are to be the kind of queen that they know will do what is right, no matter what."
"Xena's right, Gabrielle, it has to be this way. Guard! Spread the word, at midday tomorrow Xena will face her accusers on the portico of the palace."
As the guard bowed and left the throne room, Gabrielle did also, in tears, running up the stairs to her bed chamber, After a quick nod to King Belos, Xena followed Gabrielle up the stairs; her place was still at her side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At midday King Belos and Queen Gabrielle walked out of the palace onto the portico at the top of the broad stairway leading up to the palace. Xena was in her usual place just behind Gabrielle, on her right.
"Hear me!" The king shouted to the crowd. "Xena, the Warrior Princess, the one many have called the Barbarian Bitch, has volunteered to face you, to let you judge her concerning her crimes against you."
As King Belos stepped back, Xena walked from behind Gabrielle to the center of the portico, standing four steps away from the stairs leading down. As she looked out over the crowd of several hundred people, she could hear the mumblings and mutterings gradually growing louder. Then someone shouted out that she should be hanged. Another yelled for her head. Another, then another called for flogging.
As the crowd grew louder, the individual shouts were drowned out by the single incoherent roar of the mob. Then someone threw a stone that hit Xena in the shoulder. Another stone bounced off her right leg. More rocks were thrown.
But it was more than Gabrielle could stand. Unwavering, she walked toward the hail of stones, and then deliberately walked into the path of a rock that hit her in the forehead just above her right eye.
As though hit with a club, Gabrielle fell backward, to be caught by Xena. As blood poured from the wound down into her eye, Gabrielle struggled to stand. But when Xena tried to wipe away the blood, Gabrielle pushed her hand away.
"Help me to stand. " She commanded. As Xena complied, on quivering and unsteady legs Gabrielle walked to the edge of the portico. Silently she stood there for all to see the blood running down her face to drip off her chin and soak into her gown. The crowd was stunned into silence at the sight of their beloved queen wounded and bleeding.
In the meantime, King Belos had ordered two guards to go into the crowd to capture the man who threw the stone.
"There are many of you who have called for the death of Xena!" She finally said. "I can understand why you wish this to happen, for it is true that she and her army have caused many deaths and much destruction throughout our land. But if that is so, then why have I heard no cries for the death of Ares, God of War? For if anyone is to blame for the death and bloodshed War brings, is it not Ares?"
Wiping blood from her eye, the Queen continued, "And when the crops fail because of a lack of rain, or from flood, no one curses the name of Demeter, our Goddess of Agriculture."
As she wiped her eye again, the guards were dragging the man up the stairs.
"Bring him to me." The queen demanded, and the guards threw him down at her feet.
"Please forgive me, My Queen." The man cried. "I didn't mean for the stone to hit you. In my anger and despair over the loss of my two sons at the hands of Xena's army I was trying to stone her, not you. I beg your forgiveness!"
Gabrielle looked down at the man for a short while, then said to him, but loud enough for the crowd to hear, "Since it was Xena you wished to stone, then it is her forgiveness you must beg for."
Looking over her right shoulder at Xena, she then stepped aside so Xena could better see the man.
Speaking to the crowd as well as to him, Xena said, "Striking a member of the Royal Family, even by accident, is punishable by death!"
"Please," the man said as he started to weep, "I have a wife and three daughters. Without me, they will have no one to provide for them. I am all they have, and they are all I have. Oh, Mighty Xena, in all humbleness, I beg you, I plead for your forgiveness."
Seeming to ignore the man's pleas, Xena continued. "While I lay bleeding in the King's Dungeon after my flogging, no one but the Queen would tend to me. It was She who nursed me back to health. And in doing so, she found something in me she felt was worthy of her mercy, her forgiveness, and her love. I can do no less for this pitiful man as she did for me without dishonoring her."
Looking down at him, she said, "Go back to you wife and daughters."
AS the man started to kiss Xena's feet in appreciation, she added, "Before I change my mind."
Bowing to the King and Queen, he half stumbled as he backed down the stairs to his waiting family.
Now that the crisis was over, Gabrielle could no longer stay on her feet, but as she fell, Xena was there again to scoop her up and carry her into the palace.
King Belos walked to the edge of the stairs and shouted to the crowd. "It is over! Return to your homes and your fields and your vineyards!"
When he entered the palace, Gabrielle was sitting in one of the chairs in the entrance hall to the Throne Room, and Xena was kneeling down as she wiped the blood from her face while the Royal Physician hovered around helplessly.
As the king walked up to them, Xena handed the cloth to the Physician, stood up to meet him, and nodded slightly. "My Lord."
King Belos looked at Xena but didn't speak. In her eyes, instead of the hatred and rage that was there when she was first brought to him, he saw respect and loyalty.
In the king's eyes, Xena saw forgiveness, and acceptance. The king put one hand on Xena's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Later," he said as his eyes flickered to Gabrielle and then back again, "We will talk."
With another slight bow, Xena replied, "As you wish."
As the king turned to one of his advisors, the running of the kingdom still vital, Xena picked up Gabrielle and walked to the stairs leading to her bed room. Gabrielle's arms were around her neck, her head on the Warrior's shoulder.
Looking up to watch them, King Belos was pleased that he would never again have to be concerned with the safety of his Queen.
And he was surprised at the unexpected wisdom of his Wife, who, just five short years ago, was but a naive, yet enchanting young woman -- a Writer of Scrolls, a Teller of Tales.