Legal Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show, Xena: Warrior Princess, such as Xena, Gabrielle, Eve, Virgil, etc. I do own, however the characters that do not appear in the series, such as Little Cyrene and Lydia.
Other Disclaimers:
Sex: Implied...and some dirty dancing.
Violence: Yup
Potty Mouth: Mild
Subtext: Oh no! It's two women in love... WITH EACH OTHER! The horror!! Jeez, people, lighten up.
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Life's Lessons
By Mystik
~ August 1st, 2001 ~
Lesson 2: Selfless, Not Selfish!
Hello again! It's me, Cyrene, back to bother you with another one of my life lessons! I really don't like talking about this one, because I'm supposed to be ashamed about it--and I am--but you wanna know so...
You asked for it.
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Cyrene jerked her head away from impending doom, but it pursued her. She ducked and swiveled her head the other way, but it followed her yet again. It's hopeless!
"Come on, drink it," said her attacker.
"No."
In the instant that the girl's mouth was open to say that simple word, Xena dumped some bitter tea down her throat. "Gotcha!"
"Yucky, Mother!" whined Cyrene, grimacing at the horrible taste. She stuck her tongue out and wiped it with her hand. "Why do I have to take that icky junk so much?"
"Because it'll help with the pain and make you heal faster. I know for a fact you don't like being cooped up in this bed--I never do," said Xena, leaning back in her chair. She idly tried to scratch her splinted arm.
Cyrene pouted. Three weeks since the accident and she still had four bruised ribs and one broken rib, a broken arm and leg, and a little head injury that made her dizzy at times. Not to mention the fifty-seven stitches all over her body. "Tell me a story, Mother."
Xena hesitated. "I don't do stories... that's what you have your mom for."
"Please?" begged the girl, giving her mother big, round doe eyes. She had Xena under her thumb when it came to wanting something.
The warrior tried to look away but it was too much! She sighed in defeat and hung her head. "Okay, fine."
"Yes!" Cyrene clapped her hands and rubbed them together excitedly.
Xena silently contemplated what story to tell... Wonder if she's heard about M'Lila and Lao Ma... no, I've given up foreign women and that would just make me cry... um... oh, I know the perfect one! "Cyrene, did your mother ever tell you the story of Eli and the Power of Love?"
Cyrene shook her head.
"Well..." Xena smiled at her daughter. "Many years ago, before your sister was even born and Julius Caesar ruled the land, there was a man named Eli. He was a born rebel and as he grew older, began to defy the gods. He even rallied his own group of worshippers that practiced the Way of Love and never prayed to the gods. He taught about the true power of unconditional, undying, powerful, selfless love. Your mom tried to follow his path once."
"What happened?"
"At first she was very devoted to her path, threw away her staff and everything, but one day the Romans attacked us. I fought them off the best I could, but Callisto had stolen my chakram. She broke my spine with it, leaving me unable to defend your mom. A Roman moved to kill me, but your mom abandoned her path and killed seven Romans trying to save me. If you think about it, following the way of love is like following your heart. She loves me--and you and Eve--beyond comparison.
"And you have to sacrifice something to follow the way of love. Some people give up all their belongings; warriors give up their weapons. But your mom... she gave up the path of peaceful living to save what she held dearest to her heart and follow the love. So, even though you must give up something, it's not the obvious and as long as you do it out of love... it'll be the right choice."
Cyrene beamed up at her mother. "So... basically, selfless love is the key?" she asked with a yawn.
"Yup."
"Thanks mom... that was a really great story..." whispered the girl before drifting off to sleep.
"I hope you're tired because of the tea, not my lack of talent," mused the warrior, pulling the blankets farther up her daughter's body to her chin. She kissed her forehead and turned towards the door...
Where three evil, sinister women were snickering at her. Gabrielle, Lydia, and Eve slapped their hands over their mouths to stifle their laughs.
"Not a word."
More giggles.
"Not one damn word."
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A few hours later, after Cyrene had woken up from her nap, Xena took her out to the porch to get some sun, which had been deprived of the little girl ever since the incident with the ravine. Cyrene looked like a dead girl walking without her usual coppery tan, courtesy of her mother's genes. But, covered by a heap of blankets, you could barely tell that the girl was, well, a girl and not a pile of dirty laundry.
How was she expecting to darken her skin again that way?
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Come to think of it, I remember praying that no one would throw me in the stream and wring me out a few times with the laundry! Anyway, I hated being treated like a broken porcelain doll, but I had no choice and buried myself in the covers until you couldn't see me if you tried.
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It was cold outside; fall was almost over and winter was soon upon them. The girl shivered under all her covers. Ah, winter, she thought bitterly.
"I'll wrestle you to the ground if I have to," said a voice. Lydia and Eve came into view, obviously fighting over Stone Jr.
"I'd like to see you try it while I'm holding your son," teased Eve, cradling the small baby even closer.
Lydia sighed and slumped in a chair on the porch. "I hate it when you do that."
Eve chuckled, then gasped as Stone went for her chest. She quickly held him away and laughed again."No, not me. You want your Mommy for that little activity," said Eve with a wide grin, handing him to Lydia before he started crying. She rubbed some drool off her shirt.
The ex-Amazon laughed. "Good Junior. You know just what to do when your mommy wants ya, huh?" she cooed to the baby, who had begun suckling furiously. She tickled his pudgy tummy, making the infant's feet kick out in protest.
"Traitor..." mumbled Eve. They sat in comfortable silence a moment, and then Eve perked up, "Hey, do you and Stone want to come to a club with Taius and me tonight?" Her azure eyes twinkled mischievously.
Lydia bit her cheek. "I dunno..."
"Oh, come on. I bet you haven't been to a real party since the kid was conceived," said Eve, just itching to get into some trouble.
"Well... Stone has been saying we should get out more..."
"Okay, it's settled. Tonight, you party with me."
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Remember me? I heard every word they said. And, being the mischievous little bugger I was, I planned to find out just what this `club' was.
Come to think of it, Eve and Taius had left me with a babysitter many times, always at the end of the week. I normally just moped around and wondered where they went while I was being bored beyond compare (my babysitter is this wrinkly old lady who has nothing better to do than show me the portraits of her many, many cats. Don't get me wrong, she's nice and everything but... you get the picture.).
So, after they left that night, I was home with Mom and Junior (mother was on a two-day supply trip) when I began to think up a plan...
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Cyrene sighed as she stared out the window at the full moon. Its pale light fell onto her young face, highlighting her dark features. Another sigh. In the background she could hear her mom softly humming to a fussy Junior.
"Mom, I'm bored!" complained the girl, her plan to escape quickly formulating.
"Just a second, sweetie, I gotta get Junior to calm down," said Gabrielle as she crooned over the tiny infant. "Come on, Junior, your mom'll be right back... in the morning. But be good for Auntie Gabby in the meantime, huh? Please?"
Junior stopped crying and looked up at her tearfully, still whimpering.
"That's a good baby. How about I tell you a story, huh?"
Cyrene rolled her bright blue eyes. "Mom, can I go over to Katlia's house? She said I could if I wanted to..."
Gabrielle sighed as Junior began to cry once again. "Okay, okay, just don't stay there too long" by this time Cyrene was halfway out the door "tell her mother I said `hi'" almost out "and don't slam the--" BOOM "--door."
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The club was two stories high, with the bottom floor open so you could see down from the top. Along the walls were nothing but bars and bartenders, lined with people perched upon high metal stools. Music blared away from a Macedonian band, so amazingly loud that, unless you were used to the sound, it was hard to think. Only lit by dim lights and colorful glass lanterns, the club had an eerie yet exciting glow about it that attracted dozens upon dozens of people.
Eve laughed and drank from her mug before continuing, "...so Polonius stomps up to Taius and me, and we're just staring at him, then yells `You don't deserve her, you home wrecker!' So Taius yawns, puts an arm around me, and goes `Polonius, your fly is open.'" She and her two friends shared a laugh.
"You're kidding, right?" said Delscia, a woman with dark brown hair and storm gray eyes. She glanced at Polonius, a muscular and handsome guy, who was sulking alone at the next table. "Polo'd never do that!"
"No, I'm serious! And so for like five years whenever he's seen us together he checks his trousers to see if they're buttoned!" exclaimed Eve, giving her ex-boyfriend a teasing wave. Polonius downed some ale and hung his head in shame.
"But Eve, really, when's Taius gonna get serious about you? You guys have been going out longer than Gangus and I have been married!" said Morgan, a woman with flaming red hair and playful green eyes.
Eve shrugged. "I dunno. He's been kinda sneaky lately... you know, slipping away while we're shopping or constantly fiddling with something in his tunic pocket... so he's either cheating on me or about to do something important."
Morgan and Delscia squealed. "Ooh, this is good!" said the red-haired woman. She looked around. "Where's that friend of yours? That Amazon?"
"Haven't seen her since I left with Taius. Told me she had to get something," said Eve through her mug.
"Looking for me?"
The three women turned around and faced Lydia. "'Bout time you got here!" teased Eve, looking Lydia up and down.
Ooh, how shameless could she be?
Her shoulder-length hair, usually pulled back into a half-ponytail, now flowed over her shoulders freely, gleaming in the dim light. Her top--if you dared call it that--was a piece of leather wrapped around her torso, remaining high above her pierced navel. Down the middle the fabric was jagged and torn like it had been tripped open from top to bottom, tied together at the stomach with loose strings and showing a lot of newfound cleavage from becoming a mother.
And her `skirt' was hanging as low as it was allowed to go below her navel. Traveling down to mid-thigh, it had a slit--also with torn edges liked it was ripped--in the front that went as far up as it was possibly allowed to go.
Standing behind her were two Amazons absolutely gawking at the way their friend was dressed.
Eve shook her head. "You really need to learn the meaning of `modest'."
Lydia straddled a chair and her friends did the same. "I'm going to pretend I never heard that. Anyway, Eve, Delscia, Morgan-" they had already been introduced "-these are my friends Ling and Tavi. Ling is currently seeing my brother so you hereby have my permission to call her insane."
The two Amazons waved absently, grabbing drinks from a passing waiter.
"Alright... now explain the tattoos," demanded Eve.
Lydia chuckled. "Okay, this one," she pointed to a picture on her right breast of two roses wrapped around each other with a golden ribbon tied loosely around them, "I got when Stone and I got married. And this one," she put her foot on the table and gestured to a picture on her ankle of a dragon with two swords intertwined behind it, "I was required to get when I became weapons master."
When the ex-Amazon didn't continue, Eve pointed to a tattoo of a black-furred goat with red eyes and white horns on Lydia's abdomen. "And that?"
Lydia shook her head and grinned. "A drunken mistake."
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Where am I, you ask? Well, currently, I'm on my way to the club.
And, just to note, don't get a tattoo. I've been given a million different lectures on how you could get an infection, how it looks bad when you get older... blah, blah, blah. So just take my advice and save yourself the trouble.
Anyway, I stopped outside the club and began to figure out how to get in...
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Three huge, burly men guarded the door, carefully questioning each person in line to get in so that no minors entered. One of them men stopped a teenager obviously under the age of twenty-one.
"Hey, you got a pass, kid?"
The teen shook his head. "No, why?"
"How old're you?"
"Twenty-one!" stated the young man defiantly.
"Ah, uh. I don't think so. Get outta here. Next!" shouted the huge man, pushing the teen away from the door.
Cyrene, wobbling on one good leg, considered this.
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In case you're thinking `how is she up and about?' Just remember this: I'm Xena's daughter.
Enough said.
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"If you're gonna sit here, you gotta spill it," warned Eve with a grin. The other women at the table nodded in agreement. "You have five seconds to answer me."
"What was the question? I forgot..." muttered Lydia to try and stall her total humiliation.
"The question is: Where was Junior conceived? And if you lie... we'll find out by means of the divine," said Eve, smiling wickedly.
Lydia ran her fingers through her hair nervously. "You really wanna know?"
Unanimous nods.
"Well, my best guess of where he was conceived is..." She licked her lips with a deep sigh. "In a two-person rowboat."
"What? I didn't catch that?" teased Delscia, leaning forward with her hand cupped next to her ear. "Say it again."
"In a two person rowboat on the anniversary of the night Stone and I met," said Lydia, louder this time. The blood rushed to her cheeks as the other women laughed.
"What lake?" asked Morgan with a devilish grin.
"Lake Romulus outside the Roman capital..."
Laughter rang through the air.
"Only you, Lydia," said Tavi, bopping her friend on the head.
Lydia let her forehead drop to the table.
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Cyrene gathered up some small pebbles and loaded them into her slingshot. She then snuck up as far as she could without being seen and aimed through the club's open window at some glasses of ale located near a fire. If she did this right...
The girl pulled the string of her slingshot until taut and took a deep breath. Then, she let go. The rocks flew through the window, past the crowd, and knocked the goblets of ale into the fire, creating a huge blast that caused no harm to the crowd but set a few tables on fire.
Club staff held people out of the club while the three door guards ran off to get some water from the well.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Cyrene crawled through the sea of people--occasionally going through someone's legs--and made it inside.
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Stone smiled down at his wife as they danced, bodies rubbing against each other sensually. She faced away from him, rubbing her butt against his powerful body while his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist as he rubbed against her backside. "How many times have I told you how much I love you today?" he said into her ear.
Lydia thought for a moment. "Once when we woke up. Once after breakfast. And once when you saw my outfit," she said with a grin.
"Mmm... well, then I love you times nine. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to celebrate the day I met you. You were fourteen and it was on the fourteenth of the sixth month on the Roman calendar. I want to celebrate how far we've come; how far we're gonna go. Look what we've achieved: a happy marriage and a beautiful son. All we need now is the license to live happily ever after."
His wife laughed. "Sometimes you can just be a helpless romantic." Her hand snaked around and grabbed a handful of his backside mischievously.
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Cyrene was in awe at the many different people she saw in the club. There were Roman legionnaires, Greek scholars, the occasional Amazon, and so much more. She peeked at the band playing and grinned in spite of herself.
"Hey, lookee wha I got `ere!" slurred a drunk, pulling Cyrene by one ankle into the air. "It'saaa nice li'l girl that I can take home wit me."
Poor Little Cyrene screamed.
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Stone, Taius, Lydia, and Eve, whom were all dancing next to each other as a slow song was played, heard the scream and said in unison, "Cyrene."
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Gabrielle hurriedly handed Junior to the babysitter and pulled on her jacket. After checking in with a few villagers, she didn't have a doubt in her mind where her daughter was. And she had to get her outta there... fast.
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Taius was the first to reach Cyrene, and he delivered a hard smack to the drunk's jaw, sending him flying back over the bar and into the bartender. He then dove down and caught Cyrene before she hit the ground. Tossing the girl to Eve, he jumped up and found himself facing twenty men. "Oh, so the drunk has friends..." he muttered.
Stone joined the fight. "Can you handle it, old man?" he teased. "You better watch your back."
"I dunno, youngin', can you?" replied Taius in accented Greek. He laughed in spite of himself. "And I thought you were going to watch my back?"
Lydia looked at Cyrene and sighed disapprovingly.
"Why aren't you fighting?" asked Eve.
"I don't want to hurt your guy's pride," replied the ex-Amazon.
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Gabrielle pushed her way into the club. It didn't take her long to locate her daughter, for an unconscious man came tumbling down from the upper story of the club as soon as she walked in, almost squishing her. "Well, at least I know where they are..." she mused to try and quell some of her anger.
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Taius ducked and delievered a hard uppercut to a man's jaw, knocking him into the air and then crashing back down unconscious. A fist connected with his eye and Taius went sprawling to the floor. Just as the drunk who had knocked Taius moved to kick him while he was down, Stone grabbed him by the scruff of the tunic and hurled him off the upper story. He crashed into the railing with a sickening crack and landed hard on the bottom floor. The young man then whirled around and gave his last adversary the same fate, cringing as he landed on top of his buddy.
"Told ya you better watch out, old man," said Stone with a mischievous grin.
"You are asking for it," groaned Taius as he removed himself from a broken table.
Eve helped her husband stand while Lydia began to kiss Stone. "Mm, my wonderful" kiss "strong" kiss "powerful" kiss "handsome" kiss "husband!" cooed the ex-Amazon while the blood rushed to her husband's cheeks.
"Lydia, not in public," he murmured, suddenly finding his boots very interesting.
Taius and Eve simply rolled their eyes. "Are you okay, honey?" asked Eve, turning to inspect Taius's swelling eye. "Ooh, that looks bad. Come on, let's get home."
Cyrene looked up at Gabrielle, who was looking back at her with narrowed eyes, and hung her head. Uh oh...
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You don't know what the meaning of `uh oh' is until you've seen the look my mother gave me when Mom told her what I had done. The first thing that ran through my mind was `she's mad' and then Mother called me over. She had a look of disappointment on her face that cut right through my heart... nothing's worse than being shamed by Mother, nothing.
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"Cyrene, I'm very ashamed of what you did yesterday. It was a selfish thing to do and you didn't even think twice about it," said Xena coolly. What Cyrene had noticed was that when her mother was mad, she got all quiet and her gaze never left yours. It was downright scary at times. "You scared your mom half to death, Taius and Stone were hurt, and Junior got sick because the babysitter didn't know how to make him stop crying. And for what? I peek into adult business."
The girl stared at her boots and sniffled.
"Your punishment is extra chores for two months, and when I let you go you're going to apologize to everyone you hurt, including Junior. Understood?"
Cyrene nodded shamefully.
"Okay, you can go now."
The girl shuffled out the door, tears welling up in her blue eyes.
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Lydia looked at Stone worriedly as she hummed to their sick little baby. He had a small cold, but it was enough to drive both parents up the wall with worry. Junior sneezed and kept fussing, occasionally drifting off then waking back up with a wail. "Come on, sweetie, get some rest," whispered Junior's mom with a loving gaze.
The baby yawned but refused to let sleep come on that easily and began whimpering.
"Aw, please? Baby, you gotta sleep," said Lydia, kissing his warm forehead. She continued to hum a quiet lullaby to the baby when the door squeaked open and two large, round blue eyes peeked through the crack. "Cyrene?"
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah, just be quiet. I think Junior's finally getting some sleep," whispered Stone, eyeing his now-sleeping son. The tiny baby's soft snores were just audible, nothing more than the gentle whisper of a cool breeze.
The girl slipped inside but refused to make eye contact with the couple. She seemed to find the floor much more intriguing. "I'm sorry for doing what I did. It was wrong and selfish and I'll never do it again," she said softly.
Lydia smiled at the child gently. It took guts to stand up and apologize like that, especially to admit one is wrong. "It's alright. Curiosity can get you into trouble sometimes, and we understand."
"Okay... see ya..." She slipped out the door, face red with humiliation.
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Eve and Taius were curled up in a warm blanket on the couch, Taius gently stroking his lover's hair as they sat in comfortable silence. Eve shifted, placing her head in the hollow of his shoulder where it fit so perfectly, and sighed contently. "Taius?"
"Mmm?"
"What would you say if I told you I thought I was pregnant?" Her hand absently drifted to her stomach.
"I would say... marry me, Eve," Taius replied, holding a small ring in front of her face.
Eve gasped and rolled over in his embrace so that she was facing him. "Taius... of course I'll marry you!"
"Wow... hit two birds with one stone, didn't we?" mused Taius, placing a hand on her stomach. "How long have you known?"
"Two days. I didn't know how to tell you and..."
"NO!" screamed Cyrene, who had heard the whole thing. Her blood boiled, her eyes flashed red, and she ran out the door. He couldn't... she couldn't... The girl felt her whole world come crashing down on her head.
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I don't know how long I ran or how far I had gotten on one broken leg before I stopped, collapsing on the ground next to a stream. All I could think about was Taius taking away the little time I ever spent alone with my only sister. The sun was almost below the horizon when I heard some rustling in the bushes behind me.
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Cyrene glanced up as a boy, about a year older than her, emerged from the brush. He had jet-black hair and honey colored eyes. Dressed in a simple brown tunic and trousers, he chewed something that created a loud smacking sound as his jaw moved. The boy, who stood at least a head taller than her, looked her up and down and said, "Whatcha mad about?"
"I never get to spend time alone with my sister... she's always with her boyfriend... and now they're getting married and going to have a baby and she'll spend even less time with me and more time with him!"
The boy spit out whatever he was chewing and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Oh... okay... what's your name?"
She recognized a Roman accent in his Greek. "Cyrene, if you really wanna know," she snapped irritably.
"Cyrene, huh? Cool name. I'm Dominic Heckleberry Kingsdon III, but you can call me Donny," said the boy, holding out his hand.
Cyrene shook it and returned to her moping.
"How come you're mad about your sister getting married? My dad complains all the time about wanting to find a wife but he never does. My mom left us when I was two years old," said Donny, taking a seat next to the girl.
"Because it's not fair! I never get to spend time alone with my only sister!"
Donny shrugged. "So? Who do you think cares?"
Cyrene almost blew up at him, but considered his words. No one really does care if I think life's unfair...life's not fair... but they care about Eve and Taius being happy... they care about me not getting hurt, but... I haven't been caring about them... Shame grasped her heart as the realization hit.
At that point, two tall figures stepped from the trees. "Alright, young lady, you're in big trouble," said a husky voice.
Cyrene cringed and looked up at her mother. "Oh, h-h-hello Mother," she stammered. Xena had a steely gray anger in her eyes that sent chills down Cyrene's spine. "Uh oh."
There was a man standing next to the warrior, almost a foot taller than her. He had a scruffy beard and jet-black hair, just like Donny, but his eyes were a bright green instead of honey-colored. "Come on, Dominic, it's time to go," he said with accented Greek.
"Yes, Da. Bye, Cyrene!" called Donny before disappearing into the woods with his father.
Xena looked down at her daughter. "Come on, we've got a long walk ahead of us."
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"Do you see that? It's Pisces. And that. That's Orion," said Xena, pointing to the various constellations, which had begun to appear in the sky not too long ago. She looked down at her daughter, who was seated on the ground next to her. "Cyrene, do you remember the story of Eli and the power of selfless love?"
Cyrene nodded.
"And how Mom had to give something up to follow true love?"
Another nod.
"Sweetie, that story was a message. I know you don't like Taius, I didn't either, but I've seen the way he makes your sister happy... and I want her to be happy, don't you want that?"
Hesitate... nod.
"We've both got to work out our feelings about this. I'm just being over-protective of my oldest daughter... and you, I hate to say, are just being spiteful and jealous."
Cyrene felt like she had been hit with a club. It was true, she knew that, but the blows of her mother's words were beating her to a pulp inside. "I'm... I'm sorry, Mother..." she whimpered, silent tears falling down her face.
Xena pulled her daughter to her and kissed her on the head. "I know, sweetie... I know you want to spend more time with your sister... but just because they're getting married doesn't mean she'll spend all her time being a wife and mother. Everyone has time to be a brother, sister, or friend. Look at me." She tilted Cyrene's head up to face her. "You must give up a fraction of the time you spend with your sister for her to be happy. Are you ready to make that sacrifice?"
Cyrene wiped away the tears and nodded. "Yes, Mama. If Eve wants to marry Taius... then I hafta agree with it, right?"
"That's right sweetheart. You're not off the hook for being so selfish, but you've escaped a good spanking this time," said Xena, standing up with Cyrene cradled in her arms. "Come on, let's go home."
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I'll never forget that day. My mother could've beaten me with a whip until my whole body was raw (she'd never, ever do it of course) and her blows would've done no harm compared to her words. If people think the Warrior Princess has no value behind her words; that she has no poetic talent, they're wrong. No one has ever felt true pain until they've suffered the disappointment of their parent, and I learned that first hand.
But, of course, I made up with Eve and Taius (Taius hugged me so hard I had to stop and catch my breath before speaking again) and then apologized to everyone for the second time.
And the moral of this story is that in order for the people around you to be happy, you have to give something up. In return, they'll give something up for you. Example: men giving up their freedom to wed their one true love; while the women give up their independence as well.
Okay, slightly bad example but I was on the spot. But, in conclusion, I'm just glad I got out of this lesson in one piece!
Other Disclaimers:
Sex: Implied...and some dirty dancing.
Violence: Yup
Potty Mouth: Mild
Subtext: Oh no! It's two women in love... WITH EACH OTHER! The horror!! Jeez, people, lighten up.
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Life's Lessons
By Mystik
~ August 1st, 2001 ~
Lesson 2: Selfless, Not Selfish!
Hello again! It's me, Cyrene, back to bother you with another one of my life lessons! I really don't like talking about this one, because I'm supposed to be ashamed about it--and I am--but you wanna know so...
You asked for it.
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Cyrene jerked her head away from impending doom, but it pursued her. She ducked and swiveled her head the other way, but it followed her yet again. It's hopeless!
"Come on, drink it," said her attacker.
"No."
In the instant that the girl's mouth was open to say that simple word, Xena dumped some bitter tea down her throat. "Gotcha!"
"Yucky, Mother!" whined Cyrene, grimacing at the horrible taste. She stuck her tongue out and wiped it with her hand. "Why do I have to take that icky junk so much?"
"Because it'll help with the pain and make you heal faster. I know for a fact you don't like being cooped up in this bed--I never do," said Xena, leaning back in her chair. She idly tried to scratch her splinted arm.
Cyrene pouted. Three weeks since the accident and she still had four bruised ribs and one broken rib, a broken arm and leg, and a little head injury that made her dizzy at times. Not to mention the fifty-seven stitches all over her body. "Tell me a story, Mother."
Xena hesitated. "I don't do stories... that's what you have your mom for."
"Please?" begged the girl, giving her mother big, round doe eyes. She had Xena under her thumb when it came to wanting something.
The warrior tried to look away but it was too much! She sighed in defeat and hung her head. "Okay, fine."
"Yes!" Cyrene clapped her hands and rubbed them together excitedly.
Xena silently contemplated what story to tell... Wonder if she's heard about M'Lila and Lao Ma... no, I've given up foreign women and that would just make me cry... um... oh, I know the perfect one! "Cyrene, did your mother ever tell you the story of Eli and the Power of Love?"
Cyrene shook her head.
"Well..." Xena smiled at her daughter. "Many years ago, before your sister was even born and Julius Caesar ruled the land, there was a man named Eli. He was a born rebel and as he grew older, began to defy the gods. He even rallied his own group of worshippers that practiced the Way of Love and never prayed to the gods. He taught about the true power of unconditional, undying, powerful, selfless love. Your mom tried to follow his path once."
"What happened?"
"At first she was very devoted to her path, threw away her staff and everything, but one day the Romans attacked us. I fought them off the best I could, but Callisto had stolen my chakram. She broke my spine with it, leaving me unable to defend your mom. A Roman moved to kill me, but your mom abandoned her path and killed seven Romans trying to save me. If you think about it, following the way of love is like following your heart. She loves me--and you and Eve--beyond comparison.
"And you have to sacrifice something to follow the way of love. Some people give up all their belongings; warriors give up their weapons. But your mom... she gave up the path of peaceful living to save what she held dearest to her heart and follow the love. So, even though you must give up something, it's not the obvious and as long as you do it out of love... it'll be the right choice."
Cyrene beamed up at her mother. "So... basically, selfless love is the key?" she asked with a yawn.
"Yup."
"Thanks mom... that was a really great story..." whispered the girl before drifting off to sleep.
"I hope you're tired because of the tea, not my lack of talent," mused the warrior, pulling the blankets farther up her daughter's body to her chin. She kissed her forehead and turned towards the door...
Where three evil, sinister women were snickering at her. Gabrielle, Lydia, and Eve slapped their hands over their mouths to stifle their laughs.
"Not a word."
More giggles.
"Not one damn word."
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A few hours later, after Cyrene had woken up from her nap, Xena took her out to the porch to get some sun, which had been deprived of the little girl ever since the incident with the ravine. Cyrene looked like a dead girl walking without her usual coppery tan, courtesy of her mother's genes. But, covered by a heap of blankets, you could barely tell that the girl was, well, a girl and not a pile of dirty laundry.
How was she expecting to darken her skin again that way?
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Come to think of it, I remember praying that no one would throw me in the stream and wring me out a few times with the laundry! Anyway, I hated being treated like a broken porcelain doll, but I had no choice and buried myself in the covers until you couldn't see me if you tried.
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It was cold outside; fall was almost over and winter was soon upon them. The girl shivered under all her covers. Ah, winter, she thought bitterly.
"I'll wrestle you to the ground if I have to," said a voice. Lydia and Eve came into view, obviously fighting over Stone Jr.
"I'd like to see you try it while I'm holding your son," teased Eve, cradling the small baby even closer.
Lydia sighed and slumped in a chair on the porch. "I hate it when you do that."
Eve chuckled, then gasped as Stone went for her chest. She quickly held him away and laughed again."No, not me. You want your Mommy for that little activity," said Eve with a wide grin, handing him to Lydia before he started crying. She rubbed some drool off her shirt.
The ex-Amazon laughed. "Good Junior. You know just what to do when your mommy wants ya, huh?" she cooed to the baby, who had begun suckling furiously. She tickled his pudgy tummy, making the infant's feet kick out in protest.
"Traitor..." mumbled Eve. They sat in comfortable silence a moment, and then Eve perked up, "Hey, do you and Stone want to come to a club with Taius and me tonight?" Her azure eyes twinkled mischievously.
Lydia bit her cheek. "I dunno..."
"Oh, come on. I bet you haven't been to a real party since the kid was conceived," said Eve, just itching to get into some trouble.
"Well... Stone has been saying we should get out more..."
"Okay, it's settled. Tonight, you party with me."
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Remember me? I heard every word they said. And, being the mischievous little bugger I was, I planned to find out just what this `club' was.
Come to think of it, Eve and Taius had left me with a babysitter many times, always at the end of the week. I normally just moped around and wondered where they went while I was being bored beyond compare (my babysitter is this wrinkly old lady who has nothing better to do than show me the portraits of her many, many cats. Don't get me wrong, she's nice and everything but... you get the picture.).
So, after they left that night, I was home with Mom and Junior (mother was on a two-day supply trip) when I began to think up a plan...
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Cyrene sighed as she stared out the window at the full moon. Its pale light fell onto her young face, highlighting her dark features. Another sigh. In the background she could hear her mom softly humming to a fussy Junior.
"Mom, I'm bored!" complained the girl, her plan to escape quickly formulating.
"Just a second, sweetie, I gotta get Junior to calm down," said Gabrielle as she crooned over the tiny infant. "Come on, Junior, your mom'll be right back... in the morning. But be good for Auntie Gabby in the meantime, huh? Please?"
Junior stopped crying and looked up at her tearfully, still whimpering.
"That's a good baby. How about I tell you a story, huh?"
Cyrene rolled her bright blue eyes. "Mom, can I go over to Katlia's house? She said I could if I wanted to..."
Gabrielle sighed as Junior began to cry once again. "Okay, okay, just don't stay there too long" by this time Cyrene was halfway out the door "tell her mother I said `hi'" almost out "and don't slam the--" BOOM "--door."
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The club was two stories high, with the bottom floor open so you could see down from the top. Along the walls were nothing but bars and bartenders, lined with people perched upon high metal stools. Music blared away from a Macedonian band, so amazingly loud that, unless you were used to the sound, it was hard to think. Only lit by dim lights and colorful glass lanterns, the club had an eerie yet exciting glow about it that attracted dozens upon dozens of people.
Eve laughed and drank from her mug before continuing, "...so Polonius stomps up to Taius and me, and we're just staring at him, then yells `You don't deserve her, you home wrecker!' So Taius yawns, puts an arm around me, and goes `Polonius, your fly is open.'" She and her two friends shared a laugh.
"You're kidding, right?" said Delscia, a woman with dark brown hair and storm gray eyes. She glanced at Polonius, a muscular and handsome guy, who was sulking alone at the next table. "Polo'd never do that!"
"No, I'm serious! And so for like five years whenever he's seen us together he checks his trousers to see if they're buttoned!" exclaimed Eve, giving her ex-boyfriend a teasing wave. Polonius downed some ale and hung his head in shame.
"But Eve, really, when's Taius gonna get serious about you? You guys have been going out longer than Gangus and I have been married!" said Morgan, a woman with flaming red hair and playful green eyes.
Eve shrugged. "I dunno. He's been kinda sneaky lately... you know, slipping away while we're shopping or constantly fiddling with something in his tunic pocket... so he's either cheating on me or about to do something important."
Morgan and Delscia squealed. "Ooh, this is good!" said the red-haired woman. She looked around. "Where's that friend of yours? That Amazon?"
"Haven't seen her since I left with Taius. Told me she had to get something," said Eve through her mug.
"Looking for me?"
The three women turned around and faced Lydia. "'Bout time you got here!" teased Eve, looking Lydia up and down.
Ooh, how shameless could she be?
Her shoulder-length hair, usually pulled back into a half-ponytail, now flowed over her shoulders freely, gleaming in the dim light. Her top--if you dared call it that--was a piece of leather wrapped around her torso, remaining high above her pierced navel. Down the middle the fabric was jagged and torn like it had been tripped open from top to bottom, tied together at the stomach with loose strings and showing a lot of newfound cleavage from becoming a mother.
And her `skirt' was hanging as low as it was allowed to go below her navel. Traveling down to mid-thigh, it had a slit--also with torn edges liked it was ripped--in the front that went as far up as it was possibly allowed to go.
Standing behind her were two Amazons absolutely gawking at the way their friend was dressed.
Eve shook her head. "You really need to learn the meaning of `modest'."
Lydia straddled a chair and her friends did the same. "I'm going to pretend I never heard that. Anyway, Eve, Delscia, Morgan-" they had already been introduced "-these are my friends Ling and Tavi. Ling is currently seeing my brother so you hereby have my permission to call her insane."
The two Amazons waved absently, grabbing drinks from a passing waiter.
"Alright... now explain the tattoos," demanded Eve.
Lydia chuckled. "Okay, this one," she pointed to a picture on her right breast of two roses wrapped around each other with a golden ribbon tied loosely around them, "I got when Stone and I got married. And this one," she put her foot on the table and gestured to a picture on her ankle of a dragon with two swords intertwined behind it, "I was required to get when I became weapons master."
When the ex-Amazon didn't continue, Eve pointed to a tattoo of a black-furred goat with red eyes and white horns on Lydia's abdomen. "And that?"
Lydia shook her head and grinned. "A drunken mistake."
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Where am I, you ask? Well, currently, I'm on my way to the club.
And, just to note, don't get a tattoo. I've been given a million different lectures on how you could get an infection, how it looks bad when you get older... blah, blah, blah. So just take my advice and save yourself the trouble.
Anyway, I stopped outside the club and began to figure out how to get in...
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Three huge, burly men guarded the door, carefully questioning each person in line to get in so that no minors entered. One of them men stopped a teenager obviously under the age of twenty-one.
"Hey, you got a pass, kid?"
The teen shook his head. "No, why?"
"How old're you?"
"Twenty-one!" stated the young man defiantly.
"Ah, uh. I don't think so. Get outta here. Next!" shouted the huge man, pushing the teen away from the door.
Cyrene, wobbling on one good leg, considered this.
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In case you're thinking `how is she up and about?' Just remember this: I'm Xena's daughter.
Enough said.
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"If you're gonna sit here, you gotta spill it," warned Eve with a grin. The other women at the table nodded in agreement. "You have five seconds to answer me."
"What was the question? I forgot..." muttered Lydia to try and stall her total humiliation.
"The question is: Where was Junior conceived? And if you lie... we'll find out by means of the divine," said Eve, smiling wickedly.
Lydia ran her fingers through her hair nervously. "You really wanna know?"
Unanimous nods.
"Well, my best guess of where he was conceived is..." She licked her lips with a deep sigh. "In a two-person rowboat."
"What? I didn't catch that?" teased Delscia, leaning forward with her hand cupped next to her ear. "Say it again."
"In a two person rowboat on the anniversary of the night Stone and I met," said Lydia, louder this time. The blood rushed to her cheeks as the other women laughed.
"What lake?" asked Morgan with a devilish grin.
"Lake Romulus outside the Roman capital..."
Laughter rang through the air.
"Only you, Lydia," said Tavi, bopping her friend on the head.
Lydia let her forehead drop to the table.
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Cyrene gathered up some small pebbles and loaded them into her slingshot. She then snuck up as far as she could without being seen and aimed through the club's open window at some glasses of ale located near a fire. If she did this right...
The girl pulled the string of her slingshot until taut and took a deep breath. Then, she let go. The rocks flew through the window, past the crowd, and knocked the goblets of ale into the fire, creating a huge blast that caused no harm to the crowd but set a few tables on fire.
Club staff held people out of the club while the three door guards ran off to get some water from the well.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Cyrene crawled through the sea of people--occasionally going through someone's legs--and made it inside.
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Stone smiled down at his wife as they danced, bodies rubbing against each other sensually. She faced away from him, rubbing her butt against his powerful body while his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist as he rubbed against her backside. "How many times have I told you how much I love you today?" he said into her ear.
Lydia thought for a moment. "Once when we woke up. Once after breakfast. And once when you saw my outfit," she said with a grin.
"Mmm... well, then I love you times nine. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to celebrate the day I met you. You were fourteen and it was on the fourteenth of the sixth month on the Roman calendar. I want to celebrate how far we've come; how far we're gonna go. Look what we've achieved: a happy marriage and a beautiful son. All we need now is the license to live happily ever after."
His wife laughed. "Sometimes you can just be a helpless romantic." Her hand snaked around and grabbed a handful of his backside mischievously.
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Cyrene was in awe at the many different people she saw in the club. There were Roman legionnaires, Greek scholars, the occasional Amazon, and so much more. She peeked at the band playing and grinned in spite of herself.
"Hey, lookee wha I got `ere!" slurred a drunk, pulling Cyrene by one ankle into the air. "It'saaa nice li'l girl that I can take home wit me."
Poor Little Cyrene screamed.
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Stone, Taius, Lydia, and Eve, whom were all dancing next to each other as a slow song was played, heard the scream and said in unison, "Cyrene."
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Gabrielle hurriedly handed Junior to the babysitter and pulled on her jacket. After checking in with a few villagers, she didn't have a doubt in her mind where her daughter was. And she had to get her outta there... fast.
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Taius was the first to reach Cyrene, and he delivered a hard smack to the drunk's jaw, sending him flying back over the bar and into the bartender. He then dove down and caught Cyrene before she hit the ground. Tossing the girl to Eve, he jumped up and found himself facing twenty men. "Oh, so the drunk has friends..." he muttered.
Stone joined the fight. "Can you handle it, old man?" he teased. "You better watch your back."
"I dunno, youngin', can you?" replied Taius in accented Greek. He laughed in spite of himself. "And I thought you were going to watch my back?"
Lydia looked at Cyrene and sighed disapprovingly.
"Why aren't you fighting?" asked Eve.
"I don't want to hurt your guy's pride," replied the ex-Amazon.
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Gabrielle pushed her way into the club. It didn't take her long to locate her daughter, for an unconscious man came tumbling down from the upper story of the club as soon as she walked in, almost squishing her. "Well, at least I know where they are..." she mused to try and quell some of her anger.
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Taius ducked and delievered a hard uppercut to a man's jaw, knocking him into the air and then crashing back down unconscious. A fist connected with his eye and Taius went sprawling to the floor. Just as the drunk who had knocked Taius moved to kick him while he was down, Stone grabbed him by the scruff of the tunic and hurled him off the upper story. He crashed into the railing with a sickening crack and landed hard on the bottom floor. The young man then whirled around and gave his last adversary the same fate, cringing as he landed on top of his buddy.
"Told ya you better watch out, old man," said Stone with a mischievous grin.
"You are asking for it," groaned Taius as he removed himself from a broken table.
Eve helped her husband stand while Lydia began to kiss Stone. "Mm, my wonderful" kiss "strong" kiss "powerful" kiss "handsome" kiss "husband!" cooed the ex-Amazon while the blood rushed to her husband's cheeks.
"Lydia, not in public," he murmured, suddenly finding his boots very interesting.
Taius and Eve simply rolled their eyes. "Are you okay, honey?" asked Eve, turning to inspect Taius's swelling eye. "Ooh, that looks bad. Come on, let's get home."
Cyrene looked up at Gabrielle, who was looking back at her with narrowed eyes, and hung her head. Uh oh...
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You don't know what the meaning of `uh oh' is until you've seen the look my mother gave me when Mom told her what I had done. The first thing that ran through my mind was `she's mad' and then Mother called me over. She had a look of disappointment on her face that cut right through my heart... nothing's worse than being shamed by Mother, nothing.
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"Cyrene, I'm very ashamed of what you did yesterday. It was a selfish thing to do and you didn't even think twice about it," said Xena coolly. What Cyrene had noticed was that when her mother was mad, she got all quiet and her gaze never left yours. It was downright scary at times. "You scared your mom half to death, Taius and Stone were hurt, and Junior got sick because the babysitter didn't know how to make him stop crying. And for what? I peek into adult business."
The girl stared at her boots and sniffled.
"Your punishment is extra chores for two months, and when I let you go you're going to apologize to everyone you hurt, including Junior. Understood?"
Cyrene nodded shamefully.
"Okay, you can go now."
The girl shuffled out the door, tears welling up in her blue eyes.
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Lydia looked at Stone worriedly as she hummed to their sick little baby. He had a small cold, but it was enough to drive both parents up the wall with worry. Junior sneezed and kept fussing, occasionally drifting off then waking back up with a wail. "Come on, sweetie, get some rest," whispered Junior's mom with a loving gaze.
The baby yawned but refused to let sleep come on that easily and began whimpering.
"Aw, please? Baby, you gotta sleep," said Lydia, kissing his warm forehead. She continued to hum a quiet lullaby to the baby when the door squeaked open and two large, round blue eyes peeked through the crack. "Cyrene?"
"Can I come in?"
"Yeah, just be quiet. I think Junior's finally getting some sleep," whispered Stone, eyeing his now-sleeping son. The tiny baby's soft snores were just audible, nothing more than the gentle whisper of a cool breeze.
The girl slipped inside but refused to make eye contact with the couple. She seemed to find the floor much more intriguing. "I'm sorry for doing what I did. It was wrong and selfish and I'll never do it again," she said softly.
Lydia smiled at the child gently. It took guts to stand up and apologize like that, especially to admit one is wrong. "It's alright. Curiosity can get you into trouble sometimes, and we understand."
"Okay... see ya..." She slipped out the door, face red with humiliation.
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Eve and Taius were curled up in a warm blanket on the couch, Taius gently stroking his lover's hair as they sat in comfortable silence. Eve shifted, placing her head in the hollow of his shoulder where it fit so perfectly, and sighed contently. "Taius?"
"Mmm?"
"What would you say if I told you I thought I was pregnant?" Her hand absently drifted to her stomach.
"I would say... marry me, Eve," Taius replied, holding a small ring in front of her face.
Eve gasped and rolled over in his embrace so that she was facing him. "Taius... of course I'll marry you!"
"Wow... hit two birds with one stone, didn't we?" mused Taius, placing a hand on her stomach. "How long have you known?"
"Two days. I didn't know how to tell you and..."
"NO!" screamed Cyrene, who had heard the whole thing. Her blood boiled, her eyes flashed red, and she ran out the door. He couldn't... she couldn't... The girl felt her whole world come crashing down on her head.
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I don't know how long I ran or how far I had gotten on one broken leg before I stopped, collapsing on the ground next to a stream. All I could think about was Taius taking away the little time I ever spent alone with my only sister. The sun was almost below the horizon when I heard some rustling in the bushes behind me.
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Cyrene glanced up as a boy, about a year older than her, emerged from the brush. He had jet-black hair and honey colored eyes. Dressed in a simple brown tunic and trousers, he chewed something that created a loud smacking sound as his jaw moved. The boy, who stood at least a head taller than her, looked her up and down and said, "Whatcha mad about?"
"I never get to spend time alone with my sister... she's always with her boyfriend... and now they're getting married and going to have a baby and she'll spend even less time with me and more time with him!"
The boy spit out whatever he was chewing and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Oh... okay... what's your name?"
She recognized a Roman accent in his Greek. "Cyrene, if you really wanna know," she snapped irritably.
"Cyrene, huh? Cool name. I'm Dominic Heckleberry Kingsdon III, but you can call me Donny," said the boy, holding out his hand.
Cyrene shook it and returned to her moping.
"How come you're mad about your sister getting married? My dad complains all the time about wanting to find a wife but he never does. My mom left us when I was two years old," said Donny, taking a seat next to the girl.
"Because it's not fair! I never get to spend time alone with my only sister!"
Donny shrugged. "So? Who do you think cares?"
Cyrene almost blew up at him, but considered his words. No one really does care if I think life's unfair...life's not fair... but they care about Eve and Taius being happy... they care about me not getting hurt, but... I haven't been caring about them... Shame grasped her heart as the realization hit.
At that point, two tall figures stepped from the trees. "Alright, young lady, you're in big trouble," said a husky voice.
Cyrene cringed and looked up at her mother. "Oh, h-h-hello Mother," she stammered. Xena had a steely gray anger in her eyes that sent chills down Cyrene's spine. "Uh oh."
There was a man standing next to the warrior, almost a foot taller than her. He had a scruffy beard and jet-black hair, just like Donny, but his eyes were a bright green instead of honey-colored. "Come on, Dominic, it's time to go," he said with accented Greek.
"Yes, Da. Bye, Cyrene!" called Donny before disappearing into the woods with his father.
Xena looked down at her daughter. "Come on, we've got a long walk ahead of us."
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"Do you see that? It's Pisces. And that. That's Orion," said Xena, pointing to the various constellations, which had begun to appear in the sky not too long ago. She looked down at her daughter, who was seated on the ground next to her. "Cyrene, do you remember the story of Eli and the power of selfless love?"
Cyrene nodded.
"And how Mom had to give something up to follow true love?"
Another nod.
"Sweetie, that story was a message. I know you don't like Taius, I didn't either, but I've seen the way he makes your sister happy... and I want her to be happy, don't you want that?"
Hesitate... nod.
"We've both got to work out our feelings about this. I'm just being over-protective of my oldest daughter... and you, I hate to say, are just being spiteful and jealous."
Cyrene felt like she had been hit with a club. It was true, she knew that, but the blows of her mother's words were beating her to a pulp inside. "I'm... I'm sorry, Mother..." she whimpered, silent tears falling down her face.
Xena pulled her daughter to her and kissed her on the head. "I know, sweetie... I know you want to spend more time with your sister... but just because they're getting married doesn't mean she'll spend all her time being a wife and mother. Everyone has time to be a brother, sister, or friend. Look at me." She tilted Cyrene's head up to face her. "You must give up a fraction of the time you spend with your sister for her to be happy. Are you ready to make that sacrifice?"
Cyrene wiped away the tears and nodded. "Yes, Mama. If Eve wants to marry Taius... then I hafta agree with it, right?"
"That's right sweetheart. You're not off the hook for being so selfish, but you've escaped a good spanking this time," said Xena, standing up with Cyrene cradled in her arms. "Come on, let's go home."
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I'll never forget that day. My mother could've beaten me with a whip until my whole body was raw (she'd never, ever do it of course) and her blows would've done no harm compared to her words. If people think the Warrior Princess has no value behind her words; that she has no poetic talent, they're wrong. No one has ever felt true pain until they've suffered the disappointment of their parent, and I learned that first hand.
But, of course, I made up with Eve and Taius (Taius hugged me so hard I had to stop and catch my breath before speaking again) and then apologized to everyone for the second time.
And the moral of this story is that in order for the people around you to be happy, you have to give something up. In return, they'll give something up for you. Example: men giving up their freedom to wed their one true love; while the women give up their independence as well.
Okay, slightly bad example but I was on the spot. But, in conclusion, I'm just glad I got out of this lesson in one piece!