Chang'an impressed her with its size even as she was only passing through one of its many gates. She had dismounted to walk besides Fong on their way through the gates. Gabrielle looked around at the bustling streets and what she saw differed greatly from what she had seen in the trade bustling cities further down south. She had never seen a city this bustling with activity even after the sun had set, but everywhere people were still at work or going from place to place with goods under the colored lights of thousands of lanterns. "Is it always so busy?" She asked almost in awe as they crested a hill within the city and she looked out over the huge city lighted by thousands and thousands of lanterns, torches and coal burners. It looked like a field of colored stars was laid out on the ground.
"It wasn't much different, when I was here last. In a candlemark or so it will grow quiet. I expect that the palace grounds will remain busy for quite some time after that though. But we should hurry along Gabrielle, if we're to reach our destination, before they close the gates against the night," Fong smiled wearily to her and continued walking. Gabrielle sighed, she knew that Fong was a still strong for his age and quite capable in a combat situation, but she also saw every day that the traveling had took a lot out of him. And she saw in his eyes that it took more than he had expected.
As they walked through the winding roads towards the palace faintly visible against the dark sky by a halo of light created by its many large lanterns Gabrielle saw the first foreigners with white skin that she had seen ever since she had left her amazons to find her way. They were obviously Roman traders looking for silk, still some instinct or fear of recognition stemming from her many years of traveling and not trusting strangers made her reach onto the back of Ghost, grab a brightly colored shawl from India from one of her pack and wrap it around her head.
Fong looked at her strangely and asked: "Do you know them?"
Gabrielle smiled slightly but shook her head. She tried to explain: "No, I don't and they probably don't know me. But I am not sure if the Amazons have heeded my plea to be left alone and there are certain other people around back West that I don't want to know where I am. There are the Romans, who must continue believe me and the Amazons long gone or perished. There are a certain number of Gods, who like me too much and want to involve me in their lives. And there could all sorts of strange age old leftovers from my life with Xena that could popup, if people find out where I am."
"I thought you had decided to start including people in your heart again," Fong offered as a thought and cocked a long bushy white eyebrow.
"Yes and I am… Maybe this is about something else… Alright, it isn't just about hiding. This could turn to one of my greatest adventures and maybe I just want to do something like this without people constantly comparing it to my previous life with Xena. Do you think I could do that? Or is it the wrong way to go about living?" She asked, while trying to keep her expression neutral.
"Ah. Now I think I understand a little better. Well maybe you really should try to jump outside your own shadow for a while. I think it will allow you to understand yourself better. But Gabrielle your name and deeds as the Battling Bard have traveled up the trade routes with the Persian and Roman traders for several decades and your treks back and forth both with and without Xena have not passed unnoticed here either. You would have to act without your name or telling stories from the past, while you did this. That is an almost inhumanly hard thing to keep your own history a secret and still accomplish what we're here to do. There would also be no glory in it for Gabrielle the Battling Bard. You wouldn't be remembered for it," he reminded her.
"I've done very little of my heroics for recognition. There was a time, when I thought that I didn't get enough credit for my work, but that has long passed. Now I would like to try and do it on my own. Without standing in the shadow of my own legend or… Xena's," she explained the last words turning into only a faint whisper, but Fong didn't comment he only smiled sagely and continued walking.
The guards weren't about to close the gates, when they came upon one of the entrances to the palace. They were too stressed out for that. In front of Gabrielle still a hundred yards from the gate a line of men ended. The looks on their faces were varied between angry, tired, excited and just plain bored. "What are they waiting for?" Gabrielle asked Fong in confusion.
"They are conscripts. All families are expected to pitch in to defeat the invading armies. Unfortunately most of these men have absolutely no skill or experience. They are farmers mostly. Their destiny is most probably a messy death at the front of some mad charge in which no sane soldier would participate. So is the tradition of warfare in our Empire. Unfortunately this also means that many fields will go untended as their families are unable to cope with the loss of one or more of their men. Fortunately most families have a young son willing to go to war for the Empire so that the rest of the family can continue their traditions," he explained and seemed saddened by the sight.
She wished with all her heart and soul that each of these men and all those others she hadn't seen survived this war, but her mind understood that it would not end like that. If she got command of any of them she would do her best to keep them alive. But if their lives were the thing between victory and defeat, she also knew deep within that she was capable of sacrificing them for the greater good. Her mind knew very well that with the staggering size of this war one of her tricks or mere tactics wouldn't end this war in one decisive battle. This was to be a real war, a protracted series of battles on several battlefields like the ones Xena had been in before they had met. There would be thousands of dead, families torn asunder and people marked for at least a generation by this war, but it was better than the alternative of complete genocide offered to these people by their enemy, and so this war would have to be fought. "We need to get into the Palace before they close the gates and not as conscripts. You said you had some experience with the Imperial court," Gabrielle said after staring at the line of conscripts for awhile.
"Yes, I do know certain ways. And I think I want us to sleep warm and safe tonight instead of roaming the streets of Chang'an. Just walk behind me and let me do the talking. I will get us inside and in time I will make sure that you can fulfill your wish to help us. Have some patience with our unenlightened ways with women for a while alright… Good now stay behind me," he said and walked around the line, making his way towards the gate ignoring any murmured comments from the conscripts as he passed.
Fong headed toward the inner courtyard ignoring the guards like they were air to him, but they didn't let him pass. One of the four guards dressed in his armor and armed with a spear held out a hand and asked him to stop. Gabrielle and Ghost stopped not far behind, but remained standing quietly in the shadow of the elderly master.
"Where did you think you were going old man?" The guard asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
Master Fong looked at the guard like he was a bug and then produced a small scroll from his robe. He handed it to the guard in an officious way and said: "Listen young man. I had the ear of the Emperor's father. I taught the Emperor how to survive. Now I come here today to offer my help as a Master warrior in the war against the Northern barbarians and you have the audacity to slow me down. Now step aside before I have to teach you the basic rules of polite behavior towards your betters."
The guard seemingly overwhelmed by Master Fong's speech gulped in surprise and hastily motioned for him to walk inside with the still rolled up scroll in his hand.
"My pass," Master Fong said and held out his hand towards the still unopened scroll. The guard nodded and dropped it into Master Fong's open palm. He motioned for Gabrielle to follow.
"Hey who is this?" The guard asked and motioned with his spear towards Gabrielle almost stabbing her with the motion. She easily avoided the prod but she couldn't really maneuver in the tight space of the gate area with Ghost at her back and people all around.
Master Fong turned around and his face seemed like it twisted in rage. He grabbed the guard's neck and pressed a thumb down on a certain spot there, which caused him to drop his weapon and whimper with pain. "Don't you dare interfere more you officious ass. That is a warrior, who has come from very far away to fight at the side of the Emperor. The Emperor is expecting us even as you make us tarry here. Should I remember to point that out to him?"
"No, I am sorry honored master. I meant no offense I swear," the guard whined and motioned for Gabrielle to pass with her mount.
They walked across the busy courtyard, where bureaucrats, conscripts, soldiers and lieutenants milled around in barely contained chaos. "Can I see that pass," Gabrielle asked and cocked a questioning eyebrow.
"I am sure you're not interested in an inventory list from the temple, my dear," Fong explained and his eyes twinkled roguishly.
"I knew you couldn't have gotten an invitation from the Emperor. What would you have done if the guard hadn't fallen for your ruse?" She asked with a quirky smile playing across her lips.
"Well the trick is to mix equal part lies with truth. All he would have been able to read, if he was even able to read at all was probably the sign for my name. The rest is in a rather obscure northern dialect no much used anymore. I didn't lie about my former role at the court only about being expected back. I hope the Emperor will be glad to see me, but we shall see soon enough. Now we have to overcome a much harder obstacle: the Bureaucrats," he said with a sigh and led Gabrielle towards one of the central buildings opposite the gate they had entered.
The courtyard was getting a bit chilly as the evening was about to turn into night. Gabrielle stood slightly aside, while Fong for the tenth time tried to get past the Bureaucrats and obtain permission to see the Emperor. She listened in as the abrasive bureaucrat just finished the conversation between him and Fong with a simple: "Out of the question. He has not only retired for the day, and your petition will have to be added to the pile. Quite frankly I very much doubt you'll be able to see the Emperor for a while. He is very busy you know." Fong walked over to Gabrielle muttering curses in Greek, a language he had learned over the months of teaching her.
"No luck," Gabrielle asked and tried to wipe any trace of a smirk from both her face and eyes.
"No. I fear that we must take a different approach, if we are to get anywhere near the Emperor for months. The Bureaucrats are ten-times worse than when I was here last. Everyone is exceedingly busy with the war effort, so a visit from an old teacher is very far down the list of priorities for the Emperor right now," he explained weariness written all over his face.
"So what is your plan, oh mighty and wise teacher," Gabrielle said trying to lightened the mood of the tired looking monk.
"Are you mocking me Little Dragon? Well, if you're fresh enough for that, maybe you have an idea how we go about this? I'm fresh out," he explained in stunted Greek.
Gabrielle fell silent for a moment thinking hard, while her eyes wandered up and down the façade of the well guarded palace. "If you meet this Emperor then you're sure he would listen to you. Even if the circumstances are a bit weird," she asked urgently, while a little smile danced on her lips.
"Yes," Fong answered suddenly wary of her merriment.
"Good then follow me. You're no spring chicken any more, so we should have you tucked into bed before midnight," she teased, while she motioned for Ghost to stay put. Muttering in mock anger Fong followed along.
Gabrielle knew that the continuing chaos in the courtyard was the perfect cover for any thief or in their case burglar. "Follow me," she explained. Tensing up intensely trained muscles and recalling all the lessons of Xena and the temple about movement she took a deep breath and focused on her goal instead the way there. She kept the intense focus of her mind and soul. In one move she almost soundlessly jumped up the façade of the palace to land in a colonnade that went around the entire building. Panting slightly a startled looking Fong landed behind her. Gabrielle exulted internally at having finally reached proficiency at jumping this far after years of wishing and training. But they didn't have time to linger in the lighted and patrolled corridor and she ran almost soundlessly using the hunting skills taught to her by Xena and the Amazons towards a small door obviously meant for the servants. She ducked into a small unlit passage and awaited Fong.
"What are you doing? Breaking into the Palace is not a good idea!" He asked almost furiously as he stopped besides her.
"I am getting us into the palace. It's kind of like breaking in only we're not stealing anything. Now where would you be hiding the Emperor, if you were the palace guards?" She asked her voice only barely hiding the fact that she was having fun.
"Are you sure that you didn't like to go around hitting bulls with sticks as a child?" Fong asked amazed at the warrior's indifference to the immense danger they were now in.
"Don't worry, Fong. Xena did this once, she easily managed to get into the imperial bedroom and the only thing that came in her way was a slightly case of betrayal. Now this is a different palace, but I am sure that if you give me some pointers we could get just as far without any trouble whatsoever," she explained glad that the monk didn't see her expression as her happiness for a moment warred with the sting of the memory of her betrayal of Xena to Ming Tien.
Fong seemed to mull it over. "This goes against my better judgment… Oh, well you got to die some time. If they haven't changed too much in the decades I've been gone then the imperial bedroom is in a building not too far from here on the second floor. But the way there will be patrolled and the bedroom will be heavily guarded," he explained his voice betraying some anxiety.
"Okay then. Do you know the trick to getting there?" She asked.
"You're asking me, how we're going to get there?" Fong sounded genuinely surprised.
"Nope, but I have to ask you some details about the courts around here," she explained. Fong awaited her questions, she surmised from his silence. "Would your Emperor or any of the other people sleeping near him ever indulge them with dancing girls or other types of entertainment like that?" She asked.
"Y-Yes," Fong answered with confusion clear in his voice.
"Good thing that I wore my amazon battle dress under my clothing then…," Gabrielle's voice in the pitch black corridor was interrupted with sounds of clothing getting removed and dropped on the floor, boots getting thrown on the floor and metal clanking against the stone floor.
"Good I am done. Could you hide these in your clothes? They're rather important to me. They're the only things I still own from my life with Xena," she explained as Fong suddenly found himself holding two sai in his hands.
"Would the entertainment be slaves of some kind?" She awaited his answer as his mind suddenly caught up with what Gabrielle had planned.
"Not necessarily… Don't you dislike men treating you like an object for sex?" He asked, while his recalcitrant mind filled with images of the beautiful women dressed in a lot less than he had ever seen her in before today.
"Not really they do that all the time anyway without any intervention from me whatsoever. Good about the slave thing though, I hate wearing a collar and they are kind of hard to improvise. You should have seen me and Xena back in the day. We used to travel around with a complete set of roman disguises Xena as a noble and me as a slave. That was her idea of course… Let's go," she said and pushed the door open and motioned for Fong to pass her.
As they came out into the lighted but still open air colonnade Fong shivered in sympathy as he saw the skimpy dress that Gabrielle now wore. It was a set made up of a beautiful red leather halter-top and matching very short skirt. Her feet were bare and very delicate, while her entire white skinned body was an enchanting mixture of muscles and softness. On her back the little dragon was coiled looking almost as if it was ready to spring from her back fully formed. And on her shapely leg he even saw another part of the structure that he hadn't seen before, a fish tattoo set there as if to soften the over-all blow of her tattoo's presence. Repressing his male instincts Fong walked up in front of Gabrielle with her sai safely hidden inside his robes.
Fong almost gulped with surprise as four guards walked towards them. "Act, like you belongs here and they won't pay us much notice. Remember I am here to distract them. If this turns bad just throw over my sai and we'll take it from there," Gabrielle whispered, while she continued to walk behind him with her head bowed in seeming respect for the man accompanying her.
The guards did appreciate Gabrielle greatly and stopped behind them to watch the spectacle of her walking, but they didn't bother to check their permission to be in this part of the castle at all.
They came to the guarded entrances to the imperial bedchambers. "Now comes the hard part. I know you have no trouble lying and this one better be convincing," Gabrielle whispered.
"Of course," Fong added and smiled benevolently as he stopped before the guard.
"I am bringing this foreign wench for his imperial highness's pleasure as ordered," Fong said and tried to sound as casual as if this was an everyday occurrence.
"I don't believe it. He has barely sent his wife and children away to safety, before he calls for concubines." One of the guards whispered to his comrades as far as Gabrielle's superior hearing could estimate.
The guards stepped aside and one even politely opened the gate-like door to let them enter the corridor on the other side. "Which way is it?" Gabrielle asked after the door had been closed again.
Fong looked around a little. "This way," he said, pointed to the door at the end of the corridor past a couple of other heavy doors and added: "I hope" in the quiet of his mind.
Fong slowly opened the door leading into a long corridor towards an opening into a large bedchamber. From afar they could both clearly hear the slight snore of the Emperor. "Let's go wake him up," Gabrielle suggested and stalked into the corridor.
To her the Emperor looked like a man only a few years her elder, who slept fitfully as if plagued already by some nightmare. With a slight smile on her lips and wary eyes looking for any indication of trouble she gestured for Fong to wake up the Emperor of Chin.
"Let me sleep… It is still too early…" The Emperor grumbled before he realized that it was entirely too early to woken and that it was neither his wife nor his manservant awakening him. He jumped up in his bed and screamed: "Guards!"
Gabrielle smacked her forehead and called out to Fong: "Quick! Throw me my sai. I'll hold them off while you explain everything." Fong quickly drew out the sai and tossed them to the waiting amazon queen. Gabrielle just managed to whirl them into a ready position as the three of the four guards from before burst into the corridor leading to the room. She guessed that the fourth one had gone for reinforcements as she ran towards them.
One of the guards tried to rush her, while his sword was held high poised for an overhead chop. Gabrielle neatly sidestepped the clumsy attack and made an elbow strike to his lower back as he passed by.
"My Emperor, please calm down," Master Fong asked.
Gabrielle parried a sword with one sai, while side kicking another guard first in the stomach and then in the head. The guard, she had elbowed, got up and charged her at high speed.
"It is I," Master explained, "Master Fong your old teacher."
Gabrielle heard her assailant approaching from behind. She freed her sai, flipped into the air and landed to watch her attacker make a neat tackle into the other guard, she had been blocking. They made a nice pile of angry guards on the floor.
"Master Fong?" The Emperor asked and seemed to be trying to collect his frazzled thoughts.
The one she had kicked looked about ready to get up and so she vaulted into the air once again and landed on his back with all her weight and speed. He hammered his head into the floor and passed out. The other were about to free themselves and she could hear others approaching, but they were still at least half a minute away from becoming a threat.
"Yes, my Emperor. We simply had to see you. I apologize for your rude awakening; of course," Fong explained in his most apologetic voice.
The two guards seemed about ready to extract themselves from each other, but Gabrielle was already in motion. She quickly ran over between the still groggy guards. They were barely back on their feet, when she grabbed each by their head and slammed their heads together. She turned away from the suddenly unconscious guards and quickly looked for both an easy escape route, which looked to be out the window that sounded like it opened out over some moat down below, and for some way to further delay the arrival of any guards. Besides the door stood a heavy looking pedestal, which was about her height and most a straight pole of metal with a coal burner on top. Gabrielle grabbed it and held it like a very heavy version of her former combat staff awaiting the arrival of any new guards.
Suddenly a large group of heavily armed guards burst in through the double doors and faced off against the strangely intimidating woman standing ready to meet them. "Stand down," the Emperor suddenly commanded in a voice full of absolute authority. The guards skidded to a sudden stop, which left them and Gabrielle staring confusedly at each other almost like children being commanded to stop playing by their parents.
"I'm afraid there has been some mistake. I was surprised to see my old teacher back from his exile and his strange companion. Please there is no further danger here, but have my servants prepare comfortable rooms for him and his companion after they have served us tea in my study. Now go," the Emperor explained to the slightly confused guards. "And take those with you," he reminded them and indicated his unconscious guards.
When the guards had left the room the Emperor seemed to study his guests for a while. He didn't speak, he just studied Master Fong and what, Gabrielle was sure, seemed to the Emperor to be a barbarian woman. A servant appeared out of seemingly nowhere and led the Emperor away, while Master Fong graciously accepted the invitation of a servant to follow him.
Gabrielle and Fong found themselves in a large room filled with tables drowning in scrolls, maps and books tossed all over them. The walls were lined with tapestries, which Master Fong explained covered shelves full of scrolls and the like. Two large windows in each end of the room let in the cooler evening air. They were seated in two comfortable chairs in front of a very messy looking lacquered wood desk. A few moments later a now dressed and combed Emperor joined them sitting across from them, while a couple of guards took up positions just out of general earshot.
"I must say I am surprised to see you Master Fong. It has been along time. It's however a most strange hour for you to make your way to me and into my bedroom no less," the Emperor commented while his dark brown eyes once again tried to take full measure of Gabrielle. However instead of getting self-conscious from the scrutiny or the presence of royalty she just thought about her own eminence and deeds in life and decided that she was the equal of any man or woman. She calmly studied him as well a relaxed smile playing on her lips, while she internally considered the many sore muscles she would have in the morning, if she went to bed without a warm bath or a massage.
"Well, it is dark times my Emperor. Refugees came to the temple and brought the news of the war. I thought about the times I spent with your father in the field, I considered my emotion about the dark times that had arrived and came to the conclusion that I felt called to help with this war before my time in this incarnation is over," Master Fong explained, his voice barely hiding his weariness.
"Ah, well your counsel will be welcome my old teacher. I had feared that I would only have one general with the skill and audacity matching that of the Green Dragon," the Emperor said and a tired smile played on his lips.
"Ah, no my Emperor, I didn't come to serve as a general. I am but a holy man. In fact the only reason I am the one speaking to you is modesty and protocol. I am by far too old and set in my ways to be of any use beyond giving a few wise words from time to time, my dear student. No, I have brought you something of much greater value than me. I have brought you her," he explained and indicated Gabrielle with a toss of his head.
"Ha, ha, you certainly haven't lost your legendary sense of humor Master Fong. This one is to be my great hope. A woman a few years younger than I and armed only with the weapons of a peasant," the Emperor snorted derisively.
"Tell him who you are. We will have him swear not to reveal it later. He knows the legends of you and Xena. Your scrolls about Lao Ma and Xena have become required reading for any Emperor since your last visit here," Fong whispered to Gabrielle.
"I am glad you think it is funny. I thought so myself for a long time," Gabrielle said dryly. "I am sorry we had to meet this way your highness. My name is Gabrielle. I come from Poteidaia a small rural village in Greece. I am also known as Gabrielle the Battling Bard. I stood with Xena against the Green Dragon both times he returned. I know that I am a foreigner, but I have be in, led and won several campaigns against enemies many times in the past. I have spent most of my adult life saving people from the ravages of war. And I want to help the people of Chin. Please allow me to," Gabrielle pleaded with all her heart and soul.
The Emperor said nothing for a while; he just studied Gabrielle even more intensely. Then he asked: "I have heard that the mighty warrior princess perished almost two years ago on the islands of the rising sun. The three toed dragon you bear on your back is it a mark from those times?"
"Yes. It was a gift from a friend," Gabrielle remarked and fought the sadness that always welled up inside her, when she thought about Xena and Akemi.
"I have heard of you Gabrielle. You are told to be brave, just and good. Not to mention one of the sovereigns of a shattered nation of warrior women," he said, as his eyes became abstracted in thought.
"Yes I was queen of an amazon tribe," Gabrielle said and almost smiled at the fact that she was not lying. She was no longer queen of her tribe but high queen of the entire amazon nation, but as that nation was supposedly dead and gone, she didn't mention it.
"I… No, my nation would be more than happy to receive any help, you would give. Welcome on our side," he said and held out his hand in a gesture common around the Mediterranean. Gabrielle grabbed his wrist in a practiced motion and sealed the deal.
"By the way you wouldn't have some amazons hanging around? I could do with some battle hardened warriors against the horde that is coming" The Emperor asked in a suddenly more friendly and tired voice.
"No, they are shattered all over the known world. I went east," Gabrielle remarked trying to sound remorseful.
"I for one have had enough for one day. You said we could borrow rooms my Emperor. Why don't you send out some servant to take care of Gabrielle's horse, get her baggage and then we can all retire for the night," Fong grumbled and yawned. He got up as the Emperor waved for an attentive servant and walked away with him. As he had almost passed out of earshot, he heard Gabrielle ask the Emperor for a promise that her name wouldn't be mentioned. She cited personal reasons and a wish to remain in the East in secret from her many enemies. He never heard his student reply, but he knew the boy, he had taught to fight, would honor any promise he made, especially when the vow was to an enchantress like Gabrielle.