Chapter Six: One Bastillia, Two Bastillia
A gentle breeze swooshed into the room, and Gabrielle shuddered and reached for the blanket to cover herself with. Turning over onto her back, she rolled over onto her stomach and released a breathy exhale. Finally, finding a comfortable position, her body relaxed into the mattress with her cheek pressed against the pillow. Just as she was drifting off to sleep once more, she felt another gust of cold air against her body.
Groaning, her eyes fluttered open, barely awake. The sun hardly shined in this area, and apparently, it wasn't supposed to at this time of year. Gabrielle longed to see the world's mountainous regions since Rome was so flat, but now, she regretted it. The mountains were cold. And it wasn't just the terrain that was cold in this area.
As her eyes adjusted to the sliver of light in the room, she sat up and screeched. Erva was standing over her beside the bed and looking quite menacing too. Gabrielle curled up under the blanket and brought it just beneath her chin. Her cheeks turned a bright rose-red once she realized she wasn't appropriately dressed for company, and definitely not for this weather either.
"How…" Gabrielle's heart raced, "how long have you been standing there?"
"Get dressed. We're leaving."
Gabrielle sat up, raking her bangs into her hairline. "Leaving? Like, leaving this room, or leaving the villa?"
Erva chewed on her inner cheek. "Xena decided it isn't safe to stay here. We're going to another villa on the other side of the city."
Gabrielle wondered just how many secret places Xena had in Edirne, or anywhere in the Steppe province for that matter. But she wasn't going to argue. She had been dying to leave this villa for the last couple of weeks, and all it took was a couple of deadly arrows to convince Xena to do just that. Relocating also meant that Xena was leaving her home, which was a huge step for her. Although Gabrielle reminded herself that this wasn't the first time Xena left her home.
"I…just need a few moments to gather my things," Gabrielle remained in bed, hesitant to get up while the tall warrior gawked at her. "Um, when are we leaving?"
"Now."
After scurrying to put on some clothes and look somewhat decent, Gabrielle raced down the hallway towards the stairs. Her hair disheveled, and cloak barely hanging on her left shoulder, she would say that she looked like a disaster. She barely had time to lace her boots, but given that Erva was so insistent on leaving right away, she had no choice but to hurry.
She cursed herself for being so clumsy lately. The mercenary life was not for her. She knew that long ago, but after what she'd been through in Edirne, her lack of self-awareness was really bugging her. Gabrielle dropped her satchel, and she groaned. Snatching it up off the floor, she continued to the stairs and heard hushed voices below.
Out of breath, she kept her distance in the shadows and watched Erva and Xena interacting with one another. Erva had many titles, and she had many tasks, but as the pair of jade eyes observed from the balcony, there was a bit of softness that had never been seen before. Gabrielle drew her eyebrows inward as she watched Erva's fingers gently caress Xena's neck and shoulder.
The jade eyes enlarged and a solid knot formed in Gabrielle's stomach. She grabbed hold of the balustrade and dug her fingernails into the wood. The longer she watched the interaction, the warmer her body felt. Her cheeks radiated, almost embarrassed, or maybe even enraged, watching the two so close together like that. Erva, you are more than a warrior and a handmaid—so much more than that.
Xena pulled away abruptly, almost irritated, "stop it," she whispered.
Erva's hand slid down the conqueror's arm. She couldn't even maintain eye contact with her anymore. Xena refused to stare at her and gave her the cold shoulder, quite literally.
"I can scout ahead to make sure nobody sees us," said Erva, softly.
"That won't be necessary," Xena slipped her fur gloves on and turned to meet the doe eyes. "I will be fine."
As Erva was about to speak openly, she looked over her shoulder at the footsteps descending down the stairs. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde and took a distancing step away from Xena. Immediately, she shut herself down and remained her usual stoic self in front of, whom she thought, was a most unwanted guest.
Gabrielle approached and instantly saw a smile on Xena's lips. She returned the gesture but did notice how quickly Erva stepped away. It was evident that she was stomping all over Erva's domain in every way possible.
"I hear we're leaving the villa," she said, eyeing Erva. "I hope you bandaged up those wounds pretty good. I could take a look before we get going?"
Erva's frown developed as more words were spewed from the blonde's lips.
Xena's gaze lowered to the floor, hiding the grin she held, and then looked at the entrance with the doors wide open, ready for the escape.
"I hope you're skilled in riding a horse, Gabrielle."
Yunus' shop was becoming his second home. Evander did enjoy the work that he was given, and he learned a lot about bowmaking and loved carving. But he'd been gone for five days now, and he could only imagine how upset Varinia was right now. They were both in an unfamiliar place, just trying to acclimate, and here he was, leaving the woman he claimed to care so much about, alone.
Instead of finishing the last bow that he promised to make, he opted to leave early and head back to the villa. He was somewhat grateful for the funds provided for both him and Varinia, even though he hated where the funds came from. Evander finished cleaning his station and grabbed his bag to head out.
He said his goodbyes to Yunus and mentioned he would return soon, but probably not too soon. He was already facing a rough road ahead by confronting Varinia. He never realized how angry she could get because he never had the chance to upset her, but he figured this was the day. She was going to be furious. He could see it now—those fiery green eyes that could light up an entire empty field of wheat.
Evander wasn't looking forward to that. He felt like a huge disappointment, but he couldn't sit in a villa all day long while Xena kept funding his existence.
Walking through the streets, he pulled out the earrings he kept for Varinia in his pocket. He smiled, tracing his fingers on sapphires. Distracted from his surroundings, he didn't even sense the person walking up behind him. A hand grasped his shoulder, and he spun around, ready to swing a heavy fist at the lurker.
Evander paused, realizing it was the same man who bought the jewelry and stopped by Yunus' shop from time to time. The peacock man is what Evander called him. He clenched his fingers around the earrings, which the man noticed.
"I see you haven't given your lady the gift."
Evander tucked the earrings into his pocket. "Are you following me?"
"I live in the area and recognized you, but I see you don't…remember me?"
Evander turned and kept walking ahead. He heard footsteps trailing behind him. "I remember you."
Being in an unfamiliar place was unnerving all on its own, but to have this stranger follow him in different parts of the city was unsettling. Evander had seen this man not once, but four times now. He didn't know if this man had any idea that he worked at the carpentry shop, but if he did, then that might explain the shadowing and unexplained coincidences.
"You know, I've lived here for a long time, and I've never seen you around here."
Evander sneered, "imagine that. A city of thousands, and I'm the odd one out."
"I know everybody here."
"Yeah?" Evander met the man's cold brown eyes. "Do you own the city?" he said jokingly.
"I own the port."
Evander halted, gawking at the man. He wasn't sure if this stranger was serious or not. He knew that Xena owned this city, but apparently, this man was indeed earnest by the look he was given. The hair stuck up like needles on the back of Evander's neck. This information gave him the inclination to keep all pertinent details of his life a secret. This man was more than curious, which irked Evander.
Stumped for words, the stranger laughed, and Evander nervously smiled, losing sight of the imminent joke that he must've missed. This man was very charming, but not charming in the way that politicians are. No, he was charming like a master of crafty trickery. Evander knew his type all too well. He is this man, or he used to be back in Rome.
"Soner," he extended his hand to shake. "Soner Bastillia."
Evander shook the hand and hesitated. A chill traveled up his spine as he locked eyes with Soner. This is the part where names are to be exchanged, and Evander was too focused on the fact that he had a gut feeling not to trust this man.
"And you are?" asked Soner.
His fingers slid out from the hold, and Evander's hand came to rest on the jewelry in his pant pocket. He wasn't known here. He wasn't a mercenary anymore, as Varinia kept reminding him. He wasn't the boy who was raised by Romans. He was someone different here—someone new.
"Xian."
Traveling the backroads of Edirne, Gabrielle recognized many of the trees in this area. She recalled passing through this area once before a couple of weeks ago. At first, she thought she imagined it since most of these areas looked the same, but she remembered a particular set of arched trees. It was a man-made archway, specific to travelers passing through. This area undoubtedly must've been a pathway designed for these types of journeys led by Xena if she ever left her home, that is.
It was mid-morning now, and they finally arrived at their destination. Gabrielle steered the horse and flipped the hood off her head, and frowned. Now, she knew exactly where she was. This was the exact villa that she was given to stay in when she first arrived.
She wanted to mention it but thought it was best to keep quiet. As she stepped off the horse, she handed the reins to a soldier and peered back at Erva, who was helping Xena. Gabrielle arched an eyebrow and set a hand on her hip, watching the two. Surely, Xena could get off her own steed. She didn't need help, but there Erva was, assisting when it was unneeded.
Xena took off her gloves and walked over to the villa, smiling at the blonde artist. "First time riding a horse?"
"I've ridden plenty of times," Gabrielle scoffed with a shy smile.
"Could've fooled me."
Gabrielle's mouth pursed, falling short of words. She stood as Xena brushed by her, heading into the villa with the soldiers following her. She let out an audible scuff of a snort and looked over her shoulder with a smile staining her face.
A loud thud by her boot caused Gabrielle to jump. She spun around and looked up at Erva, who had the most horrid scorn she'd ever seen. Her eyes drifted to the bags on the ground and then looked at Erva questionably.
"You can take those upstairs to Xena's room. Your room is on the first floor."
Gabrielle swiped her tongue over her top teeth and smirked. "My room is on the second floor. This is the villa that Xena gave me when I first got here."
Erva smiled, "and now you'll be on the first floor."
Keeping her opinions to herself, Gabrielle bit her tongue and grabbed the bags, flinging the straps over her shoulders. Allowing Erva to pass first, she turned around herself, scanning the area, highly alert of anyone that could be watching. Once finished surveying, she walked up the stairs and noticed the soldiers had disappeared. For such tall large men, she wondered how quickly they were able to disperse.
Since she had been here before, she knew the area better than she realized. She had time to walk in every room of this villa and memorized the layout on the second day since she arrived. Climbing the stairs, she knew there to be five bedrooms upstairs and three downstairs. It wasn't a small place, by all means.
Gabrielle saw a door open and knew that was Xena's room. Smiling, she kept her pace down the hallway and then stopped halfway passing a door left ajar. She leaned back and saw Erva laying her clothes out onto the bed and grimaced.
She kicked the door open, alarming Erva. Out of all rooms, it had to be the one across from Gabrielle's now old room.
"Xena's room is down the hall," Erva stated.
"There are five bedrooms up here, yet I'm staying downstairs."
"It's for safety reasons."
Gabrielle nodded, glancing around the room. "Uh-huh. I'll just go take these to the room then."
This was better than living in the mountains' secluded villa, but it was nearly impossible to talk to Xena with her shadow always around her. This was going to be more challenging than Gabrielle thought. It was obvious that Erva had hard feelings towards Gabrielle since her arrival, but now it was obvious that others may have noticed.
Sitting on one of the sofas downstairs, she watched Erva writing a lengthy letter. The last time she tried to spy on Erva, it didn't go so well, and she ended up being shutdown. Gabrielle knew better than to disturb the woman again, but she didn't see it necessary to spend all day in this house, considering they were closer to civilization. Although Erva was right about one thing. This was dangerous for Xena to be so close to the public.
And Gabrielle kept asking herself, 'why?'
She wasn't going to get any straight answers from Erva. There were many keys to unlock that box. But it was also like pulling needles out of a pin cushion to get Xena to say things at times. These women were impossible, stubborn, and very dependent on each other.
Dependent. Yes. Gabrielle nodded her head, contemplating silently. These two were so reliant on one another that neither one could function by themselves. And Erva hated sharing Xena. Gabrielle thought of the apprentice that Xena had—the apprentice she killed—and if Erva treated Gölge the same way.
Only one way to find out. Gabrielle got off the sofa, disturbing Erva's concentration. She darted up the stairs, and Erva looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes, then continued to write. Dipping the quill into the inkwell, something caught her gaze outside. Erva stared at two soldiers talking in front of the villa. A note was passed between them, and Erva observed the two soldiers disperse in two different directions.
She set down the pen and walked over to the window, peeking out from behind the curtain, following the two paths the soldiers took. Descending into the shadows, she grabbed her cloak and went out the back of the villa, flipping the hood over her head, and briskly walked through the woods.
Surprisingly, Xena had left her door open, and Gabrielle stepped right in without announcing herself. Xena, sitting on the bed, organized her clothes for the next few days. Gabrielle noticed a basin full of bloody bandages soaking in warm water.
"Do you need your wounds rebandaged?"
Xena smiled, "Erva bandaged them for me, but thank you."
Gabrielle rolled her eyes and sat down on the end of the bed. She brought up a few times that she was not liked by Erva, but this didn't seem like much of a concern to Xena at all. This made Gabrielle contain herself from mentioning Erva because each time she did, Xena became a bit annoyed, almost as if a nerve was struck.
"Was this your plan all along?"
Xena crinkled her eyebrows. "I don't follow what you mean."
"Well, you gave me this villa when I first got here, and now you decided to stay here because you feel unsafe in your home. Was this your plan from the beginning? Luring me to your home, and now… we're here," Gabrielle looked around the bedroom. "Right back where we started."
Xena lowered her eyes, folding a pair of pants. "You give me too much credit, Gabrielle. I don't always know what comes next. I can't predict the future."
"You aren't worried about anyone finding you here?"
"Does it matter where I go? I'm a target in my own home. It doesn't make a difference if I'm here, in the mountains or in Rome. They will find me."
Gabrielle nodded, running her fingers on the bedspread. "And who is 'they' exactly?" she inquired, noting the fidgety fingers opposite her. "That Latin phrase on that note—you recognize it. You told me you didn't, but you know exactly where that came from, don't you?"
Xena exhaled through her nostrils, refusing to lock eyes with the artist.
Gabrielle inched closer, allowing her hand to rest on Xena's forearm. "Don't you?"
Gradually, Xena retracted her arm, pulling it close to her chest. Gabrielle swallowed and slipped her hand back into her lap, waiting for an answer. The silence was all she needed. She didn't need a vocalization. Xena knew.
"I…I want to help you, Xena, but I can't help you if you don't talk to me," she leaned over, trying to look into Xena's distant eyes fixated on the floor rug. "I know you think you're alone, but you're not. I know you probably feel like you're a prisoner in your own land. You don't trust anybody, I get that, but you are the one who brought me here. You sought me out. And now that I'm here…you…" she paused.
Sighing deeply, Gabrielle added, "I don't know what you want from me."
Irritated by the one-sided conversation, just as she expected, Gabrielle got off the bed and walked to the doors to leave.
"Wait."
Gabrielle smiled, turned, and sat back down on the bed. This time, she decided to be more patient, but her patience wore thin.
Xena was finally able to make eye contact. "Nero invaded a few of my territories a while back. There were a group of Romans who lived in Edirne. They spied on me and tried to kill me several times," she began, and Gabrielle listened intently. "I found the group and…executed them all before I went to Rome."
That's a start, thought Gabrielle. "And does this also correlate with the Latin phrase I found?"
Xena nodded her head slowly.
"Well, obviously, you didn't get rid of all of them," Gabrielle tapped her chin. "And whoever shot those arrows knows what you look like. They weren't trying to kill you. They want you to find them," she smiled, proud that she was able to come up with a logical reason for this mess.
But there was more. Gabrielle knew not to push her luck and try to pry more out of Xena. That needed to come from within, and she learned quickly that she couldn't make Xena do anything.
"But now that you left your home, won't they be searching the city for you?"
Xena smirked, "that's kind of the point, Gabrielle."
"Ah," she understood everything now. You are so good at this, Xena. "I can see why people fear you."
At that, the smile wiped clear from the conqueror's face, embracing the inevitable insult that was to come. She almost didn't want to hear what Gabrielle was about to say.
"You lure them in and trap them."
Xena's eyes flashed a look of discontent. "I…hope you don't think that's what I did to you," she said meekly, almost apologetically. "I don't want you to feel like you're…trapped."
This may have been the first time that Gabrielle had heard some empathy come from this woman. Slowly, she could see the wall breaking down, although it was more like a tiny pebble. Gabrielle took anything she could get at this point. A pebble of empathy was better than talking to a brick wall more than half the time. Now, Erva was another wall to tackle all on its own. Another time, she thought.
"You gave me the option to leave, and I haven't. That says something, right?" Gabrielle hinted with a warm smile. "Although I get the feeling that you never wanted me to leave in the first place."
Xena's face chalked, and her throat closed up, all while staring into the confident green eyes before her.
"You won't say it, but you don't like to be alone."
Xena arched a brow and retorted, "and how could you possibly know what I'm thinking?"
"Actions speak louder than words," Gabrielle said with a shrug of her shoulder. "Besides, you live on a mountain like some succubus."
"Succubus?" Xena's mouth gaped. "You are aware of what a succubus is, right?"
Gabrielle's smile enlarged. "I'm familiar with the lore."
Evander spent more than half his day trying to get rid of Soner Bastillia. He explicitly avoiding going back to his villa since he didn't trust this man. He didn't want Soner knowing where he lived, and he especially didn't want him to know about Varinia. She had already been through so much in the last few months.
As evening approached, Evander was finally able to safely walk to his home. Before entering, he took the jewelry out from his pocket, glaring at the sapphire earrings. He wanted to give this to Varinia, but now that he looked at it, the only person he thought of was Soner. The jewelry wasn't bought. It was given to him by another man's hand. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He tucked the earrings back into his pocket and reached for the handle. The door creaked open, and he frowned, remembering to tell Varinia to always lock the doors while he was away. Evander stepped inside the dark villa. No candles were lit, which was odd. Everything was as he left it days ago.
He pulled out a knife hidden in his boot and walked around the eerily quiet house. He saw the chest open on the table in the next room, and several bags of coin were missing. Instantly, he thought that someone might've come in here and stolen a few things, yet everything was in place. Nothing had been touched—no sign of forced entry anywhere.
"Varinia?" he whispered.
He poked his head inside the bedroom, and the sheets were unkempt. It didn't look like anyone had slept in the bed for days. Worried now, his heart raced, and he ran outside the villa. Breathing heavily, he scanned the area, barely able to see with the limited light he had.
Spotting a few of Xena's men lingering on the opposite side of the street, Evander growled and marched over to the soldiers, who were chatting away. He grabbed one of them by the collar and shoved him into the wall. Citizens passing by began to look their way.
"Where is she?" he spat. "What have you done with her? Answer me!"
The soldier grimaced and contained himself. "We have done nothing with the girl."
Evander pressed the blade to the soldier's throat. "Then where is she? Did Xena take her somewhere? Where is she?"
The free-standing soldier grabbed Evander's shoulder roughly, which he received a whack to the jaw. He rubbed his jaw and firmly grabbed Evander's shoulders, holding him tightly.
"We've done nothing with your girl! She left the villa!"
Evander stopped struggling and lowered the knife to his side. "Left? Wh…where did she go? Why'd she leave? Where…"
The soldier let up on Evander and crossed his arms. "Some of the soldiers are looking for her. We dunno where she went, boy."
Evander sheathed his weapon, glaring at the two men. "I'm not a boy. Does Xena know about this? Does she know that Varinia is missing? You were supposed to be watching her!"
The soldiers snickered. "Who do you think sent out the search party?"
Evander gaped at the men. He wanted to slap himself for even mentioning Xena. He was so bitter at every mention of her name, but here he was, expecting her soldiers to keep watch over Varinia. He said many times that he didn't want Xena's help, and now he was berating her soldiers for not doing their job—the job that he didn't want them to do in the first place.
He had no idea why Varinia would leave, but he had difficulty believing that she would get up one day and desert the area. Evander creased his eyebrows, now faulting Xena for this entire mess. It was her fault that they were in Abydos. Maybe Varinia didn't want to be here anymore, or maybe something really did happen to her, and these soldiers were too incompetent to say otherwise.
"How long has she been gone for?" he asked, simmering his temper.
"Three, four days."
Evander huffed, swiping a finger over his chin. "I want you to tell Xena something for me."
The soldiers chuckled. "We don't speak to her directly. She gives the orders, and Erva carries them out."
"Who is Erva?"
Following a soldier in the thick of the woods late at night was not on Erva's agenda. She foolishly came alone without any resources or even a horse to catch a ride back to the villa. She stalked the soldier all night. Not once did he stop, and he walked so casually, which made her question why she followed him in the first place.
But this man had no business leaving the area unattended, and he also had no place roaming around the woods at this time of night. Erva continually scanned the trees to look for anyone who might be watching, but it was just her—her and the soldier. She kept her distance, but she didn't really find it necessary since the young soldier was oblivious to his surroundings. He never thought once to check if someone was following him.
Erva never understood how some of these men were employed by Xena's hand. Some of them were dumb as a box of rocks, but they fought well, and that's all that mattered. After following this soldier for hours, he finally exited the woods and came to another province's border.
Erva hid behind a tree and waited patiently. It appeared that he was waiting for someone. She crouched down and tread cautiously so she could get a better look. Nearly fifteen feet away, she knelt down, hiding behind shrubbery, and kept her eyes just over the hedge.
Moments later, which felt more like an eternity, a man walked down the dirt path, approaching the soldier. There were a couple of other men accompanying the stranger, holding lit torches. Erva raised an eyebrow, mentally taking note of the stranger's attire. He didn't look like he was from Edirne or any Steppe province for that matter.
A note was passed to the stranger, and then the two departed, going their separate ways. Erva hunkered down in the brush. The soldier passed right by her, and she lifted her head over the shrubbery to see the stranger on the dirt path, heading west.
Despite the long journey from the mountains and conversations, or more like altercations, she had with Erva, Gabrielle expected to pass out quickly last night. But that was not the case. She could hardly sleep and woke up earlier than usual.
She exited her room on the first floor and frowned, staring up at the second floor. She entered the large gathering room and saw Erva's parchment and ink where it was left yesterday. Even though she noticed Erva was always here, she hadn't noticed the absence until now. She was more tired than she thought.
Gabrielle sauntered over to the table and looked at the unfinished letter. The sentence wasn't even finished off. Startled by the door opening, she jumped back from the desk. She expected Erva to appear and scold her, but to her surprise, it was one of the soldiers who guarded the villa outside. She closed her tunic over her breasts and stood, waiting for the man to say something.
But he said nothing. She eyed a small message held in his palm and realized he must've been looking for Erva. Apparently, this woman was very popular. What does Xena do if Erva does everything for her?
"Erva…isn't here. Do you need to deliver something?" she asked.
Once again, he was silent.
Gabrielle rubbed the nape of her neck, clearing her throat. "I…can take that to Xena," she held out her hand. "Look, I don't know where Erva is, but I can assure you that Xena won't be pleased if that isn't delivered to her."
He hesitated and then finally relinquished the message. Gabrielle smiled, snatching the note from his hand, and waited for him to leave. Without taking a second to process, Gabrielle ran up the stairs with such tenacity and eagerness to hand-deliver the message. She stopped at the doors, smoothed out her hair, and knocked a few times.
For once, she had Xena cornered. Yesterday's conversation went well, she thought, and she hoped this would encourage Xena to open up more. Only time will tell. At the sound of Xena's soft voice, Gabrielle opened the door, happily inviting herself inside.
Xena, picking at her wound, couldn't hide her amusement as soon as she lay eyes on the blonde's overly chipper expression.
"I was expecting a brunette at the foot of my bed," Xena said, smiling.
Gabrielle's grin faded, but she ignored the playful tone. She came around to the side of the bed, sat down, and held out the message. Xena eyed the parchment, clearly disinterested, and continued picking at her skin.
"Erva handles all incoming messages. You can give that to her."
Gabrielle bit her inner cheek, scooting closer. "She's…a little busy, so I decided to deliver this to you. I think it's important."
She thought to tell Xena that her second in command was missing in action but decided not to. If she mentioned that, then Xena would be distracted completely and worry over Erva. As if she didn't have enough to worry about.
Xena pointed to the bedside table. "You can set it there. I'll get to it later."
"I could read it for you…"
"I said I would get to it later," Xena repeated, and her tone was evident of mild frustration.
Gabrielle's fingers traced the corners of the folded parchment. "The man who delivered this was very insistent. I think it's urgent."
"I don't want to read that right now."
"Don't or can't?"
Xena's gaze transferred from her wound to the blonde sitting across from her.
"What did you say?"