Chapter Fifteen: Fly Bird, Fly

Seated by the window, Gabrielle kept lingering, wondering what was going on in Edirne. Her mind was a jumbled mess over the last two days. She tried to think about anything but the chaos nearly half a day's ride from here, but she couldn't. No matter how much she tried, she only cared if Xena was hurt or not. She was left in the dark once again. Always in the dark, she thought.

There was a line of people waiting to murder Xena, and here she was, hiding out. Not only was she not contributing, but she also had to wait on Erva. She didn't want to wait, but she promised Xena that she would. Only for Xena, not for Erva's sake.

"You're going to drive yourself crazy," Varinia said, walking towards the balcony.

Gabrielle sighed, turned around, and eyed the plain tomato in Varinia's hand. She leaned on the sill, staring as the tomato was slowly being devoured. Clearing her throat loudly, Varinia stopped chewing and smiled uneasily.

"You've been eating tomatoes for two days now. Don't you want to eat anything else?"

Varinia wiped her lips. "It's the only thing I've been able to keep down!"

Gabrielle gazed out the window, tapping on the sill. One minute passing felt like an eternity, and lately, her trust withered; even her trust in Xena. She was kept from knowing all that needed to be known.

Xena and Erva had their secrets, and she respected that. But Xena promised to tell her everything after this passed if it passed. She no longer felt the same way as she did when she first learned who Xena—the real Xena—was. The lonely ruler was not a mysterious woman from Rome, nor was she as horrible as everyone made her out to be. Yet, people hated her and wanted her dead. Or maybe Xena was a horrible person after all. She raided several parts of the world and got what she wanted. She never took 'no' for an answer. She even admitted she raided Erva's home, which must've been the cause of their tension over the years. Erva knows Xena best, and the secrets would soon pour out sooner or later.

"Varinia."

The Syrian lifted her eyes, picking at the skin of the tomato.

"Where did Erva go?" she asked, still gaping at the barren field. With a turn of her head, she saw a ghostly face opposite her. "You know where she went. She told you while you two were talking."

Stepping closer, Varinia held her breath as she brought the fruit close to her chest.

"Didn't she?" Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. "Where is she?"

"I—I don't know."

She took Varinia by the arm, gripping firmly. "She didn't just spark interesting conversation with you. As we both know, she isn't the most talkative. Xena wouldn't tell me, but you will. Now, I will ask again, where is Erva?"

Tears began to surface, and the fruit fell from her hand. "Gabrielle, I…I can't say."

"So, she did tell you."

Varinia shielded her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt a tug on her arm, and instantly she pulled away, wiping her face with swift palms. She was backed into a corner with her body glued to the wall.

"Did she go back to help Xena?"

Varinia shook her head vehemently, remaining silent. As Gabrielle's stare intensified, she kept wagging her head, fighting back a river of tears.

"I don't want to upset you, Varinia, but you three aren't telling me something. What's going on?"

She couldn't believe what she heard. She refused to believe it, except she did believe it. Of all people, she wouldn't think that Xian would be caught up in the Bastillia horde. There was no telling of what could happen next. That infamous family was everywhere yet nowhere. Eylül made her plans so obvious, yet Xena wouldn't confront her. And if it was so obvious, why didn't Eylül just kill when she had the chance? Why didn't she?

Erva peered from behind a curtain, examining the public emerging from their homes to begin the day. She picked at her nail, rubbing her thumb over her balled fist several times.

"Does Soner come here often?" she asked.

Evander raised his chin, fiddling his thumbs in his lap. "He watches everything that I do. I can't do anything without him knowing. I wouldn't be surprised if he knows when I take a shit."

Erva crinkled her eyebrows, looked over her shoulder, and gave a displeased eye roll. He was a man in the world's eye, but he was a boy. He hardly knew the world around him, yet he was trained by Romans to kill others. He wasn't even very good at that, although Xena was a difficult target.

"We'll leave out the back and go straight to the port."

"Did you not listen to anything I said?" he sprung from the chair. "He will kill me!"

"I won't let that happen."

He huffed and sat in one of the dining chairs. "Why…did she send you?" he mumbled.

Erva half-smiled at the curiosity. "She's worried about you."

"No, she's not."

"She is."

Evander rested his palm against his cheek, gaping at the floor. A pair of leather boots appeared in his view and his gaze lifted to Erva. He sank down and held his breath as she leaned down, incredibly close, too close for his liking. She pinched his chin and stared intensely.

"What are you doing talking to a Bastillia? That family is full of leeches."

"He…he didn't give me much of a choice. He threatened to throw me in the Bosporus."

Erva grunted and began to pace in circles. Even though she didn't expect this to be easy, she didn't think there would be so many obstacles in her way. She thought to wait for Eylül's cousin, Soner, and kill him on the spot, but she knew that wouldn't end well for her, Xian, or Xena. Edirne was already hellfire on earth, and that was Eylül's doing, no doubt.

She snapped her head towards Evander, rendering a flinch. "You mentioned a letter. Did Soner ask you to send something?"

He gave a slow head nod.

"What was it?"

At the lack of response, Erva slammed her hand on his knee.

"Now is not the time to be tongue-tied, boy!"

"I'm not a boy!"

"You may not be a child, but I am a lot older than you. What was in the letter? Who did you send it to?"

Evander snickered. "I heard you carry out a lot of my…of Xena's orders for her. She is obviously a coward if she can't even show her face to her own people."

She tightened her grip on Evander's knee and then growled, stepping away. She punched a nearby wall and turned her back, breathing heavily. Never had she ever wanted to slap someone across the face so much until now. She had wanted to do that to Xena several times—more times than she could count on one hand—over the years, but she couldn't; she wouldn't. She also couldn't do that to her son either. He bore her face and apparently her stubborn attitude as well.

Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, she spun around to a smirk she'd seen far too many times in her life. Her fingers balled into a fist and approached Evander, softer, calmer, yet determined.

"There are people who want to kill her, and the Bastillia family is one of them. Now, please, cooperate with me. What was in the letter?"

"I…asked for money," he sheepishly admitted. "As a test—to see if Soner believed me—believed that I know her; know Xena," he stuttered, finding his voice cracking the more he spoke. "She—she should've gotten the letter by now."

Erva increasingly tapered her eyes the more she listened.

"And…he wants me to help kill her…"

Her gaze drifted downward, and she sighed. Xian had tried this once before and failed. Something told her that Xian didn't want to kill his mother this time. She witnessed his eyes glaze over once he revealed the ugly truth. Far too emotional for a former mercenary. He was trapped, and if he didn't do everything Soner asked, his carcass would be at the bottom of the Bosporus strait.

She muttered under her breath a curse in her native tongue, then stood upright. She walked over to the window, now on high alert for anyone suspicious that could be lurking. Everyone was an enemy. She couldn't trust anyone.

"We need to go," she immediately saw his hesitation. "I won't let anyone lay a finger on you." she held out her hand. "Do you trust me?"

Her former home was now snuffed out and utterly ruined. She only hoped that all of the documents she had inside were in a safe place. Although she wasn't stupid enough to keep everything inside one place. Xena sat against one of the trees as a soldier tended to the arrow wound on her shoulder blade while cleaning her thigh wound.

Several of the younger soldiers hadn't ever seen her before until now and gawked from afar. She sewed the wound closed clumsily and snapped the thread with her teeth, tying the thread's knot. Turning her body, wincing as her shoulder wound opened at the slightest movement. Heavily breathing, she snapped her fingers to one of the soldiers.

He ran forward, adjusting his leather helmet, and bowed his head.

"Did you catch all of those men who killed my people?" she asked.

The soldier eyed his cohorts and couldn't look her in the eye. "Only three, ma'am."

Xena snorted, grabbed her sword to help her stand, and pushed aside the soldier who was busy wrapping her shoulder. She walked forward with her stilted leg and towered over the thin soldier.

"Bring them to me."

She waited, digging the sword into the soil, as the soldiers brought over the three traitors. They were pushed down to their knees, and Xena tilted her head, examining their armor. Things are not always as they seem lately. She thought back to what Erva had told her about Demir and Tariq. Now, she couldn't trust anybody, not even her own men, evidently, since they massacred innocent people.

As much as it pained her, she approached the three men and raised her sword to their chins. The middle soldier looked her directly in the eye, showing a lack of remorse in his void stare.

"How much is Eylül Bastillia paying you to carry out her orders?"

After a long moment of silence, Xena smiled, nodding her head, then turned her back to the men. Briefly, she shut her eyes, took in a deep breath, and swung around, driving the blade into one of the men's chests. The two left held their breaths and stared, absolutely horrified, as their cohort collapsed forward into the grass.

"How much is she paying you?" she asked once more, only to receive silence.

She twirled the sword, ready to strike, until one of them shouted, begging her to stop. Grinning, she held the blade close to his throat, pecking his skin with the blade's sharpened tip.

"We don't work for Eylül," he admitted as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. He felt the blade dig into his Adam's apple and panicked.

"We don't work for Eylül Bastillia!"

Xena arched an eyebrow. By the fear in his eyes, she counted what he told her to be sincere. "Then, who do you work for? You slaughtered innocent people, and you're dressed like my men."

The wolf in sheep's clothing glanced over at his accomplice and relayed in a shaky voice, "we work for you."

She laughed and lowered the blade, turning to her men standing behind her, who was smiling. Bending over to meet his eyes, she tilted the man's chin upward.

"I don't expect you to tell me who your superior is. You're smart not to."

She caressed his cheek and then kneed his nose. Spinning around, she held in a groan as a surge of pain shot up her leg. She inhaled deeply, running a hand over her thigh, and drove the sword into the dirt.

"Get rid of them," she ordered, waving her hand.

Donning her fur hat and slipping on her coat, albeit painfully, she called a few men to come near.

"Have the fires been put out in the city?"

"The calvary unit is working on it."

Xena sighed and went to retrieve her sword before mounting her horse. She swung her injured leg over the saddle, holding in a muffled groan.

"Would you like me to send a unit to search the area for the assassin who shot you?"

"No, that would take too long. I want the fires put out." She eyed the trees continuing to burn in the north. "Ardan."

The officer ran forward. "Ma'am?"

She slipped her fingers into the leather gloves and calmly said, "I want you to take the infantry unit to the port."

Ardan crinkled his eyebrows at the random request, but he wasn't one to refuse. He waved down his men, who waited by the cluster of trees. They began to gather their belongings and dart to their horses.

"I want you to burn all of the Bastillia ships at every single port in this region."

"Every port?"

Xena glared at the officer. "Did I stutter, Ardan?"

In the largest market in Kesan, there were dozens of fruit stands that they passed by. Yesterday was not how Varinia imagined it would be. She didn't think Gabrielle, of all people, would corner her like that. The secret within her was becoming such a burden to carry, and luckily, she didn't reveal everything. Not yet, at least.

Gabrielle stopped by to grab bread and then hooked her arm with Varinia's. Their eyes met, and Varinia smiled nervously.

"You could've just told me she was going to get Evander. I know him."

"I know, Gabrielle, I know."

They stopped in the middle of the road, and Varinia's heart hammered as the silence wavered between them.

"Why were you keeping it a secret from me?"

Varinia pulled the veil over her hair, shielding her guilty expression. She went to a fruit stand and began picking out tomatoes. "Erva told me not to tell you."

"Of course she did."

She went over and snatched the tomatoes out of Varinia's hands. "No more of those. You need to eat something else. What about this instead?" she grabbed a yellow squash. "I can cook this with cheese."

Varinia's cheeks turned green. "Don't make me puke, Gabrielle."

"Okay, no squash. You're just as bad as Xena when it comes to food. I've never seen her anything else aside from bread and fruit!" she sighed, throwing the vegetable back into the cart.

"I know you are worried about her."

"I shouldn't have left her alone." She felt Varinia's hand rest on her shoulder. "Back to fruit shopping. No more tomatoes!" she took Varinia by the arm and led her away from the forbidden red fruit.

As they walked through the market, they came to one of the back roads and heard people yelling and shouting. Taking Varinia's hand, they hurried down the road, unsure if it was even safe for them to trail off this far. Gabrielle looked at the road leading to one of the ports and saw black smoke rising. Several merchants ran from one end of the dock to the other, shouting at each other.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and told Varinia to remain within the inner market. She ran down the road and finally came to a clear spot, on a hill. She saw a line of ships burning and some sinking slowly. She clapped a hand over her mouth, and her eyes darted to the end of the docks, where she saw merchants quickly unloading large barrels away from the burning ships.

The merchants kept unloading the carts from the last few ships standing, and suddenly one of the vessels imploded, sending the men flying into the sea. Gabrielle widened her eyes and tracked backward. She covered her eyes once she witnessed a series of explosions trickling down the docks, each ship imploding in itself.

She ran back, tripping over her own feet, and covering the top of her head. Once inside the market, she grabbed Varinia and ran through the crowd.

"Gabrielle! What's happening down there?"

"The port is on fire!"

On a boat big enough for ten people, if that, Evander adjusted the sail and came to sit down on one of the benches. He huffed, rolled up his sleeves, and looked up to see Erva sitting across from him. Displaying discomfort, he looked away, rubbed the back of his neck, and felt her eyes burning a hole in his tunic.

He met her gaze again and leaned forward, elbows on knees, and said lowly, "what? Why are you staring at me like that?"

Erva smiled.

He rolled his eyes and stood. "How much longer until we get to Edirne?"

She wiped her cheeks and swiveled around. "We aren't going to Edirne. We're going to Kesan."

"Kesan? But doesn't Xena live in Edirne?" he jumped down to the lower level of the boat. "You told me she has Varinia."

Erva nodded, rising to her feet. "Varinia's in Kesan, I promise."

He crossed his arms and eyed her from head to toe. "I don't trust you."

"You trusted me enough to get on this boat," she spat back playfully. "So," she sat on the bench, "your mother told me you were a mercenary in Rome."

Evander pinched the bridge of his nose, not ready to engage or succumb to answering Erva's questions.

"Who raised you?"

He leaned against the sail. "Mercenaries, obviously," he waved his hand nonchalantly.

"You…didn't have anyone to take care of you? A family? Nobody took you in?

"No!" he hissed. "I was trained with other orphan boys by Roman elite."

Erva sank down, gazing elsewhere. She took in a deep breath, calming the festering pit in her core. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. I was alone. I didn't have anyone. Do you know what happens to orphans in Rome?" he clenched his hand into a fist. "Why am I explaining myself to you?" he chuckled.

"Xian, she did look for you. We both looked for you." she approached hesitantly and reached out to touch his shoulder, then retracted her hand. "It's not her fault."

All this time, he had thought that his family was long gone. He had wanted to know everything about his family, and now that he heard everything Erva told him thus far, and from what he remembered as a child, he didn't want to face it. Varinia kept telling him to acknowledge it, but he wouldn't. Of all people in the world, the one person he wanted to meet for so long turned out to be someone everyone hated.

He clutched the small bracelet tied to his necklace and rubbed his fingers along the beads. He turned around, grasping the bracelet tightly. Erva immediately saw the chain and took it in her palm.

"You still have this?" she asked, grinning as she stared into his glossy eyes. She took Evander's hand and kissed his palm gently.

Standing in silence, the boat suddenly rocked, and they fell on top of one another from the blow. Erva brushed her hair back and crawled to the rails. A series of waves continued on behind them, and she narrowed her eyes, focusing on the rising smoke and fire spreading across the Kesan port. Gripping the rail, she stood steadily and peered back to see her company struggling to stand.

She hurried over and clutched his arm, only to find a shaft of wood stuck in his shin. Cursing under her breath, she pulled Evander up, allowing him to lean on her until she was able to set him on the bench. Evander hissed, and his breath caught in his throat as he stared at the blood seeping through his pants, completely horrified at the wood jammed into his leg.

"Don't move. I'll help you." Erva tried to rip the fabric, and a hand stopped her.

Evander clenched his jaw, gripping her arm so tight his knuckles turned bright white.

"Trust me," she assured him, and his grip loosened.

Just over Edirne's border, General Karan stood outside his tent, talking to a few of his colleagues. A tap on the shoulder caught him off guard, and he nearly drew his weapon until the intrusive soldier whispered in his ear. Smiling, he excused himself and walked with the soldier through the trees.

He came to the center of the forest, far enough from camp, and dismissed the soldier, who accompanied him. He gawked at a hooded figure sharpening a dull blade.

"Did you kill her?" General Karan asked, irritated.

"There were too many people."

The General, displeased to hear one of his men, failed yet again. "Did you at least get a good look at her face? How do you know it was really her?"

The assassin smirked. "She was commanding her army. They followed her commands without question. It was her, General."

"Are you sure it wasn't that foreign woman?" he snapped his fingers, trying to recall her name.

"Erva? No," the assassin chuckled, "it wasn't Erva." He emerged, flipping the hood off his head. "It was Xena."

Karan wrapped his hand around the assassin's throat and rammed into a tree. "If you're so sure it was Xena, then why isn't she dead?"

"The deal was…I would get her out of her cave. Her home is gone," he shoved the General back. "Everyone will know who she is now."

"She knows someone in Edirne shot at her!"

"She didn't see me."

Karan ran a hand over his eyes. "The Governor isn't going to like this."

"I'm not interested in Roman politics, General. I did what I was told," he held out his palm for payment. "Feeling stingy? I would hate to have to report you to the Emperor about this little operation you're running without his knowledge."