Chapter Twenty: And So, It Rained

Eylül sputtered, gurgled, and choked on the water that seeped through the cloth over her face. She tried to escape the torture by wiggling every part of her body and turning her cheeks. That soon was stopped once Xena held her jaw firmly in place as more water continuously laced the soaked linen.

Xena stood over her, pouring a long stream from a bowl of water onto her hostage's face. The last bit of water trickled out, and she set it aside, allowing Eylül to have a few moments to breathe. Then, pulling the cloth off Eylül's face, she glared, waiting for answers.

By now, Eylül much preferred to be subjected to Erva's torture methods than this. She spat a glob of water and coughed violently. Her cheeks flushed from the hard coughs that hit the pit of her stomach. Xena clutched her jaw, rearing her back in the chair.

"Tell me your plans, Eylül, and this will all be over."

The Bastilia held her tongue, which did not please the conqueror. But then, she saw her refilling the bowl of water from the basin, and her heart hammered. The cloth was about to be placed over her face unless she intervened.

"Stop!" she yelped, and Xena articulated a sense of gratification with a twinge of her lip. "I…I was told by Augusta Sabina that she wants you dead."

Xena stood back with folded arms. "And she told you to help," she stated, then Eylül nodded. "What else."

She took a large helping of air, which she could feel in the swell of her injured lungs. "You already know about the trades."

"Hmm," Xena stepped forward. "What about the peacock arrows? Your cousin is handing those out like candy."

Eylül expressed her state of defeat by lowering her head. "Like I told your lovely envoy," bitterness laced her tone, "I don't know anything about that."

She figured the petite woman wasn't lying about that, as she had tortured her enough. Nobody would want to withstand that method for long, and eventually, it led to death. Eylül had provided ample information, and due to this, Xena would have to figure out things by herself.

She lifted Eylül's chin with a gentle finger. "See? That wasn't so hard."

The large doors opened from the other side of the room, and Erva marched in. she came to stand by Xena, and the soldiers outside closed the doors, and the locking of the hinges echoed in the dim room. Erva stared at the lake beneath Eylül's chair and looked over at her counterpart, who was clearly in a trance, thinking.

She pulled Xena aside and whispered in her ear, relaying the recent message received. She only received a simple head nod and was given instructions to have Eylül change into dry clothes. Xena took one last look at the bound Bastilia and hurried out of the room.

Eylül smiled, watching Erva gather a pile of linen to clean the area. "Always cleaning up her messes?"

Erva ignored the irritating voice and dropped the linen on the floor to soak up the water. She grabbed the water basin, set it aside, and dropped the small bowl onto the table. Since she didn't trust Eylül enough to untie her, she would have to dry her face and hair. She snatched a towel from beneath the table and held her breath.

Kneeling down, she dried Eylül's waist-length hair, and then she met her gaze. Reluctantly, she wiped the towel along Eylül's cheeks and forehead.

Drying her neck, Eylül spoke, "you shouldn't let her treat you that way, Erva."

Erva refrained from responding and left to neatly fold the damp towel on the table.

"You practically run the Steppes," Eylül's voice carried. "You are the eyes and ears for Xena. I'm sure you even write treaties for her. But, of course, we all know that you spy for her while she hides in her home. Although, she can no longer hide since everyone knows what she looks like," she muffled a laugh.

Erva closed her eyes, containing herself from reaching for the nearest weapon.

"You're very smart, Erva. I thought at one point that you were Xena," she said casually, looking around the barren room. "I mean, really, you could run this region by yourself. You don't need her, yet you are doing a servant's work."

Erva spun around, and her nails dug into the table.

"It's clear where you stand. She obviously doesn't respect you at all."

"You don't know anything about mine and Xena's relationship."

Eylül released a short laugh. "Clearly…"

Erva walked over to a wardrobe and pulled out a black and gold cotton dress. Grinning, she held the gown in front of the prisoner.

"Do you want to dress yourself, or do you want me to?"

Sabina had little faith that the destruction of Xena's falsified empire wasn't to come to fruition. Though she was a bit gleeful that both Xena and Gabrielle were aware that she knew of their whereabouts. It seemed so easy; to raid the villa and kill them all, but from what her messenger told her, it is nearly impossible to come within thirty feet of the villa Xena resided in.

Lately, she found it difficult to leave the palace as Nero's paranoia increased since he was nearly killed but a few days ago. She now had lost contact with Eylül, and she was irritated that all of her merchant ships were destroyed. If Nero hadn't been so riddled with paranoia and fear, he would've already noticed the large dent in their treasury. Luckily for Sabina, she was able to keep him occupied but knew that wouldn't last long.

She managed to slip out of the palace and left her daughter in the care of her trusted maidens. She wasn't sure how long her absence would go unnoticed, but she planned to be back late afternoon. Meeting up with her messenger, he escorted her to the Governor's hideout in the countryside once more. However, he was rather reluctant to accompany her as he mentioned the Governor did not like unexpected guests.

Anyhow, they arrived early afternoon, and the soldiers posted outside the rundown home instantly recognized her. They sent a wary glare to the blond messenger, and he shrugged a shoulder. The two allowed Sabina entry, and she walked right in, stepping over the threshold.

"I'm aware that you want to execute this rebellion correctly, Governor," she stated, talking to his backside. "But you are taking your sweet time. You know what Xena looks like, and now I do as well. In fact, everyone knows what she looks like. You are hesitating."

He brought his lace behind his back and let out a throaty sigh. He went from taking orders from one woman to another.

"Augusta," he began calmly, "I thank you for saving my life. I haven't expressed my gratitude enough."

Sabina mumbled a snicker beneath her breath. "I only saved you because you had personal contact with Xena. You were working with her to take down Rome!" she spat.

With a swift turn on his heel, he faced the Empress and slammed his fist on the table. He ripped the cloak hood off his head, and Sabina flinched.

"And she scalped me!"

Sabina nodded and waved her hand, turning her cheek. Gaius Vindex then placed the hood over his head carefully and rounded the table, coming very close to his superior. Sabina enlarged her eyes, feeling suddenly incredibly small in front of his frame, though he was not a particularly large man.

"I am aware that I may not be moving as quickly as you'd like, Augusta," his lip twitched, "but I will do what I need to do to get rid of her. You must be patient," he brought his hand to Sabina's shoulder.

"Of course," she let a nervous smile slip. "I do have one question."

Vindex raised an eyebrow, clearly not in the mood to answer any more questions, especially from her.

"Why do you make yourself so noticeable? Every person has tried to kill her using the same type of arrows."

He slowly walked over to a shelf, pulled out a peacock feathered arrow, and presented it to the Empress. "This one?"

The Empress took the arrow, tracing her fingers across the beautifully colored feathers until it was snatched from her hands.

"I don't make these. My men use regular arrows. Xena must have another enemy on her tail," he chuckled. "Not very surprising."

On her own accord, Xena had decided she wanted to go into the city to observe. She needn't any convincing from Gabrielle or anyone else in the household. Before leaving the villa, Erva left to do her usual scouting around Edirne, which she tried to do once a week. Waiting for her return, Xena stood in front of a mirror, brushing her mane, occasionally looking at the blonde sitting on the bed in the mirror's reflection.

Gabrielle agreed to accompany her, but she wasn't sure how this was going to go. Not to mention she wore clothes than what she was used to. And now she had to wear this hat, a very strange hat, but she didn't mind. The only thing she worried about was Xena being struck again throughout the crowd. Most of the citizens were more curious than anything else. But, obviously, Xena's enemies were everywhere and anywhere, nearly invisible to the naked eye. Except for Eylül. Although Gabrielle didn't find Eylül dangerous, she thought Xena and Erva made her out to be more devious than she truly was.

Admiring the dark hair cascading down her back, Gabrielle tilted her head, lowering her eyes to the black silken pants that were perfectly glued to Xena's large thighs like a second skin. She must've stared too long since her eyes drifted upward to see a blue gaze staring through the reflection.

"Ah, so," she pinched her fingers in the corners of her eyes, turning away, "Erva seems to really like Varinia."

Xena hid her smile and grabbed a vial of oil for her hair. "Yes, I've noticed. But at least her attention is on someone other than you," she peered over her shoulder and winked.

Was that supposed to be comforting to hear? Gabrielle fiddled with the tassels on the bedspread and long moments of silence passed between them. Her mind was swimming with unanswered questions, and now was the time. Finally, she had Xena cornered, and for once, there wasn't chaos in the villa nor outside.

"Xena, you mentioned that you invaded Erva's homeland," she said suddenly.

Xena paused, looking downward, and gently set the vial of oil on the vanity set. "Yes."

The hesitation was the key here. She was uncomfortable, Gabrielle noticed. "Erva told me her family died a long time ago. Did you…have something to do with that?"

Xena wrapped her fingers around the brush's handle tightly. "Why do you ask?"

"You promised to tell me everything about yourself, and Erva is a part of your past."

"No," she raked the bristles through her locks. "I didn't kill her family."

Gabrielle had to grab her uncontrollably shaking ankle to ease her nerves. But, unfortunately, the subtle answers were most likely only half the truth. Xena didn't like answering questions about her past or even her present self, but she made a promise. Gabrielle was going to be adamant about receiving answers to her questions, even if it meant riling the beast within.

"I don't believe you."

Xena whipped around, scrunching her eyebrows. "What?"

"I think you're lying to me."

Xena walked to the bed, towering over her blonde companion, fire in her eyes. "I am not responsible for her family's deaths!"

Gabrielle couldn't hold in the smile that crept up on her. It wasn't a devious smile nor a joyful one, but maybe just a smile to subdue the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"Then why are you getting so angry?"

She stood by, watching Xena run fingers through her hair, then pace back and forth from one end of the bed to the other. Finally, Xena spun around, glaring at her, then sat on the bed beside her. She scooted closer and took the opportunity to lace their fingers together. Stroking her thumb on Xena's hand, they made eye contact, and she gestured for the story to commence.

Her stomach churned at the thought of retelling a part of history that had been buried for so long. "Erva used to work under the Parthian Prince. I'm not sure what her role was in the empire even to this day, but when we first met, she was plainly…unhappy."

That only gave Gabrielle somewhat of an idea about Erva's sour attitude, but there was more. She felt it.

"I tried to negotiate with the prince, but he refused."

"So, you invaded," Gabrielle concluded. Of course, the logical thing to do.

Xena exhaled and continued, "Erva wanted to come with me, and I let her, but as soon as the prince found out that she sided with me, he…" she held her breath, speaking in a whisper of a voice, "he killed her entire family."

This wasn't exactly what she envisioned to be the backstory of Erva, yet it explained the mild detest she had for everybody around her most of the time. She could no longer blame Erva for her behavior, but now she could tell that it hurt Xena to talk about it. Probably because Xena blamed herself for this, and maybe Erva once blamed her too.

"That's horrible."

Xena's eyebrows lifted, and she peered down at their fingers intertwined. "There's one more thing."

More? There's more? What could be worse than that? Gabrielle situated herself, readying her mind to absorb more, though she couldn't imagine knowing her entire family was murdered. In fact, she didn't know where her family was, and she hoped they weren't dead. They weren't. She had a feeling they weren't.

"After Erva agreed to come with me, she had to return to her home for a night. She lied to me. She went to the Parthian palace instead," she pinched the bridge of her nose, unsure whether to continue.

Gabrielle nudged her elbow. "And then?"

She explained that after Erva went to the palace, she had no idea what she could've been looking for in that place. By now, Erva knew her family members had been killed by the prince. Still, even then, Xena was willing to wait for her, as she knew Erva had excellent insight into Parthian politics and, surprisingly, was good with any weapon given to her.

Late that one evening, Erva ended up running out of the palace, chased by several soldiers only to hop onto Xena's horse and yell to ride off. It wasn't until a few days later when Erva explained what she was doing in the palace that night. Erva wasn't gathering her belongings or gathering information.

"She was looking for somebody?" asked Gabrielle.

Xena looked to the ceiling, remaining quiet.

"Who? Another family member? A friend?"

Xena met the green eyes opposite her. "She was looking for her daughter."

A white sheet spread over Gabrielle's face, and her eyes dilated. Now she understood so many things about the warrior she had such a hard heart for at times. It also explained why she gravitated to Varinia and even to Xian when she took him from Abydos. These two women, Gabrielle thought, share a lot of the same awful events that happened to them. Suddenly, the unusual dependence the two had with one another made sense, and now Gabrielle felt a bit remorseful for being so hard on Erva several times. Yet, Erva didn't do herself any favors by comparing her to a 'toy' that Xena wanted to play with and throw away whenever she wanted.

"What happened to her daughter? Did the prince kill her too?"

Xena refused to answer and instead faintly smiled as a response. Gabrielle understood. That expression could mean many things, but somehow, she didn't want to know the answer to that question, and she certainly wasn't going to ask Erva for clarity.

"What was her name?"

"Demah."

Gabrielle leaned her head on the shoulder beside her, tightening the grip of her clasped hand. "That's a nice name." She lifted her head and kissed Xena's shoulder tenderly. "Thank you for telling me that. I think I understand Erva a little better now."

A hand came to rest on her cheek, and she closed her eyes, inhaling sharply at the touch. As soon as she began to feel comfortable, her cheek was turned towards the warrior, and a gentle kiss solidified all the blood rushing towards her cheeks. Then, tightening the grip of their hands, she leaned over only to have their lip's part. Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open, meeting a warm expression next to her.

Jarringly, she clasped both hands on Xena's cheeks, thrusting forward with another kiss, but firmer and stronger. Stunned, Xena's eyes widened, and her mouth stilled for a moment. This must've been noticeable since Gabrielle separated her lips from hers, steering backward.

Red tint glossed her cheeks, and Gabrielle's tongue circled inside her arid mouth. She couldn't shy away from Xena's dazed expression, which made her feel more self-conscious than she already was.

"Sorry. Should I have not—"

"Don't be sorry."

She felt the urge to chuckle at Gabrielle's embarrassing state, but she contained herself. Instead, she took her hand, squeezing tightly, and kissed her knuckles. Inwardly, she was elated that Gabrielle felt comfortable enough to pull a stunt like that. Perhaps, she should keep her promise and explain more of her past more often. From that thought, she chuckled lightly.

Gabrielle cocked her head, "what's so funny?"

She hadn't realized that was vocalized, and now it was her turn to tinge pink.

"Are you laughing at me? Hey, this is my first—"

"No, I would never laugh at you, Gabrielle. There will be plenty of time for that, but we should get going," she rose and lend a hand.

Erva took the opportunity to enjoy a morning walk around Edirne instead of riding her horse. Normally, she would have to hide, but people recognized her as she passed through several streets. Some gave her nasty glares, while others were showing their confusion. She finally made it around the outer perimeter of the city and came to a barren area.

Checking her surroundings, she flipped the hood over her hair and kept walking. Slowing her pace, she reached into her blouse, pulling out a folded letter barely the size of her palm. As she strolled down the dirt path, which was incredibly steep, she spotted a man wearing all black clothing with a sword attached to his hip.

Heart racing, she passed by a couple of younger men, probably men who have yet to come of age. They shouldn't be in this area, she thought. This was not a good area, to say the least. With her hand on the sword's hilt, she approached the man lingering in a narrow alleyway.

Once she passed by him, he held his palm out, and she placed the message into his hand. Then, she kept walking forward, itching to turn around but kept her eyes focused forward like a horse with blinders. Her ears perked at the smallest of sounds coming from behind, upward, and ahead. Her strides grew longer, wider, and faster.

Instincts kicked in, and she darted down one of the alleys and finally heard boots chasing her from behind. She rounded a corner of a tall building, and just as she was about to circle into another alley, her vision went black.

She inhaled the dark fabric which covered her face and reached for her sword, only to find the holster empty. Pushed down to her knees, she grabbed the fabric to loosen it so she could breathe. A rope wrapped around her neck, and she spurted, gasping for air. Once her vision focused beneath the fabric, she saw two dark figures standing before her.

"Erva," the voice, ever so soothing, managed to calm the wriggling warrior. "You have some explaining to do."

Feigning sleep for the fourth day in a row, Varinia was wide awake. Her eyes burned from the lack of sleep. How she wished she could sleep as well as Evander. She sat up in bed, tracing her finger on her stomach in a circular motion. Tilting her head, she tapped her fingers around her navel.

Jumping once her quiet time had been interrupted, she looked over at Xian, who walked in, carrying a plate of food. Varinia crossed her ankles and felt the bed shift as he sat next to her.

"I brought fruit."

As much as she wanted to refuse the food, she was hungrier than she had been in a while. She grabbed an apple slice and chewed it slowly. A few seconds passed by, and she hadn't realized she ate three slices. Xian kept smiling, and she wiped the corners of her mouth.

"Thank you."

He still kept the smile planted on his face. "Do you want anything else? Erva hasn't gone to the market yet, but I think there's some cheese and maybe bread."

She held a hand over her mouth as she continued chewing. "No, I'm okay. This is fine."

"I…ahm, I promise I will listen to you from now on," he said sincerely, listening to the loud crunching. "And you're right. I wasn't fair to her. To Xena."

Varinia arched an eyebrow.

"To my mother."

She finally smiled, leaned close, and kissed his cheek. That came to a surprise, and all the blood came rushing to Xian's cheeks, which caused Varinia to giggle. He reclined on the pillows, scooting closer. His attention focused on her bare stomach, and she caught his persistent gaze.

"Are you ready for this?" she grabbed his hand.

Laughing under his breath, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Varinia kissed his fingers. "It will be an adventure!" she said enthusiastically. "Every day is an adventure with you."

"I'm not sure if you mean that as a good thing or not."

"You really read too much into things, Evander," she teasingly slapped his hand. "Just to ease your mind, I'm ready." She reached over his lap to grab the plate of fruit.

Xian bowed his eyebrows and said in disbelief, "you are?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "well, I can't stop it from happening, so I might as well embrace it," she winked and took a bite of an apple slice.

"I'm glad you're so sure of yourself…."

Cornered in a remote place in outer Edirne, four men surrounded Erva. Her wrists were bound behind her back and her ankles forced together as she sat on the ground. Refusing to give any answers, her face met a hand once more, and her head snapped. Breathing deeply, she licked her lips and tasted blood.

"Are you finally willing to talk?"

She turned her focus up at the armored men and then spat a glob of saliva onto his boots. She expected another whack to the face, but instead, he knelt down, caressing her cheek.

"You've been giving us the runaround, Erva," he whispered. "Why do you keep sparing her life? What does she have over you?"

Erva blinked and licked the blood that was soon to be caked on her lips and chin.

Grinning, maybe out of agitation, he reached behind, and Erva crinkled her eyebrows, cautious of what he was to present. He revealed a large peacock feather and brushed it beneath her nose.

"If you don't behave, you might be at the end of this," he tapped her shoulder with the wispy feather.

Returning to the villa nearing sunset, Xena and Gabrielle sat in the sitting area together, eating on the floor. Being out in the open for the entire city to see wasn't as horrible as Xena imagined it would be, although she received some less than enthused stares as she trotted through on her horse. She, of course, had several of her men following behind, in front, and to the side of her. Someone could get a shot at her, but it would've been incredibly difficult.

If that one person was watching, they knew they'd have the challenge to get away in time before they were caught. Xena had no doubt that she was being watched by someone other than the citizens. She also took quite a leap by having Gabrielle join her on a separate horse. It was amusing to watch Gabrielle steer the horse horribly, and often, Xena had to reach over the take hold of the reins.

Eylül's plans to completely destroy the city didn't seem to add up the more that Xena thought about it. If Eylül was truly oblivious to Soner's plans involving the multiple assassination attempts, then there had to be someone else helping Soner. Though Xena knew it was somebody who had been trying to kill her for years, and it wasn't anybody new. She'd seen that arrow far too many times over the years, and whoever was in charge was either a terrible archer or they were trying to scare her off. It wasn't working.

All this discussion of Romans had given her a blazing headache. She begged for the topic to disappear just for a while. As she sat on the floor with Gabrielle, she picked at a tray of toasted bread and fruit that Xian cut up earlier.

Gabrielle pecked at the bread and stifled a chuckle, "are you sure you don't want me to make something for you? You know, something other than fruit and old bread?"

"But I like my fruit and old bread."

Xena's eyes dipped down, grinning as she tore a pomegranate in half to share. She scooped out the seeds and spread it on the toasted bread smothered in soft cheese, and handed one half to Gabrielle, who ogled the oddity of the combination.

Gabrielle raised a skeptical eyebrow and took a bite of the bread, and wiped the corner of her mouth. Surprisingly, it wasn't as horrible as it looked, but she preferred other foods, especially more sustainable foods, than something that was eaten for breakfast.

"Are you sure you don't want me to make something?"

Xena brushed her palms to rid the crumbs and smiled knowingly, "the kitchen is all yours if you're desperate to cook, but there isn't much in there."

"I'll make sure to go to the market first thing in the morning then."

Xena sipped the wine, then licked her lips. "I bet you will."

"So…what are you planning to do with Eylül?" she pointed to the basement underneath the villa.

It was a good question that she didn't have an answer to quite yet. "For now, she stays here where I can keep an eye on her. She says she doesn't know anything about the arrows. But her cousin has been paying a carpenter in Abydos to make them for a while now."

Gabrielle rubbed her chin, "you believe she's lying."

"Either that or she really doesn't know. I'm not certain. She admitted to her other crimes."

Suddenly, the thought entered her mind, as if she didn't think of it sooner, "why peacock feathers? What's so special about the feather? Not to mention, it's so obvious that they're trying to stand out."

"If it were that obvious, I would know who is behind it."

Good point. Gabrielle felt silly for even saying that out loud. "But you definitely believe Romans are involved. Eylül is making trade deals with Augusta Sabina, so maybe Soner is working with the Emperor?"

Xena let out a throaty laugh and placed the glass of wine on the rug. "That is funny, Gabrielle. That man is insane and incompetent. He had no idea that I was planning a rebellion with one of his leading generals right under his nose," she tapped the bridge of her nose.

Thunder cracked through the skies, and a flash of lightning lit up the entire room, halting their conversation. Then, almost right on cue, the door opened, and a dark hooded silhouette appeared in the doorway. Xena and Gabrielle gawked at the figure step into the villa and close the door.

"Erva? Is that you?" asked Xena.

Erva gingerly took off the cloak, careful of the painful twinges in her ribs and arms. She hung the soaked cloak on the rack and wiped the rainwater off her forehead and cheeks. Keeping her back turned, she flipped her dripping wet hair over her shoulder and began unbuckling her belt, and the sword dropped from the belt onto the floor.

Both Xena and Gabrielle shared a look of concern, waiting for Erva to answer back. Xena stood and slowly walked across the room.

"You've been gone all day. Where've you been?"

Erva rubbed her sore shoulder. "I was…scouting," her voice appeared frail and uncertain.

Xena crinkled her eyebrows and gripped the warrior's arm, which made her flinch. She quickly pulled away, stunned by the reaction.

"Erva," she whispered. "Erva, come—" she spun her around and gasped, clasping her hands beneath Erva's bruised jaw, and swiped a thumb over her bloody swollen lip. "Erva, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"Just some angry citizens."

She evaded Xena's penetrating stare until she couldn't avoid it any longer. Painfully, she gave a lopsided smile and kissed Xena's palm.

"I'll be in my room," her voice split, and she cleared her throat.

As she padded with her wet boots, she brushed her hair behind her ear, briefly sharing a short glance with Gabrielle.

Xena, still in place, didn't even feel the gentle touch on her arm. She flinched, completely dazed watching Erva ascend the stairs. Gabrielle gave a reassuring gaze, albeit confused, probably just as much as she was.

"Did you see her face?"

Gabrielle sighed, gnawing on her lip, "she looked pretty beat up. Erva doesn't strike me as a person who would allow anyone to do that to her."

Xena clenched her jaw, gawking at the staircase.

"She wouldn't."