Yay for more historical babies….
It's a lot, I know. I swear I don't add in babies for my own enjoyment, guys lol. Also, Cera is my original character but her child is an important historical person in the clan. The historical records didn't mention the mother's name. Anyway, thank y'all for reading and enjoy!
Chapter 38 –Unholy Matriarchy
"I can't believe you went out in the middle of the night to steal some illegal wine."
Xena pricked her finger with the needle and glared at Gabrielle who seemed to be enjoying teasing her for the last few days. She tried to keep busy and focus on the last touches on her daughter's dress but ignoring that smug face plastered on her wife was more than difficult.
"Can you leave or go do something useful?"
Gabrielle cocked her head. "I can take a hint. I have Anastasia's face burned into my head! It was great! She was speechless!"
"You're giving me a headache."
"You're giving yourself a headache," said Gabrielle. She laughed softly and got off the floor. "Alright, I'll leave you alone. Navaz is coming today with Soran and Pamira. If Ana doesn't come up with another excuse then we can possibly have a wedding."
Xena nodded and continued sewing. "I really need to finish this."
"Don't work yourself too hard now," she jested. "I don't want to have to bandage your bloody fingers later." she kissed her wife's forehead.
Xena peered over at Gabrielle leaving and shook her head then went back to sewing. She pricked her finger for the third time and cursed under her breath. She stuck her finger in her mouth to soothe the throbbing wounds. She stared at the damned gown that caused her nothing but pain since she started it. As much as she liked working on this dress for her daughter she was suddenly envious of Kreka's master seamstress skills.
She couldn't keep putting this off. She examined the hemmed sleeves and picked a fresh needle that didn't have any blood on it and ripped some thread with her teeth and threaded the needle's eye. Settling the gown in her lap she heard soft rapid footsteps.
Aurora collapsed onto the pillows with a big grin. "Is that grandma khatun's dress?"
"Yes it is." she spread the dress out on the floor. "What do you think?"
"It's really pretty!" Aurora ran her fingers along the fabric. "Ku-Ilm's making me wear a dress to the wedding," she whined. "I don't want to."
"I bet it'll look nice on you," she cupped the girl's cheek. "Your mother doesn't like wearing dresses either and neither do I but sometimes we have to."
Aurora scoffed. "I don't have to. I can do whatever I want."
Xena raised her eyebrows and focused on the fabric and was careful not to injure herself further. "Really? Whatever you want, huh? Your mother lets you do whatever you want?"
"She's not around a lot anyway!" the princess said, batting her eyes. "Can you keep a secret?" she whispered.
Xena let out a sigh then leaned over. "Depends. Is this secret going to get you in trouble?"
The impish eyes of the little princess soon faded and her pupils dilated. She contemplated of what might happen to her if she was to spill her guts out. She recoiled and jumped to her feet, suddenly very fervent on leaving.
"I gotta go. Ku's waiting for me. I have to study."
Xena nodded. "I thought so."
Making her way to the sitting room where she knew she'd find Arielle, she saw Navaz in the foyer with Soran and Pamira. She thought to go give her greetings and then halted at another guest who entered the palace with a slew of women trailing behind.
"Oh no," she muttered.
She marched over to the group and kept eyeing the extra guests. She smiled at Soran and Pamira who were talking to Kuba. Finally, Navaz noticed her standing off to the side and excused himself from the circle. He looked a lot more relaxed than everyone else in the palace. It took awhile for Anastasia to finally agree to stop postponing the ceremony but when she was to see who was in the palace, Gabrielle was sure this was going to cause uproar.
"Hello Gabrielle," he greeted warmly. "I was just talking with Kuba. He said Anastasia wasn't feeling well a few days ago. Is she alright now?"
"Um," she rubbed her throat, "yes, she's fine now. She's feeling much better."
"Good, I'm glad to hear that. Where's Arielle? I want to talk to her." he eagerly looked around the foyer, hoping to see her appear at any moment.
"Navaz," she gripped his arm. "What is Nousha doing here?" she whispered.
He avoided the topic. "Could you go get Arielle?"
"Navaz!"
"I don't want to talk about it," he groaned and turned to look at the petite Persian. "She's been making my life a living hell in Balaam. Wherever she goes, I go. Those are the rules."
Gabrielle took in a deep breath. "She and Anastasia hate each other. She's going to explode when she sees Nousha."
"Then she's going to have to get over it," he said affirmatively. "Nousha still doesn't know about Xerxes and Arielle so I'd appreciate it if nobody brings it up while she's staying here."
"What am I supposed to do? Lock her in a room? She's going to find out!"
"She won't. I'm going to find Arielle since you're not going to." He briefly smiled and quickly stormed out of the foyer.
Soran walked over to the governor holding Pamira's hand. Both had smiles on their faces and Gabrielle composed herself and tried to appear approachable and not worry about Xerxes' mother. She looked Nousha's way and a lump in her throat emerged. Nousha acknowledged her and sent a sneer her way and continued talking with the women.
"Gabrielle! This palace is massive! You must show us around," said Soran.
"Oh…yes. I'll give you a tour."
Pamira nodded excitedly. "Where's Cera? I'd love to see her. Is she still playing the kamancheh I gave her?"
Gabrielle nervously scratched the back of her neck. "She plays it almost every day. Aurora loves it. So, about the tour?" she slowly lured them to follow her down the hall.
With her legs propped up on a couch, Arielle picked at a bowl of grapes and spat out the seeds on the floor. Wedding or not, she still had her duties and while she spent most of her mornings alone, she definitely wasn't truly alone. She was reading through a stack of letters she received from her subjects and came across a few from Bishop Salman and many other clergymen across Scythia.
She spat out another seed and groaned then tossed the letter onto the finished pile. She grabbed another letter and smiled when she saw the Hun wax seal. Ripping open the letter her smile grew at her brother's name signed at the bottom of the page.
While she read, she noticed someone enter her quiet bedroom. Her eyes peered over the top of the paper and gasped.
"Father, you're here!"
She jumped off the couch and crashed into his large frame, embracing him tightly. She pulled away and he cupped her cheeks.
He kissed her forehead. "Are you busy?" he eyed the large stack of documents.
"Oh yeah," she grunted. "Always. Every day. How was your trip over here? I wasn't expecting you until this evening. Mother is in the baths right now. You know how long it takes for her to wash her hair," she rolled her eyes.
Navaz nodded. "I've always liked your mother's hair. Listen, Arielle, there's something I need to tell you."
He led her to the sofa and they sat down together. She sensed the worry in his tone which only meant something horrible happened or was about to happen. Of all times for something to go wrong, she thought.
"I brought some guests with me."
She relaxed a bit hearing that. "Guests from Balaam? Did you bring some Sabirs with you? I don't mind."
"No." he set his hand on her knee. "I brought Nousha with me."
She burst into a fit of laughter. "Father, that's not funny. Tell me that's a joke."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "It's not a joke, Arielle. She's here. I had to bring her. I told her I don't want any problems."
"Dad!" she sprung up from the couch. "How could you? This is your marriage ceremony with mother! Nousha…she –she –she's just going to ruin it! She is not a nice person, father. She hates me. I can't believe she's in my home! I sleep here! I eat here! My god, what is mother going to do? Oh I know what she's going to do. She's going to implode."
"Arielle." He grabbed her hand and forced her to sit. "She's not going to cause trouble and if she does then I'll deal with her. She doesn't know you're courting Xerxes. Do not say a word."
She sank in the pillows and huffed.
"I can't believe this."
He pulled out a folded cloth and handed it to her. "Nousha made this for you."
She snatched the cloth and unraveled the fabric and laid it across her thighs. She was a bit surprised that Nousha made anything for her even if it was just a fancy handkerchief. Her fingers glided across the embroidery and smirked.
"She spelled my name wrong," she flung the handkerchief aside. "It's Arielle, not Ariel."
He knew that the misspelling of her name would annoy her and perhaps Nousha knew as well. "Where's Aurora? I have a late birthday gift for her."
"You didn't get her another horse, did you?" she eyed him suspiciously.
"No!" he denied immediately. "I also have a gift for Cera."
Arielle arched a brow. "No gift for me?" she teased with sparkling eyes.
"Nousha's here?"
Gabrielle gave her wife a knowing look and slowly nodded her head.
"Navaz is a dead man." Xena flung the dress across a chair. "Anastasia is going to throw a fit. Her emotions are all over the place right now. If she even lays eyes on Nousha I don't know what will happen."
"Xena, what are we going to do?"
"I don't know. Let's not mention it to her until the day of the ceremony. Once she's officially married to Navaz then her mood won't be ruined. How's that sound?"
Gabrielle rested her hands on her hips. "That's the best you've got?"
"Got any better ideas? Because if you do I'd love to hear them." She waited patiently and was left without a response from the opposing party. "Right. So, we're going with my plan. Until then, we should probably avoid Nousha."
"You aren't still scared of her, are you?"
Xena stood and stretched her stiff arms. "Of course I am. She's a dormant volcano."
"How are we going to keep them out of the same room?"
"This palace is huge. We'll just have to be very clever about it. Don't sweat it, Gabrielle. Hey, if Nousha lunges at me then I know you'd protect me. You're just the right size to fight her off."
Gabrielle gasped audibly. "Short jokes. Really, Xena?"
"I'm only half joking." She pat her wife on the back then walked towards the exit and bumped into Arielle. "Hello there…" she eyed the parchment in Arielle's hand. "What's that?"
Arielle frowned. "A letter from Csaba."
"War talk? Not today, Arielle. I'm off duty." She tried to bypass her granddaughter and was yanked back. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Eksama sent a spy to watch Elemund. He's been a very busy boy," Arielle waved the letter in the air and Gabrielle came running forward to retrieve and read. "He's going to northern tribes and gathering allies. I'm sure Justinian knows about this since they're best pals now."
"I don't recognize any of these tribe names," Gabrielle said. "Antes? Lombard? Who are these people? Xena, have you heard of these people? How far north did Elemund go?"
Xena felt a headache coming on.
"I don't know those tribes. They might be friends with the Franks or Vandals," she said dismissively.
"Aren't the Vandals still in Africa?" Gabrielle asked and scanned through the letter again.
"Who the hell cares?" Xena groaned. "Move, girl."
Arielle folded her arms and blocked the entryway. "Those men who were talking about me in that den of filth you went to a few days ago; did they look like Franks to you?"
"Maybe? I'm not sure. They all were fair skinned with blonde hair. They're definitely from up north. Arielle, step aside. I'm in no mood to discuss this with you right now."
Finally, the empress took a generous step back and waved her hand.
"I want you to investigate this matter after the wedding. I'll put you in charge of the scout division. Gabrielle, you can go to the library and try to find any information on these unknown tribes."
Gabrielle nodded. "Will do."
Arielle watched the two walk together down the hall and grimaced. "When Xerxes returns I want to continue strategy talk! You can't avoid me forever, grandma!"
Xena waved her hand over her head and disappeared rounding the corner.
Anastasia sat in front of the mirror with her wedding dress on and kept staring at her reflection as if she stared at someone else before her. The memories of marrying Navaz the first time around over twenty years ago came rushing back. She was forced to marry him for the sake of saving her people. Everyone relied on her back then.
It was different this time. She wasn't forced to marry him and there were no strings attached. She did feel somewhat irked that Ellac had concocted this little plan with Navaz behind her back. She could've told Navaz no and lived as a widowed khatun like Kreka did. She wondered if Kreka would've been happier and less bitter if she found someone else to marry after Attila passed.
Or maybe it would've made her health deteriorate further. It also put Kreka on a pedestal as the only sole ruler among the women. She only had her sons and Csaba to rule alongside with. She was the ultimate matriarch in the clan and served as the voice for all the queens beneath her.
Ana no longer had the same authority that she used to. She was now considered beneath her own daughter. The circumstances were different now and somehow she felt the empire was withering away even though it was three times the size it used to be thanks to Arielle and far more powerful than when Attila reigned.
Xena stood behind her daughter for the last few minutes studying the mass of hair she had to work with. She looked over to Gabrielle who joined her in silence. She smiled and admired the green gown that Gabrielle wore.
"You look nice," she said.
Gabrielle's eyes scanned her wife's gown. "Black again. Why am I not surprised?" she snickered. "You haven't even started with her hair yet?" she pointed to Ana's lengthy mane.
Xena sighed and picked up her daughter's endless trail of hair and felt overwhelmed. She was supposed to style her daughter's hair for the ceremony and since she never did much to her own hair she wasn't sure what to do.
"I know we don't cut our hair but…" she pursed her mouth. "Ana, your hair is dragging on the floor. What am I supposed to do with this?"
She gazed at her daughter's silent reflection and titled her head.
"Ana?"
The khatun was taken out of her daze and caught her mother gawking from behind in the mirror. "Ah…I don't know, mother."
"Are you feeling alright? You haven't said a word since you put the dress on."
"I'm…just a little bit nervous." Ana put a hand over her unsettled stomach. "The last time I married Navaz I thought you were…" she paused, "dead. And I didn't have Gabrielle either and Ellac was imprisoned. I only had Csaba and now I don't have him here with me."
Gabrielle faintly grinned and knelt down to take Ana's hand.
"But we're here with you and Navaz loves you. I mean, he really loves you," she stressed. "He's always cared about you even when he was married to Fairuza and Safiya."
Anastasia blushed. "I know that. I don't know why he married Safiya anyway. They were married for a long time and I ruined it. I don't think she'll ever forgive me."
Xena clasped her hands on Ana's shoulders. "Navaz only married her because she's attractive, Anastasia." she winked. "Safiya was a nice woman but she's not you."
"Then what was his excuse with Fairuza? She was very beautiful too!"
Gabrielle snuffed a laugh. "I think he loved Fairuza as much as he loved you but she's been dead for a very long time. So, are we going to do this or what? Everyone's waiting on you."
Ana inhaled and exhaled to soothe her nerves. "Alright. Mother, let's do this." She picked up the comb and waved it above her head.
Xena smiled nervously and grabbed the comb. Tackling a mountain of hair wasn't her specialty and she huffed, staring at her daughter's hair as if it were some kind of forbidden task to conquer.
"For god's sake," Gabrielle pushed her wife aside and snatched the comb. "We could braid your hair. It'll keep your hair out of the way. How's that sound?"
Anastasia smiled and nodded.
Everyone waited patiently in the large ballroom. The Persian concubines were settled in a corner, talking amongst themselves. Soran stood beside Pamira with Cera and Mirac on the other side of the room. Soran kept eyeing the Persian women and took note of Nousha casually mingling with the women. They really liked to sequester themselves off from everyone else, he thought.
He searched the room for his sister and sipped the sherbet. He could tell his father was getting very impatient and rightfully so. Those women had been hiding for hours getting ready. He downed the drink and then grabbed another flute.
Pamira noticed her husband was on his third glass and took his hand. "You're very thirsty," she whispered.
"It's not wine. It's not going to do anything to me," he said and sighed. "Where the hell is Arielle?"
"Maybe she's helping her mother?" she guessed and turned to Cera. "Have you seen your sister?"
Cera shook her head.
Soran grunted. "Only Arielle would be missing at a time like this!" he swallowed the large serving of sherbet and coughed.
Finally, Arielle ran into the room and joined her siblings. She smiled at her brother who was annoyed by her absence. She fixed her straightened hair and her dress' collar. She wedged herself in between Soran and Cera who were both taller than her despite being younger than her.
"Where have you been?" Soran questioned suspiciously.
"I was preparing a surprise for my mother. Don't be so uptight, Soran."
"What did you do?"
"You'll see!"
A few minutes later Anastasia walked out with her mother and Gabrielle by her sides. She smiled at everyone as soon as she entered the room. If she didn't feel like the weight of the world wasn't on her shoulders before, she surely felt it at this moment. Not to mention, her dress was incredibly heavy which wasn't helping the feeling she had when she eyed her two daughters standing together with Soran.
Her hand was released from her mother's grasp and she looked back as if to turn away. Xena smiled warmly and gave her a gentle push forward. She exhaled deeply and then walked over to Navaz who was waiting for her.
Navaz took her hand and then lifted the dark veil over her head to uncover her face. He smoothed his hands down her sleeves and was completely oblivious to the people around him. While he kept gazing into her eyes he realized others were waiting and he turned to Xena who held a sword in her hands.
He grasped Ana's hands in his and Xena walked over with the sword and then Arielle rushed forward.
"Wait!" Arielle said.
Gabrielle widened her eyes. "Oh god."
"Arielle…" Navaz warned, glaring at his intrusive daughter.
"I have a surprise for mother," she told everyone. "Mother, close your eyes and wait here. I have to go get the surprise."
Anastasia huffed. "Arielle, I don't want any surprises."
"Just do as I say, mother!" she yelled then darted out of the ballroom.
Xena shook her head and Anastasia stepped away from Navaz and closed her eyes as requested. She tapped her fingers together anxiously and crinkled her brows as the sounds of footsteps reappeared in the room.
Everyone turned their attention to Arielle entering the room again with the said surprise. Xena's jaw dropped and Arielle put a finger to her mouth to signal for the room to remain quiet. She walked over to her mother and then halted. She grabbed her mother's hands and opened the palms to face upward.
"Arielle, what is going on?" asked Ana.
She kept her palms open and then felt a pair of hands grip hers. Her fingers wrapped around the large hands that didn't belong to a woman. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she gasped.
"Csaba!" she beamed and embraced him tightly, weeping softly.
He kissed the top of his mother's head and then pulled away. He wiped her tears away and caressed her cheek. She sniffled and kissed his hand.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Arielle wrote a letter to me and said you were pretty upset that I wasn't here. She convinced me to come but I can only stay for a couple of days and then I have to return to the camp."
Anastasia eyed her daughter and wiped her teary eyes. She then realized that everyone kept waiting for the ceremony to continue. She turned her attention back to Navaz and grabbed his hands firmly. By the look in his eyes she could tell he had run out of patience.
Xena stepped forward with the ceremonial sword and purposefully bumped Arielle's shoulder. "Nice one," she whispered.
Unlike most weddings, this was the quietest ones yet. Everyone sat in the center of the room sharing a massive meal while music played in the background. Instead of one large circle there were several small circles and the Persian concubines kept to themselves in their own little circle.
In one of the small circles, Csaba sat with his sisters, Soran, Pamira, Mirac and held Aurora in his lap. Csaba imagined that Aurora was lonely living in a large palace by herself with no other children to play with. He also missed his sons and was glad to spend some time with her before he had to depart.
He spoon fed Aurora much to his sister's annoyance. He looked at Cera seated across from him and smiled at the way Mirac was talking to her quietly and handling her affectionately like she was a glass doll.
"Have you been taking care of my little sister, Mirac?" he asked loudly to interrupt the conversation.
Mirac paled. "Y –yes, yes I swear."
Csaba nodded with a self-satisfied grin.
Aurora squirmed in her uncle's lap and crossed her arms. She looked to her mother who sat next to her. "Mom, can I take this dress off now?"
"No. If I have to wear one then you do too," Arielle scraped the last bit of rice from her bowl. "Why don't you go to bed? It's getting late."
"But I want to stay here."
Arielle chewed the rice slowly and narrowed her eyes at her defiant daughter. "You're not in a good mood right now. Ku will take you to bed. Go on now." She waved her hand.
Csaba picked up the princess off his lap and set her down on the floor. Aurora pouted and refused to budge from her spot. Csaba raised an eyebrow as he watched his sister slowly permeate with building rage. So far so good, he thought. She hasn't lost it yet.
Arielle waved over to Ku. "Aurora, I'm not going to ask again. Go to bed."
"No."
Arielle slammed the bowl down and grabbed her daughter's hand and pulled her up off the floor. She didn't even bother to wait for Ku to walk over. Aurora kept resisting as her mother pulled her across the floor.
"Buraya gel!" Arielle growled. "Zor olmas!"
Csaba chuckled and everyone in the circle kept eating to ignore the little debacle displayed in front of them. He rubbed the back of his sore neck and continued to eat the rest of his food now that Aurora was off his lap.
He pointed his spoon to the corner of the room. "Who are they?"
Everyone turned their heads to the concubines. Soran nervously eyed the king and wiped his mouth. "Persians. My father has an obligation to keep them with him at all times. You know the situation with Shah Kavad."
"Hmm." Csaba spooned more rice onto his plate. "They're all women. Are they Kavad's harem?"
"Um…yes," Soran answered nervously for everyone.
Pamira quickly steered the conversation elsewhere as she knew nothing good could come of it. "So Cera, when are you going to have your party? I'm sure your sister has everything planned. She's been all over you."
Cera rolled her eyes. Today was the only day she didn't have her sister fawning all over her. She didn't really like all of the attention focused on her all the time and was grateful that today was reserved for her mother only and not her.
"I'd like to know when the senlik is too," Csaba chimed in. "Maybe I could tell Farah to come. She told me that she misses you."
Cera rejoiced in the idea of Farah coming and smiled brightly. She held up three fingers to her brother.
"Three months. Alright, I will write Farah. Expect plenty of gifts then," he winked at his little sister.
Pamira joined in, "is Farah your wife?" she asked him.
"Yes. I'm sure she would love to meet you, Pamira. She'll probably bring you dresses or some kind jewelry," he said indifferently. "My wife likes nice things," he hinted Farah's tendency to like more of the materialistic materials in life.
"We have similar parties in Persia like these 'senliks', she pronounced slowly and awkwardly, "but I wondered if…since I don't have a mother and I'm sort of alone here that…Anastasia Khatun would help plan a party for me in the future?"
Csaba arched an eyebrow at the young Persian. He half smiled and said, "of course. My mother would love to plan a senlik for you. Is there something you'd like to share with us?"
Arielle ran back to join the circle of siblings and fluffed her hair. "What did I miss?" she asked excitedly.
Csaba pointed to the couple across the way. "Pamira was about to tell us something. Right?"
"Um…" Pamira faltered, "Soran and I…are going to have a baby by the end of summer."
Arielle gasped. "That is great news!" she reached over and punched her little brother's arm. "It'll be like when my mother and Fairuza were both pregnant at the same time! Pamira, you must stay here with me and my mother. We'll take care of you. How far along are you? Maybe we could have a combined party for you and Cera."
Mirac felt sorry for them and laughed lightly. "You opened a can of worms," he whispered to Soran.
"How exciting is this? My baby sister and brother both having babies in the same year," Arielle clasped her hands together.
Soran was incensed by his elder sister's enthusiasm especially since she'd kept her relationship with Xerxes under the radar from his own mother and the rest of the family in Pannonia. He thought to play into her little game and expose her in front of Csaba.
"Yeah, maybe you will join the club too, Arielle," he blurted out. "Once you get married, that is."
The circle fell silent and Csaba turned to his sister, whose face drained of color, rendering her cheeks chalk white. "What's he talking about, Arielle?"
Arielle sent a mean glare towards her outspoken little brother. She wanted to strangle him. "Nothing. Forget it."
"Then why did he say that?" Csaba pried. "Are you going to marry someone?"
All the confidence Arielle had shriveled up and died inside as her brother kept staring her down. She felt like she was about to be interrogated at any second. She thought of jumping up to leave but that might look suspicious so she had no choice but to sit still, hoping he wouldn't continue to interrogate her.
"Answer my question."
"You know what? This party is for mother. We really shouldn't be talking about me," Arielle anxiously tried to evade the topic of Xerxes.
"Arielle!" he grabbed her arm firmly. "Who is it? Who are you seeing?"
She avoided his harsh stare. "Shehzade Xerxes," she mumbled.
Csaba's mouth gaped from her confession. He flipped his plate over and then stalked off. Arielle snarled and pinched Soran's arm for revealing a secret that she wanted to keep from Csaba for just a little while longer.
A few feet away, Anastasia sat in a circle with Navaz, Xena and Gabrielle. She was given the news about Nousha's presence shortly after the initial ceremony and at first she was upset but she decided not to let it bother her. She was grateful that Csaba had come to see her even if the visit was going to be cut short soon.
She peered over her shoulder at the little circle and smiled. "They're sitting together like they used to when they were little."
Xena ceased conversation with Gabrielle and lifted her chin to spy on the children who were definitely not children anymore. She saw Arielle bickering with Soran while the others kept to themselves, eating quietly.
"And they're still fighting I see," she said, amused by the banter. "Nothing's changed between them."
Kuba rushed over to their circle and bent down towards Gabrielle. He tapped her shoulder to grab her attention and whispered in her ear. Gabrielle whipped her head up at the advisor.
"Are you serious?" she whispered and Kuba nodded.
She grabbed Xena's arm and whispered in her ear. Navaz halted eating and saw Xena's face change from a smile to a frown in a matter of seconds. He set down the bowl of food and his eyes watched Kuba quickly leave the circle with a group of guards following him.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Xena wiped her hands and forced a smile. "If you'll excuse us, Gabrielle and I have something to tend to. Enjoy your meal."
Together, they stood and began making their way to the exit. Xena then whispered to her wife. "Get Arielle now."
She thought she was a good empress. She hadn't heard any complaints from her subjects since she moved to Scythia. She'd heard her grandmother and Gabrielle tell her that not everyone is going to like you and she came to terms with that. She imagined her father had heard the spiel before as did her mother.
But she didn't expect something like this to be displayed in front of her home. This was more than an embarrassment. It was a challenge to her sovereignty and her ability to keep the peace in Scythia as well as every other state controlled by her family.
She was rendered speechless as she focused on the flaming upside down crucifixes planted outside her home. There was a row of crosses. Ten or twelve. She didn't bother to count. There was also something incredibly disturbing written in the soil.
Pagan.
The words were lit on fire and kept burning and burning. The fire never ceased to go out no matter how many buckets of water were poured on the ground by the soldiers.
Xena placed a hand on her shoulder and Arielle brushed it off.
"I want those responsible for this found," she said. "Immediately!"
"The people who did this are probably long gone by now. It won't do any good to search the city especially at night," Gabrielle mistakenly advised.
Arielle walked up to the governor and breathed in and out heavily. She was close to shoving her aside until she saw the uneasy look in her grandmother's eyes. She slowly backed away before doing something she might come to regret later.
"I want soldiers out in the city by dawn. I'll go out myself if I have to." she turned and walked off.
Gabrielle shakily exhaled. "She was going to hit me."
"She wasn't." Xena squeezed her spouse's shoulder.
"She was thinking about it! Did you see the look in her eyes?"
"Don't let it bother you, Gabrielle. She's just upset."
Gabrielle gazed out the window at the charred crucifixes. All of the fiery crosses were put out by the Avar soldiers but that didn't stop the people from crowding around the palace to see the humiliating display. Across the city fireworks were going off, lighting up the night sky, to celebrate the khagana's parents' wedding.
"Poor Arielle. This is terrible. I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight." She leaned her head on Xena's shoulder. "I don't think it's safe for Arielle to go out and find these people. I know most of the Scythians don't know what she looks like but still."
Xena agreed and toyed with her wife's silky hair. "I think I might have a way to bypass that. I just have to get Arielle to agree to my plan."
Gabrielle lifted her eyes to meet her wife's shimmering devious eyes. "Does this plan involve anyone dying?"
"Let's hope not."
Still heated from last night's revealing news about his sister's relationship with the Persian prince, Csaba stood on one of the balconies early in the morning. He came here to support his mother per his sister's request and now he was going to leave with the idea of smashing a Persian's face in.
Soran came to join him on the balcony and Csaba smiled, welcoming the company.
"I do love my sisters," Csaba spoke openly, "but sometimes I wish I had a brother. Oran is the closest thing I have to a brother."
Soran picked at the chipped stone railing. "Me too. I like having Mirac around. He's like a brother to me."
The king exhaled. "Are you excited to be a father?"
"I…am not sure how I feel," Soran admitted. "I don't love Pamira but I do like her. She's a nice person and smart too. She is constantly looking for something to read. I think she's read every single manuscript in the Adame."
Csaba felt the prince's pain. He never experienced the feelings Soran had when it came to love. He loved Farah since the day he met her but he was also unsure of what to feel when he found out he was going to be a father during both of his wife's pregnancies. That feeling of never being good enough never went away even after his children were born.
"Oran and Yeter were in the same situation you're in now but they have three sons together! It took a very long time for them to develop feelings for each other. I don't think Oran loves Yeter to this day but he definitely cares for her a lot."
"I'm glad that Anastasia Khatun will be living with me now. She's always been like a mother to me. I'd really like her help with Pamira."
Csaba nudged the prince's arm. "My mother will always be there for you. You probably shouldn't call her khatun," he snickered. "She's officially your stepmother now."
Soran nodded silently.
"So, Shehzade Xerxes." He frowned deeply. "Does he treat Arielle well? Do I have any reason to worry?"
"He asked permission to court her," said Soran. "Xena also likes him."
Csaba scoffed. "My grandmother? She actually likes a Persian? I don't believe what I'm hearing."
"Believe it."
Despite Xerxes living in Pannonia for months, Csaba hardly had any words with the man. He didn't have a problem with him back then but now that Xerxes was courting his sister, he was thrust into a world of caution and distrust.
"Does he make Arielle happy?"
Soran eyed the very protective older brother that Csaba naturally was. He too shared the same doubt as him concerning their sister's well being especially when a love interest was in the picture. Even though they were born into different families, they were both tied to Arielle in the same way as brothers.
"I've never seen her happier," Soran admitted and Csaba faintly smiled at that. "I told Xerxes that if he hurts her then I will hurt him. My father told him the same thing. I think he got the message."
"Add me to that list then."
Soran bumped fists with the king and they shared a laugh. "I don't think Xerxes is going to be the problem. His mother hates our entire family. She's been nothing but disrespectful to your mother."
Csaba brought his eyebrows together. "Is she one of those concubines here?" he asked and Soran affirmed his question with a nod. "I'd like to have a talk with her before I leave."
They left the balcony together and entered the quiet palace. Once they were walking down the corridor Soran offered to take Csaba to the room in which Nousha stayed in. He wasn't sure what was going to happen once Nousha was confronted. He imagined she might have a small heart attack when she was to hear that her beloved and favored son of the Shah was courting a Hun. Secretly, he wanted to see her topple over but part of him wanted her to rage and yell at Csaba. He wasn't going to miss this.
Arielle briskly stormed down the hallway with Kuba and she caught sight of her brothers chatting together as they leisurely strolled through the large palace halls. She quickly evaded them and passed them up.
Csaba felt a gust of wind brush by his arm and called to his sister which she ignored. Soran also called her name and Arielle kept walking until she was no longer visible once she circled around a large pillar.
"She's still mad at me for ousting her last night," said Soran.
To keep distance, Xena advised that she stay behind with Gabrielle in the city square. If she planned this out correctly then it would lure the slanderous people who put on that wicked display of humiliation last night. She waited, wearing a dark cloak which hovered over her forehead to conceal identity.
Gabrielle wore a similar cloak and stood on the opposite side of the square. She kept looking to Xena for signals but she did as told and walked around the square, keeping an eye out for any suspicious behavior. Many people were whispering about last night and it was hard to ignore the conversations trickling in.
In the center of the square stood a large statue of a winged warrior-like woman on a horse. Gabrielle assumed that the statue was a representation of the late Khagana Jiulu. The people really adored her and she had an idea why. Queen Tomiri was a tyrant to her own people and she could never forget the moment when her head was severed from her body. The Scythians must've celebrated her death for years.
There hadn't been any complaints since Arielle assumed the throne but of course there would be those few who hated their ruler. Not everyone is going to like you. Gabrielle peered back at Xena who gave a wave of her hand as a signal.
She strolled around the large statue and her stomach bubbled with regret. She didn't like this plan and she made sure Xena knew that. A group of soldiers emerged into the square with a cloaked woman whom everyone thought was Arielle.
That poor girl, Gabrielle thought. Xena's plan to find a maid that looked enough like Arielle to walk the streets was a very dangerous idea. Sending in a double for this mission was incredibly risky but by the looks on the Scythians' faces, they were falling for it. They believed the maid was their ruler and parted a path for her and the soldiers.
Gabrielle kept her distance from the soldiers as they escorted the look-alike around the streets. She had her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to strike at any moment. Her eyes lifted to the tall buildings to search for any assassins that might be lurking. Her heart pumped hot blood through her body as she kept close to the terrified maid.
In the distance, Xena began making her way around the square, casually eyeing the people who paid no attention to her. She wasn't one to be stealthy and with her size and ominous attire, being stealthy was far from what she wanted. She wanted to be seen. She wanted everyone to notice her and she knew that the people who had their mind set on destroying Arielle's reputation were here in this square.
A whistling noise caught her attention and she saw an arrow soaring over the crowd's heads. The arrow pierced through the maid's shoulder and she collapsed into a soldier's arms. Xena turned her head in several directions to see where the arrow came from.
The crowd dispersed in panic and women's screams and cries filled the square. Gabrielle quickly pushed through the people angrily. The soldiers formed an enclosed circle around the wounded maid and protected her from another potential attack.
By the time Gabrielle broke free from the panicked Scythians, she spotted Xena on a horse, stolen no doubt, and riding through the square.
"Dammit!" she cursed. "Take her back to the palace," she told the soldiers.
She guessed she was going to have follow Xena on foot which was not a good idea with this many people blocking paths and alleyways. Also, riding a horse wasn't advised with the amount of innocents either. It looked like Xena didn't really care.
"And she says not to be impulsive," she cited.
In one the palace towers, Arielle observed her subjects running around like frantic birds. They fled the area so quickly. Unfortunately, her double was wounded but she knew that was going to happen. She wanted to be out there to help but she was outvoted by three people and if that were her down there, she'd be the one with the arrow in her chest.
She was able to spot Xena riding through the streets from such a high view of the city. She climbed the stairs to stare out of the windows to keep an eye on her grandmother. Another flight of stairs and she was now standing outside at the highest peak of the tower.
Cruel cold winds hit her face and her hair blew violently behind her. She ran to the opposite side of the tower and put a hand over her eyes.
"I can't see her anymore!" she shouted.
Kuba shielded his face with a scarf from the gusts of wind. "Perhaps we should go inside, khagana!" he advised.
"Someone is trying to assassinate me!" she turned to Kuba with wild eyes. "And my crazy grandmother is out there stupidly trying to find the assailant!" she pushed through the strong winds and ran down the spiraling staircase of the tower.
The sun had barely made its mark on the day and so much has happened already. She understood that she had enemies and this was far more than just a Persian army waiting outside the gates of the empire. There were more people who wanted her dead. This was a personal attack.
She met up with the soldiers who were out in the square and immediately went to the servant quarters to check on the girl who stood in her place. She leered over the bed at the maid crying profusely while the arrow splinters were being plucked out of her bloody shoulder wound.
"I'm so sorry," she gripped the maid's hand. "You may have whatever you want!" she said with an assuring smile. "I never wanted any harm to come to you."
The maid swallowed the large lump in her throat and chewed on her lip to distract from the throbbing pain in her shoulder.
Arielle excused herself from the infirmary. She had her back against the wall and felt her stomach doing cartwheels. She was the target. Someone or a group of people, or maybe an entire nation, wanted her dead, but whom?
Kuba flagged her down and she took in a breath to soothe the threat of her stomach rebelling against her. She came to the entrance of the palace and Gabrielle waited but of course she was alone. Arielle scanned the foyer and put a hand on her hip.
She asked the dreaded question, "where's my grandma?"
Gabrielle made a hissing sound with her tongue in between her teeth. She hung her head for a moment and heard Arielle release a loud throaty growl.
"She's still out there, isn't she?" she shook Gabrielle's shoulders. "Isn't she?"
"I tried to follow her! Believe me, I tried, Arielle." She felt her heart was to jump out of her chest the longer she was subjected to Arielle's penetrating glare. "She's not alone. A group of soldiers followed her."
Arielle felt the need to slap every single person in her elite guard for allowing this to happen. The capability of self control was slowly slipping away from her. She was so close to ramming a few heads into the walls.
"She has no right to say that I act without thinking anymore," Arielle's hand came to rest over her fizzling stomach. "People want me dead."
Gabrielle offered a comforting hand to the empress' shoulder. "You're no longer a princess. You aren't operating in the shadows anymore. Everyone knows who you are."
Those words weren't exactly what Arielle needed to hear right now. She wanted someone to placate her and pretend this never happened. She felt like she needed to crawl into a shell and never reappear. Fears of being assassinated occurred to her in the past when she announced her reign as empress but now that it was real, she wanted to hide.
"We can't tell my mother about this," she decided. "This is the last thing she needs right now. Please, don't tell her, Gabrielle."
"I won't but she's going to find out eventually."
"Then keep it a secret for now. I don't want to upset her. Besides, she's probably still with my father anyway," she shuddered at the thought. "Disgusting," she muttered.
Gabrielle's cheeks tinged pink at how Arielle reacted like a child at any mention of her parents together in any form. "I'll send out more men to find Xena."
"Yes, you do that," Arielle bobbed her head and chewed on her fingernail. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
Maneuvering through the crowd wasn't an easy feat but Xena was able to find the archer. He ran across the rooftops throughout the city. Halfway through the chase she realized that the Avar guard was following her. She didn't mind backup usually but for this she wanted to do it alone. The guards would only cause more unnecessary panic.
With ample speed, the archer soared across rooftops and Xena desperately kept trying to keep up with him. She was unable to get a good look at his face. She weaved in and out of the city and now they came to the outskirts towards the countryside. The population was scarce here and the archer had run out of roofs to jump to and from.
The look of panic settled in the archer's eyes as he stared at the Avar guard and Xena below the last building of the city. Xena flipped the hood off her head and drew her blade.
"Are you going to come down?" she shouted from below. "There's nowhere else to run!"
An Avar jostled her arm. "Khanum, we have company."
She followed his finger to the direction he pointed at. There was a group of three men hiding in the shadows behind a huddle of trees planted just outside another apartment building a few yards away. They slowly began to retreat once they realized their cover was blown.
"Bring them to me," she ordered the Avars.
With the horsemen following the hidden assailants, she was able to focus on the head assassin at hand. She pointed the sword up at the cloaked man and smiled. Since he had nowhere to run and hide the archer bit a capsule on his wrist.
Xena's smile withered away as she watched the man foam at the mouth and fall off the roof and land on the ground in front of her with a loud thud. She poked him with the tip of her sword and turned him over onto his back with a hard shove of the sword.
"Well," she sighed, "that's unfortunate."
In all her years as a military leader she wished she could say that she was surprised but nothing really shocked her anymore. She'd seen enough to last a lifetime and a pathetic suicide wasn't the least bit surprising. It was the most cowardly way to exit the world.
She sheathed her sword and the Avars escorted one of the three lurkers. She'd seen the Avars in battle against the Persians and she was quite impressed by their discipline and will to attack by command but to retrieve only one of the assailants instead of three was just embarrassing.
The man was forced to his knees and hood removed from his blonde locks. Xena batted her eyelashes and eyebrows disappeared into her thick fringe bangs.
"Don't I know you?" she inquired with a mischievous look in her eyes.
He resisted in the Avars' grip and glared up at Xena.
"You were in that tavern," she hopped down off the horse. "I think you and I had a connection back there," she bent over and winked.
"Blutige sau," he spat.
Xena lifted a brow at his insult. It sounded far too familiar to ignore. She'd heard that tongue before several times throughout her life and she had one too close to home now.
"Are you a Goth?" she asked and the man sneered. "Gepid?"
"Neither!"
She didn't have time to play interrogator with this foreigner as much as she wanted to. He would serve a better purpose being present in the palace. Maybe, if she was super lucky, she would get to interrogate him on her own but with the way her luck was going, she probably wasn't going to come anywhere close to this man once he was in Arielle's hands.
Nousha stood in front of a mirror in the large suite she was give upon arrival yesterday. She brought her essential clothing as she knew she wasn't going to stay here long. The palace was quite large and she was grateful for that. The Adame in Balaam wasn't even half the size of this place so it was easy to avoid everyone.
She combed her dark hair and then coiled it into a low bun that rested against the nape of her neck. She inserted a few pins into the large mound of hair and then gently placed a veil over her head and smoothed the wrinkles out of the fabric.
A couple of raps at the door caused her to jump. She turned with a furrowed brow, almost annoyed that her morning was being interrupted. She wasn't expecting anyone to come to her room and since the other Persian women were probably asleep due to being late risers, she didn't want any guests coming to invade her space.
She made sure her dress was buttoned and approached the door. "Who is it?"
"King Csaba."
Her eyes widened and she swung the door open with a nervous grin. Csaba stood in the hallway, towering over her. Instead of inviting him inside, she insisted on holding onto the door and blocked the doorway.
Csaba was very shocked to see how small this woman was. He expected her to be a bit more menacing looking but she appeared to be very sweet. She had to be shorter than Gabrielle. In fact, he was positive his smallest sons were almost as tall as she. He wondered how such a small woman could impose such a negative impact on his family. Dynamite often comes in small packages.
"Nousha, is it?" he asked politely.
"Yes and you are Anastasia Khatun's son," she scanned his trim physique and forced a smile. "What brings you to my room so early in the morning?"
He observed how standoffish she was being by her body language. He didn't want to rile her or stir up any unwanted emotions but he really needed to talk to her and he preferred not to do it in the hallway.
"I wanted to speak to you about my mother."
Nousha tried her best not to show any resentment and her eyebrow arched. She responded coolly. "Oh?"
"It's come to my attention that you've been very rude to my mother," he stated and saw her lip twitch. "I won't tolerate anyone being rude to my mother or talking back to her. I realize that you don't like us and that's fine but I'd appreciate if you kept your opinions to yourself."
Nousha's eyebrows kept rising up close to her hairline. Her eyes were wide and smile now faded into a gape. Her fingers gripped the door handle firmly causing her knuckles to turn white. She took a moment to calm her inner self and relaxed her tense shoulders.
"I will keep that in mind."
He nodded and noticed the tension across her features. It was so obvious that she hated his family so much that she was willing to disrespect his mother to get her point across. No doubt the concubines loved her.
"I…think you should learn to get along with my family," he advised her. "We will be seeing a lot of each other from here on out."
Nousha laughed softly. "I don't think so. Once the Shah is released from prison I will go back to Persia. This arrangement is temporary."
Oh, she really doesn't know, Csaba inwardly snickered. "Your son is courting my sister," he said with a big smile, sure to cause a surge of rage from the woman. "I haven't really had a lot of conversation with Xerxes but he seems like a nice man. I look forward to meeting him again. Good day to you, Nousha."
She stood in the doorway with flushed cheeks after he made his way down the corridor. She closed the door quietly and then ripped the veil off her head and threw it at the wall. A million thoughts entered her mind. Her son was courting Arielle? How was this not made aware to her? How long had he been keeping this from her? Was he ever going to tell her? Was she the only oblivious one in this Hun palace?
As her blood coursed through her veins and her cheeks radiated from the idea of her son stating an official courtship with the Hun woman, Nousha felt that she wanted to break something. No, she couldn't do that. She'd only receive another lecture from Anastasia's son.
She warned him to stay away from Arielle several times. He always listened to her before so why should this time be any different? He was straying from his customs and traditions. He already had a foot in the door with the Huns and now he was slowly being indoctrinated into one of the noblest families in the entire empire.
She felt her son slipping away from her. "Xerxes, peshr a'zeezm," she slipped her upper lip in between her teeth.
With butterflies in her stomach, Gabrielle paced around the foyer waiting for news to surface. She got a lot of stares from the maids passing by and they were a bit afraid to approach her. The early morning had long passed and it'd been a couple of hours since she sent out the soldiers.
Why was this taking so long? She sought to quell her nerves by whacking a small dagger against her palms. She wasn't intent on using it of course but it was the only thing stopping her from ripping the cuticles off her fingers. It was a bad habit that she picked up recently.
"This is what she does to me," she wagged her head. "She likes to torture me."
"Gabrielle!"
She stopped in her tracks and felt a weight lift off her shoulders. "Xena! Where have you been?" she ran to her wife and tucked the dagger in her belt. "Oh, I see you've brought a guest," she pointed to the blonde man who was being carried in.
Xena took her gloves off and smacked her wife's shoulder with the leather gloves. Gabrielle flinched and gave her a surprised stare. "Were you going to send the entire army to look for me?"
A trail of soldiers entered the palace and Gabrielle's cheeks reddened.
"Oh…well I didn't know where you were! I thought something might've happened to you."
"This isn't the first time I've tracked down anyone," Xena felt only a little bit insulted but inside she was amused and grateful that Gabrielle thought to have her looked after. "This man isn't the archer. That one killed himself," she said casually.
Gabrielle's jaw dropped. "He what?"
"Poison," she explained with an indifferent look about her. "But this one was working with the archer. He's one of the men we saw in the tavern."
"Ah you mean the tavern where you drank illegal wine," Gabrielle wagged her finger.
"Uh huh, that's the one…" Xena admitted sheepishly then waved her hand to the soldiers. "I'm going to have him interrogated. Is Arielle up to doing that or shall I?"
Gabrielle put a hand on the back of her clammy neck. "We could go ask her. She's in her bedroom. I think she's a bit shaken up since that double of hers was shot."
"I understand how that feels," said Xena with a soft voice. "I was targeted all my life. Luckily, most of those people who wanted me dead are six feet under," she teased and nudged Gabrielle's arm playfully.
"Xena, try to be a little more sensitive. She's very paranoid."
"I'm sensitive!" she retorted. By the look on Gabrielle's face she knew she wasn't going to win this. "Okay, I'll do the interrogation then," she decided and saw relief cross her wife's face. "I'm going to need some hot pokers."
Gabrielle slapped her spouse's arm a bit too hard than she initially wanted to.
"No to the hot pokers then. Got it." Xena nodded and licked her dry lips. "Whips?"
"Xena…"
"You know what? You aren't even going to be in the room. I'll use whatever I please during the interrogation to make him talk." She shoved her gloves into Gabrielle's chest. "If anyone asks where I am, just say I'm playing chess!" she sauntered down the hall towards the weapons room.
Gabrielle grunted. "You hate chess!"