The Queen's Tradition
Chapter 12
Author's notes: I still own nothing, but this has certainly been an experience for me. Thank you all for reading and staying engaged. It's not quite over yet.
Dasani and his brother run towards the queen's hut. His brother still holds the dagger he used in the jail cell. The guards outside the Queen's hut yell for them to stop. They are drawing their swords but the attackers are quicker. His brother leaps at one guard, while Dasani throws the dagger at the other guard. Dasani picks up the sword from the Amazon that he attacked and begins to make his way inside Gabrielle's hut.
Sam had heard the guards, stood up and peered out the window. Seeing Dasani and his brother approaching, she looks around the living quarters, sees the Queen's Sais, discards her sling, picks the Sais up and heads outside. As she hits the front porch, she sees a young Amazon running toward the commotion, she yells at the youngster to find Xena and Ephiny in the council hut and alert everyone she can on her way. She jumps off the porch making her way towards Dasani's brother as he is picking up the discarded sword of the guard he has just knocked unconscious, he is about plunge the sword into the downed Amazon when he feels Sam has dive at him, both crashing to the ground.
They are both trying to get back to their feet as arms and fists are flying, her attacker is able to get to his feet before Sam and strikes down the sword at Sam's head. She blocks the downward blow with her injured arm, as she raised the Sai up to block the attack, she feels her stitches popping, she brings up her other arm to support the strength of her attacker and glances over his shoulder to see Dasani entering the Queen's hut, he stops and glares at her. Dasani's brother sees Sam is distracted and slams the hilt of the sword into her face, cutting open her lip and dazing Sam. She falls back, but is able to wrap her legs around her attacker and bring him down with her. They begin to wrestle, trading punches as they roll around. They keep this up for some time until Sam hears the curdling scream of the Queen. With her attacker occupying the high ground, Sam maneuvers the Sai so that the hilt is facing forward and catches her attacker in the side of the head, then flips the Sai around and drives it down onto his back, while she brings her injured arm up, driving that Sai into his chest. She pushes her attacker off of her, gets up and stumbles and sways a tad as she races into the hut.
Dasani enters the hut and drags the tip of the sword along the floor as he approaches the master bedroom. He stands over the very still Queen, glances out the window and sees that his brother is handling the Princess, assuming his brother will finish off the Princess shortly.
"I'll admit, you were much better of an opponent then I was expecting, but in the end, I am accomplishing what I set out to do." He raises the sword above his.
"Give my regards to the Princess" and brings the sword down. Gabrielle waiting for the right moment, rolls to her left and onto her injured shoulder, then lunges at Dasani with the dagger they keep nearby. Very thankful that some of Xena's old habits didn't die when they moved into the Amazon Village. Gabrielle is able to slam herself into Dasani and manages to plunge her dagger into his side. She screams out as she attacks him. They both crash to the ground, Gabrielle on top, she rises up on her knees and begins to knee her attacker in the ribs, she holds up slightly when she hears one crack. With her attacker momentarily stunned, she begins to stand to try and escape the room, her attacker recovers quicker than she expected and he thrust his sword towards Gabrielle, she jumps to avoid the strike but with the limited space and her new and existing injuries, she is only partially able to get away and catches part of the sword on her side. She stumbles and lands on her injured shoulder. Stunned from the fall and near miss, Dasani now has the advantage. He stands and kicks Gabrielle in the ribs, then bends down and picks her up by her shoulders and slams her whole body into the wall. With his arms on her shoulders pinning her to the wall, the fatigue, the new injuries, the old injuries, she can do little but look her attacker in the eyes.
"I owe you this" he says and slams his head into hers, creating a cut above her eye and all but rendering Gabrielle unconscious. Just as she is about to pass out, she sees Sam in the door way. Sam's eyes are wild, Gabrielle tries to shake her head no as she knows exactly what Sam plans on doing. Sam doesn't see this or doesn't care and rushes toward them. She slams herself into the group, Gabrielle is smashed again, her head slamming against the wall, and she crumples to the floor.
Dasani is hunched over on his knees, dazed and tries to turn. Sam remained standing. She takes in the still form of her mom on the floor, the blood and mess and looks at Dasani as he turns sword in hand. She screams and drives her Sai into him, but he is able to get one last strike in, plunging his sword into her shoulder as Sam drives her Sai into his side. Dasani slumps back, blood trickling out his mouth. Sam stumbles back, falling on the floor. She tries to stand so she can get help, but can't quite make her body respond, letting out a whimper. Gabrielle's eyes open, she sees Sam lying on the floor, she sits mostly up, and begins to crawl/scoot herself towards her daughter. She looks at Sam and what appears to be a new sword wound in her shoulder, she grabs a cloth and begins to apply pressure.
"Sam, we need to keep pressure on this. I need to get you help but I can't carry you out, I need you to stand." Sam eyes are unfocused, she is in shock. She thinks she needs to stand, but is unsure where that thought came from. Gabrielle uses Sam's injured hand to continue to put pressure on her wound. Sam begins to stand up with Gabrielle's help. Gabrielle makes sure Sam is on her right side, her left arm/shoulder are once again dislocated and bleeding. As Gabrielle goes to stand fully up, the movement pulls at the gash on her side, exploding pain throughout her, buckling her knees, she falls back onto the bed, which is the only reason it didn't fully bring her to her knees. The arm supporting Sam instinctively latches onto Sam for support, the movement also pulling Sam down as well. The jolt of her knees hitting the ground snaps Sam out of her trance. It takes her a second to realize what happened, her head snaps to the left to the noises that her mom is making. She sees the Queen hunched over, grabbing her right side, breathing very heavily. She reaches towards her, "Mom, hey, what are you doing"
"Sam I have to get you out of here, we have to get you help, see if we are under attack." Gabrielle begins to stand herself and Sam up, this time she doesn't stand all the way up. As Sam is talking,
"Mom, we don't need to go anywhere," Gabrielle has managed to put Sam's arm around her shoulders, she has her hand around Sam's waist and begins to lead them both outside.
"We don't know the extent of the attack, or if they need our help, or" Gabrielle stumbles a little. Blood is pouring from her shoulder, trickling down her face from the head butt she received, and dripping from her side. Sam feels her mom stumble and grabs hold, she is still unsure why they need to get outside, but she knows to not question the Queen.
Both Sam and Gabrielle limp, scoot, and stumble outside. As they emerge from the door way onto the porch, they look up and see Amazon's running, weapons drawn towards them, then see a few Amazons tending to the two Amazons guards on the ground. Another Amazon has her sword pointed at Dasani's brother who is dead on the ground. Ephiny and Xena are not far behind the crowd, having been further away in the council hut when the alarm was sounded. The whole attack from Dasani and his brother lasted maybe a quarter of a candle mark. Gabrielle starts to call for a healer to tend to the princess, she falls to her knees, she is unsure why no one is following her orders to get Sam help. Sam kneels down next to her mom,
"Mom, you need them to look after you, hades I don't even know how you are this upright." Sam has tears in her eyes. Gabrielle cups her hand around Sam's cheek.
"I need to make sure you are fine, that you are safe, then the Nation is safe, then they can look after me."
"I get you need to prove to yourself you deserve to be Queen, but look at everyone, no one doubts you as Queen, they respect you and more importantly they believe you are meant to be their Queen." Gabrielle looks up and over to her Amazons. Hearing Sam's words, they all knelt and salute their Queen.
"They are not doing this because they are duty bound, they believe it within the very debts of their being that you are Artemis chosen, you are their Queen." Gabrielle looks out, she searches for anyone who disagrees with Sam, but she only sees concern and love from everyone. She feels Xena approach, then sees her also kneel before her, part as her Champion, partly to offer her support.
"Bri, let me take care of you, let your Nation take care of you. You protected us, now it is our turn to protect you." As Xena's words penetrate Gabrielle's mind, the last of her insecurities she had carried with her begin to falter, and with that so does her strength. She reaches and simply nods as she collapses into her soulmate. The briefly quiet scene quickly changes into a fury of action, the healer approaches the Queen and Xena, Mariska attends to Sam, Ephiny yells out orders to get the guards taken care of, get the Queen's hut cleaned up, and dispose of Dasani and his brother.