I know this chapter is supposed to be serious, but I couldn't help but laugh while writing this lol.
Chapter 18 –Black Opium
Gabrielle walked throughout the entire city of Balaam searching for Xena, but after an hour or two walking around she was alone. She didn't understand why Xena disappeared and told her to take the day off, which probably meant something was wrong or something awful might have happened to her or someone else.
She wrapped the coat she wore around herself and decided to go to their yurt because it was probably too late in the evening to see Anastasia again. Not to mention, it was freezing outside and Gabrielle realized that she really hated snow. A lot. She missed living in Pannonia because it was never this cold and there was never this much snow. Ever.
As she approached the yurt on the far side of Balaam she heard someone laughing. No –two people laughing and one of those people was Xena. Gabrielle went inside of the yurt, covered in snow, flushed cheeks and extremely irritated. She walked all over the city to find Xena and even checked the yurt before she went off on her excursion but no one was here. Well, now Xena was inside, warm and obviously unharmed.
Xena spotted Gabrielle standing by the entrance and immediately got off the floor, heading over to her consort. The blonde threw her cloak down on a chair and shook her hair to rid of the left over snowflakes. "Gabrielle..." Xena spoke in a soft voice. "Where were you?"
Gabrielle spun around and looked into Xena's eyes. "No, where were you?!" she shoved her lightly. "I've been looking all over the place for you for two hours!" she growled and then saw Xena smiling. "What are you doing? Who else is here?" she asked suspiciously.
With no answer, Gabrielle pushed her aside and walked into the bedroom. There she found Dengizich sitting on the floor smoking out of that incessant water pipe that he obviously liked now. She waft the smoke out of her face and frowned. The Hun prince lifted his head and immediately set the hose down, blowing smoke out of his mouth.
"What..are...you doing here, Dengi?" she asked and he shrugged his shoulders, remaining silent. That scent of the sweet smelling opium was so strong and she was sure that the place was going to smell of it for days. She spun around and saw Xena standing in the doorway of their room.
"Xena. Are you smoking this?" Gabrielle asked and the commander's eyes wandered, her smile no longer present. "You've got to be joking." She growled at Dengi and he stifled his laughter. "This is not funny!"
He shook his head. "No, no. Of course not, no." he lowered his eyes but still continued to smoke.
"Stop smoking that!" Gabrielle yelled and he coughed, trying to suppress the smoke he inhaled into his lungs. "Xena, can I have a word with you?" she turned and Xena smiled at her. "Dengi, get out of here."
He stood up and smiled over at Xena then left the room. Gabrielle folded her arms, glaring at the warrior whom was avoiding eye contact with her. She grabbed her arm and pushed Xena onto the bed. She then began pacing back and forth, not sure how to begin.
"This is not like you, Xena," she began. "I don't know why you decided to do this."
"Gabrielle..." Xena sighed.
"Xena, since when do you smoke opiates? And why did you tell me to leave earlier today? What did you do? What is going on with you?" she stopped and stared at the warrior.
Xena pursed her lips and her eyes looked to the floor. "I...wanted to be alone." She lied again.
"Alone? Alone with Dengi?" she asked in disbelief and Xena kept smiling. She rolled her eyes and her lip curled in disgust. "Xena, you of all people, don't like drugs. I don't understand why you did this and why did you lie to me?"
Lie. Did she say lie? Xena felt her stomach tighten and then Gabrielle continued talking. "If you wanted to be alone and away from me why didn't you just say so?" she asked and Xena let out a sigh of relief inwardly. Oh, that lie, Xena thought, not the other one.
"I...didn't want to hurt your feelings," she said and couldn't wipe the smile off her face.
"Can you stop smiling?" the blonde asked and Xena put her hand over her mouth, covering her grin that she couldn't seem to get rid of. "It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if you told me you wanted to be alone. But since you lied to me, you did hurt my feelings. And why are you smoking this crap?" she snarled at the water pipe on the floor. She was tempted to knock it over but that probably wouldn't end very well and probably set the place on fire. Better not.
Xena lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She felt like her head was swimming or that she was in constant motion even when at rest. "I...lied to you," she admitted. "I didn't want to be...alone..."
Gabrielle slapped her forehead. "Then what the hell are you doing?! Ignoring me? You know, Anastasia tried her dress on today and she wanted you to be there but I see you and Dengi just had a great time together."
"Anastasia..." Xena's voice soft and she rose off the bed, her eyes widening, trying to get a handle on things. She focused her vision on Gabrielle in front of her.
"Yeah. You remember her, right? Your daughter." Gabrielle folded her arms and Xena frowned, creasing her eyebrows together as she sat in silence. "Sorry, I'm just frustrated." She said and then turned to her friend, her lover, her consort, her partner. "Why am I apologizing to you?" she realized and Xena lifted her eyes. "You lied to me. You got extremely high. And now you're lying to me again!" she shoved the brunette's shoulder.
"I'm sorry..." Xena admitted softly and rubbed her shoulder. So sore. Everything on her body felt so sore and fragile right now. Her eyes lingered over to the water pipe and she cocked her head. Reaching over she grabbed the bag of opium that Dengi brought with him. She grabbed the small pods, rubbing it in between her fingers. The crushed flower in her hand brought a sweet smell filing the air.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Are you going to smoke more of that?" she asked bitterly.
"No..." Xena stood and smiled faintly. "We can use this, Gabrielle," she turned to her sour friend and then lowered her eyes. "We can put this in the Romans' food supply."
"So, let me get this straight. You want to get all of the Romans extremely high? What purpose would that serve?" she asked.
The commander gripped Gabrielle's arms, her pupils dilated and her cheeks flushed. "Gabrielle..." the smile on her lips grew, "we can kill Zeno with this."
"Xena. That's a crazy idea." The blonde adviser folded her arms, staring up at her partner's large glossy eyes.
"But it will work," Xena smiled from ear to ear. "Trust me."
"Xena, I'm not trusting you with anything. You're not acting like yourself." She said and saw the warrior's head dip. "Listen, when you're ready to talk to me, I'll be there to listen. But I'm going to go stay with Kreka." A decision she did not want to make as the two often sat in silence with one another when they were alone. But right now, she didn't want to be near Xena.
As Xena watched Gabrielle leave she couldn't help but feel upset at herself. She didn't want to tell Gabrielle what happened in that interrogation room and she definitely didn't want her to see what was happening in this bedroom either. But now, Gabrielle didn't trust her at the moment.
She sat down on the floor and leaned her back against the bed. She crushed the opiates in between her fingers, the powdered dusting the rug lightly. Poison the Roman food and water supply. She had never done that before, but it would be easy to do if they were in Troy. She needed to be as close to Constantinople as possible to carry this plan out. She knew Gabrielle wasn't going to agree with her but she hoped that tomorrow when she woke up, her idea didn't sound as crazy as she thought.
Dengi came back to the bedroom once he saw Gabrielle leave. He eyed Xena sitting on the floor beside the water pipe. "So...what happened?" he asked, trying to stop himself from smiling.
She lifted her head and frowned. Still feeling the effects of the opium she tried her best to sober herself up enough to ask him a question. "Dengi...where did you get this?" she held the bag of opiates in her hand.
"Don't you know? This place is loaded with poppy fields. No wonder these people never start wars with anyone. They're always in a good mood," he laughed and she raised an eyebrow. "So, are we going to smoke the rest of this or what?" he smirked.
Xena shook her head and stood. "Drugs are bad, Dengi."
He scoffed, "you just smoked this with me!"
"That is beside the point..." she rubbed her aching head. "I think I'll go to sleep..." suddenly feeling incredibly tired.
"So...can I take this back to my yurt or..." he said and looked over to see Xena asleep on the floor. He smirked and lifted her up in his arms and set her on the bed gently.
Anastasia brought Navaz to her bedroom and sat him down in a chair. She sat opposite him and he smiled warmly at her. Now that she finally had him alone she had the chance to talk to him about what she discussed with her mother. But now that she was sitting with him, she didn't know where to start.
"Navaz," she said and he leaned forward grabbing her hand. She tensed and then exhaled heavily. "I have something to tell you."
He frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. "Are you alright? Did something happen while I was gone? Is the baby –"
"No!" she said firmly and then smiled. "I'm fine, we're both fine. Navaz, just listen to me." She said and he arched an eyebrow, staring seriously at her. "I want to say thank you for welcoming my family into your home and thank you for caring so much about me."
A smile crossed his face. "You're my wife, Anastasia. I told you I would do anything for you."
Anything. Of course. "I want you to be my friend, not just my husband."
"Friend?" he frowned confusedly.
"Yeah. I want us to work together. Learn more about each other because I...like you."
He nodded. "I like you too," he gripped her hand tighter.
She sighed and rubbed her temple. "I'm really bad at this." Must get this from my mother, she guessed. She gazed into his dark eyes and saw he was being very patient with her. Did she even deserve someone like this, she wondered? "What I'm trying to say is...I...I..."
He chuckled lightly. "I love you too," he said and her mouth gaped.
"You do?" she asked, miffed by his sudden outburst.
He grinned and kissed her hand. "Yes, I do. My mother told me to tell you."
She laughed. "My mother told me to tell you too!" she said and he kept staring at her. "Oh, right. I love you too." She smiled, her cheeks flushing lightly. He leaned in closer to her and kissed her on the lips gingerly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling softly as their lips were locked.
"Gross!" Csaba walked in and Anastasia pulled away, seeing her son in the doorway. She blushed and wiped the corners of her mouth.
Navaz smirked and stood. "What is it Csaba?" he asked.
The teenage boy crinkled his nose at the two. He saw more than he needed to for sure. "Um, Gabrielle wants to talk to my mother."
Anastasia frowned and stood from her seat. "Why? At this hour?"
"It's about grandma," he said and her eyes narrowed. She turned to Navaz and he nudged his head to the doorway. She quickly left the room and Csaba eyed the king curiously. "You love my mother, don't you?" he asked.
The king nodded. "Yes..."
The boy eyed him and slowly backed away out of the room. "I'm watching you," he said then smiled and ran down the hallway.
Anastasia found Gabrielle in the middle of the foyer. "Gabrielle!" she called out and the blonde turned around. "What's going on?"
Gabrielle folded her arms. "I found your mother after searching for two hours!" she grumbled, still annoyed at that. "She was in the yurt smoking opium with Dengi."
Ana gasped. "My mother? Come on, Gabrielle."
"I'm serious. Both of them were high out of their minds. I don't know what possessed her to do that but this is the second time I've seen Dengi smoking that crap. Where is he getting it?"
She shook her head and still couldn't get over the idea of her mother smoking opiates, especially with Dengi. Navaz came to see what the trouble was and wrapped an arm around her waist, startling her a bit.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"Gabrielle found my mother and Dengi smoking opium together. She said that Dengi's done this before."
The king frowned. "We have a lot of opium in the mountains. It's common for people to use the flower for many things."
Anastasia spun around with vehemence in her blue eyes. "You mean, you people smoke this?"
He nodded. "A lot of people in Balaam do."
"Do you?" Gabrielle asked him.
"Not anymore. It's highly addictive." He said and then his wife punched him in the chest. He groaned and glared at her. "What was that for?!" he griped as he rubbed the sore spot on his chest.
"When did you do this? How come I didn't know about this?!" she hissed.
He eyed her, now feeling a bit nervous. Gabrielle was also glaring at him. Too many women in this place, he realized. "A...few months ago..."
She gasped. "Navaz!" she hit him again and he winced. "Why would you do that!" she shoved him into the wall and Gabrielle's eyes widened and she took a step back. "We have a baby on the way! And you just –just!" she gasped when she felt a twinge of pain from her pelvis. She gripped his shoulder and cradled her abdomen.
He frowned worriedly and grabbed her arm. "Anastasia!" he held onto her tightly and she frowned, looking into his eyes.
She slapped his hand away from her. "Don't touch me!" she hissed then stood upright, placing a hand on her lower back, supporting her heavy body. She narrowed her eyes then walked off without saying another word.
Gabrielle folded her arms and walked up to the concerned king. "She'll be fine. So, tell me about this opium problem."
Early the next morning Gabrielle stood over Xena while she slept peacefully in their bed. Anastasia walked into the room and leered over her mother with a frown on her face. She then grabbed a pillow and smacked her mother's face.
"Get up!" she yelled. Xena groaned and her eyes fluttered open to see her daughter and consort standing over. "Smoking opium with Dengi." she said and Xena darted her eyes towards Gabrielle. "Don't look at her! I'm talking to you!" Anastasia yelled and Xena looked at her irate daughter.
Xena scoffed. "Who is the parent here? Not you." She rolled out of bed and held her throbbing head.
Anastasia gasped. "You don't get to lecture me! Mother what the hell were you thinking? What possessed you to do this?" she asked. "Sikme," she muttered.
Xena's eyes widened in shock and Gabrielle bit her bottom lip. She stood from the bed and spun around to her daughter. "Ne cüretle!" she yelled and Gabrielle's mouth gaped. She took a couple of steps backward as the two stood, glaring at each other with the same awful expression on their faces.
"Sen delisin! Neden bunu yaptın? sigara içen afyon!" Ana folded her arms and Xena's nostrils flared.
Gabrielle saw Xena about to blow up and she grabbed her arm, pulling her away. "Okay...that's enough you two..." she stared into Xena's eyes that were firmly planted on Anastasia. "She's right though, Xena. Why did you do that?" she asked.
"I had my reasons at the time..."
Ana rolled her eyes. "Saçmalık!"
"One more foul word out of your mouth, Anastasia and I will –"
"You'll what, mother?" the young queen raised her eyebrow. "Gabrielle arkasına saklanma," she smirked.
Gabrielle sighed heavily and really hated it when these two began arguing like this. Spewing out sentences in their own language. After all the years she spent with these people she never completely learned the language but she understood a few words here and there.
"I am not hiding behind Gabrielle," Xena folded her arms defiantly.
"Can you two stop! Both of you!" Gabrielle growled and both women kept glaring at one another. "I spoke with Navaz. There's opium all over the mountains. Xena, do you remember what you said about poisoning the Romans' food and water supply yesterday?"
Xena eyed her partner. "Of course I remember. I wasn't that out of it." She eyed her daughter rolling her eyes.
"He agreed to your plan." She said.
Anastasia groaned and threw her hands in the air. "Inanilmaz! Unbelievable!" she turned and stormed out of the yurt, wrapping her fur coat around herself. Xena frowned as her daughter left and Gabrielle quirked her mouth.
"She's going to make herself go into labor if she keeps this up," Gabrielle remarked.
Xena lowered her eyes and plopped down onto the bed, massaging her temples. "Why...did you tell her?"
Gabrielle folded her arms. "Excuse me?"
"Why did you tell Anastasia?" Xena groaned. "She doesn't need any more stress in her life."
"Because you're her mother, Xena! And you're being so...so...not yourself. I can't believe you did this. What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing!" Xena stood and felt her headache grow stronger. She hissed and walked over to get some much needed water.
Gabrielle, growing more and more frustrated, she grabbed hold of the warrior's arm and spun her around. "Stop lying to me!" she yelled and Xena's mouth parted. "We're best friends, Xena. We tell each other everything. You're lying to me about something. Just tell me what it is."
Xena sighed and wrapped one arm around herself. "I killed that Magyar," she said.
"You...w –what?" the blonde's mouth gaped.
"I told you that he submitted to us but he didn't. I killed him." She felt relieved saying that aloud but now she saw the malice in Gabrielle's eyes. "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? Lying to my face about it? Or sorry that you're telling me now? Or maybe you're sorry that you kept it to yourself and decided to do some drugs with Dengi to make yourself feel better. OR, are you sorry that you got caught?"
Xena felt more embarrassed now than she ever had in a very long time. "For everything. I'm sorry for everything."
"I can't believe you lied to me." Gabrielle wagged her head. "I'm not mad at you for killing the Magyar, I'm mad that you lied to me. You deliberately lied to me! And you've upset everyone else because of your actions. How could you do this to me?" she scoffed then walked off.
"Gabrielle!" Xena called out and it was too late, she was already gone. "Damn it."
Anastasia pushed the doors open of the Adame and stormed inside, picking up her dress. Navaz turned at the sight of her walking briskly down the foyer, covered in a light blanket of snow. "Ana..." he said and she walked by him, rounding the corner. "I'll be right back," he whispered to Zolten.
"Anastasia!" he yelled and she rounded another corner, ignoring him. "Hanim!" he said in a firmer tone yet she did not stop. "Anastasia! Stop!" he said and she finally halted. He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder gently. "Finally..." he smiled and her upper lip quivered as she snarled. "Please, Anastasia, I'm very sorry. Will you forgive me? Please?"
"No." She turned and walked off. He groaned and ran in front of her. She gasped and tried to side step him but he blocked her way. "Navaz...get out of my way..." she warned in a calm voice.
He folded his arms. "I want to talk to you."
"And I want you to move. So, move." She said and he wouldn't budge from his spot. "Get out of my way!" she hissed and he creased his eyebrows. She inhaled deeply and leaned her hand on the wall. A sharp pain in her lower abdomen struck again, she shut her eyes and Navaz relaxed his stance, now worried about her. He touched her shoulder and she waft his hand away.
Tuya heard the two arguing and rounded a corner. She saw her son and his wife bent over, leaning against the wall. They were still going back and forth, arguing. She frowned and walked over to them both. "Navaz!"
The king straightened himself out and took a step back from his wife. "Mother..."
Tuya grabbed onto Anastasia's arm, aiding her. "Why are you two arguing?"
"Because, she won't listen to me!"
Ana spun around and cast him a malicious glare. "You are the one who isn't listening!" she spat and then cringed, gripping onto Tuya's arm as another wave of pain coursed through her body.
Navaz folded his arms and his mother frowned at him. He immediately looked away, avoiding her harsh glare. "You shouldn't being arguing with your wife. Not when the baby is due in less than a month." She said and he groaned under his breath.
"Well, it's not my fault," he retorted.
"Khushnavaz!" his mother yelled and he tensed at her loud voice. "Enough." She said and he scoffed then marched down the hallway, leaving his wife in the hands of his mother.
He stormed into his office inside of his quarters and slammed the door. "We need to have words," Xena sat at his desk. He gasped.
"Holy shit, Xena." He breathed heavily. "What are you doing in here? How did you get in?" he eyed all the doors and windows closed.
"Your guards aren't very good at their jobs," she smiled and stood, walking around to the front of the desk. "Plus, I can go wherever I want in this place." She smirked. "Now, about this opium."
He shook his head. "I'm not talking about this right now." He took off his cloak and threw it on a nearby chair.
"But we have to!"
"No, we don't. I just had a huge argument with Anastasia last night and right now." He sat down and ran his fingers through his short dark hair.
She frowned and folded her arms. "You had a fight?" she asked and he nodded. "Where is she now?"
"With my mother," he ran his hands across his face. "I shouldn't have yelled at her."
Xena's eyes enlarged. "You yelled at her?"
He regrettably looked into her furious eyes. "It's my fault." He admitted and Xena raised an eyebrow. "She won't talk to me! I apologized already! I said I was sorry so many times but she keeps ignoring me. I don't want to upset her anymore than I already have and she started having those pains again and I just –"
"What did you do?!" she grabbed his collar and he pulled his face away from her.
"I...I told her that I used to smoke opium but stopped two months ago."
"You what?!" she pushed him in the chair and he fell backward on his back.
He growled and rose to his elbows. "May I remind you that I am still a king, Xena."
She smiled. "I don't care if you are a king, Navaz. I told the same thing to Attila and I'm still alive, aren't I?" she stomped her boot on his chest. "Why would you lie to my daughter? Don't make me lose my faith and trust in you, Navaz."
"You smoked opium last night," he reminded her.
"That was...an exception, but you apparently did this on the daily." She pressed her heel into his chest and he groaned. "You aren't going to keep smoking that shit around my grandchild are you?"
"No..." he croaked and grabbed her boot. "Get off me!" he demanded and she took her foot off his chest.
"Listen, Navaz. I know this is your first child and I'm going to say what I told Csaba's father a long time ago: this isn't about you anymore. You don't understand that now but you will." She said and he lowered his eyes, feeling embarrassed and ashamed of himself.
She grabbed his hand to aid him to his feet. He rubbed his chest and figured that he was going to have a bruise there. Two women always harming him. Why the chest, though? "What should I do?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Go talk to her. Apologize." She said and then realized she needed to find Gabrielle and talk to her as well.
Navaz nodded. "Alright..."
"Navaz," she called and he turned around. "Where are the poppy fields?"
Emperor Zeno read over the declaration sent by the Persian brothers. His governor, Anastasius stood in front of him waiting for his response. "The Huns took the money, right?" he asked and the governor nodded. "Good. We don't have to worry about Navaz invading Persian territory for awhile."
Anastasius fidgeted with his thumbs behind his back. "What of Xena? Are you not worried she will do something sir?" he asked.
The emperor grinned. "Ah, Xena. She always keeps me on my toes as she does with everyone else. I admire her spirit. It seems she is like a ghost that has come back from the dead! And Gabrielle, my beloved Consul has betrayed me. I knew she was friends with the Huns, but I thought she would have forgotten about them now."
Anastasius averted his eyes elsewhere. "Sir," he began and Zeno lifted his chin. "Your Consul is like family to those Pannonian Huns. You must have not read her file thoroughly."
Zeno frowned. "Are you undermining my authority, Anastasius?"
"No, emperor!"
"I thought so. I am not incompetent like my predecessor, Theodosius. I will wipe those Huns off the face of the earth! Have Odoacer's men arrived in Constantinople yet? He is taking too long to respond. This is a very important war."
The governor cleared his throat. "The Western Romans are on their way by ship as we speak. According to my calculations, they should be here within the week. Will that be enough time to train them for the war?" he asked. He hoped that Xena and Gabrielle would hurry and overthrow this bastard, but he had nothing. He needed to write to Anastasia, but he was now at the beck and call of Zeno recently.
"Romans are fine warriors, governor. I will have plenty of time to train them. Get me information on the Bulgur Huns. I wish to speak with Basil, the new Bey of Pannonia."
Anastasius bowed his head. "Right away, sir."
Zeno's adviser stepped forward. "Sir, have you not heard the news?" he said and Anastasius paused as he was about to leave.
The emperor frowned. "What are you talking about, Selan?"
"Basil is dead. The youngest of Attila's sons now has Pannonia in his grasp. Xena was spotted in Pannonia not too long ago. She seized the territory." Selan said.
Zeno growled and threw his chalice of wine. "Son of a bitch!" he roared. "I want all of my men to raid Pannonia! Immediately!"
Anastasius' face paled. He needed to warn Xena and the others and quickly. "Yes, of course, your majesty." He nodded then marched out of the room.
"Hun swine," Zeno muttered. "Get more wine!" he yelled at his servants.
Xena stood in the middle of the poppy field and saw Gabrielle coming towards her. The knots in her stomach tightened and she couldn't bear to look at her. Not now. It was too embarrassing so she averted her gaze to the huge poppy field in front of her.
Gabrielle came up beside Xena and folded her arms, shivering slightly. "Hey."
"Hey," Xena said curtly.
Silence.
"Gabrielle, I...I'm sorry I lied to you. I didn't want you to be upset with me but I guess you already are anyway."
The blonde half smiled. "I would have forgiven you, Xena, but you lied. We never lie to each other. We're supposed to work together and you worked against me."
"I know. I made a mistake." Xena turned to her lover with glossy eyes. "Please, forgive me?"
Gabrielle smiled and leaned against her warrior's arm. "I love you too much to stay mad at you." She said then punched her arm. "But don't ever lie to me again!"
Xena chuckled. "Deal." She sighed and overlooked the bright colored field of poppy flowers.
"Xena..." Gabrielle cocked her head to the side. "Why did you smoke opium?"
Xena sighed. "I was having a moment."
"Is that what you're calling it?" the blonde joked.
"I won't do it again. Promise." The warrior smiled. She wrapped her arm around Gabrielle. "So, these poppy fields. You think my plan is a good one?"
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "I don't know Xena. You were pretty out of your mind. But Navaz agreed to it so I guess you can do it. Are we really going to poison the Romans' food and water supply?" she felt like this was such a bad idea.
"This is new territory for me. I've never done this before."
"You mean we've never done this before," Gabrielle corrected. Xena smiles shyly. "Can we go back now? It's freezing out here."
Xena nodded then both walked back towards the city encampment. "Navaz and Anastasia had a fight."
The blonde sighed. "I know, I was there yesterday. She was furious."
"No, they had another one earlier."
"Another one?" Gabrielle frowned. "Those two really need to get it together."
"I know. I told Navaz to go talk to her. She doesn't like being told what to do."
"Just like you," Gabrielle nudged her arm teasingly.
"Ha-ha...very funny, Gabrielle," the warrior chuckled and hooked arms with her consort, walking through the snow.
Gabrielle clung close to her. "It was a compliment." She said. "The senlik is only days away. You know what that means..." she wriggled her eyebrows and Xena groaned. "Can I pick out your dress? Please?"
"No."
"Xena! Come on! No black dresses this time! I think you would gorgeous in a blue dress."
"No."
"Green?"
"Gabrielle..."
"I know, red! You would look amazing in red!" the blonde grinned. "Red it is!"
"Gabrielle!"
Navaz walked into the queen's quarters and saw his wife in bed. His mother was sitting by her side, tending to her which was an odd sight to see. Anastasia looked over Tuya's shoulder and saw him. She frowned at his presence and lowered her head. Tuya turned and saw her son and she too frowned.
"What are you doing in here?" his mother rose from the bed.
"I want to talk to my wife," he said, firmly staring into his mother's brown eyes. "Mother..." he frowned.
Tuya lifted her eyebrow and left Ana's side. She brushed by her son and the left the two to talk. He smiled softly and approached the bed, sitting down cautiously. His wife folded her arms and turned her cheek. "Anastasia..." he reached for her arm and she scooted away. "How many times do I have to apologize?"
"You lied to me."
He sighed and scooted closer to her on the bed. Now she had nowhere to run unless she was going to leave, which was unlikely. "I'm sorry. I should have told you and I realize that now. Please, I'm truly very sorry." He ran his hand along her thigh and she exhaled deeply.
"I love you, you know that," he reminded her and she turned to look into his dark eyes. He let a small smile slip. "Also, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn't have done that. Your mother already gave me...a lecture."
She frowned. "My mother?"
He nodded. "Long story. Anastasia, please, forgive me." He begged. She smiled softly. "I don't want to upset you."
"Just promise to tell me everything from now on." She pointed her finger in his face.
"I will." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "So, the baby is alright?" he asked and placed his hand on her belly.
She sighed and nodded. "Yes but your mother advised me..." she said bitterly, "to stay in bed for awhile." That woman, she didn't really like her all that much but at least she was trying. Navaz leaned back and his hand roamed across her swollen abdomen, completely ignoring her. "Navaz? Did you hear what I said?"
"What?" he turned to her.
She smirked. "You didn't hear anything I said, did you?"
He smiled. "Sorry. What did you say?"
"Never mind." She said and saw he was ignoring her again. She nudged his arm and he lifted his head. "Entertaining yourself?" she teased and his cheeks flushed.
"Does it bother you?" he asked and she shook her head. "I just realized that is my baby in there," he said, eyes his fixated on her belly, waiting for something to happen.
She gave him an odd look. "Whose else would it be?" she jested.
"You know what I mean."
Xena walked into the bedroom and creased her eyebrows. "Hands off my daughter, pretty boy," she said and he immediately took his hand off of his wife. She smirked and walked forward towards the bed. "You better take one last look at your wife, Navaz, because you won't see her for three days."
He frowned. "Three days? Why?"
"Senlik tradition," she said and Anastasia rolled her eyes. "So, this is your last night together until your three days are up. So if you have any urges I suggest you –"
"Mother!" Ana's cheeks reddened.
"What?" Xena smirked and eyed the mortified king. He was so embarrassed. "You know the rules, Anastasia."
"Can you please leave?" she asked and Xena winked at her, sauntering off. Navaz sat next to her with his eyes wide and keeping his hands to himself. "She was just joking..."
"No, I wasn't!" Xena called out and turned on her heel. "Good night..." she chuckled and closed the doors.
"So..." Ana smiled and grabbed his hand stiff hand. "Where were we?" He got off the bed and she frowned. "Navaz!"
He nervously eyed her and then the door. "I don't really feel comfortable with your mother suggesting I have sex with you."
Anastasia groaned and leaned forward, grabbing his arm. "Just ignore her. We don't have to do that. We can just sit here." She suggested. "You don't want sit with me?"
"Yes, I do!"
She pat the spot next to her. "Then sit with me," she smiled and he relaxed, slowly descending onto the bed once more. "You know, I had opiates once," she said, breaking the silence between them.
"You have?" he eyed her curiously.
She nodded. "On my fourteenth birthday. Some of my mother's stupid soldiers convinced me to do it. instant regret the next morning. I never did that again." She sighed. "Then my mother sent me to school in Greece."
"You lived in Greece?" he asked, now more curious about her past life.
She smiled, now realizing they didn't really know anything about each other. "Yes, for awhile. I came back pregnant and my mother was not exactly very happy."
Navaz smiled. "I can only imagine."
"I thought she was going to kill me. And then I thought she was going to kill Ellac, but to my surprise, she didn't do either," she jested.
"Tell me about Greece," he said and her eyes lit up thinking about that place. She liked it there but it was all so new to her. And she had spent her time there with her uncle, her mother's brother. She missed him a lot.