Chapter 27 –The Wrath of Queen Tomiri Part IV of V
Two Days Later
Tomiri slapped Navaz across the face and he breathed heavily. His head hung and blood dripped from his mouth. She grabbed his chin and looked into his tired brown eyes. Snarling, she demanded, "where is your wife?!" she spat in his face.
Navaz's nose crinkled and he opened one of his eyes, gaping into the mad queen's eyes. His other eye was closed shut from the beatings he received by two of Tomiri's men. "Why...do you want...her?" he croaked.
"You didn't answer my question, Khushnavaz," she grinned and pinched his badly bruised cheeks together. "Where is your wife?" she asked again and once more he refused to answer. Tomiri chuckled lightly and let go of the king's face then walked away, grabbing a whip.
"You must love her a lot," she mused and he spat some blood onto the floor beneath him. "This would be a lot easier if you just cooperate and tell me where she is. If you tell me then I will release you."
He scoffed and she spun around with whip in hand. "No you won't. You'll kill me." He half smiled.
The Scythian Queen grinned maliciously and uncoiled the whip. "Very good. You think you have me figured out, don't you, Hun king?" she stepped backward and the end of the whip dropped to the floor. He glanced at the tight grip she had on the whip's handle and felt his entire body tense, waiting to embrace the pain.
"Too bad I did not get to torture your wife's previous lover," she smiled. "I would have so loved to see his face when he was met with one of my men in the battlefield."
Navaz frowned and lifted his head, staring at her with his unharmed eye. "He was killed by a Gepid not a Scythian..." he remembered that Anastasia told him that a long time ago.
Tomiri laughed. "Is that what she told you?" she said and his mouth gaped. "Well, he was a Gepid yes, but I allied with them and told them to kill Ellac." Her smile widened at the shock and horror on his face. "Or did I?" she winked. "She must have told you that his body was sent back to Pannonia for his royal funeral, right?" she said and added, "your wife is naive, Khushnavaz."
She leaned on the armrests, inches away from his beaten face. "And I'm sure the funeral was magnificent and wonderful," she hissed. "But what your wife probably doesn't know is that Ellac's body was burned before he got to Pannonia, right?" she said and he averted his gaze. "Look at me!" she yelled and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes.
"I'm going to tell you something that even your wife doesn't know. It'll be our little secret," she whispered. "Those stupid Huns brought the wrong body back to Pannonia." She said and his eye grew in fear. "That's right. They didn't bury the young Hun king. He yet lives, as my slave and captive. I've kept him alive for...what is it now? Eleven years? Twelve? I forget." She sighed.
"Ellac...is alive?" he asked. Now he felt like this woman was truly insane. "Why...why would you keep him alive?"
She shrugged a shoulder. "For my own amusement, of course. You should have seen Anastasia's face when she found out her dear lover was killed in battle." She grinned. "Oh, I see you are crushed now. Your wife's lover is alive and there's nothing you can do about it."
He struggled to break the chains that were wrapped around his chest. "You will burn in hell, Tomiri."
"I'm sure I will." She cracked the whip against the floor of the tent. "Now, tell me where Anastasia is. Tell me or the Greek woman dies and so does Ellac." She smiled. "Tell me or they both die!"
Navaz lowered his head and thought this was such a tight situation. First, he didn't know if the queen was lying or not, but he did know that she would definitely kill Gabrielle. But what about Ellac? If he was truly alive after all this time why would she tell him? Of course, she'd kill him anyway and that's probably why she told him this important piece of information.
He cared too much about Anastasia to give her location away, but he also cared about Gabrielle. What about Xena? She would be forever traumatized and would never forgive herself if he was the reason Gabrielle died. And if Ellac was truly alive, he didn't want him to die either even though Tomiri could be lying about this entire thing but why would she? She's insane but she doesn't seem the type to bluff.
"I'm waiting, Hun," she frowned deeply. "Ellac and Gabrielle will die. Give me your wife's location."
He lifted his head and spat in her face. She growled and wrapped the whip around his neck, cutting off his airway. "Their fate rests in your hands!" she snarled and tightened the whip around his throat. "Tell me!"
"Pan...Pannonia..."
She released the whip and coiled it around her arm. "Pannonia," she smiled. "Oh Xena, you are very smart. Keeping your daughter safe from me." She turned to the badly beaten king. "Thank you for your cooperation." She turned and walked off.
He coughed and wriggled his wrists behind the chair. "Wait!" he called out, barely able to speak. Tomiri turned back around and stared at him intensely. "Were...you...lying about Ellac?" he asked. He had to know.
The Scythian woman grinned. "Why would I lie about that? I'm many things but a liar isn't one of them. Don't worry, when this all over I will kill your wife and then I kill him too. They will finally be reunited! Til death do them part, right?" She briskly walked out of the tent out into the cold.
Navaz groaned and looked around the tent filled with weapons. He needed to get something so he could escape from these chains. His ankles were chained to the legs of the chair. He scooted the chair over and saw some powder. Smiling, he hopped over to the explosive powder. He wasn't going to be responsible for all of these people dying.
Gabrielle saw Tomiri exit from the tent where Navaz was. She didn't want to know what she was doing to that poor man inside that tent. She was sure that he was probably beaten, burned or worse. She saw the queen coming towards her with a malicious smile on her lips.
Tomiri folded her arms. "Well, Khushnavaz gave me Anastasia's location. You know, I was expecting Xena to be here already. Maybe she doesn't care about you anymore?" she winked.
Gabrielle frowned deeply. "She will come and when she does, you'll be sorry."
"Oh, so cute you are, little gold bird." Tomiri sighed. "I see your wound is patched up. You're welcome." She knelt down in front of the iron cage. "You know, perhaps I will keep you alive and when Xena is dead I'll keep you as a slave. How does that sound? Scythia is beautiful in the summer time."
"Not a chance in hell. I would rather die than serve you," Gabrielle hissed.
"That can be arranged too," Tomiri stood and waved at her men. "Take her to the river," she ordered.
The men unlocked the cage door and hoisted Gabrielle to her feet, firmly gripping her arms. She snarled at the queen as she was being pushed out of the cage. Tomiri walked behind them and eyed the tent Navaz was held in.
"Dunk her in the water a few times," she ordered and Gabrielle gasped. The water here must be freezing. She grabbed her son's arm before he was about to accompany the soldiers. "Go spy on Peroz and his men. Tell me what the Huns are doing."
He nodded, "yes mother." He ran off to his horse and whistled at the elite guards to follow him.
Xena arrived at the Persian camp on horseback alone against Zolten's advice. She was immediately surrounded by the Persian front fleet. She unsheathed her sword and dropped it in the snow then raised both of her gloved hands.
"I want to talk to your Shah," she said and peered over at the large tent, which she assumed belonged to Peroz.
"Have you come to surrender?" one of the soldiers asked skeptically.
She smirked, "no but I've come to make an offer. Allow me to pass so I can speak to the Shah. I've come alone and unarmed."
Peroz stepped out of his tent and saw Xena at the front line, surrounded by his men. She was irritated and frustrated. He smiled and walked forward. "Let her pass!" he called out to his soldiers and the circle of armed men slowly dispersed. Xena trotted over to him and he folded his arms.
"Xena. What brings you here? I know you aren't here to surrender."
She hopped off her horse and frowned deeply, staring into his dark eyes. "I want to have a word with you about Queen Tomiri," she whispered harshly.
He stepped to the side and motioned to his tent. "Ladies first," he said with a charming smile. She briskly brushed by him and entered his tent. He turned to his men and gave a curt nod. The soldiers went back to their posts to guard the front fleet and watched the Huns below in Balaam.
Walking into the tent he saw Xena looking at his map. He cleared his throat and she lifted her head, though did not even bother to move. So arrogant, he thought. "You've risked your life to come to talk to me."
She smiled and crossed her arms. "You won't kill me, Peroz. And if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already," she said and he creased his dark brows. "You shouldn't have allied with Tomiri. She is going to betray and kill you. She wants you to use your entire army to fight against us. Once your army is finished, she will use her own army to attack Balaam."
He lowered his eyes and knew that Xena was right. What Tomiri said to him about not remaining allies was a big clue to him. She was insane and smart. She was using him and his brother's empire to her own advantage, but why would Xena come here to tell him that? It couldn't be because she actually cared.
"So, you've come here to warn me is that it?" he mused.
The Hun commander shook her head and stepped closer to the anxious Shah. "No. I'm going to ask you to join me. You and me against Tomiri and her army."
He laughed. "Persians and Huns working together?! You're just as mad as she is!" he side stepped her and walked over to his map on the table.
She groaned and turned around. "Peroz, this is pointless. Don't you see what she is doing? She's trying to wipe us both out! What would become of your empire if she wins? She will be the queen of Persia, Scythia and the Caucasus. We can't let her win. I've made deals with people I don't like, including your father. We worked together to defeat the Romans until he betrayed me. Do not be like your foolish father and allow pride to overcome you."
"You killed my father." He said flatly.
"No, I didn't. I wasn't even in Constantinople when he died. Attila killed him because he sided with the Romans. He betrayed our agreement. I don't betray allies, Peroz. Make this deal with me and we can get rid of Tomiri together. You and I both know that she will bring the reign of terror upon our people."
The unfortunate thing is that he knew she was right and he hated to admit it. He didn't want Tomiri to succeed and destroy his family's empire that had been active for thousands of years. Persia was strong and though he hadn't had the best relationship with the Huns in the past, perhaps a short alliance was needed to get rid of an evil that roamed the earth.
"What...happens if I ally with you? Will I be entitled to treat your people differently?" he asked, already considering to ally with her.
She smiled and walked to the table. "How about this, Peroz. I will be fair with you and I'm willing to put aside our differences just this once. If you ally with us then we build a treaty. You won't attack Armenia or any Hun province and we won't come into Persia unless given diplomatic permission."
He eyed her hungry eyes and quirked his mouth. "Alright," he relented.
"And release the Khazar Hun prisoners in your empire. They don't belong to you. And one more thing," she added and saw his nostrils flaring. He was fuming inside. "Leave the Nezak Huns alone. Do not tax them. Do we have a deal?" she held out her hand.
He balled up his fists and stared intently into her icy radar eyes and crinkled his nose in disgust. "You're making a lot of demands for this one time alliance, Xena. If I do this for your people, I want something in return."
She lowered her hand. "What do you want?" at this point she was desperate and all she could think about was Gabrielle and Navaz in the hands of Tomiri. She was willing to do almost anything to get this Persian Shah to agree to the alliance.
He smirked. "Since your daughter is already married I want the grandson of Attila to marry one of my cousins for an alliance."
Her eyes widened. "You what?"
He nodded. "That's right. I want the little Hun Prince to marry my cousin. It will seal the alliance."
"He's only thirteen!" she clenched her teeth and couldn't bear for her grandson to marry a Persian. Although, if that was his only condition, perhaps it could be worked out somehow in the future.
"I know and my cousin is the same age as him. They can get married when they are of age in a few years. It will assure me that your people won't attack my empire. So, what do you say? Deal?" he held out his hand this time.
Xena breathed out heavily and then shook his hand. "Fine." She could only imagine the wrath of Anastasia when she had to give her this horrible news.
He cast her a smile and then pointed to the map. "So, how do you want to go about this? When do we attack Tomiri?"
"First, we need to find out where her army is. She has Navaz and...Gabrielle as captives. I need to get them back alive and then we attack her and her army. Both of our armies combined should be enough to combat hers."
"I see. Should I send scouts to different areas?" he suggested.
She nodded. "Yes, but be careful. If she has them both then I know her army is not far. She is very close. She knows this area better than I do."
"But I know the area as well as she does. If she is smart she will be in Persian territory, just outside of the Caucasus region. If that's where she is then she's on my land. I will make sure to tell my men to be as stealthy as possible. What will you do in the meantime?"
She sighed and rubbed her chin. "I will wait for your signal to attack. This must be done carefully. I don't want Navaz or Gabrielle to die if we ambush her."
Peroz smiled. "Of course. So, what tactic will we use? Roman, perhaps?" he hinted and she smiled.
Navaz was able to free himself from the chains after he tried several times to break the chains with various weapons. Once he was free he grabbed his black scarf that was on a table and wrapped it around his face. He stuffed his boots with two daggers and took a sword for precaution. He sliced through the back of the tent and crawled on the snowy ground.
He crawled behind several tents and was able to see Gabrielle trapped in a cage, shivering and breathing steadily. At least she was alive. That is good, he thought. He crawled over to the cage, making sure no guards were around. He noticed most of them were around campfires in front of their huddled tents. Also, he saw a huge tent and assumed Tomiri was inside there.
He quickly ran across the field and knelt down behind Gabrielle and wrapped his hand around her mouth. She panicked and screamed. "Hey, stop it!" he hissed. "It's just me, Navaz," he whispered. He took his hand off her mouth and she turned around with a weak smile.
"Navaz..." she was so happy to see him. Then she saw his face. "God...your face. What did she do to you?!"
"Don't worry about me," he said and took out a dagger and began sawing through the ropes around her wrists. "We need to get out of here."
She agreed. "We can't just leave. We will be caught and then she'll definitely kill us."
He sighed and then her hands were finally free. She untied the ropes around her ankles and then turned to him again. "Gabrielle..." he began. She grabbed onto the iron bars, staring at his bruised face and he was barely able to keep his one eye open. "Tomiri told me she has Ellac. He's alive."
Gabrielle gasped. "Ellac? Are you sure?"
He nodded. "I'm sure. She says she's been keeping him alive all this time."
She smiled, now feeling hopeful about this. If they were able to make it out of here alive and get Tomiri to surrender or even kill her then they could get Ellac and bring him to Pannonia. She could only imagine the happiness in Anastasia's eyes when she lay eyes on him. Then she realized, Navaz was Anastasia's husband now. And he loved her a lot.
"Oh..." she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. That must make you feel...awful."
He smiled softly. "I told Anastasia that I would do anything for her. If Ellac is alive then I will rescue him."
She grinned. "You must love her a lot to do something so selfless."
"I do love her, but...Tomiri knows where she is." He admitted.
Gabrielle frowned and she spun around, glaring at the queen's tent. "She isn't going to leave this place alive. That's a promise." She turned back to the king. "What's the plan?"
He slipped her one of the daggers. "Tie yourself back up and keep this close to you. I'm going back to the tent. Don't attack until I come for you." He whispered then crouched down to crawl back to the tent.
"Wait!" she hissed and he looked over his shoulder. "Where did she say Ellac was?"
"She didn't." he frowned and crawled through the snow back to his tent he was kept in.
Sparga entered his mother's tent and saw she was sharpening one of her long swords. "Mother, the Huns and Persians are at a standstill. They are not attacking each other."
She smiled. "Good." She lifted her sword and looked at the sharpened edge.
"Are you not going back to Peroz's camp?" he asked.
"I will be traveling to the camp tomorrow. Must keep up our appearances, right?" she winked and then stood, tossing her sword on her bed. "I want you to round up a group of men and take them to Pannonia."
He frowned. "Pannonia? What is there?"
"Anastasia is there. I want you to go there and kill her. Bring me her head." She snarled and his eyes widened. "Leave tonight while the Huns are not attacking. Take the back roads."
He bowed to his mother. "As you wish..." he turned and left his mother's tent.
In the Scythian stronghold beside the palace, Tomiri kept all of her prisoners in one secluded area of the barren snowy desert. Her guards were surrounding the entire place and she had over two hundred prisoners from Scythia and other lands surrounding her kingdom.
Most of the prisoners kept in the stronghold were held for minimal crimes, although she had some Visigoths kept there for over a decade for attempted assassination. She was sure to keep a tight hold on those people. And then there were others that stole food from her palace. The women and men were kept in the same area and each had their own cells, except for the newcomers. They had to stay in a giant cell until she gave them their jail sentence.
In the midst of all the prisoners she kept one Hun close and he had his own cell for the last ten years. She kept him in her stronghold as bait and felt his life was worth more alive than dead. She waited a long time to use Ellac to her own advantage and now was the best opportunity. With Xena and her daughter alive, she could use Ellac to entice them somehow and some way.
Ellac, inside of his lonely cold cell, wore nothing but long baggy pants and had no shoes or shirt. His hair was long and his beard he kept trimmed while he was imprisoned. When he first came to Scythia, he asked her several times to kill him but she wouldn't allow it. As the years went by he realized that she was just using him, but for what? He didn't know. He didn't have any knowledge of the outside world.
In order to keep himself sane he resorted to keeping his body strength up by doing various exercises in his cell. At least his cell had a small window. Although the view was awful especially in the winter.
Breathing heavily, he finished doing over one hundred pushups. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He sat on the floor and pulled out a stone that held a sharp wooden stake he had been sharpening for over a month now. He was able to break it off a chair that he used to have in his cell. He planned to get out of here, eventually.
It had been awhile since Tomiri made her weekly visit and he thought that was odd. He put the weapon back into the wall and got up, making his way over to the door. He knocked on the door, calling for the guards.
"Hey!" he yelled and one Tomiri's men walked over.
"What is it, swine?" the guard spat.
Ellac smiled. "Where is the queen? She normally makes her weekly visit by now."
The guard snarled. "She is not in Scythia at the moment."
"Oh?" Ellac grabbed onto the bars. "And where is she?" he asked, leaning against the large wooden door.
The man smiled deviously. "In the Caucasus where the White Huns are. I'm sure you've heard of them..." he said and Ellac raised an eyebrow. "She plans to kill their queen –Anastasia. Your lover. You remember her don't you?"
Ellac gasped and gripped the bars, snarling at the Scythian. "What?! She's alive? Tomiri told me she was dead!"
"The queen says a lot of things." He poked his javelin through the bars and Ellac stepped away. "Stay back from the door, Hun!" he growled then walked away from the cell.
Ellac punched a wall and snarled. He then started pacing around the cell with his hands over his head. He knew he couldn't stay here now. Anastasia was alive and Tomiri lied. Now everything was starting to make sense. He recalled the guard calling Anastasia a queen, which only meant one thing. She was married to a Hun king. He wondered how long she had been married to this king. He couldn't blame her. She thought he was dead and needed to move on with her life. He knew he had to get out of here, but he was trapped.
But at least there was one good thing about this news. Anastasia was alive and that meant his son was alive too. He wondered what he looked now. He had to be at least fourteen or so. He didn't know how old his own son was. He also began wondering what Anastasia looked like. Was she was beautiful as he remembered her to be? Would she look the same and act like she used to when they were younger? He hadn't seen Ana since they were both seventeen years old. He could only imagine the horror on her face when someone told her that he was dead. He didn't want to see that face in his mind so he chose to remember the good times they had together.
And now, he was determined to get out of Scythia. He needed a plan. He couldn't stay here in this prison for the rest of his life. Tomiri was after Anastasia and he couldn't just sit here and think of all the horrible things that insane woman was going to do to his people. He had a purpose in his life again and he wasn't going to waste any more of his time in this god forsaken place.
"Your highness!" a soldier ran up to Peroz and Xena. "Tomiri is on her way over!"
Xena grinned. "Invite her in the tent. I'll be waiting." She walked off and Peroz nodded.
He anxiously stood and waited for the queen to make her appearance. Moments later he saw her riding towards him with a slow trot. He put on a false smile and she hopped off her horse. "Tomiri, I was wondering if the Huns had killed you."
She waved her hand. "Oh please. I had some business to take care of." She peered down the hill and saw the Huns were still guarding their campsite. "I see the enemy has not attacked."
He nodded. "We must have frightened them. Why don't we discuss how we are going to attack them? You said your army should be here in a few days. It's been two and a half days."
"Ah," she grinned. "Of course I did not forget..." she walked by him and entered his tent. He frowned and trailed behind her. He was beginning to see right through this woman after spending hours talking with Xena. Perhaps the Huns weren't as awful as he thought they were.
Once they were both inside the tent he walked over to the table and unrolled the map out again. A fresh one, not the map that he marked up with Xena the night before. "So, when will your army be here?"
She folded her arms. "You really want my army here, don't you?" she smirked.
"Well, we are allies for now, right? We are working as a team. I'm sure Xena is coming up with a new strategy to attack us."
Tomiri chuckled lightly. "I'm surprised she hasn't attacked you yet! I have something very precious to her. I have the Greek woman and Khushnavaz in my camp. Sorry I did not come back sooner but I had to make sure they were well taken care of if you know what I mean..."
Peroz half smiled and saw Xena appear from a dark corner of the tent and slowly walked behind Tomiri. He lowered his eyes, focused on the map. "And you haven't killed them?"
"No, I'm waiting for Xena to come to me but I see she is too focused on the battle ahead. I do have her daughter's location. She is in Pannonia and I've sent my son to get her. I knew she couldn't be here otherwise why would the Adame be so open and unguarded." She shrugged a shoulder.
Xena's upper lip quivered and then she took out a rope and wrapped it around the queen's neck, choking her. Tomiri gasped for air and grabbed onto the rope. "What's the matter, Tomiri? I thought you were into this kind of foreplay!" she snarled.
Tomiri's eyes widened and she snarled at the Shah. "You traitor!" she coughed as the rope was cutting off her air supply.
He frowned and stepped forward. "No, Tomiri, you are the traitor. You are just using my army. You have no desire to be allies with me and my brother. I knew that the moment you implied you would attack me as soon as you would take Armenia for yourself."
"You...you allied with a Hun?!" she choked and Xena tightened the rope then took Tomiri's sword then kicked her in the back and she face planted into the floor, groaning. "She will betray you!"
Xena smiled. "You're wrong, Tomiri. I don't betray allies unless they betray me first. You should have paid more attention to history. " She yanked on the ropes and then tied the queen's ankles and wrists together like a hog ready for the fire spit.
"Now...where are Gabrielle and Navaz? Where is your army held?" Xena asked and pointed the sword in the queen's face.
"Siktir!" Tomiri spat and Peroz raised an eyebrow.
Xena smirked. "What a foul mouth you have. Tell me where your army is! You are in no position to fight me, Tomiri. Just cooperate with me."
The Scythian woman smiled and groaned as she felt the small her back twinge from the uncomfortable position she was in. "And why should I? Aren't you going to kill me anyway?"
"No. I'm handing you over to the Persian empire. You will be their prisoner. Your blood will not be on my hands."
Peroz sighed, growing tired of this back and forth. "Tomiri you are defeated. You need to surrender. Tell us where your army is!"
Tomiri laughed and then choked as the rope tightened around her throat. "You'll find out soon enough. My army is marching over here as we speak."
Xena lowered the sword and shared a nervous glance with Peroz. "I will go tell Zolten to prepare the soldiers. Don't leave this tent!" she ordered and ran out of the tent.
The entire Scythian army left the camp and Gabrielle was left with two guards standing by the cage. There was hardly anyone here. She looked over and saw Navaz walking towards the cage with a bloody sword. She smiled and the Scythians ran over to him.
She untied her loosely tied wrists and ankles and ran over to the cage. She took out the dagger from her boot that Navaz gave her and picked at the lock while the guards were fighting him off.
Navaz swung the sword, slicing one of the Scythian's arms and kicked the other to the ground. He felt incredibly weak and hadn't eaten in three days now. One Scythian head butted him in the forehead and he dropped to the ground, groaning lightly. Gabrielle saw the young king was down and panicked, trying to pick the lock with the dagger as quickly as she could.
She saw a sword about to be driven through Navaz and acted quickly. She threw the dagger at the Scythian's backside and it landed directly through his throat. The soldier gasped and blood poured down his chest and mouth. He fell to the snow and Navaz quickly got up and grabbed the other Scythian, flipping him over onto his back and then cried out before driving his blade through the man's gut.
Gabrielle smiled and she rattled the iron cage. "Hey! Hello!" she yelled and Navaz turned. He ran over and she stood back as he swung his sword down on the lock and he opened the door. She embraced him warmly. "We need to get back to Balaam. Tomiri's army is heading that way."
He nodded and spotted a horse. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and they ran over to the horse.
She climbed on the horse and he swung his leg over, mounting the steed, wincing at his sore legs. "I saw a group of men leave last night. I think they are going to Pannonia."
Navaz frowned. "First thing first. We get to Balaam and help Xena defeat Tomiri's army."
"And then we go find Ellac?" she hoped.
He sighed, "yes and we will find out where the queen has hidden him." As much as it pained him to say those words, he wanted to help and he wanted to make Anastasia happy but he couldn't do that if someone else special to his wife died –Xena.