And the last of the war, finally. :)
Chapter 28 –The Wrath of Queen Tomiri Part V
Gabrielle and Navaz rode into Balaam and saw chaos everywhere. Tomiri's army was attacking the Persians and Huns at once. Navaz drew his sword and Gabrielle frowned, eyeing the Persians and Huns working together. Xena was in the back row instructing the Persians on where to go and what to do. Navaz was about to slice through one of Peroz's men and Gabrielle grabbed his wrist.
"Wait!" she yelled and he turned to her. "They're working together." She said and he lowered his sword. She hopped off the horse and ran over to Xena.
Xena had her arms folded as she watched the Scythian army ransacking the entire city of Balaam. Although the Persians were doing their best to push them back away from the Hun army. She had never seen such an organized Scythian army before in her life. Surely, Tomiri's brother was not a very good strategist because the Scythians weren't known for organized warfare. In fact, they were usually very bad at strategizing on the battlefield, until now.
The Persians were not known as being very good fighters on the field, but their archers is what saves them every time in a battle. There were hundreds of archers and very seldom did they miss their targets. She decided to organize the archers on all sides of the field below to aim directly at Tomiri's army.
"Xena!" Gabrielle yelled out and the commander turned at the familiar voice.
The commander grinned, "Gabrielle!" she embraced her warmly and the blonde gently pushed her away, focused on the battle. She ran her gloved hand across her partner's face. "Are you alright? How did you escape?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Navaz came up with a plan for us to escape," she answered. "You allied with Peroz?" she eyed her curiously.
Xena nodded. "It is the only way to defeat Tomiri's army." She looked out on the field and saw explosions in the middle of the field. She frowned and stepped forward. "What the hell is this?!" she growled.
"Land mines," Gabrielle said breathily. "Where is Tomiri?" she asked, shaking Xena's arm.
"She's tied up in Peroz's tent. I told him to stay in the tent with her."
Gabrielle exhaled heavily. "Listen, Xena, we have a problem," she said and the commander ignored her. "Xena!"
"What?!" she hissed.
She looked into her partner's blue wild eyes and then suddenly felt extremely nervous. "Tomiri has Ellac." She blurted out.
Xena scoffed, "she's lying. He's been dead for over ten years. She's a sick woman to tell such a lie."
"Xena! She is not lying! She told Navaz that if he didn't give her Anastasia's location that she would kill me and Ellac! She has him. She isn't lying..."
Then, Gabrielle saw the look of sadness, horror and confusion written all over Xena's face. She had never seen that expression before in her entire life they spent together. Gabrielle wasn't one hundred percent sure that Tomiri was telling the truth but if she could have a word with her then they would know she is telling the truth. Attila's son could be alive and he was a Scythian prisoner this entire time. Everyone was spent apart for years and had no idea of their whereabouts. Gabrielle wasn't sure this was the best time to tell Xena this but what good time was there?
A loud explosion interrupted their conversation and Xena ducked, shielding Gabrielle from the flying debris. Gabrielle felt the warmth of Xena's large coat encompassing her and felt her heavy hot breath against her cheek.
"Xena...we need to ask Tomiri if she's telling the truth. If Peroz has her then she needs to surrender! This war is pointless!"
Xena sighed and stood, turning to the Persian Shah's tent. She unsheathed her sword and grabbed Gabrielle's shoulder. "Command the fleet. I have to talk to the queen..." her eyes darkened and she stormed off.
Gabrielle's heart raced. She couldn't believe that Xena gave her the task of commanding the Persian fleet. She had never done that before and by the looks of it down below, things weren't going well for the Huns or Persians alike. She whistled over at Navaz.
He trotted over and dismounted the horse. She wrapped her arms around her cold body and stared at the soldiers waiting on the sidelines. "Xena told me to command the fleet..." she said nervously.
"That's it? She didn't give you any instructions?" he asked and she wagged her head. "Alright..." he folded his arms. "Tell them to spread out to the west and east sides of Tomiri's army and blockade them."
"Trap them again? Are you sure that's going to work? Tomiri's men have bombs!" Gabrielle was feeling panic set in as she saw the entire Hun territory being blown into smithereens.
He half smiled, "well, Xena isn't here to command so I guess we'll just have to take our chances." He waved his hand to the men, instructing them to spread out.
"I hope you know what you're doing," she grumbled.
"Only one way to find out!" he hopped on his horse.
She gasped. "Where are you going?!"
"To the front line, of course. I can't leave my men without a commander or a king. You stay here," he smiled and rode off behind the Persians down the hill.
Xena stormed into the tent and found Tomiri still tied up on the ground. Peroz stayed inside just as he was instructed to do. He stood from the chair upon her entrance. Xena grabbed the rope and choked Tomiri abruptly.
"You are a snake, Tomiri!" she yelled and the queen gagged. She cut the ropes around her ankles and wrists and hoisted the queen up to her feet.
"Xena, what are you doing?" Peroz drew his sword and saw the wild look in the Hun woman's eyes. She wasn't even listening to him.
Xena punched the queen in her nose and then kneed her gut. She threw her against the table, breaking it in half. Tomiri coughed and groaned lightly. Xena stomped her boot on the Scythian's chest. "You have Ellac –son of Attila, don't you, Tomiri?!" she growled.
The queen smiled up at the angry woman standing over her. "I see your golden bird escaped..." she coughed as the boot on her chest felt so heavy, crushing her lungs.
"Where is he?!" Xena yelled.
"Where I keep all my prisoners of course. He is a fine young man now," she winked and Xena grabbed her by hair, lifting her to her feet. She winced and breathed heavily, staring into the irate blue eyes in front of her.
Xena drug the woman by her hair out of the tent and Peroz followed her. "Xena!" he snarled, "what do you think you're doing?!"
"Put up the white flag for surrender!" she ordered.
"Excuse me?"
"Do it!" she hissed and he shook his head. He ran over to grab the flag and ordered one of his men to plant it at the front of the hill so everyone could see. Xena drug the Scythian queen to the top of the hill and kicked her to her knees.
Tomiri smiled as Xena held the sword dangerously close to her throat. "I thought you were handing me over to the Persians?"
"I changed my mind," she said through clenched teeth. Lifting her eyes she saw the Scythian army pulling back. The Persians and Huns were confused and lowered their weapons as soon as they saw the white flag of surrender at the top of the hill.
Gabrielle turned her head and saw Xena holding her blade against Tomiri's throat. "Oh no..." she whispered and ran over to her through the thick snow, barely able to pick up her tired legs. "Xena! Wait!"
Xena whipped her head around and creased her eyebrows. "Stay out of this Gabrielle. She is mine."
"No! You aren't thinking clearly!"
"I have never thought so clearly in my life," Xena's smile widened as she gaped down at the defeated queen. "You know that harboring a king is punishable by death, Queen Tomiri. These are the rules."
Tomiri grinned. "You are so filled with anger, Xena. Had I known that you were so attached to Attila's son, I would have killed him long ago." She said and a frown graced the commander's face. "Oh but, perhaps you only have feelings for him because he is your daughter's lover, or shall I say old lover. Anastasia has a husband now. The boy king will be of no use to you now..."
Xena's eyebrows lifted and Gabrielle shook her head. She drove her sword through the queen's throat and Gabrielle cringed, closing her eyes tightly. She took the sword out from the queen's throat and then with one clean swipe, she decapitated Tomiri and blood spewed from her neck, her body dropping into the snow.
Gabrielle opened her eyes and saw the white snow run red with the Scythian Queen's blood and Xena held onto Tomiri's head by her long hair. Xena lifted her eyes and saw the horror on the queen's men's faces. She tossed the head to the side and wiped her sword on her pants casually.
"This war is over!" Xena shouted to all the men below. "You belong to the Persian Empire now!" she spoke to the Scythian soldiers. She then walked off down the hillside to Balaam to get her horse. The Persians drug off the decapitated queen's body through the snow.
Gabrielle frowned and ran after her partner. "Xena!" she yelled in a gruff voice. "What was that?!"
Xena ignored her and kept walking to the inner city to retrieve her horse.
"You killed her! You killed her out of anger and rage!"
Xena finally spun around and the blonde nearly bumped into her. "She is a liar, Gabrielle! She would have kept going until she wiped us all out! She deserved to die!"
"I don't know what kind of deal you worked out with Peroz but we weren't supposed to kill Tomiri! We were supposed to imprison her!" she yelled and Xena pursed her lips and stormed off. "I'm not done talking to you!"
"Yes, you are!" Xena snapped and grabbed her horse that was tied to the Adame post outside. She mounted the horse. "I'm going to Scythia to get Ellac. I made a promise to his mother before he was born and I intend to keep my promise to Cera."
Gabrielle huffed and placed her hands on her hips, glaring up at the stubborn commander. "His mother must have been very important to you," she said almost bitterly.
Xena's gaze dipped to the snow below her. "She was a very nice person, Gabrielle. Her life on this earth was too short. If I have a chance to redeem myself then I will. And the only way I can do that is to bring Ellac back to Pannonia."
Navaz rode up in between the Scythians who were now retreating. "You killed her," he stated and Xena frowned sourly. "Are we going to rescue Ellac?" he asked.
Xena's eyes widened and Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Navaz...I think you should stay here and have your wounds tended to. I will go to Scythia to get Ellac."
He smiled softly. "I won't let you go alone. Zolten can handle the aftermath. Scythia is not far from here. I'm not taking no for an answer."
She sighed. "Alright." She turned to the irate blonde. "Are you coming?"
"No," Gabrielle said, creasing her eyebrows. "I'll stay here and help the wounded soldiers."
Anastasius and Ernak guided the Bulgur Huns and Romans through the rough terrain. Now only a couple of days away from reaching Balaam, they both hoped that they weren't too late. Ernak scouted ahead of everyone else since he knew this area better than Anastasius. He then spotted a group of white armored men coming in their direction.
He recognized that armor anywhere and the symbols on their horses were a dead giveaway. "Scythians!" he yelled. The Romans took out their swords and halted behind their emperor. Ernak grinned, "look alive, boys!"
He rode out by himself and Anastasius frowned. "Follow him!" he shouted at his men.
Sparga saw a horde of Huns and Romans riding and running right towards him. He only had a group of about six men with him. There's no way he could fight against them all and win. He also thought it was very odd that the Romans were working with the Huns. That hadn't been done in many years. It appeared the new young emperor was very loyal to these Hun people.
The plan to ride to Pannonia to get Anastasia was now out of the question. He felt like he failed his mother but there was no way he could face off hundreds of Romans and Huns. "Do not take out your weapons!" he ordered the elite guards and they all looked at him as if he were crazy.
Ernak pulled up the Scythian general with a big grin on his face. He pointed his blade at Sparga. "What brings you to Hun territory, Scythian?"
"Orders from the Scythian Queen," Sparga said, lifting his chin proudly.
"Yeah right," the Hun king scoffed. "Detain them!" he ordered the Bulgur men. Sparga frowned. "You aren't even gonna put up a fight? Wow you give up easily don't ya?" he winked and the Bulgur Huns grabbed the general and tied his wrists. Then the horses were tied to one another.
Anastasius rode up and saw all of the Scythians tied up. "What are we going to do with them?"
Ernak turned and sheathed his sword. "We're taking them to Balaam. I'm sure they were sent by Tomiri to go to Pannonia. That's the only explanation I can come up with since there's only a small group of them."
"You will all burn in hellfire," Sparga spat.
"Yeah, yeah," Ernak smiled and yanked on the ropes, pulling the Scythian horses along. "We make a good team, Anastasius. I am proud to call a Roman my friend."
The emperor gave a crooked smile to the young king. "Likewise." He turned back to the irate Scythians. "Why didn't they fight back?" he whispered.
"They're cowards. They won't even put up a good fight. This is turning out to be a very boring journey so far." Ernak sighed. "I hope that Balaam hasn't been destroyed too much."
"We'll find out soon enough. How far are we now?"
Ernak shrugged, "maybe a couple of days if we don't stop for camp along the way."
Xena and Navaz rode out to Queen Tomiri's palace in Scythia, which took them a full day's ride to reach the destination. Navaz was beginning to worry that they should have brought some backup with them but Xena reassured him that they would be fine because she took Tomiri's flag before they left Balaam. The ultimate sign of defeat.
They rode up to the large hill and saw the huge palace that was located in the middle of nowhere it seemed like. The queen obviously didn't like anyone to be around her. Not much of a surprise. Navaz's eye healed somewhat and his vision was still blurry, though he was starting to feel a bit better even though he hadn't slept in days and neither had Xena. He wondered how she was able to keep carrying on and on like this and she was twice his age.
"Are we just going to go into the palace and ask where the prisoners are?" he asked as they trotted down the hill towards the palace. He already saw four guards getting their weapons ready. He was not in the physical condition to fight anyone anymore at the moment.
"That's the plan. I have her flag so they will know that she is defeated," Xena smiled as they casually trotted through the snowy desert. She looked beside her and saw the young king was a bit anxious and it wasn't because of the guards.
She pursed her lips and looked on ahead at the huge palace. "Navaz, you should know that Ellac was very special to my daughter and to me as well. I don't want you to think that you mean nothing to Anastasia. She cares a lot about you and her feelings won't change for you after this. It is very brave and kind of you to come with me to rescue Ellac."
He half smiled and wrapped the scarf around his neck tightly. "I just want her to be happy, that's all. She has known Ellac much longer than we've been married. I don't what to feel right now so let's just get this over with." He frowned and rode off to the palace without her.
Xena sighed and rode after him. The Scythian guards immediately put up their weapons and Xena snarled. "Stop!" she yelled and the men eyed her. She unraveled the flag in her lap and the men's mouths gaped. "Your queen is dead and defeated by the Huns and Persians. Her army is now in the hands of the Shah."
The men lowered their weapons and smiled at the two intruders. "She is dead?" one of the men asked.
"Yes, she is," Navaz answered. He saw they were all smiling and that confused him.
"We are free. At last!" the men hugged one another and Xena smiled and tossed the flag into the snow. "Thank you," one of the men said, bowing his head at Navaz and Xena.
Navaz turned to Xena with a bemused expression. "She must have been a horrible person if her guards are celebrating her death," he muttered.
Xena clapped her hands grabbing the Scythians' attention. "Where are the prisoners kept?"
One Scythian pointed beyond the palace, "there. In that stronghold." He said.
"Thank you. Come on Navaz," she trotted off and was able to see the prison in the middle of the desert. It was almost as large as the palace. She wondered how many people were kept in there. She almost didn't want to find out.
Ellac sat on the floor inside his cell, sharpening his wooden shank on the floor to a fine point. He had been sharpening this tool for hours now. He planned to stab one of the guards through the iron bars and somehow escape from this place. He was waiting for the right moment to do it. Supposedly, he was supposed to be given food in the next hour or so given by the sky. He didn't know what time it was inside this place and the small window didn't help much.
He sighed and heard swords clashing against one another outside the cell. He frowned and stood, holding the wooden shank close to him. He heard a loud thud and then another thud. Inching closer to the door, he breathed heavily. This must be the moment when he was about to escape.
Keys jingled outside the door and he saw the knob turning on the large wooden door. He readied himself and as soon as the door opened he was ready to attack. Barely two feet from the door, he said a small prayer to himself and the door creaked open and his eyes widened.
Xena smiled upon seeing Ellac and he dropped the wooden shank on the floor. "Xena..." he whispered and nearly jumped onto her and hugged her tightly. She felt like she couldn't breathe but she wrapped her arm around his slim frame. "I thought you were dead," he whispered, his eyes teary.
She pulled away and looked into his bright green eyes. "I've been hearing that a lot lately." She wiped the tears from his cheeks and looked at his pale face. "Tomiri kept you here...this whole time?"
He nodded. "Yes! I wanted to tell you –tell everyone but I couldn't. I found out that Anastasia was alive and wanted to escape. But now I thank the gods that you are here!" he smiled brightly and hugged her again. He saw a tall black cloaked man standing behind Xena with his arms folded. He pulled away from Xena and nervously eyed the man.
Xena turned and Navaz lowered his dark eyes. "Ellac," she grabbed his shoulder, "this is Navaz, King of Armenia."
"White Hun King," Ellac nodded and smiled. "Very nice to meet you." He said and Navaz nodded.
"He is also Anastasia's husband," she said in a flat tone.
Ellac's cheeks flushed and he dipped his head. "Oh, I see. Thank you for coming to rescue me." He extended his hand Navaz half smiled and shook his hand firmly.
Xena smiled and took off her cloak and wrapped it around Ellac's bare torso. "Come on, we have to get back to Balaam. Plenty of time to talk when we get the hell out of this place."
"Wait! How did you get here? I mean, what is going on?" Ellac asked.
"I killed Tomiri. She tried to outsmart us and she told Navaz that you were alive. We need to get out of here." Xena said.
Ellac turned and eyed all of the prisoners. "We should set them free since Tomiri is dead," he grinned and Xena sighed. "It's the right thing to do, Xena." He said and she rolled her eyes then grabbed the keys and began opening the next cell.
Gabrielle was finishing fixing a man's broken leg when Tuya came into the medical room. "They are back, Gabrielle," she said and the blonde sighed, throwing down a cloth and looked at the man who was shaking in pain.
She turned to one of the men that was helping her these last couple of days. "Give him some medicine. I'll be back later." She ordered and left the room and stormed down the halls of the Adame.
She walked outside and saw Xena with Ellac and Navaz. She smiled and met eyes with Ellac. He looked very different from the last time she saw him. Ellac ran over to her and hugged her, picking her up off the ground. "Ellac!" she squealed. "Put me down!" she said.
He chuckled and looked into her emerald eyes. "Gabrielle! You haven't changed at all!"
She touched his long dark hair, "I can't say the same about you..." she arched an eyebrow.
"I think it looks nice," he wriggled his eyebrows and she playfully hit him in the shoulder. She looked behind him and saw Xena and frowned sadly. By passing Ellac she walked over to Xena.
"Listen..." Xena began and Gabrielle held up her hand.
"No. I'm sorry for what I said. I was expecting you to turn Tomiri over to Peroz but now I realize that she wouldn't stop and keep trying to destroy everything in her path. I shouldn't have lost my temper and I'm sorry."
Xena grinned. "You don't have to apologize to me, Gabrielle. You were right, I acted out in anger and I know better than to do that but...I had to kill her."
"I know," the blonde sighed and looked over at Navaz who was talking to his mother. "So, how's it going with him?" she whispered.
The commander leered over and saw the forlorn look on the king's face. "I don't know what he is feeling at the moment. We didn't talk the entire ride back."
Gabrielle sighed and folded her arms. "He must feel displaced now that Ellac is here."
"I told him not to worry about it, but that's easier said than done." Xena wrapped her arm around Gabrielle, "come on, let's go inside. It's freezing."
"Oh, you're cold?" Gabrielle teased.
Hours later after Ellac was allowed to use the baths and wash his hair and body he joined Gabrielle and Xena in their yurt far from the Adame. He had his long hair tied up into a bun and sipped the hot tea. He stared at the two women and suddenly felt a little awkward while they kept staring at him. It reminded him of the time Xena kept glaring at him when Anastasia was pregnant with Csaba and he'd never forget that look.
"So, you live here now?" he began and the two women nodded in silence. He sighed and set down the tea. "How is Ana?" he asked.
Xena lowered her eyes and Gabrielle picked up the warm glass of tea and averted her gaze. "She's alright. She's in Pannonia with Kreka right now."
His eyes lit up as soon as he heard that. Pannonia. A place he missed dearly but he assumed much has changed since he last step foot in his homeland. "What does she look like?"
Xena smiled softly, "definitely not like the seventeen year old girl that you remember her to be," she said and his eyes widened. "I'm going to take you to Pannonia so you can see her."
"Really?" he beamed with a boy-like grin and eagerness in his bright green eyes. "What about Csaba? How old is he? Is he with Anastasia? What does he look like?"
"A man with many questions," Gabrielle joked.
Xena sighed, "Csaba looks just like you. He just had his thirteenth birthday not too long ago." She said and Ellac smile grew as he nodded. He tapped his fingers against the tea cup. "Ellac, you should know that Anastasia has a daughter with Navaz."
He lifted his eyes and the smile never left his face. "That's nice. She deserves everything in the world. I can tell that Navaz really cares about her."
"You can?" Gabrielle interrupted and nearly choked on her tea.
He nodded. "He came all the way to Scythia to rescue me. He is a good man. Anastasia deserves him." His smile finally faded and he took another sip of the tea. Xena and Gabrielle shared a wary glance with one another. "I just want to see her and that's all. I don't want to take her away from the family she has now."
"You are her family, Ellac," Xena said. "She talks about you all the time," she said, hoping to lighten the mood.
Ellac's face lit up and his eyes crinkled as the smile on his face widened. "She does?" he asked, a bit surprised.
Gabrielle shot a knowing look at the young Hun. "You act as if you are surprised..."
"Well, it's been a long time since I've seen her and she is married to someone else so I don't think she would be thinking of me," he shrugged his shoulder and eyed Xena's contorted face.
Gabrielle rubbed her arm anxiously and licked her lips. "Ellac," she began while Xena was still gawking at him, "Anastasia has only been married to Navaz for little over a year. She just had her daughter a couple of months ago."
He blinked rapidly and then saw Xena's face had yet to change from the same expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked nervously, his heart beat quickened and then he touched his freshly trimmed beard. "What?"
Xena pursed her lips and lowered her eyes finally. "Nothing. Are you still afraid of me?" she teased with a sly grin.
"Of course I am," he smiled. "I'm sure Navaz got the same treatment when she got pregnant." He chuckled and Gabrielle swallowed her tea and Xena looked elsewhere. "Right?" he said and looked at both women. "Right?"
"I wasn't exactly there when it happened," Xena remarked.
"Well you weren't there the first time either," he said and her eyes widened, reaching over to hit him and he scoot away with the hot glass of tea. "Okay, okay! Sorry..." he smiled. "I see you haven't gotten over it yet."
"Yes, I have." Xena creased her eyebrows and she heard Gabrielle scoff. "What?"
Gabrielle swished her tea and gave a knowing look to her consort. "Please. You hate it when Csaba calls you grandma."
Ellac gasped and Xena groaned. "You let him call you that? Xena, I'm a little shocked."
"I lost in a game of chess alright," she muttered.
He shared a smug grin with Gabrielle and chuckled lightly. He finished his tea and stood from the floor. "Well, I'm going to bed. Thanks for...saving me. You two are the best women in my life," he said and both of them beamed at the compliment. He gave a curt nod and disappeared from their bedroom to sleep in the sitting area on a floor of pillows and warm blankets.
Now the two were alone and Gabrielle hopped onto the bed, exhausted from the last month and especially these last few days. She eyed Xena setting the empty tea glasses on a tray. "What do you think Anastasia is going to do when she sees him?"
Xena shook her head and walked over to a table to set the tray down. "I'm not sure. If she wasn't married to Navaz I think this would be a different situation."
Gabrielle nodded and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "It took her a long time to finally warm up to Navaz and finally put Ellac aside but now..."
"I know." Xena let out a light sigh and lay down next to her consort. "She still loves Navaz but it's different. Everything was forced between them."
Gabrielle lolled her head over to the side and stared concernedly at the dark haired warrior. "Do you think she would divorce him?"
Xena bit her bottom lip and frowned, gawking at the ceiling. "Hun women are free to divorce whoever they want, whenever they want, but I'm not sure if she will do that."
"But she really loved Ellac so much. She didn't want to be with anyone else after he...died," she said awkwardly. "I wonder what is going through Navaz's mind. He must feel really hurt."
Xena smiled softly and turned to her side, staring into the green eyes she admired so very much. "If you love something, you let it go. You can't hold onto something you'll never have."
Gabrielle's cheeks flushed. "Who's the philosopher now?" she joked and playfully pinched Xena's arm.
"I couldn't have done any of this without you."
"Well, you did most of the work and you killed Tomiri, not me –"
"No, Gabrielle, I mean...everything. You stayed with me the entire time –through all these years and you've always been very patient with me." Xena said and Gabrielle's face lit up. She laced her fingers with her consorts, squeezing firmly. "You mean the world to me."
Gabrielle shared a warm smile with her and then kissed her hand gingerly.
The following morning Anastasius and Ernak strode into Balaam with the captured Scythians. All of Huns were very confused to see yet more Scythians and even more confused to see the Romans here with a Hun horde riding into the city. Ernak searched the area and saw Xena with Gabrielle talking to Tuya and Navaz in front of the Adame.
"Fellow brothers!" Ernak grinned and waved his hand. Xena turned at the sound of the young king's voice and he trotted over to her. "I brought you some more Scythians but I see...the fight is over." He frowned, a bit disappointed that he missed everything.
Navaz folded his arms and glared at Ernak. "Zolten will take care of the runaway Scythians." He said and the Romans had the captured invaders and were soon taken away from them by the White Hun soldiers.
Ernak hopped off his horse and eyed the serious look on the king's face. "What's with him? You guys won, right?" he whispered.
Xena nodded. "Yes, Ernak..." she turned to Gabrielle with a wary look in her eyes.
Ellac walked out from the yurt, dressed in clothes that were provided to him by Tuya. He wrapped the fur coat around himself and ran his fingers through his long thick hair and spotted his youngest brother standing beside Xena. A big smile appeared on his face.
"Ernak!" he called out and started walking towards him.
The younger brother whipped his head around, recognizing a voice that had long left his memories and life. His eyes grew in shock when he saw his oldest brother walking towards him with a big smile. He stood frozen, gawking at the ghost that was coming closer and closer.
Ellac smiled and placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Brother!" he beamed and Ernak's mouth was left agape. "It's me, Ellac..." he said and Ernak cupped his brother's cheeks, staring into his green eyes.
"You...how..." he stuttered.
Xena interrupted, "Queen Tomiri has been keeping him imprisoned this entire time. We brought him here a couple of days ago."
Ernak broke into a smile and wrapped his strong arms around his brother, crushing him. "I can't believe you're here! Dengi will be so glad to see you and my mother too! And...Anastasia," he muttered and pulled away, casting a glance at Navaz. No wonder he wasn't in the best of moods. "I missed you and I can't believe you're really here. Everyone is here, this is great! Are you coming back to Pannonia with me?"
Ellac nodded. "Of course. We're supposed to leave soon."
"And I just got here," Ernak sighed. "Well, no matter, I'm just disappointed that I missed the war." He said and his brother pat his cheek teasingly. "We should have a huge party!" he suggested.
"Maybe, Ernak." He said and then eyed Navaz standing beside his mother. "I'll be right back. Let me know when Xena says we're leaving," he pat his brother's shoulder and left to go talk to Navaz.
The Hun king eyed Ellac and raised his eyebrow. Tuya frowned and crossed her arms. Ellac cleared his throat and spoke softly, "I wanted to thank you again for coming to save me. You are a good person and I know that because not just anyone would do that." He said and Navaz stood frozen with a blank expression. "And also, I want to let you know that Anastasia really deserves someone like you." He smiled softly then walked off.
Navaz's face softened after Ellac left his side. At first, he hoped that Tomiri was lying and that Ellac wouldn't be imprisoned but he was very much alive and present. He completely forgot about what his wife was going to do when she lay eyes upon Ellac again after so many years since his supposed death. He didn't think about his wife at all and felt selfish. Ellac was special to Anastasia and he respected that before but now, he wasn't sure what to think anymore. He could have his wife ripped away from him in an instant when she saw Ellac. It was at that moment that he set it in his mind to expect that to happen and to be at peace with it if it so happened.
Anastasia sat on the floor in a circle with the slave women, teaching them how to read and write for the last couple of weeks and some were quicker learners than others so she made sure to give special attention to those who struggled. They were much better at speaking than reading and writing which was probably better because they couldn't pass notes all the time and Anastasia realized her Greek was really quite bad and the Egyptian women's Greek wasn't all that great either.
In the middle of the lesson she saw Leila appear from the adjoining room holding a whimpering Arielle in her arms. "Anastasia, I see Navaz's army coming over here!" she said with a big smile and then paid attention to baby Arielle in her arms.
Ana turned and looked out one of the windows and she did see her mother approaching the entrance of Pannonia. She had been waiting so long for this moment. "Okay, we'll call it a day and we can start again tomorrow?" she told all the women and stood up, walking over to Leila, holding her daughter.
Leila handed off Arielle and ran over to the window to see the Huns approaching. She frowned, "I don't see Navaz."
Anastasia tried calming her daughter and frowned at her fussiness. "I'm sure he's still in Balaam. Will you go tell my mother I will be outside in a minute?" she asked.
"Sure," Leila quickly left the room and left the door slightly ajar.
Arielle kept crying loudly and Ana smiled, sitting down in a chair and wiped the tears from her daughter's flushed cheeks. "Why are you so upset?" she asked and bundled up her child with the warm blanket. "You don't need to cry, tatli kiz," she whispered.
Ellac wandered through his old home, his father's home and was able to bypass everyone, eager to see Anastasia. He walked down the hallway, leading towards the women's quarters and heard soft humming in the room at the end of the hall.
He walked quietly to the room and peered in the crack of the door to see Anastasia holding her daughter in her arms, humming in a soft soothing voice. A smile came to his lips and he remembered that same tune when she used to sing to Csaba when he was a baby and small child. She rose from the chair, her back turned to him and he saw that she kept her hair long still, hidden behind a long burgundy veil much like Kreka's.
He opened the door a little more to get a closer look at her. He quietly stepped inside the room and she set her daughter in a bassinet. He leered over and tried to see her face, but he couldn't. When she stood upright he slowly backed away, now afraid and instantly regretting coming here in the first place. But he couldn't turn back now.
Holding his breath he knocked on the wall and Ana continued gaping at her sleeping daughter. "I'll be outside in a minute," she said and he smiled nervously.
Bracing himself, he finally decided to say something. "Anastasia..."
She froze and he saw her shoulders tense at his voice. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Slowly, she turned around and he leaned against the doorway with a big smile on his face. Now, he was able to see her face and she looked better than he imagined she would. Her slender figure had long gone and her face was more mature, her stature the same and her high cheekbones, her dark eyebrows, framing her big blue eyes.
He took a step closer and she backed away. "It's me," he said softly and extended his hand, cautiously approaching her. He touched her arm and her eyes grew wide. She kept staring into his green eyes, unable to move. He grabbed her hand and she gasped.
He gripped her hand tightly and this time she didn't flinch or tense at his touch. She reached out and ran her fingers across his face and traced her fingertips along his lips then to the short trimmed beard that framed his strong jaw.
Ellac smiled and touched her soft cheek and then she started sobbing. "Don't cry," he whispered and Anastasia abruptly wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her entire body shaking as she sobbed on his shoulder. He circled his arms around her and brought her close to him, smelling her hair. That smell of embers and perfume that he missed.
She pulled away from the embrace and kissed him on the lips, cupping his cheeks. His eyes widened, surprised by her reaction. Anastasia grinned and gently pulled back, gaping into his shocked eyes. He then half smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"How..." she was barely able to speak.
"It's a very long story." He eyed the veil covering her hair and smiled. "You look nice in a veil," he mused and she lowered her eyes, now reminded that she was a queen and married to someone else.
"I...I am married now," she said softly.
"I know," he said and she raised both her eyebrows. "Navaz is your husband. He's a good man."
She turned around and buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly once more. Ellac frowned sadly and grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't want to make you upset."
She exhaled heavily, calming herself and turned to him with teary eyes. "This is all too... confusing. It's too much for me. I can't –"
He gripped her shoulders firmly and stared into her eyes. "If you want me to leave, I can."
"I don't want you to leave." She grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers together.