AN: and now the fun begins ;) enjoy and feedback appreciated!
Chapter 2 –I Will Make a Man out of You
Xena sat at her desk, writing a letter to her elder son, Solan. She couldn't shake the idea that he wouldn't want to see her after being apart for a year now. She knew that Solan, at thirteen now, was more likely to start sword training, especially with Borias' oldest son, Belach. An awful taste in her mouth appeared as she thought of the sixteen year old. She understood that Belach was a child himself, but she really didn't like him and she definitely didn't like him hanging around Solan either.
Alexander came out of the bath, ruffling his damp hair with a towel, he stared at his mother as she was writing furiously. "What are you doing?"
"Writing your brother," she said curtly and dipped the pen in the ink well and kept writing, finishing her last few sentences.
He quirked his mouth and Kara came in with his clothes and set them on Xena's bed. He smiled at the young maid and she disappeared into a separate room. He waltzed over to the bed and cringed at the clothing Kara picked out for him. He tightened the towel around his thin waist and glanced at his mother again.
"Do I really have to wear this?" he picked up a long black robe with pants to match. Xena sighed heavily and kept writing.
"Yes, just put it on," she signed her name at the bottom of the letter then folded it up. She stamped the outside of the letter with a wax seal and looked at her son's distain of the clothes. "What is wrong with the clothes?"
He frowned and held up the black and gold robe with jeweled buttons. "It looks girly..." he threw the robe back onto the bed. "Can't I wear the clothes I came in?" he asked.
Xena smirked and wondered when her son had become such a brat. She walked over to him and picked up the black robe, holding it up to his small frame. "You will look very handsome," she tried to persuade him but it didn't seem to work. "You wore something similar last time, what's wrong with this?"
"I don't want to look like a girl," he folded his thin arms, lifting his chin glaring at his mother. She pushed the robe against his chest.
"You're wearing it," she narrowed her eyes and his mouth opened slightly then he suddenly didn't feel like arguing anymore. He slipped the black robe on and buttoned it from the top to the bottom.
He let his arms hang and the sleeves completely covered his hands and he sighed. She smiled and looked at him. "It's a little big, but I can ask Kara to take up the sleeves."
Alexander grumbled then slipped on the black pants, muttering to himself quietly. He stared at himself in the mirror and frowned deeply. "I still think it looks girly."
She shook her head and then Dajan opened the door slightly. He saw her son in the room and smiled. "Xena, your girls are here," he announced and her eyes lit up. She nodded and dismissed him.
Grabbing her gloves, veil and turban she began dressing herself accordingly. Alexander climbed on top of her tall bed and watched her put the veil across her face and tuck her hair in the black turban. "Why do you dress like that?" he asked innocently.
"A Sultan is a man, Alexander," she smiled and adjusted her black leather gloves on her fingers.
He pursed his lips and folded his arms, the long sleeves draping over his elbows. "Why can't you be a sultana instead?"
Xena smiled and touched his cheek softly. "I find myself asking the same thing." She pat his cheek. "Now, don't come out of my quarters. You can only go in the west wing and that's it."
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I know the rules." He grumbled and she nodded, fixing her veil on her face, making sure none of her features were visible but her eyes. "Maybe that's why Solan doesn't come back," he mumbled.
Xena frowned and slowly turned around. He was kicking his feet back and forth as he sat on her bed. "What did you say?"
He lifted his head and saw that look in her eyes and he stuttered, "n–nothing mother," he said with a cheeky grin.
She raised an eyebrow then grabbed her scimitar hanging on the wall and opened the door. "Do not come out of this wing, do you understand?"
"Yes, alright!" he groaned and she sighed then shut the door. He scowled and mocked his mother, "don't go outside, don't go riding, don't come out of this room, blah, blah, blah". He rolled his eyes then glanced over at his mother's armor hanging on the far wall. His eyebrow rose and smiled. He hopped off the bed and approached the armor.
He saw the large sword hanging on the wall and jumped up, trying to reach it. He huffed then looked around the room for a stool or chair. He eyed his mother's large chair at her desk then ran over behind her desk. He tried to push the large chair and grunted, using all of his weight to push the chair.
He kept pushing the chair and then finally it moved only but an inch. "This isn't going to work," he muttered then spotted another chair near her vanity set. He smiled sneakily then grabbed the lightweight chair and pushed it towards the wall with the hanging armor.
Once he had the chair where he wanted it, he hopped onto the chair and grabbed the heavy sword off the wall. He nearly toppled over on the chair, carrying the heavy sword. He faltered and then grabbed hold of the chair and let out an impish laugh. He hopped off the chair and held the heavy sword with his weak wrists.
He squinted one of his eyes and swung the sword around, pretending to sword fight. He had seen his elder brother and half-brother do this a million times. Smiling, he swung the sword around and then the long blade smashed into his mother's armor.
Alexander's eyes widened and he saw the silver breast plate fall on the ground and then her helmet as well. "Oh no, no, no!" he panicked and then the entire case of armor fell onto the floor, nearly crushing him.
He hit the ground and covered the back of his head with his hands. He lifted his head and coughed from the large dust cloud surrounding him. He slowly turned around and saw his mother's armor scattered all over the floor.
"I'm so dead."
All of the girls rounded up from various cities in Greece and Persia were brought outside behind the palace in a large garden of some sort. Gabrielle and Helena decided to stick together and they clung close to one another as they stepped outside with the rest of the girls.
Gabrielle blinked at the bright sunlight beaming down on her. She squinted her eyes and saw a person wearing all black, long sleeves, pants, gloves and a face veil.
"Is that the sultan?" she whispered to Helena.
The girl nodded, "yes that's him."
Gabrielle's eyebrow rose and saw the sultan was not only tall, but quite intimidating to look at. "He must be hot in all those clothes," she jested. Helena smiled, trying not to laugh. "Who wears long sleeves in the desert, am I right?" she joked some more and Helena's eyes widened. "Hello?"
"Hello," Xena spoke and Gabrielle jumped back, seeing the sultan towering over her. "And you are?" she leaned forward, coming dangerously close to the young blonde.
Gabrielle's eyes grew as she stared into the sultan's blue eyes. Xena batted her eyelashes, raising her eyebrow. "I am talking to you!" Xena spat.
"Gabrielle," she answered finally and the sultan nodded her head.
"Gabrielle," Xena repeated and took a step back, folding her arms.
The blonde smiled nervously. "You see, I'm here by mistake. I shouldn't be here. I was taken by mistake so could I just leave?" she asked and the sultan narrowed her eyes. "Or maybe not..."
Xena smirked, "you are not leaving, Gabrielle. I am here to help you."
Gabrielle scoffed, "help me? You stole all these girls! What are you going to use them for? Sex slaves?" she presumed.
Xena's eyes widened and she whipped out her sword and swung it around, stopping an inch from Gabrielle's throat. "Do not toy with me, Gabrielle or I will make you a slave if you prefer that line of work?" She suggested and Gabrielle shook her head vehemently. She smiled and pulled the sword away from her throat.
"I didn't think so," the sultan sheathed her sword then walked away from Gabrielle and pulled out a wooden staff from a weapon's rack. "And since you were so kind to volunteer, Gabrielle..." she turned around slowly and motioned her to come stand by her.
The blonde stammered. "But...I didn't..."
"Don't make me come to you," Xena warned and Gabrielle slowly began walking over to her cautiously. She grabbed Gabrielle's arm and thrust her forward and clutched onto her.
Gabrielle held her breath and never felt so scared in her life. She frowned and smelled something on the sultan's dark layered clothing, a floral fragrance and she lifted her eyes, staring at the veil around Sultan Xenophon's face.
Xena put the wooden staff in front of Gabrielle and her eyes traveled downward. She saw the blonde scoping her out and she growled. "Something the matter, Gabrielle?" she hissed.
Slowly, the Greek girl lifted her big green eyes and smiled nervously. "No, of course not."
Xena smiled and pushed the staff in her face. "Good. Take this staff," she demanded and the blonde grabbed hold of the large staff.
She stepped away from her volunteer and spoke out to the frightened girls. "Now, I have brought all of you here to better yourselves," she began and saw the girls staring her with wide fear filled eyes. "I have noticed...that the people in my empire are unhappy and most of them are young girls like yourselves." She clasped her hands together and scanned the crowd of girls.
"Most of you come from poor backgrounds and some even come from...the works of pleasure," she frowned and some of the girls snickered in the back. "And some of you are troublemakers." She turned to Gabrielle, "so my volunteer, Gabrielle, is obviously one of those troubled girls." She grabbed her arm, pulling her to her side.
Gabrielle gasped. "Wait just a minute!" she protested. "I don't belong here!"
"Sure you do," Xena's grip tightened on her arm and Gabrielle winced. "Gabrielle here, will represent all of you!"
The blonde's eyes widened and she looked at Helena, who seemed equally as confused and scared. "I don't think you understand, Xenophon –"
Xena snapped her head around and her leather gloved fingers wrapped around the blonde's arm even tighter. "What did you call me?"
Gabrielle's mouth went slightly ajar and she became speechless. "Your...highness...?" she tried to fix herself and Xena narrowed her eyes, leaning in very close to her face. She could feel the sultan's breath through the thick black veil.
She saw the sultan's eyes squint and her cheeks rise, indicating a smile. Even though Gabrielle couldn't see the sultan's face, she knew that smile was anything but warm.
"Troublemaker, you are," Xena whispered close to Gabrielle's face. She then turned back to the girls and everyone tensed their bodies.
A waft of that floral fragrance passed by Gabrielle's nose again and she raised her eyebrow. She heard the sultan talking to the girls, though she kept examining Xenophon's face, specifically his long nose and high cheekbones and striking eyes. She tried not to seem too obvious and avoided the sultan whenever she turned her head to look at her.
"So, Gabrielle," Xena began and pushed her forward into the center, in between herself and the crowd of girls. "I want you to pick a partner."
Gabrielle turned and eyed the sultan curiously. Xena lowered her eyes and Gabrielle sighed then turned her attention back to the girls. She immediately smiled and chose Helena.
Helena stood by Gabrielle and Xena circled around the slender girls. "I want you to hit your partner with the staff."
Gabrielle's jaw dropped and she whipped her head around, scowling at the sultan. "Excuse me?!"
Xena smiled, "do it," she hissed and grabbed the staff firmly, staring into Gabrielle's eyes. "Unless you want to spar with me instead?" she teased.
"I'm not going to hit her. She is my friend," Gabrielle said and Helena held her breath, wrapping her arms around herself.
Xena growled and snatched the staff from the blonde and wacked the back of Helena's knees, sending her straight into the sand beneath her. All the girls took a step back and didn't understand what was going on at all. Gabrielle frowned deeply and saw Helena cowering on the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Gabrielle ran forward and nearly pushed the sultan down until she was wacked in the arm. She winced and rubbed her arm, glaring up at the sultan.
"And that is why you are here," Xena twirled the staff then handed it back to Gabrielle with a devious smile hidden beneath the dark veil. "I will teach you how to defend yourselves."
"By hitting people?!" Gabrielle spat and Xena walked up to her slowly with her hands behind her back. Oh crap, Gabrielle said to herself and lifted her eyes, staring into the sultan's blue icy eyes.
Xena leaned over the outspoken blonde. "Don't make me your enemy, Gabrielle. You don't want to do that, trust me." She winked and Gabrielle bit her bottom lip and leaned backwards as Xena kept coming closer and closer towards her.
The sultan smiled and then walked away from Gabrielle. "That is enough for today. You will be shown to the east wing where you all will stay." She waved her hand and walked through the crowd of girls disappearing into the large palace.
Helena slowly stood from the ground and saw the sultan walking through the palace, her black cape swishing behind her. She rubbed the back of her knees and held onto Gabrielle's shoulder for balance. "You really shouldn't talk to the sultan like that, Gabrielle..." she advised.
"Well, he's insane!" she retorted. "And he smells like flowers..." she raised an eyebrow and then threw the wooden staff aside, helping Helena walk with the rest of the girls as they were being ushered inside the palace.
Later, all the girls were in the east wing, specially for them. They were allowed to use the communal baths down the hall from their rooms. Gabrielle and Helena were sitting on the ledge of a mosaic tiled floor bath, soaking their legs in the hot water.
Gabrielle couldn't help but think that this idea the sultan had was a bit strange. A man wants to train girls how to fight because why? Because he feels bad for them? She frowned, staring into the water and Helena nudged her arm.
"What's wrong, Gabrielle?"
The blonde sighed, "I think we should escape from this place. It's obvious that Xenophon wants to use us for something else. Why would he want to teach us how to fight?" she scratched her head bemusedly.
Helena shrugged her shoulders and waded her feet in the water. "Maybe he just wants to help?"
Gabrielle scoffed. "Yeah right. I don't trust him." She folded her arms and then a few girls stepped into the hot water, soaking their long hair. She rolled her eyes and lifted her legs out of the water and grabbed a towel, drying her legs off.
"Where are you going?" the brunette grabbed her new found friend's hand.
"Away from this place," she scowled at the talkative girls in the bath, laughing together.
She left to go to a large room with many floor beds and already picked out one for herself by the large stained glassed window. She sat down on the mattress and looked up at all the lanterns hanging from the ceiling, creating beautiful candlelit patterns on the walls.
As she sat beside herself she wondered what life would have been like if she just listened to Lucia. Although so far, things weren't so bad. She had a place to sleep and was inside a gorgeous palace. Except getting hit by the sultan, everything was fine, so far.
Helena came to join her and she wrung out her wet wavy locks and sat on the bed beside Gabrielle's. "You aren't like the rest of us, Gabrielle," she said and the blonde looked at her strangely. "You aren't like we are, I know you aren't." she smiled softly. "You don't belong here."
"And you do?" Gabrielle frowned. "You shouldn't be taken away from your home to be kept as a prisoner by the sultan, Helena."
The brunette sighed. "I didn't have a home, Gabrielle. You obviously did," she said and a sad frown crossed her friend's face and lowered her eyes.
Gabrielle began, "I wanted to live in Thebes and become a warrior." She sighed and Helena towel dried her hair, listening intently. "I was tired living in a farmer's village. I was supposed to marry this guy," she rolled her eyes. "Once I heard that, my friend Lucia and I left our homes in search for a new one."
"You mean...you intentionally left your home?" Helena frowned, not understanding that and Gabrielle nodded. "Why? You had a home and you left? I would give anything to have a home like you, Gabrielle." She shook her head and began braiding her hair.
Suddenly, Gabrielle thought she really had it good in Potidaea. Helena obviously didn't have any family or a home, or at least that's what Gabrielle supposed. She had a sister and friends and two loving parents and she left it all because she wanted to go on adventure. Now, she felt terrible for even bringing this up. She felt very privileged.
"I didn't..." Gabrielle sighed, "I'm sorry."
Helena smiled, "don't be sorry Gabrielle. Just remember that not all of us are that lucky in life." She finished drying her hair and lay down on the mattress, rolling over onto her side.
Alexander was trying to put back his mother's armor for the last few hours while she was away. He hoped that she would stay away as long as possible. He tried picking up the large wooden shelf that held her armor and moaned, using all of his strength.
He then heard footsteps and saw the door knob turning. He gasped and immediately ran and crawled under the bed.
Xena opened the door to her room and then ripped off the veil around her face. She turned and saw her armor scattered across the floor and her war sword lying in the middle of the rug. Her eyes widened with fury and she balled her fists up.
"Alexander!" she yelled.
He cringed and scooted further back underneath the large bed. He saw her boots walking right past him and he covered his mouth as he breathed heavily. He watched her boots as she walked across the rug and then he didn't see them anymore.
Frowning he looked around the circumference of the bed and didn't see her at all. He then felt himself being drug out from under the bed and he squealed loudly.
Xena held her son upside down by his ankle and he smiled nervously at her with his arms hanging by his ears. "Hello mother," he greeted in his sweetest voice possible and saw her eyes darken and a large frown on her lips.
"You wouldn't believe what happened," he began and she raised her eyebrow. "The shelves just came crashing down and nearly squashed me!"
Xena lifted him higher in the air and looked into his dark eyes and cheeky grin. "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" she smiled maliciously.
His smile widened, "nooo..." he said and she growled and threw him onto the bed.
"I told you not to touch anything!" she yelled.
He huffed and stood on her bed, "but it was an accident, honest!" he pleaded.
"Everything with you is an accident!" she spat and he frowned sadly and plopped down onto the bed, folding his arms, letting his head hang.
"I'm sorry," he muttered.
She sighed heavily and placed her hands on her hips. Then she glanced over at her son. "Just leave my room," she said softly.
Alexander lifted his eyes and pouted then hopped off the bed. He walked over to her and hugged her legs. "I said I was sorry."
Xena frowned and folded her arms. "Go," she said firmly and he sighed then walked away slowly into the room beside hers.
Papal States –Rome
Pope Innocent IV gathered at the table with his nine council of cardinals. He drank the wine in the goblet, trying to quench his thirst, or perhaps drown his worries about these political issues rising in the atmosphere.
"Your Excellency, wine is not water," cardinal Rovere spoke softly.
The pope coughed and cleared his throat. "This meeting is not about wine, Rovere," he rubbed his chin then stared at his council. "We must discuss the growing Greco-Persian empire."
Cardinal Caprese nodded, "I agree. Xenophon has expanded his empire into Jerusalem –the holiest of holiest cities in the world."
Pope Innocent sighed heavily and tapped his fingers on the table. "He is our land that we have fought long and hard for. We mustn't let another Persian sultan take over the holy land. Besides, the Mongolians have already threatened Anatolia and the Caucasus."
Rovere frowned and interjected, "the Mongolians are the least of our problems, your majesty. We must act now and dethrone the sultan."
"Xenophon is a native Greek, Rovere," cardinal DeSforsza interrupted his colleague.
"So? He has made Jerusalem his capital so therefore he is our enemy. He is a foreigner on holy land. We must act now!" Rovere slammed his fist on the table.
The pope raised his hand, silencing the bickering councilmen. "We must not argue with one another. Instead, we should be working together and our allies." He said and the men lowered their gaze. "I shall proclaim a Crusade on Xenophon's newfound empire in Persia." He said and all the cardinals looked to one another fearfully.
Caprese raised his hand to interrupt. Pope Innocent gave him the go-ahead to speak freely. "Might we recruit the Anatolians to aid us in this Crusade, your Excellency?" he suggested.
DeSforzsa agreed. "The Anatolians pay their dues to the church every year. They are faithful servants of God. They should aid us against Xenophon."
Pope Innocent smiled, nodding his head slowly, growing tired of all this political nonsense circling around Rome. "Send the Crusaders to Anatolia in the morning then," he said and coughed lightly then stood from the table and dismissed himself to retire for the evening.
Rovere and DeSforzsa stuck around in the room after the other seven cardinals exited. Rovere began, "the pope will begin another Crusade in Jerusalem to get rid of Emperor Xenophon, yet he knows nothing of the taxation between Anatolia and Xenophon's empire."
DeSforzsa frowned and rubbed his bearded chin. "Yes, indeed. That poses a problem. We must convince the Anatolian Chieftain to cut ties with Xenophon. They have been allies for a long time and Xenophon hardly taxes them at all!"
The devious cardinal smiled, "then we shall tax them heavily." He proposed and DeSforzsa grinned at his dear friend.
After fixing the shelves filled with her armor on the wall, Xena sat on her bed going over a request letter sent by Anatolia's Chieftain, Osman, asking for more money in the coming year. She scoffed and tossed the paper aside.
"Always asking for money," she grumbled and opened another letter from Hungary, also asking for more money for aid against the Mongols. She growled and rubbed her forehead, staring at all these unopened letters.
Alexander poked his head around the corner and saw his mother cursing to herself under her breath. Xena lifted her head and saw him peeking. He gasped and disappeared from sight.
She let out a huge sigh. "Alexander..." she called out in a calm voice. "Come out here," she said and he poked his head around the corner.
He slowly slinked against the wall, fearful that she would yell at him again. She wagged her fingers at him, motioning for him to come to her. He took a step forward and then approached the end of her bed. She smiled softly.
"Am I an accident?" he asked and her eyes widened.
"I didn't say that," she said and grabbed him by his waist, pulling him close. She brushed the hair out of his face and he quirked his mouth.
"That's what Belach and Solan say," Alexander said softly and lowered his eyes.
Xena frowned and lifted his chin. "Well, it's not true." She got that awful taste in her mouth again just thinking about Belach again and his mother, Natassa. Bad influences, she thought and they were around her sons all the time when she wasn't there.
"You really shouldn't listen to Belach, Alexander." She warned and he sighed heavily.
"But he's my brother. I have to listen to whatever he says!"
Xena frowned and folded her arms. "Who said that?"
"Solan..." he felt like he suddenly made a mistake saying these words to his mother since he saw the look in her eyes, and it wasn't good. "Father said that I have to listen to Solan when he is away..."
Her mouth hung open slightly and she took in a deep breath. "And, where is your father?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. He said he'll be back soon though," he smiled. "Are you mad?"
Xena pursed her lips and completely ignored her son's question. She couldn't get the thought of strangling Borias out of her mind. He tugged at her sleeve and she blinked, then gleamed down at him. "What?" she asked.
"I asked if you were mad..."
She smiled weakly, "no, I'm not mad." I'm furious, she thought to herself. "So..." she began and anxiously fixed her son's robe, trying to distract herself. "Who watches over you while your father is gone?"
"Natassa," he answered immediately and Xena's jaw clenched. He felt her squeeze his arms and he winced. "You're hurting me!"
She let go of his arms and ran her fingers through his thick short hair. "Sorry..." she pat his shoulder and he frowned, rubbing his arm. And this is why my sons should have stayed with me, she kept cursing herself.
"I'm sorry I knocked over your armor..." he twiddled with his thumbs, looking down at the floor.
"Remember what I told you about touching things that don't belong to you," she poked his chest teasingly.
He smirked and bobbed his head. "I know and I'm really sorry!" he apologized, pleading with his big doe eyes. His mother smiled and kissed his forehead, unable to stay mad at him for long.
There was a lot of yelling coming from downstairs and Xena frowned, creasing her eyebrows. Alexander immediately ran to the door. She hopped off the bed and grabbed him before he could open the door.
"Stay here!" she warned and he groaned.
Gabrielle and Helena were in the middle of the large foyer surrounded by Persian guards. Helena hung onto Gabrielle's arm."I don't think this was a good idea, Gabrielle..." she whispered.
"I didn't think we were going to be surrounded by guards!" she hissed back and began backing away from the soldiers, smiling nervously.
Xena looked over the balcony in the shadows and frowned, tapping her fingernails on the railing. She turned around and grabbed a bow hanging on the wall and an arrow. She pulled the arrow back and the taut bow creaked.
She released the arrow and it landed right in front of Gabrielle's and Helena's feet. She lowered the bow and saw their eyes travel up to the balcony.
Gabrielle blinked and was able to see the silhouette of the sultan looking over the balcony. The face unrecognizable in the darkness. Helena hit Gabrielle's shoulder. "I think we should go back to our quarters now!" she advised and began pulling her ambitious friend away as the guards kept threatening to poke them with their spears and swords.
The blonde nodded and kept staring up at the balcony. She saw the sultan's hand, revealed from the small moonlight shining through the windows, and raised her eyebrow. The sultan walked away in the darkness and rounded a corner, not saying a word. Gabrielle was being pulled away by Helena.
The two were shoved back into their quarters and the guards shut the doors. Helena groaned and began pacing around. All the other girls were not asleep obviously since most of them were up talking or probably still in the baths together.
"I can't believe you actually thought that was a good idea!" Helena spat, shaking her head.
Gabrielle grabbed her friend's hand and looked into her frightened eyes. "I saw the sultan's hand."
Helena frowned. "So?"
"So?" the blonde gasped. "Nobody has seen the sultan's skin, except his eyes. Perhaps he is not a leper after all," she said with a big smile.
"Don't be ridiculous, Gabrielle. The sultan was never a leper!" she sighed heavily and went to sit back down on her bed by the window. Gabrielle quickly followed her and sat on the bed with her. "Maybe he's allergic to the sun or something?" she guessed.
Gabrielle tapped her chin and shook her head. "You sound ridiculous now. The sultan is obviously hiding something. He just doesn't want us to see his face."
"Maybe he's deformed," Helena laughed. She saw the look on Gabrielle's face and her laughter slowly dissipated. "What? I'm just throwing stuff out there."
"Do you think we will train with the sultan tomorrow?" Gabrielle asked with mirth in her eyes.
Helena shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know, but if we do, don't do anything stupid this time!"
Xena returned to her room and she growled, throwing the bow down onto the floor. Alexander was looking through her papers and she snarled. "Get away from my papers!" she yelled and he immediately hopped off the bed.
"I was just looking," he lamented, hiding his hands behind his back, scooting away from her.
She eyed him as he slowly backed away. "What is behind your back?" she asked.
"Nothing," he smiled and she held out her hand. He groaned and then handed over her gold pen.
Xena frowned and leaned down, glaring into his dark eyes. "What is the matter with you lately?" she raised her eyebrow and he tightened his lips, not saying a word. "First you destroy my case of armor and then you steal my things."
He sighed. "I wanted the pen so I could write to Solan," he admitted.
"That doesn't mean you can steal my things, Alexander," she folded her arms. "Since when do you steal from people, especially me?"
He gave her a cheeky grin, "Belach and Solan told me that if I wanted something, I should take it."
"Oh, is that right?" she smiled tightly. She began ushering him into the adjoining room. "I think it's time for you to go to bed."
"But, but!" he protested and she gently pushed him into the room and closed the door behind her.
She leaned against the door and tapped the pen against her chin. Perhaps Solan not being here was a good thing after all. Alexander couldn't keep his big mouth shut and told her everything that her eldest son was doing without her supervision. First, he tells her that Solan doesn't want to come and see her and then Borias is nowhere to be found, and now Belach and Solan are teaching her youngest son that it is okay to steal from others.
She marched over to her desk and saw the sealed letter to Solan and ripped it open. She sat down and decided to mention a few more things, though did not mention Alexander's name.
She stared at the letter for a few moments and decided not to add the things Alexander mentioned. It will be a surprise, she thought. Smiling, she sealed the letter again and would make sure to send it out tomorrow, as soon as possible.
Xena folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. Aside from her both of her sons' disobedience, she also had to deal with a certain troublemaking girl from Greece. She didn't think that she would have such a hard time with these girls, but Gabrielle, she was different, she liked to speak her mind.
She would make sure that Gabrielle understood who was in charge here and not the other way around.
AN: a softer conqueror this time around