AN: the meat! so much meat :)
Chapter 7 –Judas Part II
Xena exhaled heavily and glared over at Borias as she lay in the bed. "How could you do this to me?" she hissed.
He folded his arms and defended himself, "Osman didn't want to ally with Rome, Xena."
"So you went behind my back and allied with the Mongols instead?!" she growled and winced, moving her wounded shoulder as she lifted herself from the pillows. She settled back down onto the bed and Borias kept staring at her.
"I have done everything for you and your people, Borias. I was loyal to you and this is the thanks I get." She sighed heavily and he rolled his eyes.
"Xena," he stepped closer and she widened her eyes. He generously took a step back, smiling softly. "We had no choice but to ally with the Khan. His hordes are already coming this way to take over. He has China and the Caucasus, it is only a matter of time before he takes Anatolia, Hungary and Persia." He saw the malice in her eyes and the distain on her face.
He continued carefully, "ally with us Xena and your empire will be saved."
Xena smiled deviously and held her hand over her chest. "Oh, my heart. You are too kind," she mocked. "I am simply overjoyed by your generosity!" she growled. "I will never ally with you and Osman. You are the ones who ally with me," she snickered. "I surrender to no one. Now, get out," she shooed him away and he didn't bother to move at her command.
"Get out!" she yelled. He grunted and waved her off then hurried out. She then sat up against the pillows and called out, "wait!" she said and he halted. "Have you found Solan?"
"No," he answered curtly then exited the large yurt.
Xena folded her arms then called for Dajan. He immediately came to her side and lowered his eyes. "Bring the girl that saved my life," she instructed and her adviser lifted his eyes, staring at her bemusedly.
"Your highness...are you sure that is wise?" he asked.
She nodded, "she will not see me. Bring her to me...now."
Solan walked into the campgrounds with his horse, feeding his steed some apple slices. Belach saw his brother sauntering in and he growled. Immediately, he threw down his bowl of food and marched over to him.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Belach growled and Solan raised his eyebrow and kept walking along. "Your crazy mother almost broke my arm!"
Solan smirked, "good," he said and Belach grabbed hold of his arm. "Belach, let go of me before I hurt you," he warned and the elder brother lifted his hold and walked alongside him instead. Sighing, he kept feeding the horse the apples.
"I went to Konya for awhile so I could think," he said.
Belach gasped and stopped his younger brother mid-step. "You went all the way across Ankara...to think?" he questioned.
Solan nodded, "that's right," he brushed past his brother and continued walking. "How was the coronation?" he asked still a bit salty about the opportunity that their father was supposed to honor him and not Belach.
His elder brother frowned, "it didn't happen because your mother decided to do something stupid yesterday." He saw Solan's concern and then he smiled, deciding to milk the boy's feelings. "Oh and she is quite injured. A Mongol drove his sword into her like butter."
Solan's eyes widened and he left his horse then took off running. Belach smiled, folding his arms. The hose nudged his nose against his head and he groaned, pushing the animal away then went on about his way.
He ran as fast as he could and tried to enter the yurt until Dajan grabbed him, pulling him away. "I want to see her!" he cried out and Dajan frowned, wrapping his arms around the boy.
"She is busy!" he grunted and set Solan on the ground.
"Is she okay?" he tried to peek through the entrance and Dajan gently pulled him aside.
"Yes," he shook his shoulders lightly. "She is fine," he smiled and Solan breathed a sigh of relief.
Gabrielle stood in front of the bed nervously. She couldn't really make out Xena's face behind the sheer curtains, but she didn't have to. She knew that Xena was not happy to see her just by her eerie silence. Even though she was unable to see her eyes, Gabrielle knew that Xena was glaring at her with those fiery eyes of hers.
"Gabrielle..." she finally spoke and the young blonde's body froze in place. "The troublemaker," she smiled softly. "I must...commend you for keeping yourself hidden so well and for so long too. You are good at deceiving me."
Gabrielle sighed lightly and tried to focus on Xena behind the curtains, but she couldn't make out anything aside from an arm reaching over for something beside the bed. Suddenly, she felt more nervous standing in the room without being able to see Xena's face. She'd rather stare at her veiled face and intense eyes instead.
"It...was not my intention to deceive you..." Gabrielle spoke aloud and she heard nails against a glass and that only made her more nervous.
"Tell me Gabrielle," Xena sat up in bed, eyeing the young girl through the semi sheer curtains. "What was your intention?"
The blonde lowered her head and tried to think of something quick to say but all of a sudden she had nothing. Her mind went blank and Xena was expecting an answer, or was she? Was she trying to play another one of her games with her? No, that couldn't be it, maybe...perhaps, she was being truthful or maybe not. Gabrielle didn't understand Xena and why she pretended to be someone she wasn't, but the one thing she knew was that Xena liked to play this riddle game. It was a very intimidating game for sure. It scared everyone, even herself sometimes.
Gabrielle smiled and spoke, "I...wanted to learn more about you."
Silence.
Xena set the glass of water on the small table and rest her arms by her sides, staring at Gabrielle through the curtains. Very clever, girl.
"So you thought that lying to me was a good way to start, is that it?" the sultana asked.
Gabrielle bit her tongue then took a step forward closer to the curtains. "I'm sorry I lied to you but I think you made a mistake."
Xena smiled. "A mistake?" very interesting, Gabrielle, very interesting.
"You chose Helena over me. You know I am better than her at everything yet you chose her instead. I didn't think it was fair so –"
"So you decided to take her place instead and lie to me?" Xena interrupted and Gabrielle frowned, folding her arms. "I don't like liars, Gabrielle. I think I made that perfectly clear to you before."
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. She hates liars, yet she is one herself. How hypocritical of her. She turned her eyes to the shielded sultana again.
"But...I must say one thing," Xena began and felt herself losing a part of her ego at this moment. "You helped me and saved me. So, thank you."
"You're...welcome," Gabrielle said with a small smile. She waited and then grazed her fingers along the soft fabric of the curtains. She smelled it and then frowned. "What...can I do to earn your trust?" she asked.
Xena lifted her eyes and raised an eyebrow. She didn't understand this girl, but she was obviously very eager to learn or she just liked getting into trouble and being rewarded punishments. "You sure talk a lot for a small town girl. Where did you say you were from?"
"Potidaea..."
"Oh yes, a farming village. I hope there aren't more girls like you in Potidaea," Xena toyed with Gabrielle to see if she would spout off.
"Probably not," Gabrielle smirked, now catching onto Xena's small games she liked to play. "May I say something?" she asked and there was a long stretch of silence. She hoped that meant she could say something, but if not, she did anyway.
"I find it very strange that an important person as yourself trains young girls. What made you decide to do that?" she pried.
Xena frowned and tapped her fingers against her thigh impatiently. "Poverty is not a pretty thing to see, Gabrielle." She sighed and shifted in the bed. "You may go now, I am finished with you for now."
For now? Gabrielle frowned and stepped away then walked to the entrance. She then smiled and turned around, staring at Xena grabbing a few things from the table.
"Oh your majesty one more thing..."
"What is it?" Xena was growing impatient.
"You smell like flowers. Orchids, maybe?" Gabrielle smirked then exited the yurt.
Xena's eyes widened and she growled. She tossed the papers off her lap then swung her legs out of bed. She hobbled out of bed and then saw Solan rush in. Oh great, more trouble, she thought.
"Mother, are you okay?" he rushed to her and she ignored him. "You should stay in bed. Should I go get father?"
"No!" she yelled and he took a step back. She looked down at his fear stricken eyes and pat his cheek. "No, Solan. I'm fine." She then realized that her son had gone missing then turned and glared at him. "Where have you been?!"
Solan bit his bottom lip and slowly started backing away. "Um, I just went to Konya for awhile."
She kept walking closer towards him as he continued backing up. "And why didn't you tell anyone where you were going?" she questioned and he stuttered then bumped into the bed and smiled nervously. "Something could have happened to you!"
"But nothing happened mother! I was safe I promise!" he pleaded with his large blue eyes.
She grabbed his arm and hissed, "you are coming to live with me." She pushed him gently along to leave the yurt. "Go pack your things, we are leaving tomorrow morning."
He gasped and clutched onto his mother's arm. "But why?! I want to stay here for awhile longer. Please, mother."
"Do as I say..." she said calmly and pried his fingers off her arm. Solan huffed and stormed out of the yurt without saying another word.
Alexander sneaked into the kitchen on the first floor of the palace. Without his mother here he was able to roam the entire palace since she couldn't stop him. He had been evading Kara for over two hours now and she kept looking for him. Every time she asked someone if they saw him, each person said something different. Kara was beginning to believe that Alexander liked playing hide and seek more than anything and she really hated babysitting the boy, despite his mother's wishes to keep him hidden away, he never obeyed.
Although, even without Xena in the palace, Kara never told her that Alexander misbehaved the entire time while she was away. Due to this secrecy, it was probably not the wisest choice since he continued to misbehave and continue to do whatever he wished without his mother present.
The naughty prince crawled under the table and saw women scurrying around, preparing food and talking among themselves. He smiled and kept crawling underneath the long table. He came to the end of the table and lifted his head, peeking over the edge. The women were completely oblivious and he grinned. His eyes darted to the right and saw a bowl of fruit, another bowl of bread and a tray of helva. His eyes widened and he really wanted the helva.
As long as his mother was here, he was not allowed to have many sweets and they were pretty scarce in Ankara too. He reached for the tray and saw one of the women look over at a small hand appearing from underneath the table.
"Your highness!" the young maiden yelled and dropped the flour and ran over to the tray. He panicked and grabbed three pieces of the sticky helva and ran out of the kitchen.
She groaned and slammed her fist on the table. She heard the other maids giggling as they continued rolling out dough and cutting up fruits and vegetables. She sighed and picked up the tray of now ten pieces of helva instead of thirteen.
"It took me three days to make these!" she griped and tossed the tray back down on the table. "I hope the prince's teeth rot," she grimaced.
One of the elder women raised her eyebrow and handed the rolled out dough to the young maiden next to her. "Silvia, he's just a child. Children like sweets."
Silvia groaned and dipped her hands in the flour and rolled a small ball of fresh dough in between her palms. "When is the sultan coming back? He behaves much better around the sultan!" she slammed the ball on the table and angrily rolled out the dough.
The elderly woman smiled and began cutting some fruit into large pieces.
Alexander ran until he was out of breath and went into his mother's office. He sighed and shut the door behind him. Smiling, he saw his mother's chair at the front of the room and he ran and hopped into the large chair, hanging his thin legs hang over the armrest casually.
He bit into his second piece of helva and the sticky taffy sweet stuck to his teeth. He smiled and rest his head on the other armrest, enjoying eating in peace. His eyes scanned the room and he remembered that his mother told him never to come in here, but this was a desperate situation. He had to get away from that dreaded maid, Silvia. He knew that she hated when he stole food from the kitchen, but alas, he did it anyway and he would continue to do so because his mother was away on a trip.
As he was enjoying the candy he heard people talking and footsteps. He saw boot shadows from underneath the door. He panicked and immediately hopped out of the large chair and hid behind it. The door opened and he heard the two men continue talking. The door closed and he crawled under the chair, watching the two men.
He had seen them before. They were part of his mother's court, noblemen of course. Alexander rolled his eyes and the two men walked further into the room, talking freely.
"The sultan is still in Ankara, but he will return," the respectable Awat spoke to his colleague.
Vahid nodded and rubbed his long curly beard. "Yes, but I am not expecting him to return anytime soon. He refuses to ally with the Templars and the Khan of Mongolia. He will damn us all to Hell!" he shouted and Awat agreed.
"Xenophon thinks that he will eventually rule all of Christendom. What is next? Exile the Hebrews from the Holy Land?" Awat frowned and continued, "our people do not obey the sultan because he is a heathen. He is not even of Persian descent!"
Vahid smiled, "indeed he is not. He is from Greece, a rival of Persia that goes back before the Holy Roman Empire." He placed his hands upon Awat's shoulders. "We must convince the court to join with the Templars. Once that is done we can overthrow Xenophon and take back the Holy Land and then take out Rome. We will have a great Islamic empire once again, Awat!"
Alexander gasped and he crawled out from underneath the chair and hid behind it, tapping his fingers together, completely forgetting about the candy. Overthrow? That means they are going to kill her. My mother. He began formulating a plan in his head and then he heard the two men leave.
He ran his fingers through his hair and widened his eyes. "What am I going to do?!" he whispered to himself. He ran came out from behind the chair and ran out a different door that lead to the secret hallways, as he called them.
He ran through the torch lit corridor and entered a large room. A room full of his mother's trainees. All the girls gasped and covered their naked bodies.
"Dear god in heaven!" Alexander covered his eyes and all the girls whispered to each other.
"My apologies ladies...so sorry," he blindly walked through the maze of girls and all of them were staring at the small child. He bumped into a girl and she gasped. "Oh, excuse me," he uncovered his eyes and his jaw dropped. "So sorry!" with that last note he quickly ran out of the room.
"Who the hell was that?!" Joan asked as she wrapped the robe around herself.
Helena lifted her eyebrow and set her book in her lap. "The sultan's son," she blurted out.
The room filled with whispers and Joan frowned, folding her arms. "Well, he's a little punk. Where did he come from anyway?" she began looking around the room for any openings.
After seeing a few young women completely naked he definitely wasn't going get that image out of his mind anytime soon. He shook his head and cringed. He then ran to the west wing where he bumped into Kara, the chambermaid.
Kara growled and grabbed him by his arm. "Where have you been?! I have been looking for you everywhere!"
He breathed heavily and looked around to see if others were watching. "Kara! You gotta listen to me!" he grabbed her hand and pulled her aside into the next narrow hallway. She grumbled and couldn't believe she was being drug around by a seven year old.
He exhaled deeply and stared up at her. "Something terrible is going to happen! Something so awful! I have to warn mother..."
She frowned concernedly and never seen him so anxious before. "Alexander..." she knelt down and brushed his hair away from his dark brown eyes. "What's going on?"
"Her –her court, is going to be friends with Rome and then –then they're going to kill her!" he placed his hands atop his head and began heaving heavily.
His heavy breathing concerned her as much as the news that she heard. Despite his misbehavior, he was never one to lie to her or his mother. "Alexander," she began calmly and grabbed his hands. "Calm down..." she advised and he slowed his breathing down. She smiled and touched his cheek. "Good boy. Now, we will go to your room and eat something, okay?"
The two walked down the hall, heading towards the large staircase in the west wing. He frowned as he held her hand. "But what about mother? I have to do something! I gotta tell her!"
She sighed. "You will when she gets back from Ankara. You can't do anything right now." She wrapped the dark veil around her hair and saw the councilmen walking down the hall and frowned. "Don't worry."
Xena crept into the girls' tents while they were sleeping. She kept her face hidden of course and cautious of her wounded shoulder, though kept her sword on her hip. She looked into each separate room and saw Francesca sleeping in the far right room and Penelope in the room beside her.
Smiling, she walked over to the last room on the far left of the yurt and peeked inside. There she saw Gabrielle sleeping soundly in the bed with her armor sprawled across the floor. Messy, I see, she noted. Stepping inside quietly, Gabrielle stirred in her slumber and rolled over onto her back, exhaling heavily.
Xena unsheathed the dagger from its holster and stood over the bed, waving the blade back and forth. She cocked her head and grinned beneath the veil. She then placed her hand over Gabrielle's mouth and climbed on top of her body.
Gabrielle's eyes opened immediately and saw the sultana sitting on top of her, inches from her face. She peered down and saw a dagger held up to her neck and her muffled screams were blocked from Xena's hand.
"Na uh, Gabrielle," Xena whispered, "if you scream I will cut you." She held the blade against the blonde's throat. "You promise not to scream?" she asked and the trainee nodded, fear in her eyes as both stared at one another.
Xena removed her hand from her mouth and Gabrielle breathed heavily, gawking at Xena's blue eyes. "Now...what do you know?" she asked.
Gabrielle stuttered, "w –what do you mean?" she whispered.
"You know perfectly well what I mean," Xena pressed the blade firmly against the blonde's succulent neck.
Oh that, Gabrielle thought. If I say something, I might die. I shouldn't have been so outspoken earlier, she cursed herself. "I...I know more than you want me to..." she chose her words carefully.
Xena raised her eyebrow and then it finally dawned on her. "The mysterious maid...in my room that night. Of course," she chuckled lowly. "It was you!" and Gabrielle lowered her eyes. "Clever girl..." she hissed and Gabrielle closed her eyes tightly.
"If you're going to kill me just get it over with!"
Xena smiled and pulled the dagger away from the girl's throat. "Kill you? You believe that I am so merciless?" she began and Gabrielle opened one of her eyes and saw the dagger was no longer at her throat. "If I kill you I go against all that I stand for. I don't kill women, Gabrielle," she growled and slid her body off of her and stood beside the bed.
Gabrielle frowned and sat up in bed, glaring at the sultana. "What about all those women in Thebes a few years ago? I heard you arrested them for their crimes and they were never seen again!"
Xena smiled and tapped the dagger against her palms. "I sent them to Corinth to work for their crimes. Once their debt was repaid, they were sent back to their homes."
Oh, well that is unexpected, Gabrielle gathered. It seems all of those tales of the emperor of Greece was not as cruel as people made him...or now, her, out to be. Now she was curious as to what was going to happen to her.
"Will you send me away too?" she asked hesitantly.
Xena turned to her and sheathed the dagger. "No. You know too much about me." She unhooked the veil from the turban and exposed her face. Gabrielle had seen her face before, but it was like she was seeing her for the first time, the first time as Xena and not as a male sultan.
"But," Xena said and Gabrielle's shoulders tensed. "You owe me a debt. You will work for me and once your debt is repaid you will return to Potidaea just like all the other girls before you." She saw Gabrielle's head hang and she stepped close to her, grabbing her face. "And I will make sure to work you very hard," she said with an eerie smile. "A troublemaker you are, but a smart troublemaker..." she hissed and Gabrielle's grew in fear. "Saving my life is only part of your debt that you have already repaid."
She released Gabrielle's face then turned to leave the small room. "You will tell no one about this conversation. Do you understand?" the blonde nodded her head and Xena left the room.
Gabrielle let out a large sigh of relief and plopped her head onto the pillow. Now she knew she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep again especially after that. She touched her body and realized she should be grateful that she was still alive, but there was a question that begged to be answered. Why hide yourself, Xena, why?
A few short hours later it was morning and Gabrielle was still in bed, wide awake. Penelope entered the room already fully dressed in her armor. "Gabrielle, why are you still in bed? We are leaving soon, Dajan said so!"
Gabrielle nodded slowly, "okay," she answered curtly.
Penelope leered over the bed and looked into her teammate's eyes. "Jeez Gabrielle, you look awful." Noting the dark circles underneath her eyes.
"I...I didn't sleep well last night." She sighed and finally rose from the bed and began grabbing her armor that was sprawled across the floor. "I'll be out in a few minutes."
Solan put the last of his belongings onto his horse and saw his mother walking towards him wearing that awful garb he hated so much. She smiled beneath the veil and grasped his shoulder.
"Are you all packed?" she asked.
He nodded and tightened the bag on the horse. "Do I really have to go?"
She sighed and cupped his cheek. "Yes, you really do. I missed you and hope that...you missed me too."
Solan smiled softly. "Of course I missed you. You're my mother. Am I going to come back?"
Xena sighed heavily and pat his cheek softly. "I think it will be better if you stayed with me for awhile, Solan." She saw his mouth gape open and she grinned weakly. "I'm going to speak to your father before we go."
She walked into Borias' yurt and saw Natassa hovering over a hot pot of tea. She took the veil off her face and folded her arms. "Natassa, I need to speak to Borias alone."
Natassa stood irately and glared over at her husband's former lover. "This is my home, Xena. You cannot ask me to leave."
Xena gave the woman a tight smile. "Fine," she turned to the woman's husband. "Borias, ask her to leave."
Borias rolled his eyes and nudged his head to his wife. "Leave us, Natassa. This won't take long." His wife snarled at Xena then hurriedly left the yurt, bumping into Xena on her way out.
Xena grunted and looked over at Borias. "She's a real treat," she sneered. "I wanted to talk to you about Solan."
"Xena, if this is about Belach, let me explain –"
"No," she held up her hand. "I'm taking Solan with me back to Persia. For good." She said and he widened his eyes.
"Xena, no. We agreed to share both of our sons after Alexander was born..." he walked closer to her and she unsheathed her sword, pointing the blade at his chest.
"You betrayed me, Borias. You and Osman stabbed me in the back. How could you ally with the enemy? What does it matter if it were Rome or Mongolia? You lied to me!" she growled and he looked down at the blade and took a step back while she took a step forward.
He frowned and put his hands up for surrender. "Ally with us Xena and your empire will not be destroyed. I did not have a choice."
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, you did! I gave you everything! I am keeping Alexander and Solan. You won't see them again."
Borias' mouth hung open and she lowered the sword. "You can't do this, Xena," his tone was low and rough. He took a couple of steps closer to her. "You can't keep me from seeing my sons."
"You should have thought of that before you betrayed me, Borias." She turned on her heel and marched off.
Gabrielle sat on her horse and was sitting beside Solan as he waited patiently on top of his steed. She turned and adjusted the veil on her face. Solan looked over at her and smiled awkwardly. He waved his hand. "Hi," he said and Gabrielle smiled.
"Hello," she greeted. "You're the sultan's son, I take it?"
"That's right," he said and scratched the back of his neck. An uncomfortable silence passed between the two. "Say, what are you exactly?"
"Gabrielle," Xena interrupted and mounted her horse, wincing from moving her shoulder too abruptly. Solan averted his eyes as did Gabrielle. "I hope you are not boring my son."
Solan blinked and realized this person was indeed a woman. "She wasn't..."
Xena smirked and then trotted off. Gabrielle, the two other girls and Solan followed behind her as well as the troops.
Alexander sat on the balcony in front of the palace, swinging his legs back and forth. He stuck his head in between the balcony's iron rods. He then saw his mother riding in with her soldiers and he beamed. He quickly stood and ran inside.
"She's here! She's back!" he bumped into a few maids and they gasped, dropping their baskets of laundry.
Kara saw the young prince running past her and she frowned. "Alexander! Slow down!" she warned and he kept running.
He slid down the balustrade of the staircase. He then ran down the hall and saw his mother walking straight towards him. "Mother!" he ran to her and she frowned, seeing him in such a hurry. He crashed into her and tugged onto her dark robes. "Mother, I have to talk to you!"
Xena pat his little head and kept walking. "Not now, Alexander. I have a lot of things to do."
Solan smiled down at Alexander. "Hey baby brother!" he greeted.
"Oh hey, Solan," Alexander wrote him and chased after his mother. "Mom, this is really important!" he tugged on her arm and she snarled as he kept following behind her up the stairs.
They reached her bedroom and he grabbed hold of her arm as she was unlocking the door. "Mother!" he pleaded and she ignored him. "Listen to me!" he shouted and she turned around and gently pushed him away.
"Alexander, I don't have the time to hear about your silly stories!"
"But mom, it's not silly. Please!" he begged and she went into her room and closed the door. He grunted and tried opening the door but it was locked. "Mother!"
Solan reached forward and grabbed his little brother's shoulders. "Alexander, she's really tired. Maybe you can tell her about your story later?" he offered and the young seven year old grunted and pushed Solan away. "Hey, come on!"
"It's not a story! Nobody listens to me!" he folded his arms and pouted.
Solan sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "Would you like to play a game?"
"No!" Alexander spat.
"How 'bout we go find some cake then? And I can tell you scary stories?" Solan grinned and his brother groaned lowly. "Wow, you're turning down sweets. This must be serious, huh?" he teased.
"Laugh all you want, Solan, but it's not funny!" Alexander stormed down the hallway and Solan huffed, then ran after him.
"We could go riding!" Solan chased after his brother. "Alexander, come back here!"
After the sun went down Xena was in her bedroom and hadn't left since she arrived in the morning. She spent her entire day looking over treaties she made with Anatolia and she was becoming overwhelmed. Once she asked Dajan to bring her all the documents she had with every country she allied with she never realized how many papers she actually signed until now.
Kara folded Xena's clean clothes that were brought to the room a couple of hours ago. She laid the veils out carefully and put the turbans on a wooden post so they could dry properly. She eyed Xena out of their corner of her eye and saw the frustration written all over her face.
Xena sighed heavily and slumped in her chair and scratched her head. "Kara, where is Solan and Alexander?" she hadn't heard a word from them all day.
"Last I remember, they were in the gardens. Solan was teaching Alexander how to use a staff."
Xena rolled her eyes and slammed the pen on her desk. "Great," she grumbled. This was too much for a person to do alone with no help. She then smiled and leaned her elbows on the table. "Kara," she announced.
"Yes, mistress?"
"Bring Gabrielle to my room."
Kara blinked and stood slowly. "Mistress?" she was so confused now. Nobody ever saw her true face unless they knew who she was.
"Bring her to me!" she demanded and Kara nodded then quickly left the room.
Helena sat in her bed and frowned deeply at her so-called friend. "I can't believe you did this Gabrielle."
The blonde sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Helena, but I had to do it! You just don't understand."
"Oh I understand alright. You have a weird obsession with the sultan. You are too curious for your own good! I'm surprised he hasn't beat you with a stick already!" Helena sunk down into her bed.
Gabrielle pursed her lips and scooted to the edge of her bed. "Helena, listen –"
"Gabrielle," Kara called and all the girls turned around to see a veiled young maid at the door. "The sultan wishes to see you."
Helena smirked and Gabrielle's stomach churned. "Wonder what you did this time?" she teased.
Whispers filled the room as Gabrielle slowly made her way over to the chambermaid. She got some strange stares as she was leaving. Gabrielle folded her arms and Kara gestured for her to exit the room.
The doors closed behind them and all the girls were talking inside their chambers. Gabrielle walked with Kara in silence down the hallway, heading directly to the west wing. Oh, so she trusts me enough to let me into her room. Gabrielle's heart felt as if it were going to burst out of her chest. She had never felt so nervous in her entire life until this moment. Is this where she's going to kill me? No, she wouldn't. She said doesn't kill women, or maybe that was a lie. Although, she doesn't lie, she hates liars.
They arrived at the large doors on the second floor of the west wing and Gabrielle inhaled deeply. "Did the sultan say why I had to come here?" she asked.
Kara shook her head. "No." She opened the door and Gabrielle saw Xena sitting at her desk, reading quietly. "Don't make her wait," she whispered and pushed Gabrielle inside and closed the door. Gabrielle stood frozen with fear.
Xena lifted her eyes and smiled from ear to ear. "Gabrielle, good evening." She greeted and Gabrielle said nothing in return. "Feeling shy are we?" she stood and walked around to the front of the desk. She pulled out an empty chair and motioned for her to come.
"Sit," she said.
Gabrielle finally felt feeling in her legs again and slowly made her way over to the desk. Steadily, she sat down in the chair and Xena stood behind her. She felt her hands wrap around her shoulders and Gabrielle immediately tensed up at her touch.
Xena bent down, close to Gabrielle's ear. "You owe me a debt, remember?" she whispered and the blonde nodded her head slowly. "I have a lot of work to do and I need your help." She smiled seeing the nerves seething from the young woman's skin.
She walked back around to her chair behind the desk and sat down. She gestured to all the documents, "I have to go through all the papers and treaties I have made with every ally I have. It is a long process but I am sure you will be able to help me. You a smart girl," she teased and Gabrielle stared directly into her eyes. "You can read, right?"
Gabrielle nodded and Xena smiled. "You can talk Gabrielle, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Yes...I can read," she finally spoke.
Xena clapped her hands together, startling the young blonde. "Fabulous!" she stood. "I want you to find all the treaties from Ankara and put them in a separate pile. All the other papers you can leave to me." She left her desk and Gabrielle's jaw dropped.
She turned in her chair and saw Xena was about to leave the room. "Wait," she called and Xena turned around. "May I ask why I am doing this for you?"
Xena's lips turned into a smile and she approached her. "You do as I say or I will make you suffer in the training grounds. You know about me and I know about you. You are indebted to me, do I make myself clear?"
Gabrielle nodded and frowned slightly, a bit nervous seeing that odd look in her eyes.
"I will return in an hour to see your progress." Xena smiled and grabbed her veil and head out of the room.
Gabrielle sighed heavily and looked at the stack of documents. Her doom. She could understand why Xena didn't want to do this by herself, it was a lot, but making someone else do it for her seemed a bit strange. Didn't she have people to do this for her?
She walked around the desk and sat in Xena's large chair and began going through the first pile of papers out of many. "Treaty number one," she grumbled.
Xena walked through the dark palace and it was completely empty. All of the councilmen had gone home for the day but she was sure to see them bright and early tomorrow morning. She also needed to begin training with the girls again, which she was beginning to think was quite fun and enjoyable. She was eager to see the disappointment on their faces whenever she gave them a new task.
She came to the gardens to see if her two sons were outside like Kara told her. She stepped outside and saw Solan laying beside Alexander on the sand, looking up at the sky. She folded her arms, listening to the two talking with each other.
Alexander pointed at one of the largest stars in the dark sky above. "What about that star? Do you know the name of that one too?"
Solan quirked his mouth and sighed. "I haven't studied that one yet." He heard Alexander exhale heavily and he smiled, turning his head. "But maybe we can look in the library to find what its name is," he suggested.
"Really?" the younger brother beamed and Solan nodded.
A few silent moments passed and then Alexander turned to his brother. "Solan?"
"Yeah?"
"How come you didn't come with me to see mother?" he asked and Solan let out a heavy sigh.
Xena listened intently now, waiting for her eldest son to speak his mind.
Solan looked up at the stars and finally spoke, "I did want to come back, but Belach told me I had to stay because father was away. Anyway, I shouldn't have listened to him. He's a piece of shit."
Xena's eyes widened once she heard that and Alexander chuckled softly.
Alexander smirked, "yeah, he's a real –"
"Boys!" Xena stepped and both of them lifted on their elbows and turned to face her. She took the veil off her face and clenched her jaw. "What are you doing out here?"
"Studying the stars," Solan smiled.
Meanwhile, Alexander frowned and lay back down, staring up at the sky. Solan stifled a laugh and Xena sighed, kneeling down beside her youngest son.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier, Alexander, but –"
"You didn't even want to hear what I had to say," the boy said as he continued to look at the stars.
Xena sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Solan kept smirking at her and she shot him a glare. He nervously smiled and lay back down, pretending not to listen to their conversation.
"Maybe you can tell me about it tomorrow?"
Alexander let out a heavy sigh. "I donno if I want to anymore." He toyed with her and Xena frowned. Then Solan chuckled softly and Xena pinched his arm.
"Ow!" he griped. "Come on, Alexander, just tell her what it is already!"
The young boy pursed his lips. "Tomorrow I will on one condition."
Am I really going to bargain with a seven year old? Xena bit her tongue and she relented. "What?"
"We go to the beach," he smiled.
"Absolutely not," she said and he frowned.
"Riding?"
"No."
Alexander groaned and he sat up, staring at his mother with a sneaky grin. "Helva?"
Xena raised her eyebrow and Solan rolled his eyes. "You want candy?"
"Well you won't let me have anything else," he shrugged.
"Fine, alright," Xena said lowly, feeling a little defeated and Alexander beamed.
"It's a deal then," he lay back down on the sand and looked up at the stars. "You promise I will get the helva after I tell you?"
Xena stood, "don't push it," she warned and he shut his mouth. "Now, will you two go to your rooms now? I don't want you two outside."
Solan huffed. "But why? It's really nice outside." He stared up at her and saw the horrible scowl on her face. He grabbed his brother's arm. "Come on Alexander..."
"But, I'm not tired yet!" Alexander whined as he was being drug inside the palace.
Xena returned to her room once she saw both boys go to their rooms and not wander off somewhere else. She closed the door and threw her veil on the chair beside the entrance. She smiled, untying the sash around her waist, looking at her little helper.
"How's it coming Gabrielle?" she asked.
Gabrielle lifted her eyes and she had gone through two stacks of papers already. "I am more than halfway done." She alleged and Xena nodded then took off her garb and shoes. "I don't understand why you're making me do this."
Xena disappeared into another room and Gabrielle blinked. She returned wearing a simple knee length robe and let her hair down. "You ask a lot of questions."
"And you don't give a lot of answers," she mumbled and Xena frowned.
"What was that?"
Gabrielle smiled nervously. "Nothing." She put the last paper on top of the Ankara stack and already started on the next pile of papers. "I am finished."
Xena waltzed over to the desk and checked over the stack of papers, going through the first five pages to make sure everything was in order. She noticed that Gabrielle organized all of the other stacks by country, but she didn't ask her to do that.
"You are a fast worker, for a troublemaker," she teased. She sat on her bed and pulled out a small bottle of oil and crossed one leg over the other.
Gabrielle stood and watched Xena pour oil onto her skin and she couldn't stop herself from staring. "Um, does this mean I can go now?"
"Yes, but I have one question before you go," she said and Gabrielle inwardly sighed. More questions, the blonde thought. Xena lifted her eyes, smiling at the young girl, probably no older than nineteen or so.
"What did you think of me as the emperor of Greece?" Xena asked.
Gabrielle blinked and lowered her eyes. She didn't want to answer that question, not at all. This must be another one of her games, yes that's it.
"Feeling shy again?" Xena sighed heavily. "You ask many questions yet I ask one...simple...question and you are mute."
Here goes nothing, Gabrielle cursed herself. "I...thought you were a tyrant –called you terrible names –and that you were a pig." She held her breath and saw the smile widen on Xena's face.
"Thank you Gabrielle, you may go now."
That's it? No cynical retort? Nothing? That's it? I should probably count my blessings, I guess. Gabrielle quietly left the room without saying another word.
Xena frowned and corked the bottle of oil and tapped her fingers against the glass bottle.