Chapter 12 –Conquered by Rats
Gabrielle paced back and forth in the room, constantly staring at Xena, hoping she'd wake up, but it had been almost an hour and she was still unconscious. As she paced back and forth she heard a lot of commotion outside in the halls and feared that this was definitely something more than what Dajan was letting on. Not to mention Kara hadn't come back in here, in fact nobody came in here!
She peered over at the bed again and saw the sultana's chest rising and falling gradually. "Xena?" she whispered, coming closer and closer, listening to her breathe heavily. She let out a heavy sigh and slumped her shoulders. She couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty somehow, even if nothing was her fault, she still felt responsible.
"Mother!" Alexander knocked on the door and Gabrielle gasped.
She ran to the door just as he was about to open it. She slammed the door shut and heard Alexander whine. "Um, Alexander, could you come back later?"
"But I want to see my mother! I have something to tell her!" he tried turning the knob and Gabrielle put all her weight on the door. "Gabrielle!" he groaned.
She rolled her eyes then opened the door slightly and Alexander was glaring up at her with his big brown eyes. She sneaked out of the room and closed the door behind her, blocking the entrance. "Hey, Alexander, you know you should really come back another time." She grinned nervously and he lifted his chin, studying her face.
"Why?" he asked, folding his arms.
"It's not a good time," answered, hoping this boy would not be difficult.
"Why?" he proceeded with his questions.
"Because, it's just not a good time."
"Why?"
She groaned inwardly and gave a tight lipped smile. "She's asleep."
He gave her a curt head nod. "But it's still early. She always goes to sleep late." He began pushing his way through and she grabbed his shoulders. "Let me through!"
"No!" she wrapped her arms around his tiny body and picked him up off the ground. "You are not going in there!" she yelled and he blinked, gawking at her. "You really don't behave well, do you?" she smirked and he kept gawking. She set him down and he brushed the wrinkles out of his pristine black robes.
"Who asked you anyway?" he chided and Gabrielle's mouth opened slightly, shocked at this little twerp's mouth.
"You're a brat," she said and he gasped. "You need to learn to listen to your mother, Alexander. She cares about you and wants the best for you."
He frowned deeply and folded his arms, brooding silently. "I just like to be around her, that's all."
She smiled softly and ran her fingers through his thick dark hair. "I know you do, but you need to know how to listen." Why does that sound awfully familiar?
"Gabrielle! Gabrielle!" Yasmine ran down the hall, waving her hand. She barely caught her breath and looked down at the boy bemusedly. "Dajan is asking for you at the entrance."
"Alright, I'll be right there," she left the door then cringed, turning back around to the solemn boy. She almost forgot about him. "Um, Yasmine, could you watch over Alexander while I'm gone?" she asked and her teammate didn't have a chance to answer before she ran off down the hall.
Alexander smirked and hooked his arm around the girl's. "So, wanna play a game?" he wriggled his eyebrows and Yasmine laughed nervously, already hating this job.
Gabrielle came to the front of the palace and saw Solan talking with Dajan, which was a strange sight to see on its own. In fact, it looked like Solan was ordering Dajan around instead of the opposite. A thirteen year old bossing around a military and royal adviser, what a sight to see.
She interrupted the two chatting. "Yasmine told me to come up here. Is there something you need?" she directed her question towards Dajan.
Solan turned around and folded his arms. "Yes, I want you to scout the outside of the palace with some of the girls. Make sure nobody can see your face, you know the drill."
She blinked. Did I just get orders from a teenager? Alright then, whatever he says I guess, no time to argue right now. "Okay...what about Xe...the sultan?" she asked, quickly correcting herself.
"I have already sent for the physician. He should be here soon," Dajan answered and Gabrielle nodded. She felt bad for the doctor. He would have to keep Xena's secret or die if he ever told a soul. She obviously chose these people carefully otherwise he wouldn't have the job.
She turned to walk off to go get her weapon and veil then Solan stopped her. "Where is my brother?"
She cringed, "um, Yasmine is watching him at the moment..."
Dajan smirked. "That poor girl," he muttered. He then turned to Solan. "Your highness, we need to dump all of the wine and check the food supply to see if anything else has been contaminated."
Solan and Dajan walked into the kitchen and all of the female servants were lined up in a single row with their heads hanging, mostly with embarrassment. Solan frowned and walked around the kitchen and dumped over a barrel of flour and then emptied out some bags of grains. He knelt down and picked up a few pieces of grain and sniffed it. Nothing unusual, he thought.
"I want all of the bags of flour and grain thrown out," he said and all the women nodded then went to the barrels and bags. They began carrying the bags of grain out of the kitchen and he saw Miriam and frowned. He grabbed her arm before she picked up a bag of grain. "Not you."
They went down into the wine cellar below where they were at least ten barrels of wine. He took out a dagger from his belt and stabbed the wooden barrel of wine and it spewed onto the floor. He stabbed one after the other until his boots were covered in the dark red wine.
Frowning, he saw a rat run along the floor and sniff some of the wine. Eyeing the rat, he noticed the animal began to convulse and was only able to move a few steps before it rolled over, breathing heavily. Poor animal, he frowned sadly.
"Were you the one who found Silvia?" he turned to the teary eyed servant girl.
Miriam nodded and bit her fingernails nervously. Solan walked over to the pool of water that was used to clean the wine bottles and dishes from the kitchen. It was now stained red with Silvia's blood. Dajan had her body removed when she was discovered and pronounced dead.
"Can you tell me what happened? What did you see before you found the maid?" he asked.
She fidgeted with her veil and wrapped it around her shoulders, feeling so vulnerable. "There...was a wine merchant unloading the wine barrels. Hasan usually delivers the wine, but it wasn't Hasan this time. I came to look for Silvia because she had been gone for a long time. He told me that Silvia had stepped out to grab something, but I knew that we had everything in the kitchen. I thought she went to buy yeast for the dough but after I checked the cupboards, I found an extra bag of yeast." She exhaled heavily and continued, "I came back down to the cellar and Silvia still wasn't here so I looked around...and..." she left that sentence trail off.
Solan nodded and looked at his wine soaked boots. Whatever was in the wine was obviously lethal. It was slowly killing the rat and he didn't even have drink a lot of it. He wasn't stupid, he knew that his mother drank the wine even though Dajan didn't tell him, it was obvious.
Now, the question was, who would want to poison his mother? Somebody either very close to her, or maybe it wasn't someone close at all. He thought of the Templars, but quickly ruled that out. Those holy knights of God wouldn't poison the sultan. It just wasn't their style. Mongols, perhaps? They are nowhere near Persia at the moment, but they did engage in poisoning as a tool to assassinate people, so he had heard.
"Hasan should be found." Solan said and ran up the stairs and Dajan followed behind him as well as Miriam. "If he's still alive then he might be able to tell us more about this wine merchant."
"Should I send more men to scope the palace?" Dajan asked and Solan quirked his mouth.
"No, send them into the city. He isn't stupid enough to hang around the palace after what he just did." Solan sheathed the dagger bag in its holster and walked into the kitchen, observing the women hurrying to take the bags of grain out to be dumped out.
Gabrielle, Aesha, Joan and Julia walked around the outskirts of the palace, sneaking against the walls quietly. Julia sighed and adjusted the veil on her face, holding her sword up as she trailed behind Aesha. "Why are we scouting the palace anyway? And why do we have to wear these dumb veils?"
"Shut up," Joan whispered.
Julia grunted. "Gabrielle, you are close with the sultan right?"
Oh here we go again. Gabrielle sighed and whispered, "not really."
"They have the entire palace on lockdown! You must know what is going on?" Julia pried some more.
"Again, not really. Let's just do what we're supposed to do, okay? And quietly, please," Gabrielle rolled her eyes and lead the girls around the palace's perimeter.
They came to the cellar entrance and Gabrielle peered down at the stairs leading to the cellar door and frowned. She looked around to see if she could find some clues. Scoping out the soil she saw large footprints and nodded. Quickly, she ran along, following the footsteps and the girls trailed behind.
The footsteps disappeared and Gabrielle knelt down and saw hoof indentions from a horse. Of course, you needed a fast escape. She followed the horse hoof prints and then noticed there was an awful lot of prints. And you didn't come alone, did you?
"What did you find, Gabrielle?" Joan asked, stepping forward ahead of all the girls.
Gabrielle stood and folded her arms. "Horse tracks. They went down the road that leads towards the sea." She pointed down the dark desert road ahead of them. "We should follow these tracks."
Julia scoffed. "Oh come on! I am not going to get killed. We were ordered to scope the palace, not go off on some wild goose chase!"
"Julia, if you say one more word, I'm going to cut out your tongue," Joan threatened and held up her sword to the whiny girl's throat.
"Stop it you two," Gabrielle griped. "I say we should follow –"
An arrow pierced the ground right in between Gabrielle's legs and she gasped, nearly escaping a horrible wound. All of the girls held up their weapons and formed a circle around one another, watching every dark corner.
"I didn't sign up for this," Julia whispered as sweat dripped down her forehead.
"I swear to God, I'm going to –"
"Be quiet!" Gabrielle shouted and knelt down, seeing a small container on the arrow shaft. She untied the leather strap and opened the miniature canister. A note, how interesting. She unrolled the small piece of paper and frowned, not able to read the note since it was in a different language.
"What does it say?" Joan asked.
"I don't know, it's written in some weird language..." Gabrielle squinted her eyes, trying to see if she could decipher it, but it wasn't in code, it was definitely a different language. Not Greek, certainly not Persian, Latin or Turkic either.
Aesha stepped forward, peering over Gabrielle's shoulder. "It's Syriac," she said and all the girls turned to her looking surprised. "My parents are from Syria." She frowned, trying to read the small note as best as she could, but the ink was a little smeared. "I think it says, Persia bears rotten fruit. The trees must be made fruitful again."
Joan crinkled her nose. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Aesha fumbled with her hands, trying to translate the sentence. "It's a phrase. It means that someone or something is corrupt and that someone or something needs to die for everything to prosper again."
"You got all that from that little sentence?" Julia asked and chuckled lightly.
Gabrielle tucked the note back into the canister and slipped it into her breastplate. Syriac? So now the Syrians want Xena dead too? Everyone wants Xena dead –the Pope, Genghis Khan, her own court and now Syrians? This didn't make any sense. Syria was part of the Greco-Persian Empire and yet they want Xena dead, but why? So far, Gabrielle had witnessed Xena and her methods of dealing with people. She was fair and definitely not a tyrant, but these people didn't seem to think so.
These people thought Xena to be the worst person alive. Her entire empire was being cornered by several different entities and now that she was poisoned by the contaminated wine, those Syrians must have gotten their wish. Still, Gabrielle couldn't wrap her head around this mess. If Xena wasn't a horrible person like she originally thought, other people must know that too? Or maybe they really hated Xena as Xenophon because she didn't put up with anyone's bullshit?
There's got to be another reason why everyone wanted Xena dead. There was something missing, but what?
Gabrielle narrowed her eyes and picked the arrow out of the ground and marched back to the palace. Going on a wild chase to follow these Syrians was pointless, despite the archer that sent the message, he probably wasn't alone and they'd be outnumbered. Be wise, she thought, don't get caught in the middle of something you can't handle.
"Solan!" Gabrielle shouted and the blonde teenager turned around with a scowl on his face. She cleared her throat, "I mean...your highness..." she corrected and held the arrow in her hands. "This was shot at us outside when we were scoping out the area."
He grabbed the arrow and examined it. she then pulled out the small canister with the Syriac note. "And this note was attached to it." Solan quirked his mouth and took the canister and opened it up, unrolling the small piece of paper."It's written in Syriac so Aesha translated for us."
Solan nodded. "I understand what it says." He handed the arrow and note to Dajan and whispered in his ear. The adviser agreed silently then quickly left the area.
This boy is impressive, Gabrielle thought. He knows how to read a different language at his age? Must be Xena who taught him, of course. "So, what happens now?" she asked.
"Well..." he tapped his chin. "Thank you for finding this. I will keep it and show it to my...the sultan," he smiled and Gabrielle nodded, taking the veil off her face. "Did you find anything else?"
Joan interrupted, "Gabrielle found footsteps and horse tracks leading to the sea."
Very interesting, he thought. "You are all free to go for now," he shooed them away then grabbed hold of the blonde's arm. "Except you," he said in a hushed tone. "Gabrielle, can you do something for me?"
She smiled, "sure, anything."
"Can you put the girls in charge of guarding the west wing and entrance of the palace?"
Oh no, not this putting me in charge thing again. This didn't work the last time and it's not going to work now.
"I know my mother trusts you and I know you would be perfect to lead the girls," he smiled and pat her shoulder.
Trust me? You're wrong about that, Solan. Your mother doesn't trust me with even an inch of her life.
"I know I can count on you!" he kissed her cheek and her face flushed. "Thanks!" he ran off to go find Dajan.
"No problem..." she muttered and sighed heavily. She ripped the turban off her head and grimaced. She glanced over at the west wing and knew it was going to be difficult to get the girls to follow her orders. After what happened earlier, things weren't going so well and the girls obviously still were suspicious of her relationship with the sultan.
Listen to yourself, Gabrielle, Solan is acting more calm than you and his mother is the one who is poisoned here. Get it together.
She swung open the doors to their new sleeping quarters and saw all the girls sitting around. They turned their heads and immediately stopped chatting. "Okay, listen up," she held up her hands and stepped inside. "I need people guarding the west wing and the entrance of this palace."
All the girls didn't even budge and she groaned lowly. "By orders of the sultan's son, the Prince," she said and the girls then stood up and went to put on their armor. Rolling her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose. These girls didn't want to listen to her unless it was from someone in an authoritative position.
Joan and Aesha approached their frantic teammate. "Gabrielle, where is the sultan and what is really going on in this place?" Joan whispered.
"Someone poisoned the sultan," Gabrielle hissed and both girls gasped, covering their mouths. "You two should stay here and guard the west wing."
"Of course," Aesha said with a smile and walked outside the room with Joan.
Oh good, at least someone is listening to me finally. Yasmine came into the room with Alexander and Gabrielle turned around to see terror in the girl's eyes.
"Gabrielle, I am done babysitting him. I have played this game, Barckgimone three times now!" she griped.
Alexander huffed and folded his arms. "It's Backgammon and you're not very good at it, by the way," he grumbled.
Gabrielle sighed and nodded, taking Alexander off Yasmine's hands. "Fine, you will be guarding the entrance of the palace. Go put on your armor," she instructed and the girl let out a large exhale then brushed past her to go put on her armor.
Alexander tugged on her arm. "Can I see mother now?"
She smiled and knelt down in front of him, holding his hands firmly. "Not yet, but you will soon."
The seven year old scowled at the blonde trainee. "I'm not stupid, Gabrielle. I know something is wrong. Mother isn't really asleep, is she?"
At this point, she kind of wished that Alexander would be his normal bratty self instead of a smart little boy right now. Children were very in tune when something is awry and Alexander definitely knew something was up, but Gabrielle was going to make it her mission to not let him know anything until his mother was well and alive, hopefully.
"You're right, something is wrong, but I promise, your mother is fine!" she smiled and he pursed his lips, not fully convinced. "Why don't you show me this Backgamone game you were playing?" she offered.
His face lit up, "it's Backgammon!" he grabbed her hand and drug her out of the room and into the hallway. "You're gonna love it!" he then paused and turned his head up at her. "Do you like strategy games?" he inquired.
Oh, more strategy, as if I didn't get enough of that with your mother. "Okay...?" she said uncertainly and smiled falsely and he grinned.
"Great! I promise you're gonna love it, Gabrielle! My mother and I used to play it all the time, but I always lose. Maybe if I play with you I can actually win a game."
She gasped and continued trailing behind him. Did he just call me a loser indirectly? Am I about to be this little prince's pawn? Great, more games that I'm not very good at. "I can't wait..." she said through her clenched teeth. What did I just get myself into?
The physician inside Xena's room dropped some of her blood into a liquid with a dropper and frowned, seeing the results. Kara sat beside the bed, holding a pan in her lap anxiously. He hummed and saw her blood fizzing in the liquid and set the beaker down.
"It seems that it is a poison to kill rodents. It is commonly used outside the home and hidden in gardens." He dug through his bag and found a small vile and smiled, nodding. He walked over to the bed and leaned over Xena, and opened her mouth slightly.
"You should have that pan ready," he instructed and Kara stood and held the pan underneath Xena's chin. He poured the small vile of liquid into Xena's mouth and stepped back, observing carefully. "It should work any second now..." he waited patiently and Kara's hands began shaking as she nervously stood next to Xena, holding the pan.
Xena furrowed her eyebrows and lolled her head back and forth on the pillows. She licked her lips, tasting the bitter antidote and then leaned forward and vomited into the pan Kara was holding. Her eyes shot open and she began coughing and heaving.
Kara gagged and then Xena kept coughing, saliva dripping off her chin and she coughed up some blood. The physician frowned, not expecting that to happen.
"That's not supposed to happen..." he said and ran to his bag to look for something else to get rid of the poison.
Xena put her arm in front of Kara and sat up, continuing to cough violently. She leaned over the side of the bed and vomited all over the floor. The maid's eyes widened and she nearly dropped the pan in her hands.
"I think I got it!" the doctor triumphed and quickly went to Xena's side. He grabbed her chin and her eyes were glazed over as she stared at him.
She squinted her eyes, trying to listen to what he was saying. She saw a large vile he was trying to put into her mouth and then her vision blurred.
"Your majesty..." he warned and pinched her cheeks, trying to get her mouth to open enough so he could pour the vile of liquid in. "Open your mouth!" he shouted and Xena's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell back against the pillows. He groaned and leaned over her, opening her mouth and poured the liquid slowly down into her throat.
He sighed heavily and corked the vile and stepped away from the bed. "That should help."
Kara looked over at her mistress, horrified. "Help? What is going to happen to her?" she asked frantically.
"She will vomit a lot," he said and began packing up his belongings to leave. "It is the only way to get rid of the poison. Since it is already in her blood, she needs to be monitored just in case..."
"Just in case what?!" Kara stood, glaring at the physician.
He lowered his eyes and picked up his bag and cloak. "In case she dies. That poison is deadly to humans." He curtly bowed to the young maid then made his exit.
Dajan waited outside the room and the doctor jumped seeing the tall dark haired adviser. "What is the diagnosis?" he asked.
The physician sighed and walked down the hallway. "The poison is used to exterminate rodents. It is very harmful to the human body. I gave her two different antidotes, but it will be up to her to get through the expulsion of the poison."
"Will she live? How long does this process take?" Dajan put his arms behind his back, following beside the doctor.
"I am not sure, but I can come back in a week to check on her."
Dajan nodded and handed him a large pouch of Persian dinars. "You know to keep your mouth shut, don't you? Because if you don't, you will lose your tongue."
The physician nervously smiled and grabbed the large pouch of coin. "Of course, I understand..." he nodded. "I won't say a word as usual."
Solan ran up to Dajan as soon as the physician made his way out, covering his face with the large hood on his cloak. "Were any of my mother's treaties saved from the fire upstairs?" he asked.
The adviser folded his arms. "Yes, we put them in a large chest in her office. Why?"
The teenager smiled, nodding his head slowly. He grasped the man's shoulder and motioned for Dajan to walk beside him. "I want someone to go through all of her treaties. Does she have treaties from say...seven years ago?"
"I'm sure she does in the library, your highness," Dajan raised his eyebrow confusedly. "Why do you want documents that far back?"
"I need to find the Syrian sultan that she allied with years ago. I want to see what they agreed to so long ago."
"Do you think it has something to do with the poisoned wine?" Dajan asked, now catching on finally.
Solan nodded, "yes. I remember when my mother went to a meeting with the Syrian sultan, but I don't know what they agreed on so long ago. That note is in Syriac and I know it was a threat." He halted and looked into the taller man's eyes. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked with pleading eyes.
Dajan smiled softly. "I think so, she's fought worse things in her life."
Seven Years Ago
Solan waited outside of his the bathroom in his mother's room patiently. He had originally come to ask her if she would have time to play a game later this evening, but knew she had a very important meeting with the Sultan of Syria today.
He pressed his ear against the door and cringed, hearing his mother retching for the last few minutes. He heard running water and then the door knob turning, he stepped away from the door.
Xena opened the door and peered down at her son, who looked very confused and concerned. She smiled softly and wiped her hands on her pants. "What are you doing standing by the door?"
"Are you sick?" he asked, staring into her eyes. His mother sighed and ran her fingers through his messy blonde short hair.
"No, I'm not," she smirked and he frowned bemusedly at her, cocking his head.
"Sounds like you were," he muttered.
She nodded and bit her lip nervously. She cupped his cheeks in her large palms and smiled at him warmly. "I have something to tell you but you will have to wait until after my meeting."
Solan grinned, "is it a surprise?!"
Something like that, she thought. "Kind of..." she answered uncertainly. "Go to your room and when I'm finished I will come get you, alright?" he nodded excitedly. "Be good. This won't take long, I promise," she winked and kissed his forehead.
He ran to her desk and grabbed the turban and black veil. He held it out in front of him with a big smile and she took the turban and veil from him, chuckling softly under her breath. "Thank you, I will be needing this," she teased then left the bedroom, ushering her son out of her room and into his down the hallway.
Inside a large sitting room the doors were opened and Xena walked through. She immediately saw the Syrian Sultan smiling at her, also wearing a turban and veil, but he did not cover his face like she did of course.
"Xenophon," the Syrian Sultan bowed his head. "You have a lovely home. I must say I don't know much about Greek culture. I brought some wine for us to share." He motioned to his assistant that held a dark bottle of wine.
Xena eyed the alcohol and shook her head. "No thank you, but that was kind of you." She bowed her head curtly and the Syrian smiled, nodding.
"Of course. We will have coffee then?" he suggested with his charming grin.
Xena groaned inwardly, already frustrated with this man's wit and charming attitude. "I don't really drink coffee, Sidon."
"Please," Sidon smiled and waved his hand at his assistant. "I insist. Unless you prefer to drink something else?"
"Coffee is fine," she replied curtly and sat down in a chair, opposite of the sly sultan. She folded her hands in her lap, staring into his dark almond eyes. "Thank you for coming here to speak with me."
Sidon nodded and his assistant handed him a small cup of coffee then handed another cup to Xena. He eyed the strange Greek emperor. He had never seen such a strange person in his life. A man who hides his face must not be trusted, he thought. Slowly, he sipped the dark coffee and Xena set her glass on the table beside her chair.
"Won't you drink some?" he asked and Xena narrowed her eyes.
"I did not invite you here to drink coffee and eat cake, Sidon," she said firmly and the sultan lowered the cup into his lap. "Let's talk about Persia," she grinned.
Sidon frowned and set the cup on a table, crossing one leg over the other, clearing his throat. "What about Persia?"
"You have a lot of land and it is part of Persia. I want your land," she said and Sidon's eyes grew in shock.
He laughed aloud. "You can't be serious?"
"I'm very serious, Sidon." She tapped her gloved fingers on the chair. "How much do you want for it? I am willing to pay a large amount for it."
The sultan stopped laughing and saw the emperor was quite serious indeed. "A large amount?" he asked and she nodded her head slowly and silently. "What will I get in return if I sell you my land? How can I be sure that you won't attack my kingdom?"
Xena smiled and adjusted the veil on her face. "I will give you half of the money now and the other half when you leave your kingdom. I also want your army and control of all the tariffs. You will be paid if you agree to my conditions. Sound fair?"
He rubbed his chin and chuckled softly. "Two hundred thousand dinars and you can control the tariffs."
"One hundred thousand, tariffs and your army, Sidon. You aren't going to get another offer like this. I am offering to buy your land without invading. If you refuse I will simply keep decreasing the price and cut off all of your food supply into Syria."
Sidon gasped and nodded, leaning back in the chair. He then took a large sip of the hot coffee. "You are very stubborn," he mused. "But I like you. One hundred thousand dinars it is."
"And your army and tariffs," she added, making sure he wasn't reneging on that.
"Of course, Xenophon," he said.
Xena smiled and waved her hand at her men standing guard by the doors. The doors opened and two men carrying a large chest walked in and set it down in between herself and the Syrian Sultan. "Half now, half later, only if you give me complete control of your army and tariffs."
Sidon nodded and she waved her hand to her men to open the large chest filled with dinars. The sultan leaned over in his chair and smiled widely. He was definitely a fool if he didn't take up Xenophon on this offer.
"Alright..." he relented and she smiled and one of her men handed her a two page treaty. She presented the treaty to him and he frowned, taking it from her hand. He already had a treaty written? Very interesting, Sidon thought.
"Sign at the bottom on the second page and your land will belong to me." She pulled out a pen and stretched out her arm with a subtle smirk. "Sign..." she hissed.
Sidon grabbed the pen and pursed his lips. He flipped to the second page and saw her signature at the bottom of the page. Very nice handwriting, he noted. "And what of the Persian Sultan? Will you notify him about this treaty?"
"But of course. Sign it," she pressured him and he quickly inked his name on the bottom of the page and her eyes widened with excitement and satisfaction. He handed over the papers and she smiled, handing over the treaty to one of her men behind her.
"Your cooperation is much appreciated, Sidon," she said and stood from her chair. "I will retire for the evening and the chest is all yours." She smiled and gave a curt nod then walked towards the doors.
Sidon frowned and ran to the doors before she could leave. He blocked the exit and Xena grimaced underneath the veil. "You know Xenophon, in my culture, it is common for women to hide behind a veil...due to their immense beauty..." he smiled sneakily and Xena raised her eyebrow.
"Is that right? You must have very beautiful women in Syria then," she said then tried to evade him and walk out the doors and he blocked her again.
"Although...it is very strange to see a man hide his face," he looked into her blue steely eyes.
"I suggest you get out of my way, Sidon," she warned and he smiled, stepping to the side.
"I hope to meet again one day," he bowed his head and the doors were opened and she stormed out of the room. He frowned as he watched the emperor disappear into a long dark hallway and trail up a large staircase.
His assistant came to his side, "your highness, shall we take leave now?"
Sidon folded his arms and looked at the grand staircase. "Yes, yes. Take the chest outside to Dijephon. I would like to send a case of wine to our dear friend, Xenophon when we return to Syria," he smirked.
Xena ran into her room and ripped the veil off her face then burst into the bathroom. She heaved heavily and vomited into the bucket of lukewarm water. She wiped her mouth and leaned onto the wall, closing her eyes, feeling her stomach churning slowly. She slumped down on the wall and ripped the turban off her head and exhaled heavily.
"Mother?" a small soft voice came from the bathroom door and Xena's eyes fluttered open and saw Solan staring at her with a sad frown. "Are you okay?" he asked and she smiled.
She got up off the floor and grabbed his hand, leading him to her bed. She picked him up by his tiny waist and sat him on the large bed. She knelt down, buttoning his gold and burgundy robe. "I told you to wait in your room."
He shrugged his shoulders, "I couldn't wait anymore," he smiled softly. "Are you sure you aren't sick?" he asked again.
She sighed and nodded. "I'm sure." She made a note to make sure to kill Borias later and maybe curse herself too for allowing him to come here in the first place. "I have something very important to tell you." She began and Solan's eyebrows rose.
"Are you going to die?!" he shouted and she chuckled softly.
"No, I'm not going to die. Don't be so dramatic, Solan." She shook her head at his outburst and thought he had a very wild active imagination to jump to such a conclusion, or maybe he had been watching her spar too much with her soldiers.
"Solan," she sighed and kept adjusting his robes, avoiding eye contact. "How...would you feel if you had a little brother or sister?" she lifted her eyes and saw his eyes widen immensely.
"You're having a baby?" he asked and she nodded, afraid he was going to be very upset. "That is so..." he paused and she leaned forward, staring into his uncertain eyes. "Awwwweesome!" he grinned and she raised an eyebrow.
Awesome? She didn't expect him to say that. "Okay..." she mumbled.
"When will it be here?" he asked eagerly and she smirked.
The soldiers looked through several boxes of Xena's files and pulled out the treaties she kept from the last ten years while she was in Thebes. One of the men found a few treaties in a smaller box covered in dust and brushed some of the dust off the papers and saw the Sidon and Xenophon contract.
He stood and shouted, "your highness! I have found the treaty!"
Solan left Dajan's side and ran over to the soldier and snatched the treaty out of his hand. He quickly read through it and flipped to the second page where he saw Sidon's and his mother's signature at the bottom. As he read through it, he couldn't believe that idiot didn't read the treaty or if he did, he obviously didn't know what he was getting into.
He frowned and kept flipping back and forth between pages. He had always known his mother to be fair and reasonable but this treaty was ridiculous. In the second page he saw his mother requested more than the sultan's army and tariffs. She wanted control of all of his territories outside of Syria.
Solan raised his eyebrow and tried to remember that time, it was so long ago, but he did remember one day. His mother came into her room very upset one day, screaming at her adviser at the time in Thebes. She kept talking about a war between Sidon and the then Persian Sultan. She wanted to kill them all in order to obtain all of Persia and she was so determined to do it, even if she couldn't be in the battlefield herself.
He recalled that she sent her entire army to Syria to invade Sidon's kingdom only days before Alexander was born. She stayed behind in Thebes while her army obliterated the Syrian kingdom. He also remembered that quite a few of her servants died from a strange poison days before the army left Thebes. A poison in the wine.
His eyes widened and he wagged the treaty in Dajan's face. "It is Sultan Sidon. He is trying to kill my mother," he whispered.
"Sidon?" the adviser frowned. "He has not been a sultan for a long time."
Solan nodded, "my mother invaded his kingdom and won in a day. He sent poisoned wine to my mother's old palace before, but she didn't drink it. He's trying to kill her!"
Dajan sighed heavily and took the treaty off the boy's hands. "Why would Sidon want to kill her now? Why would he wait seven years?"
Solan folded his arms and clicked his tongue against his cheek. "I have no idea."
After playing Backgammon with Alexander for hours he finally fell asleep on a small sofa in his room. Gabrielle crept out of the room, hoping he'd stay asleep. He was very adorable, but such a handful, she realized. No wonder Xena was always in such a sour mood half the time.
She sneaked out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly.
"Gabrielle," Solan said and she screamed. She turned around, slamming her body against the wall and he smiled. "Did I scare you?"
"Don't do that!" she scolded and heaved, trying to catch her breath.
"Sorry," Solan said sheepishly. "I think I may have found the person who is trying to kill my mother." He waved the signed treaty in his hand and she frowned. "My mother took over Sidon's share of Persia seven years ago, before my brother was born. I think he may be out for revenge or something."
Gabrielle quirked her mouth to the side and folded her arms. "I don't know much about royal treaties and alliances, but why would someone wait so long to attack especially if they don't have any land to their name?"
He sighed. "I don't know! I've been trying to figure that out. I wish my mother could tell me what happened after she invaded Syria. I wish I could remember..." he frowned sadly, lowering his head.
She placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "She'll be alright, Solan," she reassured him with a gentle smile. "I think this Sidon person is working for someone. He isn't alone. Those horse tracks belonged to more than one horse. He had help and whoever he is working for, obviously wants your mother dead."
"Everyone wants her dead, Gabrielle." He stated flatly. "My mother used to get death threats all the time. I can't believe that nobody checked the wine before serving it to her."
She scratched her head and thought that was an interesting piece of information. "Does someone normally do that?"
He nodded. "Yeah, someone always taste the wine and food before its served to her."
She grinned deviously. "And this time they didn't?" she said and his eyes widened, now catching on. "I think you should interrogate the kitchen staff." She suggested. "Sometimes the poison is right in front of your nose and you don't even realize it!"
"You are a genius, Gabrielle!" he grinned widely. "I will tell Dajan. Could you...um stay with my mother in case she wakes up?" he asked.
Oh boy, you want me to stay in the same room as your mother? The person that she doesn't really trust? Great, just great. Why do these things keep happening to me?
"Of course, Solan," she smiled falsely.
Once he left she went into Xena's room, peeking her head behind the large doors. She saw Kara sitting by the bed, patiently or anxiously, waiting for Xena to wake up. Obviously nothing had happened, but it was a lot calmer in here than out there, she thought.
Stepping inside, she closed the door and Kara turned, startled by her appearance. "Hello..." she greeted the young maid. "Solan asked me to watch over the...sultan."
Kara nodded. "I need to go get some fresh linens. I will only be a few minutes," she hastily got up and exited the room.
Oh no, you're leaving me in here, alone?! Great, Gabrielle grumbled, and then glanced over at Xena laying in the bed. It was probably the first time she had seen Xena at peace. When she wasn't talking she was kind of nice to be around, although her interesting games and riddle-talk were amusing at times, albeit a bit scary too.
She took a step closer, fearful that Xena would jolt awake and start yelling at her. No, relax Gabrielle, she's unconscious like she was hours ago. She saw Xena was drenched in her own sweat and her heavy bangs stuck to her wet forehead. She always thought that sweating was a good sign, or maybe it wasn't? She wasn't really sure of anything anymore these days.
"You are so strange," she spoke aloud and cocked her head, gawking at Xena. "Probably the strangest person I've ever met..." she sat down in Kara's chair, leering over the edge of the bed, waiting and watching attentively.
"But you are also very interesting," Gabrielle mused with a small grin on her lips. What am I doing? I'm talking to an unconscious person here. What am I? Insane?
"Gabrielle?" Alexander stood in the doorway, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
Gabrielle panicked and immediately went to the door, blocking his way. "Alexander! What are you doing in here? I thought you were asleep?"
He yawned, "I was but I woke up and you were gone," he frowned sadly and peered behind her, seeing his mother laying in bed. "Can I see mother now?"
She sighed and then grabbed his hand and closed the door. The two walked over to the bed and he peeked over the edge of the bed and saw her body was soaked in her own sweat. He rest his chin on his palms and looked up at Gabrielle.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked sadly.
She sat in the chair again and couldn't believe she was stuck babysitting the sultana's son again! Although, the boy was not stupid, he was very smart and witty, and of course cute, but she didn't want to tell him the truth, at least not the whole truth.
"She's uh...sick," she whispered.
He nodded. "Will she get better?" he looked up at her again.
"Yes, she'll be up and about in no time!" she winked and he grinned happily.
"Where's Solan? I haven't seen him all day," he whined.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes and grabbed the boy, setting him on her lap, trying to distract him. "He's been very busy. He's your mother's second in command," she smiled.
Alexander tapped his chin and furrowed his brows. "What does a second in command do? My father told Solan that he is second in command in Ankara too!" he blurted out and Gabrielle's jaw dropped.
"Um, uh, a second in command is someone who is in charge if the ruler can't be in charge. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I think so." He yawned heavily.
She peered down at the young boy and saw his sleepy eyes. "I think you should go back to bed."
He shook his head. "No, I want to stay here," he whined and yawned again.
"Your mother will still be here tomorrow." She picked him up in his arms and noticed he was incredibly light. He rest his head on her shoulder, slowly falling asleep.
She sighed and walked down the hallway to his bedroom, holding his limp body in her arms.
"Gabrielle!" Solan shouted and she cringed.
"Shh!" she hissed and he shut his mouth, seeing his little brother sleeping soundly in her arms.
"I have an interrogation set up for tomorrow," he whispered and she nodded then let out a long yawn. "I think you should get some sleep. Thank you for helping so much, Gabrielle." He smiled and then picked his brother out of her arms and Alexander muttered in his sleep and rest his head on Solan's shoulder.
Outside the palace the physician whom took care of Xena walked down the dark streets to his home. A group of men cornered him and put a black bag over his head and drug him off into a narrow street off in a secluded area of the city.
He grunted and moaned then was pushed down onto the ground face forward. He breathed heavily and then he was hoisted up to his knees and the bag was ripped off of his head. The frightened physician stared up at a man wearing all black and a matching turban. The dark clothed man glared at the doctor, creasing his thick dark eyebrows.
"You are the sultan's physician, are you not?" the man asked and the doctor nodded his head vigorously.
"Are you Saracens?" the physician eyed all of the dark clothed men surrounding him.
The man smiled and took out his sword, pointing it at the doctor's throat. "You Hebrews and your labels," he chuckled, staring into the doctor's eyes. "You gave Xenophon the antidote didn't you?" he hissed and pressed the blade against the doctor's throat.
"Yes!" he shouted.
The man chuckled under his breath. "Which means you saw the sultan's face, right?" he pried and the doctor lowered his eyes. "What does the leper look like? Is he hideous?"
"No..." the doctor mumbled.
The man sighed heavily. "You know, I have a hunch that the sultan is not who he says he is. Is there anything strange about the sultan?" he tilted the doctor's chin upward, looking at the terror written all over his face.
"I was sworn not to tell anyone...please, the sultan will cut out my tongue!" he begged, tears in his eyes, fearful of his death either by this Saracen or the sultan.
"You know what, how 'bout you keep your tongue and I rip out your heart instead?" the man threatened and cut the doctor's throat gently and slowly. "I'm waiting..." he smiled wickedly and the doctor moaned in agony as the sword glided against his skin.
"The sultan is a woman!" the doctor shouted and the man immediately pulled his sword away.
"Oh really?" he smiled and sheathed his sword. "What a great help you've been, doctor." He nodded at his comrades. "Take him away."
The doctor panicked and the bag was thrown over his head again. "No! Please!" he begged.
"A woman..." he rubbed his chin. "This should have been so obvious so long ago. Hiding her face from others, impersonating a man. The Templar Knights will be very intrigued to hear this." He smiled.