AN: the writer's block for this story was real, guys. What do I do when I have writer's block? Work on other stories, of course lol. If you've noticed, I work on multiple stories at once. That's my way of working through writer's block, plus my mind is never in one place, focused on one story at a time.
I've gotten several emails as to why I work on multiple projects at once and now you know why. Plus, I always have ideas and while some don't work out, I still like to write them down.
I always like to keep another project going once I finish one. It gives me something to look forward to and report to you all, because ya'll are awesome. Thanks for reading and following along.
Sorry for the long delay and enjoy :)
Chapter 23 –Greek Eye Part I
Solan sat with Belach on the hillside outside of the school. Their classes had finished and Alexander was laying in the sand, attempting to make sand castles, though this sand was not wet nor was it pliable either. Although, he still kept trying and that was good enough for him.
Belach leaned on his elbows, looking at the ocean below them. So blue and serene. He wished that Ankara was close to the ocean. In fact, he wished a lot of things. Solan picked at some figs and kept digging his fingers into the fruit, distracted, staring off into space.
Belach slapped his hand. "Are you going to mutilate all the fruit?" he teased.
Solan looked down at his purple stained fingers and sheepishly grinned. He wiped his hands on his pants and sighed heavily. "Sorry, I was thinking about something."
"About your mother," the brunette said and Solan nodded. "Solan, your mother doesn't need a babysitter. She knows what she's doing."
The blonde groaned and sat up, folding his arms. "You sent that letter to her right?"
Belach nodded, "of course I did."
"But she didn't reply. It's been a month now. She would have replied. She always writes us back no matter what!" Solan grumbled.
"She's probably busy, Solan. She isn't called Empress of Greece for nothing ya know," Belach winked and licked his berry stained fingers. He looked beyond the hillside and frowned. He sat up and squinted his eyes. He saw ships coming towards the shore and he quickly jumped up and ran to the hill top, stomping on top of Alexander's makeshift castle.
"Belach!" Alexander groaned and face planted into the sand, complaining and cursing under his breath. He lifted his head and spat out some sand. "I was working on that!"
Out in the Mediterranean Sea a horde of Greek ships were heading towards the port of Alexandria. Belach looked down below and saw all the port men, merchants and citizens walking around, talking among themselves, very loudly. So loud he could hear snippets of conversations ringing in his ears.
Solan shortly joined his brother and his jaw dropped once he saw the large war ships coming to the docks. The sails on the ships dropped down and revealed a large Greek eye. "What in the world?"
Belach folded his arms and smirked. "Your mother's ships."
"But...why?" Solan walked along the hill and there must have been twenty ships at least. "They're all war ships. There is no war here." He turned to his brother. "Right?"
Gabrielle knocked on Xena's door and waited patiently for an answer, but she received no response. She knocked again and yet no response. Growing impatient she turned the knob and it was locked. Groaning she folded her arms.
"Xena," she called. "This has to stop," she said. She pressed her ear against the door and couldn't hear a sound at all. She was beginning to think that Xena wasn't even in her room anymore and this was all just a mean trick.
She couldn't take it anymore and kicked the door. "Xena! You can't stay in your room forever!" she yelled. "You've been in there for a week now! Come on, just let me in!" she sighed and then spoke softly, "please?"
The longer she waited the more worried she became. Xena had not been herself for the last month and this week was just too much, apparently. Gabrielle noticed a change in Xena when she learned that Saladin had not returned to Thebes and her city was set to fire in the dead of night. She had no idea what was going on in Xena's mind because she wasn't able to get close enough to her to talk to her. Xena didn't want to talk to anybody.
Gabrielle waved her hand and then turned to walk off, no longer feeling the need to wait around. Then she heard the door unlock and she had never turned around so quickly in her life. Xena opened the door and she stood wearing her black silk robe, barefoot and her hair a bit unkempt. Gabrielle slowly approached her and Xena would not even bother to look into her eyes.
The sulking empress walked back into her room and Gabrielle stepped inside and her eyes grew. She saw papers all over the floor, scattered on the desk, empty ink bottles and empty wine glasses as well. There was also a pile of unanswered letters sitting atop of her desk. Gabrielle really thought that Xena had lost her mind at this point.
"What...is going on in here?" the blonde tread carefully and closed the door behind her. She eyed Xena as she sat on her bed, looking over a stack of papers. "Xena...what is going on?" she asked and the brunette did not answer.
Gabrielle weaved through the papers on the floor, which almost covered the entirety of the room. She stood in front of the bed and saw Xena was frazzled and writing down some notes, quietly talking to herself. Frowning deeply, Gabrielle ripped the paper from Xena's grasp and threw it on the floor.
"What are you doing?!" Xena yelled.
"No, what are you doing? You've become some kind of hermit all of sudden, Xena! Everyone is asking about you." She saw those fiery eyes glaring back at her. "Everyone is worried about you, including me. What's going on with you? You're not acting like yourself."
Xena folded her arms and smirked at the young blonde. "I didn't let you come in here so you could lecture me, Gabrielle."
Yet another side that I have not seen to you, Xena. You are acting insane and I do not know why. Perhaps Belach was right, I will never be able to figure you out, Xena, never.
"I...I'm not trying to lecture you. I just care about you, that's all." Gabrielle said and Xena lowered her eyes, grabbing a new piece of paper to write some more. "Could you stop writing just for a second?" she begged and Xena held the pen close to the paper and then slowly set it down. Good, she's finally listening to me.
Gabrielle sat on the end of the bed and cocked her head, staring at the blue eyes. Those confused eyes, those fragile eyes. Xena, why are you doing this to yourself? "What is going on with you? You're torturing yourself sitting in this room by yourself."
Okay, she's not answering which could mean two things. She's angry or she's upset, or perhaps both? Gabrielle sighed heavily and scooted closer. "Xena, I'm trying to help you. I help you and you help me understand what's going on in that head of yours." She smiled faintly, hoping that would lighten the mood.
The empress scooted away from her and leaned against the pillows, staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room. "I'm trying to prepare myself." She finally said.
Now we are getting somewhere. Gabrielle wanted to move closer, but she refrained. It was obvious that Xena did not want to be touched or close to anyone right now. "Prepare yourself for what? For war?"
"No," she answered curtly.
Gabrielle frowned. "Then, what?"
"Death," Xena said and looked into the frightened emerald eyes of her trainee. "Many people will die in this war, Gabrielle and it will be on my hands."
"Well..." the blonde inched closer. "It's not all on your hands. The Crusaders are responsible for the deaths too." She tried to help but it didn't seem to work.
"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know anything about war and I want to help you, but I don't know how."
Xena smiled softly and looked up at the ceiling. Gabrielle's eyes soon followed. "War is easy, Gabrielle, it's the aftermath that is difficult. You lose people closest to you and knowing that you are responsible for killing a father or mother, a sister, daughter or son –weighs heavy on someone after awhile." She sighed and lowered her chin, staring at the confused blonde.
"I know you want to understand, Gabrielle, but the thing is...I don't want you to understand," she said with a sad smile and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "And I hope you never do."
Gabrielle suddenly got the hint that Xena did not want her around anymore and her heart sank. She had really started to like Xena for numerous amounts of reasons. She even began to wonder what Xena was like when she wasn't being a ruler. Of course, she couldn't imagine Xena being a spoiled queen like the European monarchs, but maybe a more relaxed ruler. But now, she might never know.
She slipped her hand away from Xena's and her eyes darkened. "You don't want me to stay here, do you?"
Xena pursed her lips and looked to the blonde with a glimmer in her eyes. "Clever girl," she winked.
Gabrielle gasped. "But I've been here for half a year now! You gave me a choice! You said I could stay here or leave and I chose to stay!"
Xena stood from her bed and brushed by Gabrielle. The blonde continued, "I stayed for you!" she spat and Xena halted, wrapping her arm around the bed post, she looked over her shoulder with wide eyes. Gabrielle felt her face flush bright red and her eyes avert immediately.
"You what?" the empress said softly.
Gabrielle sighed and ran her hand across her hot cheek. "I stayed for you," she said, trying to her hide eyes but she felt Xena gawking at her. Please, stop looking at me. "I didn't stay because I wanted to learn how to fight. I stayed because I like you. I like learning from you and learning more about you. I thought if I stayed that I could keep learning and hopefully..." she trailed off.
Xena turned around and stood with her arms by her side, frowning confusedly at the young blonde. "Hopefully what?"
"Nothing, never mind," Gabrielle said, already too embarrassed by her behavior. Now that she had Xena's attention she felt like she was in the spotlight and she hated that. She didn't want Xena to think she had some weird obsession with her or a crush on her. It was probably the last thing that Xena wanted to hear.
Xena quirked her mouth and then she sat beside Gabrielle, grabbing her chin, forcing her to look into her eyes. "Gabrielle," she smiled softly, "you are a good person. You're very kind and warm, but strong."
That's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but alright, Gabrielle thought. She looked into Xena's blue eyes and saw softness there instead of the hard cold exterior she showed most of the time, except this time –each time they were alone together, away from prying eyes.
"But we are different." She said.
Gabrielle frowned, "but I want to be like you. You're so amazing!" her eyes lit up.
Xena sighed and leaned in close to the blonde's face. Gabrielle's eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. "No, I want to be like you," she winked and then turned her cheek away.
Gabrielle couldn't believe the words that just come out of Xena's mouth. Did she really just say that? She wants to be like me? But I'm not exciting at all, not like her, why be like me? Do I have something that Xena doesn't?
"You are free to do whatever you wish. I can't do the same things as you. I can't walk freely in the streets without worrying about others. I always have to worry about someone attacking me or trying to kill me," she smiled and continued, "I chose this life, but you never know what you life will be like later or how many regrets you'll have."
"You regret this life you have?" Gabrielle asked.
Xena shrugged a shoulder. "Not really. I like my life the way it is, but sometimes I wish I could have more." She looked to her hands in her lap. "I love my boys, but I wish I could spend more time with them. They are the only things that I do not regret having in my life."
Gabrielle smiled thinking of Solan and Alexander. She knew that Xena loved them a lot. But there was obviously something missing from Xena's life that she desperately wanted or yearned for.
"I think...maybe after this war you should focus on yourself more." She suggested and Xena cocked her head, creasing her eyebrows. "You know...to figure out what you are missing from your life." She smiled.
Xena felt Gabrielle trying to come closer to her on a different level. As much as she liked Gabrielle, she didn't want her to be stuck with her just because Gabrielle thought she was 'awesome' or 'amazing'. She couldn't keep this girl on a string for long. She just couldn't do that to her. Suddenly her warm sensation within her faded to an overwhelming sadness.
I'm sorry Gabrielle, but you and I are too different. That smile on Gabrielle's face lingered and that only made Xena feel even worse. She placed her hand on Gabrielle's thigh and said, "I know you will make someone happy one day, Gabrielle. You're wise beyond your years."
Gabrielle tried to keep the smile on her face but once Xena said that, it was hard to do so. She didn't want to hear that come from Xena's mouth and felt a stab in her heart. She thought that Xena would say something else, like, perhaps, stay with me and I really like you Gabrielle, but no. She didn't say that at all.
I can make you happy, if you let me.
Saladin remained in Athens per Baldwin's request to ally with him. The Saracen stood in front of the leper king, the former king of Jerusalem, and glared at him. The leper breathed heavily, the heat getting to him and causing his skin to soak up all the water he drank profusely.
"Saladin..." Baldwin croaked. He tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair and cleared his throat. "We will move this war to the Holy Land. If my army is to fight Xena for Jerusalem then we should be in the land itself not in Greece." He coughed and scratched his arm with his gloved fingers. "I know that...Greece is Xena's motherland and safe haven."
Saladin nodded. "She wishes to fight on her own turf, Baldwin, just as you want to."
The leper king's eyes trailed upward to stare in the dark Saracen's eyes. "Yes, yes..." he sighed heavily. "But you will convince Xena to go to Jerusalem to fight. If she really wants to control the holy land and Persia then we will make her work for it, yes?" he proposed.
"You want me to lure Xena to Jerusalem only so you can attack her?" Saladin asked.
Baldwin nodded. "I know you are the man for the job, Saladin. We could have been friends, but you decided to war against me to gain Jerusalem for yourself."
Saladin scoffed. "I won Jerusalem, Baldwin."
"Until it was ripped from your arms by a new sultan. Then again by Xena. She had no idea who you were until now. She is a young warrior and ruler. She has her name stamped on Jerusalem. She does not deserve to rule such a holy place," the Hebrew king coughed and lolled his head against the headboard of the chair, exhaling slowly.
"We...all want the same thing," he continued. "Xena is the only person in the way of our victory. Ally with me and we sort out our differences later. She must be stopped at...all...costs," he growled.
Two Months Later
Xena sat inside her office going over all the documents that suddenly came rushing in and the ones she forgot to read while she stayed inside her room, forgetting about the world around her. She pulled a letter from her large stack and opened it up. She saw it was from her sons and Belach in Egypt and began reading it over.
Dajan walked in and she lifted her eyes. "Xena, a letter from Saladin." He bowed his head and she frowned, setting her sons' letter down and snatched the one from Dajan's hand.
She stood and crumbled the letter and threw it on the ground. She leaned on the desk and tapped her fingers. "The war moves to Jerusalem," she said and smiled smugly. "Baldwin wants to conquer on his own turf that he lost." She eyed Dajan. "Yet Saladin sends me this letter," she thought that odd.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
"We go to Jerusalem then. I will play his little game. Send word to Osman to go to Jerusalem. I have a feeling that I am going to be ambushed by Baldwin and his army of Crusaders. I want to make sure my people are there first," she said and Dajan nodded.
She walked out of her office with Dajan trailing behind her. "Also, I want all my ships brought back from Egypt. They are of no use to me if they are not docked in Greece. This war will not require war ships," she frowned and then saw Natassa talking with some of her maids and the two locked eyes with one another.
Xena stopped and Natassa folded her arms. She then looked to the maid with a certain gleam in her eyes and the girl quietly excused herself. "Natassa, I will be going to Jerusalem soon. I want you to stay here."
The Anatolian smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You allow me to stay in your palace without you present?" she questioned suspiciously.
Xena refrained from rolling her eyes. "For your own safety, of course. I know that you will be well taken care of in my absence."
"Will I be able to write Belach?" she asked and Xena quirked her mouth, crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry but no. I can't allow any flow of letters going to and from Greece without me knowing." She saw the sadness in Natassa's eyes then placed a hand on her shoulder. "I promise you, he is safer in Egypt than he would be anywhere else."
Xena entered the training grounds outside and all the girls ceased sparring with one another as soon as they saw her. Her eyes lingered over at Gabrielle and she smiled briefly at her, acknowledging her presence.
"We will be going to Jerusalem. There has been a change of plans," she said and all the girls frowned, whispering in each other's ears.
"I thought we were going to fight here in Greece?" Astremia asked, speaking for the rest of the girls.
Xena nodded, "so did I, but these Templar Knights play by their own rules. They are adamant about fighting in Jerusalem so I'll make sure that we are there to see it through." She saw all the girls fear stricken eyes and folded her arms.
"I know what you are all thinking. This is becoming a reality and we will no longer be on the training grounds anymore. When we reach Jerusalem I will try to convince them to surrender to me first. If they don't then I have no choice but to fight them. War is not something that I look forward to and I would rather not have war, but peace instead." She finished and saw all the girls still looking fearful as ever.
Gabrielle stepped forward and planted the spear into the ground. "We will help you no matter what happens." She said with a smile and Xena leered over at her with a sparkle in her eyes.
Helena nodded, "Greece is my home and I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that we really like you, empress. We wouldn't want anyone to rule Greece but you."
"Your people will appreciate you more if you finally get rid of those Crusaders," Amelia chimed in.
Xena's eyebrows rose hearing all these girls pledge their allegiance to her so willingly. If only they had done that before they knew who she really was. Gabrielle was right, perhaps she could rule as a woman and be an even better ruler than ever before.
"You are all wonderful girls," Xena smiled. "I will make sure that you all receive the recognition you deserve in your cities scattered across Greece and Persia."
Everyone nodded and smiled, happy to hear that. They weren't kidnapped from their homes for nothing it seems.
"I am lucky to have you all," Xena said.
"No, we're lucky to have you," Gabrielle said and folded her arms. She and Xena shared a knowing look with one another. Gabrielle couldn't tell, but she could have sworn she saw the empress's cheeks flush only for a brief moment. Careful not to expose herself, Xena recovered quickly.
"We will be leaving soon. So make sure all your belongings are packed. Osman's army will already be in Jerusalem by the time we arrive." She hoped that were true and she also hoped Baldwin would refrain from attacking until she arrived but she had her doubts.
Osman stood in front of Xena's palace in the desert of Jerusalem. They were in seclusion compared to the rest of the city. Gusts of sand swirled around him as the wind was strong today. A particularly windy day in Jerusalem, he noted, a sign from God that this would be a most difficult war.
Borias walked up beside him and squinted his eyes from the sand flying around. The day was hot, the sun blistering and the sand dunes were most unforgiving. He had never seen such a desolate land before and wondered why Xena would ever want to live in this God forsaken place. This so-called holy land was cursed, he believed. Everyone that set foot upon this dry piece of land was destined to fight forever or die. He didn't think it was worth it.
"Are you sure Baldwin is coming here?" Borias asked.
Osman let out a heavy exhale. "That's what Xena believes. She is normally not wrong about these sorts of things. You of all people should know that."
Although, he was beginning to worry that his army would not be able to fend off the Templar Knights. His army was not even half the size of the Crusader's and Xena's army was very large. Supposedly she was bringing all two hundred thousand of her men. He expected far more from Baldwin's side. He also did not trust Saladin and wondered why Xena would ally with a Saracen after what happened with Sidon.
Borias stepped forward close to the gates and saw something in the distance. A large golden cross of the Catholic Church in the midst of the sand storm. A line of dark figures riding on horses and on foot accompanied. He couldn't make out how many men there were, but by the looks of it, it was a lot. A lot of men. Too many.
"I think that bastard, Baldwin, is here," he grumbled and Osman skipped forward, covering his eyes from the beaming sun.
"So it seems..." the chieftain groaned and turned to his men on the wall above. "Prepare for an attack! We do not know if Baldwin will come anywhere near here! We must be prepared! Remain vigilant!" he yelled and all the soldiers scattered around the large stone palace.
Borias spun around. "Osman!" he yelled and then cursed under his breath, running after the chieftain. "Osman!"
He turned and saw Borias with a concerned look on his face. "What?!"
"He is not going to attack," Borias said calmly.
"How would you know?"
A smile came to Borias' lips. "Xena is not here. They are not. Going. To. Attack." He said with certainty and crossed his large arms.
A soldier from the tower hollered, "rider approaching!"
Osman and Borias turned and saw a man riding towards the gates wearing a turban and all black robes. Something that definitely reminded them both of Xena when she played her role as sultan not too long ago.
The rider stopped and uncovered his face. Osman's eyebrow arched. "Saladin."
The Saracen sultan raised his hand free of weapons. "A message from Baldwin!" he yelled out, yards away from the large gates. He saw the hesitancy in Osman's eyes and Borias' alike. "I come unarmed!" he unsheathed his sword and dropped it in the sand and lifted his free hand.
Osman looked to Borias and he gave him a worried look. "Open the gates," he told his men.
Saladin trotted inside and jumped off his horse. He got the most menacing glare from the chieftain and his commander. Smiling he looked around at Xena's palace that was completely armed with Anatolian men.
"Baldwin waits for Xena to arrive. He does not wish to attack you. He is not of your concern." He began.
"I fear you will be waiting awhile, Saladin," Osman said with a sly grin, "she brings two hundred thousand men aboard her Greek war ships across the Mediterranean."
Saladin simply nodded and Borias raised a suspicious eyebrow towards him. "You betray Xena, Saracen?" he implied.
The Kurd laughed lightly, "betray? I have not betrayed Xena at all." He leaned in closely to Borias and slipped a small note into his hand. "I must return to Baldwin. I await for Xena's arrival," he bowed his head, eyeing Borias with a smug smile. Then he mounted his horse and rode off across the sand dunes to the Templar campgrounds.
Borias opened his hand and took the small note, unrolling it. Osman scoffed at the Saracen and then saw Borias reading something so small that it could be carried by a pigeon or falcon.
"What's that you have there?"
Borias furrowed his eyebrows and watched the Saracen's dark figure riding in the sandstorm. "Chaos," he handed the note over to Osman. "Saladin has his men mixed in with Baldwin's. He is not betraying Xena, but Baldwin. He's going to attack Baldwin when Xena gets here."
Osman grinned, "maybe there will be no war after all. Saladin will take care of Baldwin's men and be done with it."
"I would not count on Saladin, Osman. He is a Saracen. They are not to be trusted," he spat on the ground and had his eyes on the sultan from afar, now under a large canopy in the middle of the desert, talking with Baldwin he assumed.
AN: the war begins the following chapter.