AN: I have a few more chapters left! Enjoy all :)

Chapter 27 –Party Favors

With Xena's permission Gabrielle planned the party and invited Osman and his men. Gabrielle tried to get Borias to come but he opted out so he could stay in Ankara with Natassa because her baby is due very soon. Belach wrote to Gabrielle and said that he was able to come, which excited Alexander even though they just saw each other two months ago.

The guests were already swarming the palace and Xena stayed in her room, fondling over different dresses to wear. Gabrielle convinced her to wear a dress that was not black, but apparently most if not all of her dresses were black. So while Xena was getting ready by herself, Gabrielle was in charge of the guests, trying to be a good hostess.

Alexander was at the entrance of the palace, greeting everyone that walked by. Gabrielle decided that he should be involved in the party somehow and it was a good way to keep him out of trouble. Smiling at everyone he said hello until he saw a large group of people heading up to the doorway.

Saladin brought his sons, only daughter and wife to the party. Alexander's eyes immediately went to the smallest sons, Aziz and Ishaq. He was not happy to see those boys at his mother's home and really wanted to slam the door in his face.

"You must be Xena's son," Saladin said with a warm smile. Alexander eyed him and then looked at his wife, Ismat.

He nodded, "yes, my name is Alexander."

Ismat leaned down and pinched his cheek. "Such a sweet boy. I remember you from my daughter's party. My two boys told me a lot about you and your brothers."

Alexander smirked at the two young princes of Saladin. "Did they?" he cocked his eyebrow. "Welcome to my mother's palace. Hope you enjoy the party!" he grinned cheekily.

Ishaq and Aziz glared at Alexander as they walked in behind their mother and father. Alexander grinned smugly and the rest of Saladin's sons and daughter trailed in. Alexander spun around and saw Belach walking up the stairs and his eyes lit up.

"Belach!" he squealed and crashed into him, wrapping his lanky arms around his brother. "I missed you!"

Belach sighed and pried his brother's arms off him. "It's only been a couple of months, Alexander." He ruffled his little brother's hair. Alexander peered behind him and saw a group of teenage boys huddled together. "Oh yeah, I hope your mom doesn't mind but I brought some friends. Gabrielle said we can bring a few guests," he smirked.

Alexander raised his eyebrow and all the teenagers waltzed into the palace. "I've never seen them before..." he frowned.

"I met them in Antioch on a mission with father. They're really cool," Belach smiled and walked off leaving his brother to be the doorman again.

Solan walked through the large foyer and saw Belach huddled with five or six teenagers and folded his arms. "Belach..." he grabbed his brother's arm. "Who are these boys?" he whispered.

The elder brother chuckled softly. "Just a few friends. Your mother won't mind will she?"

Solan shook his head. "Don't do anything stupid, Belach."

"You worry too much, Solan. Relax, it's a party, jeez," he smacked the back of the blonde's head and Solan growled. "Don't be so uptight like your mother," he teased then walked off with his posse.

"I am not uptight..." he muttered under his breath then walked over to his little brother.

"Oh hey Solan," Alexander smiled and greeted more guests coming inside. "There's a lot of people here..." he said nervously.

Solan nodded and couldn't help but look back at Belach and his little group of friends. He had a feeling that this was going to be a very interesting night. He also caught sight of Saladin and his sons, specifically Ishaq and Aziz. He wasn't even expecting them to come to the party and he also had no idea Saladin had so many children.

He felt a tug on his arm and snapped back round to his brother. "Do you think mother will care about all these people in the palace?" he asked and Solan shrugged his shoulder. "Where is she anyway? She's taking forever!"

"Women," Solan scoffed.

Ishaq and Aziz sauntered over to the two princes by the door. Solan turned and Alexander finished greeting a couple more guests and then his smile disappeared once he saw Saladin's sons. Ishaq smiled and both boys folded their arms defiantly.

"So, your mother is the sultan. We thought that the sultan was a guy but I guess not. Where is she by the way? We've been here for awhile and haven't seen her yet." Ishaq grinned.

Alexander rolled his eyes and Solan grabbed his shoulders. He promised his mother that he would keep his brother in line tonight but now he had to worry about Belach too and he really didn't feel like babysitting two brothers right now.

"She's...in her room. She'll come out soon," Solan said with a forced smile.

"Why don't we play a game?" Aziz suggested. "I'm sure your mother has some cool games around here somewhere."

Alexander folded his arms, scowling at the boys. "We have Backgammon and...Chess...and that's about it."

"So, does that mean you don't play...more active games? Like racing outside with horses?" Ishaq nudged his brother playfully.

Solan's eyes widened and he put his hand over his brother's mouth. "We aren't allowed to go outside the palace without our mother's permission."

"Well, that sucks. I'm sure your mother has really nice horses here. I saw some Arabian horses outside. Where did she get them? Syria?" Aziz asked and Solan remained quiet. "I would really like to see them. Could you show my brother and I?"

Alexander swatted his brother's hand off his mouth and walked up to the two teenagers, staring up at them. "You heard what Solan said! We aren't allowed. To. Go. Outside." He growled.

Solan eyed Belach with his horde of friends and he smiled sneakily. "On second thought, we would love to show you the horses."

Alexander spun around and gasped. "Solan!" he protested and Solan grabbed his arm, leading him off to the side. "Mom said we can't go outside, remember?"

"I know, I know," Solan whispered and looked back at Ishaq and Aziz waiting patiently. "But I'm going to ask Belach to do a favor for me."

"A favor..." Alexander creased his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "What kind of favor?" he whispered. "We better not get in trouble or we're going to be sent to our rooms for the rest of the party! And I'm going to blame you!" he poked Solan in the chest.

He grunted and rubbed his chest then hit his little brother in the shoulder lightly. "Since when do you obey mother anyway?"

"Since...since...I've never been to a party before!" Alexander huffed. "Don't mess this up Solan or I'll..."

Solan smirked, "you'll what? Hit me?"

"Just go ask Belach for your favor," the dark haired boy grumbled. He sauntered over to Ishaq and leaned his elbow on his shoulder. He suddenly felt so incredibly short and now he wished he were as tall as Solan and Belach. One day, he thought, one day I will be tall.

"Sooooo..." he grinned from ear to ear and the Saracen princes frowned. "How do you like my mom's palace? Pretty nice huh?"

Gabrielle waited for Xena to come out from the bathroom. She leaned against the wall patiently, although for a woman that never used to show her face to anyone she sure was taking an awful long time getting ready.

"Xena," she sighed and banged her head against the wall lightly. "I'm sure you look fine. Can we go now? There are people actually waiting for you."

"I don't normally wear dresses Gabrielle," she said from behind the door and Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

I know and this is why you are taking so long. "Xena, come on!" she growled and the door finally opened. She spun around and her eyes widened as she looked up and down at the dark blue gown Xena wore. Her mouth gaped and Xena felt uncomfortable by the look on Gabrielle's face.

She adjusted the long sleeves and kept trying to pull the bodice up, forgetting that her bare shoulders were exposed. "Does it look alright?"

"You look amazing!" Gabrielle grinned and grabbed her hand. "Let's go!"

"That's it, I'm changing," Xena said.

"No!" the blonde yanked on the sultana's hand, pulling her to the door. "You are not changing again! By the time you change into another dress this party will be over. Now, let's go!"

They walked down the hallway together and Xena heard a lot of people talking in the foyer of the palace. The closer they came to the foyer the more she wanted to turn and run the opposite way but it was too late now. She had already made eye contact with a few guests that she saw her walking with Gabrielle. She didn't know how many people Gabrielle invited and it appeared to be a lot by the looks of it which was surprising to say the least.

Osman turned and saw Xena enter the room and smiled at her. He left his spot where he was conversing with some of Saladin's older adult sons and made his way over. Xena whipped her head around hearing the sound of boots nearing.

"Xena, you look very nice," he grinned and she nervously smiled. "I didn't know you owned gowns," he teased.

"Very funny, Osman," she said flatly. "I happen to own a few."

He nodded. "You should wear them more often." He eyed her taut waist and square shoulders and then averted his eyes when she saw him gawking. "Borias says hello," he said without looking into her eyes but at the guests surrounding them. "Oh, I almost forgot," he reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out a letter.

She frowned and grabbed the letter, not recognizing the handwriting. "What's this?"

He grinned mischievously, "a letter from Natassa. She told me to give it to you."

A letter from Natassa? She thought that was strange since the two never wrote each other and why would they ever need to anyway? She broke the seal and opened the letter, reading it silently to herself. Gabrielle came up to her with two glasses of wine and her eyes peered over to see what she was reading.

"What's that you got?" she asked curiously.

Xena smiled softly and folded the letter back up and grabbed the wine glass from her. "It's from Natassa," she said and saw the shock in Gabrielle's eyes. Much the same reaction she was expecting. "She said that she would like Belach to spend more time with me."

Gabrielle's nodded slowly. "Wow that's really...strange. Why would she want that? I thought she hated you."

The sultana sipped her wine gradually and shrugged a shoulder. "She said it would be good for Belach to be around Solan and Alexander more." She frowned and then looked around the room in search of those boys. "Speaking of...where are they?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "Probably playing a game or something." She smiled at some of the guests and looked out the window and saw Ishaq and Aziz tied to the pillar outside and Solan was laughing along with Alexander. Belach was with a few friends and had two of Xena's black horses at his disposal. She gasped and Xena turned around.

"What?" Xena furrowed her eyebrows and Gabrielle grabbed her arm, ushering her away from the sight outside the window.

"You know, they are definitely playing a game. So we should mingle, right? People don't know you so you should get to know them. Oh look, Saladin is here!" she pointed and the Saracen smiled at her. She pulled Xena along across the room.

"Gabrielle!" she groaned and nearly spilled her wine.

Saladin grinned at them both and Xena glared at Gabrielle as she adjusted her bodice and smoothed her gelled back hair. "Xena, you look lovely. I would have never thought you'd throw a party..."

"It wasn't my idea," she lamented and her blonde trainee grinned widely.

He stifled a laugh and wrapped an arm around his wife. "This is my wife, Ismat and my daughter, Noor," he introduced. Ismat smiled at the sultana, eyeing her dress from head to toe. Noor grinned and bowed her head curtly. She looked to be about Belach's age and looked very much like her mother –pale skin, dark hair and light eyes.

"Nice to meet you both," Xena said with a small grin.

"And my sons," he nudged his head for his sons to come over. They were huddled together and Xena's eyes widened. She didn't realize that Saladin had so many children, she thought he just had Ishaq and Aziz but she was wrong. "This is my oldest, Afdal." He said.

Afdal smiled and bowed his head. Saladin went to the next son, "and Zahir, Jacob, Daud and Masad."

Xena nodded her head slowly and they were all adults. She suddenly felt so lucky to just have only two sons. "Well...you have a lot of heirs to your throne..." she said unsure of what to say.

"I seem to be missing two of my sons," Saladin frowned and searched for them.

"As am I..." Xena said.

Gabrielle smiled nervously. "Oh they're probably playing together somewhere. I'm sure they'll turn up sometime..."

Ismat spoke up, "where is your other son?"

Xena frowned, "my other son?" she asked.

"The dark haired boy," Ismat said.

"Oh," Xena smiled, "Belach is not my son. He is my stepson. Come to think of it I don't know where he is either..." and that troubled her. She didn't fully trust Belach especially when he got together with her sons.

"Probably with the boys!" Gabrielle said with a forced smile and Xena turned, eyeing her suspiciously. "So, Egypt, huh?" she turned to the Saracen family and all of them fell silent.

Aziz growled. "Alright! You've had your fun! Now untie us!" he spat.

Solan chuckled and turned to his little brother. "What do you think Alexander? Should we?"

Alexander folded his arms, shaking his head. "No way!"

"You can't keep us here for the entire party!" Ishaq yelled.

Belach sighed heavily. "Listen kids, I got two of my stepmother's horses. How 'bout we have a race? First one to the beach and back is the winner. What do you say?" he raised an eyebrow.

"We should have a sword fight!" Alexander clenched his fists, his eyes widening with excitement.

Solan frowned, eyeing his little brother. "Okay, no." he sighed and Alexander grunted. "I'll race you Aziz and then Belach can race Ishaq. Seem fair?"

"What about me?!" Alexander pouted, grabbing his brother's arm.

Solan rolled his eyes. "You can sit with me on the horse, okay?"

"Alright!" Alexander clapped his hands together and glared at the Saracen boys. "You are going down! Prepare to eat dirt!"

Solan untied Aziz from the large pillar and Ishaq wriggled in the tight ropes. "Hey! Aren't you going to untie me?!" the Saracen prince griped.

"Sorry, you'll stay like that until I beat your brother in the race," Solan winked and grabbed one of his mother's horses and frowned at Belach. "You took my mom's war horse?!" he hissed, "are you insane?" he whispered.

Belach shrugged. "It's her best horse right?"

"Belach...she will kill me if I ride her horse. I thought you were going to get a regular horse! Not...her horse!"

He wrapped his arm around Solan's neck. "Don't worry brother. Just win the race and come back in one piece then we'll return her horse before she even notices!"

Alexander climbed onto the saddle and pat the seat in front of him. "Come on Solan! Let's do this! I'm so ready kick Aziz's ass!"

"Alexander!" Solan gasped and hopped onto the horse. All he could think of was his mother's reaction to him riding her horse. She is going to kill me, he thought. "Don't let mother hear you talk like that."

The boy zipped his lips. "Secret is between us," he winked and Solan groaned lightly.

Aziz trotted up beside the Greek princes with an eager smile on his lips. "You ready to lose, boys?" he chided.

"In your dreams!" Alexander spat.

Belach stood in between the horses. "Remember, first one to the beach and back wins." He smiled. "Go!" he shouted and they rode off, kicking up a lot of sand around him. He coughed and waved his hand in front of his face.

Gabrielle and Xena migrated to a small corner of the room after a long discussion with Ismat, Saladin and Noor. Gabrielle sighed heavily and grabbed a new glass of wine and Xena raised her eyebrow, still working on her own glass.

"I can't believe that Saladin's wife wants her daughter to meet Belach. What do you think about that?" she asked, taking a large swig of the wine.

Xena cocked her head. "Are you alright? The wine isn't water, you know."

Gabrielle nodded. "Oh yeah, I'm fine." Though, she was just trying to distract Xena from what was happening outside the palace walls. And now she had no idea what was going on out there and she probably didn't want to know. Also, it would just ruin Xena's mood and that was never a pretty sight to see. Everyone could agree to that.

The sultana nodded her head slowly. "Uh-huh," she turned around to keep looking for her sons but there were no sign of them. "I will talk to Borias about Ismat's proposition. I don't think he would like Belach to court a Saracen but we'll see." She frowned and lifted her chin, looking over the heads in the room. "Where are they?"

Gabrielle's eyes widened and she kept drinking the wine. "Playing, I'm sure."

"Are you lying to me?" Xena leaned in towards the blonde's face.

Gabrielle smiled sheepishly. "Come on Xena. Don't you trust me?"

"I don't trust my sons. You know where they are, Gabrielle." She inched closer to her face.

The blonde placed a hand on Xena's shoulder. "Xena. They're having a good time. Why can't you do the same? You're always worrying over them."

"You obviously don't know them very well." She said then turned around at the sound of music and frowned. "You have music...for people to dance to..." she said in an almost growling tone.

Gabrielle had a big smile on her face and she leaned into Xena, not quite sure if she was just in a good mood or she had too much wine too fast. The party was just beginning and Xena was already irritated which was not a good sign.

"Xena...you should really loosen up. Belach is so right," she laughed lightly. "You are so uptight sometimes." She intertwined her fingers with Xena's and pressed her cheek against her arm.

Xena rolled her eyes and took the glass from Gabrielle's grasp. "Alright, I think you should stick to water for now." She grumbled then saw Saladin heading her way and she desperately wanted to get away.

"Xena," Saladin smiled. "Would you like to dance with me? You won Jerusalem after all. I am at your feet," he bowed his head.

She gave a curt smile and wrapped her arm around Gabrielle. "That sounds nice but I should really get Gabrielle to her room." She tried ushering her along and Saladin nodded.

"Allow my wife to help you," he offered and Ismat walked over dutifully. Xena half rolled her eyes and really didn't want anybody's help but she recalled what Gabrielle said. When help is offered you shouldn't turn it down no matter what.

Ismat grabbed hold of Gabrielle aiding Xena through the crowded room, side stepping the dancers in the center. Xena heard a loud noise outside and her head spun around towards the sound instantly. Her eyes widened when she saw Solan and Alexander on her horse. She clenched her jaw and felt her heart pounding.

"My horse!" she screeched and let go of Gabrielle, marching through the crowd, pushing people aside to go outside.

"We won!" Alexander cheered. Solan smiled and high-fived his brother then saw their mother storming towards them. "Oh crap," he muttered.

Solan's face paled and he began trotting off and Xena grabbed the horse reins, glaring at her two frightened sons. "Get off now," her voice terse. Solan immediately jumped off the steed and grabbed his brother, hoisting him off as well. She whipped her head around and saw Ishaq, one of Saladin's sons tied to the pillar and another boy riding up on another one of her war horses.

"What...is...going on here?" she growled and Ishaq's eyes widened. He had never seen the sultana before and she was quite scary he noticed. She was probably very nice he guessed but right now...he really wished he could run and get out of the area as soon as possible. "Get off my horse, boy!" she yelled and Aziz jumped off so fast he nearly fell to his knees.

She pushed her horse gently off to the side and folded her arms. "Stealing my horses for your little games. Whose idea was this?" she asked and both her sons pointed their fingers at Belach. She snarled and turned to the dark haired teen.

Belach scoffed, "oh come on guys! Solan was the one who tied up Ishaq and Aziz, Xena!"

Xena spun back around to her blonde son and he stared at her with wide blue eyes, not blinking at all and Alexander hid behind him. "A group effort, huh?" she nodded her head slowly. "Get inside the palace. All of you." She demanded and they slowly walked into the palace. "You too!" she turned to Saladin's boys and they quickly ran by her trailing behind the trio.

"Your mother is scary," Ishaq whispered to Solan.

"You don't even know," he whispered back.

Inside Xena's office all five boys were lined up standing before her, Saladin and Ismat, all with their arms folded and disapproving looks on their faces. Solan and Alexander couldn't bear looking at their mother so they resorted to the floor instead.

"I allow this party in my home and this is what you do? Play stupid little games with my horses! Not to mention you tied up Ishaq and Aziz!" she yelled and her sons winced at the tone of voice. "If you were one of my soldiers I would have you imprisoned! Stealing my horse is a crime, do you understand?" her voice rising. "Do you understand?"

"Yes..." both her sons answered in unison.

"And you," Xena turned to Belach and he lifted his eyes, staring at her sheepishly. "You are older than them. You are supposed to be an example for them but I see you have not changed. Don't think that I won't tell your father about this."

"But, Xena!" Belach whined.

"No!" she yelled and he cringed then lowered his eyes, sighing heavily.

Saladin glared at his two sons and they lifted their eyes, ashamed to look at their parents. "This is not how you act in a guest's home. And Xena told me you treated her sons horribly while in Alexandria. I didn't teach you to treat anyone differently despite what family you come from."

"Yes father," both boys said quietly.

Ishaq turned to Xena and quirked his mouth, twiddling with his thumbs behind his back. "Sorry," he said meekly.

"Yeah, sorry," Aziz mumbled.

Xena gave them a curt nod, acknowledging their apologies. She then turned to her sons and narrowed her eyes. "Don't you two have something to say?"

Solan sighed and turned to Ishaq and Aziz. "Sorry," he muttered. He nudged his brother's arm and Alexander groaned.

"Sorry, jeez," Alexander grumbled and then saw the vehemence in his mother's eyes. "Sorry," he said again more sincerely.

Xena exhaled heavily and rubbed her temple. "Go to your rooms. Belach you'll stay with Solan." She said and all the boys began trailing out of the office with their heads down.

"Great! Now we're going to miss the party!" Alexander griped and Solan slapped the back of his head. "Ow!" he moaned.

"Shut up, Alexander," Belach grumbled.

"I'm just saying..." he said barely above a whisper.

Later in the evening after the guests were trailing out of her palace, Xena was incredibly tired from greeting and saying her goodbyes to everyone. She walked into her room and took out of the pins from her bun and her long hair came tumbling down her back. She took off her shoes and kicked them to the side. She trailed over to her bed and saw Gabrielle sprawled across the sheets, passed out.

She smiled softly and lifted her dress, climbing onto the bed, sitting beside the blonde. She brushed a few long tendrils away from Gabrielle's face. She so wanted this party to work and to have fun like Gabrielle hoped for but as usual nothing ever went her way. There was always something. Something.

She knew that inviting Belach was probably a bad idea but she didn't think they would do something like this. She had no idea that her sons would team up with Belach against Saladin's sons and steal her horse, of all things to do. They could have blown up a part of the palace and she wouldn't be as angry but to steal something so precious and something that didn't belong to them was more than aggravating.

Sighing she gaped at Gabrielle lying beside her. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open and a small smile graced her lips when she saw Xena's face above her. She winced and held her head. "Is this...party over?" she asked.

Xena nodded. "Afraid it is." She ran her hand over the blonde locks. "Are you feeling better? I told you to stop with the wine you know."

"I'll make sure to remember for next time..." she groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing the back of her head. "How was it?"

Xena sighed dramatically. "Eventful." That was the best word she could use to describe what a disaster that was earlier.

Gabrielle frowned. "That doesn't sound good..." she sighed and leaned against the pillows. "What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. I'll have to deal with it tomorrow." She rolled her eyes.

"That bad huh?" Gabrielle gave a crooked smile and Xena shrugged a shoulder, still smiling and staring into her eyes. "Well," she sighed, "I should get back to my room with the others."

Xena frowned and grabbed hold of her arm. "You can stay. No point in waking everyone up, right?"

Is this your way of asking me to stay, Xena? Because if it is you really need to work on your execution. But if you insist. "Are you sure?"

"You're already here...in my bed," Xena raised an eyebrow.

Very clever, sultana. "So I am..." the blonde smiled. "Sounds like you didn't have a fun time at the party." She admitted, a bit disappointed. "I really wanted you to have fun."

"I appreciate the effort, Gabrielle," Xena scooted closer to her. "I've learned not to expect much from these sorts of things. You're the only person that went through so much to make this happen and you did it for me and I want to thank for you for that. It means a lot to me."

Gabrielle blushed. "I really wished that you could have enjoyed yourself and that I could have been there," she grumbled.

Xena leaned in and kissed the blonde on the lips gingerly. Pulling away she cupped her flushed cheek. "It's the thought that counts, Gabrielle." She whispered and saw a smile that could light up a room. "But I think I'm done with parties for awhile," she jested.

"So...what exactly happened?"

The following morning Xena sent Belach and his horde of friends back to Ankara and made sure to send a letter to Borias home with Belach. She warned him that if he didn't give the letter to his father that she would know and definitely bring him back to Persia to be punished further. She hoped that instilling fear in the boy would make him comply. As for Alexander and Solan, she's never truly punished them for anything that they've done over the years because she was too busy with her empire but now it seemed like she had all the time in the world. And this was the perfect time to make sure that her sons would never do something as stupid as this again.

She put Alexander and Solan to work in the stables in the front of the palace. They not only had to take care of her horse but the entire army's horses, which included giving them shoes and grooming, as well as cleaning the inside of the individual stables.

The look on their faces was enough and amused her but she stood outside for the first few hours watching them work, bickering and arguing with each other. Alexander set down a bucket of feed for the horses and yelled at his older brother and Solan threw a bucket of water on him.

Xena smirked and folded her arms, watching them continue to fight. "Boys!" she called out and they turned to her. "Work together as a team, remember?" she snickered.

"This is all your fault!" Alexander pointed his finger at his brother and shook out his wet hair.

"You can't put all the blame on me!"

Alexander laughed. "Fine! I blame you and Belach equally! How's that?"

Gabrielle came up beside Xena, witnessing the boys arguing. "I can't believe you're actually letting them do this for their punishment."

"They won't learn if I continue to let them do whatever they want. I know Borias does not give them a lot of rules and that makes it harder on me," she raised an eyebrow and saw Alexander tackle Solan to the ground.

Gabrielle cringed. "Aren't you going to stop them?"

Xena smiled faintly. "Nope."

"How long are you going to let this punishment go on exactly?" Gabrielle cocked her head watching Alexander and Solan rolling on the ground still bickering.

"Until they finish."

Gabrielle gasped. "That will take weeks."

"Now you're catching on Gabrielle," Xena gave her a wink then looked at her sons and saw Alexander's nose bleeding and she frowned, no longer finding this amusing. "Stop it!" she yelled and Solan got off his brother.

Alexander wiped his nose and saw blood. The realization of pain finally hit him and his eyes filled with tears. Xena shook her head and knelt down in front of him and dabbed his nose with her fingers. She cupped his cheeks, examining his nose.

"It's not broken, you'll be fine," she smiled and pat his cheeks and he frowned. She saw the tears beginning to stream down his cheeks as he was holding back his emotions. She wiped his cheeks and looked into his dark eyes. "When you're both finished for the day how about we do something altogether?" she suggested.

Alexander's face lit up immediately forgetting about his nose. "Really?"

Gabrielle shook her head and crossed her arms from afar. Of course you would never be mean to your children, Xena. Your heart is too soft. No matter what those boys do you're always trying to bargain and please them. I'm not sure if that is a flaw or something to be admired. You continue to fascinate me.

Xena nodded. "Yes, really." She tapped her cheek. "We could read a story together. I know how much you like that."

He nodded. "Can Gabrielle tell the stories? I like when she tells stories."

Xena smiled and sighed, getting to her feet. "Okay, Gabrielle can be the storyteller." She ruffled his wet hair and he grinned from ear to ear. "But finish your work for today." She warned and he nodded.

Gabrielle's mouth gaped. "Did you just put me in charge of something else again?" she whispered.

"Not up for the challenge?" Xena teased.

Oh no, I'm always up for the challenge but the question is, why do you keep allowing me to do all of these things? Is it to amuse you? To study me? I think I need to learn more about you, Xena. Perhaps I haven't figured you out after all like I thought.

"I'm ready for any challenge you throw at me."

"Careful, Gabrielle. Alexander is a tough person to please," the sultana joked and walked back to the palace. Gabrielle smirked and then ran after her.