Ultimatum

"Okay so I've decided to give you jobs you were born to do."

"What's that?" Ares asked.

"Aphrodite and Cupid you two are the official matchmaker. Usually parents arrange matches, but I think if we do it all through you than we can arrange matches from different parts of the countries and get some diversity, have better success at finding someone's match."

"Are these suppose to be guaranteed things?" Aphrodite asked.

"Two specials one is a more permanent betrothal and the other is a more see if your compatible and if not try again." They nodded. "I've decided that your place of residence should be in the capital which should be finished soon."

"I'm just glad we can still do what we love."

"What about me, I'm made for war?"

"And you've got like four generals between you and Drake," Lady Clara commented as they all sat in her personal counsel room.

"Hmm…I really didn't think about you Ares to be honest." They all laughed a little while he frowned.

"That's not funny what am I going to do."

"Look we'll brain storm in a moment, but right now let's see Meg and Joxer you two decided to start a chain of restaurants, Philemon I made a diplomat and gave you and Diana land. Leah your just my double, Hercules and Iolaus you two are my royal constables. You can go around helping people in the name of the Queen."

"Xena we help people because we want to not to support royalty."

"I know that, but if you read the history books you'll find that heroes aren't well liked."

"Why?" Iolaus asked.

"Because you're pansies," Ares told him. He scowled at him.

"Shut up Ares, I can kick your ass now without your Godly powers." Ares gave him an offending gesture.

"Stop it you two now look in the past in this realm heroes often have turned out to be nothing but fakes. They create these situations and than solve it so they can collect on money or other resources from hardworking people. The last hero swindled Drake's great-grandfather. Now there's a very draconian law that has heroes executed. If they think you're sanctioned by Drake and me than you'll be pretty much treated like you were in Greece. Mind you Arcadia is pretty peaceful and I strengthened the patrols to control bandits, but there's always something going on in the more rural areas." They nodded.

"Than that's where we'll travel."

"Well in that case I guess I'm just marrying Ares," Leah commented. Hercules shrugged not really caring he didn't love Leah the way he did Xena and she didn't deserve to always be compared to her look alike.

"What am I going to do?"

"Well we can't exactly put you in a position of such power."

"You should send him to Glacial," Gabrielle commented.

"Yeah, wait what's in Glacial?" Ares asked.

"No too many naïve people in Glacial besides Evzenek is doing great."

"Than what?" Gabrielle asked.

"Um…."

"I know he can join the patrols and work his way up to Captain. That's been turned into a separate division in itself."

"Lady Elizabeth I knew there was a reason I kept you around." She grinned.

"I could have thought of that."

"Well why didn't you?" Lady Sonya asked coming to her sister's aid. Gabrielle scowled as Ares snickered at her.

"That's perfectly fine," Ares told Xena, who nodded.

"Well than it's settled."

"Yeah, Rafe and Autolycus are well on their way to becoming merchants. Pretty much all of the women have become Amazons and finding their place there. Salmoneus is also back to his old ways so he's good, Iphicles has become a blacksmith, oh and Minya as well as your sister Lila, Gabs, have started a traveling troupe."

"Yeah my parents aren't thrilled and Sarah wants to spend time here with her Aunt Xena and her new cousin Naomi."

"Sorry Gabby I didn't mean to steal your niece."

"No, its fine I couldn't have picked anyone better for her to admire if it weren't me or her mother," Gabrielle replied. "Besides one of your little nieces wants to grow up Amazon which is all good."

"Ah that would be little Camille their mother was an amazon."

"Oh and here I thought it was all because of me." Xena laughed.

"In a way its you too."

"Why don't you two girls go have lunch while I talk to your mommy," Drake suggested to Eve and Melody, who were in the library with Xena who was studying Sultry's history and ancient language. She had been teaching the girls, but their interest had quickly turned to the books she had bought them full of fairy tales from Sultry. "I take it you're still angry with me."

"What?" Xena asked looking up from her book to be honest she had barely registered him telling the girls to go eat lunch. "Sorry I wasn't quite paying attention."

"To think you could be dead if I had bad intentions."

"No, I just registered that there was no danger and the girls were going for lunch or they would be. Girls put down the spider you know your not suppose to touch the black ones." Eve dropped the spider and Melody jumped on it, ending its life. Xena shook her head at them. "Come here." They ran over in their light trousers and tunics to keep them cool in the heat. "Now I want you two to go wash up and have lunch with both of your grandmothers, understand?" Eve nodded and Melody followed suit. "Give me a kiss before you go." Xena leaned a little farther down to receive a kiss from both of them. They both headed for the door.

"Hey what about my kiss?" Drake asked. They came back and gave him a kiss too. "They get more beautiful every day." They sighed.

"At this rate we're going to have to beat the boys away with a stick," Xena laughed.

"That's not funny, I don't want them dating. Boys are evil, all they do is take a girl's innocence away."

"This coming from the man who gets to take his wife's twice." Drake grinned.

"That's different, you're not my daughter." Xena laughed.

"I know you wish they won't ever grow up, but its inevitable and we have to accept that or lose them." Drake nodded sadly. "We can't coddle them forever."

"What if they want to be?"

"Than at some point we have to draw the line." Drake nodded. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"The wedding."

"What about it?" Xena asked.

"Well how's the planning coming?" Drake asked.

"Great we're done actually right now we're making sure everything goes smoothly."

"How big is this wedding?"

"Well Bedwyr and Cahal are coming with the rest of the pack for the wedding. Than there's the monarchs from Orient and I've invited all the monarchs of the surrounding lands including the ones we're on bad terms with as a peace offering. Than from across the sea there's monarchs from Hinterland, Stormy, Nemaria, Wasteland, Celt, and everyone else. Next we have to count all the nobles from here, Sultry, and Glacial. There will probably be important nobles accompanying their monarchs. Oh and it is custom for Sultry's subjects to attend their princess's wedding."

"We can't bring millions of people here!" Drake exclaimed.

"Who said we were having the wedding here?"

"The wedding is always here."

"Well we had it here last time, I thought a change of scenery would be nice. Besides you agreed with my father that the wedding would be in Sultry, its lucky I even found a compromise."

"What's wrong with Arcadia?"

"Absolutely nothing and you know it, besides we can't bring millions of people here, that's why I found a spell to temporarily extend our lands. They will meet…" Xena paused and retrieved an old map. She rolled it out on the table and pointed to an island, "here and that way everyone including our loyal subjects of Arcadia can attend and in Glacial. It's the best I can do to compromise. Besides its what I want."

"Do I ever get a say?" Drake asked. Xena looked at him as if he were trying to kill her.

"Drake one thing you seem to have forgotten and must remember is that this wedding is all about me."

"Yeah, but I'm getting married too." Xena rolled her eyes.

"Okay fine I see this is going to turn into some big argument I don't want us to have."

"Okay than good."

"What's wrong?" Xena asked after a moment.

"What?"

"Something's wrong, you never complain about anything when I'm planning something especially our wedding because you knew some of our plans and our first wedding you kept reminding me I could make it whatever I wanted and that it was all about me."

"Nothing is wrong."

"Did your mother do or say something?" Xena asked.

"No." He crossed his arms and looked away from her.

"Come on don't make me use necessary torture." He grinned and looked at her.

"I think you might have too."

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you." She nibbled on his ear and Drake closed his eyes to enjoy it, but than it turned painful.

"Ow!" He cried pulling away and holding his throbbing ear.

"What did you think I was going to just let you sit there and enjoy it, now spill."

"Okay, okay I can't talk to my mother, I keep trying and it turns out I'm about as afraid of my mother as I am you and the only reason I'm in here now is because your friends scare me more and if you hear it from them you'd kick my ass about ten times worse than right now." Xena stared at him for a few moments.

"The wedding is off."

"What?" He asked in horror.

"The wedding is off, to be honest I only put up with your mother barging in when we were married because we were married. But since we're technically not anymore I won't enter into a marriage that can no longer last if we're never able to actually love each other anymore. The girls and Llyr and I are going to Sultry if you decide sometime to be a man for your family we'll consider returning."

"Xena…" Drake started. She stopped him.

"No, loving you from a far is not acceptable. I'd rather not put myself or our children through that I'd rather not marry you at all. Than to marry you and we grow apart. I can't put myself in the position to hate you." Xena left out barely containing her tears. It didn't take long to get everyone moving and packing. Cyrene took the news hard, but accepted it. Fiona was ecstatic Xena was leaving. Drake for the life of him wouldn't dream of Xena leaving him on purpose for what was feeling like for good.

"Xena, don't do this," He told her.

"If you want us back you know what you have to do, girls, Llyr say goodbye to your father."

"Daddy will see you all real soon," Drake promised them. He couldn't lose his family not like this not ever. He kissed their foreheads before Xena lifted them into carriage and got in. Her friends came with her thinking of it as a vacation or perhaps a move if necessary. They didn't know how welcome they would be if Drake just let Xena go.

"I knew he would fuck up," Ares commented from his horse.

"Shut up Ares its not him that's fucked up exactly."

"Well in any case you're free to be my wife."

"No, Drake will come through he always does, besides just because I'm leaving doesn't mean its over between us. It didn't in the past and I'll be damned if it does now."

"Oh thank the Gods," Cyrene cried from her seat in the carriage, I didn't know what to do."

"Mother you should know better than to think it was really over."

"I know darling, but I was thinking of the children."

"I know."

"Daddy gone?" Eve asked.

"No, we're just going to visit your Grandpa and your great-grandmother." Eve nodded. It was a very long journey, but King Rodrigo and Queen Romualda were pleased to see her arrive so early. Queen Romualda was furious about the wedding until Xena explained the reason behind why it was off. After that she focused on her grandchildren.