A HARSH TRUTH AND A SMOKING MIRROR

Demetrius breathed in eyeing the woman who was chained to the heavy chair Iona had really done her job, her arm was broken as was her knee and all the fingers on her right hand. She was clearly in a lot of pain as none of the broken bones had been looked at or reset and she'd been left over night in this condition. This was common practice though for those who betrayed the Empress their last few days alive were never very pleasant most of them begged to go to noose just to end it all. Unless something very important came out of this woman's mouth in these next few hours she'd be facing the noose tomorrow morning. Not that there was any chance of that, Iona had really beaten the truth out of her or so she'd said and gotten all the information needed. He had faith in her abilities, though he didn't like her methods he accepted that they were essential when it came to these situations as she was the one who always got the answers which others couldn't get and she'd always gotten the truth. He eyed Iona who was pacing the uncertainty in her eyes she clearly wanted to get this over with and the delay wasn't helping her mood.

Saying that though her mood was much better than it normally was in this kind of situation, she much calmer and she wasn't as angry ether she also seemed much more focused. Maybe the time away from her position had, had an impact in some way. She clearly wasn't interested in Gabrielle or her abilities anymore and she hadn't been as cold as she had been in the past. She was also doing the drills he asked her to do and she didn't complain she was got on with it. Despite this he wasn't going to stop doing these drills not until he was sure that she had grasped honour and discipline and that there was no question about her loyalty. He watched as she turned as the double doors to the throne room were opened as the Empress walked in a very unreadable look in her piecing light blue eyes. He lowered his head. "Hello Empress." Xena stepped forward watching as the prisoner came in to view she nodded in his direction before turning to Iona who instantly stopped pacing. "So this is the prisoner?"

Iona looked up slightly. "Yes Empress." Xena eased up her hand feeling it form a fist. "Well before Gabrielle gets here lets ask her some questions." She watched as the blonde haired woman who was chained to the heavy chair looked up, she leaned over eyeing her in disgust. "Well, well it's been a long time since anyone's got that close to me and I might be impressed if it weren't for the fact that you were trying to kill me." She watched in surprise as the woman smirked before speaking in a cold voice. "How utterly arrogant of you Empress, to even believe that myself and the others were even after you, I don't give a Tartarus about you, you were just in the way and we only shot at you because wanted to get our real targets attention we knew that she might try to save you, we were hoping though that it would cost her, her miserable life." Xena blinked in surprise she looked up watching as Iona coughed clearing her throat before speaking. "Mavican said that she came here to kill Gabrielle that was her target not you Empress." Xena felt herself tense. "They were after Gabrielle?" Iona nodded. "Yes Empress."

"She was trying to kill me, I'm flattered."

Xena turned sharply watching as Gabrielle walked in through the double doors on all fours moving very slowly keeping her pace slow and steady she knew instantly that the other woman was now playing on her image to its maximum effect. She was ensuring that every claw tapped the marble harshly and keeping lower to the ground than normal so she looked much more dangerous and primal. She turned seeing the smug smile fade away from Mavican's face as it turned to uncertainty and fear. Obviously the fact that Gabrielle wasn't human was a detail which her employer had not told her, her reaction very much confirmed this. She looked up slightly. "Please allow me to introduce you to the woman who was your target." Gabrielle kept low to the floor as she moved towards the chained woman coming to a stop in front of her. She slowly stood up so she was towered over her then moved her head so her teeth were with in inches of her face before speaking coldly. "As you can see I'm not human unless that's escaped your attention." She eyed the woman whose whole body tensed as the terror took over. She raised a clawed hand so she could see it. "I'm in fact a werewolf and I'm sure you've heard all the wonderful stories about werewolves and how they eat people while their still breathing. Well I'm here to tell you that all those stories are all true and if you don't tell me what I want to know right now I'm going to eat you. I'll start by shoving your head right down my throat and listen to you choke before I rip it from your shoulders."

She slammed her clawed hand down hard on the chair watching as the woman started to shiver clearly what ever bravado she'd had, had now gone down the gutter along with her nerve. "So let's get on with this shall we, who sent you?" She ignored Xena's surprise watching as Iona came forward raising a pendent so she could see it. "She's from the Northern Alliance I found this around her neck, she said that she was sent to kill you because you failed in your mission when you tried to kill the Empress and because you failed she said that you owed them your life." Gabrielle eyed the symbol for a long moment before speaking. "What is it made from?" Iona eyed the symbol feeling the confusion take over. "It's made of copper, why?" Xena narrowed her gaze clearly Gabrielle was on to something and it was better for her just go with it as her presence alone was terrifying the assassin. Gabrielle felt a cold smile form as she turned back to the chained woman who was called Mavican eyeing her in disgust. "Your not very bright are you Mavican?" Mavican looked up slightly trying to gain control of her nerve. "I had the nerve to try and kill you, didn't I?" Gabrielle didn't think as she slammed her clawed hand around her throat ignoring the look of shock as it spread across her face. "Yes and you failed and if the Empress hadn't stopped me I've have sliced your throat open."

She tightened her grip slowly. "But as it is you're here and you're alive…for now." She let go sharply. "I know for a fact that all Northern Alliance symbols are made from tempered bronze so yours is a fake on top of that the wolf in the centre is made from brass along with the fire sections. The Northern Alliance takes great care to make their symbols this way, so people can't copy them but clearly yours is nothing but a moulded fake and a bad one at that. So you're not from the Northern Alliance and you're lying and one thing I can't stand is liars, so you're going to tell me right now who really sent you or I'll rip your face off!" Mavican shivered as the jaws opened revealing lots of razor sharp teeth which were huge she felt the panic over take her. "It was this middle aged man he came to me, he offered me a huge ransom in gold and silver if I killed you!" Gabrielle narrowed her gaze closing her jaws. "What was the man's name!?" Mavican swallowed. "His name was Hesperos!" Gabrielle breathed in painfully feeling her clawed fingers dig in to the wood of the chair as she tried to control her burning anger. She closed her eyes for a long moment trying to gain control of her emotions before stepping back as she opened up her eyes again. Xena stepped closer to Gabrielle she could see the pain and conflict in her eyes. "Hesperos you told me that he's one of the Imperial Council members." Gabrielle took in a painful breath. "Yes he is."

She felt her clawed hand form a fist causing her knuckles to crack. "Clearly the Imperial Council must feel that I've out lived my usefulness now they are trying to kill me just like they did my predecessor." Demetrius blinked in confusion he turned seeing the shock spread across Iona's face as well. "The Imperial Council, Phrixus was talking about them to me there the so called leaders of your race." Iona eased up the scroll in her hand opening it. "So called they don't even deserve to be leaders they sent this pathetic little assassin and her friends to kill their king that in its self is high treason." She turned to Gabrielle whose teeth were grinding together. "I hope you make them pay for this, you're the one true king, not them." Xena raised her hand sharply. "I agree and we can discuss this later, what I want to know is how this woman got in to my palace?" Iona turned the scroll she was holding around so the Empress could see it. "They've been here for three days they've been posing as our guards." She took in a deep breath. "Before the guards were routed they killed them then replaced them before they got in to the palace. They took there clothes then took there place and put there names down on the books. It wasn't obvious to me until I went through the records and spotted that their signatures didn't match the real signatures from last week's rotation."

Demetrius folded his arms. "Myself and my one of my best men found the bodies of the men and women they killed, they didn't clean them up very well we found them in the sewage aqueducts under the city late last night, it was in fact Iona's suggestion to check there and her instincts were spot on." He ignored Iona's surprise as he spoke again. "The arrow heads used on the crow bow bolts were Persian but it's very easy to obtain these arrow heads through the market if you know who to ask." Iona shook her head as she recomposed herself. "Yes and I had one of my men squeeze that information out…so to speak, the trader who sold them was very forthcoming." Xena folded her arms. "So her and her friends killed my warriors and replaced them and brought Persian arrow heads, this still does not explain how she got in to that games room opposite the throne room." Gabrielle turned back to Mavican. "Do tell us who told you and your little friends where to go?" Mavican breathed in painfully. "Someone inside the palace showed us the room to go in!" Xena moved to stand in front of Mavican. "Who told you where to go!?" Mavican lowered her gaze to the floor. "It was your head cook, she told us about the lay out the palace, she even told us about the games room and told us that you normally you go in there after your meetings. She said trying to kill you in the study room would be a fruitless attempt as it's built as a bottle neck. We just needed to be patient and play good little guards for at least three until the right moment then she'd open one of the doors so we could get in to the games room." Xena felt the shock as it hit home she stood still for a long moment allowing the assassin words to sink in. She wasn't the only one to look shocked she could see it in the faces of everyone apart from Gabrielle.

Gabrielle slowly lowered herself on to all fours feeling her teeth grind together once more, she might have known. She'd given that bitch a chance to come to clean about her past but she'd chosen to ignore her and go down another path. She spoke not caring for her cold tone. "I might have known." She moved away from them. "Excuse me while I'll deal with her personally." Xena snapped out of her haze she moved in front of Gabrielle stopping her from moving forward. "Wait you knew about this?" Gabrielle eyed the other woman. "I didn't know about the assassins no, I just knew that your cook isn't who she pretends to be, she's not even human she's just like me." Iona moved forward. "Kalika's a werewolf?" Gabrielle stood up slowly on her hind legs turning to meet her shocked gaze. "Yes she's a werewolf just like me and her past life is a fabrication she's not even Greek, she's Roman." Xena moved her hand up putting it on Gabrielle's chest. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner Gabrielle?" Gabrielle lowered her ears. "Because she's like me and if she knew that she'd been exposed for what and who she really is she might have killed you and everyone else in this palace. I will not risk the lives of your palace staff over one of my own kind. Rogue werewolves answer to no one and we both know the damage one werewolf can do when its lets loose in your palace."

Xena raised her hand to speak only to stop she knew Gabrielle was referring to her own violent outburst some time back. She lowered her hand easing her other hand off Gabrielle's chest. "We do this together." Gabrielle shook her head. "No I'll do this, she's one of my own kind also unlike me she can take away your humanity if she bites you or scratches you." She took in a deep breath. "You can imprison her just let me catch her first, if she bolts you will never be able to catch her not even on horseback." Xena looked at her for a long moment before speaking. "We do this your way then." She turned to Iona. "Lock up Mavican." Iona eyed the chained up woman. "You mean kill her? I mean she's not useful anymore." Xena narrowed her gaze. "No I mean lock her up, she might still be useful to me in the future, also have the healer reset her bones." Iona nodded respectfully. "As you wish Empress." Xena turned to Demetrius. "Bring the chains the same ones I had locked Gabrielle in and bring ten of your best archers and ten of your finest swords men we are allow Gabrielle to capture this woman then we are going to chain her up!"

8

I might have known, how could be so stupid? Oh yes I gave her a chance to come clean and she didn't! There's one thing I can't stand and that's when members of my own race betrays me. It's the biggest insult that another werewolf can give me, the Imperial Council I expect it from but not from those under them who aren't part of their twisted sick little games. I am the king I deserve some respect I was given these horns they are mine! Shouldn't that mean at least something to my own kind? Clearly it doesn't to Kalika but then I shouldn't be surprise she clearly a Blood Servant to the Romans or was at one point which means she properly only cares about what she can get and doesn't care about the pain her actions bring to others. Gabrielle turned the corner feeling her clawed hands tap the floor as she caught sight of the kitchen doors which were wide open. She could see Kalika at the far end looking over a large pot which she was stirring. She slowly moved forward watching as the kitchen staff moved around the kitchen and past her most giving her smile completely unaware of what was about to happen. She stopped close to the doors seeing that the woman wasn't looking in her direction but she was sure that she already knew that she was there.

She spoke keeping her voice even. "How long did you think you could hide here Kalika, how long did you think you'd be able play your little game?" Kalika stopped stirring as she turned catching sight of Gabrielle sitting outside the door. "Monsters aren't allowed in the kitchen Gabrielle." Gabrielle narrowed her gaze feeling a sneer form as she watching as the confusion spread across the faces of the staff as she moved closer to the cook unable to keep the venom out of her tone as she spoke. "Oh and what does that make you then, since your just like me! You think I'm stupid you think I wouldn't figure it out?" Kalika turned eyeing the staff around her. "Get out all of you!" She watched as everyone around her left the shock in all there faces she turned eyeing Gabrielle as she felt her grip on the huge boiling pot tighten. "You know I've never liked you Golden Hind, you're no different to your predecessor!" Gabrielle felt her muscles tense as she eyed her. "My predecessor was a decadent fool who only cared about himself I'm nothing like the Crescent Hide!" Kalika smirked eyeing the kitchen doors which were still open she could see her staff looking in clearly listening to the conversation. "I met your predecessor in person once! He threw me out of the Grand City but not before having me beaten and flogged and you're just the same, your horns are just a symbol of your arrogance and power!"

Gabrielle snarled inhumanly as she stepped closer to her. "The branding on your shoulder says everything about you! Selling out your turning services to the Roman's for what money, sex and a decadent life style? Turning innocent slaves into us so they can fight gladiators in the arena oh you must be proud of yourself defining the rule that the Greek werewolves treasure so deeply that only those worthy should be turned." Kalika laughed coldly. "Did you deserve to be turned I doubt it very much? I gave those Roman slaves a chance to have glory and die with honour in the arena can you say you've done the same for our race?" Gabrielle narrowed her gaze. "If you call dieing for the entertainment of others worthy, frankly I've never cared for the gladiatorial dog fights, I think there vile and twisted." Kalika felt an evil smile form. "Well then you and I have nothing else to talk about then." She didn't think as she swung the huge heavy pot around throwing it full force in Gabrielle's direction.

Gabrielle felt the pain as metal pot slammed in to her snout its boiling contents spraying across the room and hitting the walls she felt the pain as some of it hit her back causing intense burning pain. Even through her fur the heat of the boiling water could be felt and it really hurt. She heard the hard clang as the solid pot hit the floor hard she backed away trying to ignore the pain from the burns. She opened her eyes watching as the woman suddenly screamed as she doubled over, she watched as her fur bust through her skin as her dress was torn apart as her body twisted and jerked painfully a sigh that it had been a long while since she'd changed forms. Huge light brown clawed hands formed along with a long tail which was over grown at the tip. A thick wavy mane grew down as the others woman's razor toothed jaws slammed shut as her long ears which had wispy tips went back her dark brown eyes opened a red hue lighting them up causing them to reflected in the dim light. Despite not transforming in what must have been a long time she was relativity fit, she could see muscle on her arm's back and chest, the only part of her that showed was her stomach which wasn't well muscled as a result of her lifestyle.

She snarled hearing the cries of surprise and shock from the staff. She eyed the other woman who was the same height as her which would make this an equal battle. She tensed her whole body watching as Kalika did the same thing trying to show her dominance. "I don't know what's worse you betraying me when I'm your own kind or you living out this lie in side the Empress's palace." Kalika snarled aloud she didn't think as she swung her clawed hand around slicing it across Gabrielle's face watching as her head was flung sideways with the force of the blow. The other woman turned slowly to meet her gaze as blood ran down the golden snout from the deep claw marks. "You mean like the lie you lead that you're different from your predecessor? I bet if the Empress knew about that bloody little massacre you were involved in she wouldn't look at you the way she does now with those dreamy love sick eyes, instead she'd see you for who you really are." She felt an evil smile form. "She'd hate you and she'd want you out of this palace, shame I never got around to telling her all about that!" Gabrielle breathed in trying to control her rage she could feel the cold blood to run down her snout along with the painful burns on her back and shoulder from the scolding water.

She lowered her head only to watch as Kalika broke in to a run on all fours running up the hall way causing cries of panic as she ran past her kitchen staff clearly she really thought she could win this she no doubt believed that if she got outside that she could jump the wall. She closed her eyes tapping the marble with her clawed fingers it had been so long since she'd had a real chase, she might as well give her a head start it would make it more interesting for her. She would never reach that wall she'd make sure off that! She felt the force as she ran forward on all fours she didn't walk the palace corridors for no reason it had always been for a very good reason. So she'd know every turning, every door every hiding place and every choke point. She ran up the corridor seeing Kalika in plain sight she picked up her pace turning the corridor leaping sideways to avoid one of the cleaning staff. She eyed another corridor turning sharply she knew full well that there was another corridor which turned off this one and met up with the one Kalika was running along.

She lowered her ears feeling the pounding of her heart which felt like a drum in her ears. It was such an exhilarating feeling it felt like every fibre of her being was alive as she leapt up in to the air grabbing one of the rafters swinging forward throwing herself right over another one of the staff. She felt her feet hit the floor hard as she carried on running on all fours turned feeling her claws skid across the marble as she met up with the other corridor. She leapt up so she was above the rafters holding her self steady waiting for the moment, she could see the door to one of rooms which didn't overlook a balcony it was a room for the staff to eat in as well as relax in one of many littered over the palace and she'd apologise for her actions later. She looked up watching as Kalika came in to view running up the corridor a smug smile on her face. She didn't think as she let out a roar which echoed through the air as she swung down using her whole body weight as she flung herself towards Kalika raising both clawed feet. The other woman's claws scratched the ground as she tried to stop her brown eyes widening in shock as realized what was about to happen.

Kalika felt the agony as Gabrielle's clawed feet slammed in to her side she felt her feet leave the ground only to feel the agonizing pain as her body smashed straight in to the door, she felt the wood shatter with the force of her body. She cried out feeling the marble floor as she hit it shoulder first skidding painfully on it before coming to stop opposite one of the sideways chairs, she groaned feeling cold blood as it ran down her nose. Gabrielle let go of her rafter hitting the floor on her feet she moving forward on her hind legs eyeing the shattered door which was now hanging of its hinges. She walked in to the room eyeing Kalika who slowly got to her knees. "I find it very impolite when another werewolf scratches me across the face and then runs off." Kalika smirked ignoring the pain as she eased herself up on to her hind legs. "Pity you think that way because I intend to do much worse to you before this night is out!" Gabrielle felt her roar of anger hit the air as she ran towards the other woman.

End of part 59

Silvermoonlight