IN THE EYES OF MY FAMILY

She hasn't moved all night there's not even been even a twitch from her fingers despite that her breathing is now normal she is improving though the deep claw and bite marks are now half healed soon they'll be nothing more than faded scars. I have been up most of night I did get some rest a few hours ago though when Ceto came in this morning and said that I go to sleep for a few hours while she watched Gabrielle. I went to sleep in the chair close by the bed I was woken up not long ago by the fluttering of wings from Gabrielle's room and a gently cooing. I opened the door to her room seeing that her Collared Dove was looking down at me from the bed frame it clearly wanted to be fed. I picked up the seed bag and filled the bowl then fed it, strangely it just came right up to me and sat on the table and looked at me as I watched it eat from the bowl. Then it flew away landing inside a large nest box on the wall close to the balcony which is its home. It's a home which Gabrielle's built from wood she clearly doesn't believe in cages she likes her pet to be free to come and go as it pleases. I noticed that her pet now has a well fitted bronze ring put on its leg with my royal seal on it so that if it ever gets lost it can be returned to the palace.

I do have a policy regarding the trained white doves which are used to send messages to people from time to time if one is lost and then is found the person who brings it back to the palace will be rewarded the same will now true of Gabrielle's pet as well as any other pets in palace like foxes, dogs and cats who all have royal seals on their collars. I must confess It was very strange being in Gabrielle's room, with out her here it feels empty everything is in its normal place but none of it's been moved. Even her work shop door is opened as if she left it in a hurry when she went to meet Adrienne I can even see where she threw down her tools and I can see the beautifully crafted carving of Jason taking on the hydra with the Golden Fleece hanging on a tree close by, its all painted and varnished with a pine sap which has now dried enhancing the details yet it was stood in the darkness of the room collecting dust, when it should be out on display for all to see. I know I shouldn't have done this but I moved it, I picked it up despite its heavy weight and I brought it in my room and I put it opposite my be, I couldn't stand it being there out of sight not when it's been completed.

I guess that's when hit me that in these past months I've become so used to her being in this room, there's never been a time when she hasn't been in here. I've always heard her doing things and it's become so normal to me, it's made me realize just how big a part of my life she's become. Before her this room was empty of life it had been for years and it being empty was just something I had gotten so used to, yet after I moved her in here I got used to the sounds, noises and the feeling of life and that's what makes this even harder to deal with. I don't like her room being empty anymore it brings back that feeling of loneliness which I thought I'd gotten away from. I realize now that I never want this room to be empty again as long as I live I always want it to feel alive and I always want Gabrielle's things to be in here. Maybe because for the first time in my life I feel whole when she's around it's a strange feeling which I can't put in to words right now but when she's with me I feel that everything is just going to be all right. It's been a long time since I've felt this way about anyone. I used to feel this way with Julius Caesar when our relationship was young and fresh, the difference is with Gabrielle it much more intense like a deep craving of the soul which never lessens.

She's always on my mind and the truth is I didn't go ahead and tell her how I felt because I had no idea if she felt the same way about me as it's very hard to tell as she hides her emotions so well from me. I'm forever trying to see the thoughts in those forest green eyes and they are always just out of my reach but when she put her clawed hand on my face and told me I was beautiful there was no shield she was being completely open and its first time I've really seen her do that. I admit it I've fallen hard for her harder than I ever realized I and I'm only just getting my feelings together I'll get her alone and tell her all how I feel about her. I also want to ask her about the androphonomania massacre, I know Adrienne is a liar she stank of mistrust but what she said is still in the back of my mind regardless. The androphonomania massacre was one of the worst massacres in Greece history it was a massacre where no body was left alive it went on for six months in total. It was aimed at small villages never cities and in these villages people were torn apart in total fifteen small villages suffered this fate. Not one living soul was left alive, men, women, or child all were dead I saw the devastation in one of those villages and it still haunts me to this day, it wasn't just that these people died they were torn to ribbons there was blood and guts everywhere and blood staining the walls and floors and grass, it was the work of werewolves.

They nick named it androphonomania because the very word means homicidal insanity and slaughter and what I saw was insanity and brutality in that village. It felt like the work of monsters because at the time I didn't want to say that anyone who had a beating heart would do something so terrible. I tried so hard to stop those attacks but they were so random I could never pin point them they shifted from place to place and the one village that I my army did get to in time all the warriors were killed along with the villages. I had many sleepless nights over those attacks because I couldn't save those people and I got a lot of angry letters from grieving mothers, father's brothers and sisters as well as husbands, wives and lovers demanding that I stop them before others died. I guess that was the moment when I became truly cold towards werewolves when I read those passionate scrolls of pain asking me why I wasn't able to save their loved ones. Werewolves had been an annoyance up to that point but after the androphonomania massacre they became monsters in my eyes I raised the price on their heads because I wanted to get rid of them all for good even if it meant making them extinct and I stopped having any compassion for them as a race they were now just animals and monsters who deserved to die.

Though I've never said it aloud even to my self I know that some of my most of appalling treatment of Gabrielle was because of that event and the coldness I that I had towards her race in general. I won't lie ether that I used to cheer when the gladiators in Rome brought down a werewolf and killed it in the arena for me at the time I found it fun to watch them die. Yet now I find that idea vile I wouldn't want to see it in an arena in Greece, I confess I only banned Dog Fights because they are so dangerous and I didn't want highly trained gladiators and gladiatrix's to die fighting them it was not because I cared at all about werewolves in any manner. Now I feel guilty for laughing as those werewolves in the arena in Rome who died because I know now that they could think, feel and talk and that the decorative metal muzzle which was put on their faces for show wasn't their to give an advantage to the gladiators it was there so they couldn't speak properly. So no one in the arena would realize that they were killing an intelligent being or that if this being could talk it would beg for mercy, such is the way of the way of world it always seems that the fates are forever reminding me of the past and how I didn't see the whole picture clearly.

"Help me…"

Xena turned sharply her eyes drifting to the bed she caught sight of Gabrielle whose eyes were wide open. She moved forward feeling her heart race as she came to stand next to the bed raised her hand as she gentle ran it down the younger woman's chin. "Its okay I'm right here Gabrielle." The younger woman looked up slightly. "Water…" Xena took the water skin with the medicine in it moving it to the younger woman's lips watching as she drank from it, with out any hesitation drinking almost a third before stopping. She capped the water skin putting it to one side before meeting the green eyes again which looked in to her own as the face turned to confusion. The younger woman spoke in a distant voice filled with sweet innocence. "Where's my father?" Xena felt herself freeze as she looked harder in to the green eyes which seemed to be looking past her as if reliving some memory from the past. She wasn't sure why Gabrielle was having this hallucination as she'd only just given her the medicine but she felt it best to just go with it, she put her hand on the other woman's watching as her eyes stared straight in to her own unmoving. "Your father's not here Gabrielle."

Gabrielle's eyes studied her for a long moment. "I don't know where I am can you help me find my way home? It's just the Amazons they threw me out and they wouldn't give me a map so I have no idea where to go." Xena looked at her feeling the surprise hit home she was clearly talking to the very young Gabrielle who had just been thrown out by the Amazons territory after she'd first turned in to a werewolf all those years ago. She put both hands on the younger woman's. "I'll help you find your way home." Gabrielle's body tensed painfully as she spoke her eyes becoming slightly darker. "I can't go home I'd bring my parents shame." Xena blinked hearing the change in her tone which was much darker and less innocent. "Why would you bring your parents shame?" Gabrielle looked up slightly. "Can't you see the scar on my face? It'll always be a reminder that I was weak and where ever I go people will ask me how I got and they'll know my shame that a slave trader gave it me." Xena moved her hand upwards putting it on the other woman's face running it down the scar very gently. "No it's not a symbol that your weak it's a symbol that you are strong because you survived and you stood up for yourself."

Gabrielle's eyes lowered in thought. "You almost sound like you know me." Xena felt a smile form. "You could say that I do." Gabrielle carried on looking past her distantly. "There's more though…I'm not human, not anymore." Xena felt her smile widen. "No you are human just like me you just carry your humanity with a different face when the moon rises." The green eyes looked at her strangely. "Have we met before?" Xena leaned over kissing her forehead gentle. "Yes we have." The green eyes shifted catching sight of the carving close by. "Did you make that it's very beautiful? I'm a carpenter but I'm no where near that clever or skilled." Xena turned eyeing the carving. "No my close friend made it, she's very gifted." Gabrielle's eyes closed slightly. "Would you introduce me to her, there's so much she could teach me?" Xena leaned forward running her fingers through the golden hair letting it spill through her fingers. "If you go back to sleep and rest for a while I'll let you meet her when you wake up?" Gabrielle felt a smile form. "I'd like that a lot…I'd like to meet her…"

Xena breathed in watching as her eyes slowly glazed over before closing as she drifted back in to a deep sleep. She put a hand on her face taking in a deep breath only to stop as she realized that she wasn't alone, someone else was in her room. She turned sharply watching as Iona came in to view she was standing directly behind her, her eyes to the floor looking very unsure of her self. "How long have you been standing there?" Iona eyed the weapon and the armour plating she was holding. "Only a few minutes Empress." Xena stood up slowly unable to keep the coldness out of her tone. "Why didn't you knock?" Iona felt her eyes dart. "I'm sorry I did its just no one answered, I tried again and you still didn't answer so I came in." Xena eyed her. "What do you want?" Iona raised the cleaned bronze weapon which Adrienne had put through Gabrielle's chest. "Demetrius asked me to give you this weapon and the werewolf armour." She carefully laid the weapon down on the table. "I have studied this weapon it's unlike anything I have ever seen before, it's truly unique the knife blades are spring loaded and the force of them springing forces the weapon deeper."

Xena narrowed her gaze. "It almost killed Gabrielle it's anything but unique, it's the blade of an assassin, nothing more and nothing less." Iona shook her head sadly. "I meant no disrespect Empress it's my job to study all new weapons and tell you how they work." Xena folded her arms despite that this true, she didn't want to hear it even if Iona was only doing her job. She looked up slowly. "What off the armour?" Iona eased up the plating putting it on her table very carefully. "This is truly unique its unlike anything I've ever come across before the plates are interlocking just like Roman armour but with one huge difference the armour slides open and expands to fit the werewolves upper body, but that's not the only thing that surprising about it. This is made from the hardest bronze I've ever seen." Xena eyed the armour. "You mean this is made from a bronze which is stronger than the armour I'm wearing right now?" Iona nodded. "Yes Empress much stronger, I had one of my strongest men hit it with a war hammer which would normally bend Greek bronze plate and Roman interlocking plate but with this armour it didn't even bend it in fact it flexed to take the impact, its amazing."

Xena moved forward running her fingers over the armour. "So the werewolves have developed a form of bronze which in essence makes our version obsolete?" Iona nodded. "Yes Empress, I believe that the weapons are also made from it, the palace black smith currently has one and he's looking it over trying to work out how they've made this bronze so strong, though he has no solid conclusions yet he thinks it may be the way its folded and tempered." She paused before looking up slightly. "It also means that through out the whole battle with Adrienne, Gabrielle was fighting with a handy cap, she must have known that the bitch's weapons were much stronger than her own, yet she fought anyway and she still won." Xena shook her head. "Armour and weapons have nothing over a warrior's skill in battle." She felt the information sink in as a question started to eat away at her mind. "So the werewolf race has superior armour and weapons to us yet the Imperial Council has made no attempt to use this to start an all out war with me despite that they have a clear advantage."

Iona put her hands behind her back. "The Imperial Council are not warriors, they don't think like warriors every action they've made against Gabrielle's life proves that with a doubt. They don't care about honour or nobility everything about them revolves around corruption and murder, just like the senate of Rome." Xena took in a deep breath. "Even the Roman senate wouldn't stoop as low as they have, their corruption was always about fighting each other for position and power they didn't try to kill Julius Caesar in cold blood, in the end that was my doing." Iona lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry for bringing that up." Xena sighed aloud. "No it's all right Iona what is done is done." Iona turned eyeing the bed. "How is Gabrielle?" Xena gaze drifted back to younger woman who was sleeping once more. "Better than she was yesterday, she's breathing properly now and her wounds are all healing." Iona raised her eyebrow. "If she'd have been human the fall from that window would have killed her, the very fact that she is what she is, is the reason she's still alive."

She paused putting her hand in her pocket easing out a very small simple bird which had been carved in stone, which she'd spent two nights making it was the first carving she'd ever made but after finishing it only seemed fitting to give it to Gabrielle as a gift. She moved to stand opposite the bed side. "I hope that when she wakes again." She put the small carving on the bedside table turning it gently. "That's she's herself again and not living through a past memory." Xena eyed the carved bird. "Is that a gift…for her?" Iona eyed the tiny bird. "Yes it is." Xena felt a smile form. "Where did you buy it, its very charming?" Iona stepped away from the bed side adjusting her dark shirt. "I didn't buy it Empress I made it, it's my new hobby." She moved walking towards the double doors ignoring the dark haired woman's surprise. "I must go Empress I have my duties to attend to I'll let you carry on." Xena nodded watching as she left. She breathed in deeply sitting herself back down in the chair closing her eyes she agreed with Iona the Imperial Council were very foolish, any one else would see the better made bronze as an advantage and a means to an end over their enemies.

Saying that though twice now she had heard about a so called master plan and that bothered her even more because of the way these two men and one woman thought. Their plan wouldn't involve war but it would involve something else that something else didn't sound good to her because she doubted it was a noble action and it was clear to her that these bastards had no issue with hurting anyone who got in their way, so what did they have mind, also what would take them two years or more to complete, to take that long it had to be something huge and well planned? Plus it was no doubt being built or created underground but where she had no idea, Gabrielle had not told her that there where the ten underground cities in all. She hadn't forced this subject as she guessed that once Gabrielle felt ready she'd tell her where they all were, but now she knew she'd have to ask as she needed to know if this thing came to light. She felt her eyes snap open as knock on her doors broke through her deep thoughts, gods she was going to have to get used to people using these doors and not the ones in her study, she looked up slightly. "Come in."

She watched as the doors opened as Ceto walked in opening the doors wide behind her so Thaleia and Demetrius could come in they were closely followed by Tiara, Chara and Phrixus. She stood up very slowly this was something of a surprise and she had no idea why they where all here. She eyed them catching sight of items in their hands she took in a deep before speaking. "Why are you all here?" Demetrius looked up meeting the tall dark haired woman's confused gaze. "I'm sorry it was my idea Empress." Thaleia put her hand on his arm. "It was both our idea Empress we all went to the market today." She paused raising a silver Sovereign coin which was rare as it from before the Empress's reign. "We brought gifts for Gabrielle we all hope that she'll get better soon." Xena walked over to the table she picked up the armour and weapon putting them down close by. "Please put them on the table." She watched as they started to put the gifts on it before sitting back in her chair, clearly people really loved Gabrielle this really proved it as they'd all brought her gifts to show how much they cared.

End of part 69

Pine resin was used by the ancients to vanish wooden items.

Androphonomania in Greek refers to something homicidal or insane.