AN ICE COLD WILL ENCASED IN A FROZEN HEART
Xena moved towards the central door she didn't think as she shoved it open watching as Gabrielle looked up from her chair where she had been seated looking at her hands. She eyed her speaking in a voice that was emotionless and cold even to her own ears. "We need to talk." She watched as the younger woman stood up saying nothing as she followed her in to her room. She came to stand over her breakfast table watching as Gabrielle walked in side her room closing the middle door behind her, coming to stand close by. She could hear the uncomfortable silence which had fallen across the room she knew she had to be the first to speak. Sadly she knew that what she would say next would not be kind to the other woman but that couldn't be avoided now. She looked up trying to control her anger as she spoke. "You're going to tell me about the Androphonomania massacre right now!"
Gabrielle felt her eyes dart as she eyed the scrolls which were on the table close by she lots and lots of names on them. She breathed in painfully, her judgement was finally here, she could feel it in her heart and she could see it in the other woman's rage filled eyes. She had already hurt her Thaleia by throwing her out in a fit in anger, so maybe it was only right that she would now get thrown out of the palace by Xena, it would be what she deserved. She eyed her swords which were now on her back feeling her gaze drift sadly to the floor. Xena pulled up a scroll she could see the intense pain in other woman's eyes. "Clearly you weren't lying two witness wrote about seeing you, they both referred to you as the werewolf with crooked velvet horns, but no one believed them. The first witness because he was dying and the second because we believed that she had misjudged what she saw and it was a case of mistaken identity. Yet she was telling truth and it pains me that we didn't listen to her at the time then we may have realized a long time ago that a werewolf with horns was no fantasy but a firm reality."
She put the scroll down hard on the table as she leaned forward unable to keep the anger out of her tone. "You are going to tell me what happened right now because I need to know. I had the unfortunate joy of going through one of the villages you are your people destroyed there was not a person alive not man, woman or child, they'd all been torn apart. So tell me was if fun for you to go around killing little children, did you get a kick out of it?" Gabrielle looked up feeling her hand form a fist. "I didn't kill any children!" Xena grabbed another scroll pulling it up so she could see it. "Don't lie to me! I have the names right here of every child who died, half of them were the same age as the children in the palace who you are always so nice to. Are you so nice to them because you feel guilty about the helpless ones you killed during this vile massacre?"
Gabrielle smashed her fist down hard on the table feeling her sadness turn to blinding rage. "I did not kill any of those children!" Xena felt her teeth grind together as she slammed the scroll down. "Stop lying to me!" Gabrielle narrowed her gaze. "I'm not lying to you, I confess to my sins I confess that I killed innocent men and women, I admit to being a monster unworthy of your forgiveness but I didn't touch any of those children!" She breathed in painfully. "There's no going back from killing an innocent child." Xena eyed her for a long moment. "Well you would know since you led your people to do this." She raised her ringed finger ignoring the ice cold look Gabrielle gave her. "So why did you do it, what was it a relation message for the hunting law? Or were you were asserting your power and dominance so your people would take you seriously at the expense of many innocent lives?" Gabrielle turned sharply meeting her cold ice blue gaze. "You think I did this for fun or to make a statement? I hated every moment of it I wanted nothing more than for it to end!"
Xena sneered in disgust. "Well killing every living thing would get the job done quicker." Gabrielle felt her body tense. "You asked me once what I have constant nightmares about but I wouldn't tell you then but I will tell you now! I have nightmares about the people I killed I see their faces and their eyes staring back at me in my dreams. Their skeletons mock me, their rivers of blood are like a swamp and I can't escape it unless I wake up!" Her eyes darted as she spoke her next words. "So if you've ever wondered why I wake up in sweat and I'm shaking it's because their ghosts have been tormenting me and reminding about what I've done!" She raised both hands looking at them trying to stay in control of her tears which were on the edge of spilling over. "There's one young woman I see so often in my nightmares she had sea blue eyes and she looked at me in this horrible way before I killed her, it wasn't anger or even hated, its was innocence, fear and pity. She was the same age as me when I was bitten and I have never forgotten her face I didn't even know or her name but when she comes to me in my dreams she tells me that I'm a coward and unworthy of ruling my kind and I know she's right." She breathed in painfully as the screams of terror entered her mind so clearly and painfully that she couldn't ignore them the distant memory was just too strong and painful.
8
Gabrielle lowered her ears trying to ignore the screaming which echoed all around her and the flames that were burning all around her from were the warriors had set fire to the houses, she wanted to wake up she didn't want to be part of this nightmare. This was what the council had sent her to do to kill innocent villages? She could understand if it had been warriors but these weren't warriors, they were innocent men, women and children. She moved her clawed foot over one of the dead bodies watching as one of the warriors tore a young man apart. This wasn't a battle it was a slaughter and she wanted no part of it, she had been trained to kill warriors not kill people like this. She watched as Adrienne dragged a young woman kicking and screaming towards her. She threw the woman of her feet as she spoke in normal human tongue so the woman could understand. "Look up human scum, this is the werewolf king!" Gabrielle eyed the young woman at her feet who was the same age she had been when she'd been bitten.
She turned realizing that all eyes were up now up her as the others stopped moving closer. She looked up eyeing Adrienne as she put her clawed foot on the woman's back so she couldn't run away. "This isn't right this is not what I was sent here for!" Adrienne breathed in ignoring the others warriors surprised looks she turned spitting the blood out of her mouth. "These people are enemies of our race the Imperial Council demands satisfaction! "Gabrielle eased up her clawed hand. "These are villages, how are they enemies of us? There not even warriors!" Adrienne eyed her for a long moment she moved her foot off the woman grabbing hold of her neck. She slowly raised her in to the air so her feet were moving through nothing but air ignoring her screams of panic. "Their humans, they have been killing our race!"
She narrowed her gaze. "You have been ordered by the Imperial Council to kill these people, it's your duty as Horn Hind, to not do so would be seen as a betrayal!" She eyed the others. "The Crescent Hind did this and he didn't complain, so you can do the same as him!" She raised the woman higher. "Now kill this worthless woman and act like a real Horn Hind!" She felt a sly smile form. "The Imperial Council has ordered the culling of many villages, this is only the first and it won't be the last. They say they'll give you a meeting once your task is done they'll even talk about the changes you wanted to make but only if you do as your told. They sent me to make sure that you do it, none of these people are to be turned they all have to die!" She eyed the terrified woman again. "Now kill this whimpering little human and stop complaining!"
Gabrielle breathed in deeply she couldn't believe she had been manipulated this way. She could see why her predecessors had hidden in his room and ignored the world the Imperial Council had made it so he could only play by their rules. She watched as Adrienne threw the young woman causing her to hit the ground hard in front of her. She kneeled down grabbing her trying to ignore her terrified gaze, it was the look she had once had when she had been the same age before she had been bitten. She lowered her ears Ouroboros forgive her for her sins, she brought her jaws down on the young woman's neck biting down hard then forced it sideways causing her neck to break instantly. She could taste the blood in her mouth she watched as her dead body fell to the floor, she turned spitting out the blood in her mouth ignoring Adrienne's proud look, she wasn't proud this, this wasn't her. She didn't kill innocent people she was a warrior not a murderer, she closed her eyeing trying desperately to block out the young woman's sea blue eyes which were still staring back at her even in death.
8
Gabrielle felt a tear run down her face before she could stop it she wiped it away painfully. "I made her death so quick, yet I still see her face, it's always her face." Xena folded her arms she was unmoved by this piece of Gabrielle's past which she had just shared. "So this was all for a meeting with the Imperial Council and here I was thinking this was for some reason, that would at least make sense!" Gabrielle turned sharply. "I wasn't given a choice, I was told I was going to kill warriors then when I got there it was innocent people. I was forced in to a corner where I had no choice, if I didn't do as I was told the Imperial Council would have punished me and publicly humiliated me. It would have been another notch in their belts to use against me as I'd be viewed as a weak king who couldn't carry out a simple mission, I was set up so I couldn't win ether way!" Xena eyed her for a long moment. "No there is always a choice! You just took the easy one, the one that worked best for you." Gabrielle eased up both her hands feeling the pain twist in her chest due to the other harshness of the other woman's words. "It must be fortunate for you, you have never been forced down a road where to win you have to dishonour yourself in the worst possible way."
Xena narrowed her gaze not bothering to hide the venom in her tone as she spoke. "That's because I would never get in to that situation in the first place, it's your duty as ruler of your people to stop things like this happening. The reason you failed is because you didn't stand up for what you believe in!" Gabrielle stopped still for a long moment taking in those words before speaking once more. "I always stood up for what I believed in, it's the reason that the Imperial Council had me thrown in that pit to starve and die." She felt her teeth grind together as she looked up. "That was my gift for believing I could change things along with two assassination attempts and my close death in this very room a few days ago!" She felt her hand form a fist once more. "One day when you're forced to loose so you can win you'll understand just how I feel right now! Sometimes you have to make a rotten choice as a leader even if it goes against everything you believe in and you are forced to live with it for the rest of your life. If I had have diverted from my path then, I would have been assassinated long before I came to kill you in your palace here in Corinth."
She lowered her gaze sadly. "It was the worst choice I've ever had to make I regret it every day I draw breath, I just thought that I could do more good alive than dead." Xena folded her arms frankly that answer wasn't good enough for her right now. "You and your people killed over four hundred people in the androphonomania massacre do you realize the political fall out that will happen if this ever gets out? I've been planning to show you as a noble icon to the Corinthian diplomats, I had intentions of introducing you to all of them very soon over dinner. If a single one of them finds out about this, it's going to ruin everything I had planned. I know that one of them lost a cousin in that event and she's been very unhappy about it for many years, she's also not a fan of werewolves because of it and I always knew that she'd be the hardest to bring around." She breathed in deeply. "You should have told me about this to start with it and not kept it to yourself!" Gabrielle felt her teeth grind together as the anger started to burn once more but this time it felt like an inferno in her chest which was wrapping around her heart and twisting it painfully. "Well maybe the fact that I didn't was because we weren't friends and you hated me because I wasn't human."
She felt her fist tighten. "You paraded me around in front of the royals like some animal, it wasn't like you cared about how I looked to anyone, you wanted your monster and your trophy and if I'd have told you, you would have never given me a chance to even be your friend. You would have made sure that I left the palace!" Xena raised her hand unable to stop her next words as they hit the air before she could stop them. "You don't need my help to make you look like an animal you can do that perfectly well on your own!" She breathed in sharply instantly regretting those words. Gabrielle turned to face the taller woman. "Don't call me an animal I am not an animal, I'm a werewolf I may not be completely human but I still have a human body even if the other part of me isn't human in your eyes!" She narrowed her gaze. "Clearly despite all you've said you still don't see me as you're equal and you saying that you're in love me isn't about love at all. You just want to boast that you got to sleep with a werewolf, well let me make it very clear that I won't be your sexual conquest."
Xena raised her hand as the other woman's words sank in fuelling her anger all the more. "I have never seen you as a sexual conquest! I kissed you because I have feelings for you and because I love you." She sneered slightly. "Your problem is that you're so dense that you can't tell when someone loves you, Adrienne clearly screwed you up to such a point that you can't even pick up on subtle hints or words you just act emotionally numb to everything!" Gabrielle felt her knuckles crack as her fist tightened even more. "Well its not like it matters much now does it, I mean you wouldn't love me now, would you? People don't love murders or killers they send them to their deaths." Xena put her hand through her hair unable to control her anger any longer. "You know I've never met anyone who's as self-destroying as you Gabrielle! Do you want to be a martyr, is that it, you won't be happy until you've suffered?"
She stepped closer to the other woman who now had a truly cold look in her eyes, it was like going back in time she was seeing the same look the other woman had given her the night she'd trashed her palace and held her up in mid air by her throat. "What do you think me so cold that I would make you suffer again? Do you honestly think I would do something vile like stick you in some torture device like The Brazen Bull and listen to you scream until you die, because you've told me this!?" Gabrielle slowly met her gaze. "You banned The Brazen Bull." Xena shook her head. "Yes I banned that device I hated it, it was a vile creation used to kill people along with a number of others torture devices that cause intense pain before death. People in my kingdom are given quick deaths via the noose or poison or by a well placed sword to the neck but this is besides the point because when it comes to you I wouldn't have the heart to make you suffer and I wouldn't put you through pain because of your past deeds."
She looked up slightly. "Your problem is you look for the worst in everyone, even in those who care about you, I guess it's not your fault your life's been filled with people stabbing you in the back and betraying you or causing you pain. That's why you now find it very difficult to think that anyone would show you kindness, you just expect the worst and it frustrates me so much because I see the person you could be. I look at you everyday and I see this person just under the surface who could be happy all of the time and not see the worst in people." She raised her hand. "Yet you just won't open up you prefer to remain stubborn and live with your eyes half closed!" She eyed her for a long moment before speaking. "I just wish that for one day of your life that you would just let down all those walls and barriers you put up to protect your self and live your life and be happy!"
Gabrielle stepped back not wanting to take in her words despite that they were the truth. "You've lived to long in side this palace, you've forgotten that the world isn't nice, you're lucky you're surrounded by kind people who love and adore you. Yet people beyond your walls are not always kind before you tell me about living my life you should step outside of that huge wall surrounding your palace the one you have to keep the real world out!" Xena moved mover to the table slamming her fist down hard. "I know what people out side the palace are like, I've fought in wars most of the people in side my palace came from the wars I've fought or from the diplomacy I've created!" Gabrielle felt a cruel smile form as she spoke not bothering to hide her sarcasm. "Oh yes I'm sure they are but when was the last time you went outside of your palace and spoke to a person dying from fever or gave a coin to a beggar whose lost both his legs? You rule from the inside and don't spend anytime on the outside anymore."
She looked up seeing the taller woman's expression turn to distain. "You don't go outside anymore because you've become so afraid of being assassinated that it's always on your mind. Yet here's the really interesting part, people love you they won't kill you outside this palace, they'll kill me because I'm the animal as you so kindly put it. I'm the one who would rather hide in the inside your palace walls and be surrounded by your kind staff. If I could live here forever I'd be happy to never walk outside those walls if I could help it, yet your more interested in putting me in danger by showing me to your diplomats who you know already know don't like me or my race! Funny six months ago I would have welcomed that spear to the chest and now I can't stand the thought of dying, I just want to feel each breath and stay in side the palace where I know I'm safe." She shook her head. "I know why you kept me here to start with it wasn't just because you wanted to learn, it was because you knew no one in their right mind would attack you if you could brag about having a werewolf in side your palace."
She felt the pain twist in her chest once more. "I still wonder if despite your feelings that I'm here because you need someone to be your stick and I'm here to be that stick and keep your enemies at bay." Xena felt her shoulders tense. "I admit it! Yes I did keep you here because I saw you as a means to keep my enemies at bay but not anymore. I would never use you to keep my enemies at bay and I doubt now you're being here would stop them regardless. They know I have no wife or husband and no heir so my position as ruler is very precarious as it is! Their waiting me for to slip up because it would give them a chance to dethrone me and rule my empire, everything I've worked so hard for would just go right out of the window. The united Greece I almost died to make would be gone and some tyrant will be sitting in my throne." She eyed the scrolls again on the table. "Now thanks to you and your actions during the androphonomania massacre that dream of a fully united Greece is going to so much harder. I knew bringing in werewolves was never going to be easy but you doing something so dishonourable will make you look really bad in the eyes of my people."
Gabrielle sneered in disgust. "Oh you make it sound like it was so easy I would like just once for you to speak to the Imperial Council. In fact that would be amusing to watch from my perspective because they'd just do everything to you which they have done to me." Xena looked up sharply. "Clearly if you'd done your duty as Horn Hind we wouldn't be standing here right now! As it is we are and you have dishonoured me and proved yourself unworthy of your sword!" Gabrielle blinked in shock the taller woman thought her unworthy of her sword, to hear that hurt so much it felt like she her heart was being torn out of her chest. Her whole life had been about honour and being her warrior and it made those words hurt all the more. She breathed in feeling a tear run down her face as the deep pain set in she wiped it away unable to stop her next actions as she watched Xena look at the scrolls as a cold silence fell between them once more. She turned grabbing the nearest vase as her scream of pain and rage hit the air as she threw it watching as it smashed in to the wall very close to where Xena was standing, it shattered apart from the force sending parts flying left, right and centre.
Xena looked up sharply she'd had enough she couldn't believe that Gabrielle had just done that! She stood up fully no longer caring how much her words hurt. "Get out of my room right now you stupid over grown dog! I'm tired of cleaning up after you because you can't control your temper and you just have to break things!" Gabrielle snarled inhumanly ignoring the tears as they started to run down her face, she knew it would come to this. She grabbed the central door forcing it opening it not bothering to look back as she slammed the door behind her. She turned not thinking as she kicked her breakfast chair watching as it was thrown across the floor. It landed close to the balcony causing all the birds who were feeding from her feeders to fly away. She looked up as Icos flew landing down on her shoulder unafraid even of her anger. She stood in the centre of her room trying to control the painful emotions tearing through her soul as she stared at the floor. She raised her shaking hand stroking her bird's neck as she took in a deep breath finally regaining control over her anger. She put her hands to her face unable to stop the painful flood of tears as they fell, clearly that love her counterpart had spoken off didn't exist it was all a lie, Xena now saw her as a violent stupid monster who wasn't worthy of her sword.
End of part 76
Silvermoonlight
The Brazen Bull, Bronze Bull or Sicilian Bull was a torture and execution device designed in ancient Greece it was a means of executing criminals. The bull was made completely of bronze and hollow in the centre with a door in one side. The condemned was locked in side the bull and a fire was set under it heating the metal until it became extremely hot causing the person inside to roast to death. The person's screams were converted in to roars due to complex system of tubes and stops in the bulls head making this a truly brutal and sadistic death device.