Chapter 18
"So tell me everything that Ankh told you." Dhomb asked Gabrielle, smiling at her appreciation for the food he had bought.
"Well...I don't know that I know any more than I already told you. Aillia has planned this whole thing, and Ankh is the one that has to stop it..." Gabrielle stopped as she dipped a chunk of bread into the stewish looking mixture. "Uhm...This is good. What is it?" She asked munching away.
"Quail simmered with onions, and herbs until it all becomes one big thick mess, like that." Dhomb smiled at Gabrielle's appetite.
His face became a bit more serious and he started to speak. Just then the tent flap opened and a tall dark haired man entered. He glanced at Gabrielle and then walked over to Dhomb. He placed his hands on his shoulders and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
"I've been looking for you. Sharia is besides herself with jealousy. Did you know Ankh had taken a new lover?" He asked as he sat beside Dhomb.
"Zanten, this is Gabrielle, Gabrielle, this is my lover." Dhomb introduced the two, Gabrielle noticed the look in Dhomb's eyes, he did not look comfortable.
"Hello." Gabrielle smiled at the new arrival.
The man nodded curtly at her and then turned back to Dhomb.
"Ankh has done it this time. Why didn't you tell me Aillia had arrived? If she were not here, I don't know what Sharia would have done by now."
Gabrielle raised an eyebrow but kept quiet when she saw the look Dhomb gave her.
"It is so odd to me that Ankh should be our enemy and Aillia our ally." Dhomb replied quietly, hoping to hear in his lover's reply that he too found it odd.
"This is a strange land, strange things are happening. We can sleep in my tent, I'll keep guards posted here for this one." Zanten said as he nodded at Gabrielle and then rose to his full height. Dhomb knew then that his lover was not his ally here. That all the years of how he had betrayed his sister to join with Dhomb and the others was finally coming back to haunt him. Dhomb knew that despite the evil that was Aillia - to Zanten - who never spoke of it - she was the sister he had known since childhood. Ankh was the one he had found as an adult. Dhomb had wondered more than once, if it had not been for him, would Zanten have gone against Ankh?
Dhomb didn't look at him when he replied, "I'd feel better if I stayed here tonight. It was not her fault that Shanaria grabbed her." Zanten furrowed his brow and then shrugged. Dhomb had been acting strangely ever since they arrived here. Zanten saw the world in two ways, engaged in battle or not.
"In the morning then, we will meet with Sharia and Aillia to discuss our attack." He said as he left the tent.
"Nice guy." Gabrielle said as she watched him leave.
"Nothing is the way it should be here. He is a good man, brave in battle. No one else is concerned that Aillia is in our camp, as our ally. He said we would meet Sharia and Aillia as easily as he used to say Ankh and Sharia...I don't know what is going on here...Eat well, and rest. I suspect you will be traveling this evening."
"Traveling?" Gabrielle turned her attention from the fruits she was examining.
"I let Ankh know the location of our camp. She and most likely the other will arrive here sometime before dawn." Dhomb said quietly.
"Why? Why did you do that?" Gabrielle gazed across at him.
"There more things unfold here, the less certain I am of which side of this I should be on. I do know that you and your friend should not suffer for the battle that has bought us here. Whether Ankh is my enemy or not, you cannot be faulted for aiding a wounded traveler. Now, finish eating, I'll be back in a moment." Dhomb explained and then moved towards the door.
Gabrielle watched him go, then looked down and realized he had left her hands untied.
"Wait for Xena and Ankh- or leave now? Maybe they want me to leave now and this is all a trick. Maybe he really isn't confused and wants to see what I'll do." Gabrielle picked up the piece of fruit she had been examining. She scanned the tent, her staff wasn't here, it must have fallen when she was knocked unconscious by Sharia. She bit into the juicy piece of fruit and thought that waiting one more night couldn't hurt. After all - the bed was pretty comfortable.