Gabrielle saw the looks, and didn’t care. She carefully wrapped her arm around Xena’s waist, and walked with her off the field towards the tower, leaving the carnage behind. “I’m glad you didn’t kill him.”
“I’m not.” Xena sighed aggrievedly.
“The crowd really wanted him to win.”
“I know.” The queen said.
“I think if you killed him, they’d have made him out as a hero.”
Xena looked down at her young companion, realizing she had a point. “He’s no hero.”
“No. But maybe they know that now.” Gabrielle said. “You’re the hero.”
“Don’t you start that.”
“Somebody has to be the hero.”
“Not me.”
**
They made it up to the queen’s quarters, where the cheers from the field only drifted in through the open windows. It was cool, and quiet in the chambers and Xena leaned gratefully against the wall as she undid the buckles on her armor.
She felt a touch on her other side, and looked down to see Gabrielle undoing the ones there, her brow creased in concentration. “So, what’dja think?”
“Think?” Gabrielle got the catch undone and looked up. “About what?”
“Figures.” The queen half grinned. “One time I want you to think, you don’t.” She remarked. “About the fight.”
“Oh.” Gabrielle frowned. “The big one with all the guys, or yours?”
“Mine.” Xena eased her armor off over her head, using her good arm. She laid it carefully on the top of the trunk. “I told you it’s always about me.”
“It was scary.” Gabrielle admitted.
“Scary.” Xena sat down on the trunk, extending her legs in front o her. “I didn’t think I was that rusty.”
Gabrielle knelt next to her and fumbled with the straps that held her leg armor on, working the unfamiliar buckles. “No.. I thought you were amazing. I was just afraid he was going t hurt you.”
“He did.” Xena admitted quietly. “Bastard knew exactly where, too.”
“I don’t think anyone realized.” The girl took off the armor plate and studied it curiously, then set it down next to the chest armor. “I think they thought you just got mad.”
The pain got to her. Xena eased forward and rested her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands for a long moment. The long days of fighting the agony were wearing on her – she realized she wasn’t used to living with the need to do that anymore and for a second it almost made her angry again.
Then a hand touched her arm, fingers curling around it as Gabrielle’s thumb rubbed against the inside of her forearm in wordless comfort.
She wasn’t used to that either. When she’d been in the field with her army, healers didn’t waste time on bedside manner. Sometimes, they didn’t even waste time on talking. If you were lucky, they warned you before they started sewing your flesh. Xena lifted her head and rested her chin against her fists. “How bad does it look?” She jerked her chin to indicate her back, not missing the intensity in the girl’s eyes as she watched her.
Gabrielle shifted her hand from Xena’s forearm to her shoulder and leaned past her to look. She sucked in a breath at the sight. “Oh, Xena.”
The queen’s brow puckered, and she grimaced. “Let me guess. That means you’re not complimenting my evenly spaced shoulderblades.”
“It..” Gabrielle winced herself. “I think when he hit you, the back part of that metal bit..”
“My armor.” Xena supplied.
“Cut into where you’re hurt.” Gabrielle leaned further. “It’s.. bleeding pretty badly.” The edge of where Xena’s sword attached had been driven right into the already tortured hole in her back, splitting it open and adding a new gash just under it. Her leathers were covered in blood and it hurt Gabrielle just to look at it.
“Ah.” Xena let her head drop back into her hands, scrubbing her face. “That explains why it feels like it does.” With a deep sigh, she got her feet under her and pushed herself up onto them. “Gods, I’m so damn tired of this.” She trudged towards the bathing room. “If it’s bleeding that bad, you’re going to have to stitch it.”
Gabrielle had been following obediently. Now she stopped. “Stitch it? You mean you?”
Xena looked over her shoulder. One of her eyebrows lifted up to her hairline.
“Never mind. That was pretty stupid.” The girl shook her head. “It’s just that I’m not very good at sewing.”
Xena unlaced her leathers and pulled them loose gingerly, flinching as a bit of the cut hide pulled free from the gash in her back. “Get some water on that.”
Gabrielle went to the basin, and dunked a good size chunk of linen in it. Xena walked over and stood next to her, leaning on the marble topped counter. “So.”
“So?” Gabrielle carefully rinsed the newly ragged wound off.
“Tell me how amazing I was.” The queen said. “Take my mind off this, and the fact that I’ve got to go back out there later and celebrate with all those bastards.”
Gabrielle concentrated on her task for a moment. The damage to Xena’s back was now evident to her, once she’d washed the blood off, and she could see that aside from the new cut, the blow had also gone deeply into the old wound, breaking it open. Inside, there was some ugly stuff, and she washed it carefully. “I think it broke something open inside that first cut.”
“Yeah?” Xena didn’t sound upset, in fact, the queen turned her head and glanced at Gabrielle with interest. “Stuff coming out of there?”
Gabrielle nodded.
“Huh.” The queen snorted. “Stupid bastard may have done me a favor.” She said. “I thought there was something in there not healing. Usually doesn’t take as long as this.”
“You mean… that’s a good thing?”
Now it was Xena’s turn to nod. She leaned against the counter again, letting her mind run over the fight, remembering her moves, and reliving the high points and the low ones. She thought the first part had gone pretty well. Bregos’ swordsmanship was decent, though it was no match for hers. They’d gotten some decent sparring in and then….
Why had Bregos gone for her back? Xena focused on the question, trying to shunt aside the increasing agony. Winning without exposing her weakness would have put him in a better light.. so was it just frustration? Or was it that he knew he was going to lose?
She thought she’d been so clever in setting up the general. What if… Xena half closed her eyes, reliving the strange, tense atmosphere around the field of battle. Maybe he had planned on the same thing, only never expecting her to step out against him?
“Okay.” Gabrielle said, at last. “I think that’s it.”
With a frown, Xena straightened, then grabbed at the cabinet as a wave of lightheadedness almost sent her crashing to the floor. Uh oh, not good. “Okay.” She regained control with a serious effort. “Time to get seriously herbal.”
Carefully, she released the marble top and gestured Gabrielle to walk before her, following the girl into the bedroom. “Okay.” Xena glanced down at her mud covered boots, then at the silk sheets. A brief smirk crossed her face, then she eased her body down on the bed, sliding her hands forward and exhaling. “Bring that damn box over here.”
Gabrielle took the box from the desk and brought it over. “Got it.”
“Okay.” Xena said again. “That packet of white stuff. Pour it all in everything that’s open.” She steadied her breathing, knowing what she was asking for.
“I thought it stung.”
“I thought I was the queen and gave the orders.”
Gabrielle laid a hand on the back of her neck. It felt nice, that touch. Xena closed her eyes and waited, hearing the rustling of the parchment. It’s good for you, Xena. It’s good for you. It’s good for you.. it’s.. son of a bacchae!!!! She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and bit down, tasting blood inside her mouth as she cut into her lower lip. It was like someone had set fire to her flesh. Her hands tightened on the covers, balling into fists that clenched the fabric so hard the silk squeaked. She held her breath, the muscles in her thighs twitching as her body reacted to the pain.
Gabrielle folded her hand around Xena’s clenched one, and watched, helpless, as the queen lay suffering. On her back, the white powder bubbled and hissed, seeming almost alive as it mixed with the seeping blood coming out of the wound.
At last, she felt Xena’s body relax. She looked down at the angular profile, and in the dusty sunlight saw just the traces of moisture on her lashes as her pale eyes opened.
“O..okay.” Xena’s voice was husky, and she cleared her throat. “Bottom of the bag, there are some… bone needles. Thread.”
“Are you sure you want me to do this now?” Gabrielle put her hand in the bag and drew out the slim bits of bone, which tinkled softly in her palm.
“Gabrielle.. let me tell you something I learned the hard way.” Xena said. “If you’ve got to do something ugly, do it fast, and all at once. Don’t drag it out.” She took a deep breath. “Try and make small stitches. I hate uneven scars.”
Gabrielle put some of the gut thread through one of the needle eyes, and paused, studying Xena’s back. “This is kind of an awkward angle.” She murmured. “I can’t really… I should get it from the top side, and I..”
Xena painfully eased herself up onto her elbows. “Sit.” She indicated the bed, waiting for the slave to do so, rocking just slightly as the bed took the girl’s weight. “Face me.” Gabrielle half turned. “Okay. How’s this?” Xena eased forward and put her head down on her thigh, laying her arm over Gabrielle’s knees. “Better?”
“Perfect.” Gabrielle’s voice broke.
Despite the pain, it made Xena smile. “All right then, go ahead.” She felt the first, tentative prick of the needle and sighed.
“You have a lot of scars back here.”
Memories flooded through her. “I know.” Xena said. “I learned all those fancy tricks the hard way.” She concentrated on keeping her breathing even. “I came from a village not that far from yours, y’know.”
“Really?”
“Really.” The queen murmured. “My mother was an innkeeper. Not a big inn, but it was all right to grow up in.” She said. “Then one day a warlord rode through… didn’t like the looks of it, I guess. So he and his men tore the place down.”
“Oh…”
“Mother tried to stop them. Senseless.” Xena shook her head. “They cut her to pieces and threw her out into the road. My brothers and I ran off into the forest.”
Gabrielle fell silent. Even Xena’s voice had changed, growing deeper, and a little softer, and she wondered if the queen realized it. She tried to be as gentle as she could, putting aside the rush of emotions that were making her head whirl.
“We got separated. Me and Ly.. we scraped by for a while but he was so young… finally we got cross of a mean bastard named Cortese and he took both of us and threw us into a pit as bait for his fighting men.” Xena exhaled. “You either learned to fight or you died. I learned.”
It was horrific. Gabrielle couldn’t imagine going through that, and being just a child. “Did you escape?”
The queen laughed softly. “No.” She said. “I grew up and survived until I was good enough to get to Cortese. He was my first kill.” Her eyes blinked slowly. “I took over his army and the rest…”
“What about your brother? What happened to him?”
“My brother.” Xena murmured. “My only friend.” She fell silent for a bit. “He lived long enough to see me take the throne here.” Her thumb moved slowly over the dark fabric of the leggings Gabrielle was wearing. “Then they figured out he was my weak point.”
Gabrielle closed her eyes and let her hands rest for a moment.
“They slit his throat, and left his body in the courtyard for me to find, that one, fine summer morning.” Xena’s voice was calm, almost thoughtful. “I killed thirty two of them for it. Disembowled them and left them to die on stakes all up and down the main promenade.”
Helpless to even speak, Gabrielle bit her lower lip and watched as a tear rolled off her cheek to land on Xena’s shoulder.
“Poor Ly.” Xena whispered. “All he wanted was to be a soldier and wear my colors.” Her fingers plucked the dark fabric. “These are his. You’re about his size.” She heard an odd sound and turned her head to look up. Gabrielle’s eyes were closed, and tears were running down her face. “Hey. Why are you crying?”
Gabrielle opened her eyes and took a shaky breath. “Because you won’t.”
Xena gazed at her for a long moment, then she put her head back down and exhaled in somber wonder. “Oh.”
Gabrielle put the needle down. She set the packet and the box aside, and then she very carefully put her arms around Xena’s shoulders and pulled her closer.
Xena felt the pressure and blinked, a little startled. “What are you doing?”
“Um..” Gabrielle sniffled. “Hugging you.”
It was… Xena could feel the warmth surrounding her in more than a physical way. It was soothing, and she found she liked it. “Ah. Learn something new every day around you, don’t I?” She felt the motion as Gabrielle took a deep breath, her belly pressing against the back of her head. “Done back there?”
“Yes, I think so.” Gabrielle answered, with another sniffle. “It’s all closed.”
“Good.” Xena had, however, no inclination whatsoever to move. “I’ll just give it a minute to go from excruciatingly painful to just regular painful then we’ve got to get going back out there.”
“Okay.” Gabrielle whispered, sitting quietly and letting her hands rest on Xena’s upper arms. They both listened to the sounds coming in the window for a few minutes. Then she drew in a breath. “Xena?”
“Mm?” The queen had her eyes closed.
“I’d like to be your friend.”
One blue orb appeared and fixed itself on her face. “You’re not that stupid.” Xena told her. “You don’t have a death wish, do you?”
“Yes, I am.” Gabrielle smiled faintly. “And maybe I do.” She gazed steadily at the queen. “Will you let me?”
Xena focused on the sky beyond the window, knowing in the depths of her heart the decision had been taken from her already. There was no turning back from this. The risk was taken, the dice was thrown, and it only remained to be discovered what price she had to pay for it. What price Gabrielle would pay. She gave Gabrielle’s leg a gentle pat. “Already have. I don’t spend much time in my enemies’ laps.” She told the girl. “Though why you’d want a homicidal megalomaniac for a friend is beyond me.”
Gabrielle looked down at her with gentle green eyes. “Clueless virgin shepherds have to move up in the world somehow.”
Xena found a grin somewhere. “You know what, Gabrielle?” She closed her eyes and relaxed. “You’re growing on me.”
Silence fell again, as Gabrielle watched the queens’ breathing even out and slow. She felt as if her entire world was, once again, changing before her eyes.
This time, though, it was for the better. “Likewise.” She whispered, finding her own smile, down deep, lighting up a part of her that was all brand new. “Likewise.”
**
Xena slept for a while. Gabrielle had leaned back against the bed’s richly carved headboard and thought she might have dozed off as well, since the sun had changed it’s slant visibly when she looked over at the window.
She felt better for it. Her head had stopped aching, and the discomfort she’d been feeling around her ribs had also eased. Gabrielle stifled a yawn and idly looked down at her hand, which had somehow tangled it’s fingers into Xena’s hair. She rubbed a tiny bit of it between her thumb and index finger, finding that it had a thick, strong texture.
That made sense. Gabrielle reasoned. Everything else about Xena was strong, so why should her hair be any different? It was a deep, glossy black, and she decided that it was pretty and she liked it. Not that her opinion really mattered, she smiled ruefully. She didn’t think Xena much paid attention to anyone’s opinion other than her own, and if she woke up one morning and decided she wanted green hair, well then she’d just color it green as grass and have done with it.
She tried to imagine Xena with green hair, but it just made her giggle. The darkness suited her, and made the paleness of her eyes just that much more striking. She’d left it loose during the fight, and when she was moving, it swirled around her head and seemed to float in the air.
The fight. Gabrielle studied the queen’s profile, relaxed in sleep. She had been nervous during the fight, but in a way it had been sort of exciting too. Xena moved with such power and grace, it was just so amazing to watch you almost forgot it was a deadly contest. She had clearly outclassed Bregos – even Gabrielle, who had never seen a sword fight before could tell that.
Or maybe she was just biased. Gabrielle took a moment to acknowledge the powerful attraction she felt for Xena and admitted to herself that she probably was under the influence of a pretty significant crush. It was a little embarrassing, but it also felt good to be filled with something other than fear and despair.
Part of her tried to keep reminding her that she was a slave, and of little consequence. But it was very hard for the rest of her to accept that idea with Xena’s head pillowed in her lap and the woman’s arm draped over her. Did she really matter to Xena? Gabrielle thought she did, though she wasn’t really sure to what degree.
Xena mattered to her. Not only because she controlled Gabrielle’s existence at the moment either. Against all odds she found herself really liking the queen, even though she usually swung from scaring the life out of her, to embarrassing her beyond speech, to…
Gabrielle pursed her lips wryly, remembering how those kisses had felt. But she felt that had been part of their act for the crowd, just pretending to make her seem like what the entire stronghold apparently assumed she was.
Oh well.
Just then, she very nearly levitated off the bed as a slow, teasing touch on the inside of her thigh set every nerve in her body jangling. “Yike!” She bit off the yelp of surprise.
“Ticklish?” Xena inquired, with a soft chuckle.
Gabrielle found her tongue, which had wandered off somewhere as her senses woke rapidly very up. “Um…a little, yes.”
Slowly, the queen stretched her body out, muscles rippling visibly under the soft skin as she moved. She lifted her head and half rolled onto her side, flexing her hands as she glanced towards the window. Her eyebrow lifted at the angle of the sun. “Looks like we missed some of the party.” She commented. “Good thing I’m the queen, so I won’t have to have us whipped for it, huh?”
Gabrielle muffled a laugh. “How’s your back?”
Xena considered the question, flexing her arm slightly. It hurt. Ares on Olympus it hurt, but for the first time since she’d been shot that feeling of deep, inner unease was gone, the unhealthy throbbing with it to be replaced by just ordinary agony. “Not bad.” She reported, as she sat up in bed and regarded her long legs, sprawled out across the sheets. She should go out and take center stage at the festival, she knew.
Trouble was, she really didn’t want to. There were a number of things, in fact, that she would have chosen to do instead, most of them involving food, wine, and naked bodies.
However.
With a nearly silent sigh, Xena pushed herself off the bed and stood up, feeling much the better for her little nap. She walked to her wardrobe and studied it. Beautiful garments hung mutely before her, thick with embroidery and in some cases dripping with golden threads and lace.
Gabrielle quietly joined her, standing by as she watched the queen decide what to wear. “This is really pretty.” She murmured, lifting a hand to touch the sleeve of a shimmering gown of soft, draping fabric.
“Think so?” Xena eyed her.
The girl nodded. “What else happens for today? Is it just the fights?”
Xena studied the gown critically. Then she unhooked it and tossed it casually at Gabrielle, landing it on top of her head and watching in some amusement as she untangled herself from it. “It’s not just the fighting.” She picked out a different garment for herself. “There’ll be acts, and singing, all that artistic frivolity.”
Gabrielle frowned, looking at the dress in her hands then up at Xena. “Did you want to do something with this?” She asked, in a hesitant voice.
“Yes.” Xena draped her own choice over a nearby chair. “I wanted to see you in it.” She rested her hand on the doorsill into the bathing room. “I’m finally going to be able to sit down at one of these stupid things and have someone with more than a thimbleful of brains to talk to. Get a move on.”
She disappeared.
Gabrielle simply stood there briefly, feeling the weight of the incredibly soft fabric draped over her arms. “Oh.” She finally said to the thin air. “Thank you.” With a slight shake of her head she walked over to the old chest and set the dress down, then slipped out of her black and gold livery and laid it on the chest with gentle reverence.
Adjusting her underwraps a trifle, she took a breath, then eased the slinky dress around her body and tied it into place. She sneaked a look in the mirror, biting her lip as she surveyed the result. “Hm.” She blinked at herself, surprised at the unexpectedly sleek look. “You know what, Gabrielle? You’ve got more dinars on your back right now than the whole of Potadeia ever had in an entire season.”
She fiddled with the knot at her shoulder, which held the gown up while baring a good portion of her back and shoulders. She thought about how much Lila would have loved to wear something like this. After a moment, she reluctantly met the green eyes in the mirror gazing steadily at her, feeling a moment of quiet grief.
I should miss them more. I should think about them more. Her conscience chided her. They’re gone, and I’m here laughing and enjoying myself. That’s so wrong.
She studied her reflection. Isn’t it?
There was absolutely no sound of warning, but her eyes tipped up slightly and suddenly found Xena’s piercing blue ones looking back at her in the mirror. “Oh. Um.. “
The queen took hold of her shoulders and turned her around so they were face to face. “You know.” Xena remarked. “This thing doesn’t look nearly as bad as you apparently think it does by that expression.”
Gabrielle managed a brief smile. “Um.. no, it wasn’t that. I was just…” She paused.
“Let me guess. Thinking.” Xena said. “What was it this time?”
The queen was dressed in a beautiful gown, with fanciful dragons embroidered down the length of it. The dragon’s tails twined, and formed into a belt that tied neatly around her waist. Gabrielle took a moment to appreciate it before she decided on her answer. “Nothing really. I’m just going through so many changes so fast lately…it’s hard to keep up with what I’m supposed to be feeling.”
Xena twitched a bit of the shimmering fabric draped over her. “Don’t try.” She advised. “Just live with the moment you’re in.” A nod. “I like it. Damn thing comes up to here on me and scandalizes the nobles.” She patted her upper thigh. “Besides, exposing my back’s a damn bad idea right now.”
Gabrielle looked down to her knees, which the dress almost covered. She thought about what Xena said, and realized that in the situation she was in nothing else really made sense. “I guess being short has it’s points sometimes.” She looked up. “But won’t my wearing this scandalize them anyway?”
“Not really.” Xena let her wrists rest lightly on Gabrielle’s bare shoulders. “They expect me to dress my consorts in appropriate clothing. I don’t usually bring them out in kitchen rags.”
Gabrielle became acutely aware of the power of the queen’s presence, as she absorbed the meaning of her words. Consort? That was for the public view, she was sure.
Wasn’t she?
“Okay.” She exhaled, feeling her hands flex a little in response to her body’s tension.
Xena cocked her head to one side. “That crowd scaring you?”
“No.” Gabrielle said.
“Being in here scaring you?”
Gabrielle frowned a little. “No… “
“So what is scaring you?” The queen asked. “Me?”
A breath. “I’m not scared.”
Xena leaned forward and kissed her, this time with a slow, relaxed intensity somehow very different from before. She cupped Gabrielle’s face with one hand, and let the other drift down across her back, pulling them closer together.
Gabrielle didn’t even have time to think about what to do. Her body reacted to the touch, and an erotic surge sent a tingling over the entire surface of her skin.
Xena paused and pulled her head back a little, gazing at her with half closed eyes. “Scared now?” She studied the darkened green orbs facing her.
Gabrielle felt out of breath. She just shook her head no.
“Ahh.” The queen smiled. “I thought you didn’t have that oppressed slave being forced to do this for show reaction out there. So you really did like it, huh?”
Still speechless, Gabrielle nodded shyly.
“Gabrielle, despite the old wive’s tales, it doesn’t put hair on your palms or make you mute.” Xena told her. “But apparently it does make you blush.”
She could feel the heat, as she finally caught her breath. “Yes.. well, I um…I didn’t think you’d do that and I… I guess when I get surprised I.. um…”
“Turn red as a winter apple.”
“Yes.” Gabrielle finally got up the guts to look into Xena’s eyes. The depths apparent in them, visible to her for the first time, surprised her. It was like a door had opened, and she could see past the dark, icy facade, just a little. They were still close together, and she could feel the warmth of Xena’s body through the thin fabric covering her.
Xena lifted her hand and ran her fingertips across Gabrielle’s jawline,
“I…” Gabrielle gathered her courage. “Thought you were just trying to dupe the crowd.”
The queen smiled. “I never do anything just for someone else’s benefit.” She uttered, her voice deepening. “If I kill someone... it’s because I want to.” Her thumb stopped and brushed against Gabrielle’s lower lip. “And if I kiss someone, it’s because I really want to.”
Gabrielle literally felt her heart stop. Certainly her breathing did, before it resumed with a soft gasp.
“So that’s why I said we have to talk.” Xena concluded, giving her nose a tweak. “And we do, after this damn thing is over with and I get Bregos’ insurrection settled.” She stepped back and regarded her young slave approvingly. “Let’s go. If I stay away too long, talk’ll start again and I don’t need any more complications.”
She walked over to the long, marble dresser and picked up the silver comb on it, then she turned and handed it to Gabrielle. “Mind doing that for me? Lifting my arm up that high is a pain in the ass and other places at the moment.”
Mind? Gabrielle almost tripped as she forced her body to move and took the comb from Xena’s hand, and carefully began to comb the long, dark locks out as Xena perched on the edge of the chest. It gave her space to think about what had just happened to her.
After a few seconds, though, Gabrielle realized that it would take her half a lifetime to think about what had just happened to her. So she put it all aside and just enjoyed the feel of Xena’s hair against her hands, and the lingering tingle over her skin and the warm, sweet knowledge that the emotions stirring inside her were not hers alone.
Xena sat quietly. The pain from her back was getting worse, to the point where it was hard for her to put it aside. Her little interaction with Gabrielle had taken her mind off it for a short while, but now it was creeping into her immediate consciousness.
She wished she could just crawl back into bed and take Gabrielle with her. The urge to leave the tension and chaos of the festival outside and explore this new, interesting and increasingly absorbing distraction who happened to be combing her hair at the moment was almost enough to overwhelm her discipline to duty.
But.
She had asses to kick, and plots to destroy. Adorably blushing blond slaves would just have to wait until after the bloodletting. With a mildly aggrieved sigh, she got to her feet and took the comb from Gabrielle’s hand. Taking one look at the tousled blond hair, Xena produced a brief smile and then ran the silver tines through it.
It was only much later, long after they’d left the tower and descended down to the festival when the realization hit her of just what exactly she’d done.
And by then, she was beginning to understand why.
**
Gabrielle followed Xena and the guard they picked up the moment they left the tower back down to the festival grounds. From the top of the road, she could see riders, people on horses dashing around, and the excited yells of the crowd. She noticed that Xena’s men seemed to be everywhere, the black and yellow tunics conspicuous around the viewing platforms, but Bregos men seemed to have dissolved into the mists.
She found herself uncharitably smirking. As they approached, she also noticed that the nobles, who had given Xena polite obeisance’s earlier, now were much more fawning and heralded her approach with far more ceremony. Two of the dukes even knelt, and offered to escort her up to her high viewing spot. Would Xena let them? Gabrielle thought it might be a good idea, just to get everyone to be nicer and calmer after the morning. Even if she knew, and Xena knew, and all these people knew that they had hoped she would lose and she hadn’t and now they had to deal with her again – still, she thought maybe Xena would get more out of it if she didn’t seem to hold a grudge.
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