“Come with me.” Xena turned and started back, her motions hesitant.
Gabrielle followed, pausing in the doorway as she heard heavier bootsteps coming up the back stairs.
Stanislaus.
Freedom.
She turned her back on them, and disappeared into the queens’ inner corridor, hearing the door close behind her, with a startling lack of regret.
**
Part 4
Gabrielle followed the shadowed form across the inner chamber, closing the door behind her. She could see there was something wrong, and as Xena went towards the window and half turned, her eyes caught a thin, protruding line that marred the back of her gown. “Wh..”
Xena leaned against the wall. “Come over here.”
“Okay.” Gabrielle quickly complied, pausing as she smelled the strong copper scent of blood. “Are you..” This close, she could see the muscles tense across Xena’s jawline, and hear her slightly labored breathing. “Hurt.. I.. w..”
“Gabrielle, shut up.” Xena snapped.
With a click of her teeth, Gabrielle did so.
Xena drew in a breath. She had so very few options. “I’ve got an arrow in my back.” Xena went on, through clenched teeth. “I need you to cut it out.”
“C..” Unbidden, Gabrielle moved closer, and now she could see that the thin line was, in fact, an arrow shaft. “By the gods…”
“Only in their dreams.” Xena replied. “This was done by a more mortal agency. Take this.” Her hand slowly emerged from her gown, and extended itself towards Gabrielle. In it was a level of trust she hadn’t allowed in more years than she cared to remember.
“Shouldn’t I go get a healer?” Gabrielle reached out to take whatever it was anyway, and was shocked to feel her fingers closing around the cold hilt of a knife. She almost dropped it, the weight was surprising, and it glittered in the candlelight as she brought it closer.
“No.” Xena rested her shoulder against the wall, feeling the stone cold on her cheek. “Just do as I say. Cut the fabric around the shaft.” She was chilled by more than the wall, very aware of the sharp blade at her back.
Hesitantly, Gabrielle complied, moving closer to see better what she was doing. She carefully lifted the gown off the skin underneath and used the knife to cut through it. The sound of the blade slicing the thread seemed unnaturally loud to her, until she realized it was because both she and Xena were holding their breaths. Letting hers out, Gabrielle sliced through more of the dress, and exposed the skin around the arrow shaft.
It was horrible. The head of the arrow was buried inside Xena’s flesh, and the skin around it was raw and bloody, bruised deep with a lurid, mottled blue. “It’s…”
“Ugly.” Xena finished for her. “What color is the shaft?”
Tearing her eyes away from the hole, Gabrielle studied it. “Yellow.”
“Feathers?”
It was hard to tell in the candelight. Gabrielle leaned closer. “Blue, I think.”
Xena cursed softly. “Not my lucky day.” She closed her hand around a piece of iron sunk into the wall and readied herself. “It’s got a two barbed head. Take that knife, and cut around the shaft until you get around both of them.”
Gabrielle almost bit her tongue. “Cut… around…in you?” She barely got the words out.
The faintest of pained smiles touched Xena’s lips. “That’s where the damn thing is.”
Gabrielle stared at the spot. “I don’t know if I can do this.” She whispered.
“Sure you can.” Xena held her temper with a fine thread. “You’ve got an imagination, or so you claim. Pretend I’m a lamb shank you’re butchering.”
“B..”
“Gabrielle.” Xena gentled her tone. “I’d rather not die standing here debating with you.” She felt silence at her back, then the light touch of a hand on her shoulder. A healer would, of course, have been far the smarter course, but right now Xena wasn’t sure she had one in the entire city she was sure hadn’t been compromised.
Was she even sure about this kid? She almost laughed. She’d given Gabrielle more than reason to take the opportunity she was giving her and…Xena inhaled, feeling the searing pain get worse. “Find the feather with the black stripe.” She said. “The barbs will go the other direction.” But she was out of options. Either Gabrielle would save her, or kill her.
Gabrielle brought the candle closer.
“Let the point of the knife in the flame for a little bit.”
Her hand was shaking, Gabrielle noticed, as she complied. The flame’s reflection on the blade bounced all over the room from it. Finally she removed it, and watched the metal cool to a slightly blackened stain. She marked where the black striped arrow was and put the tip of the blade against the skin of Xena’s back. She felt the surface move as Xena took a deep breath and in that moment she realized the power she held in her hand.
She could kill Xena. Right now. All it would take was for her to lean forward hard, and Lila would be avenged. Did Xena know that? Gabrielle looked up. Xena had her head resting against the wall, and she could see the white knuckles as her hand squeezed the metal spike. Her eyes were looking right out the window, and in that window’s reflection Gabrielle’s gaze met hers.
Xena knew.
Gabrielle attempted a reassuring smile. She didn’t think she was that successful, so she tore her eyes from the pale blue glints and focused on the task at hand. “I.. I’m going to do it.” She said. “Now.”
Xena leaned more heavily against the wall and closed her eyes. “Go on.”
She paused as the point touched Xena’s skin. “Why are you trusting me to do this?”
For a moment, Xena merely stood there, breathing. “Because there is no one else.” She finally said. “Do it.”
Gabrielle fastened her eyes on the arrow shaft, and forced her hand forward, forced the blade into the bruised flesh. A line of blood appeared, and she felt her stomach knot, but the surface under her hands didn’t move even a twitch and she continued to slide the knife forward. The tip felt some resistance, and as it did she felt the faintest flinch from Xena. “Sorry.” She angled the tip a little and cut around the barb, freeing it and causing another spurt of blood.
It obscured her view, and she had to wait a moment for it to slow. Then she dug the point in again, deeper, digging for the second barb. Xena was still as stone under her, but Gabrielle could hear how strained her breathing was and she knew she must be hurting her horribly. Her hand started shaking a little, but she pushed forward, finally feeling the edge of the blade slip around the second barb.
With a soft hiss, she went to work on the other side, stealing a glance at the face reflected in the window, to see lines of agony written across the clenched jaw. “Halfway done.” She spoke softy. Xena nodded very briefly, but didn’t speak. Gabrielle cut into the other side, relieved to find the barb closer to the surface on this side. She eased the flesh past it, and went for the last one, feeling her way as the sluggishly flowing blood blocked any view.
Her hand slipped, and she felt the knife go in deeper than she’d expected, and Xena’s whole body jerked under her. “It.. it’s okay.” She eased the point back and it grated against the barb, then slid free.
The arrow shaft moved in her other hand as she gently pulled it back, and the blood covered head came clear of Xena’s body. “It’s out.” She quickly put the arrow down on the windowsill, as Xena shifted and her eyes opened. “Now what do I do?” She put the knife down next to the arrow.
Xena gazed tiredly at the weapons, her mind on overload from dealing with the pain. Breathing hurt. Thinking hurt worse, and it took her longer than she thought it should have to absorb the sight of that arrow lying next to that knife on the ledge.
“Is it bleeding much?” She finally asked.
“Yes.” Gabrielle’s quiet voice answered.
“Take that basin.. there’s a cloth in it. Run water over the hole.”
That was easier, at least. Gabrielle grabbed the water and did as she was asked, squeezing the linen over the wound again and again as the blood slowly stopped gushing.
“Now, in that first drawer, there’s a bag.” Xena had her eyes closed. “There’s a bag of powder and some cloths. Put the powder where it looks the worst, and put the cloths over it.”
Gabrielle put the basin down, trying not to see it’s red stained contents. She pulled the drawer open and found the bag Xena had mentioned, her fingers rubbing across a well used, hand imprinted leather cover. She opened the case, and an odd scent, herbal and potent, rose to her and almost made her sneeze. She removed the bag, and the clothes. In the bottom of the case there was a set of small knives, and slim, bone needles, softly clinking together as the bag moved.
She carried the items over and removed a handful of the powder, gingerly sprinkling it over the still bleeding wound. It mixed with the blood, and she heard Xena inhale sharply. “Does that sting?”
“A little.” Xena muttered.
Gabrielle folded the clothes and pressed them over the wound. “Okay.”
“Take that cloth. Wrap it around me to hold it in place.”
Gabrielle complied readily, holding the end over the bandage and hesitating as she realized she’d have to pass the other end around Xena’s bare body.
“Go on. I’m not ticklish.” Xena murmured.
Gabrielle leaned forward, brushing her body against the queens as she reached around her, grabbing the end quickly and getting it tied into place.
“Done?”
“I think so.” Gabrielle examined her work, then stepped back.
“Good.” Slowly, Xena pulled herself upright, hanging on desperately as the blood drained from her face. The pain was incredible, but she could breathe now and not feel the sickening jolt of the arrow inside her. Something else felt different, too, something tied in to the knife resting by her right hand.
She turned, leaning against the wall as she studied Gabrielle’s pale, strained face. A bit of humor surfaced from somewhere. “Chamberpot’s in the corner.” She drawled softly. “Don’t be long. I might bleed to death.”
Gabrielle visibly clamped her jaws shut and swallowed. “I’m okay.”
Xena’s eyes traveled up and down her body. She noticed the clothing Gabrielle was wearing, but at the moment she was just too tired to question it. Summoning her flagging strength, she eased away from the wall and slowly crossed to the bed, pausing as she reached it then letting herself down onto it’s soft surface.
She sprawled out onto her stomach, and motioned Gabrielle over. “Come here.”
Gabrielle walked over and crouched down next to the bed.
“Sit.” Xena pointed at the floor. “If anyone knocks, if anything moves out there, wake me up.”
“All right.”
Xena put her head down on the pillow, her eyes watching Gabrielle’s profile. There was a smear of blood on the girl’s cheek – her blood. “Gabrielle?”
Pale green eyes, almost ochre in the candlelight turned her way.
“Why didn’t you kill me?”
The eyes widened, the pupils dilating as Gabrielle stared at her.
“You asked me why I trusted you, so…” Xena felt the pain start to subside a little, as a soothing lethargy inched over her. “Why didn’t you take your chance? Get back for your sister. Probably get a reward from the lot of them in this place?”
Gabrielle rubbed the side of her face with her hand. She drew in a breath and met Xena’s curious eyes. “Because you trusted me.” She admitted softly. “And because killing is wrong, no matter who it is.”
Xena watched her with half closed, sad eyes. Then the pain forced the all the way closed, and she surrendered to it, hoping the trust was still placed in the right hands.
**
Gabrielle let her body stop shaking and relax before she lifted her head off her forearm and leaned back. So much had happened in so short a time it felt like her world had shifted yet again and she was in nothing but strangeness.
Her eyes drifted to one side, and she examined the sleeping face of the queen, so close to her. Even now, she could see the tension across the woman’s forehead, and she suspected the pain wasn’t allowing her to fully rest.
Gabrielle could hardly even imagine standing that kind of pain. She’d seen men, in her home village with minor injuries from the stock, or from tools, screaming their fool heads off at injuries not a patch on the one Xena had.
It had taken a lot of courage for her to stand there, while Gabrielle dug into her flesh with that knife, and no matter how she felt about Xena, there was no way for Gabrielle to deny that.
She played with the drawstring on her shirt sleeve, stained crimson with Xena’s blood. It had also taken courage for Xena to trust her with that knife, and there was something about that trust that touched her down in a place so deep she could still feel the echoes of it.
She could get up and go find Stanislaus, she knew. Probably he was wondering where she was, his plans sent tumbling when she wasn’t there waiting for him. Would he come in here to look? What would she tell him?
Well. Gabrielle got up and studied her surroundings. First thing to do is clean the place up. Anyone coming in would smell the stench of blood, and she’d gotten the impression that Xena did not want anyone to know what had happened to her.
First, the blood on the floor. She went to the door and peeked out, finding the hall quiet and empty. Quickly, she slipped out and over to the main door, opening it carefully and peering out into the circular foyer. It too, was empty. She exhaled in relief and bolted for her cubby, grabbing her cleaning tools and another tunic, and racing back to the queen’s chamber.
Xena was still asleep, the ripped gown exposing the bandage, and a good portion of her back.
Gabrielle studied her for a moment, then she set her things down and lifted the silk covers, gently pulling them over the injured queen up to her waist. Leaving the pressure off her back, she gathered, was the wisest course.
She watched Xena’s quiet breathing, and then she turned and got to work cleaning the bloodstains off the floor. It took a while, because the blood had seeped into the stone, but she kept at it and eventually she had the flagstones clean again.
Gabrielle looked at the pile of bloody rags. Now what? Her eyes fell on the arrow, and the knife. She got up and studied them. The arrow she carefully put inside the drawer, next to the herb kit. The knife she cleaned off and wrapped in a piece of linen, placing it next to the arrow before she closed the drawer firmly.
She went to the basin and took it to the garderobe, dumping it down the shaft. Then she poured more water in from the water jug and swished it around, sending that down the shaft as well. She collected all the blood stained linen and folded it into a packet, then she walked over and gently tossed it into the fire.
The flames ate the cloth greedily. Sparks popped as the blood was consumed, until the packet was nothing but ash. Gabrielle turned, satisfied by the clean up. She picked up the fresh tunic she’d grabbed and quickly changed into it, folding her stained one up into a neat ball. She ran her fingers through her hair and set the folded tunic aside, near the ash cleaner.
Now what? Gabrielle nibbled the inside of her lip, then she stuck her head into the outer chamber and spotted some fruit left over she guessed from lunch. She gratefully gathered the pieces, and took them back with her into the bedroom, settling down again next to the bed with the apples and pears nestled in her lap.
She drew in a deep breath, and released it, selecting a pear and turning it in her fingers to find a good place to bite in. Some instinct made her look to her right before she did, though, and she blinked in surprise when she found Xena gazing back at her, from half lidded eyes. “Oh.”
“Y’say that a lot.” Xena observed.
“I guess I do.” Gabrielle put the pear back down. “Is there something I can get you? That must hurt a lot.”
“Ever held a burning firebrand to your skin for a candlemark?”
“Um.. no.”
“Mm.” Xena exhaled. “There’s a.. “ She stopped talking for a moment, and her eyes closed.
Obeying an instinct written deep inside her, Gabrielle reached up and touched the hand now clenched around the bed linens, feeling a quiet compassion for a fellow creature in pain.
Xena’s blue eyes popped open and fastened on her. Gabrielle quickly removed her hand, and put it back in her lap. Compassion was one thing. Getting one’s fingers bitten off was another.
“You have a hot date tonight?” The queen asked suddenly.
“What?” Gabrielle’s eyebrows scrunched together.
“You’re dressed for outside. Where were you going?” The blue eyes were pain filled, but very sharp. They watched Gabrielle’s face intently, and this close there was no way to hide anything from them.
Gabrielle looked down at her booted feet.
Will this be the first lie? Xena wondered. Did they get to you so soon, kid?
“People say… my being here is dangerous to you.” Gabrielle said. “So they were going to take me away, and let me go free.” She waited until she finished speaking to look up, and over at Xena.
“Who said that?” Xena asked. “Stanislaus?”
Gabrielle nodded.
A low, hissing breath sounded. “Bastard.”
“But..” Gabrielle was confused. “He said… I mean, what he said made sense.” She stammered. “And he said he was…”
“Mine?” Xena’s voice oozed deadly sarcasm. “Body, heart and soul?” Her eyes closed, and she shook her head. “Gabrielle, no one’s mine. I have no friends, and I have no one I trust. At most, I have occasional allies and people who tell me they love me so I won’t kill them.”
Gabrielle rested her chin on her forearm, feeling somewhat stupid.
Xena studied the young profile. “That explains the horses outside.” She realized.
The blond head lifted and turned. “Horses?”
“Mm.” A nod. “Damned ironic.” Xena murmured. “I think I took your arrow. The bastards were outside waiting for whoever was going to take off on those horses.”
Green eyes widened.
“You didn’t really think they were just going to let you out the gates, didja?” Wry cynicism colored the queen’s tone. “Another escaping slave, shot in the back. Wouldn’t have even made the watch report.”
Gabrielle put her head back down, now feeling really stupid. She gazed glumly at the fire, hating most of all the disdain in Xena’s tone. “I didn’t know.” She whispered. Stanislaus would have led her out there, and then…
And then she would have died, probably. She peered over at Xena, whose eyes had closed in visible pain again. Instead, for some reason Xena had chosen to walk outside, and was now suffering what she, Gabrielle might have been if things had been just a moment’s worth of different.
She reached up and covered Xena’s hand with her own again, but this time when the blue eyes opened and focused on her, she didn’t budge. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Xena released a breath. Stanislaus, you don’t know how lucky you were tonight. “I warned you about thinking, didn’t I?”
Unaccountably, Gabrielle smiled at her. For the first time, a real smile, one that lit her face up, and put a twinkle in her green eyes.
Xena wondered when the last time someone had actually smiled at her and meant it had been. It was hard to remember. She felt the pain wearing on her again, and she wanted to close her eyes, but if she did, she’d lose sight of that interesting smile.
And now, with the hole in her back, her problems had just gotten far, far worse. Her plans would have to change and it looked like young Gabrielle had just made herself an important part of them.
Faintly, Xena returned the smile. Arrow or not, she was glad she’d broken up Stanislaus’ little scheme.
Now it only remained for her to decide what to do to him for it.
**
Gabrielle finished her second apple, nibbling around the core until there was nothing left but the hard seed shell, and the seeds themselves. It was nearing midnight, and Xena had fallen back asleep, her body finally relaxing fully and her breathing slowing and deepening.
It was quiet, and very peaceful. Gabrielle got up and took her fruit remains to the tray, then washed her hands off and dried them. She stifled a yawn, and looked around her, trying to figure out the best way to arrange herself to stay on guard all night.
Though.. Gabrielle smiled wryly. The idea of her being a guard was pretty funny. She knew she wasn’t really guarding Xena, more like providing a fast warning for her in case anything happened. Xena could take care of herself, if what she’d seen in the barracks was an indication, though now that she was hurt…
Gabrielle studied the still figure on the bed and sighed. She felt really confused – her emotions were jumping back and forth like a spring lamb and it was giving her a headache.
Would anything happen? Gabrielle walked around the room a little, getting the kinks out of her legs from sitting at Xena’s bedside for so long.
A soft knock on the door ended her speculations. Gabrielle twitched her tunic straight and walked over, opening the door slightly and peering out.
Stanislaus looked back at her. “Ah. So there you are.” His eyes narrowed. “I can tell the guard to stop looking. I found your cell empty, and assumed you got impatient waiting.”
Oh boy. Gabrielle forced down the panic. “The queen asked me to do something.” She answered quietly.
“Really? And what was that?” The seneschal demanded.
Gabrielle stared at him. “A task.” She finally answered.
“Perhaps I should ask her.” He put his hand on the door and pushed, but Gabrielle’s body was against the inner side, and slight as she was, it didn’t move.
Letting him in and having him see Xena’s injuries abruptly seemed like a very bad idea. “It’s.. um.. late. I don’t think she wants to be bothered.” Gabrielle warned him softly.
“Shall we let her decide that?” He pushed harder. “Remove yourself, or I will.”
Gabrielle held her ground. “You really don’t want to do that.” She told him, urgently. “She won’t like it.”
“Who are you to say what she will, or will not like?” Stanislaus answered, in an angry tone. “You little slut slave.. remove yourself!”
“No.” Gabrielle could feel the sharp pain where the door was digging into her leg, but she leaned against it with all her weight. “I won’t. She said she didn’t want to be disturbed. Don’t you have to respect her wishes, or was that whole ‘body, heart and soul’ speech just lies?”
The pushing stopped. He backed off and studied her. “If those are her wishes.” He said. “You could be lying.”
“I’d pick a better lie.” Gabrielle shot back.
“Would you, now?” The seneschal mused. “Perhaps you would.”
Gabrielle relaxed a little, but kept her eye on him and her thigh blocking the door.
“So.” Stanislaus speculated in a cool tone. “Your task for the queen… it must have been… very engaging.”
“It was.” Gabrielle replied warily.
“And now?” His demeanor seemed to have changed completely. “She is?”
“And now she’s sleeping.” Gabrielle answered.
A knowing grimace crossed Stanislaus face. He lifted his hand and made a brief gesture, as though tossing a used towel from him. “So be it.” He brushed a speck of dust off his shoulder and stepped closer. “However, I instructed you to wait for me.” He stated. “You did not.”
“She instructed me otherwise.” Gabrielle kept her gaze steady. “I’m not stupid enough not to know which one of you to listen to.” She wondered, suddenly, if he was really part of the plot that had ended up with an arrow in Xena’s back. Or was he also a victim? Why was he acting so strangely?
He folded his arms. “I had thought to spare you her attentions, Gabrielle. It is unfortunate that fate decided otherwise.” The seneschal said, with a sigh. “Too little, too late, it seems.”
Huh? Gabrielle pondered the unexpected words. Hadn’t she already been subject to Xena’s attention? “I’m sorry your plan didn’t work out. But maybe it turned out for the best.”
Surprisingly, he laughed, with a nasty edge. “For you? Perhaps. Perhaps not.” And then he turned and left, shutting the outside door behind him with a decided click.
Gabrielle did the same with the inner door, leaning on it and taking a very shaky breath. She shook her head and looked up, starting a little to find Xena watching her from the bed with intent blue eyes. She managed to strangle the exclamation this time, though. “Mprf.”
“Good work.” Xena said. “C’mere.”
With a deep breath, and a twitch of her shoulders, Gabrielle obeyed. She circled the bed and settled cross legged next to it.
Xena stiffly changed position, resting her head on her curled forearm to face her. “You got a question answered for me, and now I don’t have to break his arm to get the answer myself. Nice.”
“I did?”
Xena nodded slightly. “You tricked him into thinking I took advantage of you, and he showed his hand. Well done.”
Blond eyebrows contracted over Gabrielle’s green eyes. “I did?”
Xena chuckled. “Yes, you did.”
Gabrielle frowned, her face a study in thought. Finally she just shook her head again and looked up. “I really didn’t know what he was talking about.” She admitted. “I still don’t.”
A look somewhere between wry amusement and mild chagrin found its way onto Xena’s face. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen.” Gabrielle said.
“Virgin, right?” The blue eyes twinkled wearily.
Gabrielle felt a blush rise, warming her skin at the unexpected question. “I…um…” She cleared her throat. “I had a… well, we just never, ah…” She glanced at Xena. “Yes.”
Xena lifted one hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Just my luck.” She commented. “ten thousand potential peasant slaves out there, and I end up with this one.” Her gaze lifted to Gabrielle’s face. “Remember what your little friend down in the barracks was having done to her?”
Taken aback at the change of subject, Gabrielle stiffened. “Yes.”
“That’s what my old, dear, sweet, loyal friend Stanislaus thinks I’m doing to you.”
Gabrielle felt a sick chill take her at the words. She stared at Xena uncertainly, trying to read the cool expression on her face. “W..” She tasted something bad on her tongue. “Why would he think that?” She asked. “Do you..”
Xena listened to the words trail off into silence. Her momentary amusement was gone, chased away by the earnest green eyes staring at her. She was struck by the knowledge that not only did her answer really matter to this kid, it mattered to her that it mattered.
Bad sign.
“Rape people?” She finally finished Gabrielle’s question. “No.” She watched a shudder of motion shift the cloth over the kid’s body as she relaxed. “I’ve never had to.” Xena added, with a very wry smile. “They generally come willingly. I’m not ugly, and sleeping with the queen’s never bad for either your career or your reputation.”
Gabrielle nodded. “I can see that.” She replied gravely. “That’s what Bregos wants, isn’t it?”
“Mmhmm.” Xena made an approving sound. “But the rumors go around anyway.” She said. “Especially when I take an interest to cute little blond slave girls and they can’t figure out what I’m up to.”
Surprisingly, Gabrielle blushed again, to the roots of her pale hair.
Xena’s eyebrow rose slightly. “Let em talk. Makes it easier for me to keep you around to change these damn bandages.” She said. “I think Stanislaus was the real target last night, and they figured to take you out for good measure.”
Gabrielle swallowed.
“Bregos wants to lead a coup.” Xena’s voice lowered. “He’s got the army on his side, and he’s working on the nobility. Unless I can squash him flat, he’s got a chance at it. You’re going to help me stop him.”
“B..”
“Why don’t I just kill him?” Xena’s eyes tracked restlessly around the room. “Make him a martyr? No. I have to cut him off at the knees.. destroy his mystique.. his reputation, first.” She said. “Then I’ll kill him.”
Gabrielle could feel the danger circling around her, and knew she was in a very bad spot. She exhaled softly, also knowing she had very few options open to her. If she turned against Xena, she was dead. If she didn’t, and Xena’s plan failed, she was dead. If Xena’s plan succeeded… well, she was probably dead anyway because what worth would she be to Xena after that?
The only thing she knew, after what she’d seen in the barracks, was that for her, at least, she was on the right side even despite what had happened to Lila. And who knew? Maybe she’d die, and end up back with her family sooner than she’d thought in the worst case.
Would it be so bad? Gabrielle studied her hands, noticing the smudge of blood left on her thumb.
“Gabrielle.”
The sound lifted her nape hairs, just a little. Gabrielle looked up at the queen.
Xena’s face was very serious. “I don’t regret the choice I made.” She stated, in a clear tone. “And I don’t apologize for it.” Her expression altered slightly, a tiny pucker appearing in her brow as she held Gabrielle’s gaze. “But I’m sorry you lost your sister because of it.”
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