“Good.” Xena put a hand on either side of the tub and stood, easing her body over the edge. She shook herself vigorously, sending a spray of water over the room and its other hapless occupant.
Gabrielle backed away, averting her eyes and looking around for something useful like… ah. “Here.” She handed Xena a neatly folded, pristine towel. The queen accepted it and draped it over her body. Then she put a hand on Gabrielle’s chin and tilted her head to one side, easing the bandage off her head and examining it.
“I think you got off lucky, my little friend.” Xena ran a finger over the spot, which was closed, and seemed to be healing. “Wish I could say the same. Musta been something on that arrowhead.” She turned and walked into the bedroom, pulling Gabrielle with her. “C’mon. We’ve got a long day ahead of us and I’m gonna need help getting into my gear.”
Gabrielle followed obediently, not that she really had much of a choice.
Or wanted much of a choice, she suddenly realized. Confused at that, she found herself smiling for no real apparent reason.
She sighed. Maybe she just needed some breakfast.
**
They sat at the table in the outer chamber, sharing the contents of a tray delivered personally by Alaran stocked with sturdy plates full of hearty fare. Outside, the sun was peeking over the edge of the window, sending a stripe of golden color splashing over them.
Gabrielle was sitting cross legged on one of the large, armed chairs, it’s surface somewhat dwarfing her. She had a new bandage on her head, and Xena had a new bandage on her back, and they were both listening to the security chief’s status report.
“So.” Alaran concluded. “The men are ready, my liege. The battlefield has been readied, and to all eyes, a grand day of games is afoot. Even the weather has brightened for it – it’s cold enough outside to make my armor comfortable.”
“Good.” Xena piled strips of meat and eggs on a fold of bread and took a bite of it. “Get them together in the barracks. After I dress, I want to talk to them.”
“Mistress.” Alaran nodded. “They would welcome that.” His eyes shifted slightly, and took in Gabrielle’s interestedly watching eyes. “How are you faring, little one?”
Caught in mid mouthful, Gabrielle hastily swallowed.
“She’s fine.” Xena answered for her. “I’m going to take her with me today. She’ll be my squire.”
Me? Gabrielle was surprised, and almost forgot to wonder what, exactly, a squire was.
“Excellent, Majesty.” Alaran said. “It eases my mind to know you will have someone you trust close by.” He stood up. “I will go assemble the men. My spies tell me it was quiet on Bregos’ side last night, but his men seem very… confident.”
“Uh huh.” Xena popped a grape into her mouth. “Losers.”
Alaran smiled, saluted, and left.
Xena turned her head and regarded her tablemate. “Enough here for you?” She rested her elbows on the table, leaning her chin on her fists.
Gabrielle licked her lips in reflex, and swallowed. “Um.. yes, thanks.” She said. “It’s really good.”
Xena exhaled, lifting her head and rubbing her temples. “I’d normally agree with you.” She admitted. “But that arrow hole’s getting on my nerves and putting me off my feed.” She played with another grape. The wound was giving her a fever as well, she knew, from the slight chills going up and down her skin.
She picked up her cup of morning ale and took a large swallow, then put it down and determinedly took another bite of her eggs.
“Xena?”
She looked up. “Yeah?”
“Um.. why not just tell them to wait for another couple of days?” Gabrielle asked. “You’re the queen, and all that.”
Ah. The queen and all that chewed on her makeshift sandwich, gazing out the window as she considered the question. “I could.” She said. “But there’s a huge storm brewing out there, Gabrielle. I can feel it. If I wait… the storm might break at a time of it’s own choosing. I can’t have that. It has to be tamed to a time of my own choosing.. even if that’s personally uncomfortable to me at the moment.”
Gabrielle nibbled her egg covered muffin. “Oh.”
“So.” Xena finished her sandwich. “Today I cut Bregos ambitions off at the knees.” She drained her cup. “And tonight, we’ll celebrate.” She got up and stretched, walking up and down the public chamber to limber up.
Celebrate meant Xena and her court, Gabrielle knew. Not people like her. But she agreed she’d be very happy if the queen got what she wanted, because it seemed safer that way for everyone. She didn’t trust Bregos at all – so far all of the people who were acting in his interests that she’d met had either insulted her or hit her. Not that Xena’s people had been much better, but after all, here she was sitting at table with the queen, eating biscuits and very good blackberry jam, and eggs with her. “What does a squire do?” She asked.
“You done?” Xena asked her.
Gabrielle examined her empty plate, then looked up wryly to meet Xena’s eyes. “Yes.”
“C’mon. I’ll show you what a squire does.” Xena motioned to her, waiting for her to get up and join her at the door to the inner chamber before she continued on inside.
Xena walked to the chest against the wall and opened it. That same scent of oil and leather rose out and she paused, letting a tiny smile cross her face before she lifted the furs covering it’s contents and tossed them on the floor nearby.
Gabrielle knelt next to the chest and peered into it. A sense of intrigue tickled her skin as she watched Xena lift out various things and look at them.
First, a set of leather somethings. Gabrielle knew they were leather, but there were flaps and bits and pieces of them that escaped her understanding. Xena laid the leather something over the chair back and continued. Next, she removed her sword, in it’s sheath, and handed it to Gabrielle. “Put that on the table over there.”
Gabrielle took it, startled at it’s weight. She peered curiously at the brass hilt, and the leather wrapping before she set the weapon down on the table. She turned to find Xena holding the worn leather pouch she’d seen in there before, but the queen had an odd expression on her face. She crossed back over to Xena’s side. “What’s that?”
Xena untied the flap and opened it, revealing a glistening metal circle. She took hold of it and pulled it out, gazing at it with quiet reverence. It had a sharp edge, Gabrielle could see, and a pattern stamped in it on both sides. One side was also set with brilliant stones.
It was beautiful. “Wow.” She said. “That’s amazing. “
“Yes, it is.” Xena agreed softly.
“What is it?”
The queen’s eyes half closed. “It’s a chakram.” She replied. “It’s.. very special.” After a moment, she put it back in the pouch and tied it closed, then handed it to Gabrielle. “Put that with the sword.”
Gabrielle did, aware of the weight resting in her hands as she set it down. She turned and hurried back, to find Xena lifting out metal somethings. Brass, she thought, plates with buckles and metal bits on them. Xena draped those over the chair too, along with more plates, and some other things.
She came back and stood by the chest, resting her hands on the edge of it. Breakfast had helped the feeling of queasiness and the headache she had, and now a subtle excitement was nudging her mind away from her own injuries. She watched Xena lift a neatly folded linen garment up, then she backed a step as the queen closed the trunk lid and dropped the fabric on top of it.
“Right.” Xena put her hands on her hips and considered briefly. “First things first. Get me a new bandage, and a long strip of cloth.”
Gabrielle had that routine down already. She retrieved the requested items readily. As she brought them back, Xena pulled the robe down off her shoulders and dropped gracefully to one knee in front of her.
“Put the extra bandage over the cut, and wrap that long piece around me as many times as it’ll go, real tight.”
“Not change it?” Gabrielle asked. “The bandage, I mean?”
“No. I want it for padding.”
Gabrielle frowned, then her expression cleared as she realized what Xena was getting at. She folded the large square into a smaller one, and positioned it above the worst part of the injury. Then she set the end of the strip of linen on it, and hesitated.
Xena chuckled dryly, taking the end of the linen and passing it around her body before she handed it back over around the other side.
“Thanks.” Gabrielle accepted it and laid it carefully over the bandage. She wrapped the linen across Xena’s back and paused again.
“G’wan.” Xena looked over her shoulder at her. “I won’t bite you.”
With a tiny prickle of embarrassment, Gabrielle took a step closer and reached around Xena. “I know.. it’s just that I don’t really have long arms.” She explained. “So it’s kind of…”
Xena felt the warmth across her shoulders as the girl pressed up against them. She smirked. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” She remarked, as the linen drew taut around her chest. She heard Gabrielle exhaled, a touch of unexpected heat as the girls’ breath brushed across the skin of her neck. Okay. Her conscience booted her. Stop playing with the kid already, you old battle whore.
“There.” Gabrielle completed her task, and stepped back. “I think that will hold it.”
Xena stood and flexed her shoulders inside their new binding. “For a while.” She grunted. “Yeah.” Blowing a bit of hair from her eyes, she studied her surroundings. Then she picked up the folded garment from the top of the chest and shucked her robe, exchanging it for the underlayer of her armor. “Okay, get me that.” She pointed.
Gabrielle went to the chair and got the leather something, and brought it over. It was supple, and though it had been in storage for an unknown time, the surface was well cared for and pliable. She handed it carefully to Xena. “What is that?”
Xena stepped into it and pulled it up. It slid over her body and settled into place, covering most of her torso. She adjusted the shoulder straps carefully. “Armor. Check the back, make sure it’s covering that spot.”
Gabrielle walked around and did so, tucking the edge of the linen bandage under the leather surface. “The top part just comes over where it is.”
Ouch. Xena felt the pressure, which was far less than comfortable. “So I feel.” She took a deep breath, holding it as the pain increased, then leveled off. Annoying, but she could handle it, she decided. She made a last few adjustments to the straps, then pointed. “Now that.”
Gabrielle walked to the metal somethings, and picked up the largest of them. She returned with it, studying the tall form in front of her as she did so. Already, Xena looked very different. The leather armor was dark and close fitting and it outlined her body very unlike the robes she commonly wore.
Xena settled the metal something over her head and let it drape over her chest. It was, Gabrielle realized, designed to protect her shoulders and chest in a fight.
“C’mere.” The queen glanced at her. “Buckle those straps under my arm.”
Gabrielle came closer, ducking her head sideways to study the catches. She took hold of them and ran the tongue through the buckle, pausing as she realized there were several holes. “How tight?”
“Second hole.” Xena muttered, working on a metal bit.
Second hole it was. It seemed a bit loose, but she wasn’t about to argue with Xena about it. Gabrielle went around to the other side and repeated the process, aware of the sharp tang of brass, and the rich, musky smell of the leather.
Her nose twitched. It was sort of like being around a saddled horse, except Xena herself smelled better. “Okay.” She stepped back.
Xena shifted her shoulders and exhaled, as she pulled on a set of leather arm bands that fit over her biceps. As she settled them, Gabrielle noticed that the queen, in fact, had a pretty impressive set of biceps. It was an interesting observation, but short lived because the queen then added leather coverings for her lower arms which were laced. She held one out to Gabrielle. “Tie.”
Gabrielle did. She carefully tightened the leather laces, drawing the ends of the leather thing closed. “What are these?”
Xena glanced at her. “Bracers.” She replied, flexing her hands. The leather tensed around her, a once familiar sensation now feeling a little strange. She sat down on the bed and pulled her boots on, buckling the heavy catches. “You try to protect the important parts of your body, or the parts that tend to get cut a lot.”
“Oh.” Gabrielle watched as Xena pulled a set of metal somethings over her knees, and fastened them, then fastened another set of straps around her calves. Then she stood back up and raised herself up on her toes, letting her body drop down in a soft, subtle rattling of metal and leather.
She lifted the sword, and let it drop behind her back, slipping it into catches designed to hold it. Then, last, she picked up the chakram and gazed at it, before she let it fall into an almost hidden hook at her hip. She turned to face Gabrielle and indicated her body. “What d’you think?”
It was… Gabrielle found the sight of the woman filling her senses, the casing of armor suddenly making an already larger than life figure immense. She felt tiny beside Xena, a little awed by the aura of power now shifting around her.
“Different than silk, huh?” Xena folded her arms.
“Um… wow. Yes.” Gabrielle inhaled. “You look really… um.. “
Xena spread her hands out, and raised both eyebrows.
“Heroic.” The girl finished, in a quiet voice.
Xena snorted.
“No.. really.” Gabrielle insisted. “I… well, one of the stories I used to tell back home was about this great warrior, who fought off all the giants, and defended all the helpless little people, and you look just like I thought that warrior would look.”
The queen gazed at her for a moment, then she reached out and grasped Gabrielle’s jaw firmly, tipping it up. “You listen to me.” She said, in a very serious voice. “I am no hero, little slave.”
Gabrielle’s fair lashes fluttered in startlement.
“I am a butcher.” Xena said, staring her right in the eye. “I have killed men for no better reason than that they annoyed me. I’ve torched villages. I’ve slaughtered women, and children, and I don’t lose any sleep at night over that. I would no more save some little person than I’d jump over the moon.”
The girl drew in a breath.
“I’m a killer, and a brutal person, and don’t you make the mistake of thinking otherwise.” Xena concluded. “Do you understand me, Gabrielle?”
Gabrielle’s shoulders shifted, and straightened. “I think I do.” She replied very softly. “And you may be all that.”
“May?” Xena barked.
“But my heart sees more than that in you.” The girl said. “You can tell me I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
Slowly, Xena let her hand drop. Her instincts were demanding she back hand the kid across the room for the impertinence. She could, she knew. Gods knew, she’d done it to enough others. Her fingers flexed, in fact, and the muscles in her shoulder tensed, awaiting the explosion of violence.
Maybe even Gabrielle expected it.
Like a snake striking, she moved, pulling back her arm and swinging it right at the kid’s head. The green eyes never faltered, never flinched, and when her motion stopped, and slowed, and went from a blow to a gentle caress, Xena was loathe to figure out which one of them was more surprised. “You.” She let a fingertip rest on Gabrielle’s nose. “Are trouble.”
A very tiny smile appeared on the girl’s face.
“C’mon, Gabrielle. Let’s go watch men die, and give me a chance to get my sword bloody.” Xena went to her closet, and removed a stiffly brocaded silk gown from it. She slid the garment on over her armor, and fastened the catch. Then she studied the girl. “You can’t go in that.”
Gabrielle blinked.
Xena went to the chest and raised it, leaning over and removing something from the inside. She glanced at the folded cloth for a moment, then turned and tossed it at Gabrielle. “Put that on.” She turned and went into her bathing chamber, disappearing from view.
It only took a moment. Gabrielle slipped on the heavy black leggings, and the pale, creamy golden shirt, tucking it in before she tugged the heavy overtunic over her head. It felt… very strange. The scent clinging to it was that same brass, that same leather that she’d smelled on Xena, but this was…
She twitched the overtunic straight and looked down at it. On the chest was a golden hawk’s head, with a baleful black eye.
Xena came back in and regarded her. “That’ll do.” She walked over and fastened the belt on the overtunic, drawing it close to Gabrielle’s body.
The girl ran her fingers over the hawk. “The men in the barracks had this… what does it mean?”
The queen ran a finger over her cheekbone, sending a not entirely unpleasant tingle down Gabrielle’s spine. “It means you’re mine.” She told her. “Are you, Gabrielle?”
Her heart was doing some very strange things in her chest. Gabrielle found she had to swallow a few times, before she could answer. She looked up into those blue eyes again. “I don’t know.” She answered, with as much honesty as she could. “I don’t know what that means.”
And, surprisingly, that made Xena smile. “Good answer.” She complimented the girl, giving her nose a tweak. “Let’s go.”
It was confusing. Gabrielle felt like she was back on one of the steep mountain paths back home, sliding down over a surface of moving pebbles only just keeping her balance as she rode the edge of disaster.
Scary.
But curiously thrilling.
Gabrielle ran her fingers through her hair, and followed Xena out the door, wondering what the day would bring to both of them.
**
They paused at the entrance to the stronghold. Gabrielle looked up, to see colorful banners strung over the long, stone promenade that lead down to the battlefield and realized for the first time just how huge the place was.
Hard to judge, when she’d seen such tiny bits of it. The stone walls spread for leagues and leagues to either side, and on this side of the stronghold the main road lead down past the rolling fields they were going to use for the games towards clusters of townships in the distance.
Potadeia would have, she acknowledged sadly, fit into a tiny corner of the road.
They’d picked up a bodyguard of soldiers, spaced carefully on either side of Xena, and all of them proudly wearing the same tabard that she was wearing herself. Gabrielle glanced to her left and right, eyeing the tall, burly men and.. she peered more closely. One of the soldiers was a woman, almost as tall as Xena was with a body so muscular she was almost indistinguishable from the men.
The weather was truly gorgeous. It was cool, and sunny, and as she looked ahead of her to the fields, she could see many people already gathered by the fields. On one side, wooden scaffolds had been built, and seating for the important people. There were already well dressed bodies mingling on top of them, the perch giving them an excellent view of the fields.
On the road down, merchants were doing a brisk business in cider and road foods, and as Gabrielle took a deep breath, she caught a scent of nuts and cinnamon from the closest of them. It was all bright, and happy, and yet….
And yet. Gabrielle wondered if it was because she knew about the struggles going on behind the scenes that she sensed a darkness in back of the gayity Not from the merchants she passed, or the wandering commoners, but from the soldiers around her.
“Looks like a grand old party, doesn’t it?” Xena commented, in a low voice. She was nodding graciously at the bowing bodies on either side of them.
“It does.” Gabrielle murmured.
“People love a good bloodletting.” The queen said. “Give em enough of a show, and they forget their own frustrations for a while.”
Gabrielle paced along behind Xena, trying to keep up with her long strides. She was about to question the queen on her last statement, then she remembered winters in Potadeia. The long times, when they were stuck in their cots, trying their best not to freeze to death. Times had been very tense, and…
Tempers flared. The girl nodded quietly to herself. Maybe that was when her father’s control had gotten… but anyway, it had always been worse in winter. And, in the worst of times, the village headmen would get together and they’d organize the boys, and the men, into boxing or brawling and crown a village champion. The women would pool their talents, and resources and knit perhaps a cap, maybe a shirt if they had enough extra, to give to whoever won.
Everyone had been happy, watching the men scrap. Gabrielle remembered that clearly, remembered her pride when it had been her gift, her giving of a bone handled knife to the winner that last winter. She had found the old blade, painstakingly cleaned it, sharpened it, and fitted the handle taken from a thick thigh bone of a slaughtered sheep to it after her father had carved it to a man’s hand.
The man’s face had lit up, and he’d kissed her, just in pure happiness.
She’d felt so good. Gabrielle let her eyes run over the huge crowds, more coming up the roads from the townships, and nodded again. Xena was right, she realized, only on a much grander scale than Gabrielle had ever contemplated, these being armies competing, instead of farmhands with bare fists.
But people were people.
“Hey.” Xena’s voice made her jump a bit. “What the Hades are you mumbling about?”
Gabrielle cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”
“Here we go again.” The queen rolled her eyes.
Was it only a few days ago, when that tone would have sent her reeling? Gabrielle exhaled, wondering at how far and fast it had all happened. Now a part of her understood that the teasing was just Xena’s way, poking and prodding at you to see what kind of reaction she could get.
It was a long walk down to the fields. Gabrielle’s head was aching, and she wondered how Xena felt, with all that jarring on her back. She snuck a look up at the queen’s face, and found it completely relaxed, with no apparent distress showing. Xena was strolling along, apparently enjoying the accolades of the crowd without a care in the world.
They came even with the vendors, however, and Xena slowed, looking them over.
The baker looked back at her nervously. Xena stopped and regarded him with cool eyes. “Your majesty.. does the booth displease you?” The man asked timidly.
“Mm.” Xena shook her head. “I hate yellow and black. Bad choices.”
Gabrielle, in pure reflex, looked down at herself, then at the soldiers around them. She glanced up at Xena.
“Tell you what. You can keep your head if you give my little Gabrielle here the biggest nut pastry you’ve got.” Xena went in blithely. “And make it fast. I’ve got a battle to launch.”
The merchant shuffled through his wares and scurried over to them, bowing and cringing as he held out a wrapped bit of pastry. “My honor, your majesty! My honor!!!”
Xena examined the offering. “That’s the *best* you have?” She asked skeptically.
The man fell to his knees. “Majesty.”
“What do you think, Gabrielle?” The queen turned to her erstwhile silent shadow. She casually rested her forearm on the girl’s shoulder.
Gabrielle was aware of all the eyes on her. She looked at the pastry, then at Xena. “Looks great to me.” She said, with a tiny shrug, aware also of Xena’s closeness and the relaxed hand near her chin.
“Ah.” Xena stroked her cheek lightly. “You’re too easy. All right. Get up.” She ordered the merchant.
The man scrambled up and handed the pastry to Gabrielle, evidently very relieved. “Thank you, Majesty.. thank you!” He backed away to his booth and retreated behind it, reassured a little by it’s meager protection.
“Thanks.” Gabrielle smiled at him, accepting the nice smelling treat. She glanced at Xena. “Thanks.” She repeated, in a softer voice.
Did those blue eyes really twinkle?
“I get the first piece.” Xena responded. “So hurry up and break it off.”
Fair enough. Gabrielle complied, tearing off a nice sized chunk of the flaky pastry, covered in a drizzle of honey, nuts, and cinnamon. She held it out to Xena, then almost swallowed her own tongue when instead of taking it in her hand, the queen ducked her head forward and took it from her fingers, giving the tips of them a tiny lick as she removed the pastry.
“Mm.” The queen made an approving noise. “Not bad.” She straightened up and put her arm around Gabrielle’s shoulders. “Can you eat and walk at the same time?”
Somewhere in the swirl of emotions running through her, Gabrielle found the self possession to nod.
“Good.” Xena started walking, and the escort snapped to attention and kept pace with her.
All Gabrielle could feel was the warmth of the arm over her shoulders, and the body pressed against her on the left, and the tiny bolts of sensation that were still tingling down her fingers and through her arm. She walked along mechanically, listening to the unexpected thunder of her own heartbeat and wondered what on earth was going on inside her.
“You gonna eat that?” Xena inquired. “Or just wave it at the crowd?”
Gabrielle pulled off a piece and put it in her mouth.
“Listen.” Xena lowered her voice. “You are supposed to be my saucy little new love slave, so try not to blush every time I get near you, okay?”
Predictably, Gabrielle blushed. Xena chuckled, then her voice trailed off into a sigh. Gabrielle felt a slight bit more weight shift onto her shoulders, and a quick look up caught a swiftly hidden wince twitching across Xena’s face.
Ah. It all started to make sense now. With a sense of relief, Gabrielle carefully juggled the pastry to her right hand, and casually put her left arm around Xena’s waist to provide her as much support as she could. She got a tweaking tug on her hair in response as Xena felt the pressure, and she exhaled, glad she’d figured it all out and picked the right thing to do.
She nibbled on the pastry as they walked along, catching the appraising glances of the people as their eyes went past Xena and settled on her. There was a mixture of pity and envy in them, an odd mixture, and occasionally outright disgust. This from the older ones, the more prosperous ones, and Gabrielle reasoned that they probably didn’t like the idea of a slave consorting with their queen.
Oh well. That wasn’t her problem, and it wasn’t her choice.
As they got closer to the fields, the crowds increased, and Xena’s passing caused ever more chaos as nobles and commoners fought to catch her eye with deep bows, and extravagant obesciences. At the start of the ramp up to the scaffolding, six soldiers stood guard, there to let through only the worthy.
They all dropped to a knee as Xena approached. Her honor guard split off and moved to either side of the ramp, turning and coming to attention. Xena waved a hand casually at them as they started up the ramp, where Alaran was standing and waiting for them at the top of.
Gabrielle about finished her pastry on the way up, saving the last bit and offering it to Xena as they reached where the security chief was standing. The queen chuckled, and accepted it, again removing it neatly from Gabrielle’s fingers.
“Mistress.” Alaran gave them an indulgent look. “The men await, as you requested.”
“Good.” Xena swallowed her mouthful, and licked a pastry flake off her lips. “Let’s go.” She removed her arm from around Gabrielle’s shoulders and twitched her gown straight, waiting for Alaran to walk before her and following him to a small platform off the main scaffolding.
Gabrielle followed, her shoulders feeling much lighter, and colder. The pastry had been very good, though, and the entire interlude seemed to have helped her headache. She walked along the wooden planking after Xena, easing between two sets of posts and down two crude steps to a small square area just above where the troops were assembling.
There were a great many men standing near the platform, hundreds of them all dressed in dark colored furs and armor, with weapons clutched in hands or strapped across backs. They wore helms, most battered from long use, and carried shields likewise marked.
Like her, all of them also wore tabards in black, with the gold hawk’s head on them. She saw the front rank of soldiers glance up at her, then look at Xena, apparently accepting her presence without question. It was a very odd feeling.
“Hello, boys.” Xena leaned against the wooden support holding the platform up.
A yell went up, at first formless, then recognizable as Xena’s name. Gabrielle almost covered her ears in reflex it was so loud. She glanced past the gathered soldiers, to the other side of the platform where Bregos was meeting with his men. More than one had their head turned around watching.
“Beautiful day for fighting, isn’t it? Not like some of the times we had in the field.” Xena said, to a response of wry chuckles, and a few yells. “Just wanted you to know I’ve got quite a few dinars riding on you lot today. You know I hate losing.”
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