Xena had propped her pillow up on Gabrielle’s leg and was relaxing in the dappled sunlight, her eyes closed, and one hand laid over the slave’s arm lying across her stomach.
It felt very nice. Xena’s thumb was rubbing lazily over the skin of her forearm and she was in just the right position to look down on the queen’s face and admire it.
Boy, there was a lot to admire. Gabrielle dreamily watched a leafy shadow drift over the bridge of the queen’s pretty nose and leave dappled splashes over her closed eyelids. The symmetry of her face was very apparent from this angle, and she found herself marveling and how beautiful her queen was.
Her queen. A bit of a crease appeared in Gabrielle’s brow. She’d blithely told Xena that she was ‘hers’ – true – but in her heart she knew she’d just admitted to herself just how true that was in reverse.
“Gggggaaabbbrrielleee.” Xena purred. One of her eyes opened and peeked up at the slave.
“Yes?” Gabrielle smiled at her. “What are my queen’s wishes?”
“Hmmmm….” A soft chuckle emerged from the queen’s throat. “I wish you were naked and covered in honey.” The blue eyes widened in mock hopeful innocence. “Do I get my wish?”
“Um.” Gabrielle glanced down at herself. “Boy, that would take a lot of honey.”
Xena laughed. “Yeah, it sure would… and you’d end up with sticks and pebbles all over you. But it’s a fun idea.” She looked up at Gabrielle. “Maybe some other time.”
Very gently, Gabrielle laid her hand across Xena’s cheek. “Okay.”
One of Xena’s eyebrows crept upwards. “Can I ask what you’re thinking about right now?”
Gabrielle nodded. “I’m thinking about how incredibly beautiful you are.” She said. “And what pretty eyebrows you have, and how amazing your eyes look and..”
Xena grinned. “Keep going.” She encouraged her. “I’m loving every minute of this.”
The slave’s nose crinkled up in a truly amazing grin.
“Ah, Gabrielle.” Xena closed her hand around the slave’s and held it. “You know something?” She searched her slave’s face intently, seeing the lingering traces of the smile around her eyes. “I really like you.”
Gabrielle cocked her head to one side in gentle question. “Like me?”
The queen nodded slowly. “I like you.” She said. “I like having you around me besides the fact that you’re cute and you’re not bad in bed.”
The slave seemed very thoughtful for a long moment. “That’s not the same as loving, is it?”
“Nu uh.” Xena shook her head. “Not the same thing at all.” She examined Gabrielle’s hand, rubbing her thumb over the girl’s knuckles. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had someone I liked around me?”
Gabrielle shook her head, then hesitated. “Was it your brother?”
“And you’re smart, too.” Xena chuckled softly. “Yeah.” Her face took on a pensive cast. “He was the only one I could really talk too.” A pause. “Gods, I miss him.”
After a slight hesitation, Gabrielle touched Xena’s face again, wordlessly giving her sympathy. “I think…” She reflected in silence for a bit. “I think you were a lot closer to your brother than I was to Lila.” The slave admitted in a low voice. “I grew out of being able to talk to her.”
Xena watched her intently. “Did you two fight a lot?” She asked. “Ly and I did.. scrapping and all that.”
“No.” Gabrielle shook her head once. “Lila was bigger than I was.. even though she was younger.” She answered. “Besides, we got in trouble when we fought.”
“Ah.” The queen murmured. “Points for not having parents, I guess.”
The green eyes warmed briefly as Gabrielle looked up at her. “Yeah. I guess.”
Xena could almost taste the secret now, it was shining dimly through the reflected sadness in Gabrielle’s eyes. “Did you get on with yours?” She asked. “I think I probably drove my mother crazy… I was just that kinda kid.”
Gabrielle eased back, then she unexpectedly got up and fussed with the picnic supplies, her back to Xena. “Well..” Her voice sounded hesitant. “They were okay, I guess. My mother was pretty strict. You know.”
“Not really.” Xena put her hands behind her head and proceeded carefully, testing the air like she was fencing with a very skilled opponent. “What I remember of my mother… isn’t much.” She admitted. “Smells, mostly. Cooking. The ash from the fire. Spices.” The queen said. “She had a.. kind of musical voice. A little like yours, only lower.”
“Mm.” Gabrielle murmured. “Well, mine wasn’t musical at all. But she was okay. She just wanted us to do our chores, keep the house straight, make sure things were in place, that kind of thing. It wasn’t so bad.”
Xena digested this. “What about you father?”
No answer.
The queen’s blue eyes opened a trifle wider, and she shifted a little onto her side, tipping her head back and looking at her slave’s still form. “I never knew mine.” She added. “I think he died.”
Gabrielle’s shoulders shifted, and moved, as though she were taking a deep breath. Then she turned her head and met Xena’s eyes.
There was the secret. Xena could read it in the set, pained look around Gabrielle’s eyes, and the thinning of her lips. There was a sullen storminess that was it’s own warning, and she decided to ease her approach. “Didn’t get along with him, huh? It happens.” She put a slightly offhand tone in her voice. “Ask Brendan sometime… had a family the likes of which would scare Zeus.”
Gabrielle’s eyes dropped, and she fingered an apple, her shoulders slumping a little. “No, we didn’t get along.” She whispered.
Xena rolled all the way over and got up, sliding across the grass to Gabrielle’s side and leaning an arm on her shoulder. “There are bastards out there, Gabrielle. Just being related to someone doesn’t help.” She said. “You gotta throw that aside sometimes. I know.”
“Do you?” The slave looked up at her.
The queen nodded. “Yeah. Place I came from…” She inhaled. “Figured they’d make some easy money, selling me and my army out.” A lock of dark hair dropped over the pale blue eyes, half hiding them. “I burned that place to the ground for it.”
“For your men?” Gabrielle murmured.
“Listen.” Xena gentled her voice. “There are two kinds of families, Gabrielle. The one you’re born into… you ain’t got much choice in that, and more often than not, the only thing that binds you together is blood.”
“Mm.”
“The other kind is the kind you choose… when you come across people you want to make part of your life.” Xena added. “You’re that kind of family, for me.” She touched her knuckles to Gabrielle’s cheek. “You’re that to me.”
Gabrielle blinked a few times, then she reached up and took Xena’s hand, bringing it to her lips and kissing it. She leaned closer, then put her arms around the queen and hugged her, burying her face into the cloth over Xena’s shoulder.
A trifle startled, the queen hesitated, then she got hold of Gabrielle and pulled her awkwardly into her lap. Something relatively traumatic was going on, she recognized, feeling the tremors in the girl’s body but damned if she knew what it was, or what she was supposed to do about it.
That’s what I get for trying to be nice, she mused wryly. Next time, Xena, just talk about the weather.
After a few minutes, Gabrielle’s tense shoulders relaxed and she exhaled, warming Xena’s skin through the fabric of her gown. “What you did… for your men? Did it bother you to do that.. because of who it was?”
Xena thought back, surprised at the question. “You mean, because it was my hometown?”
“Yes.”
“Bother me?” Xena chewed her lower lip. “I was so pissed off, I don’t think I thought about it, matter of fact.” She said. “I didn’t really remember anyone there… well, maybe a couple of people. The one person who’d meant anything to me, she’d been chopped to pieces years before.”
“Oh.”
“But…” The queen frowned. “I remember, that night when I went to bed, I thought about it, then.”
“Did you?” Gabrielle murmured. “That’s when things bother me, too.”
“At night?”
Gabrielle nodded.
“Hmph. Then I have to try harder.” Xena remarked. “I think I’m insulted or something.”
“Not when I’m with you.” The slave corrected herself hastily. “When I’m by myself.”
“Ah.” The queen glanced down, charmed at the trusting, relaxed look on Gabrielle’s face. “Anyway, when I thought about it that night, it bothered me.” She admitted.
“It did?”
“Yeah, pissed me off, too.” Xena shook her head. “But it was like I’d killed a little part of myself, doing that, even though those bastards deserved it.”
Gabrielle slowly nodded, just a little. “It’s really hard for me sometimes.” She spoke in a soft voice. “I want to grieve for my family… but there are parts of that I don’t…” A pained pause. “T.. that I don’t miss.”
She stopped speaking, and huddled against Xena.
Now, did she really want to know this secret? Xena felt very tired, and a little sad. “Gabrielle?” She hugged her a little closer. “I can’t guarantee you and I won’t get hurt in this… I think you know I’m not the safest person to be around.”
A distinct pause, and then Gabrielle inhaled. “I know that.”
“But I promise you this..” The queen spoke quietly and clearly. “That as long as you’re with me, and as long as I’m able, no one else will ever hurt you if I can prevent it.” She cupped Gabrielle’s cheek, and gazed down into her eyes. “You’re mine.”
Gabrielle’s fair lashes blinked, scattering crystalline droplets in the dappled sunlight. “I’m yours.” She whispered. “And I believe you.”
“Good.” Xena ducked her head and they kissed.
**
Gabrielle carried a basin of water into her little cubby and set it down. She was alone in the queen’s chambers – Xena had gone off somewhere to talk to someone and left her to wash and dress for the evening’s high court.
She looked at the pretty dress Xena had given her to wear, it’s rich, green fabric draped neatly over the end of her bed, then she slowly walked over and sat down next to it, letting her hand rest on it’s softness as she leaned back to think.
Xena’s words had touched her far more deeply than she thought the queen had intended. They had shaken something loose inside her and brought back memories that were churning inside her guts and making her legs shake as she sat there.
Looking up into Xena’s eyes, there in that garden, under those wonderful trees, she’d found it in herself to trust, and as though she’d stepped over a line in the walk, she had.
She was scared. She drew up her bare feet onto her little cot and rested her elbows on her thighs, cradling her head in her hands. It felt so strange, so wrong to give up all the ties she’d felt for her family, and replace them with this new, dangerous bond to a woman she sometimes felt she barely knew.
And yet. Gabrielle rested her chin against her laced thumbs, her eyes gazing at the neat alcoves in her little space. And yet there was something about Xena that commanded her trust. The question she had to ask herself was, did she want to give all she was to the queen because the woman deserved that, or because she was in truth, a frightened kid who didn’t know any better?
Did anyone really deserve that kind of trust?
Gabrielle thought about Lila, and how she would feel if she saw her sister giving herself to the woman who saw her slaughtered. What would Lila think of her?
Do what you have to do to survive, Bree. She could almost hear the ghostly echo of her sister’s voice. Nobody will do it for you.
With a sigh, Gabrielle got up off the cot and walked to the water basin, picking up a square of linen and a small bar of soap Xena had tossed her earlier than day. She sniffed the soap, and held back a faint smile as it brought the queen’s scent to mind.
She could lie to herself and say she was following Lila’s advice. It might make her feel better if she thought she was acting strictly in her own self interests, and maybe it would reduce the guilt. Gabrielle scrubbed the linen on the soap, then started washing her face with it.
But the truth was she was totally lost in her love for Xena and she was honest enough to admit that to herself. She wanted to be with her just because she wanted to be with her, wanted to feel her touch, and be in her presence, and she was even starting to appreciate the queen’s very quirky sense of humor.
Was it a betrayal?
“Well.” Gabrielle rinsed her face off and started on her hands and arms. “You know what? Maybe it is,” She spoke aloud. “But I can’t help that. If it is, then someday I’ll have to stand in Tartarus and answer for it I guess.”
She finished washing, and glanced out the doorway, judging the time by the light remaining in the window. She figured she had a little while before she needed to get dressed, so she wandered over to the dresser and poured herself a small bit of mead which she took back to her cot with her.
She sat down and stretched her legs out, wiggling her toes as she sipped her drink. The heady mead filled her mouth, it’s rich taste elicting a soft sound of appreciation as she swallowed. Then a though occurred to her and she set her cup down, getting up and going to the small chest and opening it. She removed a ragged sheaf of parchment and an old quill and returned to her seat.
“Okay.” Gabrielle pulled her legs up under her and wriggled into a more comfortable position, then she balanced the tiny ink jar on the edge of the cot and dipped her quill into it. Leaning over her work, she nibbled the end of the quill a moment, the started to write in slow, careful glyphs.
**
Xena strolled back across the courtyard of the castle, enjoying the last rays of sunlight as they disappeared beyond the castle walls. The twilight was a dim, purple wash over the gray stone, and the cold breeze rising brought her the scent of pine and spruce from beyond the road.
She found her steps, impossibly, drawing her back to the garden and before she knew it, she was pushing open the gates and striding inside. “What the Hades am I doing here?” She turned in a circle, lifting her arms and letting them drop.
It was dim and quiet inside the garden now, but the scents had gotten even stronger and it was almost overwhelming to her sensitive nose.
A large bush near the entrance was particularly strong, and Xena wandered over to it, examining the thick, white flowers that were clustered everywhere over it’s surface. They were many petaled and had a silky texture Xena found quite pleasant when she felt one.
They also smelled pretty good.
Xena cocked her head, then snapped her fingers. “Bet I know who’d like a bunch of this stuff.” She set aside the fact that she, Xena the Merciless, was about to pick flowers for her girlfriend, and got down to business.
First off, she had to pick the best ones. Xena circled the bush as though it were a catapult, sorting among the blossoms for the largest and most perfectly formed. She collected a dozen, tucking them into her hand so that they formed a neat, circular cluster.
Xena fluffed a petal or two, then she gingerly lifted her hand and sniffed the bouquet. “Mm.” She nodded in approval, turning and heading back for the gate. Halfway there, she paused, looked down at her hand, tipped her head back and looked up at the sky, then sighed, and shook her head so hard her dark hair flew out in all directions for a long moment. “I am losing my mind.”
With that cheerful thought, she marched through the gates and proceeded down the stone path towards the stronghold’s thick, wooden doors. They opened as she approached, and she gave the two guards on either side a dignified nod as she swept past them with her fistful of foliage.
“Ah, Majesty.” Stanislaus hurried towards her, stopping a few lengths away and gazing at the flowers with a puzzled look. “Is there a problem? Shall I have the gardener brought to you?”
Xena looked down at her hand, then up at him. “No.” She stated gruffly. “What do you want?”
“All is as you asked for in the great hall, Mistress.” The seneschal rubbed his hands together. “We shall have great roasts, and the new kegs the ale master has tapped are excellent.”
“Good.” Xena started walking again. “Make sure we’ve got wine on every table, and there’s plenty of food for them to stuff themselves with. I don’t want them to forget this little party.”
“Very good, Mistress.” Stanislaus nodded. “Shall I double the guard?”
Xena stopped and turned. “If I wanted that, I’d ask for it.” She snarled. “This isn’t a trap, you moron. They’re supposed to leave happy. No one’s going to be gutted, no one’s getting their head… either head… taken off, and hopefully I won’t have to break anyone’s neck.” She spat out. “Happy, got me? Happy?”
The seneschal blinked. “I… your pardon, Mistress. Of course!” He said. “It’s just that…” A pause. “I thought you would judge his Grace Evgast this evening.”
Xena’s eyes narrowed. “I changed my mind. Let him stew in the dungeon.”
“Very well, my liege.” Stanislaus appeared confused. “I am sure your vassals will be pleased to enjoy the night with you, it’s just that…”
“Just that usually dinner with me is like eating with asps?” Xena remarked acidly.
“Mistress…”
“Make sure everyone knows… no one’s gonna get hurt. I’m not out for blood tonight. Understand?” The queen said. “Even Bregos’ bastards. They’re safe.”
“Understood, Mistress.” Stanislaus backed away slightly. “I will make sure the word is passed through the servants.”
“Good.” Xena growled. She lifted her hand and sniffed her flowers, then turned and stalked off down the hall, her gown whisking behind her.
**
“And, as the darkness closed over them, the wind blew back to the evil Duke the sound of their laughter – but all his men could not bring back the prize they stole away into freedom on thundering hooves.”
Gabrielle chewed on her quill again, studying the words. “The brave queen rode at their head, bringing home a lost love, out of the cold, into the light and warmth of her husband’s arms.” She continued, sounding the words out and liking the way they filled the small cubby she was in. “Does that sound right?”
“Sounds great to me.”
Gabrielle yelped, and sat up, then relaxed as she recognized Xena’s deep tones. “Oh.” She turned and looked at the doorway now filled with the queens’ tall form. She had a slightly windblown look, and was holding one hand behind her back. “Hi. Sorry. I got.. I know I was supposed to be ready but I.. um..”
“S’allright.” Xena interrupted her. “I got a little sidetracked myself.” She jerked her chin at the parchment. “I like that.”
Gabrielle looked at the letters, then up at her queen shyly. “You do? You didn’t hear it all, just a little bit.”
Xena smiled. “I already know I’m gonna love it.” She said. “Listen… tonight’s going to be sort of a special night and…” She paused. “Tell that story.”
The slave blinked, a mildly started look appearing. “Tonight? Me?” She stammered. “To… everyone?”
The queen nodded.
Gabrielle felt panic threatening to take her over. Tell her story? In front of the nobles? Everyone? She felt her jaw drop and the quill fell out of her hands, and she started to breathe more quickly feeling short of air. “Uh… uh…”
Xena crossed the small space in a single stride and dropped down to sit next to her adorable, if somewhat freaked out little lover. “Hey!”
“Buh..” Gabrielle managed to squeak out.
“Here.” Xena thrust her fist at her, wanting a distraction desperately.
“Wh… what?”
“Look.” Xena tipped her head downward.
The slave looked at the unexpected cluster of white blooms. She inhaled, then leaned forward and sniffed at them. “Oh.” Her voice softened. “Wow..those are pretty.” She almost whispered. “What are they for?” Her eyes lifted up and met Xena’s in innocent question.
Now it was Xena’s turn feel slightly short of breath. She experience an extremely odd sensation, as though her tongue were stuck to the roof of her mouth and she had to clear her throat before she could speak. “They’re for you.” She finally said.
The green eyes lowered again. “Me?”
“Yeah.”
Gabrielle reached out and folded her hands around the stems, tangling her fingers with Xena’s. She bent over and sniffed them again, then looked shyly up at the queen. “I don’t have to eat them, do I?”
That surprised a laugh out of Xena. “No.” She slid her free hand along Gabrielle’s neck, tilting her face up slightly. “And I really do want you to tell that story.” She added. “I want these people to hear it.”
“I don’t … know if I can.” Gabrielle uttered.
“You can.” The queen told her, with utter surety. “I’m the queen, and I said so. Remember I told you it’s all about me?”
Gabrielle nodded. “I remember.” She agreed. “All right. I’ll do my best.”
“Good girl.” Xena kissed her.
Mm. Gabrielle put a temporary lid on the butterflies, and enjoyed the kiss. She’d do her best, that was all she could do.
The scent of flowers drifted up around them.
**
Yet another pause, on yet another night, before yet another entrance into her grand ballroom. Xena stood in the shadows of the doorway’s arch, taking her usual time in observing the inside of the room before she allowed the guards to announce her presence.
She’d stood here many times, for many reasons.
This was the first time, though, that she wasn’t alone. Even when she’d taken lovers before, they’d always been sent ahead, to take their place as pretty ornaments near her throne.
This time, however, was different. Xena glanced to one side, where a quiet figure stood next to her watching the goings-on with curious eyes. Gabrielle was wearing the green dress Xena had picked out for her, it’s gently dipping neckline flattering her nicely. Around her neck, the girl was wearing a fragrant necklace made from the flower Xena had given her, strung neatly together by Gabrielle’s inventive hands.
She looked really pretty. Xena was happy. “Ready?” She asked, extending a hand out.
Gabrielle’s eyes widened a little, but she took it, and clasped her fingers around the queen’s. “No, but I don’t think that’s going to stop you, is it?”
“Heh… clever little muskrat.” Xena chuckled. “C’mon.” She stepped up to the entrance, and slapped the guard on the butt, nearly making him stab himself with his spear. “No sleeping.”
“Majesty.” The man squeaked. “I wasn’t!” He peered past his queen, spotting Gabrielle and blinking.
Gabrielle gave him a tentative, but hopeful smile. “Hi.”
“M’lady.”
Xena slapped him on the butt again. “Nope. Mine.” She jerked her jaw towards the room. “Get the screaming over with so I can go sit down preferably with my friend here on my lap.”
The guard seemed to realize his queen was in a good mood, because the admonition got more of a grin than a grimace, and he smiled as he turned towards the room again and banged the butt of his spear on the ground.
“M’lords and Ladies!” The guard boomed out. “All stand in awe for the entrance of her Majesty, Xena the Merciless!”
“In awe. I like that.” Xena complimented him, as she swept past with Gabrielle in amiable tow. She kept hold of the girl’s hand as they strutted past the bowing and scraping nobles. A glance behind her indicated she was probably giving her love slave an experience she wasn’t really craving, but Xena figured she’d better get used to it.
She clasped Gabrielle’s hand a little more firmly and slowed her pace, watching the girls’ shoulders straighten out of the corner of her eye as she found the bobbing heads focusing on both of them. After a moment, Gabrielle’s head turned slightly and she looked at the queen with mild apprehension.
Xena winked at her, and Gabrielle smiled. They walked up the marble steps together and Xena glanced approvingly at the meticulously set high table, it’s crystal and china gleaming in the candlelight. She circled the table and gracefully ducked her head in a nod as two of the liveried men moved her chair aside and bowed to her.
She then ignored them, guiding Gabrielle to the seat next to her, the favored seat – the one Bregos had coveted. “Siddown.” She uttered, as Gabrielle gave her a surprised look.
“Here?”
“I don’t have a lap yet. I’m standing. So yes.” The queen drawled. She waited for Gabrielle to nervously sit down, then, and only then did she slid into her place and settled onto her throne. A precedent, and she knew it. No one sat down before the queen.
After a brief, almost shocked silence, the crowd started to stir, taking their places in their appointed seats at the tables placed in a horseshoe shape with Xena at the very apex. Duke Lastay and his wife appeared, pacing slowly up the steps and bowing low to the queen before they took their place at Xena’s other side.
“Mistress.” Lastay rumbled, his eyes somberly twinkling. “Tis a beautiful night.”
“For you? I bet.” Xena grinned at him, glancing past him to give his wife a look. “Cat got your tongue?”
“We have no animals, Majesty.” The woman assured her in an earnest voice.
Gabrielle laughed softly, but not softly enough for Xena to miss it. The queen turned and met her slave’s eyes, her own rolling slightly. “It’s amazing she can think enough to breed.” She murmured under her breath.
The slave leaned on the chair arm closest to Xena and gazed up at her. “I don’t remember thinking a whole lot.” She advised the queen with a charmingly innocent smile.
Xena had been taking a sip from her wine glass, newly filled by the solicitous wine steward. She paused in mid swallow and turned her eyes on her companion. “Was that a sex joke?” She asked.
Gabrielle blushed.
“I’ll be damned.” Xena laughed. “You little Bacchae.”
“Problem, Majesty?” Lastay inquired, lifting his own glass and toasting her. “Daresay your little lady looks nothing like a Bacchae, Mistress. Horrible things, they are. My father had a tapestry commissioned that has two of them in it.”
“Really?” Xena touched her glass to his, peripherally aware of the eyes avidly watching them. She took another sip of her wine. “Didn’t know that was how he felt about your mother and her sister. I didn’t think they were that bad looking.”
Lastay gave her a surprised look, then he burst out laughing. “Good one, Mistress.” He admitted. “Asked for that, I did.”
Xena chuckled and leaned back, surveying the room with a sense of pleasure. The crowd had settled in to their first cups of wine, and the servants were bringing round silver platters full of appetizing tidbits. There was a sense of anticipation she could detect, but the usual pall of darkling gloom her presence often caused was missing.
People were looking over at her, but there was more curiosity in their eyes than hatred.
Novel. Xena noticed that they were also watching Gabrielle. She turned her head slightly to do the same, as one of the servers offered her little love slave a platter of interesting little bits of bread covered with things she was pretty damn sure Gabrielle had no clue about.
Gabrielle took a soft bit of pastry topped with a chopped fish and nibbled at it, her pale brows jerking up in surprised pleasure at the taste. She finished it, then explored her other choices, each time taking a very cautious bite before continuing.
It was cute. Xena found herself absorbed in watching, as she slowly drained her wine cup and held it out lazily as the wine man approached.
“Tis a new vintage, Majesty.” The man said, in his deep voice. “Does it please you?”
Xena examined the color, a rich burgundy, then sniffed it before she took a swallow. After a thoughtful pause, she nodded. “Nice.” She complimented him. “Sweet. I like it.” She indicated Gabrielle’s glass, and he filled it as well.
“Thank you, Majesty.” The man said. “Since you hadn’t asked for your usual bottles these last days, I’d thought you’d grown away from my grapes.” He added. “I am graced by the knowledge you still appreciate them.”
Xena watched him turn aside to fill Lastay’s glass and thought about what he’d just said as she slowly sipped the wine.
Had she slacked off? Or, more to the point, had it become so regular for her that… The queen frowned, and set her glass down, her brow creasing as she reviewed her recent past. Surely she hadn’t drank that much, had she?
“What’s wrong?” Gabrielle leaned closer, and whispered. “Everything okay?”
Had she. A curious smile crossed Xena’s face as she realized she had, indeed, been slowly increasing her consumption over the seasons. Something to take the edge off? “Just pondering the massive and unexpected changes you’ve made in my life.” She commented casually to Gabrielle. “Nothing serious. Drink up.” She indicated the glass on the table. “Good stuff.”
“Um.. okay.” Gabrielle sounded a touch breathless. She took up the wine and sampled it cautiously. “Wow. That is good.”
Xena gazed down at her, from shadowed blue eyes. “Does it taste better than I do?”
Caught with a mouthful of liquid, Gabrielle had very few choices and fortunately she picked swallowing instead of breathing. “Buh… uh… no.”
Дата добавления: 2015-09-29; просмотров: 30 | Нарушение авторских прав
| <== предыдущая лекция | | | следующая лекция ==> |