“Ah.” The queen wiggled her shoulders, supremely satisfied. “Likewise. So that explains that.” She lifted a hand. “Jellaus!!! Get over here and start playing.” Her attention turned back to Gabrielle. “Do you know how to dance?”
Both hands clutched around the cup, Gabrielle stared wide eyed at her. “No.”
“You will when I get done with you.” Xena gave her minstrel a pleasant grin, as his talented fingers started strumming the strings of his harp.
Gabrielle just sat there for a long moment, listening to the beauty of the music, and allowing her wildly jangled nerves to resettle themselves. The wine was very good, it had a light, fruity taste that seemed to get up inside her nose as she drank it and she used the excuse of doing just that to give her some time to get her head on straight.
It was like a dream. Here she was, sitting at the queen’s side, drinking wine and eating the gods only knew what as she listened to a royal minstrel play.
And she belonged here. That was the amazing thing. This spot, this chair was her place and Xena had made that quite clear to everyone else in the room.
Whoa. Gabrielle relaxed, just a little, wondering if she might possibly be able to sort of enjoy herself tonight. Everyone was in a good mood, even Xena, and she could sense a crowd here that was far less tense than she’d ever seen inside this room in her short tenure around the queen.
She looked up at Xena, watching the stern profile crease into a smile as the queen listened. Xena glanced over at her and their eyes met and her smile broadened, lighting up her expression and making her look a lot younger all of a sudden.
The smile made Gabrielle smile back and she felt a warm, euphoric feeling erupt deep inside her, making the room’s colors brighter and deepening the sense of pleasure she could now feel coming over her. It was an odd, bubbly feeling, and it woke old memories inside her, of a time long before when she and her sister would race around in the meadow, chasing the lambs and laughing.
Wow. Gabrielle impulsively lifted her glass to Xena’s and touched it, then she let it slide past and offered it up to the queen’s lips.
With an answering grin, the queen slid her arm through Gabrielle’s and tipped her cup to the smaller woman’s mouth.
They drank looking into each other’s souls.
And this, Gabrielle marveled, was what joy felt like.
Wow.
**
“Everyone enjoy their dinner?” Xena’s voice rose over the soft murmur of conversation, stilling it. “I did.” She didn’t wait, or frankly, really cared about an answer. “Now for the reason I threw this little party.” She observed all the eyes gluing themselves to her. “You’ve all been clamoring for me to name an heir, in case one of those little assassination plots succeeds one day and you don’t have to deal with me anymore.”
“Majesty… that is not how we feel.” One of the older dukes stood up.
“Oh, shut up and sit down.” Xena injected a chuckle just to let him know she wasn’t going to kill him. “I don’t’ give a damn about your feelings.” She waited for the low laughter to die down. “I decided to give you what you were asking for so you’d stop plotting to throw skanky dipwads into my bed.”
“Mistress.” Stanislaus had come to stand nearby, and now he fussed with his beard.
“We were only thinking of your happiness, Mistress.” The older duke spoke up again, unrepentantly.
Xena rolled her eyes. “I found my own happiness.” She remarked casually. “Thanks for trying. Don’t do it again.” She stood up and reached behind her throne, where she’d ordered her sword hung in it’s worn leather sheath. Laying her hand on it, she drew the blade out, it’s steel against hide whisper suddenly loud in the now silent room.
She walked out from behind her table and descended the steps, twirling the sword lazily. The weight of it felt good, and familiar, and the looks of widened apprehension that followed her were good and familiar too.
It wouldn’t do to let anyone get too comfortable, now would it? Xena stopped in the very center of the room and paused, letting the sword fall to rest on her shoulder. She looked around the room, assuring herself of every iota of attention before she spoke.
“You wanted an heir.” She said. “All right. You’ll get one. Lastay, get over here.”
Xena heard the indrawn breaths around her, and she smiled grimly as she kept her head straight forward and waited as Lastay twitched his natty silk cape into place and marched down to meet her. When he reached the spot she stood in he dropped to his knees almost gracefully and bowed his head.
“Majesty…. “ The elder Duke protested faintly. “May I speak?”
“Only if you want your tongue served on toast.” Xena replied pleasantly. “I hereby declare Duke Lastay my heir.” She spoke loudly, bringing her sword down and smacking him on one shoulder with it. “He gets the unlucky priveledge of being my successor, to rule this land for as long as he wants.” She smacked him on the other shoulder. “Or as long as he can, or until he runs screaming for the hills.” She laid the flat of the blade on the top of his head. “Good luck.”
Lastay lifted his head cautiously and looked up at her. “Thank you, Mistress.”
Xena removed the sword from his head and turned it, patting him on the face with the blade in an almost affectionate way. Then she settled it back on her shoulder and reached down to him, offering him a hand up.
He took it, and she pulled him to his feet. Standing he was not quite as tall as she was, but he at least had reasonably good proportions, and as she watched him, he straightened up, with a look halfway between resigned and proud.
Very appropriate, Xena thought.
Stanislaus pounded his staff against the floor. “All hail Prince Lastay!” He called out in a loud voice.
Xena sensed the hesitation in the air. “Or else.” She added, with a saucy twirl of her sword.
The room erupted in cheers. Xena winked at Lastay, then slapped him on the butt with her blade and pointed back to the table. “Send runners out.” She ordered Stanislaus. “I want this announcement posted in every damn town with enough wall to post it on.”
“Mistress, your wish is my will.” Stanislaus bowed low. “I will have the announcement made to all the land.”
Xena went to her seat, sheathing her sword before she resumed her place at Gabrielle’s side. Lastay lingered behind as the crowd clustered around him, offering their congratulations.
“Xena?” Gabrielle squirmed closer. “Some of those people really didn’t like your idea.”
“I know.” Xena told her, leaning on her chair arm and lowering her voice confidentially. “See, their plan was to get Bregos into my bed, get me pregnant, then after I popped out a kid and they figured me pretty much helpless, they’d kill me and hold Bregos under their thumb to run the army while they played regent for my kid.”
“Yerg.” Gabrielle made a face. “How terrible.. “
“Uh huh.”
“And that poor little baby… growing up with out it’s mother.”
Xena chuckled humorlessly. “He’d be better off.” She told her slave. “I have as many maternal instincts as Bregos had brain cells.” She lifted her hand and reached out to run her fingers through Gabrielle’s soft hair. “Are you ready to get up there and make me look good?”
Gabrielle bit her lip. “Um…” She took a deep breath. “Yes, I’m ready.”
Xena watched her face. “Scared?”
The slave nodded readily.
“Relax.” The queen advised her. “Even if you completely bomb, no one in this room’ll make a sound about it.” She ducked her head and indulged in a little kiss. “I’m in a good mood, but no one wants to push it.” Her tongue explored Gabrielle’s lips, tasting the sweetness of the wine on them.
She knew she was scandalizing the room. Deliberately, she pulled Gabrielle closer, aware of the deepening of the breathing between the lips meeting hers. She felt Gabrielle shift slightly, and nearly lost control of her own breathing when the slave’s hand touched her side, stroking her ribs slowly through the fabric of her gown.
Xena lifted her head and opened her eyes, finding Gabrielle’s green eyes, darkened with desire, inches from hers. The queen managed a smirk for her. “Hold on to that thought for later.” She whispered.
“Okay.” Gabrielle whispered back. “But I wish it was later already.”
A charming grin appeared on the queen’s face. “Me too.” She admitted. “G’wan and tell my story. Then we’ll show these highbrows how to dance dirty.”
Gabrielle looked at the crowd, then back at her. “Ooh.” She murmured. “I hope I can do this.”
“Tell the story, or dance with me?” Xena teased her.
“Yes.”
Xena laughed. She leaned back in her chair and reached out again to ruffle Gabrielle’s hair. “I told you… you’ll do just fine.” She reassured the girl. “So go on, and just do it.”
Gabrielle took another deep breath, placing her hands on the arms of her chair and pushing herself to her feet. “Here I go.” She eased out from behind her seat and pushed it back into place, then she walked behind Xena’s throne and headed out around the front of the table.
Stanislaus sidled over. “Is there a problem, Mistress?”
Xena rolled one blue eye towards him. “Did it look like there was a problem, Stanislaus?” She asked, in a seductive drawl.
To his credit, the man blushed. “No.. no, of course not, Mistress.. I just wondered if…ah.. your.. um..”
“Delicious little love slave? Yes?” Xena watched Gabrielle walk down the steps, appreciating the gentle swagger in her motion.
“Needed something, Mistress.” Stanislaus sighed. “I am sure not.”
The queen chuckled again. “Gabrielle is going to tell us all a story, Stanislaus. Announce her. I want everyone to shut up and listen.”
The seneschal nodded, turning and heading off towards the edge of the platform. He stopped after a few steps and turned around again, returning to Xena’s side. “Mistress, how shall I call her?”
Xena knew what he was asking. The trouble was, she didn’t know if she really knew the answer to that herself yet. “By her name.” She answered briefly. “It’s Gabrielle, in case you didn’t catch it.”
Stanislaus nodded and returned to his mission, marching around to the front of the high dais and rapping his staff on the ground for attention. “Hear ye, hear ye.”
Gabrielle had reached the center of the room and now she turned, startled, and looked at him. After a second, she glanced uncertainly up at Xena, as though seeking reassurance.
Aw. Xena gave her a thumbs up. The kid looked petrified, but she figured she’d be all right after she got started. At least she hoped so. She wanted to hear that damned story.
“Lords and ladies, our great Majesty, Xena the Merciless has graciously allowed you all to listen to a story of her choosing, told by her Majesties favorite, Gabrielle.”
Xena sorted through the words and decided not to kick Stanislaus for them. She settled comfortably back and folded her hands over her stomach, politely acknowledging the many flavors of stares in her direction.
After a moment, the crowd calmed down and turned their attention to Gabrielle, who, standing in the center of them appeared small, nervous, and a bit out of breath.
Come on. Xena tried to will her a bit of the excess bravado she always seemed to be carrying around with her. Do it!
She held her breath, as she watched Gabrielle’s hands clench into fists and then relax, and saw the shift of the girl’s jaw as she licked nervous lips.
A thought occurred to her – was it fair to ask her to do this? The kid was obviously out of her depth, and the last thing Xena wanted to do was to make her make a fool of herself in front of this roomful of prize jackasses.
No. Xena started to rise. She’d call it off, and get the kid off the hot seat. Was she nuts, to force her into something she wasn’t ready for just because Xena selfishly wanted it that way?
True, she was the queen, and it was her right to do that, but… Feeling confused, and a little angry Xena straightened up and stepped away from her throne.
A sound stopped her.
“There is a story I want to tell you.” Gabrielle’s voice rose up into the air, youthful yet firm, with only a trace of a tremor in it. “It is a story of daring and danger, of a ride in the darkness to right a wrong and restore freedom to one who had lost it.”
Xena slowly sat down.
“Listen to my story.”
Xena listened, not caring if anyone else did, as for the first time in her life she saw herself through the eyes of someone who saw her as something very special. She heard the wonder in Gabrielle’s voice, and drank in the details avidly, only barely resisting the urge to stop the girl and make her retell some of them.
I did that. She felt an almost childish glee. I broke into a castle and rescued a princess.
“And then, they snuck up the stairs, stealthy and silent, like shadows of vengeance they slipped through the halls.”
Gabrielle’s tone had taken on a richness and confidence now. Xena felt a smile appearing. She glanced to one side, and found Lastay’s wife watching her. For a moment, their eyes met, and instead of fear, Xena saw a quiet gratitude there.
That was different. The queen returned her attention to her slave, whose body was relaxing slightly as she brought her hands up and started to use them in time with her speech.
Adorable.
Finally she tore her eyes from Gabrielle’s face and looked around, seeing a crowd as absorbed in the story as she was. They liked it. She could tell. This was something new.
It was only much later that she realized that Gabrielle had, in fact, left out some details. But she’d already forgiven her for that.
Right now, she’d promised a dancing lesson.
She got up and clapped when the girl finished, and the entire room joined her, filling the room with sound as she went down the stairs to collect the flushed, and overwhelmed Gabrielle. As she reached her, the slave looked up, searching her face intently and smiling at whatever she found there. Xena felt an overwhelming impulse take over and she opened her arms, gathering Gabrielle up in a hug.
She felt completely out of control.
Gabrielle gave her a squeeze, and wriggled against her body, and Xena realized she didn’t care if she was out of control. All that mattered to her was contained in the circle of her arms.
It was terrifying.
She loved it.
**
Part 14
It was a beautiful night out, a perfectly black sky arching overhead exploding with stars that twinkled at them as they walked down the quiet stone path towards the queen's tower. It was cold, and the wind snapped the black and yellow banners on the walls with a satisfyingly crisp sound. Gabrielle took a deep breath, letting the chill wake her up a bit and chase the wine's vagueness from her thoughts.
Xena was strolling next to her, quiet for once and seemingly without the restless edginess usually present around her. It was late, long past the midnight, and they'd left the dining hall nearly the last to do so, instead of Xena's customary early retirement. "D'ja have fun?" The queen asked her younger companion casually.
Gabrielle grinned. "Yes." She admitted. "I didn't think telling that story would be like it turned out to be. It was cool." She tipped her head back and gathered in the stars, amazed as always at just how prolific they were. "Isn't that gorgeous?"
Xena studied her slave's face, her own creasing into a smile. She held out her hand, and clasped Gabrielle's as the slave extended it willingly, and they continued to walk unhurriedly on. It was such a nice contrast, the warmth of that grip in the cool of the night, and it matched the warm spot she could almost feel growing inside her. "I liked the story."
Gabrielle eyed her expectantly. "But?"
"But nothing." The queen responded. "What makes you think there was one?"
"Oh, well." The slave murmured. "I mean, you usually don't just.. um... like something and not not like other things."
Xena's eyes flickered to Gabrielle's face and stuck there. "Are you drunk?" She asked, half teasingly, pulling Gabrielle to a halt and cupping her face with her free hand. "I didn't think you had that much, did ja?"
Gabrielle's eyes, soft and loving in the moonlight touched on her like the softest down. "I… don't know." She said. "I feel kinda dizzy." Her fingers stroked the skin on Xena's arm. "But I usually do around you anyway."
"Yeah?" Xena admired the curve of the girls' cheek, which held still a touch of youthful softness.
"Yeah." Gabrielle uttered softly. "It's amazing… I look at you, and I feel like…" She inhaled. "I feel like floating."
The queen regarded her with bemusement. "Floating?" She stepped closer, laying her forearms on Gabrielle's shoulders and lacing her fingers behind the girl's head. "I don't want you floating off. I want you right here, on the ground, with me. Understand?"
Gabrielle laid her cheek along Xena's arm. "I think I do understand." She let her hands rest on the queen's waist and smiled. "I love you."
Xena's eyebrows twitched, and a rakish grin appeared on her face. It took years off her appearance and Gabrielle found it charming in the extreme. The long night of food and wine had made her a little foggy, but her perceptions sharpened as the queen leaned closer and their bodies brushed against each other. It felt warm, and very nice, and Gabrielle closed her eyes as Xena's lips touched hers.
They tasted wonderful. Gabrielle opened her mouth a little, and felt the queen's tongue lightly exploring, entering her and teasing gently as her thumbs traced lightly over Gabrielle's jawline. A gust of wind tangled their hair together, tickling their noses with the touch of pitch smoke from the nearby torches on the wall.
How long they stood there, kissing in the moonlight was hard to say. Gabrielle was aware of the cold wind circling around her, but the chill made no purchase against the heat she could feel stirring between them as their bodies touched, and pressed against each other, bellies molding together tightly enough for them to have to breathe in the same rhythm.
Xena finally lifted her head back a trifle, her breath warming the skin around Gabrielle's mouth as she gazed lazily at her slave. "Know what?"
Gabrielle's eyes slowly drifted open. "What?"
"I think we'd better keep walking or you're gonna end up on your butt in the dirt while I live up to my very… very…" Xena kissed her lightly on the lips. "Lusty reputation."
"Oh." Gabrielle's fingers traced a line down the queen's side. "I think that nice, soft bed would be nicer."
"My point." Xena bumped her in the direction of the tower. "C'mon." She draped her arm around Gabrielle's shoulders and they started moving again. The guards near the wall stared straight ahead as they passed, moving not one muscle as the two lovers walked by. "Know what part of that story I liked the best?." Xena remarked placidly as they reached the tower door, and the guard swept it open for them.
"The part where you save the princess?" Gabrielle inquired.
"Nah." The queen chuckled softly. "The part where those stupid bastards walked right by us on the stairs." She said, as they walked up the wide, circular steps. "I laughed." She added. "I could see the whole thing again, and I laughed my head off."
Gabrielle's nose wrinkled up a little. "I bet those guys wouldn't think it was funny." She said. "They'd feel pretty stupid."
"Exactly why it made me laugh." The queen cheerfully informed her. "What a bunch of morons." She laughed, as they reached the top of the steps and crossed the round, spacious chamber towards her quarters. The two guards outside her door braced and saluted, bowing low before they opened the door for them and stood back. "Thanks." Xena said. "Now get out of here. I don't want anyone hearing the noises my little muskrat here makes when I ravage her. Scoot."
The two guards bolted, clattering down the back steps that lead to the kitchen without so much as a backward glance.
"Heh." Xena waited until she heard the lower door close, and the heavy scrape and bang of the bolt move into place. She glanced around the circular rotunda, her eyes flicking over the hanging tapestries and the darkened niche in the wall that had once held Gabrielle's meager space.
Then she turned and entered her private domain, shutting the door behind her and throwing it's lock, on the inside. When she finished, she looked up towards the inner entrance, where Gabrielle was waiting for her outlined in warm candlelight.
Soft echoes of sound far off distracted her, and she cocked her head to listen, but her ears only picked up the soft patter of boots and the thud of the lower door shutting. Ah. The queen dismissed the rest of the castle and concentrated on Gabrielle instead.
They walked together through the outer chamber and into the inner. Xena closed the door behind them, glancing around to find the room neatly lit by fresh candles, and a basin of clean water waiting with delicate petals floating in it. The queen selected one experimentally and examined it, giving Gabrielle an inquiring look. "Did you sneak out of the hall tonight and do this? I must have had more wine than I thought."
Gabrielle walked over and peered at the water, resting her chin on Xena's forearm. "Wasn't me, no." She said. "You think it was Stanislaus?"
Xena snorted. "He's about as romantic as a bucket of loose horse dung. No." She looked around more carefully, spotting a decanter and two crystal glasses near the bed. "Ah hah."
Gabrielle followed her over to it. "What's that?"
The queen removed the top from the decanter and sniffed it. "Ahmmm...." Her voice descended into a rich warble. "Something I dearly love, and very, very seldom indulge in." She picked up a small piece of parchment next to the decanter and unfolded it, chuckling a little as she read the words. "It's from Jellaus, the old horny bastard."
Gabrielle peeked at the parchment. "Sweet nectar for the hawk, and her little mouse." The slave took a step back and put her hands on her hips, looking down at herself and then back at Xena. "You know, I'm really not that small."
Xena folded the bit of writing and tucked it under the tray. "Y'know, I once told him I'd tossed my heart in the dungeon and thrown away the key." She said. "He must be getting a jolly from all this." Her eyes remained on the tray, and her voice had softened. "Damn him."
Gabrielle moved closer and circled the queen's arm with both hands, leaning her head against her shoulder. "I like him."
"You would." Xena's lips twitched. "He likes you almost as much as he likes tweaking me about you." She lifted the bottle and poured a bit of liquid into each of the two glasses. It was a deep amber color, and it picked up the candlelight as she handed Gabrielle one, revealing a hint of mahogany and crimson in it's depths. "Go on, taste it."
Gabrielle cautiously raised the glass to her lips, pausing as the liquor tickled her nose with unfamiliar scents. She took a sip and blinked as the intense flavor that set her tongue tingling almost immediately. "Wow."
Xena watched her, swirling her glass a few times before she took her own sip. Then her eyes closed, as the flavor brought back bittersweet memories and a vision of her brother's face formed inside them.
The last night she'd seen him alive, they'd shared some of this. Lyceus had discovered a cache of it deep inside the castle bowels, hidden away for at least a generation before the man she'd deposed had ever come to live here.
He'd been so proud of himself, bringing it to her. They'd sat on the floor in front of the fire and drank from the same glass and laughed together about how far two dirt poor innkeeper's brats had come.
He'd grown into a fine warrior. Xena remembered sadly. Just not good enough to survive the treachery of the masses intent on destroying her.
"Xena?"
The queen opened her eyes, taking in the sight of yet another bright point in her life sitting under that same cloud. "Yes?"
"What's in this? It tastes like velvet feels."
Xena let the memories fade, and examined the cup instead. "Beats me." She admitted. "Every time I drink it, I think it's something else. Flowers. Orange. Mushrooms… what do you think it is?" She sat down on the bed and patted the surface next to her. When Gabrielle settled onto it, she wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and waited for the answer.
Gabrielle tasted another sip, mouthing it curiously before she swallowed. After a moment's reflection, she looked up at Xena. "Passion."
Both of the queen's eyebrows lifted sharply.
"No… um…" The slave blushed slightly. "Not that... I... ahem." She cleared her throat. "What I meant is, whoever made this, put a lot of effort and love into it."
"Ahhh." Xena finished her glass, examining the thin, honey colored residue left on the sides. "So you can taste that, eh?" She replied, in a soft voice. "To me, it just tastes like fruit."
Gabrielle set her glass down and stood, sliding her knee between the queen's and daringly, gently, taking Xena's face in her hands. With slow deliberation, as they stared at each other, Gabrielle leaned forward and touched Xena's lips with her own as she concentrated on the depth of what she felt inside her.
After a moment she pulled back, finding eyes darkened almost to indigo watching her. "Taste it now?"
A seductive twinkle appeared. Xena licked her lips, leaving the tip of her tongue protruding slightly from between her teeth. "Eeeehhh..... getting closer. Do that again." She purred.
Gabrielle complied, inhaling a little as she felt Xena's hands exploring her body, undoing the laces on the dress she was wearing. The kiss became more intense, and suddenly she felt herself lifted slightly as Xena closed her arms around her and the room rotated as the queen laid down on her back pulling Gabrielle on top of her.
They took a brief pause to breathe, and Xena chuckled. "Now I taste it." She cupped Gabrielle's breast teasingly. "Let's see what other flavors I can find."
Gabrielle closed her teeth on the laces keeping the queen's bodice closed and tugged on them, as she wondered what new sensations they'd discover together tonight.
It seemed, at the moment, to be the perfect end to a very nearly perfect day.
**
She lay in the dark, only the dim starlight entering the window keeping the room from total blackness. It was very late, and Xena knew if she lay there for just a while longer she'd start to see the faintest hints of the coming dawn in the sky.
It couldn't come slowly enough for her. Xena exhaled slightly, soaking in the peace and listening to the sound of Gabrielle's breathing nearby. The slave was snuggled up close to her, their naked bodies pressed against each other in the warmth of the bed.
Most of her life she'd been alone, the queen mused. She'd liked it like that. No one to bother her, no one she had to be responsible for... if she wanted to take off her clothes and dance naked on the bed, no one to stare at her like she'd gone crazy... it'd been nice, and relaxed, and very comfortable.
So how come Gabrielle's constant presence had become such a natural part of her life so quickly? Xena glanced down as she felt the slave stir in her sleep, moving closer and, as the queen's eyebrows lifted, sliding a possessive arm over her and snuggling her head into the hollow of Xena's shoulder.
"Hey." Xena frowned. "Xena the Merciless is NOT a pillow."
Deeply asleep, Gabrielle merely murmured happily, giving Xena a squeeze across the middle before relaxing bonelessly against her.
Xena regarded her with deep perplexity. Then she merely shook her head and wrapped her arm around Gabrielle's back, one fingertip tracing the faint line of hairs down the center of her spine. Love, she decided, really did unspeakable things to you.
It made you stupid in some areas. Like personal dignity. Her eyes traced the barely seen outline of Gabrielle's head. And like personal space.
But she also knew that in her life, there had been very few times when she'd really been able to consider herself to be happy, and this was one of those times. Gabrielle was the cause. Being in love was the cause. Xena allowed a smile to cross her face. Being loved in return was amazing.
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