A Hopeful Bard (4/?)
Title: A Hopeful Bard (4/?)
Rating: R
Status: In Progress
Author: maggiemerc
Characters/Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle, Conqueror fic
Disclaimer: Do not own them. The only profit I seek is an ego boost from good feedback.
Summary: The Conqueror (though she'd really prefer you call her the Empress) meets the Playwright (a title she's totally fine with). There's some verbal sparring. Some physical sparring. Some gods. Some emperors. Maybe some ribald comedy.
Author's Notes: Oops. Got caught up watching the entirety of The Good Wife.
The garrison seemed to be in good repair, and was busy despite the late hour. She saw the torch light long before she crested the last hill. The soldiers manning the garrison were well trained. They saw the armor, saw the color of the men behind her wore and quickly called for the gate to open. There was no call for identity.
Talmadeus had most certainly been expecting her.
The man himself, big with bushy red hair streaked with gray, was waiting for her as her group rode into the center of the garrison. Sleepy eyed boys hurried to take the reign of her horse as she dismounted.
Talmadeus had the good grace not to grovel at the sight of his Empress riding into his garrison in the middle of the night. He certainly knew her visit wasn’t social. That there was trouble a foot. He bowed and spoke in a gravely voice with a hint of an accent. “Empress.”
If she remembered correctly Talmadeus tended to be wordy. He wasn’t this time. He looked up and his watery eyes caught her own. As with Gabrielle after dinner Xena found herself faced with a person who knew exactly what they’d done, and who didn’t appear to have the slightest bit of regret. It was almost refreshing after all the political toadies she was forced to deal with in Corinth.
“Inside,” she growled. She didn’t pause to acknowledge his lieutenant who was standing there oblivious, meaty hand extended in greeting. As if she’d greet a mere lieutenant with a handshake.
Talmadeus followed her. Behind them both she heard her own guard dismounting and following.
She’d only been to the garrison twice, but it was like many of the garrisons that she had sprinkled across her lands and she found the commander’s office easily enough. She held the door open for Talmadeus then slammed it shut in Draco’s face.
She turned around to watch Talmadeus. He was like a rat, caught out by a cat. “Empress,” he croaked out.
Xena stood perfectly still, her temper had wained a bit after leaving the governor’s palace, but standing here, staring at a man she trusted and watching his chastised expression she felt the anger coming back full forth.
She spoke with the smooth dulcet tones that had confused many a warlord, “Hello Talmadeus. You’ve been,” she paused, for effect, “busy.”
“Yes Empress. Expressing your will to the people.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Of course.”
“No help?”
He almost looked offended, “what are you suggesting.”
“I went to the governor’s palace. As no governor has been appointed I expected to find it empty. It wasn’t Talmadeus.”
“Philemon’s wife.”
“Yes Talmadeus.” She could tell her repeated use of his name was getting to him. She felt her grin widen.
“I didn’t…I didn’t have the heart to cast her out. With a child…”
“And her husband’s pension she would have been fine. You kept her around for your own purposes. Didn’t you Talmadeus?”
He seemed to realize ignorance and politeness wouldn’t help him. He gave her a knowing grin. “She’s very beautiful Empress.”
The idea of his sweaty, wrinkly old hide writhing of the playwright made Xena nauseous for all the wrong reasons. She curled her hands into fists to restrain herself. Talmadeus didn’t notice.
Her smile was set on her face as though it’d been cast from stone. Her jaw was so clenched she could feel the muscles ache. Through gritted teeth, “That’s not the only reason is it?”
“She’s clever enough, and she was popular. Politically it was sound.”
She crept closer, and the fool didn’t even notice her movements, “Maybe. Certain it wasn’t because it was easier to pawn off your duties onto some unknown civilian?”
There. A flare of anger in his eyes. “Empress,” he growled. She wanted him angry. Wanted it to be smooth and easy. Wanted him to attack so she could jam her fingers into the bulging veins of his neck and watch him collapse and gasp like a fish removed from water. Her veins hummed with anticipation.
“What’s the matter, upset I found out?”
She could see it in him, the anger. No doubt mad that a younger, craftier warlord now commanded him. Jealousy. Bitterness. She could smell it on him. But those watery eyes stilled. The bastard found some inner strength or something. “I follow only the edict you so often preached in the later campaigns. For the greater good Empress.” It came out too smug. She didn’t want to jam her fingers into his neck any longer. She wanted to take off his head. Her arms were at her side and she could feel the cool touch of her chakram against her right forearm. He was close, maybe too close. But it’d be fun to try.
“How exactly is she for the greater good?”
“As I said, she’s clever. Wise almost. The people like her well enough and she handles the politics with aplomb.”
He was right. She was good. Which left the question, “So why do I still need you?”
The smugness slipped, “Empress?”
Watching the realization dawn was as good as any orgasm she’d had in the last month. The disappointment, the shock, she almost wanted to close her eyes so that she could watch the moment again and again in her mind’s eye. Instead, “you’re released from duties Talmadeus. Effective immediately. I want you back in Corinth by the week’s end.”
She turned to leave. How amusing it had all turned. She felt a strong hand grip her arm. The second time someone had taken liberties with her person that night. Only Talmadeus wasn’t nearly as pretty. She spun around, begging him to make an attempt, to let his own anger get the better of him. “Isn’t this what you want Talmadeus,” she urged, “All for the greater good. Leave the wise Gabrielle to manage Apollonia.”
“She needs me. Apollonia needs me.”
“You’re just a name, as you’ve already told me, she’s the real brain of this operation.”
“You can’t.”
She surged forward, “What? What can’t I do?”
She wanted to revel in that fury in his eyes. Delight in the pain she’d caused him with nothing but words. “She’s not a soldier, she can’t manage the garrison.”
“Your lieutenant, Palaemon, I guess he’s getting a promotion.” She reached up and patted her hand against his cheek, “Get some rest Talmadeus. It’s a long ride to Corinth.”
#
Gabrielle didn’t sleep. She made a few attempts. Laid out on her bed and closed her eyes and tried to clear her head, but nothing came of it. So she got out of bed, put on a dress that would hold up nicely in a dungeon and paced her office. Sometimes she’d stop pacing and look out the window towards the garrison. She hoped Talmadeus had better luck with Xena then she’d had.
Xena. Stupid, awful, terrible empress. She’d picked at Gabrielle’s ego. It had only been a little pick, not even a scratch, and Gabrielle had gone off. She cupped her head in her hands. Idiot. She was an idiot. She’d gone and told the most powerful woman in the world that she was a terrible ruler.
She wasn’t an oracle despite some claims she’d made a few times in her youth, but she could clearly see her future now. Guards would come for her and take her to a dungeon. Maybe the one at the garrison, or the jail in Apollonia. They’d beat her and laugh at her then string her up on some cross or post and let the birds and elements sort her out. Though…hadn’t Xena said crucifixion was no longer allowed? So she’d be hanged. Or decapitated. Whatever would leave a more unpleasant looking corpse.
Such an idiot.
Even dumber because now she had the chance to run. The Empress had left. Taken her Imperial Guard with her. The few soldiers who usually manned the gate at Gabrielle’s home were still down at their posts. She could take Eve, climb over the wall and make a break for a future with a less torturous execution.
But she didn’t. She just kept pacing.
Then her eye caught some paperwork she’d laid aside.
So the Empress wanted to kill her? Wanted to punish her for allegedly usurping a position that wasn’t rightfully hers? Whatever happened to her roads still had to be built, orphanages funded, docks maintained. Apollonia had to continue to function.
She sat down at her desk and buried herself in her work. If someone had asked why: why she didn't run or why she didn’t spend those hours watching Eve sleep she would have claimed it was because she wanted to be remembered as an altruistic and noble woman, working for the people until the bitter end. Really she just had a feeling. The guards hadn’t tried to arrest her when Xena left and though her creative mind was quick to imagine dozens of painful punishments the rational part of her suspected that she’d just be removed from the premises. She didn’t watch her daughter sleep and consider her fate because she suspected the Empress didn’t actually want to kill her. The threat had been made, but a decisive a woman as Xena would have followed through immediately if she’d meant it.
And Gabrielle liked to think of herself as a clever leader. Were she in Xena’s position she’d have a hell of a time sorting it out without losing face. Killing off Gabrielle, a very public and well liked figure, would be political suicide-even for the Empress of half the known world.
#
Xena didn’t sleep that night. She’d thought about it a few times, but dismissed the idea quickly. The garrison was hers and the men, ostensibly, loyal to her. Didn’t mean she trusted them. She’d just kicked their leader out and she hadn’t spent enough time in the garrison yet to ascertain just how liked Talmadeus was.
Yet another mistake she’d made since arriving in Apollonia.
Mistakes. That’s all she’d been making. She should have sent Marcus but curiosity drove her to come herself. She should have killed the woman as soon as she saw her, but again curiosity stilled her hand. And she should have taken time when dismissing Talmadeus. Images of that woman, of the prosperous Apollonious-they’d filled her head and encouraged her to sack the man as soon as he’d opened his mouth.
It was a woman. Xena was never moved by love or lust. She’d learned with Borias that emotions could destroy her. Now this woman had gone and reminded her. Brought up all these feelings that couldn’t simply be explained away with the excuse of “curiosity.”
She liked the woman. Liked how she raised her daughter all on her own and played with the child and got dirty with her. How she was smart enough to manipulate Talmadeus. Clever enough to run all of Apollonious. She liked how soft her skin looked and how blond her hair was. And how the kohl was so expertly applied around those sparkling eyes.
Xena had a crush.
Xena didn’t have crushes. She saw and she conquered. That was all.
But no, this one time, in all her years, she had to have a crush and had to cock up a very simple expedition and had to be stuck all by her lonesome and try and sort it out.
Damn it all to Tartarus.
#
They left the garrison just as the sun was rising up over the hills to the east. It shown on their backs all the way back to the palace. Made her guards sweaty beneath armor they’d been forced to wear nearly twenty four hours straight. Xena had changed clothes, but even she felt a little fatigue nipping at her senses.
Once again, red-cloaked guards opened the gates and bowed. Once more the wiry seneschal stood at the base of the stairs waiting for them.
“Where is she,” she growled.
He guided her through the palace, and was wise enough not to speak.
They stopped at a door far from where the bed chambers were. He knocked once, heavily, on the wood of the door, and then opened it. She stepped through into a brightly lit office. A fire, built sometime in the night, was now only embers. It idly popped and sizzled.
Gabrielle, still dressed in her gown from dinner, sat at a desk covered in papers and scrolls. The kohl had smudged all around her eyes and her bangs stuck straight up and out giving her the appearance of a rather startled raccoon.
She looked up wearily and her sea green eyes widened at the sight of her Empress so early in the morning. She stood suddenly.
“Empress…”
“Save it.” She pushed herself across the room and towards the smaller woman. A breeze swept through the room. Her purple robes shivered.
Gabrielle sat back down in her chair. She sighed heavily, as if she were Atlas just given a respite. But she still watched Xena with those captivating eyes. It was just like the gaze of all-seeing Helios. Hot and without end.
Xena chose not to sit. She’d been sitting or riding for what felt like days. She needed to stand, and standing made her tower over the other woman. Gave her a sense of power she suspected she could never have with regards to the playwright.
“I’ve just come from the garrison,” she said. Gabrielle looked away. Nodded. Was she preparing for news? Waiting to hear of the promotion she surely knew she now had? “Talmadeus has been relieved of command. He’ll return to Corinth in a few days time.”
Those eyes looked up at her in surprise. Had she not expected it? She continued, “You’ve done such a good job, I expect you to do even better now that it’s your own name’s on the line.” She continued to stare. “I need people like you.” Who questioned authority and caused Xena trouble. Sure. “I need people who will still my hand. Question me.” Liar. “Who will help me protect this nation, even if it means calling me out.” Big fat liar who’s only giving the goddess a job for- “I need you, Gabrielle of Apollonia.”
“I called you an idiot.”
“Something I hope you’ll refrain from in the future.”
“You’re not going to kill me?” Had she misjudged the woman? Given her too much credit?
“Not today.”
Irritation took hold. Gripping the smaller woman’s feature and turning her look sour. “You were planning this when you left last night?”
“I was.”
“You threatened me with crucifixion.”
“We outlawed it months ago.”
“Threatened to make my daughter an orphan.”
Oh right. “I needed to see that temper flare. Your response was a good example of your character.” Nice save Empress of the known world.
Gabrielle stood. Ran tanned hands through her hair. Those bangs of hers stuck up even further. “I spent the entire night waiting. Waiting for you to come and kill me.”
She had misjudged her. “You struck me as clever. I thought you knew it was a joke.” Something like a smile was on Xena’s face, but it was sinister. Almost angry. Disappointed.
Gabrielle regarded her again. Opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. She turned away to look out the window. Xena followed her gaze. It was the same view as from the dining room. Hills and stones and at the edges of sight the sea. Gabrielle didn’t turn back when she spoke. Maybe it was safer for her to stare at rocks. “I’m no one.”
“Not what they say in Athens. Or Corinth.”
She laughed. It was bitter sounding. Made the younger woman sound too old. “A playwright. The people I host here have more talent. I’ve just had fortune.” She took a breath. Turned. Held Xena’s gaze. So few people looked her in the eyes. And never were they as honest as Gabrielle. “Why should I have thought it was a joke? When I am only here by luck?”
Xena wanted to come around the desk and take the smaller woman in her arms. And it wasn’t desire that tried to move her feet. But compassion. Something she usually kept chained up deep inside.
She settled on soft words instead of a softer touch. Her tone would have been out of place in public. Even Marcus would have raised a brow at it. “I’m sorry.” Xena never apologized. More words escaped her.
“And Talmadeus? He was the smart one. He was the one using available resources to help the people. He was the one who gave me kindness when I deserved none.”
And then Xena found herself around the desk and standing before Gabrielle. Her feet had carried her without her conscious self knowing. She wanted to touch the woman still. Take her by the chin and force her to look at Xena. She didn’t. Gabrielle struck her as someone who didn’t like to be touched.
“Gabrielle,” words would have to do what hands could not. The woman finally raised her head. “You’ve mistaken kindness for altruism. It’s easy with someone as clever as Talmadeus.” Her voice took on the flinty quality of command, “but don’t do it again.”
“And are you not doing the same? Misjudging my purpose?”
She looked down at the surface of the desk. It was covered in scrolls and papers. A knife to sharpen quills rested by the ink pot. Gabrielle had one hand on on a scroll and she could see the nails of it stained black with ink. She looked back at the woman. “You thought I’d come here to kill you and yet I find you calmly at your desk governing a province. It’s a rare person that would do such a thing.”
“Only the best. Or the nastiest. How can you be so sure I’m the former?”
She didn’t give a damn. That look on Gabrielle’s face. How she cocked her head when she leveled her question. She was beautiful. Xena ignored all reason and logic and leaned in. A kiss? Simple closeness? She wasn’t even sure what she wanted. Wasn’t sure of consequences. Just certain she needed it.
Gabrielle reflexively leaned back and away.
Most people would have suffered through the beat. Realized how awkward things would and could be. Let Gabrielle see that she’d gone in for a kiss. But Xena was quick, she covered it with words as she moved closer still. Not to lips that beckoned her, but to the beautiful ear that flushed with Xena’s proximity. “You begged.”
She pulled back and found Gabrielle’s face awash with confusion.
“Your daughter. Your family. Talmadeus. You begged for their lives when you thought yours was to be taken. The nasty would beg only for themselves.”
“If you trust me Xena, you’re a fool.” It was almost a whisper from the writer’s lips.
Xena smiled, “Words like that only make me more trusting.” She reached out. She’d been denied a kiss, and any touch really, she would not be denied this. Her hand was fast. She’d noticed with Gabrielle all her movements had to be quicker. The little playwright was deceptively fast herself. Xena enjoyed the feeling of the writer’s cheek against her palm. The look of confusion in the writer’s eyes though? That only served to illuminate Xena’s own. She pushed it back. It could wait until she was alone on her boat.
“I need honesty Gabrielle. You’re the first I’ve found in many years to give me that.”
Gabrielle, a woman Xena knew to be loquacious, was silent. Her eyes were calm and focused and her lips pressed together tightly. A cipher was Xena’s new governor.
“I should go. I’ve made Palaemon the new leader of the garrison. You know him?”
“I do.”
“Good. Work with him. Continue to make this province great. Next month my governors will attend me in Corinth. I look forward to your presence.”
A flash of something. Irritation. Gabrielle did not like commands, even those guised as invitations. But she bowed anyways. “It will be my honor Empress.”
She already missed the way the other woman said her name. She walked away and refused to look back. Draco was silent too. It would be a short ride to the docks. Energy, both violent and sexual, coiled in the pit of Xena. A short ride to the docks and a long trip via boat would have her in a foul mood by the next day.
“Draco.” He road up next to her.
“Empress?”
“Send a man down to the docks. Have them meet us in Orikos.”
He looked puzzled, “Empress?”
If she heard her title one more time she’d slaughter her entire guard with a fling of her chakram. “The horses need a good ride, as do I. Now send the man!”
He nodded and a purple cloaked guard rode away at break neck speed. She and the other men turned south towards Orikos. She looked back briefly and was surprised to see her newest governor watching her from her office.
The ride would do her good, because her actions since arriving in Apollonia were awfully idiotic. That silly writer with those gorgeous eyes and that funny way of talking in a throaty whisper was trying to kill her with nothing more then her own nature.
She spurred her horse and let the wind and well maintained roads take her south.
Rating: R
Status: In Progress
Author: maggiemerc
Characters/Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle, Conqueror fic
Disclaimer: Do not own them. The only profit I seek is an ego boost from good feedback.
Summary: The Conqueror (though she'd really prefer you call her the Empress) meets the Playwright (a title she's totally fine with). There's some verbal sparring. Some physical sparring. Some gods. Some emperors. Maybe some ribald comedy.
Author's Notes: Oops. Got caught up watching the entirety of The Good Wife.
The garrison seemed to be in good repair, and was busy despite the late hour. She saw the torch light long before she crested the last hill. The soldiers manning the garrison were well trained. They saw the armor, saw the color of the men behind her wore and quickly called for the gate to open. There was no call for identity.
Talmadeus had most certainly been expecting her.
The man himself, big with bushy red hair streaked with gray, was waiting for her as her group rode into the center of the garrison. Sleepy eyed boys hurried to take the reign of her horse as she dismounted.
Talmadeus had the good grace not to grovel at the sight of his Empress riding into his garrison in the middle of the night. He certainly knew her visit wasn’t social. That there was trouble a foot. He bowed and spoke in a gravely voice with a hint of an accent. “Empress.”
If she remembered correctly Talmadeus tended to be wordy. He wasn’t this time. He looked up and his watery eyes caught her own. As with Gabrielle after dinner Xena found herself faced with a person who knew exactly what they’d done, and who didn’t appear to have the slightest bit of regret. It was almost refreshing after all the political toadies she was forced to deal with in Corinth.
“Inside,” she growled. She didn’t pause to acknowledge his lieutenant who was standing there oblivious, meaty hand extended in greeting. As if she’d greet a mere lieutenant with a handshake.
Talmadeus followed her. Behind them both she heard her own guard dismounting and following.
She’d only been to the garrison twice, but it was like many of the garrisons that she had sprinkled across her lands and she found the commander’s office easily enough. She held the door open for Talmadeus then slammed it shut in Draco’s face.
She turned around to watch Talmadeus. He was like a rat, caught out by a cat. “Empress,” he croaked out.
Xena stood perfectly still, her temper had wained a bit after leaving the governor’s palace, but standing here, staring at a man she trusted and watching his chastised expression she felt the anger coming back full forth.
She spoke with the smooth dulcet tones that had confused many a warlord, “Hello Talmadeus. You’ve been,” she paused, for effect, “busy.”
“Yes Empress. Expressing your will to the people.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Of course.”
“No help?”
He almost looked offended, “what are you suggesting.”
“I went to the governor’s palace. As no governor has been appointed I expected to find it empty. It wasn’t Talmadeus.”
“Philemon’s wife.”
“Yes Talmadeus.” She could tell her repeated use of his name was getting to him. She felt her grin widen.
“I didn’t…I didn’t have the heart to cast her out. With a child…”
“And her husband’s pension she would have been fine. You kept her around for your own purposes. Didn’t you Talmadeus?”
He seemed to realize ignorance and politeness wouldn’t help him. He gave her a knowing grin. “She’s very beautiful Empress.”
The idea of his sweaty, wrinkly old hide writhing of the playwright made Xena nauseous for all the wrong reasons. She curled her hands into fists to restrain herself. Talmadeus didn’t notice.
Her smile was set on her face as though it’d been cast from stone. Her jaw was so clenched she could feel the muscles ache. Through gritted teeth, “That’s not the only reason is it?”
“She’s clever enough, and she was popular. Politically it was sound.”
She crept closer, and the fool didn’t even notice her movements, “Maybe. Certain it wasn’t because it was easier to pawn off your duties onto some unknown civilian?”
There. A flare of anger in his eyes. “Empress,” he growled. She wanted him angry. Wanted it to be smooth and easy. Wanted him to attack so she could jam her fingers into the bulging veins of his neck and watch him collapse and gasp like a fish removed from water. Her veins hummed with anticipation.
“What’s the matter, upset I found out?”
She could see it in him, the anger. No doubt mad that a younger, craftier warlord now commanded him. Jealousy. Bitterness. She could smell it on him. But those watery eyes stilled. The bastard found some inner strength or something. “I follow only the edict you so often preached in the later campaigns. For the greater good Empress.” It came out too smug. She didn’t want to jam her fingers into his neck any longer. She wanted to take off his head. Her arms were at her side and she could feel the cool touch of her chakram against her right forearm. He was close, maybe too close. But it’d be fun to try.
“How exactly is she for the greater good?”
“As I said, she’s clever. Wise almost. The people like her well enough and she handles the politics with aplomb.”
He was right. She was good. Which left the question, “So why do I still need you?”
The smugness slipped, “Empress?”
Watching the realization dawn was as good as any orgasm she’d had in the last month. The disappointment, the shock, she almost wanted to close her eyes so that she could watch the moment again and again in her mind’s eye. Instead, “you’re released from duties Talmadeus. Effective immediately. I want you back in Corinth by the week’s end.”
She turned to leave. How amusing it had all turned. She felt a strong hand grip her arm. The second time someone had taken liberties with her person that night. Only Talmadeus wasn’t nearly as pretty. She spun around, begging him to make an attempt, to let his own anger get the better of him. “Isn’t this what you want Talmadeus,” she urged, “All for the greater good. Leave the wise Gabrielle to manage Apollonia.”
“She needs me. Apollonia needs me.”
“You’re just a name, as you’ve already told me, she’s the real brain of this operation.”
“You can’t.”
She surged forward, “What? What can’t I do?”
She wanted to revel in that fury in his eyes. Delight in the pain she’d caused him with nothing but words. “She’s not a soldier, she can’t manage the garrison.”
“Your lieutenant, Palaemon, I guess he’s getting a promotion.” She reached up and patted her hand against his cheek, “Get some rest Talmadeus. It’s a long ride to Corinth.”
#
Gabrielle didn’t sleep. She made a few attempts. Laid out on her bed and closed her eyes and tried to clear her head, but nothing came of it. So she got out of bed, put on a dress that would hold up nicely in a dungeon and paced her office. Sometimes she’d stop pacing and look out the window towards the garrison. She hoped Talmadeus had better luck with Xena then she’d had.
Xena. Stupid, awful, terrible empress. She’d picked at Gabrielle’s ego. It had only been a little pick, not even a scratch, and Gabrielle had gone off. She cupped her head in her hands. Idiot. She was an idiot. She’d gone and told the most powerful woman in the world that she was a terrible ruler.
She wasn’t an oracle despite some claims she’d made a few times in her youth, but she could clearly see her future now. Guards would come for her and take her to a dungeon. Maybe the one at the garrison, or the jail in Apollonia. They’d beat her and laugh at her then string her up on some cross or post and let the birds and elements sort her out. Though…hadn’t Xena said crucifixion was no longer allowed? So she’d be hanged. Or decapitated. Whatever would leave a more unpleasant looking corpse.
Such an idiot.
Even dumber because now she had the chance to run. The Empress had left. Taken her Imperial Guard with her. The few soldiers who usually manned the gate at Gabrielle’s home were still down at their posts. She could take Eve, climb over the wall and make a break for a future with a less torturous execution.
But she didn’t. She just kept pacing.
Then her eye caught some paperwork she’d laid aside.
So the Empress wanted to kill her? Wanted to punish her for allegedly usurping a position that wasn’t rightfully hers? Whatever happened to her roads still had to be built, orphanages funded, docks maintained. Apollonia had to continue to function.
She sat down at her desk and buried herself in her work. If someone had asked why: why she didn't run or why she didn’t spend those hours watching Eve sleep she would have claimed it was because she wanted to be remembered as an altruistic and noble woman, working for the people until the bitter end. Really she just had a feeling. The guards hadn’t tried to arrest her when Xena left and though her creative mind was quick to imagine dozens of painful punishments the rational part of her suspected that she’d just be removed from the premises. She didn’t watch her daughter sleep and consider her fate because she suspected the Empress didn’t actually want to kill her. The threat had been made, but a decisive a woman as Xena would have followed through immediately if she’d meant it.
And Gabrielle liked to think of herself as a clever leader. Were she in Xena’s position she’d have a hell of a time sorting it out without losing face. Killing off Gabrielle, a very public and well liked figure, would be political suicide-even for the Empress of half the known world.
#
Xena didn’t sleep that night. She’d thought about it a few times, but dismissed the idea quickly. The garrison was hers and the men, ostensibly, loyal to her. Didn’t mean she trusted them. She’d just kicked their leader out and she hadn’t spent enough time in the garrison yet to ascertain just how liked Talmadeus was.
Yet another mistake she’d made since arriving in Apollonia.
Mistakes. That’s all she’d been making. She should have sent Marcus but curiosity drove her to come herself. She should have killed the woman as soon as she saw her, but again curiosity stilled her hand. And she should have taken time when dismissing Talmadeus. Images of that woman, of the prosperous Apollonious-they’d filled her head and encouraged her to sack the man as soon as he’d opened his mouth.
It was a woman. Xena was never moved by love or lust. She’d learned with Borias that emotions could destroy her. Now this woman had gone and reminded her. Brought up all these feelings that couldn’t simply be explained away with the excuse of “curiosity.”
She liked the woman. Liked how she raised her daughter all on her own and played with the child and got dirty with her. How she was smart enough to manipulate Talmadeus. Clever enough to run all of Apollonious. She liked how soft her skin looked and how blond her hair was. And how the kohl was so expertly applied around those sparkling eyes.
Xena had a crush.
Xena didn’t have crushes. She saw and she conquered. That was all.
But no, this one time, in all her years, she had to have a crush and had to cock up a very simple expedition and had to be stuck all by her lonesome and try and sort it out.
Damn it all to Tartarus.
#
They left the garrison just as the sun was rising up over the hills to the east. It shown on their backs all the way back to the palace. Made her guards sweaty beneath armor they’d been forced to wear nearly twenty four hours straight. Xena had changed clothes, but even she felt a little fatigue nipping at her senses.
Once again, red-cloaked guards opened the gates and bowed. Once more the wiry seneschal stood at the base of the stairs waiting for them.
“Where is she,” she growled.
He guided her through the palace, and was wise enough not to speak.
They stopped at a door far from where the bed chambers were. He knocked once, heavily, on the wood of the door, and then opened it. She stepped through into a brightly lit office. A fire, built sometime in the night, was now only embers. It idly popped and sizzled.
Gabrielle, still dressed in her gown from dinner, sat at a desk covered in papers and scrolls. The kohl had smudged all around her eyes and her bangs stuck straight up and out giving her the appearance of a rather startled raccoon.
She looked up wearily and her sea green eyes widened at the sight of her Empress so early in the morning. She stood suddenly.
“Empress…”
“Save it.” She pushed herself across the room and towards the smaller woman. A breeze swept through the room. Her purple robes shivered.
Gabrielle sat back down in her chair. She sighed heavily, as if she were Atlas just given a respite. But she still watched Xena with those captivating eyes. It was just like the gaze of all-seeing Helios. Hot and without end.
Xena chose not to sit. She’d been sitting or riding for what felt like days. She needed to stand, and standing made her tower over the other woman. Gave her a sense of power she suspected she could never have with regards to the playwright.
“I’ve just come from the garrison,” she said. Gabrielle looked away. Nodded. Was she preparing for news? Waiting to hear of the promotion she surely knew she now had? “Talmadeus has been relieved of command. He’ll return to Corinth in a few days time.”
Those eyes looked up at her in surprise. Had she not expected it? She continued, “You’ve done such a good job, I expect you to do even better now that it’s your own name’s on the line.” She continued to stare. “I need people like you.” Who questioned authority and caused Xena trouble. Sure. “I need people who will still my hand. Question me.” Liar. “Who will help me protect this nation, even if it means calling me out.” Big fat liar who’s only giving the goddess a job for- “I need you, Gabrielle of Apollonia.”
“I called you an idiot.”
“Something I hope you’ll refrain from in the future.”
“You’re not going to kill me?” Had she misjudged the woman? Given her too much credit?
“Not today.”
Irritation took hold. Gripping the smaller woman’s feature and turning her look sour. “You were planning this when you left last night?”
“I was.”
“You threatened me with crucifixion.”
“We outlawed it months ago.”
“Threatened to make my daughter an orphan.”
Oh right. “I needed to see that temper flare. Your response was a good example of your character.” Nice save Empress of the known world.
Gabrielle stood. Ran tanned hands through her hair. Those bangs of hers stuck up even further. “I spent the entire night waiting. Waiting for you to come and kill me.”
She had misjudged her. “You struck me as clever. I thought you knew it was a joke.” Something like a smile was on Xena’s face, but it was sinister. Almost angry. Disappointed.
Gabrielle regarded her again. Opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. She turned away to look out the window. Xena followed her gaze. It was the same view as from the dining room. Hills and stones and at the edges of sight the sea. Gabrielle didn’t turn back when she spoke. Maybe it was safer for her to stare at rocks. “I’m no one.”
“Not what they say in Athens. Or Corinth.”
She laughed. It was bitter sounding. Made the younger woman sound too old. “A playwright. The people I host here have more talent. I’ve just had fortune.” She took a breath. Turned. Held Xena’s gaze. So few people looked her in the eyes. And never were they as honest as Gabrielle. “Why should I have thought it was a joke? When I am only here by luck?”
Xena wanted to come around the desk and take the smaller woman in her arms. And it wasn’t desire that tried to move her feet. But compassion. Something she usually kept chained up deep inside.
She settled on soft words instead of a softer touch. Her tone would have been out of place in public. Even Marcus would have raised a brow at it. “I’m sorry.” Xena never apologized. More words escaped her.
“And Talmadeus? He was the smart one. He was the one using available resources to help the people. He was the one who gave me kindness when I deserved none.”
And then Xena found herself around the desk and standing before Gabrielle. Her feet had carried her without her conscious self knowing. She wanted to touch the woman still. Take her by the chin and force her to look at Xena. She didn’t. Gabrielle struck her as someone who didn’t like to be touched.
“Gabrielle,” words would have to do what hands could not. The woman finally raised her head. “You’ve mistaken kindness for altruism. It’s easy with someone as clever as Talmadeus.” Her voice took on the flinty quality of command, “but don’t do it again.”
“And are you not doing the same? Misjudging my purpose?”
She looked down at the surface of the desk. It was covered in scrolls and papers. A knife to sharpen quills rested by the ink pot. Gabrielle had one hand on on a scroll and she could see the nails of it stained black with ink. She looked back at the woman. “You thought I’d come here to kill you and yet I find you calmly at your desk governing a province. It’s a rare person that would do such a thing.”
“Only the best. Or the nastiest. How can you be so sure I’m the former?”
She didn’t give a damn. That look on Gabrielle’s face. How she cocked her head when she leveled her question. She was beautiful. Xena ignored all reason and logic and leaned in. A kiss? Simple closeness? She wasn’t even sure what she wanted. Wasn’t sure of consequences. Just certain she needed it.
Gabrielle reflexively leaned back and away.
Most people would have suffered through the beat. Realized how awkward things would and could be. Let Gabrielle see that she’d gone in for a kiss. But Xena was quick, she covered it with words as she moved closer still. Not to lips that beckoned her, but to the beautiful ear that flushed with Xena’s proximity. “You begged.”
She pulled back and found Gabrielle’s face awash with confusion.
“Your daughter. Your family. Talmadeus. You begged for their lives when you thought yours was to be taken. The nasty would beg only for themselves.”
“If you trust me Xena, you’re a fool.” It was almost a whisper from the writer’s lips.
Xena smiled, “Words like that only make me more trusting.” She reached out. She’d been denied a kiss, and any touch really, she would not be denied this. Her hand was fast. She’d noticed with Gabrielle all her movements had to be quicker. The little playwright was deceptively fast herself. Xena enjoyed the feeling of the writer’s cheek against her palm. The look of confusion in the writer’s eyes though? That only served to illuminate Xena’s own. She pushed it back. It could wait until she was alone on her boat.
“I need honesty Gabrielle. You’re the first I’ve found in many years to give me that.”
Gabrielle, a woman Xena knew to be loquacious, was silent. Her eyes were calm and focused and her lips pressed together tightly. A cipher was Xena’s new governor.
“I should go. I’ve made Palaemon the new leader of the garrison. You know him?”
“I do.”
“Good. Work with him. Continue to make this province great. Next month my governors will attend me in Corinth. I look forward to your presence.”
A flash of something. Irritation. Gabrielle did not like commands, even those guised as invitations. But she bowed anyways. “It will be my honor Empress.”
She already missed the way the other woman said her name. She walked away and refused to look back. Draco was silent too. It would be a short ride to the docks. Energy, both violent and sexual, coiled in the pit of Xena. A short ride to the docks and a long trip via boat would have her in a foul mood by the next day.
“Draco.” He road up next to her.
“Empress?”
“Send a man down to the docks. Have them meet us in Orikos.”
He looked puzzled, “Empress?”
If she heard her title one more time she’d slaughter her entire guard with a fling of her chakram. “The horses need a good ride, as do I. Now send the man!”
He nodded and a purple cloaked guard rode away at break neck speed. She and the other men turned south towards Orikos. She looked back briefly and was surprised to see her newest governor watching her from her office.
The ride would do her good, because her actions since arriving in Apollonia were awfully idiotic. That silly writer with those gorgeous eyes and that funny way of talking in a throaty whisper was trying to kill her with nothing more then her own nature.
She spurred her horse and let the wind and well maintained roads take her south.