Monday, July 30, 2007

Conquering Liaisons pt 10

Xena Warrior Princess fanfic, Conqueror. As the story starts Xena, known as the Lord Conqueror and not a nice woman, acquires a new bodyslave - not realising that she will come to love this woman, deeply and sincerely, to the point of madness. Assassination attempts, power struggles and bickering satraps all demand Xena to remain the harsh and cruel ruler, while Gabrielle without intending to draws out the woman that wants nothing more than love and family.

Has sexual themes and graphic violence, and most importantly it is a dropped story, meaning it will be years and years before I even consider continuing this.
(Xena/Gabrielle, Lila/Minya) Divided into roughly ten parts due to size.


Read Conquering Liaisons pt 10






Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle and anything else XWP belong to RenPics and TPTB, and certainly in no way to a certain little dragon.

This is a conquerorfic and contains a fair share of violence. There is mention of sex, and at a certain point a roundabout mention of rape. While I think it should not be too disturbing for anyone’s sensibilities, a warning is only fair so that you can avoid reading if this would upset you.

The most important warning I feel is this; THIS STORY HAS BEEN DROPPED. It is unfinished and shall remain that way for the foreseeable future. I do still hope to return to it sometime, years from now, but for now – and for quite a few years – I am hopelessly stuck.






Conquering Liaisons pt 10 of 10
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson






Chapter 24: The Fall of a Satrap

For a long moment after Gabrielle had been led inside by Royal Guards and placed in an ornate chair next to Xena’s own at the head of the table, Xena merely sat staring at her lover. She was, simply put, mesmerized.

The cream-coloured dress was of an deceptively simple cut, but made from the finest of materials, and held intricate but elegant tooling in silver around the waist, neckline and cuffs. It was also a splendid complement to Xena’s own choice of dark clothing with identical silver tooling, fitting them together quite nicely. Xena had to remember to do something nice for Myra sometime, she decided.

Gabrielle warmly but discreetly greeted Ephiny and Glaphyra as she sat down, waiting for Xena to make the official introductions or at the very least tell her what to do. Xena shook herself slightly to return from the pleasant love-struck gazing that she had indulged in, hopefully before the other people in the room noticed.

By the raised eyebrows and speculating looks on display, Xena failed that attempt somewhat. Fighting down a surprising impulse to blush, Xena forged on with the introductions.

The room fairly teemed with curiosity as Xena introduced “Lady” Gabrielle, but neglected to inform the Satraps why Gabrielle was present at this very exclusive meeting, and who the young woman really was. Only Glaphyra knew the truth, and she was beaming a pleased, if smug, smile at the others that managed to dent the passive armour of Lao Ma ever so slightly… Lao Ma narrowed her eyes speculatively at both Glaphyra and Gabrielle. Xena of course noticed, and while slightly amused by how well Glaphyra knew to push Lao Ma’s hidden buttons, she couldn’t have cared less. The silently glowering Marc Anthony was a greater cause for concern, just in case he decided to open his mouth at an inopportune moment. But no matter, Xena wanted them to deal with the business part of the evening’s meeting before making her announcement, and besides, keeping the Satraps itching with curiosity was rather amusing.

For most part, Gabrielle sat quietly listening and observing the proceedings of a Satrap meeting. It turned out to be quite less formal than she would have expected, but still, there were some rules to be respected and she’d rather learn about them before disturbing anyone. She exchanged some quiet words with Ephiny, who sat close by, and even tried to speak to the unresponsive boy on her immediate left. Ming T’ien ignored her attempts at a conversation, but kept staring at her. It made Gabrielle feel rather uncomfortable, but she chose to ignore him altogether.

Xena was well aware of Gabrielle’s presence at her side, of the silent looks and quiet words shared with Ephiny, even though she was not really distracted from her work as such. The meeting carried on, although very haltingly for most of the Satraps, giving Glaphyra a much appreciated opportunity to voice the issues for her province before the others. The usual responses were sparked, although in a subdued fashion, and the meeting was well underway.

It wasn’t until Xena noticed Glaphyra glaring across the table in Gabrielle’s direction that she fully turned around to look at her lover. Gabrielle sat leaning slightly towards the table listening to something Ephiny was saying, and was not paying attention to Glaphyra. Xena realized that it was not Gabrielle Glaphyra was glaring at, but rather Ming T’ien who was quite blatantly staring down into Gabrielle’s cleavage while wearing a quite unbecoming leer.

The booming thud of Xena’s large hand when it impacted with the tabletop as the Conqueror rose to her feet made the room go deathly silent. Everyone gave a start and stared at their scowling ruler. Xena turned her angry gaze at the youth.

“You.” A rising eyebrow at the boy and a single finger moving in a curt motion towards Lao Ma. “Go sit by your mother. Now.”

Ming T’ien remained unmoving for a moment, undoubtedly too shocked to move, but Ephiny discreetly pulled out his chair and urged the boy to his feet. On the other side of the table, chairs were exchanged so that a space would be available by Lao Ma’s side. It wasn’t until Ming T’ien took a tentative step or two that he seemed to snap out of his surprise enough to pout at the turn of events and give Xena a petulant look.

“What?” Marc Anthony snorted derisively. “You’ll not take his eyes for staring at your whore?” Xena bared her teeth as she turned around to face Marc Anthony, but stayed the protests from others with a negligent hand. She waited a moment until she was certain she could speak without giving in to the darker impulses that were coursing through her at the moment, then cast a glance in Ming T’ien’s direction.

“No. He’s a child that knows no better…” A glance at Lao Ma. “and I… respect his mother. He gets to keep his eyes for now.” The eyes in question turned the size of saucers hearing this. Xena lowered her voice to one of it’s more dangerous and growling registers as she added. “If he ever tries to commit such a crime against me again, however… he will know his punishment.”

The youth from Chin scrambled to his mother’s side, where he stared wide-eyed at his suddenly deadly surroundings. Cleopatra eyed Gabrielle with new appreciation while Boadicea snorted in contempt at the whole dramatic proceedings. Neither Xena nor Marc Anthony was quite done yet though, it would seem.

Xena placed herself behind Gabrielle’s chair, with her hands on Gabrielle’s shoulders. “Have a care with how you address my Gabrielle, Anthony… I will give you no more warnings.”

A wiser man would have heard the danger in Xena’s voice, and let self-preservation hold his tongue regardless of his opinions. Not so in the case of Marc Anthony, he shrugged and sneered in the direction of the other Satraps at his side as if looking for backing.

“A whore is a whore is a whore, Xena… despite your little illusions, she’s had many before you, and will have many more once you’ve gotten tired of her… charms.” He leered at Gabrielle, who at this point was trying hard not to cry.

The growl emanating from Xena’s throat sounded as if it came from some large animal, perhaps the lion that she was so often compared to, for nothing in it seemed even remotely human. As loud as it was, it was the snap when one of Xena’s large hands reflexively tore off one armrest from Gabrielle’s gilded chair that should have warned Marc Anthony of what was coming next. If he had the time to notice it, that is.

In one smooth, instantaneous motion Xena spun in his direction and swung the wooden piece of armrest in a deceptively negligent one-handed blow… that hit the Roman’s face with enough force to send both him and his chair sprawling on the floor, split his lip and leave an angry red welt across the side of his face.

Xena was visibly shaking from struggling with herself, and to the amazement of the Satraps, Gabrielle gently touched her arm in a soothing manner to calm her. And it seemed to work, somewhat. Xena clasped Gabrielle’s hand within her own and lifted it to her lips for a brief kiss.

“It was my intention…” Xena said quietly, still with some difficulty, and completely ignoring Marc Anthony as he dazedly moved around on the floor. “to wait until our business meeting was over for this evening before making the announcement.”

“It was my intention to invite you all” A brief pause emphasize that the invitation no longer would include all present, for obvious reasons. “…to my wedding.”

The room went so still that it almost seemed a palpable thing. Xena met the astonished eyes of each of the people sitting at the table as she swept her gaze over them.

“I am wedding my Gabrielle in a month hence. And she will be your Queen.”

Silence reigned for a long moment in the room, as Xena gave the Satraps a moment to digest the no doubt startling news. She exchanged a tender look with her still rather pale young betrothed, placing another kiss in the palm of Gabrielle’s hand.

“You” Marc Anthony spoke unsteadily from the floor where he was straightening himself out, gingerly wiping some blood off his face as he got to his knees. “…are saying you’d marry your slave?” The incredulousness in his voice seemed genuine, and the comment caused Gabrielle to flinch slightly.

“Not just a slave, either, but your _body_ slave? A whore you scraped off from a brothel is supposed to become the Queen of the world?” His laughter turned into a wheezing cough as he bent over his upturned chair as if to pull it up with him. “Surely you’re not that desperate. So unless Aphrodite herself taught her the profession, I’d say she has a hold on you… I wonder what it is?”

Several things happened at once.

A tear escaped Gabrielle’s downturned eyes and made a solitary journey down one cheek as she unconsciously cupped the invisible swell of her belly. Cleopatra all but climbed into Lao Ma’s lap in her attempts to put distance between herself and her obviously self-destructive lover, while the enraged Glaphyra climbed up on the large table in her attempts at crossing it to give the insufferable man a good proper beating. Ephiny and Melosa both stood and stepped closer to Gabrielle, then Ephiny gently pulled Gabrielle out of her chair and protectively put her behind herself.

Marc Anthony spun around in his position on the floor, revealing the broken armrest in his hand, and charged Xena with it. Xena… lost control.

It didn’t take long for Meleager and the Royal Guards outside the room to come rushing in and separate the two combatants, but it was enough time for Xena to have done quite a number on the Roman’s face. Restraining the Roman was a simple task for the guardsmen, but making Xena calm down proved a bit more challenging. Fortunately Meleager had, after all, known Xena for many years now.

The Roman glared futilely at the woman now standing partially behind one of the Amazons. Ephiny noticed the look and crossed her arms in silent challenge, but Marc Anthony didn’t notice. Instead he saw, even with one of his eyes slowly swelling shut, the way one of Gabrielle’s hands still rested on her abdomen.

If his laughter before had been a wheezing cough, then the sound he made now was quite unrecognisable as anything at all except just plain being ugly.

“S-she…” He wheezed. “she’s p-p-pr…”

If Meleager had not managed to grab Xena before she reached the Roman as she spun around at the sound of his voice, she would have simply reached out and snapped his neck. As it was, the firm grip of the Captain of her Royal Guard reminded Xena of her surroundings again.

“Pregnant?” Her voice was dangerously smooth. “Yes. The child of my love she carries.”

Xena may have been far too angry and too preoccupied to notice how Gabrielle’s eyes grew wide and luminous at her words, but a few of the Satraps bore witness to the look that passed over the young woman’s features instead. Ephiny and Melosa shared a look of silent communication.

“Lord Xena?”

Xena turned to the grim-faced Amazon princess, a little surprised to find her providing a protective human shield for Gabrielle, and even more surprised to find herself met by an Amazon warrior greeting. She looked at the young Amazon quizzically.

“May I suggest turning him over to Amazon justice?” Ephiny met her gaze unblinkingly. “Our laws are very clear, and very strict, especially when it comes to transgressions against children or those carrying new life.”

“In Africaans we do this delightfully evil thing with ants…” Glaphyra piped up from where she was gingerly climbing down from the table, careful to avoid destroying any more of the delicate cutlery.

“Tongs. Red-hot tongs and water…” Ming T’ien spoke up unexpectedly and with surprising enthusiasm, immediately falling silent after receiving several odd looks, the most stifling being the look from his mother.

“No.” Xena looked absolutely evil as she stood in front of Marc Anthony and the Royal Guards holding him. “Have him branded, then send him gift-wrapped to Brutus.”

Marc Anthony paled visibly.

“I’ll decide on whom I wish to bestow all his wealth, titles and property later… Perhaps Octavian should be given a little something, as Brutus gets his favourite plaything?”

Marc Anthony spluttered as the guards began to drag him away, but managed to resist them for long enough to throw a last taunt at Xena before they would drag him to whatever dungeon or slave pit that Xena would have them use as she destroyed his life.

“So whose is the bastard then, Xena? Is it her former owner’s, or maybe a customer’s?” One of the guards holding him cuffed him in the mouth to keep him from saying anything else about their adored Lady.

“Oh, and Meleager?” Xena tossed over her shoulder as Marc Anthony was dragged away. “Have them neuter him first, Brutus won’t mind.” Her smile at the Roman’s choked gasp at her words was, once again, truly evil.



The evil look faded away with the last of the guards that left the room, and instead Xena looked tired as she looked at her lover. Silently she opened her arms wide, and immediately Gabrielle moved out from behind Ephiny and hurled herself into them.

Holding Gabrielle close and burying her face in the red-gold hair, Xena spoke softly, disregarding anyone else present “I am sorry, my sweet… this was not how I had intended this to go.”

Xena sighed deeply and tightened her embrace, kissing Gabrielle gently on her head.

“I know, dearest… I know.” Gabrielle’s voice was muffled against Xena’s chest and still somewhat choked with tears, but as long as Xena was holding her, she felt she would be allright.

After a good long moment of silence, Melosa cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly. “Well then, I guess that congratulations are in order.”

Affirmative noises and phrases came from the other Satraps, although with different levels of enthusiasm. Xena accepted the well-wishes as amiably as she could, given the situation. And she certainly was not about to let go of her beloved anytime soon.

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Chapter 25: Relations and Relationships

Flinging the announcements at the Satraps in the manner that Xena had, although not quite by her own choice, had proven somewhat of a bother. Although the Satrap meeting was in truth finished as surely no-one could keep their minds on business after all that happened, there were still a lot of unanswered questions and, as much as Xena detested it, polite small talk to endure.

Xena answered the questions regarding the upcoming nuptials that she felt she wanted, and even a few regarding the elevation of Gabrielle to Queen of the Known World. No-one quite dared ask about the truth in Marc Anthony’s foolish slurs regarding Gabrielle being a body slave bought from a brothel, and Xena made it clear to them all that she would not accept any comments along those lines either. She did inform them that Gabrielle had indeed been her slave, and if anyone felt that it was their place to question her choices, they could do so… of course, the expression on the Conqueror’s face, as well as her tone of voice, made it clear that the person who did so had better feel it worth his or her life, for that would indeed be the price for their concern.

A topic of great, if carefully vented, interest was of course Gabrielle’s pregnancy. Xena was surprisingly candid about the circumstances of the pregnancy, which made Gabrielle blush fiercely to the roots of her hair, and garnered a range of reactions from the Satraps. The Amazons seemed most reverent and awestruck once they realised that the child within Gabrielle would be truly born of two mothers without the interference of a man. Such an occurrence would be held almost holy among the various Amazon tribes, and Melosa told Xena quietly that once the news of this spread among the Amazon Nations, Xena would gather an even stronger support than before.

Lao Ma looked darkly at Gabrielle, making the young woman feel quite ill at ease, but the Chin Satrap never spoke to her. Finally Xena let them all know she had enough for one night, and brought her young lover back to their chambers.

Some distance away from the meeting Viceron was fuming in his rage. But the news of events at the meeting spawned another idea, another angle through which to reach his objective. Smiling, Viceron considered his options.

Yes, it would certainly do.



In the room that the Royal Guards on stand-by duty used there was a small section in the back that housed a number of bunk beds. The guards on stand-by slept, ate and sat playing cards in shifts, so that they would always be ready if their sovereign needed them. As it was, nightfall coincided with Mavican’s sleep shift there, and she was just getting comfortable as someone unexpected claimed the bunk next to hers.

“Minya? You’re not on duty tonight, you can go down to the barracks and your own bed, you know?”

Mavican decided not to ask why the younger woman was not sleeping in Princess Lila’s room that night, as had been the norm since the girl had gotten a room of her own. After all, Minya was clearly floundering around the devious young Poteidaian as it was, Mavican probably shouldn’t tease her about it so much, even if it was one of Mavican’s new favourite pastimes. And who knew, perhaps even these girls needed the occasional night to themselves, she figured.

Minya muttered something unintelligible, and turned facing the wall. Mavican shrugged a little and relaxed, listening to the sounds of the other guards moving around in the room, and the quiet voices announcing that the Lord Conqueror and Lady Gabrielle had retired to their chambers for the night. Artus was on duty tonight, and by the sounds of it, on a winning streak at whatever game going on at the table. Mavican had almost drifted off again when the room went from quiet to silent, and a set of soft footfalls approached the bunks.

“Princess Lila?” Sitting up Mavican identified the quiet guest. The lump on the other bunk groaned slightly and moved, but did not sit up. “What are you doing here, Princess? Do you need anything?”

Mavican was nothing if not conscientious in her duties, and if truth be told, she rather liked her young charge, so naturally she was concerned when said charge wandered into the guard room at night wearing no more than her nightgown and a pout.

Lila showed no indication of having heard Mavican’s softly spoken questions, instead she rubbed her eyes and looked like a lost child for a moment, standing there in her long nightgown and obviously very sleepy. Then she zeroed in on Minya’s form on the bunk, just as Minya peeked a dishevelled head over the covers.

“Lila?” Minya was alarmed. ”What is it? Is something wrong?”

“You didn’t come to bed.” The Princess whined. “I waited and waited, and you didn’t come to bed.” She further expressed her extreme displeasure at this with an angry stomp with one small foot.

Mavican bit her lip not to start laughing as Minya turned wide-eyed and beet red at that statement. It really was too adorable.

“Ah, Princess? Isn’t there a Royal Guard already stationed at your bedroom tonight?”

Another stomp and another adorable pout. “Want Minya.”

Mavican snickered and Minya, by the sound of it, choked, but neither woman got the chance to say anything as the pouting princess crawled up into Minya’s bunk, over the suddenly petrified woman, and partially squeezed into the small space between Minya and the wall. The rest of the obviously sleepwalking Princess ended up draped over Minya with her head on Minya’s shoulder, and one arm tucked firmly around her quarry.

“S’better.” A mumble from the direction of Minya’s shoulder. “G’night Mavican.”

“Goodnight Princess.” Mavican chuckled, and looked forward to telling Lila about events in the morning. She hoped the girl’s new guardians wouldn’t be offended if she spent a night in the guard room, as surely the girl couldn’t be safer than right there, using one of the guards as her personal pillow. Mavican also hoped that said guard would remember to breathe soon, preferably before she fainted. Either way Mavican reasoned that she had a world of ammunition to tease her young friend with in the morning, and she was looking forward to it immensely.



The following morning, Mavican decided that she felt sorry for the Poteidaian princess. Xena and Gabrielle both had come running into the room while the princess and Minya still slept, nearly in a state of panic, believing the girl to have been abducted. Mavican, who fortunately enough had been up for a while, intercepted them to explain the night’s events, but she didn’t get very far. Woken by the noise, Lila stirred and peeked up from her comfy sleeping place in Minya’s arms, and both of her guardians immediately spotted the girl.

Gabrielle was left gaping in shock as Minya also woke and, after a single befuddled glance at her ruler, turned beet red. Xena’s eyebrows climbed a bit on her forehead at the sight, but she still smiled enigmatically.

Mavican once again tried to explain the situation, while Gabrielle snapped at her sister to go to the Royal Chambers and wait for her there. Lila scowled but trudged away obediently enough, leaving Minya looking as if she was waiting for the executioner’s axe.

Fortunately for Minya, Xena listened to Mavican’s explanations, then told the young guard that she would speak with her later, privately. At the moment, Xena and Gabrielle were more concerned with Lila and settling things with her.

Returning to the Royal Chambers Xena and Gabrielle found Lila pacing back and forth on the Persian carpet, alternating between frowning and pouting. When she saw her sister come in, Lila immediately turned to face her.

“Lila, you really can’t just walk around like that in the middle of the…” Gabrielle launched into a lecture straight away, with Lila looking moderately repentant as she listened. Xena tuned it out for most part, choosing instead to think some things through and leave the scolding to her lover. Mostly this was because Xena realized she would not have the heart to reprimand the girl, and with the severity of what could very well have happened to her the way things were, Lila needed to be scolded. It was for her own safety.

Still, Xena looked at the increasingly sorrowful countenance of this trusting child that the Fates had seen fit to bring into her life, and after a while she just couldn’t take any more. A hand on her shoulder stopped Gabrielle’s admonishment short.

Xena stood in front of Lila and gently made the girl meet her eyes.

“Lila, Gabrielle and I are not angry with you, you just scared us very much.” The look on the girl’s face said quite clearly that she didn’t think Xena could be afraid, but she remained silent as Xena spoke. “You are safe with the Royal Guard, and if you are ever worried or in trouble and Gabrielle and I are not there, you should run to them. They will protect you with their lives.”

“But living here in the palace is not like in Poteidaia... I have enemies, little one, dangerous people that would stop at nothing to hurt me or those I care about.” Xena heard Gabrielle take a deep breath, she probably did not want to frighten Lila with what had happened with Jett and whoever murdered him, but it was unfair to scold the girl for something that had not been properly explained to her in the first place Xena figured. “These people would hurt you or Gabrielle if they could, Lila... and that is the reason why there are always guards present. They are for your protection when I can’t protect you myself.”

“But we can only protect you if you do not wander off on your own.” Xena touched her cheek. “Do you understand?”

Lila nodded, wide-eyed, and received a pat on the head from the slightly relieved Xena. “Good.” She didn’t notice Gabrielle’s surprised eyes on her. “Now, will you tell me why you did not want to sleep in your room?”

Admittedly Xena knew nothing of what moved in a young girl’s mind as she herself had been quite... different from the typical young girl, she supposed... so she thought it best to ask the girl in case there was something wrong with the rooms Xena had gotten for her. Perhaps the bed was not satisfactory? Or maybe the guards that were assigned to Lila that night were people that the girl did not feel comfortable with? Xena could imagine a number of scenarios that might urge Lila out of her own bed and into the cot with the guard she felt the most secure with.

Lila pouted. “Minya did not come to me even though I waited. So I had to go to her.”

Gabrielle shook her head slightly in amused exasperation. “Minya is a grown woman, not your cuddly toy... you can’t ask her to be with you every waking and sleeping moment, Lila. It is great that you two are such good friends, but you have to respect that she has to be off duty and have her own life sometimes.”

The words were spoken gently, but they sparked a spectacular reaction.

Xena on her part made panic-stricken faces at Gabrielle, but it was too late. Lila turned pale, and large dark blue eyes overflowed with tears.

“S-she...” Lila’s quiet voice quivered as pitifully as the girl’s still pouting lip. “...she’s just with me because it is her j-job?” A sob. “She d-doesn’t want to be with m-me at all?” The crying began in earnest.

Xena turned in panic to Gabrielle but found her young lover standing there quite open-mouthed and dumbfounded at her little sister’s reaction. Turning back to the sobbing girl Xena had no real idea what to do, but did manage to scoop the girl up in an awkward hug, trying to comfort. Crying children were not her area of expertise.

“There, there.” Xena murmured, clumsily patting the girl’s back. “Minya cares a great deal for you, you know that Lila. There’s no need to cry.”

The girl sniffled into the fabric of Xena’s shirt. “R-really?”

“Really.” Xena promised, feeling thankful that her young guardsman was as transparent as she was, otherwise Xena would have had to lie to her young ward... because she didn’t think she could stand seeing the girl cry.

“B-but... what if she... thinks I’m silly and... too young and... oh Xena what if she likes someone else?”

The last was almost a wail, and Xena was back to patting the shaking back as comfortingly as she could muster. Xena sent a beseeching look over at Gabrielle, who had remained stunned to silence until that point, and thankfully it got the other woman to snap out of her stupor. Gabrielle hurried to Lila’s other side to hug the girl.

“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to sound as if Minya didn’t care about you.” There was a small twitch as Gabrielle said ‘care’, but other than that she managed not to let on how badly the concept had surprised her. “Please don’t cry anymore Lil.” Gently she wiped at the girl’s eyes.

After a moment of hugs and murmured apologies from her sister, Lila had calmed down. Xena even got a smile when she ruffled the dark bangs a bit, making the Ruler of the Known World breathe a silent sigh of relief.

“So... are you and Minya, uh...” Gabrielle began at last but faltered off awkwardly. Finally she cast a pleading eye on Xena, who winced internally but nonetheless stepped up to the task.

“How far have the two of you gone?”

“XENA!” Gabrielle was aghast.

“Whaaat?” Wasn’t that what Gabrielle had wanted her to find out?

“What?” Lila echoed and looked at them both uncomprehendingly at first, then it seemed to slowly dawn on her. She blushed promptly. “Oh!”

Just as Xena thought that the girl wouldn’t answer, Lila spoke up again. “She holds me while we sleep.” The confession was soft and the shy smile that accompanied it was heart-warming to see. “And...”

Xena smiled and patted Lila’s hand. “And?”

Lila blushed harder. “And... I would very much like to... kisshersometime.” The end part was all but whispered out in a rush, making Xena and Gabrielle take a moment to catch on. “Eventually. When it is the right time. And if she likes me too.”

Xena nodded approvingly. “It is good that you know you should wait until it feels right for you. Don’t ever think you have to do things you’re not comfortable with to make her like you, just because she is older than you are.”

“Are you sure?” Slightly insecure blue eyes looked for confirmation from her hero.

“I’m sure. Minya wouldn’t pressure you. In fact...” Xena hesitated for a moment, wondering how much to say on that subject. She wasn’t sure if these things were over Lila’s head because the girl was so young or not. But the girl was nearly fourteen, in places like Poteidaia that was old enough to arrange for marriage, no matter how disturbing the thought was to Xena herself. “I would suggest you take things slow and, um, be patient and gentle with Minya. I don’t know the whole story, but Minya was hurt by someone pretty badly before she joined the Royal Guard.”

“Someone hurt Minya?” Lila gasped in horror and mounting anger. “Who? Who hurt Minya?”

Xena calmed the girl before answering. “I don’t know. That is a story Minya herself will have to tell when she’s ready. Don’t let knowing that make you treat her differently, just remember to be careful with her affection.”

“Thank you Xena.” Lila hugged her tall guardian gratefully. “You are the best.”

“Hey... what are sisters for?” Xena beamed at the girl and elaborated. “We’ll be sisters soon, once Gabrielle and I are married. I always wanted a little sister.”

That earned Xena another round of hugs from both Poteidaians, and with a promise to remember what she had been told about wandering off on her own, Lila was sent to her own rooms to get ready for the day. Xena nearly sagged with relief... handling young girls was much more harrowing than crossing swords with someone on the battlefield.

Slender arms embraced her from behind and a warm voice murmured near her ear. “You are surprisingly good at the sensitive chats, dearest.” There was some amusement evident in Gabrielle’s voice but mostly sincere affection. “We both have some rough spots, but we have time to iron those out until our baby will be old enough to date.”

“Date?” Xena growled and pulled at Gabrielle’s arms until she could put her own arms around Gabrielle. “Our child will not date. I’ll make a royal decree that any prospecting suitors will have their arms torn off... and if I find them unsuitable for my child, another body part of my choice.”

Gabrielle giggled and looked up at Xena adoringly. “Silly goose.” Xena’s pretended outrage made Gabrielle giggle some more. Then the expression changed into something else. “Xena?” She breathed, causing Xena to break out in goosebumps with the look in her eyes. “Kiss me.”

And Xena did, repeatedly and for a very long time.

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Chapter 26: Relations and Relationships

Days passed in something of a blur, filled as they were to the brim with the business of ruling the world. The satrap meetings were a bit more quiet than usual, as Cleopatra remained quiet for most of the time, opting to agree with whatever Xena suggested and merely sat close by Lao Ma and watched the proceedings. The Chinese satrap was as surprised at the sudden friendliness as Xena was, but did not give much sign that she noticed any change beyond the initial surprised glance. Xena did not mind the lack of banter from her flamboyant and shrewd satrap, and as even Boadicea was subdued and not as argumentative as usual, things moved along more or less smoothly.

It lasted for a few days, and during that time much of the scheduled work was processed. Of course, Xena had to entrust the silent search for Jett’s murderer to Meleager while the preparations for her upcoming wedding was handled by Jace, and it frustrated her to no end that she was stuck having to go through the satrap business when her focus should be on those two matters. Fortunately circumstances allowed Xena to bring Gabrielle with her to the satrap meetings, and the younger woman’s soothing presence at Xena’s side was just what was needed to placate Xena’s restlessness.

It amused Xena to see that Gabrielle had picked up two new and dedicated friends in Ephiny and Glaphyra. The two appeared to take turns in being seated to Gabrielle’s left – her right being occupied by Xena at all times – often engaging her in quiet conversation when there was opportunity. Normally Xena would have felt jealous at someone being that close to her beloved, but in the case of the Amazon, not only had all the amazons become surprisingly reverent towards Gabrielle after the news of her pregnancy had spread, but Xena knew that Ephiny had been devoted to the stocky and taciturn lover that was waiting for her back at their village ever since they were children. If completely honest with herself, Xena would admit that she was willing to allow Ephiny her camaraderie with Gabrielle because of how the Amazon had sought to protect Gabrielle during the unpleasantness with Marc Anthony.

Glaphyra was another matter... Xena knew without any doubt that Glaphyra was simply too loyal to entertain any lustful thoughts towards a friend’s lover, despite her often flirtatious jokes. It was that sense of loyalty that would cause one satrap meeting to erupt after several days of subdued dealings.

Boadicea and Glaphyra had wound up sitting next to one another during that day’s meeting, and Boadicea, perhaps recovering from days of forced politeness, had been making all manner of snippy little comments and getting on Glaphyra’s nerves. Finally Boadicea had loudly speculated in what was an old but still touchy subject... the matter of Glaphyra’s two fellow Satraps in the Africaans, Satrina and Mahari.

Satrina and Glaphyra had for a brief time been lovers, but by the time Xena made them Satraps of the Africaans it had become a deep friendship instead. When Satrina was first introduced the third Satrap Mahari, a tall, proud beauty native to that part of the Realm, she had fallen head over heels in love. Caught up in the whirlwind of emotion Satrina had made no secret of how she felt, and indeed gone to Mahari to confess all and ask if she had any hope of winning Mahari’s affections in return.

Satrina had been shot down as Mahari explained that she was married to an older man and had two small children by him, and even though it was an arranged marriage Mahari would not be unfaithful to him. Satrina was heartbroken but did her best not to let her feelings get in the way, loving Mahari from afar over the years as her feelings never faded. Five years later illness ended Mahari’s husband’s life, and by then not a one among Satraps and nobles were unaware of Satrina’s silent pining away for her fellow Satrap.

Satrina gave Mahari a year of mourning before she approached the other woman again. This time Satrina was not deterred, and after roughly two years of courting Satrina married Mahari. It would not have been the cause for anyone’s concern had it not been that the circumstances surrounding the death of Mahari’s husband had been questioned, and Mahari remained adamant about not revealing what illness had drained his life. Malicious individuals suggested that the man had been poisoned.

Xena found the idea preposterous, reasoning that if that had been the case, Satrina and Mahari had not waited eight years to marry, and the subject in itself not suitable for discussion among her Satraps. After all, among them were two women guilty of the very same crime as Lao Ma and Cleopatra had both successfully poisoned their spouses, and neither had ever been openly questioned regarding their husbands demise. Boadicea only brought the matter up to stir trouble with Glaphyra, against all better judgement.

And she succeeded. After a particularly lewd comment about Glaphyra’s friends despite Xena warning Boadicea to silence, Glaphyra spun around and delivered a blow to the briton’s chin that toppled Boadicea’s chair to the floor with her in it.

Xena felt a headache building. She sighed.

“I suggest we step out while the guards take care of this situation... perhaps we can reconvene at another location?” Xena gestured towards the door, getting Gabrielle and the amazons to move towards it. “We will have to make do without the representatives for Britannia and Africaans until the grand meeting it seems.” Wryly. “That should give them time to cool off.”

Directing the last bit towards the Satraps from Chin and Egypt Xena was surprised to find that Cleopatra had once more all but climbed into Lao Ma’s lap, despite the fact that she had been seated on the side of the Chinese ruler that was further from the combatants. Although her face betrayed nothing Lao Ma’s eyes were bewildered, still she managed to calmly disentangle herself and stride from the room with her usual dignity.

Xena followed, with an amused smirk on her lips, as the guards entered the room to break the fighting women apart. She looked at Ming T’ien who was still looking over his shoulder with wide eyes. “It would seem that this was not a good year to experience the Satrap meetings by your mother’s side, Ming T’ien.” Her tone was partly polite and partly apologetic.

She was surprised when the otherwise so arrogant boy turned towards her and spoke with genuine appreciation. “On the contrary my Lord, I appreciate this opportunity. I believe there is much to be learned from unplanned events as well.”

Xena gave a short but amused laugh. “Then it was the perfect time for your first visit to Corinth. However, may the next one be in... less _interesting_ times.”

The boy blinked a few times, then caught the joke and laughed... a light, youthful sound that caused Xena to smile slightly and his mother to frown. A brief but harsh glare from his mother made Ming T’ien shut up and adopt the disinterested and arrogant expression that usually made Xena and many others want to drop him in the nearest manure pile. Xena sighed again.

“I hate to impose, especially right now...” It wasn’t until Melosa addressed Xena quietly that Xena noticed the additional amazons standing in the corridor along with the Satraps. “...but I’m afraid there has been some trouble with the children.”





---dropped---

Conquering Liaisons pt 9

Xena Warrior Princess fanfic, Conqueror. As the story starts Xena, known as the Lord Conqueror and not a nice woman, acquires a new bodyslave - not realising that she will come to love this woman, deeply and sincerely, to the point of madness. Assassination attempts, power struggles and bickering satraps all demand Xena to remain the harsh and cruel ruler, while Gabrielle without intending to draws out the woman that wants nothing more than love and family.

Has sexual themes and graphic violence, and most importantly it is a dropped story, meaning it will be years and years before I even consider continuing this.
(Xena/Gabrielle, Lila/Minya) Divided into roughly ten parts due to size.


Read Conquering Liaisons pt 9






Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle and anything else XWP belong to RenPics and TPTB, and certainly in no way to a certain little dragon.

This is a conquerorfic and contains a fair share of violence. There is mention of sex, and at a certain point a roundabout mention of rape. While I think it should not be too disturbing for anyone’s sensibilities, a warning is only fair so that you can avoid reading if this would upset you.

The most important warning I feel is this; THIS STORY HAS BEEN DROPPED. It is unfinished and shall remain that way for the foreseeable future. I do still hope to return to it sometime, years from now, but for now – and for quite a few years – I am hopelessly stuck.






Conquering Liaisons pt 9 of 10
-------------------------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson






Chapter 21: Day of Judgment

Once she had reached the marketplace, all traces of Xena’s good mood had vanished. The Royal Guards were posted, fully armed and at the ready, across the square in order to prevent any more unpleasantries from the villagers. But the people of Poteidaia, although gathered there in a large number, appeared quietly resigned. There were no visible weapons of any kind among them, nor did the atmosphere carry impending violence.

No, Xena thought to herself that the one that was going to bring violence to that place was going to be… her.

She looked down at her hands, but it was Gabrielle’s face she saw. It had to be done, and she would be the one to do it. She could only hope that when she left that place and returned to the Inn, her sweet young lover would still allow Xena’s arms to hold her as she slept this night, and that they would be able to leave all this unpleasantness behind them with this village in the morning.

There was no podium for Xena to stand on for what she was about to do, but the cleared space would do just as well. A brazier glowed in place next to a large cutting block, branding irons already put to the heating in it, and someone had remembered to put a few buckets of water next to it. The though idly crossed her mind if Talus had gotten the village blacksmith to shape the irons the way she wanted them. No matter, she’d make do with what was at hand.

Two Guardsmen brought out the prisoner at her signal, and a shocked whisper went through the crowds. Xena had to admit that he was a bit worse for wear, his nose broken and his face black from the head-butt Mavican had administered, his throat carrying a dark imprint still of Xena’s own hand, and the rest of the man… Well, she had known that her soldiers would have made sure Perdicus knew just what kind of mistake he had made, and exacted some justice of their own on behalf of their beloved Lady Gabrielle.

A brief look at the sky told her that she needed to get going if she was going to do this while there was light left. She turned towards the crowd.

“Citizens of Poteidaia…”




Gabrielle was watching the sky, not really noticing anything about it as she was deep in thought. Behind her Lila and Minya were seated on her and Xena’s bed, playing a game involving a set of dice and some cards. Gabrielle had no idea where her little sister had picked up the rules for this game, but regardless she was currently on a brutal winning streak as made evident by Minya’s constant groaning.

“Stop harassing poor Minya, you imp.” Gabrielle said distractedly over her shoulder.

“I’m not harassing her!” Came the affronted reply. “Come join us, it’s much more fun if we’re more players in this game.”

“You mean, it much more fun for you if you have someone else to beat besides Minya, right?” Giggling was her answer, and with a small sigh she turned from the window to join them on the bed.

“Allright, I’ll play with you. But you’ve better not be cheating!” She warned Lila playfully, but her heart wasn’t in it. Maybe time would pass by faster if she was distracted by something.





“…and so you have been given an account of this man’s crimes. The witnesses have already been mentioned by name, and further it has been brought to my attention that many of you, citizens of Poteidaia, were already aware of his crimes. None of that matters, as I myself has witnessed some of these crimes. Worse, they were committed against me.” Xena let her gaze move over the crowd, letting them see the shadow of her rage in her eyes for a moment.

“As my betrothed and soon to be bride, the Lady Gabrielle _is_ me in the eyes of the law, and needless to say, assault against the imperial person invokes the harshest of all punishments. I am sure you can imagine of what I speak.” Xena saw an older woman burst into tears, and the shoulders of the man next to her sagged in defeat. They were no doubt Perdicus’ parents.

“But We have decided to be merciful this one time, since this is the home village of Lady Gabrielle. This man, Perdicus, will be punished as the law of the Realm demands a man who has forced himself upon a woman or child must.”

Guards dragged Perdicus into position by the chopping block and removed his pants. The crowed groaned in shock as Xena walked up to him and another guard handed her a blade from the brazier.

“Perdicus of Poteidaia will live. He will be branded as a criminal and live the rest of his life as a slave in a far away land. The means by which he would continue his crimes will be removed.” She raised the glowing blade in front of his face. “He will henceforth serve Satrap Cleopatra in Egypt.”

“As an eunuch.” And she brought the blade down.






Darkness was about to fall when Xena finally made it back to the Inn. She had cleaned herself off in the stables, and throughoutly disgusted with herself she had stayed there for some time, deep in thought. The unconscious Perdicus had been tended to by her physician, then put on a cart escorted by two guards and sent on to the nearest garrison. Xena figured that the time it would take Perdicus to heal up enough to have him sent to the coast and aboard a ship for Egypt would give her plenty of time to discuss this rather special case with Cleopatra.

As Xena entered the Inn she noticed Jorgos pale countenance and how the previously so friendly man avoided looking her direction. Another person not likely to make it to her and Gabrielle’s wedding, she noted with sadness. Another member of Gabrielle’s extended family that would be lost to her because of Xena. She sighed.

“Look, Jorgos…” Xena spoke quietly as she approached the man. She pretended not to notice that he jumped ever so slightly at the mention of his name, but at least he still put his dusting rag down and listened to what she had to say. “I gather you know of a young woman by the name of Alyssa that Perdicus was betrothed to? Of course you do. Anyway, seeing as how she was one of the victims in this mess, I want her looked after. I will make sure Poteidaia gets a stationary constabulary soon, or at the very least a group of soldiers will be staying here for Herodotus and Hecuba’s benefit, but until that is arranged I was wondering if you would be willing to do something for me?”

The man looked hesitant, Xena thought, but at least he might not flat out refuse, and with his own position in the village he would be able to appreciate what she would do. “I will leave some money here with you to ensure that the child does not suffer unduly, if you’ll accept that responsibility for the time being. Also, I would appreciate it if you would send word to me if there’s ever anything… amiss here from now on. I will have people installed here to take over those chores as soon as possible, so it will not be for long. Can you do that?”

The man nodded, and Xena pulled out a pouch of dinars and put in front of him. To herself Xena thought that Poteidaia would also get a stationary healer and scribe, not that she expected anyone to be appreciative of the fact, but she would make the arrangements none the less. She turned to climb the stairs up to the room where Gabrielle waited for her.

“My Lord?” Jorgos’ voice was subdued and hesitant. “There will be many that curse your name now in Poteidaia, but there will be just as many that praise you for what you did. Even so I don’t think there will be any more tales of the heroic Warrior Princess told in Poteidaia from now on.”

Xena was surprised to find that those words saddened her as much as they did. She appreciated the fact that Jorgos had spoken, but she had noticed the title he used. She was no longer a safe soon-to-be member of his family, with which he could be jovial. No, now she was a dangerous creature that required that he choose his words carefully, lest he provoke her anger.

Xena just nodded and continued up the stairs.



“Xena! You’re allright!” When Xena opened the door and stepped into the room, she was greeted by an enthusiastic hug from Lila. Bewildered that the girl would be so affectionate with her after knowing her for such a short time, Xena still managed to somewhat awkwardly return the hug while her eyes searched for Gabrielle.

Gabrielle sighed in relief and made as if to approach Xena, then stopped. They looked at one another without speaking, until Lila, who looked from one to the other, finally spoke up.

“Umm, well, now that you’re here Xena, I guess we can all go to bed. I’ll be sleeping with Minya.”

“WHAT?” Minya yelped loudly, looking panic stricken. Xena and Gabrielle both turned in surprise, Xena’s eyebrow going up in amusement after a moment of watching her young Guard go all flustered. Lila rolled her eyes at Minya and sighed exaggeratedly.

“Mavican said I could bunk in with you guys tonight.” Lila explained airily. “I can’t very well stay here, Gabrielle and Xena wants to be alone you know. So Mavican said I could squeeze in with you girls in your room for the night.”

“Isn’t that great Minya? Now we can talk some more before going to sleep.” Lila was obviously pleased and grabbed onto Minya’s arm with both of hers. “G’night sis, Xena. See you in the morning.”

Minya’s eyes were as wide as saucers as Lila dragged her out of the room with her. Xena caught the slyly amused look in Lila’s eyes as she closed the door behind her, and shook her head slightly.

“Minya isn’t going to stand a chance…” Xena murmured quietly to herself.

The room fell silent. Xena couldn’t make herself meet Gabrielle’s eyes, in case they held what she had feared they would. Then her arms were filled with Gabrielle.

“Xena…” Gabrielle breathed thickly into her shoulder “…can you wait to tell me about things until the morning? Can we just go to bed now?” She shivered a little.

“I-I… just really need you to hold me.” Gabrielle begged softly

Xena closed her eyes in heartfelt relief. “Always.” She kissed the top of Gabrielle’s head tenderly before lifting her up and carrying her over to the bed.

“Always, Gabrielle.”


The morning came as nearly all had lately, very early and with Gabrielle on her knees, miserably bent over a pail, and Xena nervously hovering around racking her brain for something to do to make things easier on her love. Fortunately, the concoction that Lila once again made for her sister, this time for breakfast, seemed to soothe Gabrielle’s rebellious stomach to the point where Gabrielle dared to try some light soup. The improvement was such a relief to Xena that she walked over to Lila and spontaneously lifted her in a grateful hug, leaving the girl beaming like Xena had just promised her Rome on a silver platter.

Conversations were subdued during breakfast, and soon Gabrielle felt well enough to ask Xena about the previous night. Dreading having to tell the details of what she, personally, had done to the man, Xena nevertheless did just that. Because Gabrielle had asked.

Slowly Xena went over the events while Gabrielle listened seriously, the Guards and Lila letting them have a moment of privacy while they spoke. When Xena reached the part where she had headed back towards the Inn, Gabrielle had closed her eyes and looked pale. She opened her eyes again and gave Xena a small smile. “Thank you.”

Xena blinked. “What for?”

“For sparing his life.” Gabrielle said seriously. “I know what you were in your full right to do to him, according to the law. But you let him live, and I am grateful for that.”

Xena nodded slowly, not quite certain she understood what Gabrielle meant, entirely. Gabrielle reached out to touch her hand before continuing. “I also know that the punishment you gave him was what he had coming for the crimes he committed, I don’t have anything to say in regards to that, if that’s what you thought. Although…” Gabrielle looked at her thoughtfully. “You sent him off to Egypt? Why?”

“To let him live.” Xena said starkly. “If he remained… he wouldn’t.”

Gabrielle just nodded and caressed the hand under her own. She was a little disturbed to find out that although a part of her had a hard time dealing with the fact that a man could have died because of her, another part of her recognised that being hurt would have endangered the child she carried, and had no compunctions that anyone that threatened that life would pay for it with their own. She did not like what that said about her, but she also knew that she wouldn’t let anything threaten her and Xena’s child if she had any power to prevent it.

She shook her head to scatter the dark thoughts. “I noticed that uncle Jorgos is avoiding us.”

Xena sighed deeply and looked pained. “I’m sorry Gabrielle. I truly am.”

“Why?” Gabrielle frowned, still absently playing with Xena’s hand.

Hesitantly Xena told Gabrielle about her conversation with Jorgos the previous night. “…so you see, I’m afraid I don’t think he’ll come to our wedding after all.” Then quietly. “I am sorry Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle released Xena’s hand, and for a moment Xena felt hurt, but then Gabrielle stood in between her knees, gently urging Xena’s head up until she met her gaze. She smiled and caressed Xena’s bangs away from her eyes.

“You “ Gabrielle said softly “are _my_ hero.” And then she kissed Xena tenderly.

When she broke off Xena was holding her close, and looking at her with wide, amazed, eyes. Xena made as if to speak, but was interrupted when the Inn doors were flung open with a crash to reveal two Royal Guards that had not accompanied Xena to Poteidaia.

“My Lord!” One called urgently, and hurried to kneel by Xena’s side. “Urgent message from Captain Meleager!”

Xena snatched the scroll from the guardsman’s outstretched hand, scowling worriedly as she ripped it open and scanned the contents. The sound of her hand absently crushing the message seemed almost loud in the absolute silence of the Inn. Xena rose to her feet and levelled an icy serious stare at the people in the room.

“We’re returning to Corinth at once! Prepare the horses immediately!” She ordered and soldiers snapped to attention, running to perform their duties and leaving food half-eaten at the tables.

“What has happened?” Gabrielle asked nervously. Xena gave her a grave but distant look.

“Jett, the assassin, got murdered last night.”

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 22: Homecoming

Gabrielle cast a glance at her sister through the window of the Royal carriage, idly wondering if Minya might not need a break from Lila’s persistent questions and endless babble. Not particularly surprising to anyone, Lila had requested she be allowed to ride with Minya instead of in the carriage with Xena and Gabrielle, and Xena had agreed. At least for a while, since they didn’t want to strain Minya’s horse too much, and so Gabrielle listened distractedly to Lila’s cheerfully bright voice as she asked the Royal Guards an unending stream of questions about Corinth.

Xena had been quiet ever since she received Meleager’s message, rarely speaking when not issuing a few curt orders, and her eyes were fixed on something far away. Gabrielle was glad that she had some privacy with Xena in the carriage, and tried to think of a subtle way to reach through to Xena. This silence was just to unnerving.

She finally gave up on subtlety and tried the direct approach. “Xena?” She kept her voice down so that it would not reach out through the open windows. Xena didn’t appear to have heard her at first, then blinked slowly and refocused on Gabrielle’s face.

“Yes?” An eyebrow arched in question, and Gabrielle felt so relieved to see the unconscious gesture change the stony expression Xena held even if it was but a tiny alteration.

“I… didn’t want to ask in front of the others, but… Was there anything else in that note?” Gabrielle looked away from Xena’s steady gaze and fiddled awkwardly with the hem of her dress. “I mean, I feel terrible for poor Jace, loosing his brother like that, and a murder is such an awful thing, and of course whoever is guilty must be found and all, but…” Gabrielle babbled a bit before tapering off uncertainly.

Xena waited patiently, and after a moment Gabrielle looked back up at her. “I just wouldn’t have thought you’d react so strongly hearing that someone who tried to kill you has died.”

Xena’s expression softened, and she pulled Gabrielle closer, tucking the woman she loved so dearly comfortably into her arms. “It is not really about Jett’s death, or even that someone whom I value as highly as Jace will be devastated by this.” She sighed a little and absently stroked Gabrielle’s hair.

“It is that there is someone or someones out there that are intent on killing me, and who would think nothing of using those I love to do it. And the only lead I had to those people has now been effectively silenced.”

Xena looked seriously at Gabrielle. “I don’t mean to frighten you, my sweet, and I assure you that I will take every precaution ensuring that you, our baby and Lila will be safe.” She kissed Gabrielle’s forehead gently. “I will make sure nothing threatens any one of you.”

She was quiet for a moment, while Gabrielle thought about what Xena had said. It filled her with a sense of wonder. Those Xena love… their baby was not due to be born for quite some time yet, still Xena loved it already. The knowledge sent a wave of affection through Gabrielle, and with a tiny sigh she settled in even closer to her lover.

As Xena spoke up again her voice was even more quiet, but Gabrielle heard her clearly. “I… What bothers me most is that whoever murdered Jett managed to enter a room with no window and only one door, a door guarded at all times by at least two palace guards.” She hesitated. “If it truly is the room that I believe, then there is one other way in that no-one should know about… The castle that our home was built upon had myriads of secret passages built into it, and most of those remain today. But I should be the only one alive that knows of their existence, much less where they lead.”

“If the people who are trying to hurt you know about them…” Gabrielle began with alarm, but Xena cut her off, gently. “Yes. If someone who wants to kill me have access to those passageways… then things just turned a bit more tricky.”




The rest of the journey back to Corinth was subdued, even Lila’s cheerfulness abated slightly as the day went on and she had to travel in the carriage with Xena and Gabrielle. The return to the palace was also a rather dampened affair, although young Lila’s reaction upon seeing the palace that was now to be her home tower up in front of her in all it’s splendour brought a smile even to Xena’s lips. It was a fleeting thing, however, as Meleager met them just inside the palace gates.

Xena forestalled any discussion in the hallways, and so the party moved in silence towards the royal chambers. Lila appeared to be a bit intimidated by her new surroundings, and the graveness of the people around her, so Xena pulled both sisters to her as they walked down the corridors. It proved strangely rewarding for the warrior as she walked the last part of the way to her personal chambers with her lover wrapped around one side and her young ward clinging to her hand on the other as if it was the most natural thing in the world.



The time that followed was hectic. Xena’s suspicions regarding the room were confirmed, although that particular piece of information went no further than Meleager. Now they were three that knew of the secret passages within the Conqueror’s stronghold, aside from their unknown adversary, and Gabrielle and Meleager merely knew of their existence, not where any paths might lead.

It was, of course, at this time that the remaining satraps began arriving, starting with Cleopatra and Melosa on the same day, and ending with Lao Ma nearly a week later. Investigations were, by necessity, forced to be held discreetly, and greatly impeded by the general chaos that the gathering of satraps always brought. Indeed, within two days the entourage from Briton had managed to greatly affront not only the Egyptian entourage, but also a fair share of the amazons Melosa brought. Privately Xena seethed at having to spend precious time and energy smoothing ruffled feathers and avoiding escalations of the petty squabbles, time she could have used better hunting down this potential threat to her happiness.

Overall security was increased, especially the amount of Royal Guards that accompanied Gabrielle and Lila at all times. Minya and Mavican had both been assigned to Lila’s own guard at least temporarily, along with a number of others, but in Minya’s case it seemed more a thing of convenience than anything else, as she and Lila didn’t stay apart for long even when Minya was officially off duty.

For the first few nights Lila was placed in the small room that was supposedly Gabrielle’s, but a bit of ingenuity and hard work soon had another small suite attached to the hallway where the Royal Guards where posted outside the Royal chambers. Xena made certain Lila’s chambers would be a safe as could get, and easily defended, until such time as she could see to it that new Royal Chambers were built to house her rapidly growing family.

It was, needless to say, a dilemma that the Conqueror had never had reason to give much thought before.

The strain of events was taking their toll on everyone. Jace was inconsolable, and unable to perform his duties for some time, much to Viceron’s ill hidden satisfaction. Gabrielle, although the emotional upheaval of her visit in Poteidaia, coupled with her ongoing morning sickness, left her in dire need of rest, still took it upon herself to try and comfort her friend. And it nearly lead to disaster.

Xena, feeling the strain and the stress unusually keenly, had more trouble fighting her darker urges than she normally did. And when she accidentally walked in on her beloved Gabrielle as the younger woman was embracing and kissing Jace, she simply snapped.

If Xena had been slightly more clear-minded at the time, she would have seen that Gabrielle was merely hugging her friend to offer comfort in his grief, and that the kiss in question was a small and rather sisterly peck to his cheek. But Xena was very far from the state of mind that she could be so rational where Gabrielle was concerned, and if not for Gabrielle’s quick acting Xena would have done something she would later have regretted most deeply. Jace himself would never know just how close he came to being murdered in his own chambers.

Gabrielle saw it in Xena’s eyes though, and intercepted the warrior before things got out of hand. As easily as Xena’s feelings for Gabrielle seemed to bring the dark madness in Xena to the surface at times, just as easily it seemed that Gabrielle was able to soothe Xena back to sanity. Even so, Gabrielle was hard pressed to deflect the ardour that replaced Xena’s mad jealousy for long enough for them to move from the hallway outside Jace’s quarters to the first small unoccupied room with a door that they could find.



Lila was trying her best to adapt to her new surroundings, despite the chaos around her. Until such time as Xena had located a few teachers she thought was trustworthy, Lila was in essence free to spend her time as she chose, meaning she followed Minya around for most part. She quickly endeared herself to the staff in the Royal kitchens, having a genuine love for cooking as well as seeing it as her duty to make sure Gabrielle would manage to eat. Unlike Gabrielle, Lila wasn’t particularly fond of the libraries, even though she liked a good story, so she spent most of her time outside the Royal chambers either in the kitchens or watching Minya train with the other Royal Guards. It was while forcing Minya to listen to her reading from a book she had borrowed that she encountered some of the palace guests.

Sitting on the grass near the wall in the Royal Gardens with the book in her lap, while Minya lounged nearby with a long-suffering expression on her face, Lila suddenly felt something pelt her in the head. Picking up the small pebble, Lila testily considered throwing it at Minya, but the other girl looked so surprised at the change in Lila’s expression that Lila decided it couldn’t have been Minya who threw it at her. But Lila couldn’t see anyone near them in the Gardens, the other Royal Guards where a fair distance away from them, guarding the entrance points to the area. Then she heard giggling.

“Hey there, pretty girl!” A voice whispered from above Lila. Minya was on her feet in no time.

Over the edge of the very tall wall peeked three faces. The voice belonged to a redhaired girl who was grinning and waving wildly from her perch. “What’cha doing down there?”

Lila blinked. “Reading… What are you doing up there? And how did you get up there, anyway?”

“We’re amazons.” A stocky-looking girl snorted, as if it explained everything. The third girl looked at the speaker chidingly, then turned a friendly smile on Lila and Minya. “We were exploring, sort of, and found this crawlspace that ends up behind this wall. It’s pretty easy to climb up here since the walls are so close together.”

“So…” Redhair spoke again. “can we come down there to you?”

Minya snapped to attention as soon as redhair flashed another smile at Lila, and signed for the other Guards. She felt fairly confident that she could take care of these three herself if they posed a threat to Lila, but she knew procedure well enough, and she took her responsibilities seriously.

Lila glanced at Minya and noticed her reaction before nodding to the three up on the wall. “Sure, come on down. But how will you get down here without hurting yourselves? Should I get a rope for you?”

“Naw” Redhair said as she swung herself over the side. “it’s no problem.”

Redhair dropped down and landed on her feet with moderate grace, but the stocky girl was less fortunate and ended up landing on her rear instead. The third girl had some difficulty manoeuvring around because of her rather bizarre headdress, and wound up hanging from the edge of the wall with one arm, about to involuntarily drop at a dangerous angle. Minya saw this, and without really thinking dashed forward to catch the falling girl.

“Whoa… Yakut! Yakut, are you allright?” Redhair was clearly worried. Minya carefully put the girl down, but kept a hold on her until the slightly dazed look left her eyes.

“Yes…” Yakut answered slowly. “I’m allright, really. I just haven’t gotten used to this thing yet.” Followed by an exasperated gesture to the thing on her head. “It’s really stupid, I shouldn’t be making mistakes like this!”

“Umm… excuse me, but who are you?” Lila asked politely as Minya came back to stand at her side, doing her best to look intimidating. Redhair grinned and slung one lanky arm around Yakut, gesturing with the other.

“She’s Yakut, a shamaness, I’m Amarice, and that’s Otere. Otere is a princess from the Northern tribe, but we’re all here with Queen Melosa. So who are you two?”

Sighing to herself as she saw Lila begin to speak, Minya managed to answer first. “This is Her Royal Highness Lady Lila, ward of Our Lord Conqueror.” Ignoring Lila’s rolling eyes. “I’m Minya. Are either of you carrying any weapons?”

Amarice pouted while Yakut giggled softly. “No, we’re not allowed to wear weapons.” Yakut said softly without elaborating. Otere, on the other hand, smirked at Amarice and added “Yeah, Amarice and I aren’t warriors yet so we’re not allowed to carry swords, or anything like that. We’d be carrying our daggers and maybe a sling or two if the Queen didn’t have to worry so much about Amarice attacking some helpless guy here… She really hates guys, don’t you Amarice?”

“Well, I guess that you like guys enough for all three of us, don’tcha Otere?” Amarice ribbed the shorter girl right back, clearly not happy about the reminder.

“Hey!”

“Now now…” Yakut stepped in to keep the two from starting a fight right there among strangers. “Peace, both of you.”

Lila felt somewhat sympathetic to Yakut’s dilemma, and did what she could to help distract the other amazons. She started babbling about Minya. “Minya is a warrior, you know? She doesn’t wear a sword or anything as common as that, but she has this really big hammer thingy that looks soo cool, and…”

Minya was horrified, and the Amazon girls looked slightly dazed.

“…you wouldn’t believe how strong she is, and she’s so brave too, and…” Lila was undaunted by the lack of response from her company as she warmed up to her subject. Instead she grabbed Minya’s hand and had her sit down on the grass right next to herself.

“Cool, you’re a Royal Guard.” Amarice grinned at some point in Lila’s story. “In the Amazon villages, the only warriors that get to be Royal Guards are those that are the best of the very best around. Everyone wants to be good enough to be a Royal Guard.”

“Oh, that’s what it’s like here too!” Lila assured them enthusiastically, ignoring that Minya by now was red as a beet. “And Minya got picked out by Xena herself!”

Minya groaned. A quick glance affirmed that, yes, the other Guards were laughing, and they didn’t even cover it particularly well, and no, Lila showed no sign of stopping. She really wished that she could come up with a reason to leave right away, but she couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right to leave Lila with people she just met, even if they seemed harmless enough, not as things were right now. So Minya had to stay and tough it out.

And the fact that Lila was still holding her hand had nothing to do with that decision, of course.

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 23: Discrediting Love

Although officially the biannual meeting with the Satraps was supposed to occur once, at a set day, with all the Satraps and their respective chosen aides in a grand formal dinner that would occupy most of the day and evening to be followed exactly three days later with a huge celebration of Xena’s Realm, the unofficial procedure was somewhat more lengthy. The Conqueror would have audiences with the various Satraps and their entourages for weeks, and then there would be numerous meetings with Xena and all the Satraps that were closed off to anyone else, not even allowing for servants to be present in case they would disturb the conversations pertaining to the Realm. It was during this lengthy process that the actual decisions were made, making the goings-on during the large, elaborate feast disguised as the meeting of the Satraps nothing more than a well rehearsed spectacle.

All in all it was very much work to be done, and with Xena’s best aide disabled, an assassin on the loose, and wedding preparations to consider, Xena was forced to work everyone to their fullest capacity. That meant coaxing Gabrielle into performing some tasks that should otherwise not have been expected of her until after they had been married for some time. In short, she was required to meet the dignitaries in Xena’s place.

Viceron was, at first, livid. But he knew well enough to keep his ire to himself, and as he carefully considered the situation, an opportunity seemed to present itself.

The Egyptian Satrap Cleopatra had brought her notoriously libidinous lover Marc Anthony to the palace. Viceron actually smiled.

It would all be… so easy.



It required surprisingly little effort to orchestrate a meeting between himself and the Roman noble, much thanks to Marc Anthony’s own puffed-up sense of self-importance. No matter, Viceron was used to handling men of Anthony’s kind, in fact he thrived on it. Learning Gabrielle’s schedule for the day, as well as those of the Royal Guardsmen surrounding her, was a less enjoyable task. Still, with some manipulation Viceron managed to stage a perfect encounter.

He managed to put Gabrielle in a situation where she could not find a graceful way to back out from having to, as Viceron put it, aid him in having an audience with Marc Anthony in the Royal Chambers. By making Marc Anthony seem more important than he was, as well as making the request for aid seem harmless, there was no way for Gabrielle to turn him down without causing offence to the Roman, even if she had sensed something foul with the arrangement.

It was no surprise to Viceron when Marc Anthony immediately assessed Gabrielle’s beauty and showed interest, Viceron had after all counted on that very fact. A few words spoken to Anthony privately, while Gabrielle was giving orders to her guards, gave the Roman the impression that Gabrielle, while merely a body slave, was exclusively Xena’s, and that the Conqueror allowed no other to touch her bedwarmer. Marc Anthony had tried for years to get inside Xena’s bed himself, without success, something that rankled him to no end, so the information that Gabrielle was Xena’s predictably made him nearly obsessed with the idea of taking her for himself.

When Viceron added that it was Xena’s belief that no man had ever touched her property Anthony, like a good bloodhound given the scent, was firmly on the chase. Viceron would have clapped his hands with glee at the expression in the other man’s eyes when Gabrielle rejoined them, but years of schooling kept his mask ever impeccable.

He would let the Roman warm himself to his subject, and then use his previously concocted excuse to leave them alone before Anthony committed himself too clearly in his seduction. And Anthony would not let a mere body slave refuse him, even should the peasant whore somehow be immune to the seduction that had felled numerous highborn ladies, ending in the same result; Xena’s faith being betrayed with a man she absolutely despised, and in her very own chambers.

It was, simply put, perfect.

It was time to withdraw, he realised suddenly, as Gabrielle was showing subtle signs of becoming uncomfortable with Anthony’s overly solicitous manner and veiled comments, so Viceron rose and told Gabrielle quietly that he would send someone to aid her very soon, but that he must now leave. It was part of his plan to indeed send a few aides to the Royal Chambers, but he intended to wait long enough for Anthony to have gotten Gabrielle in a compromising situation first. Pretending not to see the alarm in Gabrielle’s eyes he bid them adieu.

It wasn’t until much, much later that he would hear how his plan had failed.

After Viceron left, it didn’t take long for Marc Anthony to turn more… aggressive. Gabrielle was not used to such blatant come-ons from strangers, as the fear of Xena’s wrath kept most people at bay, and she was becoming quite frantic in keeping Marc Anthony at a proper distance from herself, both physically and verbally.

So when Mavican entered to ask Gabrielle what to do with another dignitary, an Amazon woman whom Gabrielle of course did not know in the slightest, that had requested a short meeting with someone on a matter regarding the activities of the Amazon children brought to Corinth, Gabrielle jumped at the chance.

Ephiny was quite shocked at being all but bodily dragged into the room and forced to socialise with this overly friendly woman, whom Ephiny worried might not be quite right in the head. But seeing Marc Anthony in the room, and easily catching the hormonal waves pouring off him, Ephiny took a closer look into Gabrielle’s eyes.

So that is how it was. Ephiny did not mind in the slightest to ruin the insufferable Roman’s fun, and what kind of Amazon would she be if she wouldn’t protect a fellow woman from the unwanted advances of a man? She plopped herself down in the couch and grinned insolently.

“Why Tony my boy, I didn’t know you had been invited to our tea party.” Oh Ephiny was actually going to have some fun here. “Me and…” She glanced at Gabrielle quickly and caught the younger woman mouthing her name to her. “…Gabrielle were planning to chat for a while about Amazon traditions and practises, since it interests her so much.” Ephiny put her feet up on the table and patted the seat next to her, a seat that would be completely cut off from Marc Anthony’s lounge chair. “Come, Gabby, sit.” The gratitude in Gabrielle’s eyes brought a genuine smile to Ephiny’s lips.

Then she grinned again and turned to Marc Anthony. “Did you know that there are no males allowed in the Amazon village at all, not even animals?” A blatant lie, but Marc Anthony wouldn’t know that. “Anything that is brought in, like horses for instance, first has to be… “ She made a cutting motion with one hand, still grinning madly. “…snip snip.”

“Oh really? Tell me more!” Gabrielle gasped with exaggerated wide-eyed interest that made Ephiny want to laugh. “How do you do that?”

Oh yeah, Ephiny thought, Gabrielle was pure evil. And Ephiny wholeheartedly approved. “Well, first there’s these tongs…”

And Marc Anthony turned very pale.




It didn’t take long before Marc Anthony, slightly green in countenance and glowering badly at Ephiny, excused himself from their company. As soon as the doors had closed behind him, Gabrielle and Ephiny burst out laughing. After the laughter died out, and Gabrielle had thanked Ephiny profusely, they sat companionably talking for real for quite some time.

They were still talking and laughing when Xena found them, nearly two candlemarks later.



At first Xena just blinked, too surprised to react even with the red-hot jealousy that undoubtedly otherwise would have consumed her at the thought of her beloved so greatly enjoying the company of another. That momentary paralysis most likely saved the Amazon bodily harm at the very least.

Upon seeing Xena, Ephiny sobered and stood to leave. She nodded formally at Xena, then turned and smiled at Gabrielle. “It is time for me to get going. I really enjoyed our little… chat, and I hope I get to see you again during my stay in Corinth.”

Gabrielle positively beamed back. “I enjoyed it too, and I’m sure we’ll get the chance to talk some more before your people leave the palace, Ephiny. Thank you so much for your help with…” Gabrielle waved her hand about vaguely.

“It was my pleasure, believe me.” Ephiny grew serious. “But please be leery of that man, Gabrielle. I know he might not seem as much of anything, but he can be dangerous, and don’t ever let him get you alone again.” Ephiny had rather swiftly gotten fond of the sweetly dispositioned young woman.

“What… are you talking about?” Xena growled dangerously. Ephiny looked at Xena and nodded almost imperceptibly to herself.

“I was going to offer to take care of him if he was to cause any further problems for you, Gabrielle, but I think that perhaps you should just tell Lord Xena everything and let her decide what to do. The Lord Conqueror will put Marc Anthony in his place, I’m sure.” Ephiny smiled briefly at Gabrielle again, sketched at slight bow towards Xena before heading out the door.

Xena turned to Gabrielle with a look so intense that it nearly burned. Gabrielle sighed a little and moved closer. “You see, it was like this…”

Xena was infuriated. It took quite some talking on Gabrielle’s part to convince the taller woman she should not immediately chase down the insolent Roman and introduce his intestines to a red-hot poker or six. She also very much wanted to hold Viceron responsible for Gabrielle’s predicament, but had to grudgingly agree that it did seem as if though he was without blame for once. Xena stewed in her dark thoughts for a moment.

“…and you should have seen how pale he turned after Ephiny said…” Gabrielle continued gleefully, not quite aware that Xena had been too distracted by her thoughts to listen.

So. She was now indebted to an Amazon. It was not something Xena would have preferred if she had a choice in the matter, but still… she was grateful for Ephiny’s aid, knowing things would have turned ugly for her love if the Amazon had not intervened. Xena sighed inaudibly. It would have been better if it had at least been Melosa. Melosa and Xena shared a mutual respect and even a form of friendship that Xena appreciated, not so with the angry young warrior that was Melosa’s adopted daughter, and whom bore a deep resentment for Xena.

She glanced at Gabrielle thoughtfully. She would have to express her gratitude to Ephiny somehow, and very soon. And it would be very genuine indeed, she thought, feeling a smile ghost past her lips.

“Gabrielle.” She interrupted gently. “I am… glad that Ephiny was here for you. I am sorry that I was not.” She pulled Gabrielle to her and murmured into red-gold hair. “I am so sorry, my sweet.”

“Tonight we will hold the first of the Satrap meetings” And Xena thought to herself that she would deal with Mark Anthony there. “and I would like to announce our impending wedding to them during it, if you are willing.” She hesitated for a moment. “Would you be willing, Gabrielle? Will you come to the meeting and let me introduce you to them as my bride?”

Gabrielle smiled at her so lovingly that Xena felt her chest constrict. Gabrielle then reached up and wrapped her arms around Xena’s neck, leaning in for a kiss. Just before their lips met Gabrielle breathed her answer softly. “Of course I will, dearest.”

And then all thoughts of Romans or amazons were swept away.




Evening came faster than Xena had expected. She managed to tear herself from the alluring warmth of Gabrielle and prepare for the meeting with some effort, as in truth she would have preferred to remain where she was and tell the Satraps to snipe at each other without her. But this particular meeting had incentive like no other ever had held, with Satraps or otherwise, she was after all about to declare her wedding plans. Not to mention that a certain Roman would get what was coming to him, and in spades if he wasn’t very, very careful.

Xena arrived at the meeting late, leaving Gabrielle to get ready and join her a while later. Xena fully intended to have certain matters handled before Gabrielle joined them, so that her beautiful love would not have to witness any… unpleasantries before their declaration.

The Satraps were getting somewhat impatient by the time Xena joined them, although they hid their displeasure or, in some cases, amusement, well. Xena smirked at them.

Glaphyra was openly grinning at Xena from across the table, causing Xena to smile briefly as Glaphyra did a suggestive little eyebrow dance that quite frankly made her look ridiculous. Boadicea looked as if she was gnashing her teeth next to Glaphyra, which made the insolent Satrap of the Africaans roll her eyes and snort. Those two always bickered when given any opportunity. Next to Boadicea sat Lao Ma, serene as always, although Xena thought she could detect just the tiniest hint of curiosity in the black eyes of her one-time mentor. At the end of that side of the table sat Cleopatra and Marc Anthony, primping as usual.

Xena all but sneered at the man before forcing her attention at the other side of the table.

On the other side of Glaphyra sat Melosa, Ephiny and, for some odd reason, Lao Ma’s son Ming T’ien. Xena had been aware that the boy was going to be present, as Lao Ma was readying him for greater responsibilities in governing Chin, but she would have expected him to be seated next to his mother. No matter, the sullen youth had no doubt had another round of angry words with, or rather at, his placid mother, and sat as far away from her as he could in a juvenile attempt at punishing her. Xena really couldn’t care less.

She did, however, notice Ephiny glaring at Marc Anthony, and frowned.

Xena greeted them all, and briefly told them that their usual discussions were going to have to wait just a little while as there were more pressing matters to attend to first. Ignoring the grunts from Boadicea and the impatient mutterings of Ming T’ien, Xena called Marc Anthony to stand up next to the table.

She took notice of the fact that Cleopatra seemed surprised as she exchanged chairs with her lover, which assured Xena that the Egyptian had no idea about his indiscretions for once. Usually, these two would brag about their various conquests and discuss them together, but Xena wanted to think that Cleopatra would know better than to actively pursue someone that Xena had claimed. Flirting, yes, but more than that? She hoped not, Cleopatra should be intelligent enough to know better.

Marc Anthony was smirking as he stood up, and Xena wondered idly what in the world the man thought she was going to do to him had he succeeded in seducing her lover. No matter, it was not going to happen, she decided firmly, not noticing the low growl that escaped her lips.

She dressed him down, harshly, in just about every way she could that would hurt his ego. It was, after all, his most prized possession, and short of hurting him physically, it was the best she could do. By the end of her scathing delivery, Xena turned to the rest of the surprised Satraps and looked at them as she addressed Marc Anthony.

“Anthony, you are an unmitigated fool. To covet what is mine is one thing, but to pursue it, to try to steal from me, is sheer idiocy.” The glance she threw in Anthony’s direction was menacing. “Know that you will not be allowed within twenty paces of my Gabrielle again unless I am present to kill you myself. Also… tread carefully now, Anthony, another slip up and I will strip you of all that you have, and leave you but another faceless, worthless pauper in the gutters of Rome.”

Xena sat back down, grinning evilly as she watched Marc Anthony struggle, red-faced, with his temper. The second he lost control of it and tried to attack her, he would be dead, but he was almost to angry to care at this point. Fortunately for the pompous Roman, his lover had her wits about her, and Cleopatra pulled him down in his seat and all but sat on him, hissing quietly at him to calm down.

Xena took a long draught of wine as she idly noticed that several faces in the room looked pleased that Marc Anthony had been called on the carpet. Well, she was rather pleased herself, having settled matters before her gentle lover would arrive.

As if summoned by Xena’s thoughts, a light knock on the ornate doors revealed that Gabrielle had arrived.




Conquering Liaisons pt 8

Xena Warrior Princess fanfic, Conqueror. As the story starts Xena, known as the Lord Conqueror and not a nice woman, acquires a new bodyslave - not realising that she will come to love this woman, deeply and sincerely, to the point of madness. Assassination attempts, power struggles and bickering satraps all demand Xena to remain the harsh and cruel ruler, while Gabrielle without intending to draws out the woman that wants nothing more than love and family.

Has sexual themes and graphic violence, and most importantly it is a dropped story, meaning it will be years and years before I even consider continuing this.
(Xena/Gabrielle, Lila/Minya) Divided into roughly ten parts due to size.


Read Conquering Liaisons pt 8






Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle and anything else XWP belong to RenPics and TPTB, and certainly in no way to a certain little dragon.

This is a conquerorfic and contains a fair share of violence. There is mention of sex, and at a certain point a roundabout mention of rape. While I think it should not be too disturbing for anyone’s sensibilities, a warning is only fair so that you can avoid reading if this would upset you.

The most important warning I feel is this; THIS STORY HAS BEEN DROPPED. It is unfinished and shall remain that way for the foreseeable future. I do still hope to return to it sometime, years from now, but for now – and for quite a few years – I am hopelessly stuck.






Conquering Liaisons pt 8 of 10
-------------------------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson






Chapter 19: Private Conversations

The next morning proved to be challenging for Xena and Gabrielle both. The previous evening they had gotten to bed as soon as they returned to the Inn, since Gabrielle had developed a nasty headache and felt quite understandably beat.

The day began with Xena waking up to the sound of Gabrielle retching miserably over a pail. That occurrence had become more familiar lately, certainly, but as Xena sat holding Gabrielle's hair up and gently supporting her as great waves of dry heaves replaced actual vomiting, she felt a rising sense of anxiety. This was surely not a good sign.

A few candlemarks later, Gabrielle was no longer so pale and moved about more or less as usual. Xena noticed that she only picked at her food, though, and asked the healer she had brought with them to give Gabrielle something to strengthen her for the time being.

Gabrielle smiled wanly. "I'm allright Xena, I'm just..." She sighed a little. "It's been a rough couple of days, that's all. I'll be fine."

Xena wrapped her arms around her, leaning her head against Gabrielle's. "I know, my sweet... I know. But we just have to make it through this day, and by tonight you, me and Lila will be back home, where you will relax and I can take better care of you."

She patted the rebellious stomach softly, and added "And our baby had better stop running her mom so ragged. You'd think she'd at least wait until she was born to do that, huh?"

Gabrielle's eyes turned slightly teary and absolutely adoring. "She?"

"Hmm?" Xena asked distractedly, trying to remember to breathe when Gabrielle looked at her like that.

"You said she." Gabrielle's fingers intertwined with Xena's. "You think our baby is a girl?"

Xena was nonplussed. "I... did, didn't I? Well... maybe..." She looked back into Gabrielle's eyes and grinned. "A little girl. Yeah, that sounds nice."

"And what if it's a boy?" Gabrielle teased gently. Xena grinned even wider. "What if it's one of each, Gabrielle?" Gabrielle groaned and Xena laughed. "We'll have to rebuild the castle to make room for all our children, my sweet!"

Gabrielle chuckled softly and reached up to run her hand through Xena's bangs. "How about we let them get born one by one in due time, my lo..." Gabrielle's eyes grew wide and almost frightened for a moment. "…l-lord."

Nervously she dropped her gaze. "Y-you know what they say about counting your chicks before they're hatched, after all." Had Xena noticed?

"Well, my dear, precious, sweet and most beautiful Lady..." Xena grinned and leaned in for a long kiss that left Gabrielle quite breathless. "…we are in no hurry."

"And _what_ are you lot staring at?"

Most of the soldiers in the room grinned openly at Xena's challenge, Mavican going so far as to issue a few daring catcalls, which, surprisingly enough, was answered by a pointed look from Gabrielle.

The young Poteidaian straightened her posture and wrapped her arms rather possessively around Xena's waist. "I do believe that some people were not told that eavesdropping on other people's private conversations is terribly rude." Gabrielle's voice was teasing but gently chastising. "And since it would seem that the fine Royal Guard are warriors of such frail constitutions, perhaps it would be best if they were not exposed to further displays of domesticity. Shall we step outside, my Lord?"

Delighted with Gabrielle's playfulness, Xena was only too eager to play along and gallantly offered her arm. "Why yes my Lady, I do believe we shall." Steering Gabrielle through the door after one last look thrown in Mavican's direction. Mavican nodded imperceptively, having already received her orders, and began issuing orders of her own as soon as Xena and Gabrielle were out the door.

"You, dear heart, will make a fine Queen." Xena said, grinning. "Not that I doubted you would, of course, but if you can handle that unruly bunch, the satraps won't be a problem for you at all."

She didn't notice Gabrielle start, nor the strange look that came over her features for a moment.

"Of course, I will probably have to bust some heads first, since a few of them are bound to try and chat you up..." Xena mock growled with bared teeth, and put her arm even more possessively around Gabrielle. "..._my_ Gabrielle."

Gabrielle smiled and shook her head. "I'll never understand what you can possibly see in me." She reached up and placed a small kiss of affection on Xena's cheek, just as Xena was about to voice a protest. "But I am sure glad you do."



Talus' group came up to them at that point, Minya leading a pair of saddled horses up to where Xena and Gabrielle were standing. Gabrielle eyed them with obvious trepidation, then whispered nervously. "Xena? I have mentioned that I do not know how to ride, haven't I? Horses terrify me, they are so… big."

"Really?" Xena was surprised by this, indeed Gabrielle had never mentioned that before. Of course, she had not really had much reason to mention that before, either. "You never seemed to have any problems when you rode with me."

"Well, that was different. It's not so bad if you're there..." Gabrielle was clearly embarrassed. "…I just don't want to be on one of those all alone." Xena smiled and kissed her.

"Lady Gabrielle rides with me, Minya, so leave one of the horses here." A sudden thought occurred to Xena. "Does Lila ride? No? Then you can leave both of those two behind, Minya, one of you lot will have to ride with the young lady on our way back."



"Hey, I just realized something Gabrielle." Xena said as they steered the horses out towards Herodotus farm. "...I have a family now."

Gabrielle had to turn around and look at Xena, who looked every bit as deliriously happy as she sounded. "A family of my own, you, me, our baby and now little Lila as well. We are a family." Xena buried her face into Gabrielle's red-gold tresses. "There are times I'm afraid all of this will prove to be nothing more than a dream, and that I will wake up as I were before." She murmured so quietly that Gabrielle had to strain her ears to make out the words. "Alone."

"Without you."

Gabrielle swallowed hard, and closed her eyes over the tears that silently spilled down her cheeks. There was no way to answer with words, not without saying things that had better not be spoken, so she tried to channel all that into an awkward embrace.

They clung to one another almost desperately for a moment, before calming down and resuming their journey. The Guards, of course, showed no signs of having noticed.




Both Xena and Gabrielle had anticipated that there would be trouble of some kind when they went to pick Lila up from the homestead. To their surprise, though, matters went smoothly, albeit it was still difficult for both of the two sisters to take this final step.

Herodotus and Hecuba were quiet, barely looking at their children at all, instead focusing their attention on Xena and the paperwork she had brought. Xena could see the tension getting to her love already, and suggested that Gabrielle and Lila go visit with Seraphin ahead of her, since that was where they were heading next anyway.

So most of the Royal Guards joined Lila and Gabrielle on the short ride over to the other farm, during which Talus was entrusted with the precious cargo of Gabrielle. Needless to say the guardsman was half petrified and incredibly proud at the prospect, knowing that there was nothing in the Realm that his ruler valued more highly. Not to mention that the other guardsmen would be jealous of such an honour, but still, he was very grateful when they arrived and he could let his precious, and highly nervous, passenger down from the saddle.


The reunion with Seraphin's parents proved to be everything Gabrielle's reunion with her own parents had not. The elderly couple had been genuinely delighted to see her, tears and hugs all around, and hesitant, but heartfelt, well wishes once Gabrielle had given them a heavily abbreviated version of her life since leaving Poteidaia. Wedding invitations were extended and cheerfully accepted, although it was clear that the older couple was reeling just slightly from all the news. Nonetheless Gabrielle felt glad that there would be at least some of 'her' people present at her wedding.

Seraphin was out in the barn, working, Gabrielle was told, and so she and Lila decided to go there and surprise their old friend rather than wait for her to come back to the house. The Royal Guards were spread out as unobtrusively as they could, not to disturb their Lady and still keep an eye on things, and so no-one ventured near the barn, much less entered with Lila
and Gabrielle.

Surely things were safe enough here?

The Royal Guard was really going to have to learn not to make assumptions, especially where Gabrielle’s safety was concerned.


Lila and Gabrielle called out for their friend as they entered the large old building, but received no answer. Gabrielle motioned for Lila to be quiet as she thought she heard the faint sounds of a scuffle coming from the other end of the barn. She grabbed a pitchfork nearby and gestured for Lila to stay put as Gabrielle herself crept carefully towards the sound. Naturally, Lila ignored her sister’s order and carefully crept along behind her.

A muffled cry of pain, or maybe anger, led them to where they could see a woman struggling with the darker figure of a man on the ground. Even in the dim light that permeated the barn Gabrielle easily recognized Seraphin by the other woman’s near-white hair, and it was quite clear that she was furiously trying to fight the man who was pinning her to the floor. Gabrielle swung the pitchfork with all her might, bringing the handle down hard across the man’s back.

“Get AWAY from her!”

As the man reeled with the pain, Seraphin took her chance and kicked him off her, quickly scrambling to her feet next to Gabrielle and Lila. Still winded and shaking just a bit, Seraphin finally noticed just who her saviour was.

“Gabrielle?” She gasped in surprise. “How… why… Gabrielle!”

The man stopped his writhing and turned at the outburst, allowing Gabrielle to get her first good look at who he was. She dropped the pitchfork in shock.

“Perdicus!”

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 20: Goat Herder

“You’re back.” Perdicus smiled “I always knew you would.”

Gabrielle was lost in the memory of the last time she had been in a barn with her former fiancé, and despite all she had experienced since she found herself truly frightened. Carefully she began backing up, making sure to keep Lila behind her while her eyes were locked on the man in front of her.

Still smiling, Perdicus took a step towards Gabrielle.

With a snap Gabrielle came back to the present. “Lila, go!” She pushed at her sister. “Get the Guards, now!” Lila turned and ran just as Perdicus made his lunge, grabbing Gabrielle by her shoulders and pushing her up against a stall. Seraphin dived for his arm, but got backhanded into a rack by the wall.

“I knew you’d be back eventually.” He was still smiling. “Because we’re not finished yet.”




Xena came riding up to the farm, glad to have finished her business with Herodotus and Hecuba without further violence, when she saw Lila come running from around a large barn, shouting and waving her arms frantically. With a cold sense of dread Xena kicked the horse’s flanks hard, shooting right past the Royal Guard and the distraught girl, and vaulting right into the dark interior of the old building.


In all honesty she didn’t even make out any features on either of the two people in the barn besides Gabrielle, there was no time. But the dark figure holding on to her struggling lover was all Xena needed see, and the fury that had lain dormant since the event with Jett began to rise within her.

With a blood-curdling roar, the warrior tore the offending creature off her love and, delivering a single blow, sent him crashing into the wall. Then she was upon him.



The crunching sensation as she was slowly crushing his windpipe with her hand was most satisfying, but then she heard Gabrielle’s voice over the roaring of blood in her ears. Xena hesitated.

The voice came attached to a pair of arms that wrapped around her and a warm body that moulded itself to her back. A body as familiar to her as the face that looked back at her from the mirror every morning. The rage crept back, and she released her hold.

“Thank the Gods.” Gabrielle breathed unevenly.

Xena’s hand moved up to shakily touch Gabrielle’s cheek. “Are… you allright?” For an answer Gabrielle nodded and leaned into Xena’s touch.


Perdicus scrambled unsteadily to his feet, wheezing and coughing, held upright mostly by two Royal Guards that had in all silence walked up and flanked him while awaiting orders.

“W-what…” He wheezed with difficulty “…you wanted your money up front or something?” He spit a bit of blood. “Didn’t think she’d charge an old friend, but hey she knows I’m good for it…”

In the lethal silence that followed Perdicus voice Gabrielle could actually feel the fury rising inside Xena, and clung to her with all her might. Thankfully she was not the only one who realized what was about to happen, as Mavican immediately turned, grabbed Perdicus by the front of his tunic, and gave him a powerful head-butt that sent him into unconsciousness.

“My Lord?” Mavican stood to attention, the other Guards in the barn straightening to follow her example. “What are your orders, My Lord?”

Xena was still struggling with her rage, and did not appear to hear Mavican, so Mavican looked to Gabrielle. Gabrielle blinked a little as she realized that she was being asked for orders. Her, the little girl from Poteidaia.

Then she felt the tenseness in the form she was holding on to with all she had. So be it.

“Can you take him somewhere secure and out of sight and keep him there until Xena decides what she wants to do with him?”

“Of course My Lady, right away!” To Gabrielle’s shock the Guards saluted her before a number of them picked up Perdicus’ unconscious form and carried him away. She was not given time to dwell on it, because then Xena was kissing her hungrily, needfully, desperately, and all Gabrielle could do was respond in kind, heedless of where they were or who might be watching them.





“…so, just to see if I got this straight, you’re getting married now? To Xena? _That_ Xena?” Seraphin asked, leaning forward intently from where she was sitting across from Gabrielle and Xena in the grass. Lila was sitting to one side, looking mightily pleased, and Xena was seated on the grass with both arms and legs wrapped around Gabrielle who was using her as a backrest.

“Ha! I always knew you had a crush on her!” Seraphin smirked and winked at Lila, who giggled and nodded in agreement.

Gabrielle flushed. “H-hey! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Xena still hadn’t moved her face from where it was buried in Gabrielle’s hair, but Gabrielle would swear she could feel how she was given one of Xena’s raised-eyebrow looks even so. “It doesn’t surprise you, though? That I’m getting married to a woman, I mean.”

Seraphin grinned mischievously. “Guess I should have pushed a bit more when we were in that barn that one time when we were talking about practising kissing, huh?”

_That_ caught Xena’s attention, and she snapped her head up to level a stare at Seraphin.

“Or maybe not!” Seraphin hurried to add, suddenly feeling very intimidated by the dark woman. She giggled a bit nervously.

“Yeah, they’re getting married, I’m going to be an aunt, and we’re all going to live in a palace together, far away from here!” Lila added with obvious pleasure, giving her sister and soon to be sister-in-law a worshipful look. Gabrielle smiled at her affectionately.

“If you don’t mind Seraphin, and you Gabrielle, I would like to hear about Perdicus.” Xena’s voice was quiet and quite serious, reminding them all of the reason they where sitting on the grass outside the barn in the first place, with Royal Guards standing watch not too far away.

Seraphin sighed.

“He got worse after you left, Gabrielle. Oh, it started before that, of course, when your fathers decided to break up your engagement, but it got really bad after you left Poteidaia.”

“No.” Gabrielle’s voice was very quiet. “It started long before that.”

Seraphin frowned, but after a moment of hesitation she continued.

“His father got him engaged to Alyssa, and although it’s not something anyone talks about or that can be proved, I think pretty much everyone knows that he kind of made her…” A glance at Lila stopped Seraphin from spelling things out. “Either way she’s pregnant now, but he broke off the engagement and refuses to admit that the baby is his.”

“Little Alyssa?” Gabrielle asked, aghast. “She’s scarcely older than Lila!”

“I know. And Perdicus has been running around with just about any girl in Poteidaia that would give him the time of day, both while he was engaged to Alyssa and since, and he’s been more and more forceful when he’s turned down. There are those that say that he has even hit a girl or two when they refused him, but I never found out who that would have been though.”

“He’s come around here a number of times, even though I kept telling him I’m just not interested, and this time…” Seraphin struggled with the words for a moment. “…this time he wasn’t going to let my ‘no’ stop him.”

She looked up at Gabrielle and Xena. “Thank the Gods that you arrived when you did, Gabrielle.”

“If everyone knows all this as you say, why has no-one put a stop to this before?” Xena was in a dark mood and Gabrielle didn’t need to look at her to know it. She intertwined their fingers in a small pacifying gesture that earned her a tender kiss to her temple while they continued to discuss this dark topic.

“There’s not much to do. His family is too powerful around here, and no-one would dare to step up and tell the village what he has done. So as long as no-one will speak about it, Poteidaia will pretend it never happened. Even though everyone really knows he hurt Alyssa, and that she will burst into frightened tears just seeing him across the street. Even though we all know that the baby Alyssa carries is his.”

Gabrielle closed her eyes and nodded miserably. Poteidaia was where she grew up, she understood the rules there. Even when they were unfair and horrifying.

“G-gabrielle?” Seraphin hesitated, but continued anyway in a low voice. “That day in the barn… did he… try to h-hurt you?”

Gabrielle closed her eyes as she felt Xena start. She drew a deep breath.

“He tried to rape me.”

“He said that although we were no longer engaged I still had an obligation to him, that I owed him… things, and when I refused he was going to force me. Fortunately he… got interrupted.”

A low animalistic growl emanated from just behind her head, and Gabrielle hurried to turn around and capture Xena’s face with both hands.

“It’s allright Xena. He didn’t do anything, I’m safe, and I’m here, right here where I belong, in your arms. Allright?”

For a long moment Xena remained still, merely meeting Gabrielle’s troubled gaze with her own still furious one. Then in a swift movement she pulled Gabrielle in close, tucking Gabrielle’s head under her chin and wrapping her arms around her in a determinedly protective fashion.

Gabrielle blinked. Then she began giggling.

“What?” Xena groused, starting to feel a bit embarrassed for some reason. “Laugh all you like, I’m not letting you go.”

Gabrielle sighed contentedly. “No, I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Awww!”
“Hush, don’t disturb them, I bet they’re going to kiss again.”
“I wouldn’t, but they’re so cute!”

“What the Hades?” Xena exclaimed, trying to ignore the fact that it felt like she was actually blushing a little.

Lila and Seraphin were now sitting together, grinning widely and making little ‘aww’ noises at her and Gabrielle. What _was_ it with the women of Poteidaia and their refusal to be intimidated by her, anyway?

As the three Poteidaians burst out laughing around her, Xena leaned in to whisper in Gabrielle’s ear. “There will have to be repercussions to this, Gabrielle.” Gabrielle merely squeezed her hand in answer.






Several candlemarks later Lila and Gabrielle said their goodbyes to Seraphin and her parents, and was suited up to ride back to the Inn. Xena knew what was waiting for her there, but tried not to let her dark mood affect Gabrielle and her visit with her childhood friend too much.

“I’m glad we came here Gabrielle.” She said quietly to Gabrielle as she steered the horse up the well-beaten path that would lead into the centre of the village. “Seraphin and her parents seem nice, I’m glad our coming here helped them.” A hesitant pause. “Did they say if they will come to our wedding?”

“Yes, they promised they would. Seraphin seemed really excited about it, even.” Gabrielle grinned. “Though I don’t know, Seraphin in the big city? That might be dangerous.”

Xena smiled and said nothing. Nothing really needed to be said, Gabrielle knew that she knew that Herodotus and Hecuba had said nothing in regards to their daughter’s wedding, and was not likely to attend it. Xena knew that it hurt her sensitive lover far more than Gabrielle let on that her own parents were so cold that she had to look to childhood friends for the support they should have given. Xena knew all this, and let Gabrielle put on a brave face for now. There would be time enough for tears later, when they were alone.

Gabrielle sighed a little, then, after a moment, pulled Xena’s hand to press against her flat stomach. She smiled as the long fingers at once began moving in small, gentle caresses against the fabric of her dress, and pulled her other hand up to entangle in Xena’s dark tresses. She turned her head slightly and met those warm, bright blue eyes looking at her so tenderly from such a small distance away.

Suddenly she hated the distance. The distance made her angry, furious, sad… and so she had to destroy it.

She drew Xena to her in a kiss that held all her aching, her longing and her hunger, and Xena moaned quietly into the kiss before answering it in kind. The kiss deepened, and Gabrielle’s heartbeat went up, as they both forgot all about their surroundings.

Until, long moments later, the sound of someone giggling registered with them.

“Wow, now _that_ is what I call a _kiss_!” Lila grinned in delight, not bothering to keep her voice down. “Do you think they’ll fall off the horse?”

“Please, please don’t stare at them!” Minya begged quietly, mortally embarrassed, but the girl behind her in the saddle was unaffected.

“Why not?” Lila wanted to know, her brightly chirping voice ringing clear across the subdued group, and Xena and Gabrielle drew apart, trying in vain to restore some kind of dignity. “Aww, now look what you did, they stopped!”

“_I_ did?” Minya exclaimed. “And anyway, staring like that is just rude!”

“It is? Really?” When Minya nodded, Lila appeared to consider this. Her face brightened after a moment, and she concluded with great seriousness. “I guess I’m just a very rude sort of girl, then. Besides, they’re so cute together.”

Xena burst out laughing. After a moment, Gabrielle joined her.

Between gusts of hearty laughter, Xena managed to point out to Gabrielle. “I think Minya has made a new friend.” Gabrielle nodded and buried her face in Xena’s tunic.





Lila’s conversations with Minya was still drawing a few amused snickers as the group turned the bend and was presented with a clear view of the street in front of Jorgo’s Inn. It was a sobering sight.

People had gathered outside the Inn, clearly upset, and they had brought wagons and carts in the road, as if trying to block it off. Jorgos himself was standing in the doorway of the Inn, wringing his hands, and a few Royal Guards were out among the Poteidaians, clearly in the midst of a very spirited discussion.

The entire scene held an air of impending violence, causing the party to hurry their horses somewhat, and ready themselves for a confrontation.


As soon as she reached the edge of the building Xena jumped smoothly out of the saddle and walked the last few paces on foot, leading the horse with Gabrielle on it up to the steps. The Royal Guards followed her example, and soon Lila and Gabrielle were the only ones still on horseback in the entire street.

“What would seem to be the problem here?” Xena asked with authority in her voice. The Guards on the scene turned to her and stood to attention, one taking a step forward to begin explaining. She never heard him.

A roar of voices started shouting at the same time, causing a din that she could only barely make out a handful of words from, most of them along the lines of such as Perdicus’ name, injustice, manhandling, something about her sticking her nose in other people’s business, and, of course, just who did she think she was. Someone banged something metal at a barrel to cause even more noise, and there were those who waved farming tools in the air in a threatening manner.

“Enough!” Xena roared. To her surprise, nothing happened.

Lila and Gabrielle were beginning to climb down from their horses when someone in the throng started throwing rocks. Someone else joined in, and the rocks came pelting down.

Xena grabbed Gabrielle, to shield her with her own body, and sent a commanding look at Minya. Minya nodded, and while Xena belted out her warcry, sending her chakram out to cut the top parts of shovels and pitchforks before returning to her hand, Minya pushed her way over to one of the wagons with her mighty warhammer in hand.

The impossibly strong young woman swung her hammer around in a two-fisted grip once, twice, before bringing it down with all her might on the wagon, which shattered spectacularly with a thunderous boom.

Everyone froze.

“I said ENOUGH!” Xena roared into the silence, and the villagers was torn between staring at the calm young woman holding the huge hammer over the remains of their neighbour’s wagon, and the furious Conqueror who still held her chakram high into the air.

“You want to know why I have imprisoned a man from your village?” Xena’s voice was calm, but the intensity in it rang across the street as if she had shouted at the top of her lungs. “Because he has broken the law. And he has also committed a crime against me and the Realm!” She let them digest that for a brief moment.

“If you wish to know his fate, know that I will hold his sentencing in the village marketplace in three candlemarks hence. Should you choose to observe you will be welcome to do so, but no interference will be tolerated. Also, children and those faint of heart should always avoid a public sentencing.”

With that she reached out to Gabrielle and Lila, urging them into the building before her. A brief glance over her shoulder ensured that the Royal Guards were successfully dispersing the crowd without her.



“Were you frightened, my sweet?” Xena asked quietly. Gabrielle leaned into her lover and nodded, her eyes closed and her face drawn. “I would not have let them hurt you.”

“I know. I was afraid they’d hurt you.” Gabrielle said in a small, soft voice. “Are you sure they won’t try to h-hurt you when you go out there again?”

She didn’t see the loving look directed at her, but everyone else in the room caught it clearly. “I have to go, but I promise I’ll be back in one piece. The villagers might be angry, but I don’t think they will try anything else now. And the Guards will be better prepared now.” Xena caressed Gabrielle’s hair. “I want you to stay here when I go, though.”

Gabrielle looked up sharply, about to voice a protest, but Xena kissed her swiftly and continued. “But right now I want you to sit down with me and try to eat something, Gabrielle.” Gabrielle began to protest, but changed her mind with a wry smile.

“I’m not sure I can… keep anything down right now, Xena.” She sighed. Xena just nodded.

“Innkeep! Can we have something to eat over here, something that is gentle on Gabrielle’s stomach?” Xena’s call had been aimed at Jorgos, but Lila eagerly jumped to her feet to answer instead.

“I’ll fix something up in no time!” She said gleefully and tugged on Minya’s hand. “Come on, you’re coming with me into the kitchen.”

“What? Me?” Minya looked bewildered. “Why?”

“Well, you can help out of course. What, don’t tell me you can’t cook just because you’re a warrior?” Lila smiled and pulled Minya along towards the kitchen, making it quite clear that Minya was going to follow her orders whether she wanted to or not.

Minya was about to speak when Lila added thoughtfully. “You know, you were awfully brave out there. And you’re _so_ strong!” Lila’s voice was full of admiration, making Minya blush brightly all the way up to the roots of her hair, then Lila pulled Minya through the doorway and they disappeared from sight.

“Hmmm…” Xena was amused. “Do you think it is safe leaving them alone in there?” She grinned at Gabrielle, who punched her in the arm for her effort.

“Silly goose. But I am glad Lila is making friends.” Xena thought to herself that Lila was more than making friends, seeing as how her open admiration had the older girl all but stumbling over her own feet already, but wisely she choose not to comment any further in the matter. Sighing a little she steered Gabrielle towards a table.

“Xena, I don’t really think I’ll be able to eat even if Lila is going through the trouble of making anything…” Gabrielle began protesting. Xena bypassed Gabrielle’s resistance by seating herself, then pulling Gabrielle down in her lap. “There.”

“And Gabrielle? I won’t make you eat, but can you at least try? A little?”


Those pleading, earnest blue eyes made Gabrielle cave in, and little over a candlemark later, Gabrielle was dozing off in Xena’s arms, Lila having successfully browbeaten her sister into finishing a bowl of chicken soup, and then an entire bowl of some strange concoction that had both of Xena’s eyebrows shooting into her hairline in surprise.

Lila claimed that warm milk with honey and ginger was an old Poteidaia remedy for morning sickness, although she admitted to Xena that she had stuck thick slices of nutbread into the bowl just because she knew that her sister could not resist the stuff. Xena had to admit that it worked like a charm, but when Lila served herself and Minya each a plate of the same, she could not resist asking if there was something Lila ought to tell them.

Which resulted in Minya spraying Mavican and one other Guardsman with warm milk, something that was not entirely appreciated.



Xena brought Gabrielle to their room, trying to convince Gabrielle that she should remain there and wait for Xena to return. She had Lila join them inside, reasoning that the sisters would probably feel safer if together, even if she was going to leave Talus and a good score of the Guards behind to keep them safe.

She held on to Gabrielle for a long, quiet moment.

“I have to go now.” Xena thought about what she was about to do, and to whom… Gabrielle would hate her for this. It had to be done, but Gabrielle would hate her. And… did she really care about laws and justice and doing the right thing, if it meant that Gabrielle would _hate_ her? She just couldn’t stand the thought.

So she clutched Gabrielle closer and tried to explain why she was going anyway. “G-gabrielle I…”

”I know, dear.” Gabrielle said quietly, standing on her tiptoes to give Xena a soft kiss. “I know. You do what you have to. Just come back to me safe.”

Xena blinked. Astonished she shaped the word ‘dear’, as if it was in a foreign tongue. Gabrielle smiled a bit shyly and shrugged. “We are getting married, so… It’s allright though, isn’t it?”

Xena nodded and made as if to speak, when she was caught in a tight hug. She looked at Gabrielle in surprise. Gabrielle looked back.

“Don’t worry about Gabrielle and me, we’ll stay right here until you say it’s OK.” Lila spoke resolutely into Xena’s tunic. “I’ll take care of Gabrielle ‘til you come back, we’ll be just fine.” Then she let Xena go, and stood to put an arm around her sister.

Xena shook her head slightly, and reached out to ruffle Lila’s bangs a little. “I know you will.” She said quietly, and then turned to Gabrielle, exchanging another soft little kiss before leaving.


Mavican was waiting for her in the hallway, all brisk business. “My Lord, everything is in place and the prisoner has been brought out by an escort and… My Lord? My Lord, is something wrong?”

Xena turned around and gave Mavican such a brilliant smile that the other woman was dazed for several moments, then said “Dear. She said ‘dear’.”

Still grinning Xena walked cheerfully down the stairs, not noticing that Mavican wasn’t keeping pace with her, but instead staring off into thin air.

Then Mavican shook her head briskly, snapping back to attention.

“Merciful Hera, but I’ve _got_ to get a girlfriend!” She swore fervently under her breath, and hurried to catch up to Xena.