The following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse. It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.
Xex Alert: Oh Boy Is There. .This is a Prurient Piece with a Bit of Kink (If you hear the crack of the whip then you'll be in the neighborhood) Proceed at your own risk. :)
Gabrielle would that she could say that they'd won every battle. But she couldn't. Some were purposely lost, some. .. were just. .fought as hard as could be then lost. She was grateful that Xena made it through each that she fought, but there were other places, other generals and so so many letters to write.
Gabrielle had scribes now. Dozens of them. They were hardly enough. At first, if Xena discovered they had any fighting ability at all . . .then their own bodies were in danger of littering the field. Yet, Gabrielle did her best to convince Xena of the necessity of those literate individuals. Her best was very good indeed, soft and wet and convincing and even her words had much to contribute. The scribes and bards became the blood of her army. It was they who wrote the notices for the dead to be carried with them to their kin. It was they were also the ones who kept the Warlord abreast of happenings in all the other parts of her army, both successes and failures.
No one was afraid to tell of the failures. Though Xena raged, she never took it out on them. She just used it to her advantage. The Warlord did kill that one General, Miraki, who's successive deliberate losses cost her a fortune in lives and lands. She didn't tolerate traitors. She'd had him drawn and quartered for all to see. Gabrielle had been more than upset. She'd disagreed with the punishment and they'd slept back to back for days while she thought it through.
During the time of her silence, Xena became vitriolic in the command tent, crueler, less tolerant. Her new tyrannical ways didn't escape the eyes of her leading strategist. "You've got to talk to her," he told his wife, who'd stuck by him through everything since their first meeting. "Xena's becoming . . ." He considered his word choice, "She's a hard woman any time, but she's becoming. ." He liked her and didn't wish to speak ill, and right now, he was afraid of the ears that might hear. It's just. . .there was a delicate balance between sanity and insanity at the moment. He feared what Xena could become if Gabrielle were not there. These few days had been a kind of Tartarus and he wanted to avoid its continuance. He paused in his worry, and spoke the truth, "She's on a dark path and she's worse when she's alone. She needs Gabrielle. We Need Gabrielle. The Queen will listen to you. Please."
The sweet broad woman who'd joined him in this life had nodded, "I'll talk, but I can't guarantee she'll listen." They kissed and Jalani continued the plotting that she'd begun on the second day of the Warrior's and the Queen's unrest. It was her theory that the heart was softened by a good meal and hearty laughter, so that was what she planned. She'd been moved from acting as cook for the army to personal cook for the Warlord herself. Though, most days she didn't think of Xena as warlord. She was. . .as much Queen as the bard, to the Cook's mind. That's how she treated them, reverently with a good dollop of attitude to keep them humble. They were, after all, her friends.
So it was that the Amazon Queen was invited to lunch.
It was, of course, a delicious meal. The cook's talented hands created generous succulent dishes that won over Gabrielle's stomach right away. Jalani had known that would be the case so she proceeded forward, skipping the light discussion and moving into the meat of the problem. "You've got to get over it."
The slave queen looked up at Jalani with those gorgeous hazel eyes. Her mouth was full. "mmmmfph"
"You heard me." Jalani folded her arms and leaned back, "Get over it." Gabrielle tried to chew, "You know as well as she does that man couldn't live. He sacrificed," Jalani smacked the table with her huge hand, "SACRIFICED, Good Greek lives. Ours. He injured the morale of our people, and promised death to all of us with his betrayal," Jalani leaned forward, "She had to catch him at it and take care of it so that No one else would get the idea that they could get away with it. This you know. I know you know it. I've heard you talk with that good Amazon of yours."
Gabrielle, her mouth now empty, looked at Jalani luminescently. The cook was right. She'd had some long talks with Solari about what had occurred. They had given her food for thought. It was the manner of his death which had upset her, the necessity. She'd hated the necessity. She'd found it even more wounding than the war, for some reason. Perhaps because it really epitomized the cost. Then Solari had said, "But what better way to get the message across. You can bet no one else is going to hurry to betray her."
That was what caught Gabrielle's attention. The word, "Her." Yet. ..yet, Solari had meant Greece as well as the Warlord. She'd meant all the people who'd joined with Xena in this effort. All of them. "Her," became a royal naming.
When had that happened? She knew it had, had even participated in the building, but. .. it was so. .thorough. So. . . complete.
"Get over your pride. Which I know," Jalani smiled and continued gently, "is not that easy once you've been silent for days, but. . ." Jalani paused, "she needs you. WE need you."
WE. Her friends.
WE. Her Amazons
WE. Greece.
"She's not. . . herself. .without you." The bard looked down at her full plate, "Not who we know and . .love." There, that was the admission. Xena was loved, but. . .
"I know. I know." The bloody vision covered her mind. She'd stood by Xena at the time, though she'd the bard not to. Now she understood why.
"Gabrielle." A warm hand covered hers. "If you're hurting, can you imagine how she must feel? What she must think you think of her? If you think the worst of her, why should she bother being the best?"
The bard opened her mouth to speak, but Jalani hushed her, "Just think on it. Then you'll know what to do." The big woman pulled back, and nodded toward one of her dishes, "Try the peas. You'll like them.
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This page was last updated: April 10, 1998
ŠApril 1998