This story is categorized as fan fiction. The characters of Xena, Gabrielle, et al, which have appeared in the series Xena: Warrior Princess, belong to the producers, writers and executives of Renaissance Pictures and MCA/Universal Television. I claim only to have borrowed them, without intent to profit or infringe these rights, for the purpose of creating this story for enjoyment of the series' fans, of which I count myself one of many.
Additionally, the story below contains references, explicit and implied, of a sexual relationship between two consenting adults of the same sex. If you are not of legal age to read this story, or such material is illegal where you live, or you do not feel comfortable with such content, please refrain from reading this story.
Timeline Notes: After the episode "A Comedy of Eros"
PART THREE
Ephiny wandered the interior of her hut and picked up one of Xenan's small, carved toys. Gabrielle noticed it was a wolf. "Ephiny?"
The regent turned. Her fingers flowed over the wooden toy nervously. "Yes, Gabrielle?"
"Something is wrong. Are you going to tell me what it is?"
Ephiny gestured the bard to a chair. "We've had a few problems. I was hoping it would wait until morning." She took a deep breath. "I guess it can't now."
Gabrielle settled into the chair, and studied Ephiny. "So this awful treatment of Xena has to do with what we were going to discuss in the morning? Why? Why is everyone suddenly against Xena?"
Ephiny shook her head. "First of all, it isn't everyone." She held up her hands. "Just a few people."
"You?"
"No, by the goddess. I swear."
"But she saved this village, and everyone in it when Velasca attacked." Gabrielle stood again, walking to the wash basin and bracing her hands on the tabletop before turning back and continuing. "Why, Ephiny? What's changed?"
"There were many who followed Velasca, Gabrielle."
"I thought they all left when Velasca did."
"Where would they go?" Ephiny shook her head. "No, most of them stayed. And we've been trying to work with them ever since. They want concessions. Lots of them."
"How is it I haven't heard - "
"Because you haven't been here."
"You could have written."
Ephiny sighed. She took a deep breath. "They've asked me to step down."
"You? Why?"
"Tradition must be satisfied somehow, Gabrielle. They want a queen. They don't like an Amazon who's slept with a Centaur leading them in place of a woman who'd rather wander the countryside than lead the Nation either."
Gabrielle shook her head. "But you're a good leader."
"Tradition matters to them..." Ephiny sat down, her shoulders slumping as she allowed the aggravations and troubles of the last moons to overtake her. "And to me. Please, Gabrielle. Please come back?"
Gabrielle sat down. "But what does this have to do with Xena? Why are they challenging her at every turn? Why were they actually attacking her?"
"It comes back to you. The way they see it, she's keeping you from them."
"Xena said something like that." Gabrielle stood and paced, as Ephiny sat down. "Come on, we'll just talk to them. Make them understand."
"It won't help, Gabrielle. She's not an Amazon. To their mind that makes her nothing in their eyes. If you defend her, you'll be scorned. They may then split the Nation, encouraging naming a new queen. Maybe even civil war."
Gabrielle sighed. Gods, what a mess. Xena, I wish I could have your counsel. She turned to Ephiny and said, "All right, I'm listening. Tell me what you think I should do."
Ephiny nodded and rose, fetching some scrolls from a chest at the foot of her bed. Gabrielle settled in a chair at the table and watched as the Amazon regent spread the parchments out before her. Both of them sighed deeply and began reading.
Xena stepped through the doorway, and found tallow candles to ignite, bathing the hut's dark interior with a soft light. Distantly she heard the sounds of the party continuing. Taking several deep breaths, she worked to blow off the edge of her nervous energy. Finding Joxer drunk had caused an unexpected delay to her satisfaction. Then finding several Amazons physically challenging her, but having to restrain her reaction for Gabrielle's sake. She rubbed her shoulder. It was a wonder she wasn't already one big knot. She sat on the bed and wondered what to do.
Her body was being pulled in two different directions and the conflict brought on a serious headache. She rubbed her temples while searching for her medicinal pouch among her and Gabrielle's things. A pinch of powder and a swish of water from the wash basin and the warrior took a deep breath of relief.
Xena acknowledged, though she would never tell Gabrielle this, that she was having trouble maintaining the line between wanting to rough up some Amazons for their slights of her, and keeping her hands to herself so she didn't ruin Gabrielle's relationship with them. But she was beginning to think that no matter what she did it was going to cause problems for Gabrielle.
And she really wished that wasn't going to happen.
She'd listened as Kieran and Rayna and the others tore at her about keeping Gabrielle from them.
Could they be right? Do I keep her from them? Xena asked herself. Since recovering from her death experience, she'd kept herself and the bard on the move, from town to town. No... Well... Xena acknowledged that going to the eastern side of Greece, where she knew the terrain less was a chance for her to find new places to spread her name. Gods, I am vain.
But as soon as Gabrielle had said she wanted to go visit the Amazons, Xena had turned their little expedition around. Her relationship with the bard was too new. She wasn't sure if... well... she could ask Gabrielle... Right?
She sat down, fingers drumming the tabletop, intending to wait for Gabrielle's return.
The bard returned to her hut deep in thought. The scrolls seemed to make things pretty clear. The Amazons was a queendom. Terreis' Right of Caste and then Melosa's death had unquestionably made her queen. Appointing Ephiny had been all right, interpretable as a recovery period after the trauma of losing, and then regaining, Xena. But the traditionalists had accepted that only for a while. A queen was expected to pray for her Amazons, curry Artemis' favor and lead her village to safety, security and fully stocked storehouses. To do that, she had to be here.
Smiling at the shadowed form seated at the table, head down, Gabrielle noticed the gutted candle. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she felt a warmth seep into her watching the warrior sleep. Gods, I do love her. Xena's hand lightly cupped the broad base of the pounded metal holder. The warrior's head rested on her other arm, eyes closed, breathing evenly.
Gabrielle sighed, pulling a blanket over the warrior's shoulders, so she wouldn't catch a chill as the night deepened. Lightly she brushed her hand over the warrior's hair, and bent close breathing in the clean scent of herbs. She'd tried so hard...
It didn't matter one stinking whit. Standing straight again she frowned and bit her lip. The final law Ephiny had pointed out affected Xena and Gabrielle the most. A mere moon ago it might not have mattered a single iota. But they'd stepped over a line the Amazons were vehemently against crossing.
No queen in recent history had ever been allowed to keep her mask after taking a non-Amazon consort. Ephiny said there had been one... and it hadn't turned out at all well, which is why the law had been made. Tired and irritated, Gabrielle had demanded to see the scroll. Ephiny didn't have it in her hut, but sent the bard on to bed and promised to bring it in the morning.
Her stroking of the warrior's hair awakened Xena. Crystal blue eyes immediately alert, she looked up. Answering that looks, Gabrielle said quietly, "I'm back."
"Everything all right?"
"Well, I have more of an explanation. More than I cared to learn, though." She backed up, holding the warrior's hand. "Come to bed?"
Xena followed Gabrielle. As they lay down, the bard nuzzled into Xena's shoulder and kissed her cheek. "What was that for?"
"For not pounding anyone tonight."
"I don't think it helped."
"I'll find a way to make it help, Xena. I promise you."
"Please, Gabrielle. Do what you have to. Don't worry about me. The Amazons are yours. I won't interfere."
"They hurt you." Gabrielle's voice was firm, full of aggravation. Xena knew it wasn't directed at her, but felt bad all the same.
"No."
"Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about what they said. Kieran. Rayna. The others." Xena said nothing. Gabrielle put her head back down on the warrior's shoulder. There was a gentle pressure as the older woman pressed her lips to the bard's hair. "I love you, Xena."
There was no answer, though Gabrielle felt Xena's arms tighten slightly around her shoulders. In each other's arms, the bard and warrior drifted in and out of a troubled sleep.
Ephiny arrived at the queen's hut the next morning just as dawn peeked into the village from the mountain pass. Most Amazons were already awake tending to morning chores, collecting fresh supplies in the fields. She could hear them whistling Amazon marches or children's tunes. The sounds had always been comforting to her as a child. Everything was right with the world and all that, she thought dejectedly, knowing how much of a lie the veneer really was. The sound of traditional tempos caused her heart to race unpleasantly. Damn. By the goddess, I wish this mess would resolve itself without me.
But it wouldn't. She was regent, and responsible for preserving the Amazons ways and traditions, borders and treaties in the absence of the queen. On top of that, Ephiny considered it her duty because she'd put Gabrielle in the middle of this. She'd convinced the grieving woman to accept full responsibility for the mask when Xena had been dead.
She'd expected that the bard would hand back the mask after Xena's miraculous return to life. But by then Ephiny realized, Gabrielle had displayed the traits every Amazon wanted in a queen. So, despite her own personal desire to give up leadership, she'd finagled Gabrielle's agreement that she rule as regent in her absence. Now they had a rebellion to quell. Sighing she knocked on the door, and found it pushed open easily, unlatched from the inside. Cautiously she pushed against it and stepped through.
A hand shot out, grasping her shoulder. Stiflineg the urge to scream, Ephiny looked up to find Xena's eyes glowing in the dark. "Xena."
"Ephiny."
The regent frowned. "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't think they'd attack you like that."
"Did you know about them?"
Ephiny winced at the faint tone of accusation she heard in the warrior's voice. She swallowed and nodded. "We've had a few problems with those who followed Velasca."
Xena nodded. "Um hmmm," she issued noncommittally. "I'll wake Gabrielle." She indicated the scrolls of parchment tucked under Ephiny's left elbow. "I assume those are for her."
Ephiny lifted a hand. "Wait." An eyebrow arched in her direction. "Um, well, what I mean is... Can we talk for a minute? Before we wake her?"
Economical in movement as always, the warrior simply stopped crossing the room, and turned away from the bed. "Sit." Xena herself remained standing as Ephiny went to the table and pulled up a chair.
Ephiny quickly unrolled two parchments and pointed to them. "Tell me something?" The warrior eyed Gabrielle then turned back and warily nodded. "Are you and she lovers?"
Xena drew herself up carefully. "Yes."
"How long?"
"Just over a moon."
Ephiny stood quickly and pointed at Gabrielle. "Why did you have to seduce her? Things would have been perfect if -"
"I didn't seduce her."
"C'mon, Xena. You, a woman of the world? Gabrielle an innocent --
"
"Xena doesn't lie, Ephiny." Brown and blue eyes shot back quickly to the bed to see Gabrielle pull herself free of the bedcovers. "And I'd really appreciate it if everyone would understand I can make decisions for myself."
Ephiny watched Xena meet Gabrielle halfway across the room, lifting a robe from the back of a chair. The small blonde wrapped it around herself and secured the belt. The queen lifted her chin, and briefly the warrior brushed her lips against the Gabrielle's. Shoulders squaring, the young woman came over to the table holding Xena's arm.
"Juice?" asked Xena.
"Please." Gabrielle released Xena's hand and studied the regent while the warrior went to the side table and poured two small cups of juice. "Ephiny," the bard said, as Xena pressed a cup into her hand. "Xena is very important to me. I will not discuss anything until you understand that."
"Thank you," Ephiny responded.
"Gabrielle," Xena moved from one foot to the other. "Maybe I ought to leave you two..."
"No, Xena. You'd better hear this. You'll understand what happened last night." Ephiny looked up into a sight she never expected: pain-filled blue eyes.
She'd seen tenderness in those eyes, yes, when Gabrielle hugged her at the end of her first day back to life. Stern, but compassionate command she had seen when the warrior helped her deliver Xenan. She'd seen these same pain-filled eyes only once before... When Gabrielle died in Thessaly.
"You've got a problem," said Ephiny slowly, still looking at Xena.
"Did you bring the scroll?"
Ephiny pointed it out on the table. Gabrielle picked it up and began reading. She gripped Xena's hand where it rested on her shoulder.
"I don't know if there is anything I can do. You've made your intentions clear. The traditionalists have the law on their side. The only solution I can see is giving up the mask, go where you and Xena can be happy."
"This is my village, Ephiny. Terreis' village. She wanted me to be her successor. I took the queen's mask when I had nothing else. I wanted then to live up to the responsibilities. I still do." She put down the parchment and met the Amazon regent's brown eyes. "And I will. With Xena at my side."
"You can't have a non-Amazon at your side." For a moment Ephiny experienced a flash of insight. "You're going to pass through the rites, Xena?"
The warrior stepped back. "No."
There was a pause as Gabrielle apparently absorbed something. "She doesn't have to," she said finally.
Xena's frown changed to a smile, and she said wryly, "Thanks, Gabrielle."
"I didn't mean --"
"I know you didn't." The warrior smiled back and squeezed the queen's hand. "So, the Amazon queen can only have an Amazon consort? Is that the problem?"
"Either she gives you up or she gives up the mask. At least... that's what their demands are going to be."
"Demands?"
"They're on their way here right now, I'm sure."
"I'll be ready. Ephiny, go on. Tell them I'll meet them in the dining hut."
The warrio grasped her young lover's shoulder drawing the green eyes up to search hers. "Gabrielle?"
The green took on a note of steel. "No. They're asking me to give you up. To give up what we have in the face of politics and an unreasonable fear. I won't do it."
"But they'll make it a fight."
"I'll fight."
"You?" Gabrielle nailed Ephiny with a look that demanded an apology. "I'm sorry," the regent amended. "All right, you'll fight."
"Ephiny." The warrio's questioning tone drew the regent's brown eyes up. "Just for argument's sake, where do you stand?"
"I want what's best for the Nation." She looked over to Gabrielle. "I believe Gabrielle makes an excellent queen."
"But not if she compromises her loyalties by allying herself with me." There was sharp resignation in the voice, no matter how matter-of-fact the warrior's words were. Now Gabrielle's hand came up to the warrior's shoulder to offer a warm squeeze. "It's all right. I'd guessed as much."
"I don't mean that as harshly as you make it sound."
"Don't you?" The warrior shrugged.
"No, I don't." Ephiny stood. "You saved my life. You saved Xenan's life. I can't forget that."
"But the Amazons come first? Ephiny, that's ludicrous. You married a Centaur. Come on. If anyone understands..." Gabrielle pointed out.
"Tradition is important."
Gabrielle sighed. "All right."
Ephiny stood and looked from Xena, who wasn't smiling, but didn't appear mad, to Gabrielle, who was as close to fuming as the regent had ever seen her. "I'll see you in a little while, at the dining hut?"
Xena responded quietly. "Yes."
As the regent reached the door a quiet voice stopped her. "Ephiny?"
Turning back with her hand on the door's catch, the regent met worried green eyes. "Yes, Gabrielle?"
"If I can't convince them. What happens?"
"They'll take the mask."
"How?"
"By a challenge."
"Who?" Xena posed.
"What?"
"Who do you think they'll put out to fight?"
Ephiny thought a moment. "Probably Rayna. She's their leader."
"Is she good?"
"Eponin says she's very good."
Gabrielle nodded grimly. Ephiny turned and let herself out of the hut, pulling the door closed behind her.
"Gabrielle?" Xena put a hand on her bard's shoulder and felt the shiver of indecision.
"Xena, what am I going to do? I can't fight Rayna, but I won't give you up either."
"Do you want to leave?"
Knowing the answer before she even asked the question, Gabrielle responded with a question of her own. "What would you do?" Their path was already set. She had to stay. But she wanted to hear Xena say it.
But Xena's response surprised her. "I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Because I'd give me up, and stay as queen."
"Terreis felt I could do this. Otherwise, why would she have given me the Right of Caste?"
"That's probably true."
"You don't think so?"
"Terreis couldn't see the future, Gabrielle. She was rewarding your act of trying to save her life."
"I feel like the Amazons are part of my fate, Xena."
"So, you want me to leave?"
"No!" Gabrielle grasped Xena's arm.
"What else can you do?"
Gabrielle ventured. "You could become an Amazon."
"No."
"You said that exactly the same way when Ephiny brought it up. What's wrong with becoming an Amazon?"
"I won't do it." And please, Gabrielle, don't ask me why.