by Katrina
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.
Xerious characterbuilding stuff ahead. You have been warned.
Xena's gaze
returned to Darvin, a thousand imperceptible changes happening within her in the brief
moment that it took for her head to turn from one angle to another. She blinked and her
heart found resolution. Her glance now centered on Darvin, her face as cold as ever.
"Darvin stays. The child stays. Leave the keys. Everyone else get out."
Colchak looked startled and stepped forward, "Xena," he began. His voice was fearful.
The warrior princess didn't even look at him. Her stance was vibrant with regal ire. "*You* left him to me." She reminded the warlord, showing no mercy in her voice. "Now, GET OUT!" she snarled.
The keys to the manacles were tossed carelessly upon the table by one of the guards, and the child was set to the ground (her eyes were very wide and scared), as all those ordered to leave hastened with an alacrity driven by real trepidation. Gabrielle was the only one who didn't stumble, who didn't rush. Though she felt a faintness of heart permeate her entire being, she was the only one who didn't show it. Instead she neatly rolled the scroll and sealed it with Xena's seal, then tucked it into her satchel. Then she grabbed her staff and walked (as opposed to the semirun that the others used) towards the command tent's entry way. She was the last one.
"Gabrielle," Xena's voice held an unfamiliar edge to it. It wasn't a command, it wasn't a caress. The slave turned to look at her mistress. Xena's expression was unreadable, though the warlord mask had definitely slipped. Xena brought it back up, but not before Gabrielle caught the vulnerability. "Wait for my summons."
Gabrielle did a half bow in acknowledgement and felt the blood racing to her head. "As you wish," the honey haired woman said, her voice revealing none of the turmoil she was experiencing. Then she made her way through the flap.
Moments of greatness are often established in the smallest act. Xena pulled two chairs away from the command table and set them besides the young man and the child. Then she pulled her own chair up in front of them and sat down. "Sit," she commanded and her voice brooked no argument.
The young man, eyes downcast, took his seat clumsily. The chains on his wrists and ankles rattled. The little one, her eyes still wide with fear, climbed into the chair. Her blonde hair gave away her heritage, though the rest of her facial features did not. Xena wondered if the child knew who her father was. She doubted it, if Colchak's actions were any indication. In her mind, Xena envisioned Solon and wondered how she would have handled the situation had it been her son and gazed evenly at the young man. His body was trembling visibly. Her heart softened, though her face didn't.
The young man had to be punished. She was very clear on that. The question was how much, how severe and was there a way of altering the circumstances to fit her needs, one of which was to keep the situation as painless as possible for Gabrielle.
The facade of her previous mode of leadership had a serious crack in it. Yet everything she was and had been led to her to this position. If there was one thing she'd learned in her travels with the bard, though, it was that there was a balance which could be struck. She'd seen great leadership in action before, and she'd been on both sides. It fell to this. What kind of leader did *she* want to be? And could she get away with it?
Xena turned her gaze to the child, her expression unemotional. She had a suspicion and intended to verify it. "Now Darvin, I want you to tell me exactly what happened and I want you to tell me the truth." The boy swallowed and looked like he was going to try and wait her out. Xena grinned wickedly. Well, she couldn't lose *too* much of her warlord edge. She leaned forward, grabbed his collar roughly to force him to look in her blue eyes again (which were neither warm nor cold. They simply said she was not to be messed with.) She gave him yet another bone rattling shake, "All of it."
It wasn't that long of a wait, though it seemed to take forever. Gabrielle stood silently by Eponin. They exchanged a glance or two, neither of them really wanting to speak, both of them wondering how Xena was going to handle the situation. Gabrielle did her best to breath evenly and to let the worry niggling at her settle down.
They weren't the only ones tarrying. The two brawny men, who looked as vicious as they really were, were waiting too. They figured they would be called on any time now to carry out the sentencing and were looking forward to it. Their lurid conversation filled the air.
"He'll break alright." A beefy grin lit up the guard's face. His fingers flexed as he imagined his hand on the whip. He loved this job.
"When do ya think?" The other one's muscular arms folded across his chest casually. His ragged face seemed almost pleasant, but that was only because of the topic.
"He's a wimp. Ten."
The other guard snorted. "You're right. She'll give him forty like they always do, he'll quit at ten and we'll be done by thirty. But I'll tell you what, for odds sake I'll say fifteen" They laughed cruelly and slapped hands at the bet. Colchak's face turned an odd shade of red. Gabrielle, who was also listening to the men, felt a rapid fire of anger building in her soul. There are times to keep one's mouth shut and times when you just can't. Gabrielle was moving impulsively forward, her mouth open, when her shoulder was grabbed by a firm hand.
She looked up, startled, into Xena's expressive face. "Inside." The warlord nodded in the direction of the command tent and redirected the young woman's body so that she was facing the entryway. She pushed firmly against the bard's back and glared evilly at the two still sniggering men. She nodded at Colchak before letting the flap fall behind her.
Gabrielle let her eyes take in the other occupants of the tent. They were seated. The little girl was sniffling. She felt Xena's warm presence behind her, then the touch of Xena's hand against her back. She felt a hot tingle rise up her spine in response. The warlord steered Gabrielle gently until they were both standing in front of the young people.
"Gabrielle, you've met Darvin. This is his sister, Evania." Her words held no edge of rancor, but were factual. She spoke almost courteously, as if she were introducing the neighbor children. Gabrielle looked at Xena, whose face revealed nothing other than what she just stated, then she looked at Evania.
Following Xena's example, Gabrielle turned her gaze upon the child and spoke, her voice cordial, "Hello, Evania." The child rubbed her eyes and sniffled a return greeting.
Xena allowed the greeting then continued. "Darvin hid his sister in the camp and stole food for her." She lied. Actually, the child had stolen the food and Darvin had covered for her. He had begged the warlord not to punish the child, to take him instead. She had made no promises. Gabrielle watched in fascination as Darvin's expression turned to one of relief. She had no idea why, but she knew it was genuine. There was more to this than Xena was saying. Typical.
"Their mother is dead," the warlord continued. Gabrielle noticed that Xena did not mention the father and that Darvin's expression was that of an angry and rejected child. "We will not go into what the punishment would normally be for harboring a child in camp, but if Darvin's timing had been worse, he would be a dead man." Darvin looked up into piercing blue eyes and flinched. "He's lucky we weren't in a state of war." (And she had made that point incredibly clear.)
"He will not be punished for harboring the child because that occurred in Colchak's camp. Now he's in mine." The way she said those words sent a cold shiver up Gabrielle's back. "However, he was caught stealing and he admits to it. That affects everyone in any camp. For that reason he has to be penalized. This is his sentence."
Xena stepped forward. "Darvin, look up." The young man looked up at Xena's imposing figure and felt a true awe take over as he stared up into her compelling gaze. "For your thievery you will receive twenty stripes." The man quailed, but at the same time there was hope in his eyes. Maybe he wouldn't be dying today. "Evania will watch." Darvin's whole expression changed and he started to protest, his voice ragged, but Xena grabbed his face and repeated what she said, "Evania will watch. If she is to remain in the camp, she needs to know the rules. She needs to know how it is. Unless, of course, you want to trust her to your," she chose the word carefully, "father's care. Those are your choices"
Darvin shook his head in agreement, fighting back the tears that threatened. His father barely acknowledged *him* and was firmly convinced that Evania was someone else's child. (Colchak couldn't see beyond his own face sometimes.) The only reason Colchak had let him keep her near, as long as Darvin wasn't caught, (and now that he had been. . .it didn't bear thinking about. . .) was that it kept the young man in the camp. He couldn't trust the warlord with her.
Gabrielle registered two things. The first was that Evania would be staying in the camp (but she wasn't quite sure where) and the hazel eyed woman glanced at Xena in surprise. She didn't know why Xena was making Evania watch, but there had to be a reason. Gabrielle filed away the questions in her mind, determined to ask the warlord about it later. The other thing the bard noticed, was that Xena had cut the normal sentence in half, if what those two ruffians said outside was to be believed. And Gabrielle believed them. The bard wondered if other people would notice, but how would they interpret it? Gabrielle guessed it didn't matter. What mattered was the act itself. Xena may be scary as all get out right now, but there was a heart to her. Gabrielle found it reassuring.
It was a reassurance that she needed too, for the next words out of Xena's mouth had her quavering in her boots and her heart fell. "Gabrielle, you will carry out the sentence."
Of course, Gabrielle had known it was coming. She known as soon as their eyes met earlier and had seen the wheels of thought churning in the warlord's head, but she'd hoped, very sincerely, that Xena would change her mind. Apparently she hadn't.
Gabrielle bit against the protest that wanted to spring to her mouth. Instead, she deliberately placed the thought, *There is a reason,* in her mind. She had to believe that. There was a good reason. Xena had a good reason and she was trusting Gabrielle with it. The young woman dropped her gaze to the floor, and while listening to her heart pound erratically in her ears, she said, "Yes, Mistress."
It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.
ŠAugust 1997