Musings Chapter 6
Written by Virginia Leonard
Copyright 1997
Xena drew a
whistling breath over clinched
teeth, resisting the urge to throttle the brash young
woman kneeling in front of her. "Don't you think that
was something you should have told us?"
Adalai shrugged,
"Why? What difference
would it make?
Besides...," she grinned, "you never
asked."
Gabrielle placed
a calming hand on the
warrior princess' shoulder.
"All right, Adalai, no more
secrets. If we're
going to help you, you have to tell us
everything.
Deal?"
Before Adalai
could answer, the sound of
voices drifted in their direction, close but not so close
as to be of immediate danger. Peter looked in their
direction then wrinkled his nose before speaking.
"Probably not a good time for a serious discussion.
I'll bet they're looking for me. You should leave.
Addi, one more thing...mama's here."
It was the
budding warrior's turn to be
stunned. Grateful for
the darkness, Adalai allowed her
emotions to play upon her face. Anger, followed by
love, followed by the child's need to be rocked in her
mother's arms, cradled against the breast that nurtured,
gave life and comforted away the aches and pains of
growth. "Is she
ok?"
"She's
fine. Renfrew always did like her
best. You want me to
tell her you're here? She'll
want to see you."
The voices were
coming closer, "I don't
know...we better go."
She gave her brother another
hug, then without looking back, disappeared into the
darkness.
Gabrielle looked
at Peter, "You want to come
back with us?"
Peter shook his
head, "Nope. I can't. Not
yet, anyway. I gotta
go." He looked through the trees
in the direction of his sister. "Something else you
should know.
Renfrew's slipped over the edge.
He's
insane. The healers
call it battle fatigue...whatever, all
I know is he's beginning to make some odd decisions
and there's talk of an overthrow...I gotta go."
"Be
careful." Xena whispered.
Peter flashed his
toothless smile, "I didn't
survive this long being stupid," then he too
disappeared into the darkness.
@@@
Adalai, Xena and
Gabrielle were already
gathered by the reviewing stand as the indigo sky
began to lighten.
Adalai and Xena scanned their
surroundings, making sure that the villagers were in
their assigned places and ready for whatever Renfrew
might try to surprise them with.
Gabrielle just
waited. She hated waiting
because it gave the mind too much time to mull over
what was about to happen.
Every time she thought
about the impending confrontation, the images of the
children popped into her head. Here was a man
obviously exploiting these children to further his gains
and yet, according to everything Adalai and Peter had
told them, these human shields were better taken care
of than most village children.
They had plenty
to eat, warm clothes and
adults that took care of their every need including the
human needs of nurturing, comforting contact and
love. None of them
had been hurt and in fact, they
were the reasons that Renfrew's campaign had been so
bloodless.
But it was still
servitude and that was
something Gabrielle could not stomach.
"You're
thinking..." Xena quietly said to her
lover.
Gabrielle reached
out and took the warrior's
strong hand, placing the palm against her cheek.
"Can't help it," she smiled. "Too much waiting."
"Want to
talk about it?"
Gabrielle paused
for several heartbeats before
answering, "I don't know that there is anything to talk
about. It's just that
this is the most bizarre situation
I've ever been involved in."
Xena smiled,
"Including the Titans?"
"Including
the Titans"
"Including
Joxer and Aphrodite?"
Gabrielle burst
out into laughter, "Ok, maybe
that was the most bizarre...a nightmare."
Adalai
interrupted Xena's unspoken thought,
"We've got company." She nodded towards the
opposite end of town.
"And it looks like he's brought
everyone with him.
Wonder what he's up to?" She
adjusted her sword, checked her armor then stepped
out to meet her father, her companions stepping in
right behind her.
They met in the
middle of the square, each
warily eyeing the other for the faintest signs of trouble.
"Start talking Renfrew."
"I've told
you what my plans are. The next
step is up to you. We
can do this peacefully or you
can raise a big fuss, get some people hurt, all the while
knowing that I'll get what I want anyway. Why waste
the energy?"
"Not this
time, Father." Adalai nearly
choked on the term, spitting it out like poison.
"I'll ask it
again, who's here to stop me?
You? Your puny
friends and fellow villagers?"
Renfrew burst out into hysterical laughter. Suddenly,
he grew quiet, signaling for his soldiers to spread
out."
"NO!" A woman came
riding up from the
rear of the column.
She wore her waist length gray
hair pulled back into a ponytail, held tightly at her
neck by a leather thong.
Her face wore the wrinkles of
weather and age like hard won trophies and she carried
herself in the saddle like a well-trained and seasoned
warrior.
Adalai recognized
her immediately and
judging from Xena's and Gabrielle's reactions, so did
they. Of course, it
did not hurt that daughter looked
exactly like mother.
Adalai's mother
dismounted in front of her,
careful not to dislodge the child serving as her shield.
They stood, just looking at each other, trying to
replace the old memories and images with new ones.
"Mother..."
"Adalai..." She reached
out a tentative hand
and touched her fingers to Adalai's face. Daughter
immediately burst into tears and fell against her
mother whose arms wrapped around her, cocooning
her as only a mother's arms can. They leaned
against each other, using one another for support while
the tears of joy, sadness, anger and grief streamed
down their faces.
Xena looked away,
fearing the breakdown of
her own resolve, and noticed the first signs of madness
playing across Renfrew's face. White began to show
around the brown in his eyes, giving him the
appearance of a trapped and frightened animal. Xena
nudged Gabrielle and the two of them casually stepped
in between the Warrior and his family.
"Step away
from her, woman." Renfrew
shouted and when his wife did not move, he called out
in a voice more shrill than the last. "Danae, I said step
away from her."
Adalai felt her
mother stiffen and leaned
back, looking into Danae's face. "Adalai, he's losing
his hold on reality and even though there are enough
in the camp who want him displaced, there are none
willing to do it," Danae whispered, gripping her
daughter's shoulders with the strength of a titan.
"DANAE!" he roared, flecks of spittle
showing on his lips.
She whirled
around and strode over to him,
taking the reins of his horse in her hands. "I will not
listen to you any longer.
You've kept me from her
long enough. Well,
not any more. Adalai is my flesh
and blood, my child and I will know her," she finished
through clenched teeth.
Suddenly, Renfrew
lashed out with the his
foot, catching Danae square in the jaw with his heel,
sending her sprawling flat on her back and
unconscious.
Gabrielle was immediately kneeling
next to her while Xena drew her sword and moved to
block his path to the fallen woman.
Adalai stepped
forward, a rage induced calm
pouring over her, calming her thoughts and
heightening her senses and reflexes. "I present myself
as rightful heir to the warlord known as Renfrew.
Blood by his blood, flesh from his flesh, birthed by the
true and faithful wife known as Danae. Is there one
here to challenge that claim?"
Danae waited for
a response. If someone did speak
up, it would fall upon her to prove her parentage
which would take too much precious time. She held
her breath.
Nothing. "With birthright
acknowledged
and by the Rules of Ascension, rules which were
spoken and made law of this regime, I challenge the
one known as Renfrew, seeking to strip from him his
badge of office and place it upon my own chest. Is
there one here who will deny my right to this
challenge?"
She, once again, called out so all could hear.
Renfrew sat in
his saddle, dumbfounded by
the words coming from his offspring's mouth. Never
had he been challenged, not even so much as a
whisper of dissention until now. His vision began to
cloud and he no longer recognized the people around
him. "You can't
do this!" he called out. "No one has
the right to challenge me."
"I DO and I
have old man. My heritage has
been heard and recognized, my challenge has been
issued and none have spoken to deny it. By your own
rules I am allowed to do this. Are you such a coward
that you won't face even your daughter?"
That statement
sent whatever remaining
sanity he had, scattering upon the wind. "Then by
those same rules, I choose the test." He began to
laugh, the maniacal high pitched laughter of one who
no longer had control of his mind.
Danae had regained
consciousness and lay a
hand on Gabrielle's arm.
"He's insane. He could
choose anything as his test making certain she fails.
You must stop her."
Xena overheard
and looked at Adalai who
just smiled at her.
"Don't worry, Xena. I know
what
I'm doing."
The sound of
Renfrew's voice interrupted
their quiet exchange of words. "I choose the test of
bare handed combat.
No weapons, no armor, no
tricks," he said as he slid from his saddle, landing
with
a thump as if to punctuate his last statement.
Danae squeezed
Gabrielle's arm, "This test is
to the death. He'll
kill her. Adalai," she called out,
"come here, please."
Adalai knelt
beside her mother and began to
remove her armor and weapons, "Mother, relax. I
know what I'm doing." She smiled, trying to reassure
herself as much as anyone else.
"I should be
the one to do this."
Adalai became
very serious, "No, I should.
He made the mistake of turning his back on me. And
now he's made the mistake of underestimating my
abilities."
"I was the
one that convinced him you were
dead. I thought if we
left you behind, you would..."
"He should
have checked. I was his
supposed favorite and he didn't care enough to
check," Adalai
interrupted.
A lone tear
escaped from Danae's eye and
rolled down her cheek, becoming lost in her hair.
"I've just gotten you back. I couldn't stand to loose
my oldest child twice."
"I don't
plan on letting this insect take me
out. Besides, I
haven't had the opportunity to make
your life miserable yet." Adalai grinned.
"Let's get on with this..." bellowed
Renfrew.
Adalai stopped in
front of Xena, handing her
the ring from her pinky.
"Give this to Mother if
anything happens, ok?"
Xena examined the
silver and onyx ring then
closed her fist around it.
"I will."
"Thanks."
@@@
The onlookers
made a circle around the two
combatants, a human arena of sorts, and watched the
father and daughter circling each other.
Adalai watched
his hips, remembering what
she had learned about hand to hand. The hips lead,
the shoulders and head fake.
She taunted, calling him
old, feeble, insane, watching whatever traces of sanity
he had left fade from his eyes. She smiled inwardly,
knowing that he would soon make a mistake.
Renfrew lunged
for the creature in front of
him, throwing all of his weight into it and reached out
to grab Adalai. She
easily dodged, grabbing him by
the front of his shirt, rolling backwards and handily
flipping him over her head.
In an instant, she was
back on her feet and waiting on his next move. "Is
that the best you can do?
Ha! No wonder no one
wants you as a leader anymore."
Renfrew closed
in, raining blow upon blow
down on the sixteen year old, each of which she
blocked, striking back and connecting with many of
her own. He was
clearly stunned, she was relentless.
A kick to his
chest landed with a dull thud,
forcing the wind from his lungs but he stood up to it.
He landed a kick against Adalai's knee, the resulting
crack being heard by even the farthest witness.
Thinking that his opponent was now disabled,
Renfrew rushed in, wrapping his hands around
Adalai's throat, closing off her windpipe.
Another would
have panicked, but not her.
She brought both arms up through his, hands locked
together and slammed the one large fist under his jaw.
His hold loosened and she twisted, wrapping an arm
around his head and with one quick jerk, snapped his
neck.
She stood over
his fallen body fighting back
the tears until she could no longer hold them and
collapsed to her knees, burying her face in his chest
and sobbing.
"You bastard...."
There was a flash
of light and from it emerged
Ares, eyes ablaze with anger. He looked with disdain
down at the fallen, insane warlord then he kicked the
lifeless body but quickly regained his composure and
turned his attention to the injured daughter. “Well,
no matter. Just a
minor setback.”
“One caused by a
little girl. Must stick in your gut
eh Ares?” Xena mocked.
Ares snapped his
head around and glared at the object
his greatest desire then focused his attention on the
smiling
girl laying on the ground.
“I can take care of that right now.”
He took a step towards Adalai and raised his hand.
Without knowing
why, Gabrielle stepped between the girl
and Ares blocking the god from reaching the child. A bolt of
energy burst from Ares’ fingers but instead of striking and
killing Adalai, it was drawn to and absorbed by the white
mark on Gabrielle’s chest.
Gabrielle became engulfed in
a white light and suddenly, a bolt of energy shot back from
her striking the God in the chest. He was knocked back off
his feet and when he stood back up, he was clearly shaken.
He had felt pain
and that frightened him. He reached
down and picked up the lifeless body of the crazed
warlord and glared at the bard then looked at Xena.
“This isn’t over, Xena.
But you have the power to stop it.
Remember that. I’ll
be back.” He disappeared in a flash of
light taking the body with him.
Xena caught
Gabrielle as she staggered and lowered her
gently to the ground.
She touched the scar on Gabrielle’s
chest and noticed that it felt warm. “What just happened?”
Gabrielle slowly
shook her head. “I don’t know. I was
compelled to do it though.
Almost like a hand in my back
was pushing me and I heard a voice in my head telling me
to trust.”
“Artemis, is my
guess. Let’s get you two some place
more comfortable.”
@@@
All was quiet in
Adalai's camp, and it was
now truly her camp.
They sat in her tent, sharing
dinner and discussing the day’s events. A healer had
seen to Adalai's knee, announcing that with time it
would heal and be as good as new. However, until
then she was under strict instructions not to put any
weight on it. A
restriction that the stubborn young
woman was chaffing under.
"For Xeus'
sake, would you please sit still?!"
Xena barked.
"I
can't. This thing on my leg is driving
me
crazy."
"Both of you
leave each other alone."
Gabrielle ordered.
"You pick at each other as if you
were sisters. So,
what's next Adalai?"
"Those that
want to find their parents will be
given whatever help we can give. Once they're all
reunited, then those that want to stay will settle with
us. Most of the
adults in the camp would rather
establish a new village somewhere than return to their
previous homes, so we'll have plenty of grown-ups to
adopt the young ones that want to stay, which I believe
will be most, if not all of the children here. Mother is
taking a small band of riders and returning to the
enslaved villages to tell them what has happened here.
They'll return to self rule, unless they vote
unanimously to defer to me.
If that happens, I'll
appoint someone to govern them. That's as far as I
have gotten, plan wise." What about you two?"
"That's a
lot of responsibility for a sixteen
year old."
Gabrielle said.
"Not so
much, besides I'll have Mother to
offer advice. I
suspect she'll be the one to actually run
things. She'll just
speak through me." Adalai smiled
around a bite of lamb stew.
"What about you two?
What about Ares’ threat."
Xena just shrugged. “That’s nothing new. Ares has
been a pain in my backside from the day I gave up my
evil warlord days. I’ve
gotten used to it.”
Adalai looked at
Gabrielle. “And you? You seem to
have a weapon against him.”
Gabrielle absently
touched her fingers to the scar and
smiled.
“I’m not worried. Maybe he’ll
think twice now.”
Xena smiled and
flipped the ring that Adalai gave her to
hold back to its rightful owner who snatched
it out of the air
with a practiced one-handed catch. "Anyway, we'll stay
here a couple of
days. Darius has given us a room in the
inn and I intend to take full
advantage of it," she winked
which caused Gabrielle to blush.
Adalai smiled,
the implication of that statement not being
lost on her youth. "Good."
"After that,
who knows? If the fates leave us alone,
maybe
we can get a couple of weeks of good rest."
Xena's hand was
on Gabrielle's leg and was slowly making
its way up the inside of her thigh. Gabrielle was grateful that a
table was blocking
the view and was hopeful that no one would
see the flush to her face.
@@@
Ares paced around
his room grinding his teeth in frustration.
More than once, that bard had been the reason his Xena rebuffed
him and
more than once he had wanted to strike that insufferable
girl down but he
stayed his hand because he knew that he would
never win Xena over if he had
been the reason for Gabrielle’s death.
“Well,
all bets are off now. Those two are
going down.”
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