During her travels with Xena, Gabrielle had learned more than a few lessons. The most important one that she could recall was that every action has consequences. As she sat at the head of an Amazon council meeting with a splitting headache and a stomach that felt like it was on the rolling waves of the sea, she was beginning to realize that this lesson even applied to actions that she couldn’t remember; mainly, whatever she happened to do the night before. As hard as she tried to recall what she had done, the previous night was a blank to the bard; and whatever she had done, it was driving Xena away from her. Frustrated with her inability to remember what was causing her personal Tartarus, Gabrielle groaned.
“Is there a problem?” The unfamiliar voice of one of the council members jerked Gabrielle from her wandering thoughts, pulling her back into her current reality; which, at the moment, was a room full of angry Amazons looking expectantly at their currently scatter-brained queen. It wasn’t the first impression that Gabrielle had wanted to make as a diplomat.
“There’s no problem,” she assured the group of women, straightening herself
in her seat so that she would look a little more convincing. “Please, go on,”
she added with a wave of her hand when she saw the skeptical look on the
council members’ face.
The one that had spoken earlier, an older woman with dark hair that was just
beginning to show signs of gray and lines that were starting to creep around
her eyes, still didn’t look convinced; but if she had wanted to say something
else, she didn’t. Gabrielle decided to keep at least one eye on her during the
meeting, however, just to see how she would react to her decisions.
“Er... My Queen?”
“Go ahead. I’m listening,” the bard assured the young speaker, who seemed a little nervous. At least that meant she wasn’t the only one.
“Well um, a few of us have been wondering why you’re allowing so many outsiders to stay here in the village,” she said as she fiddled with her hands , no doubt trying to give herself an outlet for her apparent nervousness. “There are even a few here that are angry about it.”
“What do you mean ‘A few are angry.’? Try the entire village,” another Amazon, that Gabrielle had come to know as Lissia, scoffed from across the room. Judging by all of the feathers that dangled from strands of her blonde hair and the bone jewelry that she wore, the woman was a decorated fighter. “This meeting isn’t about sugar-coating our problems, Kassie. It’s about getting them fixed,” she told the younger woman before looking over at Gabrielle. The bard could almost feel the daggers that the warrior was shooting at her with her eyes. “And right now our biggest problem is a queen that can’t even stay focused on one meeting.”
That was the final straw for Gabrielle. Perhaps it was the words that Lissia had used or maybe it was just the condescending tone in which she had said them. Whatever the reason was, the stress and worry that had been piling up over the duration of the morning finally broke through the dam that she had built up to hold back her emotions.
“You listen, and you listen well, because this is the only time I am going to say this,” Gabrielle told her, standing from her seat as she spoke. “You are the reason I am here. You are the reason that things are the way they are,” she told them as she started to pace around the open floor that was in the middle of the meeting room. “Do I have to remind you that you are the ones that let things with Velasca escalate out of control?”
“The only reason she took control in the first place is because you weren’t here to take Melosa’s place!” the warrior pointed out.
“And whose fault is it that Melosa died?” she asked in a low voice. The warrior woman opened her mouth to say something but then promptly closed it. “Like you said, I wasn’t around back then. I’m here now though, and I’m ready to do my best to rebuild what Velasca left behind.”
“Are you ready?” Gabrielle looked over to see that it was the older woman that was speaking again. “Because from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look like you are.”
“Then I think you need to find a new seat,” she responded, snapping her focus to the elderly Amazon. She was slightly surprised to see a sparkle of amusement in the woman’s eyes, but she covered it by redirecting her attention back to the warrior. “The only way that I’m going to be able to help you though, is if you give me a chance.”
She didn’t break contact with the other woman’s eyes while she spoke, trying to convey to the warrior how sincere she really was when she said she wanted to help. Either it worked, or the warrior didn’t think that it was worth her time to argue, because the other woman finally took her seat again. Gabrielle subtly nodded her thanks and went back to her own seat in front of the young woman known as Kassie.
“Now... you said they aren’t happy with the outsiders that have been staying here?” she asked, getting a hurried nod in response. “Well, could you be a little more specific as to which outsiders they have a problem with?”
“Well, it’s really just the men...” the young woman said as she started fidgeting once more.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that the men won’t be staying here much longer,” the bard assured the speaker, her mind briefly straying to Solan. As much as she cared about the boy, she knew he couldn’t stay. She didn’t even want to think about how Nexa would react when he had to leave. In fact, she didn’t want to think about Solan leaving period. He was a good kid and he didn’t deserve to be thrown out of the village just because of his gender. Maybe he could be an Amazon prince. Pushing thoughts of his departure out of her mind, Gabrielle returned her attention to the council members. “Are there any other issues that need to be addressed?”
As soon as the words were released, the hut was filled with the sound of
Amazons fighting over the chance to speak their minds. The bard mentally
sighed, resisting the urge to lean her head on her hand as complaints flew
through the air. Royalty was definitely better in theory than it was in
practice. She did not envy the kings that had to rule over empires bigger than
hers.
By the time she had addressed everyone’s issues with some kind of plan of
action or simply a reassurance, the sun had been pulled high into the sky and
she could hear her stomach telling her to get something to eat. She was just
about to call a break to the meeting when Lissia stood up again. She should
have known that the woman would have something to add to the discussion.
“I just have one more question to ask before your stomach gets the best of you, my Queen.” The warrior didn’t attempt to hide the satisfied smirk on her face.
“Ask away,” she said, trying to keep the embarrassment out of her words, although she couldn’t stop her face from turning a deeper shade of red. She had been hoping that she was the only one that had heard her stomach growl.
“What are we going to do about Ephiny?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she warned the Centaurs of our attack. Because of her, more sisters died in the attack than Velasca had predicted,” the warrior explained. “In fact, I guess you could say that their blood is on her hands.”
“Ephiny was trying to prevent a war and keep her son out of danger,” Gabrielle said through clenched teeth as her hands tightened into fists. “What she did was simply a means to an end.”
“She didn’t prevent anything!” Lissia pointed out. “Do you really think that just because one of us went over to help the Centaurs they would forgive all of us?” She asked. “If so, then Velasca was right. You’re just a little girl that wants to play queen. You know nothing about ruling a nation.”
“If you didn’t want me to be your queen, then why weren’t you on Velasca’s side before the fight for the mask?” Gabrielle asked, the frustration evident in her voice. The question seemed to trip the warrior up for a moment.
“Honestly? I thought that you would make a better queen than her. I didn’t exactly agree with her decisions either,” she admitted in a softer voice, surprising the bard not only with her words, but with her tone as well. “However, that doesn’t mean that I would betray the nation by warning our enemy of an attack!” she added on, the hostility returning to her words.
“She warned them because she was doing what she thought was best, not because she wanted to kill her sisters,” Gabrielle countered. “Besides, that attack never should have happened. Velasca framed the Centaurs and killed an Amazon in cold blood to do it. If your former queen hadn’t been so bent on destroying them, Eponin and the others would still be alive.”
“So what? That doesn’t make what Ephiny did any better. You banished Velasca for being a traitor. Why haven’t you banished her?”
“Because what she did may not have been right, but it wasn’t wrong either,” Gabrielle snapped at her as she attempted think of a way to explain things to the warrior in terms that she could understand. “As a warrior, I can imagine that you think of the world in black and white. You either kill or get killed. There are no other options. Outside of battle though, there is no black or white; only differing shades of grey,” the bard explained. Seeing that she had the attention of not only the warrior, but of the entire council, she continued.
“Ephiny could have chosen to go ahead with the attack and destroy the lives
of many innocent Centaurs. Or, she could have chosen to warn them and save the
lives of the ones she loved from an insane woman addicted to power. She went
with the lesser of two evils.”
“Are you saying that just because she had something at stake, it’s alright that
she betrayed us?” the warrior asked with an angry edge to her words.
“Are you saying that it’s alright to wipe out a village just because one woman thinks that war is the only answer?” Gabrielle retorted, barely able to keep her own emotions in check.
“Judging by the way you planted one on the Warrior Princess last night, you obviously think it’s alright.” The woman smirked as Gabrielle paled. “Or do you only think it’s alright when your girlfriend does it? Is it some kind of a turn on for you?”
“Lissia! The queen’s personal life is not what is up for discussion here!” The elderly Amazon chastised the warrior, getting her point across with a glare before facing the bard again. “My queen, I think that it is safe to say that you can ignore that question.”
“I... I think it’s time we all took a break,” were the only words that Gabrielle could form. Her mind was still trying to process what Lissia had said and the images that the words brought with them. Scrambled memories of the night before had begun flashing through her mind. The only problem was, she didn’t know which ones were real and which ones were simply wishful thinking. Had Xena actually kissed her back?
“If you think that is best...” The older Amazon said skeptically. “When do you want us to meet again?”
“Tomorrow,” Gabrielle said as she stood from her seat and walked across the room and out the door.
“Remind me to have a chat with you later about bringing up personal issues in professional debates,” the elder chastised Lissia as she watched their runaway queen disappear from her sight. “As for the rest of you, meet back here tomorrow morning. Hopefully our queen will have her problems sorted out by then.”
While Gabrielle was making futile attempts to keep her composure in her first council meeting, certain Warrior Princess was working her own frustrations out in the village’s practice yard. The very same practice yard that had served as a dance area the previous night. The very same practice yard that she had broken the one rule she had set for herself as soon as she realized she was falling for her young friend. Unfortunately for her, even sparring with Iliana couldn’t erase the memory of the moment that had most likely ruined the best friendship she had ever formed with someone. It could, however, provide her mind with something else to focus on; for a little while, at least.
With every clash of steel though, flashes of the night before kept repeating themselves in the warrior’s mind. Each strike of metal on metal brought back the sound of the Amazon drums playing in the background and the feel of soft lips gently, albeit drunkenly, pressing against hers. More than once, Xena caught herself shaking those thoughts from her mind so she could concentrate on the young opponent she was sparring with. Yet every time Iliana made a mistake or seemed to stumble, the warrior couldn’t help but think of a younger version of Gabrielle still learning how to handle a weapon, which always brought a small smile to her face.
“Does kicking my butt really make you that happy?” Iliana asked, panting. To her credit, Xena hadn’t expected her to keep up with her for so long. She had seen the girl’s fighting style the night before and knew that she wasn’t as proficient with a weapon as some of other warriors. Then again, the girl did seem to be doing better during their sparring match than she had been during the tournament. Xena wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Ephiny wasn’t around, keeping distractions for the girl to a minimum.
“No. I was just thinking of something from another lifetime ago,” she assured the girl as she blocked a blow that was aimed for her side. She forced Iliana’s sword away with her own blade and pushed the offensive by bringing her sword up and quickly making a downward strike towards the girl’s shoulder. Iliana just barely managed to step back far enough to avoid the attack, but Xena took advantage of the fact that the girl was on the run and continued to go on the offensive. Iliana had to deflect a stab at her gut and immediately block the overhead strike that followed. When she had to duck to avoid getting decapitated, however, she decided to call it quits for the day.
“Whoa!” she said as she looked up, watching the sword’s blade went through the area where her head used to be. “Okay, I think that’s enough teaching for the day,” she said as she stood up again.
“You sure?”
“Very,” Iliana said as she sheathed her weapon. “I don’t think that I’m the one that can help you work out whatever frustrations you’re feeling right now. Maybe you should go ask someone that knows more about sword fighting.”
“You mean like Ephiny?” the warrior asked with a raised eyebrow. Iliana blushed and Xena chuckled. “I take it that’s what had to do with this impromptu lesson, after all.”
“Er... maybe a little,” the girl said. She wasn’t going to bother arguing with her when it was so obvious that she was right. “Whatever my reasons were though, you still agreed to it. That’s not exactly what I expected you to do, so I’m guessing you had your own motives for agreeing to the request,” she pointed out.
“Well, then it’s a good thing that I’m not as readable as you are or people might actually know my reasons,” Xena said absentmindedly as she sheathed her own weapon.
“Oh really?” Iliana asked, receiving a nod in response. “Well, I bet the reason you’re so worked up just walked out of the Amazon Council hut,” she told her, indicating the hut diagonally across from the practice yard with a nod of her head. Xena turned to look and was dismayed to find Gabrielle walking towards them; and the angry expression on her face didn’t bode well for the Warrior Princess. Xena was surprised, however, when the bard quickly walked passed her and headed for the outskirts of the village. That wasn’t a good sign.
“I’ll be back,” she told Iliana as she headed in the direction her friend had gone. The young Amazon yelled something to her that sounded like a ‘thank you’, but Xena was too focused on the bard to try to decipher what she actually said. Soon, she found herself crossing the boundary line between the forest and the village and silently making her way through the trees.
Gabrielle, on the other hand, wasn’t so silent. Xena could hear the soft thud of her sais impacting with tree bark. She used the sound to guide her to the bard. When she found her, Xena wasn’t surprised to see her throwing her weapons into the trunk of one of the many trees. She was surprised by the force with which she was throwing the weapons.
“Why is it that whenever you’re upset, I find you throwing dangerous objects?” she asked to announce her presence. She was a little confused when Gabrielle didn’t acknowledge her, let alone answer her. Instead, the bard simply continued to assault the tree. She would throw one sai at a time and then retrieve the two weapons from the tree before walking back to her spot and throwing them again. It was a repetitive process and for a few minutes, Xena got lost in the rhythmic repetition. Gabrielle had retrieved her sais three times before the warrior finally broke herself out of the trance and tried to get Gabrielle’s attention again. “The silent treatment is a little childish, don't you think,” she asked with a roll of her eyes.
“Oh. Are you saying that it’s not mature to ignore people all day without telling them why?” Gabrielle asked, not taking her eyes off the tree as she let her sai fly from her hand and into the tree trunk.
“I haven’t been ignoring you.”
“Avoiding and ignoring are pretty much the same things, Xena,” Gabrielle told her as she walked over to the tree and pulled her sais out. Instead of going back to her throwing spot though, she stayed put and stared at the ground. Xena could see that the bard was gripping the sais so tightly that her knuckles were a pale white and her hands were shaking slightly. “I just wish you would have told me what happened instead of playing this stupid game of keep away. Are you really that ashamed of what happened last night? Of me?”
“Gabrielle, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not ashamed of you. I could never-“
“Then why weren’t you with me this morning, Xena?” Gabrielle snapped, raising her gaze from the wilting grass to meet Xena’s. Instead of the tears that Xena expected to see, the warrior found pure fury glaring at her. “Why is it that every time I tried to find you and talk to you this morning, you somehow managed to slip away? Why didn’t you bother to explain to me what happened last night?” she asked, taking a step closer with each word until she was up close and personal with the warrior. “How come you didn’t have the decency to tell me why you don’t want me?” she said in a small voice as she tried to disguise the hurt she was feeling because of the rejection.
“I never said I don’t want you,” was all Xena could think of to say. Judging by the look on Gabrielle’s face, it wasn’t the smartest thing to say.
“Oh, a so avoiding person is your way of telling them that you feel the same way they do? Well then, I’m sorry. I completely misunderstood the message you were trying to send me,” Gabrielle said before turning away from Xena and crossing her arms over her chest, being careful not to cut herself with one of her weapons.
“I wasn’t avoiding you because I don’t want you. I was avoiding you because I didn’t want to have this conversation!” Xena explained, resisting the urge to throw her hands up in frustration. Why had she decided to follow Gabrielle again?
“Well, fine. Continue avoiding me and we can forget this conversation ever happened,” the bard told her as she uncrossed her arms and threw one of her sais at the tree again. “Why don’t we just forget that last night ever happened while we’re at it? You obviously don’t want to talk about it, so it might as well have never happened,” she ranted before throwing her other sai at the tree and hit the spot right next to the other sai.
“I’m sure if we pump enough wine into you, it will be just like last night never happened,” Xena told her. “Or you might just decide to do something stupid again,” she added on in a low mumble. Unfortunately, she didn’t mumble it quietly enough. Gabrielle stopped what she was doing, which happened to be tugging her second sai out of the tree, and looked over at Xena.
“Are you seriously blaming what happened last night on the alcohol?” Gabrielle asked. She let out a frustrated groan when she didn’t receive an answer. “Xena, why can’t you believe that I really do feel something for you, and that it wasn’t just some spontaneous act brought on by the wine?” she asked, shaking her head. Again, there was no answer. “If my feelings were just because of the alcohol, then explain to me why I spent three tiresome, aggravating, not to mention painful, days learning how to dance just so I could impress you at the festival? Why can’t you believe that I want you all on my own?”
“Because you don’t know what you want,” Xena told her. She could see the muscles in Gabrielle’s jaw clenching, indicating she had only irritated her more.
“I think I’m old enough to know what I want and what I don’t want,” Gabrielle argued as she turned and tugged her second sai out of the tree with a hard jerk.
“You and I both know that age doesn’t equal maturity.”
“Maturity? You really don’t think I’m mature enough to know what I want?” Gabrielle asked as she turned back around and approached the Warrior Princess, her eyes clouded with anger. “Xena, I have a four year old child; I’ve killed dozens of men just for the entertainment of rich, corrupt bastards; I was stuck in a cell with your insane enemy and watched as she died protecting me; and to top it all off, I lived with that... that thing for four years!” she reminded the warrior, jabbing her in the gut with the point of one of her sais. “I guess you’re right, Xena. I haven’t matured at all since you met me.”
“You know, poking me with that is not proving you’re mature,” the warrior pointed out as she took a step backwards.
“Oh, you don’t like that?” Gabrielle asked, advancing on the warrior. “Well, why don’t you stop me then? Why doesn’t the big, bad Warrior Princess do something to the little, immature bard to make her stop?” she asked, continuing to jab her. “Come on. Take your sword out and show me how to be mature, Xena. Show me how a mature and worldly warrior handles a weapon.”
“You know I don’t want to fight with you.”
“That’s too bad,” Gabrielle told her in a low growl before throwing her sais down and charging at Xena. If it had been anyone else, Xena would have had the attacker flat on his back and her sword pointed at his throat in no time. However, this wasn’t just any assailant. It was Gabrielle and, not wanting to hurt her friend, the warrior allowed the younger woman to tackle her to the ground. Before she knew it, the bard was straddling her waist with her legs.
The short, shaggy locks of blonde hair dangled in front of Gabrielle’s face as she leaned over. Xena couldn’t stop herself from staring into the glazed over emerald eyes that were similar to what she had seen the night before. This time, however, it wasn’t alcohol that was making the bard look at her with clouded eyes. Knowing that fact nearly made Xena lose the tenuous control she held over her body. The pressure that was resting on her wasn’t helping much either. Deciding that she needed to get out of such a compromising position, she pushed Gabrielle with enough force to get her off, but not enough to hurt her.
“Just stay over there,” she told her friend as she quickly got to her feet and put some distance between her and the younger woman.
“What’s the matter, Xena? Are things getting a little too mature for you?” Gabrielle asked as she stood up. “Are you afraid you can’t handle it?”
“No. Things are getting too out of control, and I’m afraid I’m going to do something stupid and lose the best thing that has ever happened to me!” Xena snapped at her friend, not aware of what she was saying until the words left her mouth. She looked away from the bard, waiting for another angry outburst from the younger woman. When the angry response never came, she took a chance and looked back over to see if Gabrielle was still with her. She was surprised to see her friend standing beside her.
“The only way you’re going to lose me is if you continue insisting on protecting me from yourself,” Gabrielle told her as she put her hand on Xena’s shoulder. Gabrielle herself couldn’t believe that Xena had admitted to being afraid of something.
“If this... thing... ruins our friendship though, I will lose you,” Xena persisted, although she didn’t pull away from the touch. Gabrielle took that as a good sign and pressed on.
“No matter what happens, this won’t ruin us. There is nothing that you’ve done or could do that will make me love you any less,” she told her. “Xena, I’ve seen how our souls are intertwined. We belong together.”
“I’m still not sure this is a good-“
“Hey, I’m the bard here so would you just shut up and kiss me?” Gabrielle asked as she snaked her hand behind Xena’s neck and gently pushed down, guiding the warrior’s head down to her.
It didn’t take much effort to bring Xena’s head down. Then again, Xena wasn’t putting up much of a fight, despite the warring thoughts going through her mind. Part of her wanted to pull away before things went too far and she couldn’t turn back. A larger part of her told her she was an idiot for even thinking about pulling away and that she should just continue what she was doing. As soon as Gabrielle’s lips touched hers though, the smaller part was drowned out and Xena found her hands resting on Gabrielle’s hips.
Of course, Xena was more focused on what Gabrielle’s hands were doing more than her own. The hand that the blonde had brought her head down with had found its way further up, just behind Xena’s ear, and her once free hand was now resting on Xena’s upper back. Before either of them knew it, the warrior and the bard were pressing their bodies close together, unconsciously trying to mold their bodies together. It seemed like an eternity had gone by before the couple finally broke the kiss.
“Mother of Zeus,” Gabrielle breathed as she leaned her head against Xena’s chest. It was all her mind could come up with. The bard was still trying to calm the beating of her heart, which seemed to be doing its best to jump out of her chest. To think that what she was feeling was simply caused by a kiss. She couldn’t help but imagine what she would be feeling if they had done more.
“My thoughts exactly,” Xena agreed as she rested her cheek on the top of Gabrielle’s head. Her hand had moved on its own accord up to Gabrielle’s back after the kiss and was now moving in slow, gentle circles over the bard’s skin. “I think it would be a good idea if we um... took this slow. You know, so we don’t do anything reckless,” she finally said with a sigh. She felt her friend stir before pulling away.
“Um... Yeah. You’re probably right,” Gabrielle conceded as she turned away
from the warrior. “I mean, it probably wouldn’t be smart if we rushed into
anything. I’m just glad we got our feelings out there. I feel like such an
idiot for waiting so long to-”
Gabrielle stopped talking when she felt Xena grab her hand and turn her around.
Before she could continue rambling, Xena’s mouth was pressed against hers
again, effectively silencing her. At first, the bard was a little surprised at
Xena’s lack of inhibitions, but she quickly found herself melting once more.
“So much for taking it slow,” she gasped when they finally pulled apart again.
“You were rambling. I made you stop,” Xena said with a shrug. Gabrielle wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a smirk forming on the warrior’s face before she turned away and started walking back toward the Amazon village. The bard shook her head and followed after her, a smile of her own spreading across her face.
Many miles north from the Macedonian Amazon village, where the land had already begun to experience its first light snowfall and the ground had frozen solid, there stood a dilapidated hut in the middle of a barren forest. The trees had lost their leaves many years ago and had never grown back. The people that lived in the nearby towns and villages believed the evil that resided in the hut had sucked the life from the vegetation that surrounded it.
It was in front of this hut that a blue light flashed and the God of War appeared. However, the god was not alone. Standing beside him was the former Amazon, Velasca. The warrior woman immediately wrapped her arms around her body. She wasn’t used to the cool temperature and Ares hadn’t told her where they were going, so she hadn’t found anything warm to wear.
“Now, I’m not going to lie to you, the woman that lives here is a little cuckoo,” Ares told her, unaware of his accomplice’s suffering.
“I don’t c-care. As long as she can help me k-kill that little Amazon wannabe, I’ll work with her,” Velasca said through chattering teeth. “That bitch is g-going to wish she stayed a housewife.”
“I have a feeling the two of you are going to get along just fine,” Ares said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, before he knocked on the door. A frown appeared on his face when no one answered. He had told the hag to expect him. So where was she?
“C-Couldn’t you just p-pop us in there?” Velasca asked as she rubbed some warmth into her arms. She was growing impatient and the biting cold was doing nothing to improve her disposition.
“Even the God of War isn’t that stupid,” came the gravelly response from behind the two travelers. The god and Amazon turned around and Velasca came face to face with the woman that was going to help her bring down Gabrielle and the Amazons that had deserted her. In her opinion, the woman didn’t look like much. She was dressed in deer skins and her face was painted with a black substance, which Velasca guessed was charcoal. Still, there was something lurking behind her eyes that radiated power and Velasca was forced to take a step back.
“Charming as ever, aren’t you, Alti?” Ares greeted her. Velasca watched as the stranger turned her attention on the god.
“I see you’re still an arrogant ass.”
“Would you have me any other way?” the god asked with a smirk. Alti rolled her eyes in response before walking between her two visitors. Velasca felt a wave of warmth roll over her body as the woman opened the door to the hut. Despite the uneasy shiver that ran up her spine when she saw the inside of the woman’s home, Velasca followed after Ares and Alti. However, she stopped when she reached the doorway.
She had never been very fond of shamans. She felt that a warrior’s strength should be measured by their skill with a sword, not their connection with the spirits. Still, if this woman could insure her destiny, Alti was willing to take the risk and team up with this Alti woman. She just hoped it wasn’t a decision that would come back and bite her in the ass.
After mustering her courage and swallowing the lingering uneasiness she felt, the Amazon crossed into the stifling heat of the hut. The door shut behind her and Velasca knew that she had just sealed her fate. There was no going back. Soon she would be reigning over the Amazons, and not just the ones in Macedonia. With Alti’s help, she would become the queen of every Amazon. Then she would remind the rest of the world how vicious Amazons could be and they would no longer be considered a joke by the men in the taverns. It was simply a matter of time before everything would come together.