"THE PRINCESS & THE QUEEN" series -SCROLL VIII: CONQUERING A BYGONE ERA

pt.9

The fridged wind whipped as Gabrielle held Aurora a little closer to keep the little girl warm and steered her steed as they both rode through the trees as the distance between herself and Xena whom she was forced to leave back in the village grew. She didn't know where she was going but hoped she'd come across a settlement of some kind soon. She didn't want to go too far from the village so Ephiny could find her if she couldn't stop Xena's execution. As she rode, Gabrielle became lost in her thoughts. Trying to wrap her head around the events that had all too quickly transpired and brought her to where she was now. While outside the village Alti had appeared and shown Clover and a few others with Xena,  a number of the awful things that Xena had done to the Amazons as well as others. This enraged them as they brought Xena back to the village to decide what to do with her. But once they returned and Gabrielle had come to Xena's defense, revealing her previous knowledge of Xena's past that was when everything really began to spiral out of control. And before Gabrielle really had time to process everything, both she and Xena were tried and convicted of numerous crimes against the Amazon people. And now here she was stripped of any place among the amazons, exiled in the dead of a brutal winter with a small child, and forced to leave Xena behind in the village where she was held imprisoned to await her death sentence. Gabrielle was pulled from her worrisome thoughts of what she could possibly do to save Xena as a large gust of wind blew directly head on and she reflexively tried to hold the bundled-up Aurora even tighter to her as she looked around for any signs of shelter.

GABRIELLE
Hold on Aurora, there has to be some village, city, or some kind of shelter around here somewhere.

Gabrielle urged Arian forward. But the deep snow was difficult for the stallion to walk through, which was making the already arduous trek that much harder.  But what more could Gabrielle do but continue? If it were only her, Gabrielle might have likely fought to stay in the village and let Clover and the others lock her up with Xena.  At least then she'd be able to spend her moments on this earth together with Xena.  But Gabrielle had their child to think about. And right now she knew that she had to find somewhere safe and warm for them to stay. Then she could try and figure out some way to get back and save Xena.

XENA
(Angry tone) Damn it!

Xena's voice echoed slightly as she tried and failed once again to escape her cell.  That being an attempt in the double digits. The exact number of which Xena had paid no mind to as it was irrelevant. She was determined to keep trying. And did just that as she knew the dangers that Gabrielle faced out in the unforgiving elements with their young child. And not only the weather, which Xena could tell was bad as she could hear the wind as it fiercely blew outside. But from any number of other hazards that could befall a young woman and her child as they traveled alone. And while Xena knew that Gabrielle was fully capable of handling herself and keeping Aurora safe, Xena still couldn't help but worry about them both. And besides she had no intention of just sitting around and doing nothing as she waited to die. And at the same time let Alti succeed in whatever it was she was planning.

XENA
(thinking to herself angrily) Come on. What is this cell even made of? Clover clearly did her work to make damn sure I couldn't get out of here.

Xena sat on the cold floor of the small cell as she wrapped the lone blanket given to her around her shoulders as she leaned back against the wall. She looked up at the tiny window that was much too small for even a child to fit through as the setting sunlight came in. And felt a darkness fall over her as she realized that she'd never see Gabrielle or Aurora again. Even when it came time for them to move on to the afterlife, Xena knew all too well that she and Gabrielle were not going to the same place. And she only hoped that Aurora would have a very long and happy life and wouldn't do anything to follow in her dark footsteps. Meeting up with her in Tartarus was not any kind of mother-daughter reunion that Xena wanted to have. Tartarus being exactly where Xena was certain she was going for everything she'd done. There was no way that a few years of good deeds were enough to outweigh the bad and change where she would spend the rest of eternity. That much Xena could accept. After all, wasn't that what she deserved? In all honesty, the thing truly bothered Xena about dying like this wasn't the method of her killing or even being stuck in Tartarus for the rest of time. It was the fact that she'd never be able to see Gabrielle again. And that realization hurt far worse than any kind of cruel punishment that she could possibly be put through.