I don’t approve.” Gareth glared across the meal table at Gabrielle.
“It’s not your approval I need. It’s the King’s.” Gabrielle nodded and smiled at the old man at the head of the table. “And you know how persuasive I can be.”
“Stubborn.” Gareth muttered.
“Persistent.” she quipped.
“Hard- headed.”
“Do I have two more children at the table this morning?” the King bellowed. This brought forth giggles from his two daughters seated on either side of him. Gabrielle couldn’t resist making a face at Gareth, eliciting laughter from the entire table.
“Oh Gabrielle, you are a ray of sunshine in my day.” the King dried his eyes with his napkin cloth. “Are you sure you don’t want to marry me and be the new Queen?”
“I’d make a terrible Queen, being so hard-headed and childish!” the Amazon Queen laughed off the offer.
“I doubt the Amazons think that.” Gareth said quietly. Gabrielle gave him a look, wondering what else Xena had told him.
“So….what else did Xena say about me?” she asked, eyebrows arched.
He finished a sip of his tea and sat down the cup. “She said you were excellent with the staff.”
“I am.”
“I’m not bad myself.”
“Really.” she could sense a challenge being issued.
“I have a proposal.” he washed down the last of his tea and wiped his mouth. Not waiting for him to finish, her quick mind raced ahead.
“First one to fall loses.” she looked at him with a grin.
“I’ll take that.”
“And…the one that’s left standing gets their way on this…issue that you don’t approve.”
“For today, anyway.”
“You mean I’m going to have to beat you every day?” she couldn’t resist, and flashed him a saucy smile as she got up from the table.

She had taken her time picking the right staff, giving her breakfast some time to settle in her stomach. She twirled the staff in her hands. It was heavier than she would like, but the lightest she could find. She left the armory and lifted her face up to the sun, taking in the warmth. She heard clapping and shouting. There was going to be an audience.
“Good.” she broke into a trot, flipping the staff as she moved, so that she was limber by the time she reached the courtyard. There were 20 or so soldiers gathered, and some servants. Gareth stood a few feet away from them and bowed his head to her.
“About time- we thought you had fallen asleep in there.”
“Well, you just have so much to choose from…almost to a fault.” she bowed back to him, and they backed apart. He held up his staff and she began to circle around him. She saw the confused expression on his face as he turned to face her again. And again. After her second circle, she could see his jaw twitch. The crowd began egging him on. She saw him suck in a deep breath and before he had fully raised his staff, she struck him quickly in the knees. Falling forward, he caught himself with his hands- clever enough, except she had flipped her staff’s edge into his ribs, and pushed him into the ground. The servants began laughing, and the soldiers stood silently staring. Someone was clapping….she looked up to see Dantien smiling down at her, clapping her approval. Gabrielle bowed in her direction, then raised the staff.
“That was something miss!” the servant girl shouted as she ran past her. The other servants trotted off, and the soldiers were still silent as Gabrielle extended her hand to Gareth, who had gotten to his knees, but seemed winded.
“Are you all right- did I knock the wind out of you?” she helped pull him up.
“No, just my pride.” he really did look hurt, and she felt sorry now that there had been an audience. He turned slowly to face his soldiers. “Well then, I am living proof- you don’t mess with this one.” the men nodded their heads and slowly walked away, some of them casting back looks at Gabrielle.
“Gareth, I believe we have a bargain to keep.”
“Indeed. Come with me.”
The smell of the old stone no longer bothered her as she followed him through a hall that led to a narrow locked door. Once inside, she looked around at the various scrolls, weapons and maps that cluttered the space. In the corner were several large black saddlebags with gold clasps.
“My, those are beautiful- are they yours?”
“They belong to the witch herself. Obviously they’ve done well with their raiding. They’re better than the King’s…..” he stopped as he rummaged in a cupboard. “Bastard.” the last part was hissed under his breath.
He tossed something that clanged onto the table, scattering scrolls to the floor. “Here, take this.”
“What?” she looked at him in disbelief.
“Take them, Gabrielle. We can’t have her escaping.” he held out the manacles and she backed away.
“I’m not cuffing her and taking her for a walk like some dog. No.” she adamantly shook her head.
He dropped them back on the table. “Then she doesn’t go.”
“The King-” she started, but jumped as his fist slammed the table.
“The King agrees with me on this Gabrielle.” his voice was hoarse and low as he leaned across the table, his lip twitching with anger. “You’ve already pushed me into the ground today- don’t push me any further.”
She stared back at him till he straightened. Then she silently lifted the shackles off the table. Removing the key, she then placed one of them over her left wrist and clicked it shut.
He sighed and shook his head, running his hands through his hair in sheer frustration. “Let me show you something.” He walked over to the saddlebags, shoved them aside, and held up a pair of boots.
“What sort of lady wears these?” he ran his fingers along the side of the boot, up to the pointed toe…where a sharp spike was dully gleaming. “That’s fighting dirty, Gabrielle. That’s bad blood for you.”
Gabrielle gingerly touched the boots. They were well made and obviously worn.
“There’s one on the heel too, be careful.”
“I see.” she said quietly as she put the boot down. She cleared her throat. “So she was wearing those when you found her?”
He hesitated a moment, looking down at the pile, as if trying to remember.
“No, she had on these riding boots.” he grunted as he leaned over and dug into the pile. “And these…here, I’ll show you.”
He carried the pile to the table and dumped it, sending more scrolls rolling onto the floor. Gabrielle saw mottled brown leather, and sorted through it. There was a pair of thin leather riding pants. A heavy leather vest of the same color. And a gleaming long-sleeved shirt of….she felt the smoothness in her hand.
“Silk.” she said aloud in wonder. Gold silk, no less.
“Not easy to come by. The bastard.”
“Please remember what the King said about swearing, Gareth.” she muttered absently as she rummaged through the pile. She found several more shirts, pants, some gloves and an archer’s armband.
“She has a bow?”
He grunted. She took that as a yes. Finishing her work, she scooped up what she needed and turned around.
“Thank you, Gareth. These will do.”
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“You want her seen in that shift? You think that won’t draw attention?” she had him and she knew it.
He grabbed her arm. “Take her out after lunch and make it quick. When you take her out, use the servant’s entrance in the back. There’s a nice spot of wood there. No walking anywhere else. Understand?”
Gabrielle clanged into his hand as she shook it. “Deal.” she turned and ran out the door. One of the silk shirts fell from her arms, but she didn’t notice it.
Gareth dropped to one knee and gently picked up the shirt, running it over his hands. He wadded it tightly and brought it to his face. Inhaling deeply, he sighed.
“Dantien Captaris, I should have left you at the roadside.” he pressed his lips to the shirt, and then let it drop from his hands back to the floor. He bowed his head and hoarsely whispered. “For now I am a cursed wretch of a man.”