Aria and Talia by Shadowdancer

Two months after the birth of the twins, Aria and Talia were visited by the Warrior Princess and her companion, the Bard Warrior, Gabrielle who stopped to ask if they could re-supply before continuing on their way; they were of course welcomed. Though they had never met them before, Aria and Talia had of course heard of the Warrior Princess and her Bard, who in the Amazon world hadn’t ?.

Aria noticed that Gabrielle seemed to be favoring her right foot; she was walking on it, but seemed to be trying to keep her weight off of it as much as possible. “Queen Gabrielle, I notice you’re limping, my Shamanesse is very good. I will instruct her to look at your ankle if you like. I assume it’s only a sprain, if it were broken, you wouldn’t be walking on it all of course”. Gabrielle exchanged a look with Xena, as if she were embarrassed, and thanked Aria, “Xena’s been taking care of my ankle, but if your Shamanesse wouldn’t mind, maybe she could have a look at it”.

“Of course. If Xena wouldn’t mind that is. I’ve heard of her healing abilities, I wouldn’t want to offend her”. “No, I’m not offended, please, have her look at Gabrielle’s ankle. All I know is what I learned on the battle field. I’m sure she knows a lot more than I do”. “Melana will argue with you on that point all day. I have never seen a Shamanesse who reads more than out Bard does”.

“You have a Bard?” “Yes, Kolana, she’s very good. She won second place in the Bard-a-thon last season. One of Queen Danalia’s Bards took first place, and Queen Thalissia’s Daughter took third”. They were walking towards the Shamanesse’s Yert as they spoke. “Danalia and Thalissia? We know them both. Danalia is a good friend, and we know both Thalissia, and her mother Thelanna. But the last time we saw them, Thalissia’s mother was still Queen. That means…..” Gabrielle said. “Yes, Queen Thelanna has passed, killed in battle, her daughter Thalissia has been Queen now for ten seasons. Her eldest daughter is fifteen seasons old, Thelaria is her name. Her second daughter is named Xenerille, named for both of you, and the first for her mother without actually giving her the same name as she thought that would be too confusing to have two of the same name in the same tribe”.

As they entered the Shamanesse’s Yert, Gabrielle was assisted onto the table by Xena, Aria making no effort to assist her as it was believed that the two were bond mates, and Aria did not consider it proper for her to touch another Queen when her bond mate was right there and able to assist her. “Xena, has it been that long since we were there?” “I guess it has. The last time we saw Thalissia, was when we were helping Sirasi through her grief over the loss of her sister, and that was quite a while ago”. “And now Thalissia is not only Queen of the tribe, but she’s a mother as well, and of two daughters yet. How wonderful for her”.“Yes, and she’s said to be about to have her third daughter very soon. One of her runners was here a week ago with the news, and to bring a trade agreement between our tribes to me” .

“Oh Xena, we have to go and visit and see the new baby, Thalissia and her daughters too. It’s been too long” “We’ll make it our next stop. We don’t really have to be in Pydna for a couple of weeks yet, and if we’re a few days late, King Methias will just have to get over it”. “In that case, would you mind taking some things that my First Warrior and I have made for her new baby?”. “No, of course not, we’d be happy to”. “Great, thank you Xena”. “It’s no problem. I don’t mind taking a detour at all. It gives us an excuse to put off going to Pydna even longer. I’m not looking forward to fighting Logar and his men. If it’s not one warlord and his army it’s another”.

“If you and Gabrielle like, I could send a runner ahead with a message for the king saying that you will be delayed. I’ve dealt with King Methias once before. He’s not a pleasant man. I had to keep Talia from sending him to the other side. She hates men worse than Queen Danalia if that’s possible, and he really made her angry with his arrogance. She can be very sensitive sometimes, and that was one of the times”. The Shamanesse came in at this point and saluted Aria. “Melana, Queen Gabrielle has injured her ankle, could you take a look at it please?” “Yes of course my Queen, immediately. I’ll do my best”. “I know you will. Don’t worry Xena, she is the best there is. I would wager her skills against Queen Danalia’s Shamanesse’s skills any time, and Deloria is known to be one of the best healers in Amazonia”.

“I’m sure she is, especially if you wager her against Deloria, she is one of the best. She taught me a few things, and I thought I knew about all there was to know. She humbled me when it came to healing in the time we were there”. “Yes, Queen Danalia has some of the best warriors and Healer in the Amazon Nation. Though I’d wager my best runner against her’s any day”. They watched Melana work on Gabrielle’s ankle for a few minutes before Aria suggested they go to the communal Yert and get something to eat. “I’m nearly finished My Queen” Melana told Aria, “If you’ll wait a few more moments, she can go with you”.

“Alright Melana, we’ll wait then”. “Please, Queen Aria, I’m just plain Gabrielle, I’m only “Queen Gabrielle” within my own tribe”. “Alright, Gabrielle it is then, and you may call me Aria, though I must warn you, when you meet my First Warrior Talia, she will seem very cold, and controlled, and she may insist that you call me by my title, but I’ll explain to her. She’s really warm and affectionate when you get to know her, she just has to learn to trust you first; it’s not easy for her to trust anyone. Something happened to her when she was very young that made her distrust pretty much everyone, especially men”.

“She and Xena should get along great then” Gabrielle said, Xena gave her a brief look but said nothing to that remark. She had to admit, Gabrielle wasn’t far off on that account. “Good, I’d like Talia to have friends outside of the tribe. Someone she can talk to besides me. She won’t allow herself to befriend the other warriors in the tribe beyond helping them in their work when they need it; she prefers to maintain the “First Warrior” relationship with the others, expecting them to treat her according to her rank and nothing more. Most of them understand why, and don’t impose on her any more than necessary”.

“Well maybe Xena and I can help her open up more while we’re here” Aria gave Gabrielle a bit of a smile, “I’d appreciate that. If anything happened to me, she’d be lost. I don’t doubt that she’s strong enough to go on without me, and lead the tribe well, but I’m afraid that if I died, she would retreat into herself even more. As it is, she only speaks when she has to, and keeps to herself when at all possible”. Melana finished with Gabrielle, and gave her two ornately crafted crutches to use. “I can’t take these, somebody took a lot of time and effort to carve these”.

“I did” Melana said, “I have a lot of time, these are healthiest warriors I’ve ever seen. Not so much as a cut, a bump or a bruise most of the time. I don’t know why I’m here”. Gabrielle was looking them over and showed them to Xena who admired the Shamanesse’s handy work as well. They had all sorts of tribal carvings in them, and an eagle, bear, and hawk’s heads carved into them, and the hand grips were as smooth to the touch as you could imagine. “Beautiful work Melana” Xena said, “Thank you, my mother was a carver as well as Shamanesse of course. Please, take them Gabrielle, you would honor me by doing so. Besides, they’re of no use here. As I said, these warriors rarely get injured, and never to that degree that I’ve seen yet”. “Thank you Melana. I promise, I’ll be very careful with them, and I’ll bring them back to you the next time we come this way. I know you said you have no need of them, but it gives us an excuse to stop for a visit again if that’s alright with Queen Aria, I mean, Aria”.

“Of course it is. Legendary warriors such as yourselves are always welcome here. The tales of Xena, the Warrior Princess and her Warrior Bard have been told for many years among the Amazon tribes. Your travels and deeds are well known; you are both great heroes in the Amazon Nation”. As both women stood there and blushed, even Xena, though she would have denied it vehemently, a familiar voice to Aria was heard outside asking about her where abouts. “Ah, my First Warrior is back, now you get to meet Talia”. As they were walking out of the Healer’s Yert, Aria warned them beneath her breath, “Oh, and let me warn you, Talia is very, honest, she speaks her mind and holds nothing back. She has never been known to lie by anyone who has ever known her. If she doesn’t like you, you’ll know it right away, and if she does like you, you’ll know it as well. She’s very particular, and she can be very particular at times. She likes things a certain way all the time, and if anything is changed, it upsets her, and you don’t want to upset her, trust me. She’s very strong physically as well as emotionally, and loyal to a fault. You can always count on her whether you know her or not; Talia will give you the skins off her back even if she has to go without herself, that’s the way she is. I thought I’d warn you so you know what to expect”.

They were nearly to Talia just as Aria had finished “warning” them, and Gabrielle commented quietly, “She sounds an aweful lot like Vengence except that she isn’t evil doesn’t she?” “Mmmhmmm” Xena commented, but before she could say more, they had come to “Talia”. When Talia had handed the skins, and weapons she’d been carrying to the two teenage Amazons who’d had to call a third to come and help them, she turned to Aria and saluted her formally, and addressed her, “My Queen, I have returned with the trade goods, and have brought a list of the things that Queen Lana would like in exchange. If you agree, she said to send a runner to her village, and she will send one in return to retrieve the goods”. When she’d delivered the message, she looked at Xena and Gabrielle and nodded politely to them but said nothing; because Aria was Queen, Talia was to speak only to her, and give Aria her full attention until introduced to the two “strangers”.

Talia noted that Gabrielle was injured, and that Xena was fully armed, and stood directly behind Aria at easy “striking” distance, and that Aria was fully aware of it and seemed to be comfortable with their proximity to her while armed; this meant that she trusted them explicitly. Talia didn’t sense any danger in them, and their body language was non threatening, so she didn’t feel that she had to watch them. If Aria trusted them weapons while she had her back to them, then that was good enough for her. Although, because she was First Warrior, it was Talia’s duty to “stay on her toes” when there were strangers in the village, especially fully armed strangers who were obvious warriors, and this close to the Queen.

“Alright, thank you First Warrior” Aria said, taking the scroll; Talia was being formal so Aria was as well. Talia was always formal around the others, and especially when there were strangers around, which wasn’t often, but it did happen on occasion. “First Warrior, this is Queen Gabrielle and her Warrior/Consort, Xena, Xena, Gabrielle, this is my First Warrior, and Consort, Talia”. Gabrielle choked when Aria introduced Xena as her “Warrior/Consort” but Xena didn’t appear to react at all to the title. Talia greeted them formally, “Welcome Queen Gabrielle” she bowed to Gabrielle bending at the waist a bit, as well as bowing her head a fraction as in the Asian fashion, and then greeted Xena formally, nodding her head as before, as equal to equal. “Warrior/Consort Xena, it is a pleasure to meet such a formidable warrior. I have heard of your travels and heroic deeds as have all in the tribe for many generations. I would like to spar with you if you could spare the time if you wouldn’t mind having to spar with such an inadequate warrior as myself”.

Aria smiled at Talia’s modesty, she was the best in the tribe in every aspect, and prided herself in staying that way, though she wasn’t one to ever brag about it, or “show off”. Xena was impressed by the First Warrior, “I’m sure it’s the other way around. I would be honored to spar with such a fine warrior. I’m sure you will show your warriors just how superior skills are to mine”.

Aria smiled, Xena was smart, she was not only flattering Talia, but she was paying her the same formal respect as Talia was giving her, and she knew Talia was eating it up. She could tell by Talia’s body language that Xena had her respect and approval. “Perhaps after second meal. If I haven’t missed it that is” “No, you haven’t. Leave it to you not to miss mid day meal even though you were out of the village” Talia teased gently. She wasn’t sure how Talia would take to the teasing because she did it in front of “strangers” and Talia was very sensitive about when to be formal, and proper and when to be casual and relaxed.

Talia looked pointedly at her, and raised her left eyebrow, she didn’t approve of the “teasing” is what the “look” meant, but she said nothing, she knew that Aria knew what she meant. “I have a few things to attend to first, then I’ll join you there. Are the girls well My Queen?” “Yes, Tallina, and Arianna are well. They were sleeping when last I checked on them” “I’ll stop and see them before I join you then” Talia saluted Aria again, and then walked off after nodding to Xena and Gabrielle and having it returned.

As they walked towards the communal hut where the tribe ate together, Gabrielle, swinging along behind Aria and Xena, asked, “Who are “the girls”?” “Our daughters, they were born two months ago, twins. Tallina is first born, and Arianna is second born. Tallina will rule when I die unless Talia survives me, in which case she will rule after Talia crosses over”.
They entered the hut to find a few other warriors sitting at tables eating and chatting with one another; when they saw Aria they stood, and saluted her. She returned it and they went back to eating; “Wild boar? You have wild boar in this area?” Gabrielle asked as they walked up to a long table laden with wild boar, what looked like pheasant, and some other meet that was no doubt venison, as well as vegetables, and fruit. “Yes, as well as quite a few game birds, and deer. We also have a river where the fish are plentiful as well. Xena wanted to take some food for Gabrielle, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to take food before Aria. In Danalia’s tribe, anyone who was getting food at the same time as Danalia in the Communal Yert, had to wait until she got her food first, and then they could get what they wanted.

Gabrielle noticed Xena’s hesitation, and they exchanged a look, Xena waited, and stayed back a step or two behind Aria, and sure enough, Aria began to choose from the food on the table, choosing boar’s meat, and some vegetable, and an apple that looked as if the Gods themselves had made it. Xena looked at Gabrielle again, unsure if it was proper for her to choose what she wanted now. Gabrielle shrugged as if to say, “Try it” Xena took up a plate, and chose a bit of everything for Gabrielle, and some Venison for herself, and some bread, and fruit, and only a small bit of boar’s meat. It had been a long long time since she’d had any boar’s meat and she’d forgotten if she’d liked it or not. Aria had waited for them at the other end of the table, and Xena had stopped just behind, and to the left of her rather than coming up beside her as she could have done. She’d learned from visiting Danalia’s tribe, to always stay behind the queen, or the First Warrior unless asked to walk even with them.

As they sat at an empty table, she and Gabrielle waited until Aria tasted her food before they touched their’s, it seemed like the right thing to do. They were “Playing it by ear” and the only tribe they’d visited other than Gabrielle’s was Danalia’s, so they went by what Danalia’s tribe considered “Proper behavior”. After a few minutes, Xena saw a few more Amazons come into the Yert, and when they noticed that Aria was inside, they stopped in the door way, and removed their weapons, and left them there to either side of the door as the others already inside had when she’d entered. Then they got their meal, chose a place to sit, and began eating.

She had seen that a few of the warriors noticed that she was armed and that she was sitting there beside Aria, and they clearly looked uneasy, so without a word, she rose, moving slowly, and keeping her hands away from her sword and Chakram, went to the door, unsheathed her sword slowly, and deliberately, and laid it on the floor with the other weapons, then unhooked her Chakram, and laid it beside her sword. When Xena returned to the table, Gabrielle got up without her crutches, and slowly removed her sais, and stood with difficulty to do as Xena had done. “Here, I’ll take them” “No, I have to do it, I have to show that I’m no threat to her either”. Xena nodded, and stepped out of her way, watching her incase she fell.

Walking slowly, with a pronounced limp because of her bandaged ankle, putting as little weight on it as possible, Gabrielle took her sais to the door, and laid them on the floor beside Xena’s Chakram and sword, then made her way back to the table. “That was the longest walk I’ve ever taken” she said quietly in the dead silent Yert. “You two didn’t have to do that. You’re guests here, I trust you” “Yes, we did” Gabrielle said, “You’re their Queen, and they’re worried about your safety, especially when they’re unarmed, and we were. If we’d chosen to attack you, there would have been no way for them to protect you. We had to show them that we had no intention of hurting you, and that we’re willing to obey the tribe’s laws as they do”. After a few more long minutes, the “chatter” started up again, and normality resumed.

A short while later, Talia came into the Yert, and all the warriors stood, and saluted her, she returned it, and they sat back down and continued eating. Talia chose what she wanted, and came to the table. Xena noted that Talia had remained armed, and pointed out the fact to Gabrielle with her eyes. Gabrielle nodded that she understood. It was just like with Danalia’s tribe. Danalia’s First Warrior didn’t have to remove her weapons in her presence either. “Nobody got any wine?” Talia said, her voice and her manner showed that she was much more relaxed now, the formality gone. “I forgot” Aria said, Talia made a “Tsk” sound said, “How can you forget the best part of any meal?” and got up to bring a gourd, and four wooden cups over.

She poured a half a cup full for Aria, a full cup for Gabrielle, and Xena, and a half a cup for herself, in that order. This tribe was so much like Danalia’s it was almost frightening Xena thought, except it wasn’t as strict on protocol as Danalia’s tribe. Xena decided to try to show Talia that she wanted to be friends, so carefully she said in as light, and joking a tone as she could, “Are you trying to get me drunk or something First Warrior? You really don’t want to see me drunk on Amazon wine, trust me”. Trying to help, Gabrielle replied, “No, you don’t, it’s not a pretty sight, she gets so silly it’s embarrassing”. Neither of them could believe that, “I don’t know her that well, but I can’t imagine Xena “silly” Aria said, “You don’t want to see it let alone imagine it. I wish I hadn’t seen it. Gods, the entire tribe saw her” “I think they got the idea Gabrielle” Xena said in a tone that meant, “Okay, enough, knock it off”. “Don’t feel bad Xena, by the way, call me Talia, don’t feel bad, you should see Aria, suddenly she develops an allergy to clothing” “Hey! That was one time Talia, only once and I still say you gave me some from your special stash”. “Special stash?” a grinning Xena asked, “She has a gourd of Queen Danalia’s wine. Her tribe makes it very strong”.

“Yes, they do” Gabrielle commented, “But it’s very good” Aria nodded, “She got it in trade for her best wolf pelt, two doe skins, and a fox pelt. She got some new boots for both of us, and a very special dagger with jagged teeth as well. You should see this dagger she got, she adores it, it’s teeth are sharp, and specially cut, it looks like a wolf’s mouth. It must have taken a very long time to make, I don’t know how she was lucky enough to get such a prized blade”. “Queen Danalia has some of the best craftswomen in her tribe. They make everything they need and then some, that’s why everyone wants to trade and barter with them. Even the villagers want to trade with them. I understand the men from the nearest village send their wives to buy or barter for goods from them”. Not one to allow anything to keep her from her meal, Talia continued to eat while the others talked around her; at the moment, her meal was the most important thing.

Talia had just swallowed a bit of boar’s meat and some bread when suddenly an arrow flew threw the window and into her back before Xena could get up and around the table to save her in time. By the time Xena had gotten around the table, Talia had slumped to the table. “Talia!” Aria exclaimed, “After them!” somebody yelled, and most of the warriors in the Yert grabbed their weapons at the door, and rushed out, while two took up their weapons and stood guard at the door to protect the Yert, and two more near Aria to protect her. Xena examined the arrow, and snapped off as much as was possible so that they could work on Talia to save her, and then she checked for a pulse, she found it, a faint one, a very faint one, but it was there. “She’s alive, barely, but she’s alive. We’ve got to get her to the Shamanesse fast and stop the bleeding” Xena pulled Talia with Aria’s help, back off the table the two of them supported her unconscious body so that they could see if the arrow had gone clean through or if it had embedded inside her body. It had passed through, that was good, if it had embedded inside her body, that would mean that it had hit something vital and or at least very important, and her chances of survival were much slimmer than if it had passed through.

This way they could get the arrow out, and hope to save her from bleeding to death. The fact that she lived was evidence that nothing vital had been hit. That is, according to where it entered her body through her back, it most likely missed any vital organs necessary for survival unless she bled to death, and Xena couldn’t see any bleeding from her mouth or nose, so she most likely wasn’t bleeding internally. “Let’s get her to the Healer’s hut fast before she bleeds to death”. “Guards! Carry the First Warrior to the Shamanesse’s Yert, be quick but gentle”. The guards who’d stayed to protect Aria came forward and Xena and Aria helped them take Talia into their arms and followed them as they carried her out. “Xena, will she live?” Gabrielle asked when Aria was out of ear shot, putting a hand on her arm to hold her back a moment. “I think so Gabrielle, she has a good chance. I don’t think it hit anything important, mostly muscle and tissue from what I can tell from where it went in. She’s a strong warrior, if she fights she’ll make it. Come on, let’s go”. They followed the others out, and the Communal Yert that was only moments ago filled with friendship, and security, and companionship, was now silent and empty.