Gaia - The Princess 8

Revelation

by romansilence

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asr/rsilence/gaiath08.php
Summary: Sam and Janet deal with the aftermath of Sam's captivity.

THE PRESENT: ON BOARD OF THE SCYTHIA

A plate with snacks and a pitcher of iced tea were waiting in their room but they had too much to think about to be hungry. They both knew they soon would have to talk, but for now, neither of them was ready. So, by unspoken accord they stripped and snuggled in bed.

Their minds wandered back to the conversation in the temple all these months ago, after the funeral pyres for the Amazons who had fallen during the rescue mission had been lit and they both had joined the Nation in the singing of the dirge.

~~~

THE PAST: GAIA – THE TEMPLE

The dirge had ended and the flames of the pyres had slowly died down. Priestess Melosa had let her arms sink to the side and had retreated to the temple, followed by Xena and Gabrielle – and after a moment's hesitation and Gabrielle's quiet order "Come!" also by Janet and Samantha.

Never having seen the inside of the temple before Samantha Carter was dumbstruck by its simple elegance. She looked at the columns supporting the roof of the ante-chamber which was inlaid with shimmering crystals depicting the familiar constellations visible from Earth's Northern Hemisphere. She touched one of the elegant stone pillars, expecting its surface to be smooth and cold; instead it almost felt like silk to her sensitive fingertips.

Melosa led them through another room with murals of Ancient Greece: Athena in a sword fight with Ares, the God of War, with her right hand bound behind her back; the same woman with glowing eyes hunting a white buck; a young woman who only could be Diti bathing with her dark haired lover.

The next room was small with a multitude of cushions on the floor and a couple of low tables with an assortment of fruits, bread, and cheese. Pitchers of water and steaming pots of tea completed the light meal. The priestess pressed a panel on the windowless wall and left. The whole wall slid to the side, revealing an atrium with an olive tree illuminated by the rising moon.

Janet and Samantha stared at it as if at an apparition. The tree was only slightly taller than the one in the guest palace but its top was considerably broader and brighter. What made it even more special was that it really wasn't a single tree. Two trunks came from the ground but at thigh-level they leaned closer to each other and a few inches higher they intertwined, one wrapping itself around the other and vice versa. Both women had seen this very tree for years in their dreams.

Janet instinctively sought the comfort of her taller lover's arms and the blonde responded in kind.

The small doctor remembered all too well when she first had dreamed about the olive tree. She remembered the intense feeling of longing and the feeling of loss and loneliness when waking up she found herself in the arms of her husband, the day after her wedding. She should have known then that giving in to his pleading had been a mistake; she should have known that they never would be like these trees, two and one at the same time. Janet also remembered the last time she had had the olive tree dream, the day she first had laid eyes on one Captain Samantha Gabriella Carter, resident genius of Stargate Command. This last time the longing had had a silver lining of hope.

She turned her head and found Samantha's eyes. They looked at each other, oblivious to their surroundings until Queen Gabrielle clearing her throat brought them back to reality. They turned around and joined the Royal pair on the cushions.

"Samantha, Janet, we are in your debt. I fear to imagine what would have happened to us and our companions had you not come to our rescue. Master Niva told me that they only learned about our disappearance shortly before your arrival. How did you know?"

Samantha knew that the weapons' master probably already had given a detailed report concerning what had happened on Gaia and during the rescue mission, but she also could understand the queen's need to hear everything from her perspective. So, she hesitatingly told them about her subsequent nightmares and the ritual they had performed to find answers. She gave a precise account of the rest of the mission, glossing over their disobeying direct orders, and ended up with telling Xena and Gabrielle that they were not in their debt and that they would do the same for any friend in danger.

Of course Xena picked up on her slight hesitation when General Hammond was mentioned and didn't let her get away with it. "Lieutenant Hailey and Master Sergeant Powers let us know that you are in trouble with your CO because of what you did."

"We left the base without permission, and when he ordered us to return, shortly before gating to M5X-179 we refused. We disobeyed direct orders and it wouldn't surprise me if we had to face a court-martial on our return," Janet answered matter-of-factly, adding. "We knew the consequences when we came here but considering the outcome we would do it again – and that's all there is to say."

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances that clearly told that there was a lot more to say and that they wouldn't let it go, not like this; they also knew that now was not the time or the place.

"We had to do everything in our power to get you back, however, it wouldn't have been possible without the backing of Master Niva and Mother Egeria's blessing," Samantha added in an effort to change subject.

There was a long period of silence during which all four women seemed to gather their thoughts. Finally, Gabrielle said, "Egeria. I'm all too aware that I owe my health and my sanity to you and Egeria, Samantha. I was at the end of my rope when you two began to put me back together. I would like to thank her personally."

"She's resting your majesty. She said she would be back when the time is right. Using the healing device has seriously sapped her reserves, more than she let me know at the time. I should have done something to protect her. What could have been weeks or even months has been cut down to a few days because I didn't know how to help her. She said that she wants to go in style, surrounded by her children, her true children, the Amazons and a few of the Tok'ra still loyal to their cause. I'm sorry, your majesty," Samantha answered with downcast eyes.

"There's no need to apologise, Sam. We knew of her plans for some time now and had the chance to mentally prepare for her passing, all of us," Xena said quietly. "Gabrielle and I both know what it's like having to go on without the one being you love above all else. She held out for a long time and deserves to rest. I'm sorry that you have to go through this unprepared."

"I admit that it happened faster than I would have wished. I would have liked to get to know her better but I knew what I was getting myself into," Samantha answered. "But there's more to this conversation than your need to thank us, right?"

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged amused looks. "Patience really isn't your strong suit, Sam, but you also are rather perceptive. What you did during the rescue mission could be of considerable consequence to the both of you. By morning the whole Amazon Nation will probably have heard about the fact that you mastered the chakram and used my sword with mastery," said Xena.

"I was lucky with the chakram, Xena. That's all."

"There's no such thing as luck when handling the chakram, Sam," the tall woman answered and Samantha thought she detected a hint of sadness in her voice. "I'll show you. Come stand beside me."

Rising Xena took the chakram from one of the low tables; both women stood and turned towards the inner courtyard and the olive tree. The tall raven-head threw the round weapon and it ricocheted from wall and columns; she then stepped back and Samantha grabbed it seemingly without any effort. She looked puzzled at her hand and then said, "I didn't want to catch it. It was almost as if it made me do it."

Xena took it from her and put it back on the table, then she said, "I know, Samantha. There's something in your blood calling for it. It's hard to explain, Sam. It has to do with your relationship to Janet and mine to Gabrielle. It has to do with Amazon law and history. It has to do with superstition and age-old prophesies. Perhaps it's easier if we just show you. Come!"

They stood and Xena led them in an adjoining room without windows or other visible doorways. Most of the walls were covered with pictures from top to bottom, portraits of women in Amazon garb or dressed in other traditional attire; rows and rows of 6x8 inch images, some of them faded with time.

All of them bore a certain, some a striking resemblance with the leaders of the Amazon Nation. On the far wall the picture tapestry ended in the middle. Samantha's eyes were fixated on the last three pictures.

Janet followed her lover's eyes, gasped, and stood staring with an open mouth. She instinctively put her arms around her taller partner and let their connection speak. She could feel the muscles tensing in the lithe body and decided to get her out of the room.

They stepped back into the small room with the view of the olive tree. Janet inched around and stood in front of the blonde.

"I love you, Sam. Nothing will ever change this, no matter what. You are my world, Samantha Gabriella Carter. Where you go, I go."

Xena and Gabrielle took their customary positions on a couple of cushions with the queen cradled in Xena's arms and let the younger women come to terms with what they just had seen.

"I'm sorry that you had to learn it this way," Gabrielle said after the other couple also had taken their seats. "It wasn't planned this way. We wanted to give you a choice before letting everyone know. We wanted to let the both of you slowly grow into what could be your new life."

"How? Why? Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?"

"If we had told you the moment you stepped foot on Gaia would you have believed us? Would you have believed that your great-great-grandmother came from another planet and the union of two immortal women?" Xena asked in an effort to guide the younger woman back to the comforting realm of reason and logic.

Samantha felt Janet's hand at the small of her back and slowly relaxed her rigid posture. The calming presence of their emotional connection soothed her and gave her the chance to see all of this more rationally. Her mind was running a mile a minute and created question after question not really following a logical order or any kind of priority.

"How did my great-great-grandmother come to Earth?"

"At the end of the nineteenth century a team of British archaeologists came close to finding the DHD. She had orders to sidetrack them while others got the dialling device to another location, further away from the Gate. She fell in love with one of their leaders and decided to stay on Earth. You're the last of her line," Gabrielle answered.

"My brother has a daughter."

"Yes, we know but it's not the same," Xena said with resignation, convinced that the blonde would insist on further pursuing this matter but Samantha's mind was already on something else.

"The Amazons kneeled for us because I'm related to you, to their leaders. They all knew the whole time and never said a word. Why? Why not be honest?"

"No, Samantha, they knelt because they heard what happened on the moon. For them an age-old prophesy is coming true. It has nothing to do with your ancestry. Only a handful of people knew from the beginning: Illiana, Egeria, and Melosa. Niva and Larina guessed after a few training sessions," Gabrielle answered calmly. "You have Xena's talent to use and adapt whatever you're taught to your needs."

Samantha's next question was unexpected. "Why? Why did you offer yourself up to so much pain? Having children only to see them die time and again. What made you do something like this?"

Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other, the sadness in their eyes confirming the blonde Major's words. The Consort closed her arms more firmly around the slender form of her wife.

"The easy answer is that the joy children bring far outweighs the sorrow of one day losing them. But there's also a more complicated answer. Make yourself comfortable. It's a rather long story.

"When Gabrielle and I returned to the Amazons after the crucifixion, the laws were a lot more restrictive then they are now. At the time Amazon law demanded of the queen to give the Nation an heir of her own blood; that meant that she had at least to try to get pregnant."

Xena began to explain only to be stopped by her wife, "Xe, my love, I don't think they need this much detail."

"They have to know how it all began, baby," Xena gently insisted.

Gabrielle finally nodded and continued the explanation, "We told the Council of Elders of our immortality the day of our joining but they had a hard time dealing with it. One day, a few moons after the end of Xena's punishment..."

~

FURTHER IN THE PAST: EARTH – THE AMAZON VILLAGE IN THESSALY

"What in Tartarus were you thinking, Ephiny? Dumping a damned male in my bed while Xena is on a hunting expedition. Are you completely daft or do you have a death wish?"

"I thought it would be easier for everyone concerned if Xena were not in the vicinity while you ..." the curly- headed woman was visibly embarrassed.

"While I what?" Gabrielle asked with a look that could have turned Medusa into stone. "And it better be a damned good explanation."

Two curse words in almost as many sentences, this was so unlike the usually gentle and soft spoken bard that Ephiny internally grimaced and almost stumbled over her words when she answered.

"While you fulfill your queenly obligation to give the Nation an heir, my Queen."

"Hera's left tit! While I do what? What by Hades are you talking about?"

"A child, an Amazon Princess of your own blood, one that will carry on the line, your line. I'm sorry the elders insisted that you prove your willingness to respect our traditions as soon as possible."

"Screw the Elders!" The blonde started pacing. "First of all get this sorry excuse for a man out of my sight and out of the village, now!"

The Regent signalled two of the Royal Guard who dragged the hapless man out of the Royal hut.

Having reached the front part of the hut for the third time, Gabrielle stopped and stared out of the window onto the village square. Angry energy was pouring off her, and Ephiny found herself strangely attracted and a bit frightened by this unexpected side of her friend and Queen. Gabrielle suddenly turned around.

"I need some answers, Regent Ephiny. Queen Melosa never had children of her own, so don't tell me this crap about a child of my blood."

"With Queen Melosa it was different. She was the bond-mate of the former Amazon Princess and thus the logical choice for becoming the new Queen. The queen and her daughter were killed in an ambush when I had just started my warrior training. A warlord wanted to make us leaderless in order to lead us into slavery. We fought him off but a lot of our warriors died. Melosa had fought like a woman possessed, always at the front lines, regardless of her own safety. In the end she was severely wounded and no one believed that she would survive. So, the Council of Elders named the former weapons' master as the new queen.

"The woman always had had a mean streak and it turned out that she was not strong enough to withstand the temptations of power. No one was safe of her temper tantrums and random punishments, not even the children.

"Melosa slowly healed. She planned to leave the village as soon as her health was completely restored. She said that staying would only remind her of everything she had lost.

"Being joined in the name of Artemis is almost as strong a bond as blood. So, the elders came and asked her to challenge the new queen, as was her right as the only surviving member of the queen's extended family.

"When the queen heard about it, she had the elders arrested and charged with treason. The unprecedented act changed Melosa's mind and she challenged the former weapons' master. It was a hard and long fight, but she came out victorious. Before she took the mask she solemnly vowed to always stay faithful to her lost love.

"A couple of years later the council approached her with the request to give the Nation an heir and she surprised everyone by naming her younger sister. She told them that this was as close as they would ever come to get an heir of her blood and reminded them of her vow. Melosa had proven herself to be a good Queen and everyone liked Terreis, so they accepted."

Silence settled over the room and Gabrielle resumed her pacing. After a few candledrops she said, "Call a Council meeting. I'll tell these old meddlers that I will never cheat on my Consort and that you will be my heir. You already have my right of caste, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"It's not as easy as that, Gabrielle. An heir is about the future, and I'm older than you are. Besides, I already tried this argument. I even threatened them with Xena's wrath, but this time the Elders won't be easily swayed. Now that you decided to rule the Amazon Nation for good, they insist on having a child of your blood. With Melosa's bond-mate a line of queens died out that had ruled the Nation for more than fifteen generations. They want stabi..."

This instant the door to the hut burst open and Xena stood in the door frame. She was breathing heavily and searched for her partner's eyes. "Are you alright? I could feel your anger."

"I am now." Gabrielle raised one of her hands towards the warrior and Xena took her protectively in her arms, reaffirming her feeling that her small wife was in reality far from 'alright'.

"What happened?" The question was directed towards Ephiny who squirmed uneasily under the piercing blue eyes but Gabrielle answered.

"The Council of Elders mistook me for some sort of broodmare and had my loyal regent here put a 'stallion' in our bed. They don't want my bloodline to die out."

Silence weighted heavily on the room for what to Ephiny seemed like an eternity she spent wishing she were at the other end of their territory to escape the consort's expected fury.

Then Xena burst into a fit of laughter. "Did they get into the healer's supply of henbane or are they simply drunk? Gabrielle will still lead the Amazons when their great-great-great-great-grandchildren are old women. She doesn't need an heir. What part of immortal didn't they understand?"

Seeing the concern still etched onto Ephiny's face, her hilarity gradually changed to something close to anger, especially because her connection with Gabrielle let her understand how upset her lover really was at finding a naked man on their bed.

"They listened but they didn't believe you. I didn't believe you. I saw you sweating and bleeding, both of you. You can't be immortal," Ephiny answered in a quiet voice but with a hint of defiance.

"Eph," Gabrielle answered, "do you really think Artemis would have let us get away with lying about something this important? The only reason she attended the council session was to make it easier for all of you to believe us."

Ephiny's eyes went to the hilt of Xena's sword.

"Oh no, don't even think about it. Believe us or don't, your choice. We're immortal, not invulnerable. So, there will be no demonstration of our ability. Just get it into your head and don't even think of trying such a stunt ever again. Xena is not the one with the mean temper in this relationship. Understood, Eph?"

"Yes, your majesty," the regent said, lowering herself on one knee and putting a fist over her heart.

Gabrielle snuggled closer in Xena's arms and visibly relaxed. "So, now, what do we do with the elders?" The blonde turned her head and read her lover's face. "Oh no, my big dumb warrior; when I said no demonstrations I especially meant you, my love. We'll find a diplomatic way or some legal loop-hole.

"Ephiny, I want you to bring to me every scroll, every bit of parchment ever written about succession rites, heirs to the throne, the right of caste, the royal bloodline, everything. And a detailed account of the duties and rights of the Council of Elders; playing matchmaker certainly shouldn't be part of their job description."

"That's a lot of reading material but I'll get it to you, my friend. And to make up for my mistake I'd like to help sort it out."

The three of them poured over the numerous scrolls for days and then summoned the Council of Elders.

~

The spokeswoman of the elders even had the audacity to call the queen on refusing to mate with the man they had given to her. She even complimented the others on finding someone similar to the consort in height and colouring. Xena growled at them and they immediately fell silent.

With a calming hand on the raven-haired woman's arm Gabrielle spoke, "Members of the Council of Elders, we appreciate your concern for the continuation of our line but the way you chose to express your concerns was out of line. It definitively crossed the boundaries of what the council, of what you are supposed to do."

There were loud murmurs of disapproval and even outrage. Xena stopped them with a loud whistle.

"Be quiet and listen to what our Queen has to say," Ephiny said while stepping closer to the Xena and Gabrielle. "The queen's anger at the 'surprise' we dropped on her was such that it was felt by her Consort several leagues away and brought her back at a run. That alone should tell you that everything they told us after their joining ceremony is true. The queen and the consort really can sense each other's feelings and they really are immortal." Sensing the next loud outburst coming she added, "Now is not the time for long explanations. Just accept at face value what you have been told and be assured of Artemis' blessing."

There still was some discontented murmuring among the assembled elders but this time the trio on the dais waited them out.

"In the early days of Amazon history," Gabrielle said, "the Council of Elders had been formed to help and to advise the Queen. Over the centuries they even became responsible for naming a new Queen should the old one die without leaving an heir or giving away her right of caste. There were even a few times in history when the Council of Elders acted as a regent for a queen too young to rule by herself.

"So, the council acted within their right when naming the predecessor of Queen Melosa. However," Xena's voice gained force without getting louder, "the Council of Elders never has had the right to force the queen to do what they want. And that is exactly what you tried to do a few days ago. You severely overstepped your bounds – and according to the history scrolls not only with Queen Gabrielle but with generations of queens before her. This will end, now and forever."

Stunned silence greeted Xena's announcement.

"From now on, every single Elder who takes it upon herself to make my decisions for me will be removed from the council and replaced by someone who knows better," Gabrielle said and let her words sink in. "And as Queen of this tribe and the Amazon Nation I tell you that I will give the Nation an heir to the mask if and when I think the time is right. The law clearly states that the queen must have an heir or someone holding her right of caste. Ephiny has my right of caste; so, you have no legal ground on which to stand. Your concerns, however, are legitimate."

"Your reaction to the news of our immortality showed us that our sisters are not ready to accept the truth about the queen and me. Some simply might not believe us but others would begin to treat us differently, to lionise us just because we can't die. It also could pose some problems in our endeavour to reunite the Amazon Nation," Xena continued.

"For the sake of stability an official announcement will be made that the consort and her Queen will refrain from having children in order to concentrate our energy on the union of the Amazon tribes and villages of the world in one Nation. This should keep even the most outspoken of our sisters quiet." The Queen added, "Tell them it's a sacrifice we willingly make in order to create a strong and united Amazon Nation."

~~~

THE PAST: GAIA – THE GREAT TEMPLE

"That doesn't exactly explain the pictures in the next room," Samantha said thoughtfully but with a hint of irritation in her voice when Gabrielle took a break to reposition herself in her wife's arms.

Janet gave her lover a slightly disapproving look because she could feel that the harder part of Queen Gabrielle's story was yet to come but she also sent her a disarming smile and put one of her hands on top of the blonde's nervously tapping fingers.

She took the hint. "I'm sorry, your majesty. I meant no disrespect but I still don't understand. What you told us only confirms that you had no intention of giving the Nation, what did you call it, 'a child of your blood'. Something must have happened to change your mind. And it also doesn't explain this prophesy thing."

"No, it doesn't, Samantha," Xena finally said. "I know you deserve an answer but it would take the rest of the night to even come close. It's ..."

"Something happened, something terrible. A lot of people died, people you loved. You and Gabrielle having your first child and the beginning of this prophesy thing is somehow linked together, right?" Janet said in a quiet voice, waiting for one of the other women to nod before she continued.

"Dear Goddess, it's true, all of his stories were true – and we didn't believe him." Janet said.

Seeing the clearly irritated faces of her companions the small doctor continued,

"My father was military, Army, as was his father and the father of his father, but my grandfather on my mother's side was a teacher, the dean of the department of ancient history at the University of Charlottesville in Virginia. He saw to it that all of his grand-children got a well-rounded education. We always spent the Christmas holidays with him and Grams and he told us stories of Ancient Greece and Rome, stories never to be found in traditional history books.

"One winter, I was about eight or nine, my brothers and I came down with a severe case of the flu and he told us a story to get our minds off the snowflakes invitingly dancing outside of our bedroom and the voices of the other children shouting outside, reminding us how much fun we just missed. The three of us also had a case of really quilty conscience because the day before we fell ill, on our way to our grandparents' house, our father had told us that we would be punished if we didn't obey. We thought getting ill was the punishment.

"The story he told us... I don't know why I thought about it just now. I haven't thought about his stories for years," she ended suddenly losing her nerve.

"Take your time, Janet, tell us what you remember. It might be important," Xena encouraged her, hoping to find the answer to the one question for which they didn't have an answer, yet.

"It's been a long time ago. But it somehow started with Caesar's death in Rome and the seizure of power by Octavian. The Gods were angry because he won Rome by betrayal and lies and not by the power of his armies. They sent a plague."

Janet spoke slowly, like piecing back together the parts of an old jigsaw puzzle without being certain that it still had all its pieces.

"It was called the red death and like all epidemics attacked the weak and the poor, the very young and the very old first. It began very slowly and for years no one took notice.

"While Octavian was changing his name to Augustus the Great, while he was busy expanding his powerbase from Rome to the rest of the Roman Empire, the epidemic spread but it still kept to the quarters of the poor and the outcasts. At the battle of Action the last of his opponents, Marcus Antonius, was soundly defeated; and the day Antonius and Cleopatra killed themselves the red death reached Rome and began to kill regardless of status or wealth. One of its first victims was Gaius Secundus, the son Octavian had from a servant in the household of his mother, the only son of his blood.

"The red death swept through the Roman Empire like the plague did in the Middle Ages. The priests of the Olympian gods tried everything short of human sacrifices.

"It is said that one day a woman wearing silver armour and a helmet with a mask came to the emperor in a dream. She told him that the man who one day would take his throne would not be his son but be the child of his heart. She also told him that the red death no longer differentiated between emperor, priest, and beggar, and that he would have to change the way he ruled the Roman Empire if he wanted the epidemic to end.

"For the first time in his life, the man who had the Senate declare war on Cleopatra and thus had tricked his best friend into betraying his country, for the first time Augustus the Great was afraid. He heeded the words of the woman and changed, and slowly the red death lost its hold and was soon forgotten – but everyone still remembers the long reign of Rome's first Emperor, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, later known as Augustus, the Great.

"He also told us that when this cold was over we still would be there to tell about it and we still would have the chance to decide about our lives. He didn't exactly contradict our father but he gave us the opportunity to see things with other eyes."

There was a long moment of silence before Samantha said, "In the fifteenth year after the ides of mars a plague came to punish the betrayers and their seed, and a great ruler was born out of a tyrant in tears."

"Sam? How?"

"It was on a piece of paper in one of the books on Greek grammar you gave me a couple of months ago. It struck me as curious to find a Latin text in a Greek book. But I still don't understand."

"I don't know for sure, Sam, but I think that the red death also killed a lot of Amazons and that this somehow let the queen change her mind. I think by having their first child they wanted to prove to the Amazons that the Nation still had a future," Janet answered her lover though she also tried to gauge Gabrielle's reaction.

"I really would like to get to know your grandfather, Janet," Xena answered.

"I can try and contact him, but I don't know how he'll react. We have not spoken in more than ten years. Except for the annual birthday and Christmas card we don't have any contact. But I know that he still lives in the house he and my mother have been born in, though Mom had asked him more than once to move in with them after Grams' death. I can understand him. The manor has been in the family since before the War of Independence."

Another long period of silence followed with the two immortals sensing that their younger counterparts were not ready to delve into their respective pasts.

"There was a lot of truth in the story your grandfather told you, Janet," Gabrielle finally said. "After the crucifixion, it took Xena almost three years to heal completely from her broken back, even with Athena's assistance.

"We heard a lot of rumours, one contradicting the other. We tried to stay clear from the hot spots of Roman policy, and over the years we managed to step by step overcome the distrust and petty jealousies of the tribes scattered throughout the known world.

"It had been hard work, especially for Xena, but they finally accepted me as their leader, their High Queen.

"In the year of Cleopatra's death we had a big meeting of all the tribes to prepare for the evacuation, and for the first time they also brought their families, their mothers and daughters and granddaughters. Some of them had fallen ill during the long journey and before we knew how the red death was taking its toll.

"At first it looked like a common cold with headaches, fever, and a sore throat. Just when we began to let our guard down, the formerly sick were assaulted again. It started with very high fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and finally..."

"Internal and external bleeding," Janet whispered. "The red death was a hemorrhagic fever."

"Yes, Janet, possibly the most serious and most deadly outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in the history of Earth," Gabrielle answered tonelessly. "Xena and the other healers tried frantically to find a cure, but nothing worked. All we could do was to try and make it easier for the ones infected."

Gabrielle's voice was shaky in remembered horror. Her memory was rife with images she wasn't eager to describe to anyone else, not now, not ever.

"Artemis had provided us with a communications device, in case of emergencies," Xena took over the story telling. "And we called on her, but even her superior knowledge at first proved helpless against the plague.

"Athena used her natural healing abilities to ease the suffering of the infected. She didn't care if they were friend or foe. She gave all she had to give – but it wasn't enough.

"Thousands of people died and all we were able to do was to ease their suffering. Sometimes, she told us, one had to let Nature have her way. She said that a new balance would come after the plague had run its course.

"Despite her words she continued to work on a cure or at least some kind of immunisation. She took blood samples and surprisingly found antibodies in our blood, Gabrielle's and mine. We were the only ones. The ambrosia had rewritten our respective DNA, and it now produced antibodies against everything even remotely harmful. Athena at first tried to reproduce the overall effect, even though she risked creating more immortals, but it didn't work.

"She then tried what you would call gene splicing and one month after the first funeral pyres had burned in our village her antidote was ready. It not only prevented further infection; in combination with Athena's natural healing abilities, even the worst cases were cured. A modified version was administered as a vaccine. Unfortunately it could not be synthesised but had to be extracted from our blood and cells. We had a sufficient amount to make sure that the Amazons would be safe but not enough to make the whole plague end. We had to let it run its course.

"Being untouchable by the red death made the Amazons even more suspicious in the eyes of the general population and we decided to set our evacuation plan in motion earlier than initially planned. We wanted to avoid any run-ins with the Roman army. That's why I had a chat with the Roman Emperor. He took me for the embodiment of Justice herself, come to punish him for the way he got his throne, and it seems, my visit scared some sense in him."

"When Xena returned to our village in Thessaly we began our preparations in earnest. Artemis came to us. She was flustered and worried. After a lot of prompting she admitted that there had been an accident at the lab. One of the experiments in combining the healing effects of our blood to the benefit of the Nation had been exposed to a light dose of radiation and star...."

"You let her take eggs for experimentation?!" Janet burst out.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. The eggs had the full set of genetic information without the immortality twist that runs throughout the rest of our cells."

"Cross ovular fertilisation, wow! I never thought it would work. What kind of radiation did she use? How did she combine the eggs? Was there any kind of pre-selection?" The medical researcher in Janet quickly overrode the other aspects of her personality.

Samantha looked from one woman to the next, trying to wrap her mind around what she just had heard. Before Queen or Consort could answer the doctor's question she asked, "Just take a step or two back, would you? You mean to tell me that Artemis/Athena accidentally fertilised one of Gabrielle's eggs with one of Xena's, right?"

Janet just nodded.

"And that you then decided to let it grow into your first daughter?" This question was directed towards the women sitting across from her.

"To make a long story short: Yes, Samantha. Gabrielle carried our first daughter. When we told the Council of Elders a few moons after the implantation they saw it as a sign that our new beginning would be an auspicious one.

"At the same time one of the advance scouts we had sent to Egypt to check out Athena's ring returned with a scroll. It contained a vision, a prophesy of sorts, the high priestess of Isis had had the night of Cleopatra's death. It's this prophesy our sisters finally see fulfilled since you successfully threw the chakram and saved our lives."

"What does it say?" Samantha asked in an almost toneless voice.

"When the darkness of old is about to descend again on the righteous, two heroes will arise, the first born out of the union of two great warriors, the second born out of love for the other. They will do what no one could before them; they will save what never should have been in danger. They will bring together what never should have been torn asunder; they will end the cycle of hatred and lead all that is living into a new era."

"Sounds pretty vague to me," Samantha answered almost defensively.

Xena only raised an eyebrow at the comment.

"I have to admit," Janet finally offered, "that Sam did quite a few incredible things since joining the SGC, and before. I also concede that she has an innate ability to use this round weapon of yours, Xena – but this prophesy is talking about two people and it makes them out like some sort of superheroes, saving the universe for good, or something. So, it definitively doesn't sound like us."

Xena and Gabrielle were looking at each other, each of them waiting for the other to react first. Finally Gabrielle took a deep breath and said, "Our first daughter was named Diti, in deference to Athena's just newly-refound partner. She was born in the year thirty before your current Earth calendar. Since then our daughters and granddaughters and great-granddaughters have had a lot of loving relationships. They were as totally devoted to each other as they were to our, to their offspring – but none of them, ever, had..."

"...had the connection Sam and I share," Janet finished Gabrielle's sentence; and after waiting for Gabrielle's nodded confirmation, she continued, "In all these centuries, with thousands of worlds available to chose from, none of them ever found her soulmate??"

The small doctor cast another inquisitive look towards the other couple and then continued, "You waited for this, for us to happen but it never did; and when you long had given up, Sam and I came along – and you don't have the slightest idea why we are what we are, right? Why we are what you are?"

Another bout of silence followed before Xena broke into a bright smile. "Samantha may be the genius, but you are the bright one in this partnership."

Expectedly Janet coloured slightly. Samantha, however, wasn't as shy as her partner, "There really never have been any soulmates since you came here?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Sam. Yes, there have been and there are now soulmates on Gaia and in the Amazon Nation, more than only a few of them in fact. Sadly, none of them ever were among the children of our blood."

Gabrielle let the overall range of her words settle in. She saw Samantha's blue orbs widening and Janet's brown take on a thoughtful expression and then concentrate on her hands.

She nudged Xena with her elbow but the raven-haired woman chose not to respond.

"I'm the first to have found the better half of my soul?" Samantha asked, "I was the first to find my soulmate in more than two thousand years?"

Xena indicated a slight nod.

There was another moment or eternity of silence while they either looked at each other or avoided to do so.

"How?"

"We don't kn..." Gabrielle took a deep breath. "Actually, Xena has a theory. She thinks that after we came back from dying on the Roman crosses at Mount Amaro, there was a part of our souls that had been melded together. We sort of became one soul."

Samantha's eyes it up. "So, you never expected to find the other half of a pair of soulmates in your offspring because you knew that both of your souls already resided in your daughters and granddaughters."

"Only that it wasn't true," Xena continued. "Our souls united but this new, united soul..."

"...didn't have a soulmate to balance it," Janet suddenly added. "I can't even begin to understand or to rationalise it, but I think that this soul was searching but it didn't have a counterbalance until I met Sam. That's scary."

"We belong together," Samantha took over, "on a more fundamental basis than you or I or everyone else ever would have thought possible. Yeah, that's scary, and wonderful."

Silence fell and the two women from Earth probably wouldn't have broken eye-contact if a grenade had exploded next to them. The rulers of the Amazon Nation wanted to give them the chance to at least start to cope with the surprising, potentially life-changing information they just had been given. They, however, had not counted on Janet's and Samantha's agile minds.

"So, how do we find out?" the brunette asked no one in particular.

"We could trace your family line, and also the one on my father's side. Perhaps we'll come up with something. We could even make it a game to get Cassy to help."

Janet kissed the blonde on the cheek and answered, "It's a starting point, and Cassy will have a blast. It would be like a treasure hunt. I can ask my mother for help."

Xena hated to be the one to bring them back to the realm of facts but it had to be done. "Don't get your hopes up. More than two thousand years is a long time. You probably will not find any conclusive evidence."

"Xena, darling, they want to be sure, and they have to start somewhere." The tall warrior smiled at the queen. "Besides, I sense at least one story in there waiting to be found.

"Sabrina plans to continue her research on Earth next month. She found a few leads in my stories on where to find more of our scrolls. I'm sure she'd gladly help you."

"We'll talk to her about it before we return to the SGC to face General Hammond tomorrow," Janet answered.

"What you told us, about my great-great-grandmother, what will be the consequences? What do you expect from us?" Samantha needed to know.

"Expect? Nothing! Hope? Everything," Xena answered with an almost pained half-smile.

"We will never force you to accept your heritage, Samantha, and want nothing more than what you are ready to give, than what you both are comfortable with."

Gabrielle said softly and put a calming hand on her consort's cheek. It was one of those gestures Janet and Samantha had learned to read as a sign that there were some hurtful memories involved.

Next: The Trial