The Petal of the Rose

by LJ Maas

"I remember that evening as if it was yesterday. We gave the Centaur until the sun was high the next day to confess. Although it didn't really matter, we intended on killing him no matter what he would have said. It was a long night, and I was surprised when the Centaur started talking to me. I think he was bored at first, and then we actually found that we had a number of things in common. He talked about a great deal that night. His family and friends, where he grew up, and what he'd planned for his future. As morning drew closer, he grew more silent. Even I hoped that by some miracle the whole thing could be stopped. I hoped someone else would confess; anything to free him. I'd come to like him, maybe even care for him a little."

  Ephiny paused in the telling of her story, and before she turned away to look out the window, I thought I saw tears fill her eyes. She simply couldn't hide the pain as she was once more drawn back to that time.

  "When his time came, I asked him. Just before we walked from the jail cell, I asked him if he really killed Terreis or not. She was not only a sister, but she was my friend, as well. At that point, he knew he was going to die. He had no reason to lie to me. He swore, knowing it wouldn't save his life, that he didn't kill her. The last thing he whispered to me was that he didn't want to die. Not that he was afraid, mind you, but just that he wasn't ready to die. Those words stayed with me for a very long time. Actually, I'm not sure they ever left."

  "So you had to kill him?" I asked.

  "Velasca did it. It was her right, actually expected of her."

  "I don't understand. Expected?" I asked in confusion.

  "The same way it will be expected of you to avenge Timara and Melosa's death. When you received their right of caste you also became responsible for bringing their killers to justice."

  "First you speak of revenge, then of justice. You are aware that they're two different things, aren't you?"

  "Not between Amazons and Centaurs they're not," Ephiny answered before turning to face me.

  "Ephiny," I began. I knew I was abruptly changing the subject, but I also knew that once this was all settled, then this strange Amazon and I could find time to discuss the meaning of justice. Until then, the subject would have to wait. "Why did Velasca have to avenge Terreis's death?"

  "Velasca was one of the young warriors with Terreis's party that day. When they were attacked by the unseen assailants and Terreis was killed, she gave a provisional right of caste to Velasca."

  "Provisional?"

  "Velasca hadn't yet reached the age of maturity. That and the fact that she was already Melosa's adopted heir. Existing members of the Royal family can't be placed in line for the throne unless there are no other heirs available. The first elders felt by creating that law, we would be different from the men who lied and murdered to attain power. Timara was just an infant at the time, but she was still in line for the throne before Velasca, since she was Melosa's blood daughter."

  "So, that couldn't change, even if Melosa wished it?"

  "No. Velasca's only chance at the throne would have been if something happened to Timara. Even then, Velasca would either have to wait until Melosa's death, hoping the Queen didn't give birth to, or adopt any other heirs. On the other hand, she could offer a challenge to Melosa at any time."

  "You make it sound as if Velasca's been planning this for a long time, Ephiny." I stood and walked to the window where she stood, and waited for her response.

  "The women in Terreis's party, the ones who were attacked that day. It was a random attack, but Terreis was the only one injured. The four other women were all Velasca's friends. Over the seasons these friends have mysteriously disappeared or suffered accidental deaths."

  Ephiny finished and I was stunned. "I think I spoiled her plans this time, huh?"

  "It looks that way, but we can't be certain," she admitted.

  "I think we can. Xena confided to me that before I spoke up to challenge Melosa, she thought for certain Velasca looked as though she was about to do the same thing. I have the feeling she would have let it be a fight to the death."

  "You would have been safer, that's for certain."

  "What?"

  "Even though Timara gave you her right of caste, Velasca came before you. As Queen, she would have had no reason to hurt you, not right away anyway. I'm sure that if you ever came to live with the Amazons, or if you ever became too interested in the throne, you would have had some sort of innocent looking accident. Now, however..."

  "I'm all that stands between her and her goal," I finished for her.

  "Not all, Gabrielle. I can think of a few people who would stand beside you, and in the case of your Conqueror, perhaps in front of you."

  I smiled at that. She certainly was an astute woman. "All these seasons, Ephiny. Why didn't you ever go to your Queen with what you suspected about Velasca?"

  "I just did." She smiled.

  The smile turned into a frown, as she looked me in the eyes. It looked strangely as if she was trying to tell me something, but I never got the message. Suddenly her arms were around me, and her body propelled me back onto the couch. I did the first thing that came to my mind.

  I screamed.

  End of Addendum added by Queen Gabrielle

  * * *

  I was only a half a step behind the guards who where bursting through the door to my private chambers. Torava and Glandell skidded to a halt and I heard a voice I was growing to dislike more and more.

  "An archer, out in the trees!" Ephiny cried out.

  It only took an instant for the well-trained Empire soldiers to surround the palace, and search the grounds. Of course, as I would scream at Atrius later, if they were that well trained they never would have let an assassin onto the palace grounds in the first place.

  Torava moved aside to let me enter the room and I was met with a sight that took all of my self-control simply to restrain my emotions. Gabrielle lay on the long couch and Ephiny nearly covered the smaller woman's body, lying atop her, carrying her weight on her elbows. The Amazon looked slightly amused when her eyes met mine.

  "Good afternoon, Conqueror," she remarked rather flippantly.

  I didn't say a word, although some very choice ones were at that moment racing through my brain. My eyes met Gabrielle's, and I could see the entire situation was neither comical nor romantic to her. She looked frightened.

  "Ephiny, I think you can get off me now," Gabrielle diplomatically suggested.

  Once everyone was in a vertical position, Gabrielle quickly explained what the Amazon had been doing there, and that Ephiny had saved Gabrielle's life. I didn't care how it looked. I walked over to the small blonde and wrapped my arms around her. I could feel her trembling body relax instantly, and I hoped that it would always be so. I hoped that my presence would always be able to calm her fears, that she would always trust me that much.

  I walked over and pulled out the arrow, which was embedded in the high, carved back of my most comfortable chair. The chair sat in front of the window so that I could enjoy the sunrise every morning. The arrow hit the back of the seat at about the same height as Gabrielle's chest. Whoever took aim was close enough to see into the room, and whom they were shooting at.

  Before I could say anything, I saw Atrius intercept a young officer at the door. When the Captain turned back to face me, he wore a dour expression.

  "They found nothing," the Captain said grimly.

  "Again," I added.

  "Xena, perhaps we could have some privacy," Gabrielle indicated the guards standing about our room. "Ephiny has some very important things about all of this that could help you discover who's behind it all."

  It didn't thrill me that this Amazon possessed news that I didn't, but it seemed that I owed her a debt. After all, I don't think it hit me yet how close I came to losing Gabrielle. If she'd been there alone . . . I let my thoughts in that direction trail off. I couldn't think about that right now.

  Once a little order had been restored to the palace, and our private rooms in particular, we sat down to di
scuss what news the Amazon had. Besides Gabrielle and myself, and Ephiny, of course, there was Atrius. He was my most trusted commander, and I considered him my best friend. I trusted his loyalty along with his intellect in such matters.

  Gabrielle related the events surrounding Velasca, and Ephiny stopped her at certain points to interject, adding additional detail to the subject. After I'd occasionally interrupted with my own questions, and the tale was over, I sat back in my chair, the one that now held a knot where the arrow had been.

  "It all fits, doesn't it?" I asked of no one in particular. Up until this point, I hadn't heard a scenario that felt halfway decent. In my heart, I could discount all the others. There was still the question of an accomplice. Then again, with Ephiny here, meeting with Gabrielle, Velasca might think she'd been all but caught and flee. I voiced those very concerns.

  "I can pretty much tell you for certain that Velasca doesn't know that I'm here, Conqueror," Ephiny commented.

  "And how can you be so certain?" I asked.

  "Well, for one thing, this is an Amazon arrow," she said, as she picked up the shaft lying on the table.

  "Yes?" I already knew that, but I had assumed it was simply another clue left to distract me.

  "You see the markings, these notches hidden just under the fletches, here?" She gently lifted the feathers near the end of the shaft. There were indeed small designs, simple, yet carved into the arrow.

  "And this proves something?" Gabrielle asked in confusion.

  "It proves that someone doesn't like me very well. These marking are very personal, a small sign of ownership. This arrow is mine, and I certainly haven't found a way to be in two different places at once. I suspect Velasca sought to blame me for your death, my Queen. It's sort of confounded her plan, me already being here."

  "So it would appear," I replied. "Or it would be a very good ruse. Perhaps even you are Velasca's accomplice." I thought about what Atrius and I had been discussing earlier in the day. Could two people so different come together for a common goal, but for two very different reasons?

  "After today, and you still don't trust me, Conqueror?" Ephiny asked.

  It was odd, but for all the jealousy, animosity, whatever you wanted to call it between this Amazon and myself. For all that, I found myself wanting to believe her. I think it was simply one of those gut feelings. For me, however, the real proof would lie in Gabrielle's intuitive self.

  "Gabrielle?"

  "Yes?" She looked at me, almost anticipating my question, I'm sure.

  "Do you trust her?"

  Gabrielle looked directly at Ephiny, searching the Amazon's features for what I didn't pretend to know. She smiled then, seemingly caught in some past moment remembered only by herself and the Amazon.

  "Yes," Gabrielle said. "Yes, I do trust her."

  I would be wrong about many people, and many things, now, and in the future. One thing I would always be right about, however, was Gabrielle's innate sense of people. She could be misled, and even deceived on occasion, but those instances were rare. She felt things in a way that I could never hope to comprehend.

  "Then I would say that we have a trap to set." I grinned at those around the table, feeling more in my element than I had since the whole fiasco began.

  We set about a plan to lure Velasca into the open. We agreed it would take place the following morning, all of us mindful to take extra care, along with additional guards, at Melosa's funeral ceremony this evening. After Ephiny spoke with Gabrielle, and informed her of the Queen's part in Melosa's funeral pyre ceremony, the Amazon was ready to leave. I agreed to show her out through the tunnels below the castle, in order to keep her visit a secret. One of the passageways exited not too far from the ridge where the Amazon's were camped.

  We neared the exit to the tunnel. I could see small bits of sunlight filtering through the cave-like opening. Ephiny and I were alone, but that's what I wanted.

  "I haven't thanked you yet for saving Gabrielle's life. I'm in your debt."

  "I didn't do it for thanks, Conqueror, but you're welcome just the same. As to the debt . . . what is the going rate for saving one's consort?" She grinned slightly.

  "Anything my Empire has to offer," I replied seriously. I took notice of the arch to her eyebrow, and the mischievous smile she now wore. "With the exception of my wife," I added quickly.

  We both chuckled. "There you go again, Conqueror, bandying that word, wife, around again. I've still seen no evidence of a ceremony at all."

  I glared and she laughed aloud at my discomfort. I couldn't help but join in her laughter. She was good-natured, but could be a thorn in my side, especially where Gabrielle was concerned. I clasped her arm in a friendly warrior's embrace, and suddenly pulled her closer to me with a strength that I believe surprised her. I gave her a full smile, one that looked as if there were more going on here than just a friendly discussion.

  I kept smiling, even when I opened my mouth to speak. "You do know, my Amazon friend, if I ever catch you lying on top of her again, and her life is not in mortal danger, I'll see your head drop into a basket on the palace steps."

  Her laughter continued. "Aye, Conqueror, I do know, but it's been great fun seeing you squirm in the meantime."

  I shook my head as she made her way outside, and the silence of the tunnel surrounded me. I was reluctantly coming to like this Amazon. I certainly hoped Gabrielle's trust in Ephiny was sound.

  * * *

  I splashed water on my face to wash the sleep away. The moon was still high in the black sky when a guard bearing an urgent message from the Amazon, Ephiny, awakened us. It had been a most tiring day, and the funeral ceremony didn't make it any less so. The pyre was set ablaze, and Gabrielle handled her part of the ceremony flawlessly. We were both so tired that we fell asleep the moment we laid down in bed after arriving back at the palace.

  The guard informed me that Ephiny had two other, unarmed Amazons with her. I ordered the messenger to go and rouse Atrius and another of my officers. I also gave him instructions to have Atrius personally take all three of the Amazons to my study, not my personal study, but the one on the first floor of the palace. I told Gabrielle to remain in our rooms this time, and to let me visit with the women myself. This request didn't endear me to my consort, but I saw her sigh with resignation, warning me to take care. I thanked Athena for such a girl. I could see the day coming, however, when Gabrielle would be my equal in everything, including ruling the Empire. I was certain there would come a time when Gabrielle would never do what she was told.

  By the time I reached the study, Atrius was already there. He looked remarkably more awake than I felt, which depressed me some considering he was a few summers older than I was. I clasped Ephiny's arm and she introduced her two companions. They were young for warriors, perhaps fourteen or fifteen summers. There was a distinct resemblance within their facial features, and I guessed them to be sisters. They each shifted nervously from foot to foot, and one of them continually gnawed at the end of her thumbnail. Neither of them raised their eyes from the floor as Ephiny explained why she was there.

  "It appeared as though someone were trying to rob my tent as I was sleeping tonight," she began. "I decided to watch the thieves, simply to see what they made off with. Oddly enough, they were after one of my arrows. Since I didn't think one Amazon arrow would bring in much at the market, I decided that questioning them might be a wise thing to do."

  I almost smiled, and had the entire situation been less fraught with peril for all concerned, I might have. I could picture the two girls as bumbling thieves, only to be caught by the intimidating warrior. I moved behind the large wooden desk, and sat down wearily on a cushioned chair.

  Ephiny tossed the shaft on my desk. I lifted the edge of the fletches and saw the same markings as from the arrow used to attack Gabrielle.

  "And when you questioned them about the theft?" I asked.

  "Very interesting indeed, Conqueror," the Amazon answered. "It appears that Velasca tal
ked the girls into aiding her in what she told them was a joke. Of course, this isn't the first time Velasca asked them to play this joke. Stealing my arrows is becoming quite a game with these two. So is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  "Donai here is the older of the two, that's her younger sister there, Inez. It seems that Inez has never been out of the Amazon Village before. So, on the evening of our arrival, the night Timara was killed, Inez decided to sneak out of camp and explore some of Corinth. Upon her return, she realized the gates to the palace had been closed, doubtless as a security measure while the dinner was going on. She found that you have an olive grove running alongside the palace walls, along with some very lax guards. She found it the perfect place to sneak back into the palace."

  Ephiny paused, and I waited for her to continue. "And?" I prompted. "I expect she saw something? Perhaps someone there in that olive grove."

  "She refuses to say." Ephiny nodded her head in the girl's direction. "Actually, they both do. You see, they didn't tell me about Inez's little escapade. I learned that from one of her bunkmates this evening. I suspect, Conqueror, that whoever they saw had something to do with allowing themselves to be coerced into stealing my arrows."

  "I told you we shouldn't have! Didn't I tell you not to get involved with her? Didn't I tell you not to sneak out of the camp?" The older Amazon girl punched the younger one in the arm, which caused Inez to begin crying.

  Donai tried to defend her sister. "It's not her fault, Lord Conqueror, she--"

  "Quiet!" I roared. I felt badly for the youngest, Inez, who was crying in a most pitiful fashion by this time. I wished to intimidate them into revealing the truth, and I figured my reputation just might do the trick.

  "Let me tell you what I know of this situation. Tomorrow, someone will be beheaded in the palace courtyard for the murders of Princess Timara, and Queen Melosa. I'll not think twice about adding accomplices to the list."

  "We don't have the death penalty in the Amazon Nation," Donai answered a little too confidently.