Children of the Moon  

By Rocky Macelli

Chapter X

A cloaked figure moved through the crowded tavern, making way to the large table in the upper back corner.  One dirty and callused hand reached out a fingertip that drew the waning moon on the tabletop and immediately wiped it away with a clenched fist.  The man seated at the end of the table grinned and stood holding out his arm.  "Welcome brother!  Come…  Sit with us.  Have you eaten?"  He asked, indicating a large trencher of bread and meat.

Grasping the offered arm the cloaked man swept back his hood revealing a mass of dirty blond curls, a face with a deep scar on the chin and a bent and broken nose.  "Food! My belly thinks my throat's been cut!"  He said as he dropped down to take a seat on the long wooden bench.

The tall man at the end of the table signaled to a passing server for another ale.  "So brother, what news?"

"Tem is dead."

Murmurs of shock and anger circled the table but the tall man held up spread palms until the grumbling quieted and stopped.  He looked at the young man who was hungrily making short work of a haunch of lamb.  "Have you got proof?"

Setting the meat on the table in front of him the newcomer reached into his cloak with a greasy hand and pulled a sword from his belt and tossed it to clatter on the wooden surface.  "I bought this from the smith in a small village further down the coast.  I persuaded the smith to tell me where he got it from."  By this time the weapon had been handed around the circle, and there was no doubt it belonged to the missing brother.  "Seems a farmer had sold it to him this morning, claiming he found it."

The sword returned to the head of the table the older man sat and examined it, allowing the other brothers to grumble amongst themselves for a time before he silenced them by loudly plunging the sword into the table in front of him, leaving the hilt vibrating in the air.  "Tem has failed," He said finally, "that means that the bitch has gone to ground in the territories with the rest of her harlots.  I can see now that our biggest mistake was in not taking out her watchdog first."

Running one finger up the edge of the upright weapon in the wood, the man held up his hand and let the blood from the cut run down his arm to drip from his elbow onto the floor.  "I swear by my blood and the blood of our lost brethren, that we will avenge them and we will put a stop to the evil harlots who have marked us as unclean and cast us away!" 

People turned and frowned, as a roar burst from the table in the back corner, quickly turning back to their drinks and food deciding that it was none of their business.

However, one of the serving girls ducked into the back and doffed her apron before stealing out the back door.

"Kinay!  Kinay!  You lazy lout!  The cock's crowed already."  Linnah climbed the ladder to the loft where the boys slept.  Demmy had gone to town the day before, taking the eggs for sale at the market this morning.  This left her youngest son to help her with the chores.  "Kinay?"  The name died in her throat when she saw the bed had not been slept in, the young man's day pack still sitting there, waiting for him.

Linnah dropped into a chair by the table, not even remembering how she had gotten down off of the ladder.  For a time she stared into the sunbeam that stretched in from the dormer above the door, dust swirling and winking in the subtle breeze. …She didn't know what to do.  'Demmy would be back by midday and Spiro…  Gods knew how long he would be away?'  Her mind raced looking for an answer.  What to do?  What to do! 

A bellow from the cowshed pulled her from her shocked stupor.  There was nothing else she could do but carry on with the chores until one of the men came back to the farm.  She gathered her buckets from beside the door and attended to business. It had to be done, since there was no one else to do it and the cows couldn't know that, the poor things only knew that their bags were full.  'I'll have that scamp's hide if this is some kind of a joke.'  She thought, hoping against hope that her youngest was safe somewhere, perhaps in the arms of the miller's daughter.

Spiro whistled happily as he came over the rise to his farm.  He had stayed at Eponin's camp by the river, giving himself time to think about the daughter he had just met and the family he had left behind so many years ago.  He could see so very much of the tall quiet Amazon in the young girl, but also, much to his delight, he could see a sense of humour and inquisitive intelligence just like his mother.  Memories of his village and the people there that he would never see again, flooded through his mind.  Most likely they had passed into the next cycle of life, it had been so many years; all the same it had been pleasant to spend the night by the fire calling up each one into his minds eye with love.

He didn't regret his travels.  No, he was proud of his wife and sons and the farm that they worked together.  Watching the sun climb higher over the hills he made his way back the farm and the love he knew waited for him there.  He picked up his pace; excited to tell his wife of the girl he had met with his mother's eyes.  Knowing he could not tell the boys; he had sworn to keep silent in that respect, but he had not sworn not to share with his wife.

Linnah was coming up the steps of the stone cool shed beside the well, when she heard the whistling.  Dropping the empty buckets to fall by her feet, she ran around the side the house.  A sob of relief broke from her lips when she saw he husband coming down the hill, his staff swinging in his hand.  Running to him, she threw herself into his arms, for a moment sobbing uncontrollably.

Spiro held his wife tight as she fell to her knees.  Tenderly he wiped the tears from her cheeks as she fought to find the words of what was troubling her.  "Lin…  Easy there," he said softly, "What has gotten you into such a state?"

Drawing in a deep breath through her nose, Linnah composed herself and looked up into her husband's eyes.  "Kinay's gone.  His bed wasn't slept in, and that ratty old pack of his is still sitting on it.  Oh Spiro…" She dissolved into another flood of tears, "everyone was gone and I didn't know what to do…"

Holding his wife and shushing her softly, Spiro waited for Linnah to calm somewhat.   Then helping her to her feet he said.  "Come on, I'll help you finish the chores while we wait for Demmy to get back, and then if Kinay hasn't shown up, we will decide what to do." He sounded logical and pragmatic, but inside he was just as upset as his wife. 'Where had that boy gotten to?"

Halfway back to the house he remembered that someone had been following him and the Amazon.  He didn't say anything however; his mind was to busy trying to decide what to do and praying that his youngest son wasn't stupid enough to have gone into the Amazon territories.

Chapter XI

If she hadn't been in a blind panic, the weapons master would have been charmed by the sight of the Queen and her mate, spooned together in the middle of the large bed.  As it was, she realized her mistake looking down her nose at the knuckles that had stopped just short of her face.

"Do you have a death wish Pony?"  The Warrior Princess growled, raising one brow and lowering her fist.

The Amazon's face was pale and drawn, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.  "Xena, the boy in the cage…  Please ask Gabrielle to let him go."

Xena frowned, in all the time they had spent with the Amazons she had only seen her friend cry once before.  Almost never did she let her weakness show, not even when Xena had accidentally broken her finger in a sparring match.  "I suspect that he has something to do with threats on Gabrielle's life, why would we set him free?"

Eponin's brown eyes searched her friend's blue ones, begging her to believe.  "He's not involved, I promise you.  Please convince the Queen to let him go."

Gabrielle awoke, annoyed that there was noise.  There shouldn't be noise.  Grumpily she peered over Xena's shoulder to see why she had to be awake in the middle of the night. "Let who go?"  She asked, her voice still rough from sleep.

The weapons master quickly turned to go but Xena grabbed her arm.  "You still haven't told me why."

Eponin pulled her arm free.  "Please Xena," was all she said before hurrying away.

"Who…  what?"  Gabrielle asked still half asleep.

"Nothing, go back to sleep sweetheart, I'm going to have a chat with Ephiny."  Xena rolled free of her lover, who was already asleep when she pulled the cover back up to tuck her in.  Dressing quickly, she went in search of the Regent.

When she couldn't find her at her hut, Xena searched the village until found out that Ephiny was in the sacred grove talking to the Holy-one, keeper of the temple there.  This meant that the warrior had to cool her heels outside the ring of giant trees; something she was very unaccustomed to doing.  Any other time, she wouldn't have let anything stop her from going or doing anything she damn well pleased but her respect for what it represented, or more to the point, her love and respect for Gabrielle, kept her waiting rather than simply bulling her way in.

The Sun had fully risen by the time Ephiny and the Priestess appeared at the gate to find Xena pacing back and forth on the path.  The Regent frowned at the agitated state if the tall woman.   "Xena, what are you doing here?"

"I want to know why you lied to Gabrielle?" Xena demanded bluntly.

"What makes you think I would ever lie to Gabrielle?"

Xena's jaw tightened, she knew that being tactful would be more likely to get her an answer, so she weighed her words heavily before she spoke.  "Okay… Let's just say that you haven't told us the whole truth.  Yesterday when I mentioned the markings on the assassin, you weren't telling us everything--were you?"

Ephiny shut her eyes to think for a moment and then looked at the tiny old woman beside her.  "We have to tell her." 

The Priestess nodded. "Send for the Queen and we shall speak in the temple when she gets here."  The old woman said, then turned and walked back through the gate into the circle of trees.

Gabrielle looked at each woman in turn with an expectant curiosity.  The last place she expected to be this morning was the temple; the sun had barely climbed into the low branches of the trees, …and she hadn't had her breakfast yet!  There was a heavy tension in the air so she broke it with a clearing of her throat.  "Ahem!  …So would someone please tell me what is going on?"

Ephiny looked over to the Holy-one, who nodded her accent silently.  "We need to talk about things that are taboo.  Normally, if you were going to have a child, this would be part of your motherhood ceremony.  Amazons that wish to have children have to participate in a ritual cleansing, part of this are things that are spoken of only in the sacred grove.  The very first thing that is taught is that Amazons do not have sons."

Completely confused by what her friend was saying, Gabrielle broke in, "But Ephiny I don't understand; you have a son.  What do you mean?"

"No, I have a son who is a 'centaur', they do not carry the curse of the sire."

The tiny priestess reached out and touched took the hand of both the warrior and the bard pulling them both deep into the shrine and into a small alcove behind the altar.  She bent and lit a small oil lamp and placed it in a gilt niche in the opposite wall. 

Gabrielle drew in a tight breath, taking in the rich colors of the fresco that reached from floor to ceiling on the wall in front of her.  Her brow furrowing as she tried to make sense of the bright pictures.  "What is this supposed to mean?"  She demanded, half angry that no one had seen fit to show something like this to the queen.

The old woman sighed. "This is the shame and the joy in the creation the Amazon race."

"Ares." Xena hissed and pointed out the dark figure in the first panel.

Gabrielle canted her head to one side.  "Well if that's Ares," her hand came up beside Xena's to point, "…then who's that?" she asked, bringing her hand to point at the colorful female figure in the second panel.

"Harmonia, the naiad, mother of the Amazon race." The voice of the Holy-one was quiet and reverent.

"I always believed that the Amazons were escaped slaves and battered wives who banded together to protect each other." Countered the warrior, looking back over her shoulder at the older woman.

"These days, perhaps, that is more or less true but in the beginning we were a race as unique as the centaurs.  Amazons are the children of War and Harmony, a fierce but loving people capable of producing our own offspring.

The bard's eyes grew round, but the only reaction from Xena was the singular raising of one brow.

The old woman smiled softly.  "You may not believe it but despite the watering down of Amazon blood into the race of man, there is, still occasionally, a child born without the seed of man."  The Holy-one gestured to the next to last frame.  "Yet because of the fiery nature of the first Amazons, their sire led them to the very brink of extinction and then abandoned them.  It was Artemis that saved the broken nation and took them under her wing, telling them to adopt the women of the race of man into their number.  But when they bred with them there were very few pregnancies among the adopted women, and of these, only male children survived -- the mark of Ares: The curse of the sire."

Gabrielle looked at the last frame on the wall with Artemis leading the Amazons into the forest.  "So it's true, real Amazons do not have sons."  She said softly.

The Holy-one nodded and continued.  "Despite the myths of men we do not eat our male children nor do we abandon them new-born.  On the rare occasion that a male is born he is tended, weaned, marked, and given back to the world of men."

This caught Xena's attention and she looked hard into the old woman's eyes.  "Marked…  marked how?"

The Priestess led them back out to the main part of temple where Ephiny stood waiting.  "It's simple really; the child is sedated with a combination of herbs and wine and the loose skin at the end of the manhood is removed.  When a young Amazon decides that she will approach a man for stud service, or takes a man as a mate, she participates in the motherhood ritual where she learns of the curse of the sire and how she must never breed with one who is marked in this manner.  Also she is taught never to speak of this outside of the temple."

Suddenly the whole thing clicked.  Why Ephiny hadn't said anything; the impassioned plea from Eponin for release of a young man; and the marking of boy children to prevent inbreeding. Knowing Ares and his nature, Xena had seen far too many things to discount the legend she had just heard, however she was more inclined to see the logical reasons for this tale.  Moreover, this had to have something to do with the strange men that were trying to kill Gabrielle.

"Why wasn't this part of my initiation?" Gabrielle asked angrily, "I can't believe that I was allowed to accept the mask without this knowledge!"

The elderly priestess and the young queen went over to a low bench indicating that she have a seat beside her.  "It was a shameful oversight, one in which I take full responsibility.  You took the mask at a very tumultuous time and things were omitted that should have been brought to your attention."

It was an apology of sorts; at least Gabrielle was willing to accept it as one and patted the old woman's clasped hands.  "Is there anything else important that you have 'omitted'?"

The Holy-one smiled and looked down at the young queen's hand resting on her own.  "Many things…  things like this one, that I believed we would surely address in time."

"Well, since I am going to be here until this mess is straightened out, How about we take the time now?"

Xena stepped over to stand beside the Bard.  "That's an excellent idea, maybe you can find out more that will help us."  She leaned in closer.  "Can I speak to you privately?"

"Okay." Gabrielle turned to the Holy-one.  "Can you excuse us for a moment?" The priestess nodded and walked over to where Ephiny stood waiting by the altar.

"Gabrielle, you can let that boy that I found yesterday go." Xena asked in a low voice.

"You think he's one of these 'marked' children?"

"More than that, I think he's one of Eponin's sons."

The blonde gasped. "How d…"

"She came to our hut at sunrise and begged me to ask you to let him go."

A sad and pained look filled the little queen's eyes.  "Oh…  poor Pony."  She took a deep breath and turned to walk over to the women that waited across the room.  "In light of what you've told me and from talking with the boy myself, I think we should let the prisoner go.  Both Xena and myself agree; he's got nothing to do with the assassination attempts."

Gabrielle reached out and clasped Xena's hand.  "C'mon, Let's go tell Kinay that we're sending him home.  …And then I want to get something to eat; I haven't even had my breakfast yet!"

Xena smiled as the young woman’s stomach growled in agreement and they walked back into the village.  As they neared their hut, the warrior frowned looking up towards the trees at the center of the village.  “Gabrielle, I just remembered something I have to do.  Go ahead and get something to eat and I’ll catch up to you in a few minutes.  Okay?”

“Sure.  The little Queen gave the larger hand a squeeze before letting go.

Chapter XII

Arris ran from the back of the tavern and out of the town until she could barely stand, collapsing in a heap at the rendezvous; pulling her small frame into the welcoming arms of the low brush to wait for her contact.  She waited patiently but boredom and a long weary day caused her to fall asleep.

She twitched her nose at a tickling, accompanied by a familiar giggle.

"Air - Izz…" A voice sing-songed.

The young woman batted at the feather that flicked over the tip of her nose.  "You're late!" She groused, fighting to become fully awake as her friend Karra ducked away.  "You are supposed to be here before high sun."

"I couldn't get away.  Queen Gabrielle is visiting the village and all the elders are in a flap about something."  Karrah explained and then stole a kiss before backing quickly out of the leafy burrow.

The tavern girl followed the young Amazon back to where a tall gray horse stood picketed in the nearby stand of low trees.  "Did you bring the tincture for Mam?" She asked, peeking over a shoulder to where Karrah dug in a saddlebag.

"Of course I did silly." Karrah said smiling and brushing the ash blonde hair out of the light blue eyes that smiled back at her.  "Here."  She pressed a bone vial into the girl's hand holding it there for a moment.  The flirting had started quite innocently at first but as the months passed the two had found that what was supposed to be a quick exchange of information, had moved from friendly teasing to long looks and longer kisses.  "Anything new in the village?"

"Huh?"  Arris covered her mouth, shyly smiling in embarrassment as she realized she hadn't been paying attention, having gotten lost in the soft brown eyes of her Amazon.  "…Oh!  Yes, there was a bunch of strangers at the big back table on the mezzanine this morning.  They seemed to be planning something."

Karrah sucked in her top lip and scowled.  "Have they been there long?"

"There was an old guy who showed up a few nights ago and the rest have been coming in since then."

"How many?"

"With the ugly guy that came in this morning, there are eleven of them."

"Hmmm…" Chewing on the trapped lip, Karrah pondered the information.  "He was ugly… how?"

"A big scar here," Arris drew a line across the taller woman's chin.  "His nose was all flat and don't get me started on the smell.  Ugh!"

Smiling gently, Karrah squeezed her friend's shoulders.  "The elders are going to want to know about this, so I'll have to leave right away."

This brought a piqued little pout to Arris' face.  "Noooo!"  She whined.  "I've been looking forward to spending the day with you for forever."

"Hey, hey, hey," Karrah captured a chin in her fingers, forcing the blue eyes to look up into hers, "I almost certain that they're gonna want to come check this out.  I'll just make sure to be included in the detail.  We might even end up staying here for a few days." She added with a wink. 

The young woman brightened.  "You mean it?  You'll be here for more than an afternoon?"

"Meet us here in two days."  Karah said smiling and leaned in to steal one more kiss before quickly mounting the gray and pounding away a full gallop into the North.

Demmy Hurried along the path from the village to the farm.  Usually after a good day at the market he would take his own sweet time, sometimes even stopping at the pond on a hot day like today for a swim, but his long legs pulled him along with a unexplained sense of urgency.  Unnerved by his Papa’s unexpected trip with the tall woman, Demmy was anxious and just a little bit hurt that his parents wouldn’t tell him what was going on.  ‘I’m a man now’ he thought angrily.  ‘Why doesn’t Papa trust me?’

Stepping into the nearby brush, he tossed his pack on the ground and opened his breeches to relieve himself.  The uncomfortable feeling of being watched swept over the young man; he quickly finished his business and tucked his manhood away.  A twig snapped.  Alarmed, Demmy bent to scoop up his pack and return to the trail.  He never made it.  As he moved back the way he came, a shadow swooped up behind him; he felt a dull pain behind his left ear. Everything went black.

Eponin left her daughter with the task of cleaning their hut and putting their gear away.  If Estrian had noticed that her mother was distracted, she hadn’t said anything.  The tall Amazon found herself in the sturdy branches of a tree that stood on the edge of the courtyard.  The leafy cover allowed her the guilty pleasure of watching her youngest son without his or the other Amazons’ notice.

He was still asleep, ‘Just like Minnie.’ She thought with a sad smile.  Her younger sister could have slept through a thunderstorm and always had a hard time rising in the morning.  Now covertly watching the young man she could see how much he resembled, the young woman who had been her sister, her best friend, and finally the one who gave her life saving her from a knife thrust that had been meant for her.  When Minnie had been about the same age of the young man sleeping in the cage, bandits had attacked their scouting party.  The enemy was routed easily but not without the highest cost.  Eponin had carried her lifeless body all the way back to the village, not letting anyone help her until she collapsed at her mother’s feet.

A tear slid down her cheek. ‘Damn!’ Eponin cursed silently and angrily brushed the tear away with her fist.  ‘I’m turning into my mother; all I seem to do these days is cry.’  She sat in the cramped perch, watching until the boy started to stir, as did the rest of the village around him.  She wondered what his likes and dislikes were, if he was betrothed yet -- all the tiny things that she would never know.  However, most of all, she prayed to the Goddess that Gabrielle would let him go.

“Handsome boy.”

Eponin almost fell from her perch at the sound of her friend’s low voice.  She glared at the warrior in the branch above her own as resettled herself, trying to recapture a shred of dignity.

“…He has your eyes.”

Eponin chose to ignore her friend and instead asked, “Is Gabrielle going to let him go?”

“Yes, I’ll make sure he makes it home okay.  He said that he followed his father into the nation, do you know any thing about that?”

The Weapons master hung her head.  “I just wanted Estrian to meet her sire, I had no idea it was the boy that was following us.”

Xena smiled at her friend and reached down to squeeze her shoulder.  “I know.”  Then the warrior hopped back and dropped silently to the ground below.

Eponin took one more longing last look at her child and quietly slipped away herself.

As Kinay woke slowly, bringing up a hand to rub the grit from his eyes, he foggily remembered where he was: The village full of strange women—Amazon women.  He looked about in fear wondering what was to become of him, especially from the tall woman who had captured him.  Had she taken advantage of him while he was passed out?  He slipped one hand down and did a cautious feel about.  His friends had told him that an Amazon always took a ball as a souvenir after they had their way with a man.  He sighed with relief when he found nothing missing.

The young man watched with wide eyes as the village came to life, women of all shapes and sizes went about their daily business, all studiously ignoring him.  No one had even talked to him since the beautiful blonde woman, not even the old woman who had brought him a bowl of cereal a short time after he woke.  Scared and lonely, his lip quivered, as he fought not to cry; terrified at the thought of what was to become of him.

Pulling in an uneasy breath, Kinay stood and watched as the tall warrior and the woman who had spoke to him walked up to the cage.

“Hello Kinay, did you sleep okay? Did someone bring you something to eat?” Gabrielle asked in the calm friendly voice that allowed her to endear everyone she met.

The young man wanted to answer, he could feel his jaw working, trying to spit out the words but he was riveted to the dark warrior, unconsciously cupping his family jewels with one hand.

Xena snorted.  “Don’t worry boy, I’m not after your plums.”  She tried not to laugh as Kinay blushed crimson and removed his hand.  “We’re here to take you home.”   

“Th-th-ank you…” He stammered as the tall woman unlocked the door and swung it open.

The Queen and her warrior walked with the boy to the stables, where the tall yellow horse stood saddled and ready.  Ignoring the boy who watched goggle-eyed, Xena pulled her lover into her arms and kissed her sweetly, then whispered softly in her ear.  “Eponin could use a friend right now, go talk to her and I’ll try to be back by moonrise.”

Gabrielle hugged the tall woman back and watched as she mounted Argo and tugged Kinay up to sit behind her.  She patted the young man’s leg.  “I’m sorry about what happened Kinay, but you have to understand that you must not enter the Amazon lands alone, Okay?” 

He nodded.  “I’m sorry.”

Without further adieu, Xena urged the horse to a quick gait and Gabrielle watched them canter out of sight.

Part 5

(c) 2002 S. Day

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