"THE PRINCESS & THE QUEEN" series SCROLL II:THE GREAT CAMPAIGN WITHIN THE DOMAIN

pt.4

Gabrielle stood in front of the Great Amazonian Council as Xena and the others sat in the front row of the audience. Gabrielle did her best to push down her nerves as the Amazonian summit officially got underway. The room began to quiet down as the five members of the council rose from their seats. Gabrielle took a deep breath as the woman in the middle of the five spoke.

?
Greetings fellow Amazon's. We of the council thank you all for coming on such relativity short notice. For anyone here who does not know, my name is Navaea. And to my right are the other council members Luna and Gianna. And on my left is Alanis and Nova.

ALANIS
We are here to discuss the events that involved the formally unknown Sapphire Snow Owl Tribe and the role that our queen, Gabrielle played in the incident.

LUNA
Queen Gabrielle what do you have to say about this incident?

Gabrielle looked at the council members unsure of what to say. She closed her eyes for a moment as she pushed down her nerves and entered her "queen mode". She then opened her eyes and spoke.

GABRIELLE
I'm not sure what you want me to say. The slaver attack on the village was terrible but we managed to stop them in the end.

NEVAEA
Yes that's true.

GIANNA
But the attack itself isn't the full reason for you being called here.

GABRIELLE
If I may ask what is the exact reason for this summit and my being here?

NOVA
Why do you think you've been summoned?

GABRIELLE
I assumed it was because of the village attack and what might've happened if we failed to stop the slavers.

ALANIS
To an extent it is. But the fact that you can't already see the true reason for this summit speaks volumes about your capabilities of being the queen of our people.

Xena scowled at the comment as she sat in front of the audience with the others on the trip. But she remained silent. She didn't want to make Gabrielle appear weak  if at the first sight of difficulty she came running in to "save the day". Gabrielle held her ground as she tried to figure out what exactly it was that the council was talking about.

GABRIELLE
While it's true that I'm relatively new to being queen, I assure you that I am a very capable ruler.

GIANNA
Perhaps, that is when you choose to be.

GABRIELLE
I'm sorry?

NEVAEA
Ah yes I see what you're getting at Gianna. Gabrielle why is it that you're so frequently absent from your queenly duties?

GABRIELLE
I travel around alot. But when I'm not with the Amazon's I'm sure to leave my role in the very capable hands of my good friend Ephiny. Who's highly qualified for the job I might add.

Gabrielle motioned to Ephiny sitting with Xena and the others in their group.

NEVAEA
Who you leave in charge is not the question. You say you travel, for those who don't know could you tell us who it is that you travel with.

Gabrielle didn't like where she thought this was going.

GABRIELLE
Why does that matter?

NEVAEA
It does if we are to see where you're loyalties lay. Which can obviously have an impact on how you rule.

Xena growled to herself having a good idea of where this line of questioning was going and not liking it one bit. Gabrielle found herself becoming slightly Irritated at the questions that seemed to have nothing to do with the village.