CONQUERING THE CONQUEROR

pt.29

Sitting in Xena's study, Gabrielle found herself somewhat speechless as she had been taken completely off guard by the unexpected apology she had just received from the typically cold woman sitting across from her. Someone who Gabrielle knew had killed countless people. Raided and taken over numerous village's and cities. Who since Gabrielle had met her had been cold, distant, calculating in almost everything that she said and did. And of whom Gabrielle had both heard of and witnessed first hand the aftermath of multiple violent outburst in various scenarios both in and outside of the keep. None of which to Gabrielle's knowledge, the woman had never appeared to be remorseful for in the slightest. So because of all of this, Gabrielle couldn't help but feel highly confused as to what the reason could have been for why the Conqueror had felt it necessary for her to offer the young woman an apology now. And fearing that it may have been some kind of trick or something to see her reaction, though Gabrielle still felt fairly shaken from the encounter that had taken place between herself and the Conqueror, she thought it would be wiser for her to just lie and pretend that what had happened between herself and the Conqueror didn't really bother her.

GABRIELLE
Thank you. I appreciate your apology my lord.

Xena watched as Gabrielle lowered her head and looked away while she sat there feeling very clearly extremely tense and uncomfortable with just being in Xena's presence. However her behavior didn't come to much of a surprise to Xena, as the Conqueror's suspicions of what she may have done to the young woman appeared to be showing clear signs of being true. And for all of Xena's very many faults and all of the truly horrible, unforgivable acts that she had committed throughout the years, along with killing children and non combatant women, forcing herself on anyone was one of the very few lines that Xena had vowed to herself that she would never cross. In days long before making her home at the keep and using it as her standard base of operations, the Conqueror had spent many years traveling across the various lands in an effort to take as much of those places as hers in some way. And it was through those travels that she had come across multiple scenarios where all too often women were treated as nothing but bartering tools to gain an advantage over ones enemy by holding them for a ransom of some kind. Or they were kept to used for nothing more than to satisfy those who held positions of power in every way imaginable. From being forced to provide the most basic of needs, to being used and abused in some of the darkest and most sinister ways that anyone could possibly imagine. And being a woman herself in a world and lifestyle that was largely dominated by those exact types of men, Xena was very well aware of how drastically different the way that men and women were treated in both the dark world she had lived in. As well as in the way they were typically viewed in regular, everyday society. And though the levels of imbalance between men and women may have differed drastically between the two words, it didn't change the fact that far too many women and girls were taking advantage of and treated horrifically in both. And although being a woman herself, Xena had somehow been fortunate enough to had been able to gather the right skills that allowed her to rise above any obstacle or barrier that may have come her way due to her being a woman. It was only once her reputation had began to become something resembling what it was now, when for the most part people appeared to no longer think twice about whether she was a man or a woman, and learned to show their respect, fear or a healthy mix of both for her. So to have there even be the possibility that the Conqueror had crossed a boundary that she had sworn she never would and done something so incredibly heinous, caused Xena to feel a level of guilt and shame that she until that moment she had thought to be impossible. So with a feeling pure remorse that she so seldomly truly experienced at this level, Xena stood from her seat and walked over to the window as she tried to think of what, if anything she could possibly do to possibly even begin to fix what she had done.