The King and the Enemy

34

Pain radiated through her chest and Xena felt the sword cut through her again- she sat up quickly, gasping, and clutch her chest. There was no sword, no blood, only an echo of pain.

The infirmary was cluttered with beds upon beds of the wounded from battle. Everyone was quiet though. Sleep hung in the air and the night that shown through the windows thickened the atmosphere. Xena felt as if she were being smothered.

Throwing her blanket off her she stood up from her bed, with no aches or pains that she should have had from the battle. In fact she was completely free of wounds, which wasn't possible.

She didn't know how long she had been in the infirmary but she had to find someone to explain to her what exactly happened. No one would talk to her and Loki had yet to visit. She knew she died. She felt the darkness closing in on her and she remembered looking at Loki, his face bruised and cut with tears in his eyes before nothing engulfed her. Valhalla was not in her afterlife, something that saddened her more than she cares to admit.

Making her way out of the infirmary she silently crept though the halls of the palace. When she came to her room she went in and changed into a pair of clothes she would wear to training and slowly made her way to Loki's room.

When she got there she walked in without knocking to find his room empty. His bed was rumpled and clothes laid on the floor.

She left his room and wondered the halls waiting to bump into anyone that might be awake. To her surprise she didn't run into any servants or guards. It's was like the palace was completely empty except for the infirmary.

She was about to make her way back to her room when she hear muffled voices coming from behind a closed door about five feet in front of her on her left. Going to the door she stood outside listening.

"You can't tell her," a male voice said that Xena didn't recognize.

"She needs to know!" Thor shouted but then his voice got quieter, "I know how she feels. When Loki feel from the bridge I thought he'd died. He never let me, let anyone know he was alive. When I finally saw him again, alive, I felt betrayed, hurt, angry,"

"You had no right to feel that, Thor," Loki's voice came in and Xena's heart skipped.

"Really," Thor shot back.

"Xena cannot know I'm alive," that unfamiliar voice said again. His accent was strange. It was mix of the Asguardian's and something else she could not quiet distinguish. "I know how she would feel, and I don't want to hurt her anymore than I already have."

"You're still," Lady Sif started as Xena finally pushed open the door and walked though, tired of listening. Everyone's eyes landed on her.

Loki stood up quickly from the couch he was siting on and Thor and Lady Sif both moved together.

Xena's eyes skimmed over her allies and then they came to rest on the other person in the room.

Her breathe left her in an instant, her throat felt swollen, and her chest hurt. The boy they were talking to was someone she would never forget, someone she though she'd never see again.

Jarl.

He looked just as she remembered him, his hair slightly longer now.

"Xena," her brother breathed. 

Her eyes watered and she tried breathing but she couldn't. Finally she grasped, "Is it really you?"

Jarl came toward her slowly as if he was approaching a wounded animal. Coming to stand before her he looked down at her slightly since he was about half a foot taller than her.

"Do you really have to ask that?" He whisper.

Her hands fisted and she felt her nails digging into the palms of her hands. She looked into her brothers eyes, the same color as hers, and just stared at him.

"Z-," he began just as Xena's hand came up and slapped him in the face as hard as she could. His head snapped to the side and then she turned to leave.

"Xena," Jarl pleaded as he grabbed her arm and turned her toward him.

"You're alive!" She yelled, tears falling down her face. He flinched back at her words. "Everything that I've done I've done for you! This person Ive become," she trailed off, closing her eyes and breathing slowly. She sniffled and then looked back at her brother.

"Let me go," she said deadly quiet and unemotional. She kept her eyes on the vibrant red mark she left on his face as his eyes widened at her sudden change and then loosened his grip on her.

She turned from him and walked away. She kept her face blank and emotionless  everything she was feeling she pushed down and buried them.

Once she got to her room she took her shoes off and crawled into her bed. She didn't sleep though; she stared at the wall unthinking and let time pass.

Eventually sun light slowly started to brighten the room but she didn't move. Everything that she had gone through the past 300 years was based on a lie. She replayed every moment that she could remember from the past three centuries through her head. All the things she'd done to try and avenge her brothers death haunted her. All the lives she took weighed on her, but still, she didn't move.

Finally her memories caught up to her and she replayed all the times she been in Loki's presence, all the times she been in his bed, every time he held her in his arms. Loki was the only one good thing that came from her brothers "death".

A knock came at her door and her eyes flickered toward the sound but she still didn't move. The door opened softly and footsteps approached her. The bottom of the bed sank with the weight of someone sitting down.

The person was silent for a long time.

"I can understand how you must be feeling," Thor said quietly. Xena's eyes rested on Thor's silhouette casted on the floor. "If you ever need to talk," his voice trailed off and for a few moment it was silent again.

"I have never seen my brother cry. He loves you. So, don't shut him out." With that, Thor got up and left Xena to her thoughts.