Despite everything, Joxer woke early the next morning. There was so much to do! He rolled over in the bed carefully so as not to wake Xena, yawned, and saw Eve looking at him from her crib. He sat up and poked his fingers through the bars. "Hi, Evie," he said softly.

She half-stood up and toddled to him. She was walking! Well, almost. He'd missed so much in those long weeks apart from them, what else had gone by without his knowing? Eve laughed at his amazement and grabbed at his hand. "You glad to see me?" he cooed softly. "Yes, I'm glad to see you too. Good little Evie. Not nasty and scrubbing like Auntie Gabrielle."

"Joxer," Xena muttered sleepily, "don't encourage her. I get hardly any sleep as is."

"Oops, sorry." He chucked Eve under her chin once before standing up, a much slower and more painful process than it needed to be, darn it--and looked around. Then he looked around some more. Then he looked around some more.

"Outside in the garden behind the acacias," Xena said without bothering to turn over and look at him.

"Ah."

"Running water, like in Rome. Very nice."

It was nice. In fact, it was all nice. He hadn't had a chance to really appreciate it yesterday, not with the shoving and the washing and everything, but the palace was wonderful. It was set high on the hill overlooking the harbor, and had many rooms and corridors open to the sea breezes to cut the Sumerian heat. The limited access, apparently only up that long flight of marble steps he'd embarrassed himself on, could easily be cut off for defensive purposes. Here he was, worried sick about what might be happening to Gab and Xena--and here they were, living in the lap of luxury. Typical. Typical, but all in all much better than the alternative.

He washed off his hands in the spring and admired the garden for a while, becoming distracted by brightly colored birds that flitted from tree to tree too fast to see clearly. Just flashes of color, here, there, and then gone. After a while he reentered the apartments and found Xena changing Eve's diaper.

"Can I help?"

"We're fine here, Joxer, go away."

"I can change it for you."

"I've got it."

"Do you want me to--"

"Joxer," Xena said in a tone that for her was kind, but still allowed no argument. "I'll take care of Eve. You're still ill, you should go lie down and rest."

"I feel fine," Joxer said, a little more loudly than was probably prudent. Okay, physically he didn't feel that great, but overall he felt terrific being back with Gab and Xena and Eve and all. Or would feel terrific if they would just act a little bit glad to see him in return. Eve gurgled as if she knew what he was thinking. He made a face back at her and caused her to laugh.

"Yes, Evie," Xena said. "Silly Uncle Joxer. He should go lie down and have a nap, shouldn't he?"

"Tell Mommy Uncle Joxer is going to look for Aunt Gabrielle."

"Tell Uncle Joxer Auntie Gabrielle has gone out on patrol with Suleiman, and he should just go lie down and have a nap."

"Ask Mommy exactly who she thinks the baby is around here."

"Ask Uncle Joxer isn't it obvious?"

Joxer gave up and left the apartment by the main door. He found himself in a featureless and enormously long corridor, marked here and there by doors that he knew better than to open at random. Not in a palace, anyway. Well, he'd just follow the corridor and see where it led to, this hopefully not being some guy with a spear.

The smooth marble was cool under his feet, and he caught an occasional whiff of sea breeze from the small barred windows set high along the walls. It was still early, but from the time he'd spent in the garden he knew it was already getting hot outside. But it was nice in here, and even if he didn't find anything interesting at least he was inside out of the sun. He was already burned like heck in two or three places just from being out on the plaza yesterday, and Gabrielle was right about that. Not that he would admit it to her, darn her anyway. He still hadn't been able to talk to her, and he had to explain to her how she shouldn't be mad, because he had a feeling she was mad, because--

As usual when Joxer started thinking about Gabrielle, he stopped thinking about anything else, and he didn't even notice the person until he actually bumped into her. "Sorry," he said automatically, and then he recognized Nebula. "Real sorry," he said quickly. "Really."

Nebula grinned her famous grin at him. It made her look like a happy wolf, slightly pleasant, slightly scary, and even more unreadable than Xena. "Hey, studmuffin. I was coming by to check on how you were doing."

"I'm okay." Joxer knew that technically Nebula was a Queen and he should be addressing her much more formally and from a much safer distance, but he'd been in several bars, two fights, and a tattoo parlor with her, which made formality a little difficult.

"Xena said you got worked over pretty bad on the ship."

Xena fucking talks too much, Joxer thought in that part of his mind that was never allowed to speak. "It's not a big deal. I escaped and everything's fine."

"Let me see," Nebula said and had stepped around him and was pulling up his tunic before he knew what was happening. He squirmed away, outraged. "Leggo!"

Nebula hissed. "What ship were you on?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does." The happiness had vanished, but the wolf remained. "I'll have its captain decommissioned, and if he's a noble I'll strip him of his title. Slavery's illegal in the mercantile fleet."

Joxer blinked. "Illegal? You mean, like..."

"Like it's not allowed. Period."

"How did you do that?"

"I'm the Queen. I decreed it. Poof." Nebula snapped her fingers. "I'm going to wipe it out from the country entirely, but I had to start small."

This was absolutely the weirdest thing Joxer had ever heard in his life. "You're going to have no slaves? None at all?"

"Not a one," Nebula said cheerfully.

"But..." Joxer tried to wrap his mind around the concept and failed. "But you have to have slaves. How else would you get anything done?"

"I don't have any slaves. There are no slaves in the palace, or on any of my personal properties."

"Not you personally, I mean just, y'know, in general."

"We learn to do things for ourselves. For example. There are no slaves allowed in the fleet any more, so there's more work for sailors because the owners can't fill the ships with free help. It was a very popular decision."

"For the sailors."

"I'm one myself, don't forget. You're right, the nobles hate it...but there's many more sailors than there are nobles. And many more cooks and housekeepers and gardeners. I do this a step at a time, and the people will be behind me. See?"

"Yes."

Nebula looked surprised at this. "If I didn't know better I'd say you did understand."

"Of course I do." Joxer was always surprised at the disinterest of non-Athenians in political matters. Politics was the national sport at home, and much more interesting than any wrestling match or chariot race he'd ever seen. "You'll get trouble from the slave owners, though."

"Oh, yes. The Houses hate me, and someone will probably try to kill me," she added cheerfully.

Something clicked. "So that's why you kidnapped Xena and Gab. To guard you."

"'Kidnapped' is a naughty word. Let's just say I...diverted them. Besides, they're a lot better off than they would have been in Egypt."

"Yeah," Joxer muttered under his breath resentfully.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Nothing at all. Really," he said weakly, and wondered why it was that all the females he knew, right down to Argo, seemed to be able to see right through him. Certainly Nebula was doing that now.

She seemed to reach some kind of decision. "Come with me," she said and strode off. That was another thing about women, he thought as he followed Nebula down a branching corridor, another and another, moving closer to the center of the complex. They were always giving orders. Especially Gabrielle, gosh darn it. Telling him not to go to Egypt, telling him not to come close, telling him not to go away, like she was in charge or something... Again he was distracted by thoughts of Gabrielle, and again he walked straight into Nebula. "Ow."

"Wait for the door to open first," she said, amused. There were two guards standing on either side of the door, and one of them opened it for her. Joxer followed her into a small room equipped with a writing-desk and many shelves of scrolls, and a platter of bread and olives and cold meats set out on a long table. The smell made him weak in the knees.

"My study," Nebula said, "and my breakfast. You look like you need it more than I do, though." He hesitated and she said, "Go ahead, help yourself."

They sat at the table and Joxer went straight for the bread. Fresh bread, without worms in it. And real meat, and fruit! He hadn't been able to stomach more than a few bites the previous afternoon, but his appetite returned all at once and he dove at the platters. Nebula claimed a substantial portion for herself but allowed him to eat the rest as he would.

When he finally started to slow down, she said, "So. Tell me the story."

"Grpmh?" Oops. Talking to a Queen with mouth full. Probably a capital offense.

"Tell me the story." Nebula was watching him closely, had been watching him closely the whole time, he belatedly realized; he quickly checked the front of the tunic for spills. "Of how you got here."

"Okay." Joxer was fairly good at telling stories, and although he refused to show it he really was kind of glad of the chance to sit down. Nebula sat across from him and folded her arms on the table in a mockery of listening with rapt attention, which amused him greatly. He matched her by starting off the tale in a deep, pretentious voice like the street poets in Athens used; but after a while he forgot to act pretentious, and she forgot to act amused. When he was finished, she was quiet for a few moments and then said, "Tell me something, Joxer."

"What?"

"I've always admired Xena for her ability to get men to follow her blindly, anywhere, into anything. But those men...well, I think I knew their motivations. What I don't understand is you. Why do you follow her? Why does she let you? You're not anything like any man I've ever known Xena to have dealings with, and it's just a puzzle to me."

Joxer thought of saying a lot of things, about how Xena found him useful, about how he'd saved her and Gab's butts several times, about how indispensable he was, all of which he suspected were lies. Finally he said, "I don't know. Why do we love the people we love?" Then he remembered who'd said that to him, and all of a sudden his appetite was gone.

Nebula shook her head slightly and made a tsking sound. "You're an odd one. You know that, don't you?"

"Xena says I'm unique." He knew this was true, and recounted it with pride.

"That's one word for it." Nebula looked dubiously at him for a long moment, then the wolf grin slid down across her face and hid whatever she might have been thinking behind it. "Well, important matters of state to attend to. There's going to be a really stupid boring banquet at the next quarter-moon I have to attend. How about we get you into some better clothes and you come along as my guest? Shake up blondie a little, what d'you say?"

Well, well, well. Something interesting. "I'd love to."

"Fine. Xena's having a bed put in for you down in her room; I'll have the chamberlain deliver some clothes as well. See you later."

"Bye," Joxer went to the door and froze up.

After a moment Nebula said, "Okay, what?"

"I, uh...I think I'm lost."

She stood up with an amused, exasperated sigh. Another one of those woman things. "I'll walk you back. Mind now, I don't do this for just anyone, so I'll expect you to be eternally grateful."

"Oh, I will be." He'd had breakfast. He was getting his own bed and something else to wear, and he'd be with Gabrielle and Xena, and they'd been saved from gods know what in Egypt, and Eve was safe, and he was back with them again. "I already am," he said honestly. "I already am."