XENA RETURNED LATE that afternoon, somewhat less than happy about Nebula's plans. The day after an assassination attempt, throw the entire palace open to every inbred lunatic in the noble Houses? Okay, Nebula reveled in her reputation as the fearless pirate queen, but nobody was invincible forever. Xena had more reason to know that than anyone. And this sudden enthusiasm of the Court for their Queen, coming so soon after the next best contender to the throne had so conveniently been induced to attempt murder...

Eve made a small, sour noise and clung to her mother's hair as Xena pushed the door to her apartments over. "Gabrielle?" she called. "Joxer?"

"I'm out here," Gabrielle called. She was out in the garden, rinsing her hair out in the spring. Xena looked around. "Where's Joxer?"

"He went down to the baths. The party."

"Oh, you heard."

"Yes. That Woman, the..." The rest of what Gabrielle was saying disappeared as she put her head under the water once more. "...and she said we should look nice," she finished when she came up. "So he's at the baths, I'm doing my hair."

"Gabrielle. Listen to me. I want you to keep Joxer away from Nebula."

"What?"

"Something is going on around here and I don't like it, and I don't want Joxer involved. If he's not involved already." Xena marched back into the building, missing the interesting combination of expressions that wrestled for position on Gabrielle's face. "Tell him to stay away from Nebula for a few days, at least until I can sort it out."

Gabrielle shook her head dry, like a waterlogged dog, and trotted after Xena. "Why me? Why don't you tell him?"

Xena sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Gabrielle, I know you get all touchy about Joxer--"

"I do not."

"--but this is important."

"Then why don't you tell him?"

"Gabrielle, I don't have time to argue." Xena put Eve down on a table.

"I'm not arguing. I'm just saying--"

"Then do it."

"I really think he'd like to hear it directly from you," Gabrielle said softly.

"Oh, come on, Gabrielle." Xena started fishing through the wardrobe, picking up and dismissing wraps one by one. "Just this one thing. Okay? Then you don't need to speak to him again for a month if you don't want to. Happy now?" She pulled a deep blue wrap down, looked at it, shrugged, then tossed it over her shoulder and disappeared into the alcove she shared with Eve.

Eve looked at Gabrielle, and waved to be picked up. "Wahh," she observed.

"I know, honey." Gabrielle picked the baby up and held her closely. "Do me a favor, will you? You talk to Mommy and see if you can get her to talk to Uncle Joxer, okay?"

"I heard that, Gabrielle!"

Gabrielle sighed and said nothing further. Eve studied her face and arranged her own into a similar moue of dismay.

-----

The celebration took place in the centralmost section of the palace, where open halls surrounded the edges of the vast hanging gardens. This was the private kingdom within a kingdom of the House of the Lion, and allowing outsiders in it was almost without precedent. Only the most important of occasions allowed for visitors here; a coronation, a betrothal, a... royal funeral.

Joxer didn't want to think about that. In fact, he was really starting to wish he'd not learned quite so much about Sumerian tradition after all. He was beginning to suspect that the less he knew the happier he was. He wove uneasily through the crowd, trying like on that first day to be invisible.

But he couldn't make it work. He was too pale, standing out among the beautiful dark Sumerians like the single weed in a bed of perfect flowers. And the shirt. He was wearing the shirt, and he saw the look in people's eyes when they saw it, and he heard the whispers, and he was growing more and more nervous by the second. He tried to tell himself it was the way Nebula was showing her gratitude, by allowing him to wear the House colors for his heroism, but he couldn't quite convince himself of that--and he didn't want to think about what other reasons she might have had. He should have refused it, should have worn one of his own plain linen shirts or one of the brightly dyed dashikis instead, but he didn't want to hurt Nebula's feelings. Gods knew she must be feeling awful about her brother being--no, he'd forgotten, he didn't want to think about that, did he?

But everyone he met, even those he didn't formally meet, reminded him of it. They stopped him, in pairs and in groups, praised him for his effort and asked him for opinions on the weather and the crops and other such small talk people passed with those they didn't know but wished to. Some small part of Joxer's mind was able to sit back and laugh at this. All his life, he'd wanted to be a hero, have people look up to him--and now he had what he wanted, and he didn't want to be reminded of it at all. The small part of his mind laughed, but it was a hollow and weak laugh, and made him sad to hear it. It was a party. It was a great big huge party, because someone didn't die--and someone else was going to.

For just a single moment, Joxer envied the new dolphins at sea.

-----

Gabrielle wasn't sure why she had selected the outfit she had. Memories, maybe. She'd debated with herself and finally compromised by wearing it, but covering it up with one of the wraps, a plain subdued one in tones of tan and brown and green. She'd prefer not to stand out tonight if she could possibly avoid it.

Which was hard, with everyone there to see the woman, and outlander woman at that, who had saved the life of the Queen. They swarmed past Xena, regal and beautiful in her bright blue wrap that echoed the endless depths of her eyes, to speak with Gabrielle, small and drab as she was. They thanked her, praised her, and marveled at her, Gabrielle suspected, like they might marvel at a talking animal in a zoo. Xena watched this with cool detached amusement, and Gabrielle kept shooting her I'm-going-to-get-you-for-this looks that had no effect at all. The only people who stopped to speak to Xena were those attracted by Eve, riding happily in her mother's arms dressed in the same bright shade of blue. The Sumerians loved children and spoiled them rotten, and apparently the only way to escape the normal invisibility of being a Sumerian woman was to be a mother, and draw secondhand attention through your offspring. Xena seemed amused rather than otherwise by this, and allowed Eve to be clucked and cooed over at will.

Gabrielle didn't want to be clucked and cooed over, because it annoyed her. She was looking for Nebula, even though Nebula annoyed her as well, because Nebula had swooped down upon them as soon as they had arrived and hauled Joxer off. She'd only caught glimpses of them since, Nebula in equal parts regal and warm and bawdy--she had presence, Gabrielle had to admit, the charisma that made a good ruler--and Joxer unnaturally silent, looking nervous and twitchy, worse than usual. And she was worried, totally without justification but unable to rationalize it away. Worried, and instinct was telling her to get him away from Nebula and give him a chance to cool down. And heck, she could use a little air herself.

"Guard Gabrielle!" Kwame ran up to her. "Guard Gabrielle, there you are! Papa says you were a mighty warrior and saved the Queen, is it so?"

She laughed and caught the child up. "I guess it is."

Suleiman made his way through the crowd toward her. He was accompanied by all four of his wives and at least half-a-dozen of his other children. "Ah," he said, his face lighting up at the sight of her, "you have found him, little one. I knew you were good."

"I think he found me." Gabrielle put the already-squirming Kwame back down. The boy was a ball of lightning with legs. He ran back to his mothers, and then past them into the crowd, boasting all the while about how he'd met the mighty warrior Gabrielle.

"So. Are you enjoying your triumph?" Suleiman asked.

"It's not a triumph. I was just doing my job." Gabrielle knew the flush on her face was betraying her.

"And a good job it was, little one. No shame in acknowledging your accomplishments."

"Yeah, I guess." She gave up trying to hide her pleasure at the praise. "I just would have like to acknowledged it a little...more quietly, I guess. Crowds." She looked around. "Aren't you working security? What if..."

"I have men throughout," Suleiman assured her. "This is a night for you to enjoy, not to worry. Think nothing of it."

"It's just that Xena thinks..."

"Xena looks for enemies even where there are none, does she not?"

Gabrielle prickled instantly. "It's kept us alive all these years."

"Easy." He raised a hand, laughing. "I offered it not as a criticism. And have you not answered your own question? If Xena is looking out for trouble, what worry is there?"

He trapped her as neatly in conversation as he did in battle. Gabrielle marveled. "None, I guess. For one night," she amended.

"For one night," he agreed. "And where is your friend?"

"Nebula's got him."

"Ah." His eyes twinkled at her tone.

"Not like that."

"I see. I only ask," he said innocently, "because I have just spoken with Nebula not five minutes ago, and I did not see him with her."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I'd better go look for him. This crowd..."

"Yes," Suleiman said solemnly. "Yes, you should."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"All right. And remember, little one--" he called after her as she moved off, "one night!"

She could hear his affectionate laughter following her. He misread the situation entirely, but then he didn't know Joxer, did he? Even under the best of circumstances it wasn't safe to allow Joxer to wander about loose.

And that unjustifiable worry was suddenly much, much stronger.