“Ari!” Xena’s voice was stern.
“Ari, if you want more, there’s plenty here,” Gabrielle offered.
“What?” the girl was momentarily confused by the anger from her family.
“I-I’m only saving her from the pain of eating the representation of Eli!” Ari offered by way of explanation as she chewed on
the tender meat. She had expected her sister to protest, but didn’t think that the two women would become involved.
“I think you had better give her your piece of meat, Ari,” Xena ordered.
For a moment, Ari stared at Xena in hopes of understanding why she was so angry. She noticed the steel blue eyes staring at
her, boring a hole in her soul. The firmness of her birth mother’s jaw line never wavered. When it seemed like her joke was
lost to everyone, the dark child merely sighed and shrugged as she put the untouched piece of meat on Eve’s plate.
Like it never happened, the four women resumed their meal. The light, easy banter of at least three of them flowed through
the camp, but the eldest daughter was silent. Ari tried to understand what she had done wrong. Although Xena hadn’t
beaten her, she could tell that the older woman was upset. As she chewed on the meat, the grease from the rabbit dripped
down her chin. Unconsciously she wiped it with her sleeve, and continued to eat, her eyes downcast on her plate as she ate
every last morsel of meat and began to pick the bones clean. Although it had never happened since joining her family, Ari
couldn’t help but fear that one day her birth mother would punish her by withholding food. True, even Alti stopped this form
of punishment as she grew older. But for Ari, some habits died hard, and the fear of never having another meal was not far
from her mind.
When she was finished, she almost tossed the bones aside, but remembered her mother’s last scolding about not discarding
trash where they slept. With a dreaded fear, she looked up at her mother and caught the woman’s gaze. Xena gave a curt
nod before returning her attention to Eve’s non-stop dialogue. Remembering the last scolding she got from the warrior, Ari
pushed her plate aside as she licked her fingers, then wiped the remaining grease on the front of her tunic before releasing a
deep belch.
The young woman noticed the looks from the three women. Gabrielle was still eating her meal, her delicate fingers gently
tearing the meat apart while her gaze remained averted. Xena’s grim expression watched Ari closely, and although she said
nothing, the dark child could sense the carefully disguised disgust emanating from the warrior princess. Beside her, Eve’s lips
curled upward into a sickening expression as she openly stared at Ari, her monologue seemingly ended. Self-conscious of
their scrutiny, the girl lowered her gaze, her brow furrowed into a frown as she tried to understand what she had now done
wrong.
Over and over her thoughts tried to understand it. Throughout the whole meal she was silent, allowing the women to continue
their conversations while she ate. Only when silence fell over the camp did she realize that she had made a mistake. But try
as she might, she did not understand what the mistake was. With this thought, a scowl began to form.
“No, nothing I do will ever be right. But Eve, she can do no wrong in Xena’s eyes,” Ari thought sullenly as her scornful gaze
turned to the prophet. As she returned Eve’s gaze with a stare, she remembered all of the times that she had seen the woman
in the magical pool.
“Alti was right, Eve is the apple of Xena’s eye, and what am I?” The dark child didn’t even have to answer that, because she
knew. Ever since her mother adopted her, the girl knew that she would never be anything but scum to Xena. “Isn’t that why
she threw me away when I was born?” She wondered.
As she churned over these thoughts, a frown crossed her features. When yet another idea came to mind, a wicked smile
crossed Ari’s lips. She glanced down at Eve’s plate and noticed that the prophet had eaten all of her vegetables, leaving only
the meat. The young woman’s gaze turned away from the dark child, as her expression was one of contemplation as she
pushed the meat around on her plate.
In a scornful manner, Ari began to make slight clicking sounds with her tongue as her sister was staring down at the piece of
meat. Hearing the sound, the prophet looked up in time to see the girl’s big smile as she stared directly at Eve with a deep-
set frown. Pleased at the reaction she received, the girl turned away. Then, the dark child cast her sister a sidelong glance,
then clicked again and began to imitate a rabbit by wiggle her nose. At the look of horror on Eve’s face, the girl released an
evil smile as she looked directly at her sister’s pale, green face.
The prophet looked from her own plate then to Ari’s decimated meal. Continuing in her teasing, the girl leaned back against
her pack, her eyes never wavering from the prophet. As Eve’s face paled in the glow of the campfire, the dark child released
a perfect imitation of the death cry that was heard from the rabbit as it died. At this, Eve turned from pale to green then pale
again before she put her dish down and got up to run from the camp. With a somewhat innocent expression, Ari watched her
sisters sister’s retreating form for only a moment then reached over and removed the uneaten rabbit from her plate.
As she started on the rest of Eve’s meal, she glanced over at Xena and Gabrielle in hopes of gauging their reaction. The older
warrior remained impassive as she stared into the flames of the campfire. The blonde had her face turned away slightly. The
grim expression remained on the storyteller’s features. When Ari realized that no actions would be forthcoming from the two,
she shrugged her shoulders and devoured Eve’s portion. Once her belly was full, she set the bones on her plate, released
another burp, then began to pick at her teeth with a fingernail as she lay down on her blanket. Using her pack as a pillow, she
stared past the treetops to the multitude of stars in the sky.
~~~~~~
The comforting sound of Xena sharpening her sword was the only thing that Gabrielle was conscious of. Once Eve returned,
the two began to clean up the camp as Xena remained focused on her task. In silence, they moved around the sleeping form
of Ari as they picked up the dirty plates and discarded utensil. Only when they moved out of camp did they speak softly.
“Are you all right?” Gabrielle asked as they washed the plates in the nearby creek. With a shrug, Eve sighed as she avoided
her mother’s eyes.
“It’s that obvious?” the prophet asked.
“Yeah, I noticed. There seems to be a lot of anger in Ari. But, you have to admit, you seem to be holding your own. I see
you getting in a few of your own jabs every once in a while,” Gabrielle said as they gathered the clean plates together.
“Only because she’s always tormenting me!” Eve snorted.
The blonde sighed as she lightly patted Eve’s shoulder, then smiled. “I know, honey, just please be patient with her. It should
get better,” the blonde offered sympathetically.
Eve remained quietly contemplative. Her brows creased in a frown as she stared down at the plates that they just cleaned.
As if a great weight was upon her shoulders, she turned to Gabrielle. Eve closed her eyes as her soft voice called the blonde’
s attention.
“I…ummmm… Gabr… ummm… mother?” The prophet’s voice was hesitant.
“Eve, what’s the matter?” Gabrielle asked with concern as she set her chore aside and leaned closer to the young woman,
her arm instinctively wrapped around Eve’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Gabr…mother, there is something I’ve never told about Ari,” Eve’s voice was barely a whisper as she averted her eyes.
“What is it? Did she try to hurt you since being with us?” The tone of Gabrielle’s voice suddenly changed to that of a she-
wolf protecting her cubs.
“N-No… not since joining us,” Eve said as she closed her eyes, a deep sigh escaping her control. “It’s about… w-what
happened when they held me captive.”
At the pain of her words, the blonde only nodded as she held on to the young woman. In hopes that her strength eased Eve’s
troubles, Gabrielle held firmly to her. The show of support bolstered Eve’s words.
“They were going to…” the prophet shook her head as she closed her eyes, then buried her face into her mother’s shoulder
as she allowed her tears to fall. “S-She… would have… she wanted to… s-she…” Eve couldn’t finish her words as she
wept openly.
With a deep sigh, Gabrielle closed her eyes as she gently held her daughter. She remembered how the dark child touched
and molested Eve on the battlefield, and she knew what would have happened if the young warrior did not fight Alti. If they
had lost against Alti and Ari, Eve would probably not be alive… and neither would anyone else, the older woman reasoned.
“Did Alti… hurt you?” The gentle storyteller asked softly, her eyes closed, as she feared what the answer would be.
Eve shook her head negatively as she pulled from the blonde’s arms. Gabrielle reached up and lightly brushed at Eve’s
tearstained cheek. With a look of confusion, the young woman gazed into the storyteller’s eyes, then the prophet shook her
head as the tears began again.
“No,” Eve’s response was barely a whisper as she shook her head. “Mother… it was Ari.”
“A-Ari?” Gabrielle’s mind swirled at this news. “But… Ari?”
Eve nodded as a frown crossed her face, the tears falling unabated.
“Oh, honey!” the healer pulled the younger woman into her arms. “I didn’t know.”
“I-I couldn’t tell anyone… I-I didn’t know how,” Eve whispered as her tears slowly subsided. “Ari would have… she almost
r-raped me, mother. But Alti stopped her and now, everyday I see her and remember the way she touched me.” The young
woman shivered uncontrollable at the distasteful thought.
“Oh, Eve, I’m so sorry!” the blonde held her close, rocking her gently as her mind grasped what Eve had told her.
“Please, mama Gabrielle, promise me that you won’t tell mother, please!” Eve whispered against her chest. At her request,
the storyteller sighed as she closed her eyes, then nodded acceptance of Eve’s request.
Gabrielle knew her lover well, and was certain that this news would not go over well with the warrior princess. As it was, the
small woman noticed Xena’s reluctance to discuss anything concerning Ari. She knew the conflicting emotions that engulfed
her soulmate and understood how it was tearing the woman apart.
On the one hand, Gabrielle knew that the warrior was grateful to finally have her eldest daughter back. To know that the girl
did not die along with her adopted family put the warrior princess’s mind at ease. Yet seeing Ari as she was, the occasional
bout of temper, the reclusive nature, and even her tormenting interaction with Eve, were disturbing. The healer knew that
knowing what had happened to their youngest daughter would only add to Xena’s already heavy burden.
As she held Eve close, she silently vowed to keep this secret. When and if Xena ever learned about Ari’s actions was
completely up to Eve, she reasoned as she held the young woman close. Until that time, Gabrielle would keep Eve’s
confidence.
