“You mark my words, young ones, you stay too long around a woman, and she’ll drive you mad every time!”
Tashfin spoke with authority.
From nearby, Isa stepped forward. “Wait a minute! The captain is a woman, too!” he stated the obvious.
“Yes, but she’s not like that type of a woman,” Hakim threw in as he pointed to Gabrielle. When all eyes
were on him, he smiled, winked, and made a motion with his hands that resembled an hourglass. The men
chuckled as their ribald laughter continued.
“Aye, a woman like that, with such spirit and beauty, oh, Allah protect me!” Hakim pretended to swoon, then
rose and faced his friends, “She would drive me mad being alone in the same room with her let alone the same
bed!” He raised his fist and bit it playfully as he glanced at Gabrielle, then pretended to be held captive by the
blonde’s beauty.
The laughter grew as jokes were volleyed. Before they realized it, Abu walked on the deck carrying the
captain. Upon seeing the men, he visibly frowned, then barked, “Do you not have work to do?” At his
unspoken order, the men dispersed as they ran back to their previous chores. Satisfied, Abu gently carried the
captain to her bed.
Knowing that she was needed, Nadrah scampered from the shadows and followed Abu up the steps. Once in
the cabin, she ran in front of Abu and pulled the sheets off of the bed. She stared at the captain, carefully
trying to detect any madness which the men spoke of.
“Is she crazy?” she finally asked the burly man.
“No little mouse, the captain is only tired. Let her sleep and I am certain that she will feel much better,” he said
as he deposited the unconscious woman onto the unmade bed. After petting Nadrah’s head, the big man
turned, gave Nadrah a curt nod, and left the girl to her duties.
As she smelled the rum on the captain, Nadrah wrinkled her nose then began to undress the tall woman. With
slight grunts and huffs, she managed to pull the captain’s shirt partly off, then rolled her to her side in order to
pull it off completely. Before she could finish, Zara mumbled and rolled onto her back, pinning Nadrah’s arm
under her body.
“Captain?” Nadrah whispered as she tried to pull her arm free. “Zara?” she said a bit louder as she tugged at
her arm. “I’m stuck!”
As she said this, the cabin door slowly opened and Gabrielle walked in. “What happened?” the blonde asked
as she looked from Nadrah’s pinned arm to the inebriated form of the captain.
“I’m stuck Gabrielle!” Nadrah whined as she tried to get Zara to roll off of her arm. “Help me, please!”
With a slight smile, Gabrielle moved to the bed and easily lifted Zara’s shoulders. “Is that better?” she smiled
at Nadrah as the child flexed her arm.
“Much better! Thank you,” Nadrah answered as she returned to her task. “I’ve got to get the captain
undressed,” she stated as she pulled the big woman’s shirt off.
“Do you do this a lot?” the Greek healer asked as she began to help undress the unconscious woman.
“Usually only when we’re in port. I’ve never seen the captain do this when we’re at sea,” Nadrah explained
as she sat the captain up, then pulled at the woman’s undershirt until it was freed.
“I see…” said the storyteller slowly.
“Gabrielle, can I ask you something?” Nadrah spoke softly as she pulled the remains of the captain’s
undershirt off, and let the unconscious woman fall to the pillow. She moved to Zara’s boots. As she worked,
she watched Gabrielle unfasten the ties of the captain’s pants.
“Of course you can ask,” the Greek woman smiled softly as she pulled the breeches past Zara’s hips.
“How come you stopped liking the captain?” Nadrah queried, tossing the boots aside.
Gabrielle paused, and then returned to the task at hand. With Nadrah’s help, she pulled the pants off of the
sleeping woman and dropped them on the floor. “I haven’t stopped liking Zara… it’s just,” the healer seemed
to be searching for words, then she shook her head. “It’s just that I don’t agree with things that Zara does,”
she answered as she picked up the discarded clothes and placed them in a canvas bag in the corner.
The storyteller found herself searching for an answer to Nadrah’s inquiry and replied as honestly as she could.
She had witnessed the entire scene on the deck, but only half understood it. When the Moroccan woman
yelled at her, Gabrielle was a bit shaken by the intensity of the woman’s words. When the blonde talked to
Xena, she received no answer that would explain the captain’s conduct. Although the warrior seemed willing
to talk, Gabrielle knew that she was withholding something. Then when she saw Abu carrying Zara to her
cabin, her healer instincts took control.
“But isn’t it ok to not like everything?” the child’s voice pulled Gabrielle from her thoughts. “Abu doesn’t like
that Zara drinks so much when she’s in port, but that doesn’t make him stop liking her.”
“It’s a bit more complicated,” the gentle storyteller said as she pulled the cover over the unconscious, naked
body. Just then, Zara mumbled as she rolled onto her side, facing away from Gabrielle.
With a horrified intake of breath, the healer gazed down for the first time at the captain’s bare back. From
below her shoulder, Gabrielle saw the marks of old scars running across the dark haired woman’s back.
Kneeling down, the blonde lightly touched the lines that were obviously made from a whip. At the sight of
small, round marks, she lowered herself to examine the skin.
“Burns,” she whispered as she lifted the sheet and gazed at the captain’s firm buttocks. Gabrielle grimaced as
she saw the scar patterns over the woman’s flesh. The burn scars were strewn across the captain’s buttocks
in no seeming order.
“We’re not supposed to talk about that,” Nadrah said as she sat on the edge of the captain’s bed.
“Do you know what happened?” Gabrielle asked as she inspected the old wounds. The Greek healer noticed
a tattoo the length of her index finger embedded at the end of the Moroccan’s spine. Upon closer inspection,
the blonde saw the image was of a dragon similar to her own. After she pulled the covers over the sleeping
form, she sat on the edge of the bed.
“The captain has never mentioned anything to anyone?” Gabrielle asked.
