Ares nodded and then walked over to the Warrior Princess.
"Xena, I do believe that Sophia took something that belongs to
you." He placed his hand on her shoulder, and gently sent her
darkness back into her. "Don’t ever let my daughter do
that again." Xena thought she could see genuine concern in his
eyes. But just as quickly it disappeared. "I guess I’ll
be going now."

Sophia cleared her throat. She raised her arms and held up her
splinted and bandaged hands before her face. "What about
these? Aren’t you going to heal them?"

"No, you need to learn your lesson. Just think of those as
reminders. Besides they will heal. Good-bye daughter." The
light flickered and he was gone.

"Good-bye, Father."

Artemis looked over at her niece. "You need to let the
healer look at those hands."

Garona came into the room and Artemis introduced her to Sophia.
Garona looked at Sophia’s hands."What did you do child,
ram them into boulders?"

"No, into a tree. Trust me, the tree looks worse."

Garona unwrapped the hands, check them over and re-wrapped them.
"They will be fine. They are healing very quickly."

As Garona looked over Sophia, Artemis walked over to her chosen
one. "How long has she been like this Xena?"

"Since we first found her. She hasn’t made a sound or
move. I’ve never seen this before."

Garona looked down at the Queen of the Amazons. The physical
bruises that she found could not explain why Gabrielle was in this
state. "For me to treat Gabrielle to the best of my abilities,
I need to know exactly what happened." She waited for Xena to
tell her, but Xena continued to look at her love. She sighed as she
continued, "Nothing that I’ve seen could cause this. She
should have been conscious yesterday, last night at the latest.
Please, for her sake, tell me. Maybe I can help."

Xena sighed and realized that Garona needed to know the cause of
Gabrielle’s condition. As she continued to look at her love,
Xena told Garona, "It is not only what happen to her, but who
did this." Garona did not say anything, knowing that Xena
needed time to gather her emotions and thoughts before she could
continue. Xena’s voice was barely a whisper. "Herodotus
did this."

Garona gasped as the new knowledge rocked her being. "Her
father? By the gods." She reached down and touched
Gabrielle’s hand. She looked over at Xena. The warrior stared
at the floor, her head and shoulders lowered. For a few days, she
had held her emotions in check, making sure that Gabrielle received
the best treatment possible. But now, the burden was just too much
for her to handle.