Dark heart
Xena got down from the ship in Valkyrie with a practiced gait.
It's miles apart from when she stumbled on to the land the first time she got off a boat at Espana.
The androgynous girl from then has grown into a charming and magnetic young woman.
There is a grace of movement of the dancer about her, in the way she gently swayed away from the wandering hands of pickpockets or the grabby hands of the eager merchants.
She arrived at her first stop, the tavern that served the pier.
She is thirsty for news from the Sunset kingdom.
" A penny for the words, Lady! " The tavern boy told her.
Xena tossed a coin to him immediately.