The Royal Academy of Bards

Halloween Special 2021

November 22, 2021

Twilight
Sanai: Demi Goddess of Healing by Chef Etiquette [Classic/Alt/Incomplete]

This my first attempt at Fanfiction. I always hated how the show was constantly bringing up old loves or people from Xena's past. I know Gabrielle was from a small town but I thought surely she could have secrets from her past as well. So I wrote one in. This story is set some time in season 5 after Xena and Gabrielle are brought back to life by Eli.This story assumes that Xena and Gabrielle have been in love for a long time but just haven't said anything.So what happens when an old love of Gabrielle's suddenly pops up during a mission and Gabrielle realizes she was in love? Will she end up with Xena or will she rekindle a love with the first warrior ever to enter her life. This is not a light read. The character from Gabrielle's past is given a back story. 

A Grain of Salt by M.S. Wilson [Classic/Alt/Complete]

This is a story that popped into my head a while back and I felt like I should share it. It's set early in the first season (before The Reckoning) when Xena and Gabi are still getting to know and trust each other.

November 12, 2021

The Talk by M.S. Wilson [Classic/Alt/Complete]

This is a short piece set after The Execution that deals with Xena and Gabi's burgeoning romance. I feel like Xena fell for Gabi first (as we can see in the early 2nd season episodes) culminating in that kiss in The Quest, which I think was Xena's way of letting Gabi know how she felt. Naturally Gabi (being who she is) had to mull that over for a while, but by the latter part of the season, I think she's definitely returning Xena's feelings. But it seems to me by then that Gabi's more invested in the relationship than Xena is (telling Vidalis in Blind Faith that she's in love with someone, her obvious jealousy in Ulysses), almost like Xena pulled back from it a bit. I think Xena still loves Gabi, she's just afraid of hurting her. But knowing Gabi, she'd initiate a conversation about it and this story is how I imagine that conversation might have gone.

November 5, 2021

The Gift of the Moirai by M.S. Wilson

Moirai is the Greek name for the Fates. I love Melissa Good's Solstice story "It Came Upon a Solstice Clear" (no matter how many times I read it, that last line always gets me!), so I thought I'd take my own stab at writing about Xena and Gabi's first Solstice together. I started thinking about Christmas-themed stories and for some reason, Gift of the Magi was the first thing that popped into my head. I set this shortly after Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards (based on Xena's remark in The Execution that Gabi attended the Academy "last winter"). I figured that episode probably happened close to Solstice, and I thought the new closeness we saw between Xena and Gabi would be a good lead-in to this story.

Announcement from Stein Willard:

Please find attached an extract of my book, Lycan, the sequel to Claimed, is now available at Amazon.

July 2021