There's violence in here... But if you can watch Xena, you can read this...

"Joxer, The Mighty
Roams through the countryside
He never needs a place to hide
With Gabby as his sidekick
Fighting with her little stick
Righting wrongs and singing songs
Being mighty all day long
He's Joxer
Joxer The Mighty!
Joxer, The Mighty
He's very tidy
Everyone admires him
He's so handsome it's a sin..."

'And this could be such a perfect day...' the Warrior Princess thought, as she walked along the road, after her bard and Joxer, the Idiot, leading her golden mare with a long rein. 'The sun is shining, the countryside is great, the arrow wound on my back is healed and Gabrielle got us little muffins for dessert tonight... What could spoil this picture? Joxer! What else? Always there when he's not needed... Then again, is he EVER needed? And if he doesn't stop singing that stupid song of his very soon I'm gonna murder him!', all Xena's muscles were tense enough to show their outlines through her perfectly bronzed skin and her hands were in such tight fists that her knuckles were turning white, as she restrained herself from jumping over that warrior wanna-be to tear him apart, limb from limb, with her bare hands!

Joxer had been attached to the two women like a leach for almost two weeks now, and Xena's small reserves of patience had all but dried out. Anywhere she looked, there he was... messing up, of course! He'd scared the game when she was hunting, revealed their position with a sneeze when they were hiding from an outnumbering group of thieves, spilled Gabrielle's dinner on the dirt, hurt himself while practicing with his poor excuse of a sword... You name it, he'd done it!

And then there was that stupid song he wouldn't stop singing "Joxer, The Mighty...". Agh! How she hated that song! And the way it stuck in her head so she kept hearing it even when he wasn't singing... day and night... Night and day!

And also the way he looked at Gabrielle... almost drooling at times. Pathetic. He'd do anything to get the Amazon Queen's attention. Did he really think he could have a chance with her? Well, if he did he was dumber than Xena thought... if that was possible...

"Xena, are you alright?" Gabrielle asked, tucking her blond-red hair behind her ear. She'd fallen back to walk beside her friend and see what was wrong.

"Fine." The warrior bluntly answered, hinting that indeed not all was as she said, fine...

"It's Joxer, isn't it?" the bard went on, as she tapped on the ground with her staff "That stupid song of his is getting to me too... But how can we get rid of him? Without hurting his feelings, that is..."

Xena could think of a few ways to get rid of the idiot without hurting his feelings... just other parts of his anatomy, but decided to keep them to herself. Her friend would probably not appreciate her kind of violent solution, even against Joxer...

"I tried to scare him away..." Gabrielle went on "saying that we might run into some blood thirsty warlords and murderers, but he still didn't leave. And that song... It's really getting to me!"

'Now that's something we have in common.' The taller woman thought 'However did we get to be friends with that useless slob? Beats me... But Gabrielle is right about something, he is a friend and we have to figure out a way to get rid of him without hurting him... too much...'

"... and specially the part when he says he's every woman's fantasy..." the bard kept saying, unaware that Xena wasn't paying that much attention "...that is really dumb. Do you really think he believes that?" she looked at the tense warrior, waiting for a reply, but as she got none, she continued "Well, I don't. Not even Joxer can be that clueless...I guess...I know what I'm gonna do!" Gabrielle cheerfully said, as if she'd just gotten a brilliant idea "I know how to shut him up!"

"Oh?" Xena inquired, hoping that it would be an idea that really worked, fast, 'cause Joxer's singing, even though he was walking a few paces ahead of her, was driving her insane!

The Amazon opened her bag and looked through the stuff she carried, in search of something in particular... until she found it "Ta-dah!" she held out her hand in front of her friend's blue eyes, happily displaying her secret weapon... a pan pipe. "If I start playing, he'll shut up, right?" Gabrielle didn't wait for an answer and just ran up to walk next to Joxer.

'Great!' the Warrior Princess thought 'As if the idiot's singing wasn't bad enough, now I have to put up with the piping too!' because although Gabrielle had begun to play the pipe, Joxer hadn't stooped singing his self-praising song. 'Who told that bard she can play anyway? I can't stand that tune over and over... Maybe if I told her that I don't like that melody much... Nah! The last thing I wanna do is hurt my best friend...' Behind her, Argo gave a gentle pull on the rein and snorted something at her mistress.

"I know, Argo..." the woman whispered, so that her traveling companions couldn't hear her "I hate that pipe too... But what can I do?"

As a reply, the golden mare pulled on the rein once more and let out a tiny whinny.

"Great idea!" Xena said, as she comprehended exactly what her mount had in mind...

She stopped for a few seconds, to allow the animal to catch up with her, and graciously climbed on the saddle. Giving a gentle kick on the mare's flanks, she guided her to the two noisy travelers ahead. "Gabrielle! Joxer!" she called, interrupting the racket the two were making.

"What?" they answered as one, looking at one another, as if they'd stolen each other's words, and used them without permission.

"I'm gonna go scout up ahead..." Xena said "...to see if the road is clear... You two take care... I'll be right back... Yah!" she cheered her mount to an easy gallop and disappeared behind the next road bend.

'Yeah, right...' Gabrielle thought 'Check the road, you just wanna get away from him and leave the baby sitting up to me... I'm gonna get you for this, Xena!'

"Not to worry, Gabrielle!" Joxer said, landing his hand on the hilt of his sword "If there's trouble, you've got Joxer The Mighty to protect you!"

"Uhm... right... Thanks Joxer..." she faked a thank you smile and kept on walking down the road, returning to her out of tune piping.

"Or at least to try, until Xena gets here..." Joxer said to himself in a whisper, considering what would really happen if trouble came along. "Hey, wait up Gabby!"

**********

Still a long way until they got to Athens to attend little Keifor's birthday party... Why they'd invited her and Gabrielle, she didn't know... Well, maybe she did... Keifor's father, a Centaur named Deric, was a friend of Hercules and a cousin of Phantes, who was the late father of Ephiny's child, Xenan, who'd been delivered by her in the middle of a war... And Keifor's mom, Lyla, apparently looked like her almost as much as Meg and Diana and... Complicated stuff...

But as she rode along the dirt road, Xena was just happy to be away from her traveling companions. Or at least away from Joxer... These were the first moments she had to herself in the last couple of weeks.

The rhythmic beat of the hooves on the ground was washing away his stupid song from her head, and the sounds of nature were slowly restoring her lost calm. Definitely, she had to get rid of Joxer somehow... Two weeks was a long time and she missed the peaceful evenings around the fire, with just her, Gabrielle and Argo. She missed the bard's tales without his silly questions interrupting the story, she missed Gabrielle's reassuring words that kept away the nightmares... He was intruding on their privacy, on their friendship, that was all. And he had to go!

Suddenly, she brought Argo to a halt. "Quiet, girl..." she ordered, as she leaned her head to better listen to the sounds of the surrounding forest. Something wasn't right. The birds' song had changed, and there was some muffled background noise... She decided to go and check it out...

Gently, she guided the golden mare off the road, into the woods, in the direction of the incoming sounds...

She stopped on the edge of a large clearing, before crossing the last row of shielding trees, jumping from the saddle and landing soundlessly on the ground. She got as close as she could to the clearing, without coming out of cover, and leaned against a large old tree. She looked around the small stone temple, evaluating the situation...

The temple was situated on the crossing of two roads, a large one that came from the hills, and a smaller one that Xena suspected to be a side road to the one she, Gabrielle and Joxer had been taking.

The sounds the Warrior Princess had heard, came from a large bunch of thugs, twenty four, she counted, that were having their fun, brutalizing a group of eight old men, dressed in colorful robes. 'Probably magicians or wizards, coming to pay tribute to their protector Goddess...' she thought. 'Well, the day is being boring... so...'

"Yiyiyiyih!" her war cry called the attention of the thugs to the black haired she-demon that emerged from the woods and began to harvest their blood as the first man died at the end of her sword.

**********

Gabrielle pulled the pipe away from her lips and turned her head to the woods "Quiet Joxer!" she ordered to the still singing man. "Listen..."

"What?"

"Listen... that way..." she pointed towards the forest, in the direction she thought she'd heard a strange noise... And there it was again! It was definitely the sound of a battle, with swords clashing and...

"Yiyiyiyih!" Gabrielle heard.

"It's Xena!" Joxer concluded.

"C'mon!" the bard began to run in the direction of the battle, followed close by her companion. She hoped that Xena was alright... But knowing her friend, why wouldn't she be?

**********

The group of thugs, now reduced to nineteen and two disabled men, had the Warrior Princess surrounded, but somehow, that didn't seem to bother her. She had a broad smile stamped on her bronzed face and appeared to be having the time of her life! And that scared them...

Gabrielle and Joxer got to the clearing in time to see the group of old men fleeing into the woods and Xena knocking one of the men out with an uppercut on his jaw, as strong as a horse kick.

"Hey, you!" Joxer called, drawing his sword and getting the thugs' attention "Prepare to meet death at the hands of Joxer, The Mighty! Joxer, The Magnificent! Bloody Joxer!"

'Great!' Xena thought 'Those two had to show up and spoil my fun. Uhm, well... Now that I need to worry about them, the best thing to do is get this over and done with, quickly.'

Two of the men left the circle around the Warrior Princess to go and take care of the Amazon one, and other two went for the armored idiot.

Seeing Gabrielle outnumbered two to one and forced to block the blades of two men with her fighting staff sent a frozen chill down the warrior's back. She had to get to her friend... Now! To the men's surprise, she put her custom made sword back in the scabbard at her back, and pulled a spear off the hands of her attackers, kicking him away from the fight with a foot on his stomach.

She sunk the spear on the ground, head first, and letting out her famous piercing battle cry once more, she jumped to the air, with both her hands on the shaft of the spear and began rotating around it, never touching the ground and kicking all the men around her, until they all laid unconscious in a circle on the ground. It was a useful move she'd learned with M'Lila, so long ago...

Gabrielle had managed to hold her ground and even cracked the head of one of the thugs she was fighting, but still he had returned to pester her. She was happy when Xena pulled away one of the men, allowing her to handle the second one. The Amazon Queen planted both her feet firmly on the ground, and hit the thug with her staff on the back of his knees, rotating her upper body to propel the blow. It worked. The man was caught by surprise and, bending both his legs, fell to the ground on his knees, grunting in pain as a sharp stone punctured through his leather breeches and his flesh. "You little Amazon harlot!" he spat out in rage "I'm gonna... Uh!"

His speech was cut as the bard swung the staff around and brought it to the back of the man's head, knocking him unconscious. By this time, Xena had kicked the butt of her opponent, and the thugs who had been regaining consciousness began to run to the woods, carrying the ones who were still in dreamland.

As both women saw one another alright, they turned to check on Joxer. Surprisingly, he'd manage to overpower the two men who had attacked him and got them on the run.

"Impressive..." Xena commented to the shorter woman on her side, as they both walked to meet their traveling companion.

"Way to go, Joxer!" Gabrielle complimented, patting him on the shoulder "You really showed them who's the Mighty, uhm?"

'Great, encourage him...' the Warrior Princess thought to herself, as she walked around the warrior wanna-be, to stand in front of him. "What's wrong?" she asked him, when she saw a certain paleness on his face and a small hint of pain in his expression. Quickly, she ran her eyes over him to find the source of his problem... And found it, when she saw the blood stain on the left side of his chest.

"What is it?" the blond bard asked, showing a little concern in her tone.

"You're worried about me?" the idiot asked, momentarily forgetting his pain, as Xena assisted him as he sat on the ground "You're so sweet..."

"Knock it off, Joxer, or else..." Gabrielle threatened, showing him the end of her staff.

'Gods, don't let it be serious...' Xena silently prayed, as she seemed, so far, to be the only one to be truly concerned about Joxer's wound. She slipped two long fingers in her mouth and let out a whistled command that called Argo to her side. Gently, slowly, she removed the layers of Joxer's peculiar armor. "Get the bandages and water, Gabrielle." She asked her friend.

As the Amazon took the water bag and the pouch where Xena kept her medical supplies off Argo's back, the warrior carefully removed her patient's shirt. It wasn't a serious wound, only a skin-deep cut, she realized, sighing in relief. She really wasn't looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks nursing and waiting on Joxer... And the truth was, she liked the guy. She wanted no harm to come to him.

'Now look at that...' he thought 'Even the mighty Warrior Princess can't stop herself from sighing at the sight of this magnificent torso...'

With Gabrielle's help, Xena cleaned and bandaged Joxer's wound, and helped him to put back on his shirt and armor.

"You know, Joxer..." Gabrielle said "You really should find yourself a nice inn and rest for a few days..."

'Oh, please, make him say yes! Please...' Xena thought.

"Nah! It takes more than a small cut to get Joxer The Mighty out of action!"

'Damn! I've got find a way to get rid of him... Now! Or else I'm the one who's gonna give him a mortal wound.' Xena turned around to get the idiot out of her sight, while she got her murderous instincts back under control. And the view of the two roads that crossed at the temple, gave her an idea...

"You know, Joxer..." she started with a disguised evil grin that Gabrielle still managed to catch "before getting to Athens, Gabrielle and I still want to go to a place near the Amazon land, to check if someone that nearly managed to waste Callisto is still well trapped..." she lied.

A squeeze from Xena's hand on her own stopped Gabrielle from speaking against that idea.

Joxer's expression changed, as it was clouded by fear. The mention of that name still made him tremble, although he knew she was dead "Cal... Cal... Callisto..." he mumbled.

"Yes..." the Warrior Princess went on "Yeah, she fought with Velasca, Goddess of Chaos..."

"Chaos..." he repeated the word with a trembling voice.

"Of course, you could take the other road, the one that goes to the hills..." Gabrielle added.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, not wanting to seem a coward in the eyes of the two women.

"I heard that Meg is there... And she'd be very happy to see you, and if you chose her company to recover..." the taller woman said, praying to every deity in the Universe to make him go.

"You think?... I wouldn't want to bother her..."

"Oh, yes..." the bard picked up where Xena had left off "Meg adores you. She'd be so happy to see you... And Xena and I can check on Velasca by ourselves..."

"I'd like to see her too..." he said, as he thought of the beautiful tramp who couldn't keep her hands off him "I guess you two will just have to do without my company for a while..." he got to his feet with Xena's help and began to walk along the largest road. "Bye Xena! Bye Gabby!" he said, before he turned his back and went on his way, singing his song to anyone who would hear it.

"You're a genius!" Gabrielle said, turning to her smiling friend "How did you think of that?"

"Well, I don't know... I just know that if he didn't go out of my sight soon, I'd waste him. And you wouldn't like that, would you?" she asked, running her long fingers caressing her friend's silky light hair.

"Oh, I don't know..." the young Amazon playfully replied "Give it a few more days and I'd be begging you to do it..." she finished, giggling.

"Naughty bard... aren't you?" Xena said, climbing on the golden mare's saddle and stretching out her arm to help her friend up.

"I'd rather walk, thanks..." Gabrielle said, refusing the warrior's offer. "This is Artemis' temple, isn't it?" she asked, admiring the small rock building and statue of a huntress that adorned its entrance.

"Yup." Was Xena's reply "Your Goddess."

"My Goddess? What do you mean by that?" she asked, placing her free hand on her hip "Just because she's a protector of Amazon Women, doesn't mean that she's my Goddess, right?"

"Right, sorry..."

"I mean, it's not like I've ever seen her or talked to her, right?"

"You're right Gabrielle. I'm sorry." Xena apologized.

"And Gods are nothing but trouble. You taught me that, remember? I remember. And each time you talk to a God we get in trouble, right?"

"I said I was sorry..."

But Gabrielle had already gotten in her bard mode "Remember when Hades showed up on his chariot and asked you to save Celesta?..."

**********

It had been a quiet evening... They'd made camp near a singing stream, ate a more than satisfying dinner with lithe muffins as a sweet dessert, and were now enjoying the warmth of the fire before they laid down for the night...

As Xena mended a piece of leather armor with a needle and thread. Gabrielle sat near the fire, unrolled a brand new scroll and picked up her quill, tickling her own chin with it's feathered end as she thought of what she was going to put down on the parchment...

"Are you going to write about what's been happening to us the last couple of weeks?" Xena asked.

"No... I don't think so... I think I'd like to write something different... Definitely not about Joxer..."

"Why don't you write about Hercules? Of one of the adventures Iolaus told you about, last time we were with them..." the raven haired woman suggested "You know, they're probably gonna be in Athens too..."

"Yes, that's right... Hercules knows Keifor's parents, doesn't he?"

"Yes. He met them even before he and I met..."

"Uhm... Before you and him met..." the bard whispered... Than she looked at her friend "What happened before you two met?"

"You're asking me?" Xena replied, cutting the thread she'd been sowing with between her teeth "Ask Hercules, when we see him... Or Iolaus, since he likes to hear himself talking, as the big guy says..."

"No, that's not what I mean." The smaller woman sat up straight "I mean what happened to you, what did you do, who did you meet..."

"Gabrielle!"

"I mean it, Xena, I'd like to know... That's what I'd like to write about... And tell me the long version, please." She added, knowing the way that her friend had of making a long story short.

"You know what happened." Xena answered in a tone that didn't hide her discomfort "I left home... I raided villages... I..."

"Tell me what happened just before you met Hercules... About a year before, or something..."

"One year..." the warrior nearly whispered "It's still a long time... A lot can happen in a year... It's a long story... And not a pretty one..."

"There's a lot of time for you to tell it to me, before we get to Athens, isn't there?" Gabrielle replied with a smile.

PART 1

Chapter 1

The warrior sat by the tent fire and slowly begun working the blade of her favorite sword with the small sharpening stone. With the left hand holding the hilt tightly, she kept the point on the ground while her right hand worked down the cutting edge. It wasn't a big sword, but she liked it that way. Something heavier would become more difficult for her to handle so easily... And besides, it's size fitted perfectly with her acrobatic style of combat. 'A small blade can kill just as good as a large one...'

The Warrior Princess enjoyed that shrieking abrasive sound of the stone on the metal. Most people found it aggressive to the ears, but she found it quite relaxing. It helped her to concentrate and think. She had a lot on her mind...

The winter was just roughly past half way and her army was facing serious supplies problems. With the news of her ever increasing power running across the lands, everyday someone else would come to join in, being hardened trained soldiers looking for profit and glory, or simple village young men who wanted more than a small life as farmers. But mostly they were unscrupulous thieves, murderers and bloodthirsty cutthroats. She attracted them like a magnet... It had been so for years now, it hadn't changed.

And being so, there simply weren't enough food or weapons to go around for much longer, and with the river still flooding, they were stuck in that valley for at least a couple of weeks more, and that was if no more diluvial rains came along... She sure hoped Poseidon improved his mood soon...

To keep the moral of the troops, everyday she forced herself and her men to practice the arts of war for hours and hours, making sure that her army would continue being the best ever to roam through the land. But she knew that some of the men were discontent. Some of the older and greedier men. They were starting to have doubts about serving under a woman...again! Anyway, she hadn't been very motivated lately, not like she used to be, and the men had noticed that. She wasn't quite sure why, but war just hadn't been very satisfying lately. Her whole life was just... empty. But no matter that now... Her two lieutenants, both the horsemen commander and the foot-soldiers commander might pose as a threat to her position, and while they were trapped between Menearis' larger army and the river, there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it! There weren't many victories she could achieve to prove herself to her men all over again...

She just hoped that the attack to the supplies caravan had gone well...

**********

Thrallin got up on his brown mare and took the point position. The dark skin man looked over his shoulder, only to see that everything was ready for their departure. He raised his right arm straight in the damp air and, after a shot pause, lowered it, commanding the small group to advance.

The ambush to the supplies caravan had been a success and Thrallin knew that the Warrior Princess would be pleased. The small group of men he was commanding had easily defeated the soldiers that guarded the caravan and had suffered only one serious blow. On the other hand, they took over a large load of dry meat, wine and grain, and also a load of weapons destined to the Warlord Menearis. That had been a pleasant surprise!

Gently, Thrallin guided his mare to the end of the group to check if the prisoners were properly secured. He wouldn't want them to get away... He was satisfied seeing that the two men had their hands tied and were at the ends of ropes that the riders of the purple banner held tightly.

'Yes..', he thought 'Xena will be pleased with the day's catch...' . He rode back to take the lead of the ambush force. "Nazir!" he called to one of the riders, "You go on ahead and advise the sentries of our coming... And don't forget to warn the Princess too!".

The bald horseman kicked his horse's flanks and galloped ahead through the muddy ground to comply with his orders, pleased that he'd be the one to carry the good news to the beautiful Warrior Princess. He liked Xena...

**********

Nazir warned the advanced sentries of the main camp as he passed them by, as he'd been ordered to, and then rode to the central tent, that although it wasn't the largest, was the one that gave home to the leader of the army.

"Princess!", the armored man called, standing outside the heavy curtain that served as the tent's door. Strong footsteps were immediately heard, and as the canvas pane was moved aside, the cavalry soldier knelt at the feet of the warrior woman who walked out. It was an unrequired behavior, but he liked to please the Princess. He found her to be quite an extraordinary person...

Xena was wearing her usual armor with the brown leather bodice with a bronze spider-web over it, serving as a cuirass, and the very short leather braids skirt. The man noticed she didn't have her epaulettes or cloak on, and still showed no sign of being even mildly affected by the cold winter breeze. "What is it, Nazir?", she asked, looking down on him.

The man got to his feet, wiping the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand, and moved his eyes from her warrior boots to her clear piercing blue eyes, having to look slightly up, since she was a palm's length taller than him. "The ambush has succeeded, my Princess.", he informed. "Thrallin will be arriving soon with the food supplies and also weapons..."

This last part caught her attention "Weapons, you say?", she asked, rising an eyebrow, in an expression that those who rode with her had come to know very well...

"Yes, my Princess.", he confirmed, nodding "In addition to enough food to probably get us through the next couple of weeks of this cursed winter, we also captured a load of iron headed arrows, some bows and Spartan javels... It was quite a catch!"

"Oh, goody!", she said, flipping her long hair back with a slow enticing movement. "Any casualties on our side?"

"Wounded, only... Unfortunately, I'm afraid one of the men was badly hurt, and quite frankly, I don't think he'll make it...". Nazir momentarily lowered his shiny bald head and faced the ground, thinking of times long gone, passed with the man that was probably living his last day. Poole was a friend and he'd miss him if he were to be touched by Celesta's cold hand... "Besides that, nothing serious...", he added.

"Excellent!" was the Warrior Princess' reaction. "I thought our losses might be greater than that... Make arrangements so that the food and weapons are taken care of as soon as they get here, will you?", she spinned on her heels and moved the heavy dark canvas curtain aside, to make her way back into the tent.

"Princess, there's one more thing..." the soldier said, stopping himself before making the mistake of touching the woman on the shoulder to halt her.

Xena turned again, to face the shorter man "Yes, what is it?"

"We've also captured two prisoners. Thrallin is bringing them in.". He was pleased when he saw the satisfaction reflected in his Princess' bright blue eyes and that evil grin dancing on her rose lips.

"Call me when they arrive...", she ordered in a dangerous purr. "Now we can find out what that snake Menearis is up to..."

Xena turned and walked back into the tent. She was pleased with the coming of prisoners. The news of Menearis' army being on the move around the village of Argrean had her disturbed. She couldn't figure out what interest could he have in such a small village like that. Besides, his army was at present time larger than hers, since she had many men at sea, disrupting the plans of Caesar, Julius Caesar... It would be two months or so until she regrouped all of her warriors, and until then, she'd be outnumbered.

In spite of the growing power of this ambitious woman, she knew that she was probably no match for that old warlord Menearis at the moment, and she didn't like to have him moving so close to her. Soon enough she'd know what he was up to... And knowledge was power. A power she always made sure she had…

She picked up her herbs pouch and a bundle of boiled bandages, and went off to meet the arriving group. She couldn't care less about the well being of most of her men, but she knew that an army of disabled soldiers wouldn't do her any good. No, if she wanted to be the conqueror and the most feared warrior of the entire known and unknown world, she'd have to have the best men in battle. So, she often kept to herself the task of tending to the seriously wounded, since she was quite an accomplished healer... The hands of a Goddess, they would say... Better than Aesclepius herself.

**********

Thrallin greeted his Princess, hitting his metal cuirass with a closed fist. "Mission accomplished." He declared, as she returned the greeting.

"I know. Nazir has already brought me the good news." The woman with the raven hair said "Good job, Thrallin!" she had never liked her cavalry commander much... He paid too much attention to her rear end for her liking, but still, she had to admit that he was an exceptional soldier... "And the seriously wounded man?", she inquired.

"Poole died on the way, Princess.", he said, as he begun walking to the place where he'd left the small group of men and the loaded carts. He motioned her to follow, and she did. "I already told Nazir to make the arrangements...", he went on. "The other wounded are nothing to worry about, but if you'd like to see them anyway...", he said, noticing the rolls of bandages in her hands.

Xena looked at the recently arrived ambush group and saw that her men were already being tended to, and only one waited his turn, with blood dripping down his left hand. As long as she was there, the Warrior Princess thought, she might as well make herself useful. "Come here!", she called.

Damon obeyed and when he saw her preparing the bandages and a fresh water basin, he thanked all the Gods in Olympus for his good fortune.

He let her remove his torn leather gauntlet and gently wash the blood off his cut, while the mere touch of her hands made the hair on the back of his neck rise with the arousement she provoked on him. She never faced him, her attention turned to the wound as she knelt next to the bench where he sat. This gave him a chance to simply watch her, to watch every perfect line of her face, her piercing blue eyes and the tiny frown lines on her forehead as she concentrated in healing him.

She was the real reason why he'd joined this army. The Warrior Princess... He'd seen her once in the hills that surrounded his home village, fighting the warlord Pellinares... The most beautiful and fiercest woman he'd ever seen. She had grown to be a legend, the Destroyer of Nations, and he had to meet her and...inevitably, fall on love with the legend... He just watched and enjoyed the gentle touch of her long fingers as she held the bandage roll turned to herself, taking the end of it in her left hand and holding the roll in the right... She slowly rolled it around his forearm, beginning just above the wrist and finishing just below the elbow. She checked if it wasn't too tight, and then tied the ends.

Unfortunately for Damon her task was finished, and she just got up, turned and walked away, never saying a word, never looking back. He kept his eyes on her back until she disappeared behind the weapons loaded cart.

His beautiful Warrior Princess...

**********

Xena solemnly performed the funeral dirge in front of the burning pyre that consumed Poole's corpse, as the ancient warrior ritual she'd grown accustomed to required. As they had no way to give their dead a proper grave, she had decided long ago to use the Celtic funeral pyre and use fire to free the souls of the dead and guide them to the other side.

It wasn't always that she'd lend her voice to the ceremony of the departure of the dead, but right now she felt it would be to her advantage to do so. Xena knew she'd pretty much neglected her men lately, as she wallowed in her own empty loneliness... The singing would give them the impression that she was back to being her old self, and that she cared if they lived or died.

With this obligation out of the way, she headed for the tall old oak tree, at the North edge of the camp. There, the two prisoners were hanging by a rope around their waist, with their wrists tied together, stripped to their pants and freezing under the cold winter night mist that covered the land like a white silky shroud.

The two men were shivering, but not from the cold. They'd already heard stories about this wicked black haired woman who approached them, now in her full armor and cloak. She was evil incarnated, she could fly and spit fireballs and drank blood for breakfast... Or so they heard and believed...

Xena drew her sword and swung it over one of the prisoners' head, cutting the rope that secured him, making him curse as he hit the hard ground beneath him. She placed the sword back in the scabbard and, using all the strength in her well-muscled arms, lifted the man off the ground and pushed him hard against the old oak tree.

The man wanted to look menacing to the beautiful woman before him, but all his eyes showed was plain fear, as he struggled to release his tied wrists.

With a swift movement, Xena raised her hands to the scared prisoner's neck, and with her long fingers pinched a specific pressure point, executing what was known as the Xena touch. "I've just cut off the flow of blood to your brain..." she purred, as the pain started to show on the man's scarred face. "You'll be dead within seconds, or...we can talk. So, what will it be?"

The prisoner didn't want to comply with her wishes and betray his Lord, but his survival instinct was far greater than his loyalty...Stunned by the increasing pain and grasping for breath, he found it hard to form the words "We'll...talk..."

"Good!" the woman hissed between her teeth, restoring the blood flow with another precise pinch on his neck. "You're not as stupid as you look...Bring him!", she ordered to one of her guards, who immediately obeyed, dragging the prisoner who had not yet regained the sensations on his body.

**********

That night, Xena reflected on the information she'd gotten from the smelly prisoner. In the privacy of her quarters, she got out of her grim armor and put on the short unsleeved scarlet dress she liked to wear, when she didn't need to be ready for battle. Than, she lied on her narrow bed and covered herself with a blue warm wool blanket, taking what comfort she could out of its natural softness. She knew that she probably wasn't going to get much sleep, as usual, but there was no point in staying out in cold. Besides, the false sense of security and the gentle caresses given by the wool reminded her a little of home...

The prisoner had told her that Menearis had moved his entire force to the area of Argrean because he'd heard that the village possessed a large amount of gold and valuable artifacts, inherited from the former ruling King or something, when all the villages of the area became democratic. A royal treasure, you might say... Xena knew that any army could use such an amount of gold to increase it's power with better weapons, horses, and even to attract more men...

But what the old warlord wanted in particular, or so the prisoner had said, was a little gold hourglass that was a part of Argrean's treasure. It was said that whoever held that hourglass while it was turned would be invisible, for as long as it took the golden grains to fall. A useful toy...A toy worth fighting for. If it worked, that was... Xena didn't have much faith in magical thingies...

Anyway, the old warlord's army had decided to attack. However, Menearis' large number of men had easily been spotted at a distance by the peasants of Argrean, who locked themselves behind the village's stonewalls. With fresh water springs and food supplies, even a small group of untrained men could hold off an army indefinitely... Xena knew that. And even so, Menearis hadn't given up, he wanted that treasure... But Xena too could use such a treasure... A successful raid to a village, with a reward as big as Mount Olympus, would put an end to the doubts some of the men were having about her leadership and erase any chance that Thrallin or Zoran had of taking her place. 'That treasure will be mine!'.

**********

Lying on her bed, with her eyes set on the gray canvas ceiling of her tent, she thought up a strategy to get to the treasure before the other warlord did.

With Menearis' men all over the place, and with the villagers barricaded behind the walls she couldn't just advance with all the men she had available. No, she'd have to be a little subtler than that... Xena figured that a much smaller force could probably cross Menearis' lines undetected. She believed that she herself could easily climb the village's walls unseen, open the small side door the prisoner had mentioned and allow her small contingent of men to enter Argrean. All she had to do was reach the walls under the cover of the moonlight... Inexperienced in the arts of war, the peasants would probably have fewer guards at night, so she and her men could do everything quietly... Maybe...

Then, they'd still have to cross Menearis' camps again, with the load of gold. Judging from the prisoners' words, the amount of riches must be enormous, but she couldn't afford to be greedy... They'd bring only what the small group could carry. But they were all very strong... She'd bet that she alone could carry a fortune! And if the hour-glass worked... Invisible men could easily cross Menearis' camps and the village walls and carry the rest of the treasure...

With her mind working out the small details and solving all the jinx of her plan, the Warrior Princess slowly fell to the arms of Morpheus...

Not the gentle sweet sleep that a woman could have, not the peaceful dreams of her happy childhood. Xena's sleep was, as always haunted with the faces and ghosts of those who had died under her sword, the death of her beloved brother, the bloodshed she'd witnessed and committed... The expression of a blond young girl while her family burned to death in their own home... The sight of a man's slit throat... Termin, her first kill... The merciless warrior she was now, forever overpowering the soul of the happy little girl from Thrace she had once been... And, as always, the vision of a dark warrior who held the rein of her destiny... The face of her mentor, Ares, who always made himself present in her dreams...

Just before dawn. The Warrior Princess awoke from her troubled sleep... Her body was damp with sweat and the soft wool blanket laid on the ground, beside the bed, where she'd thrown it as she fought the demons in her nightmares.

She got up, slipped out of her small scarlet dress and bathed herself with the help of a sea sponge, using the fresh water in the small gold basin she'd stolen that summer, from a king whose name had already slipped her mind.

After cleaning herself dry, Xena put on her full warrior armor and armed herself with her little arsenal... Her favorite iron sword in the scabbard on her back, the whip rolled up and hooked on her belt, a small breast dagger hidden in her bodice, one more dagger next to the whip... And, of course, the unusual round blade that had become her distinguishing mark, the chakram, attached at her hip.

She was quite an impressive figure, taller than most women and even many men, her shoulders made even broader by the hardened leather epaulettes, the raven hair falling freely on her back, almost reaching her waist, and the long dark cape waving behind her as she walked.

With the light of the sunrise dancing in her blue eyes, she left her camp tent to make all the necessary arrangements. She needed to choose the men that would accompany her on the little treasure hunt, and issue orders to the ones who stayed behind, on the main camp.

And one more thing... 'I still have the prisoners to hang and feed to the vultures...' and this was the first thing she took care of...

Chapter 2

All day long, the Warrior Princess studied maps, issued orders and made preparations to get her plan in motion, so, the next morning, Xena and her ten chosen left the main camp and began their two day journey to Argrean.

In charge of the army, she left Kahn, an old veteran and the man who usually led the small number of archers and on whom she laid her full trust. She was sure he'd do great job, as he always did. She preferred to include Thrallin and Zoran in the group of men who rode with her that day. Her two seconds no longer had her trust and she thought it was wise to keep a closer eye on them... They might try to overthrow her if the opportunity came up... Ares had told her on one occasion that enemies should be kept even closer than friends... It was good advice. Now she'd have to figure out a way to get rid of them... But it wasn't a concern to keep in mind at that moment.

The small group moved on horseback most of the day, having stopped only in the mid-afternoon to eat, drink and rest their mounts. They weren't making good time, just as expected, because they had to move very slowly to make sure they weren't spotted by any patrols belonging to Menearis...

During their brief stop, Xena and her two seconds studied the area map and chose the best path to follow, considering the drawing of the land and the known positions of Menearis' camps. It was a tricky job, but one they were accustomed to.

With the nightfall, the Warrior Princess ordered her men to make camp and settled on her bedroll, close to the warming fire.

Damon was appointed for the first shift of guard duty... And they were all very lucky that no threat was around them, for Damon was absorbed in watching his Princess and paid little attention to his duties. Her feline movements delighted him, the way she combed her long mane of black hair with her fingers... The way the firelight played with the color of her bright eyes... Whenever she was in sight, there was nothing in the world but her... His beautiful Warrior Princess...

**********

As usual, Xena hardly slept all night, haunted by her dark nightmares. Nevertheless, she stayed under the covers, listening to the night owls, and she didn't get up until dawn. She had to allow her body to get some rest, even if her mind knew none...

At her command, the well trained men broke camp and followed their Princess on their way to the small village, all with the gold fever burning in their veins...

Closer to Argrean, Xena and Thrallin walked up to a small hilltop to get a full first-hand view of the walled village and Menearis' camps around it. The two well-experienced warriors had no trouble in distinguishing the main camp and chose a final trail, so that they could avoid it. They had no interest in engaging battle with any of Menearis' troops. They wanted to do everything smoothly, according to the plan...

Satisfied with what they'd seen, the Warrior Princess and her lieutenant ran down the hill to rejoin the rest of the group.

And once again, Damon watched the one he was craving for, drinking the sight of Xena. 'And what a sight she is...' he thought, as he watched the woman running down the hill, with her leather skirt lifted by the wind and her raven hair gleaming under the smooth winter sunlight.

Reaching her gray stallion, Styx, Xena mounted up and let Thrallin pass on her orders. No matter what image she was passing to her warriors, her heart just wasn't very much into this right now... The emptiness inside of her was making a wound that was hurting so much... And she didn't know quite what to do to heal it. But she'd have to find out... She delegated the important task to the lieutenant, although her trust in him was running in short supply...

Her horsemen commander pulled out the map, unfolded it on the ground and called on the men "You men will take this path on the East and hide here, behind the tree line. Watch out to avoid Menearis' men, and if you do run into them, leave no survivors, got that?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Thrallin went on "Zoran, you'll bee in charge of the group. The Princess and I will go the other way, directly to the walls. Hopefully, the night's darkness will keep us undercover. Xena will then climb the wall and open the gate, as we talked about before. From you position you'll be able to see her signal when she reaches the top... You will then, quietly, join us. Understood?" he asked.

Once again, the soldiers replied in a choir "Yes, Sir!"

"Excellent! Good luck men!"

With the plan established, the small group divided in two, the Princess and Thrallin to one side and the rest of the men to the other, all making their way to the target village.

As they parted, Zoran and Thrallin exchanged a significant look that no one else caught. It lasted only an eye-blink, but it was enough...

**********

At dusk, Thrallin found himself alone with his Princess, sitting by a small fire, and waiting for the right moment to enter the village.

But Thrallin had more than the treasure of Argrean on his mind. He and Zoran had seen the perfect opportunity to take over Xena's command. Now he was alone with her in this woods, the rest of the men being on the other side of the village, with Zoran to make sure none of them drifted off in the Princess' direction... And there were even enemies around, so they could pin it on them, if something bad was to happen to the warrior woman...

"Should we wait much longer, Princess?" he asked, casually unsheding his dagger and pretending to polish it, while he paced back and forth behind his commander.

If she'd been her usual self, she would have realized by the tone of his voice that he was up to something... That he was representing danger to her. But she didn't. Or maybe she just chose to ignore it. Xena looked to the horizon and saw that the darkness of the night had almost completely swallowed the red afternoon sky. "Just a little longer..." she said, taking a drink from the water skin.

Seeing her momentarily distracted, Thrallin realized that the right moment had come... 'It's now or never!' With a rapid forward movement, he hit hard on the woman's head with the iron hilt of the dagger he'd been playing with, using all his experience as a warrior, to make sure she'd pass out immediately. He didn't want to have to face her in a fair fight...

An evil grin appeared on his face as he realized he'd been successful. "Your time has come, my little bitch!" he spat out at her "But I won't give you an easy death... No way! You stood between me and the command of this army for way too long to get away with it that easily..."

He inserted the dagger back in its shed and picked his sword from where it laid on the ground. He wanted her to die slowly and in pain... He kicked hard against her ribcage and long legs, making black and blue bruises start to form and shadow the beauty of her bronzed skin. Thrallin bent over and turned her unconscious body, laying her with the stomach down, so he didn't have to see her face. Something in her expression was bothering him, sending a cold shiver down his spine... more comfortable looking at her from the back, he aimed the sword at the place where her stomach was, and pushed the sharp iron blade through the dark cloak, then the leather, and finally, her flesh.

Then, the horsemen commander roughly removed the blade from her body and opened a gash on her right thigh. He waited a moment so that the blood would come out of her exposed wound abundantly and than used her warm life force to cover himself. According to the plan he and Zoran had come up with, it would have to look as if he had struggled to defend his Princess...

He wounded himself on the shoulder, making sure it was a clean, harmless cut, and then used the small dagger to make some cuts on the leathers of his armor and his brown mare's flesh, to look like they'd been in battle.

"Goodbye, Xena...I hope you have a slow and painful death... What can I say? I'll see you in Tartarus!" he mounted the injured mare and rode off to meet the awaiting men.

By the extinguishing fire, the Warrior Princess laid wounded, with her body wet with blood and cold rain drops that begun to fall down the dark nightly sky. But Thrallin had been careless... The blade that was supposed to have pierced her stomach had been diverted by the spider-web patterns over Xena's leather bodice, and with a good fortune possessed only by those who'd been touched by the Gods, no permanent damage was done to the Warrior Princess... The wound wasn't as bad as Thrallin had intended it to be, but still... The blood kept flowing out on to the hard ground and her heartbeat was slowing down...

**********

Before reaching the rest of Xena's men, Thrallin made sure that he was well covered with lots of the woman's blood, and threw himself off his mare, so that he could show some bruises and dirt. Not a pleasant thing to do, but nevertheless necessary. It had to look real...

He leaned on the saddle horn and put on a hurting face mask as he reached the small group. One of the soldiers spotted him and ran to his encounter. "Thrallin, what happened?" he asked in obvious concern, as he helped the man to get off his mount "Are you alright? Where's the Princess?"

He led the cavalry commander to their small hidden camp. Zoran was pleased to see that everything seemed to have gone as planned...

"I have some bad news..." Thrallin declared "Xena... she's dead."

"No!" Damon shouted out as he jumped to his feet "Where is she? We must go back for her! Now!"

Nazir got up and pulled the young warrior down from the piebald horse he was already mounting "Settle down, boy... Let's hear what the man has to say..."

Thrallin allowed a man to check his shoulder wound as he told his sad made up tale... "Xena and I were camped, waiting for the nightfall, when we were surprised by one of Menearis' patrols... I don't really know what happened... We didn't hear them coming, they just showed up out of nowhere! There must have been about thirty of them... You all know how our Princess could fight, but she was greatly outnumbered... I did what I could, but most of them went for her at once and... She's dead... I saw them cut off her head." Thrallin saw by the corner of his eye that Damon was on the verge of tears... He'd have to watch out for that one, or he might become a problem...

The cavalry commander continued his performance, telling how he'd retreated after seeing there was nothing more he could do for his dead Princess and how, looking back, he'd seen them quarter and burn the woman's body.

He was very convincing, and soon enough Zoran gave the order to return to the main camp. Once they were Xena's lieutenants, the men obeyed. It was to be seen which one of the two men would take the place as the new Lord of Xena's army...

**********

She opened her eyes but couldn't really focus on anything. Her whole body felt numb and her head was spinning like a wheel. The sounds were all very distant, almost dream-like... almost like an echo... She was in a dark place and her body was all wet... That she was sure of. But the vision... She thought she'd seen Styx next to her, but now he was gone. No, there he was again! And at the distance... It looked like a boatman...And that awful singing voice... Where was it coming from? No, there was Styx again... Was she standing or lying on the ground? She just couldn't say... But she was sure she'd seen the dark warrior who held the secrets of her Destiny, telling her it wasn't her time... To go back...

Chapter 3

The day had dawned without as much as a single a cloud in the wintry sky, so, as soon as their parents returned to the surrounded village's daily chores, the two kids sneaked into the old temple and got out through the narrow passage, known only to them. It was this little secret that brother and sister shared that allowed them to play outside the walls, on the western side of Argrean. With their parents busy most of the day, once their mother was the village's healer and their father had to stand in the walls' defense, they knew they would only be missed at meals. The rest of the day, all the children of Argrean were left pretty much by themselves...

As they always did, brother and sister ran along the water-sprinkled fields, laughing, playing catch and dreaming of adventures they would never truly live... But that winter day would prove to be different to them...

"Look!" Helena shouted, pointing with a slim finger at the magnificent gray stallion, grazing lazily, not far from where they stood.

Immediately, the two kids headed in the horse's direction, walking, not running as they'd wish to, because they didn't want to scare off the amazing animal.

"It must belong to a handsome Prince..." Helena said, daydreaming as she always did "And he's going to fall in love with me and take me away into his beautiful castle... and..."

"Fool!" Arin stepped in front of his sister "Can't you see that's a war horse?" he pointed at the animal, who now looked back at them with inquisitive bright eyes "It obviously belongs to a warrior, not a Prince! And if there was a Prince around, he'd never fall in love with you, 'cause you talk too much!"

"Idiot!" Helena shouted back at him, with tears approaching her eyes. She was a very emotional girl and her brother's remarks about her impossible dreams always made her cry.

But the last thing Arin wanted was to hurt his sister, he'd fix the damage he'd done "I'm sorry, Helena..." he said in a sweet tone "I was just joking... If there was a Prince around, I'm sure he'd marry you, since you're the most beautiful girl in all the Gods' world!" he saw his words had the desired effect, as a smile covered his lips. A little flattery always worked... "Come on... Let's see the horse."

The two kids continued to go for the stallion but were almost immediately stopped by Helena's finding and consequent frightened scream. "Gods! A dead woman!" she ran over to the place where the bloody warrior laid, face down, showing no signs of life.

Arin, as he was the strongest, turned Xena around and both kids knelt at her side. Helena bent over and pressed her ear against the woman's leather-clad chest, like her mother had taught her to do. The boy stood in silence, waiting...

At first the girl thought the woman was indeed dead, but then she heard the weak rhythmic beat that meant there was still life in that one. "She's alive!" she gladly informed "Come on, we've got to take her someplace warm and tend to her wounds, or she WILL die!"

Arin ran to the stallion, they'd need him to carry the tall woman...

But as he reached for the black leather rein to guide the horse back, the sound of thunder echoed and lightening tore down the sky, reducing a young oak tree to a black burnt stump. And scared by the rumbling sound, the gray animal cried out and furiously galloped away, before the boy could stop him.

"Zeus couldn't have found a worse time to have a mood swing... I guess we'll have to find another way to carry her..." he said to his sister.

**********

It took the two kids a long time to drag the woman to the small cave at the end of the secret passage. She was well muscled and very heavy... They pushed aside the layers of creeping plants that hid the entrance from strangers' eyes and pulled the unconscious woman in. Then, they left the Warrior Princess by the small fire Arin built in a hurry and ran home to fetch what they needed to tend to her wounds.

Together, the kids had decided that they wouldn't tell anyone about their amazing find. Their parents were always complaining about the rapid disappearance of the village's supplies, so probably they wouldn't want any stranger's mouth to feed... They figured if they told the adults, they wouldn't let them keep her... And other kids weren't to be trusted to keep their mouths shut!

With the kids gone, Xena was left alone and unconscious in the small cave. The warrior had begun to shiver and the cold that had kept her alive, by slowing the bleeding, now threatened to kill her, since her body was freezing at a dangerous rate...

Fortunately, it didn't take the young ones a long time to return to the cave... While Arin stirred up the warming fire and lit some candles for more light, Helena removed the woman's armor and carefully dressed her wounds. Then, the girl cleaned Xena's body as she'd seen her mother do quite often since the beginning of the siege. The two of them, then, moved her to the bed they'd fixed with a couple of sheepskins and blankets. They hoped that it would be enough to insure her survival...

Helena took a seat next to Xena's head, and gently wiped the sweat drops from the warrior's forehead. She'd grown a high fever all of the sudden...

"You think she'll make it?" Arin asked the older girl.

"I hope so..." she replied in a whisper "If her fever breaks and she doesn't get any infections, I think so... Otherwise..." she shook her head, telling her brother what would be their patient's fate.

For a while, Helena just watched Xena's still, pale face. She watched each perfect line of her features... "She's so beautiful, isn't she? She must be a Princess..."

"Idiot! She's no Princess." Arin objected "Look at the armor! And the sword and daggers... She's obviously a warrior..." he begun to clean the blood and dirt off Xena's belongings.

Helena was getting angry at her brother's constant remarks "You've got nothing in your silly head but war and warriors!"

"And you think of nothing but Princes and Princesses! She's obviously a warrior!" Arin nearly shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his sister.

"She's a Princess!"

"Warrior!"

"Princess!"

"We'll ask when she wakes up!" Arin said, sure that he was right.

"Alright..." Helena agreed, sure that she was right.

The two kids left Xena as comfortable and warm as possible and then walked up the secret passage that led to the temple of Aphrodite. They checked to see if no one was there to see them exit the passage and then crossed the temple, ignoring the vaults that contained the gold treasure, and went home.

They hoped the woman survived the night...

**********

When the moon ruled high over the sky, the warrior found herself being dragged in her feverish delirium again, stirring in her nightmares and mumbling names of friends and foes, all of them gone to Hades... As her body got drenched with her own sweat, her mind kept fighting away the enemies who had killed her loved ones, burned down her village... She always tried to stop them, but was always too late... She could never quite make it in time to save them all... To save Lyceus... To destroy all the men with the silver masks... And the anger in her heart grew bigger, and bigger, until it smothered everything else that lived in her soul. An anger the entire world had come to painfully know...

But as dawn approached, the fever broke and the nightmares left... Xena slept quietly, too tired to dream or to wake up...

**********

As they had planned, the kids got some food to take to the wounded warrior. Arin hid a couple of apples in his deep pockets and also some wheat bread. His sister fixed a bottle of goat's milk and took the last piece of salt pork, carefully keeping out of her mother's sight.

After both their parents were busy, the father defending the walls and the mother returning to her patients, the kids went to the temple and walked down the secret tunnel.

As they reached the small cave, Helena was pleased to see that the woman's fever was gone and that she lay peacefully under the warm blankets. She was going to live...

While Arin built a new fire over the one that had burned down during the night, his sister washed Xena's body with wet cloths. As she worked, Helena couldn't stop a lonely tear from rolling down her rounded cheek, as she watched the woman's bruised body. So much pain... "You think the mean soldiers outside the village did this to her?" she asked her brother.

"Probably..." Arin replied, as the girl got a fresh linen towel to dry Xena's body "No one from these parts would mistreat a woman like this, and there's no one else around..."

"I guess you're right..." Helena picked up some clean bandages and fresh water and returned to the woman's side. Gently, she changed the dressings on Xena's wounds and was pleased to see that the serious cut seemed to be healing well, with no infections developing... Amazing!

To finish the job, she tied the ends of the bandage around the woman's waist, to keep it in place. But she tied the knots a little too tight, inflicting a sharp pain that awoke the Warrior Princess.

Xena flung her eyes open, and the first thing she saw were a pair of large green eyes, looking back at her... She closed them again for a moment, to try to clear her mind and focus...

She slowly remembered what happened. It was all coming back to her... Thrallin... That disgusting son of a griffon, that bastard, that deceiving creep... If there was a kind of people the Warrior Princess could not stand, were traitors!

"Is she awake?" she heard a boy's voice asking.

Xena opened her eyes again, now slowly, to study her surroundings. She counted two young faces and no immediate threats. 'Goody', she thought, she wasn't feeling too well... and a fight was the last thing she needed right now...

Arin and Helena helped the warrior to sit up against a rock that they'd covered with a sheep's skin. "How are you feeling?" Helena asked, while her brother handed a mug of milk to the woman.

Xena was both thirsty and hungry, so the milk was more than welcome. She drank it all down and at the same time took a better look at her two young hosts. They looked remarkably alike... The same green eyes and long brown hair. She couldn't tell which one was the older of the two... She figured they should be about twelve, give or take a year or two...

After finishing her milk, Xena wiped the little white smudge over her upper lip with the back of her hand, and faced the two inquisitive faces.

"What's your name?" Arin asked, studying the woman's features.

The Warrior Princess made a point of never giving information before receiving some, so she preferred to ask instead of answering "What's YOUR name? And where am I?"

It was the girl who spoke "My name is Helena, and this is my brother Arin." She pointed at the boy "We're just outside Argrean... That's our village, you know..."

Xena accepted the wheat bread Arin handed her and started nibbling on it "Outside the village? I thought it was under siege..."

"You're not with Menearis, are you?" the boy asked, pulling his long hair away from his eyes and narrowing his brows together.

The warrior shook her head in denial.

"Then you can know." he went on "We come in and out through the secret passage." Arin said, pointing at the man-made tunnel, opposite to the cave's natural entrance. "It leads right through the siege and the village walls, straight to the temple of Aphrodite..."

'I've died and gone to the Elysian Fields!' the Warrior Princess thought, seeing the perfect way to get in and pillage the village "What does this Menearis want from you?" she asked, knowing the kids were eager to talk to her, and hoping to find more about the passage and the treasure.

"The stuff we keep in the temple..." Helena innocently answered.

"And why don't you just give it to him?"

It was Arin's turn to answer "Dad says we'll need it because this winter has been very hard. The crops were all destroyed and there'll be nothing to harvest next season..."

"Can you tell us your name now?" the girl asked.

The woman covered herself better with the warming blanket 'It's darn cold!' she thought "My name is Xena..."

"And you're a Princess, right?"

"Silly girl!" Arin said to his sister "I told you she's a warrior!"

"And you're both right. I'm the Warrior Princess."

**********

Soon after, the kids left to have lunch with their parents, and Xena took the time alone to put back on her bodice and skirt. The task proved to be harder than she'd anticipated, due to hardships her body had suffered the previous days. The bruises that covered her bronzed skin didn't bother her, neither did the gash on her right thigh, it was the cut near her stomach that had her concerned... She realized she'd have to stay there for at least one more day, to give her wound a chance to heal enough to stand the trip back to her camp. She was lucky to be such a fast healer, but still... And then she'd have to deal with that traitor Thrallin...

And in the afternoon the kids returned and kept the Warrior Princess entertained with small-talk about their village, not realizing that they were giving her all the details about the way to the treasure, the village's defensive organization and all they knew about the warlord Menearis...

**********

At dusk, the men reached the main camp and passed on the unbelievable news: the Warrior Princess was dead.

While some of them couldn't care less about her death and were only interested in knowing who would lead the army now, others, such as Damon and some other men in Xena's army were devastated and couldn't hold back the tears for the loss of the woman who had become a true force of Nature. Never had there been anyone like the Warrior Princess...

Zoran waited a few hours, for the news to settle in, and then walked in the command tent, where Thrallin was studying the maps, to find the best way out of there. He wanted to get as far from Xena's shadow as possible.

"You're sure she's dead?" Zoran asked, scratching his gray beard.

"By now, for sure! My blade ran her through the stomach. Slow and painful..." the cavalry commander replied, grinning as he imagined the suffering the woman must had gone through, before crossing to the other side.

"WHAT!?" Zoran panicked "You didn't make sure? What if she lives? She'll come and get you for sure! You know what she gets like when someone breaks her precious code... She turns into a maddened hydra! More than she usually already is, that is... Betrayal is certainly against her code! She'll come and get you!"

"Get US, Zoran! Get us... You're in this as much as I am!"

Zoran felt a cold chill crawl up his spine with the thought of having the Warrior Princess against him, even if she was dead... His mother had taught him to fear the dead... And this particular dead... "You mean you told her we planned this together?" he asked with a low voice.

"Well, of course, my friend." Thrallin lied, knowing that through fear he'd insure Zoran's loyalty.

**********

A while before dawn, in that hour when everything seemed to be dormant and still, Xena got up and walked to the small tunnel entrance, where she'd seen the kids disappear through, that same evening, when they left her to go to sleep.

Her wound wasn't bothering her too much right now, and she decided to scout her way to the treasure. She picked a small piece of firewood and wrapped one of the bandages Helena had left behind on one of the ends, and she set it on fire obtaining a small torch.

Slowly, the Warrior Princess entered the dark tunnel and began to walk through its full length. It was just as the kids had described it to her: spooky, long and narrow. The walls and ceiling made of solid stone blocks, decorated with strange paintings, and the ground covered with dry loose dirt, marked with the prints of small feet.

And not long after, she reached the end of the passage, a small opening behind a large statue of the love Goddess... Carefully, she entered the temple and searched the surroundings. Seeing that there was no one around, the woman finally allowed herself some relaxation.

Xena didn't even take a second to admire the beauty of the statue, the magnificent paintings on the wall or the amazing craftsmanship that had been necessary to create the brand new iron torches that lit up the place... Beauty could not distract her from her purpose. The Warrior Princess went straight for the large vaults, on the left corner of the temple.

She chose the central vault, the largest one... Because of her recent wound, she found it hard to lift the sculpted stone lid, but her efforts and pain were soon rewarded when the thing finally moved, with the sight of the treasure. Enough for a king's ransom that seemed to come to life under the flickering light of the torches...

And right there, on top of that pile of gold, was the little hourglass that she'd heard about, the one that was supposed to have magical powers… Xena picked it up and allowed the gold powder that filled it to pour completely into one of the sides. 'Nothing like testing it right now... Than I'll know if it works or not!' Then , taking a deep breath, she flipped over the time-measuring device and watched closely as the gold sand began to slip into the opposite side... But nothing happened. She was as visible as she'd always been... 'Just a lot of bullshit!' the Warrior Princess tried again, and again, but no luck. Another fake tale... Oh, well... It was still a pretty and valuable little thingie...

The tall woman returned the hour-glass to the vault and placed the stone lid back on it's original position and left the temple, taking the secret passage back to the small cave.

It would be easy, so easy...

**********

A dark veil seemed to have been laid over Xena's camp. The daily training routine she'd imposed on her men had somehow been forgotten and everything appeared to be done slowly and grimly. Even the powerful war-horses seemed to mourn their lost Princess and refused to eat their feedings or go grazing around camp by themselves. They just stared into the air, looking for something that wasn't there.

Thrallin and Zoran had anticipated this. They knew it would take a little while for her spirit to leave this army. They knew some of the warriors might leave in the next few days, those who only fought for the Warrior Princess... Those who were led by loyalty and not greed of fear, but they had no use for those people anyway... The sooner they left, the better!

At the present time, each one of the two traitors was busy planning a smart way to get rid of the other. Neither Thrallin nor Zoran had any intention of sharing the command.

Meanwhile, Damon was the first to make the decision to leave. In the late morning he saddled his piebald horse and packed some supplies. He didn't even bother to tell anyone he was going... He just couldn't believe she was gone... Without even realizing it, he took the path that led to the place where his Princess was supposed to have been killed, somehow drawn to it in a way he could not resist...

And he galloped away from that place as fast as he could. With Xena gone, there was absolutely nothing holding him to that army...

**********

Yet another day passed with Xena allowing the kids to tend to her wounds. She never told them she'd gone to see the treasure or that she planned to take it away. She believed that she could make it up to them, getting rid of Menearis. Believing the kids' tales about the siege and what she'd already seen on her way to Argrean, Menearis' army wasn't as good as she'd thought at first, and she was sure that her own army, although smaller right now, with many men at sea, could most likely defeat him.

It never occurred to her that without the treasure, even not having to worry about Menearis' siege, the village would be devastated by hunger... Xena had never given much thought to the consequences of her actions. She couldn't allow herself to, or it would destroy her inside out. She could not allow herself to face what she'd become.

**********

That night, Damon made camp late. Both him and his piebald mount were already exhausted by the time he decided to stop. After choosing a nice spot, he took the saddle off his horse and released the animal to graze.

As he was preparing to eat a small cold meal, the soldier's senses were alerted by the sound of someone approaching... Whoever it was, was coming slowly, but with no intentions to surprise him, since the steps were quite firm and loud.

Damon looked over his shoulder, to his horse, but strangely the animal didn't seem to react to the arriving presence. Maybe it was someone else coming from Xena's camp... Still, the soldier didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. He picked up his sword and sneaked between the trees, in the direction of the approaching sound.

As he got closer, Damon realized those weren't the steps of any person, but those of an animal, a horse to be more precise. He walked to the animal and immediately recognized him. It was Styx, Xena's gray stallion!

Gently, Damon took the animal's rein and walked him back to his small campsite. He removed the stallion's saddle and thoroughly checked him for wounds. 'Strange...' he thought, the animal seemed to completely unharmed, and yet... Damon remembered clearly that Thrallin's mare had some cuts made in battle, but this horse seemed just fine, with no signs of being in a fight... And whenever there was a fight, Xena would take Styx right to the middle of the battle and use him as quite an effective weapon...

He released Xena's horse to join his own mount and decided that the next day he'd go and check out the place where the Warrior Princess and Thrallin had camped, outside Argrean. He was beginning to doubt the cavalry commander's story and wanted to see the battle ground with his own eyes...

Chapter 4

The Warrior Princess got up with the sun. She ate a good meal left by the children the night before and put on her full warrior armor, silently thanking Helena for mending her clothes.

It was still very early when she left the small cave and began the long walking journey back to her main camp. She made sure to leave before the kids showed up, goodbyes were never very pleasant, and she didn't want the kids to see which way she was going, case they got some bright ideas about following her...

She tried to keep a slow but steady pace, so that her worse wound and bruises wouldn't bother her much, but still managed to make good time. Fortunately the sky had dawned clear and the air was announcing the coming of an early spring, with a soft warm breeze... This wasn't going to be as bad as she'd feared...

In spite of the apparent quietude of the day, she stayed alert at all times, listening to every sound and judging every scent, as a wild animal might... Xena knew she'd have to watch out for Menearis' patrols, because an encounter with them now might be fatal, since she was still debilitated... It would be bad enough that she'd have to challenge Thrallin as soon as she got to camp...

It was about mid-day when the Warrior Princess spotted two horses coming over a small hill ahead of her.

'Damn!' Chances were that they were Menearis' men, so she crouched behind a large mossy rock, making sure to pull her cloak close to her, so it wouldn't reveal her position, and watched closely. Only one of the animals had a rider, she noticed as they closed in, a warrior with long light hair, the other horse was... her own!

Xena rose to her full six-foot height, getting out of cover and whistled a command to the gray stallion, calling him to her.

Recognizing his mistress immediately, the stallion cried out, fought until he released himself from Damon's hold on his rein and galloped through the distance that separated him from the warrior woman.

More annoyed than truly angry, the soldier followed the stallion, not yet sure what in Hades' name had gotten over that crazy animal, until he too saw his Princess standing tall, alive, waiting for them.

"Good boy..." Xena said with a small smile, as she got hold of Styx's rein, and stroke his long dark crine, as a reward for his obedience.

Almost at the same time, Damon reached the woman and rushed off his piebald horse, almost falling on his behind "Are you alright, my Princess?" he asked, running his eyes up and down her tall figure, seeing the bad bruises, but relieved that they were nothing to worry much about "Thrallin said..."

"He lied!" she interrupted, facing him with flaming wild eyes "That stinking bastard tried to waste me! But failed..." she walked to her stallion's side and turned to face the soldier "You're Damon, right?"

It thrilled him that she even knew his name. "Yes, Princess!" he answered, unable to keep the silly smile away from his lips.

"Well, Damon... Help me up..." she ordered, placing one foot on the stirrup and both hands on the saddle horn.

The soldier seemed to not quite understand her request. His Princess never shown any trouble in climbing on to a horse's back before... "What did you say, Xena?" he asked, with a puzzled look.

"I said that bastard failed to kill me, not wound me..." and she placed her hand gently over her stomach, showing him the place where Thrallin's blade had gone through her flesh. "He left me with a little souvenir..." she said, tapping gently with her fingers.

Damon nearly panicked 'My beautiful Warrior Princess as been harmed?' he thought as his eyes grew wider and his face lost so much of it's natural color that the woman feared he might faint "Are you alright?"

Xena nodded and kept waiting for his help to get up on her gray stallion.

Unconsciously, Damon let out a sigh of relief, which Xena didn't miss. "Still... maybe we should stop to get some rest..." he said, as he finally helped her to mount up "We could camp here for a while, and eat..."

She could see that the soldier's preoccupation was genuine, but her answer was firm "No. Here we're too much out in the open." She said "Let's go as far as those trees" she pointed "There we'll have some cover. We can't forget that Menearis has men all over this place, can we?"

"I was forgetting..." he said, as he too got on horseback. "You're right, my Princess... As always..."

Xena couldn't tell if he meant it or if he was just sucking up to her. But it didn't matter anyway... He was a man loyal to her, and that was the important thing.

Together, the two warriors rode off, heading to the tree line, moving slowly at the pace she'd marked. As always, Xena took the lead over the soldier, but he didn't mind. It was the way it was supposed to be. The better of the two was in charge, and she was undoubtedly better than him, in every way...

Besides, having her riding ahead of him gave Damon the chance to watch her, as he always loved doing. To admire her perfect coordination with the powerful stallion, the way her hair moved in the breeze...

Xena could feel his eyes on her as she rode ahead, but it didn't bother her. She sensed there was no threat coming from that man. Those were not dangerous eyes, they were adoring eyes and she enjoyed it! The Warrior Princess loved to be admired both as a warrior and a woman. After all, she was beautiful and she knew it...

**********

Just before nightfall, Xena and Damon stopped in the place she'd chosen to make camp, a small clearing framed by large trees that hadn't lost their leaves during the winter. A cozy and well hidden place...

The Warrior Princess allowed her soldier to do all the necessary work. She was tired, cold and in pain, so she just sat on her blanket, rolled up in her cape, and watched as he tended to both their horses, built a small fire and cooked the hare they'd caught earlier that afternoon.

"Here you go..." Damon said as he handed his commander the best part of the meat. "I hope it's to your liking..."

The two warriors ate fast and in silence and soon the only sounds heard were the crisping of the burning wood of the small campfire and the subtle whistle of the cold night breeze.

Damon didn't want to break the silence, as usual he was delighted in just drinking the sight of his Princess, but he could see, although she tried to hide it, that she was not well... With the night, she seemed to have grown a little feverish and in spite of being close to the fire and well wrapped in her cape and blanket, she was still shivering under the cold of the moonless dark.

"Xena, why do you think Thrallin tried to kill you?" he asked, getting up from his place and sitting next to the woman "May I?" he asked, as he put his arm and blanket around her back "You'll be warmer like this..."

"Sure..." she usually didn't like people invading her own vital space unless she invited them, but that night she was willing to make an exception. The cold was really getting to her, and his warmth felt really good. "About you question..." she said "I'm sure that traitor did it so that he'll have a chance of getting ahead of my army. He wants the power... I've known that for a long time, but I didn't think that he'd go this far... Wasn't he taking charge of things when you left?"

"Yes. I mean, he and Zoran were... They seemed to be real pals in the last few days. They've been spending a lot of time together discussing stuff since you... since we thought you had... died..."

"Zoran..." the dark haired woman hissed between her clenched teeth "He's probably in on it too." She said, leaning her head against his chest and closing her eyes. She was just now realizing how tired she really was, and sleep was taking over her faster than she'd like to admit. "So, Damon... Why did you join my army?" she asked, not staying awake long enough to hear his answer...

"Because I love you... Sleep, my Princess..." he whispered, stroking her long silky hair, and holding her tight against his body, hoping to keep her nightmares away. Unfortunately, he failed.

**********

For two more days, the couple of warriors traveled towards Xena's main camp. It took them longer than it normally would because she didn't want to push her luck and go too fast. She was still hurt and didn't want to take any unnecessary chances. She knew that she'd probably have to battle Thrallin and maybe even Zoran too when they arrived at their destination.

During that shot time Xena learned to enjoy Damon's company and adulation, but never allowed him to get that close again. It was just too close... She liked his loyalty and adoration, but there were limits she had to impose... All her men should be like that. It would make things a lot easier for her... If they didn't kill each other fighting for her attentions that was!

On the third day of their journey, they didn't make camp at nightfall as they'd done before. Instead, Xena decided they should move on. Like this they were sure to reach camp late that same night...

**********

"Is everyone here?" Zoran asked as he ran his eyes over the crowd of warriors gathered around the bonfire.

"All but the sentries..." Thrallin replied "Just as we planned..."

"Good."

The two men climbed to the back of the cart to have a vantage point over the others and to make themselves heard across the murmuring rows of Xena's army. Earlier, they'd decided that Thrallin would do the talking because he was better with words and had a natural gift for lying...

"Alright, quiet! Listen up, people!" the cavalry commander shouted, clapping his hands together, to get everyone's attention. The talking in the ranks stopped as all eyes turned and focused on the dark skin man. "As you all know, the river has fallen back into its bed today, and the flooding is gone. This allows us to move on North, just as our Princess had planned. We'll move out tomorrow afternoon, so begin to break camp at first light."

A small whisper broke through the ranks as the warriors discussed if they should follow this man's orders, or even if the army should go on existing, now that the Princess was gone...

"Now I know that things won't be the same without Xena, but that's no reason to give up on our plans. This IS the best army in the entire known world and we are going to prove it! The Warrior Princess made us what we are today. We are her legacy! And her death is no reason to fail her now!" He knew that most of those people were loyal to Xena and admired her courage, even those who cared more about glory and profit than her rage against the world. The best way to get them to follow him would be to invoke her memory, and so he did. "Xena wouldn't want us to give up. Our Princess never gave up! She never heeled!" he raised a wine goblet high over his head "To Xena, Warrior Princess!"

Zoran was impressed with Thrallin's performance. Everyone seemed to have been conquered by his words and was willing to follow him... He didn't know if that was a good thing, since HE wanted the leading position for himself...

"To Xena!" Thrallin repeated the toast, now in choir with all the warriors, once again raising his goblet in the air.

**********

Xena and Damon, on their way to the camp, ran into one of the sentries, but she told the man to stay quiet and he obeyed, although he wasn't completely convinced that he wasn't taking orders from a ghost...

Xena wanted to sneak into camp, to see what had been going on in her absence.

And she got there just in time to listen to Thrallin's little speech. She watched him and Zoran use the weight of her name and memory to get the men to follow them, and saw that it worked. A perfect plan. Or almost...

As Thrallin raised his goblet to her for the second time, the Warrior Princess reached for the round weapon at her hip and threw it through the air. It was time to make her entrance.

The cavalry commander heard the familiar sharp whistling sound but had no time to react before the chakram cut his goblet in half and curved in the air to return to it's mistress' hand.

Everyone's eyes followed the glitter of the gold and silver deadly ring through the air, until they all rested in the sight of Xena.

Like a living banshee, she stood tall next to the gray stallion, capturing every particle of the fire light in her blue eyes. She stood very still for a moment, allowing everyone to get a good look at her, allowing all to see that she was there in the flesh and not in some lifeless ghostly apparition. Then, she released Styx's rein, walked over to the cart and climbed on, hiding the pain it caused her as she did so.

"Congratulations, Thrallin..." she purred, pinning the two traitors down, only with her menacing look. "It was quite a speech..." she moved eyes through the small astonished crowd and than back to the traitors. "Is it now that you'll tell everyone how you ran me through from the back, with your own sword... and left me for dead? Or maybe you were planning to leave that small detail out..."

The silent warriors that waited for an explanation suddenly turned into a maddened mob, demanding the traitors' blood and they would have lynched them right there and then, if Xena hadn't interfered...

"Stop!" she ordered "We do this the right way. We are warriors, not barbarians!" She allowed her men to cease the traitors and climbed down from the cart, moving closer to the blazing fire. "Thrallin... Zoran..." she said, looking each man in the eye "You know your options. As you were part of my people you have the choice between facing the gauntlet or me. So, what will it be?"

It was a huge decision for each of those two men... But one they would have to make, or their fate might be even worse. There was no way that the rest of the army would allow them to just leave... They wanted justice, warrior justice. And maybe more than that, they wanted revenge. They wanted blood. There was no shadow of a doubt in their eyes: they believed the Warrior Princess, so denying her accusations was not an option. They'd do whatever she decided. The gauntlet or her sword... No one had ever survived the punishment of Xena's army and then again, the odds in a fair fight against her were just about the same...

Zoran was the first to speak. "I choose the gauntlet. It's the only way for a warrior to leave an army..." he said, hiding the real reason of his choice... He was a well built strong man, and he figured he'd have a better chance of living through the gauntlet than if he fought against that woman... Xena scared him so much he felt his bones rattle each time her eyes met his... Definitely, he'd rather face the punishment of the ranks...

"Very well." The Warrior Princess said. Then she turned to face Thrallin "What about you?"

Thrallin had given it some thought. There was no way he could survive the gauntlet, not judging by the looks on the men's faces... And even if a miracle occurred and he did survive, there would be nothing left for him but leaving with his tail between his legs... Now with Xena... He knew that the Warrior Princess had been badly wounded, he'd inflicted the injury himself. And if he defeated her in a fair duel he'd probably gain some respect back from the men... And it wasn't unusual for the winner of such combats to take over the command of the loser's army... "I'd rather face you, precious..."

Xena didn't like to be addressed in such a manner, but decided not to make an issue of it right now. They were going to meet in duel anyway... "So be it! Who'll go first?"

Thrallin drew his sword and faced her. "Give me the honor..."

Xena's men gathered around the fire, forming a wide circle in which the duel to the death would take place. Two soldiers took firm hold of Zoran, case he got some bright ideas about leaving in the heat of the battle... He still had to meet his destiny that same night...

Xena called for Damon, handed him her long cape and then motioned him to join the rest of the watching crowd. She would have preferred to do this in the morning, so that she could have what was left of the night to get some much needed rest, but such a suggestion would be taken as a sign of weakness, and she couldn't afford to expose herself that way right now. She'd have to swallow the pain and fight!

The Warrior Princess too drew her sword and posed herself a few feet apart from Thrallin, fiercely looking him in the eye. "Shall we begin?"

The man didn't bother to take the time to answer, hoping to catch her off guard and stroked straight forward. Xena too went for him, shouting her war cry... The clashing of the metal swords echoed through the night as the two warriors met by the bonfire. For what it seemed an eternal moment they just looked each other in the eyes, with the blades crossed between them, studying, evaluating each other...

"You really think you can beat me?" she teased him "I don't think so..." she took in a deep breath and gathering her strength she pushed him back, surprising him with her physical power. Xena saw the amazement on his face and decided to take her teasing even further... She liked to play with her opponents. The Warrior Princess had always loved a good fight, and allowed the feeling to show in the form of a broad bright smile on her beautiful face. It was as if she was the cat playing with the mouse, having her fun before she finally went for the kill... "Now isn't this fun?" she said, flipping the sword in her hand, showing off to all those who watched.

By this time, Thrallin was already getting really nervous, which was exactly what the woman wanted. She knew that if she could break his concentration, he'd get careless and mess up.

The man took a step back for balance, and then stroke at her left shoulder, as hard as he could, but instead of slicing her, his blade met her sword and immediately after her right boot hit his stomach with such a power that he was pushed back quite a few feet...

But already Xena was beginning to feel a little touch of pain in the area where days before the same man she was now fighting had wounded her with his sword and decided not to make her fun last much longer... She wanted to get it over with soon, so she could get some rest.

Once again, the man came at her, for he too had decided to win this thing fast, but when his sword reached the place where it should have met with Xena's heart, she was gone. The Princess somersaulted over the traitor's head at the last moment, hitting the ground on her feet and right behind him. She was planning to use the element of surprise and the fact that she'd landed behind him to put and end to the fight... But the flipping through the air hadn't been such a hot idea. Her wound wasn't completely healed yet and as she touched the ground, she was struck by a sharp pain that stopped her from acting immediately, as she'd planned to do.

Thrallin turned and faced the warrior woman. He raised his long blade and struck down at her waist, attempting to wound her there, where her pain was concentrated.

Xena anticipated his intentions and swiftly moved aside, but not quite fast enough. As it went down, his weapon missed her waist but still managed to touch her right above the knee... A very small cut, a practically painless cut, but still a cut that managed to draw a tiny stream of the woman's blood.

Now she was angry. Angry with him for bleeding her and furious at herself for letting him.

She held on tight to her iron sword with both hands and again releasing her fierce battle cry, that she knew would scare him, she went for him in pure rage, striking to the left, and then to the right , and left and right...

Thrallin kept blocking her blows, but he wasn't managing to stand his ground... He was backing down under her furious strikes, and was finding it very hard to keep up with her speed and power. It would be just a matter of time before he made a mistake. And it wasn't a long time...

Thrallin failed to meet her sword with his as she stroke to the left of his neck and her shining blade was immediately rewarded with red stains of blood as it severed his jugular. It was a quick death.

Xena took in a deep breath and then looked around at the silent circle of men, all watching. "Someone get rid of his stinking carcass!" she ordered.

The circle was quickly dissolved as some soldiers took Thrallin's corpse and others prepared for Zoran's punishment.

Damon walked over to Xena's side and with a sweet gentleness wrapped her in her cape "A great fight, my Princess. You are truly magnificent..." he said looking into her bright blue eyes with total adoration.

"Thanks..." she handed him her bloody sword "Take this to my tent, will you?" she asked, meaning to get him away from the place where Zoran would meet his death, to protect him from witnessing such a violent event.

"Yes, Xena." He took the weapon from her hand and like a well-trained puppy dog rushed to comply with her request.

"They should all be like this..." she said to no one but herself, as she wondered why she'd cared to shield him from the upcoming ritual...

**********

The day was beginning to dawn when the first beats of the drum were heard. The muffled steady rhythm gave the signal to initiate Zoran's cruel punishment. One he would surely not survive.

Relieved of his armor, the man stood at the beginning of the road to his own death, watching the faces of the men placed in two rows that awaited him. Two rows of vindictive men, facing each other with clubs and maces ready to strike. At the finish, a line scratched in the dirt marked the end of the punishment. A goal Zoran was now sure he'd never reach. Still, he didn't want to go down as a coward, so he sucked his gut in and bravely walked the gauntlet as far as he could...

With each merciless strike his body got weaker, slower and more vulnerable... Until he no longer was in shape to move and just laid on the ground.

Zoran died regretting his choice. At least death at his Princess' hands would be swift and almost painless... The gauntlet... was beginning to suffer even before he crossed the line to the Underworld and Tartarus' eternal punishment...

Even after he laid motionless on the ground, the men kept striking with their clubs, until the drum was no longer heard. Only with the silence did the punishment stop.

"Now that this is over and done with, there's work to be done! The Argrean treasure is still there for the taking, waiting for us, and I've got a plan..." the Warrior Princess climbed on the cart where Thrallin had stood for his little speech "But before I need to have a little word with you..." standing tall and proud she spoke to the audience of warriors "This is MY army! Let's keep that clear. And whoever wants to be a part of MY army must do so out of loyalty to ME. Loyalty! Not greed or glory. Do I make myself clear? Loyalty! If someone has a problem with that take this chance to leave now, because otherwise, you will have the same fate has Zoran." Xena jumped off the cart and headed for her tent. "Now rest until mid-day! After that I'll issue my orders..."

Chapter 5

For the next few days, Xena planned to have her men bring the treasure to her, including the small hourglass, using the secret passage the kids had shown her.

But during that time the camp wouldn't stay still. A lot of work would go on as preparations should be made to confront Menearis. The Warrior Princess knew that his army was more numerous right now, but not as skillful. That would have to be her advantage. Her men would have to be the best on the battlefield... So now they'd have to train hard. She knew they would not disappoint her. They'd be ready!

**********

"Xena!" Damon called outside the entrance of his Princess' tent, while tucking some wild strands of hair behind his ears. He always wanted to look his best for her...

What could her men want from her now? Didn't they know she was wounded and worn out, after that trip back to camp and the fight with Thrallin just a few hours ago? She was exhausted and in pain, and all she wanted was to get out of her armor and into her bed... "Come in..."

Damon pushed the canvas curtain aside and entered the dimly lit tent. "I thought that... Uhm... maybe you'd need some help, because of your wound..." he nervously said, placing both his hands on the hilt of his sword, because he didn't know what else to do with them.

"Oh..." she said, giving him her one-raised-eyebrow look "And what ever made you think that?" in spite of the pain she was in, she was intrigued by his boldness and at the same time amused by the embarrassment printed all over his face. She decided she wanted to see where this was going...

"Well, I..." his sweaty hands tightened around the hilt of his sword, as he tried to think of something intelligent to say "I... You're hurt and you might... I mean... I..."

"Didn't know you were a stutter..." she nearly purred as she poured red wine into two matching cups.

"I'm not!" he dropped his arms along his body and tried to regain some dignity in his posture "I thought you might need some help, but if you don't, I'll just go, my Princess..." he turned around, broken hearted, and prepared to leave her quarters.

"Come and help me then..." she said, as she sat down on a small wooden bench. He turned around as fast as a hurricane and she noticed the glint of pure, almost child-like happiness shining in his eyes "Help me to get rid of these..." she placed both her hands on her shoulder plates "Come on..."

With his heart racing due to the closeness to his beloved, Damon removed the hardened leather protections off the woman's shoulders and at his Princess' command, undid the laces of her boots and pulled them off her feet...

"Now this..." she said, while her long fingers ran across the bronze spider-web that covered her chest.

With sweaty palms, Damon undid the small bindings that kept the front and the back webs together and removed the metal armor piece "Anything else, Princess?" he asked with a trembling lustful voice.

"Would you care for some wine?" she pointed at the two silver cups on the table.

Damon picked them up, handed Xena one cup and took a sip of the other 'Good stuff...' he though. He'd never tasted anything like that in his village... Xena sure knew how to take good care of herself...

"I heard that you are good with your hands... is that true?" the warrior woman asked in a low tone purr, looking at him with inviting sheepish eyes.

A shadow of red covered his face from top to bottom as the woman's question hit home and his imagination started to work overtime "My Princess... I ...don't know what you mean, I..."

Xena lost the seductive look, got up and walked barefoot past him, to the table. 'Time to stop playing.' she thought. She set her cup down and searched in a pile of unfolded maps until she found a small parchment. Then she turned and handed it to Damon.

"I need someone good with his hands to built that for me. Can you do it?"

"Build... so that's what you meant..." Damon looked at the parchment and studied the rough drawing.

"Whatever did you think I meant, Damon?" she asked with a naughty lopsided smile, as she took the parchment back from his hands and laid it on the table "It's a chariot of war... Do you think you can build one for me in a short time?"

He took a better look at the drawing... Something like that would take some time to make but he couldn't say no to her, so he promised himself to do it "With help, I'm sure, Xena..."

"Good, get to work!" she said "Now go, I need my rest..."

Damon took the parchment and left, looking back as he walked out the door, catching a glimpse of his Princess sitting on her bed, getting rid of the rest of her leathers... He was sure to have sweet dreams ...

**********

The sun was high when Xena's army awoke back to life, after a busy night...

With the arrival of the Warrior Princess, things returned to the way they used to be, with the soldiers keeping their daily training routine and the dark veil of mourning was lifted from the camp, with the doubts of Xena's dedication somehow miraculously washed away from everyone's minds. Even her own... at least for the time being... Maybe the betrayal had done some good after all...

Damon started the construction of the chariot immediately. He got the help of three men and used the materials from the carts they'd captured with the supplies caravan to build the small two-wheeled vehicle. He planned to follow the design furnished by the Warrior Princess to the detail, so the chariot would be pulled by three horses, that way it should be quite fast, and on the outside of the wheels' axles would be adjusted six curved blades, three on each side. These blades would literally harvest the enemy off the battlefield, working not only with the casualties they inflicted, but also as a fear weapon. It would be quite a surprise to the enemy, whoever it may be, once Xena wasn't known to use war machines...

**********

That afternoon Kahn was called to his Princess' presence and she appointed him as her new chief lieutenant. With the deaths of Thrallin and Zoran that place was left vacant and Xena believed that he would be the best man for the job.

She explained him how the treasure of Argrean would be removed from under the peasants' noses, describing how to find the hidden entrance to the secret passage. Xena demanded that the job was done during the night, so that there was no chance of her soldiers running into the two kids.

"So, who do you suggest to command this little expedition?" she asked her newly appointed second in command.

"I'll do it myself, Princess."

She looked back down to the colorful map unfolded on the table and shook her head. "No, Kahn. I need you here for something else... Send a man who has your trust to lead the group and tell him to bring a small hour-glass he'll find with the treasure straight to me..."

"It shall be done immediately, Xena. And Ixan will be the man for the job." The Warrior turned and headed to the tent's door, wondering what his Princess had in mind for him...

"Kahn!" she called, just before he passed the threshold.

He turned to face his commander and waited for her words.

"Once our little treasure hunters are on their way come back here. There's something I need to discuss with you..."

He nodded "Yes, Princess.", then turned and finally left, to issue orders to retrieve Argrean's treasure.

Left alone in her quarters, the Warrior Princes picked up the map and laid on her bed, stomach down, looking at the drawing of the land, searching for a place that suited her purpose... Searching for good battlefield. And there it was, that valley to the East. It was sort of narrow, with it's rocky boundaries on one side and a tree line on the other, but it would do perfectly...

**********

"What!?" with all due respect, Xena, that's plain madness!" Kahn shouted, raising his arms to the skies above. Had the woman completely lost it this time? "Menearis is the absolute ruler of this region and his army is two times as big as the one you have here now!"

"That's why I'm going to wipe him and his men off the face of the Earth! If there's going to be an absolute ruler of the land, it's going to be me! Soon there'll come a time when no other name will be heard in all of the world but my own! Even if I have to leave an ocean of blood behind me..." she insisted, more to motivate herself than to convince her lieutenant.

"I admire your determination, Xena..." he said, looking into her bright blue eyes "...but it'll take more than words to defeat him."

"I know, my good man. That's why I need your help to cook up a strategy. Besides, my men are better trained..." she said, with a little pride in her voice "I'm planning to do battle with him in that valley to the east, the one with rocky hills on the side... It's narrow, but..."

"We're really going to do this, aren't we?" he interrupted, amazed once again by the woman's display of what he considered to be courage.

"By the Gods, yes we are!"

**********

In the course of the next days, the Argrean treasure was delivered to Xena by her men, including the small golden hourglass.

The Warrior Princess kept busy making plans with Kahn, studying the best way to engage battle with the old powerful warlord Menearis. The daily reports brought to her by the scouts convinced her that most of the enemy army were infantry men, used to fight with spears in a wall formation. With this knowledge, they thought up a plan that used the narrow shape of the valley to their advantage...

Kahn believed that Menearis would use the same battle plan he always did, with the spearmen in front and the horsemen in the back, waiting for a gap in the enemy's formation. Due to the narrow cut of the valley, the battlefront wouldn't be as wide as usual, and Xena's men could build a wall large enough to cover it. They both knew that in this kind of battle, when two spear fronts clashed, it was the front line of the men that made the biggest difference, and here, the fact that the Warrior Princess' soldiers were better trained would work in their favor. They knew that Menearis would probably only provide spears for the first two or three rows of men of his formation, and if these ones opened even a small gap, the following hordes of sword-armed men would be lambs for the slaughter under Xena's cavalry...

Together, the Warrior Princess and Kahn built the battle plan. They'd use a spear wall that although looked to operate just as one, would have a small part in the right flank with a different job... these men were to slowly back down under the enemy's pressure, giving the illusion that they were being overpowered. The rest of Xena's spear line would have to stand its ground. This would cause, or at least they hoped so, that Menearis' men would try to gain ground to Xena's right flank... But only that small portion of the Warrior Princess' men would back down, luring the enemy forward and making them open a gap between the largest portion of the line that was being forced to a halt and the small portion that advanced.

At this time, all of Xena's cavalry would advance and pass through the open gap. While most of the horsemen were to engage battle with Menearis' cavalry, being the numbers here almost at even odds, a small group would work at the open gap at the enemy wall to allow the passage of the chariot. To the war machine it would be easy to harvest the infantry...

It was a good plan, but it required that Xena's men proved to be better prepared than the ones led by Menearis... so the Warrior Princess begun training with them personally, for long hours, repeating over and over again the same exercises, until perfection was achieved. The result was quite satisfying.

She was going to pull this off and defeat yet another powerful warlord!

**********

Late one evening, after whole of the treasure was in Xena's hands, Damon went to find his Princess while she groomed Styx.

Wearing a heavy cloak over the little scarlet dress, she passed the body brush over the animal's shiny coat and whispered sweet words to the stallion's ears.

"Xena..." Damon called to get the woman's attention.

She turned her back to the gray war horse and turned to face the warrior "Yes, what is it?" she asked, while he lost himself in the way the torch's light was absorbed by her blue eyes.

He had to close his eyes for a time fraction to remember what he was going to say, it was impossible to concentrate with the amazing vision she was... "It's the chariot, my Princess..." he finally managed to say "It's finished. Would you like to see it?"

Xena allowed her soldier to guide her through the camp, to the place where lately he'd been spending every waking moment. "I hope it's to your liking..." he pointed at his piece of work and anxiously waited for his Princess' judgment.

She was surprised with the excellent job he'd done, and in such little time... The chariot that stood before her was an exact reproduction of the drawing she'd given him not long ago. The only difference was the addition of her purple banner on both sides of the war machine. "You've done an excellent job, Damon." She said as he opened a broad smile "I'm very pleased with you..." and coming from her those were huge compliments. Xena usually economized her praises "When are you going to give it at test ride?" she inquired, running her fingertips over the smooth wood finishing of the chariot.

"Tomorrow. But first there's something else I'd like to show you..." once again, he guided his commander past the war machine, to the place where he'd been keeping the tools and construction materials he'd been using. "Look." He pointed at a pile of bows laying on the ground in unorderly manner "What do you think?"

She walked closed to the mess of weapons, but saw nothing special, other than the fact that the bows weren't properly stored... "What do I think of what, Damon?"

"Here, I'll show you..." he picked one of the bows from the pile and displayed it by a torch light "See this?" he ran his fingers along the long string "Most are only half the size of these..."

She took it from his hands to better appreciate it "They do have a longer reach than the ones we have now, but... who'd use them?" she asked "I don't think anyone here is trained enough in this kind of weapon to take full advantage of it's range..."

She saw the proud look on his face and guessed what he was going to say "My Princess, I've been training with it, along with the four stable boys..." he said "Place us along the sides of the battle field and we can do a lot of damage in Menearis' lines..."

"Excellent, Damon. I'm sure this is going to help." She said, patting the soldier on the shoulder to show her appreciation.

With Xena's permission, he proudly walked her back to her tent "Goodnight." she said, pushing aside the curtain that gave way to her quarters.

"Goodnight, Xena... And... Don't take this the wrong way or anything... but... You are the most beautiful woman I've ever set eyes on!" with his cheeks red as the blood in his veins, he turned his back and literally ran away into the night.

She smiled and entered her tent. Damon was proving to be a very ingenious man and she realized that she liked his puppy dog manners more than she should... Not good. Not good at all... She'd have to find a way to get rid of those butterflies in her stomach...

**********

With the chariot of war successfully tested they were ready for battle. It was time to send the challenge and for that task, Xena chose Nazir. She knew he had the necessary nerve to do it...

Under a white flag of truce, the soldier met Menearis. He showed him the hourglass as proof that Xena had gotten hold of the Argrean treasure and made the challenge. The two armies would meet in battle in two days, in the Eastern valley. It would be winner take all, horses weapons... But they both knew what that meant. If Menearis won, his prize would be the treasure and the reputation of being the man who wasted the Warrior Princess, if Xena won, it would be yet another Xena conquest, to swell the myth of her invincibility...

The old warlord accepted. He'd heard the wildest tales about this "Princess", but believed she was just a warrior wanna-be, with a reputation much bigger than her skills or deeds and would easily be defeated. Besides, he wanted that hourglass! He couldn't just take it off Nazir's hands, since they were meeting under a flag of truce... So he'd fight for it. And by the Gods, he'd win!

**********

It was time. The Warrior Princess knew that her men were finishing off the last preparations and it was time that she too got ready.

She got off her warm bath and dried herself with white linen towels. The preparations before battle were of the most high importance to a warrior, so she did everything slowly, with no rush, in a ritual she'd repeated so many times before and that she'd gotten to know all too well...

Xena used cinnamon scented oil to massage her body and put on her new dark linen undergarments. Than, she loosened her black hair and gently brushed it until it was glowing under the light of the crowd of candles she was keeping in her tent. She placed a string of mysterious black pearls around her head and braided the ends of it with a small mane of hair on the back of her head.

It was time now to start giving her brand new armor some use... A real mean looking thing that hopefully would induce fear in the enemy hearts.

She carefully put on the black dyed leather bodice and adjusted it tightly. The metal patterns that crossed the leathers would protect her almost as well as a cuirass and would allow her more freedom of movement. This was very important, once she used an acrobatic style in battle. Besides, it was a lot sexier too... She picked up the skirt and festooned it around her waist. It was a bit longer that the one she used to wear before and alternated black leather stripes with stripes made out of little metal scales that would offer extra protection.

She put on a pair of high black warrior boots, complete with leather over her knees and large claw-like metal epaulettes over her shoulders.

Now the weapons... first, the chakram. There was no way she was going into battle without her amazing round blade. She chose a pair of short twin iron swords, with a spike on the hilt, and a large dagger with a gold hilt. That should do it!

Next, a pair of leather gauntlets made to match the bodice and also protections for her upper arms. And for the final touch, a cape. Not too large, because she didn't want it to get in her way in the middle of a fight, but still, there was no way that someone might miss it... A purple cape, the color of her banner… the color of death...

"Princess!" she heard a familiar voice call outside the tent.

"Come in, Damon..."

He entered the tent and greeted his commander, impressed by her new, more menacing look "Kahn asked me to tell you that the men are ready. We wait for your orders..."

She took a deep breath, threw her hair backwards and headed for the door "Let's go!"

As she passed him by, Damon stretched his right arm and laid his hand on her shoulder, bringing her to a halt "Xena, wait..." As she turned, he immediately removed his hand under the weight of her angry look of disapproval "I'm sorry. I just... I'd like you to take this..." From a small pouch on his belt, Damon took a black leather string with a stone pendant and tied it around her neck.

She lifted the pendent to her face to take a look at it. It was a small cross. But unlike the Greek crosses, this one had a lower branch longer than the side branches and the top one was curved up in an arch.

"It belonged to my grandmother... She was a little crazy and many times she didn't talk much sense, but she always claimed to be Egyptian..." he explained "According to her, that's the cross of Aton, or something, a sun God of some sort... It's supposed to bring good fortune and whoever wears it should have a long and prosperous life... I'd like you to have it."

She untied the leather string and tied it again, closer to her neck, making sure it wouldn't be left dangling around and maybe get her in trouble in the middle of the coming battle. "Thanks Damon..." she said in a forced flat emotionless tone "Now let's go, we don't have any time to lose..."

Followed close by her warrior, Xena left her tent and walked over to Styx. She mounted the gray stallion and guided him to pace between the lines of armored men. As she inspected the troops, their call of her name begun to rise as they encouraged themselves for the battle. "Xena! Xena! Xena!..." There was something special about the Warrior Princess, a dark aura, that made herself and whoever followed her believe to be invincible. And believing was just the start...

With her inspection finished, Xena took her place with the cavalry, and slowly the chant of her name died out, as the men awaited the words of the commander.

"You all know what to do!" she shouted "There might be more of them, but they don't stand a chance! We are the terror of these lands, the chosen of Ares. There is no one better! We are unstoppable! Today, our enemy's blood will flood the valley! Let's go!"

**********

From her vantage point, ahead of the cavalry, Xena watched as the right end of her spear wall gave up ground, slowly luring the enemy...

They were taking the bait! It wouldn't be much longer until she could satisfy her blood lust... Until she could get hold of the only thing that eased the pain in her heart, even if it was just for a fleeing moment. Soon she'd be able to let out all her rage, to satisfy it, cultivate it... She longed for the moment of the kill when everything else in the world ceased to exist... There was only her, the victim, and the blood...

As the time approached, her heartbeat seemed to get faster, and louder, until it almost deafened her... Until, finally, the gap in Menearis' lines was open!

"Now!" she shouted, kicking Styx's flanks, driving him forward. Followed by her horsemen, the Warrior Princess slipped through the space left open by the old warlord's troops, shouting her battle cry...

"Yiyiyiyiyih!!" that sound was enough to give strength to herself and her men, and to strike with fear all enemies.

Xena led the men who started to attack Menearis' cavalry... Drawing her sword she begun to leave the trail of death her men were already used to see behind her. The bittersweet scent of the enemy blood covering her own body exciting her and driving her even further, to destroy, to kill...

From the corner of her eye, Xena managed to notice the chariot of war already at work, doing it's harvesting of the enemy troops. And from the hills, Damon's arrows were causing a great mess in Menearis' back lines...

The kill of the old warlord would belong to Santis, Xena's stable boy and his longbow.

And soon enough the battle was as good as won. So the raven-haired beauty gave herself completely to the pleasure of the fight. To doing what she did best... Kill. Satisfy her lust for blood, delighting the God of War as she did so...

**********

It was late afternoon when Xena's blade crossed the heart of the last of Menearis' men. She watched as her own warriors scavenged through the bodies of the dead enemies... This was a task she always excused herself from. Instead, she preferred to dedicate her efforts to the beheading of the dead, sticking the heads on poles and spreading the sinister trophies along the blood soaked valley. It was, in her opinion, a monument to her victory and the perfect warning to anyone who even dreamed of getting in her way...

The victorious army returned to camp with the spoil of weapons and war horses and covering themselves with praises...

But as soon as her camp came in sight, Xena realized that something was wrong "Pull yourselves together men!" she shouted to those who followed her lead "The camp is under attack!"

Kahn moved his horse to the Princess' side "It's those crummy little villagers! They must think they can get their treasure back. What do you wanna do, Xena?" he asked, already knowing the answer when he saw the hatred smeared on the woman's bronzed face.

"I wanna kill'em all!"

The Warrior Princess' battle cry echoed though the air and in a wild gallop the cavalry followed her as she stroke down the armed peasants who were invading what was hers.

No longer with the element of surprise or the numbers on their side, the people of Argrean were like lambs for the slaughter. One by one they died at the hands of the warriors. Some of the villagers tried to hold their claim on the treasure, while others were struck dead as they dropped to their knees and begged for mercy...

**********

It was all over in no time. The bodies of the peasants had the same fate as those of Menearis' men... It was now time to count her losses...

At the command tent, Xena listened to Kahn's report, sitting on a large wooden chair and flipping a small dagger in her hand.

"We lost one man to the peasants, another eighteen to Menearis." The old veteran reported, as he admired the woman. Did she know what she did to a man when she showed up wearing nothing but that scarlet dress? Probably she did. She was a smart lass, that Xena... 'She probably does it on purpose...' he thought, as he knew how much Xena was accustomed to use her body to get people under her spell... "We lost Nazir..." he continued "I'm sorry, I know you were fond of him... What else? One tent burned to the ground as well as two cases of arrows and all the grain. Two pack horses were killed and one had to be put down... a broken leg..." he justified "That's it. I guess we did pretty well, considering who we were up against..."

She threw the dagger to the table before her and got on her feet "Yes, I guess we did..." she said "Thanks you, Kahn. That will be all..."

**********

That night, after the funeral pyre had burned with the bodies of the dead warriors, Xena's camp was lit up with the celebration of the victory over the old warlord... Those who were fortunate enough not to be engaged in guard duty that night, were singing and dancing around bonfires, exchanging exaggerated stories of their role in the battle and checking out their part of the spoil.

It wasn't until the break of dawn that Kahn noticed that the woman warrior wasn't present. He looked in her tent, but couldn't find her there either... "Ixan!" he called.

The red hair soldier showed up, obviously drunk and still carrying a half-full mug of ale in his hand "You called?" he asked, bombing the chief-lieutenant with his goat-breath.

Kahn turned his head to get a breath of fresh air before his question "Have you seen Xena? I can't find her, and I haven't seen her since the funeral ceremony..."

The drunk soldier looked in his blood stained shirt pocket "Nope, not here..." he mumbled "Why don't you ask her scouts? They usually know where she is... And if they don't , let them do their job and scout for her!" he turned his back on Kahn and moved back into a group of men who were as drunk as he was, sipping his ale and singing an obscene song about the married women of Athens...

Although he didn't make a habit of following a drunken man's advice, Kahn did just that. He called Xena's scouts, or rather the ones who weren't too drunk, and sent them to find the Warrior Princess.

It was Deros who finally found her... Xena was laying in the middle of the war horses, drunk beyond consciousness and with her hand tangled in the brown hair of a young boy who laid dead next to her... Surely one of the peasants they'd missed when they rounded up the bodies. This one had been killed with a flagpole sunk in his chest. Xena's purple banner, now stained with blood, was still covering his motionless form, where he laid in an awkward position caused by the fractures in his legs, inflicted probably by the stomping of the horses during the end of the battle...

The scout put his hands under his commander's arms and lifted her up from the ground. The movement was a little too sudden and rough for her drunken condition and made her wake up and throw up all over herself. "The boy..." she mumbled under her wine and vomit stinking breath "... he's dead... he saved my life and now he's dead."

Deros lifted her up in his arms and carried her away from the corps. "It's alright, Xena..." he said "I'm just taking you to bed.". As he carried her to her tent, he warned Kahn that he'd found her and was going to make sure that she was alright.

Under Damon's jealouse eyes, Deros carried her to bed and remover her vomit-soiled clothes, doing his best to ignore her rambling about how evil she was and how kind little Arin had been to her...

All night he veiled her restless sleep and when she woke up in the late morning he was there with a tea ready to relieve her monster headache.

She accepted the warm drink and swallowed it all down before saying a word "What are you doing here?" she asked, after finishing her tea, in a low voice that even so seemed to shatter her sensitive ears. "How did I get to bed? I don't remember coming here..." she looked around her tent, a bit confused.

Deros handed her a linen shirt, that she put on to cover her naked body "I found you unconscious by the horses" he answered, using the same, almost whispered tone "It seems the death of a boy upset you..."

The reminder of Arin's death was painful and brought tears to her eyes, tears that she could hardly repress, and, not wanting the scout to see that, she used both hands to cover her face.

The man had no desire to make his commander uncomfortable, so he decided to say what he had to say and leave "You better pull yourself together, Xena. I know you're against killing kids, but what's done is done. Put it behind you! You're the commander of this army, and any sign of weakness from your part will not be taken lightly. You know that. So get over it and decide where we're going from here..." finishing his little speech, he turned his back and left her behind, ready to cry like a child.

But she didn't. She knew he was right, but the death of the kid had been hard on her. She felt deeply for him. Xena kept thinking of her own little boy. Solan... She'd allowed herself to care for Arin and that had made her vulnerable, it had made her see Solan in him and it had made her think of what it would feel like if it was her own flesh and blood that had a violent death like that... And it just hurt so much. There was no justification for that child's death.

But she knew that Deros was right. She couldn't show weakness to the men and she always had to be ruthless and strong... Caring for others was a luxury that someone in her place couldn't have. Love made her feel and show weakness... It would have to be kept away from her.

**********

When she exited her tent, Xena was what her men expected of her again. Walking proud with her head up high and issuing orders to break camp. She wanted to leave for Boetia the next morning...

"But weren't we going north?" Kahn inquired as he followed Xena to the command tent where she began to draw up the path they would follow to the South.

"We were..." she answered, as she traced lines on the parchment with a golden quill, marking the best course to take "But we're not anymore. I wanna buy better weapons, and the best place to do that is Traquis..." she added, handing the old veteran the hand-drawn map that showed the route she wanted to take.

"You want to make a deal with Mezentius?" he asked.

"No... I want you to send someone up ahead to make the deal, so that everything is ready for the exchange when we get to Traquis. We'll trade the treasure for weapons... Alright?"

"As you wish, my Princess..." he replied "I'll send Ixan and Darphus up ahead immediately." Kahn bowed a clumsy courtesy and left to make sure Xena's orders were carried out at once.

She too left the tent and strolled around the camp, searching for the scout who had looked after her the night before. She was happy to see that the camp was already being lifted and that they'd be ready to departure on schedule.

"Deros!" she called when she spotted him, loading a cart.

He dropped the case of iron pointed arrows he was carrying and walked over to where Xena was waiting "Yes, Princess?"

"Come with me." She ordered, and headed for her tent. She wanted to thank him properly for setting her head straight the night before. And also this was the perfect opportunity to get Damon out of her thoughts. She was liking him way too much...

She guided to astonished man to her bed and gave him a very physical thank you, unconsciously imagining that it was sweet Damon who was taking her, instead of the rough scout...

It was a show of gratitude he would not forget...

PART 2

Chapter 6

The next morning the camp was gone. While the loaded carts and the foot soldiers stuck to the main roads, led by Kahn, into the lands of Boetia, Xena took the cavalry away from the most traveled roads, looking for small villages where an easy profit could be made…

**********

Damon rode through the village's only street, taking his piebald in a strong loud gallop. He wanted everyone to come out of their little houses to see what was going on…

And from the small wooden homes, entire families came out to see the mounted warrior, leaving their poor suppers to grow cold on the table.

With a pull on the rein, the warrior made his horse get up on the hind legs and whinny loud enough to make his own head hurt. Damon forced the animal to the unusual position for several seconds, and only then let him return to his natural 'four hooves on the ground'… He wanted to get everyone's undivided attention…

"Hear me, crummy peasants!" he shouted from the top of his mount "I come to you in the name of Xena, Warrior Princess!" the effect of the name was clear on the fear and hatred that showed on the faces of all old enough to understand what she was. "Next morning she will come to take what she pleases… And anyone who raises a hand against her will die! Have a wonderful night!"

With his message delivered he kicked his horse and rode off into the darkness, returning to his mistress' camp, just over the hill. There he jumped off his mount and ran to the Warrior Princess "I delivered the message, Xena…" he said, still gasping for breath "…just as you said…"

She took her attention away from her supper to listen to her warrior "And their reaction?" she asked, motioning him to sit next to her, and offering him a roasted quail.

"Thank you…" he sat down and accepted the meat "They were speechless… But you should have seen the fear in their eyes… And the hatred too…"

Xena swallowed a mouthful of meat "That's what we want, Damon." She said "It means I'm doing my job right! Those people are supposed to fear and obey me…"

"Yes, Princess…" he agreed, although he didn't listen to a word she was saying anymore. He'd been lost in the beauty of her bronzed skin, wondering how she'd gotten that tiny scar over her right breast… His beautiful warrior Princess…

While the warriors had a peaceful night's rest, the villagers didn't sleep at all, dividing themselves in countless meetings and discussions, trying to decide what to do to stop the evil warrioress from taking all they owned…

The blacksmith thought they should fight, but he was the only one who felt that way. Unlike him, others had families to think of and they didn't want to risk their lives in a battle that was already lost. The truth was, there was nothing they could do to go against Xena's wishes… They might as well cooperate and maybe, just maybe, they'd get out of this alive. The blacksmith didn't agree, but he knew he'd have to go along with the will of the majority…

**********

The next morning, when Xena and about fifty of her horsemen rode into the village, the peasants were lined up in front of their homes and all they owned was in sight.

"Very nice…" Xena commented in a dangerous purr as she dismounted Styx. "Just the way I like them, behaving like the little sheep they are…"

Slowly, and followed close by her guard, Xena walked down the street inspecting the loot… A couple of bags of gold, four pack horses loaded with food and sheep's skins, a mule loaded with old bronze swords the unwilling blacksmith had provided and a cute little donkey… Not much, but what could she expect out of a poor little village?

She knew if she took a closer look at those shacks those people called homes, she could probably come up with twice as much as that… But once they had been so cooperative, there was no reason to be unfriendly, now was there…

"I guess we've got what we came for, right men?" she asked, turning to face her soldiers.

As she headed back for Styx, Xena heard a little rustling noise approaching from her back and turned just in time to see the little blond girl that bumped into her legs. She'd run so fast to escape her mother's arms that she hadn't been able to stop before colliding with the Warrior Princess.

"What do we have here?" Xena said, as she knelt down on the dirt ground to look into the girl's eyes. Not far, the mother struggled to free herself from her husband's grip and run to her child, but in vain. "What's your name, little one?" she asked in a sweet voice. Xena loved children, although she hardly ever acted accordingly… And there had been a time when she almost disliked the little people, but after having her own…

"Celina…" the little one shyly answered, as Xena lifted her up in her arms and set her on Styx's saddle.

"And is there something I can do for you, Celina?"

The blond girl stretched out her little arm and showed Xena a handful of the first spring wild flowers "Princess, if I give you the flowers, can I keep the donkey?"

Xena looked again at the cute little animal "He's yours?" she asked, looking back at the girl's eyes, as blue as her own.

"Yeah… His name is Hercules. Because he's very strong…"

'And about as smart too…' the warrior woman thought "That's a mighty fine donkey you have there, Celina…" she playfully said, running a long finger along the child's round cheek. "I think I'll want more than the flowers…"

The child's parents trembled of fear and Celina looked concerned…

"Tell you what…"Xena went on "You give me the flowers and that ribbon you have on your hair and I'll give you Hercules and something to replace the ribbon, okay?"

Celina removed the ribbon, took it in her little hand and looked at it, giving the deal some thought "It's a deal!" she agreed, gifting Xena with a happy smile.

The Warrior Princess accepted the flowers and the ribbon, pushing the second down her cleavage, so that she had her arm free to lift the girl from Styx's back and easily carry her to Hercules. Already on the donkey, Celina looked curiously at the beautiful warrior, waiting to see what would replace the ribbon.

From a short distance, the parents anxiously waited for the same thing. Who knew what that she-demon from Hades had in mind for their sweet little girl?

Under the astonished eyes of her men, Xena removed the string of valuable mysterious black pearls from her head and used it to tie the child's hair in a ponytail. "There!" she said when she was finished "Now you look just like a Princess…"

"Thank you!" the girl cheerfully said, jumping off Hercules' back to give the woman a big hug "Xena, you're the best!"

Taking the child's little hand in her own, Xena guided Celina back to her parents "That child is a real treasure you have…" she said to the frightened peasant couple "Make sure you take good care of her…"

Fighting the strong urge she felt to take that little girl in her arms and keep her as her own, the Warrior Princess mounted her gray stallion and without looking back, case she could fight it no longer, galloped away, ordering her men to take the loot and follow. Obediently, the horsemen left after their Princess, not quite sure of what had just happened back there, since the pearls were surely worth a lot more than the loot they were taking… This time, that old saying applied even to their commander: Women! Go figure!

Back on the little village, Xena left a small group of new enemies who hated her for in one morning taking what they had to work so hard for… But more than that, she left a child who thought of her as a hero and who couldn't care less about what everyone else thought…

**********

While Xena and her cavalry had their fun raiding the little unprotected villages, Kahn and the foot soldiers worked hard to make sure they'd be on the rendezvous point on time. The loaded carts were hard to handle and some of the roads had washed away under the heavy rains that had fallen that winter… Plus, here and there, some smart-ass jerks thought that they could get away with stealing something from the caravan… They posed no threat and never succeeded in their intents, but nevertheless, they managed to delay them… It was a hard trip, both for men and beasts, but they'd make sure not to be late. It was best to have a rough time on the road than risk facing the wrath of the Warrior Princess…

**********

Meanwhile, Ixan and Darphus quickly reached the walled city of Traquis… They traveled light and with powerful mounts, so the journey was made in record time.

In the filthy tavern where all the scum that flowed to Traquis got together, Xena's men met with a black warrior named Marcus. He was the one who took them straight to Mezentius, so that they could discuss business…

Following the Warrior Princess' orders, they never said who would get the weapons and to what purpose exactly. But that was just fine with Mezentius. To arms dealers like him, it didn't matter who fought who or why and who won in the end. As long as war went on, business would prosper!

Without much bargaining, the two parts reached a reasonable deal, agreeing on the amounts of weapons and money to be exchanged. The business transaction would take place in a few days, outside Traquis. By then, Xena's caravan, and with it the Argrean treasure, would have arrived.

With their job done, the two men left that melting pot of murderers, mercenaries and assassins and made camp on the meeting place.

In a couple of days, the main of the Warrior Princess' army arrived and settled. And about at the same time, those who'd been away carrying out orders that Xena issued because of an old wound in her heart, joined the group. It had been way too long at sea for those men, and they were happy to get away from the Romans and find their way through dry land, back to their warrior mistress.

And just as planned, the deal with Mezentius was performed the next day, with no incidents , and with both parts walking away satisfied with their end of the deal.

After that, like well-trained mastiffs, the men stayed put, awaiting the arrival of their fierce leader.

**********

Xena and the cavalry reached camp in a few days, loaded with loot from the unfortunate villages that happened to be in their path. As always, she was greeted like a great hero and led to her tent where the best food that could be found in the region awaited her. She ate and drank better than any Queen might have and then snuggled naked in the warmth of her bed blankets.

Left alone in the dark, she wondered how someone who was always surrounded by so many men and attentions could feel so lonely at times… Of the men that were with her, obeyed her, followed her to Hades if that was her wish, even worshipped her like a Goddess… There was no one she could truly call a friend, was there? Who worried to see if she was happy… Who loved her and accepted her love in return… Her company, her sex… That was different. That was something they all would gladly take and even longed for. But the truth was, she was alone. She didn't have a single friend around, and even her family had shut her out… If she was to die that very day no one would shed a single tear for her… or so she thought. There would only be an argument to see who'd get credit for killing the Warrior Princess… Maybe she herself was to blame for that. More than maybe, probably. Long ago she decided she didn't need or want any friends. Later she realized that she didn't have any. Now… maybe she missed them. Probably she was to blame. With all her bloodlust and power thirst. She knew she'd never get as high as she wanted to be… That was if she ever really wanted to get someplace… Maybe she really didn't want anything… Maybe she was merely a killer, a predator. Or maybe not. Being a warlord meant revenge against… everything. Against the world, against life itself. Revenge for all that past and present pain. Each time she took a life it was revenge… Maybe now also meant the desire to be hated for it… Maybe now the revenge needed to be against herself too. And even the revenge was not fulfilling and rewarding as it had been… Now she appreciated nothing… It had just been vengeance, blind and spread throughout the known world.

But this constant emptiness and even guilt she was now feeling… Maybe loneliness and the loss of her humanity were the price to pay.

Maybe she was the one who allowed no one to get close enough to care… Caring and being cared for was always frightening… And what was there left in her that someone would care for…

Chapter 7

Her legs felt like they would give up on her any time now… It seemed she'd been running since the beginning of time, and still her pursuers would not give up. Her hair had become tangled under the wind and the moist and the moon wouldn't give her enough light to avoid the sharp tree branches that tore at her flesh.

But still she could not stop. Her bare feet kept running over the sharp stones and thorns that seemed to grow in any path she followed… And still they were getting closer. The voices of the raging mob kept sounding louder and louder behind her… "Kill the murdering harlot!" they would scream… "Stone her to death!"

She tried to scream for help, but her terror stifled the sound before it left her throat… And her men kept their back turned, unwilling to realize she was being chased.

"Destroy the barbarian woman!" they were closer now… But straight ahead, she saw salvation. That old fortress up ahead… The door open and a blue-eyed woman calling her in "Come in Xena… Come, my little one…"

Just a little more, and she'd be safe… But as she reached the fortress, the woman slammed the door on her face, and locked her out "Mom? What are you doing? Let me in! Mommy?"

"I don't have a daughter…" she heard the woman say from behind the locked door.

In despair, she struck at the door with closed fists, listening to the raging mob just behind her "Mom, please! They wanna kill me!" But the door stayed closed.

Giving up hope that Cyrene would save her, she turned around, trying to protect her rear against the door and confront the mob face to face. But the fortress was gone. She didn't know how, but it had just vanished… And now the mob was all around her…

With their hands in the air holding large stones, she saw the familiar faces waiting to destroy her… Mom was there, beautiful as always… "Kill the demon!" she was saying. And right next to her was her dear little brother, Lyceus… His face twisted with hatred, like she'd never seen before. "It's your fault I'm dead, Xena." he said "Now you must die too…"

The circle was becoming tighter as the mob closed in on her… "Mom, help me!" she pleaded, but the woman kept advancing with the rest of them…

And then, from the middle of all those people, a child came, pushing against grown bodies to get to the front. "Solan…" she whispered, as the blond blue eyed boy passed the last person that separated him from his mother.

She knelt on the ground, and for a moment her heart was filled with the same joy she'd felt in the little time she had spent with her son… But soon, horror replaced that feeling. Little Solan looked at her with hateful eyes, and like all the others, he raised his arm, showing a stone in the middle of his little fingers. "You're a murderer, mother. And I hate you." he said, tearing her heart in a million pieces. "Now it's time to pay."

She didn't try to defend herself… She couldn't hurt her son. In stead, she just watched as the stone left his small hand, straight at her face… She closed her eyes not to see…

"Get up Xena!" she heard a man's voice say, before the stone ever even touch her flesh. Opening her eyes, she saw that the raging mob was gone. The cold night was gone… She knelt on green grass of a sun-bathed valley, and in front of her, a tall dark warrior offered his hand. She took it and he easily lifted her to her feet. "Time to wake up, my dear…"

"Xena!"

She jumped from her bed, tossing the blanket aside and, still scared and heartbroken, searched the surroundings… She was in her tent… And it all seemed to be normal… A dream. It had been nothing but a dream… Or better, a nightmare, the same kind of nightmare that haunted her nearly every single night…

"Xena!" she heard Kahn call again.

Quickly, the Warrior Princess slipped the little scarlet dress over her head and pushed through the canvas curtain "What is it?" she asked the old veteran.

The sweat drops rolling on her forehead and the slight shadow of fear, only now leaving her piercing blue eyes, made him guess that he'd just awoken her from one of her nightmares. Troubled girl, she was… "You asked me to wake you at dawn…"

"Oh, right…" she said, noticing the first rays of the spring sun coming up on the Eastern horizon, and trying to remember why she'd ask him to do that "Thanks…"

**********

In the late morning the two small scouting groups left the main camp. Xena with Damon and Deros towards the west, to check out the mountain villages, and Darphus, Chiang-Lai and Vander to the East, to see what was going on there. There was word of a warlord roaming through those villages lately…

"There, see?" Deros pointed out beyond the village, where a large fence surrounded about twenty powerful horses.

Xena narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her nose to see through the darkness "Yeah, I see them… Are those Merkas' animals?" she asked.

The scout pulled his horse's rein to make him turn away from the village they'd been watching. "Yep!" he answered "They're known to be quite fine animals… Easy to get used to battle…"

"Goody!" the Warrior Princess said, following Deros back to where they'd left Damon "I guess they'll be worth fighting for… Don't you think?"

"If necessary…" Deros answered, waving his hand in front of his nose to dissolve a cloud of mosquitoes that was bothering him. Weren't the damned things supposed to show up only in the summer? "If we're lucky, they won't be dumb enough to try to stop you."

"Ah, come on…" her voice once more lustful with the thought of battle, the feeling that affected her lately, temporarily gone "If they don't fight, it won't be half as amusing, now will it? I love a good kill…"

Deros knew better than to misinterpret that tone as desire for him. He knew her fairly well. He knew that blood was what she wanted… So he did his best not to show any reaction to the woman and kept on riding quietly to meet with Damon… He didn't like Damon very much… He wasn't much of a soldier, not very smart either… And obviously wanted Xena. The only reason he was in the army was to be near her… And something in his gut told him he was not to be trusted. But the warrioress seemed to like him…

**********

Damon wasn't very pleased with the job he'd been incharged with. While his beloved Warrior Princess rode off with that brute, Deros, to check the next two villages, he'd been left behind to do the hunting and the cooking… On top of everything, luck had not been on his side and he'd let a chubby dear get away, ad well as a couple of perfectly good hares. The quails were making fun of him and never showed up… So he had to settle with fishing trouts and digging up for roots to bake under the fire…

This would not impress Xena…

The sounds of hooves on the ground warned him of the arrival of the other two. "Hey, Xena!" he greeted, stretching out a hand to help her get down from Styx.

She didn't like it "Do you think I'm an invalid now? Get out of my way, Damon!" she jumped off the horse and roughly pushed the man aside "Men!" she protested, more to herself than to the two warriors who watched her "They all think women need them for something…" she took the saddle and bridle off the animal and took on the task of brushing his shiny gray coat "Give me a break… Can you imagine this, Styx? Help me get off you?"

While Xena got to whispering secrets into the stallion's ears, Deros crossed his horse in front of Damon "Here!" he threw a wild pig to the other warrior's arms. The animal was dead, killed with a dagger that was still sunk between his bloody shoulder blades. "I figured you probably weren't much of a hunter and I don't feel like going to bed hungry tonight…" he looked over to the poor meal of trout near the fire "Guess I was right…" he said with a grin on his face. How could that whimp have any illusion of conquering the Warrior Princess' heart?

Damon was boiling furious, but he could say nothing… The truth was he hadn't been able to catch Xena a decent meal… And here this brute showed up with enough for a royal feast… He swallowed his rage and got to work, skinning and cooking the large prey.

**********

Dinner was abundant and fulfilling and Xena noticed that both men were ready to sleep… Not wanting to take the chance of having an unpleasant surprise during the night, she decided to take the first watch.

With both men asleep in their blankets, Xena leaned against a large fallen dead tree… The night was a perfect spring one… It wasn't too cold and no wind was blowing. The high moon sent a pleasant silver light down to the Earth and the fire cast shivering shadows of orange and red around the campsite.

To keep busy during the night hours of her watch, Xena picked up from the ground a small chunk of solid wood and the dagger Deros had thrown to catch their dinner. With skillful hands, she cut off little splinters of wood, gently, slowly, a little at a time… As the time passed, the little chunk of wood began to take form, to gain the features of a woman… And Xena kept working, until such time came when it was someone else's turn to stand on guard.

She threw the piece of wood in the blazing fire and got up. Using the palms of her hands, she brushed off the leaves that were stuck on her black leather skirt and walked to Damon's bedside. "Damon…" she whispered, shaking him out of sleep "It's your watch…"

The warrior rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and yawned "Coming…" Lazily he got up from his blanket and sat on the place where Xena had been moments earlier "You can sleep, Princess. I'll keep an eye on things…"

But she didn't fell like being alone that night… She didn't know why, but since she'd sighted Ypala… "Do you mind if I keep you company?" she took her blanket, put it around the shoulders and sat next to Damon.

He obviously didn't mind… He loved the feel of her body next to his… So, as Damon stayed awake, supposedly on watch, but really just enjoying the closeness, Xena fell asleep, watching as her likeness carved in wood burned to ashes in the campfire…

**********

She didn't wake up when Deros took Damon's place at her side and slept until the morning sun came shining over her eyes.

The scout had found it weird that the Princess was next to the warrior-wanna-be Damon, and that she didn't awake with them moving around. Something was wrong with her. And it had been going on for a while… It was like she'd lost her… spirit, or… motivation. He couldn't quite put his finger on it… But something was wrong.

She got up to find Damon asleep and Deros covering the remains of the campfire with dirt. Xena strolled around a little to stretch her arms and legs "Get things ready to get back to camp." she ordered "I'm going for a swim."

By the time she returned, with her wet hair tied in a braid and dripping on to her leathers, the men had the horses saddled and ready to go. Xena flexed her knees and with a forward flip jumped onto Styx's back. "Yah!" she yelled, cheering the powerful stallion to a gallop. All the way back to the main camp the men rode behind their Princess, barely able to keep her in sight.

**********

"What do you have to report?" the Warrior Princess asked, as Vander entered the command tent.

He greeted her with a closed fist over his armored chest "The rumors are true." he said "There is a warlord there… Nothing that we need to worry about though… A small-timer named Petracles…"

"What?!" she asked in shock as the simple mention of that name made her feel a rising heat in her body.

"Petracles…" Vander repeated "Do you want to go and wipe him out?"

Xena got to her feet and begun a furious pacing back and forth "Go away, Vander…"

The soldier didn't know what in the name of Zeus he had said to get her so agitated… but decided it would be better for his health to obey, so he left.

'Petracles…' she thought as she sunk back into her chair… Why in the God's names did he show up in her present? And why did he still excite her like that? She hated him, didn't she? He had toyed with her affections, and that she could never forgive! She had given herself to him, heart, body and soul and he had despised her! Asked her to marry him, and then given up on her… To him she had shown only anger, but… She still remembered how much it had hurt her. How many tears she'd swallowed over that worthless creep… And she knew how much of that pain had remained still in her…

He'd conquered her slowly… First only as two lustful warriors they had shared each other's bed… But, in time, they grew closer, believing they loved each other and claiming possession over one another. It was a troubled relationship when two wild hearts were involved… Jealousy peeked in every corner and they took the conquering of the other's love as a battle to be won…

And Petracles had claimed victory. The day he proposed to her, he became the winner. When those bracelets were exchanged as engagement tokens, she became his. She gave herself to him, loving him with her entire being.

That's when things took a turn for the worse… When she no longer presented herself as a challenge, he lost interest… or so he believed… One stormy winter night he told her that he no longer wanted her, that it all had been just a fun game for him, nothing more. He told her he felt nothing for her…

They had fought for hours, as Xena turned her pain into anger and in the end she had left, leaving him out cold on the floor and the little silver bracelet burning in the fire. But as she left him behind, her true feelings surfaced and she hurt for a long, long time…

And now here he was…So very close to her, giving her the chance to take retribution. He was still a minor warlord, but she was ahead of the mightiest army the world had ever seen. It was the perfect opportunity to wipe him off the face of the land, straight to Tartarus! And yet, that longing in her heart reminded her of the good times… Of flirting in the moonlight, of horse races through the Greek hills, of the feeling of having him inside… She couldn't deny, at least not to herself, that she still felt something for that deceitful son of a Bacchae…

**********

"Princess!" Kahn called outside "May I come in?"

Xena got to her feet and took a sip of her mug of ale "Come in, Kahn…" she greeted her chief-lieutenant and offered him a seat "Get the men ready… I want to attack Ypala!" she marked the village on the parchment map with an ivory hilted breast dagger she'd gotten with the Argrean treasure. "And tell Santis to fix my horse…"

"What?" he inquired, eyeing her with a puzzled look. It wasn't like her at all, letting the opportunity to crush another warlord pass her by… "You don't want to take on this Petracles guy?"

The question made her a little uneasy and defensive. Did he know something of her past with the other man? "You question my judgment, Kahn?…" she slowly purred at him, stretching along the table in a cat-like movement that enhanced her threatening mood.

He swallowed the knot that had just formed in his throat. That tone… Xena at her most dangerous, and he knew it… "No, of course not, my Princess…" he answered "It's just not like you, that's all…"

"Good." she said in her usual command voice, making Kahn sigh in relief. "You see, Deros and I spotted these amazing horses in Ypala… And I want them! They seemed to be fine animals, and I'm sure they can easily be trained to serve us in battle."

"As you wish. With your permission, I'll go and make the necessary arrangements."

Xena dismissed him with a hand signal, and Kahn left. He decided that it was probably best not to argue with her… Not to insist on the attack to the meaningless warlord and keep the already trained horses he had… If she wanted the hoses from Ypala, those were the horses she was going to get.

Why she'd made the decision not to attack her former lover, Xena didn't know. Or at least she wouldn't admit it, not even to herself, how much he still meant. She tried and succeeded to convince herself that the only reason that Petracles would be allowed to live were the horses of Ypala, although her heart told her something else…

**********

The next morning, Xena left the main camp accompanied by both horsemen and foot soldiers, keeping to the west, in the direction of Ypala. She knew that the slower march forced by the men on foot would only allow them to reach their destination just before nightfall, but that was just fine. It would give her more than enough time to issue her usual warning to the smelly little people, get a good night's rest and get down to business the next morning. She and her men would be ready to get what they wanted, one way or the other…

When they reached the surroundings of Ypala, Xena chose a man to take the warning, while the rest of them would set up camp for the night. The mid-spring dusk had brought a little mist and she wanted to get herself under her blanket as soon as possible. At least the next day promised to be one of sunshine…

It was left to Darphus to take the message of the Warrior Princess. He rode his mare quietly down the hill and moved into the village, straight to the tavern. There, he dismounted and entered. As Xena had figured, the place was packed with people preparing for the Spring Festival…

There, they discussed what they still had to do and what had already been done to make the event a profitable success.

Darphus flipped a coin on the counter "Wine.." he growled as the servant girl took the money and gave him a questioning look. Moments later she returned with a goblet of cheap wine and a pretty smile to go along with it. He washed down the bad quality liquid and when he finished, wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Then, he climbed onto the wood counter. It was time to do what he'd come here to do. To make sure he got everyone's attention, he slipped two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp loud whistle.

The cheerful talks of the peasants stopped, and one by one, all of them turned to face the warrior standing on the counter. At first they thought it was just a drunk outsider, but when he spoke, they realized he was very sober and dead serious…

"People of Ypala…" he began, speaking with strong dragged words "I'm here to deliver a message from Xena, Warrior Princess…" Darphus gave them a few moments to allow the name of his commander to sink in and take its effect, before he continued. "Tomorrow, at first light, she's coming to take whatever she pleases… Cooperate and you will live, oppose us and this village will be burned to the ground! Anyone who raises a sword against us will die!"

With his task finished, the warrior jumped from the counter and walked out the door, leaving a bunch of astonished people behind. He got on his dark mare and galloped away, to join the rest of Xena's attack group.

In the tavern, silence reigned for a while, until the warrior's words really hit home, but soon enough a discussion amongst the town's elders and the most influent people had started around a round table…

"I say we fight!" the horse dealer shouted, dropping his fist on the table before him. "That bitch will rob us clean! You all know that! I say…"

"We all know what you say, Merkas" the blacksmith interrupted "But who will do the fighting? You?"

"He will!" Merkas shouted, pointing at the warrior sitting at the table, across from him, quietly assisting while the others argued.

"Merkas…" the magistrate intervened "Peranius is just one man… How do you expect him to fight off the Warrior Princess' army?"

"Well…" the horse dealer began "He's the best, right? He'll come up with something, and…"

This time it was the healer's time to speak "You're kidding yourself, Merkas… This Xena"

"Shut up, woman!"

"You shut up, Merkas" the blacksmith demanded "Let Maharet have her say…"

"May I suggest something?" the warrior Peranius spoke for the first time "This Xena is supposed to have a little bit of a twisted warrior code in her, so… I say that when she comes down those hills in the morning, I challenge her for a duel…" his audience around the wood table was silent, pondering on his words. "She'll accept, for sure, and that way we'll avoid a bloodbath… You do have faith in my skills, don't you?"

"Let's take a vote!" the magistrate said "All those in favor of going with Peranius' plan, raise your hands…"

**********

With the first rays of sun, Xena and her followers rode down hill and took their position in the entrance of Ypala's large street…

No living soul was in sight, until the moment when the warrior Peranius walked out the tavern door "Good luck, father!" a young man shouted from inside the old building.

In a full leather and iron armor, with his long sword already in his hand, Peranius walked over to the only woman in the group of renegades "Xena, right?" he asked, looking up into the blue eyes of the beauty who rode the gray stallion.

"Yes." She answered flatly "And who might you be?"

"My name is Peranius." the armored man answered "I champion the village of Ypala, and it's in the name of all the people of this village that I challenge you into single combat."

"What?!" she laughed loudly in the man's face "The sheep's got fangs, hey?" she commented to her people, who, amused, watched the whole scene "Alright…" she jumped from Styx's back and guided him to the tavern's door where she allowed the animal to get a drink of fresh water "I accept… I like it when a champion comes forward. It'll make things more interesting… Until I kill you."

Immediately, her men dismounted and laid themselves out in a circle around the widest part of the street, drawing a small arena where the duel would take place…

The Warrior Princess threw her purple cloak over the stallion's saddle and straightened the little stone pendant at her throat. She walked in the circle of men that closed behind her and sized the warrior who stood in the center "Ready when you are…" she purred dangerously, bringing the sword to her right hand.

Peranius made the first move, testing her… He stroke high at her ribcage where his sword was easily blocked by hers, with a loud metallic clank.

As the fight begun, the villagers left their homes and slowly, cautiously, approached the circle of the warrior Princess' men, to watch as the duel took place.

Xena blocked another, and yet another of his powerless testing strikes… She was getting bored with this… Just circling each other, clashing swords… She lit up her face with a broad smile and winked at him from behind the metal of her blade "So you wanna play, do you?"

Peranius' muscles tensed as he tightened his grip on the hilt, expecting her to strike violently at his chest, or something… Instead, Xena decided to play a little… "Yiip!" she screamed as she flipped through the air over the man's head, landing behind him. She could have killed him right there, but she chose to make things last, to have a little fun… So instead of killing him, she planted a kick on his behind… "Come on, you can do better that that, can't you?" she teased him.

"I'm gonna kill you demon!" he screamed in anger, as he turned around to face the warrior woman again.

"Oh, really…" she said, raising an eyebrow at him and never wiping the smile off her bronzed face.

Peranius stroke again at her, this time low, beneath her knees, but she simply jumped over the blade. Again he tried, this time higher, at her waist, with the sword and at her breast with a small dagger he had retrieved from it's hiding place, under his sleeve.

The sword was easily deflected by Xena's blade, but the dagger hit home, and the only reason it didn't do damage was the metallic pattern that covered her leather bodice, which blocked the smaller weapon.

But even this didn't wipe the smile away. "You didn't tell me we're allowed to use daggers…" she let the smile slowly fade away and wet her lips with her tongue. Aiming to break his concentration as she got a second weapon, she gave him sheepish eyes and watched him completely loose himself as she slowly pushed her hand between her breasts, under the black leather bodice…

And then the broad smile returned "Men are suckers!" she took advantage of his loss of touch with reality and sunk the small ivory hilted dagger in his shoulder. Peranius stepped back and moaned in pain as the small blood stained blade was removed from his flesh "First blood for me!" she said.

With blood shed in the improvised arena, a chant began to rise from the circle of warriors as they cheered their commander to go for the kill "Xena! Xena! Xena!…" what started as a whisper became louder and louder, filling the Warrior Princess' ears, rising her blood lust and making her heart beat faster.

Again the smile faded, and with her eyes shining with murderous threat, she advanced towards him. Peranius tried to strike at her, but her sword seemed to be everywhere, blocking every move he made… He could no longer hold his ground and began to step back…

Xena could feel the fear rising in him, as she pinned him still, only with her blue eyes, like a snake would do to it's petrified prey… Then, suddenly, she kicked high through the air, higher than he'd thought possible and hit him under the chin, cracking his jaw at both joints.

Peranius could not stand the intense pain and fell to his knees, dropping both blades at Xena's feet. Blood streams formed on both corners of his mouth and dropped on to his hands as he reached for his broken bones. He didn't get up. The pain was too much for him to handle and he couldn't even think straight any longer…

"So, people of Ypala…" she said, as her men dragged the peasants into the circle "This is your mighty champion…" she touched him with the sole of her boot "I guess you all know what happens now…" under the horrified eyes of the villagers, Xena rose her sword above the head of the bleeding man, as he stayed kneeling at her feet "Say goodbye to the local hero, fools…". The sword went down in a single swift movement, leaving Peranius' head at one side and his motionless body fallen to the dirt on the other "That goes for all of you… This is what happens to those who challenge the Warrior Princess!" she displayed the bloody blade in the air, striking fear and hate in the hearts of everyone present, her own people excepted…

She slipped her sword back in the scabbard, neglecting to clean it before doing so, and ordered a few men to gather Merkas' horses and every other valuable thing they could find.

But what Xena hadn't counted on was the young man still inside the tavern, whose father she had just killed… She heard the arrow fly through the air, but it was too late… She was too far away to stop it. "No!" she shouted, throwing the chakram in one direction and running in another.

The stallion whinnied in pain as the poorly aimed arrow struck his right cannon bone. Immediately his mistress reached him, taking the returning weapon from the air and attaching it back at her hip. "Easy boy…" she examined the wound, and using a pinch to a known pressure point in the horse's knee, she blocked off the nerves so he wouldn't fell the pain as she removed the arrow. Another pinch and the nerve connection was restored. "Damon!" she called, as she bandaged the animal's wound.

"Yes, Princess…"

"Take Styx back to camp and tell Santis to look after him… Move!" Damon did as he was ordered and left the village at once with an escort of five men charged of looking out for the safety of Xena's horse.

She was evil incarnated when she turned to face the people her men had gathered…

**********

By the time they left the village, behind there was nothing left but fearful women and children. Xena took all the horses and pack animals she could find and every last dinar those people owned. She ordered every man to be killed and all the houses burned. The pigs and chicken were released on the farmland, destroying the crops and staying at the mercy of the forest wolves and the water from the wells was poisoned with potions taken from the healer's home. Before leaving, the Warrior Princess had the bodies of the dead crucified, drawn and quartered or beheaded… A clear warning had been left that day…

Chapter 8

During the days that followed the attack to the cursed village of Ypala, Xena and Santis never left the side of the gray stallion, healing him the best they could. Kahn minded the affairs related to the army so that the Warrior Princess had nothing else to worry about. But as time went by, it became clear that Styx would never be the same… As his leg healed from the wound, the limping persisted and he never galloped again. During the night, Xena would cry for her crippled friend, call on the Gods for help, blaming herself for choosing Ypala instead of killing Petracles and cursing all the people in the village she'd destroyed. But none of that made any difference. Styx's leg still kept giving up under his weight…

The Warrior Princess began riding other horses, those who belonged to no one in particular, but still kept her stallion around. She knew that the usual thing to do when a warhorse had such a misfortune, was to put down the animal, killing him with a painless cut on the neck. But she couldn't bring herself to do that.. Or to have someone else do it, for that matter… She loved that animal, so she just kept him around as kind of a pet, and Santis to tend to him, as usual…

And her loneliness, bitterness and lack of interest in the life she was leading all increased with the horse's injury. She wasn't happy, had been careless and stupid in Ypala, and her last friend had paid the price, being marked for life…

**********

It was close to the end of spring when a gang of thieves came close to Xena's camp, waving a white flag… They were interested in joining the Warrior Princess' army, they told Xena's chief-lieutenant

As always, they were given the chance to prove their worth. They looked like nothing more than a bunch of thugs, good for nothing more than scaring little children and old women… But you never knew… Xena knew that looks could be very deceiving…

One by one, the thugs were asked to perform several tests, under the evaluating look of the Warrior Princess… They were all fairly well built, and strong enough to serve her. But when it came to skill, that was another matter. None of them excelled on horse back, and one of them even managed to fall down twice, before actually getting on the saddle, causing a wave of laughter to cross those who already belonged to the army. As archers, they all sucked and almost managed to kill each other. It was on the sword that Xena spotted talent.. The handsome one… The thug called Theodorus. One by one he managed to defeat the four opponents that Xena had chosen for him. That one would stay, she decided. The others were dismissed, and Theodorus was given the ground rules of the Warrior Princess…

**********

"So, what do you think it is?" the Warrior Princess asked Santis, her stable boy, as they both knelt next to the gray stallion, examining the swallowed leg. "It just showed up over night… And he's in pain…"

The boy touched the horse's flesh and the animal twitched in pain. "Uhm… "

"What does uhm mean?" the woman asked impatiently "Can you help him? You have to! Santis…"

The boy rose to his feet. "Princess… I'm not sure what it is, but…"

"But what? Santis?"

"I don't know what causes this swelling… but I've seen it before on horses that have been wounded in battle…"

"And how can it be fixed?" Xena asked.

"Well… Most people just kill the animal… But I know you won't." he quickly added, as he saw her face become angered at such suggestion. "But there is a cure… You just have to force the horse to drink a tea made of a special plant…"

The Warrior Princess scratched the animal between the ears, and then turned again to the boy "What plant?"

"I don't know what it's called, Princess." The boy replied "But I'll recognize it… It's a small little thing, with tiny blue flowers that bloom all year long… It usually grows in damp grounds, near rivers and such… It's a bit rare, but if we look hard, I'm sure we'll find some, near the river…"

"Good. Get ready to leave. We're going to find that little plant for Styx."

"Yes, Princess…" Santis turned on his heels and left to fix mounts for himself and his commander, so that they could leave at once.

"Don't worry, boy…" Xena said to the crippled animal "You're gonna be just fine…" she kissed him on the nose and left.

**********

"Up there! See it, Princess?" Santis pointed at the little plant they'd been searching for all day long. They'd been slowly riding up river, carefully searching each spot on the ground, for the one thing that would cure the problem that the Warrior Princess' stallion had developed the night before. Finally, they'd found it… But it wasn't going to be easy…

The tiny plant had grown on the side of a small waterfall that was about twice Xena's height. That wouldn't be much of a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that it was very unstable ground, since mud made for the most part of the waterfall elevation, and that made it very hard for Xena to climb up, but that wasn't gonna stop her…

"Wait here." she ordered "I'll climb up there and get it." And she began to go up the elevation.

"Be careful, Princess!"

Xena moved slowly, carefully sinking each hand and foot deep in the muddy bank of the waterfall, to get proper support to propel herself up each step of the way. Below, Santis waited near the horses, watching the woman's every move.

It took her only a couple of minutes to reach the place where the small flowered plant grew. Xena made sure both her feet were well secured before she let one hand get free, to pick the plant. One by one, she collected six or seven plants and tucked them into a small leather pouch she was carrying at her waist. She closed the pouch, and began descending the same way she'd gone up.

As her feet touched the ground, Xena heard a rumbling noise above her head, and knew she was in trouble… She only had time to look up and see that the wall she'd climbed just moments before had become loose and was falling all over her!

"Xena! Look out!" Santis launched himself towards his commander and they both fell in the cold river waters, followed by an avalanche of mud.

Xena could feel the layers of mud settling in over her and the stable boy. It was all over them, not allowing them to breathe or to move up out of that trap… They had to wait. Hold their breath and save their strength for a few moments, until the running water washed away enough mud, to allow them to fight their way up.

Xena knew that… But the boy didn't. He kept trying to fight his way free, to get out of that place. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she couldn't speak… And as the mud kept being swept away by the waters, the Warrior Princess began to slowly move up, and the boy stood still…

'No Santis! Don't give up! Don't you dare to die on me, trying to save my life! Santis fight! Be strong, don't let me down! Santis…'

**********

"I'm telling you, it's not the same dog!" the child insisted "I got a good look at him when he attacked us… That's not the same one!"

The boy was going to disagree, but a hard look of his sister's piercing blue eyes told him to keep his mouth shut. So he did…

"The other one was bigger and younger. His tail was shorter and he had a dark spot on the back…"

But the blacksmith wasn't too convinced and he still kept the animal trapped under the rope net. "Are you sure, Xena? I mean, it was really dark…"

"I'm sure." The raven-haired child said in a tone of authority that surprised even her brother, who knew her like the back of his hand. "I wouldn't make that mistake." She said calmly, in the same tone shifting her eyes from her brother, over to the group of adults that surrounded her, and settling them on the animal that kept struggling to free himself from the prison imposed on him by the net. "That's not the same dog." She lied "I remember it very well…" And again she told everyone how it had all happened…

"It happened two weeks ago… On the night with no moonlight. Lyceus and I went out in the evening, to catch some crickets to show to our friends the next day, but we kinda lost track of time… We were having so much fun! Anyway, when we realized it, it was already dark and we were quite far from home, in the North pastures, where the sheep had been turning up dead. Immediately, we rushed home. We knew that mom would be mad at us for being late, so we decided to take the shortest route to the house, right through the middle of the pasture and the flocks of sheep…" the child went on with her tale, never shifting her gaze from the yellow animal and impressing the grown-ups with her accuracy. It was as if she remembered it all too well… "When my brother and I reached the old oak tree, you know, the large one, next to the one that was hit by lightning last winter? When we got there, we decided to rest for a little bit before continuing home. We'd been running for a while and we were both very tired… But right a moment after we got there, we saw some… four or five, I think… Anyway, some sheep running right pass us.. And they were so scared! We could see in their eyes that they were running for their lives. Lyceus and I were gonna follow them, to see if we could figure out what was wrong with them, when we heard a strange noise behind us. So we stopped. I told my brother to stay by the old tree, while I went to check it out… It really wasn't far from there, where the noise was coming from, but it was so dark that I had to get really close before I could see a thing… And I saw a dog with a dead sheep. The white wool was stained with blood and the dog's fangs were stained with blood. I turned to run away, but I guess that's when the dog saw me, and I didn't have the time to do a thing. He just jumped forward so fast! And he grabbed me by the right leg…" she lifted her long skirt to display the place where she'd been wounded, still marked with blue bruises, and then released her clothes back down. "His bite just hurt so much… That I had to scream. And Lyceus heard me cry out, so he picked up a stone from the ground and ran to me. When he saw the dog attacking me, he threw the stone at his head… And the animal released me and went away…" she took in a deep breath, as if to recover from the experience she'd just relieved, and finally moved her blue eyes from the animal, to her audience.

She hoped she'd been convincing enough… If not, she knew the animal would be killed. 'I can't let that happen…' she tucked her raven hair behind her ears and went on "I got a very good look at the dog that attacked me. And this is not the same one. This is an old dog… Look at his eyes, and the calloused legs… And he doesn't have a wound on the head, from the stone Lyceus threw…" she said, pointing at the dog's head, knowing well that the projectile sent by her brother had hit the animal's back, not the head… "And this dog's hair is all light yellow… the other one was different…" she insisted once more.

The large blacksmith scratched his head and looked at the girl, and then at the dog trapped at his feet "Alright, Xena… If you say so, we're not gonna doubt you. This is not the same dog."

A smile immediately grew on the child's bronzed face, only to be completely wiped by the man's next sentence. "But still we have to put it down. That's obviously a dangerous animal…"

"No!" the child shouted in outrage "You'll do no such thing!" she nearly commanded "This is not a dangerous animal and I'll prove it to you!"

With a decided attitude that all already knew in her, Xena knelt to the ground and began to slowly release the yellow dog from the net he was tangled in 'Now don't let me down, pal…' she thought as if talking to the animal, as the image of those large fangs sinking into her flesh passes before her eyes 'This is your life that's hanging by a thread in here, not mine, so you better behave…' she was becoming more and more nervous as the last layers of the rope net began to be removed, but she didn't let her feelings show. Maybe only the dog was aware of it… Maybe… 'Be a good dog and I promise I'll love you and take care of you…'

And the girl never really knew why, but the animal that in that dark night in the pastures had attacked her like a wild beast, was now behaving like a sweet puppy. Maybe he'd heard her thoughts and did what he could to save his own life… Maybe the girl's love had touched his heart… It remained a mystery…

But it didn't truly matter. She'd proven to everyone that the yellow dog was not dangerous and she saved his life. To keep the promise she'd made in her thoughts, Xena took the old dog home. Mom didn't want him at first, but not even she could resist her daughter's baby blues…

And Xena got herself a new playmate. She named him Maphias, after a boy from the village… And never did the yellow dog display any sign of violence towards a person or animal again.

It was a great summer for the three… Xena, Lyceus and the old dog, Maphias… And the autumn that followed too.

It was in the winter that the tragedy happened…

It had rained for nearly a week without a break, so on the first day of winter sun, the raven haired child and her dog went running out the door to play on the open fields.

And in spite of all her mother's warnings, the rebel child Xena went with her four legged friend to play along the riverbanks. After all those days of rain the waters were left larger and more beautiful than ever… But also infinitely more dangerous, with its raging currents…

And the fatality happened. While playing too close to the water, the child slipped on the mud and fell in. Xena was a very good swimmer, better than most grown-ups, in spite of her tender age, but she was still no match for the fury of the flooded river.

She was dragged down river, barely managing to stay at the surface. She'd never been so scared before… She actually thought it would be her death. That her life would be over right after it started… But that didn't happen… The Fates had a different destiny in store for that little one…

Her hero came to the rescue. Seeing the girl in distress, the yellow dog didn't stop to think and jumped right in. He moved through the waters like an arrow until he got a hold of the child's blouse with his mouth. Bravely, he then fought the raging currents and took his mistress to safety, to the riverbank.

They both made it home alright, but that was not the end of it…

They'd been in the water for a while, and had been freezing under their soaked clothes and fur all the way home. And they both became ill, terribly ill…

For weeks, the two remained in bed, getting worse and worse, in spite of all mother's love and care, and all of the healer's medication. And they both were close to death… But then their destinies parted…

Xena was young and strong, and she slowly pulled through, recovering completely from her little accident… But the dog Maphias was old and could not endure the disease. As the girl got better, he got worse and worse, and finally died.

It was quite a blow for the young child. She'd grown very attached to the old yellow dog. "That's the way life is, my little one…", mom said. But that didn't make her feel any better.

It only made her realize what was the cruel truth of life. That nothing or no one was around forever. Not even her loved ones. Not even mom, Lyceus, Toris, Flora… Maphias… Not even her…

And for saving Xena's life, the yellow dog was dead…

**********

A couple of days later, Styx's leg was just fine. Or at least as well as it had been before… The treatment Santis had prescribed worked in perfection. 'Poor kid', Xena though, as she groomed the crippled war-horse. 'Trying to save my life, he lost his… I wonder if he'd done it anyway, knowing what a sacrifice he was going to make… Probably not…' She kissed the animal good night and headed for her tent. 'Styx and I are gonna miss him… Oh, well… Only the strong survive, I guess…'

She sat at her table and prepared for another sleepless night, studying maps, making plans… Although during the day the boy's death affected her very little, or even nothing at all, it was at night that it haunted her… In terrible dreams where she dragged his lifeless body out of the mud over and over again… Dreams she did not want to have again… So she worked instead… Until she was too tired to fight away Morpheus' intents…

And until she slowly put the memory behind her, as much as she could, joining all those other things she didn't want to recall…

**********

It was late at night when Kahn came to see her. Xena had been bathing in the tub Damon had filled with hot water for her and had just finished brushing her waist long hair.

She was standing in front of the gold framed polished mirror, tracing every little scar with her fingertips, remembering each battle to the detail, when she heard his familiar voice call her name, outside the tent.

"Come in", she answered.

Kahn pushed the canvas curtain aside and entered, pinning his eyes to the ground as she slipped into the little scarlet dress.

"Sit." She ordered, when she was finished, pointing at the pair of wooden chairs near the small table.

Kahn took a sit and poured himself a goblet of fine wine. "I need to speak to you, Princess Xena."

"It sounds serious…" she sat in front of him "What is it?" she asked. He seemed a little uneasy, shifting his weight on the chair, she notice, before the man spoke to her…

"You know I have a family in the Peloponnese… don't you?" he said.

"Yeah… I think you've mentioned them to me before…"

"I have a wife, and two daughters." He went on "One of them is almost your age…"

The woman poured herself some wine and drank the full goblet at once. "What are you getting at?" she asked.

He knew the Princess didn't like beating around the bush, so he decided to go straight to the point, and let the Gods inspire her to have mercy on him "I want to go home, Xena." He announced.

"You what?!!" she asked, jumping to her feet and knocking her chair down. "You want to leave me, Kahn?"

He kept his eyes on his full goblet "I'm getting old, Xena… Now's my chance to change my life, before it's too late… I don't want to die in a nameless place on a battlefield and end up in a shallow grave somewhere…"

"You're talking nonsense man!" she protested, pacing back and forth next to the small table, her eyes blazing with blue fire. "You're not gonna die… And there's still so much you can do here with me…"

"No, Xena…" he continued "This is not for me anymore. I want to get away from the battle and the killing and I want to go home. I want to watch my grandchildren grow up…" He lifted his eyes to look into hers and instead of the anger he expected to find there, he saw a mild sadness "I don't belong here anymore, Princess. I don't fit here anymore… I long for the moment when I leave this all behind and hold my wife in my arms again… She thinks I'm working at the service of the King of Thebes, and that is where the money I sent her over the years came from… Don't you understand, Xena? I wanna leave this all behind and start a new life. Try to forget that this ever happened…"

Xena stopped her pacing, set her chair up right again and sat down. She planted both elbows on the table and settled her chin on her hands. "Are you sure that's what you really want to do?" she asked him.

Kahn looked deep into those blue eyes. They looked as if a silver light blazed inside of them… "Yes. That's what I want. Now it's up to you, to let me go or make me walk the gauntlet for wanting to leave…"

"Gods, Kahn! What kind of a choice is that?" she said, lifting her hands up to the sky, in despair, or so it seemed to him "If you want to go, go… I'll miss your service… but you're free to do as you please…"

"Thank you, Princess." With a smile on his lips, the veteran archer got to his feet "I won't forget your kindness to me…"

"Wait… Sit down." She asked and he complied. "If you're really gonna do this, there's something I'd like to ask of you…"

He was curious… What could she want from him now? Maybe she didn't want him to leave her service and was gonna punish him in some other way… Maybe she was gonna send him on a suicide mission, maybe… "Anything, Princess."

Xena got to her feet and, turning her back on the man, walked over to the opening of the tent. Gently, she pushed away a little of the curtain that served as a door and stared at something outside. Kahn couldn't see that she was staring at her crippled gray stallion. The animal was sleeping on his feet, shifting his weight frequently, to rest his hurt leg. She released the curtain and turned to face Kahn "I want you to take Styx with you."

Now that was a surprise! And a relief too. "But Xena", he said "you're so attached to that horse…" Or at least she seemed to be, by the way she treated him… But with Xena, you never really knew…

"Yes, I am…" she nearly ran the distance that separated them and leaning forward, she placed both hands on his shoulders. "That's why I ask you this, Kahn… He suffers here, always moving around from one place to the other, after us… He needs a home! You could give him that… Please, Kahn… I ask you, take him with you. Please!"

He'd never seen the Warrior Princess plead with someone like this before. Surely this was very important to her, or she wouldn't expose herself this way, he thought. "If you're sure…" he said "I'll take him with me…"

"Thank you… Forever I'll be in your debt…"

He saw her face slightly twitching as those words came out. And her eyes were becoming moisty and tinged with little red rays. It was time for him to leave. He got to his feet and after greeting his commander, he left.

**********

Kahn took the night to pack his scarce belongings… Funny how little he had to show for all that time… Anyway, he wanted to leave in the morning, so at first light he was ready for departure.

"Have a good life…" Xena greeted him with a forced smile "Here…" she handed him the rein of a loaded pack horse, along with those of Styx. "Shh!" she said, crossing her rose lips with a stretched long finger. "Say nothing… It's my thanks to you for taking care of my friend…" She patted the stallion over the neck and placed a noisy kiss on his nose. "Goodbye, my friend… Now go!"

The Warrior Princess turned and ran off into the woods, never looking back. She didn't want anyone to see it if she lost control of the tears that were begging to be released from her eyes.

And Kahn… Knowing the way he truly felt, and recognizing for the first time that maybe she was beginning to feel the same way… That the anger, the pain… They'd eaten her all up from the inside, until there was nothing left. The difference was, she had nowhere to go, no one to go to… And she did belong here… This was her destiny. And she'd just have to keep following it, or die…

And Styx… It was just too hard to let him go… Between a warrior and his mount there was always a special bond… True, he was just an animal… but… He was also a friend. Never would riding along the beach feel so right, or would she put her entire trust in her mount during a battle. More than ever before, she felt she'd been left alone, with no friends…

Or maybe not… Damon was her friend, right? The soldier with the puppy dog manners? He did lover her…

Kahn rode out of camp, keeping to the road that lead south. Behind him, the two animals followed, the crippled gray stallion and a brown horse, loaded with gold coins and furs…

Xena didn't see them go. With her eyes burning and her heart shattered, she practiced furiously with her sword, against imaginary enemies that popped out from behind every tree in those woods… Hoping that if she kept her body busy and tired enough, her head would stop thinking and her heart would stop aching…

It didn't work.

**********

As the days went by, the pain slowly faded. For the misery of the villages and warriors in her path, Xena tried to keep herself as busy as possible, raiding, conquering and killing as much as she could. Over and over again she found herself laughing at the face of those who were about to meet their death at the end of her sword. And it did help. The blood of others running over her hands seemed to wash away some of the hurt.

She returned to her usual life, doing her best to cultivate the hate the world in general, making it hurt as much as it had made her hurt, submitting it to her will and allowing herself to be guided only by her own lust and desire. Somehow, it managed to make her forget her own inner emptiness… at least for a while…

One thing had changed though. Xena allowed someone to come close to her once again. Damon became her assistant in everything. For his Warrior Princess he'd do anything, from carrying her orders to her new chief-lieutenant, Ixan, to threatening villages in her behalf, dealing for weapons with unscrupulous merchants and even tend to her personal whims when she desired it. Slowly, he conquered a bit of her affections…

And with the Summer Solstice approaching with giant steps, Xena decided to present herself a bloody feast to celebrate the event.

Leading her full army in an attack, she crushed like a giant wave over the city of Kastoryalthos, sending to Hades anyone who dared to cross her path. It was a quick and easy victory. The King had no time to prepare his people for battle, and even if he had, it would have been in vain. Compared to Xena's powerful force, his little army was no more then a clumsy militia.

Complying with the Warrior Princess' order, the largest numbers of her army settled around the taken city, having their fun around the town… They ate and drank the place clean, tied young men to loaded carts and waged on them as they were forced under the whip to race against each other and burned down family homes. Behind their commander's back, some of them even took the time to dishonor the prettiest girls around, preferently in front of their fiancés. They were having their fun…

In the King's castle, Xena and her elite had their own Solstice celebration, having fun at the expense of the local ruler…

"Come on, King…" she said between waves of evil laughter "It's not so bad, is it? It's good for noble folks to mingle with the salt of the earth once in a while… It keeps them in touch with reality, don't you think?"

The King, stripped to his underpants, grunted a curse under his breath as he kept washing the feet of Xena's men, using a sea sponge. That bitch, sprawled on his throne, kept laughing out loud and slipping blood red cherries in her mouth… His cherries! But he had no choice other than to continue with this humiliating task… From the corner of his eye, he gazed at his wife, held at knifepoint by one of the Warrior Princess' brutes.

One by one, the king washed them all and then was dragged away to the damp dungeons, where he impatiently waited to hear what had become of his Queen. It didn't look good, considering she was a prisoner of the Destroyer of Nations…

They all then moved to the royal dinning room, where the servants had been forced to prepare a feast for them, before being dismissed. Xena wanted the Queen to wait on them, for no reason other then to humiliate her, bend her to her will, as she did with the rest of the world.

The poor woman did her best to do a good job, but she hadn't been born for serving… The belching, spitting, dirty language… it all got to her and brought tears to her eyes. She was nervous and kept spilling things over the men, who pulled her to their laps and kissed her with their filthy lips…

Fortunately, they didn't just look like pigs, they ate like pigs. Soon after it began, the dinning ended and the Queen was allowed to join her husband in the dirty dungeon cell…

But the party went on… Music was heard from the castle where the King's musicians were forced to play for the Warrior Princess' entertainment.

Xena danced and danced… and drank too much… It was, according to her definition, a great celebration. With the prisoners sucking up to her, hoping to still have their lives in the morning, the music playing through out the night, fine food on the table and good wine to wash it all down and numb the senses…

And to everyone's surprise, the renegades left in the morning.

Xena had as her only goal to have a Solstice celebration, and when that was over, she left, leaving what was once a great, prosperous city, reduced to a dying little village…

**********

But wealth was never too much and less than a week later, Xena and her men were already scouting, aiming to choose a new victim for their plunder.

They'd checkout the two villages closest to their main camp.

From behind the cover of wild bushes, they studied the first one, scanning through the wooden buildings with eyes used to the task. It looked quite good, actually… There wasn't a single warrior in sight, and the place looked prosperous… The merchants' shops were filled with expensive goods Xena appreciated, such as silks and jewels, and the barns were packed with good food genres that her army could use. Not to mention the presence of a traveling salesman who traded in leather. They could always use that to fix their own protective clothing… The Warrior Princess' army was gonna hit that village for sure!

Still, they went to take a look at he other one too…

Shielding their eyes against the Greek Summer sun, they watched the tiny group of houses.

"What a dump!" Xena commented to her puppy dog soldier, at her side "This place's got nothing but a tavern and a pig breeder…"

"Not worth the trouble…"

The woman touched the horse's flanks with her heels and took the animal out of cover, guiding him in the direction of the small village.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked in evident astonishment as he and Dragnus followed right behind their Princess.

Xena turned on the saddle and threw him a heart-melting smile "As long as we're here," she said "we might as well get ourselves a drink, right?"

Their entrance in the Tavern was hardly noticed, going pretty much against what they expected… Three warriors armed to their teeth in a tiny village Tavern would usually make quite an impression. Specially if one of them looked like a beauty queen… But attentions seemed to be focused on something happening on the corner table…

"C'mon, man…" the small scruffy guy behind the table said "You lost, it happens… just take it with dignity and…"

"No!" the man he was talking to shouted, smashing the table into little pieces of wood, under the weight of his punch. He was as big as a mountain… Xena thought she'd never seen anyone quite that big, giants and cyclops excluded, of course. "I'm telling you the pea was on the left!" he kept arguing, making the scruffy looking guy coward against the wall.

The disagreement seemed to have been caused by a little "find-the-pea" game. Apparently, the mountain-man thought it was under the left nut-half, and it wasn't. For some reason, he felt he'd been cheated out of his money and wanted retribution…

The three warriors watched from stools at the wooden counter, sipping mugs of cheap ale, as the argument went on.

"What do you think?" Xena asked her two men.

Damon set the mug down on the counter "Think of what?" he asked, shifting his eyes from the skirmish going on at the corner to his beautiful Warrior Princess.

"Of the big guy… You think he could serve me?"

Dragnus finished his ale, and signaling for a refill, he answered her "I think so… You want me to talk to him?"

"No, I will." She replied.

Xena slipped down from the stool and left her mug on Damon's hand. With the silent steps of a cat, she walked close to the huge man and cleared her throat to get his attention.

It worked. He left half way out the ugly curse he was spitting and turned to see who was behind him, ready to strike down whoever it was with a punch strong enough to knock out a mule. Of course his intentions changed when he set his eyes on the tall blue eyed and leather clad woman who stood before him, giving him a seductive look.

"What do you say if you just forget about this smelly con man and join me for a drink?" she asked with a sweet voice, pushing his jaw up with her finger to close the mouth that'd been left open since he laid eyes on her…

The scruffy guy objected to being referred to as a "smelly con man", but thought it was best not to share his feelings on the subject, and just hope that the bald-head-with-a-pony-tail accepted the woman's offer.

Without answering, the mountain-man followed her to the counter and sat at her side, away from the two other warriors…

"So, what's your name?" she asked, ordering two drinks and crossing her legs so that the leather stripes of her skirt fell to the sides and exposed a little more skin.

"Uhm… Estragon…" he managed to say.

"I'm Xena, Warrior Princess…" she announced.

He was surprised… He took a second look at her, checking her out from head to toe and for the first time seeing her as more than a piece of meat he'd like to taste "Xena, hey? I thought you'd be…"

"A giant? Or spitting fireballs?"

"Well… yeah…"

She allowed a smile to cross her face and took a sip of her drink. At the other end of the counter, both Dragnus and Damon watched with hawk eyes… That brute might try something against their commander… And they'd love to tear him apart before she did…

"Well, Estragon…" she continued "You seem like a strong fellow, so I have a proposition for you… How'd you like to join my army? Wait…" she silenced him "In my army I demand above all loyalty. My men have to follow me for that reason and no other. I also demand that they all follow my code. That code does not include betrayal, killing of women or children, dealing in slavery or rape… It demands courage, strength, bravery, unquestionable obedience, that we stand by our own and we never, ever surrender. Breaking the loyalty pledge to me or my code is punished with death… So think about it and let me know." She got to her feet "I'll be finishing my drink over there with my companions." Xena walked away and sat near her men.

Estragon hadn't even realized they'd been watched the whole time… He did as she said. Looking into the bottom of his mug, he considered his options. He could say no to her, and assuming those three wouldn't gang up on him and kill him right there and then, he could go on with the life he'd been leading so far. Roaming by himself from village to village, robbing and scaring poor farmers, always ending up with empty pockets anyway, and taking for himself a pretty girl now and then… On the other hand, he could join the army of the notorious mighty Warrior Princess and ride with the most feared soldiers ever, conquering and raiding… Getting rich and actually being invincible. The choice was very obvious.

**********

The four of them returned to the main camp, and once there, Xena gave Estragon his first assignment. She wrote down in a scroll her message of threat, rolled it up nicely and tied it with a purple ribbon as her personal signature. The mountain-man was charged with the delivery to the first village they'd scouted that day and he was supposed to bring back the peasant's answer.

**********

As expected, they'd decided to cooperate. So, next morning, Xena rode into town with a bunch of warriors on horseback, and under the hateful gaze of the locals, they began their collect. The Warrior Princess stayed on the brown mare she's chosen to ride that day, the one that had belonged to Thrallin, and watched as wagons were loaded with the loot. Sacks of grain, barrels of wine, metal for the making or armor and weapons, furs, silks, gold… All they wanted…

Everything was going smoothly, with the men having no problems in their collect, so Xena shifted her eyes to the peasants who'd been rounded up on the square. Like sheep, they piled against each other in the small space the soldiers allowed them. Fearful mothers held their children tightly and young men who still thought they alone could change the world looked ready to blow up in rage and jump at her at any time… Here and there, an elder waited patiently, like they'd been through that many times before… nothing out of the ordinary, until… There, in the crowd, a pair of blue eyes, the spitting image of her own, looked back, anger written on them…

"Toris…" she mumbled to herself. Her coward brother was here. It was the first time she'd seen him since that day when he decided to put his tail between his legs and run away. 'Coward!' She and Lyceus had stayed, leading many of the young people in Amphipolis, to fight the tyrant Cortese. It had cost her little brother his life! And the coward Toris ran away… She knew that if she went to him now, he'd end up dead. Anger was boiling in her veins and she knew her temper was too hot to be controlled. Instead, she decided to ignore him, pretend she hadn't seen him.

High on her mount, Xena went back to inspecting her men's work. And when it was finished, she just gave orders to leave. Not a word to her older brother…

But the sight of him had upset her, brought back memories she'd rather forget. Memories of the first battles she'd fought, when there was still a just cause to fight for. And the death of her brother… Everywhere she looked she could see his glassy eyes staring back at her… The cries of her mother over her dead son deafening her… For days it went on. She couldn't take it anymore. It was driving her mad and she had to do something about it, to stop those visions and stifle those screams!

She tried sparring for hours with one of her best swordsmen, hoping that the exercise would help her clear her mind, but when that didn't work, she tried the next best thing. Without warning, she dropped her sword on the ground and took the man, whose name she couldn't recall, by the arm and dragged him to her bed. Sex usually managed to keep her mind off unpleasant things…

Jealously, Damon watched as Xena guided the warrior to her tent. He knew what they were gonna do… He loved her more than life itself, and he had a feeling that she was at least beginning to love him back… He didn't want to see her with any other man. He wanted to carry her in his arms, away from all that and love her for eternity. His beautiful Warrior Princess… What they needed was a commitment. That way, this wouldn't happen ever again…

Chapter 9

The next evening, Damon searched around camp until he found an excuse good enough to go to Xena… and he found it. She'd sent a leather gauntlet to be mended, and someone needed to take it back to her, he volunteered.

"Xena…" he called outside the canvas door, happy to see that out there the sun was beginning to give way to a bright round full moon.

When she heard her name outside, she sat straight on the bed and laid the parchment aside "Come in…" she said.

Damon pushed the curtain to the side, allowed himself in and dropped the canvas back in place behind him. "Damon!" she seemed please to see him, a good sign, he thought.

"I've come to bring you this…" he showed her the mended gauntlet, and instead of dropping it onto the wooden table and leaving, he walked to her bed and gave it to her in hand. "Here."

She took it and laid it beside her. "Thank you, Damon… You didn't have t…"

Xena silenced herself when he knelt on the bed behind her and began to give her a back rub she hadn't requested, driving away the soreness in her muscles with his warm touch.

He was just happy that he hadn't gotten his lights punched out… Next move… Slowly, he let his hands slide down her bronzed shoulders, dragging the scarlet stripes of her dress along with them… And he was still not knocked unconscious, definitely a good omen…

'What is my little man doing?' she silently asked herself as he removed what was left of her dress and slid in bed with her 'And why am I letting him?…'

********** The night was half way through when Damon began to leave Morpheus' realm and return to the world of the awaken. He slid his hand along the bed, expecting to find the warmth of the Warrior Princess' naked body, but instead, he only found cold blankets… "Xena…" he called in a whisper as he flung his eyes open and sat up on the bed. She was no longer in there or anywhere in the tent… Damon jumped out of bed, put on a pair of worn out leather breeches and stepped outside. The summer night was warm and bright with moonlight and he felt no need for extra clothing. "Xena…" he called again, as he ran his eyes back and forth through the sleeping camp, until he found her…

The Warrior Princess was sitting on the ground against an overgrown olive tree, her hair turned into a silver cascade by the light of the moon, up there high in the sky, listening to the woman's unspoken secrets.

Xena thought about Damon, about his gentleness, the love he laid on her… He made her feel alive, he made her feel like a real person, not just the living legend of the mighty Warrior Princess… He had made love to her that night, not just possess the legend… and that felt… amazing… It felt right, good, pure… It was something she'd been longing for a long time…

"What are you doing out here?" Damon asked, sliding down against the tree to sit on the ground next to his beautiful Warrior Princess.

"I thought you were asleep…" she answered, allowing him to put his arm around her, not sure if she was doing the right thing, letting him get so close to her feelings…

"I was…"

She gifted him with a smile "I wanted to see the sunrise…" she nested her head against his chest and prepared to just sit there, quietly, waiting for the morning to come.

Another good sign, Damon thought. It wasn't often that she allowed someone to share precious beautiful moments of quietude with her. Hopefully she'd say yes to him and the two would be bonded to each other for eternity…

Until dawn the two lovers just sat quietly against the olive tree, not letting themselves be bothered by the constant rumbling of the army, concentrating on the beauty of the birth of a new day, with all it's renewed hopes…

Damon waited until the sun had completely claimed the sky from the moon before daring to move and break the enchantment of that magical moment… He pulled his arm from behind her, got away from the tree and knelt in the dirt, right in front of her, staring right into those piercing blue eyes "Xena, I… You see… I want to… Uhm…" his nervous mumbling was making little sense.

"What is it?" she asked.

'Now or never, Damon', the man thought to himself. "I'd like to ask you something…"

"Go ahead…" Xena was curious to see what could come out of there…

He took the Princess' hands in his and kissed her fingertips before locking his eyes on hers again, and speaking his mind… "Xena, will you marry me?"

The Warrior Princess could not believe her own ears 'What did he just ask me?' "WHAT?!" she nearly shouted, retrieving her hands from his to find support with her palms against the dirt ground.

Well at least she hadn't said no…. "You heard me, my beautiful Princess…" he went on "I know I can make you happy. Please, become my wife and we'll both get out of this place… We'll ride away, and won't stop until we find a great place… We'll build a home together, have children and…"

"Damon! How dare you!" the raven hair woman interrupted "Just because you shared my bed doesn't mean… Your request has a certain sweetness and you speak with nice words. But I…"

"Think about it, Xena." Once again he took her hands in his "I know there are times when you just can't stand this life anymore and…"

She got to her feet and walked back to her tent, with Damon behind her, still trying to convince her "You just want to go away… Think about it, a family, babies, home… No more killing and…"

"Stop!" she shouted "Ixan!"

Damon was surprised when she called her chief-lieutenant and was going to say something, but her finger over her own lips warned him to stay quiet.

Ixan ran to Xena and greeted her, taking hold of her forearm.

"I want you to take care of everything while I'm gone…" she said, turning her back, strolling to the nearest saddled horse she could find and mounting, with the two men right behind, asking questions about what she was doing. "I'll be back, the latest in two weeks… Bye. Yah!!" Xena kicked the shiny gelding's flanks and rode away, leaving behind her a cloud of dust and two very puzzled warriors.

'What am I doing?' instinctively, she took in one hand the stone pendant at her throat.

**********

Xena laid on the fresh grass, looking up to the green tree leaves that shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun, while the skinny gelding grazed a little closer to the stream. It had been foolish to leave like that… she knew it.

She'd brought no weapons, other than the ivory hilted dagger she carried close to her heart, and only a few dinars that happened to be on a pouch tied to the horse's saddle.

But it had to be done. She needed to think about what her puppy-like warrior Damon had said. Not about the marriage, that was out of the question! But about leaving the army, about looking for happiness some other way… She had to decide if she wanted to keep this kind of life or not. This was a big, important decision, one that could change the entire course of her life, and maybe even History… Not something to be taken lightly…

Damon might be her ticket out of the warrior life. She didn't think she had the strength to leave on her own… And then again, why should she go with him? Pretend to be the wify type of woman for a while? She was without any doubt, the most powerful warrior of all Greece. People feared her, they recognized her name and her power. If she wanted to, she'd go down in History as one of, if not the most powerful and merciless warrior ever.

She had a freedom and richness that many Queens could only imagine. Entire nations trembled at her feet, hundreds of men obeyed her every whim… Why should she give all that up? To taste the kind of life that her mother and other women had? Worrying about children to feed, chasing them around to make sure they didn't mess up? Work day and night for a husband that might not appreciate what he had… Give up her own private life to dedicate it to a family in some poor hut in a small village… Definitely not for her! Leaving the army however…

And then there was the possibility of allowing herself to fall in love again… Maybe even with Damon… Falling for someone made her vulnerable, it meant that that person could easily hurt her more than any blade, it made her insecure… But it felt so damn good!

**********

It took the calling of a bird of the night to awake the Warrior Princess from the depth of her thoughts and make her realize that darkness had fallen. She got to her feet and checked on the horse, who was still close to the singing waters of the stream.

After starting a small campfire, she took off her leather boots and walked into the cold water. She tied her long raven hair in a bundle at the back of her head and bent over to approach the waters… For moments, Xena just remained very still, watching and listening to nature, to the water… Until she found what she'd been searching for. Swiftly, she plunged her hand through the crystal clean liquid and brought it back to the surface with a large trout trying to fight it's way free, held tight against her skin. "I'm sorry my little friend, but tonight you'll be my dinner!"

**********

That night, Xena slept wrapped in the thin blanket she retrieved from the saddle of the weak horse… And her sleep was unusually pleasant. It wasn't filled with the common blood filled nightmares that haunted her sleep so many nights… But it wasn't a peaceful dreamless sleep either. That night, she dreamt of glorious battles, of victories against powerful armies, of the freedom of scourging through the land, doing as she pleased, with nothing or no one to stop her. And always beside her, was a great dark warrior, who never left her alone, who always seemed to renew her strength when she was feeling down…

**********

The following days, Xena roamed through the countryside, never getting too far from her army, just moving around it. She did a lot of thinking, but she could reach no conclusion. Her head just seemed to get more and more confused… She thought of the life she used to have in Amphipolis, living with her mother and her two brothers… How they used to be a happy united family and how war had changed all of that…

But than again, without that war, she couldn't have become the important person she was today, the living legend. This power was not something she wanted to give up on, but the truth was, it wasn't rewarding her like when there was nothing but pure hatred in her heart, in that old days, when she rode with Borias, killing everyone she could find, not really caring about the consequences… But on the other side, she'd been so happy in that little time she'd spent with Lao Ma, with love filling her heart… If only she could understand her teachings… And would it be worth it, to leave the army and maybe take a chance on love again? What if Damon proved to be a snake like Caesar? She'd given herself body and soul to that Roman, letting herself be enchanted by his higher education and handsome features… He was a man like she, a peasant girl at the time, had never met… and what had he done to her? This time there might not be a M'Lila around to save her hind! But she'd been so happy while the illusion of love lasted…

**********

Xena stopped at the river bank, holding the horse's leather rein in her hand and staring at the raging waters that rushed down hill, breaking into millions of shiny drops against the rocks and boulders that stood in it's way.

"Ophelia!" she heard someone scream a little down river. It seemed there was someone in trouble, judging by the urgency of the words "Ophelia, my grand-daughter, hold on!"

With a back flip, the Warrior Princess got on the gelding's back, and kicking it's flanks with her heels, urged him to gallop in the direction of the screaming voice.

"Ophelia!" the old man kept calling, as he unsuccessfully tried to reach his granddaughter's outstretched hand "Oh the dear Gods in Olympus, please help my Ophelia…"

The little dark haired girl was trying to hold on with all her strength to the boulder, but the raging waters kept pulling her little body down, and she could feel her hand slipping as she tried to reach her grand-father. It was pointless. The riverbank where the old man stood was just too far… "Help me, grandfather…" she pleaded with tears filling her big brown eyes.

The old man was beginning to despair. There was no way he was just going to stand there, watching his only grand child drown…

He took his long wavy coat and dropped it on the muddy ground, and prepared to enter the river water. He knew that he'd probably never make it to his Ophelia, but at least he'd die trying.

"Yiyiyiyiyih!…" as the old man plunged his feet in the waters for the first time, the Warrior Princess' cry echoed and over his head a female form leaped, or almost flied through the air, landing on her feet, on the boulder where his little girl so desperately held on for her life.

Xena stretched down her hand and grabbed the little girl by the wrist "Come on…" she said, as she pulled the drenched child out of the waters, on to the boulder. "It'll be alright…" she whispered, trying to calm the tearful infant. She looked around to calculate the somersault back to the river bank where the worried old man stood, thanking the Gods for sending down this beautiful hero, but decided against it. Leaping through the air by herself was one thing, but with the child…

If she lost her balance even just for a split second they'd both fall on the rocky margins and, with a little bad luck, break their necks. No, instead she decided to cross through the water. It wasn't too deep and Xena bet that she was strong enough to stand the current.

"Hold on to me, alright?" the Warrior Princess lifted the child up and pulled her tight against her body, making her put the arms around her neck and the legs around her waist. "Hold me as hard as you can, and don't let go, you hear? Don't let go!"

"Alright…" Ophelia answered with a little scared voice, hiding her face in the middle of the woman's black hair, so she didn't have to look at the danger around her. The woman had said everything would be alright, and she chose to believe her.

Xena turned her back upriver, so that the current would catch her from behind and slowly stepped down from the dark boulder. The water's power against her back was enormous and for a moment she feared that the two of them would be washed away… But she planted both feet on the bottom, shifted her weight back to settle against the current and clenched her arms around the little girl's body.

Slowly, the Warrior Princess began to move aside, trying to keep the sliding down the river to a minimum. It was hard… From within the water, the distance to cover seemed to be a lot bigger than it had from the top of the boulder… But they'd make it, they'd…

"Grandfather!" the child screamed, as the raging waters suddenly dragged her and the woman, only stopping a few large paces down, when Xena managed to grab hold of a spike-like rock that emerged from the river.

Apparently, the warrior had planted her foot on an underwater stone and when it rolled aside under the woman's weight, she and her precious load were washed down. But it was alright now… She'd managed to hang on to this rock and get her balance back, in spite of tearing the back of her little scarlet dress… She'd worry about it later. Right now, all she cared about was getting Ophelia to safety, back in her grandfather's arms.

Once again, Xena let go of the rock and slowly walked sideways, until she reached the riverbank, where the old man awaited with his arms stretched out to hold his granddaughter. After the child rested safely on the old man's loving arms, the Warrior Princess too, climbed out of the waters, sitting down on the dirt to catch her breath.

"May the Gods send all their blessings on you lady…" the old man began to thank, as he helped Xena to get on her feet. "I can't even begin to thank you for saving my little Ophelia…" he went on "she's all I have in the world and…"

"That's alright…" the Warrior Princess said, silencing the old man, as she began to walk back to where she'd left her mount "That's enough thanks…"

The old man followed right behind her, with the trembling child in his arms, trying to remember where had he seen that raven beauty before. He was sure that face was familiar… he just couldn't quite place her. "I know you!" he suddenly said, as they reached the gelding's side.

'Great! He knows I'm the Warrior Princess…' Xena thought 'Now he'll run away, thinking that I saved his granddaughter only to enslave her or worse…'

"You're Princess Diana!" the grandfather said, as he wrapped the soaked child in his coat "What are you doing here, Your Highness? Don't you know your father doesn't want you out of the palace?"

"I'm sorry…" the Warrior Princess replied "but I'm afraid you're mistaking me with someone else…"

"Oh, no, Princess…" the old man went on "I never forget a face… Don't you remember me? Your maid, Tessa, she's little Ophelia's aunt…"

"I'm not who you think…" Xena insisted.

But it was of no use. The old man was convinced that Xena was this Princess Diana, that's what he called her all day. She accepted his invitation to eat at his humble home and took the clothes he'd given her to replace the torn dress. Only at nightfall did she leave, listening to his last recommendations to return to her father's palace. The old fool was really convinced that she was Diana… Uhm, well… Nothing to be done about that…

**********

And again the Warrior Princess thought throughout the night about her life… Leave or stay…

Chapter 10

The first rays of the summer sun caught the Warrior Princess already on the saddle of the skinny gelded horse, heading at a light gallop back to her camp… She'd get there the same day for sure…

It had been slightly over a week since she'd left her men behind to think about what Damon had said… She didn't plan to marry him, of course, but she'd tell him yes, get her thoughts in order as she went with him some place quiet… There she'd truly figure out what her next step in life would be. Probably conquer some small kingdom someplace nice and settle as ruling Queen, maybe even get a couple of heirs to her throne… Who knows, maybe even marry Damon then, if she came to the conclusion that he was good enough to father her children… Why not? He too was tired of war, she thought, and she did feel something for him… It would be easy to love him, if that was her decision…

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice her mount's growing uneasiness. The warmth of the sun felt good against her naked arms and the soft wind playfully blew her hair back and forth, bringing a girlish smile to her lips. Xena was happy. Happy as she hadn't been in… oh, so long… It was as if the weight of Mount Olympus had just been lifted off her shoulders… Yes, she was happy.

But this made her unusually careless… It wasn't until her horse started to stray away from the path she'd decided to follow, that she realized that something wasn't right.

Immediately, although a little too late, Xena brought her senses to full alert and her mount to a halt. The smile had vanished… She listened carefully and let her eyes run through the trees and bushes that outlined the narrow dirt road. Someone was watching, she was sure!

The compact green wall that lined her both sides was hiding some threat. She felt her body stiffen, getting ready for battle as the hair on the back of neck began to rise…

A little behind her, to the left… Two men on horseback, or more… And on the other side were more men… They were watching her…

She could now feel, almost smell the danger, and wanted to fight, but she was outnumbered at least four to one, and her only weapon was a small dagger…

They were going to attack… If she wanted to get out of this mess with her life, it would be up to her to make the first move.

Xena kicked the animal's flanks and with a loud "Yah!" cheered him to a full gallop down the road.

It was a matter of seconds before she begun to hear the sounds of her pursuers' horses' hooves against the dirt.

Giving her animal free reign to run as fast as he could, she turned her head to look through the cloud of dust risen from the road and measure the distance between herself and the unknown enemy.

She counted six men, armed warriors… She didn't see any bows amongst their weapons, so that was one less thing to worry about. Floating in the sky, above her head, a falcon cried out as it watched the pursuit taking place down below…

The Warrior Princess realized she was loosing ground to the men behind her. For the first time since she'd left her army behind, Xena regretted not having taken the time to choose a proper mount. The animal was already tired and gasping for breath… She looked at both sides of the road, looking for some sidetrack where she could maybe loose her pursuers, but no luck. The ground out there was too hard and the gelding would never make it…

Suddenly, as she was trying to figure a way out of that mess, the horse whinnied in fear and got up on his hind legs, throwing the woman off the saddle, on the ground, right next to the snake that had scared him.

Xena fell down on her back, but managed to protect her head from the impact… She immediately got to her feet and tried to get hold of the gelding's rein, but the animal was too scared and trailed off the way they had come, passing by the warriors who perused his mistress and continuing down the road.

With unpleasant grins on their faces, the warriors halted their horses, dismounted and unshed their swords…

Xena pulled out the dagger under the staring eyes of the six men, and watched as they laid out in front of her in a wide semi-circle. She let loose all her rage and anger and let it flow through her veins and take over her entire being… She released once again the wild beast she carried within… The blue eyes turned ice cold as she waited for their first move…

Six warriors… She'd been up against much worse odds than that before. She would win! They were going to feel the wrath of the Warrior Princess in the flesh!

The first man made his move… With his long blade sword held in both hands, he jumped forward, with the little grace that his weight allowed and after drawing a wide circle in the air, struck down at her stomach.

To duck the striking sword, Xena threw herself to the ground and rolled over to the left, stretching her leg to kick higher on the back of the attacker's knee. The blow was powered by the momentum of her fall ant the fat thug dropped to his knees with a loud muffled moan.

Xena jumped up, trying her best to ignore the pain caused by the bruises she was beginning to show, after being thrown by the skinny horse and prepared for the kill. She couldn't understand why the other five jerks weren't attacking, but she thought she might as well make the best of it…

With the small ivory hilt dagger in her right hand, she struck at the man's throat, but before she could reach it, the flesh of her back was torn by the claws of the falcon, who struck down, at his master's command.

She tried to free herself, striking at the bird with the small blade and shaking it off, but the claws just kept sinking deeper and deeper…

The fat thug took the opportunity to rise from the ground and regroup with the other five men.

As the woman struggled to free herself from the trained bird of prey, the tallest of the men went over to his war horse and from a bundle tied on the back of the saddle, he removed a large net.

Returning to the woman, he saw that her dagger was dropped on the ground and her blue wool blouse was torn and covered in blood. This was going to be a lot easier than he thought… The easiest one hundred thousand dinars he'd ever made. The great Caesar had overestimated the little whore. She wasn't as dangerous as they'd been lead to believe… Oh well… All the better for them!

The tall thug stepped back a couple of paces and waited until the falcon was called off by his master. At the command, the bird released the Warrior Princess' back and flew high into the bright mid-morning sun.

And immediately the rope net was thrown into the air, over Xena's body, as she laid on the dirt road… "She'll give us a good reward… You hear that? You little harl… Agh!"

A narrow blade dagger sunk in his windpipe cut off his unpleasant speech. He fell back, both hands around his wounded throat, unable to think hard enough to figure out what had happened to him.

The fat man, although as surprised as the rest of them, still found in his small brain the smartness to knock out the Warrior Princess with a blow to her head, using the hilt of his iron sword.

The five men formed a circle around their prey. They weren't about to loose that kind of money without a fight! And back-to-back, they tried to spot the attacker through the green mass of tree branches and high bushes. The falcon-master tried to call on his hunter bird, but it was nowhere in sight…

"Do you see anything?" the fat guy asked to the companion on his right, but with a whistling sound, a second dagger flew through the air and stopped the man from voicing any answer…

One by one, the bounty hunters were hit, and four daggers later, six dead bodies surrounded Xena's unconscious form. A veil of silence settled on the narrow dirt road, as the dust cleared off the scene of the killing…

**********

It wasn't until several minutes later that any sound was heard. First a bird who sang his soft melody from a high tree branch, then the rustling of leaves shaken by the summer breeze… Beyond the road, a dear passed by, leaping from one spot to the next, always keeping an ear out for possible predators…

Xena awoke with a throbbing headache. She winced in pain and felt the blood on the back of her head, as she reached it with the tips of her fingers… It had been quite a blow that meat-breath had given her…

Although she'd forgotten all about it, the net was no longer over her, restraining her movements. She sat up, needing to keep both her palms against the ground, not to fall over… The wounds inflicted by the bird of prey on her shoulders and back had been severe and she'd lost a lot of blood… The blow to her head hadn't helped her case… All and all, she was hurting, dizzy and it took her a while to even remember exactly what had happened…

As she was realizing where she was, and that all her attackers lied dead around her, with the falcon reduced to a bunch of burnt feathers, Xena felt a strange tangling in her veins and cocked her head to listen… She heard footsteps closing in on her from the back. Quickly, she tried to get to her feet, in position to meet any attack, but she didn't have the strength. All she managed was to turn around and face the tall warrior heading her way.

"Take it easy, warrior…" the man said, helping her to have a drink from the water skin he brought to her "I mean you no harm…"

She didn't know why, but she believed the stranger. Without a fight, she let him wrap her in his dark thick cloak and carry her into the woods.

She took the time to study the man, as he carried her as if she was light as a feather, further and further into the woods, away from the blood stained dirt road, through rows of large green leafed trees.

Something about him frightened her… Triggered in her that well trained alarm that spotted something dangerous. But at the same time… She just knew she had nothing to fear from him. His strong presence made her feel safe, safe as she'd only felt in daddy's arms, so long ago…

He was a handsome man, she gave him that… But there was more to it than his dark hair and short beard that excited her. Something in his deep dark eyes that emanated power… And she felt this… closeness to him… It was as if she'd always known him, but she'd never met him… or just couldn't remember it…

Xena settled in his arms and let herself be carried away, with her eyes closed and her head nestled against the black leather vest that covered his chest.

"Thank you." She whispered "Thank you for saving my life…"

Under his enchanting influence, Xena slept while the warrior God carried her to a clearing on the edge of a small crystal clear stream. Under his spell, she didn't wake as he laid her on a soft blanket, took her torn clothes and tended to her wounds. A little of the God's touch and there would be no scars to remind her of the unfortunate incident… Oh, and that scar caused by Thrallin's blade… That would go away too. Maybe they'd take a week or so to be gone, so that she wasn't too suspicious, but they'd go away completely. No more marks on her beautiful body…

He thought about what else would he need to make this believable… this little time with his temptress… Ah, yes… a horse, every warrior should have one, right?

Out of nowhere, at the God's command, came a sunset colored stallion to graze near the stream. Now a fire, food, drink, another warm blanket and a clean change of clothes for his favorite warrior.

**********

The sun was giving up its place to the pale moon when Xena woke up. She felt almost no pain and the wool of the soft blanket felt wonderful against her unclothed body…

The sounds of a creaking fire and the smell of meat cooking made her sit up, pulling the blanket under her arms to cover her exposed breasts, and look at the dark warrior as he fixed a plate and a wooden mug for her.

"You're awake…" Ares said as he turned and walked over to her bedding. "Here, food?" he handed her a well served plate and a mug of cider and sat on the blanket, next to her.

Xena gladly accepted the food he was offering and dug in. "I'm sorry… I can't believe I slept all this time…"

"That's alright…"

She took a sip of her drink and looked back into his piercing eyes "You still haven't told me your name, or why you helped me back there…" It was something that she would usually demand of someone who saved her, but right now, in this case, just didn't seem that important… Just because would do…

He smiled at her curiosity... He'd feared she would instinctively know… but he was doing a good job at concealing his identity… "Who I am is not important" he said "It's who you are… Xena, the Warrior Princess, the Conqueror, Destroyer of Nations and the greatest warrior ever…" he watched as she felt a little uncomfortable with his recognition "You, my dear, are meant for greatness, not to be taken away by meaningless bounty hunters… Your destiny is to rule the world!"

'There it is again…' she thought. That sense of closeness and familiarity she felt towards this perfect stranger… She felt like he knew her inside out… And stranger than that, she didn't really mind…

"I take it you've heard of me…" she said, lowering her eyes to escape his staring look. She took another piece of meat and put it in her mouth, liking her licking tips, once again amazed at how good it tasted. It was like mom's home cooking, not a campfire roast. This guy was spoiling her!

"And who hasn't, my dear?" he said, noticing that as the night was settling in, a light mist was rising from beyond the stream. It wouldn't affect him, but he was afraid it might make her ill, since she was a little weak and all… You could never be too careful with mortals…

Ares got up from the blanket and under her watching eyes went to a little pile of stuff near the fire, where he'd placed the red horse's saddle and some more things, and retrieved his cloak. "You better put this over your shoulders, Xena." He said, returning to her "While I fix some medicine for your wounds…"

She didn't object.

Warmer under the dark wrapping, she put the empty plate aside and gently leaned against the old tree behind her. It took her a while to find a comfortable position, one that wouldn't cause her pain… but finally settled in an acceptable manner.

She watched as he removed herbs from a little leather pouch and mixed it all together in a small bowl. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Ares turned to face her as he poured a little oil in the mixture, to give it a better texture.

"I don't know that medicine…" she added.

He finished the stuff by munching it all together with a small dagger. "It's a special unguent…" he said, as he returned to her side "You know, old family secret… That sort of thing…"

Her arched eyebrow said it all. She wasn't convinced… Although a part of her soul told her she could trust this nameless warrior beyond any doubt, danger seemed to flow from him like water from a fountain… Maybe that was it. Danger did attract and excite her…

She allowed him to pull her away from the tree and remove the cloak and blanket that covered her. The Warrior Princess felt herself blushing at the feeling of his eyes on her exposed breasts and was glad when he kneeled behind her. What was it with this guy? What made her react to him like this? It usually took a lot more that that to get her embarrassed…

Gently, the God of War removed the leather thread that held the stone pendant from around her neck and laid it aside. He knew he shouldn't be mingling with this mortal woman like this… But to Hades with it! He was allowed to have his fun, right? And to look out for his own interests, by interfering with the life of his chosen warriors… Maybe this was stretching it a little, but… Besides, he always enjoyed greatly any time spent near his Warrior Princess…

He sunk his fingers in the oily green paste and gently began spreading the placebo over her healing wounds… The cure wouldn't come from that, but from the little God trick he'd played on her earlier, this would just justify the healing in her eyes… Not to mention, give him a great pleasure… And what she didn't know…

Xena felt the heat of his hands spread through all her body, as the gentle touch of his fingertips arose feelings in her that she shouldn't be having… After all, her plan was to try to love Damon… Right?… The pale light of the moon reflecting on the back of the red stallion, the singing of the stream's water, his warm sweet breath on the back of her neck… It was all taking her down a road she didn't want to follow… She was glad when he spoke and awoke her from that sea of sensations…

"So, my Warrior Princess…" funny way he had of saying that, she thought "Where are you heading?"

"Over to the next valley." She answered, lowering her head so that her hair would hide her blushed cheeks. She didn't want him to see the effect he was having on her "I'm going to leave my army with a lover…" Xena said, regretting it instantly. Why was she giving this stranger personal information?

Her attempt to hide her embarrassment and desire excited him… But now was time to do his job, not to give in to temptations of the flesh, so as hard as it was, he pretended not to notice. And what a pity that was… He'd love to give himself to his favorite… "A lover?" He tried, and succeeded, to sound very surprised, even shocked. "But why are you going to tie yourself to a man?"

"Why?" the question troubled her. She knew the logical answer to that… It should be something like I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him, or something… But she also knew that wasn't the case. "Because I… You see… The truth is I need… I … I need to find a new life… I think…" Once again, Xena felt a little angry with herself, for opening her heart to the stranger like this… but she didn't seem to be able to stay in control around him… As if he had some hold on her…

This was gonna be easier than he thought. She wasn't even sure of what she wanted, or why. It would be a piece of cake to set her on the right track. He finished the application of the greenish unguent and set the wooden bowl down. Then, he wrapped her in his cloak once more and walked around the warrior woman to sit in front of her. "You're wrong. " said, looking into her blue eyes as she brought the warm fabric closer to her neck "That would be a mistake, my dear…"

Once again, a black eyebrow rose, as she gave him a puzzled look "Oh… And how would you know that?" she asked, more interested in the answer than her playful tone lead to believe. The truth was that as time was passing by, she was becoming less and less sure of her decision…

"My dear Xena" Ares held her face between both his hands, as if she was a child, and locked her eyes on his… he wanted more than just to tell her what he meant, he wanted her to feel it and see it… "You weren't born to live amongst the little people, serving a smelly husband and whipping the noses of a dozen dirty kids… You are bigger, better than that… You're going to write your name in History in big bloody letters and dedicate your life to the glory of the great Ares…" She was no longer seeing him, she was, as he wished, lost in the images of great battles and bloody glorious conquests. "You're more than a mere mortal. You're meant to conquer and rule by the force of arms… You're Xena, unstoppable, unbeatable… You'll obey to no one, be held answerable by no one. The Warrior Princess will pledge allegiance to no one but Ares… You understand?"

She didn't answer immediately, but he expected that… His words would take some time to sink in… "Go to sleep now." He whispered, and helped her to lie down and snuggle in the blanket and cloak.

"Yes…" she answered with a little lost voice "I understand… I won't let him put me down…"

**********

He just loved to watch her in her sleep… When there were no nightmares, that was. And tonight, he was keeping them away. His Warrior Princess needed her rest, so that she could have a fresh start in the morning. She'd go back to the lead of her powerful army, back to doing his work…

All night he sat next to her, listening to her heartbeat and watching the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed… He marveled at the way she made him feel, how the bond between them made all the difference, made him favor her over all others… Of course, she always had proven herself true to her warrior nature, besting all others… But right now, in her peaceful sleep she was just so sweet, so feminine… "By the Gods… You are a beauty…"

**********

Xena felt amazingly better when she woke up the next morning… That secret family medicine, whatever it was, seemed to have done wonders with her… She felt stronger and full of a false determination that the God had given her… she wasn't going to leave her men and hide away in a little village in the middle of nowhere to think about her life… She knew what her life should be like, where she belonged. She was going to make sure the whole world knew who she was and that she was to be feared and obeyed… 'Yes… Let them coward under the power of Xena, Warrior Princess!'

Ares fed her well, gave her a lavender silk short dress, without explaining where he'd gotten it, ad lead her on the back of the red stallion back to the narrow dirt road, where her skinny horse awaited.

With her wounds no longer troubling her, she easily jumped from his horse and on hers, ready to ride back to camp.

She guided the animal a couple of paces down the road, but remembered something she wanted to ask the stranger "Will you tell me your name?" Xena asked, pulling on the rein so the animal would turn. But the dark warrior was gone…

As she rode down the narrow path, the God watched from behind the tree line "Forget my face…" he said, waving his hand in the direction of his favorite mortal. She didn't know it yet, but the memory of the warrior who helped was reduced to a faceless figure. "Until next time, my Warrior Princess… until next time…"

**********

It was late afternoon when Xena rode into her main camp, acknowledging her men's greetings and assuring them that she was fine. She went straight to her tent, leaving the skinny gelding to Dragnus' care.

Damon would have to be told of her decision, and that was something she wasn't very eager to do. The guy did adore her, and her denial would probably cause him much pain, but there was nothing she could do about that. The handsome warrior who had helped her the day before had been right… Funny, she couldn't seem to remember his face…

"Xena, can I come in?"

'Great!' she thought. Damon was already at her door, wanting an answer, and she still hadn't figured out a gentle way to turn him down… ' I suppose it's gonna have to be the hard way… tough!' "Come in."

Damon nervously pushed the canvas curtain aside and walked in the Warrior Princess' quarters. He was hopeful that the answer would be yes. After all, she'd taken quite some time to make up her mind and he believed that to be a good sign. If she were to say no, she wouldn't need to think for so long....

"Sit." The woman invited, showing him to one of the chairs that stood beside the wooden table "I suppose you came to get my answer…"

He sat and stared eagerly at her piercing blue eyes, but said nothing.

"Well?"

"Yes…" he answered "Did you make up your mind, Xena?" he asked noticing for the first time she was no longer wearing the stone pendant he'd given her.

"Yes." She answered, as she stood right in front of him "I'm sorry Damon, but my answer is no." she flatly said.

His face was immediately covered with such a desolate expression that it saddened her heart "But…" he protested.

"Let me finish. I'm not willing to give up my life here, my power and specially my freedom, for a man. Any man. So my answer has to be no. I'm sorry. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do…"

Leaving a miserable Damon behind, Xena walked out of her tent as fast as she could, so she wouldn't have to see the pain she'd caused him. Hopefully in this case, it would be out of sight, out of mind… He'd get over it in time, or at least she thought so…

**********

And it did appear to be so. As the days passed, the sadness printed on the face of Xena's wanna-be lover seemed to be fading away, and he resumed his functions at her side, kind of as her assistant. Fortunately, at least in her opinion, he never again mentioned the proposal she'd refused, or asked why she'd done it… The why part wasn't very clear in her mind anyway… She believed it had something to do with that stranger that had rescued her from those thugs, but she couldn't remember his words, or what arguments he'd used… Only that he'd been right.

PART 3

Chapter 11

But now it was summer, the days were long and beautiful and Xena had moved her army to the seashore. It was time to have fun. To ride on the beach, feeling the mount's hooves sprinkle salty water over her high boots and allow the ocean breeze to blow her hair into tangles.

The Mediterranean heat was just too intense that year to engage epic battles or long marches around the country… both men and horses were happy to enjoy their rest and the friendly weather.

The warriors knew there was still a profit to be made, even lazing around the beaches all day… They could rob the passers-by or demand from them payment of a tax for using the roads around… Or simply terrorize the surrounding villages, as they raided them day-in and day-out. And they could always just sit on the golden sand of the beach and watch the Warrior Princess swim in the ocean's blue waters…

**********

'What in Tartarus…' Xena jumped off her narrow bed, pulled a shirt over her body and picked up a sword on her way out of her tent, as she went to check the source of the noise that had awoken her from her sleep. "Deros, what's going on?"

The man pointed at Xena's personal guard, gathered just a few paces left of the Warrior Princess' tent, beating up on someone that laid on the ground, under a long gray cloak "We caught an intruder trying to get to you, commander…" he said "She was carrying a lot of weapons… I'm guessing an assassination attempt…"

The woman let out a sigh "That's all? With all that racket I thought the sky was falling or something…"

Deros replied with a smile "Sorry about that, Princess."

"Okay, let's see her…"

Xena's warriors lifted up the battered assassin and dragged her to their commander's feet, lifting her up and pulling back the hood that covered her face.

"You murderer!" the woman shouted, as she was forced to face the Warrior Princess "Traitor! Slut! B…" the flow of insults coming out of her was cut by a punch to the face, delivered by one of the men at her side.

"Nobody important…" Xena said, turning her back and heading to her tent once more "Little scum… just give her the appropriate treatment for someone who sneaked here and cowardly tried to kill the commander…" slowly, she stepped away, leaving the unconscious woman at the care of her soldiers…

'Melika… Never thought I'd see you again… Never after all these years… Melika… Melika…'

**********

It was the last full moon of spring that lit up the night sky when the young Warrior Princess Xena rode out of her camp, followed by half a dozen men, heading to the small village just across the blooming fields.

Her small army had been under a great stress, after one month of battle to conquer a city, and now, after the victory, it was time to lick the wounds and rebuild the troops, as they recovered the spoils of war to sell to the highest bidder.

The problem or annoyance, maybe that was more like it, had happened the day before. Xena had sent two men to a small village, to get supplies, but they never returned… And they were found later, dead. Stabbed in the back with woodcutters' axes as they were taking a leak… Unforgivable!

Xena had sent a message, demanding that the killers were delivered to her, but the villagers had not replied. So now it was time for vengeance.

The seven riders, carrying torches, rode through the night until they reached the village. All the people were gone, but that didn't matter. All Xena wanted was to make her point. And burning the place to ashes would do just that… Engaging her soldiers in a manhunt right now would be counter-productive… So the destruction of the village would suffice…

Xena and her men set the whole place on fire. Every home, every barn or stable, nothing escaped the fury of the flames. The water of the common well was poisoned and the corrals broken down, even though the animals were gone, taken by the villagers to the mountains. But what really mattered was that the place would no longer welcome anyone to live there. It would be leveled by morning. Gone.

And with the flames blazing behind her, Xena left with her men, leaving only one warrior behind. He'd stay until morning and slay any villager that might come to check out the degree of destruction… It would be nice to have a body to leave on display on a cross at the village center…

**********

Didn't Lycus return yet?" the young woman asked, still with her face blushed from her morning exercises.

The sentry shook his head "No, not yet, Lady."

'Strange…' she thought 'He should be back by now… And it's not like him to get delayed if he doesn't really have to…' she splashed cold water over her face and neck, to freshen up, and dried herself using the end of her bed blanket. 'Maybe something went wrong… Or maybe he just found some villagers and he's finishing them off… Yeah… Probably… What if there are too many of them? Nah… He can handle smelly farmers… But what if he can't?'

Ten minutes later, Xena rode away with two men, back to the village she'd torched the night before. Lycus wouldn't have kept her waiting without a damn good reason. And the only good reason that the Warrior Princess could think of was trouble… That something bad had happened to him. To one of her best soldiers! No way she was gonna let those villagers get away with yet another death. If some harm had come to Lycus, those sheep would feel the wolf's fangs and would all go to Hades!

But before the small group reached the village, they spotted Lycus riding their way. 'Do I feel stupid for coming after him…'

"Xena…" he said as he greeted his commander "I'm sorry I took so long" he went on "…but some men came to the village, after you'd left…"

"What men?"

"Warriors. Two of them…" the soldier replied.

"And they attacked you?" Xena didn't think so, because Lycus didn't look like he'd just come out of a fight of two to one…

The man shook his head "No, Princess. They brought a message from their commander… Some guy called Quintus. They say he wants to meet with you to discuss some profitable deal."

"Did they say what kind of a deal?" she asked, as they began to head back to camp "What he wants from us?"

"Nope. Nothing. They only left instructions to the location of their camp and ask that you go there this evening."

"Strange… But I'll go…"

**********

Quintus did not keep the Warrior Princess waiting. Although she was still quite young, her reputation preceded her. Surely this girl would succeed where all the men he'd hired had failed…

"Ah, Xena…" the ugly looking man said, taking the woman's hands in his sweaty palms as he greeted her.

'Yuck!' she discretely wiped her hands on the back of her skirt "Quintus… Your men said you had a deal to propose…" she said, declining the offer to take a seat next to his greasy body.

"Uhm, straight to the point, are we?" he sounded a little disappointed "I was hoping we could get a little… better acquainted… before we got down to business…"

"Not even in your wildest dreams, pig! You've wasted your time if you think that I…"

"Calm down, calm down, Xena" he interrupted, just as she was reaching for the hilt of her sword "It was just a thought…"

The woman eased her stance, although she deeply disliked that grease-ball, Quintus… "Are you gonna tell me why you asked me here or what?" she asked in a harsh tone.

The man sighed "This youth is always in a rush…" he mumbled "Alright, let's get to the point, shall we, my dear?"

"About time… And I'm not your dear!"

"Fine… I hear that your army took some a little more that light losses lately, right?" he inquired.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern…"

"Right… Let's say that I'd be willing to supply you with brand new weapons and strong horses. Would you be interested?…"

"Maybe… I might be…" she answered, a little suspicious of his intentions "What would be in it for you?" Xena asked.

The fat man leaned back on his chair "You're not aware of the political issues of this area, are you, Warrior Princess?"

"No, I'm not, Quintus… Why should I be?"

"Knowledge is always useful girl!"

She frowned at the way he referred to her but decided to let that go by "Don't lecture me, Quintus… And get to the point. I have better things to do than to stand here looking at a pile of lard…"

Her comment was not clear enough for his small brain to understand that it had been an insult "Okay…. Let me explain…"

"The King of Broon died, nearly a year ago… His wife had crossed to the other side not even a month before. Some sort of a plague, I think… A lot of people died, but the three offsprings of the King lived, and his only son, Plynius is now the rightful ruler. The thing is, he's just a boy, and a sorry excuse of one at that… Weak, coward, always sick… You know the type… So there are many who believe that he should be removed from the throne, and that the closest male relative should takes his place. Rebellions of small groups are frequent but the little people still support the brat… For tradition's sake. So the only way to do it is by eliminating the kid, once and for all! Of course his sister, his older sister, Melika, caught wind of that and took the brat Gods know where… She keeps him hidden away someplace and acts as his regent for him. As long as she has the price in her power, it will be next to impossible to overthrow them…"

The raven haired beauty sat on a chair opposite to the fat man "And you want me to waste this Prince Plynius…" he nodded "Let me guess… You're the closest male relative…"

He shifted his weight with visible discomfort. How did she know that? "Uhm… well… yes."

"I see… And what makes you think that I can succeed where you have failed?" she inquired 'Although having more than half a brain might do the trick…'

"Ah, that's what I was getting to…" he moved forward in the chair, that screeched dangerously under his enormous weight "Melika, the older sister" he said in a secretive tone "She's ahead of the army, she's a warrior woman… And the word out is… Well… She doesn't like men too close… If you know what I mean… but a beautiful female warrior, such as yourself, should have no trouble to befriend her…"

The Warrior Princess thought about it… "Maybe we can come to an agreement on this…"

And for a long time they discussed the treacherous plan to assassinate the young Prince Plynius and have Quintus take over his throne.

Xena learned that Plynius' other sister, named Jana, had been taken prisoner by Quintus' men a few days ago, and that Melika was going crazy looking for her with all available soldiers of the kingdom's army.

The little one would be the Warrior Princess' ticket to get to Melika. The plan was to pose as a sailor woman, trading goods from the East, that had been cheated and imprisoned by Quintus… She would share a cell with little Jana and a few ruffians… The rest she'd make up as she went along…

It was a risky plan, Xena knew that, but those horses and weapons would save her months in the rebuilding of her army, after the hard conquest. And it didn't look like Quintus would want to double cross her and keep her in prison after she'd let herself be taken by his men… He just wanted the kid's throne…

**********

Dressed in silk breeches and embroidered bright vest, Xena was thrown to Quintus' prison cell the next morning…

'Charming environment…' she thought, as she rolled her eyes over the room. Thick old stonewall with not a single window to the outdoors kept the prisoners in. The only way out was through the iron gate that had just been slammed close behind her… There were over ten people in the room, she counted… Most looked like no one to be messed with, sitting against the dirty damp walls, with looks in their eyes that invited others to leave them alone… not a woman in sight either…

"Hey honey, wanna share my… ugh!" were the first words someone spoke to the Warrior Princess, suddenly interrupted by an uppercut she delivered under the man's jaw, that knocked him straight to dreamland…

'Now, to find what I came here for…' she stepped further into the smelly dark cell, checking every form that occupied it, trying to spot the little Princess Jana… It was that child that she needed to impress, to later get close to the other Princess, Melika…

It was right at the bottom of the cell that Xena found what was most likely to be the child… A small shaking bundle, wrapped in a ragged brownish cape, pressing so hard against the wall that it looked like it wanted to melt right through the stone…

The warrior settled a few paces from the shaking figure, and casually looked towards the opposite side of the cell, where the iron gate separated her form freedom ' And just how am I going to accomplish this? First I have to conquer the girl, and then break us both out of this stinking hole… Maybe I should have planned this a little better before I got behind bars… Too late now! But I'll think of something…'

**********

Xena had just bee sitting in that spot for the last three hours, watching her surroundings and studying her new cell-mates. By now, she'd come to the conclusion that they looked a lot fiercer than they really were… None of them bother her again, after the punch she'd placed on a guy, right after coming in… Quintus probably had wanted to make things as easy as possible for her. As for the cell itself… It was quite smelly and cold. And the only way out was indeed the iron gate. She'd have to get out when a guard opened it for something. Either that, or get herself a key or a lock pick, that shouldn't be too hard, right?

About Jana… She didn't even move. Not counting the shaking, of course. That was pretty much a constant. 'I'm gonna see if I can try my luck at feeding time…' Xena thought 'I bet these charming guys are not gonna leave anything for the girl to eat, and if I fetch her some food, that might be a good way to start a conversation… And after that, we'll see how it goes…'

"Back up, animals!" an armored guard shouted "It's time to eat!"

The prisoners who were close to the cell bars moved back in the dark room. Then, the guard gave way to two servant girls, which Xena had seen before, when she'd spoken to Quintus, and they filled the water buckets freshly, and left on the ground, near the iron bars several loaves of hard dark bread and some not very new pieces of fruit. When they were finished, the girls left, and the same guard gave the order to eat "Come and get it, pigs!"

All the prisoners moved forward, eager to get to the only meal they'd have that day, but the Warrior Princess was the fastest. As the first to reach the bars, she chose the best four apples and pieces of bread, and carried them back to the spot she'd been occupying, next to the child. None of the men tried to stop her, not after seeing what she'd done to the one who had tried to approach her… He had hardly any teeth left!

Xena had hoped that the time to eat would bring the kid out from under the cape, but no such luck… 'Guess I'm gonna have to make the first move…' She touched gently on the small figure's covered shoulder "Hey, kid!" she called, sounding as friendly as she could "Aren't you hungry?"

No reply.

"I got some food, and it's more than enough…"

Still nothing.

"Come on out of there, child." The Warrior Princess went on "I'm willing to share mine. Want an apple?"

Finally, a small figure of light brown eyes and tangled hair emerged, slowly, fearfully checking out the young woman who was speaking. And Xena did her best to make a good first impression: she was ready to greet the child with a warm smile and a fresh apple on her hand.

"Here, it's a gift…" the warrior offered, and the child accepted, eating the fruit in silence.

Xena waited for Jana to finish and then decided to try to make small talk with her, to begin gaining her trust "So…" the young woman started "…how long have you been here, kid?"

The child pulled the cape down from her head and let it fall around her shoulders "Six days…" she replied in a tiny voice, the perfect mirror of her terrified state "I think. It's hard to tell, it always looks like it's night in this place…"

"Yeah… Not a glimpse of sunlight." The warrior agreed. Looking around the cell, before turning her eyes back to the child "By the way, my name is Xena." She introduced herself "What's yours?"

"Jana, my name is Jana… Xena… That's a beautiful name. The one who welcomes others, right?"

"What?" the Warrior Princess asked.

"That's what your name means… Right?"

'Great! With all the dumb kids in the world, this one had to be a smart-ass!' the black haired woman thought "I wouldn't know…" she replied with a fake smile on her rose lips.

"Well I know… Me and my brother, we have to study a lot in the palace… We live in a palace, you know… I'm a Princess, and my brother is a prince… And we have a sister, her name is Melika…"

And the child went on and on… Blabbing about her life, boring the Warrior Princess to death, but letting out, here and there, a little bit of information that just might be useful in the future…

And that night, little Jana slept curling against the woman's warm body, which kept all the nightmares away, and provided her with the first good night's sleep she'd had since Quintus' men had captured her, a few days before.

'A couple of days more. Than I'll break us out of here…'

**********

Two days had passed since the Warrior Princess had willingly been locked up in the prison of the warlord Quintus, to carry out a treacherous plan that would get new horses and weapons for her worn out army.

She'd easily managed to befriend the child Jana, and now was time to break out of that place, and meet Melika, of whom she'd already heard a lot about…The little girl had a big mouth, and in this case, that was a blessing.

She'd told Jana that she'd attempt to run away from prison the next evening, and that she'd take her along. But now, the warrior woman wondered if that had been a good idea… The girl was anxious now, eager to leave that dreadful place and be reunited with her royal family, and she couldn't sleep. Worse she didn't let the warrior sleep!

"Tell me a story, Xena… A bedtime story, to help me sleep…" the child asked, as she curled up against the woman's warm body.

The woman sighed, annoyed because she wasn't allowed to get her rest "I don't know any such stories, Jana… Just close your eyes and try to sleep…"

"But I can't Xena… I tried…"

"Try again."

And silence was made, as the child did what her new older friend told her to. The woman closed her eyes, and did her best to get some rest.

But that didn't last.

"Xena… I really can't sleep…"

The Warrior Princess clenched her teeth and tried very hard to control her hot temper and not strangle the damn child.

"If you don't know any bed time stories, " the girl went on "then tell me about the sea… I've never seen it, my parents, and now my sister say it's too dangerous for a Princess to go there, that sailors are mean… But they're wrong about that! You're a sailor, and you're not mean… So please, Xena, tell me about the sea…"

"Alright!" she really didn't want to, and talking was definitely not her strong point, but if that would make the kid shut up and sleep, she'd sure give it a shot!

"Let's see, the sea… The sea is water… uhm… Salt water… and…" she really didn't know what to say "Some say that ships sail because they are in love with the sea, and that storms are nothing but lovers' quarrels… And that the white, small clouds that we see over the waters, are sheep and that the sun is their shepherd… The wind is the dog that the shepherd sends to gather his flock that grazes over the water. But those are just tales… to me, the sea is… freedom. It's looking up into a sky that's bluer than the one you sea from land… It's looking around and seeing nothing but the waters that rock you, as if you were always in your mother's arms, like when you were a baby. It's at sea that you can catch a glimpse of what a perfect world this could be, of everything in perfect balance… I really can't explain it. You have to experience it to understand. It's also at sea that you realize how really tiny and insignificant you are, when compared to the forces of Nature… I bet that even the Gods can't truly control it. It's immense… It's… wonderful… So full of life and mysteries… I love it. It's…" she really didn't know what else to say, but as she looked at the child next to her, Xena saw that no more words were necessary. Little Jana was sound asleep… 'I didn't think that I was being that boring…' and she dozed off too…

**********

The next dawn, Xena was riding away from Quintus' prison, with little Jana right behind her, keeping a tight grip around the warrior woman's waist. It had been quite easy to break free from the holding cell, at the mealtime… Maybe Quintus' men hadn't given it their best shot to stop her either, but of that, she couldn't be certain. Stealing the horse she was now riding had been a piece of cake… And now, she followed the instructions of her young companion to find the Palace where Melika had her headquarters. All according to plan, so far…

They reached their destination at the end of that evening, and the Palace guards guided them immediately to the presence of Melika, as they recognized the child as their young Princess Jana.

'I wonder what this Melika is like…' Xena thought, as she was guided through corridors that had once been luxurious and bright, but were now quite unkept, filling the air with a sense of abandon.

At the end of the corridor, a pair of old wooden doors gave way to a large room "Jana, she's here?" Xena heard a woman's voice say from the inside "Well, bring her in! Immediately! Is she alright?" the woman was asking, as Xena and the Princess walked in.

"Melika!" the child shouted, running to her sister.

Xena watched as the two royal Princesses embraced and studied Melika, the one she had to seduce and deceive…

Melika was a tall woman, probably taller than Xena herself. Her skin was light and her hair of such a strange tone of blonde that sometimes almost seemed white - definitely a descendent of a Northern people. And she didn't try to hide that, high leather boots and a minimal armor was all she was wearing, making her look even taller… And a horned helmet laying carefully over a worktable proved that she was quite proud of her ancestors…

Proud, yes. That's what Xena felt this woman was. Proud, fair, loyal to her kingdom… Easy to con. She would certainly feel grateful to Xena for helping Jana…

"This is my friend, Xena." The girl introduced her savoir "She helped me to escape that awful place…"

'You mean I let you tag along…' the raven-haired beauty thought.

"I owe you my thanks then…" the Princess Melika approached and placed a kiss that was more than friendly on the other woman's lips…

**********

And that was the first time Xena saw the woman who was now screaming in agony, somewhere in the camp, while the Warrior Princess' men had their fun, torturing her to death.

Back then, it had been quite easy for Xena to get Melika to trust her, after saving her little sister and becoming a very special kind of friend to the woman… It had been a matter of days, a little less then a week, if Xena remembered correctly, until she'd been shown to the place where the cowardly Prince Plynius was hiding…

He wasn't a child, as Xena thought when Quintus first made the offer. He was probably the same age as Xena was when she first began to fight. Young, yes. A child, no. And that had only made things easier for her. The first chance she got, she beheaded the brat and took her trophy back to Quintus, who paid his debt…

Xena and her army left, and the last she'd heard, Quintus was King and the two Princesses had a public execution… Obviously, the last part was wrong… Melika's time hadn't come until now…

'I'm sorry I betrayed you, Melika. Rest in peace…' the Warrior Princess thought in a silent prayer, as the woman being punished let out her last cry, before crossing to the Underworld…

Chapter 12

It was a couple of weeks before the end of summer, when Xena decided to organize an attack on Maritsa. After all, it was the only village in the surroundings that hadn't been hit yet, just because it was located a little more inland. Apparently, some of the people from the other villages had been taking refuge there, thinking they'd be safe from the murdering warriors… They were wrong.

With Ixan's help, the Warrior Princess rounded up one hundred mounted men, and instructed them for the attack. They were more than enough to handle the peasants, especially since the Princess was going too…

With the sun at the southwest, Xena led the chosen men through the sandy dunes, away from the main camp, before they caught up with the road that led inland. They'd stick to that main path for a while, before cutting a trail through the woods, so they wouldn't be spotted and could catch the village by surprise.

For some reason that they didn't dare to ask, Xena didn't send anyone with her typical "Surrender or die" warning. Maybe she'd just forgotten… She'd just decided to attack and loot the village as soon as they reached it, making sure to spare the women and children there… It was uncharacteristical for the Warrior Princess to skip the warning, but since she'd been away thinking about something that Damon had said to her, she seemed to have a strange cruel fire burning in her… A fire that those who knew her for the longest had seen before, but believed to have burned itself out some time ago…

And at dusk she gave the signal "Yiyiyiyih!" kicking the horse's flanks and shouting her piercing war cry, Xena emerged out of the woods like a demon from Hades and charged over the helpless village. Right behind her, dozens of horsemen galloped with their swords ready for the blood harvest.

At the first pass of the raiders through the village, it were those who were unlucky enough to be out in the street who lost their lives, either at the blade of the Warrior Princess or the cut-throats that followed her, or simply trampled by the hooves of the powerful warhorses.

They crossed the whole village, from one side to the other, but doubled back at the end, to do a second pass. This time, those who were brave enough or stupid enough to stand up and fight made the victims of the slaughter.

"Dismount!" the leader with the raven hair shouted, somersaulting from the saddle to the ground and continuing the murderous attack, now checking every corner of the village, to make sure no man got away.

Only the women and children were spared, all the men died by order of Xena, to the greater good of Ares and her own bloodlust.

**********

Back on the horse, she watched as the men scavengered through the half-burned village. But… Something felt wrong. Not in her men, the attack the battle… no, not that. Something was wrong within… Somehow, she didn't feel the way she was supposed to, she didn't feel the fire of the conquest running through her veins. That determination the stranger had given her had disappeared in a split second, and she didn't know why. She just felt this weariness… And it was scary. Why was this feeling in her? She didn't know.

And why did the night around her suddenly seem to have gone pitch black, with no moonlight or even a sparkling star? The only brightness came from the flames that engulfed most houses, as if they wanted to remind her of the hideous crime she was committing…

'What's wrong with me?'

Walking, yeah, that would do her good… She slid her leg over her mount's neck and jumped to the ground, leaving the animal free to wonder around. Keeping her senses alert, just in case one of those dumb villagers tried to get smart and remembered to attack her, the Warrior Princess slowly walked through the battle ground, watching as her soldiers tied dieing men on crosses, under the tearful eyes of their wives and children.

It was so strange to watch those people… Their eyes were filled with fear, but at the same time, the hatred that had been fed by her was also there. But, excepting the eyes, their whole bodies were expressionless, they looked already dead, limp, like a rag doll… And the strangest part was that they managed to make her too, feel dead inside. They were making her regret hurting them, because she was hurting too…

All the men were dead or dieing, the women were crying and the children were lost in the middle of all that. But they'd grow up, someday, raised in hatred of the Warrior Princess, for killing their loved ones and messing up their lives… Pretty much like she'd felt once, about Cortese…

For a moment, Xena wished she'd never left home, that she wasn't a warrior, that she'd never killed… But that was nothing more than a faded dream. This was her destiny, her world, her nature. This stench of death, smoke of burning homes, cries and grieving women… This was who or what she was, the inflictor of all this pain and despair, that was now rubbing off on her. Still, she'd have to live with it, because she knew nothing else, there was no way she could leave this life. After all, one can't escape fate…

**********

The autumn was just in it's early beginning when the Warrior Princess came up with yet another plan to make some easy dinars…She'd heard that the warlord Excalus was camped near the old temple to the Huntress Goddess, Artemis, beyond a fishing village and a decaying ancient Amazon tribe.

"I smell profit…" she said, when Deros delivered the report of the scouts. As soon as she could manage, Xena got her army on the move and a couple of days later they were making camp on the other side of the valley, very close to the warlord Excalus.

From her scouting teams, the Warrior Princess became aware that Excalus' army was amazingly well armed, with stuff he-d collected and purchased all over the known world, and other that he dealt with men liked Mezentius.

**********

Excalus was at his command tent studying maps of the Greek Ionic seacoast when one of his guards walked in and saluted him. "My Lord Excalus" the guard said "…the Warrior Princess, Xena, requested an audience with you. Shall I show her in?"

"Xena, hey?" the warlord was surprised. What could the notorious Warrior Princess want with him? Well, he'd find out soon enough if he met her request "Show her in… Alone and unarmed!"

Outside Excalus' tent, Xena left her weapons and cloak with Deros and Damon, the two men she'd chose to accompany her, and followed the nervous guard to the warlord's presence.

"Xena!" the armored lord greeted, with false confidence, taking her arm in a warrior compliment "How nice to finally meet you. What brings you to my humble home?" he asked, offering her the chair on the other side of the small table.

"Hello, Excalus…" the Warrior Princess took the seat and settled with her arms crossed on the table. "I have a little business proposition for you… Something that might interest you…"

The warlord tried not to look too interested in what the woman had to say, but Xena knew better than that "Let's hear it then…" he said, pretending to be extremely caught up in the task of examining the map designed in bright colors on the old parchment that covered the table.

"There's this Egyptian merchant who is willing to pay an outrageously high amount of gold for certain Greek goods… If you help me to get those goods, I'll reward you generously for your trouble…"

"And what might those goods be?" Excalus inquired.

"First, let me tell you that I'll pay you one thousand dinars for each…" Xena decided to appeal to the men's sense of greed before continuing with her lie, and managed to break his concentration from the uninterested face he was keeping. Excalus was now obviously hanging on her every word. "I'm talking about Amazon women… slaves."

"What?" the warlord got to his feet and began pacing back and forth in short space ahead of the table "Impossible!"

"Oh…"

"Don't get me wrong, Xena" the warlord said "I am very interested in your proposal, but it's impossible to get those bitches" he stopped, leaned on the table taking support on his hands and continued "If we go into that forest we'll be slaughtered! They retreat to the trees and hunt us down like animals."

The Warrior Princess allowed an evil grin to pass over her rose lips. "Hear me out, Excalus. What I want from you is that you wait for them in the border between their territory and that little fishing village. I know you have good relations with those people, so you shouldn't have much trouble in capturing the harlots when they come out that way."

"And what makes you think they'll leave their territory?"

"I'll make them! I intend to invade that forest with my full army from every side but the village's. It will be their only escape route… The point is, this will keep all my army busy…" and he was dumb enough to believe that "…so I need you to capture them on the other side. You get along with the village people, so a force from your army will get the job done. So what do you say?"

"It's a deal!" Excalus agreed.

The two warlords agreed to all the details and set the attack for the next afternoon.

**********

Sharing her bed with Excalus' chief lieutenant that night, Xena settled the details to double cross the warlord and found out the exact location of his weapons storage.

The next afternoon, Excalus led a force to the fishing village and there he waited for the Amazons to start jumping out of the trees, right into his arms. And waited… and waited…

Meanwhile, back in his camp, his second helped Ixan and a small group of the Warrior Princess' men to sneak in and steal all the weapons from under the guards' noses. No one saw a thing…

At nightfall, finally convinced that he'd been cheated by the warrior woman, Excalus decided to return to his camp, where his chief lieutenant, who still remained above suspicion, delivered to him a message that one of Xena's men had brought, half an hour before.

"To the sucker known as Excalus: Case you haven't noticed yet, all your weapons in storage were stolen. If you want them back, come to the rocky beach and bring fifty thousand dinars. The weapons are in your ship, which, by the way, I took over. Bring the money by dawn, and you'll get the ship and the weapons… Don't and you can kiss them goodbye! Xena: Warrior Princess"

"What! How can this be? Guards!" Excalus' camp became a mess of warrior running around, not quite knowing what they were doing, until reality of the theft finally sank in. The Warrior Princess was holding his weapons for ransom, and he had no choice but to meet her demands…

**********

Before dawn, Xena rode to the rocky beach and dismounted near Ixan, landing with her boots on the damp golden sand "Is everything ready?" she asked.

"Yes, everything. If you need nothing else from me, I'll be heading for the ship…"

"Yeah, go ahead…" the Warrior Princess watched as Ixan stepped up on a small row boat with the two warriors that accompanied him, and joining the rest of the men that already crewed the sail ship.

On the beach remained no one but the woman and six guards, waiting for the crack of dawn and the dinars that would come with it.

And they weren't disappointed. With the first rays of sun, Excalus came riding down the sandy dunes, through the narrow path between the rocks that gave name to the small beach. With him came his chief lieutenant, three guards and four men on foot, to take the ship back to the bay where it had been before the Warrior Princess stole it.

The warlord and his lieutenant walked to the woman, who just stood there, grinning at them, happy with her treason filled deed.

"You bitch!" Excalus spat out.

"Enough with the name calling…" she said in a dangerous hiss that chilled everyone to the bone "Do we have a deal or not?"

Excalus wanted to say no, but he needed the weapons. Without them he wouldn't be able to make deliveries he'd promised, and he'd be in deep shit! "Yes!… May the Gods curse your stinking carcass, Xena!"

"Well, thank you… Where's the money?"

"First I want my men to go aboard and see if the weapons are really there." He said.

"Fair enough…" the Warrior Princess agreed.

Excalus' second ordered the four sailors he'd brought with him to follow and headed for the only row boat still left on the sandy beach. It took them a few minutes to reach the ship and climb aboard.

The chief-lieutenant ordered the four sailors under his command to take their posts on the ship, while he went bellow deck, pretending to check the weapons. Instead, he checked in with Ixan and the ten men loyal to the Warrior Princess that were hidden in the middle of the weapons' crates, telling them that all was going as planned.

Back on deck, the lieutenant signaled to the warlord on the beach. "All in place, my Lord Excalus!" he shouted.

On the shore, the money exchanged hands, and on the ship, three of Xena's men, who were supposed to be minding the ship, greeted the warlord's soldiers and abandoned the vessel on the small boat where Excalus' lieutenant had traveled.

Excalus got back on his horse, convinced that his lieutenant would take the ship to it's bay harbor, and left, cursing the name of the Warrior Princess.

Xena too, left, returning to her camp, where a celebration was already underway. It wasn't everyday that a trick like that was pulled and all felt like patting themselves on the back.

**********

Back on the ship, Ixan and his men waited until they felt the rocking of the vessel over the Ionian waters to make their move. Silently, the sneaked up on the deck…

"Attack!"

With Xena's chief-lieutenant's orders Excalus' men were easily slaughtered by the Warrior Princess' larger force, and were thrown into the blue waters. All, including the man who'd betrayed his Lord.

According to Xena, a man who betrays his master once, can do it twice, so… Ixan sent him to feed the fish… And instead of going to the little bay where the ship was expected, the orders were to take it to the port of Preveza, as Xena had commanded, where they'd meet with the rest of the army.

Chapter 13

Xena and her men reached the small port of Preveza just in time to meet with the stolen ship. They received the cargo, loaded it on wagons and immediately got on their way to join with the rest of the army.

Behind, the Warrior Princess left Dragnus and Estragon to make a deal with the ship. She wasn't going to need it anymore and selling it for a good price would only add up to the profit she'd gotten from the little deal with Excalus…

As Xena's caravan was leaving town, a strong commotion on the port caught her attention.

It seemed that a merchant wasn't pleased with a deal he'd made… They had promised him an Iberian horse, strong, with gentle manners and easy to handle, and instead, on the ship came this golden she-demon from some place worse than Tartarus, kicking everyone who got within her reach!

Xena watched as ropes were thrown around the mare's neck and whips were used and abused to make her get off the ship, onto the pier… Insisting with the whipping, the unpleased merchant tried to force the animal to follow him, but instead, he only made her more furious and got himself a horseshoe marked on the butt.

Sending her men on to camp, the Warrior Princess decided to stay and watch the outcome of that… For an hour, she watched as the animal's golden coat became stained with blood as the whip continued to strike down. The more the merchant hurt her, the less the mare would obey, and the more he would hurt her… Xena watched as the strength went slowly out of the animal and her fighting was reduced to a refusal to move from where she stood.

"That does it!" the richly clothed merchant shouted "I don't care how much you cost me you…. You possessed beast!" he removed a sword from the belt of a warrior who was watching the whole scene as if it was theatre play, and approached the mare "I'm getting rid of you now!"

He lifted the sword, but had no time to lower it down on the animal's blood and sweat drenched neck. The blade had been cut in half by a round metal weapon, which was now returning to its mistress' hand, carrying everyone's attention with it.

Silence was heard in the large audience the merchant and the mare had gathered around the pier. The Warrior Princess was there…

Xena gently kicked her mount's flanks with her heels and rode towards the merchant "How much do you want for her?" she asked.

The man felt his knees weaken and shake in fear, and his eyes were open so wide that he feared his eyeballs would drop… But she asked him a question, he had to answer "A lot of dinars…" he replied, his voice sounding like a young boys trembling request "She's a good one and…"

"Tell you what…" she interrupted, leaning down on her saddle to remove the rope that bound the mare from the merchant's sweaty hands "For her, I give you your life, and we'll call it even. What do you say?" she asked, showing him a fake smile full of bright white teeth.

"My life… Sure." He repeated, returning the smile and wiping the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand, slowly backing away from the threat that smiled back at him.

"Great! It's a deal, then…" she turned to look at the beaten animal "Come on, girl." She said, giving a gentle pull on the rope. "Come with me 'cause I've got a bag full of apples just waiting for you…"

Too tired to struggle any longer, the animal followed with no complaint and soon enough was set up on her own wooden fence on the far end of the Warrior Princess' camp.

"Keep an eye on her for me." She told Deros, before disappearing in her command tent to make sure everything was fine with the weapons that had been unloaded from the ship… She was feeling quite pleased with the little scheme she'd come up with to deal with Excalus, and it had worked perfectly! And that night she'd enjoy some male company, to celebrate… Maybe Ixan, to show how pleased she was with the job he'd done on the ship…

Damon watched as the woman who had almost been his led Ixan to her tent, giving him lustful darkened eyes, full of desire… Doing his duty as Xena's guard, he stood awake listening to the sounds of pleasure coming from inside, until the two quietly went to sleep. The adoration in his heart was becoming twisted with the jealousy he felt. Did she do this just to hurt him? Why did she choose to live as a whore and lay with any man when she could have him for a husband?

"What a woman!…" Ixan commented, as he went out in the morning.

Xena took some time before she got out. It was time to tame that mare… Beautiful golden… Argo… That's what she was going to call her. That was a tough animal out there, that was obvious, but with a little love…

Xena got ready to go out, pushed aside the curtain and stepped out into the autumn sun "Good morning, Damon." She saluted, before heading for the fence where the golden mare awaited, under Deros' close watch.

What Xena didn't see was the look in Damon's eyes… Not the puppy dog look she'd almost fallen in love with, but cold white hatred.

"You can go get some rest, Deros." She told her scout as she reached the round fence and climbed up to sit on it, while her feet settled on the lower beam.

The man handed her an apple an bit into another "If you don't mind, Princess, I'd like to stay and watch."

Ixan was incharged with the task of taking care of all necessary matters, so, for the greater part of the next days, Xena and Deros just leaned against the fence, or sat on top, commenting on the progress of the animal's healing process and her beauty. They watched as Argo circled at gallop or pace, eyeing them from a distance, and slowly getting used to their presence.

Xena loved that golden mare. This was definitely the animal that could replace Styx as her mount… Argo was obviously a fully-grown horse, and by the looks of her, she'd been used to the saddle. Xena's guess was that someone's cruelty had turned her into the wild beast she'd seen at the seaport, at Preveza…

**********

It had been a few days since Argo had arrived into the Warrior Princess' camp, and the first autumn rains were falling… And Xena entered the animal's limited space and laid apples only a few paces ahead of the golden mare… She wanted to be loved by the animal, to gain her trust, not merely be recognized as someone who spent the day watching by the fence, as if she was furniture… As a precaution, Deros stood ready to jump in at any time, with a whip ready to scare off the mare. Both warriors knew that a horse's hooves could be a deadly weapon… But it wasn't necessary. Argo approached, ate the apples near Xena, and made no threatening moves toward the woman.

By the end of the week, Xena had a saddle over the golden mare's shiny coat, and mounted her for the first time.

Argo wasn't too pleased at first… She let out a loud whinny, paced back and violently shook her head, bothered by the leather restrains on her body… but she didn't try to throw off her rider.

Xena held her own. She let the mare run as she pleased for a while, to get her used to the feeling of having someone on her back again, before she started to take control, and give the directions using the bridle and her heels.

"Open it!" the woman shouted to Deros.

The scout removed two wood beams from the fence, creating a large gate. "Amazing…" he said to himself as his commander passed by him and went on riding through the camp. He never thought that the golden she-demon could ever be turned into a riding horse… But he had to give credit to Xena, the mare was behaving wonderfully and responding to her every command.

Damon's jealousy kept growing in the next few days, as he watched the scout helping his beautiful Warrior Princess to teach the mare to behave in battle and to respond to whistled commands…

"She's the best horse in the whole world!" he kept hearing her say "I wouldn't trade her for Pegasus himself… My Argo."

**********

The Warrior Princess was quite satisfied with her work with the golden mare and with the animal's fast progresses. She was magnificent in the performing of all the tasks her mistress asked her to do and proved to be a natural born war-horse. So, a couple of weeks later, Xena decided it was about time she tried Argo in battle. She knew the village called Myria had hired mercenaries for it's protection against the Warrior Princess' army… and they'd do just fine as a test to the mare's progress. She sent Vander with her usual warning and prepared to meet them in battle in a smooth sunny valley, just south of the target village.

She left Ixan with the task of preparing about fifty foot soldiers and a few horsemen for the battle, so that she was free to worry with nothing but Argo.

For hours, the Warrior Princess groomed her new golden mare, whispering softly to her, telling her what was to come… And the animal listened carefully, seeming to understand every word she said.

When they rode off to meet the enemy, in front of the small group, Xena and Argo were as one. Every movement fluid, every word or sound fully understood, as if they spoke the same language.

And on the battlefield, they proved to be made for each other… The same furious fighting and skill, and a profound understanding of one another…

Finally, Xena had found the companion she longed for. One that could replace Styx and take the space that he'd left empty in her half-dead heart… This mare was a true gift to the Warrior Princess, someone she could truly trust and love, knowing she'd never be disappointed. And someone who helped her to live with her inner demons…

PART 4

Chapter 14

"Xena! Xena!" Damon called, bursting into his commander's tent, even before asking permission to do so "Can I come in?" he asked, a little too late.

"Guess you already have…" the Warrior Princess replied with a harsh voice, but unable to hide a lopsided smile that told him she forgave the sudden intrusion "What's so urgent, Damon?" she asked, far from guessing his true intentions.

"Come…" he grabbed her by the hand and guided her out of the tent "You gotta see this…"

"What?"

He kept on taking her away from her tent, through the ground seeded with her warriors, to the camp's border. "It's a surprise… Trust me, you'll like it… Ixan!" Damon called "The Princess and I will be back later!"

"Alright…" the chief-lieutenant acknowledged with a nod, wondering what those two were up to. None of his business anyway…

**********

For over an hour they'd beep walking away from the camp, with the horses by the rein, and Xena was really getting tired of this little game. "Damon…" she stopped walking, making him halt with a pull on his hand "I'm not taking another step unless you tell me what this is all about." She had no idea what the guy had in mind, and was tired of following him around, just because she felt a little guilty over breaking his heart by refusing that stupid marriage proposal…

Her piercing blue eyes were pinning him down with a power he could not endure… He had to get rid of them "Alright, I'll show you. But first, close your eyes."

"What!?"

"Come on, Xena… Do it. It's a surprise, remember?"

Reluctantly, she did, expecting a kiss or something mushy like that. What else could come from Damon?

With her stare no longer numbing him, the man sighed in relief. He slid his hand behind his leather belt and very carefully pulled out a small dart. "Just a little longer, my Princess…" he said, watching as his way of addressing her was amusing her. He walked around her and at that time she begun to feel something was not right. She didn't know what but… She opened her eyes, but with a swift movement, Damon pushed the heavily poisoned needle through her flesh.

Immediately, the woman fell unconscious on the ground.

He had to make quite an effort to pull the motionless woman off the ground and over his shoulder, and carried her the rest of the way, until the place where two roads met. That's where he'd set the meeting point with Neelaikus' people. And there they were…

"Here she is…" Damon said, dropping the woman heavily to the dirt ground. "The Warrior Princess, just like I promised." He preferred not to mention that Xena's mare had gotten away… No point in saying that he wasn't very good with horses…

Two of Neelaikus' guards examined the female warrior, and then loaded her on the back of a cart.

"Very well…" Neelaikus said, impressed with Damon's deed. It wasn't just anyone that could capture that demon… "Here…"

Damon took the pouch from the other man's hand and examined its contents.

"It's all there… No need to count…" Neelaikus said.

Closing the pouch and attaching it to his belt, Damon got on his piebald horse "A pleasure doing business with you…" he said, before he rode away. But before he got far, he couldn't resist looking back one more time, after all, he had loved that bitch… "Goodbye, my beautiful Warrior Princess…"

**********

Neelaikus was very pleased with the deal. The best he'd ever made, actually… His father would have been proud: one thousand dinars for the mighty Warrior Princess. A real bargain! She didn't look so mighty now… He watched, scratching his long black mustache, as four of his guards took the time the poison still gave them to secure that she-demon.

They placed a narrow iron collar around her neck, tight enough to sink into her flesh and make breathing just a little hard for her. They didn't want to take any chances with this one. Attached to the collar was a chain that would bind her to the small cage they'd prepared, especially for her. Xena was stripped to her undershirt and locked in her new prison. The chain was set on it's place against one of the cage's bars, and then on a ring on the damp dungeon wall.

"Wake her up!" Neelaikus ordered, stepping back from his caged prize.

The guards would have preferred to leave the woman unconscious, but if their master ordered her to be awaken… The smallest on the men filled a wood bucket with cold water from the clay container at the corner and without mercy spilled it over Xena's body.

The sting of the cold shower brought the Warrior Princess back to consciousness. Or kind of… The poison hadn't left her body yet, and its effects were still being felt. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up. But her muscles wouldn't obey her. To Neelaikus' enjoyment like a new born colt she struggled with herself to rise from the iron bared floor of the cage, and was unable to lift herself even an inch high.

Xena was still unaware of her surroundings… Her eyes were open but she could see nothing more than a blurred mixture of light and shadows. Breathing was hard 'cause something was choking her at the neck… She tried to reach it so that she could loosen it, but her arms just weren't responding. Her whole being seemed to have been numbed for days and was just now regaining feeling, as if a million ants were going about their business over her skin.

Her mind was just so confused that she couldn't remember what in the name of Ares had happened… Where was she?

Xena tried to speak up that question, but her tongue was still tangled in her mouth and the sound that came out was nothing more than an animal grunt…

At least her arms and legs seemed to begin to work. And her eyes were improving too, she thought, as she managed to sit up against the cage bars behind her and made out five human forms in the torch lit room.

"Do it again!" the man with the shiny red clothes ordered.

Xena watched, with her vision clearing with every moment that passed, as one of the four uniformed men moved to a corner of the room and came back with something in his hand. Something heavy, by the arching angle of his back. The loaded man kept approaching. Too close, she thought. It was time to push him back!

She leaned against the bars behind her and with both feet kicked at the dark human form that was now very close, powering the kick with all the strength her still half numb legs allowed her.

Xena was surprised when her attack was blocked by something hard as a rock before hitting the man, sending a painful shock wave through her all body, hurting her to the bone. Her eyes had deceived her and her mind was still not clear enough to anticipate the iron bars before her.

She was almost grateful when a second bucket of the frozen water was spilled over her body and washed away the effects of the impact of the bars against her feet and most of the remaining numbness.

Xena lowered her head and blinked a few times. 'Ah, better…' she thought, as she began to be able to see even the small stitches that constructed her undershirt. Now, what had happened, she asked herself… She'd left camp with Damon and… Where was Damon?

She raised her head and for the first time took a good look at the men before her… There were five of them… her vision hadn't deceived her about that… One of them stood out of the group. He was obviously the leader. He was a tall man, with a scornful grin that appeared to be a permanent one and a long mustache, pretty much like the ones she saw men wearing when she'd visited the kingdom of Chin with Borias, a couple of lifetimes ago…

He was richly. But tastelessly dressed and constantly scratched that stupid brush of hair over his lips, as if he couldn't stop himself from doing it. Xena noticed, with a touch of pride, that this man feared her… Although he tried to hide it, there was that little shaky shadow in his eyes that she'd seen too often not to recognize…

The other four were obviously under the first one's command… With dark armored uniforms, they stared at her from beyond the bars, hands on their swords, case she might pull some magic trick and escape that cage and collar… Pathetic, she thought.

The leader took a small step forward and cleared his throat to get the Warrior Princess' attention "Hello, Xena…"

Xena shifted her eyes from the guards onto the leader, locking him to her most piercing and threatening blue stare "And may I know who am I greeting with my noble presence?" she asked in a mocking tone that didn't quite suite her current situation.

"Always trying to be in control…" he paced around the cage, freeing himself from her murderous gaze as gracefully as possible "Well, I've got news for you, Warrior Princess… You lost it this time. Your man, Damon, sold you like merchandize…"

Xena had to do her best to keep the warlord mask on her face. Damon had betrayed her? What about the love that… She'd been stupid! Stupid! How could she believe him? And how could she let herself be fooled like that? How could she have trusted that… that…

She sucked in a slow deep breath. She had to control her emotions and deal with this later. Right now her face had to be a mirror of deadly calm… She sunk her fingernails in her palm… slowly… painfully, until she drew blood. There… The pain would keep her focused.

"One thousand dinars and you're mine…" he went on, still pacing around in a circle that had become a little wider… he didn't want to be too close… "And you know why, Xena?"

She shifted her weight to get better circulation in her legs, since the cage was too low to stand and with the still mockfull tone addressed him "No… But I'm sure you're going to tell me…"

He stopped in front of her and with hatred, not fear in his eyes, faced her stare "Do you remember Menearis? He was my father!"

Menearis… It took her a few moments to place the name… Ah… The warlord she'd defeated about nine months ago, near that little village with the big treasure. She hadn't known that he had a son… Not important…

"That old rag playing warlord?" Xena spat out, happy that the antsy feeling had finally left her body "Yeah, I remember him. My army wasted him a while back…"

Neelaikus was getting truly furious and for a moment Xena feared that he might have exploded in anger and do something not very pleasant for her… But he didn't. He let his arms fall along his body, closed his eyes and took in a couple of deep breaths. When he opened his eyes, his calm had returned… And with it, that little shadow of fear Xena liked "Well, it doesn't matter what you think of him." He said, continuing his circular pacing around the cage, under the close watch of the four guards "As you can see, he made me a very powerful business man… Very prosperous. And a collector of rare and beautiful things… Like you!" he nearly shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at the woman's direction "You, Xena, are the newest addition to my collection. You'll be my favorite pet!"

The Warrior Princess didn't quite know what to say or how to react to that… She'd expect to be put on trial or merely executed, not become a collection piece… But it didn't really matter. She'd still have to do the same thing: escape!

Neelaikus was a little disappointed that she didn't spit out another scornful remark… If she had he'd have her flogged! But plenty of time for that. "Guard! Take the first shift, as I ordered. When it's time, bring her to the dinning room." He turned to face the caged warrior "I'm going to shoe you off, Xena… I always have important guests, you know… And make the best of it, cause whatever scraps they throw you, will be the only food you'll get!"

Xena heard the guards as they sorted out their duties. They spoke in whispers, but didn't count on her unusually sharp hearing… They were to take five four-hour shifts and at the dinner she'd be given to Neelaikus' personal guard… The one-eyed man took the first shift. The other three left and he sat on the rough cut chair at the corner, carving little swords on the table in front of him with a small curve blade dagger.

The Warrior Princess let him settle before she began exploring her prison. She was in a small cell, probably an underground dungeon, judging by the moist on the stone walls… Four torches lighted the place, one at each corner. As furnishings, besides the chair and table taken by the guard, it had only a huge clay vase, full of water. There were no windows and the only entrance was a heavy solid wood door, with a large barred opening. It didn't look too good… Probably there were a couple of guards outside that door, she thought.

And then there was her cage… it wasn't very big…it didn't allow her to stand or lay down without curling up. The bars were solid iron and almost as thick as her own wrist. The opening was through the top, where a door was locked at three different points. And, of course, her collar… Xena tried to remove it, sliding two fingers on each side, but couldn't. The iron was too strong, and besides, it was so tight that she almost choked herself with her attempt. 'Damn!'

And Damon… Whatever love she leftover that she still kept in some hidden corner of her heart was gone. She hated traitors! And what was his reason? Not power… he wouldn't keep her army if she were gone. Not wealth… the prices offered for her head were much higher than that… So what? Mere hatred? Because she'd turned him down? Xena tried to keep her former warrior out of her mind, attempting to keep her concentration on the movements of a big fat gray rat that had been locked in the cell when Neelaikus had left. But it was hard. Slaughtering Damon and sticking his head on a pole at the entrance of her tent was just a too appealing image…

Uhm, well… She'd just have to wait for dinnertime and see if her chances would improve then.

**********

The hours seemed to drag on forever, but finally, steps outside the door warned the guard it was time to go. The one eyed man got to his feet and unlocked the door. He stepped outside, mumbled something to someone Xena couldn't see and disappeared from her sight.

She watched as patiently as she could, considering that her stomach was already grumbling, as six men walked in. They also had uniforms, but different ones, a bit more cheerful ones… Undoubtedly they were Neelaikus' guard that came to take her to the famous dinning room… One of the men unlocked her chain from the wall and then from the cage…

The guard looked into her blue eyes and flashed an evil grin at her that warned to get her guard up… But she was still caught by surprise.

With a suffocating pain on her throat, Xena was pulled roughly against the cage's side bars, as the guard pulled as hard as he could on her collar chain.

Xena was left stunned, both by the loss of breathing and the slamming of her head against the iron bars… so she just watched helplessly as both her hands were cuffed together and against the iron bar… Then, her chain was once more locked on the cage.

She'd been lucky to be stronger than average, or that pull would have snapped her neck and sent her straight to Hades, she thought, as the six men set her little personal prison on long beams and carried it out of the cell, up the stairs and along a maze of corridors.

By that time her breathing had returned to a reasonably normal state, but she was left with some marks… The collar bit deep into her flesh and her skin was becoming raw around her neck, causing her an annoying pain. Plus, her head had been slammed hard enough to leave a large bump and a blood drenched strand of hair… She'd be prepared next time. That was if she didn't manage to escape before that…

As she approached her destination, Xena noticed the corridors were becoming more and m ore richly decorated, in an expensive display of amazing bad taste. And the sounds of people talking, laughing, were becoming louder… This was no little get together she was so courteously being invited to… By the sound of it, Xena averaged about fifty or sixty people…

And she was right. The dinning room was packed with half-drunk rich merchants, and women with so much jewelry on them that they probably had trouble moving under all that weight… The long table was covered with all kinds of delicacies the guests grabbed and ate with their hands. 'Disgusting…' she thought. The sparse light given by the ceiling chandeliers didn't help and made the environment even heavier and more revolting…

Xena's cage was set down on a small stone platform built at the end of the room farthest from the door, as high as the table, almost stage-like… The guard stayed right behind her, she noticed.

"Ah… Here she is…" Xena heard Neelaikus say, even before she spotted him, heading her way, chewing on a chicken thigh. He could improve his manners… "Everybody! Gather around…" he said, addressing the small crowd of puffed personalities. "Come and have a look at my newest acquisition."

Like a flock of over groomed sheep, the dinner guests gathered around the platform where Xena was locked in the cage, all eyes staring at her scantly dressed body.

She could hear the whispered dirty comments exchanged within her audience, both by those who did and didn't recognize her. She hated to be displayed like this before those idiots, caged like an animal. But there wasn't much she could do about it right now, unless endure it as best as she could.

Neelaikus stood up on the platform next to the cage, enjoying his moment of glory, and scratched the long mustache. "I present to you, Xena: Warrior Princess!" he announced. Like a circus host, introducing a fierce wild beast.

Those in the little crowd that at first hadn't been impressed with Neelaikus' prisoner, changer their minds when they realized that it was the great Warrior Princess, Xena, who stood caged before them. "How cute…" she heard a blond woman say, between sips of blood red wine. "Wonderful…" someone else commented. "How did you get it?" a tall man asked Neelaikus, who was delighted with the admiration he was getting for the did of capturing the woman. And it had been so easy… Better not share that or the enchanted moment would be gone.

"Tricks of the trade, my boys…" he answered.

A skinny woman wrapped in a blue dress approached her cage from the left "Can we touch it?" she asked, keeping a safe distance between herself and the imprisoned woman.

'It? These people are nuts!' Could they really forget that she was a person?

"Better not…" was Neelaikus' reply, turning his back on his guests so that he could see the hate filled blue eyes of the woman he now owned.

Xena tried to free herself so that she could teach those peacocks a lesson or two… But in vain. All she managed with the pulling on the chains of her hands were nasty bruises on her wrists. Sweet revenge would have to wait.

Neelaikus didn't like the disappointment on the blue dressed woman's face "But you can feed her…" he said, trying to make up for the denial he'd given to his guest. Happy as a child with a new toy, Menearis' son jumped from the stone platform to the floor, pushed his way through his guests to the table and picked a tray with juicy plums. Pushing his way back between the others, holding the tray high over his head, he returned to the platform and set the plums in from of the cage. "Go ahead…"

The skinny blue dressed woman picked one of the fruits and threw it against the Warrior Princess, leaving a purplish stain where it smashed against Xena's shoulder. "She didn't eat it…" the woman whined.

"Let me try…" Neelaikus scratched his stupid black mustache and climbed on the platform again. He picked a fruit and kneeled right before Xena, who stared at him with a murderous look from across the iron bars. "Open up…" he aimed at the warrior's face, sticking his tongue out as he concentrated on the target and threw the fruit, swinging his arm in a wide arch, to make a good spectacle for his dinner guests.

With the little slack the chain at her throat allowed her, Xena ducked the sweet projectile, leaning her face against the bars and watching the plum crush against the stone beneath her cage. She wasn't enjoying this little game of Neelaikus'. Not enjoying it at all and she was gonna let him know about it. Even before he had time to realize that he'd missed his target, the Warrior Princess looked back at him and spit right into his eye.

"What a…" Menearis' son got to his feet and with his fingertips wiped Xena's message off his face. An expression of outrage settled on his features when he finally caught up with what had just happened. "You bitch! Guards! Take her bellow and give her proper punishment! Now!"

Not caring about the damage inflicted on herself, Xena struggled against her bindings, trying to free herself. The guards found it particularly difficult to set the cage on the beams and carry it away. The woman's continuing pulling and pounding on the bars set the whole thing off balance and they almost dropped her three times on the way down to the dungeons.

Neelaikus showed a fake smile to his guests "She still need to be tamed…" he justified "But let's not let this little incident spoil our evening… Eat! Enjoy!"

**********

The Warrior Princess struggled all the way back to the dungeons and into the cell next to her own, only stopping when her cage was set on the ground and the carrying beams removed. Xena prepared herself for the pull on the chain attached to her collar, she knew it was coming… And it did. Once again she was slammed against the iron bars, but this time he didn't let go. With his foot set against the corner of the cage, the guard kept pulling, slowly choking her. It wasn't until Xena's form became limp that he released her.

When he was sure that the woman was unconscious, the guard opened the cage. With the help of a companion he took her out of the little prison and chained her in a standing position, face to the wall. They all knew how dangerous she was under that skin-deep beauty, so her ankles were also chained to the stone floor.

They had to wait a while, until the Warrior Princess regained consciousness, before they began the punishment. Over and over again, the lash of the whip kept inflicting pain in her lower back. Xena did her best not to show how much they were hurting her. In time, she had to catch her lip between her teeth to stop herself from screaming… She lost count of how many times the guard hit her with all his strength. It seemed it had been going on forever and she could feel a little stream of blood begin to run down her body, under her shirt.

**********

A couple of hours had passed since Xena had lost the capacity to resist the cruel punishment. She woke up back in her cage and her cell, the collar around her neck and chained to the same places, but her hands were free. The pain on her back was terrible and adding to that she still had bruised wrists and ankles, a wounded neck, a cracked head and an empty stomach bothering her. She was definitely not having a good night… She painfully sat up in her little cage, choosing to ignore the guard that stared back at her, sitting at the table, sipping a clear liquid from a dirty old mug.

To check the seriousness of her wounds, Xena slipped her hand under her bloody shirt and as gently as possible ran her fingertips over her back… It felt worse than it really was, she finally decided, bringing her hand to rest on her lap. The flogging hadn't left deep wounds, and if she left this place before an encore of that treatment, they'd heal fine and leave no marks 'Good.' She thought.

But how could she get out of there? That was the real problem right now… That cage seemed to be Xena-proof and the only times it was open, she was unconscious. Damn! She stretched her legs as far as she could, until her feet were planted against the iron, closed her eyes and rested her head against the bars. She'd need to rest her head if she was going to come up with a plan to escape this mess… But with all the pain bothering her and with her body not in its best shape, it would be hard…

At least the winter cold didn't seem to reach the cell…

**********

"Have the search parties returned yet?" Ixan asked to the swordsman who returned from settling Xena's golden mare.

When the Warrior Princess hadn't returned a few hours after leaving with Damon, her chief-lieutenant became concerned… A few more hours and he sent three groups to look for her. It wasn't like Xena to stay away without letting someone know how long would it be until she returned. By now, the whole camp had become agitated, especially since Argo galloped right into the middle of the tents… without her rider.

"No, Sir." The swordsman answered.

And still no news… Ixan was sure something had happened to his commander. Maybe Deros was right. Maybe that Damon fellow was not to be trusted…

**********

Steps outside the cell door awaked Xena. She hadn't realized she'd dozed off… It must have been time to render the guard. She watched as the short man left and a red hair man walked in… She didn't like the grin on his face, it looked… cruel.

"And how are you, cutie?" the guard asked, after locking the heavy door shut. He began walking around her cage, pretty much like Neelaikus had done before. She didn't like that… She was already nauseous because she hadn't eaten in so long, and now that guy circling around her was making her dizzy. "You don't answer?" he stopped directly behind her and poked at her bloody back with his finger, sending a wave of pain through her body.

Xena muffled her cry of pain before it came out and turned, as fast as she could, to face him. "Coward!" she hissed before a number of curses, some of which he'd never heard before.

"Well…" he faked an outraged look "Little girl is being bad…" he mocked her "Maybe she need to wash her mouth…" the red hair man filled the bucket with water from the clay vase and threw it all at once over the Warrior Princess "Enjoy your bath!" Laughing, he sat on the chair and leaned against the table, sharpening a little crummy looking dagger with a small stone.

"You son of a Bacchae!" she shouted as the cold water drenched her entire body. Now she had the cold bothering her too… Well, on the bright side, the blood and plum stains had mostly been washed away…

For the next few hours, Xena endured the cold as best as she could, shivering at the feel of the wet undershirt against her skin. And on top of everything, that red hair jackass sat there staring at her and delighting himself with well-cooked meat, knowing that she was as hungry as a starved wolf!

She was please when she heard the footsteps closing in on the cell. It meant she didn't have to look at his face for much longer.

The guard got to his feet and, saying nothing, filled the bucket again and poured it over the iron cage "So that you won't forget me…" he said, turning his back and heading for the door.

The Warrior Princess was going to spit out some of the worse curses of her huge collection at him, but stopped to listen. There was a sound she hadn't noticed before… A lock was moved before the red hair creep opened the door… A bad thing to exist but good to know. The cell door had two locks, one on the outside and one on the inside. This was one thing to consider in the plan of her escape. That was if she could come up with one…

The jackass guard left and in his place came in a tall, harmless looking man. He locked the door behind him and sat on the chair, setting on the table what Xena figured to be his lunch.

And well, well… 'What is that on his eyes?' she asked herself, as she saw the way his brown gazed fixed on her. This man didn't like to see her treated like this. He was good hearted and didn't agree with the cruelty she was being handled with… And he was attracted to her too… 'Sucker!' This was her ticket out of prison. She was going to seduce him and he would help her to get away!

Xena allowed herself to shiver uncontrollably, showed a sad and hurting expression ad shed a fake lonely tear… This was guaranteed to bring out in the silly guard some feelings of pity and awake his protective instinct. 'Men love to play the protector of the helpless woman…' she thought.

Seerus couldn't take that anymore. This was no way to treat a lady… Even if she was guilty of the crimes they'd pinned on her… And surely she was innocent. Someone with such an amazing beauty would never be capable to commit the atrocities he'd heard of… He wanted to release her, wrap her up in furs and make it alright. He wanted to take care of her and protect her from all harm and… But he couldn't. His duty was to guard her and nothing else. But surely, a little something to drink wouldn't hurt…

He picked up the old mug, filled it with fresh water from the vase and approached the small cell "Here" he said, gently inclining the mug so it would pass through the bars without spilling it's contents "Have some water…"

"Thank you." Xena took the mug from his hands, always keeping the saddest face she could manage and with sweetness in her blue eyes. And this was hard because she felt like singing victory for the conquest of this sucker's heart. She held the mug with both hands and without taking her eyes from his took a small sip. The collar around her neck made it quite hard to swallow anything, but the drink felt great. Fortunately she hadn't realized how thirsty she truly was until now…

Drinking slowly from the old mug, Xena watched as he placed one of the torches with its iron stand much closer to her little cage.

"Are you warmer like this?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you…" a sad smile on her lips rewarded him.

Seerus turned back to the table and unwrapped the small bundle that was his lunch. By hand, he divided the bread and cheese of his meal, and taking half of it, walked over to the woman's cage again. She was still looking at him with those irresistible sad blue eyes, sipping the cold water. "Do I have your word you'll tell no one about this?" he asked, displaying the food in front of her.

She felt like sticking her hands out of the cage and rip the food away from him. But she managed to keep control in spite of her wolf-hunger "Of course…"

**********

"Thank you… For everything." She threw him a sad smile and watched as he left to give place to the one-eyed guard. The hours of this guy's watch had been easy and invigorating. She'd gotten warmer, eaten drank and came up with a plan. And already the plan was working. She was so good! Another day or two and that little sucker would set her to freedom! Now all she had to do was wait until her returned and put on her little good unfairly treated girl look again…

**********

When the one-eyed guard finished his watch, Xena was once again taken, over the carrying beams, to the crowded dinning room.

Apparently, Menearis' son, Neelaikus, had these dinner parties every night. However, and fortunately for her, the guests and host were too busy discussing the next day's Quarter Moon Feast to pay her much attention… Only one young man spent all evening staring at her and throwing little red sweet delicacies at her… but she chose to ignore him. It would do her or her plan no good to be flogged again, or maybe something worse. Although scaring the eyeballs out of that creep would have been great…

**********

Again back in her cell, Xena had to put up with the watch of the short guard and then the cold water baths of the red hair jackass before it was the sucker's turn to watch her again… She put on her best sweet face and waited until he locked the heavy dungeon door behind him. "Hello…" she said as he turned to face her, greeting him with an uncharacteristically shy sad smile.

"Hello…" he set the wrapped bundle he'd brought on the table and walked to her with a steaming mug on his hand "Here…" he slipped the mug through the bars and left it between Xena's cold hands "It's for you… It should help you to warm up…"

"Thank you…" Xena drank the hot cinnamon flavored milk and made sure he got a good look at the bloodstains on her undershirt, leaning a little forward. She didn't want him to take a long time making the decision to help her… Showing him the blood should make him feel outraged by the way she was being treated… Little did he know that she'd just reopen the wounds on her back to lure him into her trap.

Seerus sat at the table, dividing his food, and at the same time keeping an eye on the caged woman. She looked so unhappy… He knew it was just a matter of time, perhaps just a few days, before his master Neelaikus allowed the soldiers to have their fun with her. It just wasn't right! The poor woman would be raped to death for crimes she couldn't have committed. A sweet soul like that could never be guilty of such things… A warrior, that she could be. Maybe even someone who'd fought on the wrong side and made mistakes, but only because she was alone and lost… Misguided… Because of the unhappiness he could see in her eyes… "I don't agree with the way you're being treated, you know…" he said, as he took her half of the food he'd brought. One by one, he slipped in through the bars a small piece of salt pork, a thick slice of bread and a mug full of fresh water "If there was anything I could do for you, I would, honest…"

Xena thought on his words… he sounded honest enough and she surely didn't want to spend any more time in that cage, trapped like a wild animal. She decided to make her move. She laid down the food and got as close to him as the bars and the chained collar around her neck permitted, grasping the iron with both her hands. Lifting her head, Xena stared at him with watery eyes, giving him the most hopeful look she could fake "You'll help me to escape?" she asked him, her voice a hopeful and pleading whisper.

"What?" he stepped back and began pacing back and forth, as she followed him, still with hopeful eyes. "I can't… I'd be executed if I betrayed Neelaikus…" he kept staring at the floor, but when he stopped and looked at the caged beauty he felt like a dagger had been punched through his heart… She was sitting on her heels, her hands still grasping the bars and her forehead leaned against the iron, as if she had no longer the strength to hold her head high. She was sobbing and tears were falling down her cheeks like a waterfall, but what really touched him was the expression on her face… lifeless, defeated, stripped of hope…

Xena tried to make it look good. Men always fell for the tears… Within seconds he was kneeling in front of her, his hands over hers and his face only inches from the bars… "Than kill me…" she said, holding him to her piercing blue eyes.

"What…"

"You know what will happen to me…" she lowered her head and looked down, to give him the impression that she didn't want to face his stare "I'd rather die than share a bed with any of these men…" The old trick of the woman who'd rather die than be dishonored…

The guard released her hands and got to his feet, turning away from her sad eyes. He didn't know what to do. Seerus didn't want to be a part of torturing this woman, this sweet gentle soul, but… If he helped her to escape he'd be a fugitive too. He'd lose his job, probably have a small reward hanging over his head, his all life here would be over. He'd have to leave his brother behind and even become his enemy, since the kid was a part of Neelaikus' guard too. All he'd ever known and loved would be lost. It was just too much she was asking of him. He turned to her to speak his decision "I'll help you, Xena! What do you want me to do?" Well, sometimes in life you just had to follow your heart and not your head…

"Thank you!" this time her voice was full with genuine happiness as she thanked him, offering him a wide smile. Her plan worked! She still knew how to use her female charms to get a man. The sucker was now hers and would do anything she asked of him…

Seerus sat cross-legged on the stone floor in front of the hypnotizing beauty. "You have a plan? He asked "You better, 'cause I don't have a clue how to get you out of here…"

Not only a sucker, he was an idiot too, Xena thought. With a little inside help, getting out of that dump would be a piece of cake… "Here's what I want you to do…" she began "Tomorrow's the Quarter-Moon Festival, right?" he nodded "While dinner is being served I want you to go to Neelaikus' quarters and…" Seerus shook his head "I can't! He'd kill me if he found me there, he'd…" "Please… Do it for me…" she gave him a pleading look appearing to his eyes as nothing more than a scared little girl.

"Oh, all right…"

'Sucker!' she thought "Thank you… As I said, you are to go there and retrieve a red glass flask he keeps on his bed stand." Listening to all the conversations in the dinning room had paid off "Then, I want you to go to the cellar and pour all of it… don't forget, all the contents of the red flask in a wine barrel, the large one that Neelaikus said is served to all the dungeon guards… You know which one it is?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he said, nodding once again, listening to her as if she was revealing to him the Universe's biggest secrets.

"Good. Remember, you must not, ever, drink any of that wine. What you're going to put in there is a powerful sleeping potion and a few sips alone would be enough to knock you out for hours… The wine will be served here right after dinner, so you keep close eye on things… As soon as the guards outside the door are asleep, open the outside lock and wait for me… I'll take care of the rest…"

"But how are you going to get rid of the chain, and the cage…"

She silenced him with a finger on his lips "Let me worry about that…" Xena whispered in a little purr "And come here…"

With his face pressed against the bars, Xena kissed him, letting her tongue play with his for no more than a couple of seconds… A little incentive wouldn't hurt…

**********

A few hours later Xena's little play thing, Seerus, left to give place to the one eyed guard. And after this one's watch, the Warrior Princess was again stunned by choking against the iron bars of her little cage and taken to the main dinning room, where the festivities of the Quarter-Moon celebration were already beginning… A band of pompously dressed guests already scavengered through the richly filled dinner table like vultures, while four dancing girls twirled around them giggling and allowing them to steal some kisses. And a few minutes after Xena's arrival, Neelaikus made an atypical discrete entrance and mingled with the guests. He didn't escape Xena's hawk eyes as she scanned through the crowd. Hopefully, Seerus would be getting the sleeping potion now…

**********

Seerus wiped his sweaty palms rubbing them on his breeches. Peeking with his face pressed against the wall, he watched as his master left his quarters to join the dinner celebration. He waited until Menearis' son turned the corner and walked down the long corridor, before running on his tiptoes to the unlocked door. He pushed it, slipped inside and locked it behind him. He was in. Unconsciously, the guard let out a loud relieved sigh…

**********

The woman's plan was working so far. He sincerely hoped not to be discovered in his mater's room, or his head wouldn't be attached to his body for much longer, and he kinda liked it where it was right now… Seerus searched through the room with his eyes until he found what he was looking for… the red glass bottle. He picked it up and slid it in his leather cladding, until the cold glass laid against his chest. He checked his figure on the polished mirror, to make sure it didn't show, and left the room.

Closing the door behind him, he let out another sigh. So far so good… He tried to look as casual as possible as he walked down the narrow service stairs, having to step aside and press himself against the wall several times, to give way to busy looking servants who carried large trays of food to the dinning room.

Reaching the underground level, Seerus looked left and right, to make sure that no one was watching as he forced the rotten lock of the cellar and allowed himself in. He already knew which one was the barrel destined to the dungeon guards… That afternoon he'd romanced the information out of a light haired servant girl' pretending that he was interested in gaining her affections.

After removing the wooden lid, Seerus poured the whole potion in the bad quality wine, shaking the red flask to make sure it all went in, just like the sweet Warrior Princess had so gently asked him to… With his task finished, the brown hair guard slipped the empty flask back in his leathers and left. Now he had to wait until the poisoned drink was served…

**********

Xena endured the dinner as best as she could. Fortunately she wasn't attracting too much attention in the middle of all the entertainment of the celebration. She was glad when the guards came and took her below, to the dungeons, after most of the guests had passed out on a binge.

As she was taken to the door of the cell, the Warrior Princess was glad to see that the poisoned wine was already being served, and that the short guard, the one that would take the first shift in her cell, had helped himself to a full mug of it.

Soon, very soon, she'd be free again! And then, sweet revenge…

Xena sat against the cage bars, resting her head against the iron and stretching her legs as much as her little prison allowed her. She closed her eyes and tried to doze off… Some rest would be nice before the escape…

********** The sound of the door's lock shook Xena out of sleep.

"Xena…" she heard Seerus whisper outside "This side is unlocked." He said, still in a low voice "What do you want me to do now?"

The Warrior Princess rubbed her eyes and looked at the short guard who was supposed to be watching her. The man was sleeping like a rock, sprawled on the floor where he'd fallen from his chair, when the poison forced him into Morpheus' realm…

"Xena!" Seerus called again.

"Just wait! I'll be out in a second…" she pressed herself against the bars and stretched her arm out as much as she could, until she got a hold of the short guard's boot. "Are all the guards out?" she asked, as she dragged the man to her cage, using a strength that most people didn't even suspect a woman like her could possess.

"Yeah…" Seerus answered from the other side "All the dungeon guards drank the wine…"

'Good.' She thought 'I bet half of them are dead already… With that kind of a poison…' "That's good Seerus, thank you…" Xena said out loud, using the sweet innocent tone that had seduced him before. With the unconscious guard already next to her cage, she searched his armor and belt until she found a narrow blade dagger. She took it, and with trained skill she used the small blade to open the lock that kept the iron collar around her neck, removing it, and then to unlock the small prison. She slammed the little iron door open and jumped out of the cage. Gods it felt good to be able to walk again! She went to the table where the guard had laid his food and took a bite off a juicy red apple, before going towards the wood cell door and opening it.

"You did it!" Seerus was genuinely surprised that the sweet woman had managed to escape. How she'd done it, he didn't have a clue. He wrapped a long cloak around her shoulders and pointed down the corridor.

She rewarded him with a quick kiss on the cheek "You really thought I wouldn't?" she asked, speeding down in the direction the guard had pointed out.

"I just didn't think… I mean, expect that a woman alone would be able to escape Neelaikus' imprisonment…"

"I did have help, didn't I?" another sweet kiss to make sure he'd comply with her next request "And besides, hard times breed hard people, Seerus… There's no escaping that."

Soon enough they reached an outside door "Can you help me once again?… Please…" sweetness poured out of her blue eyes.

"Okay. What do you need, my Princess?"

My Princess… she liked that. Her little man was learning who was his new master… "Go get a couple of horses… War horses if you can, and bring them back here. Go…" she gave him a gentle push on the shoulder and he went off, running towards Neelaikus' stables. As soon as he turned away, the blue sweetness of her eyes turned into cold ice, revealing the true darkness that ruled her chained heart "Sucker!"

A couple of minutes later, Seerus returned with two brown animals, saddled and ready to go. Xena and the guard mounted and rode off into the dark night, heading towards the Warrior Princess' camp.

Chapter 15

It was late morning when the two riders were first spotted by the sentries of Xena's army and were allowed to gallop to the command tent's door.

"Ixan!" the warrior woman called, even before she brought her mount to a halt.

Her chief lieutenant got out of the tent and got a hold of Xena's horse's rein "Xena! Are you alright? We were worried…"

She jumped down from the saddle "Get the men ready. We're going to attack that son of a bitch Neelaikus… I want them ready to mount up this evening! Now get out of my sight!" she pushed the red hair lieutenant aside and disappeared behind the canvas curtain of her own tent.

She wanted to take the time she had before the attack to take care of herself. She had wounds to take care of, needed to feed well and sleep and that's what she was going tot do.

Outside, business took over the Warrior Princess' camp as Ixan gave orders to prepare the attack on the Neelaikus guy, whoever he was, just as Xena had ordered. Seerus was placed with the swordsmen and without knowing exactly how it had happened he became a part of the mightiest army in Greece.

**********

It was early evening when Xena awoke from her restless sleep. She took the time she needed to change the dressings of her wounds, bathe and comb her long black hair. She always wanted to be in the best shape possible before a battle. She laid out her weapons and armor and orderly put it all on. She stretched and walked around a little, to make sure that all the leather, bronze and iron were in their proper place and, pushing the canvas door aside, she stepped into the dark evening.

She was glad to see her army waiting for her, ready to attack. Ixan had done a good job. From the corner of her eye, she saw the little sucker, Seerus, with her swordsmen… One more man she'd lured with her female charms into a web he'd never free himself from…

"Here you go, Princess…" approaching her from the left, Deros placed the rein of Xena's golden mare in her hands, returning to his place.

"Argo!" she greeted "Thank you, Deros" she said, before mounting, while the beautiful mare caressed her with soft nuzzles on the shoulder.

The Warrior Princess pulled on Argo's rein and guided her towards the head of the army… Riding back and forth ahead of the first line of horsemen, Xena inspected the troops and at the same time acknowledged the call of her men that slowly began to rise from the ranks, making the bloodlust take over her entire being "Xena! Xena! Xena!…" they wouldn't stop until she gave the signal to advance.

"Let's go!"

Slowly, the men took the journey to this mysterious Neelaikus' lair… They didn't even know who the guy was, or what kind of army or fortress he had, but if she said attack… they would! Besides, if she was taking the full battle force… Hordes of men… The plan was quite obvious. They were to level the place!

**********

"Kill 'em all!" Xena ordered as, at dawn they reached the top of the hill that faced Neelaikus' home from the front. At her command the first division of horsemen, carrying her banner, rode down the hill, using the momentum of the descent to surprise the enemy and break through the first defense lines.

"No! You can't do this! She heard a man shout as a hand grabbed her gauntlet, stopping her from going down hill with the first horsemen…

She turned on the saddle, ready to punch the lights out of whoever was delaying her, but restrained herself when she saw it was Seerus… Maybe he had something to say about his former master's defenses that might interest her… "What?" she asked in an obviously irritated tone.

"You can't do this, Xena…"

"And why not?" she asked.

"There are innocent people down there… You can't just…"

"We'll let the Gods sort out the innocent, alright?" once again she prepared to go down hill, and once again he grabbed at her gauntlet. This was becoming quite annoying… "What now?"

"There are women and children there…"

"So?" her irritation was rising "We don't kill women and children."

"Bu… You just can't!"

Xena was going to waste no more time with this pointless discussion "You dare to defy me, Seerus?"

He nodded as an answer.

"Than you'll be the first to cross to the other side!" she unseeded her sword and before he had nay time to react, she ran him through. She retrieved the sword from his lifeless body and kicking the golden mare's flanks, rode down hill, shouting her battle cry and joining her men in the slaughter.

**********

Neelaikus' men were not prepared for such an attack and Xena easily broke through the defenses and began the destruction. Every single man was butchered at her hands or one of her men's… To herself she reserved the pleasure of dragging Menearis' son behind Argo, laughing as she watched the flesh being stripped from his bones… The women and children were expelled, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and everything of valor was taken back to the army's camp, while Neelaikus' home was leveled with fire and his own collection of war machines.

When she was finished, the only evidence of Neelaikus' luxurious home were the weeping women and children running along the road and a pile of smoking rubble.

Xena's army returned victoriously to camp and while the horses and weapons they'd stolen were to contribute to the greater good of the army, the money was divided between all and the precious jewelry was used either to pay tribute to Ares or to thicken Xena's personal wealth.

While the celebrations of victory over this guy who no one knew were taking place, Xena took her mare and rode away, far enough to escape the sounds of the party, but close enough to stay in sight. No one dared to follow her or to ask her what had happened to Damon… That was her business.

Alone, she scratched her mare between the ears and thought of the recent past… How Damon, who she believed to love her, had betrayed her, how empty it left her feeling, how this victory failed to warm her heart… But she'd have to move on…

Chapter 16

Somehow, Damon had managed to make himself vanish. The Warrior Princess still had searching parties out, but they found no trace of the traitor… So she decided to let go. Put it behind her and do her best to forget he'd ever crossed her path. It was time to move on, to turn her attention back to her army and carry on with business as usual…

And her next target was a beautiful Princess called Kara. The young maiden was an only child and her father's pride and joy… The perfect prey for a fat ransom demand.

Xena sent Deros leading a scouting party, and ordered them to watch Kara for a few days, to study her daily routines. That way, she'd know when it was the best time to take her into her clutches…

**********

Deros thought that the life of that kind of a Princess was the most boring thing in the world! All the girl did was look pretty and learn royal manners, so that someday she'd make for a good Queen when her father found her a suitable husband… Yuck! Xena was lucky to be a Warrior Princess and not a royal one… What a dull life! Anyway, he figured that the best time to apprehend Kara was when she gave money to the poor. She'd do that once a week, at the town's market, always at the same time. She was out in the middle of the people, with only a couple of guards. Apparently, everyone loved the Princess and her father thought he didn't need to concern himself with his daughter's safety… Big mistake!

The scout watched once again as the young beauty Kara handed gold coins she kept taking out of a laced pouch to the crowd that immediately formed around her. The dirty peasants stretched out their rude hands, blistered by the hard work of the fields and that little gloved hand would place the shiny money on them. The children got gold and a darkened candy of some sort, that managed to bring a smile on their little sunburned faced… Surprisingly, they behaved quite orderly, getting away from the Princess as soon as they got their share of her charity, giving room for someone else to approach. Maybe that's why Kara's father thought that a large guard for his little girl was unnecessary… His problem.

Deros decided he'd gathered all the information he needed, so he rounded up the small scouting party and led them back to the Warrior Princess.

**********

Xena had made camp on an abandoned mining site. Winter was settling and it was nice to count on other shelters, besides the tents they always had… This place, besides the mine itself, carved on the side of a rocky mount, still had a few wood shacks, some of which still in good shape.

She'd settled on one of those shacks, grateful for a roof that didn't move with the blowing of the wind, and was spending her time doing maintenance work on her armor, weapons and even herself, with a warm bubbling bath every day, as she waited for Deros to return with his report about her target, Princess Kara…

She was almost disappointed when the scouting party returned so soon… The rest in this place was feeling marvelously, after the big blow she'd taken with Damon's betrayal… But life had to go on, an this army was her life…

The scout walked into Xena's quarters and greeted his commander, as she sat on her bed sharpening a short sword. "I have the information you requested, Xena." He said, handing her a piece of parchment with a rough sketch of the marketplace where Kara made her weekly charity and its surroundings.

The raven hair woman laid the sword and sharpening stone on her side, took the parchment from his hand and unfolded it "Tell me…" she said, as she studied the markings.

"There." Deros placed his finger on the rough map "Kara gives money every week. She just did it, this morning… It's a crowded market and she only had two guards with her… And they don't look that competent either…"

"Excellent…" the Warrior Princess said with a smile "Sounds as easy as taking candy from a baby…"

"Well…" he said "I think we have to watch out for the people… They really love that girl…"

"Suggestions?"

The man nodded "I think we should wait until she's finished with the money. By then, the people will be scattering and we'll only have to worry about the guards…"

The woman folded the parchment again and handed it to Deros "Great! I agree." She said "Tell Estragon and the new man to get ready and take care of it next week. Until then, we practice and rest…"

"Yes, Princess." The scout greeted her again and left to carry out her orders.

She watched as her scout left her quarters and then returned to the task of tending to the blade of the short sword.

**********

A week had passed since Deros had talked to the Warrior Princess about Kara's habit of giving money to the poor at the market place. At dawn, Estragon and Enos left the mining camp where Xena and her men were settled and headed for the place where Kara would be in just a few hours.

The two men rode in silence, covered in long dark cloaks that would hide their weapons from the eyes of the other people, as they approached the crowded market.

Kara showed up shortly after Xena's two warriors had reached their destination. Dressed in a white dress that contrasted with the darkness of her eyes and hair, she stood out of the crowd a diamond from the rubble.

Estragon and Enos stood away, trying to blend with the market life, standing near a vegetable vendor, watching the young Princess from a distance…

The people that had gathered around Kara slowly began to scatter around through the middle of the sellers, as they got their share of the gold she was handing out. But it was still too soon. Xena's orders had been to wait until the Princess was finished with her charity work and the people satisfied with what they'd gotten. They should wait until Kara and her two guards began to return to the royal palace… Only then they should strike and kidnap her…

So they waited… And waited some more… Until Princess Kara was finally left alone with her two faithful guards.

She closed her money pouch and sighed "Finally…" she whispered. The charity was rewarding work but it was also tiring. She was glad to be finished, and to get back home. She had to practice a lot with the harp if she wanted to get any good at it, but before, she'd need to rest from the work she'd been doing all morning…

She turned her back on the busy market and started to walk back to the embellished carriage that would take her back home. The two guards followed and not far, Estragon and Enos got on the move as well…

Kara was distracted, thinking about the tight strings of the golden harp that waited for her at home, and didn't hear her two men drop dead on the ground, after their necks were snapped by the warriors who's been following them in silence.

While Enos ran out to fetch the two warhorses that would take them back to the Warrior Princess' camp, Estragon stayed on the young beauty's heels. He waited until he sighted his companion with the mounts ready to go, and then made his move…

He grabbed the Princess, covering her mouth with one of his huge hands, and carried her off to the horses.

Kara tried to scream but she couldn't, she tried to break free of that man's grip, but he was as big as a mountain! It was like pounding against a rock wall! She'd never been so frightened in her entire life. What was happening to her? Who were these awful people? And where were her faithful guards? Her heart was racing and her eyes watering as she was lifted up on a horse and taken away into the unknown woods…

*********

The two awful men had dropped her in this shack half an hour ago, but Kara hadn't had the strength to move. She was still standing on the exact same place where Estragon and Enos had left her, crying her eyes out. She was still crying when Xena walked in, soaking wet, wrapped in a linen towel after her bath in the mine's hot springs.

"Help me, please…" the young woman whined, as soon as she saw Xena.

The warrior woman was surprised to see her, but didn't let the girl realize that. Why had those idiots left Kara alone in her quarters? Men! But the important thing was they'd manage to bring her. Now she'd just have to go and see the girl's father and make her demand. "You're Kara, right?" Xena asked.

The girl desperately tried to stop crying and wiped her face dry to the back of her gloved hands "How do you know?" she asked, sobbing between the spoken words.

The Warrior Princess dropped the wet towel to the ground, and walked to her bed, where her armor was placed, making the girl blush with the sight of her naked body. "My name is Xena… Like in the Warrior Princess, Xena…" the girl trembled "…and I had my men bring you, so that I can ask your father for a fat ransom payment."

The tears returned to Kara's dark eyes, as she stepped away from the older woman, and leaned against the shack's old wood walls.

"If you behave and give me no trouble…" Xena went on, as she put on her leathers "…you'll soon be home with daddy, and no harm will come to you. Got that?"

Kara was unable to voice another word, but nodded, and kept crying…

Xena smiled and walked out. "Enos…" she called "Keep an eye on her while I go talk to her father."

"Yes, Princess." The man said, heading into Xena's quarters.

The Warrior Princess mounted Argo and with her guard rode away, through the same trail Kara had been forced to take to her camp, but in the opposite direction. On the way, she crossed the villagers that had been paid to take supplies to the camp, with carts loaded with food, wine and some other goods the army needed to keep going. She just ignored them and moved on… Ixan would deal with them… She had another job to do now…

**********

By then, Kara's father had been informed that his little girl was missing and that her two guards had been found dead, near the market, before reaching Kara's carriage… The man was desperate, worrying sick about his little Princess and sent dozens of men out, door to door, asking everyone that might have been at the market that morning if they'd seen anything, or if they had any information that might help find the missing royal girl.

Eventually, a witness did turn up… A man, to whom Kara had given a couple of coins, as she did every week. He told the King that he'd seen two cloaked strangers kill the two guards, and then grab the Princess and take her away by force on mighty horses, heading for the woods…

When questioned by the King's advisors as to why he hadn't said a thing about the crime he'd witnessed, the man's only answer was that it was none of his business… The insolent reply put the King in rage and the homeless man ended up in the dungeons, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut!

The King feared that the slave traders he knew to operate near by had taken his little Princess, but his advisors assured him that it was not the case. If it had been slavers to take Kara, they would have taken more people to put on the market… No, whoever had taken her knew exactly what they were doing, who the girl was. There'd be a ransom demand and if the King paid up, Kara should have no harm come to her.

The King wished he could be as confident as his advisors were, but this was his daughter, and the future of the kingdom they were talking about…

And finally word of Kara's whereabouts was heard. "The Warrior Princess, Xena, is here to see you, majesty." A palace guard informed "She says it's about Kara…"

The King had Xena immediately guided to his presence.

"What have you done to my little girl? Where is she?" he asked, almost shouting as soon as Xena and her guard walked in the room. "I demand that you guarantee that no harm will come to her!"

Xena passed by the King and defiantly sat on the throne "You will demand nothing." She said "You will pay what I ask for, and maybe, just maybe… I'll bring her back."

The King swallowed the knot on his throat and did his best to ignore the sweat drops rolling down his forehead "But…"

"But nothing." The woman interrupted. She signaled one of her guards and he handed the King a piece of parchment with a written amount that the Warrior Princess found suitable as a ransom price.

The King saw the amount and nodded in agreement "What guarantee do I have that the Princess will not be harmed?"

"None." she flatly answered, getting up from the comfortable throne and rejoining her guard "I'll send my men to get the money tomorrow. If I'm pleased with it, I'll have the Princess brought back. Maybe…" and she walked out the door, followed close by her men.

The King too followed the wicked woman shouting "But, but… That's outrageous! What do you men maybe? I want guarantees! Are you listening to me? What do you mean maybe?"

The raven hair beauty and her guard paid him no attention whatsoever, and just got on their mounts and rode away.

**********

The night had just settled when Xena reached her campsite. She found Enos sitting outside the wooden shack she'd kept as her quarters, sipping ale… "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on the girl?" she asked, unpleased to find him there. She expected him to stay inside watching her, and not leaving her by herself… After all, there were dozens of weapons among Xena's personal belongings…

"That's alright…" the man said, dragging the words, proving that he'd had already drank a little too much "She got in bed to sleep and is still there…" he said, lazily getting up and walking away.

The Warrior Princess didn't like her new man's attitude at all, but she didn't feel like teaching him a lesson at the moment, so she let him walk away, and entered her quarters.

Kara was in her bed, all curled up under Xena's blanket, still sobbing, even more than when the warrior woman had left.

"Cheer up, girl." The older woman said, as she stripped herself of weapons and leather, leaving the comfortable undershirt on. "Your father as agreed to my price… If all goes well, you'll be home tomorrow…"

But Xena's words seemed to have the opposite effect. The girl curled up even tighter and the sobbing became louder, intriguing the warrior. She walked to the bed. "Didn't you hear what I said Kara? You're going home…"

The only answer were the sobs.

"Kara… Are you listening?" Xena asked. No answer. "Come on, girl… Cheer up… Let me see your face…" and she pulled on the blanket, but the girl tightened her grip on it "Kara…" Xena said again, now in a more menacing tone. And she pulled the blanket harder, but the girl just held on tighter. And Xena lost her patience. She just yanked the blanket off, so strongly that Kara could never have opposed her…

"No… Please… No more…" the girl pleaded.

The torn white dress, the bruises, the bloody blankets… Xena realized in an instant what had happened in her absence. She covered the girl again, now gently, almost in a caring way. "Who did this to you, Kara?…" she asked in a sympathetic voice "Tell me, please…"

"A man…" the girl answered, between sobs.

"What man, child?"

"The one sitting outside, drinking beer…"

'Enos, you bastard!' the Warrior Princess thought.

"He came inside just after you left…and he… Please, don't let him return!"

"Rest assured…" the woman said, caressing the girl's soft hair. "I promise he will never come near you again…"

The Warrior Princess got up from her bed, picked up her sword and walked out the door. "Where's Enos?" she asked the first man she saw.

"Near the well…" the warrior answered, a little surprised to see her walking around camp in her undershirt, with a sword in her hand… But then again, the woman was crazy, that was a fact…

Xena walked towards the well where Enos was splashing his face with fresh water, trying to get rid of the effects of all the ale he'd been drinking. "Enos…" she called in a purr that he didn't recognize as dangerous.

He turned to face her "Yes, Princess? What can I do for you?"

The tall beauty's answer was the blade of her sword sunk straight into his heart. She looked him in the eye as he let out his last breath and than removed the sword. She wiped the blood to the men's shirt and began to walk away. "Theodorus." She called as she passed him by "Get rid of that trash…"

"Yes, Xena."

And she walked back to her quarters, where she spent the night trying to comfort the girl. An impossible task…

**********

When they returned back to camp, neither Theodorus nor Estragon were very eager to go and give the Warrior Princess the bad news. They had seen the King and came back empty handed… Somehow, the King had learned that Kara had lost her virginity in Xena's camp, and he claimed that now, that the girl had been dishonored, she was only worth half of the arranged price… Their commander was not going to be pleased at all… They just hoped that she didn't blame them for letting the King know what had happened… It had probably been one of the peasants that had gone to camp to deliver goods. Probably someone heard something…

Anyway, when they reached the camp, they flipped a coin to decide who would go and tell Xena… Theodorus lost.

Xena opened the door, after someone tapped on it and called her name. "Ah, Theodorus… So how did it go?"

"Well…" he said, with his eyes on the ground "Not too well…"

She pushed him away from the door and stepped out. "Kara is finally asleep…" she explained, "So tell me, what went wrong?"

"You see…" he started, nervously playing with the hilt of his sword, trying not to face her blue eyes "…somehow, the King heard of what happened to her…" he said, not explaining her how the rest of the army had learned about it. He didn't want to be the one to tell her that some of them had heard Enos hurt the girl, and did nothing to stop him. She probably already knew…

"And…" she urged him to continue.

"Well, he said that her value has decreased, and he'll only pay half of what he originally agreed…"

"What?" she paced back and forth in front of the entrance of the old shack "She's his daughter!" she said, pointing to the girl sleeping in her bed "Her value decreased to him?"

"That's what he said, Xena… And we didn't know what to tell him so we decided to come back and talk to you…"

"You made the right decision… What a father, uhm?"

"Well, maybe he's bluffing…"

She placed both hands on her hips and stared at the distant horizon, to see if some bright idea came to mind "Or maybe not…"

"You could tell him that you'll only return her if he pays what he agreed to… And if he refuses, we'll just sell her to the slave traders… It'd be a bigger profit, right?" he suggested.

But she didn't like it "Idiot!" she slapped him on the head. "You think the girl hasn't suffered enough? We'll accept half."

"But Xena…"

"No buts… I want her home as soon as possible. Got it?"

"Yes, Princess…"

"Good." she said "Tomorrow, at first light I'll go there myself and take Kara home… half the money is better than nothing…"

"Theodorus didn't agree "But the slavers…"

"Shush!" the woman interrupted "I don't want to hear another word about that scum! The plan was not to harm the girl. It's already gone sour, we're not gonna make it worse just for a few extra dinars!"

"Yes, Princess…"

**********

It was nearly mid-day when the Princess Kara gave any signs of life and awoke from her sleep. She made no attempt to get out of bed. She merely moaned, turned over and covered her head.

"Good morning, Kara…" Xena greeted, as she walked near the bed where the girl rested, with a mug of milk on her hand. Kara didn't say a thing, so the Warrior Princess just kept on talking "My men talked to your father… You'll be going home tomorrow at first light. That's good news, right?"

Silence.

Xena sighed, reminding herself that she had to be patient with the girl. She felt guilty enough about what had happened, and she had no intentions of making things worse. "Come on, Kara…" she went on, with a gentle tone "Aren't you happy?"

"I'm worthless to my father now." The girl finally said, still with her back turned to the warrior "Since I've been dishonored, I can't be his successor anymore…"

"Kara, your father loves you. I'm sure that you're worth exactly the same to him…" Xena lied "Above anything else, you're his daughter… Come on, get up… I've got something for you to drink."

The girl allowed the Warrior Princess to help her sit up on the bed, and took the milk she was offering.

As Kara drank, Xena moved away and started to search through her own stuff, trying to find some clothes for the girl. The dress she had on was torn and dirty, and was surely a bad reminder of what Enos had done to her… "The man who hurt you, he was punished with death…" Xena said, as she kept searching. Finally, she found something that would do. It was a brown wool long shirt… A long shirt for Xena would make a fine dress for Kara…

The Warrior Princess walked near the girl again and displayed her finding "What do you think?"

Kara shifted her eyes from the bottom of the mug, which she'd been staring at for the last couple of minutes and looked at the shirt the other woman displayed "Ugly. A real woman would never wear such a thing!" she said, aiming to hurt her captor.

"Well, it's all I have that will fit you…" Xena folded the shirt, laid it on the bottom of the bed and sat next to it. "I never meant for you to get hurt, you know…" she excused herself.

"So I'm supposed to forgive you?"

"No, of course not…" the older woman answered "I just want you to know that. And that it would make things a lot easier for the both of us if you tried to be a little nicer… Now come on…" Xena stood up to her full height and reached out for Kara's hand "I'll take you to the hot springs, where you can wash up, before you put on the ugly shirt…"

The girl reflected briefly on what the warrior woman had said and decided that she was right. The more cooperative she was, the sooner she'd be home, at the place, and away from all that filth. So she took the woman's sun tanned hand and accompanied her.

For the rest of the afternoon, Xena made sure that Kara was pretty much left alone, in her quarters. The girl had been through more than enough already, and by tomorrow she'd be home, safely…

At night, the Warrior Princess allowed the kidnapped girl to use her bed, as she slept outside, near a campfire.

**********

The night was about halfway through when the cries of the warhorses startled the soldiers awake. The guard that was supposed to watch out for the mounts had fallen to sleep and had failed to see the danger approaching… A pack of wolves, half starved since the months of summer had ended, saw in the horses a huge meal ripe for the picking… And with the guard asleep, they'd already gotten pretty close. Close enough to cause panic in the animals that began racing back and forth inside their fence, banging against the wood beams and each other, bruising themselves in the process.

Xena was the first one to reach the old mine's corral, in which the warriors' horses were settled. "Guards!" she called as she spotted the dozens of pairs of bright eyes circling the place.

She knew that the only way to help the mounts was to get the wolves away from them. The horses were in panic, and in other circumstances she'd release them, so that they stopped hurting themselves… But with the wolves around…

She ran to the nearest fire and picked up a burning piece of wood and started to flash it at the wolves.

With the wolves around… If the horses were released, some of them were bound to be devoured, and she would not have that!

"Guards!" the Warrior Princess called again, as some of her men already joined her, yelling over the horses' cries and the wolves howls, with burning torches in their hands…

**********

Kara paced in the Warrior Princess' quarters. Waiting… 'Can't she let go of that damn horse? She said she'd take me home first thing in the morning… Well? I'm waiting and waiting… It's almost mid-day! So the damn animal is hurt. Who cares?'

Outside, Xena comforted Argo. In the night's trouble, the golden mare had been one of the wounded horses. Many had been injured, but to Xena this was the one that truly mattered. It was okay. If the others were useless as warhorses, but not Argo. Argo had to get well!

The Warrior Princess had removed a large splinter from the mare's hind leg. It was as big as her finger, and it had been deeply sunk in the animal's flesh. It had probably gotten there when the corral fence was broken and the horses stormed out of it… At least Argo hadn't been bitten by one of those cursed beasts, like some of the other horses…

Kara got tired of waiting. She got out of the old mine's shack with a wool blanket over her shoulders, passed by the soldiers around going about their business and walked to the Warrior Princess, who was still caressing the golden beast. "When will you take me home?" she asked, startling the older woman.

"Ah, it's you…" Xena looked back at the golden mare "You're gonna be alright, Argo. I promise."

"Xena…" Kara called again "When will you take me home?"

The Warrior Princess scratched Argo behind the ears and turned to face the girl "My mare was hurt…" she said, pointing at the animal's wound "I have to take her immediately to a healer that will be able to help her… I can't do it by myself… You see, it takes a special kind of medicine to completely heal such a wound on a horse, and…"

"And what about me!" the girl interrupted, with a slight hint of desperation in her voice "You promised I'd be home today!"

"Well, that's gonna have to wait. I need to take Argo to the healer, so…"

"But you promised!" the young Princess stomped her feet, like the little spoiled brat that she was "I wanna go home!"

Xena felt like punching her lights out, not to have to listen to her… But because of what her man had done to the girl she controlled herself. "I'll send one of my men to take you… Is that okay?"

The girl sighed "Yes…" she replied in a lower tone. She'd much rather go with Xena than with one of her soldiers… No matter how awful the Warrior Princess was, she was still the only one who'd shown any concern about her well being in that cursed place…

**********

Xena left with her guard and Argo that same afternoon, to make sure that her mare got the medicine she needed… She couldn't bare the thought of losing Argo the same way she'd lost Styx only a few months back… She'd been powerless to heal the stallion's injury, but now it was different. With Argo there was still a good chance… The right treatment and a few months of good rest and the golden animal should recover completely…

Before leaving Xena left Darphus with instructions to take Kara back to her father the next morning, and bring back the little money the King was still willing to pay for her release.

Chapter 17

With Xena gone, Darphus felt a lot more at ease around camp. It would all be his one day… The mighty army of the Warrior Princess would fall to his command. As it should be. He just had to wait for the right opportunity… Xena kept making all the wrong decisions!

Like with this girl, Kara… why send her to her father, if the slave traders would pay more for her? It would be bad for the girl… Who cares! If the profit was with the slave traders, that's where they should take her, right? Right!

And Darphus made a bad decision… he decided to take the girl to the slavers and sell her there, and then, tell the Warrior Princess that he'd taken her to her father… He'd give Xena the amount of money that the King was supposed to pay, and he'd keep the rest for himself… It sounded like a good plan… but it wasn't.

While Darphus was dealing with the slavers, something went terribly wrong… Out of nowhere, came that inconvenient demi-God Hercules and his little friend Iolaus…

They fought like crazy and managed to get the local villagers to help out… Darphus couldn't even exactly explain how it had happened… but it had… Hercules and Iolaus beat the crap out of the slavers, released the captives and gave away all the money…

And Darphus returned to camp with no girl and no money… He thought about lying to Xena when she returned… Tell her that the King would pay nothing for the girl, and as he knew how much the Warrior Princess wanted Kara safely home, he'd left her there anyway… But it was too late. Word of what had happened with Hercules had already gotten to camp… The other men wouldn't let him get away with it… He'd just have to wait and accept Xena's punishment… Or murder her when she returned…

**********

The Warrior Princess said goodbye to her golden mare and returned to camp with her guard… Argo would stay in the care of a healer until she was completely recovered. Then, Xena would go back for her… It would take a couple of months at least, and Xena knew that she'd miss her trusty mount, but at least she'd be just fine. It had been very painful to watch her powerful stallion Styx crippled for the rest of his life… She was glad the same hadn't happened with Argo…

The group rode as fast as they could, and Xena was glad that she'd be back in camp in just a couple of days… She'd have to ask Darphus how things had gone with Princess Kara and her father…

Back in the Warrior Princess' camp, Darphus planned a way out of the mess he'd gotten himself in. And all he could come up with was killing Xena…

But there were two problems with that plan… One, he wasn't yet sure that he could defeat the woman in a fair fight… He'd like to watch and study her some more before taking his chances with her… And two, even if he did get lucky and killed Xena, he believed that the men weren't yet ready to take him as a leader in her place… he'd need to find a way to turn the soldiers against her before he just killed her…

So a fair fight was out, that left the option of a murder… killing her in a way that no one could blame him.

He went into Xena's quarters at evening, with the excuse that he was going to get a map, and looked through her small collection of medicines and poisons, and he chose a small glass bottle. It was marked as 'Snake's Eye', a venom that some weird guys made in Meteora, out of rare plants… He carefully poured the contents of the bottle into another container, filled the original bottle with water, and then knocked it down. When Xena returned, she'd think that someone had accidentally knocked over the Snake's Eye and that the bottle had gotten broken…Then, all he had to do was serve her some wine with the poison, and watch as she slowly suffocated to death!

**********

It was late evening when Xena and her guard retuned to the main camp… They took their time to settle in and, at night the Warrior Princess joined some of her men who were eating and drinking near a campfire…

She sat, accepted the bowl of stew she was given and listened to the story they were telling about how Hercules had kicked Ares' butt some time ago. She found that a little hard to believe, that a half God could defeat the God of War, but she listened…

Theodorus was getting to the part when Hercules punched Ares against the inn's wall, knocking the whole house down, when Darphus joined in. he greeted the Warrior Princess, placed the poisoned wine on her hand and sat next to her… waiting…

"Drink…" he said.

Xena took the mug to her mouth, but backed it down, before she drank "How did it go with Kara?" she inquired.

'Damn!' Darphus thought 'Why doesn't she drink? That stuff is so strong that a sip will send her straight to Hades!' Before he spoke, the other men left, not wanting to be around when Xena learned about the fiasco…

"Well…" the woman insisted, guessing that maybe something had gone wrong… "Did you have any problems?"

"Uhm… Problems… No, not really…" he replied, swallowing the knot at his throat "But why don't you drink the wine, Xena?" he repeated "It's the best around…"

"I will, but first tell me what happened with Kara!"

He wiped the sweat drops of his forehead "Please taste it, I got it just for you…"

Xena was annoyed "Fine! I'll drink the damn wine, but then I want to know what in Hades went wrong!"

Darphus eagerly watched as the raven hair woman took the mug with lethal poison up to her rose lips…

But, as unlikely as it was, the wood crackled in the blazing fire and sent an incandescent splinter straight to the Warrior Princess' hand.

"Damn!" she shouted, dropping the wine as she felt the burning sting on her hand.

Darphus just stared at the spilled liquid "The wine…" he mumbled.

Xena rubbed the aching spot with her other hand, making the sharp pain go away "Never mend the wine, and tell me what happened with Kara!"

There was no escape now… he was gonna have to tell her the truth, or someone else would…

**********

Ares' horrible emissary appeared in a puff of smoke, next to the War God, as he watched his Warrior Princess from a distance.

"My Lord" the emissary said "Don't you think you interfere too much in the life of this mortal woman?"

"No, I don't…" he said, his lustful mood showing in his tone of voice, as he watched Xena became enraged while Darphus told her of his failure.

"But the other Gods, my Lord…" the emissary insisted "…they might think you're breaking Olympian rules… I mean, maybe it would even be better for you if Xena was killed and Darphus took lead of her army… He'd serve you better, be more obedient…"

"More obedient, maybe… But no one pleases me like Xena… To see her in battle…" he lacked the words to explain the way she made him feel.

"If you're not doing what you should as God of War, the other Gods…"

"Are you threatening me?" Ares turned his head away from Xena, as she ordered Darphus to be beaten by her guard, and faced his horrible emissary.

"Of course not, my Lord. It's just that…"

"Good." He interrupted once more "Now get lost, servant. You're bothering me." With a snap of his fingers, Ares made the emissary disappear in a fireball, and returned to watching his chosen.

**********

In the morning, Xena went to see Darphus. The night before he'd been punished with a heavy beating, delivered by several men, and until morning he'd remained tied to a tree. Now she'd have to decide what to do with him… Kill him would probably be the best course of action. Suitable punishment for not following her orders, and at the same time, an end to the ambition she'd already seen in him, ambition to take her place. But Darphus was an excellent warrior, way above average… And he did do what he did to get a bigger profit for her, and that could be seen as a noble gesture, in a way…

"Darphus…" she called, as she got near the beaten man.

The warrior looked at her, barely able to make her out because of the swellings all over his face "Xena…"

"Now what shall I do with you…" she began to pace back and forth in front of the tied man, "Kill you?"

"Please, Xena…" he said "Give me another chance! I've always served you well in the past… I know it was a mistake to try to sell Kara to the salvers… but I was just trying to get a good profit. The ransom the King was gonna pay was an insult to you! Give me another chance…"

The woman kept pacing "I want to, Darphus, I really do… but… You didn't follow my orders…"

"It was one mistake, Xena… Let me make it up to you in some way."

The woman stopped near him, and with her breast dagger cut him down from the tree "I'm gonna give you a mission, Darphus… Carry it out, and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened…"

"Thank you, Princess. I won't let you down."

**********

Darphus was off to Meteora, even before mid-day, to carry out the task the Warrior Princess had chosen for him.

Ironically, what the woman wanted was for him to go to the awful Sand Towers to find some guy called Illanus, and buy some Snake's Eye poison from him… Xena said that somehow, the bottle she had with the poison had gotten broken, so she needed a refill…

Going to Meteora, finding the exact spot where Illanus had his lair, climbing the damn tower… it was a task from Tartarus, but far better than being executed by the Warrior Princess… Like this, he'd still have a chance at her job when he finally got back together with the army…

**********

The emissary of the God of War was pleased. He'd persuaded Zeus to imprison Ares for a while, for once more favoring a mortal that didn't pay him proper respect even though she was his chosen…

With Ares out of the way, and Darphus returning to Xena pretty soon, he'd be able to get him in front of the Warrior Princess' army…

After that was done, he'd help Darphus to kill Ares while he was still imprisoned, tempting him with power…

The Gods would be offended and order Darphus killed, and he'd volunteer... Then he'd have a good chance of moving from emissary to God!

**********

Xena's army packed up and left, when the Warrior Princess decided she needed a change of scenery…

They moved to the Arcadian highlands, where Xena made camp with part of her army, while some groups were sent to raid this and that village or castle.

The ones who stayed with Xena, occupying a small abandoned fortress, began to conquest of the surrounding villages, making the Warrior Princess' name well known and feared…

But some problems did show up… A couple of villages organized small armies to resist the domain of Xena… But the thing that was really bothering her was Hercules… The damn jerk was interfering way too much with her men for her taste…

At least every week, some guy would come to her, saying something like "I'm sorry, my Princess, but Hercules showed up…"

After he was too tired to continue to give her pleasure, Xena rolled her new lover, Theodorus, off her, wrapped herself in her blanket and got up, leaving the naked man laying uncovered on the bed.

"I know what we're going to do next, Theodorus…" she said, pouring herself some wine.

"And what's that, my love?"

"I'm going to kill Hercules!"

Theodorus sat up "Hercules? Don't you think you should wait until all the men are here?"

"Nah…" she said, sipping her drink "He's just one man…"

"Not a man, a demi-God!"

"I have a plan, Theodorus…" Xena sat back on the bed, settle her cup on the ground, and dropped the blanket displaying her naked body before him once more, hoping he was rested enough by now "I'll get to him through his little friend, Iolaus…"

**********

"And that's what happened…" the older woman said, as she got up on the golden mare's saddle.

Gabrielle picked up her staff and looked at the Warrior Princess, already on her mount "But someday, you're gonna tell me the long version, right?"

"What? That was the long version!"

...h.o.m.e...
bleeding-heart[dot]net