"I swear, Gabrielle," Lila panted "Only you could believe a cockeyed dream like that is going to come true! Honestly! Thinking that the most notorious, bloodthirsty woman in all of Hellas is going to rescue us from these slavers!"
"But its true, I swear it!" Gabrielle protested, eyes glancing fearfully back at Hector, a mounted man with a bullwhip "She's not only going to keep these slavers from capturing us, she's going to take me away from this dull existence to a more fulfilling life. Lila, you know I have the gift of prophecy."
"Be quiet and keep running!" Hector snarled, cracking the heavy whip barely above Gabrielle's head, so close the tip took a strand of her golden-red hair.
"Oh, of course," Lila retorted "Didn't you also predict that you'd meet your true love today, the one you'd spend your life with instead of Perdicus?"
The ragged peasants stopped short at seeing her, just long enough for their pursuers to catch up and encircle them. Gabrille's eyes widened at the sight; she screamed back to Lila.
"Its her! Its her! I told you she'd be here!"
Hector circled the group before dismounting "We can do this one of two ways. You can let us have the girls and go back to those hovels you call home. Or we can hack you all into little pieces and take the girls anyway."
"No!" Xena challenged him. "I said there would be no killing today if it wasn't necessary, and I meant it. Its about time you arrived, Hector. You certainly took your time."
Gabrielle blinked uncertainly, then stepped forward, pushing her little sister Lila back. "Take me. Let the others go."
"Nice try." Hector answered, "But we'll take you and whoever else we want." He motioned for the other mounted man to bring a pack of slave-chains forward.
Xena stepped to meet him, one hand thrust out. "Just a minute. My deal with Draco was that I got first pick." She grasped two sets of shackles, then turned to face the prisoners. "This one has spirit." She pointed to Gabrielle "I'll take her and...the little one she was talking to. They look to be sisters. "
"NO!" Gabrielle struggled even as Xena locked the shackles around her wrists "Leave her alone!"
Xena glared at her, folding the whip into a tight bundle which she promptly smacked across Gabrielle's upper back "Its never too early to start training a slave girl." She said quietly.
"Oh, and THIS is the woman who was going to rescue you?" Lila mocked.
"RUN, Lila!"
Lila bolted, swerving around Hector and his men, who were seemingly engrossed in the battle. She glanced back one time to see that her sister was now on the groundside of the struggle and getting the worst of it, then pivoted to charge back.
"Gabrielle!!!"
Xena hammered Gabrielle with a double-handed uppercut. The blonde collapsed, unconscious, and Xena swung her elbow back sharply to catch the rushing Lila square in the face.
The warrior glared at Hector. "Why didn't you hold on to her?"
"Hey, she's YOUR slave! We don't involve ourselves with the Warrior Princess' property."
She set the chains on Lila, then shook her prisoners awake. "I'll meet you back at Draco's camp. Remember, I want you to leave Poteideia alone. If I hear you've killed anyone...!"
Gabrielle roused to hear Lila calling her name.
"Why didn't you escape while you had the chance?" she asked, her words coming through rubbery, badly swollen lips. She realized she also had a well-purpled eye.
"I couldn't just leave you here!" Lila retorted "Mom would never let me hear the end of it."
"C'mon, you two. On your feet." Xena ordered. "We - rather, you have a long walk to take. Warriors ride - slaves walk!"
The sisters silently rose, supporting one another without so much as a single moan between them. Xena, already in the saddle, watched closely.
'These two don't deserve what I'm putting them through. They really love one another. I...'
'Ahhh, stop daydreaming! You know all too well you'll never find that kind of love!' she angrily told herself.
'Still, I can't go through with this. Not only these two, but all the villagers have to be set free. But how do I convince Draco to agree to that?'
Their forced march took them almost into Poteidiea, so close that Gabrielle and Lila could see their house. For the first time since their capture the two wept openly. Xena watched, gaze lowered, eyes half-lidded, hands clenched, and finally prodded them back into motion.
'They just realized they'll never see their home again, not as free women', she thought. 'What was I thinking when I agreed to get into this?'
"Monster!" an older woman called after her. "I hope that Hercules sends you back to Tartarus when he catches up with you! Why, when he hears about this, he'll..."
"He'll what? Roll over in his grave?" Xena answered immediately, and regretted, in the same moment, saying anything.
Gabrielle glanced at her. "What are you saying? That he's dead? Did you...?"
Xena gripped her chakram, aimed, and hurled it at a pine. The weapon sliced cleanly through the tree, ricocheting back into her hand. "There's your answer."
They reached Draco's camp, a sprawling disorder of men and campfires centered around three main tents, shortly beforre sunset. Draco's tent was the largest, Xena's the most compact, and the third, the most heavily guarded, was used for the slaves-to-be.
Xena ignored this one, riding directly to her own. Gabrielle, looking back at the slave tent, asked in a whispered voice. "Xena? Not that I mind, but why did you bring us here?"
"Before the night is over, the men around here will have had their way with every last slave in there. I don't want that to happen to you."
She led them into her tent. "You both can sleep in that corner tonight. If you feel like...walking around, I'm sure the men will be all too glad for your company, if you get what I mean. For your own safety, stay in here. I'll be back soon as I tend to Argo for the night."
"Tend to Argo?" Lila whispered fiercely as she left, "She might just as well bed with her horse! She's got no more love for people than any other animal!"
"I'm...not sure about that." Gabrielle answered. "I think she is concerned for us. Otherwise she would've tossed us in with the others."
Xena soon returned. "The auction is day after tomorrow," she told them. "We have one day to get everything ready."
"Be quiet! I'm NOT gonna sell you!"
Lila stared, shivering at her words. "Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better. Being your slave only sounds like an even more terrible fate."
"I...don't think that's what she --" Gabrielle began. But Xena was already out of the tent and of hearing range.
"Ah, Xena. Good of you to finally come see me. I have guests I want you to meet, some Turkish slave-dealers. This is Emir..."
"I'm not interested in introductions! Your guards at the slave tent -- have you ordered them to keep men from entering?"
"Why do you ask? Those women are no concern to you."
"Any bidders will pay more for virgins than for girls already violated."
"Ah. Clean and pure, no doubt like the pair at your tent. Xena, there's a small army of men out there who haven't..."
"Guess that answers my question."
"I see this is indeed the formidable Tigress of the Euphrates, a title most justly earned." the Emir said.
Xena ignored him. She positioned herself directly before Draco, standing so near he had to acknowledge her. "Order it done NOW - or this 'partnership' is dead!"
The Emir watched closely as she left. "An extremely rude and insolent woman. Yet, such must the Tigress be." He gestured to two of his companions, and they nodded, following Xena a few steps behind.
She went first to the slave tent, where she quickly confronted one of the guards. "What's going on here? Those women are supposed to be left untouched until the auction!"
"I...I have orders. You can't pass." the guard replied.
"Wanna bet?" She shoved him aside and entered the structure. Once inside, she quickly 'deported' any men she came across.
"I'll be back at times during the night." She warned the guard "If I find ANY men in there...!"
"Und... understood...sir!"
'This is going all wrong,' she thought 'I'm trying to do too much, even for me. I can't be a warrior, a slave-owner, a slave-trader, AND a protector of people all at the same time.
'Protector of people? Come on, Xena! How corny can you get?'
The slight clink of chains, when one of the women turned on her side, brought Xena's attention momentarily back to them - and to the thought that a desperate woman might pretend to be asleep in order to catch her captor off-guard.
She continued listening long afterward, though she remained motionless. 'Can't say I blame them for trying to be free. Know I'd definitely do anything not to become a slave.'
The camp was quiet. In the stillness, she immediately heard and recognized the dull ripping of a knife through cloth at the rear of the tent. Gripping her sword-hilt, she swung her head just enough to watch for any movement in the darkness. 'Draco's gonna be awful mad about his tent'. she thought, rising, wheeling around, and stabbing in a single series of movements.
"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!" Her piercing war-cry startled the intruders, five as far as she could tell, into immobility for a few heartbeats.
Lila sat bolt upright at the shrill noise, screaming at sight of the shadowed figures. Her cries only added to the confusion.
Beside her, Gabrielle slept blissfully.
Xena thrust her sword upward through the first man's stomach. 'The best way to a man's heart' she thought, pushing him out the flap.
The second man she seized by the ears and brought his head down until it met her rising knee. She rolled back, hurling him over her and outside to lie beside his companion.
She kicked up with both booted feet to hit at the base of her third assailant A dull 'crack' of bones satisfied Xena his neck was broken; he quickly joined the first two men.
The last two fled back through the sliced opening. She gained her feet to follow. 'Only three out of five, Xena. You can do better than that!'
Pursuing them was easy enough for her. She was close enough she could always keep them in sight. Try as she did though, she couldn't gain on them. More than once she grasped her chakram, but the darkness made it impossible for her to accurately throw it.
'They're baiting me'. she finally realized. 'Not pulling away nor letting me gain on them. This is all a decoy!'
Draco was standing by her tent when she returned. He rushed to meet her, and his words were equally hurried.
"Xena, your slaves are gone! They've been stolen!"
Xena pivoted to face the rapidly gathering crowd. "By any chance, did some of you see who the thieves were - or where they went?"
Their abrypt silence answered her question. She sprinted to snatch a torch from the nearest man carrying one, then began to circle to the back of the tent.
'Whoever it was, they probably were waiting until I went chasing their friends, then went in soon as I was gone. Just as easy after that to leave out the back.'
"Xena, wait!" Draco shouted after her "If you run off now in chase, you'll all too likely miss the auction. You'll get no money then."
She stared briefly at him. "Cancel it!"
"Now why should I even want to?"
She deliberately raised her voice so it would carry to everyone present. "Because all the slaves are infected. You know that as well as I do. Thanks to your randy men, with all their illnesses and...other conditions, those girls will ALL die after they've been sold!"
"You're doing it to me again, Xena! Whenever I get into something profitable, you louse it up. Tell you what: for old times' sake, I'll call it off and let the slaves return home - if you don't mind me getting slaves from somewhere else."
"Whatever," she answered. That was all he heard from her for a moment, then...
"Ha!"
'She found the thieves' trail. Hope they weren't counting on living long lives.'
'Thattagirl, Argo! You know when something's wrong, don't you? When this is over, I'll buy you a bushel or two of apples in reward - really fresh apples, not some half-dry things.'
She listened as much as she looked, trying to hear asny noises that were out-of-place as well as any silence where noise would normally be.
Even then she almost ran into Argo's side before she stopped. The mare remained silent, only switching her tail at Xena's approach.
"Are the thieves close ahead?" Xena whispered, "Good girl! GOOOOODDD girl!" She thrust the torch into the ground to put it out. 'No sense announcing myself because of this. That is, if I haven't already been noticed by a guard.'
"Yes, I am, for several reasons. One, I gave my word I would. Two, when Xena gets her back arched over something you're doing, its just as good to forget about it. Three, there's a better site to find slaves anyway, not all that far from here. A place that will teach Xena not to continually interfere in my business. By the time she learns of it, we'll be done and long since departed...Amphipolis."
'Sixteen men,' Xena counted, 'Too many to take on at one time. Guess they figure thats enough that they don't need sentries. Disgusting! They'd NEVER get away with that in my army!'
Most of the men were seated; two, likely those who were supposed to be on duty, stood near the small fire, leaning on their spears. They talked and joked with the others.
'Disgusting!' Xena thought again, and then turned her attention to four other men enterning the site. One of these charged forward to snatch a spear away, at the same time bellowing "What d'you think this is, a game? Th'one we snatched these from," he indicated Gabrielle and Lila, "laid Hercules himself to eternal rest not long ago! She's Ares' daughter, f'r cryin' out loud! Ares, the god of WAR!"
At first, Xena was tempted to laugh. Then she glared at the man from her hiding place. 'Wait a minute! I never got help from any of the gods. Didn't even ask for it. There are things a woman has to do for herself!'
"Get back on patrol!" The man ordered, "We have to be ready before she comes. If she were already here...!'
'I'd be spitting down your throat by now. Is that what you think?' She watched the guards moveinto the surrounding woods. 'Hmmm.'
She reached for her chakram, 'A hard throw, with all these trees around to ricochet from, should keep them ducking long enough to...'
But the chakram wasn't there. She snarled under her breath, remembering she'd left it behind.
'Gotta try something else then.' Her fingers dug into the ground, coming up with a handful of stones. Without looking, she chose the largest one, then hurled it to her right and slightly ahead.
"Ow! Who the hell's throwing rocks at me?" A guard snapped.
"But we didn't...she's here! You seven start a sweep around the camp - and you seven start one going in the opposite direction. Keep in sight of one another, and call out when you find her!"
'Not quite the distraction I hoped for, but it might work just as good.' Xena set herself like a sprinter about to begin a race, one hand gripping her dagger.
Four men remained near the fire, their captain among them. Xena charged noiselessly while none were looking her direction. She caught the captain with a nerve-pinch, using the slight sounds of the sentries to mask whatever noises she made. Without slowing, she slashed the rope restraining the prisoners, hauled them up by the elbows, and shoved them from the camp. By the time anyone turned to look, she was again concealed.
"Look!" one of the remaining men shouted, "the captain's down - and our prisoners are gone!"
"Its true! She's Ares' daughter all right! No one but a god could come and go in an instant! She killed the captain and took back her property quick as you can blink!"
"And - and we angered her! I'm getting out of here!"
The commotion drew in all the patrolling men. They milled for a heartbeat, then raced blindly away en masse. A few of them came so close to her that she had to pull a hand back to keep it from getting trampled on.
'Should I chase them? Nahhh. I got a good look at several faces. I can easily recognize them next time...'
She became aware of Gabrielle staring at her. "Why did you rescue us just now?' the blonde whispered, "I mean, we're only farm girls. Its not like we're rich or important or anything."
"What? Are you complaining? I have my reasons," Xena finally answered, her gaze meeting Gabrielle's for a long moment. "Now stand up!"
Neither Gabrielle nor Lila moved. Xena seized the chains, one in each hand, and pulled them forward. She practically dragged them across the clearing, and there turned her head to curse at them as they dug their heels in.
"Look, you two -" she began. But in the second she concentrating fully on them, they darted past her, one on either side, dragging her forehead-first into an oak tree before she could think to release her grasp.
Clear awareness came when she felt the tip of her own sword poking into her back. Expectedly, her hands were tied behind her; she glanced to see Gabrielle clumsily using her weapon.
The sisters were practically dancing their glee "We did it! We did it! The most notorious, evil woman in Hellas, and we caught her!"
'Another mistake', Xena thought, getting to her feet 'I'm definitely gonna have to choose a single road ro follow from now on. If word of this gets out, my reputation is so much mud. Captured by a pair of unarmed, chained farmgirls! Most notorious, evil woman, HAH!'
For a second, Xena considered walking them in huge circles until they were thoroughly lost. But the effort would tire her as well - and she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past hours.
No, there was a better plan.
She walked at her normal pace, a fairly rapid gait. However, she moved with deliberate clumsiness, breaking twigs underfoot with heavy-footed steps instead of her usually silent passage.
Gabrielle soon prodded her, "What's with all the racket? I can move quieter than that!"
'And I could just as easily kick backwards with a thrust that would break your knee.' Xena thought 'I don't wannna do that, though. There's something about you I'm really beginning to like.'
With all their attention on the noise she made, neither Gabrielle nor Lila noticed that she continually veered a bit to the left.
Directly toward Argo.
Soon as she heard the mare's gently questioning chuff, she called "ARGO! Come!"
Lila, staring, groaned "Oh, no!", then collapsed to the ground, sobbing "It was all another trick!"
Gabrielle stiffened. She jabbed Xena low in the back, hard enough to draw blood. "Call her off, damn you!"
"Kill her!" Lila urged. "Run her through. Its either that or we end up as her slaves!"
Gabrielle hesitated, "I can't do it." She held the sword steady just above Xena's hands, and watched expressionlessly while the tall woman sliced the cord on the keen blade.
"What ARE you doing?" Lila screamed.
Xena casually plucked the sword from Gabrielle's hands as Argo trotted up. "Good girl." She hauled Lila to her feet "Argo actually wouldn't have hurt you."
"You know, that's the best-trained horse I ever saw," Gabrielle said "You must have spent an incredibly long time teaching her. Horses are usually pretty, well, stupid."
Argo snorted and laid her ears back as though she fully understood the insult.
"She's not an ordinary horse. In fact, she's...the most unique horse you're likely to ever find. C'mon, girl. You watch that one. I'll guard this one."
Argo paced over behind Gabrielle, nudging the young woman forward in the process.
"I'm moving!" Gabrielle retorted.
If anything, her irritation only seemed to encourage the mare. Several times, on the way back to Draco's camp, she butted Gabrielle between the shoulders.
"Cut it out, you walking dung-bag! I pray all your apples are wormy, your hay's moldy, and your oats all taste like yesterday's breakfast! Great Zeus, turn this -"
Argo bumped her again, this time so hard that she went sprawling on the ground.
"She doesn't like you."
"Yeah? Well, right now, I'm not exactly brimming with love for her either!"
"Pick it up and hand it to me!" she ordered.
Gabrielle began bending down. Xena pulled her upright. "Not you," she said "Him."
Hector hesitated. Xena casually stretched one hand as though she were practicing her nerve pinch. After a very short moment, he squatted, frowning, retrieved the item and handed it, a single key, to her.
"The key to the chains. That's better. Why didn't Draco bring them to me himself?"
"He's already on his way to the next planned slave-raid. Him and some of his guests. They packed up some personal stuff and headed east right after you left. All he told me was that since you soured this deal, he'd have to find a place that would make up his losses here."
"And he didn't say where?"
"Not a word to me. But I did overhear it though."
Xena handed the key to Gabrielle "You can free yourselves now. Soon as I get my belongings packed, I'll be moving on, too."
Gabrielle motioned to Lila, who stepped close. She undid one of the shackles. "Xena, could...could I come with you? You lead such an adventurous life, and I..."she faltered, and finished unlocking Lila's chains.
"WHAT?" Lila shrieked. "Are you completely stupid?! This...woman chained you, beat your face until it looks like a rotten turnip...and now you want to follow her around? Gabrielle, this goes beyond stupidity! This is absolute madness!"
She tackled the still-chained Gabrielle, knocking her to the ground. Xena yanked the combatants away from one another. Lila spit at her; she held the key in her hand, and threw into the woods. "There! Since you think so much of her, you can stay at her side like a proper slave! I won't have any more to do with a sister who's that big a fool!"
She stalked off. Gabrielle got to her feet and followed her for a half-dozen steps. "Lila...! Don't..."
"Let her go for now. First, we have to find that key. I heard about where it hit, right around...here. Gabrielle, you stand right HERE until I get a torch."
'Sure,that's all I've been doing tonight. Searching for something in the darkness. My life story.'
Her search turned up no key, only a stone lying atop a pile of pine needles.
'That other girl, Lila. She threw a rock instead of the key. No doubt she actually DID toss the key away as soon as she was out of sight. The thing could be anywhere now.'
'Draco's likely to have another key though. Like it or not, I - we've got to catch up with him - or else Gabrielle wears her new 'jewelry' for gods-know-how many years.'
"Hector," she demanded, "Where is Draco heading? I want a direct answer!"
He paled. "I don't dare tell you. And yet I don't dare NOT tell you."
"Then tell her, and she can tell me."
"All right." He whispered into Gabrielle's ear.
She pulled back after hearing his message. "Amphipolis? That's not much more than a good days journey, isn't it?"
"Argo! Come! NOW!" Xena ordered as she emerged. She glanced at Gabrielle. "You better be a good rider!"
"Now wait a minute! On that vicious, nasty, pushy brute! Forget it."
Argo troted up, ears laid back as though annoyed ay being woken from sleep. The mare pranced a little when Xena slung the saddle on her, but not enough to cause any problem.
"Exhale!" Xena snapped "We haven't time for that game."
When Xena mounted, she held one hand down to Gabrielle. "Well? Come on."
"No. I don't think sooooo..."
Xena seized her by the arm, dragging her up. "that isn't a request." she said flatly.
"But...ow! ow!...ow! Xena, sitting on the rear end of a galloping horse ISN'T the most fun I've ever had."
"Did I ask you?" But Xena slowed Argo to a walk after a few moments. The mare nickered as if saying "Thank you".
The sky was getting the half-light of very early morning. Gabrielle stared at Xena, absorbed in following an obvious trail. 'Hmm. If I flipped these chains around her neck, I could strangle her into submission - or break her neck. Just think. I'd be famous as the one who killed Xena, and rid the world of her terrible evil. One quick motion would do it. I could take her horse back to Poteidia, with her body still on it, and...'
'And then what? Become a target for anyone out to make their reputation? Would that be all I'd could expect? It would be worth it just to free ourselves from her, still...'
Her hands rose slightly. She looped the chain in her fists to prevent their rattling. 'I had a chance before to stab her with her own sword, but I couldn't. Now Lila's furious with me because of that. She could -will probably - tell all Poteidea what I did -or failed to do. I could redeem myself with this though.'
She brought her hands up to aboiut the middle of Xena's back. ' might even get a reward for stopping her. Enough gold that my family could live in luxury for the rest of our lives.'
Her fingers almost brushed Xena's shoulders. 'A quick toss is all it would take. If I dare do it, I could end her evil in a few seconds.'
'But...she's not really evil. She saved me and Lila from those other slavers, released the townspeople, and was setting us free. Even though she had no reason to do any of those things.'
Her hands fell back to rest on the horse's rear. 'I can't do it. I'm just not a killer.'
"Gabrielle?" Xena said without turning to look at her. "I think...I suppose...umm...thank you for not...doing what you were thinking about. That's twice now you had the chance to kill me, yet you didn't. You have an innocence around you that a killer loses at their first kill. I'd hate to see that happen to you."
'She KNEW!' Gabrielle realized, 'She knew, but did nothing to stop me.'
"Umm, Xena, I hope you don't mind my asking, but what exactly is Amphipolis to you?"
"What is Poteidea to you?" Xena responded.
"You know, I really hate when people answer a question with a...oh! I never thought about you having a hometown. I mean, I always kind of pictured you...well, never mind. Its just that...Xena, are you listening to me?"
Xena didn't answer. She reined Argo around in a half-circle, then whispered back to Gabrielle. "Be ready for anything!"
Gabrielle glanced past her to see several mounted men, Hector among them, riding up swiftly. Two of these were archers trained to use bows while on horseback. They trained arrows on the pair of women.
"The more I thought it over, the more I decided you'd better come back to camp with us." Hector said. "Figured that would be better than letting Draco know that you went after him."
Xena turned her head slightly "Duck down when I do. " she told Gabrielle. She urged Argo forward at a walk, holding her hands out to indicate she was holding no weapons "Now boys, there's no need for all this fuss. I'm sure you don't need to be so bothered."
Her words were calm and slow, like the mare's gait. But Gabrielle felt her muscles tighten like a predator getting set to strike.
The archers lowered their bows slightly at her nonchalant approach. She was little more than two lengths from them when she drew herself sharply up to shrill her war cry.
"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
Their horses shied at the shrill noise; only Argo remained quiet. In the brief moment it took the archers to recover, Xena dropped until her head was almost against the mare's neck. Gabrielle followed her action even as Xena urged Argo into a gallop.
The archers followed her charge; their minds didn't quite register that she was below their range of fire. By the time they shot, Hector was the only one available. He was struck from both sides, and fell lifeless after swaying back and forth for a moment.
Xena freed her sword with one hand, her chakram with the other. She swung at one of the archers to strike his bow, while her chakram snapped the string of the other. She continued slashing from side to side, not wasting time to stab directly at any one particular person, and by the time she swung Argo around for a second pass, most of the attackers were no longer in condition to battle.
'I can hardly believe it,' Gabrielle thought. 'She took on this whole group, wounded just about all of them, but didn't kill a single man!'
"You boys better get back to camp without me. Looks like you'll need someone to take care of you right away. Wouldn't want those injuries to get nasty now, right?"
Most had minor cuts on their arms, a few shook their heads where Xena had struck with the flat of her blade. The only pair unhurt were the archers, now holding useless bows.
That didn't mean they were weaponless though. Gabrielle saw one reach down to produce a throwing dagger. "Xena! Look out!" she screamed, forcing the dark-haired woman to one side. The dagger pierced her upper left arm, a painful wound but that was all.
"That wasn't needed!" Xena snarled, "There were a dozen ways I could've..."
Argo collided with the archers horse at the same second that Xena brought her sword down on his near wrist to sever the hand. She swung Argo tightly around to come up on the other side and repeat the process, before shoving him onto the ground.
"I expected you to disarm him, not de-arm him," Gabrielle tried desperately to joke about it even though she didn't feel at all in a joking mood..
Xena shrugged "Disarm, de-arm. Grapes and raisins, Gabrielle, grapes and raisins." She dismounted, stalked to the man while slowly raising her blade - then chopped downward twice in quick succession to his accompanying screams. "Handless, footless, what's the difference?"
"You - you're not goinng to leave him like that! He'll die a helpless cripple."
"Naaa. That's why these other nice boys are here, isn't it? To carry him back for a doctor to treat. Sure, he'll be a cripple. But he shouldn't die for a long time to come."
She practically yanked Gabrielle from the mare's back. "What matters now is taking care of your wound. Its not bad, more sore than anything else." She exposed the arm, nodded, searched in the saddlebags for a moment, and brought back a sealed flask. "This'll probably hurt more than the dagger did."
"Aaaaaaggg!" Gabrielle agreed "What've you got in there? Liquid fire?"
Xena looked almost sheepish "Nothing but the best whiskey for you." Then she became serious again. "You know, Gabrielle, not once since I became a warrior, not once did anyone purposely shield me that way with their own body. I've experienced anger, hate, and loyalty..."
'But never love,' In her mind Gabrielle finished Xena's unspoken words, 'So many winters, and not once experience love...'
"With pleasure," Gabrielle muttered, "Anything to get away from this jealous brute."
In the moment it took for her to move from one mount to the other, she changed her mind. Hector's animal was much like its previous owner; sullen and uncooperative. It first tried to kick her, then to bring a forehoof down on one of her feet, and finally to bite her. When she worked to mount, it pulled away from her, forcing Gabrielle to hobble close again and pull herself swiftly up, an operation made more difficult with the restricing chains.
"Well, he's certainly NOT a fiery horse with the speed of light," she grumbled, "but he'll have to do. He-ya, Ox-head, away!"
Xena smirked, despite her best effort to remain uninterested, and Argo, Gabrielle was sure, nickered deep in her throat in a way that uncannily reminded Gabrielle of someone laughing.
Draco!" she exclaimed, "How considerate of you to shorten our journey."
"What made you come after us? We had a deal; I leave that pathetic village alone, and you don't interfere in my next raid. Have you no honor, Xena?"
"I came to get the key for her chains," she replied flatly, "Are you so susipicious of me that you assume the worst?"
"Ah. You rode all that distance for a single key. Of course. The Xena I know never came so far alone to help a single person."
Gabrielle urged her unwilling mount beside Argo. "She's not alone."
Draco motioned to one of his men, who fished around for a few seconds, then produced it. He rode to Gabrielle and unlocked the shackles.
She stretched both arms out exultantly. "Gods, you can't believe how wonderful that feels! Its horrible to be restrained like that. You can't imagine..."
Let's get down to the real reason you came after me; you were told about my next target, and want to stop me, right?"
"No. To prevent you from making a mistake. Admit it; you're set on attacking Amphipolis because you want revenge on me, not because it's a richer city."
The emir came forward. "So the Tigress of the Euphrates does care about someone other than herself. Tell me; is that your new cub there?"
Xena ignored him. "If I'm the one you want revenge on, then come and take it! Otherwise, I'll just ride on ahead. Of course, if you follow after me, you may find tha roads a BIT hazardous. You know: sudden, lethal traps, road-blocks, poisoned wells...that sort of thing."
She yawned in seeming nonchalance. "It would be so much easier if you chose someplace else."
His smile was shallow. "No. You would only find another reason to trouble me again."
"All right then. Let's end things here and now with a one-to-one fight. Winner gets her way."
Draco glared at her. "Wait a minute. If we fight and you win, then I lose everything to you. Is that right?"
She nodded.
"And if I win - what do I gain? The right to continue on a raid I already planned? No, Xena. You have to do better than that. Offer me a prize worthy of the taking."
"All right then. You win - you get me as your slave, to do with totally as you please."
"No!" Gabrielle screamed. "You can't mean that!"
"Are you still here?" Xena scolded. "You can return home now..You're no one's prisoner any longer."
Gabrielle shook her head. "No. I can't go back home. Not once Lila tells everybody what I did - rather didn't do. Whatever happens next, I'm going to share your fate."
The emir was next to speak. "Draco, once you win, and put the tigress up for sale, remember this: I'll pay fifteen times that of any other bidder for her alone - twenty-five times the price for the two of them together. But she must not be scarred."
"That means no swords then..What about staffs?"
"I'm up for that. Since you chose the weapons, I choose the place: that stage you were gonna use to auction the slaves off."
"Showoff!" Draco growled "Remember, the one who gets knocked onto the ground first loses."
"Fine. Do you want cushions placed around to break your fall?" Xena retorted. She spun the staff, all the while closely watching her adversary.
Strike followed strike, neither combatant gaining any advantage. Then Draco noticed a loose board under Xena's feet. He rammed his staff down to break it loose. Xena was thrown off-balance by the blow. She stumbled and nearly fell, and took a hard wallop to her right shoulder.
Her arm immediately went numb. She switched the staff to her other hand, then swung to push Draco back for a heartbeat.
His next attack was a succession of blows which forced her toward the platform edge. She almost fell then. Gabrielle, behind her, pushed her back onto the stage.
Xena eyed Draco, then nodded and using a different tactic. She swung several times at his sides until his defense was entirely covering that area, then dropped to one knee and brought her staff between his knees. A quick twist to one side caught behind one knee and toppled him onto the ground.
"Looks like I win." she said. "Now I want you to vow, in Ares' name, to leave Amphipolis alone."
He repeated her wods. "In Ares' name, I so swear."
Gabrielle smiled as she watched Xena jump to the ground.
'The emir called her a tigress. If I travel with her, I'll be like the man who rode the tiger. I may fall off; she may devour me. But its going to be one fantastic ride!'
From her site among the trees, Xena watched motionlessly as the small group of fleeing peasants streamed toward her. She nodded knowingly upon seeing Hector and his men closing in pursuit, waited until both groups were almost up to her, then stepped into view, one wide-flung arm holding her sword, the other her chakram.
Gabrielle lunged, tackling Xena when the warrior strode toward Lila. She tried, unsuccessfully, to wrap the length of chain around her captor's neck and choke her into submission. A hard punch to the side of her head left her dazed, her sight blurry.
"C'mon, you two. You can move faster than that! And before you even THINK about slipping away into the woods, remember: I might not catch both of you, but I WILL catch one - and that one will suffer for the other's escape. You got that?"
"We?" Lila snapped, "You expect us to help you? You're going to sell us as slaves! Why should we help you in destroying us?"
"DRACO!"
Gabrielle and Lila were both sound asleep by the time she returned. She seated herself at the tent flap, watching them long enough to note, even in the dim light, their tear-streaked faces.
'Stolen...so THAT'S what this was all about. And here I thought it was just another typical assassination attempt.'
The tracks were easy to follow. She held her torch low to see the bootprints, broken twigs, and other signs of recent disturbances. The search was made even simpler when she saw, overlaying the ground tracks, hoofprints of a horse well trained in silent stalking by its owner.
Draco was still staring at the tent when Hector swaggered up. "You didn't really intend to call this auction off, did you? It's already arranged and -"
Xena paused just beyond the firelight, studying the scene in the clearing before her. The first people she looked for were the prisoners, Gabrielle and Lila. They were sitting back to back with a single thin rope tied around them at the shoulders.
"Now its our turn!" Lila barked, "Get moving!"
Hector was the first person they saw upon their return to the camp. He strutted toward Xena until he was only a few steps away, then lobbed a small object in her direction. It was a short, careless toss, and the item fell short. Xena started reaching down for it, then stopped.
Xena wasted no time spluttering out "What?" or "Amphipolis?". She spun, darted into the tent, and began hurriedly packing her most important items. Gabrielle could hear her cursing, however. She mouthed some of the words as though to remember them for future use.
They hadn't ridden very far before Gabrielle worked herself up to ask Xena a question.
"Well, one good thing now is that you don't have to ride with me on Argo any more. Take Hector's horse. He won't miss it."
They didn't have to ride as either of them expected, much to Gabrielle's relief. In fact, Draco, the emir, and their combined men were riding back toward the two women when Xena saw them.
Xena swung the staff for a moment to get the feel of it, then raced ahead and somersaulted onto the platform.