She had been there perhaps half a candlemark, when Patroclese appeared from the doorway that led to the officers cabins. He came straight across the deck, carrying his medical equipment and a small bundle of cloth, moving directly to Xena's side, ignoring the silent inspection of the guards as he did so.
"How are you doing today?" he inquired as he settled behind her to start his daily routine of tending her injuries.
"Oh, fine," she breathed a little heavily as the healer's hands began a careful exploration of the cuts and welts that covered her back, "Loving every minute of it!" she added, the heavy flavour of sarcasm evident in her words.
"You know, I wish I could work out just how you manage to heal so fast .. some of these stitches are ready to come out," he told her as he searched his bag for the delicate scissors that he carried.
"Clean living and healthy exercise," she grunted mockingly as he began working on the stitches near to her shoulders.
Once he had removed those ready to be taken out, he began to work a cleaning fluid across her back, careful to concentrate particularly on the areas where the stitches had just been pulled, "You know this is going to be sore for quite a while, but I really believe that all you're going to be left with is some light scaring .. it's incredible."
"Yeah! lucky me! You ought to try it from my perspective," she grimaced as the cleaning fluid bit at a particularly painful spot.
Finished with the cleanser, he proceeded to gently sooth in the salve that helped numb the pain from the lacerations, "I see you've been upsetting Flaccus again," he said, stopping what he was doing for a moment to turn her head towards him, "That's going to need a couple of stitches." He finished treating her back and moved round in front of her, gently wiping the blood away from her face and the cut on her hairline, "You are single handedly working me to death. Not only do I have all your wounds to take care of, but then I get all the ones that you hand out to the guards as well."
She fixed him with a cold stare, "Don't forget Caesar's little aches and pains," she told him with more than a touch of satisfaction in her words.
Patroclese dabbed firmly at her latest wound with the cleanser, "That wasn't a smart move," he told her sharply noticing her wince a little from the pain of his ministrations. He held a wad of linen to the cut, "Can you hold that?" he asked.
She grimaced a bit, but bent her back and head down low enough so that she could hold the cloth to the wound while he readied needle and thread, "What happens next?" she asked, more for something to take her mind off the agony induced from stretching the healing tissues of her back than anything else.
Moving her hand aside, the healer took hold of the scalp split and quickly worked to put the required stitches in, "Rome is organising a Victory Parade for Caesar and Veranius. Nothing much will happen until the VIIth Legion has disembarked with the Carthaginian prisoners, then the parade will form up and march through the assembled citizenry to the Temple of Jupiter where victor's laurels will be accepted, then onto a formal reception and dinner .. there that should hold it."
"What's he got planned for me?" she asked as he rubbed a little of the salve onto the stitched cut.
He looked at her seriously, "You'll be part of the parade, Xena. He wants to show Rome that no one can escape him .. you pretty much made him look at best foolish and at worse incompetent when you escaped from the prison. He's going to display you to everyone who dared to laugh openly, or behind his back."
"Figures," she answered with the slightest of shrugs as though she'd expected no less ... which she hadn't.
"Flaccus has orders to keep you tightly in line, Xena. If he even thinks you're going to give trouble, he won't hesitate," Patroclese warned.
Xena grinned her quirky half smile, "What possible trouble could I give?" she asked rattling her chains at him, while hearing one of Gabrielle's favourite comments, 'You could find trouble in a totally empty room!'
"Just don't do anything to antagonise them," he asked, knowing that she would do what she thought fit. He pulled out a jar of aloe and rubbed the cooling ointment across her blistered arms, guessing how sore they must feel.
"I've got some fresh clothes for you," he told her pulling the cloth bundle over.
"What? He doesn't want to parade me half naked through Rome's streets to humiliate me?" she asked in mock disbelief.
"He doesn't want to shock the matrons of Rome," he gave her a frankly considering look, "Nor make them mad with jealousy."
Xena almost snorted with laughter, "With their hero come home, do you think anyone's going to spare my beaten carcass more than a passing glance?"
"Don't underestimate your beauty, Xena," the healer told her with a broadening smile, "I think that's one of the reasons he wants you fully clothed. He wants all eyes on him, and you would be something of a distraction as you are now." He eyed her warily, "I'm going to have to unlock your chains so you can put these on. You're not going to do anything foolish, are you?"
Xena sighed, knowing she was in absolutely no condition to take on even the six soldiers on close watch, "No, Patroclese .. I'll be good."
"Didn't think that word was in your vocabulary," he chuckled as he handed a key to one of the guards, who unlocked the leash from around the mast. He shook out a grey, sleeveless shirt and threaded the chain through the neck of the garment, before handing the end back to the soldier to secure once more. He settled the shirt over his patient's head before undoing the belt buckles, "Hang on a moment, while I just put some cleanser and salve onto this bit here," he told her, "I couldn't get to it before."
She waited patiently until he finished before holding out her clenched hands so he could unlock the cuffs. Free from the restraint, she moved gingerly to work her arms into the sleeve holes, and with Patroclese's help, eased the cloth down over the painful injuries covering her back.
The manacles were quickly replaced and the belt refastened, although the healer was careful not to pull it as tight as Flaccus had. He then unlocked the leg irons and motioned her to remove the soiled trousers she had been wearing. He winced when he saw the fresh bruising on the backs of her thighs, and wondered just what she'd done to get them. It was evident that she needed a bath, but a dousing with a couple of buckets of river water was the best that could be managed.
Xena stood quietly while Patroclese did his best to clean her up, glad that she'd never particularly suffered from personal modesty, aware of the unashamed admiration of both the soldiers and sailors on the deck. When the healer had finished cleaning and tending her wounds caused by rope burns and sores, he helped her on with the grey, replacement trousers and finally, he locked the shackles back on her ankles.
"No boots, huh?" she asked, having already surmised that there wouldn't be.
"'Fraid not. You're to be the conquered slave, so you'll walk barefoot through Rome."
"When does this shindig start?" she questioned idly.
"About a candlemark after midday," the healer supplied the answer, "Not too long now."
"Great. Can't wait," growled the Warrior Princess as she watched Patroclese pack up his things.
"Try to get some rest," he advised, "This won't be easy." He saw her nod as he headed back to his cabin.
The centurion rubbed at his chin, a worried look on his face, "That could make things a bit awkward with the slave, sir. Threatening the bard is about the only thing that has any lasting effect on her."
Caesar leaned back in his chair, his brown eyes stormy, a glower decorating his handsome features, "Well then, we just have to make sure that she doesn't hear that the brat is missing. The next time she steps out of line, you tell her she has lost the privilege of seeing her precious Gabrielle. We'll work on finding someone who looks enough like her from a distance to fool Xena into believing that the bard is still safely in our custody .. perhaps we can arrange for her to hear some screams from the 'brats' beatings. It might be enough to keep her under control until we have Gabrielle safely back where she belongs .. under my lock and key."
He glared at the scroll unseeing as a thought came to his mind, "Oh, Flaccus. Don't say anything to Patroclese about the bard being missing. He's far to concerned about Xena's well being .. I don't think it's wise to give him more information than he needs."
"You don't trust him, sir?"
"I trust few men, Flaccus," he answered, his tone seeming to include the centurion among the few, "Patroclese is a fine physician, but he allows his emotions to get in the way of his duty. He's loyal enough, but .. lets not put temptation in his path, though," he added thoughtfully.
"As you command, sir," agreed Flaccus, "How do you want me to arrange the maniple for the parade, sir?"
"Xena's leash is to be chained to my chariot. I want you within reach of her at all times. Increase her personal guard to ten and have them march either side of her, make sure they carry the heavy batons. I want forty men in front of the chariot, they can keep an eye on the Carthaginian prisoners who will be ahead of them, the rest can form up and march behind us. Warn all the men that if she escapes, I'll have them crucified," he looked at the craggy centurion, "Keep her under control Flaccus. Do what you have to short of killing her, but you make sure that she knows, and keeps, her place."
"Sir," he saluted crisply, "I'll make sure she understands how to behave, before the procession starts."
"Good man," smiled Caesar, "Very well, dismissed."
Her interest intensified as she saw the tall blonde man approach the captive warrior. He was obviously well known by the guards, who allowed him to pass and he set about treating the woman's wounds with a casual efficiency that spoke of easy competence, - Well at least they want to keep her alive, - Nebula deduced, - although after all the trouble they've been to in beating her half to death, you'd never believe it. -
The relevance of the clothing that Xena was given wasn't lost on the pirate, only slaves wore grey in Rome, it identified them almost as strongly as the collars that they wore. As the warrior turned her back when she sat down once more, Nebula could see the odd patch of blood already marking the cloth of the shirt.
Sighing, the pirate captain shifted her attention back along the docks to where the wharves were crammed with soldiers disembarking from the rest of the fleet. Each of the men was equipped in his dress uniform, all metal parts polished until they gleamed in the sun's splendour. It wouldn't be long before they were ready to start the pageant.
A racketing noise on the cobbled wharf, close to the ship, drew her attention away from the VIIth Legion and to a white chariot lavishly decorated with gold leaf. The perfect vehicle for Caesar's Triumphal entry into Rome. - I wonder if he'll share the place of honour with the Admiral? - she grinned mirthlessly. It was probable. Caesar was an astute politician and he knew that giving Veranius an equal part in this procession would bind the man too him.
Glancing up at the sun, Nebula figured that it was about half a candlemark after noon. She doubted that there would be much longer to wait. Nearly all the players were in place. Just one or two more to take their station on the stage and all would be ready.
Straightening his tunic, he was already moving up to the deck when he heard one of the sailors reporting the arrival of Caesar's chariot. - Time to get her onto shore, - he noted to himself. He marched across to where the slave sat, - Almost meek - he thought, until you noticed the undaunted glint in her eyes. - Gods, but she is going to be a test of endurance. -
"Get up, slave." he ordered, waiting for her to give him a reason to emphasise her place once more.
Xena responded .. not immediately, there was enough hesitation in response to show she'd thought about it, but it wasn't enough for him to object too. She could tell he was looking for an excuse, was looking to test how far her stubborn independence had been cowed.
He moved behind her checking that the belt had been replaced securely, and found it too loose for his tastes. He tightened each buckle three holes so that the leather pinched tight into her flagellated skin, making her bite her lip to avoid crying out. He then examined each cuff of her shackles to make sure that they were locked securely.
Grunting with satisfaction, he pulled out the small ring of keys that Patroclese had returned to him, and selected one. Using it, he unlocked the chain from the mast and gathered in the slack until his fingers could curl around the collar. Pulling her face close to his he told her in a menacing growl, "We're going down to the wharf, and you are going to do exactly as you are told, when you are told ... you got that?" he demanded.
Quelling any number of smart retorts that sprang to her mind, Xena looked him squarely in the eyes, fighting to keep fire from showing with little success, and answered in a low but audible tone, "Yes ... sir."
Flaccus knew there was plenty of fight left in her. - The woman has a strong spirit, we may never break it but, by the Gods, we can grind it so far under that she'll need a shovel to find it again. - He released his hold on the collar and gave the leash a firm tug to get her to follow him. She trailed behind, the image of docility, but he had seen the wolf still lurking, and knew that she was far from subdued.
They moved down the gangplank, the allotted guard members already in place behind the chariot, Xena stumbled along, seemingly concentrating on keeping her footing as she trailed the leg irons over the deck and down to the wharf, but her eyes took in all the details, analysing prospects, weighing possibilities, even knowing that there would be no opportunity for her to effect some miraculous escape.
She stopped when Flaccus did, pinning her eyes to the ground so that he couldn't read the challenge and defiance that she knew she couldn't bury for any length of time. She watched covertly as the centurion locked the end of the chain to the chariot, - So I'm to be a prize hound on a leash awaiting her master's pleasure, am I? - She could feel the slow burn of indignation and attempted to crush it before it could flare and cause a reaction. The attempt was only partially successful, but so long as she didn't look Flaccus in the eyes, she thought she'd be able to hide it and keep it under control.
"Sit!" Flaccus demanded.
- Even issues commands as if I were some kind of damn dog, - her mind growled, but she sank to the ground as ordered and thought about working on some simple meditation techniques to still the growing anger she was feeling. She needed control, or she would doom Gabrielle to a life of agony that matched her own current existence.
"Alright slave," Flaccus growled at her, "We will soon be taking a nice leisurely stroll along the streets of Rome. You will behave yourself, because I'm going to be right behind you with this." he dangled the flail in front of her downcast eyes, and grinned as he saw the involuntary twitch away from the whip, before she could control her reaction.
"When we reach the Temple of Jupiter you will mount the steps behind Lord Caesar and there you will kneel to him in supplication and you will stay there until you are told to move," he saw her nostrils flare as she struggled to control a burst of temper, "Do you understand?" he flicked her shoulder lightly with the whip to emphasise his question.
Xena breathed deeply, - I can do this, - she told herself, forcing her stubborn pride into a queasy nauseating feeling in the pit of her stomach, - I have to do this, - she told herself firmly. The vicious looking whip began to draw back for a harder blow, she drew a deep breath and answered, "Yes .. sir." It made her want to vomit.
Flaccus reversed the flail in his hand and used the leather pommel to lift her chin so he could look into the icy blue eyes, "Remember that, slave. You really wouldn't want to see what kind of mess this little .. toy would make of the bard's back, now would you?" He saw hatred and anger flare and noted how the knuckles of her clenched fists turned white as she glared at him with a chilling intensity, "I said, would you?" he repeated threateningly.
"No .. sir," she managed to grit out without choking on the words.
"Very good, slave. You will learn how to be obedient .. eventually," he smirked patronizingly and removed the whip handle allowing her to drop her head once more as she struggled to retain self-control.
- God's! - her mind screamed, - I just want a chance to shove that thing right down his throat! - She could visualize just how hard and at what angle she should push it to get the best effect. She shuddered with the effort to control her desire to perform the feat.
Deciding he'd made his point for the moment, Flaccus did a quick inspection of his men as he waited for the VIIth Legion to move into position. Two Cohorts were to march at the front of the procession ahead of the Carthaginian prisoners and then the elite maniple, with Caesar, would follow in their assigned places before the rest of the VIIth, the other eight cohorts, brought up the rear.
Xena looked up from her place on the ground as she heard the familiar tramp of marching feet. The second cohort of the VIIth Legion marched past her, followed by the Carthaginians chained in ten rows of five men, each man wearing a single ankle cuff through which was threaded a long chain linking one man to the next.
As they passed the heavily guarded woman, her fellow captives called out words of encouragement to her, "Don't let them grind you down, Xena!" she heard, "Stand up to the Roman bastards!" came another. She lifted her head as they started a rhythmic handclap and the low rumbling chant of, "Xena, Xena, Xena!"
She gave them a dazzling smile, even as guards with whips started flicking the lash over the shoulders of the men, - So they'd heard about the punishment I received. - she thought, - News like that seems to fly around a fleet even while at sea, - she grinned. - Well fair is fair, let me give them some support in return. -
"Long Live Carthage!" she called out in reply as the mid point of the captive men passed her. Getting a loud cheer in return.
She sensed the motion of the whip, managing to turn slightly so that the lashes fell more across her arms than her back. Drawing her knees up, tucking her head down, she protected her head with her hands and kept her front to Flaccus who beat her four or five times with the merciless scourge.
"Don't you ever learn, Slave?" he demanded having covered her exposed arms in red welts. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head up, seeing the flash of animosity and rage that appeared there.
"You said nothing about talking to other captives," she bridled. - Dumb move, Xena, - she admonished herself expecting the back hand fist that rattled her jaw.
"I've warned you on more than one occasion about that smart mouth of yours," he growled at her, "I think that maybe once we're settled, I'll have the armourer make up a muzzle for you, that should help you to keep your mouth shut. But, until we can bring that about, I'll just have to deny you the privilege of seeing the bard until you mend you ways." He felt her body tense and stiffen, "Maybe I'll order a nice healthy thrashing with a switch and arrange for you to listen to her yells."
Xena's muscles tightened with the need to react and ice settled into her eyes once more, "Just one more twitch," Flaccus almost purred, "and by any God you care to name, I'll have the hide off her back just like I did with you."
He felt her slowly relax, the icy rage dying in her eyes to be replaced a look of sullen defeat. Gabrielle's safety was more important to her than her own. She could even control her rage and pride if the price was the bard's continued safety ... well she fervently hoped she could.
- Damn, - thought Flaccus, - We really need that bard, otherwise the only way we're going to keep control of this one is by continually reinforcing commands with beatings. Lord Caesar wants her more or less intact so she can be fought in the pits, so I'm going to have to come up with something else to subdue her spirit.
- Eyes were drawn once again to the marching of feet, as the first cohort moved to take it's position at the head of the column. As they began passing the chariot, there was a blast of trumpets which blew a fanfare to herald the Admiral and Caesar as they disembarked from the ship. Xena's meticulous eye noted that her enemy had dressed himself as the conquering hero; his white tunic and golden body armour was complimented by the scarlet cape that hung from his shoulders, disguising the splints on his wrist in its folds, and the golden helmet trimmed with scarlet plumes that adorned his head. He smiled as the fist cohort bellowed in recognition, "Hail Caesar!" and executed perfect Roman salutes to their beloved general.
- Bastard knows how to dress the part! - she admitted grudgingly to herself. - Knows how to keep his troops happy too. -
Caesar preceded Veranius down the narrow gangplank, leaving the Admiral his right to be the last to leave his ship. When he reached the cobbled stones of the wharf, he moved with confident stride directly to the chariot and looked down at his slave, "Welcome back to Rome, Xena," he said to her, "I trust you're ready to begin your new existence here, because all you have known before is ended."
"And if I'm not?" she questioned flatly.
Caesar saw the centurion tense his arm, ready to bring the flail down across Xena's shoulders. He held up a hand, halting the action, "Rome's my city Xena. Here I have absolute power ...."
"I'm sure Pompey disputes that," she growled, interrupting him.
This time Flaccus wasn't stopped, a heavy blow fell across her shoulders, breaking open some of the partially healed wounds there, Xena could feel the tickling trails of blood as the cuts began to weep once again.
"As I was saying," continued Caesar smoothly, "My city, my power. No one here will help you or your friends. It's time you accepted the inevitable and gave up the struggle. For all your stubborn pride, there is only one outcome to this situation. It's just a question of how many beatings you and the irritating blonde are going to have to take to convince you of it."
Veranius joined him, "Ah, my friend," smiled the Roman noble, "Are you ready to receive the plaudits of the people?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," grinned the stocky Admiral, "I much prefer to leave this kind of thing to others."
"You've earned this, my friend," smiled Caesar, motioning Veranius onto the chariot, "Let's enjoy the rewards being offered." He added, hopping gracefully onto the vehicle.
Flaccus motioned two men to haul Xena to her feet, and then growled at her, "You're pushing your luck, slave. From now on when you address the general, you call him master. Got that?"
The Warrior Princess's reply was drowned in another blast from the trumpets. Flaccus didn't get the chance to repeat his question as the procession began to move out, and Xena was forced to concentrate on adjusting her stride to the restrictions of her leg irons, and the pace of the chariot. Her body ached and the cobbles hurt her feet .. something that she knew would be a real problem before they reached their destination.
Ephiny stood under the portico of the Temple of Jupiter along with Pompey and Hercules, as well as a dozen members of the Royal Amazon guard, currently under the command of Malonda, and another dozen men of Pompey's personal guard. They were awaiting the approach of Caesar and Veranius, along with the redoubtable VIIth Legion, the prisoners captured at sea and, of course, Xena.
Pompey had described the route that the procession would take from the docks. They would move through the Forum Boarium, away from the Capitol, south east past the Circus Maximus. From there they would turn north-east on the Via Triumphalis, until they reached the Via Sacra on which they would turn north-west and march straight up to the Capitol and the Temple making the final approach on the Clivus Capitolinus. It was a long circuitous route that was designed to allow as much of the population of Rome to get a look at their hero as possible.
They could see them coming now. The first cohort of the VIIth Legion marched proudly along the Via Sacra, standards borne prominently, discipline showing in their bearing and the rigid marching that kept them in perfect step with each other. Their armour gleamed in the sunlight making a dazzling display that had the tumultuous crowds happily cheering as they passed.
Ephiny listened as the cheers became louder as the Legion continued up the wide highway, behind them she could hear rolling 'boos', hisses and catcalls as the luckless Carthaginian captives followed along in the wake of the first two cohorts. Even from a distance, the Regent could see that the men were being pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables, as well as stones and other refuse of a far more unsavoury nature. She spared them a momentary thought of sympathy, but her eyes continued to search from the tall dark haired form that she was most interested in getting a look at.
So intent was she upon the approaching spectacle, that she almost failed to notice the leading members of the senate taking their place upon the steps of the Temple, dignified in their stately togas, along with the High Priest of Jupiter and members of the priesthood of other deities as well, resplendent in their ceremonial robes and masks. Pompey also moved forward to take up a more prominent position, leaving Ephiny and a number of other dignitaries, currently visiting Rome, in the background. A situation that suited the Regent comfortably. Especially as she could feel the tense anxiety radiating off of Hercules in waves.
Finally the superbly magnificent chariot, drawn by six splendid, matched, white steeds came into view. The cheering intensified into a solid wall of sound that rolled along the Via Sacra in a surge of crescendoing voices that was like nothing the Amazon had ever heard before.
As the procession made it's slow way towards them, she was able to pick out the figure that could only be Caesar on the chariot. He waved his hand to the people with graceful charm and occasionally threw handfuls of golden dinars into the delirious, screaming masses. Ephiny recognised a consummate showman. The throwing of his personal wealth to the people was a master touch that would endear him to them. The man was obviously a shrewdly calculating politician as well as a fine tactical general. Defeating him would not be easy.
- But Xena did it! - she reminded herself. The Warrior Princess had given Boadicea the strategy to defeat the Roman, and the people of Britannia had handed him a crushing defeat. - He is not invincible. He is not infallible. - she chanted to herself like a mantra, knowing that they were going to have to beard the lion in his den, and still find a way out of the city.
As if thought of Xena had suddenly conjured her, the Regent became aware of the dark haired figure that stumbled along in the wake of the chariot. She was still too far away to make any details, but she was certain about the identity of the heavily guarded woman, dressed in grey, who tried to hold her head proudly, despite the constant staggers that broke her usually graceful gait. She felt Hercules stiffen at her side as his pale blue eyes narrowed and focused on the woman he had rescued from the dark bonds of her past, giving her the chance at finding redemption for all of her horrifyingly evil misdeeds, while at the same time discovering a woman he could truly admire and love. Xena meant a great deal to him. They might never be able to share their lives, but they could share a deep, abiding and loving friendship.
As they drew closer and the faces gradually came into focus and took on definition, Ephiny could see that the march with the procession was beginning to take its toll on her strength. Although the Warrior Princess tried to present an attitude of haughty disinterest in her situation, and walk with her normal proud bearing, to anyone who knew her the evidence of strain and exhaustion could be read in her bearing .. a point emphasised when she suddenly stumbled and fell forward to be dragged a few paces by the chariot she was tethered to, before two of the guards hoisted her back to her feet.
The Regent held back a cry of angry indignation as she realised that the beautiful, sculptured, face of her friend was marred by heavy bruising. She could see the angry red welts that scored the woman's arms and recognised that the wounds were fresh.
More details became evident to the watching Amazon's and demi-god as the triumphal procession moved ever closer to Capitol and the Temple. They could see the heavy chains that bound her, the collar that matched the one around Gabrielle's throat and the thick chain that was secured to Caesar's chariot like a leash on a favourite pet. They were aware of the unusually armed, heavy, guard that surrounded her, and the way that those soldiers never allowed their eyes to flicker away from their charge for more than the odd moment. They identified the tall centurion, who marched just behind her and carried a wicked looking whip that had obviously seen use.
But worse was to come.
As the chariot was halted at the foot of the temple steps, Ephiny bit her lip as she saw the blood streaked back of the shirt that Xena wore. The Regent stepped hard on Hercules's foot as his body seemed about to sway into movement and a low growl started to emanate from his throat.
They watched in bitter silence as they saw the centurion step forward and unlock the leash from the chariot and wait for Caesar and the Admiral to dismount from their vehicle. Ephiny could see that Xena was swaying unsteadily and watched in concern as the warriors eyes drifted closed, only to see them spring open as the big centurion struck her in the ribs with the butt end of the whip.
Veranius waited on the steps as Caesar stepped down and held out his hand for Xena's leash. The centurion passed it over, and motioned for the ten man guard, that had surrounded the woman on the march through the streets, to follow as the conquering hero climbed the temple steps towards those waiting to receive him and Veranius.
It was obvious that the warrior was close to the end of her strength, yet she followed the harsh tug on her lead and did her best to not to trip or fall on the difficult steps. A clear trail of crimson was left upon the pristine marble stairway as Xena's bloody, unshod, feet passed over them.
When Caesar and Veranius reached the point where the senators and priests were waiting for them, they halted and waited to accept the laurels of victory from the High Priest of Jupiter. Xena seemed set to remain standing, even after the centurion snapped the order to, "Kneel!" at her. Her failure to comply led to two of the guard detail stepping forward and hitting her heavily behind the knees with their thick batons, forcing her into a supplicant's position, and keeping her there with strong hands pressed down on her shoulders, much to the delight of the crowd.
Ephiny could hear the big man beside her grinding his teeth as he fought to control his desire to go to his friend's aid. The Regent knew exactly how he felt. She owed Xena so much and she felt totally powerless to help the proud woman who was fighting valiantly against overwhelming odds and such brutal treatment.
When the laurels had been bestowed and a few quiet remarks had been exchanged with the men of the senate, as well as a few hard glares with Pompey, Caesar turned and raised his arms. As if by magic a silence fell over the massive crowds, slowly spreading back to parts distant from the temple steps.
It was evident that Xena was struggling with the burden of her chains. Her bare feet staggered over a lot of the debris that had been used to pelt the Carthaginian prisoners and on more than one occasion she took a crashing fall, only avoiding being dragged along in the wake of the procession by the swift intervention of her guards who hauled her upright. It was obvious that her physical reserves, after her flogging, were very low and, as the progress continued, Nebula could see that the raven haired warrior was in grave difficulty. The march took three long candlemarks to complete and, as far as the pirate could tell, the slowness of the parade was the only reason that Xena hadn't fallen and been dragged by the chariot more often than the six or seven times she had. She also had one, rather backhanded, blessing. Because of the close proximity of Caesar and the tight cordon of guards, none of the crowd deemed it appropriate to throw anything at the woman.
When they had reached the temple steps, Nebula had drawn a lot of angry mutters and curses as she pushed her way through the densely packed crowds so she could see what was happening there. Her size, strength and even her looks got her past people where another person would have failed, so that when she came to a halt, she was only about ten rows back and had a good view of all that took place.
She saw the guards move in and force the warrior to kneel below Caesar and had been enveloped in the raucous cheering that had erupted from the populace as they watched the woman being humbled, as they saw it. From the many comments that Nebula heard around her, most of these people knew who the chained woman was and revelled in the fact that their hero held her captive once more. Her escape from Rome after she had attempted to 'assassinate' Caesar had been viewed poorly, especially when taken with the rumours that it was Crassus who had been executed in the arena, and not the barbarian Verchinex, whom the Warrior Princess was said to have rescued.
She watched intently as Caesar received his laurel crown and then spent some time talking to the members of the senate assembled to witness the event. Even from her quite distant position, Nebula could see the friction between him and Pompey. She darted a glance to the portico, where she could make out the unmistakable forms of the Amazons and Hercules, neither they nor he looked happy with the situation and it was taking a great concentration of focus to keep them from trying to help their friend.
The pirate captain marvelled when Caesar turned away from the Roman dignitaries and raised his arms demanding silence. All else was forgotten as silence swept through the massive throng, all desperate to hear their hero speak.
"People of Rome!" he began, "We are here today to celebrate a great victory at sea. The pirates of Carthage will no longer be able to harass our shipping about it's legal business!" He waited for the eruption of cheering to settle down before continuing, "For this great victory, we should give thanks to Admiral Veranius and his fleet, who performed great deeds for you, the people of Rome."
Another eruption of cheering gave him time to compose his thoughts before continuing his speech, "Recently," he continued when the people quieted once more, "I have been in Narbonensis and Gaul, where the perfidious barbarians sought to rise against us once again." Angry muttering rumbled through the masses. "Enemies of Rome sought to stir trouble there, but our gallant men were able to destroy the conspiracy when they captured one of the ring leaders, the notorious Warrior Princess, Xena!" He motioned to the woman kneeling before him.
Loud cheering once more rang around the Capitol along with growing screams and shouts of, "Crucify her!", "Death to the Warrior Witch!", "Kill the barbarian wench!", "Make her pay for Britannia!"
Caesar saw Xena begin to struggle against her guards, her anger at his blatant lies and the humiliations being forced upon her, stirring up a reaction even though she knew in her heart it was futile. Caesar nodded to Flaccus, passing him her leash and watched as the centurion and his men hauled their struggling prisoner over to the far side of the steps and proceeded to beat her into proper submission.
Holding up his arms once more, Caesar obtained the silence he needed to continue his speech, "With this woman in my power, I was able to secure a treaty with the Gauls that guarantee us peace for this year! By next year, we'll be ready to sweep through their miserable hovels and bring them fully under the jurisdiction of Rome. As for Xena ... death is too good for her. She will serve out the remainder of her life as a slave and be a living reminder to all those who would pit themselves against the might of Rome!"
More cheering echoed long and deep as Caesar took their approbation and basked in the glory of his power. When the cheering finally subsided, he wound up his speech with, "Victory! For the Glory of Rome!" Even more cheering echoed on the back of his words, causing him to smile.
Turning back to the dignitaries, he walked through them and into the Temple of Jupiter where a feast in his and Veranius's honour was to be staged. He threw a glance across to where Flaccus stood over the unmoving form of Xena and, with a twitch of his head, ordered her to be taken inside.
She had given up trying to fight them. Her strength was mostly illusionary after the long walk through the hot city streets and all she could do now was try to minimize the damage until Flaccus decided she'd taken enough. She was unable to prevent pain filled whimpers from escaping her lips nor, when they finally stopped hitting her, the violent quivering of her muscles as her eyes caught each slight movement of the men around her.
An anguished groan escaped her as she felt Flaccus pull on her leash. She had known what would happen to her even as she had fought to get to her feet. But she couldn't remain kneeling as Caesar slandered her. Her whole being had revolted at the idea and forced her to react, to let him know that he hadn't subjugated her to his will as he seemed to have subjugated his people with a mixture of charm, lies, spectacle and the lavish extravagance that he displayed.
- You don't have to conquer a people with force to enslave them, - Xena contemplated bitterly, and then forced herself to focus on what Flaccus was saying to her.
"Gods be damned, slave. I'm beginning to think you're not happy unless you've been beaten half to death. Doesn't it register in that brain of yours that if you keep defying authority you are going to be disciplined! You have no free will any longer. You are property, and you will learn a suitable demeanor because I can keep this up longer than you can take it." He glanced up to see that all the dignitaries had entered the temple. Yanking hard on the leash he commanded, "Get up! We've got a feast to attend."
Slowly, the Warrior Princess uncurled, her muscles screaming protest, her back aflame with pain. She was shaking with fatigue as she carefully pushed herself to her unsteady feet. She didn't like the way that everything seemed to be on the verge of spinning. Closing her eyes, she shook her head hoping to clear it, and found that she was only partially successful. Feeling sick to her stomach she willed herself to remain standing, and tried to concentrate on something other than her pain and the trouble she was having focusing her swimming head.
She glanced up at the huge double door entrance to the temple and blinked as she thought she saw someone wearing Amazon leathers disappear inside. - I must be hallucinating, - she told herself derisively, - First I think I see Eponin down in the port, and now I'm seeing Amazons in the centre of Rome going into the Temple of Jupiter, no less! -
Flaccus chose that moment to start moving to the top of the steps, dragging on the chain to pull Xena along behind him. Forcing her exhausted body into movement, the Warrior Princess hobbled unsteadily in his wake, her guards forming up around them.
When they reached the portico, Flaccus didn't lead her to the main doors of the temple, instead he turned to the right, making his way around the building to a far smaller doorway which gave them entrance to a small corridor that led deeper inside the edifice.
The centurion made his way with obvious confidence. He had been here before and he knew which turnings to take, which stairways to go down and what doors to go through. They finally arrived in a large underground chamber, fully prepared for the lavish banquet that would be served to honour the proud victors.
Xena automatically took note of the room's layout as she trailed along behind Flaccus. Two long tables were stretched down the sides of the hall, garlanded with vines and flowers. Benches ran both sides of the tables, which were laid with silver platters and goblets, with silver ewers full of thick red wine waiting for the celebrants to arrive.
At the head of the chamber, where Flaccus was taking her, was a raised dias with another table stretching across it's width, linking the two side tables with it's length. Here stood two throne like chairs, obviously meant for Caesar and Veranius, with more chairs stretching either side of them for the visiting dignitaries and Roman elite.
The centurion halted in front of the table, where Xena could see that all the utensils were made of gold, and he growled, "Sit!" at her.
She still bridled at his tone and manner, but was too tired and sore to dispute the matter with him. She sank onto the wooden dias as Flaccus bent and secured her chain to a thick iron ring set into the solid flooring, obviously it had seen use for this purpose before.
- So now I'm a trophy on display for the festivities, - her mind growled. A quick look told her that she wouldn't be able to easily pull the leash free from this particular ring, so with little in the way of options, she elected to get what rest she could, drawing up her legs and wrapping her arms around her knees so she could rest her aching head upon them.
She watched as Flaccus positioned a guard an arms-length away from her on either side, on the floor below the two foot high dias, where she sat, and from the corner of her eye she noted that the centurion placed the remaining eight men so that they had easy, fast access to the problematical slave.
She closed her eyes to the Romans and set about the task of shunting off all the pain she felt, into that little part of her mind she kept for the purpose, so that she'd at least be able to endure the coming, undoubted, torments with all the dignity that she could muster.
When they had entered the temple, with the other guests invited to the feast, Ephiny had given some low voiced orders to Hakine, to linger just outside on some pretext and assess how bad Xena's latest drubbing had been and whether on not she had hung onto consciousness.
Popping the fruit into her mouth, she chewed on it absently while her gaze switched over to Hercules, who knelt in a corner, surrounded by her Amazon guard. She knew he was having a hard time in controlling his urge to leap to the defence of the Warrior Princess. His drive to ensure justice, compassion, mercy and fairness, was being challenged by their need to endure the situation until they could act with success upon it. It was hard for the big man who was used to facing daunting odds to help strangers, let alone close personal friends.
Ephiny sighed softly to herself as she bit into the second strawberry, - How in Hades name am I going to be able to tell Gabrielle and Toris just how bad things are for Xena? - she worried in perplexity. - I'm going to have to have Pompey lock them up .. they're never going to sit quietly and wait for the plan to go into operation. - She sighed again, glanced across to the doorway and took a long swallow of the wine. - I wonder what the penalty is for usurping the power of the Queen? - she fretted, - Probably counts as treason, but I'll be damned to Tartarus before I let Gabrielle do something stupid .. like throwing her life away. -
Her back stiffened as Hakine suddenly appeared in the doorway, took a quick look around and made a swift move across the mosaic covered floor to the shoulder of the Regent.
"Well?" asked Ephiny shortly and quite softly.
"She's conscious," reported the warrior. "The gave her quite a pounding with those batons they're carrying, broke open more of those wounds on her back, but she protected most of the rest of her body, other than her arms. They seemed to be taking her to some side door in the temple. Probably going to hold her somewhere until Caesar's ready to leave."
Ephiny nodded sharply, "Go back to the others. Let them and 'Heston' know what's happening. I don't want any problems here!" she warned.
- I have, - he reflected, - been a curse to the women I love. Both my wives died at the hands of my enemies. -
Xena, however, was first and foremost his friend. True they were lovers, and they renewed their intimacy when they found time, but the weight of their pasts, the burden of their enemies, made a lasting union almost impossible .. neither wished to inflict their load on the other.
But he cared for her. More than any other woman alive, he felt a kinship and closeness to the Warrior Princess and his anger at her treatment had steadily grown until it had become a burning rage .. an emotion he was not used to dealing with, and one that he was having difficulty keeping a lid on.
He knelt in the corner of the huge temple foyer, feeling more than a little irritated at being in such a position in a temple dedicated to his own father. However, he pushed that aside and concentrated on the dark haired man who stood some distance away and was the centre of the rooms attention.
Light blue eyes, bored relentlessly into Caesar's neck, willing the man to turn and see him, turn so he could look into the callous brown orbs that had tricked and deceived the young Xena and then turned her into the death dealing bitch from Hades that his half-brother .. Ares .. had used to such devastating effect, before he had been able to resurrect the dormant goodness that underlay the Warrior Princess's soul.
Hercules was certain that no one could have withstood the intensity of his gaze without feeling something, but Caesar seemed to be oblivious to him and the big man began to suspect that there was some 'family' interference going on. - Which, - he conceded, - for once is probably a good thing. - He knew that his obvious animosity to the Roman noble would cause questions to be asked, that they couldn't afford to have raised just now.
He drew in a deep, shuddering, breath as he forced himself to contain the raw emotional feelings he was experiencing, trying to concentrate instead upon the magnificent edifice that honoured his father, filled with all the strutting, pompous and arrogant Romans who partook of wine and finger foods whilst they were waiting to be conducted to the banquet hall for the feast.
His eyes keenly tracked Hakine as the Amazon guard made her way across to the place Ephiny stood, close to Pompey, where she engaged in the barest acceptable amount of social chatter with the occasional member of the senate. He watched, his eyes narrowing, as the guard delivered her message, and felt a weight lift slightly from him as he saw some of the worry go out of the Regent's eyes.
Barely restraining himself, he watched as Hakine returned to where the rest of the Amazons were grouped around him, and listened avidly as she told him and her sisters that Xena was conscious, on her feet and able to walk. It helped him to keep a leash on his anger and concentrate upon their plan.
He climbed the steps, his mind filled with his plans that would see Julius, bloody, Caesar taken down a peg or two and give him the chance to solidify his own support in the senate and stake his claim for the supreme governance of Rome. It was risky and relied heavily on others, but the prize was worth the stake.
He took the goblet of wine that was offered but did not drink from it. Whilst around his adversary he had no intention of garnering a thick head from imbibing too much. He did select some nameless morsel and popped it into his mouth before moving close to where the striking Amazon Regent stood.
- She really is rather good looking for a barbarian wench, - he admitted to himself, - so much more fire than our Roman women. I wonder if that hulk, Heston, truly satisfies her? -
Avoiding looking at Caesar, who he knew was absolutely relishing his discomfort, Pompey focused on the Amazon Queen Regent, and could see that something, probably Xena's treatment, had her agitated and on edge. He smiled at the thought. Ares had promised him assistance and so far the god's information and suggestions had proven to be very useful. - If I can just knock Caesar off his perch, then I might even allow my allies to leave here alive. - He considered, - Especially as that hulk , Heston, has trebled my treasury funds, - he grinned, noticed Caesar looking at him with a puzzled frown and raised his goblet to him, making his enemy frown the more.
The fact that Pompey had been reduced to an attendant role on this day gave him an added measure of satisfaction. He had revelled in the blonde soldier's glares and impotence. - The man has no class .. no finesse, - he thought as he climbed the stairs and entered into the massive atrium of the temple, to the enthusiastic reception of his so called peers.
He moved to the centre of the chamber passing social pleasantries with old friends and enemies alike as he drew them to him much like a moth is drawn to a flame. He revelled in the attention, although he was careful to include Veranius into his immediate company, - My old friend Marcus will prove an invaluable comrade in the time to come, so I must make sure he gets his share of the congratulations and enjoys the feast that he deserves. -
His eyes were never still as he scanned the assembly to see who was present, just in case anyone had been foolish enough to try and snub him. His inquiring eyes fell on the barbarian woman dressed in leather who had a mane of wild blonde curls and an imperious attitude that spoke of someone who had, and exercised, power. - The Amazon Queen, - he deduced having been informed of her presence in Rome by his people.
- I wonder just what she's here for? - he mused, - Could she be seeking Xena? ... But no, my reports say that the Amazons have no love for the Warrior Princess and that there is a warrant outstanding for her arrest on some matter or another. - He smirked happily, - Maybe they're here to stake some legal claim to her. My, my Xena, you certainly know how to collect enemies. - He turned his attention back to the senator who was claiming his ear, and listened to some trivial petition waiting for the announcement that the feast was ready.
He glanced across at Pompey in time to catch the man smiling to himself. When Pompey saw him looking, he had the effrontery to raise a goblet in his direction, - What's he up to now? - he mused. Intrigued by the question, and wanting someway to gloat on his superiority anyway, when Pompey detached himself from Ephiny and made his way across the chamber, Caesar moved to intercept him.
Taking his leave of Ephiny as he spotted Valarius Aurelius, a young senator whom he hoped could be induced to offer him support, Pompey made his way through the glittering throng, casually plucking a grape from a passing slave's tray. As he allowed the sweet juice from the fruit to wash through his mouth, he continued to cut his way through the horde of guests only to suddenly find himself confronted by one of the guests of honour.
"Ah Pompey. So good of you to come to do me honour .. and so kind of you to bring such an exotic and alluring woman. Who is she?" Caesar smarmed annoyingly.
Ignoring the comments about Ephiny, the blonde Roman let a sour grimace, that could just possibly pass for a smile, grace his expression and replied acidly, "Ah Caesar .. I see you managed to insinuate yourself into Veranius' hard won victory. Such a shame that you can't win your own laurels .. or get a woman to stay with you ... except in chains, of course!" A barbed reference to Xena.
"You never did understand the importance of symbols, Pompey," growled his enemy.
"I thought the only symbols you were interested in were the graphic, public executions of both friends and foes alike," the blonde purred, beginning to enjoy himself. "I'm sure that Crassus would have understood your use of symbol .. he may not have appreciated it particularly, but I'm certain he understood and, who knows, he may even have forgiven you for the particular symbol you made of him." He grinned as he saw the colour drain from his enemy's face anger and resentment plain in his expression. "I really was surprised that you didn't make a symbol of Xena's death," he twisted the metaphorical knife.
Struggling to control his temper, Caesar took a calming sip of wine from the goblet he held before answering Pompey, "Oh she is a symbol, Pompey. A symbol of what happens to anyone who crosses me. Right now I'm sure she'd rather be hanging from a cross with the certainty of death close to hand. She has caused me far to many .. aggravations .. to allow her such an easy death. Besides which her current situation has certain benefits for me .. not least of which is the pleasure I get through tormenting her." He took another sip from his goblet and returned to his original topic as his rival did the same, "Now what of this .. Amazon Queen? I believe she has been your guest for some days?"
Glancing over his shoulder, Pompey saw Ephiny politely laugh at some sally from the soldier she was conversing with. "That's Ephiny .. a charming woman for a barbarian." He threw a shrewd look at Caesar who's eyes were rivetted to the vivacious blonde queen in the exotic clothing, "I doubt if even you much vaunted prowess with women could breach her defences," he breathed tauntingly, "See that hulking brute over in the corner with those Amazon guards?" He saw Caesar incline his head slightly in acknowledgement, "Well that's Heston .. her concubine. He's a deaf mute and apparently services all of her needs."
"Ah!" breathed the arrogant Roman slowly, "So she has spurned you attempts at a .. closer friendship, then." was the accurate guess. "I can see where you would try to dissuade another from attempting something you failed at .. after all, another person might succeed and leave you looking .. second best. But that's nothing new for you is it?"
It was Pompey's turn to feel the slow burn of anger as his abilities were called into question and found wanting by this man that he hated so much, "It would amuse me to watch you try and fail," he responded tartly.
"Pompey, if I so desired, that woman will be warming my bed, as and when I want. She'll be begging to stay with me rather than return to the hovel that she undoubtedly lives in," came the impulsive boast.
Striving to keep his excitement from showing on his face or in his voice, Pompey proposed lightly, "A challenge then. The Amazon Queen to grace your bed before she returns to her homeland. If you lose, you cede to me the XIVth Legion."
"And if I win, I want the IXth from you," responded Caesar.
Pompey grimaced at that thought .. the IXth were important to his plans. He held out his hand and grasped Caesar's in a warrior's handshake as their wager was made.
The sound of laughter and chattering voices had attracted her attention. She guessed that the feast was about to begin and sought to gather her mental resources to shield her in the coming ordeal. She hated crowded, noisy, confined, spaces and avoided them whenever possible, enduring them only when she had no option, and here she definitely had no option.
The large double doors at the opposite end of the hall swung open and Rome's finest began to troop into the banquet hall guided to their allotted places by a host of slaves who appeared as if by magic. Harps started to play in soft melodious tones, as musicians added background to the noisy chattering.
Xena studied the revellers through half slitted eyes as they entered the hall and recognised her. Some of the laughter grew louder as the men pointed at the chained and humbled Warrior Princess. She ignored them, they weren't worthy of her ire.
When all of the lower tables were filled, the most important of the guests began to enter the hall. Xena recognised many from the party at Caesar's when he had shown off Verchinex. She ignored these too .. they meant nothing to her.
Then, she stiffened. Moving through the doorway, accompanied by Pompey, she saw the unmistakable form of Ephiny! - How in the name of Artemis did she get here! - her mind crackled with speculation, but almost immediately her eyes were drawn to the towering figure, dressed scantily in a loin cloth and silver ownership bands. - Zeus's balls and lightning strikes! - she swore silently as her eyes locked with those of Hercules. An energy seemed to spark between them, and somewhere within the depths of her being she felt the flame of hope fanned into glowing life. - He's come to help us! - she acknowledged to herself, - So has Ephiny, - her mind prodded, - Gods, but if they can just free Gabrielle and the others there may just be a chance .. for me. -
She watched them covertly as they approached the dias, seeing the nervous anger and tension rolling off the demi-god in heated waves. It was so obvious to her that she was surprised that everyone else in the room couldn't see it. She lost sight of them as they passed beyond the table, but she could hear Ephiny conversing with Pompey and she knew that they were seated just behind her close to where Caesar would be ensconced.
Then he was there at the door, Veranius at his elbow, the High Priest of Jupiter with them. The Admiral walked up the right hand side of the feast hall, while the High Priest took the left, leaving Caesar with the opportunity to parade up the centre of the room, to the loud cheering and evident delight of the majority of the guests.
When he reached the dias he stood for a moment regarding Xena with a burning stare. Slowly, almost gently, he reached out a possessive hand and brushed her cheek claiming her in front of everyone in the hall, letting them know that she belonged to him.
Xena jerked her head away, venom almost spitting from intense blue eyes.
With a casual flick of his good left hand he slapped her lightly, almost insultingly across the face and announced to the quietly watching gathering, "The best slaves are the ones with spirit .. once it's been tamed! And she is going to make one of the most magnificent."
He smiled with proprietary superiority as she struggled with her desire to retaliate, knowing that such a reaction would lead to yet another beating, but more importantly, might just push Hercules into attempting something rash. With a great effort of will she pushed down the dark wolf that threatened to take control of her soul and actions, but allowed the pure malevolent hatred to burn in her eyes, making Caesar take an involuntary step back.
However, consummate showman that he was, he turned the motion into a mocking bow in her direction and announced, "Behold how the mighty Warrior Princess is fallen. Chained and abased before Rome as will be all of our fair homeland's enemies." With a mocking smile, he walked along to the right hand side of the dias, mounted it and made his way to his seat behind where Xena was held.
>From his place on his knees, Hercules could occasionally manage to get a glance under the table and the covering cloths, to see how Xena was holding up. Each time he looked he could see his friend was employing full Warrior Princess mode to sit proud and haughty in front of her enemies, enduring the taunts thrown at her along with the scraps of food from their plates. He could tell that she had blocked them out from her existence. She was enduring this humiliation by retreating into herself and refusing to accept the relevance of her surroundings.
He knew she had a strong inner core that she retreated into and sealed herself safely away from outside torments with practically indestructible walls. He had seen her employ the method many times during the years that he had known her and, although he sometimes hated it when she shut everyone and everything out, in this particular situation he was happy that she could do so.
What he wasn't happy about was the blood soaked shirt that gave mute evidence to the fragile state of her lacerated back. Obviously the thrashing she had taken on the steps of the temple had reopened the barely healed wounds that had been inflicted during the voyage to Rome.
Although she presented an outward facade of strength and fortitude, to Hercules, who knew her well, it was evident that she was drawing heavily on depleted reserves to maintain an illusion for the Roman congregation. - Gods! We need to get her away from him .. and soon! - His thoughts railed at him.
>From her place at the table she could see only the back of Xena's head and her shoulders. The warrior's hair looked lank and dirty, and there was evidence of blood crusted into it in several places. The shirt covering her shoulders was thick with blood, showing both the rusty brown of the dried variety and the newer crimson of a fresh flow.
The Regent maintained a conversation with Pompey, who sat to her right, and the respected elder senator, Graccus, who sat to her left. She found the plump, cherubic looking senator to have a rather dry sense of humour and a very sharp wit. She would have been hard pressed to say why, but she didn't think this much respected man was very impressed with Caesar. She filed away the thought just in case it might prove useful at some point.
After interminable courses of savoury and sweet delicacies, mixed liberally with strong wines, things were becoming distinctly rowdy in the hall. Ephiny and Graccus were engaged in conversation about the possibility of doing some trade in Amazon crafts with Rome, when a commanding voice cut across their negotiations.
"I hear, your man is making something of a name for himself in the fighting pits?" Caesar announced.
Smiling an apology to Graccus, Ephiny turned and looked past Pompey into Caesar's intense brown eyes, "Heston is a redoubtable fighter. None of your Roman gladiators have been able to match him as of yet," returned the Regent her own hazel eyes sparking in challenge.
"I'd very much like to see him fight," smiled Caesar seductively, "I'd offer to match him against my slave," he gestured to where Xena sat immobile listening to every word that was being exchanged between the two, "Only she's not really in any condition to compete at the moment, and may not be for some time. She has a rebellious nature, and I think I'd like to take the time and effort to crush that before I fight her again."
"That's a pity," returned Ephiny with a sigh, "We Amazon's know well the Warrior Princess. In fact there is a warrant outstanding in Themiscyra for her arrest on charges of crimes against our nation. You wouldn't consider selling her to me so that I could take her back for trial?" she asked.
Caesar allowed her a smile in return, "Unfortunately, that would not be possible. Xena has been condemned for capital crimes against Rome. In my mercy I commuted her death sentences to life in perpetual slavery. I could not allow her to escape Roman justice when she has only just begun to serve her sentence."
"That truly is a pity, but perhaps we can indulge the conquering hero today, if we can find a match for my Heston, and then maybe, if you can get your slave," she added a sneer to her tone expressing contempt for the Warrior Princess, "fit in time, maybe we can match them before I have to return home."
Caesar smiled pleasantly, leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his fist, "I doubt that will be possible. The slave has much to learn, and is but a slow student."
He gave the woman a long appraising look. He really doubted whether some little queen of a barbarian, backward nation would be able to wager the sums that made fighting Xena worthwhile. However, she really was very attractive, not really a match for the stunning beauty of his captive, but more than just pretty and had that dangerous edge that was so lacking in the high bred ladies of Rome. "How long are you staying with us?" he asked politely.
Ephiny answered him in a languorous purr, "Probably for another moon, then I really must return to my people. The delights and luxuries of Rome will be sorely missed however," she smiled encouragingly at him.
"Excellent!" he declared, "So I will have the chance to entertain the Amazon Queen in my own humble dwelling?"
"Of course, Lord Caesar," Ephiny accepted graciously, "It would be my great pleasure to accept an invitation from you."
"The feast has just about run it's course," Caesar gestured with his hand at the empty dishes and wine jugs, "High Priest Arrestes maintains an excellent pit on the premises. If we can just find a challenger for your man, then maybe we can retire there for some entertainment," he suggested.
"I didn't realise that the priesthood were interested in such matches," remarked Ephiny, although she was not really surprised to hear it.
"All true Romans are interested in the arts of warfare and battle," Caesar explained, "It is part of who and what we are."
Ephiny looked around the chamber and could see that the majority of the guests were either very drunk, or getting there. Most of the guests on the high table had partaken sparingly of the wine, and some few on the lower tables had maintained their control. The crowd watching the fight wouldn't be too large and it might prove to be the bait to hook Caesar.
Making up her mind, the blonde Regent ran a hand through her unruly curls before turning and answering, "If a suitable opponent can be found, I'll be happy to stand Heston against him ..as long as my wager of five hundred thousand dinars can be matched."
Caesar's dark eyes took on a gleam as he re-assessed the wealth of the Amazon, - If she is happy to risk that sort of money on a spur of the moment bout, then how much would she be willing to risk on an arranged fight with Xena. Whatever the amount, it will be mine, for there is no one to beat my Warrior Princess when she is fit. -
Turning to a slave who stood at his shoulder, Caesar whispered the boy an instruction and sent him on his way. He watched as the lad moved down to one of the lower tables and spoke with one of the fairly sober guests there. The man looked at Caesar and nodded, then gestured to his own man who scurried from the hall.
Pompey looked at Caesar, "Lucius seems eager to match his Ethiopian." The blonde man's looks became predatory, "How much will you wager on this bout, Caesar?"
"You know I only bet on my own property, Pompey," came the bored reply, "I'm just going to be an interested observer."
"That's all very well, gentlemen," put in Ephiny, "but just who's going to cover my stake?"
Chuckling, Caesar allowed his mirth to shine in his normally cold, calculating eyes, "Oh, don't worry my dear. I'm sure the wager will be covered by many eager men. You see the Ethiopian has never been beaten."
When they were notified by Lucius that his gladiator had arrived, Caesar had signalled to the looming centurion at the side of the hall, who had moved quickly forward to unlock Xena's leash, and haul her, none to gently, from the chamber. Effecting a satisfied smirk, as she watched the warrior stagger and stumble, Ephiny had turned to Caesar, "That is undoubtedly the way to treat that savage. With all the trouble she has caused throughout the world, she deserves no less."
The blonde cringed inwardly at her own words, but it was necessary to assure the Roman that she and the Amazons were no friends of the Warrior Princess. She graciously took his offered, splinted, arm as he escorted her towards the doorway that Xena had been hustled out of. She could feel Hercules' presence as he stood and silently followed.
"You must tell me just why the Amazons hold such a grudge against her," he said smoothly, "I had heard that she was revered as a hero by most of the people in your land."
Ephiny snorted her apparent contempt. "Some while ago, she abducted and attempted to murder one of our Queens," replied Ephiny easily sticking to the bare truth knowing it likely that Caesar would have heard some vague rumours along those lines, "She was tried and condemned by the Amazon council, and I would have liked to have seen her endure the full rigours of that sentence." She forced a charming smile as her sharp ears picked up the sound of a muffled groan, "However, at least I will be able to report to the Council that the woman is suffering for her crimes and that she will never be able to rampage across our territory again."
"I'm glad to have been some small service to you in that respect then," declared Caesar with pseudo gallantry, raising her hand and kissing it softly, before he escorted her through the door and found Flaccus waiting for him, "Excuse me, for just a moment, Queen Ephiny," he said courteously, turning to observe the centurion and his slave.
Ephiny eyed Xena carefully. She was on her knees again, and the raven haired warrior's body seemed to be trembling with pain and fatigue. There was another budding bruise on her left cheek and fresh stripes across her arms. The Regent's heart went out to her friend as she fervently wished, - Xena ease off on the stubborn resistance, or we won't have anything left to rescue! - She listened carefully to what was being said.
"She knows to behave, my Lord," the craggy centurion affirmed, handing his superior the chain attached to the slave collar.
"Very well," acknowledged Caesar, "but I'll want you and the guards in close attendance with, I think, you and two others right behind her at all times, Flaccus."
The centurion allowed the whip to swing threatening in front of Xena's face, and Ephiny was almost certain that she saw a muscle twitch in her cheek, "We'll be right there, sir, and she knows what to expect if she so much as moves a finger unless told to do so."
The Regent hid the urge to flatten the soldier for the harsh, threatening tone he used, and watched as Caesar jerked on the chain forcing Xena to stagger upright onto her painful, cut, blistered, feet. Turning his back on his dangerous slave, the Roman offered his splinted wrist to Ephiny once more and asked, "Shall we proceed?"
Masking her reluctance to even touch the man, Ephiny returned her hand to his arm, and prayed to Artemis that Hercules wouldn't do anything to blow their cover. With the demi-god trailing along behind her right shoulder, and Xena shuffling along behind Caesar's left, they made their way through the maze of corridors and passages, with Ephiny doing her best to ignore the soldiers who followed in their wake.
When they reached the pit room, they were greeted by Malonda and the rest of her Amazon guard, Caesar having sent a slave to guide them down from the atrium. Ephiny excused herself from Caesar's company for a moment as she touched Hercules' arm and steered him over to her guards.
"Heston will be fighting shortly, Malonda. Have Eris and Yolanda take him down to the pit entrance." She dropped her voice so low that only the big man would hear her, "Don't make it look too easy, Herc. I want him drooling at the prospect of making a fortune from the backwoods, barbarian queen with more money than sense. If you beat this guy too quickly, he might decide it's not worth the risk." She looked up and saw his lips twitch in response.
The sound of voices drifting along the passageways drew her attention back to where Caesar stood. Xena was kneeling 'compliantly' at his feet, the centurion behind her grasping the wicked looking whip in case he was called upon to remind the 'slave' of her place and demeanor. Ten more soldiers were clustered close by, with two of them at the centurion's shoulder.
- They really take no chances with her, - noted the Regent grimly, - She can barely muster the energy to walk, yet they watch her as if she could break loose at any moment. - Returning to Caesar's side, she glanced at the splint on his arm, the fading bruises around his neck, and the scar across his right cheek, - I bet she was responsible for those, - she reflected, - If she was, it's no wonder they watch her so close. And Caesar must be braver than I thought if he still allows her to get that close to him .. even in those chains and with guards close by. -
Slowly the gallery began to fill with those revellers who were not too drunk to make the trip down to the pit to watch the fight. Small fortunes were wagered, easily covering Ephiny's stake and many others besides. However, the blonde Amazon's thoughts were definitely elsewhere, even though she pretended to closely study the Ethiopian who had at last entered the pit.
- Xena could easily kill Caesar from this range, - the Amazon concentrated on her chain of thought, - So after all he's done to her, why hasn't she? Why doesn't she? - She chewed that over for a few moments before berating herself, - Of course! She still thinks he has Gabrielle .. and I have no way of telling her that she's safe. - She almost let out a sigh of annoyance, but caught herself in time. - Once the fight is arranged we can let her know .. until then .... - she allowed the thought to go unfinished, not wishing to contemplate how much more harm her friend was likely to come to.
Turning to Caesar, she asked him, "If you don't mind me asking, just how did you manage to capture the bitch from Tartarus?" Offering up a silent prayer that Xena would understand the need to play out her role fully.
The Roman smiled, and launched into his carefully crafted plan, explaining just how he had meticulously worked out every minute detail, knowing just how difficult it would be.
He buried the scowl that he could feel trying to etch itself onto his features. Walking beside Xena on the way to this fight, he'd been close enough to touch her, to put his arms around her and comfort her and, because of the God's be damned situation, been unable to do so. - Just hang in there, Xena, - he told her mentally. - We'll get you out of here .. my oath on it! -
Knowing that what he did next would be a major factor in the successful operation of their plans, he carefully studied the man facing him. He'd heard Caesar tell Ephiny that this man had never been beaten in a pit fight, and looking at him, he could well believe it.
The Ethiopian stood with quiet confidence, there was no bluster or bravado about him. He knew his abilities and didn't need to employ self advertising, his reputation spoke for itself. Hercules noted that he showed none of the eager willingness that he'd seen in other fighters, either. He was here to do a job, and unless the demi-god missed his guess, he didn't take much delight in either it or his much vaunted prowess. Under other circumstances, Hercules might have enjoyed getting the chance to know this man.
The fighter's escorts left the pit and the tawney haired man heard Caesar order the combat to commence. However, playing true to his assumed disabilities, he waited for the other man to make the first move. He knew that the eyes of the eager crowds were upon him, but more especially, he could feel Xena's intense blue eyes watching him assiduously.
The tall ebony skinned man, came forward towards Herc, his eyes showing intelligence and his approach was cautious as he looked to feel out the strengths of his opponent. As he closed with the demi-god, he snapped out a straight right that jerked Hercules's head back and forced him to retreat a step.
- Ouch! - the tawny haired blue eyed 'concubine' acknowledged silently, - This one's going to be trouble. -
Raising his hands in defence, Hercules looked for an opening. He watched as the Ethiopian circled warily and shot out a tentative punch himself, just grazing his opponent's shoulders as the man dropped to the ground and kicked the demi-god's feet out from under him, bringing him crashing down.
Rolling on instinct, Herc avoided having the full weight of the man hit him as he threw himself at the spot just vacated by the hero. Allowing a smile to ease onto his face, Hercules got smoothly to his feet and waited for his opponent to stand. - Oh yeah! - he conceded, - this one is not going to be easy! -
Taking his time, the Ethiopian began to circle once more, his eyes never leaving Herc's as he judged his moves. He threw a right fist again, only to have it caught and held by the demi-god, who used some of his strength to pull his muscular challenger closer to meet his own right fist, causing the gladiator's head to jerk back in pain.
Hercules knew that his adversary had managed to roll with the blow, what surprised him, though, was just how quick and lithe he was as he allowed the momentum of the punch to spin him across the hero's chest so that his back was presented to him, and then he dropped suddenly to the ground allowing his whole body to go limp, completely unbalancing Herc, and catapulting him across the pit to slam into the wall below where Caesar, Xena and Ephiny watched.
"Heston's tough. It'll take more than a wall to knock him out of the reckoning." responded Ephiny confidently.
"Tell me," the Roman asked, curiosity tangible in his tone, "Why didn't he attack when I ordered the fight to begin?"
"He's a deaf mute," answered the Regent candidly, it gives his opponents something of a small advantage, but he's always been able to compensate for that little disability."
"Ah .. I believe I head someone mention that fact." Glancing down to where Xena knelt, watching the bout between the wooden railings, Caesar questioned, "Has my 'pet'," he watched the Warrior Princess stiffen at the word, "met your man before?" He gently stroked the crusted silky hair that was in dire need of washing. - Let her know and get used to her master's touch! - he gloated.
The warrior jerked her head to the side, throwing off her hated enemy's hand, only to wince sharply as Flaccus' whip lashed across her arm, "Sit quiet you animal!" he snarled.
Trying to ignore what was happening Ephiny hastened to answer, "Heston wasn't in Themiscyra when that savage abducted our last Queen," - Nice sidestep there Eph! - she congratulated herself, - Let's see if we can get some information through to Xena that'll make her feel better. - "In fact we were very lucky to get her back into safe keeping," she put a little bit of an emphasis on the relevant words, hoping that Xena would pick up on it and recognise what she was trying to tell her.
"Damn lucky!" growled the warrior, "Your Harlot Queen ..." she drew a sharp breath as Flaccus cut the scourge across her bare arm, raising a fresh pattern weals on her battered flesh.
Ephiny tried not wince in sympathy turning instead to Caesar and remarking cuttingly, "It doesn't appear that your efforts in taming the bitch are having any great effect .. perhaps you should try other methods. I've heard that the savage thrives on her own pain, perhaps you should find another to inflict it on to keep her in line?"
Xena couldn't believe that Ephiny was preposing to Caesar that he use the bard against her in that fashion! - Maybe she want's the job of Queen for real and is here to see that neither Gabrielle or I ever return home. - came a mocking thought. Anger hardened in her eyes turning them frigid as she stared hostilely at the Regent, "That's typical of an Amazon .. use others for their dirty work," she snarled, lunging forward only to be pulled up short by the leash Caesar held. He yanked back hard causing the metal collar to bite viciously into her flesh, leaving her choking for breath as Flaccus once again disciplined her with his whip.
Ephiny was frantic trying to think of a way to get her message across so that Xena would understand and stop fighting her captivity long enough to allow them to arrange an escape, "I have heard that the bitch travels with a bard," she offered nonchalantly to Caesar while Xena struggled with against her Roman guards. "It would be a pity to waste such a valuable commodity as a bard merely as a tool to quell the savage. We Amazons hold bards in very high regard. In fact the Amazon bard in my retinue is considered to be the priceless jewel of the nation. However, we must use whatever materials come to hand when necessity drives us." She smiled seductively at Caesar, hoping that Xena understood the message she was trying to convey.
As Ephiny's words registered, the Warrior Princess slowly ceased her struggles and risked a brief questioning look at the Regent, praying that the friendship and compassion that she saw in the Amazon's eyes meant what she had desperately hoped for .. that Gabrielle and the others were free. Breathing heavily from pain and exhaustion, Xena could only hope that it was so.
"I believe you owe the Amazon Queen an apology, Xena," growled Caesar, privately amused to see the flaring animosity between the two women.
The warrior raised a pain filled glare for him, "Kiss my butt!" she ground out, preparing herself for another round of physical abuse. She needed to make Caesar believe that she and Ephiny hated each other .. it now seemed obvious what the Regent was attempting to establish within the Roman's mind.
Flaccus drew back his arm ready to inflict more punishment, when Ephiny broke in smoothly. "I shouldn't worry about that. An apology from a slave is worthless. It will be far more satisfying to me, for her to receive her punishment at the hands of my man, Heston," she told them, glancing back at the fight in the pit. "For that to happen she needs to heal and she's not going to do that while you keep beating her. I'm certain you ingenious Romans could find another way to discipline the animal." She smiled encouragingly at Caesar.
"I'm certain that Flaccus already has a method in mind," purred the Roman leader. "Ah," he said glancing back to the ongoing contest, "it appears that this might be nearing its close."
They turned their attention back to the fight.
Not waiting for his opponent to fully recover, the Ethiopian moved in quickly, embracing Hercules in a crushing bear hug, trapping his arms, and pulling tighter as he settled his grip. The demi-god felt the vice like clinch as the pressure increased and knew that he had to do something to get out of it before real damage was done to him.
Throwing his head back he snapped it forward, butting the dark skinned gladiator just above the bridge of his nose. The hold relaxed momentarily, before tightening once again. Knowing he had to break the grip, Hercules repeated his head butt, this time a little lower, smashing his opponent's nose to a messy pulp.
With a strangled cry of pain, the Ethiopian released the demi-god, and staggered backwards clutching his shattered proboscis. Hercules stood gulping in deep breaths of much needed air, and clutching his own head that rang to a symphony of bells from the power behind the blow.
Aware that he didn't have time to lament over his own hurts, he pushed forward in attack, slamming a right fist into the black body before him and driving a left towards the gladiators jaw, only to find himself missing as the other man slipped his head out of the way.
Unable to stop the heavy forward momentum, Hercules found himself half turned as the Ethiopian wound an arm under the hero's extend left, pulling him in so that Herc had his back to the other man. A right arm snaked under the demi-god's right shoulder and the gladiator's hands locked firmly together behind the big man's neck, forcing his shoulder's up and neck down, straining the spine, and threatening to break it.
With the pain growing intense, the son of Zeus knew he had to act quickly. Stamping down hard on the gladiator's left instep, he felt the pressure ease enough to make a drop to his knees viable, flipping the Ethiopian over his head so that he landed flat on his back But the gladiator was quick enough to twist onto his stomach, which was what Hercules had been waiting for.
Moving with a speed that belied his bulk, Hercules pounced on the gladiator's back and forced his right arm into an agonising hammerlock, increasing the pressure until the man had to concede the fight or have his arm broken. When he saw the Ethiopian bang the ground with his free hand in submission, Hercules released him and stood to accept the cheers of approbation from the crowd, locking eyes with Xena and seeing the bright warmth of her congratulations there. - Damn! But I wish I could just ... - He left the thought unfinished knowing that now was neither the time nor the place.
"If Heston can have a chance at beating that murdering bitch into seven kinds of pulp, then I'll happily delay my departure until after the match is made," grinned Ephiny, "So long as it doesn't take too long to arrange."
He grabbed a handful of Xena's hair and yanked her head back to look into her eyes, "Well .. my pet tends to heal fast, so as long as she behaves herself, we should be able to make that match at, say, full moon?"
"I'll look forward to it ..." grinned the Regent ferally, "I hope you have plenty of dinars, because I'll be wagering big on my man. He's never been defeated, and I'm going to delight in seeing him humble her."
Xena's icy eyes glared equally at both Caesar and Ephiny, "Well it's true that she needs humbling," agreed Caesar, "but you'll forgive me if I don't cheer your man on to success. Apart from the wager, I want to have the pleasure of breaking and humbling her myself."
Shaking his hand away, Xena forced herself to her feet only to be met by the restraining arms of Flaccus's guards. Caesar casually handed the leash over to the centurion and ordered, "Take her back to the palace and see that's she's suitably housed."
He turned his back on them as the Warrior Princess was partly dragged from the pit gallery and returned his full attention to Ephiny, "Well, my dear, we have the rest of the evening to become acquainted and I'm sure that you must have some fascinating stories that you can regale me with about your people and homeland."
- Oh boy! - Ephiny rolled mental eyes, - This guy is so full of himself .. even if he does have the looks and charm to back it up, his ego's so big there's no room in his life for anyone but himself. Sheesh! And I'm gonna have to seem like I enjoy his company. Xena you're gonna owe me big time for this! -
She wished that she had thought to bring something with her to eat, - A flask of port would go down pretty well, right now, too, - she told herself.
Making herself as comfortable as possible, she wondered what delights Ephiny would get to partake in. - Although having the delight of Herc's semi-naked body to feast upon should be enough for any woman, - she mused idly. - He sure is easy on the eyes, but personally, I prefer my men shorter, blonder and with curlier hair, - she grinned at the thought of Iolaus. - Guess I'll just have to go up to the palace and visit with him when I deliver my report to Ephiny and the others. -
The streets were empty, and had been for a long time, except for the soldiers that stood guard around the Temple of Jupiter. Long candlemarks had passed in boring procession when Nebula saw soldiers emerging from the side of the building. She counted eleven and two of them were half supporting a woman that could only be Xena.
The pirate watched, intense and alert, as the legionary maniple formed up around the newcomers. Shaking her head, she watched as the captive was marched off. She had presumed that the soldiers were an elite guard for Caesar, not for a solitary female prisoner, - Gods! - she breathed, - that must be some woman. -
As they passed her position on the Clivus Capitolinus, Nebula held her breath as a pair of startling, very blue, eyes bored through the shadows directly into her own brown ones, - How in Hades name did she know I was here? - wondered the woman, knowing full well that none of the hundred and sixty strong guard had detected her. - I am really looking forward to getting the chance to meet her, - she grinned. - I want to see if she fights as good as they say. -
Like a silent shadow, she ghosted along in the wake of the marching soldiers as they moved down to where the road joined the Via Sacra. But instead of taking that street, they cut across the square housing The Well of the Comitia and then proceeded up the Clivus Argentarius to where Caesar's palace stood imposingly illuminated in Rome's night skies.
Waiting only to make sure that this was indeed the final destination for the woman she trailed, Nebula turned and was about to set off on the long walk for Pompey's abode, when she froze in place. Leaving from a side gate, she spotted a familiar seeming figure and decided that here was someone else she had better follow to see what they were up to.
She had not been surprised when she noticed the tall dark skinned woman hidden in the deep shadows. She recognised her from the docks and, now that she knew that the Amazons were in Rome, she could accept that she had seen Eponin with the woman, which meant that she had to be classed as a friend. Locking eyes with the watcher she had detected the faint trace of admiration, and maybe challenge, in them.
Having been in Rome only recently, Xena recognised the route that she was being taken along. She was well aware of the layout of Caesar's palace too. The thought that they'd lock her into the dungeon that had held Verchinex, allowed her to plot possible escape plans. She knew that she'd still be under close guard but ...
That was where her thoughts had taken her to Gabrielle. - What was it that Ephiny had said? 'They were very lucky to get her back into safe keeping'? Have they managed to rescue Gabrielle? .. and the others? By the Gods, - she swore, - If they're free and safe, then Caesar better start counting his life in days! - She thought about the Regent's brief discourse on bards, - Jewel of the Nation, huh? - The only Amazon bard she was aware of who might rate that description was Gabrielle. - She has to be safe, doesn't she? - she questioned herself, - Or is Eph trying to tell me she will rescue her? - The puzzle made her head pound worse than it already was, but she was unable to push it aside .. it was crucial to everything!
If Flaccus had been able to see the savage gleam that sprang to light in the Warrior Princesses eyes as she mulled Ephiny's words over, he would have known that something had changed .. something had given her a resurrection of hope. However, he walked oblivious behind her just noting with satisfaction the exhaustion that was evident in her movement and the slump to her shoulders that she had carefully maintained.
When they reached the palace, she had been expecting to be taken down to Caesar's personal prison. However, it seemed that they had other plans for her lodging. She was hurried through the long parade of corridors and finally out into a torchlit drill yard. The guards obviously knew exactly where they were heading for as they marched to the centre of the high walled, gateless enclosure.
When they came to a stop, two soldiers bent down and struggled to raise a very heavy, barred trapdoor that opened up onto a seven foot square pit that hosted just a wooden bucket and a pair of blankets.
Flaccus unlocked the chain from her collar and gave her a none to gentle shove that sent her down into the eight foot deep hole. Even injured and shackled as she was, she landed in a cat like crouch on the packed earth floor, "This is your new home," the centurion snarled, 'Get used to it!"
She watched helplessly as the thick bars of the pit door were dropped into place with a heavy "THUD!!!" and secured by a bolt and two thick padlocks. Anger and despair gripped at her as she heard Flaccus post the six watchers close to the cell and a further twenty around the walls, all armed with pistol crossbows and drugged darts. There would be no escape for her for the foreseeable future.
They made directly for the men's suite, aware that everyone was going to be waiting for them there. The Amazon guard that secured the wing of the palace occupied by the queens and their male companions, bowed their heads in salute as Ephiny passed, and wondered just what had happened to put such grim looks on the faces of everyone in the Regent's party.
The guards swung the doors open as the blonde Regent and her companions approached and they were met by a volley of strained, tense questions all about how Xena was faring. Waiting until the door had closed, Ephiny held up her hands and said forcefully, "Silence! We won't get anywhere if you all babble on like a gaggle of geese." She glared around at the suddenly quiet room, knowing that the anger that had been rising within her all afternoon and evening had suddenly boiled over.
She wiped a hand across her brow and forced herself to calm down, "Look, I'm sorry for snapping, but it's been a really bad day." She sat down on one of the chairs scattered around the room as Hercules did the same, running his fingers through his hair in an effort to ease the tension he felt.
"Wine Eph? Hercules?" offered Eponin, standing by a pitcher.
"Water for me, please," returned the demi-god morosely.
"And me, Poni. I've had enough to drink for one day," agreed the Regent.
"Alright, Ephiny," the bard said as she came to sit next to her friend, "Just how bad does Xena look."
The Regent drew a deep breath and, looking Gabrielle square in the face, she replied, "Bad." She grasped the bards hand and threw Toris a look as the dark haired man slammed his fist into the wall in frustration and anger, "Getting ourselves worked up about it, and breaking our own bodily parts," she frowned in Toris's direction, "are not going to help her. We need to stay focused on our objective, which is to get her away from Caesar."
"Tell us how she looked," demanded the blue eyed male image of the Warrior Princess.
"What Poni said earlier is true. I didn't see the full damage, but the blood that was soaking through the shirt she was wearing suggests that her back is pretty well ripped raw." Ephiny closed her eyes to screen out the infuriated looks that stole over her friends' faces. "She's pretty bruised up around the head and I suspect over most of her body. Her feet are bloody and blistered from a barefoot walk through the streets. She's picked up fresh welts over her arms, and we saw a bunch of guards beat her on the Temple steps. I'd say she takes more than one pounding every day, because she refuses to give them an inch without them forcing her to."
Taking the goblet of water from Eponin's hands she took a couple of long grateful draughts before she added, "Caesar's carrying a few wounds himself. He's got a fairly new scar down the length of his jaw, a broken arm and some heavy bruising around his throat. If I had to guess I know who I'd put my money on for having done it .. which probably explains her back, if nothing else."
Eponin handed Hercules his water and the big man tossed it back in a single long swallow, then sat moodily cradling the cup. Iolaus looked at Ephiny and then back at his friend before he spoke, catching the worried glance that the Regent threw at the son of Zeus, "Umm, Herc? You haven't said much." His eyes were drawn to the silver goblet that gave out a screech as his friend crushed it in one mighty hand, "Ah, I guess that means you're not too happy about the situation," he offered.
Light blue eyes were raised to his, "Happy is not a word I'd use to describe my feelings at this time, no," rumbled the big man. "Try livid, furious, incensed or enraged, but nothing like happy!" He squeezed the remnants of the goblet into a ball and threw it with all his might at the wall opposite him.
Iolaus flinched as he heard the metal punch a hole through the solid stone of the wall and take off for parts unknown. As he gave his friend a pensive look, he knew he couldn't remember a time when he'd ever seen him this mad before, - Not even when Deianeira and the kids were killed! - He was certain it was because this time he was on the spot, and still he couldn't do anything to help someone he loved. Moving across to Hercules's side he patted the man gently on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze, letting him know that he understood.
"Ephiny tell me exactly what happened from the time you first saw her," Gabrielle insisted softly. She needed to know the worst. She needed to know if her friend would be able to hold out until they figured out a way to snatch her from the predators jaws.
"You're the bard, Gabrielle," the Regent gave a wan smile, "but I'll do my best."
She told them about the parade, how Xena had been made to kneel before Caesar on the temple steps. The way the crowd had howled for her blood, and Xena's reaction to Caesar's speech. The beating she'd got for trying to resist and then how she'd been chained as an exhibit in the banqueting hall. The humiliation of being forced to sit through the Romans' taunts and having scraps thrown at her. The whip's stinging reminder to make sure she behaved herself in Caesar's presence when they had gone to watch Hercules fight the Ethiopian. The way she had to be half dragged from the temple when Caesar finally dismissed her.
Gabrielle sat quietly, a far away look in her eyes as she absorbed everything that Ephiny had to say. - I told her to be careful. I told her not to make them angry. I knew that stubborn pride of hers would get her into trouble. Oh, Xena! Please take care. Try to keep out of trouble until we can get out of this miserable city! -
"There is one good thing .. well maybe two," the Regent added at the end of her description, "Caesar has agreed to match Xena against Hercules in a pit fight at the new moon, which means they have to ease up on the beatings or she'll never be fit for it." She smiled encouragingly as she got a more hopeful look from the bard, "I also tried to let her know you were safe. The message was pretty oblique, I had to be careful what I said, but she may just have got the idea and, with luck, will understand what it means."
"Thank you Ephiny," the bard gave her a weak smile.
"There's not much else we can do for now. Just sit tight. You lot should keep your heads down, and the rest of us make sure our plans are damn watertight so that we can pull this off and get out of here with whole skins," she told them all.
She was just about to stand and head back to her apartments, when a commotion at the doors took her attention.
The Amazon moved hurriedly through the streets, making a straight line back towards Pompey's palace, not looking to make any detours as she headed back for the quarters that the Amazon Guards had been assigned upon reaching Rome.
The pirate watched as her quarry slipped past the sentry with a soft word and melted back into the stillness of the silent barracks, - Ephiny's definitely got problems here, - she thought, - I wonder if she realises it? I suppose I'd better go and let her know the news. -
Having never been to Pompey's Palace before, Nebula had to pick her way around the building, and then run the gauntlet of the Roman's guards, before she was finally conducted to the wing of the building that housed the Amazon Regent and her retinue.
"Hi," she greeted the two Amazons doing sentry duty on the door, "If Ephiny's in there, I need to see her."
The two women cast glances at each other and then firmly crossed their spears in front of Nebula, "Sorry, we've got orders to let no one in."
"Hey look!" she told them sternly, "You know who I am, if it wasn't for me none of you featherheads would have got here, so just be good girls and get the damn door open so I can talk to Ephiny."
"Listen, we already told you that no goes in there without permission," snarled the taller of the two guards, "And that means no one, including you!"
Nebula gave her a long hard glare before speaking to the Amazon as she would to a rather slow child, "If I need permission, open the door, put your head in and ask for it. Or if you'd rather, I can arrange for you head to go through that door without opening it first! ... Your choice."
She saw temper flare in the guards eyes, and was aware that the other Amazons standing sentry along the corridor were turning their heads to see what the problem was. Nebula hoped that someone from inside would come and investigate the noise, before she was forced to get rough.
"Now look here, pirate!" snarled the angry Amazon, "Just who do you think you're threa...."
The door to the apartment flew open with a sudden bang, and a very unamused Eponin stormed through it, radiating authoritative ire in all directions, "What in the name of Hades is all the yelling about!" she demanded in a tone just short of a roar that gained everyone's immediate attention as she glared up and down the corridor. Amazon heads snapped back to look directly in front of themselves, not wanting to attract the weapon master's attention.
"This .. pirate doesn't understand the words 'no' and 'permission'," returned the tall guard who was still smarting under Nebula's threat to throw her through the door.
"Since when did you learn to understand them, Berra?" growled the weapons master testily. She waved a hand at the woman as her back stiffened in defence, "Alright, alright, you were just doing as ordered, but next time just ask if we want to see the visitor, don't start a major brawl in the corridor, we'll have the Romans thinking we're more barbaric than they already do."
Turning on her heel, Eponin headed back into the room before realising that Nebula wasn't following, "Well? Are you coming?" she demanded brusquely.
"Just waiting for an invitation," grinned the pirate, "wouldn't want anyone to think I was gate crashing," she added levelling a glare at Berra and getting one back in return.
Nebula followed Poni into the big room that seemed somehow to be almost crowded by the amount of people there. The pirate looked round with interest picking out the familiar faces of Hercules and Iolaus, whom she treated to a long, lascivious, grin. She, of course, knew Ephiny and Eponin and so presumed the third woman had to be Gabrielle, bard and Amazon Queen.
At first glance she thought that there must have been some mistake. The small honey blonde looked anything but Amazon material her whole demeanor seemed gentle and non-threatening and, after spending quite some time in Amazon company, Nebula knew that that was far from normal. However, when she looked up, and misty green eyes caught the pirate's gaze, the tall dark woman reconsidered her evaluation. There was a quiet strength to Gabrielle, nothing showy, just a confident air and a steady competence that asserted itself. A second glance also told the sailor that the bard was far from being a weakling. The muscular frame wasn't obvious. but anyone looking could see the sleek ripple of strength and an unconscious sense of co-ordination that spoke volumes.
- Well, - mused Nebula, - Amazon Queen, bard and warrior. A woman of hidden talents and depths. Wonder what she's like on a ship? -
In the instant it had taken to recognise and evaluate Gabrielle, the door had been swung shut behind them and three more men moved into sight. From the descriptions that Eponin had given her, she recognised Autolycus and Joxer before turning her head and meeting a familiar blue eyed appraisal. Familiar, because she'd encountered it's twin only a candlemark previously outside the Temple of Jupiter, - Xena's brother, Toris, obviously, - she identified, - Well the looks obviously run true in that family. -
Ephiny drew everyone's attention, "This is Nebula," she introduced, "She's the captain of the ship that brought us here and she'll be taking us back to Greece once we've managed to rescue Xena." She then proceeded to acquaint the pirate with everyone formally.
After making a few noises in the direction of social smalltalk, Ephiny asked the question everyone wanted to hear the answer too, "Did they take her to Caesar's palace?"
"They surely did, and they had a whole maniple to guard her. I thought those soldier boys were hanging around to escort Caesar home. You can imagine my surprise when they formed up around her and marched her off," the sea woman told them, "Look, is there any chance of getting something to eat and drink here, I've been stood around on streets since just past midday and I'm both famished and parched." she grumbled.
Iolaus grinned and threw her an apple, "Chew on that while I pour you some wine," he told her.
She snagged the apple with graceful ease, grinned and said, "Thanks Curly," before she took a large bite from it chewing thoughtfully. Swallowing, she looked up and told them, "You know, thinking about it, I shouldn't have been surprised at the amount of guards she's got. While I was hanging around waiting for the parade to start, I overheard some of the sailors off the trireme gossiping, and they reckoned that in the time Caesar's had her she's been responsible for the death or hospitalisation of close on twenty men .. and that's with all the chains and injuries she's been carrying around with her. Those legionaries in that unit are the handpicked elite from Rome's legions and they're all pretty scared of her."
"Xena, is not someone you mess with lightly," Gabrielle told her. "Caesar knows that, which is why he's gone to such lengths to take and hold her."
Ephiny allowed the pirate to finish her apple and take a long draught of the wine that Iolaus handed her, before asking the woman to fill them in on what had happened on the march through the city, knowing that everyone in the room felt the need to know what their friend was suffering through.
"The march was bad for her. She's carrying around a lot of pain and wounds and her strength looked like it was flagging. It was only the sedate pace that allowed her to keep going .. it probably didn't help her having to walk in bare feet. To be honest, I'm surprised that she made it to the temple steps without being dragged half the way. She took a couple of heavy falls, but those guards got her too her feet before she could be dragged too far." She took another mouthful of wine and allowed it to trickle down her throat.
"Ephiny's most likely filled you in on the scene at the temple, and what went on inside. When they came out they just marched her off to Caesar's place. She was being supported by two of the soldiers, but she was alert ... I was well hidden in the shadows, but she spotted me. I think she knew I was a friend. What I want to know is how she managed to do that. None of those Romans had any idea I was there."
Half a dozen voices said at once, "She has many skills," then laughed weakly about it.
"Thank you, Nebula," the bard said when the recitation finished.
"Just make certain you get her out. I don't like the Romans. I don't like Caesar, but I would like to meet her," the pirate grinned.
"I'm sure she'll want to meet you too," Gabrielle grinned in return.
With everyone talking quietly, the sailor stood and took Ephiny by the elbow, "I need a quiet word with you." The Regent arched an eyebrow at her, inviting her to continue.
"I think you've got a breach in security and some traitors in your ranks. I just followed an Amazon back here, and I picked up her trail as she was coming out of Caesar's side gate."
Taking a breath, Nebula explained once more the situation as she saw it, "After I followed the guards to Caesar's palace, I was just about to drag anchors and head up here to give Ephiny a report, when I saw an Amazon slip out of the side gate of the building."
She noted the intense looks that sprang instantly into all the women's eyes, "I know you are hardly going to be friendly with Caesar, and the fact that that particular Amazon came out of a side entrance, kind of made me think that something might be going on that you didn't know about. So I decided that I'd better follow whoever it was wherever they were headed for next. As it turned out, she came straight back here, passed a word to the guard at the barracks and slipped back inside."
"Did you see who it was?" questioned Eponin sharply.
"Who? The woman I tailed or the guard?" responded the pirate.
"Both," Ephiny answered curtly.
"Well, I'm fairly certain that the one I tailed was that chunky, pug nosed, girl .. Jery? something like that anyway," Nebula told them.
"Jerushan!" breathed Eponin explosively her muscles tense, anger clear in her voice. The pirate saw the Regent touch her friend's shoulder lightly drawing her attention. The was a faint shake of the pale curls and the weapons master allowed herself to relax .. a little.
"What about the guard?" pressed Ephiny.
"That was Essaine. I recognised her because she was pretty good up top on the yards," filled in the sea woman.
"Ephiny?" questioned the bard in confusion, "What's going on here?"
The Regent gave her Queen a worried look. She had more than enough to worry about without the problem of domestic Amazon squabbles added to it. The only thing was that with Jerushan dropping in to visit Caesar, it looked like the domestic problems were about to get more complicated.
"Ephiny?" repeated Gabrielle, concern evident in her voice and eyes.
"When I," she threw a look at Eponin, "we decided to come after you and Xena, we decided that it wouldn't be wise to leave Solari with the problem of keeping an eye on some of the more vigourous dissidents .. so we brought the leaders with us."
"Tarelle," stated the bard flatly.
"Yes. Her and seven of her playmates. We thought that bringing them with us and keeping a close watch on them would keep them out of trouble," explained the Regent, "Eponin, Solari and Malonda hand-picked the rest of the sisters to make up the guard so that we could be certain that we'd be able to keep a close eye on Tarelle and her clique."
"Then how did Jerushan get out of the barracks and why was Essaine on guard duty?" demanded the small, green eyed, woman.
"Because neither Jerushan, nor Essaine are part of Tarelle's seven." Eponin butted in.
"I guess we have a real problem here guys," interjected Nebula, "because unless you can sort out just who to trust in your group, Caesar's going to know everything we've got planned and the outcome of that ain't going to be pretty."
Joxer gave him a cheesy grin and answered, "Well I didn't actually say I've never played before. I just asked you to explain the rules," he chuckled. "Actually I'm pretty lucky at dice games. In fact I've been called 'Mr Lucky' before." He laughed as he crossed his legs.
"Well, I suppose you have to be lucky at something," the thief continued to grumble, having the feeling that he'd just been suckered.
"Just pay him the money, Autolycus," smirked Iolaus, rather pleased that the wannabe warrior was able to get one over on the thief. "And pass me the dice, I'm gonna make the numbers tumble."
"Listen, shorty," began the King of Thieves testily, "I've just about had it up to here," he gestured over Iolaus' head, "with you."
"You wanna make something of it," growled the blonde man as he stood and loomed over the thief. They'd been stuck together for many days, and these two men had a short tolerance of each other.
Autolycus jumped up too, and leaned over to look down at the far shorter man, "And if I did, what do you think you could do about it?"
Bunching a fist in a threatening manner, Iolaus took a step towards the other man as Toris scooped the dice out of the way, "I'm sure that I can think of something," snarled the blonde.
Autolycus stepped back and held up his hands placatingly, "Now let's not be hasty. You don't want to start something that I might not be able to finish."
"Aw, c'mon guys," Joxer tried to calm things down, "Let's get back to the game."
Both looked down at him and said in perfect unison, "Shut up, Joxer!" before turning back and glaring at each other.
"Hey!" barked a voice from the other side of the room. All eyes turned to see Hercules regarding them sternly, "I'm trying to read here," he said gesturing with the scroll in his hands. "Play nice."
Under the demi-god's scrutiny, the two antagonists glared at each other for a heartbeat more, before Iolaus grumbled, "You're bacon just got saved, pal," as he reseated himself on the floor and caught the dice that Toris passed to him with a grin.
"Anytime you want to try, Curly," muttered Autolycus as he took his place in the circle too.
"Oh, Autolycus," called the big man, his eyes back on the scroll that Gabrielle had lent him.
"Yeah?" returned the thief.
"Don't forget to pay Joxer the money you owe him," instructed Hercules.
Grumbling under his breath, Autolycus dug through his various pockets and hidden pouches to dig out the three dinars that he owed Joxer. He handed them to the grinning man, who happily took them and pocketed them with a cheerful, "Thanks."
Settling back down to the game, bets were made on the next round of throws and order appeared to be restored once again as the four men egged each other on cheering and groaning as luck either brushed them or passed them by.
Hercules kept a surreptitious eye on the group, particularly watching Toris. Since he had met the man, the demi-god had been struck by just how much he and his sister were truly alike. He'd heard, from Iolaus, all about the raven haired man's suspect temper and hot headed actions, which he suspected were not so unlike Xena's before she learned to channel her rage and focus on an objective. To add to this he was sparing with his conversation almost to the point of reticence, a characteristic that was matched by Xena's own absence of social chatter. Then of course they were very physically alike. Tall, hair as black as a raven's wing, piercing blue eyes and strong, muscular bodies. Hercules judged that Toris had the edge on his sister in height and carried a few more pounds, but Xena's strength far surpassed her sibling's and was not greatly less than his own.
Of course, the Warrior Princess was a lethal weapon in her own right as well as with the tools of the bloody trade she once followed. The son of Zeus had never seen a warrior who approached her total fighting capabilities. Her competitive nature and relentless drive made her the best at what she did.
Iolaus had told him that Toris was good with a blade and pretty handy in a brawl, but he had none of Xena's phenomenal ability and power, and Hercules doubted that he had the gift that allowed the woman to heal far faster than any mortal had a right to. That, more than any other characteristic that she possessed, had caused him to speculate about her, because the only other person, he was aware of, with that particular anility, was himself.
He shook his head and turned back to concentrate on his reading, allowing the chattering from the game to wash over him as he followed the story of Caesar's pursuit and capture of the bard and the Warrior Princess. Gabrielle had written it out to alleviate her boredom, and Hercules had asked if he could read it to try and gain a better understanding of the entire situation.
It was at this point that Ephiny, Eponin, Gabrielle and Nebula re-entered the men's suite of rooms. Hercules looked up, somewhat surprised to see them return so quickly, and instantly noted the glum frowns that the women exhibited. Something had happened, and it obviously wasn't good news.
He saw Eponin stop just inside the door, barring entry to anyone, and making certain that no-one could crack the door to eavesdrop. It would take someone with extremely acute hearing to be able to glean anything through the thickness of the heavy oak doors themselves.
Nebula gravitated over towards where the men had looked up from their dice game to see what was going on. When she reached Iolaus, she ruffled his hair and grinned as she greeted him, "Hi, curly."
"Quit that!" he snapped, the rosy hue of a blush showing evidence around his neck. He looked up and saw Gabrielle watching and the flush ran rampant up to the roots of his hair.
"Aw," chuckled Autolycus, "Isn't that sweet."
"Look, I've had just about enough of you and your comments!" flared the blonde man, making a lunge away from the close proximity of the pirate and towards the throat of the thief.
"If you gentlemen have quite finished playing," Ephiny cut in coldly, "I think you should know that we have a problem that we need to sort out."
That brought everyone up short and captured their attention, except for Iolaus who suddenly found himself in close proximity to Nebula once more as she draped an arm across his shoulders and squeezed him close, "Decided that you're ready to do the bondage thing that you promised me?" she asked in a stage whisper that had him blushing crimson once again.
"Well," commented Autolycus speculatively, "Well, well, well. Didn't know that you went in for that kind of thing, short stuff."
"I don't," growled the short man huffily as he extracted himself with difficulty from Nebula's grip and hurried over to stand at Gabrielle's side, only to get a somewhat frosty stare from the bard.
"She's just teasing," he shrugged as everyone turned their eyes on him once more, "Honest."
"I'm certain that you don't owe us an explanation," the Amazon Queen stated frigidly, "Whatever you do with Nebula is your own affair, I'm sure."
"Gabrielle ..." Iolaus tried before giving it up not knowing what to say to the young woman who had stolen his heart three years previously.
"Iolaus, let's hear what the ladies have to say, shall we?" put in the demi-god, as much to rescue his floundering friend as anything else. Iolaus shot him a grateful look. "Uh .. sure, Herc," mumbled the blonde man.
"Ephiny?" questioned Hercules politely, standing up and offering the couch to Queen and her Regent.
The two women sat down and gestured for the rest of the people in the room, with the exception of Eponin, to gather around them so that voices would not be required to be raised. The men all moved across and seated themselves on the floor in a kind of semi-circle, with Iolaus keeping a wary eye on Nebula until she went and stood behind the two Amazon Queens.
Taking a deep breath, the Regent started with, "This is a little difficult to explain. It's a domestic Amazon issue that I hoped we had under control, only now it seems we don't and it's threatening to undermine everything that we're doing here."
"Forgive me, Queen Ephiny," put in Toris, "but that's a little obscure, you know. How can domestic issues for Amazon's affect my sister's rescue?"
The Regent turned her eyes to the tall man and wondered, once again, how he could look so much like his sister, "You can drop the Queen part, Toris," she said, not unkindly. "I hope we're all friends here and titles are really only for formal occasions."
Toris smiled back at her lighting up his normally brooding face as his wonderfully blue eyes sparkled, "As you wish, Ephiny. But why should Amazon issues interfere with what we're trying to do?"
Her smile vanished to be replaced by a small frown as the Regent sought for the best words to explain the problem that had suddenly reared it's ugly head once again. Sighing, she started to explain, "What you all need to understand is that Xena, through her ties to Gabrielle, is very much bound up in Amazon disputes. There is a loud minority within the Nation that resents Gabrielle's right to rule as Queen. They consider her to be an outsider, who is rarely present within the lands, and believe that she has no idea about, or concern over, traditional Amazon heritage. They are convinced that the only way to restore the Nation to former glory is by deposing Gabrielle and replacing her with a more fundamentalist ruler."
"Excuse me," interrupted Joxer, "but if Gabrielle were to be deposed, wouldn't you become the next Amazon Queen?"
The bard rolled her eyes, and retorted sharply, "No Joxer, it doesn't work like that."
Ephiny laid a hand on Gabrielle's arm to calm her, before she tried to clear things up, "I'm Regent for Gabrielle," she told him stressing the word 'for'. "The Amazon's accept me in that role, but they would probably not accept me as Queen in my own right. I was married to a centaur and my son is a centaur prince. Those are two black marks against me. On top of that, if Gabrielle was deposed, I'd be seen as a threat because of my support for her."
Seeing some blank looks on faces, Gabrielle was about to try and explain, when Autolycus stepped in, "All right. From what you've said so far, there's a bunch of Amazons who don't like you and Gabrielle. How does that effect Xena?"
Gabrielle gave him a grateful look and took up the next part of the explanation. "The only way that I can be deposed is if a challenge for leadership is issued. That means a fight to the death," she spoke up quickly as she saw Joxer about to speak. "In that situation, the challenger fights the Queen or her elected champion ..."
"Xena," put in Toris his voice filled with certainty.
"Xena," confirmed the bard as she continued, "so naturally enough it's in the interests of the dissidents to make sure that Xena cannot accept a challenge on my behalf .. after all, who's going to be mad enough to go up against the Warrior Princess in a one on one?"
"I am," Hercules groaned trying to lighten the brooding atmosphere a little, and was rewarded with a few chuckles.
"That's different and you know it," grinned Gabrielle impishly. "She won't hurt you ... much!"
"Tell me that when you're tending the wounds I'm bound to get from it," he smiled back at her, making her laugh.
"You'll get over it," she told him unsympathetically. "You heal as fast as she does."
"Fine," Toris tried to turn the conversation back to the matters in hand, "So some Amazon's don't want to see Xena free. How is that affecting the situation here?"
Ephiny took over the story once again, "When the beginning of all this trouble blew up, Xena brought Gabrielle back to Themiscyra to try to keep her safe. The trouble was that there were outstanding charges, against Xena, before the Council of Elders." She saw the look of recognition in Joxer's eyes and she'd already told Hercules about it, but there was a look of outrage on Toris' face and his concern was mirrored by both Iolaus and Autolycus.
"After all she's done for you!" the dark haired man exclaimed, jumping up as his temper got the better of him, "What ? Isn't saving the Amazons from extinction, not once but twice, enough?" he demanded, eluding to the narrowly averted Amazon and Centaur war and the malignant Velasca. "Doesn't saving your life and the life of your son count towards anything!" he raged. "What was it that she did that was so bad you needed to charge her with it?"
Ephiny also rose. Her body quivered with anger at the accusation in the man's tone and the knowledge that he'd found all the incidents that the Amazons found so difficult to reconcile to the sight of an out of control Warrior Princess rampaging through Themiscyra's streets in search of Gabrielle, the clear intent of murder shining in her eyes.
"What did she do?" hissed Ephiny in return, "What didn't she do! She cut down two young Amazons, seriously injured several others and broke my arm, all with the intent on murdering the Queen! What she did to me I could forgive. But the two deaths had to be accounted for!" she fumed.
"Ephiny," Gabrielle said quietly, touching her friend's arm, "Why don't you let me try to explain to Toris and the others?"
Grudgingly, the Regent deferred to the Queen, retaking her seat, although her glare never left Toris' face. - He's got that same burning look in his eyes as she has, - she noted, - but Iolaus is right, he doesn't have her control and, thank the Gods, he's not the danger that she is. -
"What is all this, Gabrielle?" Xena's brother demanded. "None of your letters ever mentioned trouble with the Amazons, and you never let us know that you and Xena were having difficulties."
The bard looked at him, waiting for him to force his hasty temper under control before motioning with her hand and saying, "Sit down Toris." As he was grudgingly complying her mind was racing furiously, - O Gods, what should I tell him? He knows nothing about Solon or Hope. I deliberately kept quiet about those things. I really didn't want to hurt either him or Cyrene. -
"Gabrielle?" he asked in a tense though quieter tone.
Glumly, she decided that he should hear an edited version of the events, "I don't want you to tell your mother what I'm going to tell you now. I don't want her hurting for something that's in the past" She waited for his reluctant nod of agreement before continuing, "Some things happened a while ago that led to other things .. you don't need to know all the horrendous details," she forestalled his question, "Suffice to say that both Xena and I did some fairly horrible things to each other. The result was that we split up nurturing a lot of hate."
She bit her lip as a tear trickled down her cheek. Brushing it away with a quick flick of her hand, and refusing to let the dam burst she continued, if a little shakily, "I went to stay with the Amazons, while Xena went off on her own. Wherever she went Ares, found her. He worked on her hatred so that the next thing that happened was that Xena came tearing through Themiscyra, looking to kill me. She removed anyone who got in her way and flattened Joxer for trying to protect me. Then she .. then ..." she bit her lip once more and found it impossible to go on.
Putting her arm around the young Queen's shoulder, Ephiny drew the shaking Gabrielle down on her shoulder and took up the story in a calm, almost detached voice, "She snared Gabrielle's ankles with a whip, mounted a horse and dragged her from town and over the countryside intending to kill her."
Iolaus looked angry, Autolycus was thoughtful while Toris had gone white, obviously seeing visions of his sister's past ascent to the position of the most feared warlord in Greece.
"When they reached the cliffs overlooking the sea on the boundary of Amazon lands, Xena intended to throw Gabrielle over the edge. There was a struggle and Gabrielle broke free, but then threw herself at Xena taking them both over the edge of the cliff." She saw the stunned looks on the men's faces, "Somehow, they both survived. According to the little I've been told the 'gods' allowed them to review their differences and work them out, and both escaped from the entire mess without any physical injuries and healing emotional ones." the Regent finished.
After some moments of shocked silence, Iolaus cleared his throat and asked, "And you still came here to try and rescue her?"
Ephiny shrugged, "She's my friend. Whatever she did, or didn't do, the Council of Elders decided that she could only be held partially responsible for her actions. They believed that Ares had much to do with the way events transpired. They sentenced her to a year's banishment from Nation lands, which was about the mildest sentence she could be given."
"Gabrielle," spoke the quietly subdued voice of Toris, "How can you still trust her after doing that to you?" his voice was filled with shame, his eyes were fastened on the floor.
"Look at me Toris," the bard commanded and waited for him to comply before trying to explain, "I trust her because she's my best friend. I trust her with my life." Keeping contact with the blue eyes of the man before her, she continued, "The question should be, 'How can she trust me?'. You see I lied to her and betrayed her, not once but twice. The first betrayal almost resulted in her execution by an old enemy, I'll never know how we escaped that or how she could forgive me for what I had done. How many people has she ever forgiven for betraying her?" she asked.
No one answered knowing full well that Xena, the warlord, had always exacted harsh retribution against anyone foolish enough to do so. Her reputation as a cold, merciless, leader had been legend and everyone in the room knew that the price of betrayal was death.
"Well she forgave me for that, but my second betrayal led to the death of someone she loved very, very much, and the grief it caused her left her easy prey for Ares . Whatever he did to her, left her mind cloudy about the entire event in Themiscyra and what she did to me. It wasn't until about halfway through the trial that I managed to get her to remember what had happened .. it almost broke her heart." Gabrielle swallowed as she remembered holding the warrior as she shook with unshed tears finally knowing what she'd done to the bard.
"She was just as much a victim as I was. The Gods were playing their vicious games and we were their pawns." She cleared her throat and finally said quietly, "Now if any of you don't want to help free her, then Ephiny and I will find a way of getting you away from Rome as quickly as possible."
Moments seemed to fly by as everyone waited for someone to speak. Finally, Hercules stepped into the breach and said gently, "I don't think anyone here wants to abandon her. We all care for her too much to do that. So why don't you just tell us what has happened to cause a problem here and now."
Ephiny ran her fingers through her blonde curls, a habit when she was worried, angry, or both, and tried to focus on the problem, "When I decided to come here, to try and find out what had happened to Gabrielle and Xena, I judged it unwise to leave the leading members of the opposition at home, so I brought them with me where I could keep them under observation and out of trouble. The rest of the honour guard was made up by warriors screened personally by Eponin, Solari and Malonda, to ensure that only those loyal to the Queen would be here."
"Let me guess," chirped Autolycus, "your rebels have managed to hatch something anyway, right?"
Ephiny gave a brief nod, "Nebula was good enough to follow Xena, after she left the Temple, this evening, just to make sure we knew where she was taken. As we had expected, she was escorted to Caesar's palace. What we hadn't expected, however, was for an Amazon to be seen leaving by a side exit of the building. Nebula followed her back here and then came and told us what she had seen."
"I thought your people were keeping an eye on your rebels," ventured Iolaus.
"They are," responded the Regent.
"So how did ... no don't tell me," groaned Autolycus as he slapped his palm to his forehead, "your screening process was not as rigorous as you thought, and now you don't know who you can trust. You've got a bunch of Amazons that not only want to see Xena out of the picture permanently, but they'd also be happy if you and Gabrielle happened to be swallowed up in the proceedings as well. Sheesh! This just gets better and better!"
"Well," the bard said quietly, "Autolycus has just about summed things up. For safety's sake, the only people that we know we can trust are here in this room. Has anyone got any suggestions about how we are going to deal with this situation?"
There was a gloomy silence before Toris asked, "Can we identify the suspect women? I mean I know you brought the leaders out here and know who they are, but what about the ones you've only just found out about?"
Ephiny gave a slight nod of her head, "Some," she verified, "Nebula recognised Jerushan and Essaine, as the messenger and the guard who allowed her out of the barracks. Now admittedly Essaine may not be one of our traitors," the word left a foul taste in her mouth, "she may have just let Jerri out thinking she was going to do some site-seeing or something, but we really can't afford to take that chance. So, as far as the situation is concerned, Essaine must be counted as being against us."
"Are there any amongst the guards that you would definitely count as being sound?" questioned Iolaus.
The Regent threw a look over her shoulder at Eponin, "Poni?" she asked.
Nebula strode across to the door, "You're gonna be more use in the discussion than me," she told the weapons master, "I'll hold the breach, you go and thrash this out with them."
Eponin gave the pirate one of her rare smiles and a short, "Thanks," before heading across to the others to apply her knowledge to the problem, "The warriors that I personally selected I'm certain are above suspicion. Each of them has expressed loyalty to both Gabrielle and Ephiny, and most have a high regard for Xena. They were the first chosen for this mission and I'd trust them with our lives."
"How many of them are there?" asked Hercules.
"Fifty-seven," answered the weapons master promptly, "The rest of the guard were vetted and selected by either Solari or Malonda."
"Who recommended Jerushan and Essaine?" asked Gabrielle, hating the idea that either of the two highly placed women could be part of a conspiracy against her.
"Solari recommended Essaine, Malonda, Jerushan," reported Eponin, "although that doesn't mean anything. They could have easily been taken in by some clever acting. We were kind of in a hurry to put together this expedition."
"Autolycus cleared his throat, "In that case how can you be so sure about those you selected?" he questioned.
"Because each of those warriors has been personally trained by me. I've known them all well for years and I know their views. Not one of them has ever expressed a word against Gabrielle," snorted Poni derisively.
"Okay," persisted the thief, "So why don't you know the others so well?"
"To mount this expedition, we had to call in warriors from the village garrisons and the border outposts. I know all of them. They have all trained under me at one time or another, but I am not close enough to them to be able to tell their sympathies. We had to make certain that Solari had a strong enough, loyal guard at home to protect against problems there, so we did our best with what we had." Explained the dour Amazon brusquely.
"Are you sure this Solari is trustworthy?" insisted Autolycus.
Gabrielle held up a hand to halt the heated responses that she could tell were about to erupt from both Eponin and Ephiny, "If I were to doubt Solari's loyalty, I might as well doubt yours, or Iolaus', or even Xena's," she told him calmly. "Solari has stood by me and Ephiny from the moment I became Queen and had to face Velasca. It was through her 'good offices' that you were able to get us out of that cell in time to get to the ambrosia."
Recognition flashed in the thief's eyes, "She was the one who ..?" he held his hands to the sides of his chest and mimed the squeezing together of the woman's breasts as he remembered extracting the metal pin from her leather top to use as a lock pick. "That was her?" he asked.
Gabrielle nodded in confirmation, "So you see, Solari is beyond reproach."
"Mmmm," he considered, "Well what about Malonda, then?" He thought about the black haired Amazon who acted as Eponin's second.
"Loni's been with the Royal Guard for about six moons. She's a very talented Warrior and has risen quickly in the ranks to hold the position she does. She's never given us any cause to mistrust her," Ephiny answered.
"Great!" snapped Toris, "So we're back to trying to figure out just who we can trust in the guards, then, aren't we."
"If we'd got Xena here she could use her pinch to interrogate this Jerushan," muttered Joxer.
"Well Xena's not here," winced Gabrielle as the thought of where her best friend was impacted once more on her mind, "and we can't afford to alert our enemies that we're onto them. The question is what should we do?"
Silence reined in the room for many heartbeats before Hercules ventured a solution. To be sure it wasn't an ideal solution, but it was the best that could be come up with at the time, "I think that perhaps that Eponin should spend some time in the barracks and check out just who is particularly friendly with Essaine and Jerushan and see who, if anyone speaks to Tarelle and her people. Once we know who is working with whom, we can take steps to confine them."
"The question is, though, where?" puzzled Iolaus, "I mean we don't want half of Rome knowing that we have problems, so we can hardly get Pompey to lock them up or something."
"My ship," Nebula spoke from the door, "Use that. We can make it look as if they're a work detail to keep the ship in order."
"That might just work," agreed Autolycus, "but I suggest that we question Jerushan to try and find out what message she delivered to Caesar. We need to know just what they are attempting here."
"Who's going to question her? If she is a member of Tarelle's fanatic group, she's not going to be very willing to speak to us," frowned Ephiny.
"Why not let me and Iolaus have a go at asking her some questions," offered Toris, "We had some success with one of Caesar's soldiers a while back and, as Xena's brother, her reputation might carry some weight in your Amazon's thinking."
"Toris, I don't believe in torture," warned the bard with a touch of authority in her voice.
"Don't worry Gabrielle," the raven haired man assured, "she might have a hangover tomorrow, but that's about all."
"Very well then," agreed the young Queen, "I think we have a plan of action. Eponin, go and see what you can find out, and have Jerushan sent up to Ephiny's suite. Try to make it look like she was picked for a random task, perhaps get one of your trusted warriors to come with her so it doesn't look too suspicious. Oh and Ep," added Gabrielle as the Weapons master headed for the door. When the Amazon turned back to look she warned, "Say nothing about any of this to anyone .. including Malonda, okay?"
"My Queen," agreed Eponin formally, as she turned and left on her assignment.
No one took any notice when Autolycus excused himself and headed for the bathroom, all of them were concerned with ironing out any kinks and wrinkles that they could see in the hastily assembled plan.
Making his way to the large window, the King of Thieves, moved with confident purpose, having already studied every detail of the possible exits from the suite days previously. With practised skill, he stepped out onto the little sun balcony, slipped a small grapnel from his sleeve and swung it expertly by the strong thin cord, building momentum until he released it to catch over a hanging branch of a nearby tree. Without a sound, he swung himself away from the palace and down to the ground where he used the natural cover of shadows to proceed in hidden stealth. - Good job I persuaded Eponin to pick me up some basic equipment! - was his parting thought.
- Anything to do with Gabrielle is never easy, - she reminded herself with a wry smile.
It didn't take her long to get to the barracks and, in fact, she slowed down as she neared them giving her both time to continue thinking and to make sure her breathing appeared to be regular: the last thing she wanted was for the rebel Amazons to guess something was wrong. - No this visit to the barracks must appear to be perfectly normal, - she told herself.
Nodding to the guards as she passed them, Eponin entered the large building, checking the dormitories and finally the dining hall until she located the face she wanted. Then looked around for a couple of her most trusted warriors, "Kyana, Karrellie," she scanned the dining hall as if randomly selecting another warrior, "Yes .. and you, Jerri," she signalled, "Ephiny has a task that needs to be done and I think you three have the right skills between you. Get yourselves to her suite as quick as you can."
She watched as the women collected their gear and snagged Kyana's arm, as she passed by, to whisper some extra instructions that made the warrior's eyes widen before she nodded her understanding and called out, "Come on you two slugs. The Queen wants us and you dawdle as if about to go for a stroll through the park with your latest lover!" grinned the youthful Amazon.
That got some hearty chuckles and good natured ribbing from the rest of the occupants of the dining rooms, some of it so earthy that even Eponin felt some heat coming into her cheeks. She shook her head at her sister Amazon's and tried to remember some of the more outrageous cracks to tell Ephiny when she got her alone.. she definitely was not going to repeat them in front of Gabrielle!
With Jerushan on her way to be interrogated, she turned her attention back to gathering the information she needed to collect. A longer glance around the hall allowed her to pick out another three trusted faces, "Hakine, Cassie, Turra," she waved her arm to signal them to her side. She had known these three women almost as long as she had known Ephiny and she trusted them with her life .. - More importantly, - she silently acknowledged, - I'd trust them with Gabrielle's life. - Quickly leading the trio away to a private room, she explained the broad outline of the situation that had come to their attention .. omitting Jerushan's foray out to visit Caesar's palace, "Basically," she told them, "I need you to keep a tight watch on Tarelle and her bunch and make sure that you keep a close eye on those who talk to them .. even if in passing, and who those women are friendly with. We need to eliminate the problem within our own ranks or we're going to be in big trouble here." She warned them, conviction overlaying her solemn words.
The silence was suddenly filled by Pompey's voice held down almost to a whisper, "The fools greeted him like he was some kind of divine saviour, and he revelled in it. You should have seen him, Antonius. He was in his glory and loved every minute of it." His eyes took on a rather distant look, "Well he can have his moment of triumph, but he better make the most of it, because I intend to win in the end."
"Sir?" asked Antonius not sure if he was being asked to respond to the quiet words, not knowing what he should say anyway.
Pompey looked up at the young tribune. Antonius was tall, broad shouldered with an athletes frame. He spent time wrestling and was proud of his prowess. His chestnut coloured hair was cropped into short curls and his eyebrows were so fair that they were almost invisible. His hazel eyes showed a sharp intelligence that the Magnus had found more than useful in his service and he had not, so far, regretted his inordinately fast promotion of this promising junior.
A grim look transformed Pompey's face as he spoke in a firm voice, "We are at war with Caesar. The prize is Rome and the Empire. I don't intend to lose either the war or the prize. That means I will use whatever tools come to my hands. At the moment our sharpest weapons are the Amazons and, more especially, the little haul of men and the one woman that we snatched from Brutus' grasp. The Amazons may have free access to come and go as they please, but everyone in that party, that was brought in from the country, stay in the palace unless I say otherwise. If any one of them attempts to leave here, I want all five of them locked up. Is that understood?" he demanded tonelessly.
"Yes sir," agreed Antonius.
"Take a head count .. one a day .. Antonius. It's your task to make certain that they remain 'safe'. Mars has given me the keys to victory, but I need to make sure that we don't lose them."
"What if the Amazons attempt to interfere, sir?" questioned the clever young officer who personally felt that the Amazon women were a far deeper menace than his commander was giving them credit for. And that silent slave they had with them, well there was just something about him that didn't quite add up and it had Antonius on edge.
"Amazon's are great warriors," Pompey told him, "But even their legendary battle prowess can be neutralized. They have only a hundred fighters, I have an entire loyal legion within easy access and there are even more troops available within Rome should it become necessary to subdue the Amazons." He smiled mirthlessly, "I suspect, however, that they will be far more valuable to me than half the senate, because I think that Caesar will be rather distracted by them ... especially their Queen, Ephiny. He could hardly keep his eyes off of her tonight, and I took a few minor steps to ensure his continuing interest. His wife, Pompeia, will be embarrassed yet again by her husbands lusts. It's just a pity he couldn't keep his lusts firmly focused on his groin and away from the political arena."
Antonius forced a 'natural' laugh at his commanders crude witticism, before seizing upon the opening that mention of arenas brought, "What of the Warrior Princess, sir?"
"Ah yes! .. Xena!" he almost purred, "You know, I really admire that woman. Her animosity for Caesar is so refreshing in this jaded city .. you could almost see it radiating from her in waves of heat. My dear friend, Julius, however," he barked with a short staccato laugh, "Would like nothing better than to prove his mastery over her between the sheets. Unfortunately, even with his .. ego .. he wouldn't risk that particular little foray. She'd rip his manhood off and feed it to him before taking him apart piece by piece."
Sighing heavily, Pompey stood up and moved across to the window to look out into the sculpted peacefulness of the palace grounds, "You know it's a real pity that she didn't just stick that dagger I gave her between Caesar's shoulder blades. Oh, I admit that her manipulation of Caesar was masterful and I really enjoyed watching him writhe when he realised that he was going to have to execute Crassus and that he'd lost both Verchinex and the Warrior Princess. But I could have forgone all that quite happily to have him dead."
"Wouldn't questions have been asked in the senate about your involvement if that dagger had been found in his back?" asked the tribune, who was politically astute enough to realise that although Pompey the Magnus was a magnificent general and leader of men, his grasp of politics had been called both a little petulant and naive at times.
The blonde haired soldier chuckled, "But that was the beauty of the whole scheme, my dear Antonius. Xena would have taken the dagger with her as a passport through my legions .. all my men would have recognised that dagger as mine. And the legion had orders to arrest the bearer and anyone along with them. I'd have been a hero. I would have captured the murderer of Caesar and could have had her crucified along with her friends. All Rome would have been at my feet."
Antonius swallowed quietly. It was a bold and carefully laid plan that showed a grasp of political manipulation that he hadn't realised his commander possessed. Now he felt even more certain that he had been right to fix his future to Pompey's ascendancy .. eventually they must all reap the benefits that would come from Caesar's fall, "What will you do with her now if .. I mean when, we get her away from Caesar, sir?" he corrected himself quickly.
For a while, Antonius didn't think his master would answer the question, so silent did he remain. However, Pompey finally shrugged his shoulders and replied, "In truth, I wish I could keep her as my own slave .. Caesar is right that she is too dangerous to Rome to be allowed to roam free. Yet letting her go would always give me a very powerful weapon to use against our mutual enemy .... Perhaps if I held the bard here against her co-operation?" he mused thoughtfully.
The tribune shuffled his feet waiting for his commander's nodded invitation to say what he was thinking, "If I might point out sir. The Warrior Princess is renowned for repaying debts of honour. However, I think if anyone held, or threatened, her friend, she might take that as a direct action against her and act in the aggressive mode that she is legendary for."
The blonde Roman General nodded his head thoughtfully, "So you think she would be safe to trust if we let them all go?" he questioned rhetorically, "Well maybe you're right, Antonius. But we have time to figure our actions out still, so lets not make any snap decisions, right?"
"As you say sir," agreed the tribune.
When there had been movement towards the window, the shadow had held it's breath, knowing that it would be deathly dangerous if it were caught there, and the repercussions into other peoples lives would be a harsh forfeit to pay for eavesdropping.
However the information gathered was worth it's weight in gold .. once it was delivered to the right ears. The shadow almost chuckled at the easy dinars that could be earned from some simple eavesdropping in the right quarters.
The night was cold and clear with a full moon, and the heavens were alive with brightly shining stars. Anyone approaching the palace could be seen clearly by the alert sentries. Anyone trying to sneak close to the palace without being seen, would have to be very good to avoid detection. Anyone attempting to approach, unseen, the proximity of the enclosed drill yard would have to be a master of his or her trade as the guards excelled at their own trade and had been rigorously motivated for their task.
Twenty men patrolled the high walls of the enclosure that was brightly lit by many torches. High mounted braziers surrounded a barred pit in the centre of the parade ground, lighting the area almost to the brightness of day. Six more guards stood with their eyes trained on the hole in the ground, their gazes occasionally flickering around the open spaces that surrounded them, looking for intruders, but their eyes never left the pit for long.
No one could approach that pit without permission! The soldiers who guarded the slave held within it, knew that their lives depended upon their vigilance and ensuring that the woman, who they could hear groaning softly in her sleep, did not escape them.
Every quarter candlemark, one of the six men would approach the pit, with a torch in his hand to light the dim recess at his feet, to check that the woman was still there and, just as importantly, was still alive. None of the soldiers wanted to know what their fate would be if they allowed this particular slave to die.
The shadow slipped over the wall and crouched in shrouded silence in the darkness offered by a watchtower. Breathing was suspended as a soldier passed by close enough to be touched, unaware of the intruder who blended in so well with the wall and blackness.
As the sentry passed, the shadow slipped noiselessly in the opposite direction and melted down the stone stairway, where it was able to find refuge once more from the artificial light that shone like the bright beacon of day within the parade ground. Waiting beneath the light eclipsed stairs, the shadow observed, minutely, the routines that all soldiers fell into when performing a duty that had been done on a regular basis many times before. The shadow admitted, to itself, that the routine was not likely to be settled here yet, as the guards had only just taken up possession of their new space. But the task was one they had now performed for many moons and a feeling of familiarity was almost tangible here.
The shadow watched for some time, maybe a candlemark, noting that never once did the six soldiers, that patrolled the pit area, move away from the lighted confines of their designated area. Approaching the pit - Is, - the shadow admitted, - seemingly impossible. - On an impulse, the dark figure picked up a smooth pebble and lofted it towards the grating.
The light 'ping' as the stone clipped a bar on it's descent into the hole, drew a grunt of surprise from the prisoner within, and immediate, alert attention from the six sentries, all of whom approached the hole with torches to ascertain that their captive was not attempting some impossible escape.
With attention firmly on the pit, the shadow slipped from it's chosen concealment and sped silently towards the palatial walls of Caesar's home.
Caesar felt buoyant after his triumph upon the steps of the temple, where he'd shown his mastery to Pompey and the senate, and had the satisfaction of having Xena humbled and beaten before the people of Rome. - It has been an almost perfect day, - he mused happily as his thoughts turned to the feast and the attractive barbarian queen who seem to promise a satisfying diversion from the intricate, and often deadly, politics of the Empire. He wondered how much of a chase Ephiny would lead him on, having absolutely no doubt of his ability to pursue and conquer the woman on a personal level. Of course having the wager with Pompey was an additional bonus!
Allowing an unpleasant smile to play on his boyishly youthful features, the conquering hero moved deliberately across the room he used as his day office and looked from the large window out onto the drill-yard where his prize captive had been housed. He'd had his people start constructing that pit, with this day in mind, just after she had left Rome the last time. He could, of course, have had Xena housed in his dungeons, but the ease with which she extracted herself and Verchinex had made him leery of entrusting her confinement to a place that she might well have plans laid for removing herself from.
Then again, he could have had her held in the gladiator pens of the coliseum. It would have been functional for training purposes with tight discipline and tighter security. None of the highly trained and deadly fighters that graced it's facilities had ever managed to escape from there .. but then again, none of them were the highly intelligent, infinitely resourceful and unquestionably lethal Warrior Princess.
- No, Xena, - he grinned as he looked towards her prison, - I far prefer having you under my eye. I don't trust you too far away from me, and I want to know just what you're up to every moment of every day. -
Having drunk enough wine for one day, he ignored the refreshment tray and sat down at his familiar desk, glancing through some of the more pressing of the accumulated paperwork that had been left for him by his secretary. His busy mind sorted through, digested and stored the information as he mentally concocted lists of points that required immediate action or clarification.
Never having been a man who believed in wasting more than a minimal amount of time in the arms of Morpheus, Caesar worked long into the darkness, and it was past midnight when the sentry rapped at his door to announce the presence of Brutus.
"Send him in," he replied curtly.
Brutus stepped through the door. He looked tired and harassed, but still executed a smart salute and a confident tone as he spoke, "Welcome back, my Lord. I was delighted to hear of your victory at sea and trust you enjoyed your triumphal entry to the city." He approached his mentor, a man he had called friend for many years.
Caesar watched him coolly, "The Carthaginians were agreeable enough to provide some entertainment for Varanius. Xena, of course, took the opportunity to prove just how dangerous she is and I spent a long day and night adrift with her on the wreckage of a Carthaginian trireme." - No point in not telling him about it, the rumours would be abroad soon enough. - "However, that situation was rectified and the Warrior Princess is where she belongs .. a hole in the ground and under my dominion. Unlike a certain bard, thief and fool that I entrusted to your care. Just exactly how did you allow their escape?"
Brutus flushed redly and stammered, "My Lord, we were hit by a storm and the prisoners were washed overboard," - Well it was close to the truth, - grimaced the swarthy subordinate. "Not trusting to believe that the prisoners had drowned, I had men scouring the countryside as soon as possible .. but they proved to be far more resourceful than anticipated." He was aware of the anger in Caesar's intense brown eyes.
"I see," the powerful Roman Lord said softly. "And just how did three, chained, slaves manage to firstly survive being 'washed overboard' in high seas, and then managed to elude you and half the garrisons of Italy without you managing to retake them?"
"My Lord .. umm .. the thief, Autolycus, he must have found a way to remove the chains before they went into the sea," he tried to explain, knowing that Caesar was livid at the failure of what he perceived as a simple task.
"Ah, so they weren't so much washed overboard as much as they staged an escape," nodded the dark haired noble, seemingly understandingly.
"Yes .. ah .. no," squirmed Brutus, "The situation was very confused. The storm came up suddenly and everyone was forced to crew the ship, or risk going down with her on the reefs that we were close to. The prisoners were shackled to a ringbolt on the decking at the prow of the ship, and appeared to be safe enough .. no one could have assumed that they'd be crazy enough to throw themselves overboard in that high sea with rocks all around us," blurted Brutus desperately.
Caesar watched him with eyes blazing darkly in the shadowy room. What his aide said .. - My friend, said - he thought sarcastically to himself, .. was mostly true. The thief was a dangerous man to try and keep imprisoned, - Almost as difficult as Xena, but in a different way, - he conceded. - I'll have to work out something special for him when I re-take him and the others. Either that, or I'll execute him as an example. Yes, that might well be the answer. It would be a valuable lesson to the bard and the others, and would really cause Xena pain. - His smile was mirthless and chilling, making the swarthy, black haired soldier even more uncomfortable.
"What about the other two?" he snapped at Brutus, not yet willing to allow his 'friend' to relax, enjoying watching him squirm.
"While searching for the escaped slaves," came the answer, "reports came in that the other two we were seeking had been seen in Pisae .. I had their descriptions circulated at the same time as I posted the news about the bard and the other two. It seemed likely that they might show up close to Rome at some point."
"Well at least you did something right," conceded Caesar watching the bearded man carefully as resentment began to flare in his eyes, "So why haven't you managed to lay hands on any of them?" he asked, pushing some more. - Brutus has to understand that he can't rely on friendship to cover for his ineptness in this situation. A sharp lesson now may prove valuable later. Hopefully he won't make such glaring mistakes again .. if he does ... - he allowed the thought to hang as he listened to what his second in command had to say on the subject.
Stifling his flaring feelings, he explained what had happened in a rigid voice that spoke volumes about his anger and embarrassment over the situation, "I had everything well in hand. My men were herding both the bard and her party, and the other two men, into a tight cordon where the trap could be sprung so that the whole bunch would be netted in one fell swoop." He began to get more animated as he related how troops loyal to both the senate, particularly Graccus and his supporters, and those under the command of Pompey, began to execute manoeuvres in the areas where he was forcing the prey into.
"I hadn't got the authority to deny access to either group, and men from either party could have picked up the fugitives, although I strongly suspect it was Pompey's men," he snarled, knowing that the action had caused this humiliation in front of Caesar.
Having shown the stick, it was time to surrender the carrot, "Take a seat, my friend," the nobleman invited, no longer inflicting his anger on the other man, "Indeed, I believe you are right about the good Pompey's involvement in my business. He seems determined to interfere where he is not wanted. I suspect he is going to try and use those 'charming' Amazons against us somehow," he deliberately used the word 'us' to let his friend know he was once more included in his own grand plans.
"Do the Amazons have any connection with the bard, or Xena? If they should join with Pompey against us could it prove to be a problem?" Brutus asked pertinently trying to relax after the grilling he had just endured.
"The Amazons say that they want Xena dead for crimes she committed against one of their past queens," Caesar told him flatly. "That could, of course, have been a lie, but there was something in the Queen's eyes when she told me about it that said there was some real ill-feeling between them over the issue." He drummed his fingers on the polished wood desk before continuing, "The fact that they are residing with Pompey is a problem, but as senior member of the government here when they arrived, he was duty bound to offer hospitality and there isn't a lot that can be done about that now .. although I think I might be able to persuade Queen Ephiny that she would gain more from an alliance with me."
Brutus grinned in response, knowing just what kind of alliance Caesar had in mind. If he succeeded with his ploy then the Amazons would be putty in his hand, for he doubted that the barbarian queen would be able to deny the charming and seductive Caesar anything, once she had fallen into his toils.
"As for the bard and her confederates, I have it on good authority that they are securely locked in Pompey's dungeons under a four man guard's watchful eyes at all times, much like our friend Xena is here. Unfortunately there is no way that I can challenge him to return my property, as I don't want to expose my informant's presence amongst his men. So for now we must be content with knowing where our insurances are, while we work out a way to extract them from Pompey's grasp."
"Did I hear right, from the guards, that a messenger from the Amazons visited here tonight?" asked Brutus testing his re-acceptance into Caesar's confidence.
Frowning the Roman noble considered whether he should issue a reprimand against his guards for gossiping. He decided against it, reasoning that there was nothing really secretive about the message anyway, "It was just a message stating that a high ranking Amazon in the delegation wished to hold talks with me about the Amazon Queen." His frown deepened at the oddly worded and rather cryptic message, "I take it to mean that Queen Ephiny wants to pursue a mutual attraction, but I'll reserve full judgement on that until I meet her envoy."
"Has a meeting been arranged?" asked his swarthy aide, interest piqued.
"Yes. I'll see the envoy tomorrow in the foyer of the senate, before I address that 'august body'," he intoned with deliberate sarcasm.
With audacious skill, the intruder scaled the side of the high palace wall and picked a path across the high rooftop, until a place was found where the shadow was able to return to a secluded spot of garden and spirit itself away into the welcoming embrace of the shrouded city.
- Just two more stops tonight, and then home for some well earned rest, before I figure out just how much all this information is worth! - a disembodied voice chuckled within the safety of the shadows.
He gave himself a mental pat on the back as he reached the window and dropped over the balustrade saying softly, "I'm just so good at what I do. I'd take a bow if I had an audience!" he chuckled in a self satisfied manner that was instantly dispelled as a hand grasped his collar.
"You have," a very familiar voice growled in his ear.
The King of thieves stiffened and after a quick attempt at shaking himself loose from his captor, decided to fall back on his unique brand of charm, laughing nervously and saying, "Oh, hi Hercules. Umm shouldn't you be getting some beauty sleep? You need to keep your .. um .. strength up for the contests, you know."
A very strong fist lifted the squirming thief from his feet and turned him so that he could see a very irate looking demi-god, "You better have a very good excuse for putting us all .. and Xena .. in jeopardy, or I might just decide that I'm in need of a sparring partner for a little practice!" drawled a very unamused voice.
Autolycus looked sick, "Er, funny you should say that, but as it happens I do." He saw the blatant distrust and silent demand for an explanation in the big man's eyes, "Aw, c'mon Hercules," pleaded the good looking thief, "Put me down and I'll spill the beans." The look of distrust was still there, "I swear it," he promised, "On my brother's memory."
Knowing that Autolycus never took his brother, Malachus', name lightly, the big man allowed him to drop from the short height that he held him at, eliciting a guilty clink from somewhere within the man's clothing, "Now, Hercules," tried the thief, holding up his hands in front of him in a vain attempt to stop the demi-god's advance on him.
Ignoring his 'friend's' words, the son of Zeus took another secure hold and quickly frisked him, coming up with two heavy pouches full of golden dinars. Letting go of the thief, the tawney haired giant hefted the heavy bags and rumbled menacingly, "Care to explain these?"
"Umm, funny thing about those," he chuckled weakly.
"I'm not laughing," Hercules reminded him.
"Yeah," agreed the thief swallowing, "Well, umm, you see I was, ah, just passing the city's treasury and .. ah, I thought, let's see what kind of security the place has." that last part came out in a rush as he found himself backed up against a very cold marble wall by a slowly advancing hunk of menace.
"So you thought you bring back some souvenirs," growled the demi-god his light blue eyes holding a touch of menace that Autolycus had rarely every seen, "Gods above, don't you realise that if you'd been caught we'd have been in even more trouble?"
Hearing the disappointment in the big man's voice, Autolycus tried to smooth out the situation, "Oh, c'mon Hercules! Do your really think Roman treasury guards could catch the King of Thieves?"
"You've already been caught once," he was reminded.
"Yeah, but that was because I'd got Joxer the Lame Brained along for the ride." He looked at his friend and felt a compulsion to try and ease his fears, "Look, Herc. There really wasn't any danger. I just took a quick look, pocketed a few coins for playing dice with ..." he looked at the two heavy sacks, "well maybe more than a few," he admitted, "and then came right back here. Harpies hairdo's! It was easier getting into the treasury than it was getting close to where Xena's being held," he blurted before he realised what he had said, trying to get through to the demi-god that he'd been perfectly safe.
He knew he'd made a mistake as soon as the big man whirled on him again, "Where did you say you've been?" came the forceful demand.
"Umm, to the Roman treasury?" he tried with a grimace and knew that he'd failed when he saw the demi-god's hands clench. Dropping to his knees, the thief held up his hand in supplication and cried, "Alright, alright, I dropped in at Caesar's to see what the set-up was with Xena and see if she could be broken out!" He closed his eyes, "If you're gonna kill me, make it quick, I can't stand the sight of blood .. especially my own."
When nothing happened, he opened one eye and squinted at the big form in front of him, "Am I still alive?" he asked cautiously, trying to judge the other man's mood.
"For now," Hercules replied, pulling him up to his feet, "But I want to know every detail of where you've been tonight, and exactly what you've been doing."
Pulling his tunic straight, Autolycus watched the demi-god start to precede him into the main room of the suite, "Sheesh!" he breathed, "I was going to tell you all about it anyway." He eyed the sacks in Hercules' big hands and amended, "Well maybe not all of it .. but all the important stuff!" His hands moved quickly to catch the two sacks that were lobbed at him, "Gee thanks!" he muttered sarcastically as one of the pouches split and spilled dinars all over the floor.
The guards, in the hall outside, were Amazons that Eponin vouched for with her life. Berra and Turra would ensure that no one got close enough to the door to be able to overhear the conversation, even if they could manage to hear anything that was being said behind the thick wood panels.
They lounged on large cushions, around a cleared space on the floor which had been covered with plates and dishes that bore various products from Pompey's industrious kitchens. There was a pot of nutty cereal and bowls of honey for those with a sweet tooth. A wide variety of meats and cheeses were piled liberally on serving dishes and the freshly baked, warm bread gave off an enticing aroma. Fruit was abundant, including figs, dates and oranges as well as apples, pears and grapes. All in all there was enough to satisfy anyone's appetite, even the legendary one of a certain bard.
Iolaus, looking bleary eyed was giving a report on just what he and Toris had been able to find out from Jerushan, "We used the method that we'd worked out in Lugdunum for questioning the guard that we abducted. Once we got enough of the wine into her, Jerushan told us what she knew."
"Which was?" prompted Gabrielle, from her position at the head of the gathering, as she popped another date into her mouth.
"From what she said," Toris responded, "It was just a note from Tarelle trying to make contact with Caesar. She says she doesn't know what was in the note, but she told us that she was supposed to go back tomorrow evening so that she could make further arrangements with him."
"You might want to re-think that little bit of information and the accuracy of your examination technique," Autolycus commented wryly. All eyes turning towards the thief and he suddenly felt how a rabbit must when finding itself surrounded by predators. "Now look," he began in self defence, "I know I'm not too popular at the moment .. going off without a word to anyone like that, but," he countered their glowers and raised eyebrows, "I did it with the purest intentions."
"Pure gold intentions?" sniped Hercules pointedly looking at the bulges made by the purloined pouches under the thief's tunic.
"Yes," agreed the darkly handsome man. He caught Hercules' look and had the grace to flush a little, "My intentions were pure gold," he protested, "Look, we needed information. Our current position here is rocky to say the least, we need to know just what is going on amongst our 'friends' and enemies."
"Oh sure, chuckled Iolaus, "I bet you found out plenty in the Roman treasury."
"That," shrugged Autolycus uncomfortably, "was just a training exercise .. I need to keep my business hand in. However," he went onto the attack, "my other little visits were very productive and worth far more to us than all the dinars that they've got stuffed away in that vault of theirs."
He had everyone's attention now and a silence crept over the richly appointed room before Gabrielle sighed and asked, "Alright, Autolycus, tell us all about it."
The King of thieves chuckled and rubbed his hands together, "Well when Shorty's pirate friend," he got a quick couple of digs in a Iolaus for the fun of it, "dropped those lightning bolts on us, I figured we needed to know as much as we could about what everyone else in this game was up to. Now since I, by nature of my expertise, was best suited to finding these things out ..."
"Sneaking around and listening at doors," interpreted Iolaus annoyed about the cracks at his height and the nature of his friendship with Nebula.
"... I took it upon myself to find out what I could on our joint behalf," he brushed an index finger across his moustache," even at the risk of my own life."
"Just so he could play the hero!" sniped the blonde warrior.
"Cut it out Iolaus or we'll be here all day," Hercules pointed out.
"Well most of us can't go anywhere else anyway," snapped the blonde man, who was beginning to get 'cabin fever'.
"Hey guys," Ephiny interrupted them, "Whatever Autolycus has to say could be important to us, so why don't we just listen for a while, huh?"
"Please go on, Autolycus," encouraged Gabrielle with a small smile, "but try to stick to the point. We all know how highly you value your own skills .. not that we don't value them too," she assured him as she saw him frown at the small dig she couldn't resist giving voice to.
The thief gave her a look before deciding that it wasn't worth the energy in defending his, admittedly, dubious honour when everyone else was likely to side with Gabrielle against him, "Yes, well .. hrmph. I dodged over to the Amazon barracks to check out just who the main suspects were, and decided that I'd snoop there a bit later when Eponin finished doing her thing. Being at something of a loose end, I just happened to see Pompey returning from that banquette thing you went to, so decided to try and find out what was on his mind."
"And ..." encouraged Ephiny when he stopped to swallow some fruit juice.
"And basically he's going to use the Amazons for all their political worth, while making certain that Gabrielle, Toris, Joxer, Curly and me stay put ... even if he has to lock us all up in his dungeons. Which he will do, by the way, if any one of us tries to leave this building .. conventionally at least." He then filled them in on exactly what had been said between Pompey and Antonius.
"So in a nutshell," Eponin summed up, "You're saying that Pompey has little intention of letting you, Gabrielle, Toris, Joxer or Iolaus go. That he wants to distract Caesar by using Ephiny as a blind, and will happily see Xena, and everyone of us, dead if it serves his personal vendetta against Caesar?"
"That's pretty much spot on what he was saying," agreed the thief.
"Well at least we know exactly where we stand with Pompey," muttered Hercules, who was beginning to appreciate the true value of what Autolycus had been doing in the night.
"Alright," said the bard before taking a bite out of a pear and chewing thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing and asking, "What did you do next?"
The King of Thieves grinned rakishly at her before continuing, "Well having heard Nebula say that Xena was taken to Caesar's palace, and as I was intending to head over there anyway, I thought I'd take a look at how difficult it would be to 'steal' her out from under their noses." He nibbled thoughtfully at a fig before continuing, "I gotta tell you, it's a whole lot easier breaking into their damn treasury than getting close to the Warrior Princess. I never even got a look at her. She's being held in the drill-yard ..."
"In the yard?" questioned Toris confused.
"Weeell," drew out Autolycus, "not so much in as under."
"Are you being deliberately cryptic?" demanded Gabrielle, "And I thought Xena was bad!"
That got a full, white toothed, smile from Autolycus, "Habit," he said apologetically, "always keep 'em guessing." That earned him a snort of laughter from the bard and a few grins from amongst the others on the floor. "Actually, someone had dug a pit in the centre of that parade ground and covered it with a very heavy looking metal grill. They've set up beacons around the pit that flood the area with light and there are six guards in that lit area who check on her every quarter candlemark or so to make sure she's just where they left her. On top of that there's twenty guards all armed with nasty looking pistol crossbows that shoot darts, which I guess would be coated with some kind of sleeping drug."
"They had those while we were in Gaul. I think Caesar would rather not kill her unless he has to," interrupted Gabrielle. Everyone nodded thoughtfully at this information.
"Well anyway," continued the thief, "any thoughts I had of busting her out were ended then and there, because there's no way to sneak past those guards without being caught." He allowed that information to sink in before he went on to detail what he had overheard Caesar saying.
"So he knows we're here, then?" questioned Toris slamming his fist against his knee in anger.
"Hey!" Joxer suddenly chirped up, "You guys know what that means, don't ya?" He hurried on without waiting for an answer to his question, "It means Caesar's got a spy in Pompey's household working for him."
Iolaus shook his head in mute disbelief at the wanna be warrior, "More likely a double agent," the blonde warrior commented, "Otherwise Caesar would know that we weren't in the cells."
"Well done, short stuff," snickered Autolycus giving him a soft round of applause, "You're smarter than you look .. of course that isn't difficult."
Iolaus was up on his knees about to make a lunge at the thief, when he was restrained by Hercules' firm grasp, "Calm down, pal. We're all on the same side here."
Yeah!" retorted the smaller man, "Well tell that to the prince of .. of .. pilferers over there," he snarled.
"Cut it out Autolycus. We've got enough problems without fighting amongst ourselves," insisted the demi-god.
"Yeah, well," the thief said as he settled back down in his place, "We have a bigger problem than shor ..." he caught Hercules' steely gaze, "Umm .. Iolaus' prickly feelings."
"Like what?" questioned Joxer with zealous interest.
"Like the fact that Caesar's got the hots for Ephiny and is likely going to be panting after her like a resident of Tartarus would an ice-cube!" he pointed out.
Ephiny, Gabrielle and Eponin looked at each other almost seeming to have a silent conversation, one which neither the bard nor the Weapons Master was very happy with, "Well," said the Regent at last. "I think that if I can keep Caesar chasing me, it might just keep him off balance enough for us to get this plan to work."
"You'd be taking a big risk, Ephiny," Hercules warned, worried about just what could happen.
Gabrielle laid a concerned hand on her friend's arm, "Eph, that man is dangerous .. even Xena is careful about him. There's something about his personality .. it's strange. Xena says it's like a moth and a flame, an he's the flame. The attraction he exudes is almost impossible to resist, even when you know you're going to get burned. I don't want you to get hurt .. and I know Xena wouldn't want you to either," she told her friend with worried sincerity.
"I'll be alright, Gabrielle. I'll make sure that I've always got Hercules or one of the Amazon guards with me whenever I see him, that way I'll be protected," the Regent tried to reassure her Queen with more confidence than she really felt herself, - I've already felt that attraction, and it's going to be hard to resist him, - she admitted to herself.
"Well that just leaves our rebellious Amazons to deal with," put in Eponin gruffly, not at all happy with Ephiny's decision. "I'll get my head together with Autolycus and compare notes with him. Between us, we should be able to clear out the rotten eggs and get them safely out of the way aboard Nebula's ship."
"What are we going to do about this 'meeting' with Caesar tomorrow at the senate?" asked the bard, "I mean, someone needs to show up so he doesn't become suspicious."
There was silence in the large room for some few heartbeats before the Regent made a suggestion, "I think we should send Malonda with a message saying that I'd like to meet with him on a more private basis. We can then quibble about arrangements for a few days before we have to make up our minds what to do next." She looked around to gauge the response.
Eponin shook her head violently, "No. It has to be someone who knows what's going on here. We don't want to include anyone else, so it'll have to be me who goes."
Ephiny gave her friend a hard look, "You sure Poni? I mean, you're just not cut out to be a diplomat."
The Weapons Master shrugged, "Write a note and I'll just deliver it." She grinned as a thought struck her, "And if you're worried about my safety, you can send tall, fair and godly along with me as an escort .. might look cool wandering around Rome with him as my body slave." Her grin widened as she glanced over and saw the look that Hercules was giving her.
He transferred the look to the Queen Regent when she said thoughtfully, "That might not be such a bad idea, Poni."
The group settled down to plan out their various campaigns, knowing that they were very much resting between a rock and a hard place and needed to make absolutely certain that their actions were thought out well in advance with as many different contingencies for emergencies as possible.
- This is crazy, - she thought for about the hundredth time, starting to pace back and forth while ignoring the frown that she knew she was getting from Hercules. - From everything that Gabrielle's said, and what she's told us that Xena has said, Ephiny has got to be a sandwich short of a picnic to try and flirt with that man. - A grim look came on her face as a thought struck her, - If he does anything to hurt her, I'll gut him! -
Hercules watched the edgy Weapons Master feeling very much out of place and helpless here. He could say nothing to get the severely agitated Eponin to calm down even if he hadn't, in fact, shared the same reservations about the scheme to keep Caesar occupied as she did.
He forced himself not to sigh, knowing that almost any sound emanating from him would not be in keeping with his cover, and he could feel someone's eyes watching him with a burning intensity. Squatting down next to a marble column, he leaned his back on it and tried to look around the impressive architecture like some uncouth, uneducated bumpkin, while in truth the surrounding magnificence meant nothing to him .. after the wonders of Mount Olympus, most buildings were just pale imitations. Oh, another time he might have admired the craftsmanship, but today his mind was fixed firmly on locating the person who seemed to be showing such an intent interest in him.
Eventually he found the interested observer, partially hidden by a colonnade up on the balcony that rimmed the foyer, giving entrance to the gallery for spectators who followed the Senate's deliberations. Taking very casual looks in the direction of the man, Hercules determined that the watcher had not seen many more than twenty summers. He appeared to be good looking and had very distinctive, chestnut coloured, curly hair. The demi-god was fairly certain he had seen the man around Pompey's palace.
- Obviously Pompey wants to know what's happening between Caesar and the Amazons, - he mused, - but why is he showing so much interest in me? - he asked himself, well aware that the observers eyes stayed pinned on himself rather than the pacing Eponin.
He pushed his deliberations into the back of his mind when he saw the Weapons Master stiffen and look towards the entrance portico as Caesar and his entourage arrived, attracting all the attention of the milling crowds. Hercules noted that Eponin made no move to approach the Roman, he knew that they were there. He would just have to come to them.
As Caesar approached, Hercules made an obvious ploy of looking in the Roman noble's direction before pushing himself up to his full impressive height. It was necessary for everyone to think that he had seen Caesar before moving .. his disguise required that he maintain the impression of deafness.
Eponin tried valiantly to erase the scowl from her features as she watched Caesar approach her with a tail of fawning, advancement seeking, men trailing after him. - He is, - considered the Amazon, - the most arrogant, condescending, man I have ever had the misfortune to meet. -
Applying a stone faced mask to her features that made her look far more menacing than normal, she greeted Caesar with flat formality, "Hail Caesar, I bring you a message from Ephiny, by the grace of Artemis, Queen of the Amazons, Lioness of Themiscyra, Daughter of the Moon." She handed over the letter that the Regent and bard had worked hard upon crafting, adding things and removing others until they had constructed what they believed to be a suitably amiable and flirtatious missive that would both encourage and intrigue the Roman.
It said:
My Lord Caesar
I so enjoyed your victory celebrations yesterday, I found it all so riveting. Is it true that everything Roman is always exhibited on such a grand scale? If so, that must keep the Roman population in a state of satiated exhaustion. How do you ever manage to pursue your conquests?
My Amazons have been keenly comparing the performances of your Roman ... gladiators ... to the men of Greece. They seem to think that the Greeks make up in stamina and endurance what they loose to the Romans in weapon size and technique. However, as I frequently have told them, it's not the size of the weapon, but the skill of the wielder that makes a great .. gladiator!
I find myself incredibly tied up with so many functions that I just must attend. I do so hope to be able to meet with you at some of them. I anticipate some lengthy discussions and look forward to hearing how well your training of the animal is going. I find myself looking forward with eager expectation to the match between your slave and my Heston, although we still have to negotiate the terms of the wager. Personally, I hope you drive a hard bargain and that we both gain some mutual satisfaction from this encounter.
If you are not too burdened by affairs of State, perhaps we could discuss more of these issues at Ambrosius' party tomorrow evening? Just let Eponin know your answer and I will adjust my plans accordingly.
Ephiny
Caesar's breathing seemed to quicken as he read the note and both Hercules and the Weapons Master noticed a predatory gleam kindle in his brown eyes. The Roman read the missive through a second time before casting an assessing glance at the demi-god, noting the 'concubines' sculpted muscular body and remembering the strength and endurance he had shown when fighting the Ethiopian, before tapping the letter lightly against his right thigh and telling Eponin, "Inform Queen Ephiny that I will look forward to our encounter at the house of Ambrosius, tomorrow night."
Poni answered with a short bow, and watched as Caesar disappeared towards the Senate door, still surrounded by a crowd of hangers-on that would have been ready to clean his boots with their tongues had he but asked them to. The Weapons Master's lip curled in distaste. - Well whatever he's got, I seem to be immune to it! - she sneered silently. - What a goat sucking, pig fricking, asshole of a male! - she crudely described him to herself.
As Caesar left them, Hercules' eyes had turned in the direction where the unobtrusive observer still remained at his post, carefully monitoring the exchange between the rival power in Rome and the Amazon's emissary. When he realised that he'd been spotted by the huge, silent man, the spy quickly ducked out of sight.
- I hate politics! - thought Hercules, - Xena, when all this is done, you and I are going to have a long discussion about just how much you owe me for this .. and just how you're going to repay me for it! - he thought with a wry grin, pretty much certain about what the method of payment would be.
Eponin turned and touched his arm, and soon the two were picking their way through Rome's crowded streets back towards the palace to let the others know that Caesar had taken the bait.
Both Ephiny and Caesar attended, with colourful entourages, although the Amazon's leather, feather and bead ensembles far outshone the native population's in both exoticness and colour. The occasion was one of glittering spectacle and lavish over-abundance that spoke volumes for the extravagance and waste that was generated by the elite of Rome.
"By Artemis," grumbled Malonda to a tired Eponin, "The food that will be wasted here would feed most villages for a month!"
The Weapons Master nodded her agreement and stifled a yawn while keeping a discreet eye on Ephiny. She was being faithfully shadowed by Hercules as the Regent fenced with the enthusiastic Caesar who was preparing his pursuit and eventual seduction of the Amazon Queen, "Eph seems to be holding her own," she commented wryly, knowing that when they got back into the relative safety of their suite at Pompey's she'd be treated to chapter and verse of just what a slimy slug the Roman was.
- Still, - considered Eponin silently, - she's led him a better dance than I thought possible. He's practically broken his neck trying to get her off somewhere alone only to be frustrated at every turn by a big concubine or a variety of feathered Amazons. Definitely a good start to the game. -
"How much longer before we can all get out of here?" asked Malonda irritably, "These people are beginning to make me twitch .. and if just one more young Roman buck comes up to me and asks if he can pluck my feathers, I think I'll just take his head off at the neck and stuff it where the sun doesn't shine!" she growled belligerently.
Poni laughed mirthlessly, "Ya just gotta give them the right look. Make them think twice about even coming near." She demonstrated with an imitation of one of Xena's patented warrior glares that had a lurking Roman heading for the opposite side of the hall.
"You learn that from the big, bad, Warrior Princess?" questioned Malonda, a faint trace of disdain in her voice.
"Sure," agreed Eponin casually, "She's got many skills and that one comes in damn useful. Why?"
"Nothing," grunted the dark haired Amazon, "I just think everyone wants to make too big a fuss over her. For Artemis' sake! She's just another warrior .. a good one, I'll grant you," she added, noticing the Weapons Master about to object, "but just how much of her intimidating presence is based on reputation. Hades!" she swore, "Tarelle and her bunch want to get rid of her 'cause they're scared spitless of her. Ephiny and Gabrielle are so in awe of the superstar that they can't see any of her faults. It would just be nice if everyone saw her for what she really is."
"What's that, Loni?" questioned Eponin carefully. She wasn't sure that she liked what she was hearing from her fellow Amazon.
"A murdering bitch who's gotten away with her crimes time and again for no logical reason that I can see!" snapped the Malonda angrily.
Eponin stood quietly for a moment before she responded softly, "You're wrong, Malonda. Xena has never gotten away with anything. Her past is always with her no matter what she does, and her enemies are the kind with the power to hurt her badly, like Caesar has here."
With another disdainful look the scout commented, "Never thought you'd be drawn in by her, Eponin. Thought you were too pragmatic for all that bullshit that surrounds her," she snarled.
Sighing, the Weapons Master gave her second-in-command an appraising look, "I can understand someone not liking her," she told the other Amazon, "The gods know she's got enough history behind her to make half the world hate her. What you feel is entirely up to you .. just so long as it doesn't interfere with our sworn duty to protect our Queens."
Malonda gave her an almost outraged look, "Hey I never said anything against either Ephiny or Gabrielle."
"I never said you did, Loni," replied Eponin. "But anyone who does is going to answer to me." She fixed the other woman with a glare, and then decided to let the whole thing drop, "Look, that's the signal," she nudged the dark haired scout with her elbow as Ephiny ran her fingers through her golden curls, "It's time to get her out of here before the horny toad gets too insistent."
Chuckling, the two Amazons collected the rest of the honour guard and went to rescue their Regent from the insidious clutches of Caesar.
Ephiny and Eponin were continually at odds over the problem of keeping Caesar at a wide enough distance to insure the safety of the Regent. The Weapons Master thought two miles was too close, while Ephiny argued that Caesar's pursuit of her kept him enough off balance to avoid him starting to make awkward inquiries .. well that was what they hoped.
The rogue Amazons were contained in Nebula's ship and engaged upon useful activities there, keeping them occupied, out of harms way and out of a demon brew that was difficult enough to keep in the pot without everything boiling over anyway. It was an uncomfortable situation to say the least, and it teetered along for a full fourteen days towards the new moon before the pot got stirred hard.
Xena moved back across the length of the parade ground and bent to seek another hand hold on one of the head sized boulders that lay in a pile there. Picking up the one closest to her she worked, without need to concentrate, upon her mindless labour.
There were two hundred and thirty eight rocks in the pile. She knew each one intimately as, for the past fourteen days, she had spent every afternoon since arriving in Rome moving the pile from one side to the other of the drill yard, under the full glare of the burning sun. The task was designed to keep her active and fit, occupied, and exhausted. It was mind numbing, endless, pointless, physical labour, devised to break her spirit.
That first night in the pit had been one of mixed despair and tentative hope. Despair, because she felt helpless and totally without control. She hated that feeling with all her being. Not since the age of five, when Toris and his friends had ambushed her and locked her into a grain bin for an entire day, as retribution for some prank she had pulled on them, had she been in such a situation .. and she'd sworn at that early age never to be so again if she could do anything at all about it.
The misery and the despair was only staved off by the small shards of hope that seeing Hercules and Ephiny had created within her. She had friends working for her freedom and, - If only I understood what Eph meant correctly, - she'd told herself, - then Gabrielle is free and safe! - It was a warm ember of comfort that allowed her to pass her an uncomfortable night, huddled in one of the two, mainly covered, corners of the hole, under her two blankets.
At first light, come morning, she was awoken by the sound of the locks being opened and the bolt drawn back on the barred grill. She roused herself and slowly stood as the trap door was thrown back and a ladder let down into the hole, "Get you worthless carcass up here, slave!" had come Flaccus' unmistakable growl.
She could have forced them to come and get her, but self-preservation dictated that she co-operate .. she needed to get herself fit if she was ever going to wriggle free from Roman clutches. She had slowly climbed the ladder and, upon gaining the drill yard, stood docilely before the centurion, with her head bowed in seeming meek submission.
Flaccus was not fooled by the act. She knew it, and he knew that she was aware of it, but while she was being amenable, he was content to let things be, other than to warn his men about becoming lax, "Whatever face she chooses to display, she's still the same barbarian bitch that has slaughtered her way around the Empire! So for your own sakes, never .. ever .. relax around her."
They'd taken her into the palace and down into the basements where baths had been built for the use of the household's slaves. Entry was via a thickly barred gate that was closed and locked as Xena, Flaccus and a guard of twenty passed it, leaving a further twenty men on duty on the far side, should they be required to subdue their charge.
Taking note of all salient facets of the facility, Xena was not surprised to find Patroclese waiting for her. What did, mildly, surprise her was that after the centurion locked the collar chain to her neck and a ringbolt set into the floor next to the bath, he proceeded to remove both her leg irons and the manacles along with the leather belt.
"Strip your trousers off, Xena, but leave your shirt on. I want to give the water a chance to loosen the dried blood before we attempt to get it off. I'd rather not have to deal with more bloody wounds than necessary," Patroclese told her.
She did as she was instructed, and slipped into the water, eager for the chance to remove the filth and grime that had encrusted itself on her body since her last bath in the river after the treaty agreement with Verchinex, - How long ago was that? - she silently questioned herself, - Close on a moon ago, - she calculated. - Other than being doused with sea water after the flogging, I haven't been close to wash water. I must smell riper than a midden! -
She was pleasantly surprised at the gentle warmth of the water and Patroclese noticing the look on her face, told her, "The baths here are heated by a hypercaust. Slaves don't get the full range of baths, but the tepidarium here is nice enough."
Sinking down into the relaxing warmth, she resisted the urge to wince as her assorted wounds stung from the water. She watched silently as Patroclese stripped down to his loincloth, selected a thin sharp knife from his kit, and slipped into the water, wading in behind her, where he began to delicately cut the linen fabric away from the crusted lash cuts.
He took his time, allowing the water to do most of his work for him, intent upon insuring that he did as little damage to the healing skin as possible. Xena sat motionless beginning to relax in the seductive warmth of the water, enjoying a small luxury in her Tartarus filled existence.
Finally, Patroclese finished easing the shirt off of her back and she was able to discard the garment to the side of the bath. She heard the healer splash his way out of the pool and turned when he called her name, "Xena, here catch," he said as he threw her a bar of strong smelling soap.
A graceful, golden arm, striped with blue and purple welts, snaked out of the water and caught the soap in mid flight, "Thanks," she grinned, and began to work on cleaning the collected filth from her skin and hair.
She had been escorted from the baths, through the barred door and down another long corridor to a small windowless room containing a long marble slab table. Even on such a short walk, Flaccus had not relaxed his vigilance. As soon as she stepped out of the bath, the leg irons had been replaced. Patroclese had given her a length of linen to wrap around herself, and then the centurion had replaced the belt and the manacles, before releasing the leash and tugging her in the direction of the exit.
Once she had reached the small cell like room, the belt and manacles had been removed, "Get on the table, face down, slave," Flaccus had ordered.
She did as instructed, not speaking, not hesitating to obey. She needed to avoid more injuries if she was going to be in a fit state for escape and that meant putting the lid on her pride and stubbornness for a while. Once she was settled in place, the centurion secured the leash to a ring in the base of the slab, and used a chain already set for the purpose to lock to the links of the leg irons, pretty much holding her in place.
"Is that really necessary," Patroclese asked in a patient though already defeated tone.
"The room's not big enough for more than one guard in each corner," the centurion stated flatly, so the restraints should make sure she stays put … at least until I can get enough men in here to secure her should it prove necessary." His hand shot out and grabbed a large fistful of her wet hair, turning her face towards his, "I'm watching you," he warned, "This sudden compliance doesn't fool me. You're up to something and I'm ready for it."
She kept her eyes cast down, refusing to look him in the eye knowing that, however else she acted, she couldn't disguise the fire that burned there. So she took shelter in silence and docility, aware that this 'new' tactic would probably have Flaccus on a razor edge of expectation, waiting for her to try something.
"That's enough, Flaccus," the healer told him sternly. "I have my job to do and there's much scheduled for the rest of the day. Let me get my work done so we can all get on."
Patroclese had worked steadily for more than two candlemarks checking over the lacerations that scored his patient's back; adding extra stitches where they were required, using a biting cleanser to ensure that there wouldn't be any risk of infection, tending the lash weals over her arms and legs; applying salve to all the injuries and aloe to the blistered burns that still marked her shoulders and arms.
When he had finished working on her back, he'd called Flaccus in to release the lock on the leg irons so that Xena could turn over to enable him to tend the various injuries that ran down the front of her body. The centurion complied wordlessly, but made sure the restraints were secured once more before he allowed the physician to continue his work.
After Patroclese had finished his ministrations, Xena was given a gray, thigh length tunic and a pair of under-britches, for modesty's sake, as well as having her boots returned to her. After being allowed, with the normal elaborate precautions, to dress once more she was escorted, fully shackled, back up out of the palace's cellars into daylight once again.
As she blinked in the bright light of morning, Xena felt better than she had in days and she knew that being clean played a part in that, although the thought of the close proximity of her friends definitely helped. A ghost of a smile almost played across her lips as she allowed the tug of the leash to guide her from the door of the cellars and across the drill-yard towards a different part of the palace.
Half way across the open yard, her good mood evaporated as she caught sight of a group of soldiers escorting a small woman with golden, honey blonde, hair down a colonnade away from her. Xena felt her heart clench, "Gabrielle," she whispered. And then, as the guard around her friend closed tighter and hurried the struggling woman away, she cried louder, "Gabrielle!" and took a lunge at the wall of soldiers surrounding her, trying to break through to reach the bard.
The guards swarmed around her. Flaccus retained a firm grip on her leash as she struggled to bypass the flesh and blood barrier that restricted her progress. Surprisingly, they didn't hit her. Just used their weight of numbers to bear her down to the ground and contain her there until she finished heaving.
"Gabrielle," she whispered again, despondency seeping into her with the knowledge that her hopes for escape were shattered.
Seeing the fight drain out of his captive, Flaccus ordered her to be hoisted upright. He indulged himself in a full-blooded slap that left the print of his hand emblazoned upon her left cheek. He noted, with satisfaction, the dull look of uncaring acceptance in her eyes, "Your outburst here will cost the bard five strokes of the strap tonight. I'll have them administered here in the courtyard after you're back in your kennel. If you give me any cause to reprimand you again, she will receive an additional five strokes,"
He recognised the brief flare in the blue eyes, but it was quickly extinguished, "All punishments you earn will be taken by the bard. Lord Caesar wants you fit and well to fight in the pits. What that means is, you behave or she suffers the consequences. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, sir," she answered flatly, and knew that she was once again hamstrung.
The whole maniple had been assembled to escort her down to the Coliseum. There she was given into the care of the Lanista, Marius Sutones, who had been instructed to put her through the gladiator school training schedules from three candlemarks after dawn, until one candlemark after midday.
The Coliseum's training areas were mostly indoors and very heavily guarded. Even so Flaccus, and forty of his men, armed with pistol crossbows and drugged darts, remained on duty in addition to the normal gladiatorial guards that surrounded their charges.
Standing in the Lanista's office with Xena and six guards, Flaccus instructed, "Nothing too strenuous, at least to start with. She's got a lot of injuries to heal from. And she's not to get near any weapon of any description. She won't be fighting in the arena, Lord Caesar wants her for the pits."
Sutones considered the slave cautiously. His professional eye noted the quality of the shackles that bound her and the very unusual slave collar. He could see the sleek power of her muscular body and was very aware of the uneasy respect that the guards surrounding her were giving to their charge.
Walking behind Xena, he pulled at the neck of her tunic and looked down it to the mixture of raw and healing wounds that covered her flesh, "She looks like trouble," he stated matter-of-factly, "Any other instructions come with her?"
The Warrior Princess had closed her eyes and clenched her fists until her knuckles shone white through her bronzed skin. She had always borne a hatred of the principle of slavery and now, after experiencing the dehumanising process for herself, she had further reasons to despise it as an institution.
Noting Sutones's careful study of his charge, Flaccus approved of the Lanista. He was a man who knew his job and was businesslike in it's performance. As one professional to another, Flaccus knew the man would accept some advice without getting prickly about it, "No instructions, but if I were you I'd make sure that she only trains in closed, closely guarded, areas. Keep her in those fetters unless it's necessary to do otherwise, and if she causes any trouble get my boys to deal with it. They're used to handling her," he smiled grimly. "Oh, and one last thing. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking she's harmless, even when safely shackled. In the time we've had her she's killed twelve of my men and put another thirteen out of commission."
"So a real savage," breathed Sutones not in the least put out by the information, "Don't worry, we've had her type here before, I'm sure we can accommodate her."
Clenching her jaw tightly, Xena resisted the urge to make a scathing comment about the type of person that both the Lanista and the centurion were. She couldn't afford to provoke either man, although she longed for a time when such considerations became moot.
"Just a word of caution, Lanista. Whoever you've had to deal with before, if you multiply their capacity for causing trouble by ten, then maybe, just maybe, you'll get close to the danger she can cause you."
"She's that good?" questioned Sutones incredulously, finding it difficult not to doubt the centurion, even though he could tell that Flaccus was not the man to exaggerate.
"Took almost two hundred men to take her," acknowledged the centurion, "along with an awful lot of planning and a small grain of luck.
Marius Sutones nodded his head impressed as much by what Flaccus didn't say as by what he had, "Your men will be in close attendance whenever she's here?"
He received a curt nod in reply from Flaccus who then turned to Xena and, using the butt of his whip under her chin, lifted her head to look directly into her eyes that flashed dangerously for just a heartbeat, "You will obey all instructions given to you promptly. You will answer any question put to you respectfully. In fact you will behave as a model slave should, or … well you know who will suffer if you don't, don't you?"
Glaring, Xena had responded, "Yes, sir."
Bend, search for a hold, hoist, shuffle ... shuffle ... shuffle ..., drop! Shuffle ... shuffle, shuffle ....
She had spent five candlemarks jumping rope, running sprints, lifting weights and hitting punch bags. If the trainers didn't think she was applying herself diligently enough, she was encouraged in her efforts by a stinging whip that flicked at her bare thighs, and all the while the guards from the elite maniple watched her like hawks, knowing that their lives depended upon her continued captivity.
The exercises had been taxing and close to exhausting in her current state of health, but she had completed each session to the specific demands of the trainers without feeling the sharp sting of the lash too many times.
She felt like an animal being put through it's paces.
Upon return to Caesar's palace, she'd been escorted to a room not far from the kitchens, where she had been served an excellent meal of soup, roast chicken, three different kinds of vegetables, bread and cheese, all washed down by a sharp wine. It was fairly obvious that Caesar wanted his prize fighter fit and healthy enough to take on all comers.
After eating she was taken back out to the drill yard where she had immediately noticed the huge pile of rocks in the far corner of the yard by the wall. Somehow she just knew that she was going to get to know each one of those rocks in intimate detail.
"Alright, slave," Flaccus had said, "Your task for the rest of the day is to move those rocks from where they are to the other end of the courtyard. If you've behaved yourself, like you have today, you'll only have to move them once a day. If I think your behaviour has warranted it, you'll move them back and forth until I give you leave to stop. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," responded Xena trying hard to fight the dejection she felt. She knew the purpose of this useless task. It was designed to 'gently' break her spirit. There was no point to it, other than to emphasise her helplessness, to sap her morale and mental strength. It was an exercise tailor made to wear on her and she was well aware of it.
That first day had been one of agony for the Warrior Princess. It had taken her until close to dusk to finish her task. Her muscles had begun to protest every movement, her back once more felt lanced with fire, but she had completed what she had been instructed to do, and when she had finished she had been taken back to the baths where Patroclese waited once more to help her clean up, then tend her wounds and even massage some of the knots out of her protesting muscles.
When she was returned to her kennel, she actually felt human once again … at least she did until Gabrielle had been brought into the drill-yard and given the promised five strokes of the strap. Xena had stood, helpless, below the grating, flinching with the sound of every blow as it fell and the anguished scream that accompanied it, imagining her friend's green eyes filled with pain, and knowing all too well that she was responsible for it.
Her eyes slitted to icy blue chips as she thought of yet another way to add to the growing list of how to kill Caesar and Flaccus!
That first day had become the pattern that her routine was now based upon. Oh, there had been adjustments as the days wore along. With her back healed, Patroclese no longer ministered to her wounds, instead after her morning and evening bath, a masseuse worked on her body, toning the strengthening muscles and pampering Xena like the prize piece of property she was.
Her training at the Coliseum was also adapted to her growing fitness. Added to all her initial activities, sparring with the other gladiators in unarmed combat techniques now became a daily ritual, sharpening her skills to a fine degree, and distance running for stamina was included. This took place in the main Coliseum arena, on her own except for six trainers and Flaccus' forty guards who lined the walls, alert and ready for any sign that the Warrior Princess looked likely to try for an escape.
Her outbursts of temper and stubbornness became rarer and that had more to do with the sound of Gabrielle being beaten in the drill-yard on the evening of the occurrence, than the added time she was sentenced to spend lugging rocks from one side of the yard to the other .. an activity she was beginning to heartily loathe.
As she picked up yet another of the head sized boulders she felt an ominous tingle and the hairs on the nape of her neck rose in warning. She knew he was there before he chose to materialise himself for her. She chose to ignore him, turning away from the pile that she knew he was sitting on and heading, determinedly for the other end of the parade ground where a growing, small pile awaited another deposit from her.
She saw the silver blue light from the corner of her eye as Ares materialised beside her, matching her shuffling gait as she continued with her task and ignored his presence. She could feel his hot eyes on her and could picture the smugly sardonic smile on his face .. she was after all very familiar with him. Dropping the rock, she turned deliberately so her back would be to him and started the long return to the other pile of stone, with Ares sauntering by her side.
"My, my. Is this really a suitable occupation for a Warrior Princess?" the God said at length, growing slightly irritated by her lack of acknowledgment.
Without bothering to answer, she hefted another rock and began to make her tedious way with it to the other pile. She was well aware of what he was there for, and he'd get around to it in his own time without her having to contribute anything to the conversation.
"You know, if someone had come to me and told me that Xena was happy to be lugging rocks around in a yard as hot as Tartarus, I'd never have believed it. If you'd told me you enjoyed this kind of thing, I'd have arranged for you to spend some quality time with Sisyphus rolling that Zeus be damned rock of his," he smirked.
Then scowled as she continued to ignore him.
She dropped the stone, and turned back to collect another. Ares tried a different tack, "Hey! Doesn't it make you all warm inside to know that one of your ex-lovers is doing so well for himself? I mean Julius, under my guidance, is setting himself up to be the conqueror of the World. Admittedly he wasn't my first choice for the job, but I'm nothing if not flexible … when I have to be."
Xena ignored him, claiming a rock from the pile and turning back, for what seemed the millionth time, towards the far end of the yard, only stopping moving forward when Ares, having tired of speaking to a seeming brick wall, placed himself directly before her.
"Xena, why haven't you called me?" he asked with apparent concerned sincerity, "You know I'd have taken you away from all of this," he smiled gently waving his hand at the rocks and the guards who seemed to have frozen in time standing motionless in the heat of the day.
She looked him squarely in the face and, in a voice as cold as death, snarled, "Move!"
Ares smiled indulgently and stroked her cheek in a possessive gesture that reminded her all to readily of Caesar's touch. She closed her eyes and fought to control the mad surge of rage that erupted deep within her, "I'll move when you tell me why you didn't ask me for help," he answered, a caress filling his voice.
Drawing a deep breath she told him calmly in a tone that belied the turmoil that surged within her, "You are about the last person, man or god, that I would ask help from. I've paid my dues to you, Ares. I'm never coming back to you, so why don't you just butt out of my existence!"
"Oh, Xena, Xena, Xena," he shook his head in mock regret, "You really don't think it's that simple, do you? I'm part of you! You can fight it, but you can't deny it. And one way or another, you will be mine again."
"Get out of my way, Ares. I've got better things to do with my time than listen to you," she growled.
"Ah, I can see that, my dear," he nodded, biting his lower lip to prevent a grin from spreading over his entire face. "Look, why don't you just drop all this and let me take you .. yes and that pesky bard .. away from this mess you've got yourselves into? Mmm?"
Xena looked at him, seeming to weigh the prospect. Ares knew that she would be hard pressed to forego a chance of getting Gabrielle to safety, "Drop this?" she asked softly.
"Oh yes, Xena, drop it and come ..." he got no further as an excruciating pain throbbed through him thanks to the rock crushing his right foot.
"Forget it, Ares. I'm not interested. Not now. Not ever." She grinned impudently as the God of War did his best not to hop around clutching his sorely bruised toes. She stooped to retrieve the lump of stone and continued her shuffling passage across the drill-yard to where she dropped it once again.
"Xena, you're making a big mistake!" Ares threatened explosively.
"Going with you would be a bigger one," she replied as she moved past him on the way to fetch another chunk of rock.
"Do you think you're going to get any help from the Amazons? Get real, Xena! Most of them hate you worse than Caesar does .. at least he still has a lingering interest in ..."
"GET OFF IT, ARES!" roared the Warrior Princes, well aware that only he could hear her. They glared at each other for several heartbeats before she added in a far quieter tone, "Just get outta here. Don't you have some brown nosing to do with Zeus to make up for all your recent indiscretions?" she questioned with marked pointedness.
Anger and frustration waged war on Ares' handsome features as he glowered at HIS Warrior Princess. Now was not going to be the time to press his arguments as she was still no closer to being ready to listen to him, even with all that Caesar had put her through, "Alright, Xena," he snarled. "I can be patient. Eventually you're going to get tired of this and you will ask me for help. I'll give it too .. even after all the insults you've thrown in my direction since you got onto this goody, goody kick of yours … but you will pay me for that rock! One way or another!" he warned as he vanished in an explosion of blue and silver light.
"Oh Hades!" swore the warrior as she saw the guards reacting in panic when they returned to motion to find that she'd vanished from the spot they were watching and was, in fact, some distance down the length of the yard. She dropped the rock onto the hard packed earth and squatted down, curling her body, hands covering her head, to make as small a target as possible as her six personal watchdogs descended on her, lashing out with the heavy batons they carried, the solid blows powered by the fear and anger they felt at having lost sight of her.
The junior centurion, Titus rushed onto the scene and demanded to know what had happened. The guards, calming down, finally, after having seen their prisoner was not going anywhere, stopped hitting Xena and one of them answered his officer, "Sir, we was watching her shift them rocks as we always does. Everythin' seemed like normal, but then one moment she was right in front of us an' the next moment she was halfway down the yard. She must have bin tryin' to make a break for it, but we managed to catch her afore she could get away."
Titus gave Xena's ribs a sharp kick, "Get up, slave!" he ordered.
Slowly unwinding from her protective huddle, the warrior stood, hiding the winces she felt from the bruising her back had just taken. She stood calmly in front of Titus, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones as she waited to hear what he had to say.
"Have you got an explanation for what happened?" he asked. He thought it unlikely that she was trying to escape, the fact that one of the rocks lay beside her made the idea seem rather incongruous, but he could think of no other explanation.
"You'd never believe me," she told him flatly.
"Try me," he encouraged, ignoring, for the moment, the fact that she had failed to address him correctly.
"A god dropped by for a visit. He froze time for all of you and I continued working while he ..." she tried.
"Alright. That's enough. You just never learn do you?" he rasped, angry that she was trying to make a fool out of him.
Xena shrugged, "You asked what happened."
Titus glared at her, "Put her back in the hole, while I report this. I think the bard's going to get a few more stripes tonight," he commented, watching as the slave began to struggle and shout.
"No! You can't do that. I told you the truth ... get your hands off me!" she yelled as she fought against the guards.
Titus signaled for extra men to help the other six, and against increasing numbers, the Warrior Princess was inevitably forced down into the pit that acted as her cell. Titus looked down on the violently angry woman as the grating was locked firmly shut.
"Calm down and behave yourself," he warned, "You'll only make things worse for your friend."
Xena glared up at him, but her true ire was aimed at a black leather clad, bearded, God who managed to cause her trouble no matter what she did, - Damn you to Tartarus, Ares! - she cursed.
She stole a look to her left. There set up on display like a trophy from the hunt, was Xena's armour, leathers, sword, chakram and daggers: a reminder to all visitors to Caesar's offices, that he had taken, subdued and held Xena, the Warrior Princess, Destroyer of Nations and enemy of Rome. Wishing she could take the armour and weapons with her when she left, Ephiny turned her attention back to their erstwhile owner.
Watching intently, the Regent, never-the-less, felt the approach of Caesar behind her, joining her to observe his prized possession, "Ah, I see you're watching my slave," he murmured as his hand slid over her shoulder in a soft, half touch, and allowed it to linger on her arm, "She'll be fit and well to take on you man in seven days as agreed," he smirked, "I hope you're ready to lose an awful lot of dinars on this fight. I don't expect my slave to lose."
Ephiny's skin jumped in response to his hand and she bit her lip to avoid making any sound. - Oh Artemis! How can I hate this man so yet respond so to his touch? - Her heart beat faster as he leaned closer to her ear, his sweet breath warm on her neck, made her pulse leap erratically. - This is ridiculous! - her mind protested. - This man is brutal, callous and power hungry. He has brutalized two of my best friends and wants to rule the world which will, in the course of things, include the Amazon Nation. I cannot get involved with him. - "We'll see who loses what," she responded with a smile, inwardly dismayed at how easy she found it to flirt with this man.
"Ah, a worthy opponent, I feel," his lips brushed her cheek in an intimate caress as his arms encircled her waist, "It is such a pity that you must return to your homeland so soon, but with time so short we must relish the opportunities we have."
Her heart fluttering wildly and her body betraying her will, Ephiny turned in his embrace and engaged the enemy in a passionate kiss that left her breathless and receptive to his further advances. While a part of her mind screamed out against the betrayal of her dead husband, Phantes, and her live friends, the Regent felt somehow powerless in this calculated seduction by Caesar, as though she was being driven by a will other than her own.
"Don't worry about it, sis," grinned Artemis as she watched the carnal passions being played out in the scrying bowl. "The child from this union is gonna be a major influence on my Amazons when she comes of age. I checked it out with Clotho and Lachesis and although they did their normal game of smoke and mirrors, I did get them to admit that if the girl makes it to be an adult she will be a power for good for my Amazons."
"Rippin!" congratulated the bubbly Goddess of Love, "Just remember you owe me big time for this, Arte. I'm gonna have that Amazon chick burning my ears for sure for this stunt."
"Don't sweat it 'Dite. I owe ya one, but we've still got work to do with our little mortals, and we have to be ready for the opportunities as they arise," her voice trailed off absently as she watched the bodies writhe in the water before her. "Hey, he's got some technique. If I was into that kinda thing he'd be a guy to check out."
Aphrodite examined the scene critically, "Well if nothing else he's rockin' her world. Quite the stud muffin! Trouble is, as I tried to explain to Cupid, mortals are like plums .. they taste great for a while, but before you know it .." she threw her hands into the air, "prunes! They're great to mess around with but not worth getting attached to. Still it's a pity that you don't go in for the love thing." She frowned as the image on the scrying bowl shifted perspective and settled on Xena as she worked to haul rocks across the drill-yard. "Hey! No fair, Artemis, that dude had great ..."
"Aphrodite!" broke in Artemis in an almost shocked tone.
"Stamina, sis, stamina. That guy has definitely got rock hard ..."
"APHRODITE!" gasped the other goddess as she anticipated what her sister was about to say.
".. assets, Artemis, assets!" grinned the blonde cheerfully.
"Quit this, 'Dite. It's not a game I like to play," her sister told her prudishly.
"Yadda, yadda, yadda! You sure know how to ruin a girls fun," moaned the curvaceous Love Goddess. "How are you gonna square it with your Amazon babe?" she asked to pass the time.
"Oh, I'll just get the temple High Priestess to inform her it was necessary," Artemis replied in an off-hand manner.
"You know what? I don't get why you didn't get me to do a tango with Xena's hormones. Caesar's hot for her and any child of hers is going to be something special."
"Don't even go there, 'Dite." warned her sister with a shudder.
"I kinda thought it would be a killer idea," persisted the blonde as she watched Xena at her endless task.
"That's just about the word for any child coming from the lines of those two. I checked that with Clotho and Lachesis as well. If they'd been mortal they would have dropped dead on the spot as soon as I brought the subject up. Any child from a pairing of Xena and Caesar would be a savage with a mind of a genius in excess of both it's parents. It would be unstoppable and strong enough to challenge even us." she informed her sister firmly.
"Oh," answered Aphrodite thoughtfully, "Guess that's why old cow face interfered the first time they got together then."
"If mother hadn't made a few suggestions to Caesar, it's quite likely that the pair wouldn't have just one, but several, off-spring by now and that would have proven a disaster for everyone and everything," Artemis told her suppressing another shudder. "Look, 'Dite. Here comes Ares. Tits and Titans, he's so predictable!" she complained. "You don't need sound to know just what he's saying to her." She made a hacking cough, pumped up her shoulders a bit and gave her best impression of her brother, "This is no situation for a Warrior Princess. Come with me and rule the world."
Aphrodite laughed hysterically, "Bitchin'! That is sooo wicked, Arte! You just gotta do that at Hera's next party. She'll be so ticked to see her precious baby's short and curlies yanked."
"Mother hasn't invited me," Artemis informed her giggling, "She didn't like it when I told her just what I thought about Ares involvement in the Dahak thing."
"Oh! did you see that?" howled the blonde. "The warrior babe just dropped a rock on his foot! That's gotta hurt!" She screamed with laughter and had tears streaming from her face as Artemis joined in with her.
"Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?" choked the Amazon Goddess between gales of laughter.
She suppressed a shudder of growing desire at the thought and headed back to the window, hoping that seeing Xena being forced to endure the role of a slave would help her get her priorities in order. She soon picked out her friend at one end of the yard as she dropped a rock on the growing pile. Running her fingers through her mass of curly blonde hair, Ephiny continued to watch as the warrior moved back to the other pile to collect another stone.
"You really seem quite taken by my slave, my sweet," Caesar said smoothly as he slipped his hands around her.
Ephiny slapped him away as questing fingers sought out her breast. She was beginning to regain control of her senses and felt the first stirrings of real horror about what had just taken place, "She's special to the Amazons," she growled a little more tartly than she should have as she wondered how she was going to cope for the next seven days if Caesar believed he had made a conquest of her and expected a repeat performance of the exercise.
Both of them stood looking at Xena for long moments, then both blinked in shock as the woman suddenly disappeared, "Where in Tartarus ...?" yelped Ephiny as she registered the fact that Xena had vanished from the place she had been.
Caesar's eyes darted around wildly until he picked her out close to the smaller pile of rocks, crouching down, using her hands and arms to block the blows she knew would be coming in her direction as soon as the guards caught up to her, "How in great Jupiter's name did she manage that?" he demanded of no one in particular.
Ephiny had her suspicions, but she was damned sure that she wasn't going to share them with the enemy. - How, in Artemis' name, could I have let him do that to me? - her mind demanded as she watched the soldiers converge on Xena to administer chastisement for managing to escape their observation. She struggled not to wince as the batons descended time and again, - That has got to hurt! - she thought distractedly, before turning her unquiet musings back to what had happened with Caesar, - How could I have encouraged him to do that? - her mind wailed.
Her face froze as a very unpalatable thought sprang to mind. She was well aware that her body bore the frenzied marks of the passion that had been expended, - How am I going to explain this to Gabrielle and Eponin? They're both going to see the marks and they'll know just what caused them! -
She thought about that for a heartbeat as she saw an officer hurry to the disturbance in the yard and order Xena to be taken back to her cell. She couldn't understand why the warrior had suddenly started to struggle against her guards and create a rolling brawl until she was finally forced into the barred hole in the ground and locked in.
Ephiny's churning, turbulent, thoughts returned to Gabrielle, - Well maybe she won't know what the marks mean .. I mean, alright she's been married, but one night of gentle love doesn't give her the necessary expertise to realise what these are ... does it? - She gave herself a mental shake, - Oh c'mon Eph! She's a bard for Artemis' sake, she's travelled for three years with Xena. She not the naive little girl you first met! Besides, I'm sure Poni and the men will soon let her know all about it. Maybe I could get Nebula to take me back home before they see me, - she thought miserably.
She was jerked from her thoughts as Caesar spoke to her, "I'm sorry, what was that you were saying?" she asked, mentally kicking herself for not paying attention to what was going on around her.
He gave her a quizzical look and then repeated, "I said, I'm sorry, my dear, but I fear I'm going to have to cut your visit short. I need to investigate just what went on out there. I don't like unexplainable little events like that taking place around me. The slave will know what occurred and I think I'll need to question her."
Ephiny's brain raced, - Here's the perfect opportunity to make sure we don't get a repeat performance of the madness that just took place! - her mind crowed. "I see," she answered her countenance filled with icy disdain and tone brittle with frigidity, "So some murdering harlot of a slave is more important than the Amazon Queen." - Forgive me for that, Xena, - she made a mental apology as she collected the remainder of her things and started for the door.
Caesar hissed in annoyance, "Ephiny, wait ..."
The Regent turned and gave him a chill glare, "That's quite alright, my Lord Caesar. If your tastes run to such a 'low' standard, you'll fully understand if I find it socially politic not to meet with you until the night of the match, here, in seven days time." Without waiting for a reply, she stalked across the large chamber and stormed out of the room, for all the world acting the part of the slighted lover.
Slamming a fist down on his desk, Caesar swore long and inventively over his blunder. Having ardently pursued the Amazon Queen for fourteen days, he'd at last managed to taste her sweetness, only to have it taken away from him again because of a disturbance caused by ... Xena! "Lucullis!" he yelled for one of the guards stationed outside of the thick doors.
The door swung open promptly and a member of his personal guard stepped through smartly, jerked off a salute and inquired, "My Lord?"
"Get down to the drill-yard. Tell whoever's in charge that I want the slave brought up here immediately," he snarled angrily.
"At once my Lord," accepted the guard who turned and left the room as quickly as was prudent. Caesar knew that as soon as the door closed the man would be running down to the yard as though a horde of harpies were on his heels.
Standing up, he made his way back to the window to watch proceedings.
Ephiny collected her guard as she swept out of Caesar's private office. Six Amazons, headed by Malonda, had accompanied her and had waited outside the apartment, whilst the Regent 'conferred' with the Roman. It only took a glance to realise that something more than 'conferring' had taken place behind the closed doors and, by the look on the Regent's face, the blonde was not particularly happy about it.
"Ephiny? Is everything okay?" tried Malonda tentatively, throwing a glance back at the closed door and wondering whether she ought to pay a brief visit to Caesar and let him know that no one touched the Amazon Queen without retribution ... but then again, Ephiny hadn't called for help. "Eph?" she asked again.
"Let's just get out of here Loni. I've just about had enough of Caesar's company to last me a lifetime," answered the Regent sharply.
With Ephiny setting the pace, the group of Amazon warriors found themselves pushed to keep up. It was obvious that the blonde ruler wanted to put as much distance between herself and the Roman as possible.
"Ephiny where are we going?" demanded Malonda as she realised that the Regent was not heading back towards Pompey's Palace.
Pulling up short, the Regent looked around in something of a daze. She had been in such deep thought that she hadn't really been paying much attention to the direction she'd been leading her guard, but when she stopped and thought about it, she knew that she was heading towards the docks, "I think we'll pay a visit to Nebula. I want to see how things are working out there anyway." Having made up her mind, Ephiny set off once again at her bustling pace.
Rome's streets, as usual, were teeming with life as citizens and slaves hurried about their business in a never ending whirl of noisy, colourful, vibrancy that had taken the Amazons a little time to adjust to. After having been in the city for nearly a complete lunar cycle, however, they no longer found the sights and sounds strange. In fact, once the initial awe had worn off, the majority of the women had found themselves longing for the simplicity of life back at Themiscyra where they were surrounded by a natural world, not the deadly artificial life of an expanding city where every move was watched and examined for political implications, and stabbing your neighbour in the back, or spicing their meals with poison, was acceptable social behaviour.
In all the crush and rush of the streets, it was still noticeable, however, that the people of Rome made way for the body of armed Amazon women that seemed to be moving with implacable intent towards the upper docks. With the grim look on the leading woman's face, no one thought it politic to get in her way, let alone the seven guards that were hustling to keep up with her.
At the speed they were moving, it didn't take long to reach 'Wave Dancer' and Ephiny easily picked out the pirate captain on the maindeck as she chased her Amazon 'crew' around in the necessary chores that took up any crews time when they were at anchor in a dock.
With a practised eye, the Regent also found and identified half a dozen heavily armed Amazons who watched over the rest of the crew with eagle eyed intensity. Ephiny knew it wasn't a perfect solution to her domestic problems, but confining the suspect Amazons to the ship under the guard of Nebula and a dozen warriors, that Eponin trusted without reservation, seemed to be the best of a selection of poor choices.
Once they had realised that they had more of a problem than just Tarelle and her band of confederates, the blonde Regent and Gabrielle had ordered an investigation into just who was over-friendly with the dissidents. The fact that Autolycus had joined in with the hunt for rogue Amazons, meant that they had unearthed a further nine women, along with Jerushan and Essaine, who appeared to be sympathetic to Tarelle and her views.
That's when the decision had been made to confine the women on Nebula's ship. Malonda hadn't been happy about the move, citing the fact that it badly split their forces should they need to fight their way clear of the city, but when Eponin had pointed out that having likely traitors running lose could be much worse, and that if it came to fighting their way out, a couple of dozen extra swords was not going to be much help against two or three legions.
Another decision had also been made, and that had been not to include anyone in their plans other than the men, Nebula, Gabrielle, Ephiny and Eponin herself. It was difficult excluding Malonda, but Ephiny and Gabrielle had decided that they couldn't afford to take any more risks than they had to and they knew that those they had named were beyond reproach in loyalty.
The Regent quickly ascended the gangplank and moved to greet Nebula who turned towards her with a smile, "Your Amazons make pretty good swabbies," she laughed.
"I'm pleased that they meet with your exacting standards," returned Ephiny, "Keep them busy and tired and they might stay out of trouble for a while."
"Well other than to inspect my very unwilling crew, what's brought you down here in the heat of the day? And were you mauled by a bear, or did Malonda let you get mugged?"
"Can we talk in private?" Ephiny asked, not willing to discuss what had just happened when surrounded by several, potentially hostile, women who would probably be delighted to use the Regent's problems against her. "Sure," agreed the pirate easily, "C'mon down to the cabin."
Motioning Malonda to wait on deck with her escort, Ephiny followed the tall, lithe, sea woman and descended down the companionway into the narrow corridor that led past the small cabins for officers and back to the much larger one that was the traditional abode of the captain.
Nebula opened the door and motioned for Ephiny to take a seat while she went to the wine cooler and poured two goblets of a sweet red vintage that she'd picked up locally. Passing one of the cups to the Regent saying, "Here you look like you need this," she rested herself against the edge of her heavy desk and raised an eyebrow that invited the blonde to speak.
Stalling, Ephiny took a sip of the wine and asked, "Had any trouble with Tarelle or the rest of them?"
Nebula shrugged, "Nothing that the guards couldn't handle. But that's not really why you've come here, is it? C'mon, Ephiny, out with it. How'd you managed to get .. those particular types of marks, and why are they worrying you?"
The Regent let out a long heavy sigh, "You know that Caesar's been making his attentions fairly clear over the last few days?"
"Stood out like a bald wolf in a pack," agreed Nebula, "The guy's got the hots for you." Her brows drew together and her eyes narrowed as she made a connection, "You telling me that he forced you?"
"No!" responded the blonde sharply, pushing herself out of the chair to pace the narrow confines of the cabin in agitation, "I mean yes .. well maybe it was both of us!" She stopped in the middle of the cabin, threw her head back and took a deep breath. "I went to see him .. more to get a look at how Xena was doing than anything else. She's looking pretty good, by the way."
Nebula said nothing, just crossed her arms and waited for the Amazon to get to the point of what had taken place, knowing that the woman needed to get it off her chest and sort it out in her mind before she went back to face the others.
"Caesar .. well, you know he exudes this kind of aura that draws women to him?" she saw Nebula nod in reply, "Well I've felt that increasingly for the last few days. I've known about it, and I dislike him so much for what he's done to Xena and what he's put Gabrielle through .. yet I've been increasingly drawn, or maybe pushed to him." She drank down the rest of the wine and set the goblet on the table before starting to pace again.
"This morning it was like I couldn't control myself. He touched me and I was on fire. Whatever happened my body was a willing participant in it, and now I feel like I've betrayed my friends and myself and, most especially, the memory of my husband, Phantes," she finished softly.
"What do you feel about Caesar?" the tall, dark skinned woman asked the smaller Amazon.
"What?" responded Ephiny, surprised by the question. Nebula waited, "I .. I can't bear him. I despise all he is and all he stands for, I always have. How could I have done that with him, Nebula? It makes me sick just to think about it."
The two women remained silent as they thought about what the Amazon had just revealed. Each pursuing her own thoughts as they tried to understand the implications behind the conflicting emotions and actions that Ephiny had just admitted to.
"You know, I'd almost swear that you were 'interfered' with by a god," mused Nebula having examined and discarded all other possibilities, including the one where Ephiny was denying her love for a man she considered to be an enemy. Mood swings like that just didn't happen naturally.
The Regent slumped back into the chair and drummed her fingers on the arms, "Yeah, I kinda figured that might be the case. But which one's gonna gratify Caesar's lusts by playing fast and loose with mine? I know Ares is supposed to be pretty thick with old Julius, but something like this really isn't his style."
"Well the obvious suspects have to be Aphrodite or Cupid. But I can't honestly see what either one gets out of doing it. I really can't see that Caesar's going to have any time for love deities, can you?" appraised the pirate.
Ephiny massaged aching temples with her strong fingers, "I just don't know, Nebula," she answered honestly. "I guess it'll have to wait 'til I get home and can petition Artemis to find out just what was going on. If anyone will be able to tell me, it will be her."
"What's next on the agenda then?" inquired the tall sea woman as she crossed back to the wine cooler and refilled both cups, giving Ephiny hers back as she crossed over to her perch against the table.
Sighing, the blonde swallowed a mouthful of the wine before looking despondently at the other woman, "I suppose I'd better find some way of cleaning myself up and hiding as many of these marks as possible. I really don't want to have this discussion with Gabrielle."
"Ephiny, my dear," Nebula smiled sadly, "You've got a snowball's chance in Tartarus of avoiding that. I'd suggest you try to tone down the passions a bit if you want to avoid answering embarrassing questions from nosey bards." She shook her head in mock admonition, "Still we'll do what we can, and hopefully we can come up with some kind of tale between us that will satisfy at least Gabrielle's curiosity."
Unfortunately, Caesar's commands could not be safely ignored, and he would not appreciate being kept waiting for a slave to be brought to him. He took a deep breath signalled a runner to call out the reserve guard of forty men, just in case they were needed and decided to try and calm the warrior down before unlocking the gate to the pit.
"Lord Caesar wants to see you, slave. If you calm down I'll drop the ladder so that you can climb up here under your own power," Her glaring, pale blue, eyes snapped up to focus on him and he knew that he'd probably not had the desired effect with his words.
"Both you and your precious Caesar can go to Tartarus for all I care," she snarled, "You put me in here. You get me out if you can." Her anger at Ares had forced itself past the blocks on her temper and she was finding it impossible to put the brakes on again.
- There's that plain stubborn reckless defiance .. again! - she conceded to herself. But she'd kept the lid on her emotions for so long now, through all the indignities and humiliations of being kept like some animal in a hole, all to keep Gabrielle safe from the beatings that had been threatened, only to have Ares turn up and cause problems that were going to cause the bard to suffer.
- Well enough's enough! - she goaded herself. She stopped her pacing as a sudden thought slapped her between the eyes. She hadn't actually seen Gabrielle's face since she'd been in Rome and Ephiny had hinted that the bard was safe with her, - Gabrielle hasn't called out to me once when she was being beaten, in fact she hasn't tried to speak to me at all! That's not like her. She'd have said something even if it was just to tell me not to worry about her. - She felt like kicking herself for not seeing through the ploy sooner.
- Damn! Have I been a prisoner under a false threat? Well it's time I damn well cleared up that question. What's the matter with your brain, O Great Warrior Princess. You beginning to get sloppy in your old age? - she chided herself caustically. - It's taking a chance with Gabrielle's safety if they have got her, but I'm willing to stake my boots that she'd safe with Eph. -
Titus saw her stop pacing and the strange look that crossed her face, - Oh Mars! - he cursed silently, - What's going through her brain now? - He swallowed his trepidation and tried to sort the situation out before Flaccus appeared. He knew that he didn't command the same respect as the hardened veteran from either the men, or the woman that they were responsible for.
"Listen slave," he tried to imprint authority into his voice, "Get your sorry carcass up here before I have to start getting rough."
She looked at him. Her eyes had paled to icy slits and her voice was cold and menacing, "I want to see Gabrielle .. NOW!"
Titus was beginning to lose his temper, "Oh no! You don't get to demand anything, and you don't get to see the bard. But you'll hear her scream. You're building up quite a fund of punishment for your friend."
"That's not going to wash anymore, Titus," she snarled slipping into full warlord mode, allowing the anger and hate to wash through her. - Gods! Gotta be careful here, - she acknowledged to herself, - this feels too damn good. I can't afford to let it take control of me again. - She turned her attention back to the junior centurion, "I don't believe you've got Gabrielle, and I don't give a flying centaur's butt for anyone else."
"Shit!" Titus swore softly as he stood up and moved away from the hole. He looked around and felt relieved that Flaccus was heading across the yard towards him with the reserve guard falling in behind him. He decided that he'd better inform his superior of what had taken place and the demands that the slave was making.
"What's going on?" snapped Flaccus briskly, as Titus stopped him.
His junior officer quickly outlined the incident where the slave just seemed to disappear from sight, that they'd had to force her into her cell when she became aggressive, that Caesar wanted to see her immediately, and that she refused to come out of the hole, "Now she's demanding to see the bard. I think she's worked out that we don't really have her."
Flaccus wore a grim frown. He'd feared this situation developing, knowing that the warrior would not accept not seeing her friend indefinitely. In fact he'd expected the problem to arise sooner, although he'd hoped to make it through to the time of the pit fight against the Amazon's champion as Caesar wanted her in top shape for the match. Now they were going to have to fight her every step of the way.
Turning to the men behind him, he gave them a quiet order before heading over to the pit cell to confront the slave. What he found was the fully fledged Warrior Princess, full of righteous anger and indignant wrath. Gone was all pretense at docile tractability.
He looked down at her, locking his grey eyes onto her deadly blue orbs. They stood so for many heartbeats, neither willing to give an inch to the other. Finally Flaccus spoke, "Caesar wants you, and you're going to climb out of there quietly and behave yourself, or ..."
"Or what?" she sneered, "Forget it Flaccus! Unless you produce Gabrielle I'm not following any more orders, and I don't give a damn what you do to me or anyone else, for that matter."
The senior centurion glanced over his shoulder and saw his men hurrying back with the equipment he'd sent them for, "Open it up," he instructed two of the guards, and watched as the heavy grill was unlocked and swung open. "Last chance, slave. You come out or we come and get you."
"Try it," she sneered, and suddenly found a net smothering her quickly followed by a second.
"Get in there and secure her, " he ordered six of his men, who quickly dropped into the hole with a rope that was swiftly wound around the struggling mass of net and woman.
"Alright, pass her up here," instructed Flaccus, something easier to say than do as Xena struggled against the hands that tried to hoist her up out of the cell.
Finally she was deposited on the dusty ground of the drill-yard where the centurion ordered the removal of the netting, while eight men used their weight and numbers to hold the warrior down. Two thick chains were attached to her collar, the long absent oak beam was thrust behind her elbows and guide chains attached to the rings while cuffs with long chains were fastened to each ankle. Once everything was locked in place, Xena was pulled to her feet. Any movement she attempted to make was easily controlled by the chains held by the six bodyguards.
Flaccus shook his head in mock disappointment, "I had hoped that we'd got past the need for these," he gestured at the extra fetters and wood, "but you're backsliding again."
"Where's Gabrielle?" she growled, jerking hard against the restraints, but the weight of six men held her secure.
"You will be respectful, slave," the centurion reminded her with a backhand slap that knocked her head sideways.
"You can go to Hades," she sneered back at him, "I'm finished playing that particular game. You either produce Gabrielle or, if you don't, I'll know you haven't got her. Then ..." she allowed the sentence to trail off. "Then what?" Flaccus felt compelled to ask.
She gave him a feral smile and ignored the question, allowing him to think whatever he wanted to. She tugged on her bonds and said instead, "Thought Caesar wanted to see me. You intend on keeping him waiting?"
Between her and Nebula, they had made up a fairly shallow cover story that would hold water about as well as a bucket with a large hole in it, but if she stuck to the tale no one could out and out call her a liar. Though once Eponin compared notes with Malonda the truth of the situation could well become much clearer. She sighed heavily and then hurried on before Malonda could question her about what was wrong.
Chewing a lip she held a silent conversation with herself as she tried to steer through the possible pitfalls that questions could throw up. All she succeeded in doing was making herself feel more miserable, and felt like some poor prisoner heading voluntarily into the executioners arms.
- C'mon now, Eph! - she silently chided herself, - Get a grip! You're a grown woman. So what if you took a tumble with a man? -
Her mind screeched back at her, - So what?! So what?! That .. that .. man's a monster in human form and has done nothing but hurt two of your best friends! That's what! -
She tried to temporize with herself, - It meant nothing. In fact I really don't think I was in control of anything there. -
- Oh so that makes everything alright, does it? - she sneered at herself, - You didn't have an option, so it's not your problem! -
Sighing and drawing a sharp look from Malonda, Ephiny continued to ignore her escort as she concentrated on arguing with herself, - That's not what I meant and you know it. I couldn't help what happened, but I'll make damned sure it won't happen again. -
- How's that going to effect the plan? - demanded her argumentative self.
A frown appeared on her face as she replied to herself, - We'll work it out. It might work better in the long-run. -
- Oh yeah! And how are you going to explain the change in plan to Gabrielle and Poni? - she pressed herself relentlessly.
- I'll think of something, - she replied uncertainly, - I mean, Gabrielle's used to sudden changes in plan. Artemis' arrows! She's traveled with Xena for nearly four years! Of course she's used to plan changes. -
- But you're not Xena, and our Queen is not going to be intimidated by a cold look when you don't want to elaborate on your reasons for changing the plan, is she? Then of course there's Poni, who's going to take one look at you and know something's wrong, and that's without Hercules and the other men! - her mind told her flatly.
- Hera's Tits! - she swore at the taunting voice in her brain, - Can't you offer some constructive help, here? - And was rewarded with deafening silence.
"Great, just great!" she muttered.
"Eph?" inquired Malonda tentatively.
"Forget it, Loni!" growled the Regent. "Let's just get back to the palace as quick as we can, huh?"
The rest of the walk through the Roman streets was completed in silence. Ephiny's clear preference to avoid conversation was respected by the members of the Royal Guard, who followed along with grim faces as the blonde Regent's mood of dejection settled over all of them like some creeping miasma.
Upon gaining the sanctuary of her suite, the Regent was relieved to find it empty; in all likelihood, Eponin was down with the other Amazons, probably drilling them to make sure that they were as ready as they could be should it become necessary to fight their way out of Rome .. somehow .. while Gabrielle had already told her that she'd be spending some time with the men to try and get them not to kill each other as their tempers became frayed with the forced inactivity .. not that it was doing the bard's temper much good either.
The blonde stood in the room, running her fingers through her, always, unruly curls, mentally debating whether she should tackle her friends first, or take a hot relaxing bath so she could scrub all semblance of that man's scent from herself. The idea of the bath won after another silent argument, especially since no one else was around.
- What are you? An Amazon warrior or a chicken? - came the goading demand.
- Cluck! - she told the voice firmly, and headed determinedly for the bathroom, where she ran hot water into the tub, never ceasing to be amazed at the Roman ingenuity that designed such wonderful luxuries.
Deftly, she sorted through a variety of bath fragrances that were contained in small stoneware pots and sniffed delicately at each until she found the woodland scent that reminded her a little of the forests at home. Sprinkling the crystals into the hot water, she quickly proceeded to strip off her leathers before turning off the water and easing herself into the large marble tub.
Scooting across to the cleaning implements, she selected a rarely used scrubbing brush that had harsh horsehair bristles and began to scour her skin with it, applying diligent pressure across every inch of her flesh, determinedly intent on erasing any possible lingering trace of Julius Caesar.
She had just begun the process for about the third time when Eponin came storming through the suite and into the bathroom, her face doing a good impression of a thunder head as she confronted her Regent who looked like she intended to scrape herself raw, "Dammit Eph!" she yelled, "What happened?"
The blonde Amazon guiltily dropped the brush into the bath and sank up to her neck into the foamy water, "Happened?" she answered flustered, "What do you mean happened?" she asked sweetly knowing that her, admittedly rather flustered, act wasn't fooling anyone, let alone the irate Weapons Master.
"Loni just reported in and said that you came out of Caesar's place looking like you were mauled by a bear and, instead of coming back here you went all the way down to see Nebula at the docks. Then when you came out, you'd covered up most of the 'injuries' and proceeded to stalk back here pouting and sighing all the way. Now I find you in the bath looking like someone's taken one of Vallis' metal rasps to you. So, I'll ask again, what in Hades happened to you at Caesar's?"
Eponin's voice had steadily risen through the monologue so that by the end the words had become a thundering roar that made Ephiny wish she could sink fully beneath the bath water and never come up, "It's not what you think," she tried at last, her voice soft and hesitant.
"And just what is it you think that I think?" demanded the dark Amazon pugnaciously.
The Regent cleared her throat and replied calmly and with what dignity she could muster, "I wasn't raped, if that's what you were thinking. And please try to lower your voice just a bit, or everyone in Rome will hear you."
"The thought did pass through my mind," growled Eponin, "and I'm sorry I shouted, but I was .. am angry." She took a deep breath and sat down beside the tub, "So just what did happen."
The blonde ruler looked at her friend for a long moment before deciding that telling her the half baked story she'd concocted with Nebula just wouldn't be fair on her .. - Besides, - she told herself, - She'd never believe that anyway. - So she told her the sordid truth. She didn't go into descriptive detail, but she did make it plain that her body had been a willing, even eager, participant in the enthusiastic frolic, although her mind had screamed out that it was wrong and a betrayal of her friends, herself and, most importantly to her, Phantes' memory.
"Now you know, Poni," she said quietly, "Just don't tell Gabrielle ..."
"Don't tell Gabrielle what?" asked the bard smoothly from the place just outside the door where she had been listening to the entire account, having been attracted to the room by Eponin's yelling.
"What is this," muttered Ephiny irritably, "Is somebody selling tickets out there? I've had more privacy in a Council meeting."
The Queen of the Amazons ignored the comment and came in to sit next to Eponin, "Don't try to change the subject, Eph," she warned, "Besides I heard it all anyway .. so .. how are you feeling?" she asked concerned about her friend.
The Regent looked down at the water as she replied, "Like I've betrayed everyone and everything .. like I must have thrown all my good sense out of the door this morning .. like I have no business running the Amazons if I can't control my own passions .. like I'm going to lose some very dear friends who'll see me as a traitor for this," she answered miserably.
Gabrielle pursed her lips and nodded, making Ephiny feel like her worst fears were about to be realised. Eponin frowned at the bard but a small gesture from Gabrielle kept her silent as she turned her attention back to the blonde Amazon, "Ephiny, are you telling us that you want Caesar to keep Xena a prisoner?"
"No! Of course not!" objected the Regent a spark of her normal fire entering her tone.
"Are you going to hand me .. and Toris and the others .. over to Caesar?" she inquired mildly.
"Gabrielle!" came the indignant reply.
"So did you betray our plans to him in the heat of passion?" The bard watched as her Regent spluttered in frank disbelief that she could be asked such a question, "So then, what it boils down to is that you allowed Caesar's legendary attractions to effect you," she held up her hand for silence when the Amazon began to splutter again, "probably under the influence of one or more God." Gabrielle looked intently at her friend, "So tell me Eph, why do you think I'd blame you? If it was me in the same situation would you blame me? .. hate me?"
"No, but ..." the Regent tried to object
"No buts, Eph. I can't see any blame against you, here. I think you've been used, just like Xena was by Ares, and you should know that we're here for you if you need us." That got an affirmative nod from the Weapons Master's head as she agreed with her Queen. "Now I suggest that you get out of that bath before you turn into a prune," the bard suggested kindly, "Poni and I'll wait for you in the drawing room." She cast a look at the abraded skin that was showing, "Oh, and Eph! Leave the scrubbing brush alone now, or you won't have any skin left!"
With her mind in a tangle, Ephiny watched as her Queen led the other Amazon out of the bathroom to allow her to get out of the tub, dry off and join them. With her usual practised ease, Gabrielle had managed to allay a great deal of the concerns that she'd been building for herself. The one point that she hadn't dealt with had been her guilt over Phantes.
- Guess that's up to me, - she winced inwardly, - Gabrielle can't sort that out for me, I suppose I'll just have to try and put it into perspective .. somehow. -
"I get a lot of practice," Gabrielle told her quietly almost as if she'd read the Amazon's mind.
"How'd you know wh ..." began Poni as her jaw dropped.
"Don't worry Ep, I'm no mind reader. It was just plain on your face what you were thinking," explained the honey blonde.
"What did you mean by practice?" questioned the Weapons Master, intrigued.
"Xena's forever going around with the weight of the world on her shoulders. It sometimes seems that she blames herself for everything that's wrong. I get a lot of chances to make her understand that it's not her fault … understanding Ephiny's troubles was a snap compared with that."
She sat down and allowed her mind to drift off to her missing friend wondering, as she did a hundred times a day, just how Xena was coping. Oh she knew exactly what happened during each and every day for her friend. Nebula, Ephiny and even Autolycus had been able to construct a detailed itinerary of exactly how the Warrior Princess' time was filled.
Eponin didn't try to disturb her Queen's thoughts, she was thinking pretty hard herself, mainly about how long it would take a man to die if she broke every bone in his body and then gutted him with a dull knife. She was seething that Caesar had had the audacity to lay hands on Ephiny, - Even if she said her body had been fully co-operative with his desires. - The trouble was she knew that there was a long line of people ahead of her who had designs on dismantling the ruler of Rome's carcass, and at the head of that line stood Xena!
"Bet she could keep him alive long enough to feel all that excruciating pain," she muttered darkly.
"Did you say something, Poni?" asked Gabrielle, nudged from her reverie.
"Nothing important," the Weapons Master answered hiding her scowl as best she could. She knew that the bard would never condone taking anyone's life in cold blood and, at that moment, her blood was like ice.
Both women looked up as the Regent joined them from the bathroom. Ephiny had wrapped herself in one of the long linen robes that Pompey provided for his guest's use. It hid all of the damning marks that decorated her lithe and muscular body, making her feel a little better about things. She gave her friends a weak smile.
"You okay?" asked Poni gruffly.
"Been better," admitted the Regent, "but I'll live." She took a deep breath, "Thanks for being so understanding about all this."
"That's what friends are for, Eph. We'll always be there for you." Gabrielle told her warmly.
In the large room of the men's suite, most of the occupants were trying to find ways to amuse themselves; the lengthening time spent in confinement was really beginning to wear on their nerves. Autolycus was amusing himself by trying to teach Toris the basics of lock picking, and was pleased at how quickly his pupil was picking it up, "You wouldn't be looking for an apprenticeship?" he quipped. "The life's full of excitement and you get to meet the most interesting sorts of people," he said looking around the room at the odd assortment congregated there, "You know, heroes, fools in tin cans short curly haired guys with no real use ..."
"Cut it out, Autolycus," warned Hercules seeing that Iolaus was about to retaliate and that even Joxer had taken offense at the thief's words.
Toris grinned, "Don't you think my sister might just get a little mad if she were to find out you were trying to corrupt me."
"Oh c'mon!" exclaimed the King of Thieves, "You're not afraid of Xena, are you?"
"YES!" came the concerted reply from all of the rooms occupants, even Hercules although he bore a wry grin as he said it.
"Sheesh!" Autolycus shook his head in disbelief.
"You telling me that you're not scared of her?" Toris' grin widened.
"Of course I'm not .. Xena and me have an understanding .. she wouldn't do anything to hurt me .. well not anything too drastic," he answered weakly, "Oh, alright! Yes I'm scared of her too. Does that make you happy to hear it?"
"Smart man," congratulated the raven haired brother of the Warrior Princess.
On the other side of the room, putting as much distance between himself and Autolycus as possible, Iolaus idly sat and threw a pair of dice, his mind on the young bard who had abruptly left the room when she heard the yelling coming from Ephiny's suite.
"Hey Iolaus. What did Gabby shoot outta here so quick for?" asked Joxer, a puzzled frown on his expressive face.
"Search me, Jox, I don't understand women," answered the smaller man.
The wannabe warrior gave him a disbelieving look, "You? Ya gotta be kidding. I thought all the girls loved ya. Nebula certainly seems to."
Iolaus' face reddened and he coughed with embarrassment, "Yeah, well, Nebula likes to play games," he caught the look of appreciation in the other man's eyes, "Not like that!" he protested, "She likes to tease, but there's never been anything between us, she's far to aggressive. Too tall," he mused a soft smile coming unbidden to his face, "I kind of like my women shorter … yeah, with golden hair and green eyes," he said dreamily.
"Hey!" Joxer interrupted him with a frown, "That's my Gabby you're talking about."
The blonde man looked at him in frank disbelief, "Your Gabby!?" he chuckled.
"We're very close," protested Joxer. "I spend a lot of time with her and Xena and, and .. we got this understanding."
"Understanding?" questioned Iolaus beginning to show some concern.
"Well yeah. Not that long ago she was really crazy about me .. even called me 'Pooky'. It was true love." Joxer told him dreamily, relishing the memory of the bard willing to do anything for him.
"Excuse me, but does Gabrielle know that you're saying these things about her. And if she was so hot on you, why does she act as though you're something the dog dragged in?" demanded the blonde man, twinges of jealousy assaulting him, although he knew that what Joxer was saying couldn't be true.
"She was .. we were in love," the wannabe warrior assured him.
"Oh I get it. She must have been hit over the head and lost her memory … her good sense .. her rationality ..." Iolaus rambled. sarcastically.
"No, she didn't get hit in the head .. not unless Draco did it while I was tied up." He thought about it, "Nope. I know Xena said Draco was treating her fine because he'd fallen in love with her too."
The shorter man had a look of incredulity on his face, "Draco? The warlord Draco? Oh c'mon, Joxer, everyone knows that Draco has the hots for Xena."
"Well actually, she was pretty hot for him. She even took my advice and took a cold swim to try and cool herself down," the other man explained ingenuously.
Iolaus snapped his mouth shut when he realised that his jaw was hanging open, "I don't believe this!" he said trying to shake himself out of the nightmare that he felt he must be having.
"Actually," Hercules chimed in from his place on the sofa where he lay reading yet another of Gabrielle's scrolls, "It's all true."
Shooting his partner a disbelieving look, Iolaus protested, "Oh, c'mon Herc. Get real. Xena in love with Draco .. Draco in love with Gabrielle … Gabrielle in love with Joxer. Sounds like a farce, or something that Cupid would dream up." He shook his head, "Nah! Even Cupid wouldn't do that."
"Close, Iolaus. You nearly got it right. Gabrielle told me all about it. Seems like Cupid's son, Bliss, escaped with one of his bows and was shooting at random targets, with the resulting mess that you've just heard from Joxer," the demi-god told him.
The blonde turned back to his foolish looking rival and with a triumphant look on his face laughed, "Ha! I knew that she couldn't be in love with you ... well not under normal circumstances anyway."
"Oh like she's gonna look at you twice when you dangle Nebula in front of her all the time," retorted the sallow skinned man.
"I do not dangle .." snarled Iolaus angrily.
"Well, sure seems that way to me," sneered Joxer, adding, "An' I bet it seems that way to Gabby too."
"Joxer ..." started the small warrior.
"Don't you think you two better get off the subject," interjected Hercules, "before she walks in and hears you." The two men glared at each other before getting up off the floor and retreating to opposite corners of the room.
Autolycus looked up and gave a lazy smile, "I don't know what they're making such a fuss about .. I mean, sure Gabby's a cute kid, but a real woman, well that runs to tall, black hair, lots of leather and pure danger."
"Hey!" growled Hercules as he realised just who the thief was describing, "Back off buddy."
"What? You gonna pull that 'I saw her first' routine? Aw c'mon Herc, you had your chance and let her go. If you can't spot a diamond in the rough, then move over and let someone else have a go," the thief argued. Then swallowed hard as he registered a pair of very blue eyes looking icily into his own.
"That's my sister you're talking about," snarled Toris looking almost as deadly as the Warrior Princess herself. Swallowing again, Autolycus laughed weakly and replied, "That sure does run in the family, doesn't it." Moving away hastily he took up residence in one of the other unoccupied corners while Toris removed himself to the last, wanting as much distance between himself and the thief as he could manage.
And that was how Gabrielle found them when she returned to the suite. One of the men in each of the four corners of the room and Hercules in the centre. All had dark scowls on their faces and the atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife. The bard sighed and then muttered, "Men are such big kids!" she glowered at each of them before saying, "Can't you children get along for five minutes without arguing." That got her five black looks so she decided to retreat and rejoin Ephiny and Eponin, "Alright, you can all stew until you can act like adults," she scolded slamming the door behind her.
The five men looked at the door, then offered sheepish glances to each other before they broke into gales of laughter, releasing some of the pent up tension that had accumulated during their long wait.
He turned his gaze on Titus, "Alright centurion, what happened out there?"
Looking unwaveringly just above his commanders head, Titus replied, "Sir, the guards reported that the slave made an escape attempt, sir."
A derisive snort came from Xena, causing Caesar's eyes to flick back towards her and then onto Flaccus who slashed his staff across the small of her back, causing her to release a hiss that seemed to be more of annoyance than pain. Caesar turned his attention back to the junior centurion, "Carry on, Titus," he commanded.
"I don't know what happened, sir, but I don't think it was an attempt to escape, she wouldn't have carried one of those rocks with her for that."
"What about if she intended to use it for a weapon?" remarked the Roman noble casually, switching his gaze back to Xena to judge her reaction. Her eyes burned with a feral intensity as they met his. He had little doubt that she could have used the rock to deadly effect, unwieldy as it was, but if she could slip the guards so easily, she could have filched a dagger or some other, more serviceable, weapon to use.
"I doubt that it would have been much use to her, sir," answered Titus, "but when I questioned her about what was happening, she came up with some cock and bull story about being visited by one of the gods, sir!"
Caesar leaned forward in his chair and stared at her intently, "Which god?" he asked, fully aware of the burning blue light that seemed to kindle in his captive's eyes.
Unsure whether the Emperor was asking him the question, Titus elected to respond, "She didn't say, sir."
"Which god?" asked the dark haired Roman once again, his eyes never leaving the Warrior Princess'.
She offered him a dazzling smile, "Go howl!" she told him sweetly.
He sat back and studied her with serious regard before saying, "Oh no. I think it will be your little bard friend doing the howling," he informed her maliciously.
Xena took a half step forward before the guards tightened their holds on her restraints and halted her, "It won't work any more, Julius," she growled softly, "Unless you put Gabrielle in front of me so I can see her, I won't believe you have her .. and without her there's nothing you can do to make me obey you." She expected the series of heavy blows from Flaccus' staff, hiding any pain she felt and widening her smile into a savage grin that was an obvious challenge to her tormentors.
"Enough," ordered Caesar, not wanting to cause her too much damage; he needed her in prime condition. He tapped the fingers of his hands together thoughtfully, - I need another lever against her, - he decided. Locking eyes with her once more he spoke to Flaccus, "Senior centurion, how many child slaves between the ages of five and fourteen summers do we have in the palace at this time."
It wasn't really the grizzled veteran's place to know such information, but he'd familiarized himself with all the palace slaves for future reference, at Caesar's suggestion, when they had first returned to Rome, "Eight, my Lord," he returned promptly, "three boys and five girls."
"You wouldn't," hissed Xena, wrenching violently at her fetters, almost succeeding in pulling loose from her guards, before they managed to bring her under control once more.
"Oh, but I would .. and I will," he assured her contemptuously, "I've told you before that your emotions are your weakness. It's what's going to make you tractable." He leaned forward once more, resting his elbows on his desk, "Now, which god?" he demanded.
"Go to Hades," she snarled.
"Titus, round up all the children, in the palace, between the ages of five and fourteen and have them assembled in the drill-yard. Once you've got them all, give them each three lashes, compliments of the Warrior Princess," he instructed his tone quite emotionless and cold.
"Caesar," growled the raven haired warrior as she struggled against the men holding her, her incredible strength beginning to strain even all six of her guards resources.
Seeing his men beginning to falter, Flaccus kicked the woman hard in the backs of her legs, forcing her to her knees. He flicked a silent command to a guard at the door and half a dozen more men were quickly summoned to reinforce the hold on her restraints.
Long moments drew out as the protagonists waited for each other to back down, But it was Xena, knowing that her position was untenable and sure that Hercules and Ephiny had a rescue plan in motion, who forced herself to give in to him once again. She couldn't stomach the thought of children being flogged because of her, - And I don't owe Ares a damned thing! - she silently snarled. "Call him off Caesar," she growled, "I'll tell you what you want to know."
The smirking Roman noble stood and went to the window that overlooked the drill-yard. He waited until the sound of childish fright could be heard clearly by everyone in the room and then made a cutting signal to Titus. Occasional whimpers could still be heard, but there was no sound of the vicious lash striking out. Caesar turned back to face his slave, "Now I believe you were about to tell me which god visited with you."
"I want your word that those children won't be harmed," demanded Xena, knowing just how slippery her foe was.
"Oh, Xena," he answered shaking his head in disappointment, "Don't you trust me?" he smirked.
"You gotta be kidding!" she answered in disbelief.
He gave her a foul look, before waving his hand in a magnanimous gesture, "Very well, you have my word that the children will not be harmed." When she looked like pressing further he added sternly, "Don't push it too far … slave!"
The Warrior Princess held his gaze for long moments before she dipped her head in acknowledgement and told him, "Ares came."
Caesar sank back into his chair with a glower plastered across his handsome features, "And just what did Mars want."
Her eyes twinkled mirthlessly and lips compressed into a hard line before she answered, "Just the usual .. swear your soul away and I'll get you out of this little fix and together we can rule the world! Same ol, same ol."
"Since you're still here, I take it you declined his offer," the Roman surmised.
Her face turned to stone and her icy eyes radiated pure, frozen, menace, "Believe me, Julius, there is nothing you could do to me here that would make me give myself back to him."
"Hmm. Well I'm sure that I couldn't do anything to further scar that soul of yours. But believe me, Xena," he said with total sincerity, "I can and will make your life a living agony .. yours and those children out there," he gestured towards the window, "If you give me or any of your guards trouble. In fact to impress this upon you, I think you can watch as Titus gives the little .. innocents .. those three lashes each, on your way back to the rock pile .. You can spend the night taking out your frustrations moving those stones."
"You bastard!" her dark voice rumbled with barely restrained emotion, "You treacherous, bastard. You gave your word!" She grunted with pain as Flaccus drove his fist into her jaw.
"You have so much to learn, Xena. But you really should have realised that the ruler of Rome's promise to a slave is meaningless. You have no rights or position here, other than what I choose to give you." He shook his head in mock sorrow at having to explain it to her.
Turning his attention to the senior centurion he said, "Flaccus, I suggest that you keep the leg restraints on her from now on when she's moving those rocks. A couple of men on each chain should discourage her if that was indeed an escape attempt. Now take her down to the drill-yard and make sure that she watches all of those slaves beaten before you put her back to work."
- By the gods! - raged Xena silently, - One day .. one day I'll make you understand what it is to feel pain ... and then I'll kill you! -
The sharp tone snapped his attention away from the scroll he was studying. He looked up and recognised his petite wife, Pompeia, as she strode into his office bristling with unsuppressed fury. - Damn! - he silently cursed, as he neatly rolled the scroll and forced a pleasant smile onto his face, "My dear. It's so nice to see you. Did you enjoy the visit with your mother?"
The auburn haired woman ignored his attempt at civility and launched into a stinging attack, "Just who ordered my poor Nicolette to be whipped?" she demanded, "The child is a quivering wreck and was barely fit to dress my hair this morning!"
"Nicolette?" he questioned innocently, guessing that the girl must have been one of the eight slaves used as an example for Xena.
"Yes, Nicolette .... Don't give me any of your innocent looks, Gaius Julius Caesar. You know full well who I mean. Nothing happens within the palace without you knowing about it. Now I want to know exactly why my personal body slave was whipped while I was not here ... You know the only reason that I didn't take the child with me to Mother's was because she was ill."
Caesar gave his wife a long look, - The only reason you didn't take the child with you was because you didn't want to be bothered with a sick slave who wouldn't be able to attend your every whim! - His mind retorted venomously. He gave his second wife a long considering look - She's still a beautiful woman, - he conceded to himself, - Shorter than Xena's irritating blonde friend, but still stunning with her silky hair and those chestnut eyes flecked with gold .. it's just a pity the woman's such a harpy. If it wasn't for her wealth and family connections I would have divorced her years ago. -
Seeing that Pompeia was becoming ever more impatient, Caesar sighed and explained, "It was an oversight on my part," he admitted. He stood up and moved across to the window, motioning the slight woman to join him. "My newest slave," he told her pointing to where Xena continued to carry rocks back and forth across the compound, now further hampered by the extra chains to her ankles that the guards held. The Roman had decided that Xena could miss training at the Coliseum for once. Spending last night, and all of today, hauling rocks around in a meaningless exercise, should at least impress upon her that she had no free will here.
"What has she got to do with my Nicollo?" demanded his wife impatiently. Then took a closer look. For all she had a fiery temper, Pompeia was not a stupid woman. "That's your barbarian wench, then?" she questioned rhetorically, knowing full well just who the woman in the drill-yard was. "Looks quite the ignorant savage doesn't she?" she sneered, not liking the fact that, even in chains, the slave had a beauty that surpassed her own and a bearing that made her seem like royalty, even in her present conditions.
"I'll grant you that she's a savage," Caesar agreed, "but ignorant? Hardly!" He shot a malicious look at his wife, knowing that she hated anyone who could be classed as a rival for beauty and intelligence, "Xena is fluent in at least seven languages and has a passing knowledge of at least five more. She is an accomplished healer .. her knowledge in that area easily putting Patroclese to shame and he's about the best in Rome. She is conversant in the laws of almost every land in our world, having broken nearly all of them in her time, and that's without mentioning her incredible military acumen .. nearly a match for my own .. and the fact that she is probably the most deadly fighter in the known world. Savage, undoubtedly, but never ignorant." He smiled at the growing frown on his spouse's brow.
Pompeia turned away from the window, "She seems just the type of whore that you like to bed, my dear," she told him acidly.
"She and I were lovers, once, many years ago." he responded almost wistfully.
"What happened then? Did the bitch try to kill you?" She had heard vague rumours about her husband's association with the woman in his youth, but had never heard his version and Brutus could not be cajoled to speak of it. - Besides, - she thought, - the woman barely looks old enough to be the one .. if she was, she can have been little more than a child when they met. -
"Oh, no. Xena was totally besotted with me. No," he told her remembering back over the eleven or more years that had passed, "I had her crucified and her legs broken. She was, after all, a pirate at the time and had the audacity to capture and ransom me," he informed her coldly.
Pompeia contemplated her handsome husband. She was well aware that their marriage had been politically motivated. Oh, at the start there was a fervent passion, but that quickly cooled as Caesar's natural inclination for fresh bed partners intruded upon their marriage. After her initial anger and jealousy over her wayward husband's philandering, Pompeia (good Roman daughter and wife that she was) coldly turned her attention to cultivating her ambitions, while turning a blind eye to her husbands amorous antics. The situation soon suited her quite well. She was free to indulge in her own 'discrete' assignations, while wielding the power that being Caesar's wife allowed her. The accommodation was comfortable for both of them.
"And she still escaped you? My, my Julius! Either she was very good, or you still had a lot to learn," she chided him malevolently, "But none of this answers my question about my poor Nicolette," she reminded him primly.
Glowering at his wife for the verbal barbs she had shot in his direction, Caesar sought to keep calm, "On the contrary," he replied casually, "She was the reason for it." He smiled lazily as she narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could demand an explanation of what he meant, he continued smoothly, "Xena is wild and uncontrollable, on two occasions already I've had her beaten close to death, and yet it makes little impression on her .. she's still as intransigent as when I first captured her in Gaul all those moons ago. So you can see she isn't like other slaves. However, she can be managed with the right persuasion."
"How does that concern my slave?" demanded Pompeia.
"Ah, I'm just coming to that, my dear," smiled her husband mirthlessly. "Up until Brutus managed to mislay her, I had the key to ensuring the Warrior Princess' co-operation .. an irritating little blonde bard that travels with our savage. However, without being able to use Gabrielle, I needed another form of deterrent to stop Xena from attempting to escape, or refusing to obey instructions. You see my slave has a weak spot for innocents. Therefore, should she get out of line, she now knows that eight child slaves will take her punishment."
"You used my slave for that?" demanded the small woman incredulously, "She's my property, Julius, not yours. You had no right ..."
"As I said, my dear, it was an oversight. Of course your slave won't be used in that manner again. I'll have Comodus go and buy a new house slave immediately to take your girl's place in the punishment line."
"Make sure you do," warned Pompeia, "Or I warn you, Julius ..."
"I fully understand, my dear. There is no need to threaten me," Caesar assured her placatingly.
"Very well then," she turned on her heel to go, "Oh, Julius," she smiled sweetly, "I thought you should know that the Governor of Reate looks like he could be going over to Pompey's side." Domestic disputes aside, Pompeia knew just where her interests lay, and Caesar knew that she was a very astute and clever politician in her own right. Keeping her husband safe from his political enemies ensured her own continuing power and so she used her contacts to keep abreast of the situation .. which was why she had gone to Reate to visit her mother, "You might want to do something about that in person. A visit from you, should be enough to convince Folanari where his best interests lay, and if not ..." she let the sentence hang.
"Thank you my sweet," Caesar smiled grimly, "As ever your information is invaluable," he assured her with true sincerity. He watched her leave before settling back into his chair to decide just what he would do. As much as he would like to ignore the greedy Governor, Reate was an important area and too close too Rome to allow it to fall under Pompey's influence. His personal inclinations were urging him to remain in Rome .. he had to repair his relationship with Ephiny. His first taste of her had kindled a craving for more! However, being the practical man he was, he knew that his ambition for absolute power came first in all things.
Sighing with frustration, he found himself back at the office window, staring down at the labouring Warrior Princess, - Another problem, - his mind told him. - Do I take her with me to Reate, or leave her here? - realising that he'd already decided that he would be going to the city north-east of Rome.
"What! When did he go?" she demanded when Gabrielle came to tell her the news. Suddenly the possibility loomed that the might not come back for the proposed contest between 'Heston' and Xena, which would destroy their careful planning. She desperately hoped that she was not to blame for the Roman's unexpected and unannounced trip.
"Yesterday morning," the bard told her surreptitiously checking out the tell-tale marks that decorated Ephiny's anatomy, pleased to see that they were rapidly fading. "He left before sun-up using his imperial authority to have the gates opened up before dawn, to let himself and his guard through."
"He hasn't taken Xena with him?" demanded the Regent, afraid that all of their hopes were about to tumble down. If he removed the Warrior Princess from Rome there was going to be even less chance of rescuing her than ever.
"No one's sure," Gabrielle replied, trying to hide her own concern at this latest twist in their troubles, "She hasn't been seen outside the palace since you saw her last. If she's there, she's not being taken down to the Coliseum for training." She drew a long breath seeking to remain calm, "I'm going to ask Autolycus to check tonight. He's anxious to check around to see what information he can pick up anyway."
"Just so long as that's all he picks up," commented Eponin dryly, knowing how easily the King of Thieves got distracted by sparkley, valuable trinkets.
Gabrielle grinned at her with something akin to childish glee, "Poni, you're so untrusting. He hasn't stolen anything since that first night when Hercules caught him, but he has brought us back some useful information."
"Yeah, yeah," muttered the dark haired Amazon unconvinced, "Just because none of us has caught him with the goods, doesn't mean he hasn't been collecting them. I just hope he doesn't get caught at it and end up bringing the roof down on top of all of us," she grumbled pessimistically.
Beginning to feel happier, Ephiny solidly hit her friend on her muscular arm, "Stop being such a grump, Poni."
"Ouch!" whimpered the Weapons Master pretending the Regent had hurt her and failing to elicit either an apology or sympathy from either of her two companions.
"Besides," smiled Gabrielle, "The only time Autolycus gets caught is when he wants to be," she assured the doubtful Amazon.
"Oh yeah? What about when Brutus caught him? And he wasn't even trying to steal anything then," Eponin reminded her.
Gabrielle blinked in surprise. She'd forgotten about that, but her agile brain soon had an answer that no one could refute, "That was the Joxer effect. When you have a dangerous, difficult, situation and you add Joxer to the mix, anything that could go wrong automatically increases in probability by about a factor of ten."
The two Amazons looked at her blankly for several heartbeats before Ephiny ventured, "So you're saying that when Joxer's around the chances of trouble increase?"
"That's right," agreed the bard firmly.
"You're saying that an individual person can multiply the chance of trouble?" questioned the Weapons Master.
"Absolutely," agreed Gabrielle with total confidence in her argument.
The two Amazons looked at each other before uttering in unison, "Oh Hades. Are we in trouble."
Looking from one to the other, the bard could see the twinkle of amusement in her friends' eyes, but didn't understand the cause, "Hey look. It's not that bad. Hercules is making sure that he stays out of trouble ..." she looked at them in bemusement as the pair started laughing, "Okay ... what's the big joke?"
"Well," grinned Ephiny as she took a sly peek at Eponin before getting a nod of tacit approval, "We fully understand your theory about the Joxer effect, because the Amazons have had a theory about the 'Gabrielle' effect and it's at least twenty times worse than the one poor old Joxer causes."
"Hey!" growled the bard in slightly more than mock disapproval, "I can't help it if things happen when I'm around."
"Of course not," chorused the Amazons with distinct smirks on their faces.
"Well it's not my fault if I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time .. or should that be the wrong place at the right time .. or maybe the right place at the wrong time," she considered and then scowled at the barely suppressed giggling coming from the other two women, "Cut that out," she ordered beginning to feel picked on.
"Yes your Majesty," grinned the Regent, jabbing Eponin in the ribs.
"As your Majesty commands," smirked the Weapons Master and suddenly grimaced as a thought struck her, "Hey! You know what that means?"
"What?" asked the other two.
"We're sitting here in enemy territory with probably the two greatest attractions for trouble in the known world!" Eponin told them gloomily.
There was silence in the room for many long moments as they absorbed that rather distressing piece of information, before Ephiny had to add morosely, "Hey, we've also probably got the third greatest attraction for trouble around too."
They looked at each other and said in unison, "Xena!"
Staring miserably at her companions, Eponin began to feel that if they didn't do something to snap themselves out of all this gloom and doom they'd soon be in real trouble, "Hey c'mon. Apart from Ephiny's little trouble with Caesar," she squeezed the Regent's shoulder reassuringly, "and our problem sisters, we've all been fine since we got here. We've just got to concentrate on the plan and make sure that we get it to work."
The other two nodded their approval and Gabrielle looked directly at Ephiny before saying, "Which kind of brings us to why we've invaded your privacy, Eph."
The Regent shifted uncomfortably, "Oh yes, what's that."
"Since Caesar is out of the city, we feel that you need to put in an appearance at Jovian's party tonight." She held up a hand to still the Amazon's objections, "Now I know you don't want to, but you really need to get out and mix with people, apart from it being necessary if this plan is going to work. On top of that, there's no chance that Caesar's going to turn up, so we should make the most of the opportunity .. you need to be seen, Eph."
"I'm not ready, Gabrielle," protested the Regent who still couldn't make up her mind if she was raped or a willing participant in the proceedings.
The bard gave her a calculating look. She really was concerned about Ephiny and the effect that Caesar had had on her, but she didn't think the sympathetic coddling that the Regent had been getting from them was helping her put the whole thing behind her, so she decided that it was time for a little 'tough love', "Oh get over it Ephiny! What are you, an Amazon or some village milkmaid that needs protection because she can't look after herself?"
Outrage sparked in the blonde Amazon's eyes as she asked frigidly, "I beg your pardon!"
"You heard what I said," Gabrielle told her indifferently, hoping that the Regent didn't look over at Eponin who was doing an impression of a stranded fish.
"I am Regent Queen of the Amazons! Not some spineless peasant!" snapped Ephiny angrily.
"Well act like it!" returned the bard. "Since it happened, you've sulked in these rooms like .. like .. like ..." the bard grasped for words.
"A spineless peasant?" offered Poni, picking up on Ephiny's phrase, when she had caught on to what her Queen was trying to achieve.
"Too right, Ep!" agreed the honey blonde enthusiastically.
"A spineless peasant?" snarled Ephiny.
"Right," came the joint reply.
"A village milkmaid?" snapped the Regent her voice rising an octave.
"You got it!" agreed the other two.
Eyes flashing, Ephiny looked from one to the other of her 'friends' and came to a decision, - Compare me to some pathetic woman who can't look after herself, will they! - she angrily berated herself, - I'm an Amazon, that's what I am. I'll show these two ... - "Where did you say that this party was tonight?" she demanded in full regal mode.
"Jovian's place. We need you to try and become friends with him Eph, but more importantly with Graccus who we know will be there. He's important to the whole plan. He has to be there and willing to make an offer at the right time, or everything falls to pieces," explained the bard. "He already seems to like you. With Caesar out of the way you're going to have the chance to establish a real friendship with ..."
"Fine," broke in the Regent still snapping with anger, - I'll show them! - her mind continued to grumble.
"Pardon?" asked the bard, wanting to make sure that Ephiny really would do her part.
"I said fine. I'll go to the party, I'll talk nicely to Graccus and make sure that he's interested in the whole thing .. I'll play my part. Fine." returned the Regent as she quickly ticked off the points that required her attention.
Gabrielle tried a tentative smile, "Right. Then I guess Poni and I better let you get ready, you've only got a few candlemarks before you'll have to go." Getting no reaction from her friend, the bard made her way to the door, drawing the Weapons Master after her.
Ephiny watched them start to leave and was surprised to find her anger vanishing along with her morose, self-pitying mood. She wryly recognised what the bard had been doing. As Eponin put her hand to the door handle, she called out to them, "Gabrielle, Poni ... thanks."
Both women turned and smiled at the blonde Amazon, but it was Gabrielle who said, "That's what friends are for, Eph. See you later." And with that, the two women left the suite allowing the Regent to sort through her wardrobe to find something suitable to wear for the evening get together.
It was late in the afternoon when Flaccus received the summons. He'd spent a good part of the day watching the slave from a shady position by the wall of the guard's barracks, as she toiled ceaselessly carrying rocks from one end of the drill-yard to the other. He'd set up a folding campaign stool and table and was busily engaged in catching up on the maniple paperwork that had accumulated at an amazing rate since the elite unit had been formed. He grunted with satisfaction as he filled in the daily punishment record that pertained to his sole charge. She had earned the punishment plenty of times over and, with Caesar away, it had been decided that it would be safer if the woman did not leave the confines of the palace until her 'master' returned.
That suited Flaccus. For days now he had been feeling an itch on the back of his neck; his worry bump, the men called it. It always foretold of impending trouble, he'd never known it once to be wrong, and the only trouble he was currently aware of was six foot of black haired, blue eyed, slave whom he would swear held 'Trouble' as a title amongst the myriad that she had once owned.
His grey eyes narrowed as he watched her stumble, then somehow manage to regain her footing avoiding taking a heavy fall on the cobble paved yard. He'd had her hauling those rocks for two complete days and nights now, with only short periods off to water and feed her. She'd been allowed no sleep and her exhaustion was becoming apparent. Satisfied that she'd had enough for now, he was just about to have her taken to the baths before being locked up for the night, when the messenger had appeared before him.
"The mistress would like to see the new slave," the youth had told him simply. The lad might only be a slave, but his mistress was Caesar's wife, the wife of the de-facto ruler of Rome and a powerful woman in her own, and her family's, right.
"This slave is Lord Caesar's personal property," Flaccus answered tersely, "She is highly dangerous and needs to be kept under tight guard at all time. I think your lady might wish to seek approval from her lord before asking that this slave be brought before her."
Undaunted by the centurion's words, the youth answered, "My mistress said to remind you that she runs this house while her lord is away and that all within it fall under her dominion. She wishes you to bring the savage to the solarium so that she can inspect her properly." His message delivered, the boy turned and left without waiting to hear further objection from Flaccus, secure in the knowledge that Pompeia would protect him from any ire that the soldier felt.
- Damn all women, - swore Flaccus in silent frustration as he signalled one of the guards over.
"Sir," the legionary snapped to attention and waited for his centurion's orders.
"Dorphus," snapped the officer, "I want you to go and turn out the reserve guard and collect the collar chains and oak beam for the slave .. and be quick about it."
"At once, sir," answered the soldier and quickly sprinted off, remembering to salute before doing so.
"Gravis," barked out Flaccus to another nearby sentry. When the man presented himself, the centurion motioned to the two items of furniture and the paperwork, saying, "Take these things back to my quarters then get back here as quick as you can."
"Sir," saluted the soldier as he hurried to carry out his task.
Stretching unhurriedly, Flaccus winced at the cracks and pops his bones made as he straightened up and made his way across the parade ground to where Xena continued to toil under the hot afternoon sun. He stood and watched as she passed him carrying the last rock from the pile, down to where the others rested, accompanied by the four guards that held the long chains secured on her ankles. It was a boring duty for the men, so it was assigned to those who had to work off minor transgressions. Even so they were relieved every third candlemark, unlike the slave who was forced to carry on relentlessly until given leave to stop.
As she dropped the final rock onto the pile, Flaccus barked, "Alright, bring her over here."
In short order, Xena stood before the senior centurion. The exhaustion etched into her body was evident, even though she did her best to banish it as she came to a halt before him. She could feel Flaccus' eyes upon her and could sense his satisfaction at what he saw. Anger flared momentarily in her eyes before she smothered it ruthlessly. She had no intention of watching helpless children take another beating because of her pride and temper. So, she kept her eyes cast down on the stones beneath her feet and waited to hear what Flaccus had in mind for her next.
She hid her surprise well when the reserve guard appeared along with her travelling restraints; she'd been certain that Flaccus was getting ready to lock her up for the night, and she'd been relishing the thought of curling up on her blanket, on the hard ground, for some much needed sleep. As the various chains and wood beam were locked into place, however, she pushed such thoughts from her mind and set herself to endure whatever else lay before her.
Once everything was secured, Flaccus checked all of the locks himself to be absolutely certain there was no risk of his captive breaking free, then gestured for the procession to follow him as he led Xena, her normal six guards, and forty other soldiers through the palace towards the solarium where Pompeia awaited them.
Since she had returned to Rome two evenings ago, she had spent a considerable amount of time in collecting information about the woman that her husband had gone to such considerable lengths to capture. What she had discovered had intrigued her .. so much so, that she wished to have a closer look at the woman who was capable of besting the great Julius Caesar in the arts of war, and who hated her husband with a passion that was almost holy.
She wasn't really sure why she was so interested in the slave. Normally she would avoid any female who could eclipse her own beauty and, although she prided herself on her own education and intelligence, what she had learned from Caesar and her other sources, made her feel certain that this woman's accumulated fund of knowledge and innate mental abilities would make her feel inadequate. Something she hated when she occasionally encountered it amongst her peers, and she knew that she would loathe it in a social inferior. However, as the woman was merely a slave, she could always take out her angst by impressing her with the fact that she was inferior.
Then, of course, there was the question of Nicolette's beating, received as punishment for the savage's misbehaviour. She didn't object, in principle, to the child being beaten, she had, after all disciplined the girl far more harshly on more than one occasion. No, what she objected to was her husband's cavalier appropriation of her personal property without consulting with her first. - I might just take this opportunity to reciprocate in kind, - she contemplated maliciously.
Andreas, the young slave she had sent down with the order to bring the warrior slave before her, had returned some time ago from his errand, and Pompeia was beginning to become impatient. She was aware that Flaccus was totally devoted to his commander and might well ignore her summons if Caesar had specifically laid down instructions pertaining to the woman, but the noblewoman doubted that would be the case in this situation as she suspected her husband would never consider her to be interested in this dangerous slave.
The light was beginning to fade quite badly and she put the embroidery aside with an impatient sigh annoyed that she was being kept waiting. She was about to send Andreas to discover just what was taking Flaccus so long, when she recognised the heavy tread of many soldiers' boots echoing down the corridor to the room where she awaited them. She frowned slightly. She expected Flaccus to bring the slave up under guard, but it almost sounded as if he had brought a century of men with him. - Damn the man! I really don't want fifty or more dirty soldiers traipsing through the palace just for one barbarian slave. He's probably doing this as a way of getting at me for making him bring her here. Well he can just march them all back to their quarters! I won't have it! -
Flaccus entered at the head of his sixty-six man guard squad. Quickly noting that there were four doors to the solarium, he ordered fifteen man squads to stand sentry outside each one. He glanced up a the high glass dome that gave the room the abundance of light that made it perfect as the palace's sewing room and judged that the slave would not be able to use it as an improvised exit whilst hampered by the chains that were securely held by the six biggest soldiers he had available.
He motioned the six forward and Xena responded obediently enough to the tug of the chains. She was beyond tired and beyond caring what this spoilt scion of Roman nobility wanted her there for. She halted, when the guards did, just in front of Caesar's wife. Fixing brilliant blue eyes on the woman, the Warrior Princess assumed a bored expression as she waited for the small woman to speak.
"You may take your soldiers and wait outside, centurion,' instructed Pompeia sharply as her gaze took in the heavy chains and oak beam that were used to control the slave she had ordered brought to her.
"That would be impossible, ma'am," returned Flaccus stiffly, "Standing orders state that this slave must be watched by six men at all times day or night. She has too many skills that could help her break free if not closely observed."
"Come, come, senior centurion," the noblewoman soothed sweetly. I will be here to call warning should the savage," she fought the urge to swallow as the blue eyes went cold and deadly, "show any sign of trying to break loose."
My lady," Flaccus tried to explain patiently, his voice heavy with the suppressed urge to bark cuttingly at the woman, "I think you should know that it took two full centuries to capture this she devil. She's put more of my men into the healers hands in the last few moons than the Gauls managed to in six. She doesn't need a weapon in her hand to be deadly, and there are many recorded reports of the ease with which she breaks loose of restraints. Apart from my orders from the Emperor, I could not in all conscience allow you to risk your life by being alone with this murdering savage."
Xena shifted her stance a little, her aching muscles protesting now that she had stopped moving, the long lengths of chain rattling and clinking at her slightest movement. She smothered the crooked grin that crept onto her lips as she saw her guardians tense at her shifting, understanding that the centurion's little lecture had stirred up their own fears once more.
Tuning out the continuing dispute between the woman and the soldier, she allowed her gaze to drift up to the glass dome above her, - If I was loose of these chains, it would be so easy to flip through that roof, - she assessed, - Hades, if I could just get loose of the guards I could do it anyway! Then a quick run across the roof, a drop into a quiet street and before they could organise a decent pursuit, I'd be well away from here. Just another slave in a city full of them .. if I could find a way to get loose from the shackles. -
She was brought back to her present circumstances as her defences registered the movement of Flaccus' vine staff. Without conscious thought her defensive instincts took over. As she swayed away from the stave's path and, as the centurion overbalanced from not meeting the expected resistance to his blow, she whipped her body around sharply to punch him heavily in the stomach with the thick spar of wood that helped pin her arms.
When the centurion collapsed to his knees gasping for breath Xena cursed herself for allowing her attention to wander, - God's dammit! - she raged at herself, knowing that she had scant moments before the guards reacted with the heavy handed brutality she had come to expect from them
Formulating a desperately hurried plan of action, Xena powered herself into a backward flip, that spun her over the heads of her guards, jerking the lead chains out of their hands. Although her neck and ankles were wrenched by the restraints upon them, she pushed the pain from her mind as she used the wooden beam as a battering ram to fell her guards in rapid succession, leaving each of them writhing on the ground desperately sucking air, all in the matter of a few heartbeats.
Pompeia sat transfixed by the sudden burst of violence, her mind failing to register that she should be screaming for the legionaries to come to her immediate assistance. Only when she realised that the, supposedly, restrained slave had disabled her guards, did the Roman noblewoman find her voice. As Flaccus showed signs of forcing himself back to his feet, Pompeia screamed, "GUARDS!" only to watch in astonished disbelief as the heavily shackled slave shot, like a coiled spring, into the air, described a somersault that allowed her to smash her way feet first through the glass dome and land somewhere on the palace roof, before the first of the soldiers had managed to gain entry to the room.