Helandros, Helepolis:
Destroyer of Men, Destroyer of Cities
"Of the lower officers I shall make no mention, since no necessity is laid on me; but I must speak of a certain leader named Artemisia , whose participation in the attack upon Greece, notwithstanding that she was a woman, moves my special wonder."
-Herodotus on Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus
I burn, I shiver
Out of this sun and
Into this shadow
-V. Woolf, The Waves
PRELUDE
"Come up now," the warrior soothed in a low voice, passing a hand over the sweating flank of her warhorse. Above, the sun sat in the crown of the sky, obscured by a grey cloud cover which served only to insulate the Grecian plain in an oppressive humidity. Contrary to what was normally custom, the warrior walked alongside her mount, choosing to give up her saddle in service of her wounded friend. And yet, their journey progressed swiftly due in part to the warrior woman's long, graceful strides over the red earth. Rising from the horizon in the distance, they could see the gleaming white pillars of the Parthenon atop Mount Pantelkos.
"Athens," breathed the warrior's companion, from atop the horse. As the two had been silent for most of their hurried journey, the warrior looked up at the petit blonde woman half-draped over the saddle horn.
"How're you feeling?" the warrior intoned, fingering the bandage around her companion's foot in the stirrup.
"Tired," answered Gabrielle. Without a word, the warrior reached up and grabbed the reins, pulling her mount to a stop.
"Here, climb down," she said, offering up a hand, "I want to check that shoulder".
"Please, Xena, I'm fine. We need to make haste," replied Gabrielle.
"Athens can wait. That arrow wound can't."
Shaking her head, Gabrielle placed a hand on her warrior friend's shoulder and eased herself out of the saddle. She did not want to test Xena's patience again: For long hours through the night, when her Fate seemed dismal and death near, she had argued with the warrior. Gabrielle knew she had made the right decision, choosing the Greater Good over that of self-preservation. When Xena had, for once, abandoned her path to redemption, and eschewed all notions of altruism in favor of saving her friend's life- it had shocked the wounded bard. Everything they had fought for, everything they had sacrificed would have been for naught, had Gabrielle allowed Xena to save her. And so, she viewed it as her duty to keep her illustrious friend in tireless pursuit of that which was right: They had to stop the Persians; they had to preserve Athens. Now, however, with the Persian forces sufficiently delayed, Gabrielle didn't think it in her best interest to deter Xena any longer.
With Gabrielle now seated in the dust on the side of the well-trodden road, Xena set to work unraveling the bandage around her shoulder and preparing another poultice from their fast-diminishing supply of medicinal herbs.
"We're more than a candlemark's ride from the polis," said the bard, wincing some at the gentle prod of Xena's cold fingertips on her wound.
"I'll ride with you, cut our time in half," mumbled Xena. She inspected the tender, flayed flesh at the edge of the hole in Gabrielle's shoulder; she noted with relief that the greenish tinge of the poison had faded steadily from the wound. "This is looking better…" she mentioned, referencing her observation. As she worked to re-pack the poultice, a look of barely concealed fear passed over her features. "If that bastard traitor hadn't been carrying the antidote-" she began.
"Hush, Xena. We found it. It doesn't matter anymore," Gabrielle cut across.
"It was too close, Gabrielle," the warrior met her friend's eyes and held them. Gabrielle witnessed a flash of anger like lightning across those cerulean depths; the warrior looked away: "It was much too close…" she whispered, more to herself than her companion.
Sensing but not understanding the pain in her friend, Gabrielle rested her hand on the warrior's shoulder and squeezed, wishing to impart some comfort.
"It's over. I'm healing. What we do need to worry about is warning King Leonidas so he can mobilize the Athenian army," said the bard, "How long do you think we have?"
Xena seemed to consider this a moment. "I killed many and wounded more," she said, coming to a rough estimation of the detriment done to the Persian advance party. "It'll take them a moon or so to regroup. They'll have to re-strategize for they no longer have the element of surprise in their favor."
"Do you think it ample enough time to mount a defense?"
"The city's legions are used to foreign threats. I have no doubt Leonidas will have some sort of subsidiary plan in place," replied Xena, "The faster we get there, however-".
"The faster that plan is put into action," Gabrielle finished. "Come on, let's go."
Xena nodded and helped the bard back up into the saddle. Making sure that the bard was secure, the warrior swung up behind her; she reached around to take the reins and felt Gabrielle lean heavily against her, betraying her weakened state. Placing one hand on the smaller woman's hip, Xena dug her heel in to spur Argo closer to those tower points of the grand metropolis in the distance.