"So it's over now? All of it?"
"Yes, it is."
"So, what now?"
"What do you say we go find out together?"
"huh, yeah."
Walking away from the death and destruction that Darphus and his men created in the village was the most liberating thing she had ever done, and walking away with him was going to be a whole new challenge. Hercules saw her, not just the outside, not just the bloodlust she quested so hard for over the years but he saw the pain and the ache that she seemed to feel in her heart and the longing for it all to just go away, could she really trust him?
"Xena, you coming?"
The questions she had about why he spared her life and why he was here now, walking away from all of this with her instead of leaving her in the dirt like so many of her previous victims, didn't seem so important anymore, helping put this village back together was suddenly what she wanted to do.
"Yeah, Hercules, do you really think that these people will actually want me here? They know the destruction was caused by my militants, even though I wasn't leading them…"
"Exactly, you weren't leading them and most of the villagers were evacuated by Salmoneus and Iloran hours ago anyways, come on, I'm starving."
How could he be so blind? People hated her, feared her name, wanted her dead but, here he was, offering to break bread with her even though she tried to end a lifelong friendship and his life, she had deceived him and Iolaus, she didn't understand but she needed this, she actually wanted this.
Seeing the baby's father in front of her reminded her that there was still some good in this world, this man, Spiros, was actually going to fight her, the same way she fought for the child's life earlier against Darphus, she sighed and resigned herself to the company of Hercules, Salmoneus, and Spiros, the others had left for the night, heading off to other destinations able to lay their heads down and drift off into dreamless sleep, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping so soundly.
"What can I get for you? Anything you want it's yours, thank you for saving us and our village, our people are truly grateful…anything…"
Until he saw her, she seen the fear in his eyes as she did with every villager and he changed his tune,
"Hercules, is she with you?"
"Yes, she is, she helped end it."
He audibly laughed, "you honestly expect me to believe that she would stop something that she started? That's a joke, my pleasantries are to you, I have nothing to accommodate someone like her."
"That's ok, I'm leaving anyway or…I could just take it."
The small man stuttered as the tall statuesque destroyer of nations glared down at him, a snarl on her face that was demanding he show some respect, she should just end his miserable life where he..
"Hey, hey, Xena, it's okay."
She felt his strong hand on her gauntleted arm and on her shoulder guiding her away the deadly attack that was about to erupt, 'how did he just manage to do that? He broke me of the vicious thought and changed my path, just sit down and let him handle it in his peaceful, easy way.'
"Could we get a couple mugs of ale, and maybe something to eat? I think it would be best if I handle her temper."
"Of course, I'm sorry."
She heard him talking to the innkeeper, inwardly laughing to herself that he could 'handle her temper', no one else was able to calm her so fast, that innkeeper was very lucky. Hercules returned to the table with three mugs of ale and the innkeeper right behind him with a tray of food that was over-running with meats, cheeses and bread. He was good.
"He only has two rooms available for tonight and has requested that someone stay with Xena, Spiros, are you and your son staying tonight?
"No, I have relatives in the area who know I was looking for this little guy, I'm going to head out soon to find them and to honor my wife, Xena, I never thought I'd say this but, thank you for protecting him, keeping him out of harms way."
She nodded and took a sip of ale, Salmoneus watched her closely
"Are you okay Xena?"
"Just tired, look, I need to talk to Hercules, you take the other room so you can rest, I know how those men travel, you must be exhausted by now."
"Yes, I am."
He was glad to see her accept Hercules' help and not push him away, he knew that if Hercules could get through to her he could really do some good, might even fall for her, he noticed the way Hercules was able to pull her away, none of her other men, even Darphus before the betrayal, would be so bold to touch her in the heat of the moment and still live, let alone calm the fires that raged. Yes, this could be good, for both of them.
They ate their meal in silence with a few villagers coming up and thanking Hercules for his help and he'd made it a point to include her in the praises, saying things like, 'if she didn't come back I'm not sure how it would have turned out,' it always ended with her being thanked as well, this was new to her, made her feel better. She smiled at him and shook her head, Salmoneus seen an opportunity to talk to the villagers about extra security detail and seized the moment, Xena was glad that the salesman got the hint that she wanted to have a minute alone with Hercules.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
Ever the hero. She sighed and looked at him, trying to see what he was thinking.
"Praising me for something that I wasn't responsible for, you and your friends were the ones who evacuated the village and set up the traps and initiated them on time, I just happened to show up at the right time."
"All help was appreciated, at least they thought twice about continuing their attack once they saw you."
"They know what I'm capable of, I trained them and not one of them ever got a good hit in on me, but you, huh, you managed to knock me on my ass and have a sword at my throat in no time flat, why didn't you take that chance?"
He looked at her and wondered why she would ask such a thing, 'why would someone spare her life? Her eye's tell enough of a story of the torment she's faced, she's tired of it all, I need to help her some how..'
"I can't explain it, the look in your eyes, I felt your heart racing and your body shake and I can't end someone's life like that, you had given up, not in that fight, but just in general, you needed something from me right in that moment and I just decided that sparing your life was it. There are other ways to prove you're a warrior than killing."
She started to answer but wasn't sure what to say, 'Thanks for not killing me so I can be tormented the rest of my life?' No, he deserved a better answer than that and she wanted to consider every possible way to thank him properly. She smiled slightly at him and laid a hand on his gauntlet.
The innkeeper approached them with caution and told Hercules that he was getting ready to close for the night and wanted to know if they still wanted the rooms, Hercules said yes and the three of them made their way to the back of the inn, Salmoneus went to his room and Hercules opened the door to the other, thankful there were two beds instead of one, the room was small, a fireplace at one end and a table and chair on the other end with both beds in the middle, 'they look a little small but better than the ground,' she thought to herself, walking over to the table she lifted the pitcher and poured the warm water out into a small bowl, 'great,' she thought, 'he's going to see…what they did to me.'
Sighing, she started removing her armor, her shoulders seem so weak this evening so it was harder to unlace the leather bodice than usual, she risked a look over her shoulder only to find him looking out the window, not at her at all, a small smile crept over her face as she shook her head, she bent down to unlace her boots and had a pain shoot through her side and she let out a small gasp, that he noticed, he seen her leaning over and came to offer assistance.
"Are you injured?"
She grimaced at the thought of the wounds to her back and her fractured ribs and decided to tell him what actually happened.
"Hercules, have you ever heard of a gauntlet?"
He shook his head yes in understanding looking at her face, pale in the moonlight, knowing the pain she must have felt.
"Sit down, let me help."
"I'm fine." she said, through gritted teeth
"No, you're not, Xena, why did they do this?"
"The village that I'm sure you came across, the one that Spiros was from, the one that was burned to the ground, Darphus started his betrayal there, he did the burning after I left on a scouting mission and then took control when I returned, that's when I seen the baby and his mother, who had been murdered on the bed beside him, I took the child in my arms and he ordered one of the men to kill it, I wouldn't let him and things spiraled out of my control after that, Salmoneus found a midwife to help care for the infant and then a few days later witnessed what they did to disobedient warriors, 'run her through the gauntlet, if she survives she's banished if she doesn't who cares?"
She winced in pain as he took the black shift off of her weak form and seen the bruises and gashes in her flesh, he took the sponge from her hands gently, and started cleaning the freshest wounds, easy to not put pressure on her ribs. They talked well into the night about her past, what happened to her and how she came to be with the barbarians of late, she watched him, intrigued by the questions and the answers he asked her and gave back to her, 'I don't know who this man is or why he is here but I've never been more at peace than when I'm here with him, no one has ever got me to talk like this, he needs to know, I need him to understand.' She decided right there that yes, she could indeed trust this man, with everything..
After what seemed like twenty candle marks they both claimed their beds and as Hercules drifted off he couldn't help thinking about her, unable to believe all that she just confided in him, 'everything she has been through has been a battle itself, a war rages inside her with no way to escape it, there's got to be something good in there to try to help ease the pain.'
A little while later after she fell asleep the nightmares began and she couldn't help but cry out, as she did every night, because the images projected through her subconscious were just too much to handle, tossing and turning she could feel the panic rising in her stomach and her heart 'please, not again,' that's when she felt a strong arm encircle her waist, stroking her arm and pulling the sweaty strings of hair back from her face and whispering calming words in her ear, 'I'm here Xena, it'll be ok, just relax…' she couldn't remember the last time she was able to 'just relax' but tonight as she fought the demons in her mind there was a faint glow around the edges 'what is this? Can this be real? Can he end my torment, at least for tonight?' she was soon able to fall into a restful and dreamless night.