AN: this prologue will not tie into the show at all just FYI as I said before, I'm changing everything. So everything you knew about 'evil Xena' just throw it out the window lol.
Prologue Part II
Xena's army sailed the Mediterranean Sea stopping in the Maghreb and Lower Egypt. Xena wanted her army posted everywhere that she decided to go to and on the way they recruited some new members from other armies. Xena's competition at the moment were the Romans and they traveled quickly and most of their greatest soldiers were based in Egypt and Greece of course. She wanted to conquer and destroy the Roman Empire as she knew Caesar was still in charge. She wanted to obliterate him as well ever since he unsuccessfully tried to kill her a few years ago. Her mission was only to take down Caesar until she met Borias, then her plans became bigger, much bigger. Caesar wanted Rome, Xena wanted the world and she was going to make sure she would have it, no matter the cost.
Their last stop was to be in Cyprus. They had been on and off ships for the last four months and Xena was growing tired of being at sea, plus it only made her feel even worse than she already felt. The sickness didn't seem to go away but it had gotten better. Xena had many ships in her fleet, but she was beginning to grow tired of having a Navy and felt it made her army weaker as they were at sea and not on the ground most of the time. Then again, she knew that having men at sea and on land would strengthen her army even further and that pleased her.
Xena was standing at the front of the ship looking at Cyprus a few miles away. They would reach land by mid afternoon and she couldn't wait to set foot on land. It had been too long since she had seen greenery.
Borias was on the ship looking at Xena from afar and as much as he wanted to be close to her he also didn't want to be near her at the same time. She seemed to have that effect on people it seemed like. He saw that she was going below the deck back to her room so he decided to follow her making sure nobody would notice, not like he cared, but her men could be so nosy sometimes.
Xena entered her room and sighed heavily as she sat down running her fingers through her long raven hair that was very wavy from the salty water. She took off her animal pelts and her fingerless gloves off. She groaned as she was feeling very uncomfortable and a little overwhelmed. She didn't want to feel the way she did, but she did, and it was something that she hated. The highlight of her day was Cyprus and she just had a few more hours until they reached land.
Borias entered the room and saw Xena was sitting on her bed cursing at herself underneath her breath, looking as if she was about to rip her hair out. He smiled at her suffering, but at the same time he didn't want her to go through everything on her own. He went behind her and started massaging her shoulders.
Xena knew the feel of those hands and she rolled her eyes, "come on now," she grabbed his hand and turned around. "Why are you still following me around, Borias?" she stared at him and she saw the concern written all over his face.
He knelt down in front of her and touched her cheek, "because I care about you, Xena and I don't want you to do something stupid while you're carrying our child." He said firmly and she pulled away from his touch.
"you don't care about me, you just want to take the baby away from me," she smiled and leaned forward coming closer to his face, "isn't that right?"
Borias sighed and stood up, "you're impossible!" aggravated at her attitude and that smile still planted on her lips.
Xena leaned back on some pillows relieving some stress from her back, "do you not think of me as mother material?" she teased.
He sat on the bed next to her and grabbed a hold of her cheeks with a firm grip. "you're a snake Xena," he hissed. "Look at you, you can barely stand for half a candlemark and you expect to take on the Roman empire?" he laughed.
She pushed his arm away and adjusted her body on the bed. "I can handle it! My men haven't noticed anything," she added defensively.
Borias shook his head and rubbed his chin, "I think they will notice once you magically appear with a baby in your arms," he added.
"are you going to lecture me or leave me in peace?" she felt a headache coming on and she winced as she felt a pain in her side.
He was about to make a snide retort but he saw that she was in pain and all those thoughts disappeared. Coming to her aide, which he knew she would turn away from, he sat on the bed with a hand on her thigh.
"What's the matter?" he scanned her body and saw the distress in her face.
Xena waved him away, "nothing, just..." she saw his hands touching her leg and now her arm, "stop touching me," slapping his hand away from her. "I'm not a doll."
A knock came to the door and Xena made the command for the person to enter. One of her younger soldiers came in and looked surprised to see Borias sitting with Xena on her bed, so close that is. He hadn't seen them together in quite some time.
"A letter from Rome, Xena." He held out the scroll.
Xena tried to reach for the scroll but she couldn't so Borias took it and she snatched it from his hands. She shot him a glare reminding herself to get him later. She opened the scroll and sighed as it was in Latin.
"Damn Romans, can't they use any other language besides Latin?" she could read Latin as she taught herself how to read it, but some words were still quite difficult for her to understand. She smiled as she finished reading the scroll and handed it back to the young man.
"Tell my men to turn around and head for Rome," she smiled deviously and the young man bowed.
"Yes, Xena," he left quickly to alert the captain to turn the ship around even though they were so close to Cyprus now. So much for land.
Borias couldn't believe what she was doing and his eyes grew in shock at the woman before him. "Are you insane?"
"Some may think so," she smiled.
He grabbed her shoulders tightly and shook her, "we are not going to Rome, Xena! You can't win there! You can win in Egypt and in Maghreb but you cannot win in Rome and I will not allow you to endanger our child anymore than you already have."
She didn't know if she felt the need to slap him or break a bone in his body, but she realized that she couldn't really do much and that is what infuriated her the most.
"Well since you seem to love the Romans so much why don't you just work with them?!" she spat at him and he let go of her slightly pushing her to the side disgusted with her attitude.
Borias didn't respond and left her room to go back to the deck and watch as her men turned back to go to Rome, which would take a few days to reach now. He didn't know how he still loved this woman after all the stunts she has pulled, but she was a good leader, he recognized that. Not always fair, but good at commanding her men and other people's men.
Xena cursed at herself. Borias could make her so angry sometimes and he defied her all the time, if he were any other man she would have had his head on a pike already. She was starting to feel that horrid pain come again and she winced as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Make it to Rome, that's all that matters right now, she told herself.
Finally reaching Rome Xena couldn't wait to get off of the ship and meet her opponent . She had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Xena had a few of her men stationed in Rome undercover of course and they provided her with horses for her and her next in commands. Xena stepped off the ship and mounted the black stallion that was given to her. Her slave girl had washed and fixed Xena's hair to make her appear a bit more civilized. She still dressed in her warrior attire of course, making sure to conceal her heavily pregnant body.
Borias rode by her side and was very weary as they rode through the Roman streets. Most of the citizens stared at them in fear and he noticed Xena kept her eyes on the gates ahead.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked uncertain of her motives for the first time.
"Shut up, Borias. I know what I am doing," she continued to ride ahead of her group of men trailing behind her. Borias shook his head and followed her unwillingly.
Arriving at the gates the men looked at that the imposing dark haired woman on the stallion and raised their eyebrows. "And who are you?"
She smiled, "My name is Xena and this is Borias," she added. "We've received an invitation from Rome himself." She waved her hand at one of her soldiers that had the scroll. The young man handed her the scroll and she gave it to the Roman officers.
They looked over the message and nodded opening the large gates. Xena felt a battle going on inside of her as the gates opened. A smile crept onto her lips as she entered the gates with her men in tow.
Borias didn't like the looks of this. He didn't know what she had planned but he knew that it wasn't good at all. He saw that they were now in headquarters of Rome and anybody who's anyone was here. Xena must be very proud of herself, he thought, but he knew that she wasn't here to talk politics. Xena wasn't a woman of political gain, she wanted power. She wanted to be ultimate destroyer of nations.
Caesar stepped out into the sunlight to see Xena riding a huge stallion in the middle of the square. He smiled at her appearance.
"You look the same as the first time I met you, Xena. Quite lovely," he smirked.
Xena returned the smile, "likewise," she said through her teeth.
Caesar looked behind her and saw a man with long black hair that was braided. "And who's this? Your new pet?" he inquired.
Borias rolled his eyes and almost said something but Xena looked at him with daggers in her eyes so he decided to remain from making any such comments.
"We're not here to talk about my personal business, Caesar. I read that you wanted to speak to me, so let's start with that," she said demandingly.
Caesar nodded, "Alright, Xena, but you come alone, no men, no tricks and no..." he looked at Borias, "pets." He winked.
Borias looked more concerned now, "Xena, a word?" he asked and Xena was trying to compose herself. "Xena," he said again in a more firm voice.
Xena bit her lip and turned around, "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" she said barely above a whisper so no one else could hear them. She moved her horse closer to his.
He looked at her then back at the Roman leader and back at her blue eyes. "You can't go by yourself, that's too dangerous. Don't do something foolish, Xena." He knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about.
For the first time in a long time she put her hand on his in comforting manner she replied, "I will ask if you can come with me, alright? But...don't say anything...got it?"
That answer satisfied him and he nodded allowing her to continue her conversation with Caesar.
"Have you come to a decision, Xena? What will it be?" the Roman smiled devilishly.
Xena smiled in return, "I will come unarmed, but only if you allow me to bring Borias with me. He's...he's my second in command," she lied, he was definitely much more than that.
Caesar considered her offer for a moment, actually pretending to care, but he couldn't pass this chance up so he relented. "As you wish, Xena. Shall we?" he gestured the two of them to follow him to his office.
All three of them were now in Caesar's private office. Xena sat down in a chair opposite Caesar and Borias opted to stand beside Xena, as he wasn't feeling very safe at the moment.
"So you are looking well, Xena, since the last time I saw you," referring to when he had her crucified and she actually lived. "Didn't think I'd see you alive, let alone leading an army...an army that seems to be spreading across the Mediterranean."
Xena crossed one leg over the other and toyed with her fingers in her lap smiling, trying not to strangle the man. "If that's what it takes to win Rome, I will do whatever it takes."
He nodded and admired her ambition, "it's Rome that you want? I thought this meeting was for peace," he laughed. "Xena you are no match for Rome."
She wasn't going to take no for an answer, "Rome will be mine one day, Caesar with you alive or dead."
"Is that a threat against the Roman Empire?" he inquired, smirking at her rising temper. She always had a temper, he remembered.
"Doesn't have to be..." Xena bit her nail casually.
Borias could feel the tension in the room as the two grew silent for several minutes. He saw Xena shifting in the chair and watched her carefully, but made sure not to make it too noticeable as she would kill him if he spoiled her moment with the Roman.
Caesar was playing a staring game with Xena and she wasn't backing down either as she started smiling at him.
"Well," Caesar began, breaking the thick silence, "I'll make a deal with you. You promise to keep away from Rome if you allow my men to occupy some of your territories."
"Forget it, Caesar," she was not in the mood to discuss anything with him. She really just wanted to slit his throat at this very moment.
He chuckled and looked at Borias, "what do you think?" he asked the 'pet'.
Xena looked up at Borias and dared him to utter a word.
He looked at Xena then back to Caesar, "whatever Xena decides I'll follow her," he swallowed those horrible words, although it wasn't all false. He wanted to be with her all the time, especially since she was carrying their child, but he never got the chance to actually talk to her about the three of them, they were a trio now. In his mind they were. The time was nearing and time was not on their side.
Xena looked satisfied with his answer and she turned to look at Caesar again, "so," she began, "we have come to realization that I will not surrender to your 'empire'. What now?" she leaned back in the chair trying to get more comfortable.
Caesar rested his chin on his palm, "what's that matter, Xena? You look unwell," he noticed her paled face, pretending to care.
She didn't let the Roman faze her, "just the sight of this place makes me feel unwell," she smiled.
"Some wine perhaps?" he gestured the servant to come serve her but she refused. "Afraid I might poison you, Xena?" he raised a brow as he sipped from his glass.
"Something on your mind, Caesar? I know my men would never betray me..." she smirked allowing her words to dig beneath his skin.
Ignoring her last comment he continued on as he a lot of things to attend to today, "back to business. So your army –"
"Empire," she corrected him.
"...has been spreading across Egypt, the Maghreb, Greece and Mesopotamia. I have men in all those places as well. So we need to make a deal, our armies could work together...Xena and Caesar, doesn't that sound nice?"
Xena frowned, "right. Because that worked out so well the last time. Answer is no, Caesar," she got up from the chair and was ready to leave as this was getting nowhere.
"Fine Xena. Have it your way! I will crush your empire one day," he called out as he saw her leave.
"If you live that long," she yelled back.
Borias followed Xena back to the horses at the gate and gently set a hand upon her shoulder, "are you alright?"
Xena patted his hand, "Caesar always upsets me, don't worry about me. Focus on the plan." She mounted her horse and took off on a slow trot with her men behind her. Borias watched as she rode away and he didn't even know the plan and he knew that she was lying about being alright. She didn't even answer his question, he noticed. He shook his head and mounted the horse following Xena's army back to their campsite they were making near the Sea.
Later that evening Xena was in her tent with her servant and the girl was trying to make her as comfortable as possible.
"Maybe you should lay down?" the girl timidly suggested.
Xena winced from the pain in her lower abdomen, "no! I am fine," she slowed her breathing, "I need to be focused." She added with pain dripping from her lips.
The sun was gone now and candles were lit inside Xena's tent and torches were lit in the campsite. Talius entered Xena's tent and she was on the edge of her bed hanging her head and hiding behind her veil of black hair.
"Um...is this a bad time?" he said before proceeding.
Xena heard her soldier's voice and lifted her head, "no..." she managed to say. "What do you need?"
"I thought I'd let you know that some of our men have secretly been spying for Caesar for months and there may be a possible attack from the Romans soon." He said with worry of his commander and the army.
Xena did not want to hear this news, not right now. "Who are they?"
"I...I don't know," he admitted ashamed of himself.
"Then why come in here to tell me if you do not even..." she moaned in agony.
Talius just stared utterly confused at what was going on. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked the slave girl.
She nodded, "could you stay with her for a few minutes? I need to grab a few things from the ship." Before he could answer she already left the tent, assuming he would do as he was told. Talius looked at the exit of the tent and then to his leader who was in tremendous pain.
"Is there something I can do for you...Xena?" he looked at her but she wasn't even aware that he was talking to her. Sweat dripped down her cheeks and forehead.
He knelt down to get closer to her and she grabbed his tunic and brought him closer to her. "There...there is something...you can do for me," she managed to say.
"A-a-anything," he trembled slightly.
"Bring me the heads of those who betrayed me, then..." she winced, "and then...bring me Caesar's heart." she breathed heavily and Talius looked at her and nodded rapidly. She let go of his tunic and leaned back on the bed.
Talius left Xena's tent and warned the men about the possible attack and gave them orders to scout the area for the moles.
A couple of hours passed by and it was dark now. Xena was inside her tent passed out ever since she drank a tea to calm her body down from the intense pain. Her slave girl attended to her for the last few hours and it had not been easy to make Xena stay in one place but it seems all things are possible. That, and, she couldn't move beyond two feet without doubling over in pain.
A loud noise was heard from outside and the young girl looked around and saw a flaming arrow had pierced the roof of the tent and was now going up in flames slowly. She panicked and tried to wake Xena up from her daze but she was dead to the world. She knew that she wouldn't be able to move her as she was too heavy for her.
Borias saw flaming arrows being shot into the campsite as he was near the sea. The first thing he thought about was Xena and he hadn't seen her since their encounter with Caesar. He ran towards her tent and saw it was on fire.
Upon entering he saw the slave girl pacing back and forth and slapping Xena's cheek lightly.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked stroking Xena's hair and she stirred as she lay on the bed.
"The pain was too strong for her so I gave her something for it but I didn't think she was going to be out for this long!" the girl said panicking even more.
Borias kissed the top of Xena's head and lifted her into his arms, "we need to leave, right now," he felt Xena moving in his arms and she groaned softly. "Don't worry Xena, we're leaving."
He carried her outside and saw that the battle was spreading and the Romans had now moved to hand to hand combat along with catapults. He sighed and continued on dodging some arrows coming their way. He followed the girl in front of him and they had reached a Roman wagon that was abandoned by one of the Roman soldiers.
"A Roman wagon? Are you insane, girl?" he yelled.
Xena had awoken now and she started opening her eyes and saw Borias above her, "what...Borias? What...what is this?" she looked around at the awesome fire before her. Her camp, her men, her tents, everything destroyed. Her eyes widened as she saw everything she created gone in a flash. All she could think of was Caesar..he did this to her again. Her thoughts of Caesar soon vanished as the tea was wearing off and she could feel the pains coming back once again.
Borias laid her down on the wagon and he was going to take the reins of the horse until he felt Xena grab his wrist. He looked back at her helpless face.
"Don't leave...stay with me," she pleaded.
Oh he had heard those words before, but this time it wasn't a sinful play at emotions, she was being genuine as it was obvious she was in no state to play mind games.
The young girl spoke up, "I can take the reins, I know how to ride."
Borias looked at the girl not believing her one bit, but he didn't really have a choice. He nodded and the slave girl went to the front of the wagon.
Borias sat with her brushing her bangs from her sweaty forehead. "I told you that you couldn't take Rome," he teased and kissed her hand. She was about to comment but he received a very audible scream instead and his eyes widened. He had never heard her scream like that.
They had traveled far enough from the battle grounds and the girl started a fire immediately. Borias was still with Xena but now they were on animal skins on the ground close to the fire.
The girl had already set everything up for Xena as the time was definitely near for her to finally give birth to her baby.
"Okay..Xena, I want you to sit up and try to relax," the girl trembled with her words. She feared the warrior queen but she was the only one here that could help her as she doubted Borias knew what to do. He just supported Xena's weight as he sat behind her.
"Ready?" the girl asked.
"I can't," Xena groaned.
"Yes you can, I promise you'll be fine," the girl reassured her master. Xena nodded and looked to grab something and she held Borias' hand.
Borias could feel his bones in his hand popping as Xena began to squeeze harder and harder the longer this went on.
"How much longer?" Borias asked, now worried about his fingers breaking at some point.
The girl smiled, "not too much longer, you can do it Xena."
Several moments later it was no longer Xena's screams being heard but now the screams of a baby. Xena let go of Borias' hand and he completely forgot about the pain in his hand as he looked at the baby, his baby, their baby for the first time.
Xena felt completely drained after that and she felt like she wanted to pass out but suddenly her slave girl handed her the baby wrapped in a wool blanket found in the wagon. She looked at him a little frightened. She had never seen something so delicate in her life. Something so small and fragile appeared to be the scariest thing in the world to her. She could fight warlords and destroy villages, but a baby could stop her in her tracks.
Borias looked at the baby and Xena's face was priceless, she looked scared. "It's a boy," he said and she remained fixated on the small human in her arms.
"What am I going to do with him?" Xena was more asking herself than anything.
"What do you mean?" Borias asked her, very confused.
Xena stared at her son her eyes filling with tears, "I can't keep him Borias. If...if others know that I –we have a son, he will be hunted for the rest of his life."
He was now understanding why she was so distressed, but they couldn't just get rid of the baby either.
"I will take him Xena. I am only known in Asia and I have not been there in many moons they have no idea where I am now."
Xena was starting to feel more protective now, "no!" she said firmly, "I mean...no, that's too risky." She stared at the child in her arms feeling sorry for him knowing that she couldn't keep him. "He can't be with me, he can't know about me Borias. He can't know anything." She handed the baby to Borias and he carefully held their son in his arms.
"Take him away from me, I don't want to see him anymore," Xena said as silent tears streamed down her face.
Borias saw Xena's tears fall and he took their son and walked away. He had the perfect plan for their son, a plan that Xena will not know about. He will not know anything just as she wants, Borias thought.
End prologue. To be continued fifteen years later in Chapter 1!