Ch.2- The Gift

Xena was sucked into a mind-bobbling vortex, her head throbbed even worse than her first trip through the ether. But it felt as if she had never even hit the water, instead, she had been swept away from all of that. It must have only lasted seconds, but it felt as if she'd been in the portal for an hour. Somehow, despite her daze, the Warrior Princess landed on her feet. To be fair, she did stumble among landing, but regained her ground. No sooner did she find herself planted that she also noticed her wrists were tied...

Xena had agreed to go with Posideon, but back in her warlord days she was not known as the most trustworthy of people. So she didn't blame him for taking an extra measure to ensure she stay put. The manacles bounding her wrists cut deep into her flesh, but there was no doubt in Xena's mind that if she had wanted to break out of them she could have... But she was a changed warrior, and the new Xena would keep her word.

She was on a beach, from the looks of things. It wasn't the ocean she had just come from. No, the sand at the island had been pearl white, and here it was a dark golden color. The water was also a different shade of blue. From where she had just been, it had been teal, and now the water was almost purple.

Even if it was the same ocean, Xena was far enough away from Cecrop's ship, and Gabrielle, that she didn't recognize the same waters.

But what does Posideon want from me?

No sooner had she asked herself that question, when two men-soldiers- came up from behind her and each grabbed one of her arms. They must have been Posideon's, judging by their navy blue and silver armor. Xena didn't fight them, but growled underneath her breath. She never did like to be touched, and if she hadn't been bound by honor, they would both have a broken nose right now. Another man, this one stronger and taller than the others, came behind the men holding Xena to face her. The assumed to be commander told Xena, sternly,

"Xena of Amphipolis, my patron God, Lord Posideon of The Seas, commands you honor the deal you brokered, and go along with ease. We will escort you to Rome, where you will be presented at the Emperor's Palace, tomorrow night."

Xena looked as if she were about to spit fire at him, but instead she asked,

"So we are close to Rome, then?"

He told her,

"15 miles South of here."

Posideon's portals can only transport me to an area of his domain, so this must be the closest ocean to Rome...

Xena pushed the general, but if she was going to be sold off to the city she despised she wanted to know why...

"And tell me, do you plan to sell me off to Caesar?"

The general looked worried, he didn't seem near as experienced as a general ought to be...

"I'm afraid I cannot say, Warrior Princess. Lord Posideon only sent me as a deliverer, though he did say you'd be more reluctant to go if we told you why we were taking you to the palace..."

Xena knew Posideon would have their heads if he told her anymore, so she instead asked the man,

"And you are, general..."

"Cascibus, My Lady."

He nodded.

Huh. And they said chivalry was dead...

Xena arched a brow at him.

She said to Cascibus,

"Will we camp here for the night?"

He was surprisingly friendly for a war general.

"No, actually. We'll head a few miles away from the coast, then set up camp."

Xena nodded. Cascibus commanded the men at her sides to let go of her arms, and Xena was somewhat surprised Posideon had sent only three men to watch over her.

Perhaps my name has gained more honor after breaking old ties...

The soldiers were even hospitable towards Xena, they gave her her own horse, a black beauty, and even some of the porridge one of the soldiers had made that night as they camped.

But Xena also held a deep fire of hatred for them, even as they had been kind to her, in the end they were still selling her off to Caesar. She had never hated any one more, except for maybe Posideon, who planned on enslaving her.

The next afternoon, the four continued to ride along a dirt road. Xena wondered if Gabrielle was looking for her right now. That would be stupid, somewhat, as Rome was an unforgiving place. It was usually Xena who had to rescue the kidnapped blonde, not the other way around. But even if Gabrielle did find Xena, she didn't intend on breaking her end of the bargain, even if she was being handed over to her greatest enemy. When they finally arrived at the edge of the great city, Xena was thankful she'd been born on Greek grounds. The Greeks invented and created, and though there were many great warriors hailing from there, it was more known as a city of progression. Meanwhile, all Rome wanted to do was fight and fuck. In fact, right after heading into one of the towns, Xena and the soldiers were being waved and called over by whores. There must have been a brothel every half a mile..

Of course, young Xena would have fit in perfectly here. Back in her warlord days she fought long and hard, and nights were for fucking and passion. Somewhere along the way Xena had wanted more than just a fun night, she wanted to be made love to. Of course, her lover at the time had been Ares, who could fuck 5 different women in a night, and then be completely oblivious to Xena when she wanted more...

But none of that mattered now.

When they arrived at the palace in the late evening, the halls were completely empty. Though they were still magnificent of course, with all the gold and Roman reds decorated the throne room. Xena had expected to find Caesar waiting for her on that very throne, but then Xena assumed she was supposed to be a suprise for him, and she gritted her teeth.

She was lead into a separate corridor, where several handmaidens addressed the soldiers curtly. Xena was never spoken to, though she didn't blame the women, they were just trying to keep there tongues after all. Xena was shoved into a chamber, and shut behind doors. It was large oak, with iron handles. Xena tried to listed in on their conversation, but all she could here was the very last part,

"Don't worry about her, she won't fight you."

The general had said that last bit, and she heard several footfalls walking away from the door. After a moment, the door was reopened by the handmaidens, who still, never spoke a word to her.

Guess I'll find out soon enough...

Night had to be drawing near.

The fours handmaidens went quickly to work, Xena knew she wasn't going to like what would happen next...

After drawing her a bath with Persian Lilly oils, they stipped her down naked, and once she was in the bath, one of them scrubbed her body while the other lathered her hair. And then they gave her an extravagant golden dress to wear, with red embellishments, to match Rome's colors. It fell down to her feet, and was more sheer than Xena would have liked. The plunging neckline also exposed her, and the Warrior Princess wandered why they were making up a captive to look like royalty. Later, they brushed and styled her hair with braids. And then Xena had to wear a lot more makeup than she was used to. They gave her a cream for her face, and a shimmering powder. The handmaidens also painted her lips a dark crimson, and by the time they had finished, even Xena had to admit she looked like a goddess...

There was a knock-- more like a pound-- on the door. One of the handmaidens opened the heavy thing, and there stood Cascibus. He nodded at the women. His eyes looked up and down Xena'a form and of course, for a couple seconds he was awestruck. Finally he said,

"I'm here to escort you to the throne room."

Xena nodded, solemnly. Just as she was about to leave with the general, one of the girls, perhaps the youngest and gentlest, dabbed a few drops of lavender of Xena's wrists. The moment lasted only a second though, as Cascibus immediately placed another pair of shackles over her wrists, only instead of the old iron pair she had worn earlier, these ones were pure gold...

Xena walked with Cascibus, out the door.

In just a minute, they reached the large gold doors to the throne room. Before the pair entered, Xena seemed very tense, if it was Caesar in there, in a couple hours she would be in her own personal Tartarus. Seeing the Warrior Princess's despair, Cascibus told her,

"I'm sorry."

Xena looked at him, he was only a soldier, not Posideon, who of late she hated.

Xena said,

"It's alright, you did what you had to do."

He opened the doors, and held Xena slightly in front of him. They seemed to be celebrating inside, Roman style. But there wasn't a very large orgy at all... It seemed somewhat civilized.

Xena stared down at her feet, her deal said nothing about not gutting Caesar the first chance she got...

She heard Cascibus.

"My Lord, I present you the Warrior Princess, a gift from Lord Posideon. He wished you good fortune, and says that you two are now even."

Xena's curious nature got the best of her, and she gasped as she looked up to see who sat in the throne.

She muttered on a quick note

"Ares."

Hope you liked it. Ch.3 soon! Love your reviews and comments!