"Finally!", - she heard him shout, opened her eyes and saw him pointing at the soldiers dragging cuffed Gabrielle. Then he turned to his warrior princess - "Have you actually thought I would hurt you like this?" - he asked her. "I have no pleasure in seeing you bleed, my dear. Besides, this way is more effective", - he smiled as soldiers were cuffing Gabrielle to one of the wooden poles arms high above her head. "Xena...", - she shouted.
"Ares, leave her out of this!"
"See?", - he shouted joyfully, "Finally something!"
Xena looked at her friend, Gabrielle's eyes were wide in horror.
"Do you want me to denude her back, my lord?" - solder asked.
"No, no need of that, the whip will rip her top after two or three strikes anyway. And I've just had my fun anyway", - Ares answered obviously meaning Xena's corset loosening and headed towards the bard.
"Ares, stop that." Ares stopped and looked at his warrior princess with a smile on his face.
"Xena, no, I can take it" - Gabrielle shouted.
"No, you can't." - she said in low voice. "Ares!"
"Yes?", - He answered smiling boyishly.
"Let her go, I'll tell you what you want to know."
"Oh no, give the information I need first" - Ares demanded.
"Alright." - she made a small pause. "Ares, I put the maps in a few of the many scrolls I'd found, gave them ALL to Gabrielle and asked her to put them in boxes used for explosion testing. I don't know which division has them, nor does she."
"Damn… Kazar! - he shouted his soldier. "Tell the men to stop the testing!"
"Yes, my lord" - the soldier and few others run off.
"I told you what I knew. Let her go, Ares", - she demanded.
"Not just yet." - he went even closer to Gabrielle.
"Where did you put them?" - he asked firmly. Gabrielle failed to answer on time.
"WHERE?"
The sound of multiple explosions filled the air. At what moment Ares knew that Xena made sure that the right boxes were in the right place. Xena's heart seemed to leap out of her chest – he was standing too close to her friend. She wished she could change places with her. She had to do something, something to distract him, but it was too late. Ares whip landed on Gabrielle's back several times. Gabrielle was breathless, he didn't stop for a break. It was like a wave of pain, which wasn't going away.
"Ares stop it! Stop it! She was just following my orders!" - warrior princess shouted as Gabrielle was hit multiple times.
"DAMN RIGHT SHE WAS!" - Ares dropped the whip and somersaulted near Xena angrily. Gabrielle was breathing heavily, her back was burning, no one was so cruel to her before.
As Ares approached, Xena realized that there wasn't much she can do to defend herself against him. Strong chains were still restraining her. He backhanded her again. A strong kick to her stomach was next. Ares had drawn his sword even before she fell to the ground coughing. The pain caused by the kick was so intense that it felt as if her ribs touched her heart and lungs. She wondered if anything broke. As a sun reflected on the tip of his sword she thought that's it - this is the end. She won't see her mother or Gabrielle ever again.
Seeing her in pain calmed his rage a bit, he didn't hit again and even lowered his sword a bit. Xena slowly stood up expecting the last all ending blow. Their eyes met. Suddenly he realized that he has killed mortals for less but for some strange reason, he wanted to see his blue-eyed warrior again, alive, in the best case scenario standing at his side. He wanted to touch her dark hair and warm soft skin again. He wanted to have a morning workout with her again. He wanted his warrior princess to be his queen, it was not his goal to impulsively scar her or beat her to death. He could always do that later, but now he didn't want this. At least not this moment. He still liked her too much.
Seeing that he stopped, she thought - hmm, maybe it's not the end after all and decided to give it a shot.
"It's over…" - she said. "Let Gabrielle go, please...".
"Fine", he said still looking into her eyes as he touched her wounded cheek. Xena didn't pull away, she knew that her resistance now could be another penalty for Gabrielle. "You won", - he smiled and lowered his hand. "Throw the bard through the city gates!", - he ordered his soldiers.
Soldiers rushed to her friend. Xena watched as wincing Gabrielle was uncuffed, raised to her feet and taken away by two soldiers. She instantly felt relieved. He hadn't ordered to kill her friend. She only needed to have her wounds disinfected. The sooner the better. She saw Ares smiling as he watched Gabrielle taken away. There was no regret or sorry in his eyes.
"What to do with the warrior princess, my lord?" a soldier asked.
Ares looked at Xena coldly. She could see that he was still mad. His eyes traveled down her body to her swollen ankle. "Get her injuries checked and then let her go. She'll find the way out herself." - he glanced at her again and disappeared.
