AN: Sorry guys for the delay, this is going to be a very hard month for me, especially for its last week do not expect regular updates, I hope you'll forgive me! I finished this chapter at 3.00 a.m. so forgive me if you find any mistake
Anyway, here's the next chapter and enjoy! (can't wait to read some reviews as well, please!)
Chapter 10
He was so close to his target that he could almost grasp it, so sure of himself as he was that nothing could go wrong; but something went wrong, he had to admit it to himself, in the darkness of his cell, the handcuffs around his wrist, along with the chains tiding him to the wall, a clear reminder of his failure
He tried to figure out where he messed up, what was his mistake.
he had been dancing around the real core of the problem for the last few hours, not willing to admit it: he'd been outsmarted
It was hurting more than the steel chains around him; his pride was damaged and he had to do something about it
Just to admit someone could outsmart him was unnerving, by the time he removed the third of his locks he swore to avenge this affront and at the fifth lock already a full plan of escape was forming in his mind
His reputation was at stake here, he had to act and quickly
He removed the last of his chains and picked the prison door in a beat, he gave it a gentle push, slightly cringing at the screeching sound of the old hinges protesting against the movement, but luckily for him no one seemed to notice it, after a quick glance at both sides he made his way out into the empty alley with the cover of dark, where only the light of a torch was shaping the outlines of the dungeon
He kept moving, his hand trailing on the wall as the darkness increased and only the sound of his heartbeat pressing against his ribs could be heard, excited for the imminent escape he moved forward until he reached what he had been hoping to find: there, above him was the silhouette of a windows which will provide his way out of here, although he had to work for it as it appears to be locked, but all in all the man considered, this was proving to be rather easy
He climbed the few feet separating him from freedom and started to work quietly around the windows, the darkness proving to be an enemy this time yet with some patience the last line of defense will surrender to him eventually
"voilà" he exclaimed with a smile and proud of himself, after the sound of the lock finally giving up and falling into the distant ground below him
He soon followed it with an athletic jump and connected with the ground with the same grace, his knees screaming in protest for the sudden pressure
After a moment, he composed himself and turned to look at the wall in front of him, with a grin
He took a few step back still facing the wall until he connected with what felt like a stone, he slowly turned only to face two men standing before him with crossed arms
"oh, not again…"
"would you look at that!" the shorter man grinned to his companion, almost ignoring the evader in front of him, and continued "you won the bet!"
"I told you he isn't the kind of guy who goes for the roof" he said cockily, smiling at his friend in victory, but then was interrupted by the man in question
"wait wait wait, so are you telling me you are the one who got me in this mess in the first place?"
The two of them exchange a quick amused glance with each other before the short one motioned to his friend to go ahead and explain the situation.
"apparently, the local authorities wanted you as well, so we helped them capture you and then we just waited for you to honor us of your presence, simple enough, right?" he said teasing the poor man, before his companion chimed in
"you have something we want, something you stole from us, and believe me you'll either hand it over to us or you'll regret to have left that prison" he said, taking a step closer to the thief menacingly
The thief went quiet for a bit, surprised and scared at the same time of the mess he was in, he tried to recall his past crimes, but only one stood high above the others; he scanned the two man in front of him and his fears were quickly confirmed, but he asked, nonetheless
"you two don't happens to be romans now, do you?" he said, trying a little smile
"Lucius Cornelius Macro and Quintus Licinius Cato and you, thief, will give us the Eagle back or we will take your head off"
Gabrielle took off early from the tavern, accompanied by a particularly chill morning; finally, around noon the pale sun was strong enough to fight the coolness of the day, chasing away the remaining fog and opening a beautiful view in front of her
She stopped for a short break, consuming some of her stockings, not even bothering to start a campfire. She was fighting against time and Xena; she had to reach the amazon village and secure the Chronos Stone before the Warrior Princess
After launch she set out for the small town on the Aegean Sea where she had last heard news of her man, with a fast pace she hurried until a crossroad presented itself before her; after brief pondering she took a decision, following the narrow street opposing the wider yet longer route, or at least she had guessed. The road went on for a while on a flat surface until it took a rapid turn climbing over the steep hill in front of her; she looked at the sudden challenge and after a moment of hesitation she inhaled deeply, spurring herself to move forward and soon, along with the climb, came the first beads of sweat. She moved on, until the bard was engulfed by the rocks and cliffs scattered around, submerging her from view
She re-emerged winner from her climb half a candelmark later, she laid against one of the many rocks surrounding the hilltop catching her breath and looked down at the path she had to follow, first thing to come into view was the Aegean Sea, shining under the clear sky, presenting itself in all its immensity with the must of a trading vessel occasional popping up from the waves, probably heading for Pella, while far in the distance was the town of Herakleum, a series of glitters witnessing its presence, making it easier for her to spot it among the fields surrounding the area. Straining his sight, she could see, following the coastline further north, the city of Pella, capital of the Macedonian Kingdom, only a distant dot from her point of view but if anything, the trading ships were confirming her guess
She was so taken from the breath-taking view that she didn't notice the group of man climbing the other side of the hill until they were just a few paces away
"Gabrielle!" the tall man yelled in surprise, catching the bard off guard, it took her a few seconds to look away from the distant horizon into the more concrete group of man approaching her from below
She was speechless for a moment, a genuine smile shaping into the bard's lips until the two man where within reach and a hand was offered to her; she took it without hesitation and smiled at the young man in front of her and his friend
"how nice to see you again!" she blurted out barely containing her excitement and was about to start a conversation when she saw the man chained behind them who slowly raised a hand, saluting the bard with an awkward smile
"hello Gabrielle" he said shamefully, trying to look smaller
"Autolycus…" she deadpanned, looking at the king of thieves himself
Well after all there he is, the search is over, yep…that's the man I was looking for…
"what did he do now?" he asked slightly annoyed and disappointed
It took the two romans a beat to pass the initial surprise but then Cato was the first one to connect all the dots
"wait a minute, so you know this man?" he asked, pointing at the thief behind him who was pretending not to be paying attention at the conversation, casually looking at a flock of birds flying around
"he's my friend, I can pay you back for whatever he has done, I have some money" she said with a compassionate look, trying to talk his friend out of trouble
"I'm not so sure about that, it's not like he pickpocketed us, see, he stole something of great value and we must get it back" Macro chimed in and Cato continued "he stole the Roman Eagle from the 2nd Legion Augusta"
She looked at the thief in question and called for him, but was ignored so she had to raise her voice to get his attention
"is this true?" she asked softly at the man, who was desperately trying to avoid eye contact but finally gave up under the stare of the bard
"all right all right! I did it! Big news, I'm a thief" he sarcastically said looking at the pair of green eyes who softened after his confession, and went to take his defense
"I'm sure we can easily solve this, I need his help, and if you let him go I bet he's more than willing to give the stolen good back, right?" she asked, putting a lot of force in the last word directed at Autolycus
"hold it" the short man started, taking a step forward "we can't just let him go like that, not after all we've been through to get him, not after what he has done, he has insulted Rome itself with his stunt, we can't let this pass"
"then I'm sure we can do something to comp-" she was trying to say but was quickly interrupted by Macro
"not a chance, besides, what assures us that he won't just run away?"
"I do, please, I need him, many lives depend on us" she said imploring the man "I guarantee for him"
The two man exchange a quick glance with each other, considering the desperate expression and the pain gripping Gabrielle's face before reaching a conclusion at the same time, although it wasn't quite the same
"no" decided firmly Macro
"yes" stated Cato, surprising his companion
Once again, they looked at each other for a moment, they briefly glanced at the bard and the king of thieves with suspect, Macro raising an eyebrow and then started conferring in their native language
"ma che sei matto, cosa ti è saltato in mente?" the short one asked, pointing a finger against the other man, and continued "ti dico che se li lasciamo andare non li vediamo più e allora addio aquila!"
Cato pondered that for a moment and then turned to the blond girl, an idea forming in his mind
"we want the Eagle back" he simply stated, taking an intake of breath before continuing "you have three days" he said, trying to calm his friend's angry temper and added "return the Eagle and all will be well; we will wait near Herakleum, after that we will go after the both of you" he said menacingly, and when he saw the bard was about to free the thief he interrupted her
"wait, before you go, you'll have to accept one more condition, we let you go, you have three days" he said reassuming the deal, and added the last part
"and you will steal something for us" he said pointing at the king of thieves himself, with a sly smile "those are the conditions"
Gabrielle barely took the time to consider it and accepted it without reserve, ignoring the grunts of protest from the king of thieves, she freed him and soon after they departed from the romans, heading north towards the amazon
After a few minutes of walking, once they were out of sight of the romans, Autolycus had found his cockiness once again and was annoying the bard to no end after she told him her plans
"so again, thank you blondie, if you'll excuse me I'll go now"
"where do you think you are going?" she said, a bit surprised looking at the man she just saved
"obviously I'm leaving, I'm not crazy enough to go back to the romans" he simply stated and started to take a few steps away from the girl, who now was dealing with an increasing anger inside her
"Autolycus I gave my word for you" she spitted but was cut short
"and for that I am grate but I have no intention to die in a suicide quest"
"you can't just walk away…" she said, incredulous of the situation
"watch me" he boldly stated, pointing at himself with arrogance, sending the bard into a fit of rage
"Autolycus listen and listen carefully!" she almost yelled, giving in to anger, and moving closer to the thief
"I cannot do this alone, I'm not a hero, surely I'm not Xena" she raised a finger, poking the man every few syllables until she got interrupted
"let's talk about Xena" he counterattacked the bard "if you think I'm crazy enough to go up against her think again"
"what, you think I don't know this?" she yelled now, pushing the thief with all her strength, almost sending him to the ground, then, on the verge of crying she continued
"I'm frightened you know? Every night I have nightmares of her stabbing me, again and again, then I woke up and I must live with it" the first tears were now finding their way on the bard's cheeks, while at the same time she felt her hands shaking from the memories
"I'm just a stupid sidekick who suddenly has to act as a hero, I'm just trying to do what's right but it's the first time I'm doing it by myself, I always had Xena around if anything went wrong, she was the one who would get us out of trouble, who would save the day, now I don't have this luxury and it frightens me, it's so damn scary to be alone all the time, when you know no one will ever come to the rescue if things get messy, when the hero you would have followed to Tartarus and back is the same one who stabbed you and left to bleed out slowly to your death"
"I know I'm not Xena, I do not do somersaults, or war cries, nor I can fight dozens of warriors at once, or throw a Chackram for all that matter, but I know what's right and I'm doing my best to fight for it" she whispered after a short pause "and I know you have a good heart Autolycus, and will listen to me" she finished her monologue, hoping to have reached the thief's heart
"you really are a great bard..." he said hesitantly, still pondering his options "but you cannot ask me to die for a lost cause"
and with that he departed from a broken Gabrielle
"Autolycus…" she tried one more time, but her words were lost in the air, once again she was left alone by the ones she trusted most in this world and for which would give her life for; her heart sunk as she watched resigned her last hope walking away
What else could go wrong…
With the passing of hours, the once clear sky turned into a darker shade, the clouds once assembling in the distance had finally reached the Warrior Princess on her voyage towards the amazon lands, the first drops of rain taking her by surprise
Immediately after the first few scattered drops, more followed and Xena had found herself unable to continue her trip, but luckily shortly after on the road, she found what looked like a tavern along with some stables, providing her a shelter from the now heavy rain dampening her to the feet
After taking care of Argo she hurried towards the entrance of the building, running under the constant rain until she reached the doorstep. Walking inside she was hit by the cozy heat of the room and the smell of food; after all she briefly considered it to be around dinner time if not a little early so she decided to take a break, waiting for the storm to pass, or at least decrease in intensity
She was met by the host and soon escorted to a table near a wall as she had expressly asked and ordered some food. While waiting, her attention moved to the people inside, she suspiciously raised an eyebrow when she noticed that the amount of people was in fact much larger then what should have been expected from this hour, she guessed it must have been related to the weather or simply it was a very good place to eat and soon let that thought go until a rather curious exchange in the next table got her attention
"…anything like her it was as the story itself was alive, I'm telling you, and the way she told it!"
As she peeked at the men she only got the end of the sentence, yet she heard enough to arouse her curiosity, and leaned closer to the other table
"I hoped she was here today, would have loved to hear another story of hers" continued the same man who didn't look very bright to Xena, but then again, there were few chances to find philosophers around here
"seems like you fall in love with this girl" yelled another man, making fun of his mate vigorously patting him on his back while spilling some of his wine in the process
"well she was kinda cute" answered the embarrassed man, causing a fit of laughter to find its way on his table
"I tell you what, next time I see her I'll…" he was saying but Xena had heard enough for she stood up from her table and covered the short distance to the group of men, cutting short the man's speech, and going right to the point
"this girl you speak of, what was she like" she asked in a hurry, straight to the man, imposing her presence over him
"she was good, she was awesome, her stories were-"
"I meant what did she look like" she asked again, annoyed by the half-drunk man while at the same time she tried to keep her emotions under control, first doubts and conclusions already spreading like wildfire in her mind, she knew it couldn't be possible…
"uhm... well, she was short and had blonde hair" he started, while trying to recollect more details from the memory
"she had green eyes" he suddenly blurted out as he remembered, and at that she felt a very cold chill raising in her spine
"when was that?" she coldly asked, trying to hide her internal turmoil
"she was here two days ago, she was goin north, I dunno if she'll be back" he said but didn't realize that the warrior woman was gone until he finished talking; after taking a quick look around he just shrugged it off and continued chatting with his mates not really minding at the weird encounter
In fact, no one noticed the Warrior Princess storming outside the tavern with a fury in her blue eyes, she knew this was no coincidence, Gabrielle was alive, proof of her failure, and as that miserable man said, was probably heading north to the amazons as well, which meant that somehow she knew about the Chronos Stone and that was driving Xena insane, Gabrielle was going against her, betraying her once more, proving Ares' words, in which, after the last few visits from the God of War she had learned to accept, hating everything about that little bard
She threw a punch at the wooden wall of the stable in a fit of rage while letting out a scream, thinking about the blond girl and how she had fooled her
She was alive, Gabrielle was alive, only the thought of that was sending shivers down her spine while her blind rage was demanding the bard's blood, the few sparks of light in her heart begged her to spare the girl
"Xena!" a familiar voice under the rain brought her away from her thoughts "I thought you wanted to avenge the death of your son" asked the hooded figure a few steps in front of Xena
"and so I did! You bastard!" spitted out in her rage the warrior princess not really willing to deal with him now
"by killing Gabrielle? Well it seems she's pretty alive to me"
"you knew it?"
"I am a God, Xena, the question is what will you do?" he asked, moving closer to the Warrior Princess, enveloping her in his arms and then whispered, barely few inches away from her lips
"Will you kill blondie when you get the chance or you'll let her hurt you once more?" he asked in a whisper, almost teasing her, but was pushed away in a hasty motion
"when the time comes, it will be done, I will kill Gabrielle" she said coldly, an evil grin carving its place on the God's face, who, satisfied of his encounter, disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the Warrior Princess alone under the rain in her thoughts