Chapter 10
The Roman soldiers threw Gabrielle on the dirt and she breathed heavily. Caesar took a few steps further and took the bag off of Gabrielle's head and she was grimacing at him and he simply smiled. He knelt down and grabbed her cheeks in between his fingers. "Are you Xena's little concubine?" Gabrielle refused to answer and stared into the Roman's brown piercing eyes. He sighed and stood up. "Very well. I don't need chattering slaves. One of my men told me that you were trying to repair Xena's legs. Now why would you do such a thing?" he laughed and Gabrielle's head lowered.
"My men have gone back for Xena. I know she won't get far with those broken legs of hers," he smirked as he waltzed around Gabrielle. She eyed his every move as her scraped knees dug deeper into the soil. He wagged his finger and then pulled Gabrielle's long hair back and she groaned. Staring into her bright green eyes he grinned deviously. "Xena is a menace and a threat to my empire. I know she won't care what happens to you. She was just using you, just like she used all of my men for her personal gain." He snarled and let go of Gabrielle's hair. She exhaled softly and her eyes grew wider, thinking of Xena and her condition.
She couldn't deny that everything Caesar said wasn't true, but she still felt bad for Xena. She just wanted to be recognized as a powerful woman –something unheard of it in these lands. A woman was never in charge and she was surprised that the Roman soldiers went along with it. Xena was pretty good at ordering people around, she found out that pretty quickly since she'd been traveling her with a couple of months. Now here she was in Caesar's hands and she probably was going to die since she betrayed the Roman and helped one of his captives escape. Deep down she hoped that Xena would survive and get away somehow.
Gabrielle looked up at Caesar and he was whispering with one of his generals, probably about Xena, she gathered. "What are you going to do to her?" she asked. Caesar smiled and walked forward with his hands behind his back.
"You care for this woman?" he chuckled. "How sweet." He tapped his sandal on the ground and hummed. "I plan to finish her. It would have been over with until you came into the picture. You're very annoying," he frowned and Gabrielle's lip turned up into a smug smile.
"She needs to be gotten rid of before she destroys everything I have worked so hard for!" he huffed and turned to his general. "I want her brought back here once you find her." The general nodded and mounted his horse following the other men, who were miles ahead of him already.
Caesar turned back to the annoying blonde teen and he smirked. "As for you..." he bent down and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. "How do you think you'll fair with Carthaginian pirates?" Gabrielle's eyes widened and his smile grew as he saw fear smoldering in her eyes.
Xena crawled on the ground through the empty streets of this strange village. Everything was so foreign to her and she looked to see a young girl come out of her house carrying a vase of water. She gazed at her for awhile then hid her face behind a sheer veil before retreating back in her home. Xena growled and used her elbows to keep crawling on the sand, scratching her knees and elbows in the process.
She looked up and saw a horse not too far from her. She completely forgot about her legs and crawled even faster. She was sure that Caesar sent more men for her since they took Gabrielle. She thought of that poor girl and what position she put her in. initially she wanted to help Gabrielle but now she was more worried about herself and her desire to live. She thought about what she said to Gabrielle earlier that day when they escaped the beach. She told her that it was fate that she'd die right then and there and Gabrielle disagreed. Xena didn't have much time to think things over but pondering over that, she thought Gabrielle was right –she wasn't destined to die –she was destined to do great things.
If fate decided her death, then it wasn't there, it wasn't the time for her to die and Gabrielle risked her life to save her. Xena growled and continued crawling until she finally reached the horse. She grabbed onto a wooden post and hoisted herself up, wincing in pain. Her legs felt like jelly right now and she was sure that they wouldn't heal correctly if she kept this up. So many people died because of her and her selfishness, yet she had this thought in the back of her mind, that she didn't care. She didn't care if anyone died because of her. She wanted to be a great conqueror. That's all that mattered.
She didn't care about anything or anyone just like she didn't care who's horse she was about to steal. She slowly climbed on top of the horse and set the sword she took from a Roman soldier and placed it in her lap. She clinched onto the horse's mane and tapped his neck signaling him to ride –ride far away.
As she rode off into the desert she halted the horse and looked back. Her ears perked up and she knew the Romans had come for her and were probably in a fit of rage since they couldn't find her. She still felt a bit of guilt linger in her heart for Gabrielle. She figured that she'd be dead by now especially in the hands of that bastard, Caesar. She shook off the thought and continued riding into the dark cold desert, with nothing but the black under dress, her broken limbs and the stolen sword.
Morning approached and Caesar awaited for his men's arrival. He knew they were gone far too long. He saw the men on horseback approaching and he smiled, hoping to see Xena's dead body in their arms, but alas, he saw no body, no Xena, not a thing. He growled and marched forward seeing his tired men.
"Where is she? I told you to find her!" he yelled.
One of the men shook his head in defeat. "We looked for her everywhere. We knocked on every door in the village, sir. She's gone..." he sighed. Gabrielle overheard the conversation and a small smile came to her lips. She knew that Xena would escape but then she frowned sadly thinking of what was about to happen to her. She risked her life to save Xena and she was almost sure that Xena probably wasn't going to come back for her and return the favor.
Caesar nodded curtly. "Fine." He waved his hand and said to his general. "Kill them." He walked on and Gabrielle's mouth gaped. She heard the screeching sound of the blade come out of the general's sheath and the pleas from the Roman soldiers. She heard their cries, begging for forgiveness until there was complete utter silence. They were dead. The death count seemed to rise whenever Xena's name was mentioned, she noticed.
The Roman stepped closer to Gabrielle. "Oh look the ship is here," he smiled. The men picked up Gabrielle by her arms and she groaned, feeling every possible bone in her body aching. She hadn't slept in over a day and was very hungry, but mostly tired. She had gone through an adventure with Xena and she was about to go on another one.
The men escorted her onto the ship and she saw all the men's eyes on her. Not a single woman was on this ship. Each of the pirates wore large colorful turbans and dark kohl lined their almond eyes. Their attire was quite dark though, all dressed in black vests, black harem pants and pointed black shoes. She was a blonde and looked like a treasure to them all. Their skin dark from the exposure of the sun and hands worn from hard labor and progressive aging. Gabrielle steered away from their gazes and Caesar entered the ship raising his hand. All the men folded their arms staring at the Roman.
"A gift I bestow unto you all," he grinned gesturing to the young blonde, who was barely clothed. "She was a captive of Xena's. I know you all don't know this woman. Beware the dark haired beauty with blue eyes. If you find her, kill her and bring her to me for a reward," he grinned and all the men smiled in return, always looking for money to fill their pockets.
The men pushed Gabrielle onto the deck and grunted, then saw all the men staring at her. A couple of them began circling her and she stiffened her body trying to ignore their subtle growls and cat calling. Caesar left the ship and Gabrielle's mouth gaped. This was really happening, she thought.
The leader of the crew jumped off one of the ship's railings and his eyes were a dark green, lined with black kohl. His white turban made him look regal. The remaining cloth from the turban was wrapped around his mouth and he unveiled his face. He was rather young, younger than most men on the ship.
He smiled at Gabrielle. "Welcome. My name is Naseem. I am in charge of this ship," he snickered. He peered around at all his astonished men. He whispered in her ear, "you'll have to excuse my men. They don't normally see a woman with your beauty with them being at sea for so long." Gabrielle gulped just hearing that. She only feared the worst. He touched her hair sensually and his smile lingered. "Your hair is golden like the sun and your skin," his finger slowly grazed her arm and he felt her stiffen. "like milk..." he hissed.
Naseem then grabbed Gabrielle's arm and they went below the deck to a dark room filled with supplies. They went to a separate room and he opened the door gently pushing her in. "I'm sure this will be just fine, right?" Gabrielle saw there were two other girls in this room and they looked around the same age as her. Naseem closed the bared door and smiled. "We will be leaving the coast soon to return to Carthage for supplies. You should make new friends," he nodded. Gabriele stared at him in horror. "What's your name, girl?"
"G-Gabrielle..." she whispered. Naseem nodded his head, not sure if he liked that name. "your new name shall be Jameela. It fits you better," he winked and went back to the deck with his men so they could set sail.
Gabrielle sighed heavily and the two girls stared at her, amazed at her warrior clothing. One of the brunette's stood up, only wearing a short tattered dress. "Are you a warrior woman?" she asked. Gabrielle shook her head, almost afraid to answer. "Why do you wear the clothes of a warrior if you're not one yourself?" she inquired.
"I'm no warrior, just a captive of one," Gabrielle went to the door and wrapped her fingers around the metal bars.
The other brunette, with dark eyes scoffed. "We're all captives. I'm sure your male kidnapper did horrible things to you too, huh?" she asked and Gabrielle frowned, turning around, leaning against the bared door.
"My kidnapper was not a man. It was a warrior woman," she said as a matter of fact.
Both girls began laughing at her and Gabrielle frowned. "I'm serious!"
"There are no warrior women! Only men...silly girl, you'll learn soon enough." The dark eyed girl shook her head at this naive girl.
Gabrielle shook her head and sat down on a barrel of wine. "No, no you don't understand!" she smiled vibrantly. "She's real. Her name is Xena, she is a true warrior and fights better than any man I've seen!"
"You obviously haven't met a lot of men!" one of the girls chuckled. Gabrielle hung her head lowly. She barely had time to cope with what happened in the last twenty four hours and now she was here, kidnapped yet again. She was starting to believe that being Xena's captive was better than being here with these Carthaginian pirates. At least Xena was nice to her and allowed her to write freely and even tell stories to her when she was bored. She even had shown a bit of affection towards her. She was sure these men would do the same, but definitely not nicely, not like Xena.
"Hey Gabrielle, why don't you tell your warrior woman friend to break us out of here then if she's so great?!" both girls chuckled and Gabrielle frowned sadly and got up to move elsewhere away from the negativity. She sat in a dark corner by herself and a single tear escaped her eye, trickling down her cheek. I wonder what Xena is doing?
Xena finally came to a river and she halted the horse and slowly dismounted, wincing as her legs were becoming a nuisance to her. She dipped her face in the water and drank, exhaling a sigh of relief to finally have water to moisten her chapped lips and dry throat. She groaned and then looked at the nails embedded in her legs. She ripped out the metal bars out of her legs and she wailed in agony. She then proceeded to rip out every single nail in her legs and threw them in the sand. Tears escaped her eyes and she somehow felt better all of a sudden. The nails were starting to become annoying and slowed her down.
She took off her black dress and dipped into the shallow water, wetting her hair and face. The horse too joined her and got in the water to cool off from the blazing sun beaming down on her skin. Her shoulders were burned from the rays of the sun. She then thought of Gabrielle again. Deep in her heart she hoped that naive girl wasn't dead or worse, sold into slavery. Caesar could be ruthless and she knew that since she was the target, Gabrielle was the sacrificial lamb. She didn't intend for any of this to happen. She began cursing herself to even get caught up in the idea that she could take down Caesar with turned soldiers. She groaned at her own demise. Here she was alone, without food, without clothes, proper weapons, no men and wallowing in her own guilt.
As much as she cared for Gabrielle's well being she wouldn't dare go back to the coast. She figured Gabrielle wouldn't be there now and there would be no point in going to look for her. Something inside her told her to find Gabrielle, knowing she could have a possibly of being alive. Shaking her head of the thought she continued to bathe in the cooling water. You got what you wanted, Gabrielle –to travel the world.
That young girl had seen so much in her short life and Xena almost felt proud of herself for that. She too was young, only five years older than she was and yet managed to gather an army. A sad smile formed on her lips as she thought of that. I need a new army. And I will get one. A devious smile came to her lips and she finished bathing, putting her black dress back on slowly as she drifted out of the river. She cringed as the pain slowly crept up in her legs again.
This desert was very wide and long but she did eventually get what she wanted. She wanted to travel East and it may not have been how she wanted it. She wanted to make her mark everywhere she went but that would have to wait until she obtained a new gang of men to follow her on her dark path of the sword.
She mounted the horse painfully and lifted the blade into the air. The sun glistened off the shiny blade and she smiled remembering her little brother, Lyceus. He was always so good with swords and while she tried, she was so horrible at it at first. She thought of the time when she begged him to teach her "the ways of the sword". Those were happy and simpler times, she thought and her smiled died as her brothers and mother lingered in her mind for a few moments longer.
Xena clicked her tongue and the horse trotted off and she let the memory of her family die that very moment. She was never to think of them again, Gabrielle included. She needed to focus on herself and that was the most important thing right now.
Amphipolis
Cyrene entered the back of the tavern with a tray full of dirty dishes. Lyceus was cleaning some glasses and she sighed setting the tray down. She smiled softly at her young son and Xena had been gone for over a year now, no word at all from her only daughter. She missed her dearly and what was even worse was that she never even said goodbye.
Toris told his mother that he found Xena with a gang of men and they tried to lure her into their army. Xena saw him that night when she was that man, Deimos. He didn't like the looks of him. He was handsome, alluring and obviously very convincing –convincing enough to get his little sister to join his gang of thugs. Toris remembered that night perfectly. Xena told him never to come around her again and that was finished living with the family and playing it safe.
He did put up a fight but cowardly ran from the mob of men attacking him. He didn't want to leave Xena there with those men but it seemed that she made up her mind. When he broke the news to Cyrene she was simply heartbroken. She wanted to go out there and get Xena to bring her home but Toris prevented her from doing so as it was too dangerous. He said that she was lost and was never coming back.
Cyrene mourned the loss of her only daughter. Ever since she left it had been quiet in the tavern and house. Her friends Elissa and Mala had stopped coming to the tavern, refusing to talk to Cyrene and her sons once news spread that Xena had joined an army of men. It was unheard of for a woman to do such things in their village. Women don't fight, they nurture and Xena chose the sword, the only woman that chose that path in Amphipolis. Xena was always different from the other girls but Cyrene obviously didn't know how different. She felt guilty that she didn't pay attention to Xena enough. She thought that she should have just married her off like a good girl, but Xena didn't want that.
Lyceus saw the forlorn look on his mother's face and he smiled sadly. "Still thinking about Xena?" he asked shyly. Cyrene nodded.
Toris entered the kitchen a bit out of breath and both turned to look at him. He looked like he had run a marathon. Cyrene frowned, creasing her brows. "Toris, what's the matter?"
He coughed, "it's Xena!" he managed to say. Cyrene's heart skipped a beat. She hoped that Xena had come back but that sadly was not the case. "She's become a tyrant!" he growled.
Lyceus frowned. "Hey now! That's our sister you're talking about!"
Toris came to his younger brother and firmly grasped his shoulders. "She's not our sister anymore! She's a killer! She murders women and children!" he turned to his mother. "News has spread around Amphipolis already! Xena has been raping and pillaging any village in her path!"
Cyrene shook her head in denial. She couldn't and didn't want to believe what her ears were hearing. "Xena wouldn't kill children. That's not my Xena..." she put a hand to her chest, feeling a pain surge through her body. Her heart ached for her daughter, her lost daughter. It probably would have been better to hear that Xena was dead instead of hearing that she was murderer.
Toris frowned. "Mother I'm sorry but it's true..." he pulled out a cloth from his pocket and handed it to her. Cyrene carefully took the red cloth from her son and unfolded it. The cloth was torn and it looked like it was a piece of a larger fabric. She saw half of Xena's initial on it and there were blood stains on it. "She has flags posted from Gaul reaching to Athens," he admitted softly.
Lyceus grabbed the tattered flag from his mother's hands and sniffed it. All he smelt was death. Growling he went to the fireplace in the tavern with Cyrene and Toris following behind. He threw the ripped flag into the fire. "She's dead to me," his eyes swelled with tears. He always loved Xena. She was the best big sister that he ever had –the only sister he had –and now she turned into a monster.
"I should have never taught her how to use a sword!" Lyceus said, wiping his eyes with the backside of his hand. "It's all my fault!" he yelled, upset at himself he left the tavern to retreat back to their home a few miles away.
Cyrene wanted to reach out to him but it was too late, he had gone already. Toris placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Just let him go. He's just upset right now."
"I...I can't believe Xena would do such awful things," she said softly.
He sighed solemnly. "If she would have just married someone then maybe none of this would have happened."
Xena felt her vision blur as she rode deeper into the desert. The sun was beginning to set and she was mentally and physically exhausted. She trotted through a large forest with tall trees, barren of leaves. It looked like something out of a fairytale. Her head began to hang and exhaustion was beginning to take over. The horse halted, feeling tired as well. Xena's eyes rolled in the back of her head and the fell off the horse onto the cold sandy ground.
A hand came to Xena's face and the traveler slapped her cheeks but she did not awaken. He checked her vitals and she was still alive, probably just tired and dehydrated. He scanned her body and noticed she wasn't really in the proper attire for this area. Sighing to himself he then took a good look at her face. She was indeed beautiful, her raven long hair sprawled across the sand. Her high cheekbones, perfectly straight nose, dark long eyelashes and thick lips were only the few qualities he saw.
Smiling he slapped her face again and Xena's eyes fluttered open. He was instantly lost in her ice blue eyes. Xena's eyes wandered around and then her vision became a bit clearer but still was foggy. She noticed a strange man staring down at her. Exhaustion overcoming her body she quickly passed out again.
The man stood up and snapped his fingers at his men following him. "Take her and prepare some food for her when she wakes," he smiled. His men complied and they carefully lifted her up placing her on one of the horses gingerly. He mounted his horse and his smile only grew, wishing to see those blue eyes once more he knew that he couldn't let her escape his grasp.