CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The muddy clouds floated across the sky and covered the full sunlight, casting a grey shadow across Ares' pinched face as he rested against a tree at the edge of the woods.

Her footsteps nearby alerted him of her arrival just what he had been waiting for, he said to himself but he had to dig his fingernails into the rough wood of the tree to control the trembling in his arms and to help resist the urge to reach out and touch her when she passed closely by his invisible form.

His eyes darted to her face, and the bitter image of the expression she earlier wore when she discovered that Phillip was the captive of the renegades flood his mind.

She stopped just a few feet in front of him and reached for the water skin hanging on her belt.

He tossed the pebbles in his hand up into the air and then caught them again waiting for her to raise the water skin to her lips, then he nonchalantly lobbed them at her and hit her in the shoulder to get her attention.

He chuckled, despite his dark mood, when he saw her startled by the rocks he had thrown and when, squeezing the water skin a little too tightly, she ended up squirting herself in the face.

He relaxed back onto the tree with a big grin of satisfaction on his face, as she turned towards him and they shared a knowing look. She vividly wiped the water off her face then walked by him again and leaned back on the other side of his tree.

He lifted his leg up, placed it against the trunk, and began to pound his thigh repeatedly.

"I uh..." she began, wanting to break the unnerving silence between them.

At that very moment, the sun came out from behind the cloud and shined through the leaves of the tree they were under, delicately drawing the War God's shadow along the ground beside her.

She silently watched his shadow as his fist repeatedly strike his leg, but she just cleared her throat and continued.

"….found Phillip."

A growl escaped his throat at the mention of the king's name and his fist ended in mid-motion as he swung his body around the tree to face her.

"Phillip!" he sneered at her, "Gods Xena, I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance back in Macedon, I thought everything was over between you two when you decided to be with me."

With a heavy sigh, she casted her eyes to her boots, unable to look him in the face, berating herself for making him feel this way.

"It is…please believe me Ares." she sobbed, trying to sound convincing.

"Well, it sure didn't look like it back there in the clearing." he muttered spitefully under his breath. "And then that little show you put on in the woods after you left… Tell me Xena; was that a real tear in your eye?"

She quickly scrubbed her face with her hands as if trying to wipe the memory of seeing Phillip when she ripped the bag off his head.

"Please, Ares." she repeated as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Then the sky opened up and the rain poured out of the clouds, drenching the couple under the tree in the woods.

He quickly shoved his wet hair out of his face as he took a step closer to her and stuck out his hand to stop her from continuing.

"Forget it. I do not care, anymore. I'm going to take care of this little inconvenience once and for all."

"What?" she incredulously asked her voice slowly losing power at the meaning of his words.

The thunder rolled overhead, drowning out his rant and he paused long enough to watch the water drip from her bangs and ran down her face. An ugly laugh fled his pursing lips, as he wanted so badly tell her exactly where loyalties should lie.

He reached over to her and put his hand on her stomach, feeling through her wet clothes the baby respond to his touch.

"I want you to keep your focus on this." he said, rubbing her swollen stomach. "Just remember that both you and this baby belong to me and me alone, no matter what should happened to anyone else."

He bent forward a bit more and softly patted her stomach while he tilt his head up to her and clicked his tongue in her ear before he stepped back away from her and disappeared.

She remained there alone under the tree, both hands laying on her stomach.

The rain soon stopped as fast as it had started and she stared emotionless at the rainbow appearing far in the distance as the words he last spoke rang through her head. finally making her mind up that she would not interfere this time and just let Fate follow its course, thinking that it might be for the best after all.

Xxx

Later in the afternoon, Perdicus and Gabrielle stumbled back into the same inn they ate at earlier; they were both tired from strolling through the market place all day. The army still had not shown up so they wanted to book a room to sleep for the night.

They paused for a second to scan the crowded tavern for an empty table, and, spotting one in the back near the kitchen, they stepped lightly into the crowded and weaved through the people in that direction.

With an exhausted sigh, she flopped down in a chair and stretched both of her legs out in front of her. Perdicus took the seat beside her, put his hands on her shoulders, and gave her a quick massage.

"Boy it's crowded in here tonight," she remarked, placing her hand on his that were still on her shoulders. "Do you think it has anything to do with the army being on its way?"

"Yes, I believe so and the merchant wagons that came into town this morning."

He raised his hand up into hers and gently squeezed them.

Gabrielle tilted her head back and smiled. "Thank you Honey."

She turned and scanned the crowd again looking for a familiar face. "I wonder where Cyrene is."

She finally found her standing at a table full of a mixture of men and women.

Gabrielle waved her arm in the air to get the older woman's attention, and when she got a nod of her head from her, Gabrielle turned back to the table they were sitting at to wait for her.

Perdicus got up from his chair. "I'll get us a couple of mugs while we wait."

She watched as Perdicus weaved through the crowd to the bar, and noticed Cyrene doing the same as she made her way towards her.

"Hi there Sweetie, did you have a nice time looking around town today?" she courteously asked, sitting in the chair beside Gabrielle.

"Yes we did actually, but now we are looking for a place to stay the night."

She looked around at all the people again. "With all these people here do you have any rooms available?"

"AH, don't you worry about that, most of these people live here in town, they've just been too afraid to leave their homes but with the word out of the army coming they are coming out in droves." Cyrene answered, patting the back of her head to check her hair.

"Cyrene, how much do you know about the army?"

The older woman gave her a puzzled look before she responded. "Not much I guess, except for the fact that you keep scrolls of their battles and your husband is the captain."

Cyrene half turned in her chair and pointed to the table she had been at earlier. "Those people over there I was talking to earlier, that's the reeve and the elders of the town, and they want to meet the General when he got here."

Gabrielle flinched at the word he and smiled at Cyrene. "He?"

"Yes, the General, they can't wait to meet him." Cyrene exclaimed

The tavern owner got up and patted her on the shoulder.

"Looks like that table needs me, I'll talk to you later. Tell Toris to give you any room you want when you see him."

Then she walked away, before Gabrielle could say a word to correct her about the General.

Gabrielle turned around and placed her elbows on the table as she shook her head and giggled to herself. "Boy are these people in for a big surprise."

A mug came down from behind her.

"Who's in for a big surprise?" Perdicus asked as he retook his seat beside her with his own mug of ale.

"All these people." she said, swinging her arm to indicate the patrons around them. "They're literally clueless about the General; they think it's a man that's leading the army here."

He chuckled and then took a sip from his mug. "Well that would be the right assumption."

"Do you think we should tell them or wait and see their reaction when they get here?" She grinned at her husband, already knowing what she would choose and hoping her husband would do the same.

"I don't see any harm in keeping it a secret."

"Me either." she quickly agreed. "We are supposed to see Toris about a room."

"Hey, I've seen a few tables out front. Do you want to wait for Xena to show up outside? It is cooler. It's hot in here."

"Sure."

They got up from their table and ventured out the side doors of the tavern that led to a large wooden porch that has a handful of tables set up. There are only a few people sitting at a corner table.

They sat down at a table nearest to the railing, high enough to have a full view of the town and the road that led into the town.

"Well I guess all we can do now is wait."

She looked over at her husband and smiled as he returned her smile with his own.

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