CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
As Xena left the main body of her army and entered the woods with her archers, she clutched the bow in her hands tighter to her body as they made their way down the familiar path and through the trees; she had once often visited with her little brother Lyceus when they were children.
As the track wore on deeper into the forest, the heaviness she had felt in her chest earlier today lifted when she stopped by a tree she recognized, and raised her hand up to it and rubbed her fingers across her and Lyceus' names that were carved into the bark. She slowly turned her head, she felt a flush that crept up cheeks, and her ears grew red as she realized her companions were standing there watching her.
She stepped back from the tree and cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed of her display of emotions in front of her archers.
"There's a clearing through there," she pointed down the path they are on to a clump of bushes little way away. "It had always been a good place to hunt rabbits."
She impatiently shoved past the men and down the path, she has just indicated, quickly wanting to move on, so she edged through the bush that outline the area and stood on the edge of a small field.
She bit her lip as she scanned the area and they fell upon the big rocks sitting in the middle of it. She then smiled as she commented under her breath, more to herself than to anyone else. "They sure seemed bigger the last time I was here."
She moved forward into the clearing and to the bottom of the bolder, then she jogged up it and stopped at the top, pausing long enough to blow out a few short breaths as she reflected on the events that took place there. She closed her eyes as they swiftly washed down on her, and seeing the imagines of her and Lyceus upon that big rock while they were playing King of the Mountain, fighting each other with some wooden swords they had made together that summer.
She reopened her eyes as she heard the slow approach of the archers and she looked down on them from the top of the boulder.
"There was an opening on the other side; you can store your gear there while we hunt."
The archers started to move to the other side of the rock to find the entrance of the cave when a sudden noise of twigs breaking and running footsteps come quickly towards them from somewhere in the woods around them.
She hurriedly gave the hand signal for everyone to find a place to hide, then she jumped up and grabbed a limb that hung over her head and raised herself up into the trees.
She relaxed back against the trunk of the tree to wait for whoever it was coming. Her mouth flew open and her breath hitched in her throat, when, from behind the branches that stretch out before her, she saw the ghost of her little brother sitting there watching her.
Time seemed to slow around her as Lyceus slipped backward off the branch he was sitting on and disappeared from her sight.
She sat there on her limb staring at the now empty spot where she saw her dead brother, blaming herself for what had happened to him just like her own family, afraid to look down to the ground, to find him lying there again. She was startled naturally by the sound of someone entering the clearing, so she forced herself to look down, expecting to find Lyceus lying below her, but instead she found the caregiver Ares had hired for her.
Her heart beat faster as she felt herself begin to hyperventilate. She reached up and ran her fingers through her long hair in an attempt to stay calm after the unearthly event of seeing her brother, all she could do was watch as Maggie raced across the meadow and jump into the woods.
Xxx
Bart led the army down the dirt road into Amphipolis. The villagers gathered on the side cheering and waving as they passed by.
One of the Calvary soldiers brought his horse up even with Bart's horse.
"How could the General want to miss all of this?"
Bart shook his head as some of the village girls come closer and grabbed his leg. "I don't know crazy I guess," he answered with a loud laugh.
They reached the end of the road where they saw a modest inn… Xena had promised it was there.
As they looked around, they noticed that even more people seem to be gathered there, some on the wide balcony on the front of the building, a few feet off the ground, and some people on the stairs leading into the tavern. Everyone was waving and cheering.
When Bart stopped a couple of feet back from every one, two familiar faces maneuvered out from the crowd with an older woman following them.
A smile crossed the younger woman's face as she approached his horse.
"Hi Bart," she reached her hand up to take his. "So glad you guys finally made it."
Bart returned her smile but didn't take her hand instead he slid off his horse and gathered her in his arms and swept her off her feet and swung her from side to side. "Gabrielle I didn't expect you to be here."
He looked to his friend that was standing behind Gabrielle and grabbed his shoulder in greeting. "Perdicus, glad to have you back."
Gabrielle wrapped her arm around the older woman now standing beside her and pulled her forward towards Bart.
"Bart this is Cyrene," she patted her forearm with her another hand. "She's the owner of this inn."
Bart turned toward her and cleared his throat. "Nice to meet you ma'am."
He retrieved the scroll that Xena gave him and handed it to her. "Our General wanted me to give this to you."
He turned back to Gabrielle and they shared a smile together. "So where do we make camp?"
Cyrene unrolled and glanced at the parchment, then tucked the rerolled scroll under her arm and pointed to a path running beside the inn.
"Take that path; it will lead to a big field behind my tavern."
Bart turned around, gave a couple of whistles to the army, and led the way to the field. The troops start moving towards the path behind the group.
Thank you Anca
