"….Why didn't you tell me?!" she snarled after a small pause meant to calm at least a little bit the fury in her voice. She was hurt and it showed though, the War God could see it clearly now, and the way in which she diverted her gaze once he tried to see beyond her words, definitely triggered more alarm signals in his brain than he could count.

"Tell you what?!" he asked, somewhat concerned by her attitude, making an effort not to touch her the moment his fingers twitched, eager to caress her face.

" About Amytis!" she barked through gritted teeth, trying hard to restrain herself from shouting- despite the fact that she felt so frustrated with this entire situation that she could hardly keep a low tone.

" What about her?!" he inquired, narrowing his eyes at her.

" That she's a witch!" she screamed, finally snapping- irked that she had to spell it out for him.

" I didn't really think it was necessary!" he simply stated, tilting his head a little, drinking her in. Anger made her incredibly attractive – that dark fury glistening in her eyes, so similar with his own, was always a treat. And still, he couldn't help wondering, why on earth would such detail upset her so much!?

" You didn't think it was necessary?! I asked you?!" she replied, an annoyed look on her beautiful face, in her turn wondering if he actually had a clear idea on how much his relation with that accursed woman was bothering her.

"No…you see, you asked me if she was a Goddess….and I can clearly remember having…."

"And would it have killed you to finish your sentence with a BUT?" she interrupted, slapping his chest and pushing him furiously away the moment he tried to reduce the distance between them , despite the fact that she was still standing on the edge of the precipice.

" Yeah well…..what can I say? Maybe that will teach you to pay attention to what's going on around you for a change…." he admonished, irritated with her attitude, and more than that, deeply frustrated because this only proved how little he understood about how her mind worked….Regardless of how much he struggled to anticipate her thoughts, moves and reactions, his attempts always seemed to end with an epic failure that drove him absolutely crazy...

"And what is that suppose to mean?!" she attacked, sensing the otherwise subtle sarcasm in his voice.

"It means that while you two were nearly kissing each other at the table- you were that close- your pretty baby blues were focused on anything but her lame parlor tricks! " he explained, observing how each and every word made something click inside her brain.

"First, she changed her wine from red to white and then she turned an orange into a grape. For crying out loud, Xena! How could you possibly have missed that?! It did happen under your very nose, it's not like she did it all under the table!"

The Warrior Princess cast him an almost embarrassed glance before trying to move past him. Their nearness felt suffocating now that his eyes were glued on her, analyzing her every reaction….She was unable to find a decent excuse for that accusation though….He might have been right…she had been day dreaming throughout the entire lunch after all, her mind restlessly dissecting everything she had seen happening between him and the Queen, creating countless scenarios about their affair, asking herself a million questions and bending over backwards to find a plausible answer for at least a half of them- a futile experiment after all...

" Seriously! She could have as well worn a label on her forehead, saying Hey Xena, I'm a witch, and even then, I do have my doubts that you…."

" Ok! I got the point!" she yelled, glaring daggers at him. She hated to be patronized and for some reason, whenever it came from him, she perceived it as being unbearably humiliating.

" Anyway….now you know …..So uh….what did you two talk about that was so…educative….?" he inquired, curiosity eating away at him….He could tell Amytis was up to something from the very moment he heard that invitation, but at the same time, he knew that she was smart enough not to cross him….Any disobedience would have only affected their crumbling relationship even more and she wouldn't have risked it for the world. The wall between them was as high as a mountain anyway- there was no need to add any extra bricks to it.

" Small talk….Nothing important really…." his Princess quickly answered, looking aside, not particularly thrilled about having to share their hurtful conversation with him.

"Small talk…If I didn't know better, I'd say that women are incapable of actually doing small talk…Quite the contrary, they are the only species known so far skilled enough to plot even against the universe itself by simply exchanging a few apparently meaningless lines….So do forgive my skepticism…."

" Men….always so suspicious…." she joked, arching a sharp brow at him, a slightly flirtatious smile trying to determine him to drop the subject…..The God didn't appear to be willing to let her off the hook just yet though.

" So uh….what exactly did she say to you that got you so…edgy…..?"

" You mean apart of opening my eyes and showing me that you're not as special as I thought you were?" she bit, obviously not appreciating the fact that he was pressuring her into confessing something she wasn't comfortable with.

" Yeah….Though, I must say, it's particularly intriguing how one single conversation with a person that you've just met can shatter to pieces the image you had of me….." he replied, ignoring that unfamiliar, stabbing pain that made him bite his lower lip with a primal, visible ferocity…..

" It is , isn't it? It sure says a lot about just how much you still need to work to earn my trust."

" Hmmm…..I assumed I had your trust the moment you pledged yourself to me…There's no greater proof of trust than that….." he lowly remarked, the sadness in his voice taking the Warrior Princess literally by surprise.

She chose not to answer his question right away, for she still wasn't precisely sure what exactly it had been that had pushed her to take such radical decision back then….Yes, she had wanted revenge against Cortese like she had never wanted anything else in her life, but come to think about it, she could have easily come up with a plan to get even with that jerk all by herself- she didn't need to be as drastic as to swear her allegiance to the God of War-…..And yet, when the opportunity presented itself, she took it without the slightest hesitation- as if she had been waiting for his offer her entire life, and though she had asked him for a few days to think about his offer, she had never really considered the possibility of a refusal ….She had only meant to keep him on pins and needles, but that was it…..

" Sometimes trust can be misplaced…"she finally voiced, her eyes quickly fixing the ground when, for the first time since the day she joined him, he gave her that dark, murderous gaze that was only destined to the most meaningless of his victims…..Something must have really upset him , she said to herself, while already voicing her following question.

" You said that you and Amytis are no longer together…." she stated, swiftly diverting his attention from the venomous words that had been freed from the prison of her mouth, having no idea that what had actually done the trick and melted his anger had been the tension reverberating from her aura.

" And?"

" What happened?" she inquired, in a business like tone, doing her best not to appear too interested in the subject…..Nonetheless, despite her efforts, Ares could see right through her…. - she couldn't possibly realize it, but at this point she had become everything she had been struggling to avoid being: an open book….

" What did she tell you?" he asked in his turn, his balled up fists instantly letting Xena know that she had hit a nerve….She couldn't really tell if that was good news or bad news….

" It doesn't matter. I want to hear your own version of the story." she briskly replied, suddenly nervous, those few scenarios already whirling inside her head, -none of them heart friendly- doing a number on her.

" What does that have to do with us again? …Or with your misplaced trust …? " he asked, sounding bit too defensive for his Chosen's liking.

" Just answer the damn question …" she spat, and he just couldn't help a smirk at her irritation….Here it was...jealousy…again….It was an unmistakable feeling- he knew it as well as she did….

This time, despite her brutal reactions to his previous attempts, he cut in the distance between them until there was no place for her to go. She could either accept his nearness or …jump…..He didn't touch her though, he didn't even sketch the slightest intention to do so, and yet, her heart was drumming so loudly now inside her chest that he could almost hear it….He could certainly pick on its rhythm, and the wildly pulsating vein in her neck was the impossible to deny confirmation he had been secretly looking for…..

" I'd say it was also a case of misplaced trust….She did something behind my back….I didn't like it- end of the story. " he casually answered, his eyes narrowing at a memory that was obviously still bothering him.

" Was it recent…your …separation…?"

" Pretty recent….." he admitted, taking a mental note at how the breath caught in her throat at the answer. " A few months….." he continued while she was already doing the maths…." Right after I met you….." he ended, cupping her chin and forcing her to look at him..

" And….uh…she still holds out hope…" she bitterly remarked, even if she hadn't initially intended to allow so much sadness transpire from her words.

To her unspoken revolt, his answer came out particularly short and thus unsatisfying.

" Yes. "

She just stared at him for a few seconds, not really knowing whether to go on with her interrogatory or to just drop it and save whatever was left of her pride….

" What else would you like to know?" he questioned, as if reading the indecision in her eyes. " Just say it…." he whispered the encouragement in her ear, pulling her to his chest so that she could at least have the comfort of not having to face him as she said it…..

" Was she…. important to you?" she murmured, stressing that word that was actually meant to replace the one thing she hadn't been able to voice….Even so, she held her breath while waiting for an answer.

" Yes she was…..for quite some time…."he confessed, kindly sparing her the agony of having to wait for too long…Ultimately, it proved to be pure torture to hear him utter it…"Xena…" he continued, immediately feeling how rigid her body had turned in his arms…." At one point, you'll have to accept the fact that in my long…..extensively long existence, there have been a few women that…uh…."

He stopped, not really knowing how to phrase it right.

" I get it….." she responded, without finding the strength to leave his embrace and search for his gaze.

" She made a difference in my life….she made me feel alive in a time when I was kinda wishing I hadn't been…" he explained, but that only seemed to hurt her even more.

" Did you love her?" she bluntly asked, casting him an almost desperate look.

" That's a big word….." he answered with a soft, genuine smile, gently caressing her cheek now. " I wouldn't call it love…"

" You spent 300 years with her…" she barely found her voice to whisper, immediately embarrassed once that line came out of her mouth…..She had literally sounded like a brokenhearted teenager…..What was she thinking….?

" More or less... All your answers are down there, by the way..." he tempted, pointing towards the pit. " Jump with me…." -an even more irresistible invitation this time, uttered on a dangerously sexy tone that made the blood run even faster in her veins.

"Fine." she hesitantly agreed, but, way before her brain had the chance to reproach her anything, with remarkable easiness, the War God had swept her up into his arms, throwing himself at a dazzling speed into the welcoming embrace of that creepy, engulfing darkness that looked strikingly similar to the entrance to Tartarus- or so the Bards had described it- a frightening abyss that appeared to have no end.

"Hold your breath…" was the last thing she heard him say….