*********
The sun blazed a final goodbye as it retreated for the day and they rode into a fair sized village. Finding the local hostelry, they dismounted, made arrangements for the horses, and got directions to the tavern. The tavern bustled with the early evening crowd relaxing after a long day's work and they blended in with an order to the passing barmaid. Moments later they were sipping ale as they awaited their food and information on the availability of rooms for the night.
"Three dinars each for the meals and ale. We have 3 rooms - 6 dinars each for those," quipped the serving girl as she set hot food in front of the weary travelers. Gabrielle counted out the necessary coinage.
The table was silent as they ate with half an eye turned toward the room in general and half an ear tuned for the conversations that flowed around them. The villagers were generally cheerful but not rowdy and the main topic of conversation seemed to be the weather and the chances for the harvest this year until one man spoke a little louder than the rest.
"I heard that Ares and his bitch Xena are going to try to take Corinth again. Can't imagine why they would want to do that. The last time they tried that it came to a stalemate. But I'll not fight this time." He looked at his audience and spat on the floor as though daring anyone to say anything. "It's planting time and I'm needed at home if we're to have a harvest this fall."
Gabrielle turned startled eyes to Xena who simply looked at her and shrugged her shoulders. Joxer studied what was left of his dinner closely.
"I remember her - the Warrior Princess. Warrior Whore is more like it. Had Ares panting after her like a bitch in heat!" another man laughed.
"I heard a while back that she left him and took to riding around the country with a little blonde girlie and doing good deeds but I don't believe a word of it," said another.
Gabrielle began to rise angrily to her feet at these slurs on her friend but Xena caught her arm and pulled her back down with a frown.
The tavern door opened and several hard-bitten warriors walked in. They looked around the room then approached a table full of men. "We want this table," one of the men grinned down at the nervous villagers. The villagers got up and moved to another table.
The warriors sat down and the serving girl hurried over to take their order. The men were joking with each other as they gave the order for ale. "And a little entertainment!" one roared with laughter as he clapped his hand over the girl's back end. She shrieked and ran to the bar as a nervousness spread to the rest of the patrons. The tavern keeper brought the ale to their table himself. He wrapped his hands in the apron tied to his front and waited for their attention. "That'll be 10 dinars," he said, twisting his hands tighter into the apron. The warriors laughed and one pushed him away as Gabrielle felt Xena shift beside her. The tavern keeper stepped back toward them and one warrior rose with his thumbs in his belt. "You owe 10 dinars for the ale," the tavern keeper whined. The warrior laughed and opened his mouth to retort.
"Pay the nice man, Varaegus. You can afford 10 dinars," smirked a silky voice.
The warrior's eyes flicked over the tavern keeper's shoulder and widened. Xena stood there, arms folded and a small tight smile on her face that did not reach her eyes. His mouth snapped shut as he quickly paid the tavern keeper his money and sat back down.
The warriors were suddenly subdued and kept one eye trained in her direction as their heads came together to talk low at their table. Whispers rippled through the rest of the room as all heads followed the woman warrior's moves. She sat down at the table and ran her gaze around the room catching several gaping before they turned their flustered faces elsewhere. They studied the table tops, admired the wooden supports of the roof, and hollered at the tavern keeper for more ale - anything, anywhere but look at the warrior princess they had so recently been discussing in their midst.
All seemed quiet when the warriors departed perhaps an hour later. The villagers had trickled out of the tavern soon after the confrontation. Xena smiled as she looked around the now almost empty room. "Better get some shut eye. We need to be back on the road tomorrow," she said.
"Xena… you don't think…" Gabrielle began uncertainly.
"No." Xena shrugged. "I don't think they're going to cause any more trouble. I suspect they'll be moving on," she assured the woman.
Joxer got up and stretched weary muscles. "I'm ready to turn in."
"Let's go Gabrielle." Xena stood up, motioned the serving girl over, and asked her to show them to their rooms. They followed her up the stairs and told each other goodnight as they closed their respective doors behind them.
Xena relaxed at the window as she gazed at the night stars. She sat down and began to sharpen her sword as she waited for Gabrielle and Joxer to settle down to sleep. "Had Ares panting after her like a bitch in heat!" the man had said. She almost chuckled but stopped short as flashes of memory hit her. Ares had been around a lot - even to the point that she had wondered more than once if he was neglecting other duties to be with her.
The long repetitious strokes were soothing and she cleared her mind by focusing on the task before her.
*********
Only the thin sliver of moon saw Xena slip down the stairs and out of the back door of the tavern. Keeping to the shadows, she stopped by the stables and checked on Argo and the other horses. She stood stroking the mare's neck distractedly for a few moments then slipped out and headed toward where she thought the men who had come into the tavern had camped. Silently she melted into the forest with the other shadows of the night.
Half an hour later she walked carefully into the camp until she reached the leader's tent. By the light of the lantern inside, she could see that 3 men sat on in conversation. She slipped close to the tent and made a small hole so that she could see them as they spoke. A tingling raced through her but she ignored it to concentrate on the men in the tent.
A hand clamped over her mouth and a thickly muscled arm encircled her waist as the tent flashed away and forest took its place. She snatched her sword out and whirled to face her abductor as she was released though she knew who it was. How else could she have been moved so easily? Ares…
"Why'd you do that?" she spat at him.
"They're moving out at first light," he grinned. "You were wasting your time."
She glared at him as she returned her sword to its sheath. "I wasn't wasting my time. Had you not interfered, I would have found that out without you."
Ares innocently spread his hands wide still grinning. "And had you just asked me, I would have told you and saved you the trip. They really didn't feel up to facing the Warrior Princess without me and when I said I wouldn't back them up, they decided that moving on was entirely the right thing to do."
"They asked you for … what? Help? Advice?"
"Actually they asked me for help…" He grinned a little wider.
She shook her head and found herself chuckling softly. These warlords had never understood their patron god and the God of War was difficult to resist when he grinned like a little boy with a new toy. She busied herself momentarily with minutely adjusting the sheath on her back. When she faced him again, the mischievous grin was gone and a yearning replaced it. Her own smile faded.
"Xena…"
"Please don't, Ares." She whispered.
He took a deep breath, pulled himself together with an effort, and smiled at her. "May I give you lift back to town?"
She considered him for a moment. Apparently he was listening to her plea - for now. She offered him her hand and he took it in his to squeeze it gently. She smiled.
"Yes."
Another gentle squeeze of her hand and they were just outside the town. "Good night Xena; I love you…" lingered on the air as he vanished in a soft rain of blue sparkles.
*********
Xena stood where she was for a few moments absorbing the god's parting words. As the catch in her chest signaled her danger, she deliberately whipped up her anger once more. "Yeah - me and my friend," she growled as she started back toward the tavern.
The town was silent in this late hour and Xena was vaguely surprised to catch a small movement near the back of the tavern. She stealthily drew the knife from her boot as a precaution and stepped out to confront the shadow there. Joxer stumbled backwards and almost fell at her sudden appearance but she caught him by the arm to balance him. "What are you doing out here? I thought you went to bed."
"I thought you did too," he grinned.
She stuck the dagger back in her boot and smiled. "Well, I wanted to… you know."
"Yeah, I know."
They sat on a bench standing next to the tavern wall and looked into the night in a companionable silence for a few moments.
"Xena…"
"Hmmm?"
"Never mind," he hung his head in embarrassment. What did he think he was doing questioning Xena Warrior Princess? Was he really that suicidal?
"What Joxer?"
"Well… I was wondering…" he stopped and took deep breath. "I was just wondering if there was something bothering you." "Not that it's any of my business or anything," he finished in a rush.
Xena's voice took on a guarded quality he knew very well. "What makes you ask that?"
"Well…" he began. He looked her in the eye - heck, he'd gotten this far; he might as well go for the rest. "I just caught a couple of strange expressions on your face today when you were looking at me. And then there was the Chosen thing with Gabrielle."
She looked away. "I gotta get a grip," she mumbled, then turned back to him. "It was nothing Joxer. I guess I was just in a rotten mood today. Sorry."
He digested this for a moment as he stared at his hand sitting on the bench beside him. "No," he shook his head.
"What?"
He took another deep breath. "I said no. That wasn't it. But you don't owe me any explanations so…" he shrugged and crossed his feet at the ankles then leaned back against the wall to look out over the yard.
Xena crossed her own ankles uncomfortably and looked down at her hands as she debated in her mind what she should say. "Joxer, I…"
"It's okay Xena," he said looking around at her. "Really."
"No, it's not. I guess when I was giving you those 'looks' today, I was thinking about you and Gabrielle."
"Me and Gabrielle?" he asked, his face a study in bemusement. "What about me and Gabrielle?"
"Remember when baby Bliss got loose and was shooting everyone with arrows? And Cupid had to come and make it right?"
"Ye - Yes," he said hesitantly, not wanting her to say too much more about that. Gabrielle had thought that he too was under the influence of the child god and he'd really rather it remain that way.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about you and Gabrielle, that's all."
"Why'd you jump all over Gabby about the Chosen thing today?" he frowned.
It was her turn to take a deep breath. "She just doesn't understand about that," she said carefully.
She had his full attention now. "What doesn't she understand?"
Xena shifted her feet and braced her arms beside her as she stared unseeing into the darkness. "I… am Ares' Chosen," she said softly.
Joxer was dumbfounded though he realized that he should have expected that. All those years she had spent as his favored warlord. The tales he had heard from his father back then… He too stared out into the darkness. He remembered the words that had been spoken by the villagers in the tavern that evening. "And is it a lifetime commitment?" he asked in a low voice.
"It is - though I have betrayed mine. Ares has the right to kill me for my desertion. I have to die before he can take a new Chosen."
"And do you think he will?"
"No," the answer came confidently with a heavy sigh.
They sat in silence for several minutes once more - he just beginning to see exactly what that answer meant; she pushing the implications of it to the back of her mind so she didn't have to deal with them for the present.
"I would rather you didn't tell Gabrielle about this," she said quietly.
"No. No, I won't," he said with a small smile at her.
She studied his eyes for a moment then smiled back. "We really ought to get some sleep."
"Yeah," Joxer stood up and stretched, then extended his hand to help her up. "We really should."
*********
I considered this new development with some interest as I sat back in my throne and closed the portal; it was tantamount to actually admitting that she believed that Ares loved her. But who would have thought that Xena would allow herself to be questioned — by someone like Joxer at that — and that she would him give him an answer too? Maybe I should pay my brother a little visit and see what was happening on his end.
*********
I materialized in Ares' throne room to find him lounging carelessly on his throne, one leg hung over an arm of the thing as he leaned back against the other; his finger rubbed his chin in distracted concentration as he watched something intently in the mirror. He glanced over with a frown to see who intruded on him as his hand waved at the mirror to close whatever scene had so captured his attention.
"Hello," he said slowly, a distracted smile on his face as he glanced quickly over at the mirror then back to me. "To what do I owe this unexpected…. pleasure?"
I thought carefully before I answered, "Just thought I'd see what you were up to, bro."
His eyes refocused and all signs of distraction disappeared as he looked at me sharply.
"Aphrodite - I have never had you pop in 'just to see what 'I' am up to'," he said with a hint of laughter in his eyes. "What's up?" His voice held thoughtful amusement vice suspicion. I smiled inwardly; it wasn't often I could catch the God of War a little off balance.
I scuffed a foot on the floor and acted reluctant to answer. "Did you tell the warrior babe?"
"Yes." He frowned.
"And?" I asked warily since I knew exactly how it had gone. I didn't want an explosion, but I didn't want him to know I'd been keeping tabs on his princess or eavesdropping either.
"And… " He paused for a moment, a faraway look in his eye. "Nothing," he said. "She doesn't believe me. She says she doesn't love me."
I considered his answer since I knew full well that he didn't believe that. He knew from the way the raven haired beauty had responded to his declaration that there was something going on there for him that she was trying hard not to let him see. But if it was Xena that he had been watching in the mirror... Trying not to hope too hard, Ares? I thought. "It's not over until it's over," I mused - unfortunately I said it out loud and he fixed me with a piercing stare. Never knew brown could be such a hard color.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Oh… uh… nothing bro - I was just wondering about the outcome of all this," I said quickly. Too quickly?
"You mean that you aren't any more sure than I am right now," he sat back with a sigh that sounded as though he wasn't overly reassured to hear that I couldn't read the situation any better than he could. He was too close and I… maybe I was too close too. I had a sneaking fondness for the woman after all and her bard was my friend.
"Short of putting a spell on her or having Cupid shoot her with an arrow, I'm afraid there is just no way to be certain which way she will go at this point. And neither of us wants that. I'm sorry, Ares."
He heaved a deep sigh as he ran his hand over his face and through his neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He was tired and he didn't like being on the waiting end of something - especially something with an impact as far reaching as this. Not that I could blame him, but there was nothing I could do for him either. I sighed in turn. "We both know she's feeling… something. It's a matter of what will she choose. She's been carrying this for so long…"
"There's nothing I can do about that. I can't erase the past - I can only ask her to go forward."
"Part of this is her feeling for the bard…"
"I know," he sighed again. "Gabrielle may make me crazy, but she's opened up Xena and let her become who she is today. Oddly enough I have a debt in that respect. And to her of all people."
He waved his hand at the mirror and the sleeping warrior appeared. He watched her dully until we heard a low whimper. He sat up and leaned closer - Xena was frowning and a tear slid from her eye. "Blast Morpheus!" he growled as he closed the image and disappeared.
I returned to my chambers on Olympus.
*********