Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that appear in the hit syndicated TV Show, Xena: Warrior Princess. I do, however, own any and all original characters.
Summary: Eve has a secret, and it will cost her everything to keep it safe.
My Callisto
By
Nikki Brin
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Xena ran her fingers through her dark locks with a deep sigh. She then placed her hands at her temples and dragged them along the sides of her face until they met at her nose. "I can't handle this, really, I can't."
Gabrielle looked up from her bath and rolled her eyes. "I thought we agreed that you would stop trying to find Eve. She's a big girl and knows how to kick a guy where it hurts."
The warrior grunted in reply.
"Xena," sighed the bard, climbing out of the bath, "if we ask people around town will you puh-lease stop doing this to me? You're gonna make yourself sick from all this worrying. You worry more than a farm mother!"
Xena eyed Gabrielle's body as the bard exited the bath and shrugged absent-mindedly. "Okay, but only if we find someone who can tell us that she and Virgil are alright." She removed her hands from her face and stood to her full height.
Gabrielle shook her head, splashing water on her warrior friend, and replied, "Good. Now I'll just get dressed and we'll be on our way."
The warrior grinned mischievously and 'innocently' let her hand brush against Gabrielle's bare backside. "Whatever you say, my bard… but do you really have to get dressed?"
Gabrielle casually put a finger on Xena's chest and pushed her back into the bath, leathers and all. She could barely contain a chuckle as she left the room wrapped in a towel with an indignant warrior glaring after her.
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After Xena had pulled herself and her heavy leathers out of the bathtub and taken time to dry off, she slipped into a pair of her old trousers and tunic. The depressed warrior went over to the body-length mirror and sighed stressfully as she tried to smooth out the wrinkles in the hardly-worn garments.
Gabrielle came up behind Xena and wrapped her arms around her neck. "You look fine. If you hadn't said that then maybe your leathers wouldn't be hanging thirty feet off the ground outside a window. And if you weren't so worried I could've enjoyed my bath."
Xena chuckled. "Okay, you got me there, but seriously, I'm really worried that something's happened to them. People just don't disappear like that." At least not when I am tracking them... she thought.
"Give me two things that could happen to the former Champion of Rome and a six foot three man traveling together."
"One: Virgil will kill her. Two: They'll have sex. There's nothing more to it." The warrior crossed her arms impatiently.
Gabrielle couldn't help it. She snorted a laugh and began to crack up. "That is just too funny, Xe! 'They'll have sex.' I can't believe you actually said that!"
Xena just scowled and stormed out of the room with a chuckling Gabrielle following right behind her.
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Virgil thoughtfully sipped his wine as he watched Callie play with her numerous (and expensive) toys. The young girl seemed to either be ignoring him or just plain wasn't interested in the fact that he was there.
Callie had different thoughts on the matter, however. She darted glances at the tall man out of childish curiosity when he wasn't looking. Her hopes were still high that her mother would take her with her this time. After they had sat there in complete silence for over half an hour, Callie couldn't contain her thoughts any longer.
"Are you gonna be my daddy now?" blurted the child, her bright blue eyes twinkling with innocent curiosity. "'Cause Mama's never brought anyone to visit before."
A spray of wine went across the room and Virgil began coughing. "Wh—what?" he asked, suddenly short of breath.
"My mommy's never brought someone else to visit. She once told me that someday, when she became empress in Rome, she would be able to take me with her so we could be together. She promised me she would."
Virgil wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist and sighed in sympathy. Placing his hands on his knees, he leaned forward and asked, "Have you ever had a daddy before?"
"I think I did, but Mommy never wants to talk about him. Do you know what happened to him?" asked the girl hopefully.
"Well, your Mama was gonna tell me but she needed some time to herself." Where was Eve for that matter? And why had she been crying?
"Will you please be my daddy? Or at least tell my mommy to take me with her? I don't like it when she leaves me all alone with Satri." Tears formed in the girl's eyes as she thought of being left alone again.
The man smiled and replied, "I can't tell your mom to do anything, but I'll try my best to convince her to take you with us, alright?" He liked this kid.
"Okay."
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"Nope, haven't seen 'em 'round here. But then again, there are so many couples like that in this 'ere village it would be hard to tell which one you're talkin' 'bout," said the tavern keeper with a sigh as he wiped down the bar for the umpteenth time.
Xena counted to ten forwards and backwards in her head. "Thanks anyway." She turned to Gabrielle, who was snickering in the doorway. "Not a word."
The bard held up her hands innocently, though the evil twinkle remained in her emerald eyes.
"I've asked every damn person in this town and no one has seen them," muttered Xena as she collapsed in a chair. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of the flash of gold. She noticed a woman dressed in expensive linens across the tavern. "Well, there's something you don't see everyday," thought the warrior out loud. She got up and straddled a chair across the table from the mysterious rich woman. "Tell me something, do you know of a couple with a man a little more than six feet tall and a shorter woman about oh, five foot five?"
"Yeah… about fifty of 'em," grunted the woman, not looking Xena in the eye.
"Do you know Livia?"
"What about her?"
AHA! "I need to know where she is."
The richly dressed woman eyed Xena up and down, making sure to consider her lethal-looking weapons. "Why would that be?" she asked without much genuine interest.
"Did you by any chance hear of Livia finding the Way of Love?" asked the warrior, looking the other woman up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Yes. I heard that."
"Well, she's my daughter and her name is Eve now. I need to know where she is so I can know if she and the man she's traveling with are alright."
"I promise you that they are fine, but if you insist…" The dark woman sighed and pushed her chair out from under the table. "My name's Satri. You must be Xena, the warrior princess. Come with me and I'll show you where your daughter is staying for a few nights."
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Eve came back into the room to find Virgil gleefully talking with her daughter. "I see you two have no problem getting along." She smiled at both of them.
"Virgil's really nice, Mommy! He even wrote me a poem! Listen:
'Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And you are, too!' Isn't that nice, Mommy?"
Eve chuckled and nodded as she sat in a chair next to her daughter. "Yes it is, honey. Could I talk with Virgil again in private, sweetie?" The tiny girl obediently skipped away to play with her toys again.
Virgil grinned as he watched Callie go. "She's a sweet kid."
Eve nodded and looked after her daughter lovingly, though there was a sad twinkle in her eye as she said, "Just like her father." She turned to Virgil and added, "Thank you for staying with me like this. I know I'm not exactly the most welcomed person in your life right now but-"
"Livia is not welcome, but Eve… Eve I can live with," interrupted Virgil with a smile. "You were going to continue your story? It's worthy of a bard, I can tell you that."
The woman grinned back. "You can write it down later if you want to. Anyway, after the bear had gone about its business and Verus and I were heading back towards camp…"
SEVEN YEARS AGOLivia was totally silent as they made their way back to camp, quietly pondering to herself. Verus walked a polite distance away from her, looking around and smiling from one ear to the other for no apparent reason. They came to a grassy field and Verus chuckled to himself.
"What, may I ask, is so funny?" asked Livia impatiently as they began to trek across the flower-filled area.
He bent down, picked a flower, and put it in Livia's hair. "I just wanted to see how you looked without a helmet on your head."
"And that's funny?"
"No, what's funny is the fact that you're really trying to ignore the fact that your arm is broken, but the way you're carrying it is a dead give away. Next time try to keep it more loose instead of really stiff like that." He demonstrated with his own arm.
Livia's eyes flashed disbelief for a second, then turned blank again, as they had been for so many years. "How did you know that?" she asked, looking down at her ailing arm.
Verus shrugged and said, "When we get back to camp let me take a look at it. It's not like there's a reason to be ashamed of it."
Livia stopped and stared at the man's back in surprise as he continued the walk back to the campsite. He sure knew how to hit the nail on the head.
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"Dephon, leave us," commanded Livia, turning to Verus solemnly. The captain bowed respectfully and left the tent without a word, as he normally did.
"Alright, what's your deal, Verus?" asked Livia, putting her hands on her hips but making sure to be careful with her recently reset arm.
"I don't have a 'deal', Livia."
"Oh, yes you do. What is this? An assassination attempt? Are you going to poison my army? Is this a suicide mission? What are you really here for?!" demanded the Roman woman, glaring at the Spartan commander and just daring him to lie to her face. "Tell me your ulterior motive!"
Verus shook his head. "Livia, I have no other reason for being here other than the one I presented to you earlier. Sparta is falling, Livia, but the rulers refuse to give up. We are trying desperately to either conquer or make alliances with certain empires."
"You can't be the commander of the Spartan army. You're too soft. I have seen men from that army and they are some of the most brutal in the world, beating their men and teaching the youth how to steal for their dinner."
"Why do you refuse to trust me, Livia? What is it about me that you don't like?" asked Verus with narrowed eyes.
Livia considered his question and how she would answer. "Because you're different. I have never met a man like you in my life. You've got this carefree air about you that just gets to me," she admitted almost guiltily, lifting and dropping her hand on her war table in exasperation. A weary expression settled on her face, the dark rings around her eyes becoming more distinct.
"I swear to you on the head of my king that during my stay here, I shall cause no harm to you, your army, or anything of the Romans'. My presence here is entirely innocent."
The woman eyed him for a moment, and then sighed. "Alright, but if you do anything that shows signs of hostility towards me or my men, I'll have you killed before you know what you've done."
He bowed low at the waist and replied, "As you wish, Milady."
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Livia gasped with relief as she felt the cool water cascade around her body. It felt good to wash away her worries and rest her tired muscles. She laid her head on the bank of the river and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She soon moved into the middle of the river and washed her arms, hair, and upper body, then swam a few laps out of habit.
"Looks like we both had the same idea," came a voice not two feet away from Livia.
The woman jumped and whirled around to find a grinning Verus. She ducked farther down into the water, covering her chest with her arms, and snarled at him. "Did you enjoy the view?" she spat, glaring at the man.
He shrugged. "Wasn't that bad." He quickly moved out of range before she could hit him for that comment.
"Ugh, you are just so… so… URGH!" hissed Livia angrily. She splashed the water at him and narrowed her pale blue eyes.
"Okay, since we're both here, do you need help washing your back?" Verus asked, holding up the sponge he had brought.
Livia considered his offer for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright, but don't try anything with me, pal." Not that she thought he would.
"As you wish, Milady." He took the sponge and began to gently scrub the woman's back, idly massaging the tense muscles there as he did. "Your muscles are very tight. Come here."
With no verbal response, she moved closer to him and he began a rubdown of her back. His skilled hands moved up and down, following the flow of her muscles and loosening them under his gentle touch. "How does that feel?" he asked, leaning down to whisper in her ear heatedly, his breath tickling her neck.
This was the first thing he had done since their meeting that wasn't gentleman-like. Livia was glad she wasn't the only one turned on by this bath. "It feels absolutely wonderful," she murmured, rolling her head on her shoulders. "You're very good with your hands."
He chuckled at her choice of words, but said nothing.
Livia felt her back loose all tenseness and turned around to face the man, noticing that he didn't even steal innocent glances at her exposed breasts. "Now it's your turn."
Verus turned around as the woman began to scrub his back. Unlike hers, his back wasn't tense at all. He leaned into her touch and she stood up on her tiptoes in the water, running her tongue up the back of his neck up to his ear.
"How does that feel?"
He moaned and turned to face her, running his hand along her cheek. "It feels absolutely wonderful."
Livia smiled and moved closer to him, her body only slightly touching his. "Would you like some more?"
Verus grinned and nodded, taking her small hand into his large one. "More
would be fine with me." He placed a kiss on her knuckles, and then leaned
in to kiss her lips.
Just before their lips made first contact, a voice interrupted the moment, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude, Milady!"
The two commanders looked up into the face of Cesarius, who was not trying very hard not to look at Livia's nude body.
Verus got out of the water. "It's alright. Enjoy your bath." After getting out of the pleasantly cool river, he wrapped a towel around his lower body and went off.
Livia glared at Cesarius and said, "Go thirty feet downriver or I'll snap your neck before you can take one more look."
PRESENTEve chuckled at the memory. She then looked to Virgil, who was silently considering her story and letting a grin tweak at his face. "I thought Cesarius was going to piss in his pants," she said, her grin widening.
Virgil had to laugh at that. "Army life must've been fun for you. I would imagine the action around there never ended."
"Actually, it never was very fun to me. To tell the truth, I never really felt anything but a lust for sex and a lust for blood when I was commander. Now that I don't have men who throw themselves at my feet before I enter my tent for the night, I'm happy." She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. "Um, Virg', I think I'm gonna get some sleep, okay? We'll continue this tomorrow"
The tall man grinned as he stood up, stretching his long arms and legs. "Yeah, I'm kinda tired as well. I'll just go get a room in a tavern and-"
"No, that's alright. You can sleep in the big bed. No one can get in or out of this place now, since the sun has most likely set. I had Ares put a protection shield on the door so that nighttime attacks wouldn't be of worry to the caretaker, Satri."
Virgil looked at the large bed. "Where are you going to sleep, then?"
"I'll just find a comfy rug on the floor. No big deal." She moved to leave but Virgil took hold of her arm to stop her.
"No wait. It's a really big bed and I think we both could fit," suggested the man out of sympathy for the woman. "Or I could sleep on the floor."
Eve shook her head. "Nah. I think we'll be just fine. I'll say goodnight to Callie so you can have some time to yourself, alright?" He agreed with a nod and wandered over to the corner with the large bed.
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"What do you mean we can't get in?!" demanded Xena as she watched Satri struggle with the door to a large building.
"I stayed out too late. Inside this building is your daughter, but we won't be able to get inside until tomorrow. "Mars himself put a nighttime protection over this place."
Xena counted to ten. Then backwards from ten to one. Then to twenty. "This doesn't happen often, does it? No, don't answer that… Alright then, do you know where we can stay tonight?"
"Um, we'll stay at my good friend's house. You and Gabrielle can have your own room there for no fee at all."
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Eve stroked Callie's face lovingly. "Callie, I'm so sorry for leaving you all these years. I promise that you can come with me this time. We'll stay here for a few more days so you can get ready, then you can come home with Mommy. Although… I don't know where 'home' is yet."
Callie smiled sleepily. "Mama?"
"Yes, Little One?"
"Is Virgil gonna be my daddy now?"
Eve thought about how to word her next sentence, seeing that the young child had really taken to the gentle man. "Sweetie, Virgil and I aren't married, we aren't seeing each other, and we never will be. Virgil can be your daddy, but he won't be related to me, alright?"
"Yes Mommy."
As Eve wandered back over to the large bed, she worked hard to keep her eyes diverted from Virgil's shirtless body. With his muscular chest on display, it was all she could do. She climbed into bed and they both turned away from the other, moving as far away as they could get whilst being next to each other.
"G'night," muttered Eve, pulling the covers over her bare shoulders.
"G'night," replied Virgil, letting her have all the blankets.
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The next morning Virgil was the first one awake. He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Then he felt the hair in his mouth… and the body on top of his. Virgil timidly looked down at Eve's sleeping form, which was sprawled on top of him. He moved his legs, which were tangled with Eve's. The woman groaned, let out a happy sigh, and adjusted her head on his chest. Virgil cringed as she felt her legs shift next to his groin. Ooooh, this is so not good, he thought in alarm. When he shifted again, Eve woke up. She looked at her position on top of him and then at the unnerved look on his face. "Oh my gods! I am so sorry Virgil!" She all but jumped off the bed, covering her reddening face with her hands in embarrassment.
"It's alright. You were asleep and didn't know what you're doing. I was just trying to figure out how we got into that position and how I was gonna get out without waking you up. I've seen you when you're woken up too early in the morning," Virgil said with a nervous laugh.
Eve blushed and looked at the ground, almost on the verge of tears in shame.
"Anyway, I'll be right back," he informed her, putting on his vest and leaving the room.
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Xena pulled on her leathers and waited as Gabrielle tied them in the back. "It still amazes me how you ever figured out how to tie that."
Gabrielle grinned. "Well, after so much practice taking them off… you would think I would be able to put them back on." She nipped Xena's ear playfully and threw on her own clothes. "Do you think Satri is awake yet?"
"Probably. She looks like the type who doesn't take any chances. I wonder why she knows where Eve is."
"I don't like her, Xe. She trusted us too quickly and there's just something about her that just… urgh, I just don't trust her." The bard shook her head irritably.
"Me either." The warrior fingered her chakram out of habit. "Ya know what, I know I haven't exactly been paying the most attention to you over the last few days and I've been thinking about what you said about leaving Eve alone. I mean, since Satri says Eve is alright then what should I be worrying about?"
Gabrielle scoffed at this.
"So I'm gonna make it up. How about we go into the woods and have a little vacation for two days? Since we have a mutual distrust for this woman why don't we just give up the search for awhile until we can get some good, clean info?"
"No worries about Eve?"
"No worries about my Eve," confirmed the warrior with a wide smile.
Gabrielle smiled and picked up her pack. "When do we leave?"
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Virgil returned to the room after having taken care of his morning business. Eve was sitting on the bed with Callie curled up in her lap. "Is she asleep?" he mouthed.
She nodded and avoided eye contact with him.
"Listen, Eve, I'm not mad about what happened. I know you didn't do it on purpose and I'm willing to let it go if you are," he said softly, approaching mother and daughter.
Eve sighed and whispered, "I'm good and ready to let it go, but I don't
want to offend you in any way, shape, or form. I—I'm sorry."
He shook his head and smiled comfortingly. "Let's just forget it ever happened, alright?"
"Alright… do you want me to continue the story?"
Virgil chuckled and sat back in a chair. "Well, I am kinda anxious to find out if you snapped the guy's neck or not."
Eve chuckled.
SEVEN YEARS AGOA few days after the incident in the river, Livia found herself lost in a feeling she had never felt before. It wasn't lust, no. This was something different. She had never felt this with another man in her entire life. All day and all night, all she could think about was the bath and how Verus's deep hazel eyes seemed to look into her very soul. Only one explanation came to her after hours of thinking and wondering what was happening to her: she was in love… with Verus, Commander of the Spartan Army. They hadn't seen each other since the bath, and she wondered if he were avoiding her or they just didn't have the time to see her. So that night she decided to go visit him. She inconspicuously wandered over to his tent and lightly knocked on one of the tent's wooden poles. "Verus?"
A ruffling sound came from inside, followed by a slightly groggy "Hello?"
"Um, it's me, Livia. Could I speak with you for a moment?" asked the woman, giving cold stares to a few nameless footmen as they walked hurriedly by. The last thing they wanted was to cross paths with their commander.
The tent flap opened and a half-dressed Verus appeared. "Of course." He let her inside and sat in a chair as she settled herself on the bed. "What did you wanna talk about?" asked the Spartan commander, getting right to the point.
"Verus, I'm having these feelings that I can't explain. I think… I think I'm in love with you, but I want to know if you feel this way too," said the commander of the Roman army almost timidly. She had never been so open with her feelings to anyone. Treading so freely into emotional territory was like a giant leap into the unknown for her.
Verus sighed and sat back in his chair. "Livia… I have waited for you to say that. I admit I've had some women around me, but I like your fire, your spirit. You remind me of that warrioress, Xena: the Warrior Princess, from the stories I've heard."
The young woman fingered her skirt nervously. "She was a wonderful warrior. I could never amount to what she achieved as a warlord or a warrior."
Verus simply stood and moved closer to the woman in reply. Livia's breath caught in her chest as Verus kissed her, almost hesitantly at first. Then it became more aggressive, and she returned it without protest.
PRESENT"...so that night we made love. I thought I was in heaven—that it could never end... After we took Helicon and rested for a month or two there to replenish my army's supplies and things like that, we started on the boat ride to Egypt..."
SEVEN YEARS AGOLivia hurled what was left of her breakfast over the side of the ship and groaned miserably. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned around to find Verus worriedly coming towards her.
"I don't understand what's happening. I've never been seasick like this before," said the young woman, closing her eyes as the ship rocked and another wave of nausea hit her.
Verus shrugged and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist, placing a soft kiss behind her ear. "It'll pass. I want you to go under deck and get some rest." He nuzzled her neck affectionately.
The woman smiled and nodded, yawning in exhaustion as she did. "I don't think sending a messenger to the healer to meet us in Egypt is necessary." Why did she feel so damn tired?
"Oh, yes it is. I don't want anything happening to you, Love," whispered Verus, running his hands up her back sensuously. "Just get some rest and I'm sure you'll be fine in a day or two." Livia kissed him lightly on the lips and ventured under the ship's deck.
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In her quarters, she entered to find Cesarius looking through her and Verus's things. "Cesarius, what are you doing?" she demanded angrily.
The lieutenant jumped and turned around to face her nervously. "I was just, ah, checking to make sure that your stuff was ready to take off the ship when we arrived, ma'am."
Livia glared at him. "This is my ship. There's no need to take it off." Cesarius gulped. The young woman caught sight of glinting metal in his hands. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to it and slowly moving forward.
Her lieutenant held up a bag of herbs that Verus took every day, claiming that a healer had told him it kept up his health in times when nutrition was sparse. He never missed a dose.
She snatched it from him. "What are you doing with this?"
Cesarius shrugged, then gasped as Livia pushed him up against the wall, her forearm pressing into his neck. "Listen to me, if I ever catch you trying to do something to Verus again I'll make you pass through the gauntlet, with both Verus and me at the end, should you make it that far."
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"What do you mean?" asked Verus angrily, rousing Livia from her sleep. She lifted her head and heard muffled voices outside her door. They had arrived in Egypt just a few hours ago, and she was still unusually tired, even after her three-hour nap. "You old coot!" shouted Verus, followed by more muffled conversation.
Livia groggily rose from the bed and ventured over to the door, pressing her ear up against it.
"…she can't be. You don't understand. We're in the army! Tell me you're lying or I'll snap your neck so fast that you—"
Livia opened the door and looked at her lover, who was pinning an elderly healer against the wall. "Verus, what's going on here?"
Verus let go of the man, watching as he slid to the ground gasping for air, and licked his lips nervously. "Baby, there's something I have to tell you…"
PRESENT"...and that's the first time I found out I was pregnant. I didn't believe it, and neither did Verus, but after a few weeks it was unmistakable. I began to fill out, ever so slightly of course, and the morning sickness got worse, then better. We didn't want the men to know. I had too many enemies to take that risk. So after we had gotten Verus's army in Egypt, he agreed to come with me back to Greece. Then I began the campaign that broke us apart..."
SEVEN YEARS AGOLivia was glad for the oncoming of winter as she stepped out of her tent, her large woolen cloak draped carefully around her shoulders. Her sword hanging in its sheath behind her back, she grinned at the sight of her men assembled so orderly before her. "Mars Legion, today is the day our campaign to take Athens begins. We will start with the surrounding villages for miles, slowly expanding the Roman Empire from our newly-conquered post in Helicon." Her men cheered their commander, the ground shaking with their booming war cries and shouts of support for the campaign. Livia smiled and then barely contained a wince as she felt the child move inside her for the first time. "I want six hours of training to be fitted in every day. Rations are increased by one cup of grain at midday meal and evening meal. My soldiers will not starve without proper cause, and for now I see no cause." This elicited another cheer, but not for the increased training. "Begin." She turned and went back into her tent as her men split up to begin their doubled training hours. The woman reached inside her cloak and ran her hand over the swell of her stomach as soon as the tent flap closed behind her. "You getting restless, Little One?"
Verus entered the tent, his face twisted into an angry frown. "Livia!"
She turned to him, her eyes cold in annoyance for the tone he was using. "Yes, Verus?"
"You cannot take Greece now! Why not wait a few months?" he pleaded, taking her hand in his and kissing it lightly.
"Verus, I have been promised by the God of War himself to become the empress of Rome, and I won't waste that on a lost cause." She tugged her hand away from him.
"Livia, you're willing to sacrifice this child for something you're not even sure you're gonna become? What if you get killed in battle?"
"Ares would never allow it. He has plans for me much too big to let me go now."
"Ares this, Ares that. Are you sure he's on your side? The God of War is known as a conniving, conceited god who is hated by those on Olympus and Earth alike. He only works for himself, and you know it!"
Livia glared at him. "I would not speak of him in that way when you are on his land. He might just lift his protection from you in battle."
Verus sighed and moved closer, removing her cloak to reveal her distended stomach. "Look, it's my child too, and I want to see it born. Please, at least take it easy? Let the men do the fighting, they're good enough."
With a sigh, Livia nodded. "Fine, but if I see that I start to lose excess men because of this, I'm going all-out." She pushed past him and exited the tent.
PRESENTXena grinned as she massaged Gabrielle's feet. "Better now?"
Gabrielle nodded and mumbled, "Keep going."
The warrior chuckled as she continued to rub the bard's feet and ankles. "I still don't see how you hurt your feet riding on that horse." She stole a glance to the black stallion standing next to her palomino.
"His name's Black and I didn't get hurt riding him, I got hurt dismounting," replied the bard, thoroughly enjoying her massage.
"I told you to land on both feet."
"And I told you to catch me."
Xena chuckled again and considered that. "Well, if 'Black' wasn't so darn tall then maybe you'd be able to get off him. I told you to get that little white one."
Gabrielle opened one eye and glared at the warrior. "That was a pony."
Xena barely contained her smile as she replied, "Yes, and it was still taller than you." She received a good hard kick under the chin for that one. "Hey, I'm the one rubbing your feet!"
"At least mine aren't stinky."
The warrior shook her head, knowing that the bard had successfully forestalled
any more argument from her.
Then, a twig snapped not too far away and it triggered a chain reaction. Xena jumped up and grabbed her sword in one hand, chakram in the other, then went straight into her battle stance, eyes darting around so fast it was almost undetectable. Gabrielle ran over and picked up her sais, jumping into a fighting stance against Xena's back. "What was that?" she asked, her emerald eyes never leaving the trees.
"It sounded like human weight, but I don't see anything, you?" replied the warrior, pale blue eyes traveling the forest floor for any signs of an ambush.
Suddenly an arrow flew out of nowhere and missed Xena's arm by less than an inch.
"Alright, show yourself!" demanded Xena, holding her chakram up. When no one answered she hurled it into the trees, a satisfied grin flashing over her face as she heard metal hit flesh again and again.
Ten or twelve men fell from the trees, swords in hand even though they had been hit by Xena's chakram. One of the men, obviously the leader, stepped forward, his sword held up with the business end pointing towards Xena and Gabrielle. "We have orders to kill you, and that's just what we're going to do. So give yourselves up and die quickly, or suffer."
TBC…