As the darkness slowly descended upon the village her first plans for the defense were being implemented. Guards had been posted on the walls; a temporary hospital had been set up as had a fire brigade, while she had cast an eye on the warriors available to her. She had managed to move most of the people inside the city wall and only a few still remained on their farms gathering more supplies. It was funny to her that the entire town had immediately thrown the leadership of the defense of Poteidaia at her feet just as soon as Lila had positively identified her and mentioned that she really was from Poteidaia. The merchant Nikodemos had made a few more sincere offers to send for mercenaries, but Gabrielle had been able to politely head him off by explaining that no able mercenaries would be able to come to their rescue before the advancing army had arrived. Then she had sent a few boys and girls claiming to be fast runners out on sentry duty with strict orders to run back at the first sight of either Dareios and the remainder of the militia or the advancing army.
She was dozing on a bench in Lila's inn, when the cry of a boy woke her. "Gabrielle! Gabrielle!" He yelled as he burst into the barroom. Wearily and carefully picking the sleep from her eyes she slowly rose from her rest. Behind her she heard Lila and Sarah walk up to be able to hear as well.
"What is it?" She asked and remembered through her sleep hazed mind to smile at the boy.
"Dareios is coming back. His horse is gone and he is dragging some man behind him", he explained.
Gabrielle remained silent for a few moments then nodded. "I am going out to see him. You run to Pavlos and warn him to keep the guards alert. The enemy could be right on Dareios' heels", she yelled as she dashed out of the inn heading towards the city gate.
The large and burly man was walking in the still open city gate just as Gabrielle came into the view of the wooden gate. He was dragging a man behind him secured to a long rope. The man looked a lot more wounded than Dareios and struggled a lot making Dareios nearly drag him each step forward. Gabrielle let her eyes wander over the veteran warrior, who was the leader of her hometown's militia. He had a few bruises and only one visible wound in the form of a shallow cut across his right forearm. Thoughtful she walked to meet him with the remaining militiamen running up to her right flank.
Dareios threw the rope to one of the militia men. "I see that Pavlos has made good of the time. Everything seems to be ready for the approaching army", he said and looked around taking in the still puny defenses of the village. Gabrielle was already working on a plan to counteract that, but she needed to know more about her enemy first.
"Where are your men?" The voice of Nikodemos suddenly demanded from her left as he came running flanked by what Gabrielle now knew where his sons both trained warriors used to guarded the rich man's caravans.
Dareios' eyes flickered with intense anger and hatred for a few seconds then he drew himself up and faced the merchant. "I fear that they are all dead. We fought for our lives out there. I got carried away from the battle fighting one of their best warriors. It cost me my horse, but I killed him and captured this little rat". Dareios smiled triumphantly and pointed at the much smaller warrior he had dragged into the town. "I want to get some information out of him like who is leading their army and why they are attacking us", he claimed and grapped the rope again, pulling the man up to him.
Meanwhile a lot of the villagers had gathered near the gate as well. Gabrielle looked around and saw her family standing in the outskirts of the crowd. She also peeked up at the guards, who were still dutifully looking out for any approaching enemy. Gabrielle thought it strange that they had yet to see either hide or hair of the approaching army when they were ferocious enough to kill most of the militia. Yet they were slow enough give Dareios time to walk back here with a prisoner. She stared back at the huge warrior again her eyes taking in the looks of his clothes, the lack of dust and sweat marks on them. She looked at his weapons two huge axes still strapped to his sides, where she could see no fresh scratches in the reflections on the almost immaculate axe heads. Her eyes became set in suspicion as he moved to question the prisoner.
Dareios drew the man up and quickly twirled the rope around his neck. The man gasped in fear as Dareios tightened the noose slightly. "Now you worm. Tell me who the leader of that army is?" Dareios growled and nearly yanked the man of the ground with only a minimum of his strength she noted. The prisoner pressed his lips together and tried to look away. Gabrielle felt a little pity for him but chose on the basis of her suspicions to do and say nothing. "Who is he?" Dareios screamed and tightened the noose a little then loosened it again.
"Gascar the terrible", the man managed to croak forth. Gabrielle's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Good. Now why is Gascar coming here? Poteidaia is a well defended village and not easy prey for warlords like him" Dareios demanded and drew the much smaller man forward.
The man stuttered slightly but managed to croak: "Because he was offered a deal by some rich merchant in this village, he would be paid very handsomely in exchange for the merchant getting to rule the valley". Dareios yanked him up in outrage and the little man seemingly fell unconscious from shock. Gabrielle's mind was racing, while the murmurs around the square rose. She knew what purpose this little act served now. Soon there would be people calling for Nikodemos' head and the man, who practically paid the livelihood of most of the artisans around Poteidaia and owned much of the land, had not made an impression on her as the self-sacrificing type.
"It is Nikodemos' fault. He brought this warlord here. Kill him", the many different angry voices in the square grew louder.
"Now everybody calm down!" Dareios bellowed out. "No one said that Nikodemos had anything to do with the attack. I won't stand for mob justice. We don't have time for this. Gascar's army is fast approaching and while the preparations you have done so far are good, we still have much to do if we're to stand any chance at all against those oncoming marauders. Now everyone who isn't doing something of vital importance go home. We will sort out who's guilty or not after this is over" He commanded and strode up to the other militia men and incidentally Gabrielle as she was standing with them.
"Someone throw that maggot in a cell by himself". He asked and was quickly obeyed. Pavlos with a bandage still wrapped around his head walked up to the warriors, just as Dareios looked at Gabrielle and spoke. "Aren't you the amazon warrior, who beat those two gladiators last night" He asked and looked at her askance.
"This is Gabrielle the Battling Bard of Poteidaia. The only living legend that has ever come from our beautiful village", Pavlos explained and beamed at her. "She was the one who set up our defense. She is a very experienced warrior. She travels with Xena the Warrior Princess", he said and looked like that elevated her even more in his eyes. Somehow he reminded her of Korah, the innocent man she had accidentally murdered back in Africa. She didn't bother to explain that Xena was dead.
"The famous Gabrielle, I have heard many stories of your partner's exploits. There were even a few with you in them. So you did learn a lot from her", Dareios stated.
Gabrielle decided to play a slightly different role for this guy. "Oh, don't believe everything you've heard. It took me years to learn to fight right even with the daggers I carry and Xena wouldn't even think of letting me touch a sword. You see my strengths are my ability to talk and do the small stuff in her plans like guarding the villagers, while she did the fighting. All the real heroics were Xena's. I was mostly just another tagalong staying in her shadow and writing about her exploits. She taught me self-defense and such like but I am not really the warrior most stories make me out to be", she lied and put on her innocent eyes that had even fooled Xena a few times.
Pavlos looked surprised and disbelievingly at her. He probably couldn't believe that he had been taking orders from her or he didn't believe a word she had just said, but at least Dareios looked convinced. "I think you should take command here, I will of course help in the defense of my hometown. Command Dareios I think you'll find the villagers more than willing to follow you now than ever", she said in her most bubbly and believable voice, while puzzling inside on her next move. She needed to find out, who was really behind the marauders and on which side Dareios stood. She needed to talk with her sister about Poteidaia. While Dareios began ordering his men around, Gabrielle ran back to the inn.
"Lila", she asked and wandered into the kitchen where her sister was making bandages for the hospital.
"Yes, Gabby", her sister asked and used her old pet name for her sister without thinking.
"I think we're big trouble here… Where did Dareios come from? I don't remember him from the past, so he must be new, even if that doesn't mean much in my case", she asked and sat down besides her sister. Her practiced hands immediately began laying out the wet bandages.
"Dareios… He is a new in a way. He and his small band of warriors rode into town a few years ago and asked to be allowed to live in Poteidaia. They were all old Spartan veterans, who had grown tired of war and wanted to live a peaceful life, where they could dedicate their lives to the protection of others. Dareios and his men joined with our very small militia and he soon rose to be their leader. He has successfully defended the town from several slavers and thieves even if they sometime manage to do some harm, before he can run them off". Lila paused for a moment then looked her sister straight in the eye. "I am not sure I like him though. He is a rough sort of man, who is very set on transforming Poteidaia into a fortress. He is always asking for more men or that we build bigger and better defenses. He is also always pressing for the expansion of the militia and the training of all young men to be warriors. He has even tried to get us to build a temple to Ares. But he has never really gotten his suggestions through the council at least not when either I or any of the other old people have any say on the matter. Poteidaia has always been a happy and peaceful place and educating a lot of the young boys to be warriors is not going to improve that. Not that he is worse than Nikodemos that bastard". Lila explained and lifted another batch of boiled bandages out of the vat as she said: "Why do you ask?"
"I think that Dareios is lying about fighting that army out there and that his prisoner was giving a false testimony. I have recently seen Gascar and I am fairly sure that he has gone to his death either because his greed made him go into the Poltrois caves or because Ares, who he tried to kill, would have fried him by now. He would also have at least have sent a scouting party near the village to gauge our defenses. And that hasn't happened. This is not the way Gascar works or any other trained warrior for that matter. So something is up", Gabrielle rose from her seat and walked to the door, then stopped and looked sheepishly at her sister. "Lila, could you tell me where the jail is?" She asked.
Lila looked at her, smirked then confusion spread across her face. "They're where the old magistrate used to live. But what do you want in the jail?" She asked her warrior sister.
"I think I'll go get some real answers out of that prisoner", Gabrielle explained and strode out of the kitchen. Lila turned back to her task for a few moments, but then her brow knotted in thought; she rose and left in the same direction, while fumbling with something heavy in her pocket.
Gabrielle ran across the dark dirt road to the prison and listened at the door. The room behind the front door was completely silent so she tried to open the door, but found it to be locked securely. She took a few frustrated steps back and looked at the building again. She suddenly glimpsed a way inside. In a quick burst of speed she ran up a cart, jumped into it and easily from there she jumped up to grasp the ledge that ran around the entirety of the neighboring building. She carefully walked along the narrow ledge, making sure to keep her balance until she reached the wall of the prison. She focused all her will and jumped up just managing get high enough to grasp the windowsill of a high up window opening. Slowly she drew herself up and crawled inside, thereby gaining access to the seemingly abandoned former offices of the magistrate. Quickly she ran down the stairs coming down into the room, where the prison guard would have slept, if he hadn't been commandeered as a warrior to protect the village.
His keys to the cells lay in full view on his table. Smiling Gabrielle grapped them and made her way through the reinforced doors leading to the three cells which made up the rest of the ground floor. The romans and their slaves as well as one of the mercenaries were still confined and sleeping in the two of the cell, while her goal was lying comfortably on his cot staring at the ceiling. Gabrielle steeled herself and calmly unlocked the cell door. She walked inside just as the prisoner got up looking at her with clear confusion in his eyes.
"If I had known that this village offered this kind of service to it's prisoners I would've come here sooner", he said and rubbed his hands together in anticipation while a leer spread across his face. He motioned to get up, while Gabrielle quickly closed the distance between them.
"I want to know who really is leading that army out there", she asked and looked at him, while making her expression as unreadable as it was possible for her.
"I have already told you", the man said began rising to his feet.
Gabrielle slapped across the face with the back of her hand. He heavily sat back down.
"Don't insult my intelligence! I know you're not working for Gascar. Gascar is dead. He went to visit the Poltrois caves and I am betting he never came back. I know because I helped arrange it", she threatened while clenching her fist at the happy memory of her and Xena's visit to her grandparents' farm.
"You can't threaten me little girl. Go back to pretending to be a warrior somewhere where people are interested", he said and struck out after her. Gabrielle stepped away from the blow with sadness in her eyes.
"Please tell me. I can make you tell, but it will be very painful and I really have no quarrel with you, so please just do it. You've already been captured so no one will really hear about it if you tell me", she pleaded as the horror of what she would do to him if he didn't began making her a little nauseous.
"If you don't have the stomach for interrogation then don't do it", he advised her and rose fully to try and push her out of his way.
"Oh, no you don't", she said as he moved forward. She high kicked him in the chest sending him crashing hard against the wall and making him slide to the floor.
"I said I didn't like to do this. That didn't mean I wouldn't", she explained as she walked over and drew him into a sitting position. He was still groggy so he didn't move to stop her. Gabrielle drew herself up. She forced all her qualms and worries away forcing her to remember the horrors that would be inflicted on Poteidaia if she didn't stop that army. Keeping those horrible images in mind, she then recalled those final moments she had spent with Xena's still living body and how she had learned the pinch from her. With tears almost coming into her eyes she jabbed first one pair of fingers then another into each side of the man's neck, while she spoke the words that had become almost a ritual by now: "I have just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You have only 30 seconds left to live unless you answer my questions".
He began choking and trembling immediately. Gabrielle knew from Xena the danger of that move. If she had placed the pinch just a little wrong it would either have had no effect or the man would've died instantly as the flow of blood to his brain stopped. She began counting seconds in her mind gouging from experience that the man had a little over half a minute left to live if she didn't remove the pinch. His eyes sought her eyes for mercy. She forced the memory of Xena's dead body forward in her mind, making herself remember, filling herself with the ice cold memory of her dead friend.
Sharp pain shot through him and seemed to fill his entire body. He looked at her in surprise and shock for a while as the beautiful face in front of him filled his view. She stood before him, becoming all that his eyes could see, as time slowed down for him and he felt his life slip from his fingers. He sought her eyes for mercy, for any sign that he could keep his secrets without dying. Yet to his astonishment he found only emptiness in those sea-green eyes like all he was standing in front of was a hollow shell. Seconds passed as she stared into his eyes saying nothing just waiting.
"Gascar is dead. We serve the warlord Rafe of Syria", he managed to croak between desperate gasps for breath.
"Did a merchant really call you here?" The woman asked as she leaned forward, while the look in her inscrutable eyes suddenly became intense even passionate yet still contained no hope for him.
"No. We came to help the blood brother of Rafe: Dareios. I was told to say those things out there in the square so that unrest would further weaken the defenses of the village. The militia cost us a few men all ready and Rafe isn't really ready to sacrifice too much for this", he explained, while his limbs began to shake uncontrollably.
The warrior woman nodded to his and jabbed a few fingers into his neck. He nearly passed out from the pain just as he felt blood trickle across his upper lip. Still he felt the rush of blood going into his head making him lightheaded.
"Now unless you want to repeat that experience you'll tell everything about your army, your commander and whatever you can remember of the plans of your warlord", Gabrielle hastily added, while fighting to swallow the enormous lump in her throat and keep from crying out in alarm over herself and her actions as well as the unwanted flood of memories of her dark warrior princess doing this exact same thing.
The man spoke for a while, explaining that they were only around 40 men, that the militia riding with Dareios had been captured and not killed, that Dareios had returned to Poteidaia only to allow him to better gauge the defenses of the city before he could help his friend conquer it in the planned attack tomorrow. He even told her about how Dareios had financed their coming here by allowing assorted thieves and rogues to slip through the defenses of Poteidaia for a price or come here to hide from time to time. Gabrielle nodded and left the side of the weakened man, who still lay listless on the stone floor. She forgot about comforting him as her mind whirled with the prospect of having to remove Dareios from command before morning. She walked out of the cell locking it securely after her.
She walked thoughtfully into the guardroom only to stop and gasp in surprise. In front of her stood her sister with her eyes full of disapproval and strangely pain. Behind her Gabrielle saw the unlocked front door, Lila must have had a key.
"You tortured that man", Lila stuttered and looked at Gabrielle like she was looking at a stranger.
"Lila. No. I had to, we needed to know this", Gabrielle managed yet was almost unable to speak while seeing the hurt in her sister's eyes. The look in her eyes tore at her own soul wakening the specters of guilt that lived there.
"That doesn't justify doing that. There has to be another way. There must be. You would never have done some thing like this before", Lila demanded in anger.
Gabrielle stepped forward and grasped her sister's shoulders firmly, while looking her straight in the eyes. "Lila this serves no purpose. There is an army out there, which is going to attack in the morning and the man who is supposed to protect you from this is on their side. I can't deal with this now. Not now. I have to stay focused. First I need to expose Dareios and to do that I have to disappear for a while". Gabrielle let go of her sister.
"You are not really my sister, are you?" Lila asked rhetorically. The question drilled itself into Gabrielle's heart like a dagger. She stopped dead in her tracks on the way out of the door, which Lila seemed to have opened with someone's keys.
"I will always be your sister Lila, and yes I have changed a lot. Please understand that I do this for all of you, my motivations are the same as when I tried to surrender myself to Draco's slavers and have them spare you. You're my family, and I am truly sorry about doing that in there, but I will not sacrifice this town because of false sensibility. I am a warrior", she explained and continued on her way. Only silence followed her as she walked of into the moonlit night.
