It wasn't until later that night that Xena made her move. All day she'd had to follow the pair from tavern to hut and back again. It'd been a chore, but she'd been able to keep herself inconspicuous. Now, finally, the sun had set, the moon had come out, and the duo were inside their hovel, thoroughly drunk. Though she'd kept careful tabs, neither had said any more about this 'plan' of theirs. However, since whatever was going to happen was on a timetable, she couldn't afford to wait any longer.
Taking one last look through the window, Xena proceeded to crash this little party.
Conscious of her surroundings, she stealthily slipped through the unshuttered window. It wouldn't do to rouse the entire neighborhood. Quietly, she made her way to the dozing figures before her. Unfortunately, even as silently as she moved, it proved for naught. At that moment an alley cat, spying a mouse, shrieked in delight/excitement - which left Salvitorus snorting into wakefulness.
Xena quickly covered the distance from the window and slapped a hand over his mouth, while at the same time applying 'The Pinch', a concentrated blow to the neck that cut off the flow of blood to the brainand brought on instant paralysis. All the while, Salvitorus' partner continued to slumber, oblivious.
Turning the man's chair around, Xena saw the look of fright in Salvitorus' eyes.
"Long time no see Salvitorus. You know the drill. I just cut the flow of blood to your brain, you have a minute to live, yada, yada, yada." She waved her hand about negligently.
"So, how about you tell me about this plan of yours?" Xena's face took on a politely interested expression.
Salvitorus shook his head, even as it was swimming due to lack of air.
"Come on, no need to play coy with me," Xena cajoled. "Just tell me, what—is—the plan?" She spaced the final words out slow and clearly.
Still Salvitorus refused to say. "…will…kill me…" He managed to choke out.
"That may be true." Xena said, unfazed, "But if you don't tell me, you'll be dead all the sooner. And then there's always your partner over there." She gestured to the still sleeping form across the table.
"One way or another, I'm going to find out what I want to know. Why not make it easy on yourself. There's a chance you might escape whoever it is you're afraid of. There is none here." She put as much inflection as she could in that last part.
Salvitorus looked uncertainly at his partner, then back at Xena.
"One more time," Xena drew her face up to Salvitorus', trying not to smell his breath. "What are you going to 'spring'?"
The man gurgled as his air supply ran ever lower, but with an intense effort, he was able to creak out a single word:
"Callisto."
Xena was so taken aback, she nearly forgot to undo the pinch. Salvitorus fell back to the floor, gasping in deep breaths of air.
Callisto? Xena's blood ran cold at the thought of that woman being at large. With Callisto out of prison no one would be safe. And they had said it was going to happen—tomorrow night! Her eyes widened in horror. She didn't have any time to lose. It might already be too late. How could she warn the authorities in time? But she had to try!
Not even wasting a glance at its occupants, Xena dashed from the hovel to where she'd stabled Argo. "Sorry girl," Xena apologized as she started to saddle up the horse, "But we've got a lot of ground to cover, and fast." With that she swung up onto the horse, led her out of the stable and, urging her into a run, sped out into the night.