Chapter Twelve: Caged Songbird Set Free

She was in the eye of the storm. Chaos surrounded her and fire spread throughout the city. People ran out of their burning homes seeking refuge. Gabrielle had her eye on the woman ahead in the crowd, shooting arrows at the Roman soldiers who were trying to push back the horsemen. She sat on the horse, weaving in and out of the market, stomping on bodies to get closer.

Even though there were horsemen around she was able to make her way through the sea of people as if she were a ghost. She clutched the knife in her palm and took in several deep breaths. The noise around her became a muffled nuisance as she steered the horse, approaching the cloaked woman.

Gabrielle bit her inner cheek, fearing she would hesitate for too long. It only took one second to jeopardize the entire mission. She searched for this woman for a month now and there she was, right in front of her.

If she waited too long, Xena would disappear and this opportunity would go to waste. Xena would be free to terrorize Rome and Gabrielle would be dead. Nero would find her and kill her when she least expected it.

A few feet away and her skin would be under this knife and the world would be rid of her. People wouldn't have to worry about her lurking anymore.

I am doing the world a favor, thought Gabrielle.

Taking someone's life in order to survive wasn't exactly what she had in mind for a career but she had no choice. It was either this or be sold as a slave in the market. She lived comfortably even if she hated working for both the Emperor and Empress, she could do almost anything she wanted.

Although she wasn't working in the fields as a slave or tending to the Empress in the palace, she was still considered a slave of Rome. She did everything she asked of Nero even if that meant disposing of one his greatest enemies.

If she missed Xena's throat then she'd have to make a run for it and leave Rome. She couldn't show her face in the city anymore. If she missed this chance then she was as good as dead. She couldn't afford to miss.

She wouldn't miss. She can't.

Gabrielle tapered her eyes and leapt forward over the horse's head and landed on the Steppe woman's horse. She wrapped her arm around the woman's throat and yanked her backwards and drew the knife. She pulled the cloak away and felt bare skin then slid the blade along the throat with a quick swipe.

She jumped off the horse and watched as the Steppe woman gurgled, clutching her throat to clot the blood flow. Gabrielle stood, mouth agape, hesitating to run. She took a step back when the Steppe ruler collapsed and fell off the horse and onto the ground.

A hand came to her throat as she leaned over to see if the woman as alive. There was no possible way that she could still be alive but Gabrielle checked anyway. She kicked the woman over with her boot and stared at the lifeless eyes.

She staggered backward and pulled the hood further over her face. She wiped the knife on her dark cloak, breathing heavily. She lifted her head, scanning the area and then saw three hooded Steppe soldiers staring at her from afar.

Gabrielle put a hand to her thumping chest and then the three assailants ran across the square. Her eyes widened and she took off running through a neighboring alley. If she wasn't going to be killed by Nero then she was going to be killed by Xena's men.

She darted through several small pathways and then came to a four-way intersection. She looked over her shoulder and saw the three men continuing to follow her. Panicked, she chose to run down the left path.

Never before had she ever been chased so rabidly. She felt like she was prey for a wild animal. They were relentless and didn't even stop to take a breath while they darted in and out and around the city. Gabrielle felt her legs about to give out but due to adrenaline pumping through her body, she kept onward.

She climbed the stairs leading up to a building's roof. She knew this city better than Xena's men. That was the only advantage she had. She hopped from one to building to another, soaring over the flaming streets below. A quick glance over her shoulder and there she saw the men, too tall and large, were slowing down, unable to catch up.

She smiled and jumped to next building and took off running towards the west. As she kept running she felt something sharp scrape her right arm. She dropped to a knee and the knife slipped from her grasp and slid over the side of the building.

She clutched her arm and saw blood on her palm and an arrow soared over her head. Gabrielle got to her feet again and turned around to see one of the soldiers preparing the bow to shoot again. She was either going to stay here and die or she could jump down.

Gabrielle blinked, judging how far up she was. She wouldn't die but she'd definitely be hurt for awhile. Breathlessly she mistakenly met eyes with the soldiers a couple of buildings away and backed her way to the edge of the building.

The assailant lowered the bow once Gabrielle jumped over the ledge.

Evander lolled his head over and glared at Tildus who was in charge of watching him for the time being. He was alone in this dark place, trapped. The last conversation he had with Xena had been short and sweet. He wanted answers from her but she wasn't willing to talk and ignored his pleas.

Alone in his confinement he was able to think and he wasn't sure that the best idea right now. He hated thinking in silence as it often led to absurd conclusions and paranoia. At this point he wanted to die. He no longer wanted to be a part of Xena's game anymore.

His life had no value to her anymore. He should've died the moment he arrived but she wanted him to reveal who else was after her. Xena was so paranoid yet she had the gall to show her face in public without a care in the world.

Evander thought of Gabrielle and inwardly kicked himself. Xena was close to Gabrielle all this time and yet Gabrielle was just as blind to it as he was. He wanted to tell Gabrielle everything but he couldn't. There was no way for him to leave this place.

He could also tell Xena that Gabrielle was the one who carried the order to kill her but then if he did that, Gabrielle would most likely die. Was Xena truly unaware of Gabrielle's true intentions? Had Gabrielle been sloppy and exposed herself by accident? Or was Xena just as blind as Gabrielle?

So far from what he gathered over the last week spent here, Xena was clueless to the fact that her killer was right in front of her this whole time. He had to give it to Gabrielle for being so sneaky but at the same time he wanted to slap her for not putting the pieces together.

If he couldn't put the pieces together then Gabrielle would never find the missing puzzle piece right in front of her eyes either.

Evander groaned, wiggling in the chair and Tildus gave him a quick distrustful glance. He sighed and heard people outside screaming from afar. Loud horse hooves galloped rapidly throughout the city and swords clashed together. He heard it all –he heard the chaos –he heard death.

"Where is she?" he asked in a growl.

Tildus frowned and stuck close by the window and peeked outside to see if anyone had come back yet.

"Where is Xena?" he demanded. "What is she doing out there?" he yelled.

"Quiet, boy!" Tildus walked over and stuffed a cloth in Evander's mouth. "You won't be here for long."

Hours went by and Varinia stayed on the second floor of the shop, watching the Romans push back the Steppe invaders. She was tempted to wait downstairs by the windows to see what was happening up close. She was too afraid to go downstairs in case the shop was invaded and destroyed.

She chewed on her nails anxiously waiting for Gabrielle's return. In the back of the loft she heard a loud thud on the wall. Varinia crouched down, backing herself into a corner and hid behind a wall of clothes hanging on a rack.

She peeked through the clothes and saw Gabrielle crawl through the window and fall onto the floor, cursing loudly. She smiled and leapt out of the hiding spot and grabbed Gabrielle's arm to hoist her up.

"Where did you go for so long? I've been waiting for you!" she saw blood trickling down the artist's arm. "You're hurt! What happened?"

Gabrielle collapsed on the bed and held her bleeding arm. "It's a long story," she tossed the knife on the pillow. "Dammit," she lifted her pants and saw another gash on her calf.

She knew taking that leap was very risky but she didn't have anywhere else to go. She wasn't going to just stand there and allow her body to be pierced with arrows. That was a horrible way to die and today wasn't the day. As soon as she landed after her grand jump her leg was met with a Roman's sword as she swiftly ran across the city.

Varinia looked for some gauze and poured water into a small bowl. She sat, tending to the wounds, dabbing them with a wet bound of linen. Once the bicep wound was cleaned she noticed shards of wood splintered inside the pit of the wound itself.

"I'm going to need to pick those out," she muttered.

Gabrielle peered down at the large wound. "Pick what out?"

"Wood," she pointed to the deep scrape, "how did you get this?"

Gabrielle preferred not to talk about it. She lived through enough today and she wanted to put it behind her but she thought she could trust Varinia. After all, Evander trusted her and he told her about his real job. He apparently told her a lot of things which also included Xena.

"Someone…shot at me," she paused at the look of concern from Varinia, "with arrows. I was chased and ended up jumping off of a building."

Varinia wagged her head, picking the bits and pieces of the arrow out of the wound. "Who were they? The Steppe woman's men?"

She gave a silent nod. "I…killed her."

Varinia gasped. "You did? You really killed her?"

"You can't tell anybody about this."

"Secret is safe with me, Gabrielle," she cast a faint smile and washed her fingers. "Do you think Evander will come back?"

That was a subject that Gabrielle didn't want to touch. She knew that Varinia cared a lot for him but he'd been missing for so long that she began to believe that he was dead. He might have had some kind of encounter with Xena and was killed instantly. Although from the people that Xena's killed, Gabrielle did notice a pattern.

Whenever she killed someone she did it quite openly so the people of Rome could see she was here. Xena killed the Empress' friend and displayed her body on a crucifix for the city to see. She also killed Governor Vindex and forced him to the streets. She wanted everyone to know she was here.

She didn't do that to Evander. The only explanation that Gabrielle could come up with was that Xena could've been questioning Evander this whole time, torturing him even, to get information on those who'd been trained to kill her. Another scenario could be that Xena killed him and dumped his body in the sea because she didn't care about him and why would she?

Now that Xena was dead there was no reason for Evander to come back unless he fled Rome. Gabrielle came to the conclusion that Evander was dead and she didn't have the heart to say that to his lover.

"I hope so," she said with an uneasy smile then hissed at the stinging in the wound.

Varinia sighed and wiped her fingers on a cloth. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt you. I think I got all the pieces out."

Gabrielle waved her hand, shooing her little assistant away. She grabbed the gauze and wrapped it around her arm and tied a knot with her teeth. She relaxed on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and listened to the Romans clash swords with the Steppe men outside. She didn't know if it was going to be safe to stay here but she had nowhere to go.

Nowhere to go; just like Varinia.

"You can stay here for the night," she said, lifting her sore arm over her head. A poor choice, she realized, once her muscles twitched at the slightest movement. "But you should really leave Rome, Varinia. Don't come back here."

"I'm not going to leave Rome without Evander. I love him."

Gabrielle sighed, gnawing at her bottom lip. "I know you do but this place is like a deathtrap. You should take the money that was given to you and leave. Go far from here! Go back to Syria."

Varinia wrinkled her eyebrows, washing her hands and then sat opposite the artist. "I don't know where my family is anymore. I haven't been to Syria in over five years!"

"It's probably a better place than Rome," she grumbled.

"Gabrielle…" she twirled a curly strand of hair round her finger, "what is that woman's name? Your client, I mean."

"I…um, I don't know her name."

Varinia stifled a chuckle. "You've been employed by her yet you do not know her name? That is very strange."

Yes, indeed it was but that didn't really bother Gabrielle. It did at first but now she understood why she didn't know her client's name. A smile crept up on her lips and she nearly forgot that Varinia was sitting by her, watching her intently. Her cheeks radiated and she brushed her hair back with her fingers.

"She's a very strange woman."

"I'll say."

Come morning, the Roman soldiers were able to push out the Steppe horsemen for the most part but now they were crowded around the borders of the city. The Romans barricaded the entire city which meant nobody could come in or go out. Everyone was trapped but there was a victory to be had in the empire.

The body of the Steppe woman had been found by Nero's elite guard and she was brought to the main square in front of the palace. Nero wanted to see the woman with his own eyes and once her body was thrown onto the ground that was proof enough for him.

Still, the citizens were restless and forced to stay away from the borders and portions of the city that weren't burned and ravaged. The invaders were insistent on staying in Rome until the entire city was a pile of rubble.

It didn't seem to matter that their ruler was dead. They continued to pillage through the areas and mow down Roman soldiers with brute force. Nero had no intention of going out to give a speech to his people to assure them of their safety. Instead, he hid in his large palace with a mountain of guards surrounding the large fortress.

After his enemy's body was burned in the square for the citizens to see, Nero knew that the people would feel some type of relief. The real issue was going to be getting rid of Xena's men for good. They weren't going to leave anytime soon. Nero expected there to be another coastline fire at this rate.

In the square, citizens crowded around the pyre in silence. There were whispers and murmurs in the crowd, talking of Xena's death. They were more concerned for their well being as the military wasn't doing a very good job protecting everyone.

In the center of the crowd, among everyone to see, Xena stood in front of the pyre. She listened to all of the gossip about her. They spoke of her death not as a celebration but as a bad omen. The Romans truly hated her and she knew that but if they only knew that their ruler didn't give a second thought of their lives, they might change their tune.

She watched as Gölge's body was engulfed by the pyre's flames. Her eyebrow twitched at her name being repeated around her. She stood in silence, smoldering. She wiped her cheek and pushed her way through the crowd.

She took in a deep breath to calm herself before she was to strike anyone that came near her or spoke of her again. Her eyes narrowed at the path ahead where a few of her men were fighting off Nero's soldiers.

Xena smiled as she passed by and gave a slow incline of her head.