Chapter 20

Xena and Lyceus had settled into the busy inn to get something to eat. She went to place their order and accidentally over heard some people talking about a warlord nearby.

"They must have wiped out the whole village. You could see the smoke rising from miles away."

"How did you manage to escape?" the innkeeper asked.

"It wasn't easy but I managed to get far enough away before they attacked full force. Can't say the same for the others though. Some refused to leave." the man said grimly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help over hearing. You said something about a village being wiped out?" Xena asked, her interest was immediately peaked that some warlord was out destroying villages nearby. Finally something to do other than walking around Athens.

"Yes." was his quick reply. "I barely made it out myself. It wasn't a big village about twenty miles East from here. They gave no warning or demands of what they wanted before they started to attack."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Do you know which way they are headed next?"

"They are heading this way as we speak. I'm not going to stay in Athens much longer. That army is huge and I don't think the city will be able to hold out against them. I suggest you all do the same and get out while you still can."

"Thank you." Xena responded. She knew she had to tell Athena about this new development so they could prepare for this new threat. She turned to the innkeeper and placed her order and quickly went back and sat down next to Lyceus. She wanted to know what he had been up to all this time and what he was doing. She would find Athena later and fill her in.

"How have you been?" she asked. She also wondered about Toris and mother but she didn't know how to bring them up since in the messages they exchanged they were still mad at her.

"I've been alright Xena." He could see the other unspoken question in her eyes. "Mother and Toris have been doing good also."

She was glad to hear that and even grateful that he took the burden off of her by not having her ask that question –aware that she wanted to. He was always the only one who got her and just let her be without expecting any type of conciliation in return. She had missed him terribly all this time and could see he had changed a lot since the last time she had seen him. He was somewhat a bit more mature than he should have been…

"That's good to hear." she gave him a soft smile. Their food then arrived and they began to eat it in a comfortable silence.

"Soooo...tell me, how did my charming sister manage to get the War God all to herself?" He was going to get the information out of her one way or the other.

Xena stopped eating at his question and just looked at him. She had been secretly hoping that he was going to forget all about what he had seen at the arena. She should have known better then to think that he would give up so easily.

"Like I said before, he wants to help train me." she figured if she kept her answers short, he would just drop the subject at a certain point.

"Now surely there has to be more to the story then that?" he raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "There must have been something that attracted him to you. Besides your overall charm of course." he wasn't satisfied with her simple response and her light smile.

"There's nothing more to tell. He showed up, offered to help train me and I told him I would think about it. It's that simple."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight." He mulled her words over before he continued. "You're telling me that the God of War, the one you've always wanted to be a warrior for just like father, offered his assistance to you and you told him that you will think about it?"

"Yes." she said nonchalantly wondering why it was so hard to believe that would have been her response to the War God's offer.

"So it is safe to assume that you have accepted his offer then?" After what he saw today how could he think otherwise?

"No." Xena replied.

"No?" Lyceus asked in shock, now he was really confused. "But then why was he with you at the arena today? If you haven't accepted his offer then why is he wasting his time with a warrior that doesn't even serve him?"

Xena didn't have an answer to that question. She had never expected for Ares to show up at the arena today. The only reason she was there was because his remarks about her technique using some work had nagged at her and she needed to show him that it was not as off as he had initially assumed. In the end, she was glad that he had shown up since he gave her one hell of a fight that she wouldn't have gotten from anyone else. He pushed her to break her own limits, causing her to have to always be one step ahead of him to try and out maneuver him. She had never enjoyed a fight more than she did today. It had filled her with a passion and a sense of completion that she never seem to get from anything or anyone else.

"Hmm, that's interesting." Her brother's words snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What do you mean ?" she looked at him questionably.

He gave her a knowing look as if she should have seen the answer herself. Was she really going to continue to play this game? "I just find it interesting that he would go through so much trouble for someone that belonged to another God." he let his words sink in before he continued. "He must really want you to be his warrior if he is training you when you haven't even agreed to it."

From what he saw earlier he figured the War God wanted her for other reasons as well.

"I suppose so." she said thoughtfully.

"So why haven't you accepted his offer? You obviously want to since you allowed what happened between the two of you at the arena." He saw the surprised look on her face as he knew she had immediately thought about the kiss she and the War God had shared among other things.

"What I allowed to happen?"

"Yeah him training you." he gave a soft chuckle. "What did you think I was talking about?"

Xena blushed at his comment, for the training was the farthest thing from her mind when he mentioned what she allowed to happen between herself and Ares. Her mind drifted back and she couldn't help but remember the feel of his lips on her skin. The way he ran his hands over her body in the most tender caress, as if he was touching the most precious thing in the world. Who would have thought the God of War could be so gentle? Then there was his kiss, she had never been kissed that way before. With such passion and intensity that made her want to just melt into his embrace and concentrate on nothing else.

Lyceus could see that he had completely lost her and that now she had this reminiscent look on her face. He took note of the small smile that pulled at her lips as she was reliving something in her mind. "Xena?" he waved his hand in front of her face to try and get her attention.

As if pulled out of a deep trance, she came back to reality and focused back on her brother. She couldn't let those type of thoughts cloud her mind. It was a onetime thing never to be repeated between them. A simple lapse in focus by the both of them from the positions they had found themselves in. Things were going to remain as the student, teacher relationship between them. If he was willing to offer his services so freely to her then she was going to take advantage of it. She tried to reinforce to herself that what happened was just a cause of the adrenaline rush he made her feel from that little spar between them. She always loved a good battle and the one against the War God had stimulated her senses more than anything else had ever done.

"I'm sorry what was your question, again?"

"You were going to tell me why you haven't accepted his offer."

She thought about it for a moment. "I just don't know why he wants me."

Lyceus laughed at her as if she had said the dumbest thing in the world. "Well I think it is pretty obvious don't you think?" At her puzzled look he continued. "I mean look at you, you are a fantastic warrior with amazing skills and what War God in his right mind would not want a warrior as good as you fighting for him?"

"You do have a point." she smiled at him. He always so sure of her abilities!

"Plus it doesn't hurt the fact that you are gorgeous. I'm sure that after spending the whole day looking at all his ugly barbarian male warriors he would want to look at something that is a little more easy on the eyes." he winked at her and smiled.

She laughed and shook her head at his comment. "Always the charmer, Lyceus."

"What?" he said with innocence. "It's true, I have a beautiful sister and he would have to be blind not to see it." he playfully nudged her and they both began to laugh.

They continued to eat and talk about nothing specific as they told each other how they have been spending their lives since they parted. When they finished they got up and headed in for the night, all the while failing to realize that their conversation had been heard by a pair of ears that wanted nothing more than to get Xena out of the way.