Chapter 64

They were well organized, she liked that a lot, it wasn't too often that you came across a squadron of men that were as disciplined as these here were- although, the Warrior Princess was pretty sure that it had something to do with the fact that these men held allegiance to the God of War and he did not strike her as a person who allowed petty discrepancies to unfold within his army. It was perfect though, that meant less training that she had to do in order to get these men to where they needed to be so they would be able to effectively go up against Athena's troops.

She still remembered the last time that these two forces had faced off one on one against each other as if it had only happened the day before... They had fought a valiant battle, succeeding in truly giving the Goddess a good scare of her actually losing to them except for the one deciding factor that had kept them from their guaranteed victory against Athena that day… her. They were getting slaughtered on that battlefield and it wasn't until she had formulated a new line of defense that the tide was finally turned into their favor.

She never understood why Athena had been so stubborn on the matter- delaying putting her plans into motion until the window of opportunity was nearly lost each and every time. Nevertheless, after much persistence on the matter, she did and the Warrior Princess had his men scrambling and she also had their leader and when you could take him out of the playing field then the rest would crumble shortly after. She hadn't realized it at the time but she knew it now, she had distracted Ares enough on that battle field for her plan to have taken full effect, even if at the time she didn't know that the main commander of that army was the War God himself.

It could have been all over within the matter of seconds with the way he had distracted her also but even then, he had chosen to protect her from harm even though they were absolutely nothing to each other. Why he had made that decision would probably always remain a mystery because she was more than certain that even Ares didn't fully understand why he had stopped that arrow that day.

She pushed it from her mind nonetheless- that was the past and this was her future now and no matter what scenario she could think about of where it might lead, each and every one of them involved the War God being right there beside her. She didn't fully understand why, but she had the feeling that whatever complicated road the Fates had in store for her, he would never intentionally leave her and that was something that she believed with all her heart.

After about another hour of the Warrior Princess and her newly acquired army trekking along the road that would lead them to Sparta, they were finally close to arriving at their destination. She signaled for Gascar to approach her and knowing that they had gotten off completely on the wrong foot earlier, he hastily moved toward to where she was. The last thing he wanted to do was anger her and he knew that if she was unhappy then the War God would surely be the same and the rest was just history with what would unfold when his patron God was angry.

"What are your orders?"

"We'll resupply once we reach Sparta, gather only what you believe to be necessary… It's a long way to Athens." she told him and then started to head away from him.

"What will you be doing?" he inquired before she could get too far away, making her stop briefly.

"Once again, that is my concern." came her strict comment, casting him a small steely look before just dismissing him, "You just make sure that everyone is ready when I get back."

She left him without another word, quickly heading off into the trees and into the direction of where the Halls of War were located. She really wanted to get Argo, it didn't seem fair to leave her all cooped up in that stall while she had all the fun. The Warrior Princess would never hear the end of it from her if she did that. At least then she could have someone to rely on fully, even if it was a horse. Xena was certain that she was more than eager to stretch her legs and she was truly going to enjoy some fresh air.

It wasn't long before she arrived and she swiftly made her way into the temple and headed down the different halls until she had reached the stables. She made her way inside and almost immediately, Argo stuck her head out of the stall that she was being kept in, as if she had sensed the Warrior Princess' presence the moment she had walked through the door. A fond smile pulled at Xena's lips as she made her way to her, she seemed really excited to see her, just wait until she found out the news that she had for her.

"Hey girl." she sweetly murmured out to the mare, gently rubbing her snot once she reached her.

Argo seemed to enjoy the sensation greatly and she leaned into her owners' embrace more, snorting contently with having her around again.

"Do I have a surprise for you…" Xena eagerly began to tell her but then frowned slightly with the look that Argo was giving her, "… No, it's not apples. Is that all I am to you? A means for food?"

With her harsh question, the mare shied away from her, making Xena regret the tone she had used and she looked around for a moment and as to have been expected, there was a fresh pile of apples sitting a few feet away. She quickly gathered a couple and headed back over to the stall that her overly dramatic horse was brooding in. Sometimes Argo really reminded her of Ares when he would do the exact same thing after she had scolded him- probably the two of them had been hanging out for far too long.

On the one hand, he was actually outrageously sexy when he pouted, there was just something about it that made him completely irresistible with the way he acted whenever she denied him something. She couldn't help the small smirk that appeared on her face as she thought about it, he was like a spoiled child being told no for the first time- although it was a lot simpler to soothe Argo, all she wanted was apples- as for Ares … now he was a special case.

We'll just say that the Warrior Princess had to give a little extra enticement to get him out of his sour mood, though she did like to tease him as she did so. Perhaps a little too much actually with the way she knew that she could really drive him up the wall from just a simple touch of her finger. Yet, it was a game that she loved winning over him each and every time.

A modest touch along his arm, a deliberate brush of her hair so that her fragrance- that she knew he was strangely addicted to- could mercilessly grab a hold of him, a barely perceptible touch of her lips against his cheek, making Ares inhale sharply from the feeling as she moved to whisper something in his ear…. And then there was the way he would gulp nervously as her hand slowly glided along his chest, trying to act uninterested in her ministrations as though she hadn't succeed in making him forget about everything but the thought of just pinning her against his altar and ravish her. He was a total goner the moment her seductive voice strung his name together and Xena knew it.

"Ok… truce…" she announced, opening the stall door and stepping inside and she walked towards the mare, "… look what I got." she cheerily stated, holding one of the shiny red apples up in her hand for the horse to see.

Not one to be able to resist such an offering of euphoric pleasantries, Argo slowly made her way back towards Xena, cautiously sniffing at the fruit in her hand as if she might have poisoned it before greedily taking it from her grasp. She eagerly searched for another one and the Warrior Princess sneakily delayed that ever so wanted reward before finally giving it to her. Argo slightly nudged her owner, not wanting to hurt her but trying to show the delight that she had because she was there with her.

"Yeah, I missed you too girl." she softly whispered in her ear, gently moving to place a kiss against her muzzle.

The Warrior Princess then started to tack Argo up, if she was going to take the mare with her then she needed to be ready to leave and there was just no time to waste.

"That's right, we are going to go for a little ride." she said at the horse's soft snort, casting her a questioning stare, "No, Ares isn't here…" she informed and the mare just whinnied out with her crushing words, prancing impatiently and seeming like her world had just been uprooted from finding out such devastating news.

"What? He'll be back…" she said to try and soothe her, caressing along her neck to try and relax her, "… and when he does get back, you can bother him for all the apples you want." she playfully told her, but her light smirk shortly faded from her face when she noticed that Argo was still rather gloomy about it.

She would have thought for sure that the mare would have loved the idea of bothering the War God hopelessly for all the apples that she could possibly get out of him. Besides, Ares would have had absolutely no choice in the matter either because the Warrior Princess' subtle little incentive for him to do so would have made him give Argo several apple trees, therefore, getting her little hearts fill of the fruit if that meant that it would please his darling Princess.

Now she was a bit concerned for why the mare was suddenly acting this way and she tried to think what could have been causing Argo's sudden unhappy mood and then it came to her. She couldn't help the light chuckle at the realization, who would have thought? Though she really couldn't blame her, the feeling was mutual.

"You miss him, don't you?"

With Argo's soft neigh, she took that as a definite yes and the Warrior Princess just lightly laid her head against her, taking in a deep breath while she gently let her hand wander over the mare's shiny coat. She really shouldn't have been letting the absence of his presence bother her this much. She thought it was completely ridiculous to be feeling this way and that was not something that she was willing to acknowledge. To have given voice to it, that would have made it real and at the moment she rather preferred to live in the safety of her little fantasy then to admit anything.

At least not to her brain anyway, another vital organ was hastily filling her with these unwanted sensations and they were never harder to resist then when that unmistakable presence was around. Or when he wasn't there, that was a rare opportunity when that actually happened since she had awakened in his arms that day. It was worse though, for the simple reason that there was a longing that yearned to be filled and there was only one antidote to quench it with and that was something that she fought within herself all the time about.

But while she was within the company of one who seemed to understand her almost as much as the War God did, then it was nice to whisper her undisclosed thoughts that she had a hard time admitting to herself to one who wouldn't judge her for them.

"I'll let you in on a little secret…" she lowly murmured a few seconds later, looking around carefully for a moment as if wanting to make sure that no one was going to interrupt their private one sided chit chat, "… that makes two of us… I miss him too."

Sensing the small amount of sadness that was now coming from Xena, Argo started to nudge against her, faintly nuzzling her head against her body in her tiny attempt to cheer her up.

"Between you and me, Argo…" she paused for a moment, not really sure how to phrase what she wanted to say, "… Ares… he… I just don't know how to describe what it is that he makes me feel when he's around me… He's just so… so… overwhelming, you know what I mean? The way he looks at me, when he touches me, the feel of his lips against mine… when we make love…."

She whispered her tiny confessions within Argo's ear, lightly moving her hand soothingly along the mare's muzzle, this was just what she needed to try and figure out what exactly she thought she was feeling towards the War God.

"He makes me feel as if it is just the two of us when we're together, which is completely crazy I know… but… you just don't understand, Argo… he makes me feel stronger than I ever felt before… things… things just seem to… fall into place… when I'm in his arms… and I think… I think that… that maybe…."

Her words became inaudible as she leaned into Argo more, whispering softly her closely held secret to the one that she knew would never tell anyone. Once Xena had finished, she once again gently laid her head against the mare, wondering what she had gotten herself into and if it ever turned bad between them, would she even survive it? She really didn't know the answer to that question and it scared her out of her mind more than it should have at the possibility that Ares would turn his back on her the moment something of greater interest came along.

After all, she was just a mortal and despite how many times the War God had constantly showered her with doting words and affection of how truly rare and special she was to him, which would have made the Love Goddess herself jealous of such adoration and worship, that fear was still there inside of her. Why would he want her, in the first place?

It just didn't make any sense no matter how many times that question decided to fight its way into her mind. She huffed out a frustrated breath, never would she have thought that, whatever it was that was going on between them was going to happen. After all the hopeless logic she tried to get herself to believe, in the end, Ares frightened her precisely because she knew deep down that he was the only one that could truly destroy her.

Feeling the sadness that was once again emanating from her owner and not liking it at all, the mare started to faintly nuzzle against her, trying to let her know that she would always be there for her. Her small amount of affection, though even Argo knew that it paled in comparison to the one that really held her heart captive, brought a warm smile to her owners face and as a thank you, Xena went and retrieved another apple for her.

"Now there's just one more thing I need to get and then we can go, ok?" she placed a loving kiss against Argo's neck and then moved out of the stall.

Xena soon made her way back within the War God's temple, quickly starting on her route to her old bed chamber. It was clear that any other time she might spend in this temple then she would be sharing Ares' bed with him and there was no need for her to stay in her old room any longer. Though he really didn't ask her opinion on the matter either, deciding for her that she would be spending her nights within his bed and honestly, she really didn't mind all that much since it meant that she could spend every night in his arms and that was something that she had grown to enjoy immeasurably, especially over those last few days. But there was still one thing in that bed chamber that she wanted and she wasn't going to leave it behind.

About half way to her old room, she suddenly heard a loud crash coming from the direction of Ares' throne room and then another and, curious to what was going on, she slowly made her way to it. Several priests and priestesses were hastily making their way in the opposite direction while she was the only one walking closer to whatever was causing havoc in his temple.

Lady Xena…" one priestess said, attempting to keep the Warrior Princess from going any further, "… don't go that way, its best if you just stay out of the way."

She paid no attention to her warning though and continued down the hall until she was right outside the doors of his throne room. Stay out of the way of what exactly? Someone was in there and from the sounds that were coming from inside, they were destroying Ares' temple and that didn't sit well with the Warrior Princess. Someone was trying to make a reputation for themselves by cowardly messing with the War God's temples but all they were asking for was death.

This was her home also and she wasn't going to let some scumbag ruin it just to say that they defied the God of War in his own temple and he did nothing about it. Xena wasn't going to stand for that and she was going to teach the little weasel a thing or two about respect when you were in someone else's home. With her decision made, she hastily pushed the doors open and stepped inside, immediately seeing the destruction that littered the room and then her eyes landed on the one who was responsible.

She made her way up to them, determined to find out what was going on and the moment she touched them, all of a sudden she felt this rippling pain by the likes of which she had never felt before go through her and then the next thing she knew, her whole world was being taken over by darkness.