Chapter 2

"Took 'ya long enough." Autolycus remarked as Xena came into the room.

Knowing Autolycus as well as she did, Xena had insisted on an inn over the dives he usually frequented. He'd complained about keeping a 'low profile', but after some 'friendly' persuasion, had relented.

"You'll never guess what I found out."

"You're right, so how's about telling me?"

"The Countess Del-la Portina is in town."

"Who?"

"The Countess Del-la Portina..." She growled out, fixing Autolycus with a look.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, catching on. "Yeah, the countess Del-la Portina... Hey, she's loaded!"

"No kidding." The warrior woman deadpanned.

"Alright kid," Autolycus said, turning to the boy on the bed. "You wanted to become a thief? Well, here's your first job. Up for it?"

"You bet!" Youthful enthusiasm radiated from his face.

"We'll see. Here's the score. This countess," He waved his hands, trying to remember the name.

"Del-la Portina." Xena offered helpingly.

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, anyway, she always has this, er, necklace with her, see? Well-"

The boy interrupted.

"What kind of necklace?"

"What kind of necklace? Uh, it's um-"

"Pearls." Xena supplied.

"Right, right. They're pearls. Rare and expensive pearls. They're called, um, 'The Eyes of...' er-"

"Aphrodite."

"Yeah, 'The Eyes of Aphrodite'. They're worth a fortune. If we can get our hands on those puppies we can write our own tickets from here on in. Normally they'd be harder to get to than a Hestian virgin. But we're in luck. She must be in town to, uh..." Again he looked to Xena.

"Visit a few friends while traveling onto Athens."

"That's it. So we've only got a short amount of time to pull this off. Once she's back on the trail, we'd be seen coming from a mile away. We've got to make the grab while she's in town."

Intrigued, the boy wanted to know more.

"How long is she here?"

"Uh, how long is she in town Xena..."

"For the next three days."

"Three days! So we've got to get our stuff together and make a plan."

"But first," Xena interjected, "We need someone to keep an eye on where she's staying. Someone to get the 'lay of the land', stake the place out. I'd do it myself, but her security has already seen me."

"Yeah... But I can't do it because my well-known mug is plastered on every wanted poster from here to Corinth. The price of fame." He sighed, ignoring the patronizing look Xena leveled at him.

The wheels slowly turning, the boy came to the expected conclusion.

"I can do it!" He said.

"You?" Xena feinted surprise. "But you're just a little kid. No, we'll just have to wait until Gabrielle comes back."

"But that could take days and days! The Countess will be gone by then!"

"Oh, that's right." Xena slapped her forehead. "But we couldn't possibly send you. It's such a very important and dangerous task..."

"I can do it!" The boy persisted, looking imploringly from one grownup to the other.

"I don't know..." Xena wavered. "What do you think?" She nodded towards Autolycus.

"Hey, the kid's gotta learn the ropes someday, right? I say let 'em go for it. If he gets caught he can always play the 'poor little orphan' card."

Resolute, Xena faced the child.

"Alright, we'll let you do it."

They spent the next hour going over with him what he was to do. Satisfied, they at last set him out with the instruction to let them know if anything of note happened. Once he was out the door, the two stood back, contemplating their next move.