What If?

Chapter Four:

Xena buried her hands in the soft sand that covered the embankment and fought to hold back a sob. She was no longer part of a family; she'd lost the comfort, belonging and peacefulness that came from knowing that someone always cared about her wellbeing. Her younger brother was dead, by what may as well have been her hand if her mother was to be believed, her older brother had run away, too scared to even think about the rest of his family or their village and her mother hated her and blamed her for her younger brother's death, as her older brother would surely do when he found out. All in all, Xena concluded, while the battle had been a success, she had lost everything that was important to her.

Choking back another sob, Xena suddenly felt a tingle go up her spine and knew that she was being watched by the same invisible presence that had been watching her for the past week. Not in the mood for games, Xena got to her feet quickly and determinedly, while she attempted to narrow down the location of the presence.

Focusing upon the area between the two main sections of bush, approximately ten metres away, Xena called out irritably.

"I know you're there so you might as well show yourself."

Almost immediately a thin silver and blue light flickered where Xena was looking and the body of a muscular and handsome man appeared. He wore a leather outfit, tight pants, a textured jacket and jewelled gauntlets. He had a dark, thick head of hair, that hung loosely and elegantly around his shoulders and he had a small beard and moustache that surrounded his mouth neatly while giving off the aura of recklessness and wildness. He had dark brown eyes that seemed to hold all the contempt, anger and passion of the world in them.

"Why are you here?" Xena asked. She had noticed his appearance, his attire and the way he carried himself and deduced who he was. While she was impressed, she was more concerned with the loss of her brother and her mother's treatment of her than she was with the god before her.

"I am Ares," Ares spoke as if Xena hadn't interrupted his magnificent entrance and hadn't asked a question. He had been watching this woman for the past week and even periodically before that. Her father had been a loyal warrior for Ares and had promised the God of War a son to continue to serve him. Ares had waited for the son to come to him, and when no son had presented themselves, Ares had sought to punish the son for his betrayal. However, when he had arrived to see Atrius two sons and his daughter he had immediately become enthralled with Xena. She had become a drug to him; a necessary part of continuing to be. He had watched her, admired her and when it was clear that she had felt his presence, he had been filled with an unrecognisable emotion. When she had started to prepare the village for defence against Cortese, he had been even more certain that one way or another, this woman was meant to be his.

"God of War, I know," Xena continued, her tone uninterested and slightly irritated and impatient "I know who you are; I just don't know why you're here?"

"I want you to ride with me."

Letting the statement hang in the air for a moment, Xena considered what Ares had just asked of her. While it was an opportunity few got, only three in history that she knew of, she was also aware that if she accepted, her life would no longer be hers to live. It would belong to Ares and be his to control. And while he might allow certain privileges, he definitely wouldn't allow her to keep her promise to her brother and strive to fight for the people.

"Why?"

Xena's tone and body language indicated that while she was interested in what Ares had to say, she wasn't very interested in the God of War's offer, and while her eyes had briefly widened when he'd first appeared, it now seemed as if the impressiveness and grandeur of his entrance had gone and had been replaced with wariness and suspicion.

Seeing that Xena was losing interest and that this meeting was not going according to his plan, Ares decided to adopt another persuasive strategy; seduction. Walking toward Xena, with a charming and beguiling smile on his face, he drew closer until he was beside her. Now near enough to touch, smell and taste the beauty before him, he ran his hand down her back and across her side until it rested gently upon her hip and she was firmly held by his arm. Leaning down to close the gap between them, Ares rested his chin on her shoulder before gently easing his tongue out to seductively lick at the throbbing pulse point in Xena's neck.

"I've seen you in battle," Ares began, slowly licking Xena's neck and making his way toward her ear, "I've seen your tactics," he continued, now gently nibbling at the base of her earlobe, "You're intelligent," he pulled the lobe between his teeth, "you outwit your opponents," he bit her ear tenderly, "you think ahead," he ran his tongue soothingly over the bite, "you watch their moves," he gently sucked on the lobe again, "you anticipate their strategies," he let the lobe go with a small pop, "I want that."

Xena's breath had caught in her throat while Ares continued to seduce her and while part of her couldn't help but think his offer and treatment was fantastic, another part of her realised that this wasn't the life she wanted and it most definitely wouldn't be the life she owed her brother. While she enjoyed Ares treatment of her and part of her responded, she knew she was being manipulated and that thought broke through the haze Ares was weaving around her.

"No thanks." Xena's answer was short and to the point and had the added advantage of making Ares loosen his grip and forget his line of seduction, allowing Xena to escape his grasp and stand on equal footing opposite the God.

"What?" Ares looked confused and his tone conveyed undisguised disbelief.

"No," Xena stated clearly, glaring at the surprised God of War, "Thank you for the opportunity but I'm not interested."

With that Xena turned to leave and attempted to walk away from the God of War but found that she was blocked by the solid form of Ares. He moved in front of her, blocking her only exit and before she could do more than take in his presence, he had once again pulled her into his arms. Nuzzling her neck intimately, he once again attempted to seduce Xena.

"I want someone I can count on to lead my army," Ares gently began to suck on her neck, "to bring peace through force," he swirled his tongue over the lightly pinked flesh, "to be the architect of a new world," he bit tenderly on the same spot, "my new world," he blew gently over the now very pink area and Xena felt a shiver rush through her, "our new world," he kissed her neck lingeringly "where force of arms keeps the peace and one great warrior queen rules."

Almost overcome by the second sequence of seduction, Xena's head rested against Ares shoulder, her eyes closed, her knees weak and her body languid. Part of her yearned for him to continue, he was so very talented, but another part screamed at her that this was just manipulation and she had to pull herself together. Snapping out of the aroused haze, Xena's head shot up and her eyes opened. Pulling herself out of Ares grasp, she once again turned to face him.

"No."

With that, Xena turned once more and walked toward the trees surrounding the lake. Behind her, still standing close to the lake, a shocked Ares remained, too stunned by his lack of success to think clearly. His initial manipulations, in the style, manner and look of his first appearance had failed to persuade the warrior, and as they had occasionally, although rarely, failed in the past, Ares was not too shocked. However, the fact that his two attempts at seduction had failed was unheard of. Every woman that he ever set his eyes on and seduced he had had. No woman had ever resisted him.

Watching Xena leave the lake area, and in a last ditch effort to get what he wanted, he called after her.

"I can give you the world. I can give you everything."

Turning back to face the God of War, Xena said simply and with a little pity in her voice, "You can't give me what you don't have."

Without waiting for a reaction, Xena continued away from the lake and away from Ares. Unknown to Xena, Ares smiled wickedly as he disappeared, a new plan to bring Xena to him already forming in his mind. It would take a while, but that didn't matter. He was Ares, God of War; he always got what he wanted.

As Xena reached the trees, she looked back at the lake one final time, taking notice that Ares had disappeared and that the gentle breeze playing on the leaves was creating ripples in the water of the lake. It reflected how she felt. The lake had once been like her; calm, collected, but with an abundance of wildlife below the surface. Now, the lake still contained the same wildlife as before, but its surface was rough, angry and it had been forever changed; just like she was.

Startled out of her musings by the noise of a large group of people headed in her direction, Xena turned to see who comprised the group of people making the noise. From where she was standing, she could see through the bushes to the track leading to the lake, but whoever was coming would not be able to see her until too late, giving her a chance to hide if necessary.

Through the bushes Xena could make out the faces of Darius and Lykus as well as some of the other villagers who had fought in the battle earlier. Some of the men walked with bandages, and others had yet to be treated by a healer, as evidenced by the still oozing wounds that she could clearly see through the bushes.

Deciding to find out why the villagers from her army had come out here, Xena hid in one of Lyceus favourite hiding spots, just off to the right of the track, beside a large tree and behind a dense bush. It was a good hiding spot, as the tree was large enough to cover someone from one side and the dense shrub provided adequate cover from two other angles. The only way someone could find someone hiding there was to either know they were there, have the person reveal themselves or walk through the dense bush on the right side of the path.

As the men from her army reached the end of the path and looked onto the lake, one of them, Xena couldn't see who, remarked, "I don't see her."

"I'm sure she's here," another villager replied and Xena recognised the voice as that of Darius, one of the more able bodied and strategically inclined men, "We just have to find her."

"How do you know she's here?" the voice from earlier asked, Xena recognised the voice as belonging to Lykus, who while an able bodied warrior was a hopeless strategist, "She might have left already."

"No," Darius disagreed, "She'd want to remember her brother before leaving. And I doubt she'd leave before the funeral pyre, even if she wasn't permitted to attend."

Lykus nodded and continued to walk further along the beach, scouring the area for any clothing or other clues the warrior may have left. The other villagers from her army, simply stood at the end of the path, most looking lost and sombre, others exhausted and a few defeated. Darius, seeing the Lykus was scouring further around the lake, looked around the area where they were standing. He had the distinct feeling that Xena would be close by; close enough to hear what they were saying and far enough to escape if need be. Looking intently at the area just before him, he noted a few sets of footprints; one set in particular leading to the shrubbery on the right side of the track. Following the footprints to where the grass began, he looked closely at the bushes before him. While he couldn't see Xena, he distinctly thought that he had found her hiding place.

Feeling somewhat stupid, yet confident in his tracking skills, Darius spoke quietly to the shrub in front of him.

"Xena," he whispered. Darius waited for a reply, but hearing nothing, he spoke again, a little louder, and again received only silence in response. Feeling like a complete idiot, Darius turned around, concluding that he had made an error in tracking Xena's location.

"What do you want?"

Xena had heard Darius argument in favour of her still being at the lake and had to admit that she was both proud and annoyed. Proud, because one of her men had been able to accurately deduce her plan of action and motivations, and annoyed because the men had intruded on her time to mourn Lyceus passing. First she had been interrupted by Ares and now by her army.

When she watched Lykus wondering further along the lake, she'd suppressed a chuckle with great difficulty. There was nothing on the other side of the lake, except dense bushland that one could easily get lost in and the riverbank. There was no reason for her to have gone that way, and it was simply idiocy on Lykus part not to notice that.

However, when Xena had seen Darius had note the footprints that lead to her hiding place, her respect for him had increased dramatically and she'd had to still herself. When she'd heard him speak to her, knowing that he couldn't have seen her and therefore couldn't know that she was there, she'd felt even more respect for the humble man before her. As much as she wanted to address him, she hadn't felt ready to put on the mask of warrior and leader and forgo the chance of truly processing Lyceus death.

As Darius had turned to go back to the men, obviously concluding that he'd made an error, Xena had seen past him and glimpsed the faces of the men in her army. The defeated, lost and exhausted looks on their faces had tugged at her heart. As much as she had grieved for her brother, she still had a mission, and she still had the comfort of knowing that she was going to fulfil Lyceus wishes. It was more than what the men before her had and she knew it. Therefore, she'd abandoned her place of hiding and stepped out to address the men.

Almost immediately after she had spoken, gasps in various orders ran around the group of men, closely followed by exclamations of surprise. They'd been taken unawares, none having suspected that Xena had been this close to the group. Lykus had run back to the group, hearing the commotion from where he'd been along the lake. Darius, who had spun around at the noise, and seen Xena in the spot where he'd previously been, let out a sigh that showed he was not surprised at her actions, and smiled lightly.

"We want to go with you," Darius addressed Xena for the group, "when you leave town."

"You should stay with your families," Xena responded. She was overwhelmed, if all these men really wanted to join her and become an army for the people of Greece, she would be eternally grateful for their help in completing her brothers mission, "They'll need you to get through this."

"Xena," Darius spoke again, he seemed to be the mouth piece for the group, "All of us realise that we'll never really be safe from murders such as Cortese, especially not if we sit back and do nothing about it. We want to protect people, make sure that men like Cortese know they don't have free reign anymore. People are going to fight for what they believe in. We want to be a part of the change that you and Lyceus started."

Moved by Darius speech, Xena felt her eyes moisten, "You already are. You fought to protect Amphipolis from Cortese, you've already made a huge difference to the lives of people," Xena told the men gently and passionately.

"We want to keep doing it," one of the men from the back of the army called.

"We've saved Amphipolis, but Cortese is just going to attack another village in our place. We have to make sure that he pays for what he's done."

"Besides, we have to prove that it wasn't a one off. If we don't keep fighting they'll come back."

More and more of the men from the army were calling out reasons for continuing the army and leaving with Xena, until the cacophony of noise was so loud that all that could be heard was the roar of a jumble of voices speaking at top volume. Knowing that the men before her weren't going to take 'no' for an answer and both grateful and humbled that they wished to honour their fallen comrades and Lyceus memory by continuing to fight for the people, Xena decided to adopt the men before her as her army.

Resolutely Xena adopted the mask of leader and looked determinedly at the men before her, all still shouting reasons for joining her. Placing two fingers in her mouth, Xena whistled loudly, effectively silencing the group faster than she'd expected. The men stopped talking immediately and looked hopefully at their leader.

"Okay," Xena said, nodding her head, "We'll be the army that fights for the good of the people."

The men before her gave a brief cheer, but seeing that their leader was not yet finished, they quickly silenced themselves.

"However, we can't leave Amphipolis unprotected. If the warlords find out where we're from, they'll attack our homes for revenge. We need to leave part of the army here, so they can defend our village from any warlords."

The men nodded, although a few had expressions of surprise on their faces. They had clearly thought that once they'd won the battle, no one would ever attempt to attack Amphipolis again. Taking note of these men, Xena knew they'd make good soldiers but would never be leaders, strategists or trackers.

Beginning to pace, Xena looked across at the lake, the ripples that had been so evident earlier, seemed to relax and flow more gently across the lake, barely creating a wrinkle in the smooth calmness of the lake's surface. Once again, the lake seemed to reflect Xena's mood, she too was feeling more at peace and was calmer than she had been earlier.

"Alright," Xena "We'll split the army into three sections. The first section will stay in Amphipolis and protect our village from any warlords. You'll be under the command of Darius," knowing that she'd have to explain her decisions for command leaders, Xena continued, "He's one of the best strategists and fighters that I've seen and you know that he was invaluable when we were designing our defence." The men nodded, and Darius smiled proudly, pleased at the praise and acknowledgement of his skills and the increase of status that came with his new rank.

"The second section will be comprised of messengers, trackers, cooks, blacksmiths, healers, etc. You'll be under the command of Linus, who you all know is an excellent healer," the majority of the men looked over at Linus thankfully, many of them having had their battle wounds treated by him, "The last section will be the main army, under my command," Xena knew she needed a second in command, but she wasn't ready to replace Lyceus and therefore left the position unmentioned. She could see clearly that the men understood her reasons for not naming a second in command.

"You'll need to separate into the three sections before tomorrow afternoon. I trust that you will all be able to sort yourselves into the appropriate groups. If you are uncertain, approach either Darius, or Linus for help and if that fails, myself and I'll place you in the appropriate group."

As the men began to organise themselves into groups, looking awfully like school children lining up for playtime, Xena looked back at the lake one final time and swore that she'd do everything within her power, and a bit beyond, to live up to the memory of Lyceus and honour his legacy. Her brother, she was determined, would not have died in vain, he would stand for something; he would be the catalyst for change.

Authors Note: As I said in the two previous chapter's authors note, I don't know anything about battles or battle plans, etc. so please take that into account. I really hope my portrayal of Ares & Xena is okay and Xena's reaction to the men wanting to come with her is realistic. It took me a really long time to figure out how to write Xena's reaction in particular. Please let me know what you think! I really appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks!