Down in the stables, Xena prepared Argo to be ridden, tightening the straps of her saddle.
"Who is this Black Pegasus guy, Xena? How do you know him?" Gabrielle asked. Her friend slowed her movements briefly, involuntarily going back into her darker memories to answer the question. For a while, though, she would not answer, focusing on Argo's saddle and nothing else. Still, Gabrielle knew to be patient.
"He's from my past," the warrior said. She turned finally and faced Gabrielle. "I used to work with him from time to time until one day he betrayed me and my army… Naturally, I fought back and…" Xena paused, not liking the graphic memories that were pouring into her head then. "…It was a massacre. After that, we became enemies. He has a specialty in capturing women and selling them as sex slaves at auctions in certain towns; he promised me that one day he'd do the same to me for what happened to our alliance." Gabrielle's face held a slight pain in it, somewhat in disbelief at what Xena had told her. She didn't understand why, though… They were talking about a warlord that had kidnapped the princess of Artanes, after all. What was so surprising?
"That's awful," she said. Xena smiled subtly. "But, wait, I thought you said that he betrayed you, so…. Why is he mad at you for defending yourself? That doesn't make any sense." Xena's smile grew wide then, amused by Gabrielle's thought process.
"Haven't you learned by now that you can't ever use reason with the wicked? You'll never win that way." She approached Argo and mounted, adjusting herself in the saddle and grabbed hold of the reins. "Now come on, let's go rescue us a princess!" Gabrielle smiled at this and followed Xena and Argo.
"Alright," she said.
It was almost noon by the time Xena and Gabrielle reached a clearing of any respectable size, and after a few minutes of travel within it, Gabrielle stopped abruptly.
"Gabrielle?" Xena halted Argo and commanded the animal to back up. "Gabrielle, what is it?" Gabrielle closed her eyes and turned her face upwards, taking in a deep, sharp breath.
"Do you smell that?" she asked. Xena put her nose into the air.
"Smell what?"
"The smoke… Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute." Gabrielle's grin was huge and her eyes sparkled in delight as she understood Xena's onliviousness. "You mean to tell me that there is finally something going on that I know that Xena, the Mighty Warrior Princess doesn't?" Xena rolled her eyes. "No, no, I gotta stop and revel in this moment here. I mean this… This is monumental. I mean I actually know something that you don't it's like a really, really amazing-"
"Gabrielle, I swear to every god known to man and then some that if you do not tell me whatever it is that you know right now, I will come down there and give you so many more bruises that you won't even be able to remember the one on your shoulder from the other night. Now what is it?" Gabrielle's expression switched swiftly from cocky to insulted, and she prused her lips.
"Fine. You know, Xena, you aren't very much fun sometimes," she said. "Alright. I smell smoke from a fire- I'm really surprised that you couldn't smell it from up there- but it's not just a random fire, it's a camp fire, which leads me to believe that there's a camp near by… It could be Black Pegasus." Xena's eyes went wide for just a moment, and then a small smile crept onto her face.
"Gabrielle, you're a genius." The blonde smiled at this.
"Yeah, I kinda am, aren't I? Ha ha-"
"Alright, then," Xena said. She turned her upper body to face Gabrielle and remained in her saddle. "Here's the plan…"
Xena traveled briskly on foot towards the back end of Black Pegasus' camp alone, not making a sound in the tall wild grasses. Her history with the man gave her an advantage, and this knowledge dictated her movements. She knew that there would be at least two or three guards posted at every vulnerable end of the camp, but she did not expect to see one all alone at the end she approached. She smiled wickedly, this single guard not even going to be an obstacle, and crept around from behind a tree and out into the clearing. In a flash she was behind him, his reaction to her breath on his neck not fast enough to save him from her lethal 'Xena Touch'. In seconds he fell to the ground at her feet, dead, and she immediately went into taking his armor and underclothing. Holding onto her new findings tightly, she retreated into the forest.
"You won't get away with this!" the princess said sternly, her eyes cold. Her confidence buckled easily, however, when the man a few feet in front of her turned on his heel, assuming a position as if to strike the princess down. She flinched and whimpered, not making eye contact.
"And I find that very interesting… Tell me, princess, how exactly do you figure that this is so?" The princess kept her eyes on the ground, but her voice was strong.
"My father- His mighty army will come for me-"
"Your father's 'mighty army' will do nothing, just as they did nothing when I had you brought to me." The man laughed, his dark eyes flashing. "No, you're with Black Pegasus now." Suddenly, there was a commotion outside of the tent and Black Pegasus and the princess, as well as the guard by the door, turned their heads in the direction of the noise. Black Pegasus faced his guard, looking him in the eye. "Make sure she behaves," he said, and he stepped coolly outside.
There, near the middle of the camp, stood one of his own men with a small struggling blonde woman beside him. In accidentally making eye contact with Black Pegasus the blonde froze, her blue eyes wide like a deer in a lamplight, before continuing to struggle, this time with more fervor. Black Pegasus approached.
"And what is this?" he asked with slight distain. He looked the young woman over.
"I found her near the edge of the clearing behind camp, sir," the guard said. "I don't know where she came from but I figured it best to bring her to you." Black Pegasus eyed his guard, slight suspicion in his gaze. Stepping right up to him, he looked the guard in the face, examining it closely. The guard stared right back at him, his bright sapphire gaze piercing enough to make his commander look away. The rope in the guard's hand that bound the young blond woman was snatched away.
"So where did you come from?" Black Pegasus asked her. He pulled the rope tight, forcing her closer to him. She refused to meet his eyes, her face hard. The guard looked back and forth between the short woman and Black Pegasus several times, fire in his eyes. "Not speaking today?" The rope was pulled very hard then, and the guard moved just a fraction towards Black Pegasus instinctively. The movement ceased quickly, however, and the guard replaced his reserve. Still, he snarled under his breath, and there was a blood-red protectiveness behind his gaze that was well hidden when Black Pegasus looked up again. "Take her and put her with the others," he said, and threw the end of the rope at his soldier.
"Yes, sir," the guard spit, but the tone went unnoticed. "Come on." He pulled on the rope, leading the blonde towards the far end of the camp. Black Pegasus disappeared into his tent.