Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

Additional Note (Please Read): This tale is a companion with, Xena & Gabrielle: A Turn of Fate. If you haven't read both stories' chapters preceding this one, you should do so now. A special thanks to my Beta and my readers, as well as a big shout out to Marijke Bush, who's stuck in with my tales from the beginning. Enjoy! ;-)

The Conqueror & Ri

A Twist of Destiny

By Ahkiken

Chapter 41: Anamnesis

"Praise Abeona." Meleager extolled the goddess of safe returns, and treaded to the Conqueror atop her platform. "Where have you been, young lady?"

Descending the dias, she smirked. "I take it you did miss me."

Meeting in the center of the area, they vehemently hugged each other, and Meleager's pupils closed in glee while his presentiments referring to the Conqueror's wellbeing was abated. Promptly, his cyan orbs snapped open when he dwelled on the stress her unpunctual arrival had incurred on him.

Terminating their embrace, Meleager lowered at her. "What in Tartarus took you so long to get back?"

"I knew you would be upset and subject me to a merited comeuppance." The Conqueror averred, walking rearward. "Shall I take a seat similar to a naughty child until you've finished?"

"I'm not finding any humor from your satiric attitude." The Chancellor upbraided. "A lot has occurred in the Realm during your absence."

"Chancellor Meleager, it's doubtless you can handle every situation that could pose a pother."

"Some things require your specific touch." He responded.

"Fine." Coming to the realization she was away for a lingering Cronus, the Conqueror jettisoned her trenchant witticism. "Who should start their debrief first?"

Meleager's interrogation had commenced forthright, "What results has your progress yielded?"

"Brutus, Cassius, and their massive forces are departing Dia as we speak." The Ruler answered, delaying the inevitable unwelcoming news. "The Romans had arranged an ambuscade for us before we'd reached the port."

"By the gods." Meleager mumbled. "How many Greeks' lives were lost in the battle?"

Her anamnesis of the Sixth Army's unfortunate troops was ineffaceable. "Twenty-seven are deceased, and thirty had gotten wounded."

"Damn it, Xena... Damn it." Meleager couldn't balk his outrage. "I'd forewarned you not to travel with a meager unit because the ramifications could be disastrous. Argh, you're lucky you have survived."

"I had no fear of that." The Conqueror reproved.

"Naturally you didn't. Your fighting skills is leagues beyond anybody I've ever seen...including myself."

"Thanks for the compliment." The Conqueror expressed.

"This isn't a joking matter." Meleager pronounced.

"Nor am I making it sound inconsequential." She rectified, prior to an exhalation of breath, which calmed her sensibility. "Men and women whom were under my dominion are either dead or injured, Meleager. I don't take that lightly... You of all people know I never would."

"Yes, I'm alerted of that." Agreeing and composing himself, too, the gray-haired, whilom Regent pleaded, "Tell me General Glaphyra is not a casualty."

A wane smile dispelled the Conqueror's stern appearance. "She remains among the living, and fought wonderfully, just like most of her warriors. They are unloading the ship we've sailed on, and I sent carriages to transport all of them here."

"Good. Good." The Chancellor did his wonted echo. "Proceed with your report."

"After crushing the couple of legions that ambushed us, I had demanded for Brutus to have a consultation on my vessel. Once he'd entered my cabin, we came to a satisfied concord. He, his brother-in-law and soldiers are to leave Grecian lands, or suffer gravely. They are expected to traverse to Africa." The Conqueror elucidated.

Meleager massaged his chin in abysmal cogitation. "What steps will you launch to implement the ordinance?"

"Our contacts in Africa will relay their entry in the country. Also, in advance of my progress to the Greek islands, I've dispatched a scrolled edict to Crete, apprising Governor Neokles about Brutus and Cassius' impending stipulation. Ergo, the Cretans are keeping a keen observation on the Romans' ships and their anticipated embarkation. If they temporizes or does anything to the contrary, we'll be informed, and I will send the entire Second and Third armies to inflict such heavy damages to Marcus Brutus' cause, he won't ever recover." The Conqueror imparted.

"Very well done." Meleager deemed that his Liege's explanation was meritorious. "Nonetheless, I already made plans for Draco's army."

The Overlord became intrigued. "Really? Dare I question your volition?"

"Walk with me." He verbalized, linking his arm around the Conqueror's. "There's much to tell you."

Apposed to her Chancellor, and growing exceedingly confounded, the Conqueror felt sportive again, professing, "I hope you aren't being unnecessarily dramatic, Old man. Surely whatever you have to say isn't truly distressing."

Meleager's silence and woebegone mien boasted her interest instead of lessening it whilst they exited the Throne Room.

{C&R}

Decked in a polished beige armor, Lyceus attached the final gauntlet onto his wrist and bent to lace the boots he wore. He was feeling eminently better than yesterday, especially following his eventual regurgitation of the remnant intoxicants that lingered within him. Had he known that emesis would provide an adequate cure for the malady that afflicted him, the Prince would've used his fingers to induce the act in preference to trying and failing to hamper it from betiding.

A groan parted the Prince's lips in appalled recognition of his folly. Lyceus was cognizant that he'd disappointed Meleager, therefore embarrassing himself and his royal status. Subjecting himself to foolery wasn't a habit he wanted to develop. Because of that, he would stray from spirits indefinitely, lest it compel him to discomfit adored individuals.

Abruptly, he recalled Ri's voice.

['You are being uncivil.']

Lyceus' mind was accosted by memories of the petite storyteller twice, and it invoked agitation, for he could simply procure fragments, but the full details eluded him.

'By the power of Moneta, please succor me to remember.' He supplicated the mnemonic deity. 'I beg you, don't let it be a horrible recollection, though.'

Albeit deep in the Prince's heart, he had enough evidence from the obfuscated retrospection that his past interaction with Ri was turning out to be something he would regret. Fortunately, or plausibly lamentably, she'd deferred her departure to Athens, giving him an opportunity for them to converse. However, that awkward discourse would have to wait, 'cause he had pressing business elsewhere. Finished tying the chestnut-colored footwear, Lyceus straightened his posture and gaited towards the door.

Loitering outside Prince Lyceus' chambers to accompany him to the Agora, the substitution for Oris was revelling in his own delightful reminiscences. The General of the First Army's wonderment of the passion Alex sensuously visited upon him the previous night had left a memorable impression that would be grueling to forget. He replayed the images of their phenomenal foreplay, and had great confidence that the oral pleasure he'd given to Alexander was strongly appreciated. Shifting through the erotic visualization, he welcomed the mental sight of the Macedonian's ardent kisses on his mouth and body, preceding the delicate fashion that the aspiring king had entered inside him.

Yesterday's recruitment for the Conqueror's Imperial military had prevented them from spending Cronus together, causing Nale to increase his enlistment further, but reluctantly he had to sleep alone in lieu of snuggling on Alex's frame. Becoming flustered, he ceased his lasciviousness, and had begun to stew. The General was conscious of Alexander's partiality for bedding those he fancied 'til they stultified him, then he'd move on to the next conquest; Lieutenant Tessa could attest to that inelegant treatment. Hence, that was why he'd prorogued having sex with the playboy. Withal now that the deed was done, would Alex cast him aside as well?

'If I do end up being a notch on his belt, it might be for the best.' Nale somberly mused, remembering the kiss he'd bestowed on his slumbering lover's cheek, a precursory to leaving in the late morning. 'He'll travel back to Macedon soon, and find multitudes of admirers to seduce.'

Enkindling himself to anger and jealousy, Nale stifled the emphatic thoughts to focus on his looming task. He wasn't raring to attend the assembly of kvetching nobles, nevertheless, his lieutenant had to incorporate recruiting potential candidates without Nale's continuous guidance.

Moments later, the entry to Lyceus' residence opened, and while the Prince ambled into the castles' corridors, his escort inwardly ridiculed him, 'He appears healthy for a dipsomaniac.'

Closing his doorway, the worried Prince was surprised to espy Nale. "General, I surmised Lieutenant Oris would be my traveling companion."

"I had to exchange places with him." He proclaimed. "Does this poses a problem?"

"It doesn't." Lyceus asserted.

Secretly, he was grateful that Oris wouldn't be joining him, having become weary of his tactless ogling at attractive women of differing ranks, whether they were single or not. His responsibilities bordered on being a glorified bodyguard, not a seeker for possible bedmates. Mindful that the licentious male was courting Darnell's teenage daughter had troubled Lyceus. He pondered did Iona's father have knowledge relevant to Oris' behavior and purely ignored it for her sake to date him, or was he ignorant of the philanderer.

Halting his ruminations on affairs that didn't concern him, Lyceus gestured for Nale to lead the way, purporting, "The hardest part of our day is 'bout to be over with."

Lyceus' comment galvanized General Nale to chuckle in rapport commiseration. Afterwards, he traipsed ahead, and his Prince trailed behind him to their mutually scorned destination.

{C&R}

The primary authoritative figures' stroll had steered them through the halls and to the Conqueror's abode. Shedding the cloak, she paid no heed to the added divan that was positioned across from the fireplace, and sat down at her desk. The Chancellor stood in front of it, handing a folded parchment to her. She quickly unfurled the missive, and azure irises started perusing its momentous contents.

[To my dearest companions,

I pray to Mercury that this message reaches you all in a convenient manner, considering my life is in credible peril. There's escalating rumors that Marcus Antonius has reconciled with Gaius Octavian, and he is welcomed into Rome again. If this despicable gossip proves veracious, I'm correct in displaying my fright to y'all, for his rapprochement can doom me. Recently, I've had the gladness of entertaining an outstanding visitor in my villa, and he has a firsthand account of the hypercritical monologues I'd orated in the senate against Antonius' diabolical stance on abandoning his Roman heritage to adopt an Egyptian lifestyle. I incautiously reckoned that I'd successfully inculcated the whole of Italia to forsake him, yet he's capable of returning and doing devastating harm to me. I beseech the ones I've called friends since Julius Caesar's death to intervene on my behalf. I've taken preemptive action and absconded myself close to the river Tiber. I'm afraid I cannot reveal my exact location in case these words are unveiled to adverse eyes. Please, do not desert me in the duration of my reliance on swift aid.

Beholden to friendship,

Marcus Tullius Cicero]

The Conqueror dropped the flattened scroll on her table, inquiring, "When did this arrive?"

"A half fortnight ago... There've been no other forms of communication, either." Meleager divulged.

Leaning backwards, the Conqueror's black and silver-streaked tresses flowed off of a beautiful face that was blemished by furrowed lines above her brow. Whilst pinching the bridge of her nose between an index digit and thumb, the Conqueror was perturbed from every harrowing intel she'd listened to Meleager evince. Cicero's predicament wasn't the exclusive quandary. Britannia was imbued in insurgency. Babylon's inland suffered pillaging from unknown marauders, save for a singular accused person whom supposed to endorse the province and not oppose it.

'King Antigonus can't adduce that Cassander is the perpetrator. Sans evidence, I'm unable to arraign anyone, unless I impel an attainder on the Governor, whereby provoking my citizens to trepidation.' The Conqueror demurred, 'Damn it! I cannot decree a forceful imprisonment. It's unpopular, largely amongst the aristocrats, and can feasibly rile the Grecian Realm into chaos. By Minerva, can I not solve one of these dilemmas straightaway?'

Retention of the war goddess' vaticination seemed distinctly apparent throughout the Conqueror's combatant existence. Uniting kingdoms and constructing an absolute imperium wasn't the sole presage to arise. Each of Minerva's prophetic affirmations came to pass, engendering the Conqueror to luxuriate in blissful junctures and bear insurmountable losses. Perhaps she had to tolerate another deprivation.

"I shouldn't have stayed from Corinth for a moon." She chided herself anent to the lengthy nautical expedition to secure Greece's frontier, thereon opening her optics to solemnly allege, "Cicero could be in the Elysian Fields for my cunctation."

"Don't think that." The Chancellor hurriedly discouraged his Liege's negative notification. "He is still alive... Cicero's merely hiding from his probable pursuers, presenting a limited window for us to mount a rescue and safeguard him."

"Initiating your strategy could manifest a calamitous outcome." The Conqueror stopped listing in her chair to gaze intently at Meleager. "Sending the Second and Fifth armies to Rome will be intuited as a declaration of armed contention."

"If we do nothing, Cicero will die, Xena."

Meleager's categorical insistence didn't alter the Conqueror's judgment. "Use your wisdom, Chancellor. Have you forgotten that our territory is beset by internal fermentation?"

"I haven't, Conqueror." He edged on irritation. "While you were vacationing abroad at sea, I remained in Corinth and kept the reins on government. You've no concept of the circumstances I've tackled, nor do you ascertain what's to occur."

The Overlord's several handclaps was a pretense for her true feelings. "Congratulations on hatching ludicrous propositions to absolve our complications. Let's see, first you fancy instigating warfare with the Romans, nullifying my trip to Crete. Secondly, you want to deploy Lieutenant Kira alongside a handful of her army to Britannia, consequently relinquishing Gaul of significant fortification, plus you'll ultimately dismantle everything she and General Vercinix had accomplished if a would-be invader aim to acquire the country from us. Am I mistaken, or does these reactions and its corollaries sound horrendous?"

Meleager couldn't proffer a rejoin to her sarcastic query. Introspectively, he had to concede that she established a vital point. His haste to extricate Cicero from danger was a cursed burden for him. Also, the Chancellor's intellect became overworked by troublesome inclusions; the Conqueror's heretofore return was unpredictable, and the empire's various conflicts could not be resolved in due course because he had to wait for the armies' generals to attain a satisfactory amount of recruits. His excessive brooding, apropos to Ri's modified conduct that pertained to her loving the Conqueror in an intimate aspect, had relentlessly affected him, too.

'Have I grown overly old to manage my services to the Realm?' Meleager prodded himself.

Consternated via his cogent revelation, he verily felt infirm and not venerable. Unaware of Meleager's disconcerted demeanor, the Conqueror continuously derided him.

"Thirdly...oh, forgive me, there isn't a third. Owing to the fact I have to address Alexander's request to obtain kingship, and discover the culprit who's masterminding the raids in Kush, I'm stuck fixing these said offenses." Fleetingly pausing, she emitted an audible, exhausted sigh. "I got a brilliant idea to reward you for your magnitude of superb assistance and tireless days. Why don't you go rest, and allow me to sort all of this out, alright? You do not even have to adjudge the Agora, I'll do it."

"That's Lyceus' function now." The Chancellor disclosed.

"Hmm, the pup has sprouted." She was amazed that her younger brother had an active role in the administration. "Perchance he could've offered effective advice on dealing with Britannia's rebellion and Kush's sporadic incursions."

He nodded in crestfallen concurrence, and noticed her fatigued visage. "You look sleepy, my Lord. Maybe a nap is needed for both our benefits."

Nonplussed that Meleager hadn't enunciated a riposte to the excoriating avowal, she fathomed he didn't wanna argue anymore, and it attenuated her prepared opprobrious reply. "Yeah, that would be apt... Nightmares had dashed my dormancy, and I haven't slept in candle-marks."

"You should repose till the evening. Your replenished strength will be a desideratum for excogitating on the Amazon's proposal."

"What?" The Conqueror whispered in astonishment.

The Chancellor explicated nonchalantly, "I presumed it would be a sensitive issue and suspended telling you that they wish for an invitation to the Tribute ceremony."

Thereafter, rotating on his heels, Meleager was unobservant of the Conqueror's thunderstruck countenance as he sluggishly departed her antechamber.

To Be Continued...