Out of the Shadows
By SparklyTree3876

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Pairings: Borias/Xena, Ioalus/Gabrielle, and Boris/Natassa (mentioned)

Summary: Hi, readers. Here is my first Xena: Warrior Princess. It is AU and shows Xena having been a slave since she was kidnapped and sold into the trade at thirteen in which she has been with her current owner alongside Borias for seven years, but he decides to escape with her he learns she is pregnant with his child and bring newcomer Gabrielle along with them. The idea for this fic came to mind when I wondered what might have been if Xena never turned evil and had been a slave since she was a teen instead of a warrior. As a result, it was born. The characters are a bit different from their show counterparts. I did research on slavery in Ancient Greece. I found the treatment of slaves depended on the owner. Many owners were kind to their slaves and treated them like members of their family. Others were cruel and thought of them as nothing more than animals. I wrote a prologue because the details would be too long to write into a chapter. I hope you enjoy this fic. Constructive criticism is welcome.

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Prologue

For the past seventeen years, Xena has lived the life of a slave. She has had several owners throughout that time. She has never stopped dreaming of being reunited with her widowed mother, Cyrene, and her brothers, Toris and Lyceus, in the Greek village of Amphipolis. She had a well-known reputation for sticking up for people when they had cruelty heaped upon them. This happened to be regardless of their status.

Thirty years ago, Xena was born to Nelo and Cyrene. Toris was from a previous relationship Cyrene had with a young man named Milo, who died in a wild boar attack while he was hunting. When Xena was four years old, Lyceus was born. Unfortunately, he would never know his father as Nelo died in a horse-riding accident just seven months later. She was very close to her brother. They spent their days hunting, fishing, playing games, and taking walks.

During a walk not very long after her thirteenth birthday, Xena and Lyceus were ambushed by bandits. They tried to fight them off, but they couldn't. He was knocked unconscious while she was dragged away screaming for him. She was tied up and loaded into a wagon. She was taken to Athens and placed on the slave market. A fisherman named Rourke purchased her to do domestic work alongside his wife, Margret, and teen daughter, Julie. They were not cruel to her at all. They were rather indifferent. They did keep her very well-fed and well-dressed.

Xena lived with the family for two years before she was put back on the market. She was purchased by a rich landowner known as Marco to do work in his fields. He and his brother, Kyle, were rather cruel to her. They would beat her and their other slaves if they did not work fast enough. She tried to escape three months later, but she was caught and given ten lashings by Kyle. It took several weeks for the wounds to heal. She spotted a female slave being cruel to a male one not long after. Despite the cruel treatment she had endured, her compassion overrode standing by. She went over and pushed her down. She told her in a fierce voice to leave him alone, or she would tear her to pieces. The slave was so frightened that she never bothered anyone again.

Xena spotted two male slaves mocking a female one for not being attractive three years later. She went over to them and told them to leave her alone. They laughed at her and punched her in the face. They began beating her up. Their victim and another male slave went over and pulled them away from her. They proceeded to beat them up. Xena helped them out very eagerly. Marco and Kyle caught them and gave them all five lashings for fighting. They decided Xena was too much trouble for them and put her on the market.

Xena went from owner to owner all over Greece over the next five years. The longest she stayed with any of them was a year. Most owners were very kind to her. Others were downright cruel to her. She built up her reputation of protecting people from cruelty, regardless of status. She even learned some self-defense skills in case she ever got attacked by anyone or anything she encountered in various areas.

Cyrene raised Toris and Lyceus to adulthood while she searched for her missing daughter. They joined in on the search. They followed clues throughout Greece, but they always seemed to miss her. They refused to give up hope of finding her. During this time, Toris and Lyceus taught themselves to fight. They hoped to teach their sister the same thing once they were reunited with her.

Xena was bought by a rich landowner named Johnathon to do domestic work with his wife, Carlie, outside of Sparta. He was very kind to her and gave her more freedom than most masters did with their slaves. He acquired another slave by the name of Borias to work his fields not long after. Borias had been captured by bandits after he found his wife, Natassa, and his son, Belach, brutally murdered upon his return from a day of hunting to his farm in Hungary. He had been a heroic commander of a small but strong army before then. He traveled all over Europe protecting villages and towns from warlords. He decided to retire to a quiet life with his family. Xena admired him for his heroic deeds.

Borias was no longer the hero Xena envisioned him to be. He was bitter and resigned to his fate as a slave. He rebuffed her attempts to form a friendship. She confronted him six months later. She told him she had never stopped dreaming of reuniting with her family. She pointed out his wife and his son would not want him to give up hope of having freedom. He realized she was right. He apologized for his attitude and became friends with her.

Borias told stories about his heroic exploits to Xena. She enjoyed listening to them, especially late at night. One such exploit involved a centaur village led by Kaleipus three years before his family's murder and his capture. It was located a day's ride from Athens. It was being targeted by warlords who were eager to take over the land and mine it for valuable minerals. Borias offered his help to the centaurs. Kaleipus rejected it at first, but he relented when Borias stopped a group of soldiers who attacked him in an attempt to capture him for bait in a trap. Their armies defeated the warlords. Kaleipus declared Borias was always welcome in the village. Borias thanked him for that.

Another heroic exploit of Borias involved the Telaquire Amazons led by Queen Melosa a year later. They had suffered from attacks by warlords who had kidnapped several Amazons with the intent to sell them into slavery. Borias wanted to help, but Melosa rebuffed his offer and insisted she could handle it. Unfortunately, a rescue attempt went horribly wrong and ended in the capture of Terreis and Ephiny. The former happened to have the right of caste to be the next queen. Borias took it upon himself to rescue the Amazons. He and his army attacked the warlords and freed them. They brought them back to the village. Melosa was very impressed and told him he was always welcome on Amazon land. He was thankful to them.

Borias and Xena's friendship turned into romance two years later. Johnathon became aware of it. Most masters restricted the sexual intimacy of their slaves if they were in relationships. However, he had no problem with them being together like that. He even allowed them to have a place of their own on a remote part of his land. They enjoyed the freedom this brought them. Of course, they were reminded they were still slaves and had to carry out their assigned tasks.

Borias and Xena were shopping in town for their owners when they spotted a man mocking a disabled woman in an alleyway a year later. He knocked her staff away. This caused her to fall down. He kicked dirt into her face. Xena went over and shoved him away. She berated him for being so cruel. He attempted to punch her, but she blocked him and gave him a beating. He ran for his life. Borias was really impressed with her. They helped the woman up and gave her staff to her. She thanked them and tried to reward them with a dinar, but they rejected it.

Carlie went into the forest for a walk a month later. When she did not return by midmorning like she said she would, Johnathan, Borias, and Xena organized a search party. They found her lying unconscious next to a bush. They took her home and called for a doctor. The doctor revealed she was pregnant and had fainted. She was told the news after she regained consciousness. She and her husband were thrilled. She gave birth to fraternal twins six months later. They named them Samuel and Darla.

Xena and other female slaves helped Carlie with caring for the twins. She enjoyed playing with and talking to them, especially Darla. Borias played with them occasionally after he finished with his tasks. This reminded him of Belach. He loved spending time with him, especially when it came to teaching him how to fish and hunt. Little did he and Xena know that their lives were about to change forever.