Chapter One
Captured!
Xena stoked and banked the campfire one last time before she and Gabrielle settled down for the night. And one more time, Gabrielle looked over at Xena with the questioning look on her face.
"Just a couple more days," Xena said, answering the question Gabrielle no longer had to ask. "Two more sunrises and we'll be in Napoli. And then it'll be just a matter of booking passage to Prevaza. Less than thirty days after that and we'll be safe and sound back home in Greece."
"It sounds like forever to me," she answered. "I know we haven't had any problems, but being this close to Rome makes me nervous."
"An eight-day journey on horseback makes you nervous? This is a big country. That's a lot of land to search. And it's not like we left a wagon trail. And besides," Xena went on, "no one will be looking for us here. They think we went north toward the mountains."
"Did you really have to kill him? A Roman soldier of all people!"
"It was him or us, you know that."
"Okay. Okay, I know. It's just, well I would have done things differently. I don't know what or how, but different."
Xena didn't bother to respond. They both knew when it was time to stop discussing the fact that Xena wasn't about to let a corrupt Roman centurion rob them, and then try to kill them when they fought back. It was a lose-lose proposition. If Xena and Gabrielle hadn't been in disguise while in Rome, Xena would have had to fight all the way there and back just for being Xena. But their weapons were never far away -- Xena's favorite sword and Chakram, and Gabrielle's sais.
Early the next morning when it was barely light, Xena heard Gabrielle making her way to the trees to relieve herself. She waited, half asleep, for her to return and to get the fire built up to start breakfast. Xena let her eyes close, but then there was a noise, muted and muffled, not at all like the sound Gabrielle would make coming back to the camp.
Xena sat up, her hand instinctively gripping her Chakram. Just then Gabrielle stumbled into the clearing and Xena could see her hands were behind her, and a rope around her neck. Suddenly behind her,and surrounding half the camp were soldiers armed with short swords and shields, battle axes and pikes.
"If you want me to kill your friend, make a sudden move. Any move!"
Xena slowly moved her hand away from her Chakram, making sure both her hands were visible to one who spoke. It was obvious he was a Roman lieutenant.
"On your feet! Slowly."
Xena obeyed. Right now there was nothing she could do, but her eyes were everywhere -- checking out the weapons, the number of men, where they were standing, who appeared inexperienced and nervous, and who were the veteran warriors.
"Hands on your head!"
When Xena was slow to move, he jerked Gabrielle's head back by her hair and put a dagger to her neck, slicing it and leaving a small trickle of blood to run down to her collarbone.
"You're making a big mistake," Xena warned. "If anything happens to her, none of you will live to see the sunrise."
"If you don't want her dead, you'll do as you're told," he retorted as he pressed the tip of the dagger against her throat, causing yet another dribble of blood.
He nodded his head and Xena heard someone behind her move. Then her hands were brought down and manacled behind her and a loop of rope was tightened around her neck. Both she and Gabrielle were tied together, front to back, an arm's length apart, with rope from neck to neck.
The lieutenant ordered that their supplies and Xena's sword, Chakram and Gabrielle's sais were to be gathered up, then they were marched off, their backs to the rising sun. Xena couldn't help but notice they were NOT being taken toward Rome.
As the sun rose higher in the sky nothing was said -- it was evident these men were on a mission. And still Xena studied them as they traveled. They were Romans, no doubt, but not part of the Roman Legion of the capital city. They were part of a private army, much like the generals who carried out the Senate's orders but had their own armies.
Finally, they stopped for a brief lunch. Xena and Gabrielle were given a swallow of water and nothing else. While the solders talked among themselves, Xena tried to comfort Gabrielle while attempting to overhear any part of any conversation that would give her a clue as to what their destination was. When she realized that wasn't working, she waited until the lieutenant walked past.
"Where are you taking us?" she asked abruptly.
For a few moments he said nothing, then answered curtly, "Capua." Then he walked on.
Gabrielle looked at Xena questioningly. "I've never heard of Capua. Have you?"
Xena nodded slowly, a serious look of concern on her face.
"What?" Gabrielle asked.
"I've only heard it mentioned a few times. There is a ludus there."
"A what? I don't know what that is."
"It's a gladiatorial school. They train men to fight in the arena sometimes to the death."
"But why are they taking us there?"
Xena didn't answer, but only shook her head.
They traveled the rest of the day until sunset. Xena and Gabrielle's hands were unchained from behind them to the front and they were given a handful of some kind of fatty meat for supper. Then chains were shackled around their ankles and to a tree for the night.
The next morning they were roused at daybreak, given more water and a handful of gruel to eat, and once again headed west. It was just before dark when they arrived at an impressive villa. Someone met the Roman lieutenant and told him where to take the prisoners. Xena overheard him being told that the Dominus and Domina were eating supper and he would inspect them later.
As they were taken to jail cells, Xena paid close attention to everything the armed guards no more than twenty paces apart and always within site of one another, and the direction of and the number of turns they took, and the slave girls. They were put in a cell together and all the shackles and ropes were removed. They were given each a cup of water and a bowl of some kind of soupy stew.
After they finished eating, Xena began to inspect the cell checking out the construction of the walls, looking for any weakness in the cell door, any loose stones in the floor. When it was obvious there was no escape, Xena sat next to Gabrielle against the wall opposite the door so she could see when anyone passed.
"Xena, what are we going to do?" Gabrielle asked. "Why are we here? How did they know where we were? How could they have sneaked up on us so easy?"
Xena never bother to answer until Gabrielle paused for a breath.
"I wish I had answers for you, but for right now, we're just going to have to wait and see what happens and just hope we'll get the chance to escape."
After a few moments Gabrielle said, "Do you think if you yelled out for Ares he might be able to hear you and come rescue us? He's always come before."
"I don't know. As far as we are from Greece I don't think even a god could hear us."
"What if we could get word to Hercules somehow? You know there's no way they could stop him."
"You're right. If we could get word to him. Any ideas?"
Gabrielle didn't bother to answer.
After what seemed a long time, guards came to the cell door and one of them unlocked it.
"The Dominus orders you brought to him," one of them said. Their wrists were once again shackled in front of them, and Xena and Gabrielle were escorted to see their captor.