Chapter Eighteen
Away!
Gabrielle went to sleep with no idea of how to let Xena know what she had found out. So when she was awakened by one of the guards, in her grogginess, she thought she had somehow had figured it out. But when he handed her a pair of manacles and told her to put them on, she was jerked awake to reality. She knew better than to hesitate or ask why, so she put them on and let herself be guided away from the female slave quarters. Everyone one was asleep and no one saw them leave.
Gabrielle began to recognize the passageway, it was leading to the iron lattice behind which the gladiators were kept. When they arrived, the guard hit on the iron until Doctore woke up and came to see what the noise was.
"Dominus sent me to get Xena." He passed wrist and ankle shackles through an opening. "Have her put these on."
When Doctore and Xena returned, she slowly, and reluctantly chained herself, and the guard unlocked the door.
"If you value her life," he said, indicating Gabrielle. "you will do as I say. I have no problem cutting her throat from ear to ear."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll find out," he replied, locking the gate. "Just go where I tell you."
They began to walk down the dark corridors of the unused part of the villa reserved for overnight guests, unguarded and barely lit with sputtering torches mounted on the walls. Xena led the way with the guard behind Gabrielle, holding her, his knife at her throat. Several times, when she was told to turn into another passage, Xena would look back at them, making sure Gabrielle hadn't been hurt. They eventually came to an unlocked open door leading to the outside of the villa. Lucretia, a slave Gabrielle recognized as Hermes, and a saddled horse were waiting.
"What's going on?" Xena asked her.
"I'm granting you your freedom."
"Just like that? Why?"
Lucretia hesitated, then said, "Because I care for Batiatus, and I cherish the life I have here. At dawn Batiatus is dispatching messengers to Caesar telling him you are here. He thinks that by seeking favor with him, our position and influence in Roman society will rise. He pays no heed to the many opinions and beliefs about Caesar's growing unpopularity. But I know that when Caesar falls, his supporters and allies will fall with him. And I have no intention of having the House of Batiatus taken down with them."
While she was talking, the guard removed the manacles from Xena and Gabrielle.
Lucretia continued, "When Batiatus discovers you have escaped, he will send out as many of his soldiers as he can, included archers, with instructions to kill you both, so you must put as much distance between yourselves and this place as is possible. And be minded, his archers are the finest in this part of the country. And maybe you can avoid a rain of arrows, perhaps you can even catch a few of them, but can she?"
Lucretia stopped suddenly, listening, then went on. "Wrapped in a blanket and tied to the saddle are the clothes and weapons you had when you were captured, plus cheese, dried meat, and a water skin. I suggest you not stop to change clothes until you are well away from here - into the trees. This horse isn't the fastest we have, but she has good stamina and will carry you far without tiring. Now go."
Xena immediately jumped into the saddle and with hand down to Gabrielle, pulled her up behind her. But before riding off, she said, "When I suggested that you free Gabrielle and me, you said you were sure I would spread the word it was your doing. But you can trust me, if your part in our release gets back to Dominus, it won't be from me or Gabrielle."
Lucretia nodded, then as Xena turned the horse, she said, "Xena, when you were first brought here, some of our slaves from Greece were telling stories about you and your war god Ares. Any truth to them?"
"Well, I don't know what you heard, but Ares and I had our - moments. At first they weren't unpleasant. But as I changed my way of thinking, thanks to Hercules and Gabrielle, our involvement became combative, and it's gotten to the point that some things between us I'd just as soon not think about."
And with that, Xena kicked the horse in the ribs with her heels and they were off, Gabrielle hanging on as tightly as she could.
When the darkness had swallowed them up, Lucretia turned and nodded to Hermes, who grabbed the guard from behind, allowing Lucretia to bring out a dagger she had concealed and stab it into his neck, then slicing with it, trying to cut as much of his throat as possible. The guard managed to throw off Hermes' grip on him, but Lucretia then stabbed him in the belly, causing him to double over, and Hermes used his weight to force him to the ground.
Hermes then turned the dying guard over onto his back, allowing Lucretia to pull his sword from its scabbard. She then chopped down on his neck, trying to cut it off. She chopped at it twice more before he was decapitated.
Hermes slowly got to his feet. "It is done, Domina," he said simply.
"Yes, it is done."
For a moment Hermes looked out at the darkness, in the direction Xena had gone.
"You wish your freedom?" she asked.
After a hesitation, he replied, "No, Domina. I would remain here, as your slave."
Lucretia nodded, then put out her left hand as if to draw him closer to embrace him, and as he got within arm's distance to her, she put her hand to the back of his neck, then plunged the dagger into his solar plexus, just below his sternum. With a hurt and puzzled look on his face, tears in his eyes, he slowly fell to his knees, then to the ground.
She knelt down next to him, and caressed his cheek with a bloody hand.
"Doctore knows who took Xena," she said, indicating the dead guard. "And who better to allow them to escape than the spy Cicerius planted. And Xena rewarded his help by beheading him."
Lucretia took a ragged breath, then said, "Hermes, you have been more than loyal to me, and for that I am most grateful. But I am no fool. You still are but a slave, and I am aware that what one knows, eventually all will know. And I cannot risk that you will reveal what we have done here in a moment of anger against me."
She stayed by his side until she was sure he was dead, then she picked up the sword, got to her feet, and with only two attempts, cut Hermes' head off. She next went inside, leaving the door open and taking the bloody sword with her, knowing Batiatus would think it suspicious if Xena didn't take it with her. As she silently and surreptitiously returned to her bedchamber, she was thankful she and Batiatus had their separate quarters. It was easy for her to dispose of her bloody clothes and to wash the blood from her face, arms, hands and feet. The sword she could hide until later.
Lucretia climbed into bed naked, thinking of any and all possible arguments to present to Batiatus for Xena's escape. She still felt regret for having to kill Hermes, and as her thoughts lingered on him, her hand crept to her crotch and she gently massaged herself. She would miss him.
As they rode off, the nearly full moon appeared from behind some clouds. Xena kept the horse off the road and in the softer ground to help muffle the sound of the hoof beats. She kept her mount at a fast gallop until they veered away from the main road onto one that led through the forest. And only when she felt they were far enough away did she stop the horse and she and Gabrielle jumped to the ground, and fell into each other's arms.
"Are we really free?" Gabrielle asked, her voice muffled in Xena's breast.
"For now. But we need to change clothes and get going again."
They unwrapped the bundle, and as Lucretia had promised, Xena's leathers, breastplate, boots, sword and scabbard, and Chakram were there. As were Gabrielle's clothes and her sais. But when they began to remove the tunics, Xena turned away from Gabrielle, knowing if she saw her naked, even in the dim moonlight she wouldn't be able to control her emotions and would have taken her on the spot.
"She did include some food," Gabrielle said, holding out the cheese and meat.
"That's good to know. But now we have to go. I want to get as far away from here as we can before daybreak."
They got back onto the horse, but instead of a fast gallop, Xena let the horse find its own distance-eating, yet energy-conserving gait. They traveled the rest of the night, waiting until it was light enough to find a safe, secure place to spend the day.
"I think we'll be better off traveling by night and resting and hiding during the day until the moon wanes enough to make it dangerous to do so." Xena told her. "The moon is almost full so we should have plenty of light to travel by for the next few days."
After making camp, and making the love they could no longer postpone, they settled down for the day, eating the food cold, not wanting to risk the smell of smoke or sight of the campfire alerting those who were looking for them.
"Xena, I never did figure out how we let ourselves be captured. Did you?"
"I was too careless. I thought for sure we were far enough away from Rome that any pursuit had long since been discontinued."
"So you don't think Dominus's soldiers knew we were there?"
"No, I think it was just our bad luck they came along. They probably were either traveling back to the ludus from some errand, or were hunting for runaway slaves and smelled the smoke from our campfire. But this time one of us will always be awake and on guard."
Gabrielle sighed and Xena knew there was something else on her mind.
"Want to talk about it?"
"What?"
"Whatever it is that's bothering you."
"I was just thinking about Tia."
"I don't know who that is."
"She's a little girl, five or six years old. She was born there, and Domina hates her, and I was told she beats her whenever she sees her. Phaedra said her parents were a slave named Aseneth and a guard. But Aseneth enticed Dominus so he would have sex with her and he thinks Tia belongs to him. Domina knows she doesn't, but even though she killed Aseneth, or had her killed, she also knows nothing suspicious should happen to Tia."
Gabrielle sighed again. "I just wish we could have brought her with us."
"Gabrielle, if I had my way we would have brought all of them with us. But we are lucky to have gotten away without me having to - well, the only escape plan I could think of would end up in a bloody slaughter of the guards, and the risk that you could have been killed."
Gabrielle was silent for so long Xena thought she had fallen asleep, but then she asked, "Do you know where we are, and where to go?"
"Yes. They will expect us to head directly overland to Napoli, they know its seaport is the busiest and it will be easy to book passage. But instead, we will go west to the coast before we head south. There are fishing villages along the way, but none will have ships going to Greece. I'm sure by the time we get there the search for us will have moved on."
"But what will we do for money? I know the fare won't be cheap."
"We'll sell the horse and saddle. Domina was generous, this is good horse, and she will fetch a good price enough for passage for the both of us."
Gabrielle settled into Xena's arms to sleep away the first half of the day to allow Xena to sleep during the afternoon. But she had one more declaration: "How I wish we were away from here. I hate this land!"
Xena smiled and said, "It won't be that long. Once we get to Napoli it will 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."
(Almost)
THE END
{Author's Note. This was a very long story (just under 36,000 words), and I appreciate that you've stayed with it to the end.
There is a sequel coming soon; Xena's and Gabrielle's not-so-easy journey back to Greece.}