Xena strode through the centre of town, ignoring the looks of resentment she was getting from the villagers. Her troops had entered Poteidaia just yesterday without much resistance, most of the townspeople not even owning weapons. Normally, she wouldn’t have bothered with a place like Poteidaia; she knew the town was no threat to Amphipolis—in fact the two villages had always enjoyed good trade relations—but her men were getting restless and she needed something to work off some of their pent up energy before they started turning on each other. Xena had been surprised at how fast people had rallied to her cause, wanting to protect Amphipolis by taking over all the surrounding towns. She knew Cortese—or someone even worse—might come back some day and wanted to be ready. At least this way she’d have advanced warning and a bit of a buffer zone to blunt any attack before it reached her home town. She’d already lost her brother, and she didn’t want anyone else to go through the pain she had when Lyceus died. What she hadn’t counted on was how much fun she’d have taking over these villages.
Xena heard a commotion ahead and followed the sounds to the village square. Near the inn, a trio of Poteidaians with swords stood surrounded by her men. They looked terrified, but were putting a brave face on it, trying their best to look like they weren’t about to soil themselves. She pushed her way through the crowd and stepped forward, glancing over at Petracles, who grinned back at her.
“What do we have here?” she said, running a critical eye over the three young men.
Petracles’s grin widened and he said, “Well, it looks like these brave citizens object to us being here. I told them they’d have to take it up with you.”
Xena smiled back at him and drew her sword casually. Poteidaia had given up without much of a struggle, but there were always a few upstarts who had to learn the hard way. Couldn’t they see that having her army take over the town would protect them too? They were acting like she was as bad as Cortese, invading towns for the sheer pleasure of it ... not that it wasn’t fun, but Cortese only cared about getting rich, while Xena was fighting for a cause.
She looked back and forth between the three boys, waiting for one to make a move. When none of them did, she flicked her sword out so fast none of them had time to react, neatly disarming the closest. She knocked him over with a hard kick to the chest, twisting her wrist to deflect a clumsy strike from the second kid. A fast backhand sent him flying as the third guy thrust his sword forward. This one was a bit better than his fellows, with some solid footwork and a decent amount of speed. Of course, Xena still found him slow and inept, but she’d been fighting steadily for months now, the constant practice honing her natural talents to make her the most formidable fighter in Thrace despite her tender years.
After letting the kid exhaust himself against her counters, Xena grew bored and ended the fight with a sharp blow to his wrist that disarmed him and a punch to the face that knocked him down. Her men cheered and she felt a flush of pride at the accolades. That feeling of exultation when her men cheered was intoxicating and she found herself craving it more and more these days.
She extended her hand to the kid she’d just defeated and pulled him to his feet. Leaning forward, she whispered in his ear, “You’ve got potential. If you ever want to become a real fighter, let me know and I’ll sign you up.”
“So I can become a warlord like you? No thanks,” he said, punctuating his refusal by spitting in her face.
Xena might’ve almost admired the kid’s guts, but the laughter of her men sent a jolt of anger through her. Knowing she couldn’t afford to look weak in front of her soldiers, she kneed the kid in the groin and smashed his face with her fist as he bent over in pain. She raised her sword, but stopped herself from delivering a killing blow at the last second, slicing him adroitly across each cheek instead. As blood flowed from the cuts, she looked down at him with a grim smile. “Every time you look in the mirror, those scars will be a reminder to be more polite.” A cheer rose from her men as the humiliated kid’s friends helped him away, trying to staunch the blood flowing from his cheeks. Xena sent a scathing look around the square and most of the Poteidaians wandered off, mumbling amongst themselves about what they’d just seen.
Petracles slapped Xena on the back and said, “Nice moves, but next time you might want to kill him. It works better as a warning and shows the men you mean business.”
Xena knew Petracles was right, but some part of her still resisted killing for fun. It was bad enough that she felt a visceral thrill every time she fought, but she didn’t want to get too fond of killing for its own sake. That was a side of herself that reminded her too much of Cortese ... a side she acknowledged but didn’t want to cultivate. “Don’t worry, I think the Poteidaians got the message. And if any of the men think I’m getting soft, let them know I’m always available for a private lesson.”
Petracles laughed. “I don’t think any of them are brave or crazy enough to challenge you, Xena. But I do wish you’d let them have a little fun here. They haven’t had a real fight since we sacked Apollonia and they’re getting anxious.”
Petracles was right. Her men were getting restless with no outlet for their fighting spirit, and if they didn’t find something to occupy them soon, they might start turning on each other, or band together to challenge her. She’d already had to make an example of a few of them when they’d objected to her tactics, arguing against taking over innocent farming villages like this one. But she didn’t want the men running wild, destroying the towns they’d taken and wantonly slaughtering people in her name. She’d seen enough of that when Cortese’s army had attacked Amphipolis and didn’t want her legacy to be anything like his. She’d strictly forbidden her men to kill or molest any women in captured towns and had kept them from wholesale looting, only taking what they needed for resupply. But they wouldn’t hold back forever ... their pent up energy was bound to explode sooner or later.
“Tell the men they can raid the local food and ale supplies and have a little fun, but make sure they don’t kill anyone, or bother any of the women.”
Petracles nodded. “All right, but they’re going to want something more than just ale soon.”
Xena smiled. “Don’t worry, I have plans that’ll let them work off all that aggression they’ve been building up.”
Petracles laughed and put his arm around her. “Well, I’ve got some aggression of my own to work off. You have any idea how I can do that?”
Xena grinned and ran her hand down his muscular chest. “I might be able to help you with that, if you drop by my tent tonight.”
“I’ll be there,” Petracles said. “But I hope you’re not talking about arm-wrestling; my shoulder’s still sore from last time.”
Xena laughed and watched as he walked away. Her relationship with Petracles had been an unexpected benefit of her campaign. She didn’t love him—their relationship was more about power than love—but they had a lot in common and the physical side of it was fun. That was all she was really looking for ... that lovey-dovey stuff was for bards and starry-eyed kids anyway. As she walked around town, she noticed her men were already getting looser, laughing and singing ribald songs. Some of them were harassing the citizens of Poteidaia, but it was mostly harmless fun, and if the Poteidaians were stupid enough to be out in the streets with a bunch of drunken soldiers around, they probably deserved what they got.
A shrill scream interrupted her reverie and she turned toward the source, a narrow alley behind the village inn. She rounded the corner and saw three men struggling with a girl who couldn’t have been more than nine or ten years old. She recognized the men—Draco, Rylus, and Fantor—as three recent recruits to her army; they’d joined after she’d taken Stagira, saying they’d had enough of small town life. Draco had the girl by one arm, which he was twisting viciously, while the other two tried to grab her from either side. She was fighting like a wildcat and kicked Draco in the shin, eliciting a howl of pain. He hauled off and backhanded her hard across the face, knocking her down. He pulled out a club and smacked her across the arm she raised to protect her face. He pulled back for another strike, but it never landed, as Xena leapt forward and grabbed the club, pulling Draco off-balance and tripping him. She kicked him in the ribs and swung the club at the other two, who let go of the girl and backed off.
“What the Hades do you think you’re doing?” Xena asked, her anger rising as she looked at the girl curled up on the ground crying.
“That little bitch was throwing rocks at us,” Draco said, putting a hand to his bruised ribs as he rose.
Xena looked down at the girl, who had reddish-blonde hair and deep green eyes. The girl stared back defiantly. “They were hurting my sister!”
Xena glanced around and noticed a dark-haired girl, a few years younger than the blonde, cowering behind a water cask. She looked back at Draco, who shrugged. “She wouldn’t show us what she was carrying in that sack, so we grabbed it to see.” He pointed to a leather bag on the ground, from which a few apples had spilled.
“A little girl wouldn’t let you steal her apples, so you decided to beat on her?” Xena said, her anger rising again. She’d pegged Draco as a troublemaker from the start, but thought his fighting skills were worth the hassle. Well, that was a mistake.
“Oh, look who’s suddenly all high and mighty. I guess it’s all right for you to have your fun, but when the rest of us try, you get your hackles up,” Draco said with a sneer.
“What are you talking about?”
“Come off it, Xena,” he said with a wicked grin. “I saw the smile on your face when you were slapping that kid with the sword around earlier. And you were almost giddy when you cut the clothes off the headman in Stagira. You love messing with people as much as we do, you just pretend to be all moral so no one will know what a stone bitch you are.”
Xena’s anger boiled over and she struck at Draco like a snake, slamming the club into his stomach and whipping it across his face as he doubled over. “Well, if I’m such a stone bitch, you probably shouldn’t get on my bad side. When I give orders, I expect them to be obeyed, but I guess you’re too stupid for that. So I want you three out of here tonight. If I see you around here tomorrow, I’ll kill you.”
Draco stared at her, stunned. For a moment, she thought he and his pals might choose to fight, but when she dropped the club and rested her hand on her sword’s pommel, they all backed up. “Fine,” Draco said, “we’ll leave. But mark me, Xena. We’ll not forget this. You think everyone here is afraid of you, but maybe we’re just waiting for the right time to take you down.” He spat on the ground at her feet. “And that time’s coming soon.”
Xena didn’t bother with a reply and watched as the three slunk away. She turned to the girl on the ground, now sitting up and holding her badly bruised arm. The younger girl came out from behind the water cask and approached timidly. “Is Gabrielle all right?”
Xena reached out for the injured girl’s arm, surprised when she didn’t flinch. “Her arm’s pretty banged up, and she’ll have quite the set of bruises on her face, but she’ll be fine.”
The dark-haired girl looked at her sister and said, “Come on, Gabrielle. We’d better get home.”
Gabrielle stood up and swayed until Xena grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are you all right?”
The young girl blinked rapidly. “I think so ... but everything’s kinda fuzzy.”
Xena felt a stab of guilt since men under her command were responsible for the girl’s condition. She thought for a moment, then quickly made up her mind. She slid her arm under the girl’s legs, picking her up. “You go home and tell your parents what happened,” she said to the girl’s sister. “I’ll take care of her injuries and bring her home later.”
The dark-haired girl hesitated, doubt on her face as she looked at Xena. But Gabrielle waved a hand in her sister’s direction. “Go on, Lila. I’ll be fine. Tell mother and father I’ll be home soon.”
Lila paused, then nodded, stopping to gather the spilled apples into the sack before running off down the alley. Xena cradled the girl in her arms as she headed for the edge of town where her tent was set up. As they made their way through the streets, Xena got some dark looks from Poteidaians who obviously recognized Gabrielle. There were a couple of times she thought someone might challenge her, but nothing happened until she reached the edge of town. A young man a few years older than Gabrielle stepped in front of her. “Where are you taking her?” He tried to sound intimidating, but the quaver in his voice betrayed his nervousness.
As more Poteidaians gathered, Xena wondered if she’d have to fight and hoped they’d be smart enough not to attack her while she was holding the girl. Gabrielle surprised her by holding up a hand to the young man. “Perdicus, it’s fine. Some guys were hurting me and she stopped them. She’s taking me to her tent to look at my arm.” She held up her injured limb, now turning a lurid shade of purple.
Perdicus’s eyes darted from Gabrielle to Xena and back again. “Maybe you should just go home. Your mother will be worried. We can call the healer ...”
Gabrielle’s voice grew sharp. “My parents know where I am and there’s no need for a healer. I’m sure Xena can take care of my arm just fine.”
Perdicus looked like he wanted to argue, but the girl’s fierce look finally made him stand aside. None of the villagers said a word as Xena resumed the trip to her camp. She couldn’t help being impressed by how the townspeople responded to the girl’s plight. She remembered how the people of Amphipolis had been around her, even before Cortese, and wondered for a moment what it would be like to have everyone in town like you.
When they reached Xena’s tent, she ducked inside and deposited Gabrielle on her sleeping furs. She rummaged through her healing supplies, looking for herbs to clean the girl’s wounds and ease her pain. Gabrielle looked around with wonder, taking everything in and Xena couldn’t help smiling at the intense interest on the girl’s face. Xena knelt and cleaned the scrapes on Gabrielle’s face, then examined her arm, which was badly bruised. Gabrielle didn’t make a sound, but the tears in her eyes and the way she was biting her lip told Xena how much pain she was in.
“I’m sorry,” Xena said. “I’ll try to be as quick as I can.”
“It’s all right,” Gabrielle said, her voice trembling with pain. “It doesn’t hurt that much.”
Xena bit back a smile. “Oh, well I guess you’re pretty tough then, huh?” Gabrielle nodded. To take the girl’s mind off the pain, Xena said, “So who was that boy?”
“That was Perdicus,” Gabrielle replied, gritting her teeth in pain as Xena swabbed her arm.
“He seemed pretty worried about you.”
A slight flush crept up Gabrielle’s face. “Yeah, well, he’s always had sort of a crush on me. Our parents are friends ... I think they have plans for us.”
Xena bit back a smile at the look of chagrin on the girl’s face. “You’re not looking forward to being betrothed?”
Gabrielle shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not really the life I imagined for myself. Getting married, having babies, working around a farm or whatever. I’d like to ...”
“Like to what?” Xena prompted when the girl fell into a pensive silence.
Gabrielle couldn’t meet her eyes. “I don’t know ... I’d just like to do something different. I don’t think I’m suited for village life.”
That struck a chord in Xena, who had always chafed at the confines of Amphipolis. She’d been a bit of a troublemaker even before Cortese, looking for excitement in a place where nothing exciting ever happened and hating having to live up to everyone’s expectations. If Cortese hadn’t attacked, she might’ve ended up betrothed to some farmer or merchant’s son herself. Leading the army was one way out of the safe, boring life that awaited her in Amphipolis.
She finished tending Gabrielle’s arm, tying the lined bandage off. The girl hadn’t uttered so much as a peep through the whole procedure, although her tears flowed freely. “I’m impressed. Most of my men would be screaming right now.” She gave the girl a grin.
Gabrielle returned the smile, but her face suddenly turned serious. “Why are you doing this?”
Xena looked at her in confusion. “I’m trying to fix your arm ...”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No, I mean why are you raiding Poteidaia. We don’t have all that much stuff and there’s no gold or jewels here.”
“I’m not interested in gold or jewels. I’m just trying to protect my home.”
“Where’s your home?”
“Amphipolis,” Xena answered, as she tucked the ends of the linen in around Gabrielle’s arm.
Gabrielle thought about that for a moment. “But I thought Amphipolis was at least two days’ ride from here. And we’re not going to invade there anyway. We’re a small farming village, we don’t raid other towns.”
Xena sighed. “I know that. But Amphipolis was attacked a few months ago by a raider named Cortese. I just want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Gabrielle frowned. “You think this Cortese is hiding here? I don’t remember seeing any strangers around lately ...”
Xena stood and turned, putting the rest of her healing supplies back in her bags. “No, I know Cortese isn’t hiding here. I led my fellow villagers against his army and he fled into the mountains to the west.”
“Then why are you here? How does attacking us make your village safer?”
Xena leaned on the table and shook her head, exasperated by the girl’s constant questions. “Cortese attacked without warning and killed a lot of people in Amphipolis. I’m conquering all the towns nearby to make sure none of them are a threat.” And to use them as a buffer zone if Cortese attacks again, she silently added to herself.
Gabrielle pondered that for a moment. “But aren’t you doing exactly what Cortese did? How are you any different from him?”
Xena’s temper snapped and she spun around, leaping forward and grabbing the startled girl by the shoulders. “Don’t you ever compare me to that scum Cortese! Because of him, my brother is dead and my mother hates me! I’m nothing like him, you hear? Nothing!” Xena’s anger calmed as she saw the fear on Gabrielle’s face. She felt ashamed for scaring the girl and let go of her, turning away and leaning against the tent pole, all the pain she’d been pushing down since Lyceus’s death bubbling back up so fast it almost choked her.
She assumed the frightened girl would run for it, so she wasn’t surprised when she heard her get up from the furs. She was surprised to hear the soft tread of approaching footfalls and to feel a small hand on her arm. “Xena?” The warrior turned to look at her and was shocked to see a look of profound sadness and compassion on her face. “I’m sorry about your brother. What was his name?”
Xena took a deep breath, unable to stay angry at this girl whose heart was so big it could feel sympathy for someone who’d invaded her town and whose men had roughed her up. “Lyceus.” She led Gabrielle to the table and they sat down. She pulled Lyceus’s Beryllis token from her belt pouch and ran the chain through her fingers, watching as the jewel reflected the dim light. “He was a couple years younger than me and we did everything together. He wasn’t just my brother, he was my best friend.”
Gabrielle nodded. “That sounds like me and Lila. I know how you must feel ... if anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Xena looked into Gabrielle’s eyes and believed the girl really did know how she felt. After all, she’d been hurt defending her sister, something Xena had done countless times with Lyceus when they were growing up. “Yeah, well, she’s lucky to have you as a sister.”
Gabrielle smiled. “I’m not sure she’d agree with you. I think Lyceus was lucky too.”
Xena clutched the Beryllis token in her fist and muttered, “I’m not so sure about that.” Gabrielle gave her a questioning look and she shrugged, wondering why she felt compelled to share her pain with this stranger. Maybe because the girl seemed to understand how much she hurt. “Lyceus followed me into battle against Cortese and ended up dead. He probably woulda been better off with someone else for a sister.”
Gabrielle reached out, laying her hand on Xena’s forearm. “I bet he didn’t think so.” Xena nodded, turning her head so the girl wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. Too late ... Gabrielle reached up tentatively and brushed a tear off her cheek. “I’m sorry for saying you were like Cortese. I can see you’re not.”
Xena brushed a hand across her eyes and shook her head. “Maybe I am. I’m raiding towns just like he did and people like you are getting hurt. I didn’t want to hurt anybody, I just ...”
“You just don’t want anyone else to feel what you did.” Xena nodded, surprised once more at the young girl’s understanding. “I don’t think you’re a bad person, Xena, and I believe you really don’t want to hurt people. But I’m not so sure about your men.” She held up her bandaged arm.
Xena nodded. “Yeah, I know. Those guys who hurt you just joined up and I didn’t know them all that well. The people who have been with me since the beginning, like Petracles and Marcus, I trust them more. They want the same things I do ... to keep their homes safe from raiders.”
Gabrielle nodded. “Well, maybe you should just use the people you know in your army, so bad things won’t happen.”
Xena looked at the girl, amused by her simplistic view of the world. She’d already lost half the people she’d started out with, either as casualties of war or defections when she’d made her plans known. She had no choice but to keep recruiting from conquered villages, and even that wasn’t enough. Lately, Petracles had been pushing to start looting the villages they took, to pay for mercenary troops and she was seriously considering it. But how could she explain all that to this wide-eyed peasant girl? Still, she did feel bad about how Draco had mistreated the girl, especially since she was only defending her sister. Maybe she could do something to prevent any more senseless victims, at least here in Poteidaia.
“Come on, I’d better take you home before your parents get too worried.” She led Gabrielle out of the tent and back into town, detouring through the market where she stood up on a box and attracted everyone’s attention with her war cry. When a sizeable crowd had gathered, she swept her gaze across the assembled townsfolk and her own soldiers. “I have an announcement to make. From here on, we will not take anything from the people of Poteidaia unless we pay for it. And anyone caught abusing any Poteidaians in any way will have to answer to me.” She ignored the mutterings of the townspeople and her own men as she continued. “And as of tonight, a curfew is in effect. No soldiers on the streets after midnight. I’d advise you Poteidaians to stay inside as well.” She stepped down and took Gabrielle’s hand, leading her out of the marketplace and ignoring the dark looks she was getting from her troops.
“That was nice of you, Xena. But a lot of your men didn’t look too happy.”
Xena smirked. “They’ll get over it or they’ll get tossed out on their ... behinds.”
Gabrielle giggled and led Xena through the streets to a good-sized farmhouse on the outskirts of town. They crossed the yard and mounted the porch just as the door swung open and a middle-aged couple came out. Gabrielle introduced them as Hecuba and Herodotus and gave them a quick version of what had happened to her earlier, assuring them Xena had helped her and wasn’t responsible for her injuries. They thanked Xena brusquely, but she could see they didn’t trust her any more than the other Poteidaians did.
As Xena was turning to leave, the younger girl, Lila, came out of the barn at a run, a look of fear on her face. “Oh, Gabrielle, I’m glad you’re back. It’s Tympani ... he’s even worse than before.”
Gabrielle’s face twisted with grief and she headed for the barn. Curious, Xena followed, wondering who Tympani was. She soon found out as she stepped inside and saw Gabrielle stroking the mane of a dapple-grey pony in a stall. Xena could tell right away that the pony was sick and approached carefully.
Gabrielle wiped her eyes on her sleeve and said, “Xena, this is my pony, Tympani. He’s been sick lately and nobody seems to know what’s wrong.”
Xena had always been good with horses, sometimes enjoying their company more than that of people; at least horses didn’t judge you constantly. She ran her hands over the pony’s sweating flanks, looked in his mouth, and leaned down to listen to his breathing. She realized the pony had colic and could hear an ominous rattling in his abdomen. She glanced back at Gabrielle’s father, who had followed them into the barn. Their eyes met and he nodded. So, he did know what was wrong, he just didn’t have the heart to tell Gabrielle. Xena looked down at the girl’s tear-stained face and felt a strange connection to her. She was such a sweet kid, and after everything else that had happened today, Xena didn’t want her to lose her pony too.
She opened the stall and led Tympani out where she had more room. “Gabrielle, can you get him to lie down?”
“What are you going to do?”
Xena sighed. “Gabrielle, Tympani is very sick. He has something wrong inside that could kill him if it isn’t treated. I might be able to help—”
“Are you mad?” Herodotus said. “I’ll not have you messing about with that horse. Why don’t you go and beat on some more of our citizens? That seems to be what you’re best at.”
Xena’s temper flared and she stood up to walk out, but was stopped by Gabrielle’s hand on her arm. “Xena, can you really help Tympani?”
Xena’s anger cooled under the girl’s pleading gaze. “Maybe. I ... I’ve never actually done an operation like this myself, but I’ve seen it done.”
“But if you don’t try, Tympani will die for sure?” Xena nodded and Gabrielle turned to her father. “Please, father, at least let her try. I don’t want to lose Tympani.”
Herodotus hesitated for a few moments, then shrugged. “What do you want me to do?”
Xena asked him to get some mandrake root, healing herbs, and boiling water. While he was gone, she and Gabrielle prepared Tympani, laying the horse down on a clean blanket, tearing some linen into strips for bandages, and preparing a needle (which Hecuba brought from the house) with some strong gut for thread. When Herodotus returned, Xena steeped the mandrake root and let Gabrielle give the resulting liquid to her pony. When Tympani’s eyes closed, Xena heated her sharpest dagger in a flame and took a deep breath. She glanced at the pale girl beside her and said, “This is going to be messy. You might want to wait outside.”
Gabrielle bit her lip and shook her head. “No, Tympani’s my pony. I want to be here for him.” She picked up the hot water and draped several linen strips over her shoulder.
Xena couldn’t help admiring the girl’s stubborn resolve. She carefully cut into Tympani’s side, reaching in to feel around. Gabrielle went even more ashen and she turned her head away, but didn’t let go of the water bowl she was holding. Xena felt the obstruction in the pony’s digestive tract and manipulated it carefully to free it. She withdrew her hand and washed it off in the hot water before taking the needle and gut and sewing up the incision she’d made. She carefully wiped the area down and tied the linen bandages around the pony’s girth with some healing herbs from her pouch spread over the cloth.
As they waited for Tympani to regain consciousness, Gabrielle shifted closer to Xena and placed her hand on Xena’s. Xena glanced at her, then took the girl’s tiny hand in hers and squeezed it in reassurance. Herodotus and Hecuba went back to the house, leaving the two girls to their silent vigil. Xena knew it might take a while for Tympani to wake up—if he ever did—so she thought it best to distract Gabrielle if she could. She asked if the girl knew any songs, but Gabrielle just laughed, saying she sang like bullfrog. So Xena sang an old travel song she used to sing to Lyceus when he was sick. Gabrielle looked at her startled at the clear, rich tones coming from the throat of a warrior.
“That was beautiful, Xena. I wish I could sing like that.”
“Well, maybe you just need some practice.”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No, I’m no singer. But I do like to ...”
“Like to what?”
Gabrielle looked down at the straw-covered floor. “Nothing. I’m just being silly.”
Curious at the sudden change in the girl’s demeanour, Xena pressed her. “Come on, what were you going to say?”
Gabrielle gave her a shy look. “Well, I do sometimes tell stories. I’ve always liked to make up tales of adventure and every time a bard comes to town, I try to study them, to learn some new stories and how to tell them.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me some?”
Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “Really? Whenever I try to tell stories to my family, they always get bored and tell me to stop wasting my time on pointless things.”
Xena heard the note of sadness in Gabrielle’s voice and felt bad for the girl. “Well, I’d like to hear them.”
Gabrielle beamed with happiness and launched into a heroic tale about Theseus and the Minotaur. Xena had heard it before, but something in the way Gabrielle told the story brought it life better than any version she’d heard at her mother’s inn. Gabrielle put so much feeling into her rendering of the tale, that Xena almost felt like she was part of it. Even without formal training, the girl could sure spin a tale and Xena found herself getting lost in the stories, prompting Gabrielle to tell another, and another, as the hours rolled by. Hecuba brought some food out and they ate quietly, Gabrielle telling another story (about Oedipus this time) between mouthfuls of stew.
Her bardic efforts were brought to a sudden halt when Tympani let out a wheezing breath and stirred. Xena and Gabrielle crawled carefully to the pony’s side as his eyes fluttered open. Xena cautiously bent to listen to his chest, running her hands over his flanks as Gabrielle stroked his nose and cooed to him soothingly. The barn door creaked as Herodotus entered, noticing the activity around the now-wakened pony. The three of them cautiously brought Tympani back to his feet and led him back to his stall, where Xena listened to his chest again. She heard nothing alarming and smiled at Gabrielle. “I think he’ll be all right now.”
Gabrielle’s smile lit up her whole face and she flung herself at Xena, wrapping her arms around the startled warrior. Xena looked over at Herodotus, who was trying not to smile. She felt a flush creeping up her face and was glad of the dim light in the barn. She untangled herself from Gabrielle’s grasp and gruffly informed her how to care for the recovering pony. Gabrielle nodded, stroking Tympani’s withers, the smile of pure admiration never leaving her face. Xena started to feel embarrassed again and thought she’d better get out of there. She nodded in farewell to Herodotus and turned to leave, stopping when Gabrielle grabbed her arm. “Thanks for helping Tympani, Xena ... and for helping me before.” She leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “And thanks for listening to my stories. I don’t have anyone to practice them on.”
Xena found herself blushing again at the girl’s gratitude. “Don’t worry about it. Just try to stay out of trouble from now on.”
“I’ll try,” Gabrielle said with a grin, “but mother says trouble always has a way of finding me.”
Xena laughed. “My mother says the same thing about me.” She ruffled her fingers through the girl’s red-gold hair and strode off.
*******************************************************************
After Xena left and she made sure Tympani was comfortable, Gabrielle had to sit down and explain to her parents everything that had happened that afternoon. Lila had told them some of it, but her account was so emotional and disjointed—especially the part about Xena taking Gabrielle—that they’d automatically assumed the worst. Gabrielle assured them that she was fine, showing them how Xena had tended her injuries and saying that she wasn’t as bad as everyone made her out to be. Herodotus and Hecuba’s relief soon turned to anger at their eldest daughter’s praise of the woman who’d led a conquering army into Poteidaia. The more Gabrielle tried to convince them Xena was a good person, the more exasperated they became with her. Even pointing out Xena’s tending of Tympani didn’t sway her father; he was impressed by the warrior’s skill, but mistrusted her motives. Eventually, they demanded Gabrielle stop gushing over this warlord-in-the-making and apologize for letting them worry all morning.
But Gabrielle was stubborn and refused to back down when she was right ... or at least when she thought she was right, as she did now. She did apologize for worrying her parents, but steadfastly refused to admit Xena was a bad person, reasoning that a bad person wouldn’t have saved her from those men or saved Tympani’s life. She remembered the tears in Xena’s eyes when she’d talked about Lyceus ... no, Xena might not be perfect, but anyone who loved their brother that much couldn’t be all bad. Herodotus finally had enough and sent Gabrielle out to work in the barn as punishment, hoping the hard labour would put a damper on her natural enthusiasm.
But Gabrielle had too much spirit to be deterred so easily. She sulked a bit, but went about her chores with a will, distracting herself by checking on Tympani and making up stories as was her habit when she was alone. This time she had a new inspiration and tried to come up with a story about Xena saving her and Tympani, thinking maybe she could tell it to Xena sometime. When she had to fetch water for the animals, she took a couple of buckets and headed for the village well, still thinking about Xena. But there were several soldiers clustered the well and, despite Xena’s earlier orders, Gabrielle was scared to get too close to them. She decided to go down to the river to get the water. It was a long walk, but she had time and enjoyed the cool breeze and dappled sunshine of late summer.
When she reached the river, she skirted some brambles, noticing the plump berries just coming into ripeness, and thought she should come back to pick some. After taking the full water pails home and telling her parents where she was going, she returned with a couple of empty sacks and started picking berries, eating almost as many as she gathered, and worming her way right inside the thorny tangle of bushes. She heard voices, but didn’t think much of it at first, assuming it was someone else from town coming to the river. But as the voices got closer, she stopped picking berries and sat perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. She’d recognized one of the voices as that of Draco, the guy who’d hurt her earlier that day. He and his two friends were talking to someone else and Gabrielle’s ears perked up when she heard Xena’s name. Then her blood ran cold as she heard what the men were saying.
“We have to kill her,” Draco rasped. “Xena’s gone soft. She’s lost sight of what we could do with an army like ours.”
The stranger (whose voice was smooth and deep) replied, “I agree with you about the potential rewards, but I think Xena will come around. She enjoys fighting as much as we do, maybe more.”
Draco’s sneering voice answered him. “Maybe on some level, but you heard what she did to us just for chastising some grubby peasant girl.” Gabrielle bristled at his description of her, but stayed motionless inside the brambles. “And that proclamation about not looting this place ... mark my words, she’ll be turning around and heading home soon. And wasting all the beautiful possibilities of this army she’s gathered. We have to get rid of her.”
The other man was silent for a time before replying. “Maybe you’re right. But I’m leery of eliminating Xena, and not just because we’re friends. The soldiers look up to her. They might not follow anyone else.”
Draco chuckled. “Don’t worry, your pal Petracles could charm a medusa out of her snakes. They’ll follow him. Hasn’t he already convinced most of her friends from Amphipolis?”
“Yes, he has,” the stranger said. “All right, I’m in. Where and when?”
Draco’s voice lowered and Gabrielle had to strain to hear him. “I’ve scouted around and there’s a clearing north-east of the village, up on the hill. It’s surrounded by trees, so no one will see what’s happening, and it’s far enough from town that the noise won’t matter, even if Xena screams.”
The stranger laughed. “Careful, Draco ... you might be the one who ends up screaming.”
Draco snorted. “How stupid do you think I am? I’ll have plenty of help for the ambush. You just make sure she shows up.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure I can get Xena to go to a quiet spot in the hills above town. After all, she trusts me.” The men all burst out in raucous laughter as Gabrielle squirmed to the edge of the bramble thicket, trying to see who the strange voice belonged to. But the sun had dipped behind a hill and she couldn’t make out any of the figures in the gloom. The stranger assured the others he’d bring Xena to the killing spot before noon the next day, and Draco and his friends said they’d be ready. Gabrielle waited until they were gone, then cautiously emerged from the brambles and hurried home, her mind racing.
She knew Xena had led the army that took over Poteidaia and that she could be harsh, even brutal sometimes. She’d seen Xena fighting the three boys in the square earlier that day and could tell how much she’d enjoyed hurting Gordius after he spit on her. But she’d also seen another side of the warrior, the side that missed her dead brother, and was afraid of losing anyone else to people like Cortese, the side that made her save Tympani even though there was no real reason for her to do it, and the side that listened to Gabrielle’s stories without getting impatient or bored ... something even her own family couldn’t do. Gabrielle felt a strange connection to Xena; they had so much in common and she was sure they would’ve been friends if they’d grown up in the same town. In her heart, Gabrielle believed that Xena truly was a good person, no matter what she’d done, and didn’t deserve to be stabbed in the back by someone she trusted. After dropping off the berries, Gabrielle went out to the barn to check on Tympani and think. She knew she had to warn Xena, but also knew she had to do it in person. If the mysterious killer was a friend of Xena’s, he might get his hands on a note. But Gabrielle couldn’t just walk into Xena’s camp and ask to see her. The guards would probably just laugh at her and she couldn’t risk telling the truth about why she wanted to see their leader because she didn’t know which ones might be in on the plan.
As she turned the problem over in her mind, she recalled the jug of wine her father had received from a travelling merchant in exchange for shelter a few months back. Herodotus had tried the wine, but pronounced it far too strong for his taste. Not being the wasteful sort, he’d stuck the jug in the shed, not wanting it to take up room in the house. Gabrielle wondered if he’d miss the wine if she took it. He’d probably just assume some vagabond had stolen it. She smiled to herself as she headed to the house for supper.
After supper, Gabrielle went to her room, claiming she was tired from the day’s excitement. Lila soon joined her and Gabrielle told her a story or two guaranteed to put her to sleep. As soon as she heard her parents retire for the night, she got up and slipped out of the house silently. She went to the shed to get the wine, hefting the heavy jug to her shoulder and heading for the edge of town. Because of Xena’s orders, there were no soldiers in the streets and most townsfolk were staying close to home as well. Gabrielle made it to Xena’s encampment before being accosted by any of Xena’s men. They were suspicious, but when she told them the wine was a gift from the townmaster, they let her through.
The guards in front of Xena’s tent weren’t quite so easily convinced. They seemed to believe her story, but were still suspicious, wondering if the wine might be poisoned. One of them took a cautious taste and his eyes widened. He urged his fellow soldier to try the heady wine and his companion agreed it was of superior quality. From the looks on their faces, Gabrielle knew they wanted the wine for themselves and quickly agreed to let them deliver it to Xena. She walked away, then circled back and hid in the shadows, watching as the two men drained the jug cup by cup. They soon became sluggish and their speech slurred. Gabrielle had hoped they’d let her into Xena’s tent to deliver the wine, but this was even better. She waited until they were so drunk they could hardly sit up straight, then she tossed a rock into the path near the tent. They both staggered up and weaved over to see what had caused the noise, allowing Gabrielle to slip into the tent unnoticed.
She paused to let her eyes adjust to the dim light. A lone candle on the table lit the tent so Gabrielle had to step carefully to keep from falling. She made it to Xena’s sleeping fur, where the warrior had tended her injuries that morning. Xena was asleep and her face had lost its usual look of mistrust and disdain, showing a softness that made Gabrielle realize that Xena wasn’t all that much older than herself. How could someone so young command an army that struck fear into half of Thrace? Gabrielle reached out slowly, her hand hovering over Xena’s arm before finally touching her lightly. Xena sprang up immediately, her blue eyes almost shining in the semi-darkness. Gabrielle froze as Xena whipped a dagger from under her pillow and held it to the younger girl’s throat.
Gabrielle let out a strangled scream, not daring to move. Xena studied her face in the gloom and relaxed, lowering the dagger and letting out a long breath. “Gabrielle, what are you doing sneaking around here in the dark? I could’ve killed you.”
Gabrielle waited for her pounding heart to slow down before answering. “I ... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just ... there’s something I have to tell you.”
“And it couldn’t wait until morning?” Xena said, rising and lighting a couple of lanterns with the candle. Gabrielle shook her head and Xena gave her an indulgent look. “Is it about Tympani?”
“No, Tympani’s fine. This is about something else.”
Xena rolled her eyes. “All right, let’s hear it. And how’d you get in here anyway?”
Gabrielle blushed and explained how she’d gotten past the guards with the jug of wine. That amused Xena, who peeked outside to see the guards half-asleep. “Well, that’s disappointing. I’ll have to come up with a good punishment for them.”
Gabrielle felt a stab of guilt. “Don’t be too hard on them, it’s my fault.”
“They’re supposed to be guarding me,” Xena said. “What if you’d been an assassin?” Gabrielle’s eyes widened at that thought and Xena couldn’t help laughing. “Don’t worry, I’ll just send them to chop wood for the fires tomorrow.”
Gabrielle frowned. “That’s not much of a punishment.”
Xena gave her a wicked grin. “Considering what their heads will feel like by then, they’ll be wishing they were in Tartarus by the end of the day.” Gabrielle burst out laughing and Xena joined her, but Gabrielle remembered why she’d come and became serious again. She told the whole story in a rush, how she’d been down at the river and overheard the men plotting to kill Xena and about the mysterious stranger’s mention of the name Petracles.
Xena listened with a sombre look and when Gabrielle was finished, got up and started pacing. “Well, I’m not surprised Petracles is involved. He’s been trying to get me to be more aggressive since we started. I’m sure he’d just love to get rid of me and become the next Cortese. Now, you said you didn’t get a look at this other guy, the one who’s supposed to be a friend of mine, but would you know his voice if you heard it again?”
Gabrielle closed her eyes and thought back to when she’d been hiding in the brambles. She could hear the man’s voice as if he were right there in the tent. “Yes, I think I’d know it if I heard it.”
Xena nodded. “Good. I’ll take you around with me tomorrow morning and talk to everyone who’s close to me. When you figure out who it is, let me know.”
Gabrielle hesitated. “What will you do to him?”
Xena gave her a hard stare. “What do you think? If he’s planning to kill me, I’m going to kill him instead. Maybe I’ll do it front of everyone to teach them a lesson ...”
Gabrielle felt cold and sat down in a chair. “No, Xena, I can’t let you do that.”
Xena’s eyes widened and she knelt in front of the chair, grasping the girl by her slender shoulders. “You can’t let me? Who do you think you are? Nobody lets me do anything, I do what I want.”
Gabrielle swallowed and shook her head. “No. You need me to tell you who this guy is, but I won’t do that unless you promise you won’t just kill him. You can knock him around a bit, that’ll let everyone know not to mess with you again.”
Xena looked at her, incredulous that this slip of a girl was dictating terms to her with a determination many a warlord would’ve envied. She barked a short laugh and shook her head. “Fine, I promise I won’t just cut him down, but if he or anyone else attacks me, I’m fighting back.” Gabrielle nodded. “I’m not sure why you care so much about some guy who’s trying to stab me in the back.”
Gabrielle leaned forward and put her hand on Xena’s shoulder. “Xena, I’m not stopping you from killing him for his sake, I’m doing it for yours.”
“For my sake? What does that mean?”
“I know you’re mad about what happened to your brother and your town. But underneath, you’re hurting. That’s why you’re mad all the time.”
“Oh, is that why?” Xena said with a snort of contempt.
Gabrielle nodded. “But the more people you harm, the harder it’ll be to live with yourself when that hurt goes away.”
Xena frowned and looked like she was about to ask a question, but ended up shaking her head and standing up. “Whatever. It’s still a long time until dawn. You should probably head home.”
“Will you be all right here by yourself?”
Xena laughed. “Yeah, I think I can manage.” Gabrielle felt silly for worrying about a warrior like Xena and looked down at the ground. Xena’s face softened and she put her hand under Gabrielle’s chin, raising her face and looking into her eyes. “Hey, thanks for worrying about me. It’s ... been so long I kinda forgot how that feels.”
Gabrielle’s smiled and slipped out of the tent, promising to be back early. She made it home and snuck back into bed without incident, waking groggily at dawn when her mother rousted her from a sound sleep. She was grumpy at first, but remembered her promise to help Xena and perked up right away. Naturally, she couldn’t tell her parents what she was doing, so as soon as breakfast was done she took a basket and told them she was going out to find more berries. Lila wanted to go, but Gabrielle went on and on about how hot it would be, and the bugs that would be biting them, and the long walk up into the hills where she planned to pick the berries that Lila finally decided she’d rather stick around the farm.
Gabrielle rushed to Xena’s camp and hesitated on the outskirts, wondering if the soldiers would give her trouble. But Xena was waiting for her and Gabrielle hailed her loudly, making it sound like Xena was going to be teaching her the warrior’s trade. Most of the soldiers laughed at that, but seemed to accept it. They probably thought Xena was humouring her—or maybe even making fun of her—but she didn’t care as long as they weren’t suspicious about her presence. She trailed around behind Xena all morning as the warrior made her way through the camp, talking to so many soldiers that Gabrielle soon lost count. But none of them matched the voice she’d heard by the river.
Xena took her down to the river at lunch and Gabrielle showed her where she’d hidden and where the men were. Xena found some bootprints, but most of her soldiers wore the same kind of boots, so that was no help. Xena surprised Gabrielle by wading into the river and grabbing a couple of fish with her bare hands, something Gabrielle had never seen anyone do before. They built a small fire to cook the fish and Gabrielle plucked some herbs she’d seen her mother use at home, which gave the fish a delicate flavour that Xena seemed to like. She admitted that she was a terrible cook, which made Gabrielle feel good that she was actually better at something than Xena, who seemed to be great at everything.
They wandered along the river, giving Gabrielle the chance to pick the berries she’d promised her parents. They made their way back through the meadow and Xena caught a couple of rabbits, inviting Gabrielle to eat supper with her, as long as Gabrielle promised to cook them. She’d never cooked rabbit on her own, but she’d watched her mother do it plenty and managed to make a pretty good stew.
Gabrielle found herself grinning, which caught Xena’s attention. “What’s got you so happy?”
Gabrielle laughed. “I don’t know. I guess I just had fun today. This is the most excitement I’ve had in a long time.”
Xena smirked. “Yeah, this place isn’t exactly Athens when it comes to excitement.”
Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “Have you ever been to Athens?” Xena nodded. “I’d love to go there and see everything. And the Bard Academy is there. I wish I could go there to study so I could become a real bard.”
Xena shrugged as she picked her teeth with a sliver of wood. “Maybe you will someday.”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No, I don’t think my parents would go for that. Whatever plans they have for me will keep me here in Poteidaia.”
“You don’t like it here?”
Gabrielle sighed. How could she explain how she felt when she wasn’t even sure herself? “I like it fine, and I love my family, I just ... I feel like I don’t belong here, like I don’t quite fit in with everyone else. I want to do so much more, travel the world and have adventures and tell stories ... I just feel so small here ... like I’m being held tight when all I want is to break loose and run free.” She stopped, embarrassed at her outburst and gave Xena a shy glance. “I guess that sounds weird.”
Xena shook her head and Gabrielle was surprised to hear understanding in her voice. “No, actually it makes perfect sense. That’s kinda how I felt in Amphipolis before ... before Cortese. Like the town kept getting smaller and I was getting bigger.”
Gabrielle stared into Xena’s eyes, seeing understanding there and feeling a strange pull, like nothing she’d ever felt before. Xena must’ve felt it too because she looked away with a flush of embarrassment and leaned forward to grab another berry, avoiding Gabrielle’s eyes. Before Gabrielle could wonder too much about the weird connection they’d felt, two men walked up without being announced and sat down next to Xena. Gabrielle didn’t know them, but Xena apparently did, as she wasn’t at all uncomfortable with them sitting so close.
Xena introduced one as Petracles (giving Gabrielle a pointed look) and the other as Marcus. They both greeted Gabrielle with a smile, but as soon as she heard Marcus’s voice, her blood ran cold. It was the same voice she’d heard down by the river, the one who claimed to be close enough to Xena to betray her. She tried to act casual, not wanting Marcus to know anything was wrong, but she knew she had to get Xena alone and warn her. She stood up and clutched her stomach, moaning in pretended agony.
“Gabrielle, what’s wrong?”
“Ooooohhh, I think I ate that rabbit too fast. My stomach hurts ... do you have some barley water or something?”
Xena glanced over at the two men and smiled. “I think I can do better than that. Come on into my tent, I’ll give you some herbs that’ll settle your stomach right down.”
Gabrielle thanked her and allowed herself to be led inside, where she straightened up and grabbed Xena’s arm. “Xena, you have to listen to me.”
Xena looked at her curiously. “Wow, you recover fast.”
“I was faking,” she hissed, not wanting the men outside to hear her. “Xena, that’s him, that’s the guy I heard down by the river yesterday.”
Xena face hardened. “You mean Petracles?”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No, it was Marcus. He was the one who was talking to Draco about killing you and about Petracles taking over.”
Xena stared at her, then looked at the tent flap, then back at Gabrielle. “What? You’re ... no, you must be mistaken.”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No, I’m sure of it. He was the one who said he was close to you, that you’d never suspect him. It was him.”
Xena swallowed and her eyes took on a far away look. “No, it must’ve just been someone who sounds like Marcus. It can’t be him.”
Gabrielle put her hand on Xena’s arm. “It is, I swear it, it was him.”
Xena’s eyes focused on Gabrielle and they were filled with rage. “No,” she said, grabbing her hard and shaking her. “Marcus has been with me from the beginning, he was there for me when ... when I lost Lyceus. He’d never betray me. You’re wrong.”
“But that’s exactly what he said, that you’d never suspect him, and he said there were others too besides Petracles ...”
“No, you’re wrong ... or maybe you’re just lying.”
Gabrielle couldn’t believe her ears. “What? Why would I lie?”
Xena’s grip tightened until it was painful and she pulled Gabrielle closer. “Maybe you thought it would be fun to put one over on me. Or maybe someone here put you up to it. I did invade your town after all, took it over, occupied it with my men. Maybe this is a way to sow a little dissension, to make me mistrust the people closest to me. That’d be great for Poteidaia, wouldn’t it, if we started fighting amongst ourselves?”
Gabrielle’s arms hurt where Xena was holding them, but the pain inside was so much worse, knowing Xena didn’t trust her. She tried to think of some way to convince the suspicious warrior, but she was beyond reason. Gabrielle softened her voice and tried to put as much sincerity as she could into her words. “Xena, I’m not lying. I really did hear those men talking and one of them really was Marcus. Xena, I would never lie to you ... I’m your friend ...”
Xena let go of her arms and laughed. “Friend? We’re not friends. How could I be friends with you? You’re just a stupid little kid who likes to make up stories. Go home and tell them to your sister, because I’m not falling for them.”
Xena’s words cut Gabrielle to the heart and she stumbled out of the tent, running right past the startled Petracles and Marcus and out of the camp, forgetting her berries and everything else but Xena’s harsh words. When she got home, she went into the barn to compose herself but ended up sobbing into Tympani’s soft mane. By the time she stopped crying, her sadness had been replaced by a quiet rage. Stupid little kid was she? Well Xena would find out the hard way that she was right when Marcus stabbed her in the back. Maybe her last thought would be how she should have listened to this stupid little kid.
That thought hit Gabrielle with a jolt. Xena might think she was lying, or just plain mistaken, but it was Marcus she’d heard plotting with those other men. And if Xena didn’t believe her, that meant she wouldn’t be ready for an attack ... she might even get killed. As mad as she was at Xena for being so mean to her, Gabrielle still felt a chill go through her at the thought of the warrior being killed. She knew Xena wasn’t a completely good person, but she didn’t think she was completely bad either. She thought back to how Xena had pulled Draco off her without hesitating and how gentle she’d been afterwards when she tended her injuries. She stroked Tympani’s nose, recalling how Xena had taken such good care of him, saving his life for no other reason than that Gabrielle had asked her to. She thought about how sad Xena had been when talking about her brother and how she’d listened to Gabrielle’s stories and encouraged her. And she remembered that strange feeling she’d had earlier, when she’d realized she and Xena weren’t all that different from each other. Gabrielle thought there was some part of Xena that was still a nice, small-town girl who’d just wanted to protect her family and her town from raiders. Whatever Xena might have become since then, Gabrielle didn’t think that nice girl deserved to die.
She’d been mulling over the conversation she’d overheard, thinking about the ambush site. She’d lived in Poteidaia all her life and knew the surrounding areas well. She knew exactly the place Draco was talking about, a clearing surrounded by trees some distance above the river. Draco and his men would have plenty of places to hide, but Gabrielle had spent time up there herself and knew every tree and bush by heart. She thought about going up to find a place to hide so she could warn Xena when Marcus brought her there, but she didn’t want to run into Draco again. So she decided to keep an eye on Xena and Marcus tomorrow and follow them if they headed out of town. Xena might not want help from a stupid little kid like Gabrielle, but she was going to get it anyway.
*************************************************************