A Merchant, A Warrior, A Bard, and a Traitor
by Athena
Disclaimer: All characters including Xena, Gabrielle, and Argo are all property
of Universal Studios and Renaissance Pictures, some of which are my own.
Specific Story Disclaimers
Violence: Yes there is some violence and sword fighting
Sexual Disclaimer: Yes there is some love in here. Nothing gets too "close"
though. There is some love between two women, but only as friends in this story.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to the show for inspiring me to write my
first fan fic.
Comments: You can email me at LubbyDubby10@aol.com
all questions, comments, and concerns are welcome.
"So where is our next stop?" Gabrielle asked walking alongside Xena.
"Athens, I have some business there with an old friend."
"Why is it always business with you?"
"Because that is what I do."
"Oh," Gabrielle said with a puzzled look on her face.
"Here we are." Xena said stopping in front of a large city.
Gabrielle looks around in awe as they walk through the city.
"There you are!" A voice says. Gabrielle turns around and sees a man in elegant robes and jewelry.
"Hello Tiberus." Xena said shaking his hand. "What did you want me for?"
"Lets go to my home. There we can discuss it." Tiberus says as he leads the two women down the streets of Athens. Gabrielle takes a closer look at this Tiberus. He is short and stubby and looks to be in his early fifties. He has gray hair and smells of sweet perfume.
"I don't think we have met." Gabrielle steps in before they reach his house. "I am Gabrielle."
"Oh how rude of me! I am Tiberus, owner of many shops throughout Athen's including a jewelry, clothing, boots, floral and women's wear."
"Really? Wow!"
Tiberus leads the girls into his home and offers them a seat. "Would you like some wine?"
"Yes thank-" Gabrielle begins to say when Xena cuts her off.
"I didn't come here to drink wine. What did you need me here for?" Xena snaps.
"All right. Lately I have been having-"
"Father, I am sorry to interrupt, but the jewelry store has been...." A young man says.
"Hold on just one second." Tiberus says to the two women. He takes the young man into the next room.
Gabrielle peeks into the room and takes a closer look at the young man. He is in his early twenties, he has brown hair and brown eyes. He has light skin and is very handsome. The young man and Tiberus step back into the room.
"Sorry ladies, but I have to rush over to my jewelry store."
"I'll come with." Xena says beginning to stand up."
"No,no,no, I need you here." Tiberus pleads.
"Alright, but I am going with you the next time." Xena says.
"My son, Damian will entertain you until I get back." Tiberus says and walks out of the door.
"Hello my name is Damian. I run my father's women wear shops. Would you ladies like anything to drink?"
"I'll have some milk." Gabrielle says and Damian walks out of the back door to the stables.
I would like to try on some of the that women's wear clothes." Gabrielle whispers to Xena.
"No you don't." Xena says back.
"Why not?"
"Lets just say ..." Xena thinks for a moment, "You won't wear it for long."
"Huh?"
"Lingerie."
"Ohhhhhhhhhh." Gabrielle says and bursts out laughing.
Damian comes back in and gives Gabrielle her milk. "Here you go."
"Why thank you." Gabrielle says as she gives Damian a smile.
"Thats it." Xena says as she stands up. " I am going after Tiberus. Tell me where his jewelry shop is." Xena says to Damian.
"It is straght down this street."Damian says with a worried look on his face.
"Gabrielle, you stay with Damian. Damian, show Gabrielle the sights."
"Xena, be careful okay?" Gabrielle says as she grabs Xena's arm.
"You know I will." Xena says as she runs out the door.
"So what do you want to see first?" Damian asks Gabrielle.
"I want to see all of your shops!" Gabrielle shouts.
"Come with me."Damian tells Gabrielle as they walk down the street.
Gabrielle looks around the big city in awe as she wonders the streets. Without noticing it she knocks over a vase with a heavy price tag.
"You break it you buy it." The old merchant snaps at Gabrielle.
Gabrielle reaches into her pockets and comes up with 10 dinars. "Will this be enough?"
"How about you times that by 10." The merchant says as he grabs Gabrielles arm. " I am going to turn you in to the government." He snaps as he begins to tie Gabrielle up.
"Excuse me kind sir." Damian says as he pats the merchant on the shoulder.
"Why hello Damian. What brings you to these parts?"
"This young lady. She is my guest and I was showing her around."
"She knocked over my vase. It costs 100 dinars!"
"Don't you owe my father some money? Around 300 dinars?"
"Well, yes I do."
"Then how about we make it 150 dinars. That is 50 extra dinars so I can have this fine young lady back in one piece.Deal? Damian says as he puts out his hand.
"Deal." The merchant says as he and Damian shake hands.
"Wow! And I thought I had good people skills!"Gabrielle says as she and Damian continue to walk around.
"It all comes with being a merchant. You have to learn to talk to people and listen. Well, here we are." Damian stops in front of a floral shop. It has beautiful flowers! The most beautiful Gabrielle has ever seen.
"This is fantastic! Where do you get these flowers?" Gabrielle shrieks in astonishment.
"The most beautiful one is that one." Damian points to the most beautiful flower you could ever see. It is sparkiling blue and has a solid gold edge. "The only place to get those are at the top of Mount Olympus."
"How did you get it from there? Gabrielle says in awe.
"Well, Aphrodite is one of our most biggest women's wear customer. Sometimes she pays in flowers like those. We don't mind. They cost over 1000 dinars!"
"By the gods! That is the single most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life!"
"Oh no Gabrielle." Damian picks up the flower and holds it up to Gabrielle's face, "The blue is no match to your eyes. The gold is no match to your hair. The petals that are the smoothest thing in the world are no match to your skin." Damian says as he takes Gabrielle's hand."You are the single most beautiful thing in the world."
"Why, thank you! I have never been called that before!"
"Gabrielle, will you go out to dinner with me tonight? Just the two of us."
"I don't know I'll have to talk to Xena about it." She sees Damian's smile drop into a sigh.
"But then again Xena doesn't need to know where I am every second of the day. I'll be happy to go."
"All right then!" He kisses Gabrielle on the cheek. "I can't wait until tonight!" Damian says as he runs down the street.
Gabrielle finds her way back to Tiberus's house to be greeted by Tiberus and Xena arguing.
"Tell me why you wanted me here! I am not staying here to play games!"
"Fine! Sit down!"
Xena and Gabrielle sit down.
"Aphrodite is our best customer in the women's wear department. She doesn't carry dinars so instead she brings gifts from Olympus. Well one day she brought a necklace. It was very plain except for the charm which was a green stone. She told me it was part of the Cronus Stone. I don't know how, but it has gotten around and a warlord named Borus has devoted his life to getting that necklace. They have been looting my stores, my home, even my stables! So I was wondering if you could carry it."
"You mean she would wear the Cronus Stone?" Gabrielle asked.
"Well she doesn't have to wear it." Tiberus started. "All she has to do is watch over it and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."
"What is in it for me?" Xena asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I am going to give you this." Tiberus said opening an elegant box. Inside was the flower Damian showed Gabrielle. "It is worth 1000 dinars and can only be found on Mount Olympus."
"I don't want a flower. I'll work for free."
"Then why did you ask what was in it for you?" Tiberus asked.
"I just wanted to see how serious you were about this. Bring me the necklace. Gabrielle and I will leave by sundown." Xena says as Gabrielle remembers her date with Damian.
"How about we leave tommorrow? Gabrielle asked, "I am kind of tired and I want to see more of this beautiful city."
"All right. We'll leave tommorrow at first light." Xena says giving in as she turns to Tiberus, " Do you have anywhere for us to sleep?"
"Oh of course! We have two extra rooms for you! " Tiberus says as he turns to
Xena, "You can have the gold room or the blue room."
"Gabrielle which one do you want?"
"I'll have the gold room." Gabrielle says excitedly.
"Then I guess I'll have the blue room."
Tiberus led the women down a hallway to a doorway. He opened the door and the room was painted gold.
"This is your room, Gabrielle." Tiberus said as he pointed into it. "The old trunk is filled with dresses and such. You are welcome to use whatever you want."
"Thank you." Gabrielle says as she walks into the room.
"Xena's room is just down the hallway just in case you need her." Tiberus said as he went down the hallway.
"Now lets see what is in this old trunk." Gabrielle said as she opened it and started going through the dresses. The dresses were all elegant and had their own specific design. They were all beautiful, but one caught Gabrielle's eye. It was a beautiful gold dress. It had seven layers to make the dress even more sublime. She dug deeper to find a hair piece that went with the dress and shoes that were also gold. Gabrielle started to put on the dress and the shoes. She put her hair up in the piece and looked in the mirror. "I look very pretty if I amy say so myself." Gabrielle said admiring herself only to be disrupted by someone opening the door. It was Xena.
"Oh, so what have we here?" Xena said sarcastically.
"I was just...um...trying on the ...um...dress." Gabrielle stuttered.
"I could hardly see you. You blend into the walls."
"Stop it! I am going on a date!"
"Really? With who?"
"Damian."
"Well I hope you have fun. I have to go to an auction."
"For what?"
"The Cronus Stone."
"But I thought that Tiberus was going to give it to you?"
"He is. We are just doing this so the warlords know I have it so they don't go looting his shops."
"Oh."
"Can I give you a fashion tip?"
"You? A fashion tip?"
"Funny."Xena said giving Gabrielle a sarcastic smile. She walked to the vase and took out a red rose that had wilted. She crushed it into a powder and smeared it on Gabrielle's lips giving it a nice rosy look.
"Thank you, Xena." Gabrielle said looking up.
"No problem. You should go now or you'll be late." Xena pointed out.
Gabrielle stood up and started to walk out of the door when she ran into some one. She looked up and saw it was Damian.
"You look beautitful." Damian said admiring his date. "Shall we go?" Damian said holding out his hand.
"Of course."
Damian and Gabrielle started down the streets of Athens.
"This city is actually very beautiful." Gabrielle said as she looked at the buildings.
"But it doesn't compare to you." Damian said as he kissed Gabrielle's hand.
"Here we are."
Damian stopped at an old barn.
"Why are we here?" Gabrielle asked as she gave Damian a puzzled look.
"It is a surprise." Damian said as he led Gabrielle into the barn. They walked into it and Gabrielle noticed there was a fire place and furniture.
"Stand right here." Damian said pointing to a spot on the floor.
"Why?"
"I want to paint your portrait."
"All right."
All of a sudden, two men came and grabbed Gabrielle's arms.
"Damian help me!" Gabrielle shrieked.
"Why should I help you? You are part of my plan!" Damian said
as he let out an evil laugh.
Part 2: Coming soon!!!