Contact: norsebarddk@gmail.com
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DISCLAIMERS:
The characters of Xena, Gabrielle, Argo, Cyrene, Joxer and Lila from the TV show 'Xena Warrior Princess' belong to Studio USA/Renaissance Pictures/Universal or whoever actually owns them now. No infringement on their rights is intended.
This story depicts a loving relationship between consenting adult women. If such a story frightens you, you better click on the X in the top-right corner and find something else to read.
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AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Original version written: October-November 2008.
Revised version: September 2016.
Korkyra - Thank you very much for helping me with the original version.
Timeline: Season 2, but I'm not following the canon so there's no Solan, no Perdicus and no Callisto. This story can easily be read on its own, but is actually the starting point of a ten-episode season. If you're interested in finding out what happened to 'my' Xena and Gabrielle after this story, go ahead and read the other ones - all stories can be found at the Royal Academy of Bards.
- (1) It Happened On Winter Solstice Night
- (2) A Weekend With Aphrodite
- (3) Under Siege
- (4) A Big Step For Bards & Warriors
- (5) The Amazon Way
- (6) Xena's Birthday
- (7) Xena, Champion of Ares
- (8) Double Trouble
- (9) A Question Of Loyalty, Part 1
- (10) A Question Of Loyalty, Part 2
Description: When Xena and Gabrielle return to Amphipolis for the Winter Solstice celebrations, they have no idea that a life-altering adventure awaits them: one of danger and near-tragedy, of bravery and dedication, and - above all - of love and mutual devotion. Even as their hearts soar, a final threat appears that must be overcome in order for the Warrior Princess and the Bard from Poteidaia to have a strong future… together.
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CHAPTER 1
Winter. An icy wind swept relentlessly across the monochrome, barren landscape. A golden mare and two people who were covered by heavy woolen cloaks from top to toe walked along a narrow dirt road that would eventually take them to Amphipolis.
The two women, one tall and raven-haired, and one shorter and blonde, held onto their cloaks with grim determination as a light rain began mixing with the strong winds to create an even more hostile environment.
"Oh, this is just great… I've always enjoyed being pelted with frozen rain!" Xena grumbled under her breath.
Gabrielle chuckled darkly and looked up at her companion. Xena's scowl was visible to the bard even though her eyes were watering up from the cold wind. "We promised your mother we'd be there, Xena. And you know how your mother is when she gets one of her ideas…"
"Yeah, yeah. I just wish we were visiting her for the harvest festival instead…"
"Did I hear that right? The big, bad Warrior Princess doesn't like the cold?" Gabrielle said in a teasing tone of voice.
"Well, why don't you try to wear my leathers, then? They're frozen solid!"
Wincing, Gabrielle had to shake off a full-body shudder that had come unprompted. "No thanks!" she said and let out a brief laugh.
They continued walking along the dirt road for a few more candledrips until Xena spotted a cluster of trees in the distance. She touched Gabrielle on the shoulder to get the bard's attention. "Look, those trees over there are standing so close they'll protect us from the weather… let's use it to wait for the shower to die down."
"All right…"
---
Not long after spotting the trees, they snuggled up closely using the trunks as a shield against the frozen rain. Their breaths were visible, and it stirred Gabrielle's poetic soul. "I love the wintertime and the snow. Don't you?" the bard asked, glancing at the barren landscape surrounding them.
"Not particularly. It causes havoc when you're trying to move an army."
"Oh, that's so romantic… don't tell me you didn't play in the snow when you were a little girl?"
Xena let out a dark chuckle and pulled her woolen cloak closer. "I never was a 'little girl', Gabrielle."
"Heh."
"What?"
"I'll bet you were the cutest little girlie imaginable!"
"We need to get out of the cold, I think you have frostbite between your ears…" Xena teased, earning her an elbow in the side.
Snickering, Gabrielle moved her arm back inside the cloak in a hurry. "Lila and I always played in the snow. Oh, we had so much fun. Once, we had made a snowman so big that he seemed to almost reach the heavens. Of course, we were only knee-high to a grasshopper back then… yeah. That was fun."
Xena observed the dreamy expression on Gabrielle's face, and felt the same curious, but pleasant, tingling in the pit of her stomach that had started to appear recently whenever she looked at the young blonde. "Mmmm? Well, if it starts to snow, how about you and I make a snowman, then?"
"Really?"
"Sure. They're great for target practice," Xena said, readjusting her cloak.
Gabrielle just looked at the warrior, sighed, and shook her head slowly.
"When you look at me like that, you remind me of some of the Amphipolis elders. They used to look at me like that all the time."
"Sweet Athena, I can't imagine why…" Gabrielle added off-hand. It earned her one of those looks from Xena that was more than a gaze, but not quite a glare. They kept eye-contact for a brief moment or two, but soon concentrated on remaining warm inside their cloaks.
---
The ice shower only lasted for a quarter of a candlemark, but by then, the tip of Xena's nose had almost turned blue - as blue as the sky that suddenly broke through the somber, gray clouds that raced across the heavens. The warrior and the bard stayed at the tree trunks for a few more candledrips before they realized it was safe to move on towards Amphipolis.
With the winds dying down as well once the showers had left the area, the weather turned fair, even pleasant, and they were able to put their heavy, woolen cloaks across Argo's back as they continued along the narrow dirt road.
To get some heat into her muscles, Gabrielle tried swinging her staff around. She could feel the chilly conditions had made her back stiff and unresponsive, so she took it easy to avoid pulling anything. "Are you looking forward to meeting your mother again, Xena?" she said, working the staff through a few, lazy patterns.
"I am… it's been a while. It's a bad time for her, though. I remember from my childhood that the Winter Solstice Festival is so busy she won't have time to talk to anyone. She'll be up to her neck in pots and pans."
"I guess it's a lot of hard work to run a tavern, huh?"
"It is. But on the other hand, if there aren't any customers, she'll be out of business soon."
"True. Anyway, I have to say I'm looking forward to sleeping in a real bed for once," Gabrielle said as she ran a hand over the unresponsive muscles in her back. "… and then there's the food and drink, of course…" she continued dreamily.
"Wonderful… just remember you'll have to get up on Argo afterwards, 'cause I sure as Hades won't be carrying you around!" Xena finished her little joke by leaning right and thumping shoulders with the shorter bard.
"Har Har. I'll behave."
---
When they reached the first hovels on the outskirts of Amphipolis, they could see the streets were busy. Plenty of villagers walked to and fro, or drove heavily-laden carts pulled by teams of oxen.
"Well, everything looks the same as the last time we were here," Gabrielle said.
"Yeah," Xena said, glancing around at the oh-so-familiar scenery. "It's been looking the same for as long as I can remember." Letting out a dark chuckle, she locked eyes with a few villagers whose faces told stories of not knowing if they should acknowledge the returning Warrior Princess, or simply ignore her.
It didn't really matter what the villagers decided to do -Xena and Gabrielle soon entered Amphipolis and blended into the stream of people walking toward the town square where, among other things, Cyrene's tavern was placed.
"Gabby! Xena!" someone shouted behind them. The two women looked pensively at each other. Joxer was the last person they had expected to meet in Amphipolis, but there was no doubt the voice belonged to their extraordinarily clumsy friend. Smiling, they turned around to face the man running to meet them.
"Hello, Joxer," Gabrielle said, waving at the man to get the full effect.
As Joxer came closer, he stumbled over a rut in the road which made a murky substance slosh out of a large mug and down his already tattered armor. He quickly brushed himself off and stuck his fingers in his mouth to lick them clean so nothing would go to waste. "Ahoy, my warrior chums! We bump into each other all the time now, huh?" he said as he closed the distance between them.
A snort from Xena prompted Gabrielle to give the taller woman a slight bump in the ribs with her elbow.
"I'll go drop Argo off at the stables," Xena said, leaving the scene just before Joxer reached them.
Gabrielle put her best face on, but unfortunately the smile never quite reached her eyes. She shifted her staff to her other hand since she knew Joxer would always give her an enthusiastic greeting.
Joxer never noticed the snubs and reached out to clasp Gabrielle's arm with great gusto. "How are you doing, Gabby? It's so great to see you here. You've come for the festival too?" When the clasping of arms was over and done with, he pulled her into an awkward hug.
"Yes. Yes, we have," Gabrielle replied, pulling back from the hug so she could adjust her clothes that had been knocked askew during the awkward moment.
"So… where are you staying?"
"Well, we're obviously going to stay at Cyrene's tavern," Gabrielle said, hoping against hope that Joxer had found other accommodations.
"Great! I have a room there! Maybe they're close to each other so we can spend some time together!"
Gabrielle cringed inwardly but tried not to let it show too much on her expressive face. Even the fake smile she had worn faded and was replaced by a frown between her eyebrows. "Oh, how… nice," she said, glancing further down Amphipolis' busy streets in the hope of seeing Xena coming back to rescue her.
"Do you want me to carry your staff and your bag?"
"No thanks, Joxer. I've got it."
"Sure," Joxer said while a look of disappointment tinged his face.
Knowing it was high time for a change of subject, Gabrielle turned around and began to shuffle down towards the central square. The silence became as embarrassing as the moments of speaking had been, so Gabrielle once again screwed the fake smile on her face and pointed at the mug Joxer carried. "So, what's that you're drinking?"
The disappointment vanished from Joxer's face like the morning dew, and was replaced by a beaming grin that nearly reached from ear to ear. "Oh, this? This is a special brew Cyrene made especially for me! I'd offer you a taste, but I'm afraid it might be too strong for you."
Gabrielle didn't really know how make a witty comeback to that, so she settled for a muted "Uh-huh…"
---
Just before they reached the entrance to Cyrene's tavern, Joxer bounded over to the door and held it open for Gabrielle. When she didn't walk through it, he peeked inside and had to do a double-take at the sheer number of patrons mingling around inside the tavern that wasn't too spacious to begin with. "Boy, it sure is crowded here, huh?" he said, pushing his odd-looking helmet back from his forehead.
"Yeah. Good thing Cyrene always holds back two rooms for us," Gabrielle said, rapidly becoming annoyed that she could only see people's backs.
"She does?"
"Cyrene is Xena's mother, Joxer."
"She is?"
"Yes. Haven't you noticed the similarities? They both have very beautiful eyes, they're such a fine nuance between ice blue and sky blue…" Gabrielle said dreamily.
Joxer opened his mouth to reply to the startling revelation, but closed it again when Gabrielle found a passage through the crowd and began pushing her way to the bar.
---
Some time later, Xena entered her mother's tavern. She had far fewer problems carving a path through the thick crowd than Gabrielle'd had - as soon as the patrons saw who it was, they parted and let her through - and quickly spotted the bard sitting by a table talking to Cyrene. Remembering the house rules, she put her sword and her Chakram below the bar counter before she helped herself to a mug of ale.
Grinning, she put the mug down on the table where the others were sitting. "Hello mother," she said as she put her hands on Cyrene's shoulders. The older woman spun around, jumped up and embraced her daughter in a fierce, crushing hug.
The hug took Xena by surprise, and she let out a brief laugh as she was shoved back a step or two. Though she tried to wiggle free of her mother's strong arms, it was to no avail and in fact only made Cyrene more determined to hug her
"Don't pull that warrior nonsense on me, Xena," Cyrene said, framing her daughter's face with her hands when she had finished hugging her. "I'm your mother, and mothers hug their daughters! Oh… are you getting enough to eat? I think you've lost a bit of color," she continued, pinching a cheek.
"I eat just fine, mother. It's cold outside, that's all," Xena said, rubbing her cheek. When she caught a glimpse of Gabrielle who was apparently trying very hard not to laugh out loud, she narrowed her eyes slightly and raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, I'm certainly glad to see that business is booming." Grabbing her mug, she took a short swig and savored the taste of the high-quality ale.
"I've had to hire a couple of extra hands, we're so full! And… I'm sorry, I couldn't spare two rooms this time, so you'll have to share one. I hope that's all right?"
"Of course it is, mother. No problem," Xena said, looking at Gabrielle for confirmation. The bard nodded in return.
"Good," Cyrene said, already eyeing the next customers who had just entered the tavern. "I've put you in the room at the end of the hall. It's not big, but it has two bunks, so you should be all right."
"We'll be fine, don't you worry about us," Gabrielle said. Once Cyrene had left, she glanced at Xena whose face was hard to read, though it seemed a small smile was waiting to break free of her passive lips. "One room… but we can manage, can't we?"
The smile that had threatened to come finally broke through Xena's defenses, and she grinned broadly as she wrapped an arm around Gabrielle's shoulders to aid her trek through the dense crowd. "Oh, I'm sure we'll manage just fine, Gabrielle."
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The constant hustle and bustle in the busy bar room grated on Xena's sensitive ears - not to mention her sensitive temper - so after a candlemark of listening to the din of the crowd, she decided that it was high time for some quiet reflection elsewhere.
Escaping the tavern, she and Gabrielle walked to a small, babbling stream on the outskirts of Amphipolis where they sat down on a grassy knoll that wasn't too frozen.
"Do you think Cyrene will be all right with Joxer helping?" Gabrielle asked as she picked up a pebble and threw it into the stream. The stone broke the surface with a plopp before it disappeared.
"Maybe she can beat him into shape. He can't mess up everything he does."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Xena…"
"Heh. I do know he deserves a chance."
Gabrielle grunted as she began to toy with another pebble. "Yeah. I guess," she eventually said, locking eyes with Xena.
"So… are you ready for some staff practice?"
"Ugh, no… it's much too cold."
"Then we'll just have to get you warmed up, won't we?" Xena whispered right next to Gabrielle's ear. To underscore her words, she used her long fingers in a hit-and-run to tickle the bard's side.
Yelping, Gabrielle jumped away from Xena's digits. "Oooh, you've got something coming, you know that?" she growled as she clambered to her feet. She dusted off the seat of her skirt to stall a little while she came up with a good plan for payback, but Xena had already moved on by going through a few basic drills, like blocks and thrusts, with Gabrielle's practice staff. "Let's go slow today… my back's gone all stiff in this cold," the bard said, twirling her genuine Amazon staff.
"Sure. If you want, I can give you a backrub tonight?"
"Maybe. All right, let's get to it."
They started slowly with a selection of basic moves before moving onto the advanced drills. After a little while of offensive and defensive moves, Xena had hardly broken a sweat, but Gabrielle was panting.
"It's so frustrating that I never seem to get better," the bard said, leaning against the staff in a lull in the drills.
"You are getting better, but don't forget, you've only been practicing for a year," Xena said, continuing to move the practice staff in a lazy figure-eight to keep warm. "I've done this for most of my life."
"Still… hey, let's finish with a pretend fight."
"No."
"Come on, Xena, I need to learn," Gabrielle said and readied her staff. When she didn't get an answer, she jumped into an offensive stance that saw her hunching over while spreading her legs out wide for balance.
"Have you forgotten what happened the last time, Gabrielle? It took nearly a full candlemark for your nose to stop bleeding."
Gabrielle shrugged but remained in the offensive position. "That was my own fault, and you know it. I leaned in too far. Come on, let's-"
"It was my staff that hit you. No, I won't fight, and that's final." Once Xena had delivered the message, she turned around on her heel and started walking back to the village without looking behind her even once.
A frustrated Gabrielle relaxed from the offensive stance and wiped the sweat off her forehead and arms. When it became obvious Xena wasn't coming back, she let out a sigh and followed the warrior away from the babbling stream.
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As evening fell, Xena and Gabrielle went to visit the large bazaar some crafty peddlers had set up on a field just outside of the village. Gabrielle was in her element in such an environment, and she haggled endlessly on all kinds of goods, occasionally driving the poor merchants to tears with her talent.
For Xena, experiencing the full force of a bazaar was worse than facing an entire Scythian army alone. She didn't know what to do, where to go, or even what to say. Several times, Gabrielle had shown her some fancy piece of cloth, or whatever, and Xena could only grunt, or shrug. Sometimes both. The big crowd and the peddlers hawking their goods at Stentorian loudness rubbed her the wrong way. She was in fact down to her very last nerve, and even that was being chewed on by the intrusive noises all around her.
While that was going on, Gabrielle was making plans on how to ditch the Warrior Princess. On one of her many passes around the bazaar, she had come across a merchant who had sold the perfect Winter Solstice present for the brooding warrior - but if Xena kept sticking to her skirt-tails like a burr, she would never be able to go back and buy the special gift she had her sights set on.
Believing she had come up with the perfect excuse, Gabrielle turned around to deliver it to Xena, but the fib was shoved out of the way by a throaty laugh when she caught a glimpse of the look of thinly-veiled apathy that lingered on the warrior's face. Still chuckling, she reached for Xena's hand and gave it a little pat. "Listen, Xena, I know you don't like bazaars, so how about you went back to the tavern? It's almost time for supper… maybe Cyrene needs another pair of hands in the kitchen?"
"Oh, but I don't want to leave you here… you must be finished soon?"
"Finished soon?! No, no, no, Xena," Gabrielle said and gave her friend's hand a whole series of pats, "I need to make at least one more round, maybe two… and some of the stalls get new goods all the time, so I might even make it three rounds."
Xena's eyes grew wide for a fraction of a candledrip before she fell back into her usual stoic state. "I see… Well, if you're sure, then I guess I could…" she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.
"Off you go. I can manage," Gabrielle said and offered the Warrior Princess a broad smile.
---
Xena moved back to the tavern in a hurried stride, but a stall selling quills and new parchment caught her eye. She remembered that the seams on Gabrielle's scroll case were beyond repair, and she knew - by the way the bard gnashed her teeth whenever it happened - how much it frustrated Gabrielle to see her precious scrolls get all crumbled-up in her bag.
Performing a ninety-degree right-hand turn, Xena went up to the stall to peruse the goods on display using the same, razor-sharp glare she had always used to so much success on the battlefields of the Known World.
"Good afternoon, fair… uh… warrior, " the merchant said once he noticed he had a potential customer. "Go on, have a look. You won't find better craftsmanship this side of the Land of the Pharaohs," he continued, making a sweeping gesture across the selection of goods on display.
The man was short and somewhat plump, but his white beard and thinning hair were neatly groomed, and Xena noticed his clothes were more expensive than usual for the peddlers.
Xena tried to remember some of the haggling tricks Gabrielle had tried to teach her - 'tried' being the operative word - but her mind drew a blank. Instead, she went for the old-fashioned approach by narrowing her eyes and shooting the man a steely, blue glare. "I'm looking for a scroll case," she said in a half-whisper to appear more threatening.
"I have plenty of those, look here. All shapes, many different colors, many different qualities," the merchant said, once again sweeping his hand across the various items.
Xena didn't know anything about scroll cases, but she did know about the relative quality of leatherware. "That one," she said, pointing at a case made of very robust, reinforced leather.
"Oh, but that's so plain. Surely a lady of your stature deserves something with a little more pizzazz?"
"It's a gift for a friend."
"Then I simply must insist. You should pick one that's more refined," he said and reached for another one that looked a lot more flimsy. It had several gemstones attached to it, and Xena's trained eye recognized them as fakes immediately.
"No, I'll take the first one. How much?" Xena said as she pulled out her money pouch.
The merchant grinned broadly and reached below the counter to get a small piece of cloth for the scroll case. "Oh, the meager sum of fifteen dinars."
"Forget it," Xena said and closed the pouch again.
"Twelve dinars…?"
"Eight, and you have a deal."
"Eight dinars? No, I'm sorry, I can't do that, I'm… I'm…" the salesman said, but his voice trailed off when he saw the warrior's icy glare. "You have a deal, warrior. Let's make it a cool eight dinars."
"Deal. Would you mind wrapping it?" As Xena handed the merchant the coins, she observed how he wrapped the scroll case in a colored piece of cloth. "Thank you, my good man," she said as she walked away, feeling quite proud that she'd been able to get the price down. Gabrielle would have loved it, she thought.
The peddler could only nod, and he pulled a hankie out of his tunic to dab his sweaty brow.
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At the same time down the other end of the bazaar, Gabrielle had plotted a direct course for the booth that sold the special gift when a large, burly peddler stepped away from his booth and flashed her a smile that revealed several missing teeth.
"Hey there, little lady! I have something here that might interest you!" As he spoke, the flickering torchlight surrounding them made the gold jewelry on his fingers and in his earlobes sparkle.
"Hello… and I doubt it," Gabrielle replied politely, giving the man's booth a quick once-over. Although he peddled pre-written scrolls which always piqued her interest, the tacky décor didn't do anything for her, and she was ready to move on at once.
"Let me guess," the peddler said and moved in front of Gabrielle when it became clear she was leaving, "you're looking for your first scrolls on cooking, am I right?"
Gabrielle scrunched up her face and looked past the merchant's shoulder. The booth with the special gift was just down the lane, but she didn't want to appear too uncouth so she stayed put. "Uh… no," she said as she turned back to the bejeweled man.
"Good, because I don't have any of those."
"Uh… beg' pardon?"
"What I do have, however, are some very exquisite adult scrolls, written by the finest authors in the magnificent city of Gomorrah. They're guaranteed to spice up your lovelife, and if they don't, you'll get a full refund. Care for a sample? No purchase expected."
"I… well…" Gabrielle looked around, almost afraid to see someone she knew. With the bazaar being as busy as ever, none of the people around her had time to look twice at the slender woman standing at the booth selling adult reading material. "Why not?" she finally said, taking the scroll the man was holding.
She unfolded it and started to read. Within two paragraphs, her cheeks blushed crimson red, and she rolled it up even faster than she had unfolded it. "Ah… I… ah…" she said while her eyes refused to settle on anything for any length of time.
"Like what you read?" the merchant said, grinning at Gabrielle's befuddlement. "Go on, keep it. It's a gift."
"Are all of your scrolls… like this?" Gabrielle asked in a voice that barely reached above a whisper.
The merchant grinned so broadly it was revealed that one of the few upper teeth he had left was made of gold. "Naw! Some are even hotter."
"I have to go now, but… thanks for the sample," Gabrielle said and quickly put the scroll in her bag.
"No problem. Tell your friends where you found it!" he said after her retreating form.
---
Gabrielle finally arrived at the stall she was looking for, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the special gift she wanted to get for Xena was still in stock.
She weighed the pros and cons for nearly a full candledrip before deciding to buy it. She was ashamed to admit that, for very nearly the first time in her life, she couldn't find a perfect gift for someone. To buy jewelry for the Warrior Princess would be silly, as would fashionable clothes - Xena's leather outfit was her trademark, after all.
A gift certificate was perhaps not the Known World's most imaginative Winter Solstice present, but it would have to do. Gabrielle picked up a small box made of beechtree with the words Wellness In Athens - Greek, Roman And Egyptian Baths etched onto the lid in a stylized hand. She turned it over a few times to test its resilience before she handed it to the woman behind the counter.
Her Winter Solstice shopping done, Gabrielle left the bazaar and headed for Cyrene's tavern with a spring in her step.
-*-*-*-
Xena bit her lip. Hard. Then she bit on her cheek. Whatever she tried to come up with, it would never fail to sound stupid. She sat in their small room in the tavern, trying to write a little, charming note to put in Gabrielle's new scroll case. Sighing deeply, she tore up the fourth attempt at it, gave up, and went downstairs to see if she could help with anything.
In the tavern's main room, it looked like half of Amphipolis had decided to eat supper at Cyrene's. To call the establishment packed to the rafters would actually be an understatement. Two local girls were waiting tables, and by the looks of it, they'd be busy for the rest of the night.
A loud crash from the kitchen area made Xena run out there. She stopped dead in the doorway as she took in the amazing sight of Joxer being covered in flour from head to toe. Smirking, she remained at a safe distance in case his clumsiness was contagious.
He sneezed, and a cloud of the white powder went flying into the kitchen. Looking suitably embarrassed, he bent down, picked up a tiny fragment of the jar he had dropped, and carefully put it on the kitchen table.
Cyrene just looked at him, unable to decide if she should yell or laugh.
"Oops…" he said, and tried to wipe some of the flour off his face.
"I'll say," Cyrene replied flatly.
He sneezed again, and the second burst was even more violent than the first one had been.
"Go get cleaned up, Joxer. When you're done, come back here. I need you to man the oven," Cyrene said on her way over to the corner where the brooms were stored.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, leaving a trail of flour on the floor as he shuffled out of the kitchen.
Cyrene spun around when she heard her daughter's characteristic husky chuckle from the doorway. "Ah, how nice of you to show up, young lady. You're just in time to sweep the floor," she said and thrust the broom into Xena's hands.
"But, Mom!"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten how to do it?" Cyrene said and offered her daughter a strong dose of a very familiar icy-blue glare.
"No, ma'am," Xena said, and started sweeping up after Joxer's little accident.
-*-*-*-
When Gabrielle returned from the bazaar, the tavern was already filled past capacity so she and Xena decided to eat in their own chamber upstairs instead of using the over-crowded main dining room. Xena had managed to steal a loaf of bread when Cyrene wasn't looking, and now they were sitting around the small table, sharing a bowl of hot soup.
"Your mom's food is fantastic," Gabrielle said through a mouthful of chicken soup.
"Yeah. Too bad I didn't inherit her culinary skills," Xena said and broke off a piece of bread.
Gabrielle winked at the dark haired woman. "Well, if you could cook too, what would you need me for?"
Xena knew it was only meant as a joke, but even so, that familiar tingle in her stomach returned. "Well…" she said, but left it there.
"Well, what?"
"You know… I kinda like having you around," Xena said as she used the last of the bread to mop up some soup. She made sure to pay very close attention to the bowl so she wouldn't have to look at Gabrielle's green eyes.
If the warrior had looked up, she would've seen those green eyes sparkling even more than usual.
-*-*-*-
A little later on in the evening, Gabrielle began shuffling around on the spot, a surefire sign that she was embarrassed about something. In this case, the reason revealed itself when she pulled her nightshift out of her bag. "Xena… would you mind waiting outside while I undress?"
"Of course not," Xena said and got up from the chair at the table where she had been busy sharpening her breast dagger. She was quickly at the door and put her hand on the knob. "Call out when you're done," she said with a smile.
"I will."
Once Xena had left the room, Gabrielle began taking off her clothes. Untying the laces of her green top, she put the garment across the back of the chair. Then, she wiggled out of her rust-colored skirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on the chair's seat. It was a chilly night, so she kept her woolly unmentionables on. The nightshift had already been found, so she slipped it over her head and shook a little to get it to sit just right across her body. "All right, you can come in now!" she said to the closed door, adjusting the hem at the neck.
Xena came back in with a nice, little smile on her face. "Good night, Gabrielle. Sleep tight," she said as she closed the door behind her.
The bard made herself comfortable on the bunk and pulled the blanket up to her ears. "Good night, Xena. You, too."
Xena blew out the candle which made the room fall into darkness. Despite being sleepy, Gabrielle kept her eyes open to try to see what Xena was doing. She could hear the warrior unbuckle the armor and take off the gauntlets and the shoulderpads. A candle was still lit out in the hallway, so there was a faint stream of orange light shining through the cracks in the wooden door.
When Xena walked past it to get her own nightshift, Gabrielle gulped over the sight of the warrior's naked, sculpted body. Greek fire rolled over her skin, and she turned away from the door - and the sights - in an almighty hurry.
*
*
CHAPTER 2
"I'm telling you, Cyrene, this is the best bread I've had in ages!" Gabrielle said and put another two slices on her plate. The tavern was a lot less busy in the early candlemarks of the day than it had been the previous evening, so there was plenty of room for Gabrielle to eat downstairs. On her way back to her table, she grabbed a new jar of butter so she would be fully armed for the delightful conquest of the freshly baked bread.
Cyrene looked up from arranging a breakfast platter to eye the surprisingly slender blonde. "Well, I'm glad you like it, Gabrielle. Who knew he'd be so good at it?"
"Who?" Gabrielle said as she spread out the butter on the bread.
"How many men do you think I have working in my kitchen?" Cyrene said and let out a short laugh. "Joxer, of course. He made all the bread this morning."
Gabrielle stopped mid-chew and pondered the new information. "Unbe-" *Munch, munch* " -liev-" *Munch, munch* "-able."
"Where's Xena? Don't tell me she's still skipping breakfast?"
"I'm afraid so, Cyrene. She's out doing some drills. She always is this time of morning."
Rolling her eyes, Cyrene returned to the breakfast platter that only needed a little more work for it to be just right. "Warriors," she said and let out a grunt. A halved, pickled kumquat sealed the deal, and she put the platter aside with a satisfied smirk on her face.
Gabrielle chuckled and pushed her empty plate away. The two slices of bread hadn't put up much of a fight, but they had done her good. "That's it, I'm stuffed," she said and patted her bare midriff.
"Oh that's too bad. Well, I suppose I can feed the last of the nutbread from yesterday to the geese."
Gabrielle's hand stopped between two pats. She looked up in a hurry and pinned the bar keep to the spot with an interested, green gaze. "Nutbread?" she said in a voice that had the same softness as melted butter.
-*-*-*-
Xena stood all by herself next to an old, petrified olive tree atop a hill a short distance north of Amphipolis. She was still panting from sprinting up the hill, but she pushed the physical strain on her being aside to extend her senses. Closing her eyes, she focused on the faint whooshing that indicated how much time she had. If she had timed everything right, it would happen within a few heartbeats. There!
She forced herself to keep her eyes closed as she flung her hand in the air and deftly caught the returning Chakram. She received a hard knock on her palm from the odd angle she had caught it in, but she hadn't been cut by the fearsome weapon.
Satisfied with the successful outcome of her latest experiment, she opened her eyes to look at the circular wonder. It had become such an extension of herself that she couldn't imagine not using it despite the fact it had been given to her by Ares, the God of War, when she had been one of his disciples.
After clipping the Chakram onto her belt, she drew her sword and started making lazy figure-eight movements. Gradually picking up speed, she was soon going at full force. She twirled the sword and thrust behind her several times before jumping high in the air and flipping off the tree trunk. She landed in a split and swept her legs around with amazing speed to get into a standing position. Her strenuous exercise-regime continued in the same vein for several candledrips until the chilly winter air made steam pour off her sweaty skin.
She sat down on one of the roots of the petrified tree and started to think about the strange tingling sensation she often got in the pit of her stomach when she was close to Gabrielle. She knew exactly what it was. She knew she was getting close to the point of no return. And she didn't care. Life on the road was dangerous enough as it was. She had to make countless split-second decisions each and every day, and any distraction could prove fatal. 'Distraction.' Why not use the proper word for it? Love.
She sighed and ran a hand through her damp bangs to air them. She and Gabrielle had a great friendship, and they were so close some even called it a sisterly relationship. She had a feeling that Gabrielle was interested in going further, but she wasn't certain. How she would find out for sure without flat-out asking the bard was even more uncertain. Just the thought of messing it up sent a pang of worry into her gut - for so long, she had been driven by lust, not love. Lust for power, for controlling her subjects. When she had physical needs and urges, there was always a soldier or slave who was ready to submit to her. Love hadn't been a part of her life for years, but now it was there, and demanding that she responded to that most ancient of emotions.
Xena scrunched up her face and looked at the roofs of Amphipolis below the hill. She didn't even need to crane her neck to spot her mother's tavern where Gabrielle would be eating breakfast. Just the thought of the bard sitting in the shadows of a mountain of nutbread made her smile, but the smile soon faded and a sigh escaped her lips. The easiest solution would be to ignore the feelings that brewed inside her. Just put everything into a dark box and close the lid. That way, nobody would get hurt - save for her heart.
-*-*-*-
After breakfast, Gabrielle went back upstairs to their room. Officially to tidy up a bit, but unofficially to look at the scroll sample the merchant had given her for free the previous night.
Standing in the doorway to the room, she gave the corridor a thorough, final check - she was safe: there wasn't anyone around. The scroll was quickly retrieved from her bag, and she unfolded it on the table with hands that had gained a slight tremble. Before long, her ears were burning from the prose. There was one paragraph in particular that intrigued her, so she re-read it several times to get the full picture of the colorful descriptions.
'I wonder if that's really true? I could never ask Xena about that… maybe it's better to ask Ephiny, she's been around…' she thought, and read on. 'Oh, by the Gods! Oh… Sweet Aphrodite, this is… this is… oh, by the Gods!'
She couldn't quite understand why the bejeweled merchant had given her a scroll starring a pair of Amazons, but she concluded that it must've been because she had her staff with her. Not that she was complaining, of course.
Suddenly she heard the floorboards creaking out in the hallway, and she folded up the scroll and stuffed it into her bag in an almighty hurry.
'Gabrielle, dear, are you in there?' Cyrene said through the door.
"Yes I am. Come in," Gabrielle replied in a voice that didn't quite sound like her own. Closing the flap on her bag, she hurried back to the table to sit down. Then she realized it would look odd since there wasn't anything on the tabletop she could have been working on, so she jumped up again and sort-of leaned against the edge of the table while keeping her legs firmly closed in a stance that wouldn't even have scandalized an easily-embarrassed Hestian virgin.
The door opened to reveal Cyrene who didn't appear to notice anything untoward involving the bard. "I was wondering if you would help me with some work downstairs? I have a few decorations that need to go up, but I'm afraid my old legs don't like standing on ladders…"
"Oh! Of course, Cyrene. I'll be down in two candledrips," Gabrielle said and ran her fingers across the table's wooden top.
"Thank you," Cyrene said with a smile. Just as she closed the door, she shot Gabrielle a look that said 'there's something funny going on here, but I can't figure out what, and I'm not going to ask.'
Gabrielle listened to Cyrene's footsteps fade away before she put the scroll back on the table. Her eyes quickly found that special paragraph again. She was just going to read it one more time, and then she'd help…
---
When Gabrielle exited the room after a few candledrips - slightly flushed but otherwise none the worse for wear - she couldn't help but chuckle when she heard Cyrene ordering Joxer around downstairs.
'No, a little to the right. That's not 'right', Joxer… a little higher, stop!'
As Gabrielle bounded down the final flight of stairs, she almost ran into the lanky fellow who was standing at the foot of the staircase with his arms in the air, holding a garland.
"Oh, hi there, Gabby!" he said, lowering his arms.
"Joxer!" Cyrene's sharp voice called out causing his long arms to shoot back up. Gabrielle ducked under one of them and headed for the nearest available ladder.
Cyrene intercepted her before she reached it, and thrust a wooden hammer and a box of nails into the bard's hands. "Gabrielle, these nails need to be hammered into that wall to support those garlands and ribbons… thank you in advance."
"Oh, I'm just glad to help, Cyrene. After all, the accommodations are free so we need to do something useful around here…"
Nodding, Cyrene patted Gabrielle on the shoulder before retreating to the kitchen for the next item on her lengthy agenda.
When she was left to her own devices, Gabrielle looked at the hammer, the nails, the garlands and finally the ladder. Shrugging, she stepped onto the lower rung to begin the work.
---
Fifty-six nails and eleven colorful garlands later, she was almost ready to go to bed again. She had mashed her right thumb three times and her left index finger another two, and her calves hurt from balancing on the wretched ladder that was a step too short for her. "Typical…" she grumbled under her breath. "Where's Xena when we need her long arms? Morning drills, my eye… it's not like she needs it, is it? Morning drills… yeah, right. I'll bet she's just snoozing under that old olive tree…"
A grazing impact on her left thumb made her gasp and nearly drop the hammer. Grumbling severely, she looked at her aching fingers and then across the room at Joxer who winced in sympathy.
While that was going on, Cyrene came back out of the kitchen carrying an armful of candles. "Oh this looks good! We're about as ready for Winter Solstice as we'll ever be," she said while she distributed the candles onto the tavern's many tables.
"It actually does look really good," Joxer said.
"Yep," Gabrielle agreed. She would never say it out loud, but she hoped Cyrene didn't have more for her to do - she was a bard, not a carpenter, and though she was satisfied with the quality of her work, it would never cut it in the artisan districts of Athens or even Corinth.
"By the way, Gabrielle," Cyrene continued as she wiped her hands on her apron, "I hope you don't mind, but I've told the principal of the orphanage that a famous bard is in town, and that you'll tell one or two stories to the children tomorrow."
"Oh!" Joxer exclaimed with a grin. "That sounds fun, I love stories!"
Gabrielle chuckled at her enthusiastic friend. Finished hammering the nails into the wall, she stepped off the ladder and put the tool away. "Of course I don't mind, Cyrene. Orphans? How many?"
"Oh, about… twenty-five or so. They're from here and some of the neighboring villages."
"Twenty-five orphans?!"
"Yes. It's been a hard year," Cyrene said quietly.
-*-*-*-
After having made sure she wasn't needed around the tavern, Gabrielle excused herself and took a walk around the village. She offered the villagers she met Merry Solstice greetings, but some of them only glanced at her sideways before hurrying on. The third time it happened, she scrunched up her face and pulled her cloak closer.
She eventually found Xena in the barn. Grooming Argo's mane, the warrior offered the proud palomino plenty of love and attention, and Gabrielle felt her cheeks go slightly red at the sight. "Hi," she said as she walked past the half-opened sliding door.
"Hi, yourself… finally finished eating breakfast, eh? What's that? Why are you limping?"
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just my right calf… it's hurting from standing on your mother's ladder for so long," Gabrielle said as she sat down on a strawbale. Kneading the tired muscle in her leg, she just had to let out the tiniest of jibes, so she pinned Xena to the spot with a green glare. "Of course, if you had been there instead of going off honing your skills, you could have done it easily without ever using that rotten ladder!"
Eyeing the miffed bard, Xena shot her an apologetic smile. "Tired?"
"Yes!"
"Hurting?"
"Yes!"
"You need a good massage," Xena said, going back to grooming Argo's fur.
"Hmmm… now there's an idea." Nodding to herself, Gabrielle reached down and began to unlace her boot.
"All right, then. Make yourself comfortable, I'll be there in a flash."
"Oh, don't bother, I can do that myself. I have some skills, too, you know," Gabrielle said and wiggled her fingers to show the warrior the tools she had at her disposal.
Scooting back on the strawbale, she put her bare foot up on the edge to have access to her calf. She started the massage at the ankle and went upward using her strong fingers to knead, squeeze, and mold the muscle beneath the skin.
The sight made Xena's cheeks burn, but she forced herself to concentrate on grooming Argo. Unfortunately, her eyes wouldn't obey her command, and every now and then they wandered over to the scene playing out right in front of her. 'This is ridiculous! I've had stark-naked women throwing themselves at my feet… and now I'm getting flustered over Gabrielle's bare leg…' she thought, shaking her head. She closed her eyes to stop the temptation from tugging at her.
When Gabrielle reached the knee, she stopped the massage and folded down her skirt. The calf was already much better, and she shuffled around on the strawbale with a smile on her face. Then she noticed that Xena's eyes were closed, and that her cheeks had gained a red hue that hadn't been there before. "Oh… are you getting a fever, Xena? You're all flushed…"
Xena's eyes popped wide open, but she made sure not to look at the bard. The blush continued to spread out from her cheeks, and it soon covered her entire face. "Uh… no. It's nice. I mean, I'm good. I mean, don't worry. I just… uh… practiced a little too hard this morning. That's all."
"You know, you shouldn't do that to yourself. It's not like you need it or anything," Gabrielle said as she finished lacing her boot. She stamped her foot a couple of times to make sure the bindings held before she rose from the strawbale and strolled over to Argo.
Xena shrugged which gave her an outlet for the nervous energy that pulsed inside her. "It's what I do. I need to stay sharp… we never know who we'll come up against."
"I suppose that's true. Are you going to take Argo for a ride today?" Gabrielle said as she patted the golden horse on its neck.
"As a matter of fact, I was planning to do that right now. Want to come?"
"If you and Argo don't mind having me along?"
"Let's ask," Xena said and turned to her trusty steed. "Argo? Can Gabrielle come for our ride?"
The horse whinnied and rubbed against Gabrielle.
"It's unanimous," Xena said with a grin.
---
A little later, Xena had Argo walking in a leisurely pace along a dirt road next to a near-frozen stream. Nothing held back the chilly winds that far outside of Amphipolis, so the woolen cloaks were sorely needed. Gabrielle sat behind Xena with her arms wrapped around the warrior's waist and her head leaning against the broad - though scratchy - back in front of her.
As they traveled along the stream, it occurred to Xena that it was a perfect opportunity to show Gabrielle a place that had been very special to her when she was a child. "Are you still with me back there?" she asked over her shoulder.
"Oh yeah," her passenger said, using her strong arms to give Xena's stomach a little squeeze.
"Good. I'm about to make a detour. I've got something to show you."
"Oh?"
"Hang on!" Xena said, pulling Argo's reins to the left.
A brief "Yikes!" escaped Gabrielle's lips when they left the dirt road and went directly into the near-frozen stream. Cold water splashed across Argo's sides and ended up - inevitably - going down the leg of one of Gabrielle's boots. "By the Gods… that's co- co- cold!" she squealed, trying to wiggle her right foot to make it go away.
"What?"
"I just got a cold shower down my right boot… oof… my toes are gonna be icicles in a candledrip!"
"Beg' pardon. It wouldn't have happened if you wore long-legged boots like mine."
"I tried that last year, remember? They looked stupid on me. I don't have the legs for them."
Xena couldn't stop a loud guffaw from escaping her throat. 'Yeah right…' she thought.
"You're not teasing me about my height again, are you?" Gabrielle said, readying her index fingers to give the Warrior Princess' sides a fair poke in case the answer was 'yes'.
"Oh, no. Definitely not."
"Xena…"
"Honest!"
Gabrielle scrunched up her face as her toes had indeed turned to icicles down her right boot. Grunting, she leaned her head against Xena's scratchy cloak and let the whole thing slide - for now.
-*-*-*-
"Here we are," Xena said as she pulled Argo to a stop some time later.
"Which is where… exactly?" Gabrielle said, looking around the non-descript clearing with a puzzled expression on her face. A gray rock formation, maybe sixty feet tall and just as wide, occupied most of the space of the far side of the clearing - undergrowth and regular evergreen vegetation took care of the rest.
"A little place that I loved to hang out at when I was a kid. Come on, I want to show you something," Xena said and motioned Gabrielle to step off Argo.
Once the bard had scooted back onto Argo's hind quarters, she swung her legs over the palomino's side and jumped down onto the forest floor. As predicted, her right boot made a sloshing sound as it impacted the soft vegetation.
While Gabrielle took off her boot, emptied it and wiped her foot on her cloak, Xena tied Argo's reins to a small bush and went over to the rock formation. It didn't take her long to find what she had been searching for.
"There, Gabrielle," she said, pointing at a crevice in the rockface. "It's the entrance to a cave I used to play in. Let's see if anyone's home." Picking up a small rock, she aimed carefully and threw it into the opening.
"Home? Do you mean there could be bears… or wolves in there?" Gabrielle said, furrowing her brow.
"No. Something far worse… Bacchae!" Xena said with a growl before disappearing into the crevice.
Gabrielle's face froze solid for several moments until she shook her head to snap out of it. "Bacchae…!" she squeaked, nervously looking around as she stumbled forward in Xena's footsteps. "This is a Bacchae lair?" she continued as she caught up with the warrior.
"No."
"But… you said-"
"It was my favorite game growing up. I was the Great Bacchae Hunter. I was invincible!" Xena said and let out a laugh. The laughter echoed through the surprisingly large cave.
"Why am I not surprised? Why couldn't you play with dolls like all other girls?" Gabrielle grumbled, shaking her shoulders to get the fright out.
"I told you, I was never like the 'other girls'."
"I'll say," Gabrielle mumbled under her breath. She added a smile to take the sting out of the words since she knew Xena's keen hearing had picked up every syllable. "This cave is spooky. Did you really play in here?"
"Oh yeah. I came here all the time for a few years. Sometimes by myself, and sometimes Lyceus was with me. Never Toris, though. He thought it was a childish game."
"Why did you stop?"
"Cortese. When he and his gang of thugs showed up, Mom didn't want us to play this far from Amphipolis."
Gabrielle nodded in sympathy.
"… And when Cortese left, I wasn't a girl anymore." Xena looked around, fondly remembering the many times she and her brother had played in there. "Anyway, that's ancient past now. But it was fun to see this place again. I wonder if…"
"What?"
"Well, I carved a mark into the rock somewhere so I could, you know, claim the cave as my territory. It must be… over here," Xena said and examined the far side of the cave. "Oh! Found it."
Gabrielle hurried over to the warrior and put a hand on the taller woman's shoulder. "Wow, X marks the spot," she said, looking at a large X that had been carved into the wall of the cave. "How old were you then?"
"Oh, maybe… twelve, thirteen, or so."
Gabrielle hooked her arm inside Xena's and offered her a smile. "I'm glad you showed me this place, Xena. The next time we're in Poteidaia, I'll show you some of my old haunts. Not that I had many… it's always been a simple sheep town, after all. But I had a few secret places of my own."
"Deal. Can't wait," Xena said and squeezed Gabrielle's arm.
---
When they came back outside the reputed Bacchae lair, the sky had turned gray and the chilly wind had grown noticeably stronger.
Wrapping her cloak tighter around her body, Gabrielle gave the clouds a close study. "Xena, do you think it'll begin to snow before we get back to Amphipolis?"
"No… it won't snow right now. The clouds are moving too fast," Xena said while she mounted Argo. Just to check, she leaned her head back and cast a critical eye at the grand show far above the earth.
"The wind's picked up, that's for sure," Gabrielle said and broke out in a shudder. Grabbing Xena's outstretched arm, she was quickly up behind the warrior where she snuggled closer to the broad back.
"Yeah. Hang on, we're leaving."
"I'm ready," Gabrielle said as she put her arms around Xena's waist.
Xena gave Argo's flanks a gentle nudge to let the palomino warhorse know it was high time to return to one of the cozy fires waiting for them in Amphipolis.
-*-*-*-
Dusk had already begun to fall when Xena and Gabrielle returned to Amphipolis a candlemark and a half later, and, pressurized by Gabrielle's growling stomach, they went straight to Cyrene's tavern to eat instead of stopping at the barn.
Argo had barely come to a halt before Gabrielle hopped off and zipped into the tavern. Xena chuckled at her insatiable friend as she dismounted at a more leisurely pace. After tying the reins to one of the boards outside the establishment, she checked the streets of Amphipolis for thugs and marauders before she strolled inside.
The first person she met was Gabrielle who hurried across the wooden floor clutching an empty bowl. A closer look at the bowl revealed it had already been used for food, and Xena scrunched up her face. "Whoa, Gabrielle… don't forget to chew!"
"I did chew! Your mother's such a wonderful cook… I can't help that the food is so tasty!"
"Yeah… I suppose you can't. What's for supper?"
"Rabbit stew! Cyrene, may I have another helping, please?" Gabrielle said and put the empty bowl on the counter. It didn't take long for Cyrene to fill it with a ladleful of stew. "Oh, thank Artemis, this smells so good!" the bard said, accompanied by her growling stomach.
Spinning around, she zipped back to the table where she dug in like there was no tomorrow.
Xena chuckled and sat down at the same table. She kept a close eye on Gabrielle while she ate - or rather, while she stew was wolfed down. There wasn't any point in speaking since the bard's mouth was too busy with the food.
Just when Xena thought the worst was over, Gabrielle moved her chair back and grabbed her empty bowl. "Now where are you going?" Xena said, narrowing her eyes.
"To get some more stew, obviously."
"Gabrielle, that'll be your third helping!"
"It's all the fresh air I get here. Besides, my mother told me to always eat plenty so I would be attractive to the sons of the rich, important people." A wink helped the provocative statement along.
Xena raised an eyebrow, but kept silent. Her eyes traveled down the blonde woman's back, coming to a rest on the swaying hips. 'I'll drink to that,' she thought and tapped a beat on the tabletop.
Moments later, the relative peace in Cyrene's tavern was shattered by a loud thump and the horrible noise produced by a bowl of stew splattering all over the floor.
"My food! You ruined my stew! Don't you have eyes in your head, you big lump?!" Gabrielle cried to a large, unshaven ruffian who had bumped into her when she was carrying the bowl back to the table.
"Get outta my way, little girl," the ruffian growled, motioning to shove Gabrielle out of the way. "And pay attention the next time!"
"I beg your pardon! Look at my stew!" Gabrielle growled, slamming her hands onto her hips.
Sneering at Gabrielle, the ruffian mocked her by leaning down and putting his hands on his knees like he would when he admonished a child. "Don't you hear good, blondie?"
Xena started to get up from her chair, but when she caught a glimpse of her mother taking off her apron, she held back to let the tavern-keeper deal with it in her inimitable style.
Gabrielle was too stubborn to back down, and the ruffian was too stupid. All riled up, they were getting ready to duke it out right then and there when Xena's mother stepped between them.
"Petrikles, what did I tell you the last time you caused trouble?" Cyrene said in a steely voice.
The ruffian's ugly mug scrunched up into something even more ungainly as he worked on creating an answer. When it finally came to him, he pointed a fat finger at Gabrielle. "I wasn't causing trouble, this young brat's calling me names!"
"What did I tell you the last time?" Cyrene repeated, reaching into a deeper register.
Petrikles shuffled left and right like he didn't know which foot to stand on. His mouth moved several times before he spoke in a mumble: "That you'd throw me out the next time."
"This is the next time, Petrikles. Get out, and don't come back until you've learned how to behave yourself in public!"
"The Tartarus I will!" he said, causing the tavern to fall silent.
Without hesitation, Cyrene grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and the seat of his pants, and forcefully removed him from the room. When she returned, she stopped in the middle of the tavern and slammed her hands onto her hips. She eyed the other patrons with a stern glare and a raised eyebrow. "Anyone else wanting to cause trouble, go right ahead. No no, don't hold back… there's plenty of room outside."
The other patrons quickly looked down and restarted their conversations. Even Gabrielle felt her ears burning at the oh-so-familiar tone of the message, not to mention the look of the person delivering it. "Now I know where Xena got all her attitude," she said as she knelt on the floor and began to scrape up the broken bowl and the splattered rabbit stew.
-*-*-*-
After supper, Xena and Gabrielle were treated to a jug of wine that came highly recommended by Amphipolis' local connoisseur of fine spirits. The wine was sweet and easy - deceptively so - and it didn't take many cups for Gabrielle's full stomach to join forces with the alcohol to create a warm buzz that rolled around her system.
"So, tomorrow'sh the big day, huh?" Gabrielle said, breaking out into a yawn.
"Yep," Xena said, nursing only her second cup of wine - Gabrielle had had at least twice that.
"Winter Solshtice Evening… can you believe it?" Gabrielle said and shook her head in a lazy fashion. She realized she had found a speech impediment at the bottom of one of the cups of wine, but she just didn't have it in her to try harder. Grinning, she moved the cup to her lips to take another swig or two. "You know, I'm actually looking forward to telling shtories to the orphansh. Watching my audience really getting into the shtory is one of the best thingsh I know."
"Well, it helps that you tell them so well."
"Awww… thanksh!" Gabrielle said, reaching below the table to pat Xena's thigh. Her hand lingered a little too long on the warm, bare skin, and both women knew it.
Gabrielle withdrew her hand, but only to take another swig of the wine. "You know, lasht night, out in the bash… zaar… bazaar, a merchant gave me a shcroll… a free shcroll… I've never read anything like it," she said as her cheeks blushed in a shade of red that hadn't been seen for years - though it was hard to tell if it was from the wine or embarrassment.
"Oh?"
"He shaid it wash from some city called… what wash it?"
"Athens?"
"No, no, I don't think it wash in Greece. Go… something." Gabrielle took yet another swig of wine while she racked her brain to come up with the name. When it came to her, she spoke before she had time to swallow which led to a surge of red wine going overboard at her bottom lip. "Gomorrah!" she cried and thumped her fist onto the tabletop - then she snickered loudly and began to wipe off her chin.
Xena had been taking a cautious sip of her wine, but she nearly choked on it when she heard Gabrielle's exclamation. "Gomorrah?" she croaked.
"Have you been there?"
"Oh… yeah. Once or twice. But that was a long time ago."
"Lemme guessh, ten wintersh or sho, right?" Gabrielle said and broke down in a girly giggle.
"Ummm… not quite that long, actually."
Gabrielle winked in a horrendously exaggerated fashion before she reached for the jug of wine to refill her cup. "Oy! That's a firsht."
"Ahem. Which merchant was that?"
"Dunno," Gabrielle said and shook her head so hard her long, golden fleece stood out in all directions. "Haven't sheen him before. A big guy. Jewelry everywhere! Horrible teeth… ugh."
"They all have horrible teeth."
"Word, shishter! Anyway, that shcroll was really amazhing, and I mean really, really amazhing… it was about these two Amazhons, and how they… and let me tell you, it was really, really detailed…" she said, but stopped when she felt someone looking at her. She turned to stare at a man at the next table who was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Sheena," Gabrielle said, turning back to the warrior, "that man'sh trying to lishten in on what I'm shaying…"
"No wonder, really… Gabrielle, I think I better get you up to your bed…" Xena only understood the double entendre when the bard flushed beet-root red and dove head-first into a gigglefit of Olympic proportions. The effort proved to be too much for the tipsy Gabrielle, because when she finished giggling, she promptly collapsed onto the table where she rested her head on her limp arms.
"Oh great… now I have to carry her…" Xena mumbled, rolling her eyes. She picked up the younger woman and effortlessly held her in her arms. She noticed that the man at the next table was still looking, so she raised an eyebrow and curled her upper lip into a fierce sneer. The effort worked because he jumped up and ran away at such speed that his chair toppled over and bounced off the floor.
*
*
CHAPTER 3
"My. Head. Hurts," Gabrielle said, sitting on the bed in her nightshift while clutching the aforementioned body part. The night had simply flown by with Gabrielle being out cold for most of it, save for one memorable occasion where she needed to go to the outhouse, but decided it had to wait when she couldn't even find the handle on the door to the hallway.
"I could have told you that would happen," Xena said casually as she attached her breastplate.
"You should have. Why didn't you?"
Xena stuck the sword into the scabbard on the back. When it reached the bottom with a hollow phlum , she turned to the bard and offered her a broad grin. "Because then you'd have told me that you're an adult, and that you're quite capable of making your own decisions."
The look on Gabrielle's face proved she didn't exactly see the humor of the situation. She opened her mouth to shoot the warrior a stinging reply, but thought better of it. "Just mock me while I'm suffering…" she mumbled.
"It's just a hangover. It'll pass over the course of the day. No big deal."
"Oh, that's easy for you to say… you don't have to tell stories to a group of orphans. You don't understand how kids are these days, Xena… they're always a ferocious audience… if they don't like what they hear, they'll let you know…"
"I'll tell mother to put away the rotten tomatoes and bad apples, then."
"Oh, Xena…!" Gabrielle growled, slapping her hands onto her bare thighs.
The warrior chuckled and walked over to the door. "You'll be fine. Come on, get dressed. Some fresh air will do you good… and it's breakfast time!"
Gabrielle tried to smile at the B-word, but even the promise of honey-roasted nutbread couldn't make her soul surge. She furrowed her brow when another topic of discussion came to her. Licking her lips, she looked down at her nightshift. "Xena, did you undress me last night?"
"Well, it sure wasn't Aphrodite."
Gabrielle looked at her friend with wide, bloodshot eyes. The eyebrow that crept up her forehead was matched by the red hue that rolled over her cheeks.
"What?" Xena said, cocking her head.
"Nothing," Gabrielle said and looked down in a hurry. "Wait five candledrips, and I'll be downstairs. All right?"
"Sure."
After Xena had left their room, Gabrielle reached in under her nightshift. She was still wearing her undergarments which meant Xena hadn't seen her fully naked yet. Though she was relieved that her treasures were still preserved for a special occasion, a small wave of disappointment rolled over her from the fact that the first undressing had been done under such embarrassing circumstances. It was supposed to have been a fun, thrilling affair for both of them, but now it had undoubtedly been a mad scramble for Xena to get the clothes off before the wine would make an unwelcome return.
Sighing, she shook her head - and regretted it immediately as the room started spinning.
-*-*-*-
Some time later atop the hill overlooking Amphipolis, Xena was working hard on her daily sword drills. Gabrielle's light snoring kept disturbing the flow of a particularly difficult combination, and she had to let out a chuckle at the sight of the bard sleeping soundly draped across one of the roots of the petrified olive tree.
A smile caressed Xena's features at the relaxed and innocent expression on Gabrielle's face. When she slept, she always looked like a young teenager - and an impossibly cute one at that. In fact, most things about her were cute. Cute nose, cute ears, cute dimples on her cheeks, cute lips… and even so, she looked older and more mature now than when they had first met, little more than a year ago in that clearing outside of Poteidaia.
Gabrielle stirred, and Xena looked away in a hurry since she didn't want to get caught staring. Instead, she took the Chakram off its hook and gave it a good throw. It bounced off three rocks and a tree trunk before it found its way back to her hand.
She threw it again, and this time, she closed her eyes. Counting the heartbeats, she listened for the faint whooshing as the circular weapon sliced through the air surrounding the olive tree. At the last moment, she spun around and grabbed it mid-flight. Like the first time, her palm received a fair whack, but she had already learned to compensate by moving her arm back further upon impact.
Down on the ground, Gabrielle sat up and wrapped the woolen cloak tighter around her body. She stared at the shiny Chakram as Xena wiped it off and put it back on its hook. "Are you ever going to teach me how to throw that thing?"
"No. It's much too dangerous, Gabrielle. Catch it wrong, and it'll slice your hand clean off," Xena said and bent down to retrieve her practice staff.
"Yeah… I see your point," Gabrielle said and broke out in a shiver. "I guess you can only mess up twice, huh?"
"Or once if it strikes your neck."
"Ugh… I better wait a few years, Xena."
"Yes," Xena said and began twirling the practice staff through a few, lazy patterns. "Anyway… line up. It's time for some staff drills."
"Oh no, not today… please!"
"Come on. I'll go easy on you," Xena said as she pulled Gabrielle up despite the incessant grunts and whines that came from the bard's throat. "Turn your back on me, then I'll come at you from behind. Stand with your legs apart and use your thigh muscles to keep the balance."
"By the Gods… do I really have to?"
"Yes."
"Ugh… all right, all right… I'm ready. But I can't be held responsible for my actions!"
Chuckling, Xena moved closer and put the practice staff around Gabrielle's neck. She paused for a brief moment to take in as much as she could of the natural scent of the younger woman in front, and couldn't help but smile. Shuffling around, she leaned in to whisper: "Here we go."
Gabrielle swung the butt of the staff down and pretended to ram it into Xena's left foot.
As the warrior jumped back, Gabrielle spun around and moved the staff in a sweeping motion to knock the legs out of the attacker. Xena easily jumped over the staff, but didn't count on Gabrielle losing her balance and stumbling straight ahead, right into Xena's stomach.
"Oooof!" the warrior cried as the blond head impacted on her leathers directly below the pointy edges of her breastplate. She took several staggering steps backwards, and nearly fell on her rear.
"I… think I need… to take… the day… off," Gabrielle groaned, still leaning her head on the warrior's hard stomach.
"I think you're right," Xena said and righted the bombed-out blonde. She had to stifle a chuckle at the blurry look on Gabrielle's fair face, and she nearly let her hand caress the flushed cheek. Instead, she flung the Amazon staff up with her boot and caught it with her free hand. "And besides, you need to clean up a little before the orphans arrive. They'll be here before you know it."
"Oh, joy…"
-*-*-*-
When the two women returned to the village - going at a slower pace than normal - they were intercepted by Robius, the blacksmith, who waved his arms frantically.
"Xena! Xena!" he shouted, setting off in a fast jog when he caught a glimpse of the warrior and the bard. It didn't take long before he reached them, but by then, his considerable bulk meant he had to pause for several moments while a rattling coughing fit racked his lungs.
Xena shot Gabrielle a quick look to inquire if she could make it on her own for a while. When the bard nodded affirmatively, Xena went over to the blacksmith and smacked his back several times. "There, there… what is it, Robius?"
"There's trouble in the next village," the large man wheezed. "A messenger's arrived… he wants you to come with him. He's at your mother's place." Robius turned around to point at Cyrene's tavern.
---
Barging into the tavern, Xena looked around and immediately spotted a dusty man drinking water from a jug. Behind her, Gabrielle entered the establishment at a more sedate pace. "I'm Xena. What's going on?" the warrior said as she stomped over to him.
"I'm Tarlus of Stavrós," he said and put out his arm for the traditional clasping. "We have a problem. A thug called Aëtis escaped from prison and has taken court in our village. He came two days ago… he's terrorizing everyone there!"
"I've heard of him. He's a killer. Beat his brother's wife to death," Xena growled.
"Among other things… he's a piece of filth," Tarlus said, and took another swig from the jug.
Gabrielle had to lean against her staff to stay upright for any length of time, but she took a deep breath and stood up straight to appear more trustworthy. "Why can't you deal with him yourselves?" she said, shooting the messenger a bloodshot look.
"We're farmers… what could we do? It would be a slaughter! When we heard you were home, Xena, I was sent to get you."
Moving back to lean against her staff, Gabrielle looked at Xena who had her game face firmly in place. The ice blue eyes had darkened, a sure sign that Xena was angry, and her jaw was set in stone.
"Gabrielle, I'm going over there," the warrior said in the familiar steely tone her voice gained whenever an injustice needed to be dealt with Xena-style.
"Mmmm! And I'm going with you, hangover or no hangover."
At that exact moment, another commotion took place out on the street. The mule-driven wagon from the orphanage pulled up in front of Cyrene's tavern, and a horde of young children jumped down from it. The door to the tavern was soon flung open, revealing a young boy who came bounding in.
"Hello!" he said cheerily, not noticing the serious faces of the adults there.
A middle-aged woman dressed in the white habit worn by the orphanage's senior staff hurried in after him and ushered the boy back out onto the street. "I'm terribly sorry for the interruption," the priestess said when she popped her head back inside. "They're so excited about hearing stories from a real bard. Has she arrived yet?"
"I'm the bard, but…" Gabrielle said. Furrowing her brow, she looked up at Xena.
More young children ran past the priestess and into the tavern, and they began to take their places on the small benches Joxer and Cyrene had put up. Their little voices blended into a noisy cacophony of excitement.
A smile creased Xena's lips as she put her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders. "I fight, you talk… we each have our gifts. Remember? This is where you shine, Gabrielle. These orphans need you more than I do. I'll deal with that thug myself."
Gabrielle accepted Xena's plan - though grudgingly so - but just as she opened her mouth to tell the warrior to be careful, a young boy pulled on her skirt which made her look down.
"Hello… are you going to tell us stories soon?" the boy said, at once sticking his thumb back into his mouth.
Gabrielle smiled at the young boy and crouched down to be at eye-level with him. "What's your name?" she said, mussing his hair.
"Hercules!"
"Go find a seat, Hercules, I'll be right there." As the boy zipped away and found a place at one of the benches, Gabrielle rose to look at Xena who wore a lopsided grin on her face.
"There, you see?" the warrior said, reaching up to caress Gabrielle's shoulder. "Don't want to disappoint Hercules, do we?"
"No. Please stay safe," Gabrielle said and reached for Xena's hand. When she had it in her own, she gave it a little squeeze that made the warrior smile at her.
Once they separated, Xena checked her Chakram, the breast dagger and the sword in the scabbard on her back just to make sure everything was in working order. "I will. I'll be back tonight - at the latest when the music starts. I want to have a dance with you," she said, and offered Gabrielle a wink as her parting comment.
Gabrielle couldn't stop staring at the warrior's broad back as the dark-clad figure strode through the tavern to get back outside. 'She wants to dance with me?' . A slow blush crept up her neck at the prospects of dancing close with the enticing woman, but the chanting from the orphans brought her back to the real world, and she set about collecting her hung-over thoughts to find a few stories that would be fun for all.
-*-*-*-
Cyrene's tavern echoed from the oooh'ing and ahhh'ing that rose from the spellbound audience. The orphans all sat stock-still to watch the spirited performance, and even the adults who happened to be there kept quiet so they wouldn't disturb the bard.
Gabrielle had them eating out her hand as she performed one of her favorite scrolls, and the many sets of wide eyes taking it all in spurred her on to give it the extra little oomph needed to make it an evening none of them would forget in a hurry.
"And so it all ended like it should," Gabrielle said, jumping off the chair she had used to illustrate parts of the play, "with my dear friend Xena ruining the evil plans of the slavetraders. The gentle soul Philemon was finally able to declare his love for the woman he had dreamt of for years, Princess Diana. And they lived happily ever after!"
Gabrielle threw out her arms in a sweeping gesture and took a deep bow as the orphans and adults alike applauded her by whistling, cheering and slapping their palms down onto the tabletops. "Thank you… thank you, you are too kind," she said, waving at the audience.
"More! More! More! More!" the children chanted which made Gabrielle grin from ear to ear.
"I do have another one for you-" The cheer that rose from the audience drowned out Gabrielle's voice, so she put her hands in the air to let the patrons and orphans know she had a little more to say before she could go on. "Thank you. I need some water first, but I promise I'll be back in a few candledrips," she said, moving over to the bar to sit down. When Cyrene put a full jug of water on the counter, Gabrielle grabbed it and drank nearly half in one go.
"Oh… you must have been thirsty," Cyrene said as she looked at the modest amount of water left in the jug.
"By the Gods, yes. I've been dehydrated all day. I think I got a little tipsy last night…."
"Well, it happens," Cyrene said and let out a knowing chuckle. She put the jug beneath the counter and found a rag to wipe off a few droplets. "You were fantastic up there, Gabrielle. That was a beautiful story."
"Thank you, Cyrene."
The silence that spread between the two women gave Cyrene a moment to study Gabrielle's fair face. The bard had a dark frown between her eyebrows which she didn't usually have. Now and then, she looked at the main entrance like she expected someone to walk in at any moment. "Gabrielle, are you still hung over? If you are, I know of an elixir guaranteed to cure any ailments…"
"No, I'm much better now, thank you. I'm… well, I'm worried about Xena. I thought she would have been back by now. I always worry when she goes off on her own."
"I wouldn't fret too hard about it if I were you. She's a big girl, after all," Cyrene said as she gave the bar counter another thorough wiping to keep it shiny.
Nodding, Gabrielle looked back at the tavern-keeper who looked so much like her daughter. "Mmmm. That she is."
Behind them, the door flew open which made Gabrielle spin around and stare at the entrance. Instead of the Warrior Princess she had hoped for, the easily recognizable figure of Joxer hurried into the tavern. "Am I too late? Please tell me I'm not too late!" he said, whipping off his odd helmet.
"Too late for what?" Gabrielle said, confused.
"For your stories…"
"Oh… well, you missed one, but I'm about to do another so why don't you find yourself someplace to sit?"
"Yep!" he said, heading directly for one of the small benches. His long frame looked ridiculous next to the much smaller orphans, but he crammed himself into place and pulled his knees up to his ears to fit.
Gabrielle chuckled at the sight, and so did Cyrene. "Well," the bard said and slipped off the chair at the counter. "I suppose I better get back to it."
Moving back to the open space in front of the benches, she cleared her throat several times to get everything wound up for her next performance. She already knew which scroll she would perform, and she hoped the audience would enjoy it as much as the first one. "All right, how many of you remember when all the fires went out last year?"
Most of the children raised their hands in the air - Joxer did, too.
"Now, my dear friend Xena and I were right in the middle of that, and this is the story of how we, together with Hercules and Iolaus, were able to restore fire by freeing the Titan Prometheus…"
The children all cheered, full of giddy anticipation.
---
Like before, Gabrielle had the audience exactly where she wanted them - on the edge of their seats as she delivered the dramatic tale with great gusto. "… and when the sword forged by Haephestus destroyed Hera's shackles, Prometheus was freed, and his gifts returned to us! Fire, and the ability to heal ourselves. But one task remained! Hercules had to catch Xena as she plummeted to her d…"
Gabrielle's voice broke as her worry for the Warrior Princess suddenly blossomed in her gut. She tried to hide it by coughing, but the niggling anxiety remained in the pit of her stomach.
"Pardon me," she said before she returned to her story. "Hercules had to catch Xena as she plummeted to her death. Fortunately, the son of Zeus and the fair Alcmene was up to the task, and the Warrior Princess landed safely in his strong arms. As Xena and I bid farewell to Hercules and Iolaus, we had all learned an important lesson about sacrifice and the meaning of friendship."
As Gabrielle took a bow, the orphans and adults responded by applauding enthusiastically - Joxer even had to wipe away a few tears. "Thank you! Thank you very much, my friends!" she said, waving to the audience. She looked across the room at Cyrene who offered her a nod in return.
"And now, children," Gabrielle continued, "I believe it's time for your supper. I hope you have enjoyed my stories, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again some day!"
Cyrene came back from the kitchen carrying a large pot of steaming hot soup, and she proceeded to fill a whole row of wooden bowls using an extra-wide spoon. While that was going on, a little girl of five summers or so ran up to the stage and hugged Gabrielle's legs.
"Aw, that was such a beautiful story, Auntie Gabrielle," the girl said. As she spoke, her pink tongue became visible in the gaps between her teeth.
"Oh, thank you, sweetie," Gabrielle said and knelt in front of the orphan. She smiled at the young girl and reached out to tickle her chin. "What's your name?"
"Lucida!"
"Lucida, this was how I got started telling stories. One day, a traveling bard came to my village, and I was in the audience."
"Do you think I could tell stories one day?" Lucida said while her eyes grew wider.
Gabrielle nodded and gave the girl's chin another little tickle. "Oh yes, definitely. Now, you should eat your soup while it's hot."
"I will, Auntie Gabrielle," Lucida said and stretched out her arms in an invitation for a hug.
Gabrielle was only happy to comply, and she pulled the young orphan closer to her for a little crush. Once Lucida went back to the tables to eat, Gabrielle strolled over to the bar counter to get another jug of water to ease her parchment-dry throat. She soon noticed the orphanage's driver talking to Cyrene, and judging by the concerned expression on his face, it wasn't about anything pleasant.
A strange, nagging sensation took hold in her gut, and Gabrielle wasn't sure if it was the last remnants of her hangover or her worry for Xena that entered another, deeper stage. When she got close enough, she was able to hear what the driver said in a hushed voice:
"I've been out looking around, and there's a major front coming in from the north. We still have a few candlemarks, but I don't want to be caught in the middle of a snowstorm on our way back to the orphanage," the driver said with concern written all over his face.
Cyrene nodded grimly. "I understand. It's just bread and soup, it won't take them long to eat."
"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" Gabrielle asked.
The driver turned to Gabrielle and offered her a faint smile. "The weather doesn't look good. We got snow coming. Snow on Winter Solstice Eve is magical, but not when I have to go through it with a wagon full of priestesses and orphans…"
"Oh… no, it's… not good," Gabrielle said in a voice that trailed off into nothing. The nagging sensation in her stomach blossomed wildly, and now she knew it had nothing to do with the hangover - she was growing deeply concerned about the fate of the Warrior Princess.
-*-*-*-
Several candlemarks later, Gabrielle stood by one of the windows overlooking the square in front of the tavern. She told herself she was waiting for the first Winter Solstice guests to arrive, but in her heart, she knew she was looking for a familiar figure to ride into town atop a proud, palomino mare.
It had been a fair while since the wagon with the orphans had left, and Gabrielle was sure they would have reached the orphanage by now. It was one less thing to worry about, but the major issue remained.
While she was looking outside without really seeing anything, the first snowflakes started floating down from the sky. The flurry soon grew in intensity, and within moments, the ground was covered. The first group of patrons arrived and brushed themselves off before they hung their cloaks and coats on the hallstand by the bar. They were laughing and generally looking and sounding like they couldn't wait for the evening's entertainment to start. Gabrielle didn't feel like celebrating at all.
---
Over the next candlemark or so, more and more guests arrived, and it made Cyrene and the two young girls she had hired as helpers zip around the tavern like busy bees. Outside, the snow was still coming down hard. It didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, but at least there wasn't much wind so the snowflakes fell quietly to the ground.
Gabrielle left her place by the window to find a table where she could sit by herself. On her way there, she stopped by the bar counter to ask Cyrene to pour her a small cup of ale. Clutching the cup, she sat down at a table that was too small for the groups of happy revelers and thus vacant.
She tried to chide herself for being so worried about a warrior who had never met her match in the time they had traveled together, but the words rang hollow. Even though she was relatively inexperienced in many things, she knew that life was fragile, and that it didn't take much to snuff it out. She also knew that despite Xena's many skills, some day she'd come across a warrior who was better with a sword, or quicker with a crossbow, or just plain luckier.
Shuddering, Gabrielle emptied the small cup of ale in one swig. "I'm being silly," she whispered to herself. "Xena is the strongest person I know. She's probably on her way back right now… or maybe the citizens of Stavrós invited her to their Winter Solstice Celebration… but she promised she'd dance with me… by the Gods, I hope she's all right."
Lifting the cup to take another swig, she found it to be empty. She had already pushed the chair back to head up to the counter for a refill when she thought better of it and pulled the chair back to the table - a burning sensation in her gut told her things would get worse before they got better.
-*-*-*-
The party got louder and rowdier, but there was still no sign of Xena. Cyrene had asked Gabrielle to help her wait the tables while the two young helpers took a breather in the kitchen, and she had jumped at the chance. Anything was better than sitting alone, worrying herself sick.
Equipped with a fetching apron, Gabrielle ran back and forth from the kitchen to the tables with food and drink for the guests. Her agility and swiftness of feet came in handy for sidestepping the many tipsy fellows who were trying to feel her up, but she didn't mind too much.
When the main entrance was opened once more, a large cheer rose from the crowd. Gabrielle spun around to see if it was Xena, but it was the band instead who had brought Joxer along as their pack ass. Feeling disappointment wash over her, her shoulders slumped and she let out a long sigh.
"Settle down, settle down, we were delayed by the snow, but now we're here!" one of the musicians said. As Cyrene went past him carrying a tray loaded with mugs of ale, he snatched one and gulped it down in no time flat. He wiped off the foam mustache on his sleeve to a large round of cheers from the patrons.
The band - and Joxer - quickly made their way down to the far end of the tavern where they began to set up their instruments: three lyres, a drum and a flute. Joxer did most of the hard work while the musicians spent half their time ogling the ladies present.
Gabrielle and Cyrene quickly removed the empty plates from the tables at the far end of the tavern and helped the people who still ate move closer to the bar counter. Joxer wanted to help as well, but his big feet got in the way and he nearly took a tumble over the edge of a table. Following that experience, he retired to the bar and waited for Cyrene to pour him a mugful of the special brew.
It didn't take long for the patrons to move aside the last benches and tables so there would be plenty of space for the dance floor. When the band struck up a merry tune, several of the wives grabbed their husbands to break in the floor and their new dancing clogs.
Seeing the dancers go through some of the traditional moves in high spirits, Gabrielle felt immensely disappointed that Xena hadn't returned in time to dance with her as she had promised. The niggling worry that had festered in her stomach for most of the evening finally grew into a full-blown pain. Something was wrong, she just knew it, and she would go crazy if she didn't at least try to find out what had happened. She decided there and then to walk to Stavrós to find some answers - come Tartarus or a strong blizzard.
Finding Cyrene and Joxer at the bar, she excused herself from the rest of the Solstice party and made a hasty exit upstairs. On her way to the room, she peeked out of the window at the end of the hallway to see the conditions from a higher vantage point - it was still snowing hard, and large drifts had begun to form throughout the streets of Amphipolis.
She hurried into their room, grabbed her woolen cloak from the bed and put it across the back of the chair for later. Now that she had made up her mind to leave, she saw everything clearly and was able to work quickly and efficiently. Finding her bag, she took great care as she pulled out the present she had bought for Xena. She shot the elegant beechtree box a somber look before she put it down on her bed next to the cloak.
Xena's leather saddlebags could hold a great deal more than her own little bag, but she was able to get their flints, some food and most of the medical kit stuffed into it. She dearly hoped she wouldn't be needing the latter, but it would be a nonsense not to bring it.
After donning her cloak, she cut off a piece of sturdy string from their ball of yarn and tied it around her waist to make it act as a belt. It made the loose cloak sit far better across her torso, but she could still move her arms and legs. Checking the knot she had made, she took her staff and leaned on it. She knew she would need a torch, so she decided to leave her Amazon fighting staff behind. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she placed the weapon on her bed. With the inclement weather, there was a risk her improvised rescue mission could turn into an unmitigated disaster, but every fiber in her heart and soul screamed at her to find out what had happened to Xena.
Going unnoticed by the revelers and the staff on hand, Gabrielle slipped back down into the kitchen and took a spare torch from the wall. She lit it on the stove before she opened the door to the backyard to sneak a peek at the conditions. The snow was coming down harder than ever which made her furrow her brow and let out a dark grunt. Any sane person would stay in the tavern where it was warm and dry - perhaps to enjoy some mulled wine, rice pudding sprinkled with cinnamon, or juicy raisins soaked in port - but love made blind.
Sighing, she left the comfort of Cyrene's tavern behind without looking back even once.
-*-*-*-
A candlemark and a half later, Gabrielle had almost lost hope. The deep dunes of snow that covered the stretch of the dark forest she was trekking through had made her progress much slower than she had expected, and fatigue was gnawing at her bones.
The constant snow flurries had ceased which had been a blessing - earlier, the torch kept getting wet and had fizzled out more than once. It was also getting colder, and for each breath she took, a large plume of steam escaped her lips.
Gabrielle stopped wading through the creaking snow and pulled the hood back to listen. She strained her hearing, hoping the strange sound that had alerted her would be repeated. The forest surrounding her was quiet - deathly quiet. She moved the torch to the sides of the narrow path she was travelling on, but there was nothing there to see.
She set off again at a slower pace, trying to stop the snow from creaking too loudly under her boots.
One hundred yards or so further down the road, the sound reached her ears again, and this time she knew she had heard it: It was a horse whinnying, and it was nearby. Gabrielle moved the torch from side to side with a sense of panic growing inside her. She couldn't be sure the horse was Argo, but she dearly wanted it to be. Another whinny proved that the horse creating it was somewhere on the left side of the road, so Gabrielle set off in that direction. Soon, she was wading her way through the snow that became even deeper once she left the safety of the narrow trail behind.
---
The section of the forest she entered was cold, dark and quiet as a tomb. Every feature on the forest floor had been covered by at least two feet of snow, and she could barely make out the tree trunks that had all been painted white by the snowfall. The only light was created by the flickering torch, and that could only illuminate a small stretch at a time.
Realizing she held her breath, she let it out and tried to breathe normally, but the vast plumes of steam that escaped her mouth made it even more difficult to see any details. She let out a grunt and a muted curse when she nearly took a tumble over a hidden root, but the fumbling steps forward made the torchlight fall onto an item that reflected the orange sheen a short distance away from her.
"Who goes there?" she said hoarsely - her question was answered at once when the object proved to be a metal ring attached to a horse's tack. The palomino in question shook its head to get rid of the excess snow that had assembled in its mane.
"Argo! By the Gods, Argo!" Gabrielle cried and hurried forward. It was tough going, but she cared little about her own safety and raced across the deep snow to get to the warhorse. Once she reached it, she embraced the horse's neck lovingly.
"I'm so glad to see you, Argo! Where's Xena? Where is she, girl?" Gabrielle said, using her free hand to brush the snow off the tall horse's mane and flanks.
Pulling back to examine Argo, she felt a pang of fear when she saw a dark stain on the horse's saddle. She moved the torch closer to the dark stain, and she reeled at the sight of dried blood. Xena's blood. Her breath came in explosive bursts as she whipped her head around while staring wide-eyed at the small clearing.
A small lump on the ground caught her eye. Like everything else in the clearing, the lump was covered in snow, but a dark object that seemed out of place in the white world that surrounded it stuck out at one end of the drift.
Gabrielle ran over to the lump and threw herself onto the ground. She thrust the torch into the snow so she could use both hands to brush the snow off the dark object. It was Xena's boot. Her breath hitched as she pulled back to stare at the motionless lump connected to the boot.
With trembling hands, she began to shovel away the thick layers of snow that covered the lump. Little by little, features so familiar to her came into the flickering cone of light. Her worst fears were soon proven correct as she uncovered Xena's ice cold body.
"Oh, by the Gods, no…!" Gabrielle croaked, clutching her head.
Suddenly, a plume of steam rose from Xena's mouth. Gabrielle's mind reeled at the sight, and she redoubled her efforts to brush the snow off the fallen warrior. "Xena… Xena, can you hear me?" she said as she shoved the last snow away. When she didn't get a reply beyond another - smaller - plume of steam, she reached around Xena's body and helped her onto her back. The warrior still wore her woolen cloak, but it had been soaked through by the snow and was of no use to her.
The blood on Argo's saddle had to come from somewhere so Gabrielle ran her hands up Xena's legs and across her leathers to find a wound. When she touched Xena's left side, a pained moan from the warrior left no doubt that she was wounded.
Gabrielle moved the torch closer and saw a big cut in the leathers, right above Xena's left hipbone. Blood was still seeping from the wound, but it quickly coagulated because of the chilly conditions. Her skin was very cold to touch except near the wound.
The freezing temperatures presented a bigger threat to Xena than the wound did, so Gabrielle's priorities changed into trying to build a fire. Grabbing the torch, she moved it left and right to try to see where she could find firewood. At least she already had a fire going, but the torch wasn't strong enough to provide much heat. She had brought her flints, but they wouldn't help much as everything was soaked by the snow.
"Think Gabrielle, think, for Gaia's sake! What was it Xena said about finding firewood in the winter… moss!" she said out loud before she got up and ran towards a fallen tree.
A patch of green moss was hiding in the shadows underneath the vast, petrified trunk. After tearing large tufts out of the ground, she ran back to Xena to continue with her plan. A plume of steam rising from the warrior's mouth proved she was still breathing, and Gabrielle thanked all the Gods she could think of - except Ares.
Getting down on her knees, Gabrielle wiped several armfuls of snow away from the ground and began to arrange a firepit using the rocks and stones she found underneath the thick layer of white. She was in luck for once and found several sticks as well that she broke in two to test their suitability for the task. They were damp, but not soaked, so they would do. The sticks were put next to each other in a criss-cross pattern to create a small pyre that she proceeded to decorate with the tufts of moss.
Behind her, Xena started coughing which seemed to put a severe strain on the bleeding wound. The warrior let out a pained moan that nearly sent Gabrielle into a state of panic, but the injured woman eventually calmed down again.
Taking several deep breaths to get her nerves back under control, Gabrielle lowered the torch to the moss which quickly caught fire. After a brief moment of large flames, it settled down to a slow burn. She knew the damp sticks would smoke like mad once the fire reached them, but that was a lesser evil at that particular moment in time. She could feel the heat slowly building in the firepit, and she stirred the moss with a twig. When the fire was solid, she went over to Xena to think about what to do next.
She quickly worked out that Xena was too far from the fire to reap the full effects of the building heat, but she doubted that she was strong enough to drag her closer to it. Putting her back into it, she gave it a good try, but the results were meager to say the least. She had only managed to move the warrior a few inches at best, and the only tangible results had been several pained moans.
Breathing hard, Gabrielle ran her hands through her damp hair while she tried to rack her brains to come up with a better plan. An annoyed whinny from the palomino provided the answer. "Of course! Argo… we need your help!"
The horse came closer and lowered its head down towards its fallen mistress.
"I need you to grab this… here!" Gabrielle said as she lifted a corner of the cloak off the snow.
Argo understood instinctively and bit down on the cloak. Effortlessly, the clever horse pulled Xena's body closer to the fire. Once the warrior was in place, Argo threw its head and let out a strong whinny at Gabrielle.
"Oh, by the Gods, thank you! I'll buy you a whole bag of apples if we ever get out of this mess," Gabrielle said, wiping away a few tears that had somehow found their way onto her cheeks.
Carrying on with her plan, she took the saddle off Argo's strong back and removed the blanket. After rummaging through the snow for a short while, she found a few sticks and stones, and hurried back to the blanket to erect a makeshift shelter around Xena's prone body.
"Ephiny wouldn't believe her eyes if she could see me now," she mumbled, letting out a dark chuckle at the insane situation they were stuck in.
She knelt next to the fire and stirred the smoldering moss. When a few tendrils flared up, she put a couple of twigs onto the flames to keep everything going. So far so good.
-*-*-*-
After a little while, Xena started coming to. The air around the firepit was warm, if a little smoky, and even though she was still on the frozen ground, a pleasant warmth crept into her bones.
Cracking open an eyelid, she tried to survey the situation. When she attempted to move, the wound in her side sent a red hot wave of pain crashing through her. She moaned out loud, which brought Gabrielle over to her in an instant.
"Xena? Can you hear me?" the bard said, taking her friend by the shoulders.
Unable to get her eyes to focus, the warrior could only see a blond blur above her, but she felt relieved that Gabrielle had found her. When she tried to speak, her impossibly dry throat would only allow her to croak. "Gabrielle? Some water… water…"
"Oh, thank the Gods! Don't move, I'll be right back!" Gabrielle said and hurried away from the prone woman. She zipped over to a part of the clearing she hadn't been in before and scooped up a large handful of fresh, pure white snow. She carried it back to Xena and knelt down next to her. "Open your mouth… it's only snow, but it's all we have right now."
Xena felt the snow being gently pushed past her lips. When it melted, it filled her mouth with a cool liquid that she swallowed purely by instinct.
"Do you need more?"
"Please…" Xena croaked, blinking several times to make the blur go away. Her efforts paid off, and she tracked Gabrielle's dark cloak as it zipped away from her.
The bard was soon back with another handful of snow that she held to Xena's lips. "Here. There's plenty more where that came from…"
"Thank you. That's enough," Xena said and tried to sit up.
Gabrielle hurriedly pushed down the warrior even before her strong back had left the ground. "Careful! I don't think you should do that, Xena… you have a nasty wound in your side."
"I need to. My back's becoming attached to the ground," Xena said and sat up. Hissing with pain, she pressed a hand onto the wound. Fresh blood started seeping out of the cut in the leathers, and her fingers were soon coated. "Hades," she croaked, slamming her eyes shut until the stab of pain receded.
"What happened in Stavrós?"
Xena slowly released her clenched teeth and began to breathe normally. She tried to flash Gabrielle a smile, but it never went beyond a faint creasing of her lips. "Aëtis was smarter than I thought," she said in a strained voice. "And better with a dagger, too. He managed to get a lucky hit in."
"But… did you get him, or is he still out there?"
"I got him. He's in Tartarus by now. If I'd had my medical kit with me, I could easily have cleaned and sutured this wound… but I didn't."
"I have the medical kit with me, it's in my bag."
"Good… I was halfway between Stavrós and Amphipolis when the pain became too fierce. And then it started to snow like Zeus himself was shaking his pillows. I decided to press on, but this is as far as I got… where are we, anyway?"
"Just shy of two candlemarks out of Amphipolis. The festival must still be going on, I haven't been here long," Gabrielle said, crouching down to be at eye-level with the injured warrior.
Xena couldn't fail to notice how tense and worried Gabrielle looked, nor how strained her voice had been. She attempted to reach up to caress Gabrielle's cheek, but even that simple gesture tugged at the wound. A wave of pain assaulted her, and she had to wait for it to recede before she could on: "Did the orphans like your story?" she said in a croak.
"They did. Joxer, too," Gabrielle said and let out a nervous laugh.
Xena matched the laugh with a chuckle of her own, but the motion made the wound ache, and she hissed and became stiff as a board while it throbbed.
"Oh, Xena…" Gabrielle said and completed the caress that Xena had to abandon moments earlier. The bard's gentle hand stroked Xena's ice cold cheek and left pleasant warmth in its wake. "I think we better see to that wound now…"
"Yes… we better."
Xena started unbuckling her breastplate, and the shoulderpads quickly followed. She was able to pull the leather strap down on her right shoulder by herself, but she couldn't get the left one free as the wound hurt too much when she tried to use her left arm.
"Don't overstress yourself. I'll get it," Gabrielle said as she gently pulled the strap down which left Xena's left shoulder bare.
"Thanks," Xena said through clenched teeth. "Do you think you could loosen the lace, too?"
"I'm already on it," Gabrielle whispered into Xena's ear. Scooting around the warrior, her fingers quickly untied the lace holding the outfit together.
As the corset loosened, Xena motioned out of her leathers. Gabrielle gulped and looked away from the naked body in front of her.
"Gabrielle, please," Xena said, trying - and failing - to look over her shoulder. "I need you to look at the wound. I can't do it myself."
"All- all right," the bard said, scooting back around. "I can't believe you aren't wearing your undergarments… going out without undergarments is like asking for trouble," she continued under her breath.
Once again, Xena tried to chuckle, and once again, the wound prevented her from getting beyond a row of croaks. She had to settle for a hoarse "Yes, Mom…" but added a wink.
"I'm serious!"
"So am I… never mind. How does the wound look?"
"Bad," Gabrielle said, moving the torch back from the dark spot on Xena's side. "It's still bleeding. It's an inch long, maybe a little more. The edges are straight, though… it couldn't have been a hunting dagger."
"No, it was a straight blade… he carried it in his sleeve. All right, that's something, at least. It'll make the next part easier. Gabrielle, I need you to clean and suture it for me."
"But… no! I can't, what if I hurt you?" Gabrielle said, pulling back in a hurry.
"Oh, I'll live. I already showed you what to do… remember?"
"That was on your leg, this is… very different!"
"Flesh is flesh, Gabrielle. Please, I need your help," Xena said and reached out for Gabrielle's cheek to repay the small favor. Another wave of pain rolled over her, but she clenched her teeth and ignored it. "It's so damn cold here, even with the fire… we need to get back to Amphipolis."
Gabrielle exhaled slowly and watched the cloud of steam drift away. The look of pain in Xena's eyes was impossible to miss, and she knew she had to go ahead with the grisly task.
-*-*-*-
"How's that?" Gabrielle asked in a trembling voice. She clenched the bone needle hard between her blood-coated fingers because she knew she would drop it if she loosened up. The wound had been sutured to the best of her abilities, but a proper healer would probably consider it crude and amateurish.
"It's a little tight, but that means it's in good shape. I feel good, Gabrielle… thank you," Xena croaked and sat up. Releasing her clenched jaw, she held her fingers below the wound and was pleased to see that no blood seeped out and onto the pristine white snow. She looked up at her friend and offered her a tired smile. "I'm very impressed. You can do a lot more than you give yourself credit for. You saved my life, you know."
"Let's not dwell on that right now. We still have to get you back to Amphipolis."
Xena nodded, gently touching the tender skin around the aching wound to check for a possible infection. "I think I shouldn't ride just yet. I don't want to ruin your work," she said in a strained voice. Though the skin was sore, it didn't appear to be worse than that, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"It's a long walk, so we better get started. However, first of all," Gabrielle said and held up Xena's leathers, "we need to get you covered up in case your mother has sent out a rescue party. We don't want anyone to get a heart attack on Winter Solstice Eve."
Chuckling hoarsely, Xena donned her leathers. Working together, they wasted little time tying the laces and attaching the breastplate, the back harness and the shoulderpads. Soon, the Warrior Princess had returned.
"You need a hand getting up?" Gabrielle said, putting out her arm.
"I think I can manage," Xena said, but accepted the outstretched arm anyway. Both women pulled at the same time, and were suddenly standing very close.
Nervousness and giddy anticipation blossomed in Gabrielle's stomach, and she had to gulp down a large lump that had formed in her throat. While all that was taking place, her hand moved by its own accord and began to caress Xena's cheek.
The time had finally come. Moving as one, they closed the distance between them and brushed their lips against each other's mouth. First briefly, then more decisively. Xena used her good arm to reach behind Gabrielle and pull her even closer. Gabrielle's tongue traced Xena's lips, and the warrior opened her mouth to welcome the bard inside. The kiss deepened, and soon, neither woman wanted to stop.
Reluctantly, they separated to get some air. Gabrielle's heart was pounding wildly and she had to rest her head on Xena's chest to get her soul back under control. "Please tell me that wasn't just a 'thank you'-kiss…" she whispered.
"It wasn't…" Xena replied in a trembling voice. Her eyes were still closed, and she wanted nothing more than to stand there and embrace Gabrielle for an eternity. Alas, she knew they had to get out of the cold. Nodding to herself, she pulled back an arm's length. "We need to be on our way, Gabrielle. It's getting too cold out here."
"I agree," the bard replied, but the affirmative words weren't followed by any action whatsoever - in fact, she pulled herself back to Xena for another hug.
Chuckling, Xena reached up with her good arm to muss the blond locks. "I don't think we can walk back like this, you know?"
"There's a first for everything," came the reply, but Gabrielle eventually released her grip on Xena and took a half-step away.
They gazed at each other, knowing that a new connection had been forged in the dark, quiet clearing. Where it would take them, neither of them knew. But they would try their hardest to get the most out of it while they could.
*
*
CHAPTER 4
The warrior and the bard struggled to walk through the snow as they followed the narrow path that would eventually take them back to Amphipolis. Gabrielle's footprints from when she had gone the other way were the only signs of life, but at least that meant they weren't about to be jumped by thugs or marauders.
At first, Xena had insisted she was strong enough to hold Argo's reins, but a series of increasingly pained moans, groans and grunts had convinced Gabrielle that Xena wasn't strong enough to do anything apart from spending time flat on her back in convalescence - and she had told her in fewer words than that.
After a while, Gabrielle's arms had grown sore from controlling Argo, holding the torch, carrying her bag and helping the injured Warrior Princess wade through the snow. It was time to make a decision, so they let Argo roam freely for a while, and the palomino used the opportunity to set off for home at a fair stride that kicked up plenty of snow along the way.
Once they were alone, Xena put her good hand on Gabrielle's shoulder for comfort and support as they continued to wade through the snow that covered the narrow path. "Gabrielle, I think we need to talk," she said in a voice that was still strained, though less so than earlier.
"I know."
When nothing further happened, Xena let out an embarrassed chuckle. "I was hoping you'd start. You're the expert on sensitive chats, you know…"
Gabrielle matched the chuckle and gazed at her companion. "Do you want to hear the truth?"
"Uh… depends."
"I think you should."
"Go on," Xena said with a smile.
Gabrielle fell silent for a few moments while she collected her thoughts. There was so much she wanted to say to the Warrior Princess that she didn't know where to begin. As always, the best starting point was what she carried around in her heart. Clearing her throat, she spoke in a clear voice: "Whenever I look at you, whenever I hear your voice, whenever I feel your presence, my soul smiles and my heart starts beating faster. There's no place I would rather be than by your side. Zeus and his entire family of Gods upon Mount Olympus couldn't conjure up an offer grand enough to make me rethink that. When we're separated, my soul yearns for the moment when we're back together… and as you've seen tonight, if trouble gets between us, I'll go through every level of Tartarus to get you back. There's a word for that. It's called love."
Nearly a full candledrip went by without an answer from Xena. Gabrielle looked up and was startled to see the stoic warrior's cheeks flushed crimson red, and that something that looked suspiciously like a tear had escaped her left eye.
"You certainly have a way with words," Xena eventually said in a strangled voice. "Though I feel the same as you, I could never have said it so well. I guess that's why you're a bard and I'm merely a warrior." She paused to take a few deep breaths that created large plumes of steam in the freezing conditions. "I love you too, Gabrielle. I have for a while now, I think. But I have lived without love for so long that it took me some time to recognize the emotions."
They continued on in a contemplative silence for a short while before Gabrielle slid closer to Xena and grabbed her hand. "I'm glad you did. This night could have ended in tragedy… instead, it's witnessed the birth of something wonderful."
Xena couldn't find anything to say that would better Gabrielle's sincere declaration, so she settled for nodding. They offered each other a brief, even shy smile before they turned their attention back to wading through the snow.
-*-*-*-
More than half a candlemark later, they continued to shuffle through the snow on the narrow path through the forest. Even though Xena would never admit to it, fatigue had fallen over her like a heavy, wet blanket, so when she spotted an inviting tree stump at the side of the road, she decided to swallow her warrior pride and take a rest. "Gabrielle, I need to sit down for a while…" she said, pointing at the stump with her good hand.
"Oh… are you in pain?"
"Some. But I can handle it, " Xena said, carefully lowering herself down onto the tree stump. She nursed her aching side, but it didn't stop a sharp tendril of pain to stretch out from her wound and reach deep into her gut. Hissing, she pulled a grimace while she waited for the pain to recede. "Mostly…" she croaked.
Gabrielle didn't seen convinced, so she put her hands on her hips and observed the warrior closely.
Xena chuckled at the close attention and made sure her bangs fell properly so Gabrielle wouldn't have that to complain about. "You know, the way you made that fire and the shelter really impressed me," she said after catching her breath.
"Thank you. It wasn't that hard, really. You've taught me well," Gabrielle said while she shuffled left and right to remain warm.
Far above them, the cloud cover broke up which revealed a bright, full moon and the magnificent carpet made of black velvet that was the home of the winter stars. The moon's off-white reflection bathed the forest in a ghostly light, casting creepy-looking shadows everywhere.
"Oh! Look at that," Gabrielle said, eagerly taking in the endless array of stars in the Milky Way and beyond. Her head was tilted as far back as it could go, and she had to take a step backward to stop herself from losing her balance and ending up on her rear in the snow.
"Yeah, it's beautiful," Xena replied, looking directly at Gabrielle's excited face instead of at the stars.
Ever the stargazer, Gabrielle jumped up and down and clapped her hands together in glee as the magnificent sight came into view high above them. "You know," she said and looked back down at Xena, "this reminds me of a song I heard when I was a little girl."
"Oh?"
"A minstrel came to Poteidaia once, and he sang it several times. It was so romantic." When the separation suddenly made its presence felt, Gabrielle moved closer to the warrior and grabbed her good hand.
"Oh?" Xena said again, this time smiling broadly.
"Yes. I can't remember the title, but do you know what the first lines were?"
"No?"
Gabrielle swung Xena's hand back and forth a couple of times before she brought it to her lips and kissed the clearly defined knuckles. "It Happened On Winter Solstice Night, I Kissed My Girl In The Bright Moonlight…"
Not satisfied with getting her knuckles kissed when her lips needed the sweet contact far more, Xena reached up and turned Gabrielle's head towards her own. For several long, delightful moments they were just gazing into each other's eyes, reveling in each other's company.
"Well?" Xena said.
"Well…" Gabrielle replied and moved her head down to kiss Xena. When it came, it wasn't a wild kiss like before, but a gentle, warm and loving one that left them both highly satisfied. "What do you suppose your mother will say?" she continued, letting out a chuckle when they separated.
"She'll be fine. She's been around."
"That definitely runs in the family."
Xena shot Gabrielle a wicked, lopsided grin that caused the younger woman's heart to skip a beat. "Is it getting warmer, or is it just me?" Gabrielle husked, never taking her eyes off Xena's blue orbs.
"It's getting warmer," Xena said with a laugh. Nodding, she shuffled around on the treestump. "I feel better now. Come on, let's go home before there's another strong flurry," she said and went back out onto the covered path.
-*-*-*-
After what felt like countless candlemarks drudging through the endless drifts of white, cold snow, they were at last able to see the first flickering candles and torches in the hovels that made up the outskirts of Amphipolis.
The bard and the warrior both struggled against a devious fatigue that continued to snap at their heels like a pack of wolves. They had made another three stops on their way back, and each stop had been longer than the one before it. They had spoken far less on the last part of their trek, but their connection had been kept alive by holding hands whenever the pain or the fatigue became too strong.
Paler than usual, Gabrielle stared ahead with eyes that didn't see much apart the endless banks of snow. The flickering lights in Amphipolis became the beacon she aimed for, but her legs had grown numb from the cold so all she could do was to put one foot ahead of the other and hope she didn't trip over anything. "I'm glad we're almost home, Xena," she said in a strained voice, "I'm so tired I can hardly walk anymore."
"Yeah… we don't have far to go now."
"Thank the Gods…"
Xena reached out for her new love and gave the cold hand a little squeeze. "Do you need another stop before-"
"No. Not with the village in sight. My feet are so cold I think I've lost a couple of toes tonight… but I'm an Amazon! And if you can handle it with a wound in your side… so can I!"
Xena let out a dark chuckle and squeezed Gabrielle's hand again. "You're far braver than any Amazon I've ever met. And I include Queen Melosa in that list. Look at what you did… traveled by yourself into a snowstorm, on foot, unarmed and with no clear aim except to find me in case something bad had happened."
"Yeah, huh? I guess," Gabrielle said and crinkled her nose. "I just had to do something. As it turns out, it was the best decision I've ever made. Two more candlemarks and you would have been an ice cube, Xena."
"I know. And I'm grateful. Are you going to write a scroll about this?"
Smiling wistfully, Gabrielle looked over at the woman limping along next to her. "Well, now that it has a happy ending… yes, I think I will."
"Good. I'm sorry I missed your performance tonight. I would've loved to see what you came up with."
"I did Prometheus and the one about Princess Diana. You know, tales about your heroics."
Chuckling, Xena tried to swing their entwined hands back and forth, but it put too much strain on her wound so she had to settle for yet another squeeze. "Pretty soon, they'll be writing scrolls about your heroics, you know."
"I seriously doubt it, Xena. I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of things."
"Well… to me, you're everything," Xena said sincerely, earning herself a shy, little smile.
---
A few candledrips went by in silence as the two women moved away from the snow-riddled path through the forest and onto the stamped dirt road that led through Amphipolis. Finally able to walk more freely since someone had already been out shoveling a great deal of the snow off the road, they both let out sighs of relief. Ahead of them, Argo whinnied in joy outside the stables where the palomino had gone to when she had been set free.
After leading Argo into the barn itself and making sure she was calm and had plenty of water and feed, Xena and Gabrielle walked the last few yards to the kitchen entrance of Cyrene's tavern. Reaching it a few candledrips later, they weren't really surprised to hear the Winter Solstice party was still going on. Happy music wafted out of the closed doors, and the entire building trembled and shook to the rock-steady beat of dozens of clogs and clog-boots hammering on the floorboards.
Neither of them wanted to talk to other people, not even Cyrene, so they slipped through the kitchen entrance and climbed the staircase to the rooms without anyone noticing the return of the Warrior Princess and the bard from Poteidaia.
---
When Gabrielle finally closed the door to their room behind them, Xena ran her good hand through her hair and let out a long, heartfelt sigh. Her head was spinning, and her bones ached worse than they had for many a year. "At one point, I thought I'd never see this place again…" she said, rubbing her weary eyes.
Gabrielle used her flints to ignite the candle she had left on the table, and the room was bathed in a golden light. She sighed as well as she pulled the cloak from her shoulders. On any other occasion, she would have taken her time to fold it neatly, but she just threw it on the bed.
"… and that I'd never see you again," Xena added quietly.
A dead-tired smile graced Gabrielle's lips as she shuffled over to her companion and put her arms around her. Though she remembered to do it carefully so she wouldn't put pressure on the wound, she managed to give the Warrior Princess a good, strong hug.
"Hey, what's that?" Xena suddenly said, looking over Gabrielle's shoulder at a wooden box on the other bed.
"What? Oh, Hades, I forgot to put it away… and I wanted to wrap it! Ugh!" Gabrielle groaned, following Xena's eyeline. "Oh, well… I guess 'tis the season to be jolly, so… happy Winter Solstice, Xena," she continued, shuffling back to the bed. Taking the beechtree box, she presented it to the warrior.
"Oh! Wellness in Athens … thank you very much," Xena said with a smile.
"You're welcome. It's for the two of us. It's just a silly little thing, but I hope you like it."
"You better believe I like it. Have you ever tried an Egyptian bath?"
"Ah, no."
"Then you have something to look forward to," Xena purred, making Gabrielle chew on her bottom lip with a cheeky look on her face. "Anyway, I have a little something for you, too… but it's under my bed and I don't think I can get down there right now…" Xena said, grimacing as the wound pulled on the sutures.
"I'll get it," Gabrielle said and got down on her knees. She easily found the package which was wrapped in beautiful, green velvet. "Oh… what a beautiful cloth! What is it?"
"Why don't you go ahead and open it…?"
Unwrapping the present, Gabrielle let the scroll case fall out into her hand. "Oh! A new scroll case! Look at that quality… this will last for a decade. That's really handy 'cos my old one is on the verge of falling to pieces. Thank you very much, Xena. I really, really appreciate it," she said, smiling broadly at the warrior.
"No, thank you, Gabrielle," Xena said and pulled the bard close. She mussed the golden-blond hair and placed a small kiss on Gabrielle's lips.
Quiet reflection filled the small room, and the space between the two women seemed to shrink to nothing. Their heartbeats fell into a perfect cadence as they held onto one another, both realizing how close Xena had come to flipping Charon a silver coin for taking her across the river Styx.
"We were lucky, weren't we?" Gabrielle whispered.
"Yes," Xena answered in a matching whisper. "But sometimes luck is all that's needed."
Nodding, Gabrielle cocked her head in an invitation for a kiss. It came at once; a warm, loving affair that was just as sweet as the first few had been. Her heart could remain there forever, but her tired body was already crying enough. "I'm exhausted… I think we both need our beauty sleep tonight," she whispered as she pulled away from the warrior.
"Yeah. And don't think I've forgotten about the dance I promised you. I just need to mend a little more first… maybe at the New Year's Celebration in ten days' time."
"Let's hope so. Uh… Xena?"
"Yes?"
Gabrielle's cheeks flushed red, though it was hard to see in the orange light that spread out from the candle on the table. She licked her lips once, then twice before she had gained enough confidence to ask the question that was burning on her mind: "Would you mind sharing a bed tonight?" she asked, shuffling around on the spot.
Xena just stared at the bard in a state of delighted shock. "Oh… I would like that very much, Gabrielle."
"Good. Because two bodies can heat up a bed better than one, you understand," Gabrielle said, already starting to unlace her top.
"They certainly can," Xena said with a smile, turning around to leave the room to give Gabrielle some privacy while she was changing.
"No… please stay. I… I don't want to be shy anymore," Gabrielle said and put her hand on Xena's arm to turn the warrior back to face her. Moving swiftly though her hands trembled, she let her top and skirt flutter onto the floor. Her undergarments went the same way not long after.
Xena let her eyes wander slowly up Gabrielle's naked body, and she felt a wonderful sensation building within her. She was surprised and delighted to feel it really was love, and not just lust. She understood how immense a step it had to be for Gabrielle, and she was determined not to ruin the trust the younger woman put in her. Pushing her own agenda by going too fast, too soon would destroy everything.
Admitting their love had been the first step; kissing the second. Spending a night under the same blanket would be the third, but the fourth and final step would be Gabrielle's to make whenever she was ready for it.
"You are so beautiful," she whispered to Gabrielle, leaning down to place a warm kiss on the bard's lips. "But tell me…"
"Yes?" Gabrielle breathed.
"Are you gonna keep your boots on in bed?"
Gabrielle's eyes popped wide open at the joke - then she scrunched up her face. "That was my plan, yes! Well, of course I'm not going to keep my boots on… by the Gods, woman!" She tried to remain serious, but she couldn't hold the green glare for long. Sticking out her tongue, she reached down and shoved her boots off. "There. Satisfied?"
"Fully."
Using her good arm, Xena released the clamps on her own, long-legged boots so she could dump them next to Gabrielle's. Once she stood on her bare feet, she wiggled out of her leathers and let them fall into an unruly pile.
The two women were soon standing body to body with their arms wrapped around each other - simply holding on to one another and enjoying the incredible rush of sensations from feeling skin on skin…
After separating from yet another kiss, Gabrielle leaned down and blew out the candle, leaving the room draped in darkness.
*
*
THE END.