Disclaimer: I own no rights whatsoever to any characters from Xena:Warrior
Princess, I am only borrowing them for the length of this story. This story
is for the amusement and entertainment of my friends in the Ares and Xena
Shippers club. I promise to return the characters intact when I am finished
with them. I am making no money from this story.
Cyrene was still in a bit of a dither. Danger had come altogether too close. If her daughter
hadn't somehow learned about the gang of raiders in the area, they might have done any number of terrible things. Everyone had heard stories of warlords and raiders. Stories of rape, pillage, and murder. Towns had been burned to the ground, and even women and children killed in horrible ways. This village had been attacked by a warlord named Cortese many years before, and her younger son and several other youths had been killed. Xena too had been in the battle, and had later gone on to be a warlord herself. Cyrene was thankful that the danger had been averted this time. The raiders had all been killed or captured, and the survivors had been sent to Corinth for judgement. There had been few losses on the army's side. Only three if she wasn't mistaken.
As the army of men trickled into the village, she became aware of the fact that they all considered Xena to be their commander. They formed up on the edge of the village, and awaited further orders. "What are you going to do with them, Xena?" she asked. "Send them back, of course." Xena replied. "I have no further use for them." "How do you plan to do that?"
her mother queried. "It's simple. Ares sent them, he can take them back." she retorted. "Ares? Is that where you got them? Why would he give you an army? Are you going back to him?" the questions came one right after the other. "Yes, Ares. He sent them. He told me there were no strings attached, and no I'm not going back to him." Xena stated firmly.
"Ares..." Xena called. No reply. "Ares!!! I'm calling you. You better get your butt moving, you bastard." Still no answer. Now she was really getting angry. She waited several more seconds, then she bellowed his name. "Ares, are you getting deaf in your old age?" She figured an insult might get some action. She was right. He appeared suddenly in front of her, with a disdainful look on his face. "There's nothing at all wrong with my hearing. I was busy. What do you want?" "I want you to take back this army." she replied. "I have no further use for it."
"WHAT... you want me to take back my gift to you?" he asked. "You could always station them around Amphipolis, that way no-one would dare attack. You'd have your own personal guards. I can spare this many warriors without any trouble whatsoever. Of course you'd be responsible for paying and feeding them, as well as finding them quarters in which to live. That's not too much to ask in return for your own personal guards. You'd never have to worry about your town unless a quite powerful warlord decided to challenge you. Minor ones wouldn't dare, they'd be outmanned. You have nearly 100 men, that's a sizeable group, even larger than the population of your town. What more could you ask?"
"I'm asking you to take them back. I have no further need of them. After this, Amphipolis should be reasonably safe. The word has spread about what happened to the last guy who tried to take the town. No-one likes to be put in the stocks and ridiculed. That's worse than imprisonment. At least then, most people aren't aware of your situation. The stocks leaves you open to all kinds of criticism, kids throw rotton eggs and tomatoes at you, and adults make fun of you. Take them back, please?"
The 'please' had actually shocked him. He was used to sharp remarks, ridicule, and worse. He stood there for a long moment, with a considering look on his face. Then, at last, he sighed. "Oh, all right. If you're going to ask so nicely. I'll take them back." The formations, with their wagons and supplies disappeared from sight. "Right...thank you." she remarked. He still had a slightly dumbfounded look on his face as he faded from view. "Whew, it worked." Xena exclaimed. "For a while there, I thought he was going to make me keep them. He was actually almost insistent. I hope he's not up to something." Her mother was standing there staring at her. Xena has spoken to Ares as an equal. She'd been insistant, notwithstanding the fact that he didn't seem to want his army back. What was going on here, anyway. They acted almost friendly to each other. Xena had been *polite*. Xena was never polite to anyone. Of course, Ares had also acted stunned by her actions . Apparently he wasn't used to polite behavior either.
The village soon settled back to normal. People came and went, some shopping, some visiting Cyrene's tavern. Xena and Gabrielle were helping out there. The patrons just couldn't get over the fact that their own Xena had saved the town. Most of them had known her from the time she was an infant. She had always been a bit of a hoyden, practicing with swords, wearing pants and getting in fights. Her younger brother had been just as bad. The pair of them were always into something. The death of that brother had changed her completely. From a happy, mischievious child, she had become a solemn, and angry teenager. She had gone to the temple of Ares and pledged herself, so that she could learn to fight well enough to take revenge on Cortese. She had done very well... so well, in fact that she had become a warlord in her own right. She had become a terror, much like the man she hated so much. It had been years before she got her life turned around. Now she had been doing good for some years. She had turned her back on the ways of the warlord, but not on the ways of the warrior. She defended the helpless, and aided in any way she could. People now greeted her gladly when she came back home. Her little friend, the bard, told stories in the evening, but Xena usually downplayed her part in the story. She wasn't conceited in the least.
That night, as she was getting into bed, she suddenly shivered. There was no draft in the room, which left only one possible reason for the feeling. "Ares, what do you want?" she asked. He appeared in a shimmer of light. "Nothing too serious." he replied. "I just wanted to see if you'd changed your mind." "Why should I, what are you up to now?" she questioned. "I'm not up to anything at the moment. I needed some excuse to visit you, and I thought that would suffice." "You're just visiting? You don't have some kind of plan to get me back?" she asked quietly.
"Would it do me any good? You keep telling me that you're not interested in coming back. No, I'm just visiting. I enjoyed our little adventure. I loved the way you set things up. You had people in all the right places, at all the right times. You had planned everything perfectly. Your plan went off without a hitch, and I was actually impressed. Of course there was almost no bloodshed, very little killing, but that was only a matter of exceptional planning. I admire cunning tactics as well as bloody action. Anyone can go up with a superior army and kill the opposition."
He sat down beside her on the bed. He didn't say anything more for a few moments, just stared. He stroked her hair back from her face. The tension was becoming unbearable. Xena tried to move away from him, but there was little room to do that. She suddenly got to her feet and bagan to pace back and forth. She didn't say anything at first. He just sat there and looked at her. Finally she sat back down. "Why do you always have to be there? Wherever I go, whatever I do, you're always there." He said nothing for a few seconds longer. Then he looked deeply into her eyes, and said, "You mean a lot to me, Xena. I feel the need to keep an eye on you. I wouldn't want you to be hurt because I wasn't there for you. It's happened in the past, and I regret that fact. I don't plan on letting it happen again." She looked back at him, examining his features carefully. There was no hint of evasion or subterfuge. He really meant it!
She felt confused. So many things had happened between them, both good and bad. How could she ever trust him again, and yet..."Why should I believe you?" she asked. He slowly gathered her up in his arms. "Because I've never lied to you. I've evaded the truth, I've given you only partial information, and I've hinted at many things, but I've never actually lied. She gazed at him for a moment more, then laid her head on his shoulder. He gathered her close. He stroked her hair for a while, then the hand strayed down to her back. It continued to pull her closer. His other hand moved up to lift her chin. Her lips parted as he lowered his head. The kiss seemed to last forever. It had begun gently, but slowly increased in pressure, and became more insistent. She hesitated for only a moment, then relaxed into his embrace, and returned the kiss with abandon. He gently lifted her into his arms, and they disappeared.
Her first thought the next morning, was that it had only been another dream. She had spent many nights dreaming of his arms. Each day she fought the need, refusing to admit any feeling for him. There was one problem with that thought. She was definitely awake, and there were a strong pair of arms around her and a very warm body against her back. She stirred slightly, shifting her weight. "Awake?" was the murmured question. The voice wasn't loud enough to wake her if she had been sleeping deeply, but it stirred feelings inside her that she had thought dead. His voice was deep and husky. It evoked desire again. She turned to face him. His hair was slightly tousled looking, the sheet had slid down to his waist, and she couldn't resist. She reached up and straightened his hair. Then she raised on one elbow, and bent over to kiss him. "Good morning." she told him after the kiss. Then she realized just how bright the light was in the room. "Oh no! It's late, I've got to get home!" she exclaimed. As she sat up entirely, she found that she was suddenly dressed in the night dress she had been wearing the night before. He gave a lazy wave of his hand, and she was at home in her own bed. It was just in time, too. "Hey, Xena, wake up! It's getting late, and it's not like you to stay in bed this late." The voice was that of the bard, Gabrielle, and she suddenly opened the door. Xena stretched and yawned for a moment. "That was the best night I've spent in ages." was her only comment.
Breakfast was eaten quickly, as there was a lot of preparation necessary in order to open the tavern. Bread had to be baked, food had to be prepared, the tavern had to be cleaned and straightened up, and other miscellaneous chores had to be completed. It was necessary to bring out another keg of ale, as the patrons the night before had drained the last one. Everyone did their part, and finally the front doors were unlocked and opened for business. The outer doors were hooked to the outside wall to keep them open. The inside doors were of the swinging type, with springs to keep them closed. With the amount of traffic they were handling, it's a good thing they were. People were coming in and going out all morning. Some people came for breakfast and a little gossip every morning. The tavern was the hub of the town. Whenever anything major came up, the villagers gathered at the tavern, as it was the largest building in the town. There wasn't room for everyone, but people stationed inside the door
would lean out and shout to those outside and keep them informed. It worked quite well. Xena spent the day in a slight daze. She completed all the things that were asked of her, and did them well. However, she had a smile on her face, that several people noticed. Several people commented on the unusually good mood she was in, and her only reply was that she had had a better night than usual. "After all that time on the road, a soft bed feels really good." was her only reply. She kept the real reason to herself.
The end