Amazon Vows --Xena's Scroll
Ceremonies were a key word in the Amazon’s vocabulary. There were ceremonies for each girl’s first cycle, last cycle, birthdays, falling in love, adding to the tribe, etc. And those were just the individual ceremonies. It seemed to me there were even more group ceremonies.
Every tenth member added to the tribe merited a SPECIAL celebration; then there were the ceremonies when a member was given a new position within the tribe, and the anniversary of the queening ceremony, of course. There were ceremonies when other tribes visited or when a battle had been won.
A lot of the ceremonies, I understood. I tolerated them because I knew they were important to this group of women I had visited with many times. Before, my visits weren’t welcome; but now, they were.
Many of the ceremonies, I was allowed to take part in. I was often asked to take an active role, but I usually turned the requests down. I wasn’t a member of the Amazon nation, and didn’t feel it was my place to pretend I was.
Gabrielle, on the contrary, was an Amazon Queen. For the most part, it was understood that she would remain in travel with me. It didn’t create a problem, mainly because Ephiny was there to take charge in Gabrielle’s absences. She was a very capable warrior in her own right, and at the same time, was a true loyal Amazon at hearts. She could talk with the Amazons and identify with their troubles, was a good judge, and was wise in her decisions. Gabrielle never worried when she left the Amazons in Ephiny’s care.
As I said before, Ephiny was a wonderful leader, but she loved it as much as the tribe did when Gabrielle was in the area. We would usually stop by anyway, but it wasn’t unusual for a messenger to seek us out, if we were nearby.
They didn’t have to come looking for us this time. We had recently had a run in with a group of Harmon’s men, and the chase had worn us down. Gabrielle and I had ridden Argo for two solid days across country, pausing only long enough to let Argo get some water and a mouthful or two of grass. We caught up with the men finally just outside Protalla, and after a long battle, were finally able to catch our breath. We were ultimately successful against the men, but Gabrielle had taken a deep cut in her outer wrist, and I had broken the last two fingers on my left hand. Argo was exhausted, and was favoring her right front hoot slightly. We were a pretty ragtag looking bunch as we limped into the Amazon camp. Gabrielle had been elated when she realized we were just a couple hours from there, and I had whole-heartedly agreed it would be the ideal place to recover and rest up.
The scouts escorted us into camp, and we were welcomed by an ebullient Ephiny flanked by Solari and Eponin. After convincing her we didn’t need to visit the healer’s hut; we just needed some rest, within half an hour, we were alone in the Queen’s hut.
The pace of the last couple of days rapidly caught up with us though, and we stripped down to our underclothes, and fell asleep on the bed without even bothering worrying with the covers.
I awoke a few hours later, hearing lowered voices outside the hut. There were at least four different voices, and despite the fact that they were hushed, I could hear a measure of excitement in them. I heard a stifled giggle or two, and then another lower voice joined them. I recognized it to be Ephiny’s, and she sounded slightly agitated. I heard the sounds of the voices moving off, but I was already wide awake. I got up and stretched, then dressed to go outside and see what was up.
It wasn’t hard to spot the group that had interrupted my sleep. Huddled not too far from the hut was a group of five Amazons. Ephiny was one of them. Two of them were named Aletus and Catha. They were chatting excitedly with Fauna and Shayla. Fauna’s bright blonde hair shone brilliantly in the dwindling sunlight, and although she was the shortest in the group of women, she shone out like a beacon.
That beacon could get me in real trouble though, and even if Gabrielle was still sound asleep, I made it a point to keep my eyes off Fauna. She was the only one of this group of Amazons that I had slept with, and although it had long before Gabrielle and I were intimate and Gabrielle knew all about it, I still didn’t see any reason to risk pushing Gabrielle’s buttons.
The group turned to smile at me as I approached. Their looks told me they were definitely up to something.
“Xena,” Ephiny said, stepping forward. “I’m very sorry this gaggle of girls woke you up. I got them away from your hut as soon as I could.”
I nodded. “Thanks,” I replied. “What’s up?”
The young women seemed to find than immensely funny and grinned and laughed. Even Ephiny looked like she was about to bust.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the best of moods. “Come on, what gives?” I snapped, giving a genuine gesture with my hand.
Fauna looked at her companions one at a time, then turned to look at me. She took Shayla’s hand.
“Shayla and I are to be joined to each other,” she said finally.
It took me a second to realize what she was saying, then I’m sure a huge grin broke out on my face. “Wonderful!” I beamed. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” they replied in unison.
I stood there grinning like an idiot for a few more seconds before, finally saying, “I’ll be sure and tell Gabrielle the good news the minute she wakes up.” I turned to leave.
“Xena…wait…”
It was Ephiny who spoke, and I turned to see what she wanted. I saw the other four casting none-too-subtle glances at her. “What is it, Ephiny?” I asked, trying to be patient.
“We were sort of hoping that Gabrielle would officiate, since you’re in the neighborhood, so to speak. Do you think she would?”
I could have laughed at the eager faces, but I knew how important it was to those involved. “I dunno,” I answered honestly, “I would think she’d love to, but I’m not going to speak for her. She’ll be awake in a little while.” I paused. “Congratulations again ,” I told Fauna and Shayla, and turned to leave again.
“Will you allow her to do it?” I heard a voice blurt out, and when I turned, I saw the others looking at Shayla, shocked. I can honestly say it’s the first thing she’s ever said to me. Known for being very quiet in speech, Ephiny had told me one time how vocal she and Fauna were in the deep of the night.
I let my face relax into an easy smile. “Sure,” I answered. “It’s up to Gabrielle.” They grinned at this, and nodded before they turned to run off, giggling. Ephiny followed at a more dignified pace.
I checked in on Gabrielle, and she was still out like a light. Next stop was the stables to check on Argo’s hoof.
She had a bruised fetlock, and I wrapped it in a cold compress, applying some healing herbs that would lessen the swelling. It would be at least a week before she was well enough to travel. I hadn’t thought to ask when the joining ceremony was to be, but if it was in the next few days, I’m sure Gabrielle would be available to reside over it.
I walked back into our hut, and the object of my thoughts literally threw herself into my arms. “Xena, did you hear? I get to perform a joining ceremony!”
I accepted the kiss she offered with a laugh. “I heard,” I replied. “I take it you like the idea?”
“Of course! It’s going to be a great big party! What a happy time And besides…”
The sudden gleam in her eye made me wonder what she was up to. “Besides what?” I asked her.
“Besides…it’s Fauna getting married,” she replied, with the twinkle still in place. “It’ll be good to know she’s off the market.”
I mock growled and pushed Gabrielle back toward the bed. “It doesn’t matter if she’s on the market or not,” I said, and then gave her a push backward so she bounced onto the bed. I leaned over so I could look into her eyes. “I was taken off the market a long time ago.”
She gave me the wrinkle nosed smile that I adored. “That was a wonderful thing to say” she replied. “Are you just saying that to get under my skirt?”
I gave her my most lecherous grin. “I dunno…is it working?”
I felt a tingle in my clit when I felt her take my hand and press it to her bare thigh. “What do you think?” she asked, returning my look in kind.
The situation was just starting to get very interesting, when there was a knock at the door. I had my hand buried underneath the waist bands of her panties, two fingers thrust deep into her silken opening and our mouths sucking erotically at each other’s tongues. I heard a “My queen,” and knew it was one the younger, more hesitant tribe members.
Gabrielle gave me an apologetic smile as I withdrew my hand and stood up. I sat on the bed and watched her go to the doorway, smiling at the ways her legs shook a little.
At the door was Necia, the feisty young red-head that always seemed to be at the center of attention no matter what was going on. She gave me a nod and a smile, then took a step closer to Gabrielle and began to whisper. I sat there for a minute, amazed at how quickly the mood in the room had changed.
A yawn overtook me, and I laid back on the bed, my feet bent off the edge of it. I laid my head on my crossed hands, and stared at the thatch ceiling. I had the feeling it was going to be a long week.
I dozed off waiting for her to return, and woke to the sounds of the drums signifying a feast for the Queen. Gabrielle was sitting in the soft chair by the bed, engrossed in reading a scroll. As I sat up, she lowered it, and smiled.
“Sleep well?” she asked me.
“Yeah,” I said, surprised I had slept so deeply. “Whatcha reading?”
She set the scroll on the table beside the chair. “Just reading about the commitment ceremony and what it entails.
“What do you think?”
She shrugged, then grinned. “It’s going to be beautiful. And there are several different styles of ceremony to choose from. But they’re all beautiful.”
I nodded, wondering what the was thinking. We had discussed making a formal declaration of our own love some time back, but had decided with all my enemies, it would be too dangerous for Gabrielle. Besides, the only ceremony which allowed a woman to marry woman were the Amazons, and as fond as I had grown of the members of Gabrielle’s tribe, I just couldn’t think of becoming a member. I had too many guilt feelings about what I had done to them in the past.
“Are you hungry?” I asked her then, noting the far-off look on her face.
She grinned. “Silly question,” she said, standing and reaching for my hand.
I chuckled and let her lead me outside to the feast.
There was a double celebration that night. The upcoming wedding was number one. The tribe reveled in what they viewed as the “renewing” of the tribe. The second celebration was the return of the queen to her tribe. Fauna, Shayla, Ephiny, Gabrielle, and I all sat at the head table. We were served by the younger Amazons who were just getting ready to enter their teenage years. There were three of them, and as this was the third time they had saved us, they were quite comfortable in their roles. One of them, a dark-haired muscular girl named Ophi was one of my unspoken favorites. She was already a skilled fighter, and had natural instincts that were going to allow her to be a great warrior someday. Gabrielle liked her because she said Ophi reminded her of me. She liked to pretend Ophi was like me at that age. I know that wasn’t the case, but wasn’t going to shatter her illusion.
We ate our fill of roasted pheasant, new potatoes, and biscuits, washed down with generous helpings of fine Amazon ale. Fauna, who avoided dancing with a passion, half-hid behind me every time the revelers came too near. Gabrielle raised and eyebrow the first few times, but then realized what was going on and just grinned when it happened.
As the evening continued on, I noticed the queen becoming slightly more giggly than usual, and after her fourth glass of ale, downright tipsy. She wasn’t the only one, of course, but I liked watching the transformation. The ale warmed my own insides somewhat, but her actions warmed me more. She was usually so formal around the tribe, but tonight, she was gregarious and just plain cute.
And amorous. It wasn’t unusual to have her place a hand on my bicep when were in a situation like this, and she’d been known on occasion to give me a brief kiss. But tonight she had moved from the hand-on-arm stage straight to the hand-up-skirt stage. The table served as a barrier, but not much of one, as I’m sure some of the shorter Amazons would agree. I noticed more than one of them do a double-take at the sight of an appendage growing from my crotch.
At first, she seemed contented to rest her hand there, between my thighs, but not so high that she was actually touching my breeches. She would occasionally stroke gently against my inner thigh, and a couple of times, I tensed when she’d scrape against me gently with her nails.
Not too long after that, she rested her head against my shoulder. That led to nibbling on my ear and whispering erotic suggestions to me. The whole time her hand was sliding its way up my thigh, closer to the point of no return.
“Gabrielle…” I whispered in her ear, when I felt a finger painstakingly make its way under the leg band of my breeches. “Have you forgotten where we are?”
“We’re with MY Amazons,” she whispered back in a voice so ripe with desire I felt a trickle of wetness leave me.
“There are young ones present,” I whispered, nodding toward our serving crew.
“They’re watching the dancers,” she countered, and for the most part, it was true. I felt the tip of her index finger brush my clit, and sucked in a breath trying to mask a moan. I couldn’t believe she was doing this right here, but I wasn’t going to offer too many protests!
Still, I was a bit afraid the alcohol would cause her to do something she might regret in the morning, so I gave her a seductive smile. “Ready to go to bed?” I asked her.
It seemed to take a few seconds for her words to sink in, and then I felt an increase of pressure on my already throbbing clit. She pressed her nail into me briefly, then was withdrawing her hand. “Let’s go,” she whispered.
I nodded, at Ephiny and the betrothed couple who only had eyes for each other, and followed Gabrielle to our hut. She was having a hard time walking straight, and I was only too glad to support her against my body, my arm wrapped around her shoulder as we walked.
“Xena!” I heard a voice calling my name, and turned to the sound of the distressed voice, nearly knocking my bard over. “Xena!”
I heard Solari calling out, and called back so she could locate me quicker. A few seconds later, she came panting up, obviously having run a long way.
“What is it, Solari?” I watched the stout Amazon bend over at the waist, gulping in great draughts of air, and gave her a few seconds to regain her bearings. Gabrielle, still hanging onto my arm, watched her every move. She seemed to be sobering up quickly.
Finally, Solari raised her head and began to speak. “I’ve just come from the base of Mt. Gobi,. It’s usually a good place to go hunting, and I wanted to have something for the feast, a wild boar I’ve seen there many times before. What I didn’t expect to find was two dead men. There bodies were all covered in red lumps, like they had been bitten thousands of times by an insect. I don’t know what killed them.”
I gave Gabrielle a regretful look. “I’m going to have to check this out,” I told her.
“I’ll go with you,” she slurred, almost immediately.
“No,” I told her in a low voice, turning so I was facing her, my back to Solari. I leaned in closer. “No, my drunk little queen. You stay here, get some sleep, and then start working on getting the ceremony ready for Fauna and Shayla. I’ll be back before you know it.”
She sighed deeply, her eyes locked into mine, but I could see she was going to obey. No doubt her head was spinning from the ale, and she was still sober enough to know she was in no shape to travel.
She reached up and grabbed me by the neck, pulling my head down close to hers. “Be careful, Xena,” she said. “And hurry back to me, please.”
“I will,” I promised, before giving her a long tender kiss. Behind me, I heard Solari make an uncomfortable noise.
I slowly turned to look at her, but she made it a point to be looking elsewhere. I gave a sly smile to Gabrielle, then gave her one more kiss. “Be back soon,” I promised her.
She nodded, and pulled open the door to the hut before stepping inside. I patted Solari on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go to the stables and get some horses.”
Four long days later, we finally made it back to the village. “Xena!” I heard Gabrielle’s emotion-filled voice as she ran up to Solari and myself. She was followed by the rest of the tribe.
I accepted a hug from Gabrielle by wrapping one arm around her, and then barked, “Give us some room! Eponin, Vesta, help me get Solari to the healer’s hut.”
The two lifted the other end of the travois I had the barely aware Solari packed on and carried her to the hut. Gabrielle and Ephiny followed us in, and Ephiny shooed Eponin and Vesta back out.
“Sweet Hera, what’s happened?” Naomi, the wizened old healer was rushing toward us. She bent over Solari, immediately assessing the Amazon’s condition.
“What happened to her, Xena?” Ephiny asked, kneeling beside her friend. “What are all those marks on her body?”
“She’s been bitten by an insect, over and over again,” Naomi said, standing up.
“Not exactly bitten,” I answered. “They’re stings, coming from these vicious little black bees. If they hadn’t gone after the horses, I’m sure they would have killed her.”
“Bees?” Ephiny echoed.
I nodded, and pulled Gabrielle closer to me. “Very aggressive little bees. Solari took me to the bodies of those two men, and I started scouting around. The horses were being skittish, and were soon found out why. The bees attacked without us doing anything to provoke them.”
“Did you get stung too?” Gabrielle asked, prying under my shoulder straps and the top of my leathers.
“A few times,” I told her, gently trying to prevent her from revealing more of me than she intended. “But I’m all right. Solari began to react right away.”
“You used the Volta root on her?” Naomi asked, beginning to undress Solari.
“As soon as I could,” I nodded. “I had to get us out of there first.”
“Where did you go?” Gabrielle asked. She had stopped trying to examine me, but still hadn’t let me go. “Did you find a stream somewhere?”
“No, but that’s what I was looking for,” I answered, nodding my approval at her knowledge. “I ran across a cave instead, so I risked taking Solari in there. The bees don’t like the dark.”
“How long were you in the cave?” Gabrielle asked.
“I waited until nightfall to chance leaving the cave,” I answered. “They kept buzzing around the entrance of the cave until the sun went down. They had disappeared when I finally checked outside the cave. I carried Solari to the river and continued to tend to her injuries.”
“What were her symptoms?” Naomi asked, continuing to examine Solari. “Besides the swelling from the stings.”
“She fell unconscious almost immediately,” I said squirming in an effort not to scratch a sting in a rather delicate place. “And the sting marks began to redden and swell at an alarming rate. Then she developed an extremely high fever, and began to thrash about in great pain. I spent all night getting her fever to break and when I finally succeeded, she began shivering, still moaning from great pain. It took a while before I felt she was well enough to travel.”
“Xena?”
I heard Solari’s very weak, but very alert voice, and turned to look at her. She was holding a swollen hand toward me.
I smiled at her and knelt beside the low bed. “Hey,” I said, clasping her hand in mine. “How are you feeling?”
I saw her smile for the first time in days. “Much better now that I’m home,” she replied. “It’s good to be back.”
I glanced up at Gabrielle. “It sure is,” I answered.
“You saved my life, Xena…” Solari continued. “I’m used to doing the life-saving around here, you know?”
“I know.”
And I did. Solari and Eponin, on more than one occasion, had proven themselves a very capable team in protecting the Amazons.
She smiled again. “You just couldn’t stand that, could you?”
I chuckled. “Get some sleep, Solari,” I said, touching the side of her misshapen cheek. “Tomorrow, you can start saving the villages again.”
She nodded shakily, and her eyes closed. Naomi looked at me. “She’s going to be fine, Xena,” she told me. “Using the Volta root was what she needed.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted. “All right. We’ll leave her to get some rest. Call if I can do anything to help,” I told Naomi.
Ephiny followed us out; and we were faced by a huge group of concerned Amazons. They stated in with the questions the minute we appeared.
Gabrielle raised her hand to silence them. “I know you’re all worried about Solari,” she said, “but she’s in Naomi’s capable hands now.”
“What happened, Queen Gabrielle?” someone asked.
Gabrielle glanced at me, and I gave her a brief nod. “Solari was attacked by a swarm of bees,” she said finally. As expected, the crowd gasped, but Gabrielle held her hands up. “Now don’t worry, it happened a long way from here, and we’re not in any danger here. Solari will be okay…but it’s going to take her a few days to recover.”
“Where did it happen?” someone asked. Gabrielle looked to me.
“On the other side of the forest, near Mt. Gobi,” I answered. I watched the murmur from the crowd as they talked about the location. “It’s near the Kingdom of Snowden, and is a half-day’s ride from here, and no one but Solari knew about it, so you don’t have to worry.”
Many more questions rose up, and I looked at Gabrielle, desperately. She caught on immediately, and gave a meaningful look at Ephiny. “Look, I know you’re concerned about your sister, but Xena risked her life to save her.” Applause started to go up from the crowd but Gabrielle quelched it with a hand gesture. “She took some injuries as well, and we need to tend to them. Ephiny will answer what she can.”
She took my hand, and we were able to walk to our hut in peace.
Once in our room, I sat down heavily on the bed, my limbs weary. Gabrielle bolted the door behind us, then turned to face me. She smiled when she saw my arms outstretched, and fell into my embrace.
“I was so worried about you!” she exclaimed in a voice that was a half-sob. “The scouts were out looking for you every day, but never turned up a sign!”
“Shh…it’s okay,” I whispered, just hanging on for a second. “I’m sorry I scared you. But I really couldn’t do anything about it at the time.”
“I know,” she sniffed. “And thank the gods you were there to help Solari! But still…”
“I know…” I drew her into my lap and just held her for a while.
“How badly were you stung, Xena?” she asked me.
I shrugged. “I dunno…bee stings have never really bothered me.”
She was pulling off my body armor, and I obliged, suddenly feeling more awake. There were several darks spots on my body, remnants of the bees, and Gabrielle rubbed healing salve on each one, despite my token protests. The spots didn’t even hurt, but for some reason caused me to groan each time she touched them.
“Have you slept at all in the last four days?” she asked me.
“Not much,” I admitted, knowing my shoulders were slumping a bit.
“Why don’t you get some sleep now?” she asked, trying to get me to rest my shoulders on the bed.
I held on tight though, pulling her down with me. “Xena,” she giggled. “You aren’t going to be able to sleep with me here.”
“Oh, but I’m so tense,” I whispered huskily in her ear. “Won’t you stay and help me get some of the tension out?”
I fully expected her to be a willing participant, but she surprised me by pulling free. “What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting back up on the bed.
She gave me an odd nervous smile, bending over for a quick kiss. “Nothing’s wrong, exactly,” she replied.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Are you sure?”
“Well,” she gave me a half-shrug, “not wrong exactly…”
I leaned back on my outstretched arms, watching her fidget. “What is it?” I asked.
She sat down on the chair beside the bed. “The first couple of days you were gone, I never suspected anything was wrong, so I went ahead and worked on the plans for the ceremony.”
“Yes?” I said patiently. “Well, Ephiny asked me if I had checked the Amazon chastity tradition. I told her I hadn’t so she pointed it out to me.”
“What is the Amazons chastity tradition?” I asked, although I already didn’t like the sound of it.
“It’s basically that,” she replied. “A vow of chastity that all Amazons take before the wedding of two of their own.”
“All Amazons…”I repeated, hoping I was misunderstanding her.
“Yeah…” came her reply.
“I see.” I crossed my arms. “And how long a time is this period of chastity?”
She winced a bit. “A week,” she said finally.
“A week.”
“Uh huh…a week.”
“A week.” I looked away for a minute, trying to control my thoughts. “And when is the wedding?”
She wouldn’t look me in the eye. “In five days.”
“Let me get this straight,” I said slowly, before standing and beginning to pace. “Because Fauna and Shayla are getting married, the entire Amazon nation has to go without sex for five more days?”
“Yeah.”
“And they do this every time there’s a wedding? They agree to it?”
She nodded. “As far as I know,” she answered.
“Wait a minute!” I grinned at her as I found a loophole. I sat back down on the bed.
“What?” she said, looking startled.
I widened my grin. “I’m not an Amazon.”
“No, you’re not…but I am.”
“Yes, but let’s see…it’s been…six days since we last made love, right?”
“Six long days,” she returned, with a slight hitch in her throat.
“And with five more to go…that’s gonna make…what? Eleven?”
Another sigh. “Yes…eleven.”
I wiggled my fingers on my right hand. “Are Amazons allowed to seek out their own pleasure?” I asked.
“No, not even that,” she replied, her cheeks coloring a bit at my suggestion.
I clucked my tongue and purposely spread my thighs a bit. I let my good hand rest just above the knee.
“Xena, you’re not…” she began, hesitantly.
“Not what?” I repeated, trying not to let the smell of my own juices excite me too much.
She swallowed hard. “Not going to touch yourself…especially in front of me?” she concluded.
I leaned back on the bed a bit more, spreading my thighs even further. I know I was showing enough that if she really looked, she’d be able to see the dark crotch of my breeches.
“Why shouldn’t I?” I asked her, my fingers slowly creeping upward.
She paused, licking over her lips before looking into my eyes. “Xena…I’m sorry…it’s not my fault…it’s tradition. I tried my best to talk them out of it, but I couldn’t.”
Something in her plaintive and searching stare touched me. I had been just teasing her, but suddenly, I felt mean for even doing that.
“C’mere,” I said, relaxing my tights, and holding out my arms toward her.
She paused a second, eying me suspiciously, then walked straight into my hug. “I’ll try to hold out,” I promised her. “I really will.”
Her warm lips met mine in a kiss of gratitude and we both broke it simultaneously as we realized it was developing into much more than that.
I reached a hand up and stroked the side of her face, letting her beauty sweep over me in waves. “It’s just that…well…it was hard pulling Solari home on that travois, and the whole way, the only thought that kept me going was the thought of making love with you for hours….” I trailed off, realizing how pathetic that sounded, but gods help me, it was true.
“I’m sorry, Love,” she said, her voice sincere. The teasing of a moment ago now seemed to be long gone. Gabrielle just sat there on my knee, and we communicated with our eyes that neither one of us was angry over what had developed, but we weren’t very happy with it at the same time.
She laid her head on my shoulder, and I soon found a yawn overtaking me. Now that my body had wound down and my mood had mellowed, I could rapidly fell the exhaustion overtaking me again. With any luck, maybe I’d be able to sleep straight through till the wedding.
No such luck. I worked early the next mooring, after getting a good solid twelve hours sleep. I was mildly surprised to see Gabrielle already gone, but when I splashed water from the basin on my face, it still had some warmth in it. Gabrielle hadn’t been up that long.
I didn’t see Gabrielle on the way to the healer’s hut, but hat was because she was already inside it, along with Ephiny, Eponin, and of course, Solari and Naomi.
They all greeted me, the brightest of all being Gabrielle and Solari.
I gave Gabrielle my warmest smile, then turned my attention on the patient. “You’re’ looking much better!”
“Thank you…I feel much better.”
The swelling throughout her body had gone down considerably, and her facial coloring was much closer to normal this morning. I couldn’t resist teasing her just a bit. “Too bad the swelling didn’t go down on those,” I quipped, indicating Solari’s ample breasts, which she was most proud of. A burst of laughter went up from the occupants in the room, as I sat down for a visit.
Now that Solari was conscious, we could discuss what to do to get rid of the bee problem. We decided smoking out the hive at night would be the best solution.
Eponin, who showed little reaction to bee stings wanted to go with me, as well as Kanda, another one of the more agile, cunning warriors. It was about a six hour trip by horse to reach the mountain, and we waited until just before sunset before leaving.
While we were busy making plans for our mission that night, Gabrielle was busy with Fauna, Shayla, and some of the others getting ready for the joining ceremony. We met at lunchtime, and passed each other a couple more times during the day, but our contact was very limited.
That was probably for the best. I honestly don’t know why I even considered going along with this Amazon “ chastity” thing, but generally, with me, what Gabrielle wants, Gabrielle gets. It was my goal to keep her as happy as I could, and usually, the things she wanted were so small, they were easy to achieve. Either that, or they were the same things that I wanted.
This was quite possibly the most difficult thing she had ever asked of me though. Making love to her often had become as necessary as breathing to me. Just thinking of her could cause my body to respond at the most inopportune times, and even that knowledge was thrilling to me. We were so compatible in the sexual sense that it often threatened to overwhelm me. I had never even ventured to dream there could be a person who would meet my insatiability with one of her own. One who seemed to desire my touch as frequently as I desired hers.
Having all this, yet not having it now, was on my mind most of the day. Being the private person I was, I wouldn’t just blurt out and ask Eponin or Kanda what they thought of the vow. I didn’t even know if they were involved with anyone.
“You be extremely careful, Xena,” Gabrielle said, grabbing me by the breastplate and pulling me close to her. “I don’t want any more marks on your body unless I put them there.”
“Gods,” I breathed, staring down in to her face. “What an image!”
There were others watching, but I didn’t care. I bent down and captured her lips against mine. Her hands were on my shoulders at first, and then I heard her make a little sound, and her fingers were curling in my hair. Her mouth opened hotly beneath mine. I could only respond by deepening the kiss even further.
A collective sound of throats being cleared broke the moment, and reluctantly, I drew my head back. “What was that?” I asked Ephiny, feeling a little embarrassed and a lot irritated.
“That,” she said, giving me her famous wry grin, “Was the sound of hearts breaking all over the Amazon nation.”
“Along with the Amazon chastity vow being bent a little,” added Eponin from behind her. I grinned proudly at Gabrielle. I’m sure my blonde haired beauty was the subject of numerous fantasies among the Amazon nation, but what happened today would help put a damper on anyone who was brave enough to approach her.
Gabrielle gave them her best shy smile. “I’ll see you soon,” I told her, giving her another brief kiss.
“What’s to keep another nest from being built?” Kanda asked us, as we entered the stables, early the next morning.
I shrugged at her. “I guess it could always happen, but none of those particular bees will be a part of it.” We had made a fire right below the massive hive, thoroughly burning it and all its inhabitants.
The sun was just coming up when we had returned. I said goodbye to my fellow beekeepers, and then went to the Queen’s hut.
There are those moments in one’s life where time just fades away in the past; the future just screeches to a halt, and breathing no longer becomes a habit. This became one of those moments.
My broken fingers had been aching since I had wrenched them taking the saddle off the borrowed horse, and I was absently rubbing them on the flesh between my armband and my gauntlet of my right hand, but froze in mid-motion, as all the pain fled to my toes and out of my body.
My golden-haired lover, Bard of Potodeia, Queen of the amazons, the light of my life was lying there on her side, her face peaceful and half-smiling as she was prone to do when she slept. In the dawn, the early morning sun sent golden rays of her hair tumbling over the pillow. The sunbeams played on the smooth skin of her face giving her complexion an almost translucent glow…Surely Aphrodite rising out of the sea couldn’t compare to my Gabrielle in beauty. But the part of the picture that would always stand out the most in my mind, and be a source of joy for me every time I thought of it, was what was clasped in her grasp. With both folded hands near her head, she was laying her cheek on the material of one of my sleep shifts, her nose half buried in it. She hadn’t been lying when she said she would miss me.
I closed the distance between her and the door, and leaned over her, lightly brushing my lips over the exposed flesh of her other cheek. Her mouth twitched and the smile widened a bit, but she didn’t stir. I kissed her a little more firmly, and then nuzzled her perfectly formed ear.
She giggled outright this time, and then her eyes were opening. “Good morning,” I whispered with a smile, before claiming her lips with my own. She didn’t need to wake up to automatically responded to my kisses.
She had halfway pulled me on to the bed when we finally had to separate for air. “You’re back even sooner than I expected,” she told me.
I gave her a casual shrug. “It went exceedingly well,” I answered. “We didn’t have any trouble finding the nest, and it took less than an hour to destroy it.”
“Eponin and Kanda are all right?” she asked.
I kissed her again. “Mmm…yeah, they’re just fine,” I answered, distracted by how seductive her green eyes, heavy lidded with sleep were.
She smiled and nodded, then skootched over so I could stretch out next to her. I reached underneath me, and pulled the shift from under my body, holding it up in front of her. She gave me a shy look, then said, “It smells like you.”
I smiled warmly, touched by this. “It probably smells better than I do, after having ridden all night,” I teased.
She took a deep inhalation, then snuggled her head down against my neck. “Mmm…no…nothing ever smells better than the real thing,” she said softly. I took a deep breath catching the clean cinnamon scent in her hair, along with her own personal scent.
“You got that right,” I replied, before closing my eyes.
Later that morning, I woke up, and once again, Gabrielle was out of bed before I was. The four days with Solari were harder on me than I thought. Gabrielle was sitting near the center of the village, Fauna and Shayla on one side of her, and Ephiny on the other. Their heads were bent together in conversation, and the foursome seemed oblivious to the sounds of the village around them. I stood at a distance for a minute, mentally comparing Gabrielle and Fauna’s fair looks. In actuality, there was really no comparison. Whereas Fauna was a lovely woman, she couldn’t begin to compete with Gabrielle’s muscular build and symmetrical, well-proportioned looks. I shook my head, embarrassed that I had let myself become weak so long ago, and fucked Fauna, only after she told me she’d pretend to be Gabrielle. Now Gabrielle was sitting there planning the joining ceremony of that same woman! To Fauna’s credit, she was very discreet about what had happened so long ago, and I don’t honestly even know if Shayla knew. Gabrielle was the only Amazon that knew about our liaison, as far as I was aware.
Now that I was somewhat caught up on my rest, I felt the familiar tug between my thighs that reminded me how much I love Gabrielle and how long it had been since I could express that love. This chastity vow was going to be the death of me, if I allowed it. Instead of heading toward the group of women, and the woman of my desires, I made a U-turn, and headed out toward the practice field.
I didn’t even bother to come back to the village for lunch, I was enjoying myself so much on the field. The Amazons were trained to specialize in a particular weapon of choice, and I loved the challenge of defeating them as they came at me, several at a time, with their various weapons. Spears, short swords, staffs, chobos, daggers…it didn’t matter, one by one, I defeated the warriors.
After that, I spent the rest of the day working with the braver warriors, in one-on-one combat. Ophi had improved considerably since the last time Gabrielle and I were here, and I spent more time with her than the others, but no one seemed to mind. She had a natural grace to her that made her a joy to watch, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that others were emulating the moves I was showing her.
I had ulterior motives for spending that much time on the practice field. Besides the fact that I enjoyed it and would always take the practice, it kept me away from Gabrielle. I was desperately trying to wear myself out by practicing strenuously, but the ache in my crotch never completely went away. Every time I saw or used a move that Gabrielle was proficient at, and there were many, I’d find my desire begin to swell anew, and would become even more aggressive to compensate.
The sun was going down, and thunder was starting to roll in, when the last of the Amazons finally called it quits. I would have liked to have stayed out here in the open, but it wasn’t long before I saw Gabrielle headed in my direction. I swallowed hard. She looked just as enticing in the dwindling sunset as the glorious sunrise, and even with storm clouds rapidly darkening the sky, she still took my breath away.
“Are you okay?” she asked me, when she was close enough to speak.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Why?”
“I saw the condition of my Amazons…you beat them senseless!”
I shrugged, trying to look innocent. “They need to know how it is in the real world,” I replied. “I didn’t do any serious damage to them.”
“No…” Gabrielle chuckled then, and slid her arms around the neck. “I heard a couple of them say that you were a sure cure for the chastity vow. You made them too sore to think about lovemaking.”
I wished that was the case for myself. Even my sore fingers weren’t bad enough to keep my mind off what I’d like to do to Gabrielle just then. I hated to do it, but I took a forceful step backward, forcing her to release her hold from around my neck. I hated the look of disappointment in her eyes, but I’m pretty sure she understood.
I folded my arms, and looked down at her, trying to size up what she was feeling. She seemed calm and collected, not at all suffering from the hot flashes and wet breeches that I was. “How many more days?” I asked pointedly.
“Three more Xena…just three more.”
I nodded, and felt another wave of lust overtake me, even stronger than the last. “I’m going to take the night watch tonight, Gabrielle,” I told her, watching her face fall. “If I sleep in the hut tonight, I can’t be responsible for what I do…I’ll sleep tomorrow morning after you get up.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Xena, is it really that hard for you?”
The way she said it wasn’t desultory or superior, but at the same time, I felt ashamed, as though I somehow had a weakness that none of the other Amazons suffered from. Of course, none of the other Amazons knew what it was like to share a bed with Gabrielle.
“I’m trying my best,” I answered slowly. “but I can’t go around tempting myself.”
She nodded then, as though she understood. “Will you at least have supper with me?” she asked me.
I smiled. “Sure,” I said, reaching out for her hand. I felt safe that contact wouldn’t be too much for me to handle. “But we’ll eat in the dining hall.”
She laughed and shook her head at me, and we headed back toward the village.
Eponin was in charge of arranging the watches at night, and she accepted immediately when I volunteered my services. It was going to be a miserable, wet night, but maybe that would help put a damper on my amorous thoughts. I ate supper with Gabrielle, gave her a kiss, and then reported to Eponin to see what area of the camp she had assigned to me. I was surprised to see Fauna was there, and was even more surprised as Eponin gave out the assignments that she had assigned herself an area as well. I gave her a look, and she shrugged and grinned at me enigmatically.
She asked me if I would mind not taking a regular section, and instead patrol the whole area, offering pointers to those on duty, and I agreed readily. I started with Eponym’s section herself.
The rain had started in earnest, but Eponin had positioned herself high in a thickly leaved poplar tree, which offered her a modicum of defense against the downpour. Once I had spotted where she was positioned, I quickly scaled a tree about twenty feet away, and traveled by treetop until I could drop down to land on the limb she was on. She jumped, but her warrior reflexes kept her from slipping.
“I know, I know,” she said, with a wry grin, when I sat down beside her on the branch. “Lesson #1…don’t just look down for approaches…look up too.”
I grinned back at her, shaking my head. “You catch on fast,” I told her.
We sat there for a while, discussing this and that, and finally, I let my curiosity get the best of me. “Isn’t it kind of unusual for you to take night watch?” I asked her.
She wiped some of the rain from her boots, and nodded. “Yeah…” she answered finally. Then she added, “but no more unusual for you to do it.”
I felt a suffuse of heat to my cheeks. “Yeah, well…I thought it would be a good idea to make sure you guys knew what you were doing…”
She nodded somberly. A second later, I saw her casting a doubtful sidelong glance at me, and I knew I had been had. We burst out laughing.
“It’s difficult, isn’t it?” Eponin asked.
“Very…” I nodded.
“Night watch is always very popular right before a wedding,” she said then. “Fauna’s requested to be on nights all week, and I’ve consented to that considering it’s her joining. But the others are casting lots to see who pulls duty.”
“I didn’t cast any lots,” I told her.
Eponin burst out with a laugh then. “Are you kidding? Gabrielle is a hero to the Amazon nation because she is the only woman who can say ‘no’ to you without risking her life.”
I chuckled. “By the end of this damn vow period, she may not even be safe.”
I stayed with Eponin another half hour or so, enjoying finding company in my frustrations, then moved on to the other Amazons. The rain was beginning to taper off when I found Fauna patrolling her area, like a sentry on guard.
She saw me coming long before any of the others had, including Eponin, and I praised her for that. She thanked me, and then we were sitting down under the hollowed out roots of a huge oak tree, along the edge of the river bank. The ground here was fairly dry, and I assured Fauna that I would be able to hear anyone approaching long before they became a danger.
For a couple of minutes, we were both silent as we just watched the water drip from the trees. We were probably thinking similar thoughts, but speaking them was a different matter entirely.
Finally, to my surprise, Fauna broke the silence.
“Shayla doesn’t know,” she said simply.
I nodded. “Are you planning on telling her?”
“I don’t know…she’s not the jealous type…but I don’t know how she would react. Especially since it’s been so long ago…I know she would think I was trying to hide it by not telling her about it sooner.”
“Yep, you’re right. She may surprise you though,” I responded.
“Surprise me?”
“Yeah, like Gabrielle surprised me. I thought it was all a big secret, but she had figured out long ago what had happened.”
Fauna’s face darkened in a blush instantly, and she lowered her head, suddenly finding the ground the most interesting thing in the world to look at.
“Queen Gabrielle knows?” she said quietly.
“Yes,” I answered. “But she understands the circumstances under which it happened. She isn’t angry about it.”
Fauna was muttering to herself. “I can’t believe the Queen knows…does anyone else know?”
“I don’t think so…not unless you’ve told them.” Her head jerked up. “No, I never said a word. Sometimes I wonder if I dreamed it happened…it seems so long ago…”
Oh gods, she way getting a far-off dreamy look in her eye which I didn’t like! I stood up hastily.
“Don’t worry, Xena…” she said with a laugh then, standing up with me. “I know you belong to the Queen…and I love Shayla with all my heart…It’s just a pleasant memory that I can take with me always.”
That allowed me to relax a bit. “It was pleasant for me too,” I admitted. “But I didn’t exactly treat you right…”
“Stop it,” She had put up a hand to get me to stop talking. “I learned a lot about myself that night, most of which the fact that I liked to be pushed around in bed. I never would have had the courage to let Shayla know that if it weren’t for you.”
My mind was boggled with that statement. I had been more than rough with Fauna that night in the stable…fucking her with insistent, unforgiving strokes and bringing her to so many orgasms she had begged me to stop touching her. But at the same time, she HAD obviously enjoyed it, and I had learned something from it as well as she had. I had learned that no one could replace Gabrielle.
I left Fauna and made another round of all the other scouts, waiting till after dawn to return to the hut. Gabrielle was still asleep when I slipped in and changed my underclothes, which were still water-logged form the rain. I bent and gave her a kiss on the forehead, not trusting myself to any more contact than that. The day after tomorrow, I would have my bard, and it was going to be a miracle if I could get through the ceremony without undressing her.
I spent the day hunting with Ephiny and Ophi, and we came back that night triumphant with many pheasant, a couple of turkeys, and the wild boar that Solari had originally been after. She was out of the healer’s hut now, and took on the task of skinning the hog, and getting it ready to roast for the wedding. She wasn’t up to moving around a lot yet, and the work suited her just fine.
I had no sooner gotten down from the horse I was riding, and unloaded the game from his back, when Gabrielle was approaching me. She was dressed in a rust and orange Amazon skirt and short shirt, and my heart caught in my throat when I saw her. Gods, this was so hard!
She took my hand, and said, “I need to talk to you, Xena,” so I allowed her to lead me away from the center of town, a little ways into the woods. Once we were there, she turned on me, and pressed me up against a tree, standing on tip toes to let her mouth search hungrily for mine.
I moaned at the delicious pressure against my mouth, my fingers clawing at the bark of the tree to keep from grabbing her and taking over the oral assault. She tasted so good, and my mouth was watering to taste her other lips.
Finally, she pulled her head away from me, but didn’t release me. She just continued to stare into my eyes, her fingers making restless movements on my shoulders.
“I don’t like not seeing you, Xena,” she said finally. “The bed is lonely without you and the days are long and dull without you.”
I tried to make my expression light, as I shrugged. “Gabrielle, you’ve asked a very difficult thing of me, in asking me not to make love with you when we are both so willing and able. I have to keep some distance or I’m not going to make it through this Amazon chastity vow.”
She finally released me, and took a step backward, to cross her arms and give me the once over. “Is it really that difficult?” she finally asked.
I’m sure my eyes bugged out of my head at the ridiculously silly statement. “Gods, Gabrielle, it’s the most difficult thing in the world! Every moment of every day, I spend thinking of you…your body…your face…the sounds you make when I stretch you over backward and make love to your breasts with my mouth…the writhing you do when I’ve got my face buried between your thighs…the arching and reaching for me when I’m inside you with the phallus. I am constantly wet, and my clit has ached so long it doesn’t know what it means not to be swollen. It’s like tying a carrot in front of a horse’s mouth. He’ll follow that carrot anywhere, even though he’s not going to get any.”
She was listening to all this with her mouth gaped open, and I could see that she was aware that I was telling the complete truth. “I’m sorry, Xena,” she said quietly.
“No, don’t be sorry,” I said, and gathering my will power, I took the step forward and drew her into my embrace. Just that simple hug was cunt-stirring, but I fought back the urge and instead, just let her know I wasn’t angry, just frustrated. “I respect you for what you’re doing…and I admire how easy you’ve made it look. I feel like my lack of…control…is a fault…”
“It’s hardly a fault, Xena,” she said as I released her. “It’s the most exciting thing in the world to me. It’s wonderful to think that you desire me that much…and I am going crazy for not being able to touch you…It’s just that…”
“I know, I know,” I chuckled. “you’re the queen, and you have to act like the queen.”
She shrugged helplessly, “Is that wrong?”
“No!” I laughed, and bent over and gave her another quick kiss, this time more confident in keeping my facilities. “Not at all…and I honestly think if I was an Amazon, I’d be handling this situation a lot better.”
“Why?” she asked.
“For a number of reasons…The Amazon tradition is very important to me, but I’m sure not as important as it is to a real member. Plus, if I were an Amazon, chances are, I would have been through a wedding before, and would know what was coming up. I would have stocked up on loving you for days beforehand, until my cunt was too sore to even think about making love.”
She giggled at me, and took my offered hand.
“So you understand now?” I asked her, as we slowly walked back to the camp.
“Yes, I do…” she answered. “I think I did before, but I just wanted to hear you say it. Just to reassure me.”
I stopped her just outside the circle of the camp. “So if I continue to stay away the next couple of days, you’re going to understand why?” I asked.
“Yes,” she answered with a confident smile. “I’ll understand…but the minute that wedding is over…”
“It’s a date,” I said with a leer.
She didn’t seem upset when I took the night watch this time, and spent the next day on another hunting trip. This time, I kissed her goodbye before I left, and we both acknowledged that the next evening, our lives would return back to normal.
The night before the wedding, I was outside walking toward our hut when I saw Fauna leaving her own, with a bag in her hand. I looked at Gabrielle warily. “Uh oh…” I said…”Does this mean the wedding’s off?”
“No, just another tradition…the couple to be married can’t spend the night before the wedding in their future hut.”
I would never get used to all these traditions, but watched amusedly as Fauna walked up to several tribe members asking if they had room for her to stay in their huts that night. I saw her turn in our direction, and bristled a little. Gabrielle might not like that idea too much.
Thankfully, Kanda stepped forward and offered Fauna her place for the night, and then one of the other Amazons did the same for Shayla. The moon was barely in the sky when I noticed all the Amazons were going into their huts.
“Now; that’s surprising,” I said to Gabrielle.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You Amazons have so many ceremonies for so many different things, If figured there was a big celebration in honor of the night before a joining ceremony.”
She giggled at me. “Nope, everyone has to go to bed early tonight, so they’ll be able to stay up very late tomorrow,” she told me.
I nodded my understanding, as I walked her to the door of the hut. “Won’t you stay here tonight, Xena?” she asked me, “Please? I miss you so much.”
I had been considering doing that very thing, so I nodded. “Yeah…I’ll be in to bed in a little while…I’m going to go uh…check the perimeter first.”
I didn’t miss the strange glance she gave me. She grabbed my hands. “Xena, I know what checking the perimeter meant in the days before we…uh…got together…”
I hadn’t even been thinking that way, and it made me burst out laughing. “Don’t worry…” I assured her, “I’ll behave…I just want to be absolutely sure nothing is going to disturb Fauna and Shayla on their big day.”
She beamed at me, and blew me a kiss. “That is so sweet of you,” she purred. I gulped simultaneously with the wave of tightness in my crotch.
“Stop it…” I said without heat. “I’ll be back later.”
She was already asleep when I returned to the hut a couple of hours later, and I didn’t undress or even bother to get under the covers. I just stretched out on the bedclothes, and within minutes, felt Gabrielle nuzzling closer to me, her breath warm on my cheek. I had been going on such little sleep though, I was soon able to drop off and slept fairly well through the night.
I was awakened the next morning, by the smell of fresh bacon and eggs wafting through the hut. Before I even bothered to open my eyes, I clamped a hand on my empty belly which was protesting loudly.
When I sat up a minute later, I saw Gabrielle uncovering a tray that was sitting on the large table by the window. “The dining hall is being used to get ready for the feast tonight,” Gabrielle told me, when she saw me climbing out of bed. “So we had a carryout breakfast today. You do remember what today is, don’t you?”
“Mmm, yeah,” I teased, snagging a piece of bacon and leaning in for a brief good morning kiss. “Today is the day I make this Amazon tribe’s Queen scream in ecstasy.”
“Gods, Xena,” she said, after coughing a bit. “Please…can we get through this wedding today?”
“Of course,” I said, sitting down opposite from her, and accepting the plate she handed me. One thing about the Amazons, they can cook. “I’m going to be as good as gold so you can get through the ceremony as quickly as is humanly possible.”
She laughed again, waving at me with her fork. “What are you going to do today?” she asked me.
“I think a few of us are going to go gather firewood for the feast tonight,” I answered. “There’s plenty here, but with autumn coming up soon, we thought we’d help get them ahead of the game.”
“All right…” She waved her fork at me again. “Just make sure you’re back by noon so you can get a bath before the wedding.”
“Yes, Mom,” I answered, before snagging another piece of bacon.
Fauna and Shayla were absolutely lovely. Fauna’s short blonde stature made a great contrast with Shayla’s lanky chestnut haired frame. They wore yellow and light green dresses designed to compliment each other that were made by Thalma, the most talented seamstress the Amazons ever had, and both had their hair piled up on their heads, emphasizing the fresh faced beauty they possessed.
But as lovely as the marrying couple were, they were of no comparison to the young queen officiating the ceremony. Gabrielle wore her official regalia, and the colors, as always, emphasized her own natural hues, making her seem to glow in a dazzling light. She was so solemn and full of dignity as she carried out the sacred traditions of the joining ceremony, from the reading of the ancient scrolls on what marriage means to the Amazons to introducing the newly married couple to the nation. A cheer went up, and then Fauna and Shayla stepped over to light the fire pit, signaling their beginning of a cooperative married life and the beginning of the rest of the ceremony.
Amazon wedding feasts were different than any others I had ever attended. As the afternoon wore on, it became more and more apparent that I wasn’t the only one who was suffering from the effects of the chastity vow. The entire tribe sat down to eat, in the dining hall, and from my spot at the head table, I could see some of the more brazen women groping their lovers under the table. I’m sure if anyone else noticed, they wouldn’t worry too much about it, so I didn’t either. The Amazons were generally pretty open about their sexual relationships.
I was very tempted to join in the under table festivities, but as I glanced at Gabrielle, she looked so regal and lovely as she oversaw the activities, that I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t want to upset her when she was so happy, so I just fanned my own crotch, and told myself I’d have to wait just a little while longer.
Darkness fell, and then the dancing began. Some of the routines I had seen before, and others were new. Ephiny explained to me and Gabrielle that they were performed only at wedding ceremonies, after the young ones were sent to bed. I could see why. The dancers wore little clothing as it was, but if they had actually been naked, they would have been in the act of copulation.
The dancing was having an adverse situation on my body, which was already under the influence of too much wine and not enough sex. But remembering the promise I had made myself to let Gabrielle reign in dignity was more important, so I held back my touch.
Some of the Amazons spoke to me, but I did little more than grunt in return, not hearing what they were saying. The dancing had gone on far too long, and finally, was drawing to an end. I sat back in my chair, and wondered what next…poetry reading?
Ephiny leaned over and whispered to me what was happening. All the married Amazons, as well as those in long-term relationships were to sit around the perimeter of the campfire, and a “discussion” was to be held for Fauna and Shayla’s benefit. It was basically a time when everyone was supposed to let down their barriers and discuss whatever they deemed might be good advice or of some help to the newly married couple. I didn’t quite believe Ephiny when she told me this, it seemed like the final straw. Ephiny, noting my discomfort, leaned over again and said, “The Amazons who came up with this tradition had to be sadists. It is designed to stretch out that seven day period just a little bit longer.”
Knowing I was transparent in my desire, I just nodded an acknowledgement, but she wasn’t finished. “Don’t worry, Xena,” she continued. “your drought is just about over.”
This time I had to look at her, but she just smiled mysteriously and sat back on her outstretched arms. Since the death of her husband, she hadn’t taken a lover, but she was here because of her regent status.
I sat with my arm around Gabrielle listening to the conversations around me. They were talking on everything from who does the laundry to the best way to have sex when one of the partners is cycling, and I began to wonder what Ephiny had meant again. I began to realize quickly. A few feet to our left, Kanda and her lover Tessia had embraced, and were now involved in some heavy kissing, stretching their bodies out on the ground.
Gabrielle’s eyes went wide as more and more of the Amazons stopped talking and started in on more serious activities. I groaned in the back of my throat…this was going to be too much! Beside me, Dacia had her hand buried up the skirt of her wife Lanie, who was whimpering out her satisfaction. On the other side of Gabrielle, Para was dry humping her long-time lover, Bettina, and on and on around the circle it seemed to go.
Gabrielle’s head was slowly turning, as she watched the activities going on around us. I had been at parties like this before, but usually they were more akin to orgies, where the people you ended up fucking were more than likely not the ones you came here with. This one was different in that everyone seemed to be minding their own business…but they were conducting their business right out in the open.
The growing sounds of passion were getting to me quickly, and I thought they might be doing the same to Gabrielle, so I leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Don’t you think we’ve stayed long enough?”
She turned as though to answer, and suddenly, I found her hands on my shoulders, pushing me back flat on the ground. I wasn’t about to fight her, but did look up in surprise at her as she hovered over me.
“We aren’t going anywhere,” she declared, in a low husky voice. “I have been dying to touch you ever since you came back from saving Solari, and I’m not going to resist anymore.”
I watched the ravenous hunger in her eye as she bent to kiss me, and soon, our mouths were busy at work, tasting and teasing and tempting each other. The whole time, she was removing my body armor as I just held on for dear life. Her lower half was nestled in between my legs, and she was rubbing her mound on mine in a suggestive action. I really couldn’t feel much since I was still wearing my leathers and breeches, but I knew what her body was telling mine.
She had my breast plate off by now, and she was pulling at the straps of my leathers in a manner that told me I wasn’t going to be able to resist. I was really surprised she was being so amorous in public, but Ephiny had already quietly slipped off, and the rest of the group was pretty well involved in their own activities, which may have helped feed her aggressiveness. She pulled my leathers off, and ran her hands wildly over my shift covered breasts, kissing me even more deeply. She nipped at my tongue whenever it tried to enter her own mouth, and I knew exactly what that meant. I was to lay back and enjoy the experience.
I was wearing the shift that laced up the front, and it was no time before Gabrielle was pulling the edges open, exposing my hardened nipples to the night air and her gaze. She lifted her head from mine, and took the time to straddle my hips, before reaching down and grabbing a breast in each hand. She massaged them simultaneously., palming the biggest part of them and moving her hands in circles, the whole time her eyes speaking volumes to me.
My hardened nipples were poking into her hands, and her touch felt divine, but I had gone too long without. I fought fire with fire, and reached up under the abbreviated shirt she wore, grabbing two handfuls of bard breasts in a retaliating move. Not surprisingly, her nipples rivaled my own in their hardness. I took it a step further and gave her tightened buds a firm pinch, knowing it would send sparks shooting down her body.
“Stop it,” she whispered, pulling herself off me almost immediately. I was hoping the look I was giving her was the most pathetic love-starved look possible, and it was only a few seconds before she was pulling the shift totally from my body. She leaned over my side, and ran a hand from my breasts down under my breeches and over my mound, and let a finger just barely slide through the pool between my legs. “Are you ready for me to love you, My Warrior Princess?” she asked, smiling down into my eyes.
Too overcome with arousal to trust my own voice at that moment, I just gave her a shaky nod, and waited for her to move. She reached down and took my boots off, and then my breeches quickly followed. My thighs sprawled wide as the cool night air kissed the host sopping flesh that was pounding out its need for her touch.
Her fingers lightly brushed over me again, and this time, I surged my hips to get a brief touch to my clit. I moaned loud and long nod then whimpered a “please.”
One of her hands was wrapped in the hair against my cheek, while the other began to explore knowingly down lower. She tangled her hair through my pubic hair, and then I felt her maddeningly draw her index up over the channel between my outer and inner lips, down one side…then the other.
“Please, Gabrielle…” I managed to say again.
“Please what?”
Oh gods, I was in NO mood to be teased, and she was giving me every indication that she was going to torment me. I reached down and took her hand, pressing it firmly to my itchy pussy. “Please…make me cum…”
“Make love to my hand, Xena,” I heard her whisper, and she was laying her palm flat against me. I did as she commanded, and began thrusting my clit hard against her, loving the rubbing sensation directly on my erection. Even with the noises of all the couples around us, I could differentiate the sound of my own juices sloshing against her.
“Doing okay?” Gabrielle asked me, her eyes volleying back and forth between watching my face and my lower half.
“Oh yeah,” I groaned, as my clit swelled to epic proportions. I was beginning to feel the first sparks of my climax, which was starting right in its source, and then my body galvanized as the first wave overtook me.
“Yes, that’s it, Baby…let it go,” I vaguely heard her crooning to me, as she began to stroke over my heaving mound as my body slowed its involuntary movements. I grunted as I landed hard on the ground, my body quivering in rampant spasms from the long-awaited climax.
I had to lay there for a couple of minutes, regaining my facilities for a minute, and I became aware of Gabrielle kissing and licking along my neck. When she was close to my neck, she whispered, “I really want to hear you tonight…”
That got me to open my eyes. I looked up at her, surprised. “You do?” I said.
She laughed at how clear my voice suddenly was, but had to know I was no where close to being finished for the night. That was just an appetizer.
“Yes, I do,” she answered. Her hand had never left its position on my pussy, and after giving my lips one more kiss, she began sliding down my body. I knew what was coming, and didn’t resist her movements.
“Let me hear you this time, Xena,” she said, pausing over my stomach to look back at me. “Let me and my Amazons hear you.”
“Okay,” I answered, suddenly realizing why it was so important to her. I wasn’t afraid of putting out a public spectacle, and if she was asking for it, my eyes fluttered closed as I felt the first light licking of her tongue over my outer labia.
“Mmm…you’re so wet and juicy,” she purred, and she used her left hand to pull my inner labia open, exposing the pink flesh within to her gaze. Her tongue came out and licked from below my vagina to the place where my inner lips met, and I forced my eyes open in time to see her swallow down the product of her actions.
My fingers were itching to touch her, but she remained perpendicular to my body, so all I could comfortably reach was her head. I stroked a hand through the light tresses, and savored the feelings she was bringing me.
Still holding me open, she began to move her tongue in little up and down movements on either side of my clit, and I felt at least two of her fingers rubbing along the entrance to my vagina. She knew exactly what she was doing, causing my body to climb higher and higher in its search for a second orgasm. Her fingers began to shallowly penetrate me, and remembering her words, I groaned out my approval. As if that’s what she was waiting for, her fingers sunk in deeper, and she began to slowly twist and fuck them in and out of my body.
“Oh gods, yes, Gabrielle…” I didn’t even try to fight back the moan of gratitude and supplication that burst forth from me. I had been picturing her writhing beneath me for days, and now I was the one writhing, and I didn’t care who saw me. The strokes of her tongue became shorter and firmer, and soon, she was licking over the shaft of my clit repeatedly, her fingers picking up the same tempo.
I moaned again, even louder this time, and I felt the tickle in my toes that told me this was going to be one of those earth shakers that would leave me panting for air, my cunt sill feeling the after-effects hours later.
“More fingers, please…” I gasped out, and Gabrielle responded immediately by giving me what I wanted. A third, then a fourth finger found its way inside me, stretching my inner walls as she filled me. I saw stars behind my clenched eyelids as the pleasure grew even higher, and managed to get out an “almost there” before Gabrielle pursed her lips, and sucked in my hardon.
She sucked fervently at me, still keeping perfect rhythm with her stroking fingers, and my thigh muscles contracted involuntarily right at the pinnacle. I felt a surging release, and just as I thought, it was intense, almost violent in nature, and my head raised from the ground as I shouted out my sheer joy in the power of it. My head lowered, and I became aware of more sounds of pleasure around us, as though several of the couples around us had been making love in tune with Gabrielle.
Gabrielle was still at my midriff, licking up the after-results of my orgasm, but my body yanked away from her when she licked over my clit again. She grinned up at me, knowing it would be a while before I could take her touch there again comfortably.
“Come up here,” I said gently, waiting for her to get off my stomach so I could sit up and position her where I wanted her. She obliged, and I probably surprised her by sitting down on the log we had been resting against earlier, and then patted my naked thighs, showing her where I wanted her to sit.
I lifted my hands around her waist, pulling her on my lap, so she was straddling them, facing me. Her eyes were shining into mine.
“Do you want me to undress you?” I asked her.
Ever mindful of her royal position, she glanced around her at the various state of undress of the Amazons. Some were still partially clothed, and a few like me, were totally naked. “I don’t think so,” she replied, not sounding totally sure.
I gave her an easy smile, that I hoped was also seductive. “It’s all right,” I reassured her. “I can love you like this.”
She had her hands wrapped around my neck, which gave me easy access to her abdomen. I kissed it wetly, licking over the exposed flesh, and then began to nudge the bottom of her shirt upward. One after the other, her breasts sprang free from the confines of the material, and my mouth sought one out as naturally as a newborn.
“Oh that’s good, Xena,” I heard her murmur, as she arched her back and pressed her nipple harder against my tongue. I was sucking with my mouth wide open, taking in as much of the hard little bud and the wrinkled skin that surrounded it as I could. Gabrielle cooperated by pulling one of her hands from my neck, and taking her other nipple between her fingers, rolling and pinching it firmly.
That left my hands free to go to work elsewhere, and one of them reached up under her skirt in the back, and slid down beneath her panties to caress and cup her smooth ass flesh. My right hand took the frontal approach, and three of my fingers slid easily into her slit, finding her as juicy as an overripe peach.
I lifted my head from her left breast, and in synchronization with her, switched breasts, the whole time, my fingers probing and exploring the fevered flesh they encountered down below. In this position, with her underwear still on, I wouldn’t be allowed the freedom of movement I would like, but I curled my fingers upward, and she was quickly sliding her cunt down on them, grinding her hips on the downstroke so her clit would press firmly and rub against the flesh there.
I kept my mouth against her wet nipple as I encouraged her. “Oh yeah, My Queen…ride my hand and take your pleasure from me. “
Her head reared back as she rode me like an expert, moving her hips in an enticing circular moment that told me it was the friction rather than the thrusting that was going to bring her off. She still bounced up and down occasionally, but seemed more content to press her entire vulva hard against my hand, coating it with her thick juices.
Her movements were rapidly becoming less fluid telling me she was getting close. With a wicked grin, I once again released her nipple long enough to speak. “I want to hear you too, Gabrielle…and the Amazons want to hear their queen.” With that, I lightly bit on her swollen nipple, and pressed my hand up tighter into the crevice of her pussy, and was rewarded by a short scream which gave way to a long languid moan as she came.
As her moans died off, and her movements subsided, I became aware once again of an increase in volume of those coupling around us. Perhaps I was just tuning them out, when caught up in the rapture of one of our orgasms, but the blush on Gabrielle’s face and upper chest told me that she felt they were at least listening to us too.
“You ready for more?” I asked Gabrielle. She was still dripping cunt juices onto my upturned hand, and the heat was radiating off her in waves.
“Yes,” she said, but she pulled my hand from under the front of her skirt, and held it up to my mouth. I dutifully began to lick her juices from my fingers, and her own mouth pressed forward to do the same, tangling our tongues around my wet fingers. Eventually, my hand was clean, and I lowered it, but the kiss continued on.
She drew her head away from mine with some effort. “Let’s go, Xena,” she said softly. “I think we’ve given enough of a show tonight.” From the other side of the fire, I heard the unmistakable sound of Fauna reaching a strong climax. Her shrill cry pierced the night air.
I had to grin at Gabrielle. “Yep, sounds like Fauna and Shayla are going to be just fine.”
Gabrielle literally slid off my lap, and bent to pick up my discarded clothes. When she had erected herself, I bent and scooped her off her feet, sweeping her into my embrace. “What are you doing?” she giggled.
“I’m carrying you to the hut,” I answered, feeling several Amazon eyes on my naked ass as I carried my precious load to the queen’s hut.
We did nothing to mask our sounds of pleasure for the rest of the night. We wanted to be sure the Amazons could hear us.
COMING NEXT WEEK: Ever since seeing the final episodes of Xena, A Friend in Need 1 and 2, I’ve told Kye that I refuse to accept it as the end. However, it didn’t stop us from both becoming angry and saddened by the way Rob Tapert (et al.) decided to end the series. Next week is part 1 of what will more than likely be a three part series of scrolls on how we pick up the action after Friend in Need. These scrolls are full of anger and betrayal and many of the other emotions Kye and I feel over FIN. There are going to be scenes that are going to upset some readers, but we promise, if you stick with us, you’ll be much more satisfied with these scrolls than the series finale. And these scrolls do NOT signal the end of the XXX Scrolls…merely another tale in Xena and Gabrielle’s amorous adventures, and, in fact, a doorway for scrolls that take place after the Jappa trip.
Gabrielle's Scroll
The Xena and Gabrielle XXX Scrolls Page 3
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