Return to Xena and Gabrielle:Contents Page.
Chapter One.
Amasis of Paeonia was in a world of hurt...
Everything had seemed so simple when the Decurion had approached their campfire outside the walls of Olynthus.They'd lost four of their comrades in the sacking of the city,and as the flames lit the early dawn sky they were passing the flagon of wine from hand to hand as they waited their turn at the slavegirl...
Necos had just been getting down to the short-strokes,ignoring the ribald comments about his technique,and the first they'd known of the Decurion was when a boot had descended from the darkness to still Necos' humping buttocks and a voice had spoken,"Hurry up and finish lad,you've got places to be."
Looking round at the rest of them lazing about,he'd continued,"See the quartermaster,draw extra rations for four days and see me at the south road in one candlemark!" When one of their number had looked to object,he'd pinned him with a hard gaze,one hand resting casually on the hilt of the sword at his right hip.When nobody said a word,he'd turned and headed back into the shadows.
They'd grumbled and complained as was their wont,but nobody had disobeyed.Discipline,as practiced by Valox,was hard and merciless...They'd been waiting at the side of the road with their mounts,and two pack-horses loaded with supplies and their share of the loot as the Decurion had ridden up on his own horse.
Amasis,still slightly drunk on looted wine had ventured to ask where they were going,and had smiled in anticipation,along with his fellow mercenaries,when the Decurion had replied,"We're off to capture an Amazon lads,a special present for Valox and his new queen."
None of them had yet seen the new woman who had apparently captured Valox's attention,but rumors were rife round the campfires:that she was a patrician lady from Rome,a princess from Brittania...Even that she was an Amazon herself,one who had mesmerised Valox with her wanton ways...
They had ridden at a brisk pace all day,only stopping the once to rest and water the animals when the heat was at its harshest.The going was fairly easy;through some low hills which rose to impressive heights on their right as they moved south,and as the afternoon waned,they'd moved off the trail to camp beside a small stream which made it's way down from those self-same heights...
The camp,set up quickly and efficiently;a pot of stew simmering over the fire for a meal,they'd gathered round as the Decurion explained their mission once more.Drawing in the dirt with a small stick,his voice was brisk."Right,about 2 leagues south of here,there's a valley off to the right of the trail.The entrance is quite narrow,just room for the road in and the small river on the left as we approach.Someone to wait at the entrance with the horses to prevent any escape,and the rest of us will move up just before first light." He looked round to make sure everybody was following."There's a farmhouse with a barn just up the road on the right as we approach.One of you will use the back entrance,whilst one checks the barn.The rest of us will go in the front door,whoever checks the barn to then back-up the man at the rear."
"What if she's armed? Amazon's don't give up without a fight."
"Seemingly she's visiting her family,so hopefully we'll surprise her before she's awake,but if she fights,she takes her chances." He looked round at each of them again."Valox wants her captured alive,but if not,we've to take back proof that she's dead."
As they'd settled for the night,trading off sentry duty every few candlmarks,they looked forward to the morrow and a bit of excitement...
****
The Decurion had told off Artabanus to stay with the horses and guard the entrance to the little valley,and the rest of them had moved forward in the darkness just before dawn.They hadn't far to go before the buildings loomed up on the right and Scylax and Datis peeled off to check the barn and come in through the rear of the farmhouse respectively.Amasis,along with Necos,his brother Battus and the Decurion moved towards the front entrance.
As the Decurion used a slim blade to ease back the simple bolt on the other side of the door,counting off under his breath,the rest of them waited with weapons bared,tensing with anticipation as his hand moved towards the latch.With a wild rush they went through the door into the large room beyond...
Things began to go wrong almost immediately...
The chair,which had been placed just inside the door and piled high with pans from the kitchen,fell over with a crash as the Decurion stumbled to his knees.The young Amazon who had been lying at the hearth enjoying the residual warmth rose to her feet,grabbed the poker lying up against the wall and,with a high-pitched war-cry attacked the men as they all spread out around the sudden obstruction of their leader.
Battus,on the left,tripped on the Decurion's leg,and as he fell,the poker came down onto his head with a sickening 'crunch' which was unnaturally loud in the sudden scrabble for footing...
The Amazon,using instinct or training did not advance further,keeping the two bodies between herself and the intruders,but she missed the sweep of the Decurion's arm as he caught her behind the left knee. Falling to the floor,she was unable to avoid the blow of Amasis' club as it caught her on the side of the head.Suddenly limp,she sprawled on the floor,her upper torso lying across Battus where he had collapsed to the ground.
Necos was reaching to roll her off of his brother,all of them relaxing from the rush of combat,when the crossbow bolt sprouted obscenely from the Decurion's right eye...Datis,coming in the rear entrance,had moved forward into the room,his attention on the unfolding drama and unaware of the Amazon who had appeared behind him from a passageway towards the rear.Her staff had come alongside his ear,hard.The handheld crossbow,upon which he had spent many a candlemark adjusting the trigger pressure,fired as his finger jerked convulsively...
Unfortunately for the Decurion,he was in the flight path.
Dropping his club,Amasis drew his sword and advanced towards her,Necos moving up on his left as they kept her attention away from the rear door and Scylax as he moved out from the shadows.Some instinct may have warned her because she began to move out from between the three of them,but she was too late.Scylax's club came round hard and fast on the side of her head and she fell bonelessly to the earthen floor of the farmhouse.
They had just started to relax again,exchanging glances,when the movement of an opening door in the shadows towards the rear of the room brought all three to the alert again...Raising his sword,Amasis took a step forward,his voice hard,"Come forward where we can see you..."
The woman who stepped into the main room was wearing a shapeless sleeping shift which draped to the floor,her bare feet just visible as she moved forward.Her long hair was still touseled with sleep,the grey clearly visible.Clinging to her side was a brown-haired girl,barely more than a child seemingly.
With an anxious look for the bodies lying on the floor,she raised her chin defiantly."W-Who are you? What do you want?"
Amasis was in no mood to be polite,or gentle."I'll ask the questions woman.Get over there and sit down at the table...Is there anybody else here? Where's your man?"
Putting one arm around the girl at her side the woman moved over to the table against the front wall,stepping around the body of the unconscious Amazon.She raised her hand to her mouth and bit down hard on the palm as she saw the blood matting the short honey-blonde hair and starting to seep into the floor underneath the head.
Amasis' palm came down loudly on the table. "Answer me!"
Sliding the young girl onto the bench between the wall and the table proper before lowering herself,the woman's voice was shaking as she answered."N-No,there's nobody else here.My husband has gone to market in Poteidaia with the first of our new wool,and the cheeses we prepared over the winter."
Motioning to Scylax to check the rear rooms,Amasis bent over Datis as Necos checked his brother.
Unable to find a pulse,he moved his hand across the side of the head,withdrawing in haste when he felt the soft mushiness of broken and crushed bone.Rising wearily to his full height he turned at the howl of anguish from Necos as he found that a similar fate had befallen his brother.
The young man had rolled the Amazon off of his brother's torso,and now he turned his rage upon her comatose body.Drawing his foot back he kicked with all his might,lifting the body and sending it flying back towards the cold hearth."Bitch! You're dead!" Drawing his knife,he moved towards her.
"Necos,wait! Valox wants her alive!"
Necos looked at him coldly,then turned towards the old woman and child at the table."Is she your blood?" When he didn't get an immediate reply he started forward menacingly,the knife in his hand moving suggestively."Answer me woman!"
The woman looked at the unconcious Amazon that had brained Datis."That's my d-daughter there.The other Amazon is her friend."
"There you are Amasis,one for Valox and this one for me." Moving back to the hearth he grabbed the Amazon by the hair,raising her head and exposing the throat for his knife.His rough treatment drew a groan from her and he paused,raking his eyes up and down her body...
Amasis,knowing fully what he was thinking,and not wanting to be the target of the berserk rage he could see just below the surface of Necos' actions,spoke softly,"Not in here,take her out to the barn."
**
The door closing behind Necos as he carried the Amazon out of the room towards her fate,Amasis sat at the table and looked at the mother and..."Is this your daughter as well?" Nodding to the child clinging to the woman's side.
"Yes."
"Keep quite,don't cause any trouble and no harm will come to you."
"Why don't I believe you? What do you want with us?"
Smiling thinly,Amasis decided to answer as Scylax returned from the rear of the premises;a shake of his head indicating he had found nothing to worry about."We're only here for the Amazon,the one who was visiting her family.Valox,our leader,wants her...Alive,if possible,and as soon as Necos has sated his rage and we've seen to our dead,we'll be gone."
With a quick order to Scylax,he sent him to fetch Artabanus and the horses as he leant over the Amazon stirring on the floor.Removing some ties from behind his belt,he trussed her efficiently so that she would be unable to move;at the last tying her hands and feet together behind her back,her body bowing slightly.
"What's this one's name?"
"Gabrielle."
Looking at her closely for the first time,he remarked,"Pretty...If the Fates are kind she may survive whatever they have in store for her."
**
When Gabrielle returned to conciousness and opened her eyes,all she could see was the beaten earth of the floor in front of her face.Trying to move only elicited a soft groan as the pain in her head flared to a blinding light that forced her eyelids tight shut again.
Rough hands siezed her arms and heaved her up so that she was propped on her side,leaning against the wall of the main room.Trying to shake them off only informed her that she could not move any of her limbs without toppling over to lie on the floor again.
Lifted once more,she looked round.Her mother and Lila were sat at the table clinging to each other for comfort.They were apparently unharmed,and there was nobody else present except the man who had lifted her up;one of the men who had invaded their home...
Swallowing convulsively to get the sour taste out of her mouth,she turned to her mother,"Are you okay? Lila?"
"Yes,we're both okay,but...Gabrielle,your head..."
She grimaced slightly."I'll survive." She looked around."Where's Tara?"
When her mother wouldn't meet her eyes,she turned to the man who stood in front of her."Where's my friend...What have you done with her?"
The man squatted in front of her,and she recoiled,more from the rank smell coming from him,rather than the mean visage of his face.
"Well,girl,Necos didn't appreciate having his brother's head bashed in,so he's taken your friend out to the barn to exact a little retribution.As for you...You'll only survive as long as you give us no trouble.Valox wants you alive,but he'll accept your head as a last resort."
Gabrielle had to put all thoughts of Tara aside for the moment."Valox? Who's Valox? I've never even heard of him."
"Don't worry,he's heard of you...Wants you as a present for his new queen." he stood up as Scylax and Artabanus came in the rear of the house.Gesturing at the bodies,he ordered the two men to lay them out outside the back door until they could deal with them.Telling one of them to take in some supplies,he turned back to the Gabrielle's mother and told her to start a fire and prepare a meal for them.As an aside he said,"Prepare something for yourself as well if you want.We'll be here for a while,until Necos is finished with his prize anyway,and that could take a while...The man likes to enjoy himself."
*
The three men were seated at the table,eating the meal that Hecuba had prepared.Gabrielle had only been allowed a little water to break her fast,and,as her mother stood at the sink cleaning the skillet she had used to cook,Lila sat beside her;her back against the wall where the men could see that she was not trying to free her sister.She spoke quietly."Gabrielle,what are we going to do?"
"You,are going to do nothing.When those men take me away,you're going to have to look after mother until father comes back."
"Gabrielle,I'm not stupid." Her voice quavered slightly,as she continued;whispering so that their mother couldn't hear."Those men aren't going to leave us behind.They'll either kill us,or take us with them."
Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment,so that her sister wouldn't see the truth in them:that she was right.Putting on a confident face,she looked at Lila."I'm working on something.Don't worry."
Lila was about to question her further,and Gabrielle was perversly thankful when the man who seemed to have taken over as leader,silenced her.
"Girl,help your mother tidy up.Artabanus,go out to the barn and tell Necos to hurry up.We're going to burn the bodies,and if he wants to see his brother on his way,he'd better finish now."
The man was checking over his ties on Gabrielle,when Artabanus came back in through the rear door and headed over to the shutters which were closed over the windows facing the front yard of the farm.Amasis and Scylax watched him look out through the loop holes."What's wrong?"
Artabanus didn't look round as he replied."There's someone,a rider, moving through the trees across the river...They didn't see me,but they seemed to be checking the place over...I think I was lucky to catch movement...Whoever they are,they're good...I can't see anything now."
Amasis was determined in his commands."Okay,Scylax,you wait out the back and watch.If Necos comes out of the barn warn him.Otherwise,Artabanus and I will wait in here,and when they come in,you come in behind them."
As Gabrielle and her mother and Lila watched the men make their arrangements,they looked at each other in apprehension.They didn't know what was going to happen,or how it would affect them,and Gabrielle was frustrated with her inability to free herself;worried about Tara and her family,and now possibly someone else was going to be drawn into her problems...
CONTINUED...
Xena and Gabrielle:Contents Page.