DISCLAIMER:
The characters in this story are the property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. This story is not for profit and is not intended to infringe anyone's copyright. It's just a bit of fun.

WARNING:
This story contains rude words and explicit scenes of consensual and kinky sex between adult women, wouldn't ya know?

The action is set somewhere between the Season 4 episodes 'End Game' and 'Ides of March,' after Xena and Gabrielle have reluctantly agreed to let the young amazon, Amarice, travel with them. It also assumes that Gabrielle is still technically the Queen of the Amazons.

You can find more stories by Amazon at her site VixenNet

Send feedback to amazon@flashmail.com

*************

The Initiation
By Amazon

Amarice strode back toward camp, pleased with herself and with the three fat rabbits she'd caught for lunch. Xena had challenged her to go on the morning hunt on her own for a change. Amarice assumed this meant the warrior wanted some rutting time with Gabrielle and had said as much.

"Amarice, I don't rut with the Queen of the Amazons," Xena insisted, adding quietly, "We make love."

The younger girl snorted, but just stopped herself from saying, "Well, it sure looked like rutting to me." Xena's moods were unpredictable and Amarice didn't want to risk her anger if she knew she'd been observed in a private moment with her lover.

Amarice hadn't meant to spy on them. She'd offered to take the overnight watch and the tree she'd picked to sit in just happened to give her a clear view of the campsite and the two older women locked in embrace by the fire. She'd watched attentively, awestruck by her queen's flexibility and stamina. Gabrielle's legs were wrapped around the warrior's neck for what seemed like most of the night, while Xena mercilessly plunged her hand into her lover. The memory made Amarice feel pleasantly tingly as she walked through the woods, a nice complement to the heat of the morning sun against her back.

She approached camp cautiously, but it was deserted and she felt vaguely disappointed that there was no-one to praise her for her catch. Not sure what to do with herself, she hung the dead rabbits from a branch, then she turned toward the sound of splashing and giggling from the nearby lake. Of course. They'd gone for an after-fuck swim.

"Hey, Amarice, why don't you come in?" Gabrielle called out from the water as she spotted the girl walking down the path leading to the small lake.

The two women were washing each other's naked bodies with rags and oils and clearly enjoying the sensation of the cooling water in the summer heat. Amarice felt strangely embarrassed to be openly witnessing such an intimate scene.

"Nah, it's okay. Hey, I got us rabbits for lunch."

"Amarice, when did you last have a wash?" her queen persisted.

"Dunno, don't remember. Why?" replied Amarice as she sat down on a rock near the two women.

"Because, darling, I don't like my subjects to smell like a legionnaire's jock-strap, that's why."

Xena burst out laughing. "How would you know what a legionnaire's jock..." she was cut off by Gabrielle who turned to splash a wave of water over her.

Amarice was unnerved by Gabrielle's invitation. Since they'd been traveling together she'd carefully avoided taking her clothes off in front of the older women. Not normally a prude, she felt somehow it wasn't right to be naked before her queen and the warrior who had so recently become her teacher and sparring partner.

"C'mon it's lovely and warm," Xena added her husky voice to Gabrielle's entreaties, laughing at the girl's sudden shyness.

"Looks cold to me," retorted Amarice sharply. Xena followed the girl's gaze down to her breasts and hard, red nipples before giving her an old-fashioned look.

"Look, if you don't get in here, I'm going to tell Xena to catch you and throw you in," threatened Gabrielle, laughing.

Amarice sighed in mock resignation. "Oh, alright."

She was relieved when Xena and Gabrielle swam away towards the center of the lake and she undressed swiftly, adding her armor and underwear to the incongruous pile of orange robes, armor and leather by the rocks. Determined to reassert her dignity, she dove into the lake making a satisfying splash and sending out waves in all directions.

"Cm'ere, little one." When she surfaced Xena was waiting with a small bottle of oil in one hand, a pumice stone and rag in the other. Amarice swam over to her and submitted to a thorough scrubbing at the hands of the warrior princess.

"That's a good girl. Gabrielle likes her subjects to be nice and clean behind the ears."

Xena was rubbing her shoulders and neck so hard that Amarice had to keep closing her eyes as the warrior briskly scraped all traces of dead skin cells from her body. Meanwhile, she was vaguely aware that Gabrielle had climbed out of the lake onto a sunny ledge between the rocks.

When Xena finally relented and Amarice was able to open her eyes properly she kept her gaze downwards, not wanting to catch sight of her queen naked. But just as she turned to follow Xena's powerful swimming strokes safely out to the other side of the lake, Gabrielle called out.

"Amarice!" It was that same sharp, disapproving tone she used when she was reprimanding Amarice or Xena for some act of playful exuberance.

"Yes, my queen," Amarice replied, keeping her eyes down.

"Come over here." The note of command in Gabrielle's voice made Amarice immediately look up and the sight shocked her into obedience. The beautiful blonde amazon lay stretched out naked on their bearskin rugs, now ignoring the girl and drying herself with the fabric of her discarded dress.

Slowly, Amarice walked through the water towards her, concentrating on where she placed her feet on the rocky ground beneath the surface. With a start she realized the lake was much shallower at the edge where Gabrielle lay, so she abruptly stopped at the point where the water lapped around her waist.

"Come over here," Gabrielle repeated more sternly.

Amarice hated to displease her queen and so moved reluctantly towards her, aware that Xena had swum back and was now somewhere directly behind her. The water barely reached mid-thigh as she approached the sunny ledge, and Amarice inwardly cursed as she realized the warrior was getting a clear view of her naked rear.

Gabrielle smiled up at her, almost playfully. She said nothing and Amarice waited, feeling awkward and unsure of what was expected of her. Then Gabrielle pulled back the furs and unwrapped her naked body. To Amarice's astonishment she deliberately parted her legs, showing the young girl a tidy mass of wet, blonde curls and a hint of pink flesh behind them.

"Pleasure me."

Amarice's mouth fell open. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me, girl. I want you to lick me."

Amarice swallowed, her mouth and throat suddenly parched and dry. Gabrielle stretched out her hand and Amarice nervously took it.

"Oh, well, whatever," she had to think quickly. "Xena's right here, so they must have planned this. Just have to grin and bear it I guess." Amarice crouched down in the water and licked her lips in preparation, her gaze fixed on her queen's pink slit.

Then Gabrielle reached over and lifted her chin with her hand. "Stand up." Confused, Amarice stood up again. "Now stand over me and bend down."

Amarice froze. They were taking the piss. To satisfy Gabrielle's request she would have to give Xena a clear and obscene view of her sex and behind as she bent over. No way.

"Are you going to disobey me, Amarice?" the cold threat in Gabrielle's voice was unmistakable.

"Can't I get out of the water? I'm getting chilly."

Gabrielle was not convinced. The sun was still hot and the water just pleasantly cool. "Just do what you're told."

Amarice closed her eyes and steadied her breath. She opened them again and looked down at the damp curls between the Amazon Queen's legs. With a sigh of resignation, she bent over, carefully keeping her legs clamped tight together, sure she could feel azure eyes burning shamelessly into her flesh from behind.

Gabrielle parted her legs further as Amarice lowered her mouth to begin licking. The girl pressed her lips slowly but firmly against the moist hairs. At first, all she could taste was the last drops of water from the lake where Gabrielle hadn't finished drying herself. Then, gently pushing her tongue between the blonde's fleshy lips, she was suddenly overwhelmed by musky-wet sensations.

"Mmmm," Gabrielle lay back and stretched out on the furs. She moaned, closing her eyes and running her hand through the young amazon's hair. "Oh yes," she breathed softly.

Despite her humiliating position, Amarice felt pleasure coursing through her body, driven from the pulsing center between her legs. She rested her weight on her hands and filled her nose and mouth with the sweet essence of her queen, lapping at her with firmer, more confident strokes.

"Mmmm, good girrrll," Gabrielle purred. "Now, don't go inside me," she warned. "That's Xena's place."

Amarice stiffened at her sudden demotion from lover to play-thing. Feeling slighted, she abruptly took Gabrielle's clitoris in her mouth and sucked hard.

"Ohh, ohhh, not yet! Gods! Ohh, no, stop! Just keeping licking me," Gabrielle grabbed the girl's hair and then relaxed again. "That's better, slow strong strokes. Oh yes, baby, like that. Ohh, I like that..." She was obviously a 'talker', thought Amarice. Bet Miss Strong-and-Silent Warrior Princess doesn't like that much.

With that thought, Amarice tensed again as she heard Xena stand up and stride through the water towards her. Suddenly, Amarice felt strong hands seize her hips. "Oh Gods, what now?" she thought, as she felt Xena's damp bush press up against her backside.

Without warning, Amarice felt her back arch in a reflex action all of its own as her body sought out the source of a new, unexpected pleasure. Xena was pushing her pubic bone hard against Amarice's butt-hole and she couldn't contain the need to push back.

Amarice gasped and had to brace herself against the ledge with her hands as the Warrior Princess bent over her slight body and pressed harder. Xena's body enveloped her and she felt hot breath in her ear and firm breasts rubbing against her back. So many sensations! And all the while Gabrielle lay back and gripped Amarice by her hair, pulling her head into her crotch, urging her to "Lick harder!" and "Rub my clit with your tongue!" Amarice felt swamped by competing pleasures.

Above all, she wanted to please her queen, so she tried to shut out of her mind whatever Xena was doing to her helpless body. At least she didn't feel exposed and watched now. But she still smarted from Gabrielle's warning and her rebellious amazon nature demanded she fight back. Gabrielle moaned loudly with surprise and pleasure as Amarice rudely thrust her tongue into the forbidden hole. The girl didn't wait to be reprimanded. She thrust in as deep as she could, then withdrew and rubbed Gabrielle's clit with the thick cum that coated her tongue.

The Amazon Queen had obviously decided on a rebellion of her own as she made no attempt to stop the girl from trespassing inside her.

"Hey, outta there." Xena growled, suddenly realizing what was going on. Over the girl's shoulder she could clearly see the young amazon's tongue thrusting in and out of her lover's pussy. "Out!" Neither Amarice nor Gabrielle took any notice, so she stood up, raised her hand and slapped the girl hard across her rear.

"Ahhh! Ow!" Amarice was so overwhelmed with the sharp shock and pain from the blow that she nearly passed out into Gabrielle's lap. Xena didn't wait for an apology or a plea for forgiveness. She just brought her hand down hard again across the girl's conveniently positioned butt.

Amarice now couldn't deny the unbearable waves of pleasure and excitement she felt as Xena relentlessly continued to spank her. But her amazon pride burned as hot as her sore butt - she wouldn't give in to this undignified desire.

With difficulty she pulled her mouth away from Gabrielle's demanding pussy. "Oh Xena, Xena, punish me, you big, tough bitch. You know you want to," she mocked the warrior over her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, stop that, d'you hear?" Gabrielle sat up. Alarmed by the girl's resentful tone, she took her face in her hands and looked up a Xena. "Stop it both of you!" Gabrielle was struggling for breath and was in no mood to have her pleasure interrupted by fighting. She pulled the girl's face close to her own. "Now you just get down there, Amarice, and make me cum. Just stroke my clit and fucking get me off. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, my queen."

"And Xena, stop beating her. I need her to concentrate on making me cum."

"Yes, mistress," muttered Xena in a subdued tone.

"Right, good." Reassured, Gabrielle lay back once more and gestured to Amarice to resume administering to her wet and swollen pussy. "Slowly, ok? Don't do it any harder until I start to cum.. Ohhh, yes, good girl," she sighed.

Amarice began licking again, but this time she had no intention of obeying the instructions from her purring queen. She had a special talent she wanted to demonstrate, just for her. Ignoring the distracting sensation of Xena's fingertips now lightly brushing across her cunt lips, Amarice pressed her tongue against the writhing blonde's clit.

"Slow; slow remember? Slow and hard now.. oh..yes, yeesss.."

Amarice had other plans. Without warning she fluttered the very tip of her tongue across her queen's most sensitive spot. Back and forth with the speed and lightness of a humming-bird's wings, she flicked her tongue, moving her head to match Gabrielle's writhing as the queen tried to escape the intense sensation.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!..." Gabrielle's voice got louder and higher in pitch. Her hips started to buck, but still Amarice wouldn't let her escape the lashing of her tongue. Finally, Gabrielle's cries turned to half-sobs caught in her throat. She stretched her legs wider apart somewhere over Amarice's head and came in a cacophony of screams and convulsions.

Gabrielle squinted up at her girl-lover through hooded eye-lids, sweeping her sweat-soaked bangs from her forehead before raising a hand to shield her face from the bright afternoon sun.

"Mmmm, that was very good," the queen's chest rose and fell with a deep, contented sigh. "Yes, very good. I'm very pleased with you, amazon."

"Th-thank you, my queen," Amarice responded with difficulty. The young woman remained obediently in position, leaning over Gabrielle and presenting her naked sex to the dark warrior behind who she could not see but could most certainly feel.

Gabrielle smirked. "What's she doing to you?"

"She's teasing me, my queen."

"Uh-huh. And how is she doing that?"

Amarice hesitated. "She's, she's brushing her finger tips over my, my.."

"Over your pussy, baby?" Gabrielle murmured in a low, soothing voice. She reached up and slowly ran one hand over Amarice's small breasts which hung above her like ripe fruit ready for picking, firm and full. "Mmm, such perfect handfuls..."

Amarice didn't reply but wondered how much longer she would have to endure this humiliation. Xena made not a sound, just continued with the maddening stroking against Amarice's exposed entrance.

"She's toying with you isn't she?"

"Yes." Amarice pouted.

"What do you...." Gabrielle paused, turning the girl's face and forcing her to look into clear green eyes that sparkled with amusement. "What do you want her to do, Amarice?"

"I want her to fuck me," Amarice heard herself say in a quiet, sulky voice.

"What? Louder, girl!"

"I said I want her to fuck me!"

"Well then, tell her what you want. Xena is your slave until I tell her otherwise," the little blonde queen pronounced.

Amarice took a deep breath. The combination of Gabrielle kneading her breasts now with both hands while Xena played a tune on her nether lips, was driving her insane.

"Xena, I want you to put your fingers in me, damn you to Hades!"

She heard a sloshing of water as the Warrior Princess adjusted her stance in the knee-deep water. "Ohhh! Owww! Ow!!" Suddenly, Amarice felt Xena's long fingers surge into her, almost lifting her off her feet. She braced her legs against the onslaught and pushed back with her hands against the ledge.

"Ow?" Xena froze, concern and doubt in her voice.

"Ohh... no... not... ow... just... owww." Amarice could no longer make sense come out of her mouth as she rocked back and forth over her prostrate queen, skewering herself on Xena's fingers. Reassured, Xena matched the girl's rhythm, thrusting in and out and grunting with the effort.

Amarice was content to let the warrior princess take control. She hung her head and let her long red hair tumble across the naked body of her beloved Gabrielle who lay stretched out beneath her. She took in the fullness of her queen's large breasts, the pale pink nipples that darkened as they hardened. Lowering her head further, she pulled one soft mound into her eager young mouth.

As she sucked and chewed, Amarice watched the flexing, sturdy thighs of her assailant behind her, framed between her open legs. Feeling Xena's feet clip impatiently against her ankles under the water, she obediently spread her legs wider apart and was rewarded with a growl of pleasure. Then panic rose in Amarice's throat as she felt fingers sliding and twisting even deeper into her.

"Oh gods! Oh Zeus! You're going to fist me, aren't you? Oh gods."

"Don't hurt her, Xena!" the queen warned.

"It's alright, Amarice can take it. Can't you, amazon?" Xena called out, daring her to agree.

"I-I don't know."

"Have you done it before, darling?" Gabrielle asked softly.

"Ephiny did me, but-but"

"Yeh, well Ephiny was a lot smaller. Be careful Xena."

If the older women were surprised by Amarice's admission of a physical intimacy with the Amazon Regent, they chose not to show it just then. All three held their separate, cherished memories of their friend - the latest but doubtless not the last amazon to fall victim to a Roman's sword. Words would not bring Ephiny back, and fighting women were disinclined to talk when silence could express their feelings with greater eloquence.

Xena spat unceremoniously on the hand that was still probing in and out of Amarice. "I swear before Ares, she can take it..."

"Don't bring him into it," Gabrielle snapped. "You don't have to, Amarice, you know that."

"Please. It's ok. Let me try."

"OK then, but your safe word is 'Aphrodite', you understand? If you want to stop.."

"Oh, don't bring her into it..." Xena echoed Gabrielle's protest. The Amazon Queen ignored her.

"What was that about?" Amarice briefly wondered before an army of new sensations invaded her thoughts.

For a few heart-pounding moments Amarice thought the warrior was going to tear her apart. At first she screamed in outrage at the intrusion, then the pain was replaced with an overwhelming feeling of fullness - that familiar sensation that Ephiny had patiently and lovingly taught her to enjoy.

"Ok, Ok. Slowly now. Hush." Xena, having claimed her entrance, spoke tenderly to the young amazon in her low, husky voice.

Amarice whimpered. White light flashed before her eyes. She felt as if her whole body was turning inside out as she stretched wide to take the conquering warrior's slow, deep strokes.

"Tell her what you need, Amarice." From somewhere outside herself the amazon heard Gabrielle's soft, girlish tone.

"Ohhh, ohhh." It was some time before she could collect herself enough to form words. "Just, just stay still for a second. Just hold it still, Xena. Oh gods..."

Slowly and carefully, Amarice writhed on the warrior's fist, feeling her way, testing the extent of her movement. All the while she felt her whole body pulsating and a flood of sweat breaking through the surface of her skin. Gradually other senses returned. She could hear Xena breathing hard, could feel the warrior's hot breath on her naked back. "Oh, Xena this feels so good.." she slurred.

"You feel great, Amarice. You're so tight and wet..." The warrior drawled, but Amarice could sense the restraint in her voice, a sign, she was sure, of an inner battle Xena was waging within herself.

"You want to do it hard don't you, Xena? I can tell."

"She'll do just what you ask her. Won't you Xena?" Gabrielle interjected, hearing the fear in the girl's voice.

"It's ok, Amarice. I want you to enjoy this," Xena murmured, trailing a line of tender kisses along the Amarice's sun-warmed back. "You're being such a good girl... such a good girl for me..."

It was the gentle touch of Xena's lips against her skin, contrasted with the cruel invasion of her flesh and her own complete surrender, that made Amarice feel suddenly, unbearably, vulnerable. Confused and disorientated, she cried out and without warning, fierce, hot tears poured from her eyes as weeks of pent-up up grief banked up and overflowed. "Ephiny, Ephiny...I-I"

Gabrielle felt her own heart break as she gripped the girl, now sobbing hard against her shoulder. "Do you need to stop, darling? You can stop if you want."

"No. No! Ohh! Oh, Xena, don't stop!," Amarice pleaded between sobs, her body taking up the rhythm again with renewed energy for this demanding dance. "I'm gonna cum. I'm gonna cum right now! Hard... do it harder please, I can take it."

Xena instinctively understood her need. She jerked her arm in a violent expression of penetration, but in reality hardly moved inside the girl who screamed and bucked in response to the slightest pressure. It was not long before the young amazon roared. Her climax took possession of her body, lifting her higher and higher towards the sun before releasing her to fall gently back to earth.

"Arrgh!" Amarice snarled as Xena abruptly withdrew.

"Hush, baby. Hush." Gabrielle drew the crumpled form into her chest as the girl was finally allowed to slip out of the water and take her place on the ledge next to her queen. Xena sloshed to the water's edge and joined them, pressing her hot, sweaty body against Amarice's back. Without words, they wrapped their arms around each other until the girl's sobs had stilled. They kissed and nuzzled for a while, then lay silent as the afternoon sun passed overhead and Morpheus claimed them one by one into the realm of sleep.

*****

"She's all legs that girl." Gabrielle smiled fondly after Amarice's gangly form as the young amazon strode off into the forest on another hunting mission. The girl was certainly making herself useful about the place - in one way or another - Gabrielle thought to herself. The Amazon Queen sighed with pleasure at the memory of the debauched activities of the previous day, and particularly at the expert tongue-lashing she'd received courtesy of Amarice's young mouth.

Maybe they could do that again sometime, she thought. Take a couple of days out from traveling and book a comfortable room in a discreet tavern, somewhere safe where Xena wouldn't have to be constantly on guard against mercenaries after Caesar's reward. Maybe if she could persuade the warrior to delay her mission to Rome by a few days...

But she knew she was just day-dreaming. Sighing again, Gabrielle perched herself gracefully on a tree-stump, dropped a leather gauntlet in her lap and began the familiar task of repairing battle-tears in her lover's clothing.

At first the warrior didn't comment, concentrating instead on the relentless scraping of metal against metal as she sharpened her sword. Then, in a slightly accusing tone and without looking up from her task, she asked softly: "Do you want her?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want her? You seemed to enjoy her yesterday."

"Yes, I did enjoy it. So did you, I thought?"

"Yeh, I did. But if you've got a thing for her, don't let me stand in your way."

Gabrielle turned sharply to face her lover who kept her eyes resolutely fixed on her sword. "Hey!" Getting no response, she repeated in a softer voice: "Hey, hey, is my little warrior-baby jealous?"

No reply, except the scrape, scrape, scrape of flint against blade.

"Xena, look at me!"

Unable to disobey a direct command, the warrior looked up and silently regarded the little blonde queen who was now glaring at her in annoyance. She swallowed. "Yes, well, maybe warrior-baby is a bit jealous," she muttered, returning her attention to her weapon.

Gabrielle exhaled wearily and got to her feet. Dropping her sewing to the ground, she strode over to her lover's seat on the fallen tree trunk and knelt between splayed muscular legs. She gazed up at the beautiful, statuesque form towering over her, reached under Xena's skirt and, without ceremony, viciously seized her crotch.

"This is mine, Xena! Remember? Mine! Do you understand? "

"Yes, Gabrielle." Xena had dropped her precious sword and was looking directly at Gabrielle with perhaps even a touch of fear in her eyes.

"I don't need any other pussy except this one. And this one is mine, and mine alone."

"Yes, Gabrielle."

"If we invite another pussy to join us, it's a matter for both of us. I thought you understood that."

"I do, Gabrielle, I'm sorry." The warrior bowed her head in contrition.

"Good. You should be."

Xena grinned sheepishly at the assertive blonde queen. "I'm sorry," she repeated, grateful once again for Gabrielle's understanding. The young bard knew her warrior so well. She knew when she needed reassurance and she knew just how to give it. Xena would miss that. Taking hold of the Amazon Queen by the ears, the warrior planted a disrespectful but affectionate kiss on the top of her head.

"Listen, I'm going to leave for Rome tonight. I want you and Amarice to go and find Eli. Travel with him for a while until I come back for you. Gabrielle, I don't know when I'll next see you..."

"I know, I know, my love. Let's not talk about it, or I'll only try to talk you out of going."

Xena wiped a tear from Gabrielle's lashes with her finger. "C'mon, while we've got the place to ourselves..." Taking her lover by the hand, Xena led her over to their shared bedroll. Within a candlemark, the forest was reverberating with the sounds of two women dedicating their love to pleasuring each other's bodies.

***************************

"Well, don't let me interrupt you, Xena. I mean, I know you've got a lot of preparation to do before you go off to sort Caesar out." Amarice's youthful sarcasm was as biting and insensitive as ever at the sight of the two women asleep in their bedroll in the middle of the afternoon.

Xena didn't respond but rolled over to face away from the young amazon.

"Did you catch anything?" Gabrielle nuzzled against Xena's warm back and yawned, trying to show interest in their companion's hunting trip.

"Nah. I'm bored with chasing rabbits. I gonna build a trap and leave it in the field. I found a herd of deer in the forest instead so I want to go after them this evening."

"Ok, darling," Gabrielle mumbled as afternoon-drowsiness threatened to overwhelm her again.

Amarice retrieved her trap-building tools from her saddlebag and stomped off into the forest again.

"Xena?" Gabrielle's voice took on a more concerned tone.

"Hmmm?" the warrior replied without opening her eyes.

"I'm worried about Amarice."

"Why?" Xena asked flatly.

"You know, I think she was really close to Ephiny. Did you notice yesterday? She's got her mark tattooed on her ankle."

"Yeh. I saw that," the warrior's reply was guarded. Gabrielle carried the same mark on her hip - evidence of a brief but intense affair with the Amazon Regent and an unwelcome reminder to Xena every time she gazed on her lover's naked body. She wanted to say that perhaps Ephiny was more profligate with her mark than she'd led her lovers to believe. But she held her tongue.

"I know they can't have been together for more than a moon," Gabrielle continued, "but I think it's really shaken her and the worst thing is I think she feels partly responsible."

"It was a battle like any other, Gabrielle. Ephiny made her own decisions. She wouldn't take unnecessary risks unless she knew there was no other option."

"I know that, but I'm just saying that I don't think that helps how Amarice feels."

Xena sighed. "I know. You're right. But if she's going to be a warrior she's got to be able to cope with losing people she cares about. And she's got to learn to walk away from her mistakes."

"Xena, maybe you can explain that to her. She respects you as a fighter much more than me. You could help her get over it. Would you talk to her?"

"Gabrielle, you know it doesn't work like that with fighting women. Not even with your own Amazons. Some things are best left unsaid."

"I don't think she should have to deal with this on her own."

Xena sighed. "Look, she's an amazon yeh? So if she was with her own tribe and she'd lost a lover, the tribe leader would take her to bed for a night, isn't that right? Isn't that what Ephiny did for you when you thought I'd..."

"When you had died.." Gabrielle interjected. She'd had to defend herself on this point several times before.

"Whatever. But perhaps that would help."

"If I took her to bed?"

"Yes. You're her queen. She has the right to be comforted."

"Yes. Yes, you're right," Gabrielle agreed thoughtfully. "That's a good idea. Xena?"

"Hmmm?"

"You'll have to explain to her, y'know, that it's alright with you."

"Ok."

"Xena?"

"Yes?"

"I'd rather you didn't leave tonight. Can't it wait til the morning? So I can see you before you go."

"Dawn." The warrior rolled over and took her bard in her arms.

"Thanks."

****************************************

Xena found Amarice by the side of the nearby lake, putting the finishing touches to a small, intricate construction of wood and twine.

"Can I test it?"

"Sure," Amarice replied without looking up at the warrior.

Xena reached up to take a lime from an overhead branch and dropped it into the trap. With a loud snap two fierce spikes speared the fruit, sending juice spurting upwards and nearly hitting Xena in the eye.

"That's a pretty good design." The warrior crouched beside Amarice and picked up the trap to examine its workings more closely.

"Ephiny taught me how to make it."

Xena winced. Well, there was the in-road she needed to broach the subject of Amarice's dead lover.

"I was going to put it by the rabbit holes in that field over there and then go for a swim. No point trying all day to get one with an arrow."

"Amarice, you never just leave a trap," Xena corrected her sternly. "You have to watch it. Otherwise you might trap a sick animal and you'd never know until you'd eaten it. Or you could attract wolves if you leave a carcass hanging around too long." She frowned. "Or you could injure an animal and cause unnecessary suffering. You should only rely on a trap if you're wounded or too sick to hunt and only then if you can hide somewhere to watch it. I'm surprised Ephiny didn't tell you that."

"Hmmm, well, let me think." Amarice pretended to be trying to remember. "Oh yeh, she said something about needing to set a trap so that we could spend all day in her bedroll while she screwed my brains out. Yeh, I'm sure it was something like that."

Xena sighed. Point taken. "You carry her mark. She must've really cared about you."

Amarice picked up the trap and inspected her work, turning it over in her hands. "Yes. I think she did." She paused before asking: "Gabrielle has the same mark, doesn't she?"

"Yes. They had a thing a couple of years ago." Xena steeled herself. Why did this kind of conversation always seem so difficult? Fighting and killing always seemed so much easier than talking. "Listen Amarice, Gabrielle is your queen and... well she's asked me to tell you that, as an amazon, you have the right to spend the night with her. She'd like to try to comfort you in the traditional way. I mean," Xena's words were tumbling of their own accord now, "not like yesterday. That was different. I mean..."

"I know what you're saying, Xena."

For a while both warriors sat in silence looking out at the lake.

"But how would you feel about that? I don't want to cause any friction."

"No, no. It's fine, Amarice. I mean, it was my suggestion, anyway." Xena glanced quickly over at the young amazon and caught sight of a tear hanging from the girl's lashes until a grubby hand angrily rubbed it away. "Hey..." Awkwardly, Xena put an arm around Amarice's shoulders.

"I'm okay," the amazon responded unconvincingly in a small voice.

Xena was no longer prepared to honor Amarice's attempts at bravery and she pulled the girl into a hug. "I know, I know it's so hard, Amarice. It doesn't get any easier. If you want to be a fighting woman you have cope with loss. Find a place inside yourself to put your suffering. Never let it affect your judgment."

Slowly Amarice snaked her arms around the warrior's neck. They stayed like that for a while, as Xena whispered soothing sounds and stroked the amazon's hair.

"Xena?" Amarice sniffed.

"Hmmm?"

"Would you join us in bed? I'd feel better if you were there too."

"No. It's an Amazon thing between you and your queen. I'll come by later, just before dawn, ok?"

"Promise?"

"Yeh, I promise."

*****

Silence had fallen like the darkness around the campsite as the three women munched on a decidedly tasty meal of venison preceded by rabbit kebab.

"That was great," Xena pronounced with genuine gratitude as she finished the last of the meat with a satisfied lick of her fingers. "Maybe we should let Amarice hang out with us a bit longer, if she's gonna cook meals as good as that."

"Yeh, maybe we should," Gabrielle agreed. "Depends if she does the washing-up as well, though."

"You wish!" Amarice snapped, but she welcomed the friendly baiting. It helped defuse the tension that had built up between them through the evening. Xena's imminent departure hung over them like a cloud and Amarice wondered if tonight was really the best night to oust the warrior from her marital bed. Perhaps she should offer to postpone her appointment with Gabrielle's comforting bosom until after Xena returned from Rome. That was the other, unspoken worry. What if Xena never came back? Then who would be comforting who?

If Xena felt awkward, she didn't show it as she stood up and gathered her weapons.

"You'll come back before dawn, won't you?" Gabrielle said quickly. "You won't just take off to Rome without telling me?"

"Hush, my love." Xena planted a kiss on her lover's cheek. "I'll see you later."

With that she strode off into the woods, her footsteps somehow silent even in her sturdy leather boots.

*********************

"Come!"

Gabrielle smiled and held out a hand to Amarice, leading her over to kneel on the bedroll she shared with Xena.

"Can I undress you?"

"Of course, my queen."

Feeling a warmth in her belly at the girl's unquestioning obedience, Gabrielle started unbuckling the various weapons and armor that adorned Amarice's lean, slender body. How she loved to undress a warrior and reveal the succulent woman beneath! Amarice kept her eyes ahead while Gabrielle first freed her breasts from her top then began to pull her tight shorts down over her thighs.

Gabrielle tried and failed to remove the garment in a way that was sensual rather than sexual, but she couldn't help sneaking a quick glance between the girl's legs as Amarice sat back to slip her shorts over her feet. With a supreme effort of will, the Amazon queen quelled her desire to place her lips against the dark triangle of curls that was revealed. Instead, she swiftly removed her own clothes and lay back on the fur. She took the younger woman in her arms and they kissed, chastely, in welcome.

"You know you don't have to be a warrior tonight? Just be a girl ok? Feel whatever you need to feel."

"Yeh ok," Amarice mumbled against her queen's shoulder as the two women were bathed in the musky scent of sex and sweat that had long impregnated itself into Gabrielle's bedroll.

"It doesn't have to be about sex, if that's not what you want. I'll just hold you if you want to talk about Ephiny."

"It's ok. I had a cry with Xena this afternoon. That helped a lot. I needed to do that."

"Oh, that's good." Gabrielle was both pleased and surprised that her Beloved had helped Amarice open up and express her feelings.

"I would like to talk to you about Ephiny, though 'Specially as you were her lover too. There's so much about her that I - I don't really know. And I'd like to talk about, y'know, how I feel about her. Is that ok?"

"Of course, darling."

"Thanks."

"So, tell me how you met her."

"Oh well, she just arrived one day out of the blue to talk to our chief. Ephiny believed the Romans were building up to an attack to wipe out the whole Amazon Nation and she wanted all the tribes to be prepared. 'Course that came a bit sooner than she'd thought," Amarice swallowed. "Anyway, she was a visiting dignitary so we put on a display of fighting techniques for her. I was one of the performers and she didn't take her eyes off me all night."

"I'll bet."

"She asked our chief if she could take me with her, back to her village. Ephiny said I was the best of the younger fighters and she wanted me to teach some of my techniques to her Amazons."

Gabrielle didn't comment but suspected Ephiny's motives may have been more personal. "So you were happy to go with her?"

"Yeh, of course. No-one actually asked me, but it was a great opportunity and I knew she wanted to fuck me, so I couldn't wait to be alone with her."

Gabrielle began slowly fondling the amazon girl's firm breasts under the covers. "How did she seduce you?" she asked huskily.

"The first night we were traveling, she built a fire and laid out her bedroll. She lay down and patted the space next to her where I should lie. I couldn't believe how gorgeous she was," Amarice smiled at the memory. "Her long blonde curls tumbling over her shoulders, kind hazel eyes that seem to have a smile of their own. I lay next to her and we kissed for the longest time, then she started telling me the kind of thing she was into."

"What did she tell you?"

"She wanted me to be her, y'know, 'naughty girl'," Amarice looked up shyly at her queen. "I was a bit shocked. I told her I didn't do that, I was always the top. She told me I should submit sometimes or I wouldn't understand how to give a submissive woman what she needed. But she said I should only ever give it up to someone who was superior to me in the tribe hierarchy. So, like, Ephiny used to submit for the queen before you. What was her name? Val, Va.."

"Velasca?" Gabrielle was truly stunned. "Ephiny let that bitch dominate her?"

"Well, yeh. Not often. But she'd spent a couple of days tied up in the queen's hut, getting flogged and fucked senseless."

Gabrielle's mouth hung open.

"I shouldn't have told you that, huh?"

"What? No, it's ok. I'm just a bit surprised that's all. Velasca was a nasty piece of work."

"Do you think she'd mind? I mean, if Ephiny could hear us talking about her like this?"

"I don't know. How would you feel if two of your ex-girlfriends lay in bed and discussed what a great lover you were?"

Amarice grinned. "OK, I guess."

They moved together into a tighter embrace and Gabrielle pressed her lips against Amarice's, kissing her softly, and resisting the temptation to force her tongue into the girl's mouth. Eventually she pulled away and struggled to keep her breath steady. "Tell me what Ephiny asked you to do."

"She... she started by making me strip for her. She lay back on her bed-roll, still fully clothed in her leathers. I remember the way the firelight caught her eyes and she looked at me with such a wild, feral desire. She sang an amazon love song under her breath and made me do a slow, sensual dance for her as I removed my clothes.

"When I was naked, she made me lie down at her feet and open my legs." Amarice swallowed. "She-she made me hold myself open while she just stared at my sex. Just stared at it and smiled, running her tongue over her lips. I was shocked. No-one in my tribe would ever suggest such a..." she searched for the right word, "lewd thing."

"Yes, my lot are a bit lewd," Gabrielle acknowledged ruefully.

"She started complimenting my body, saying how much I turned her on, how much she longed to take me. But first, first she said I was too proud and I had to submit to her completely if I wanted to get fucked. So she, she..." Amarice paused for a deep kiss from Gabrielle's mouth, her long red hair falling over both of them. She broke the kiss to continue in a quiet voice that was almost a whisper: "She tapped her thigh and told me to lie across her lap."

"What did you do?"

"I shook my head and started backing away. She threatened that I would get it worse if I made her chase me." Amarice laughed. "I don't know now if I ran because I was scared or because I wanted to be punished. Either way she caught me and dragged me over to a tree stump, where she sat down and pulled me over her knee."

"Did you like it?" Gabrielle breathed.

"At first I hated it. I was furious. I couldn't believe that this great woman warrior I'd tried so hard to impress was treating me like a child. Humiliating me. But she wasn't going to let me up so I just took it. After a while I realized she was really getting into it. She wasn't going to stop and the slaps were getting harder."

The two women pressed their thighs together and Amarice's queen ducked her head to nibble the girl's neck.

"Ohhhh! Gods, that's good. So - mmmmhh! - did Ephiny ever do that to you, my queen?"

"Spank me? No, we weren't, I mean, we only slept together twice. I was very young and I was in mourning for Xena 'cos I thought she was dead. I mean, she was doing a very good impression of being dead. Ephiny was very tender and considerate. She didn't try any kinky stuff at all really."

Amarice looked at Gabrielle as if reconsidering the wisdom of divulging her secrets.

"It was a shame in some ways," Gabrielle hastily continued. "I mean, I was beside myself with joy when Xena came back to me. But in another life, I would've liked to get to know Ephiny's wild and feral side."

"Would you?"

"Oh yes!" They kissed again and Gabrielle slipped her fingers between the girls legs and began stroking the slick wetness of her sex.

"Does Xena spank you?"

"We do pretty much anything," Gabrielle replied quietly, avoiding the question.

"She's pretty dominant, huh?"

"Oh, Xena can switch when the mood takes her."

Amarice raised an eyebrow. That didn't fit her treasured image of the Great Warrior Princess.

"But mostly she's pretty dominant, yes," Gabrielle added.

"I can't believe I took Xena's fist yesterday. Her hands are so large."

"Are you sore, baby?" Gabrielle rubbed a soothing palm between Amarice's legs."

"No, I'm fine. I don't understand how though."

"Xena has many skills."

"Did Ephiny hurt you, y'know, the first time?" Gabrielle asked in a soft voice. It was late now, but the summer night air was still warm and the two women reveled in the shared heat of their bodies, entwined in each other's limbs under the fur blanket.

"No, not at all," Amarice replied, pausing to leave a trial of kisses along her Queen's neck. "She did it very slowly and she used - mmmmm! - plenty of oil. And, well - mmmmf - she made sure I was, y'know, pretty turned on before she tried it."

"I was clueless the first time I tried fisting with Xena. She had to show me what to do." Gabrielle laughed at the memory of that night so long ago when she'd been made to feel so young and naive. "I thought my whole arm was going to disappear! I mean, she's so tall... Xena can't do it to me though. I'm too small and her hands are too large. It's a shame, I know she likes it."

Amarice leaned up on one elbow and regarded her Queen with concern. "Do you feel you're missing out on something?"

"Oh Gods no! Xena is a goddess in the bed-roll. I couldn't wish for anything better. It's just that I know she loves fisting and I'd love to let her if I could."

"Ephiny wouldn't let me do it to her at first. The first night she wouldn't even let me fuck her."

"Oh, warriors! They're so precious," Gabrielle snorted. "They'll have you on your knees screaming for it with your butt in the air, and they won't so much as open their legs in return!"

Amarice giggled. "Xena's not like that though?"

"Oh no. She's a big slut really."

The young amazon lay down again and nuzzled against her Queen's shoulder as she felt warm hands began moving slowly under the covers, stroking her thighs, caressing her hips and belly and then brushing against her nipples. Writhing with a delight she couldn't contain, Amarice dared to pull back the fur, exposing her chest to an appreciative gaze. Gabrielle brought her mouth to one offered breast and, closing her eyes, began to suck.

Heat suddenly coursed through Amarice's body. Watching her beloved Queen suckling hungrily, she noticed how the pale moon lit her beautiful, gentle features now softened with pleasure. How she wished this night could go on forever! With a shaking hand, the young amazon began stroking through cropped strawberry-blonde hair and not for the first time, she found herself wishing she could somehow earn a place for herself in the older woman's heart.

Amarice felt so proud and honored to be sharing Gabrielle's bedroll like this, especially as the great Warrior Princess had been temporarily evicted to make room for her. She hoped against all reason that this wouldn't be the first and last night she'd spend in her arms. At the same time she understood that Gabrielle's true concern was not her own pleasure, but to comfort a young member of her tribe in a time of grief.

Ephiny's death had shocked and saddened all three women, leaving each with their personal memories and regrets. Amarice could only imagine what might have been. The days and nights she'd spent traveling with the Amazon Regent had given Amarice her first taste of love, a love spiced by a ravenous desire that neither woman could satisfy for much longer than a candlemark. A love that surprised both women in its sudden intensity.

Traveling now with Xena and Gabrielle, Amarice was grateful for their underplayed concern and their subtle ways of looking out for her. But every day, in every look and touch that passed between the lovers, Amarice could see what she could have shared with Ephiny, if only... 'If only' was all she had left.

Shaken from her thoughts, Amarice gasped as Gabrielle shifted position and began lavishing attention on the other breast. "Ohhh, that's so good.." she sighed as the blonde's tongue swept over her nipple and warm lips closed over it once more. "Ohhh! Gods, I think I'm gonna cum just from getting my tits sucked!"

Gabrielle looked up and grinned. "Slow down, darling. We've got plenty of time."

Amarice could only moan and grip the blonde woman's hair, pushing her back down to resume the wonderful torture of biting and tugging. The Amazon Queen gladly obeyed her young subject and bit down on a hardened teat.

"OW! God's! Please, my queen. I am... I'm gonna cum..." Amarice began writhing and bucking her hips as an urgency suddenly gathered between her legs.

"Oh baby, you're so horny aren't you?" Gabrielle purred.

"Yes, my queen!" Amarice replied with difficulty between gritted teeth.

"Hush, baby, hush now." Gabrielle gathered her young lover into her arms and tried to calm her, her tone suddenly serious. "Amarice?"

"Yes, my queen?"

"I want to make love to you, darling. Is that ok?"

"Oh yes!" Amarice rolled over onto her back. "Yes please, my queen."

Gabrielle lifted herself up to lie on top of the young amazon, pushing one leg between the girl's thighs and pressing firmly against her center.

"Mmmm. Nice and wet..."

"My queen, I..."

"Amarice, we're naked in bed and I'm about to fuck your lovely young body until you climax. So, you can call me Gabrielle, ok?"

"Sorry. Gabrielle..."

"Unless it does something for you..."

"We-ell, actually..." Amarice confessed quietly.

"Oh, alright then," Gabrielle laughed, secretly pleased that she could indulge her own fantasy of Amazon Queen and adoring tribesgirl.

"My queen, I just wanted to say that..." Amarice swallowed, "that I'm so turned on now... Please my queen," she tugged gently on Gabrielle's ear lobe with her teeth before continuing in barely a whisper, "I just need to be fucked."

"Do you now?"

"Yes, please," Amarice turned her face shyly against Gabrielle's shoulder. "I need it hard."

Gabrielle drew in her breath sharply before adopting her most imperious tone.

"So spread your legs, girl!" With the command, Gabrielle pulled the blanket away completely, exposing their naked bodies to the night - and to any nosy god who might be invisibly spying on them.

You never knew with the gods, Amarice thought to herself. Boredom was their birthright, a consequence of their immortality and omnipotence. An evening spent watching mortals coupling and trying pitifully to ensure their own immortality was a pleasureable enough distraction for the Olympians. Not that Gabrielle or her tribesgirl had much interest in the next generation. Feeling a delicious frisson of fear run up her spine and then down her belly to her center, Amarice closed her eyes and opened her legs.

"Wider!"

Obediently, she stretched further for her Queen.

"Mmm, that's nice." Gabrielle began stroking Amarice's exposed sex with her fingers. "Nice... wet... open..." she breathed each word in her young lover's ear with each caress. "...juicy...wet... pussy... Ready for me. Just how I like it."

Amarice was whimpering now, her eyes still closed and her hands running along the rippling muscles of Gabrielle's well-toned back, shoulders and arms. She gasped again as she was penetrated, first with two fingers, then three.

"Ohhhh! GODS!!"

"Good girl. Take it now. Take it. Good bitch!"

Amarice could no longer find words, so she simply screamed in a feral expression of bliss. Her Queen settled into a relentless, pounding rhythm, purring encouragement and praise in her lover's ear all the while, her hand now twisting with each thrust.

When Gabrielle's fist entered her, only the initial pain kept Amarice from blacking out. Gripping her queen with a ferocity that would leave bleeding scratch marks on her shoulders, the young amazon cried out in ecstasy as waves of climax almost instantly swept over her.

Slowly, a breath at a time, Amarice returned to consciousness and sanity. She winced as Gabrielle withdrew, then she felt herself gathered once more into her Queen's embrace and then the warmth of the heavy fur blanket pulled back over their naked bodies. Amarice sighed deeply then was shocked to realize she was silently crying against Gabrielle's chest. Clutched against the soothing bosom, it was beyond Amarice's strength to stop the racking sobs that now escaped her throat.

Gabrielle murmured wordless comforts to her tribesgirl, unperturbed by the wet tears dripping onto her breasts and encouraging her to suckle if it helped. Amarice gladly seized a nipple in her mouth, acting more from instinct than desire, her body thoroughly exhausted from pleasure and sensation. She made a valiant attempt to begin stroking Gabrielle's muscled thigh, but was soon told to desist.

"Amarice, I want to do the right thing for you. I'd feel I'd done my job better if you didn't... if I just held you for the rest of the night. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my queen," Amarice sniffed. She knew she wouldn't sleep now, despite the tender head-stroking that Gabrielle began as the girl's tears ebbed. But she acknowledged that some of the despair and guilt she'd felt since Ephiny's death had left her this night. Some kind of inner strength had taken root and she felt almost strangely content. Nestling against her Queen's bosom, she took the wet nipple in her mouth again and sucked gently in a regular, absentminded way.

The rhythm soothed both of them and Gabrielle was soon fast asleep, her breathing slow and deep. Amarice continued to suckle, feeling renewed stirrings of lust between her legs despite her tiredness. For half a candlemark or so, she wallowed in a comforting fog of pleasure and warmth until gradually she became aware of an unsettling but unmistakable feeling.

They were being watched.

Peering cautiously over the edge of the blanket, Amarice looked up to meet not god or goddess but the sapphire-blue eyes of a dark-haired warrior crouched on her heels at the end of the bedroll.

A smile, then a deep, husky voice came out of the black night: "Well, what a pretty sight this is, hmmm?"

"Xena?" Gabrielle was awake at the first sound of her lover's voice, struggling to sit up in bed and blinking her sleepy eyes in the moonlight. "Is that you, baby?"

Amarice watched as the two older women grinned at each other like newly-weds, drunk on love and kissing as if they hadn't seen each other for a moon rather than just half the night. Suddenly, Amarice felt squarely in their way and she wanted desperately to excuse herself and retreat back to her own bedroll. But Xena was leaning over her and there was no way to get up without making the women break their kiss.

At last they parted, and Gabrielle stroked her warrior's wet hair back from her face.

"Been for a swim, my love?"

"I had to try and cool off. I could hear you two from right across the other side of the lake."

"Hey, we weren't that loud!" Gabrielle protested. "Were we?"

Xena just laughed.

"Hey, er, I'll just go back to bed now," Amarice interjected pulling the fur blanket off her body. "Thanks, Gabrielle, I..."

"Hang on there," Xena laid a restraining hand on Amarice's shoulder. "I was just starting to enjoy myself."

Gabrielle grinned at her warrior. "Were you watching us, you bad girl?"

"Only just now. Amarice was busy suckling while you were asleep. It was a beautiful sight to behold."

"Oh yes, she's very good at that, suckling," Gabrielle teased. The two women had fallen back into their familiar habit of making fun of the young amazon. Gabrielle lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I think she's got a thing about that."

Xena snorted. "Well, let's see if it's a breast thing or a bard thing."

Amarice's eyes widened as the warrior loosened the ties of her slip and pulled the short dress down to her waist, exposing her surprisingly large, firm breasts to the amazon girl.

"Here, Amarice. Think you could do the same for me, huh?"

Amarice's throat suddenly felt dry and she swallowed in panic. She was still very shy of the Warrior Princess, even in such intimate circumstances and despite the debauched threesome they'd enjoyed the previous afternoon. But more than feeling shy, she was frankly afraid of her. It wasn't Xena's former reputation for brutality and malice. It wasn't even her fighting skills that meant she could dispatch a small amazon like Amarice in any number of ways without even breaking a sweat. It was something about the brooding air that surrounded her, a dangerous combination of heat and desire that threatened combust into mayhem at any moment.

Afraid or not, Amarice wanted desperately to be just like her. Or if that could never happen, then she would at least win the approval of the great Warrior Princess. She leaned forward nervously and took the dark, wine-colored nipple between her lips, pulling gently. It was already stiff and although the lake must have been freezing, Xena's skin was hot, pulsing with unnatural energy.

"Mmmm! Good girl," Xena said so quietly that Amarice could only just hear. The amazon tugged at the teat, pulling more of the older woman's breast into her mouth. Gabrielle leaned over towards them and started caressing Xena's neck with her mouth, running her hand at the same time through Amarice's hair, encouraging the girl to please her warrior-love.

"Oh, yeh. That's so good!" The double dose of oral adoration made Xena moan with delight.

Neither woman could tell who had won this praise, but it seemed likely it was both of them, so they dutifully continued sucking, licking and kissing. Overwhelmed by their attention, Xena lay back on the rug and quickly wriggled out of her clothes, rolling onto her back and groaning.

Soon the warrior was laughing uncontrollably as both women lavished affection on her with their mouths, Amarice moving from one breast to the other, Gabrielle covering every inch of her lover's body with kisses and laps of her tongue.

"Ohhh! This is too good. I can't cope!"

"Too much for you, eh warrior?" Gabrielle paused to laugh at the helpless form writhing on the rug. Xena couldn't even collect herself enough to reply, so Gabrielle turned to Amarice. "Hey, why don't you do that clever thing you do with your tongue, Amarice?"

Amarice looked up blankly, then remembered that she'd given her queen a thorough tongue-lashing just the day before. The amazon's dexterity - the way she could flick the very tip of her tongue back and forth as fast as a grasshopper moves its legs - had clearly made an impression. Amarice could not disobey a direct order from her queen, so despite her nervousness she moved to take up position between Xena's sprawled legs.

Something like fear gripped her heart as she peered between the warrior's strong thighs. The dark curls surrounding Xena's sex were already wet with arousal, the sweet musk so tempting to Amarice's young nose. Pushing back the hairs with her fingers, she licked her lips in anticipation before tossing her long red hair over her shoulder and pressing her mouth to that sacred place.

"Oh, by the Gods!!"

Xena arched her back, but her moans of pleasure were strangely muffled. Amarice glanced up to see Gabrielle slowly lowering herself onto her lover's face.

"Ohhhh!" Even if Amarice couldn't hear the warrior's eager slurping, Gabrielle's cries made it obvious that Xena was feasting hungrily at her sex. "Oh, sweet Artemis!! Yesss! Oh! Ohhh, by the gods!! Eat me, Xena!"

Amarice turned her attention back to performing the same task for the warrior. Without losing the delicious contact, she peeked through the triangle of dark hairs and watched the slow, sensual writhing of Gabrielle's hips over her lover's mouth.

"Ohh! Mmmm! Ahhh!"

Soon the Amazon Queen's moans were punctuated by the regular beat of Xena's hand slapping against her butt.

"Ohh! Ow! Harder! Oww!!"

Gabrielle was already close to reaching her climax. She leaned forward, carefully keeping her sex hovering directly over Xena's lips. "Let me watch what you're doing," she breathed, pulling back Amarice's curtain of long hair. "Oh, that's beautiful! That's it, girl. Lick her. Lick Xena's pussy!"

Amarice felt like she was drowning in the warrior's juices. Xena's cum covered her nose and mouth, intoxicating her more and more each time she dipped her tongue for another taste. Above her, Amarice heard Gabrielle's cries change in tenor from ecstasy to frustration and she knew Xena had frozen, distracted by the intensity of feeling between her legs. Amarice paused and Xena relaxed again, resuming the greedy sucking and slurping noises.

Gabrielle peered in fascination as the girl's tongue and mouth went back to work, sucking and lapping at the wet folds. Then her hips bucked and kicked as Xena's loving attention finally took her over the edge.

"Ahhh! Ahh! OHHH! OHHH! Xena! Please!! NOW!! AHHHHH!" With a final shriek, Gabrielle's body shuddered as waves of release swept over her. "Oh, oh gods, oh gods..." At last she relaxed and slumped onto the grass beside the other two women, using the last of her strength to issue a command.

"Finish her, Amarice."

Amarice didn't need asking twice. This was what she'd been waiting for. Pushing Xena's thighs further apart with her arms, she shifted position so her tongue was directly over the warrior's clit. Then closing her eyes to better concentrate, she began the rapid flicking motion that was guaranteed to carry any lover to the Elysian Fields.

"Ahhhh! Wh-what the f-fuck are you d-doing to me? Ahhhh! Ohhhh!"

Xena's response was no less vocal than Gabrielle's as she came with a violent spasm of clenching and shaking.

"Oh you clever bitch!! Gorgeous little amazon bitch, you are!" Xena was laughing now, delirious with pleasure as she pulled Amarice into a bear hug and rolled with her on the fur.

Amarice giggled as the strong arms nearly squeezed the breath out of her lean body. "Did I please you, mistress?" she asked in an exaggerated parody of the soft rural accent of Gabrielle's tribe.

"Oh yes, my sweet, you pleased me," Xena's expression grew solemn and almost kind as she stroked Amarice's hair back from her face and looked directly into her eyes.

Amarice smiled, embarrassed at the unexpected intimacy between them. But Gabrielle didn't seem to mind. Still slightly out of breath, the Amazon Queen gazed approvingly at the scene between taking thirsty mouthfuls from their waterskin.

"I want to get you off, Amarice," the warrior growled.

"Lay on your back," Amarice heard herself say in a tone that demanded obedience.

Xena sprawled back on the rug and Amarice quickly straddled one conveniently positioned thigh. Lowering herself into Xena's arms, she rubbed her sex against the twitching muscle in vigorous thrusts, moaning and then shrieking as warm cum oozed over the warrior's leg.

************************

The three women lay in comfortable repose in each other's arms until the sun peeked at them over the horizon. Xena would soon leave for Rome and Gabrielle's sadness and fear grew almost palpable as she tightened her grip on her lover.

Amarice knew it was time for her to give the women some time alone, so she disentangled herself from their embrace and sat up.

"I'll get your horse ready, Xena."

Xena nodded in appreciation of the gesture. It was not lost on the warrior that according to Amazon tradition, only the most revered fighters would have their horses prepared by younger members of the tribe. With her offer, Amarice said she accepted Xena as her superior, an honor she'd previously seemed reluctant to bestow.

Amarice quickly gathered the warrior's weapons and supplies and saddled the golden palomino ready for the long journey. She patted the horse's muzzle and tried to shrug off the despondent air that had settled on her shoulders.

"Amarice." Suddenly Xena was dressed and behind her, making Amarice start out her melancholy. "Amarice, I want you to take care of Gabrielle while I'm gone."

For some reason, Amarice felt a sudden rush of irritation at her queen's philosophy of non-violence that meant she refused to defend herself.

"As her bodyguard?" she asked curtly.

"As her friend," Xena corrected her in a stern voice.

Amarice nodded and understood, ashamed of her outburst.

Then with a friendly slap on the amazon's shoulder, Xena hoisted herself up into the saddle and without looking back, headed west towards the sea.

THE END (probably)