See disclaimers in Part One

**********

Road Show: Part Three - 2
By J.A. Bard

Chapter 4

On Different Roads

The women were smuggled out of the castle where there were some guards that were loyal to Clorinda.

"We must be going quickly. We can catch up with Lady Clorinda at the old barn." One of the men told the tall muscular servant. He nodded and waved the others onto the horses that were breathing vapor and moving restlessly in the chill and probably from the excitement that was in the air. Three familiar horses were among the group.

"What about the others in our group?" Iaia asked worriedly as she nervously eyed Argo who was looking too restless for her pensive mood.

"It's been arranged." The guard told her. "Lady Clorinda will get them out." The guard turned to her. "There are some who are still loyal to her."

Before Iaia could ask any more questions the group had mounted quickly and moved toward the road that already showed wear. The gray slush of the road contrasted sharply with the snow-white sides that bordered their escape route. It appeared that a large group had already passed that way.

For the first candlemark they rode into the gray light that was quickly moving into early winter darkness.

Iaia's thoughts were on Aleka as she felt something was going amiss with the group's connection. She wanted to ask the guard about Aleka specifically but suddenly felt a wave of fear grip her. "We…" her face paled. "we've got…" She could feel the drumming of horses coming from both sides of them.

Eleanor pulled her horse quickly to Iaia's side as Erica moved to her other side to prevent her from falling. "We need to take cover." Erica told their rescuers.

"Nowhere around here that we won't be seen." The leader then kicked his mount into a faster pace. "Let's move."

"Both ways." Iaia shook her head frantically. "Got to get off this road." She breathed with difficulty.

Erica didn't wait for their rescuers to argue but kicked her horse into a hop and jump off the road into snow bank that came up to his belly. Eleanor was going to pull the reins of Iaia's mount but Argo had her own mind made up and ploughed her way forward quickly. Iaia was holding onto the saddle feeling sick.

The leader cursed under his breath and made a quick decision to let them go. He would try to hold up whatever the young playwright had felt was ahead. He motioned his riders to form a spread out formation. No one said they had a seer on amongst them! He muttered to himself.

*****

Alala led the horses out a back way that was used for moving military troops for defense of the castle. It was guarded by someone Eryalios, the stable master knew well. Lady Clorinda was waiting looking glum.

The old man nodded toward the woman who managed a smile. However her eyes told the others that all was not well.

"They have the Jewel." She told the old man in an undertone.

"By Athena! How did they get it?"

"My mistake. I should have moved faster. It seems Bacchus has sensed it and sent Labducus and his cronies after it. I have no idea what they intend on doing with it. If they bring it into his castle it will undo the work of Bacchus."

"Maybe they want to destroy it."

"You can't destroy the Jewel. It is linked to all things that are creative. It will protect itself as it always has." Clorinda sighed. "We will get it back."

"You're speaking of the Sacred Yoni?" Grace asked leaning forward.

The two turned to her surprised.

"It was in our care, at one time." Grace mentioned. "We had lost it."

The eyebrows of Clorinda rose as a look of disbelief covered her face.

"Well, we didn't see it. Two of our members carried it. We didn't know about it until…well, just recently."

Brona placed a hand over her mouth and shushed her. "Are you crazy?" she whispered.

Brona turned to the two who were looking at the pair with closed faces. "This is not a good place to discuss this and…I suggest if we're going to get out of here, we do it now."

"What about the others?" Camila objected.

"We need to be safe to think about what to do next." Brona objected.

Alala nodded slowly. She looked up as one of her friends came sailing into view. "There is a place on the other side of this mountain that is safe. We can go there and plan."

Brona turned to her to say something but thought better getting a slight shake of Camila's head. She merely nodded then looked at the Clorinda and Eryalios. "Our friends safety is first." She informed them.

Eryalios looked at Clorinda for a moment. "Aie, Captain Dunties said he would take care of the one's Labducus's soldiers have imprisoned." He turned to one of Clorinda's guards then watched with widened eyes as a brown shape quickly descended on them.

The hawk made a landing on Alala's extended arm. He took a deep breath. "By Athena, that's a mighty fine spread of wing feathers she has there."

Alala calmly rewarded the Hawk something she held between her fingers. She ignored the others as she stroked the head that was tilted toward her and cooed in a language that the others recognized as a mother to her child.

"There is a caravan moving toward another city going South. They have one of our people in a cage." She lifted her eyes toward Camila. The women heard the 'our' and were pleased that Alala had decided to stay with them.

Clorinda looked at one of the guards. "Gregore?"

"Yes, Lady Clorinda."

"I thought we had everyone?"

"No. The manager, Aleka was moved away from our spies. Shaker had taken personal responsibility for her capture. We have someone trailing the group."

Clorinda looked at the women. "We will find a safe place and as you have mentioned, we need to assess what is happening before we make our plans. In that time, I would like to hear about your involvement with the Sacred Jewel."

****

Lily awoke with a pounding headache. The guards had roughed her up and were intending on coming back later, so they said, to have more fun with her.

She could feel her anger raising as she remembered her treatment and the stink of the men that fondled her. They had not raped her yet. Why? What were they waiting for? Like I can hardly wait.

She heard the turn of a key in the lock and tried to move her head at an angle to get a glimpse of her jailer. Her eyes were swollen and she was not able to lift her head very high.

She felt familiar arms wrap around her and she was frightened for a moment that the drugs were making her think she was being handled by someone else. She struggled.

"Lily!" Agnes's voice hissed. "Hold still."

Her wrists were finally released and she felt herself drop into unfamiliar arms. She tried to struggle again but her head was too unclear to know if she was awake or dreaming.

"There's a guard waiting with your horses and cart about half a candlemark from the castle. You'll have to ride double with us until then." Dunties told Agnes in a soft voice.

Agnes nodded and followed Menigines' Captain of the Guard out of the dark prison.

Catherine and Candra were waiting nervously at the top of the stairs. "There's mercenaries everywhere!" Catherine whispered to Agnes. She grimaced at Lily's bloodied face. "They don't like Amazons I heard."

Dunties grunted as he maneuvered the tall unconscious Amazon around a corner and stepped into a corridor that led to the outside of the castle.

As Dunties had told them a group of riders and horses were waiting for them outside the castle. Menigines and his wife were amongst the party.

Agnes halted for a moment. Menigines merely looked at her then motioned for his men to depart. Dunties quickly held the unconscious woman up to one of the men already saddled up.

The three were given hands up onto other soldier's mounts. No explanation or where they were going. Katy, Menigienes' wife was riding alongside of him.

Agnes wondered if they were walking into something of greater danger. Their parting was done under overcast skies. They spent a night in the dungeons and it was not one of memories of this journey she wanted to remember. Agnes looked back and thought she saw someone on the castle rampant watching their departure. Wherever they were being taken, Agnes was not going to leave without Lily and the other two.

****

Menigines and his group set up camp in an abandoned barn. The four women were left in a corner of the barn, with no way out while Menigines and his soldiers talked around a warm campfire built in the center of the barn. Agnes had no herbs or salve except the cold snow from outside to apply to Lily's face and bruises on the rest of her body. She came partially conscious but Agnes encouraged her to rest. Agnes wasn't sure just what they were going to do, but she could feel the power of the Named and their quest was weakened; yet the energy was still there. They needed to find out just what Menigines was intending on doing with them and hope Lily could stand on her own feet by then.

The wind was blowing outside and the fire, though not close to them, gave off enough heat to take some of the chill from the inside of the barn. Agnes was hoping they didn't build the fire too high or they would be losing their protection for some of the wood thrown on the fire sent up sparks.

Agnes laid with her head back against the rough barn wall listening to Lily's even breathing. It was a good sign. She had put a new pack of ice over her eyes and mouth and was idly letting her mind wander, as she usually did at the end of the day, going over her deeds and rededicating her life to do better the next day. However her mind was on their predicament. None of Menigines people came over except to give them meager rations and one cup in which to share tea. They were being isolated. Why were they rescued? What could Menigines use them for? The bet was more than likely off with Labducus, in fact the friendship with his neighbor was probably no longer. Where were they going? And where were the others? Agnes turned a worried eye to Lily.

Denities and Menigines had left the barn and Agnes could hear men's deep voices in the night air. What they were saying she didn't know. But by the look in the other women's faces, they also were feeling uneasy.

"Lily?" Agnes called softly to the tall Amazon. "Lily?" She called again gently touching her cheek that had a gash across it.

The touch brought pain to Lily and wakefulness. Agnes could feel it in the muscles that her hand was resting on. "Lily, its Agnes. We've got to think of a way to get out of here and we won't be able to carry you. Do you think you can…"

Lily's hand weakly came up and tapped the closest part of Agnes that was near her, her knee. Agnes leaned closer to her and began to describe the barn hoping Lily could figure something out.

Lily tapped Agnes's knee and gave a small gesture above them. Agnes casually looked up. Just empty rafters. The second partial floor, used for storing hay had long ago been tore down, probably for firewood.

Agnes jumped when another large collection of wood that was tossed on the fire sent sparks everywhere.

"Do you think they're doing that purposely?" Candra asked suspiciously.

"If not, then they are real stupid." Catherine muttered under her breath.

"You mean, they want to burn the barn down?" Candra asked surprised.

"Seems like it."

"How many soldiers are in here?" Lily asked in a hoarse voice.

The three women tried not to make it obvious they were looking.

"Only five. Two are near the fire and the other three near the only exit."

"In barns there are always false bottoms for hiding or escape. Can you see where there may be one?"

"It's kinda obvious, right near the fire." Candra reported.

Lily hadn't opened her eyes since they were swollen she didn't think she would be seeing much anyway, to say nothing of the pain from the light when she did open them.

"Hmm. One thing I learned about people who are obvious about hiding places, is that they got something to hide. There's gotta be another one that's less obvious."

"Great. How…" Catherine moved her heel a little more and noticed that her boot heel was catching in the barn floor.

"Athena be praised!" Agnes whispered. "That's it! But, how are we going to disappear down it with those guys watching?"

"We'll have to wait until they make a move or fall asleep. Until then, we set up one person to keep an eye out and the rest of us try to sleep. Might as well keep them off guard by giving the appearance we sort of trust them."

Agnes got up and approached one of the guards. "I need some more ice." She told the guy in a quiet voice. The others spread out as if she were the enemy and kept an eye on the others that were looking as if they were sleeping.

"Yokie, go get some snow."

"Hey, why me?"

"Cause you're the grunt." The other returned.

"I signed up the same time as you did." He protested. "You want someone to get snow, you get it yourself!"

Agnes rolled her eyes dramatically. "Soldiers. I will get the snow." She had the one-cup they had been given and started to head out the door when one of the men jumped forward and grabbed the cup out of her hand. "I'll get it." He glared at the other two.

Agnes remained near the fire trying to hear what was going on outside when the door was opened but only wide enough for the soldier to exit. The cup was returned with piled with snow quickly. Agnes returned back to the others who appeared to be sleeping. Agnes noted Dunties came back in to look over the group then left when Agnes merely sat next to Lily applying the ice to her face and putting some of the moisture between her lips.

Lily tried not to move but the pressure hurt. "Lily are you going to be able to move?" She whispered.

"Hmmm."

"Well, I'm going to make it look like I'm going to sleep too. Maybe that's all they're waiting for. Kill us in our sleep. They look the type."

Agnes leaned against the wall next to Lily closing her eyes. She was so tired if she weren't so afraid for their lives she probably would fall asleep.

She heard more wood being added to the fire, but gently, as if someone didn't want them to hear it. Were they going to burn them out? And why not just kill them outright? Agnes must have dozed for she felt a frantic tug on her arm.

"The fire's spreading!" Candra whispered urgently between coughs.

Agnes's eyes were open quickly. The heat was hot and her dreams were of being in a warm island under the sun. The smoke was thick and by the slump of Catherine's shoulders and the lack of movement from Lily the smoke was affecting them.

"Hades!" Agnes muttered. She had been lying flat on the barn's dirt floor where there was a flow of fresh air so the smoke had not affected her. Her eyes smarted from the smoke as she and Candra put their faces close to the ground and felt for the edge of the floor door they had discovered earlier.

"The door's too heavy." Panted Candra who tired to lift it. Both women struggled with it and were unable to get it open.

"There's got to be something keeping it down." Agnes frantically cleared the old dirt that had gathered on the barn floor. It turned out that Lily's body was on door. The two rolled her off then once again tried to lift the floorboard. It was heavy and they were able to lift it but neither could see

Candra grabbed a burning stick near her and pulled the semi-conscious body of Lily with Agnes assisting down the dark hole. Next they pulled the lighter Catherine down. Agnes paused long enough to pull the door back down as it caught on fire.

"Hades. We got to get outta here fast!" Agnes muttered as she dragged Lily's body down the dirt tunnel with Candra leading with Catherine's unconscious body slung over her shoulders. This was where Agnes wished Lily wasn't so tall.

They paused to rest a few times. The women were afraid that either someone would follow them into the tunnel or that they would end up exiting to Dunties and his pals.

Catherine thankfully revived before they came to the end of the tunnel and was able to help carry Lily after a while. The tunnel was long and the flaming stick was now just a glowing tip that barely showed the holder where she was placing her feet.

Agnes was leading the group and was the first to catch the unmistakable smell of fresh air along with the chill it carried. By then they all didn't care about the cold air, just as long as it was fresh. They had been stumbling along in the dark by the time they reached their exit.

Agnes ran into the cover over their exit, dried up vines, getting her face caught up in the wet branches. It was too dark outside for them to have seen what their noses were telling them, that the outside was near. Agnes leaned against the damp and cold dirt wall and tried to peer out. Absentmindedly brushing off the dirt from her face. She couldn't see anything in the darkness

She leaned back into the dark passageway and pulled the first arm she touched. "Can you see anything?" She whispered in the ear she pressed her lips against. It was dark outside and she remembered Aleka had told them voices carried easily in the night.

It was Catherine who wearily changed places with her. "There's a fire." She whispered back.

Lily was weak but standing next to Candra. "We can always sneak up on them." She hoarsely joked.

"We're not Amazons, friend." Agnes touched her shoulder affectionately.

"Well, how do we move this stuff without anyone seeing it? Candra asked as she touched their covered exit gently.

"Hopefully, we'll be away by daylight."

"We can't be running around in this weather at night." Lily objected. "I'd rather risk someone coming up the tunnel then freezing."

"I think one of us should check out the fire." Catherine suggested. "I'm hungry and cold to say nothing of being very tired."

"They'll see your prints…" Lily tiredly objected. Her face and body were hurting so much she didn't think she would be able to sleep, but she was tired, hungry and cold too. They weren't in a position to take chances, she thought.

"I'll go." Catherine told the others. "It's like we use to do when we were kids. Climb up then over then down." She had been patting the outside of the cave with her hand, trying to get an idea of what they were taking refuge in. It appeared to be the side of a mountain.

*****

Alala and Brona took the second watch from their group while the others slept. Four guards from Clorinda's group and two from theirs made up the detail. The owl made it easy for all of them as she made her night search for dinner she kept an eye out for anything else that moved. It was her sharp eyes that spotted a familiar figure moving slowly in the cold snow along the hillside near their campfire.

"Brona! Wake the others!" Alala's voice was low but held so much emotion Brona thought she was about to cry.

Strange coming from the tall red headed woman, Brona thought. What was getting her upset? "What's wrong?" She asked frightened.

"Chia spotted one of the priestesses headed this way."

"By Artemis' bow!" She hurried off sliding in some of the snow that had turned to slush from their pacing back and forth.

"Camila. Grace!" Brona whispered in an excited tone. Groggy heads lifted in the shadows of the firelight. The guards from the outer perimeter joined Brona at the fire.

Clorinda looked out from her warm fur cloak. "What's going on?" She asked in a hoarse voice, heavy with sleep.

"We spotted one of the priestess'. Alala went with her friend to get her!"

Grace rose tiredly from her warm bedding, pulling her cloak around her and started to prepare some water. One. Where were the others? Her heart was heavy as she moved to pull out some food to warm. Her thoughts went back over Clorinda's guard that had found them and told them that Menigines had gone back on his word and would not deliver his prisoners without Clorinda giving over the Jewel. Grace's heart sank even further down as she realized too many people knew about the Jewel and that already some of their group may have died. She saw that in Clorinda's guard's face.

Who did the owl see? Kynthia, Eleanor, Catherine, Agnes or Candra? Since the group was separated the connection between them was fading. She didn't realize how strong it was until the intensity of the connection lessened. In place she was feeling remorse and a great sadness that made it difficult to worry about her individual survival. By the looks of the other women, they were feeling it too.

****

"Agnes!" Catherine whispered in the dark.

"Athena's grieves, Cat. Be quiet!" A soft voice called from her right.

"It's Alala's owl! She's right here."

She turned to face the sound of brush moving. The other three women joined her. Agnes and Candra were supporting Lily. By her groans the grip the two women had on her was around painful areas.

The owl hooted a few times near them causing the women to jump, then a dark familiar figure came out of the night.

"Alala! By Athena's mantle! Are we glad to see you." Candra breathed as she gladly relinquished her share of Lily's weight to the stronger Alala.

"Come on. We have hot tea and some food by the fire. We'll talk there."

****

Eryalios and the nervous guards were waiting with Brona just outside of their camp. Eryalios took Lily's partially conscious body from the two women and easily carried her back to his bedding.

While the four women ate and got some refreshment, Grace took care of Lily. Lily had only remained awake for a few sips of tea then let herself sink into a heavy sleep.

Candra brought the others up to date on what had happened to them and of Menigines soldier's setting the barn they were herded in on fire.

"He's back to his old self." Eryalios muttered sadly. "He use to herd villagers into buildings then set them on fire. He would do that when he thought they were hiding something from him."

"You use to ride with him, Eryalios. Did you do that too?" Camilia asked sadly.

"No. I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have to witness that. My duties kept me with the horses and the supplies. He didn't want to risk my getting killed."

"Your skills with animals, Eryalios, saved you from that type of life." Clorinda told him softly.

Eryalios looked toward Clorinda. Even in the firelight the women could tell he cared for her. "Aye, by the blessin's of Diana. I have a gift for the animals."

Clorinda took his cold hands. "I could tell the first day I saw you."

The others smiled and busied themselves getting ready for sleep. One of Clorinda guard's had pulled some extra furs from their cart and helped set up extra places for the women.

Alala returned to her post as did Brona. "Alala?" Brona whispered as they prepared to separate for their parameter check.

"Yea."

"I'm glad you decided to continue with us. And not just because of your friends."

Alala stopped her progress into the dark and turned to face the dark figure four strides from her. She was quiet a moment as she let the feeling of elation she had felt at the news from Chica move over her again.

"So am I, Brona." And then she moved off wondering why it was so nice to be part of this strange group. Usually she made friends with the creatures more readily than with others of her own kind. She had always kept a polite distance from people. She didn't like the politics or games that seemed to be necessary in a relationship with her own kind. She sighed as she moved further into the night. Actually, all creatures played games in their relationships, she just didn't feel as hurt when they went wrong as she did with people. She smiled grimly to herself as she let the truth sound in her mind. Do I want to risk that hurt again? She silently laughed at herself. Chica, the owl was looking down at her from a branch not far from where she was. I think I like these women, Chica. She felt a big smile light up her face as the picture of Camila came to mind. To think she was one of the young workers in the temple that handled the birds and horses and she hadn't even noticed her. But she usually was alone, even when she sat with others to eat. Since her misadventure in love and displeasing Athena she was well known in the Athens temple. She was lucky her fate wasn't like Medusa. Athena must have been in a better mood when she meted out her punishment.

****

Aleka could hear the uneven footsteps of her jailers. She had managed to spit out the drugged food they had given her without their noticing. They were stupid soldiers. She had been waiting for them. She made sure they couldn't pass up the idea of taking her before they got rid of her. It didn't take much effort on her part. She had been listening to their drunken taunts tossed back and forth between those sitting around the fire trying to keep warm and the ones pacing on guard too close to the camp parameter to really be effective as guards. It was cold and they were using the wine as an excuse to stay warm. They wouldn't have lasted long in her army.

The cage jolted and rolled a bit followed by curses in hushed whispers. Aleka rolled her eyes. This was going to be like taking honey from a beehive, she thought with humor. Ya just have to know how to do it without getting' stung.

It took a few moments for the key to turn for the men were having problems getting the key into the lock. It was the third man, after dropping the key many times, who managed to fit the key into the lock.

Aleka closed her mind to the stink of the bodies that pulled her close as they dragged her relaxed body out of the wagon. She and her captors fell to the ground. She hit a rock and she could feel her arm numbing from the blow. She resisted the need to rub some life back into it. She needed to remain relaxed and limp as if she were unconscious.

The men didn't bother with conversation as they all tried to paw her and pull her toward them. She felt like a toy doll being fought over. Finally one person had a firm grip on her ropes and pulled her behind him, more steady on his feet than the others. She was dumped behind him as he punched a few overly eager fellow soldiers who didn't get the message that he was going to be first.

She needed her feet untied. She was sure they would regardless of the warning their leader gave them.

Grunts and pantings later she felt a frustrated body over her as she kept her body unresponsive. She could hear a knife being pulled out of its sheathe. This was it.

The others must have been watching for as soon as her legs were free she didn't have a chance to get blood back into them when the other men attacked the man that was on top of her who had untied her legs.

Aphrodite! She thought disgustedly.

Finally someone fell onto her pulling her legs apart. Aleka managed to surprise him with a knee between his. He slumped with a low groan on top of her. She was hoping his fellows in the dark thought he was busy. Her hands were tied around her waist and she was able to pull his knife out from his wait band and use it on her bindings.

A hand finally pulled the partially conscious man off her.

"Your turn?" She asked softly to the dark form above her. She was already moving out of the way not daring to use her legs yet. Her limbs still were stiff.

Yells from the remaining men as they all tried to reach her rolling form on their unsteady legs, brought others from the camp.

Aleka rolled under the cage and startled the horse that was still harnessed to it. The cage moved back and forth as the horse moved restlessly and Aleka crawled to the tether that was preventing the horse from taking off. She sliced the tether then grabbed the harness to pull herself on the horses back. While the horse danced around from the noise and the drunken soldiers attempted to find her in the dark, she cut the remaining harness from the horse kicking him into a run though the awakening camp.

As the horse moved out of the camp she let him move unhindered into the night. She slid off his back not far from the camp she was escaping. She needed warm clothing and it was back at the camp. The horse continued his journey into the night alone while she rested against a tree getting some mobility to her legs and arms and clearness to her thinking. As she leaned her head against the tree she found her connection to it giving her warmth and comfort.

Where are the others? What's happened? She thought worriedly. She was hoping it was the same day she was taken prisoner.

She returned to the disorganized camp and waited in the cold snow for a chance to nab someone's cloak. It wasn't difficult. Once more she headed away from the camp keeping the moon to her left. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she needed to find shelter to collect her thoughts.

Suddenly she stopped. She cocked her head to one side and listened. There it was. A wolf's call. She changed her direction and headed to where she thought it was coming from. She was leaving tracks in the snow and right now she didn't care. She needed to see her guide if for no other reason than comfort that she wasn't alone.

She felt the presence rather than saw her. Her feet were crunching in the snow from the large boots she had taken off the unfortunate soldier.

Child, you are making enough noise to waken the sleeping. Can you not walk quieter?" The old voice chided her.

Aleka felt relief.

Come. We have much to prepare you for. Her guide instructed.

Aleka could barely make out the shadowed form that moved further into the darkness with its waving tail looking like a dark plume. More careful, Aleka placed the big clumsy boots softer in the snow.

****

The horses moved in uneven hops, ploughing in some places as Argo had taken the lead making her way off the road. The terrain took a sudden downward slant and the women lost sight of the road they had left their rescuers on. Argo seemed to be the only one that knew where they were headed.

It was dark before Argo halted with a half conscious Iaia who was dozing in the saddle.

"Diana's blessings! Argo found a nice shelter. You old war horse!" Erica patted the tired horse on the withers and helped pull Iaia down. She didn't do horse travel well.

They led the horses into a partially sheltered overhang made up of dead fallen trees and debris. Erica and Eleanor pulled off the saddlebags tossing them in a corner where there was an old fire ring of stones.

Iaia found a stack of dried wood in one of the corners by stumbling on them in the dark. She mechanically started to stack a neat pile ready for a fire.

"Looks like this place is a regular hide away." Erica murmured to the others as she rummaged in the saddlebags.

"Hey. Someone thought of everything. We've got some food for the horses."

"Probably Alala. She was talking to Camila the other day about each person should carry three days worth of supplies in case any of us should get separated."

"Spoken like a true warrior." Iaia chuckled. She took the small pot Erica handed her filled with snow to rest on a rock near the fire.

"Can we risk cooking something?" Eleanor asked as she thought about the aroma of cooking food and what it would do to her stomach and whoever else might get a whiff of it.

"Yea." Erica noted the air outside of their shelter had dropped noticeably into the colder measures. She doubted anyone would be moving around however, she needed to go back and cover their tracks.

While the two women prepared a warm meal Erica left to do what she was skilled at, cover trails and leave false ones. It certainly took her back to her more youthful times in Meldrona.

****

The next morning the three women reluctantly plotted their next move out of their warm shelter.

"We need to find the others." Eleanor started.

"We need to find Aleka." Iaia told them firmly.

Erica sighed. Both were right. "We don't know where anyone is…" She turned to look at Argo suddenly realizing that the mare would be the best guide to the Named.

Eleanor followed her eyes and nodded silently to Erica. "We'll find the Named."

Iaia wasn't watching them for she was more focused on what she was feeling inside. Confusion. She took a deep breath and tried to imagine where she would be. Is she still in the castle? No. She left before us. She felt that with certainty. Where would…who would take her? Labducus? Then she remembered the Jewel. She pursed her lips. The scroll said that the Spirit of the Jewel moves events and people, so…maybe we're all suppose to be going to Labdu. What better city to change than Labdu?

"Iaia?" Eleanor asked again.

"Hmmm?" Iaia looked up still in thought.

"We're going to let Argo lead the way. She seems to know more of where to go than us, and hopefully she'll lead us…to the others." She finished uncomfortably. She didn't want to mention the Named then she would have to explain why Argo would be attracted to her.

"Oh." She looked at the mare whose eyes were looking intently out of their covered shelter at something only she could see. "Right."

Erica looked up and followed the mare's gaze. "There's something out there." She whispered softly.

She waved the two women back further into the shelter. "Wait here." She warned them.

Eleanor pulled out a bow and notched it waiting. Iaia pulled out a stick from the pile they hadn't burned and tested it for balance.

Erica soon was seen leading a large draft horse that was looking tired. It had a sled harnessed behind him. Eleanor and Iaia quickly ran to the horse's side. Erica relinquished her hold on the bridle and ran back over the trail with the intention of covering as much as she could.

Eleanor stroked the huge beast's neck while Iaia dipped into her pouch of food. "This is going to make a big dent in our rations for the horses." She murmured to Eleanor.

"Hmm. Hey. That's one of our trunks on the sled." Eleanor moved to the back and unlatched the lid. A lock that had been on it was hanging broken open. It looks like someone has rifled through this stuff."

Iaia looked into the chest. "Hey, that coat looks like it would fit me a lot better than this." She shrugged out of the warm one but oversized and exchanged it for the fur lined one that they used for one of the characters.

"Want the mask too?" Eleanor teased.

"Ahhh. No. I think that would be a bit much."

They heard the soft sound of irregular crunching of snow. They watched as Erica slowly made her way back to their shelter covering tracks and where she could not, making confusing marks to not give away how many were in their company.

"Well?" She asked nodding toward the large horse that was contently munching on the oats that Iaia had poured into a canvas cloth.

"Did you get a look at what he was pulling." Eleanor asked.

"Yea." Erica smiled at Iaia. "I see you found something more your size."

"It's too much to be pulling the sled and our luggage. We'll find a place to store it and the sled." She glanced at their new addition. "She's somebody's prize mare."

"Yea. Camila would love to meet her." Eleanor smiled in appreciation at the large creature's beauty.

"We'll take her with us and maybe someone will know who she belongs to."

"If she was carrying our luggage, she's had to have been with the others."

"Yea." The three also knew that if she was alone, something had to have happened to the other for her to have strayed from the group.

"Come on. Let's get going. We need to find a place to stash this trunk, but not too far from here."

****

The women were back on the main road after finding a place to store their luggage and the sled. The large horse patiently followed behind Argo, who led the way. She seemed to know where she was going for she found the road quickly. Argo's pace was a fast walk, her head swung side to side and ears swiveled around as if looking for something. Her nostrils flared now and again as if testing the air. The larger horse behind her with her long legs moved at a slower pace with her large head slowly moving around and ears perked forward.

By the condition of the road they were following, the road had been busy before them. Was it their comrades?

Chapter 5

Berik silently watched as the one rider on the sled again fought off his attacker. He had killed two in the first skirmish, parting company from his partner. The three women were torn between which group to follow but Beirk had silently decided, noting that the unlocked trunk was the one that had the Yon in it. For some reason Kynthia wanted to follow the other but Gari put a restraining hand on her arm and held her still as they waited to follow the sled that angled off in another direction.

Berik had enough of waiting and dropped on the unsuspecting attacker with Gari and Kynthia dropping in front of the tired horse.

"Wait!" Kynthia shouted at the tired driver that turned to take a swipe at Gari who had a hold on the horses bridle.

"You have our trunk." Kynthia informed him. For a moment the tired soldier regarded Kynthia then Gari. Berik neatly finished off the mercenary taking his warm cloak and weapons.

"Where are you headed with our stuff?" Berik asked putting the blade to the soldiers chest.

"Berik, put the sword away." Kynthia admonished her.

Berik lowered it but only at the groin level of her victim. "To Lady Clorinda." He eyed the sword point wryly. "There's an old abandoned farm that we're to meet up with her. You be the Troupe from Sappho's Island, aye?"

"Just like it says on the trunk." Berik replied, still not trusting the driver.

"Well then. The rest of your group should be there."

"Oh?"

"Lady Clorinda made arrangements for your troupe to escape from Menigines little plot." He smiled at this piece of news. "She isn't fond of Menigines and his friend Labducus, nor of the two sisters."

"Let's go then." Gari told Berik. "We have what we came for." She added in a softer tone.

"What about the other trunk?"

The man on the sled smiled. "These horses are a pair. They'll find each other."

"Hopefully with our other trunk." Kynthia murmured. She still felt a pull to follow the other horse.

****

The four were tired and cold when their driver found a small sheltered place to spend the night. The winter days were not long. All they had to share was their guide's small supply of foodstuff and one cup that was filled with melted snow and passed around. But hot water was better than cold snow.

"Hades!" Gari whispered from her look out post. The others quickly moved out of their warm cloaks, some taken from their trunk of costumes.

"By Hades rocks of desolation." The driver, Malruk, exclaimed. "That's about where the old barn to the farm is.

"Looks like we need a new destination." Berik observed softly.

The driver continued cursing under his breath while the three women looked into the night, not knowing where to go next.

"We'll sleep on it." Kynthia told the others seriously. "Dreams have been guiding us on this journey and…we will keep faith that the goddess will continue guiding us in that way."

Berik worried about what she knew was in the chest and where the driver was going to go with it. Technically the belongings were theirs and they did outnumber the driver. But Aleka's warning also worried her. It was just one part of the whole. To be in its presence meant their lives were in danger.

Kynthia looked at Gari who nodded in agreement. Then stared at Berik's back as she continued to look out into the darkness where the sky was lit up with a flickering light. It was a big fire.

****

Gari found Berik pacing the outer parameter of their camp looking wound up. She traded places with her hoping the woman could find peacefulness between the warm fur she had left.

The driver joined her just before dawn to get a report from Gari. He took care of his toilet and then attended to the huge shadow whose warm breath was creating big vapor clouds in the early morning light. After the blaze from the previous night they weren't going to risk lighting one of their own. None of them wanted to attack any unwanted attention to their group. Malruk had no argument to the decision.

Gari was curious what he was going to say about their morning discussion on where they should be going now. Gari was thinking that Berik and Kynthia would want to locate the other part of the Yon. She wondered how much Malruk knew of what he was transporting and if he knew how much danger he was in by not carrying it's other part. Or was the other part in the trunk and…No. If it was Kynthia wouldn't be so fidgety. When did she start…? Gari tried to remember when she noticed Kynthia's uncharacteristic jumpy reactions. Actually, it was Berik who was acting real nervous until…Lady Clorinda's arrival. She was keeping her bedmates away with her tossing and turning. That's what had brought up the subject of the Jewel between her and Kynthia, who was…acting like…well…not acting like herself. Hmm. Kynthia didn't start acting jumpy until...Athena's underwear! When the horses separated! By why was Berik jumpy if her part was in the trunk?

Gari looked back at Berik whose profile she could see surrounded by vapor from her breath. Berik was looking out into space with no translatable expression on her face. Gari took a deep breath of the cold air and decided to ask a question.

"Hey!" she called softly. Berik's shoulders lifted as she took a deep breath and held the cold air in her lungs. She lifted her cold hands to her mouth and blew the air in her cupped palms.

"Hmm." She responded not looking her way. Berik instead looked around them as if expecting to see something.

"Do you think the Jewel is in the trunk?"

Berik looked at her startled. "Why do you ask?" She finally got out.

"Welllll…I just thought that if it was, you wouldn't be so…I don't know…distant."

"Oh." Berik laughed softly and looked down for a moment at her cold feet. "I've been thinking." She watched her toes move in her boots as she tried to move them to keep them warm.

Gari came closer so she wouldn't have to talk above a whisper. "What about?"

"Us…our quest." She sighed.

Gari watched through her own white puffs of air at the vapor from Berik's long drawn out breath disappear then reappear like small puffs of smoke as her normal breathing resumed. She waited patiently for Berik to collect her thoughts.

"I…I wasn't really into this thing." She glanced at Gari embarrassed. "Not in the beginning. Then, it was only because I was bored and wanted to do something."

Gari nodded. She knew why Berik had willingly joined and it wasn't just from boredom, but she kept her silence.

"The dreams and all, they were…interesting, but I…I really didn't find it believable. Sometimes the gods play games with us because of their own boredom and I thought maybe that's what some of this was all about." She looked back out into the gray dawning of the day.

"What made you change your mind?" Gari finally asked.

Berik sighed. "The Named." She poked her foot at a piece of wood partially covered in snow. She lifted her eyes toward Gari. "I dreamt of her that night in the cavern after she was Named by the goddess." Berik turned her face away hurriedly, but not fast enough for Gari to have missed the sudden watering of her eyes.

After a moment she continued. "She told me in my dream that I had to finish my original quest because peoples lives depended on it." Berik peered at Gari from under her dark lashes. "Me…a rescuer of people." She whispered unbelieving. "I was a drunk." She laughed a little. "I may still be a drunk." She wrapped her arms around herself and continued. "My village was just about ready to throw me out so I left and just wandered. It was scary out there in the big world to face sober so I pretty much stayed drunk. Good excuse. I'd work for drinking money." She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't remember much." She took another breath, more like a cleansing breath of air into a once toxic body. "Somehow, I ended up working as a guard to a group of priestesses heading for Lesbos for a festival." Berik looked back out as the day was lighting up the white snow that blanketed most of the surrounding area.

Gari shifted her weight. Berik turned her head to regard her for a moment. "I didn't really feel a responsibility until Clorinda brought the Jewel into the castle." Berik's look became intense. "It was like a fire burning my body without hurting. I remembered everything!" She whispered hoarsely. "Everything that I said and did while the Jewel was in my possession." Berik shook her head and rolled it around to loosen the tightness. "I may have to separate from you and Kynthia. I need to follow the one that is here. Kynthia will have to leave soon to follow the one she had been entrusted to follow." Berik looked at Gari closely. "You must help her find it. I know she's going crazy because it was here and now it's not." Berik shook her head. "I don't know how to explain it but it's like an itch in my stomach that won't quit."

"Do you think it was in the other trunk?"

"Yea. Too bad we didn't have time to search it."

Gari nodded. She looked at back at the campfire where Kynthia was talking with Malruk. She looked up to catch Gari's worried look. Kynthia smiled and gestured for her.

Gari touched Berik's arm and walked over to the warm fire Malruk had made. No smoke but great heat for a small flame. Gari put her cold hands over the flames.

"Malruk said Churpie," she nodded her head toward the large beast who was rubbing his forehead against a nearby tree trunk. "has been acting like Torsie, the other horse, is close by." The look Kynthia gave the two, a quiet knowing look, told them she was at peace with distance of the Nee, the missing other half of the Jewel.

"Close by, huh?"

"Jess give em 'is head and 'ell find 'er." Malruk nodded.

"Let's just hope it's not going to be in unfriendly company." Gari remarked as she busied herself with preparing to break camp.

The others took the hint and started to clean up and get ready to move out.

Chapter 6

The big mare stopped in her tracks and turned her head to glance behind her. Argo snorted and stopped also.

"Diana's curse! What's going on here?" Erica snorted disgustedly. It seemed the horses were running the show now and Erica wasn't a Camila or Alala who could understand other creatures.

"Whatever it is, it's not going to hurt us." Eleanor told her soothingly.

They all focused on the road behind them waiting to see what the two horses were announcing.

"Goddess!" Erica yelped when a large gray shape came slowly ambling into sight. "Hey!" She kicked her horse into a trot when she spotted a familiar figure walking behind the large horse.

"I told ya. Ya got ta have faith in…" Maluk started in the low rumble his voice gave off.

"Right, right." Berik and the other two women didn't wait to hear him finish but ran up to their missing companions.

Kynthia's heart felt a genuine relief and for some reason felt a blanket of calm settle over her. Is the other part of the Jewel here? Her eyes noted that the large mate to their guide was not pulling her sled anymore. She turned her eyes to looking over the saddlebags on the horses wondering if one of the women had found it. She was going to have to pull Eleanor aside and find out. She didn't think talking about it openly to Maluk was wise.

The women passed around relieved hugs while Maluk talked tenderly to the missing mare and pulled out a bag that was on the sled with the trunk.

Eleanor laughed at the mares eager snorts at being fed. "As if she hasn't eaten already." The other horses were also pushing forward to get a share of the unscheduled treat.

Maluk obligingly held a hand full of the oats for each horse while he listened to the women decide where they were going to go next.

"Maluk says we were going to join up with Clorinda and her guards."

He nodded as he stroked one of the bristled muzzles that was looking for more food on his person.

"We need to find the rest of our group. The last we saw were soldier's from the castle surrounding Lily and the others. Aleka hadn't returned yet."

"We can't go back to the castle it full of mercenaries." Berik nodded.

"Lady Clorinda had said she would have others with her. Maybe that's the rest of your people." Maluk offered.

"Where would she be now?" Berik asked, more to locate the other piece of the Jewel. She glanced at Kynthia and noted she kept glancing at the packs on the horses. Well, at least some of them had rides. Her eyes flickered to the large mare and didn't even want to think about riding on the big horses broad back.

"If she survived the fire…" he thought a moment. "she'll probably head to a small safe camp we have about a few candlemarks from here. It's where we usually stop on our travels so it will have stores of supplies."

"She travels?" Iaia asked surprised.

"Oh, yes. Since King Jorda, her late husband no longer has control over her. He didn't believe women should leave their homes except to do the shopping or work in the fields or shops. He had a thing about women knowing more than him." Maluk looked amused. "He became quite befuddled when in the presence of a beautiful woman. His way of handling it was to have women hide themselves from view and not talk or be near him."

"You mean any pretty face and he would lose his train of thought?" Eleanor laughed.

"Oh, more than that. He would want to wed them. Being the King he had the power to take any woman he wanted. Only…" Maluk continued in a stage whisper, "he physically could not keep up with his desires."

"Wait, wait. What you're saying is that this guy had no self discipline?"

Maluk's eyebrows rose. "He was the King. He did not need any…his virility was important to the land and to the harvests."

The women looked at each other. "That's taking Demeter's Harvest and Spring Festival to the extreme." Gari muttered.

"So, because he feared the power women had over him, he chose to…banish them from his view and forbid them to be educated?" Iaia asked unbelievingly.

"Right. Since the King decreed it in his castle, it was also to be in his realm. Women had to keep themselves covered from anyone's view and were to only learn what he decreed a women's place.

"Where have I heard that before?" Erica muttered disgustedly.

"So how did Clorinda become so…influential with King Jorda? Iaia asked curious.

"It was her influence on him that caused all these laws to be passed." Maluk informed them as they continued their walk toward the safe camp.

"I don't get it? She influenced him to pass these laws against her…"

"No, no. His fear of her…womanly charms…and because in spite of his rules she still was his chief advisor. Clorinda is very smart and knew how to get him to do things. But he got back at her by passing these laws against her sex. Jorda was a clever King in that he knew how to surround himself with capable advisors, but one happened to be a woman whom he felt had too much power over him. He couldn't get rid of her so he controlled her as best as he could."

"Why did he keep collecting wives?"

"Lady Clorinda was not able to bear children." Maluk told them quietly. "That was the excuse at first. After that it was because he caught sight of a pretty face or he heard about a pretty girl. He collected wives like some people collect buttons or stones."

"How could he afford them all?"

"He made sure they all were productive. They all had to provide toward the castle economy. Lady Clorinda is a very good cook, it's also a great place to gather castle gossip." Maluk grinned.

"Why did you stay with her after the Kind died?" Iaia asked before any of the others thought to.

"She gave me a job in the kitchen's when my family was starving. She remembers her family."

Kynthia looked at him closely. "You don't look like her." She observed.

"I'm a cousin by marriage."

Argo pulled the reins from Iaia's hands and started to dance sideways. "What the…Argo settle down." Iaia tried to regrab the reins but her hands were cold and they didn't open enough to get a grip on the cold leather or the reins.

The ground under them began to tremble and the other horses started to nervously pick up their feet.

"We got to get off this road." The women spoke together.

The troop of soldier's dressed in warm coats that didn't identify whose allegiance they were to descended on them quickly. The soldiers already had their weapons out, as if expecting them and surrounded them in a tight circle on the slushy road.

A struggle broke out with the Amazons taking a defensive position around the horses and the other women who were trying to keep the horses under control. In the maneuverings for advantage Berik was cut off from the others and driven back by two of the soldiers. Her concern was to not get too far from the trunk so she kept an eye on it while battling with her attackers who seemed to be more intent in taking the women as prisoners.

Berik returned the compliment by not killing the two but rendering them unconscious and hoping that bit of kindness would not come back to haunt her. The trunk had been knocked off the sled and was sitting on its side opened. Glancing quickly around she noted the others were scattered about losing the battle to not get captured. Berik ran to the trunk and found what she was looking for. Tucking it in her coat she ran into the countryside, away from the fight. She angled her run to the tracks she could see made from horses just recently. She was hoping it was from Iaia and the two priestesses.

Berik found herself surrounded by three wet horses and three relieved riders as she stumbled into the forest cover.

"Hades! You nearly scared the life out of me!" She exclaimed.

"What happened to the others?" Kynthia asked tiredly.

"I think they were captured. It looks like they want to take us alive."

"Not very comforting considering they are probably from Labdu, the slave traders city." Eleanor remarked.

"Let's keep moving." Eleanor urged them. She removed a foot from her stirrup for Beirk to join her.

Argo's snort alerted the women to the movement that was around them. Out of the shadows of the forest moved a group of soldiers that had nets with them in case the women tried to run.

****

Part 5

Dealing with the Enemy

The march to the City of Labdu was silent among the women with only the chains they had been fitted with rattling and the stomp of their feet and the horses on the wet road breaking the silence. The soldiers offered no conversation and had little to say between themselves. Two candlemarks after their capture Iaia and her group met up with the others who were being transported in a cage. The four women were ordered to join the others. It was crowded but after marching in the cold mud it was welcomed. The large horses and their very unhappy handler were amongst the captured. The trunk, Berik noticed, was back on the sled. She tried not to pat her pocket that held the Jewel. She was going to have to find another hiding place.

The castle of Labdu was different from Menigines' winter castle in that it had only one entrance and it was busy. Caravans were passing each other as some were leaving and others arriving. Winter didn't seem to slow business here. Iaia was dismayed to see covered cages on wheels moving in and out of the castle. A sinking feeling hit her stomach as they rolled under the arched gate.

"We'll get out of here." Erica whispered to no one in particular. "They only got some of us."

They all studied the walls and the soldier's walking the battlements, then those that were moving around gate area as if waiting to assemble for their shift. Erica mentally made a note of the time.

The women were all herded into a holding area that normally was used for displaying slaves to their potential buyers. Iaia wasn't sure if it was the energy in the area or the stench that was making her sick to her stomach. She could hear the sounds of sobs coming from over the wall as she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to think of what she could do. Their chains were removed and exchanged for leather neck collars that held a metal ring on the back. Kynthia sat next to her shivering. She had no coat. Iaia looked around and noted some of the women had lost their warm coats.

The gate swung back and a armored guard peered inside their compound.

"You!" The burly guard pointed at Iaia but made no attempt to enter the compound. "Get over here!" He ordered. Apparently he expected to be obeyed.

Iaia stood up and looked back at the cold Kynthia. She removed her coat and put it around Kynthia's shoulders. "You may be needing this more than I." She told her softly.

Iaia glanced around at the others as she made her way out of the waiting area.

Two guards were waiting for her, impatiently. They weren't dressed for the outside weather. One gestured to the door she was to move toward, neither leading the way. "Labducus wants to see you." The other guard offered when Iaia hesitated.

The archway into the dark confines of the castle didn't look inviting. She could also smell the odors coming from the castle which got stronger as they neared the entranceway.

Wanting to get the meeting over with, Iaia picked up her pace following the gestures of the guards as to what hallway to take in the maze that they passed. The smell in the castle was heavy with smoke and people that didn't air out their living quarters much. It was also cold with no fresh air moving through the halls. Though the air outside was colder it was at least fresh.

They finally turned down what appeared to be a main corridor. More lit torches lined this corridor revealing elaborately woven wall hangings from foreign lands and a haze that hung in the air. The haze wasn't just from the burning torches. Iaia and her guards cut a path through the haze.

They approached a curved archway into a room that had a heavy ornate table with chairs surrounding it. The two guards outside the room didn't seem to even give them a glance as Iaia was ushered into the room.

Iaia took a quick glance around noting it was a long room with slots for rolled up scrolls lining the walls on the side she entered and the other side was opened up to a larger room that could be a throne room if he was a king. The ornately carved long table had quills and scrolls partially unrolled and some opened up scattered about its top. Two people were in the room standing near a candle for closer inspection of a scroll held by an elder, by the looks of his robes.

The younger of the two, a tall red headed man sporting a beard whose long ends were braided and beaded looked up at the three as they entered.

"Ahh. The playwright. Thank you Ratius." The red head nodded to the older man and remained in the corner until everyone but Iaia left.

"Iaia, you call yourself. Am I right?"

The hairs on the back of Iaia's neck rose. She didn't need to see the colors whirling around his head and shoulders to know this was a very dangerous man. Iaia nodded remembering somewhere that it was good tactically to let the let the other person talk first.

"I am so sorry your stay with Lord Menigines was…stressful."

Iaia waited.

"I understand you wrote a play for my friend?" His eyebrows rose.

"Yes." She replied.

"Hmm. We have this wager…" Labducus left the sentence unfinished looking at Iaia as if she were to finish the sentence.

"You have this wager…" Iaia encouraged in exaggerated patience.

"I'm sure you have heard about it. If not then I will have to punish the person I had paid to get that piece of information to you."

"Is that the one where you wagered your soul and Bacchus took you up on the wager?" She smiled brightly.

Labducus was still for a moment with no bit of emotion crossing his face. He sat casually on the lip of the table still watching Iaia's face closely.

Score one for me, Iaia thought. It pays to listen to the kitchen help! She could see the colors swirling around his head showing what his face was not showing.

He finally rose from his slumped seat on the edge of the table and walked to the edge of the railing that separated the scroll room from the larger hall it opened into.

"If you write me a drama, on my choice of subject, for my library..." he turned to face her. "I will let your friends go."

"Dead or alive? Healthy or ill? Free or slaves?" Iaia asked not believing. If he had lost his soul to Bacchus, then there would be no bargaining except in words that were empty of fulfillment. He also had failed to mention letting her go.

Labducus let a small smile curl the corner of his lips. However the smile never reached his eyes which were almost black. He let his eyes wander over the many scrolls that filled the small slots lining one wall before answering. "That depends on you." He told her softly.

"I don't think so. I can sit here and bargain that they be treated like guests and leave with their freedom and health intact and with supplies and warm clothing to finish their journey into Paeonia but you and I know it would only be words." While Iaia was saying this she was trying to rack her mind for what would bind Bacchus to a bargain.

Labducus was silent as he kept his eyes on the wall filled with scrolls.

"You have a lot of scrolls. What are they about?" Iaia asked curiously.

"Everything and nothing." Labducus spoke softly.

Iaia studied him for a moment watching the colors around his head noticeably change in colors and intensity as his emotions that didn't reach his facial expression told her of what was going on inside him.

"I've learned in my travels…" Iaia started, "that usually the journey is of more interest then my destination. And…that after reaching each destination…there are uncountable more destinations to chose from."

Labducus nodded thoughtfully letting his eyes flicker over the wall lined with scrolls. "I once believed that…now…I'm weary of travel." he took a deep breath. "What is you decision?" He changed the subject.

"What is your guaranty that the bargain we make is honored by all involved in our capture?" Iaia asked. Then she leaned forward and softly whispered, "I think the Muses, Athena, Artemis and Sappho's friends would not let our abduction and mistreatment go unchallenged."

"I think you over estimate your value amongst the goddesses, though Sappho's friends…" he waved his hand as if it were nothing. "Many of them are my customers."

"Maybe not for long." Iaia returned.

"Money has a way of changing alliances. Offer them a good deal on something they want…" He left the rest unsaid.

"You have a day to decide. Meanwhile, my guards will take you on a tour of my castle. It may inspire you to a quicker decision." He walked to the door and gestured to an unseen figure.

A formidable figure dressed in military leathers but without the armor stepped forward. Iaia cocked her head and for a moment the image of her dark haired warrior's bowed head in front of a campfire in the early evening hours, working on the repair and cleaning of her leathers came to her. Here before her, she recognized another soldier that took care of his equipment and therefore, was dangerous. She looked into the dark brown eyes of the tall soldier and found herself being appraised and no doubt being set to memory. The energy about him was dark red almost brown with some oranges and dark greens showing. She was going to be as uncomfortable standing next to him as she was with Labducus. Both men had a decidedly unpleasant feel to them.

****

The cell couldn't be called a cell in the real sense. It was a small room equipped with a desk, writing material, a lamp and next to it a lumpy looking pallet. A bucket for waste was in one corner. The only light, aside from the small oil lamp on the desk came through a very thin window above the desk. Her guard was kind enough to light the lamp before he left and allowed a young boy to deliver a bucket of water with a cup. When they left only the flickering of the small lamp was Iaia's company.

The stifling smells from the enclosure were enough that Iaia decided to weather the cold for some fresh air, and struggled to open the shutter over the window.

"Aeolus' winds would be a good thing for right now." She mumbled as she rested her head against the wall where a breeze from the outside air chilled her face.

She closed her eyes and thought about the tour of the various slave holding areas, the dungeon which was half full with no one she recognized, and the entertainment area, that Labducus ordered her to go on to probably get her sick, for that's exactly what it did. If there was anything normal she didn't see it. The people that were being sold as slaves were trained for the various services that Labducus thought they would look good doing. The dungeon was occupied with those that didn't learn fast enough or refused to be slaves. Apparently Labducus didn't waste bodies and had other uses for those that were in the dungeon. Her tour included the room that was dedicated for Bacchus celebrations and rituals.

The moment Iaia approached the room set aside for entertainment, she felt her insides shake with revulsion. If she had anything in her stomach she was sure it would have further dirtied the stone floor that was littered with bodies, pillows, clothing, and cups filled and half filled as some of the revelers were fulfilling their desires with partners that were in various stages of consciousness. There were children, young men and women and a few old women being used by Labducus' guests. Her presence wasn't noticed by anyone. Everyone seemed to be in their own haze.

Iaia finally sat on the pallet and put her head in her hands. She didn't know for how long she let the tears fall. Wiping her wet face she leaned back on the pallet and pulled the covers over her. The room was surprisingly warm though the window remained open. Iaia put her hand tentatively on the wall near the pallet. It was warm. Probably someone's fireplace. Lucky me, she sniffed. She closed her eyes and fell into an exhausted sleep.

****

"You're not listening to me." A patient and familiar voice told her.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" A distracted Gabrielle raised her head to look into the familiar sky blue eyes of the raven-haired warrior. Her heart and breath caught as the familiar feelings for this person swept over her. The warmth and love that filled her brought tears to her eyes and constricted her throat as she waited for the feelings to pass.

"All right. Let me start again. Now listen closely, Gabrielle." The voice gentled as a strong hand was placed on Gabrielle's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

The blue eyes didn't shift from Gabrielle's face as the strong hands once more moved through an intricate pattern of moving shells around that hid a small stone.

"Now, which one?" She asked again when she stilled her hands.

Gabrielle hadn't been watching the shells as they were moved around. She found she couldn't take her eyes off of the blue ones that were open to her gaze.

"Which one would you choose?" She asked the tall warrior softly.

"None." Was her answer.

"Then why play the game?" Gabrielle blinked suddenly forcing her attention back to the shell game.

"I don't unless I have to. You are the one who asked me about the game. I am merely demonstrating it."

"Well, when you have to play it then?"

"Then…I supply my own shells, stone…and…" The women leaned close to Gabrielle and whispered in her ear. "distractions.

A giggle worked its way up and Gabrielle put a hand over her mouth to stifle it. The breath of the tall women tickled her ear as she thought, that was so typical. Gabrielle closed her eyes and savored the shared moment.

When she opened her eyes she was back in the castle with her back against the warm wall. It was dark with only blackness around her. She knew it was the castle by the smell. Tiredly Iaia got up and wrapping the covers around her felt her way to the open window. There was a strong breeze but it wasn't blowing into her window. The wind was coming from another direction. She could hear flags snapping in the wind. She sniffed the air and thought she there was the hint of rain in the air. She sighed. It'll make the roads muddier but at least the snow will melt.

Iaia sat on the edge of the pallet and rolled back onto it pressing her back up against the warm wall. She closed her eyes again and went to sleep thinking about her friends and hoping she could come up with a solution to their dilemma. She doubted Labducus would release her companions. They were witnesses to his disrespect to the Muses and Athena, whose protection they were traveling under…not to mention Gaia's. Gaia. A smile appeared on her lips as she slipped deeper into sleep.

Iaia was running up a green slope that was dotted with flowers. She had a bouquet of some flowers she had picked in one hand and in the other she had her father's hand . He had taken her out to the spring meadow to watch the sun light up the mountain tops that were to the west of her village.

Iaia turned to look at her beloved guardian and in his place was a silver wolf with golden eyes that turned luminescent as the sun's rays glittered in them. Iaia blinked at the change, aware of her small child's hands clutching the coarse coat.

The figure changed again to an old woman that was leaning on her staff. The figure gestured to Iaia to sit on the grass next to her. For the rest of the dream Iaia listened to stories the old woman had to tell, fascinated by the stories and the colors whirling around her head and shoulders as the drama in the stories unfolded.

****

Iaia nearly jumped out of her skin on hearing a metal bar being pulled across metal, waking her from a deep sleep.

The door was opened and a child came in with a trencher of food. Behind him was a guard with a steaming cup of something. Iaia didn't recognize the aroma.

"Morning." Iaia mumbled through dry lips.

Neither said anything and the child didn't lift her or his eyes toward Iaia at all. The guard cuffed the child out of the room once the trencher was set on the table.

The door was closed with a bang and the metal bar once more scraped back into place.

"Great. I'm going to have to talk to myself for company." She sighed resignedly. She moved to the bucket and did her morning ritual.

Iaia looked over the food wondering if there was anything that would harm her. As if that was her chief worry. Unfortunately her growling stomach won over her caution and she ate everything, bread, warm cereal and the cut fruit on the side. She returned to the edge of her pallet sipping the warm beverage and reviewing her options.

So, what do I know? Labducus approached me with a deal. Why? We're at his mercy, in his castle, with probably no one knowing where we are…and he still offers me a choice. Why? Why? What advantage do we have that I can't see?

Iaia rubbed her forehead. A depression threatened to move over her as she realized she was back to having someone dictate to her what she was to use her skills for. The despair that the young artist had experienced after having been informed that she was not only being married off to the older suitor she detested but was to paint what he saw fit for sale moved over her like a suffocating blanket. Her beloved father had not asked her but assumed what he was doing was best for her.

Iaia closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her as she felt the deadness creep into her heart. Everything was black around her and there was no where to go. A tear squeezed out from one of the tightly shut lids and wet the dirty stone floor.

What is this! Iaia straightened and let the new sensation take over her. It felt like her heart was touched by a tender loving hand, which massaged it like one would a tight shoulder. She wondered as a smile curved her lips and she imaged a pair of blue concerned eyes smiling at her. The warmth from her heart moved out to other parts of her body and she squeezed her arms around herself as a bubbly feeling threatened to burst out of her in the form of laughter.

"Yea, I'll write your drama Labducus, but it's going to be one Hades of a lesson for your audience." She whispered gleefully.

She rose from the pallet and checked out the writing supplies. Nodding to herself she sat down and wrote out what her conditions for the writing of the drama would be. Oh, yea. He will have his storyteller, but he didn't say for how long…now did he?" She was humming to herself as she rolled the short scroll up to hand to the guard on his next visit. Meanwhile, she wanted to start her writing. The sooner it was finished, the sooner they would all be out of this creepy place. She had no doubt he would accept the conditions. She figured the one most crucial point neither men had mentioned in the deal was that it had to be voluntary…Bacchus wanted to hurt the goddesses by showing them that their followers willingly went over to him. Wait until he sees what this drama will be giving to his followers!

From what Agnes had told her, when the players become involved in the telling of the drama, they were channels of the sacred energy from the Muses that moved into their audience. The audience would forget who they were during the telling of the drama and relive the life of the characters and be blessed with wisdom from the message that was being imparted. Like the priestesses from Demeter's temple reenacting the fertilization of the living after winter in the form of orgies. Iaia looked up from her scratching of the pen across the parchment and thought about the older priestess in their age-old practice. She shook her head and decided that type of participation wasn't something she wanted to do. Storytelling, that was her thing. Take an audience and capture them in the moments her words and gestures wove and bring to them…

I am a storyteller! The excitement she felt sent shivers up and down her. Iaia pondered this. I'm more excited about being a storyteller than a painter. She thought about it for a moment. Hmm. One paints with mixtures taken from various plants and types of dirt and the other uses words to paint from various types of…I guess dirt from peoples lives as well as…Iaia shook her head. Her thoughts were going everywhere. She needed to concentrate on her story.

It was the story of Medusa disguised under another name, to protect the innocent and guilty. That thought brought a smile to her lips as she continued to scratch the pen head across the scroll.

A guard had entered and distractedly Iaia had given him the scroll and gone back to her writing. She wasn't conscious of the trencher and warm soup that was placed on her pallet nor of the fresh cold air that breezed through the window she kept open. Every now and then she sniffed the air to think but was back quickly to putting it down on parchment.

Tiredly Iaia paused and rolled her tired head around on her shoulders to loosen the muscles up. Putting her quill down she turned to look at the small room that she had forgotten she was in. Her stomach grumbled and she smiled at the reminder.

She heard the bolt being drawn back and she looked up from the bread she was thoughtfully chewing on.

"Labducus wants to know how the writing is going?"

"Fine. I will need material for the masks and my players. They need to make the masks they will be using."

The guard nodded. "I will tell him."

Iaia smiled. Labducus' didn't know what he was getting himself into. Challenge the Muses will he? Insult Athena, whom everyone knows is our protector on this journey, heh? You just don't know what you and your buddy Bacchus have gotten into. Laughing to herself she finished her small meal, by her standards, and went back to the desk to continue her writing.

****

"By winged harpies!" Erica exhaled as Eleanor quietly read the directions the guard had handed her. They had been imprisoned in a small area that was neither uncomfortable nor comfortable. By their guess it was one of the rooms Labducus had groups of slaves stay until they were sold or readied to be sent to a city to be sold.

"She wants us to play this?" Berik asked furious. "If we play a Bacchae drama, we become one of his!"

Eleanor read the parchment again. She knew there had to be something more here. A slow smile appeared on her face as she picked out phrases that brought to mind one of their earlier dramas.

"Hold it." She said softly to her angry friends that were all angry about the request.

"Did you read what the story is about?"

"Yea, some priestess that succumbs to Bacchus on a temple…"

"What is she up to?" Whispered Kynthia worried. Kynthia clutched the flower bud of the Yoni that she had discovered in the pocket of the cloak Iaia had given her. She could feel an energy pulsing from the bud as if it were alive. She had intended on telling the others of her discovery but was waiting for the opportunity. She didn't trust the walls and there always seemed to be a guard near making sure they did not talk for long between each other. Maybe their jailer feared they would plot an escape.

Kynthia and Eleanor were experienced in the making of masks and performing in the sacred dramas, after all, that was why they were on Lesbos for the Festival of the Muses in the first place. Eleanor looked over the characters that Iaia had created and nodded to herself as she thought of who would be what player.

"Okay." She nodded to Erica and Berik. "You know that each player must create their own mask, right?"

The two Amazons nodded.

"Well…this is how we go about preparing for the creation of the mask." She started. "I will give you each a character, she has it so that there are two main characters, one goddess and one chorus." She paused. "Kynthia, you are the goddess, Berik you are the chorus and …"

"Wait a minute!" Erica objected. "You expect me to…you expect me to be this Tages fellow?"

Eleanor beamed at her. "Very good!" She leaned toward her lover. "I was afraid you may have thought I wanted you to be Metheia."

"I'm not going to roll around in mindless passion wantonly ravaging you in front of an audience that is probably going to be more involved with their own rutting in the benches!"

"There you go. They'll be too busy with their own business to see what…"

"That's not the point!" Erica paced the small area agitated. Since they received word that Iaia had given them directions on the drama, their spy had left and left them to their discussions in privacy. Or, so it seemed. "My passion for you, which you have pointed out at Menigines's castle, is from Aphrodite not some physical release with no commitment or honoring of the sacredness of our…"

"Hey, hey. Come here." Eleanor pulled her upset lover toward her. "Listen to me." She took the shaking hands into hers and pulled them into her lap. "That's the difference between Bacchae drama and that born from the spirit of the Muses. This drama that Iaia has written will carry the spirit of the Muses, if we keep that in our minds while we are creating the masks and while we act the parts. The Bacchae will not enter us unless we become mindless in our taking of another. We cannot be bitten because we are under the protection of too many goddesses. Only through our action can it happen and…it will not happen."

She looked up at Berik. "The role of the chorus is the group conscious. You are to be the spirit of the sacredness of love as opposed to the lust without this sacred passion. Before you set to create your mask, you must think, dream and become this spirit." She turned to Kynthia. "I gave to you the goddess. She punishes not because of the desecration of her temple but how it was done. Her punishment is not eternal for it only needs the one who betrayed her to understand what she had in effect done."

She turned to Berik. "You have been given a difficult role for you are…what betrays love…and I am the betrayer of…loyalty." She watched Berik for a moment before looking down at her hands. "It seems the Bard has been given a difficult writing task…and a difficult task to assign the roles to." Eleanor turned to the others.

"I believe and trust that the spirit of the Muses is directing her. And because I do, I believe that we shall not be dragged down into the desecration of our oath to Gaia and our oaths to those we serve now."

"You…I have seen how the spirit of the character moves you…" Erica told her in a trembling voice. "How can you be so sure…?"

"Because I have faith in what you and I have. That it is not based on just a physical need or wanting." Eleanor waited. "Don't you believe that?"

Erica took a deep breath. "I…don't know. After being in Menigines castle and feeling the…" Erica shook her head. "I just don't know where my feelings for you are coming at this time."

"So…you are frightened."

Erica nodded.

Eleanor looked at the other two. Their faces said the same about their roles. To be one with the spirit of the Muses meant that they had to take on the power that was not theirs and to channel it to their audience. Could they, in their fear of the Bacchae type energy in this castle, overcome the fear enough to put the right energy into their mask, the symbol of their transformation?

"It is time for us to prepare ourselves." Eleanor told them.

Chapter 7

Xena/Aleka sat in the hot hut letting the visions and feelings that came with them sink into their being then was pushed out as unwanted toxins in sweat that coated the body. An unclear form of an old woman, naked as they, threw water upon the hot stones, letting some of the water hit their sweltering forms as a fresh blanket of heat followed.

Xena looked at the shadowed form of Aleka in the shelter and found memories of her life coming readily to her. Aleka had the same experience, where every time she looked at the powerfully built woman across from her she experienced episodes out of her life that were as powerful as the figure. It was incredible who she became in another life, she thought bemused. A warrior in both lives but living with different philosophies.

"It is time." The old quavering voice of their guide told them.

They began their crawl out of the small shelter with Xena reaching the small opening first. Aleka's form melted into hers as she exited. Xena felt Aleka's amusement at the familiarity of the merging of selves as she experienced the same. When they had separated during the purifying ceremony they had both experienced a sense of loss as both had become accustomed to each others presence and mental thoughts.

Small piles of colored dirt were just outside the hut and a circle was already drawn in a red chalk with one side of the circle open. Aleka/Xena knew what it was for and calmly stepped into the center and sat down with her legs bent and her wrists dangling over her knees. The old women started a design around the seated figure humming a tune and occasionally howling and yapping as if to make a statement.

Aleka closed her eyes and focused on a wolf's image. The She wolf. She felt the heart beat…the scent of the land around her…the texture of the winter earth under her paws…the outside breeze ruffled her thick winter coat. She lifted her muzzle to the air and growled low in her throat as the smell of another predator species came to her.

The breeze that was stiff, chilly to some, was alive with smells and carried many messages the She wolf easily interpreted. She was sniffing for familiar scents. The muddy road the two legged's used was vacant at the moment. It had been recently filled with a small group of trader's pulling their wagons laden with their treasures. They came from the two legged's city that was filled with too many of it's own to be comfortable.

The silver wolf felt the change in the breeze as her sensitive whiskers quivered from the change in direction. With the change came the smell of Amazons and…priestesses and…others. The She wolf moved from behind the tree she was behind to another to get a better view of the group that was not moving along the road.

What could have been mistaken for a snarl was a grin, as the silver wolf recognized who was in the party. They were looking for a place to set up a cold camp. The She wolf knew exactly where a safe place was. Should she show them? Why not?

"Diana's bow! Will ya look at that thing!" Lily exclaimed when she spotted the gray wolf sitting just out of shooting range in the forest.

"Wait! Don't do anything!" Agnes prodded her mount closer to the edge of the trees to get a better look. She remembered Iaia's description of the She wolf that had helped her in her visit to the dream world.

"It's the great She wolf." Camila whispered reverently. "She really lives!"

"Hmmm?" Agnes asked trying to make out the size in the shaded area it sat. Yes, it was sitting. Is She laughing at us?

"The great She wolf from Gaia's times. It was the initiator of the shaman into another realm of teaching." Alala explained in a low voice.

"Can you talk to her?" Lily asked in a voice that didn't hide her impatience. She was cold, tired, in pain, and wished the journey would take a break from stress for a day or two.

Alala had pulled her mount alongside of Lily and Agnes. "Right." She shook her head in disbelief at Lily. "The She wolf decides who she will talk to and when."

The wolf seemed to have reached her limit in patience for she rose to her feet and sauntered further into the cover of the forest.

"I think she wants us to follow her." Agnes guessed and before anyone could argue she kicked her horse into a fast pace into the forest after the silver wolf.

"An omen, do you think?" Clorinda asked as the others followed.

Her guards became attentive to their surroundings as they nervously looked about and overhead as the trees closed over their heads.

Lily cursed softly under her breath as she followed closely behind Agnes.

"I always wondered if the tales of the She wolf were true." Camila smiled across to Alala who was riding next to her. Alala absently stroked the feathers of the disturbed owl that was resting on her perch from Alala's saddle.

As they entered the forest cover she looked up into the gray sky looking for her gray falcon. It was making lazy spirals high above them, almost out of sight. It had not seen the shape of the wolf.

Occasionally the large gray wolf would look back to make sure Agnes and the others were following.

The silver wolf waited by the entrance to the cave patiently while the rest of the group caught up. There were seven of Clorinda's guards, eight from the circle of friends and the silver wolf. They would be able to fit in the cave and still not disturb the figure in the center of the sacred circle.

The two legged's needed light which when a torch was lit and Agnes and Lily entered first, following the She wolf, the sudden light made the silver wolf turn her head away.

The fire in the center of the cave floor had gone out, but the warmth was still radiating from the stone walls.

"It's the Named!" Agnes was so happy she wanted to cry and by the sounds from around her the others of the circle of friends were also.

Agnes looked at Clorinda, "We need to not disturb her or the circle she is in."

Clorinda nodded. "We are familiar with rituals and…" she nodded toward the wolf, "their spirit forms." She nodded to her guards who gave a nod of agreement with their mistress.

"What are we going to do now?" Alala asked.

"We wait." Agnes told them all. "Our dreams are our source of information. If the Named does not come out of her circle tonight or tomorrow, then the message we get in our dreams should point us in the direction we need to take."

"All right. Let's get some food and then rest." Lily nodded to the women. Brona and I will go out with some of your men to see if we can scare up some fresh meat." She told Clorinda.

Clorinda nodded and let her captain pick the men.

"We have enough dried foods to make a nice soup." Catherine added. Just the thought of a nice warm meal made her stomach growl and from the sounds echoing hers, it was a unanimous thought.

****

The silver wolf had lain down to sleep while the others ate what the four hunters had killed. The soup warmed them gave them a full stomach. Something they hadn't had for the last two days as they followed the trail of the missing members of the circle and Clorinda's Sacred Yoni or the Flower, as her guards called it.

That night the women from the circle and Clorinda dreamed. And the silver wolf lay at one end of the cave watching over the women for a while. Content she got up and left the cave through another exit not wanting to alert the guards.

It was time she visited those that the two legged's had taken into their crowded city behind the cold dead stone walls.

*****

Iaia/Gabrielle looked out the window in the small cell studying the pattern of stars and remembering the fun she had with another identifying shapes in the patterns.

I've failed you, she whispered to the dark haired warrior whose name still eluded her. "I've been drawn to another's arms and I…I can't say that I care for her more than you or you more than her. She stared at the top of the ramparts to the castle that she could see if she stood up, which she had unconsciously.

What am I going to do? This play is as real to me as…" she couldn't go on with the thought. "Who am I going to betray?

What in Artemis's moon is that?" she leaned forward to get a better view of a form that appeared on the top of the ramparts. When she blinked her eyes it was gone.

Gabrielle sat back at the desk. She had enough parchment and ink to continue writing though she had finished with the drama Labducus had ordered. She pushed aside the parchment he had sent back to her signed with his seal that he had accepted her conditions to the writing of the play.

Gabrielle had the feeling she was being watched and looked up and out the window. Her breath caught as a pair of blue…no…she blinked and looked again…golden brown eyes stared back at her.

Gabrielle started to giggle as she thought the curling up of the lips of the large silver wolf was a smile. For that moment she felt a wonderful warmth wrap around her heart.

"And to whom do I owe this visit to?" She asked amused. She tried to remember which god the wolf acted as a messenger to when she noted the wolf shook its head and moved closer. Iaia stepped back suddenly frightened as the large figure squeezed effortlessly though the window slit and jumped to the floor. It was now between her and her pallet.

"Ahh. Nice wolf. Nice wolf. Now you wouldn't want to eat a little Bard like me. After all, there are plenty of larger bodies…" Gabrielle stopped and slapped her forehead. "What am I saying…I don't want to see you eat anyone!" She shuddered at remembering what it was like watching a hunting pack pull down a buck and having Xena explain the importance of the balance in the wilds. The buck she told Gabrielle was old and wouldn't have made it through the winter season anyway…Xena! That was the name of…

Gabrielle turned to face the wolf. "Xena is Aleka, the Named. Isn't she?" She asked the wolf expecting, strangely enough, an answer.

Gabrielle got a smile from the silver muzzle. Gabrielle moved past the silver wolf and sat on her pallet. "You are Xena." She told the wolf.

The noise from the wolf made Gabrielle smile. "I think I get it now." Gabrielle patted the space next to her and the wolf obligingly hopped up and circled a few times before settling down next to her, and placing her head in Gabrielle's lap. Gabrielle rested her hand on the furry head and stroked it gently.

For the rest of the night, Gabrielle told the She wolf her plan to get the five women free and herself. Sometime before daybreak Gabrielle had laid to sleep with the wolf next to her.

"Gabrielle, I knew you could figure a way out of this. The rest of us will help from the outside of the castle. We'll be waiting for you in the forest twenty stadiums past the tree that has your mark on it."

In her dreaming mind, Gabrielle was looking up into the cerulean blue eyes of the woman she trusted with not just her life but her soul. She reached up and touched her cheek tenderly. "Thank you." She whispered back.

Gabrielle sighed. Conscious once again that she was in cell in Labducus' castle. Opening her eyes frightened that the She wolf would be caught, she found no one but herself. Sitting up she looked toward the window slit where a cold draft was coming in. Looking closer she saw something flutter, caught in the rough stone.

Gabrielle got up to walk over to the window for a closer look. Reaching out she pulled from the stone some gray hairs intermixed with some black. Clutching it to remind herself that her dream was real she felt an immense sense of gladness pour over her. Now she was certain that they would all escape from Labducus and his master's trap.

*****

Three days after their capture and following Gabrielle's completion of the drama the players were ready. They had withdrawn from each other as well as from any contact from others and created their masks.

Gabrielle could feel an energy in the castle that was subtle and very powerful. It wasn't the same as when she entered. Her stomach felt settled and she was at peace with herself. She had taken those few days she had alone to remember her life as Iaia and with Gabrielle's wisdom and compassion she came to terms with Iaia's guilt and her own in dealing with her mixed emotions and loyalty for Aleka and Xena.

Labducus and his guards came for her on the day scheduled for the performance. She was sitting on the floor with her legs bent, feet over her thighs, hands loosely held across her lap and eyes rolled up into her upper lid. She felt a movement from down the hall before they had arrived in front of her door. There was a change in the guards demeanor, very slight. Was the change in the energy from the player's preparations? Something told her there was more going on.

"Hey!" The guard summoned her in a deep voice.

Iaia took a slow breath in and while releasing it she opened her eyes. She straightened her legs out and slowly got to her feet. She could feel something surrounding her that was like a buffer from whatever Labducus and his guards attitude was trying to elicit from her…she felt nothing from them. Iaia didn't think but rather felt herself in the place she usually was in as she painted. It was a soft golden place…a safe place…a place she was able to feel alive in for inspiration. It was a place Gabrielle was familiar with as she wrote and now she knew it was her special place from another life too.

The first time Iaia was shown the entertainment room, her stomach had become constricted in knots and those that were lying about had dark colors about them. Now there were benches lined up in neat rows and filled with an unsuspecting audience...same dark clouds over everyone, in varying colors. Iaia was seated between two large guards of Labducus' while Labducus surrounded himself with his personal slaves and friends. Smiling to herself Iaia watched the play unfold.

Her grateful family dedicated a female child to a virgin goddess, the chorus started. She was a beautiful golden child and was loved by the goddess. However her preoccupation with her importance grew as her golden beauty faded into womanhood. She willingly fell under the seduction of a young man sent by one of the gods on a dare that the young priestess, favored and loved by her chosen goddess, would abandon her duties for the sake of an infatuation. The goddess did not believe her beloved young priestess would so easily be swayed to betray all that she had held sacred for the love of a mere mortal and for something so shallow as lust. However, the young man was good and as the seduction neared an end, the god that had made the wager, took the place of the young man and daringly ravished the young priestess on the altar of her goddess.

The fury of the goddess at both the desecration of the fellow god and the betrayal of her priestess brought a heavy punishment on the priestess. She was a virgin goddess and expected the same of her priestesses. To knowingly defile her altar with their lust was an unforgivable transgression!

The young priestess whose childhood golden beauty had faded to a woman who was fair to look upon had become a face that when looked upon by any man would turn them into stone. The young man was heard of no more and the god who defiled the temple of a fellow god spent a long month as a mortal as none of the others on Mount Olympus wanted the habit of defiling each others temples to catch on.

The players moved slowly and as the chorus explained why and admonished the young for their inability to take responsibility for their choices whenever they would secretly meet, the audience would groan as if they knew what was to happen to the two unwise youth. The drama continued to unfold. In the final scene, when the goddess appeared, her mask was a shining white on one side and a dull black on the other. She showed her white side to the audience when she first appeared on the stage but when she gave her judgement to the priestess who was defiant to the end, she showed her black side.

The audience was quiet for a long moment as the lone voice of the chorus finished the tale of what became of the young man who misused the gifts of Aphrodite. The voice behind the fearsome mask whispered what would become of those that misused the Dionysian Mysteries for Bacchus type behavior...the passion of love for lust for the sake of lust.

The players assembled at the front of the stage, as was their custom. Iaia rose to join them. They propped up their masks on the stage floor so the audience could see the characters and contemplate as they sat in silence. Quietly the players and Iaia descended down the stairs of the stage and walked out, no one moving to accompany them or stop them. They left their audience in a state of consciousness that was neither awake nor asleep. It was where the illumination of thoughts wavered between confrontation of one's soul and one's deeds.

The women kept walking down the hall and out into the courtyard they had been first brought to. The stables were their first stop where their horses and driver of the sled was. Upon seeing them, he asked no questions but quickly help ready their mounts and out of the gates that were open for the usual business of the day they rode. Calmly and without rush.

Iaia's hands on the reins were sweating and a snort from Argo reminded her to relax her hold around her belly. The women who had their warm players cloaks about them didn't want to take time to return to their cells for their warmer cloths. That would be carrying their luck, too far.

As they finally were out of sight of the castle the women couldn't help knee their mounts to a faster pace.

"Oh goddess!" Erica breathed. "I can't believe it was that easy."

The old man riding the back of the sleigh only let out a short laugh and mumbled something about the Flower's protection.

"There's a mark up the road that the others left. We are to get off the road and head for the forest at that point." Iaia had tears falling from her face with relief.

The women picked up a faster pace afraid that Labducus would chase after them.

"Look! Up there in the snow!" Eleanor pointed to a scattering of dark shapes in the snow.

"What…?"

"They're masks!" Gari shouted unbelieving.

"That's how she did it!" Iaia murmured in amazement.

"Who did it?" Kynthia asked clutching under her cloak the Sacred Yoni that she and Berik had joined before the drama.

"The Named. She appeared to me in a dream and told me that she and the others would help from the outside." She didn't want to share with them the more intimate truth that the Named had kept her company for the night. That was to be something told in a story with a lot of thought and time spent before telling it.

"Of course." Eleanor nodded understanding. "In some of the older villages in Macedonia, the people surround their village with masks drawing the spirit of the mask to protect the village. They create the mask at different times of the month, depending on what the mask is representing. For fertility, depending upon whether it's a male child or female they want, they make it at that time of the moon phase. If it's for the planting of seeds, they create it at the full moon."

Argo and Iaia must have spotted the gray wolf in the shadows above them., for Argo halted the moment Iaia spotted the silver sheen in the fading light. There she waited, standing expectantly. The great bushy tail wavered a bit when Iaia's eyes caught hers.

"We go that way." She told the others and Argo promptly started up the side of the road through the snow.

"Hey!" Erica was going to grab Iaia's arm but Eleanor behind her merely pushed her horse forward.

"I have a feeling…" she joked to Erica, "that, that's who we should be following." She patted Erica's thigh as she passed her. "I knew you would make a good repentant sinner."

Erica took her eyes for a moment off Iaia's hurrying figure. "Repentant sinner?" She smirked. "Who said I was a sinner and repentant?" She leaned to take a nip at Eleanor's cheek. Their Bacchus type behavior on the floor as the priestess and the god was so real that both women had thought in their own minds that they would not be able to stop! But they did! Somehow the intensity of the lust ceased as they heard their cue to move on to the next scene.

"I sure hope there's going to be a change of dry cloths, warm food and good company." Gari mumbled as followed behind Kynthia. She took a look back to make sure the large horse and it's passenger and baggage were not in difficulty. But the large horse made it seem easy as he followed the others effortlessly up the slope.

"Over here." Iaia called out. "There's no snow up here."

The others joined her.

"Did you happen to notice that there are no footprints of that…" Erica nervously nodded her head to the wolf that had looked back at the group she was leading.

"She is the Named." Iaia told them confidently, daring them to refute her. Would Xena get upset if she revealed that much, she wondered.

"Holy Gaia!" Eleanor slapped her head. "The great SHE wolf. She was one of Gaia's messengers."

Kynthia was clutching the Sacred Yoni under her cloak. "I think we need to find shelter soon." She told the others. She glanced at Berik.

The Sacred Yoni was changing temperature in her hand. When they had first put the two together they were frightened because it became a shimmering red with white sparks flying about them, energizing their bodies where the sparks fell. They had watched in both fear and amazement when the sparks fell on each of the masks and for a moment looked like they were going to set them on fire. But the colorful display stopped with no apparent change in the room they were in, their costumes, or them.

Berik decided it was better that Kynthia carried the Sacred Yoni while she guarded her. After all, she was an Amazon and Kynthia was a priestess. Neither questioned what had drawn them to the small room that Labducus had given them for storing their finished masks and robes until the drama. The guards did not enter the room nor did they challenge them when they left. What had caused them to reveal to each other that they had their parts of the Sacred Yoni? The Spirit of the Sacred Yoni, of course, they both believed that without question.

Now, Kynthia was concerned for the heat from the Yoni was increasing to making it uncomfortable to hold. Berik caught her glance and held back to walk her mount beside her. Iaia resumed their fast walk after the form of the wolf as it moved quietly and quickly through the forest. The women had to duck some of the low hanging branches but it seemed the She wolf, the Named, was not up to mischief and led them where branches were not so low.

"The Yoni is becoming too hot!" Kynthia whispered in a frightened voice to Berik when she was alongside her.

"What does that mean?" Berik asked.

"I don't know."

"Do you want me to carry it for a while?"

Kynthia shook her head. "What if something happened to draw attention to us. It must be carried in silence."

"To it's next home." Berik nodded. "Just let me know…" she pulled out a strip of cloth that she had used in her role as the chorus. "Wrap this around your hand. It should take some of the heat off."

Berik walked ahead of Kynthia blocking the view of the others from Kynthia wrapping of her hand which showed a red spot on the palm from where she had it resting.

"Hey." Iaia called out softly to the gray figure she was following. "I think we need to take a break. Argo is getting a bit tired."

The golden horse snorted as if it were an insult. But Iaia was thinking the riders were probably weary and needed a break. They had been traveling for a candlemark and the winter night was fast approaching.

The wolf stopped and looked behind her. The two legged's looked tired. But her energy was running out and she needed to return to her physical form. She turned her head back toward where she needed to get them and lifted her muzzle to the air. She let out a yowl and then listened for an answer. One of the Amazon's was on this side of the cave on patrol. They were looking for dinner. The thought of fresh meat made the silver wolf's stomach growl in anticipation.

A tentative wolf cry was returned. She again lifted her face to the sky and called. The reply was closer. The wolf turned to Iaia and the others and waited.

"Someone's over there." Iaia whispered and pointed toward the direction the two legged Amazon was approaching. She wasn't using the trees.

Iaia turned to look at the gray wolf and …it was gone.

Erica pointed to the various places she wanted the others to hide.

It seemed like a candlemark had gone by and no one appeared or moved in the dark forest.

"Who goes there?" Iaia finally asked. She knew there was someone nearby for she could smell the campfire on them and the thought of food made her stomach growl.

"A very big grouchy and hungry Amazon." Lily's voice came back to them laughing.

****

Clorinda's guards formed a protective watch over them as the circle of friends and Clorinda readied themselves for the symbolic preparation of the masks their dreams had shown them collectively on what to do.

They were all silent as they went into the forest to gather their material. Agnes and Grace prepared mixtures of colors that everyone would use to bind, bless, and color their trance inspired masks.

It took a half a day to complete the masks and the rest of the daylight was spent spreading the mask around the city of Labdu without being seen by the carts of traders going in and out of the city.

Tired from their work they had all returned to the cave. They sat around the Named who was still in her trance state. Agnes started a chant, using a hollowed log for a drum and the others followed. For the entire night the women chanted, some breaking off at different times to give their voices a rest or to drink the herb tea one of Clorinda's guards prepared.

Clorinda's eyes suddenly opened. She felt the familiar burning in her heart, not painful but a yearning. It was the same thing she felt when she found the Sacred Yoni, the Flower. It was calling her again. She knew patience and how to wait for it to return to her. She knew the Spirit of the Sacred Yoni would show her what needed to be done next.

Agnes' eyes had also opened and she knew they had done what had to be done. She raised her hands and clapped them together. First softly so as not to startle anyone then as eyes opened she gave a sharp clap to break the collective trance.

"We have completed what we need to do."

They all glanced at the still figure of the Named as they all slowly rose.

"How long is she going to be there?" Lily asked as she stretched her sore limbs.

"Until the rest are here." Agnes told her. She patted Lily's sore side gently. "How are your injuries?"

"Hardly feel them at all." She caught the worried look in her eyes. "Agnes, I've been in a lot of places that were not pretty. I have to admit, only a few were as bad as…"

"That was when you were younger and full of …"

"Hey," She jabbed Agnes in the arm, "I'm not that old." Lily looked at the group in the cave. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry and not for any of that weak soup stuff. I'd like something has big chunks of meat."

The guards nodded in approval. It was early in the morning and everyone was tired, but hungrier.

"Four of us can go hunting while the rest of you can get more wood. Looks like we're running out." Lily noted. "We've been preoccupied with other things." She spoke more to herself than the others. But the captain of Clorinda's guards nodded approvingly. He pointed to two of his men who had a bet going that they could out hunt the Amazons. Lily, who was only getting her strength back was not happy that Brona took the challenge half seriously. Now she was ready to show them. Lily loved bets that challenged her Amazon skills.

"I'll go too." She looked at Brona. "You want to go?"

"Sure. I saw some tracks earlier up toward the creek. I'll go off that way. Patroclus, you want to go huntin' with me again?"

The older man laughed. He removed his sword and armor so they could move quieter and quicker. He picked up his bow and quivers and looked to his partner who was also dressed the same. "We'll be out until the sun sets." Brona told the others before they all split up.

Brona liked Patroclus for he was a man of few words, knew his tracking and didn't mind hunting with an Amazon. Their hunting habits were similar.

Lily was paired with Dante. He loved to brag which made for bad first impressions. It was his intention to mislead as the others soon found out. He was serious and Clorinda's second. His knowledge of the area they were hunting in had an advantage.

It was they who had made the killing and signaled to the others so that no more than what they needed was slain. It was just before sunset. The others probably slept while they were huntin, Lily thought. That meant she didn't have to worry about taking guard duty. It meant she got to spend the night full of good food and sleep in warmth, next to Agnes.

Dante hoisted the gutted animal onto his back and nodded to Lily.

"Are you going to be alright back to the cave?" Lily asked.

"Why?" Dante grunted under the weight of their dinner.

"I want to take a quick look along the road."

"Hmmp."

Lily took that as he was fine and she changed her course. She was still pretty far from the road when she heard a howl. Her heart started to beat fast. No wolf howls in the day. It had to be She wolf.

She stopped and faced to where she thought the call came from. She returned a call and started toward the call as fast as she could quietly travel. Another one came. She again returned the call. Cautiously she approached a small clearing in the forest. She waited for what seemed like a candlemark behind a tree waiting. She knew someone was out there.

Iaia's unmistakable clear voice brought a great deal of relief to her as she felt a heavy burden fall from her shoulders. Lily stepped out from behind her hiding place.

***

Aleka opened her eyes and took a slow breath to regain her senses as…who the Hades am I anyway? She grumbled to herself. It seemed like it had been a long time…no, that was something else. Another time. Aleka put a hand to her head to focus on who and where she was. She could hear sounds of movement around her. I thought I was alone.

"Aleka?" A soft familiar voice called her.

It was disappointing. Why was she disappointed in hearing the voice?

Aleka took another breath and focused on the face that was crouched across from her.

"Agnes." She whispered hoarsely.

"You need to open the circle." She instructed.

Oh, right.

Once opened Grace and Agnes helped the weakened Aleka from her sacred circle to a sleeping fur draped over a saddle.

"How are you doing?" Agnes asked as she busied herself with preparing a tea to replenish the fire energy in the Named.

"Tired." She croaked. A grin appeared on her face as she thought that instead of speech she had almost answered her with a growl. Not really different from Xena's surly replies, she thought amused.

Agnes steadied the cup to her lips as she weakly sipped the warm mixture. After arranging the fur coverings around her Agnes went back to the fire to check on the wood around it they were drying.

Clorinda looked up from the fire she and Grace were working around.

She felt the energy of the Sacred Yoni as if it sent out a strong beat. The others had also stopped what they were doing. They all felt something.

The Named sat up. "It's here." She whispered hoarsely.

"What's here?" Agnes asked from the fire?

"The Sacred Flower, the Yoni." Clorinda informed them.

At that moment Dante appeared at the cave entrance with his catch and the others moved to help with the preparation.

"Where is Lily?" Clorinda asked Dante as he stretched his cramped muscles.

"She went to check the road. Do you want me to…"

"No. We will wait. Can you feel it Dante?" She asked in a low voice?

Dante stood for a moment stilling his mind. "Yes." He said surprised.

The meat was cooking and everyone's stomach was growling from the aroma of the food while they were anxious from the feelings of the energy they could now feel and not know when the source of it was going to reveal itself.

It was more than a candlemark later when a guard at the entrance to their cave stuck his head in. "The Flower is here, Lady Clorinda." He told her excitedly.

Lily was the first to duck her head inside and while the others held their breath, figures draped in ceremonial costumes entered behind her. Iaia's face was recognized as she straightened from the entrance and pushed her hair out of her face.

The noise was deafening as everyone was shouting and hugging and trying to exchange information.

Iaia made her rounds of hugging and laughing all the while keeping her eyes on the figure that was leaning tiredly against a saddle draped with a sleeping fur. Finally she made her way to the blue eyes that were shining in the dark interior of the cave.

She knelt slowly at the edge of the fur. "Thank you..." She whispered. "Named."

Aleka smiled. "I'm glad it worked out." She told her softly.

Iaia took a deep breath. "How long more of this journey?" Her face matched what Xena was feeling.

Aleka chuckled. "Let's see what Lady Clorinda has to say."

"It's about the Sacred Yoni."

"Yes."

"Kynthia and Berik had it. They put the parts together just before the performance and …it somehow gave more meaning to everything." She told Aleka in a low voice.

Aleka nodded. "It now has to return to Lady Clorinda so she can finish her task."

Iaia nodded. "I understand now. It was meant for her city but first, we had to help change Labducus because he was a worse threat and Lady Clorinda wouldn't have been able to do it herself.

"Not him but what he was trying to bring into the city." Aleka smiled. "Are you hungry?"

"Famished."

"So am I."

****

"Well, I am stuffed!" Lily laughed and patted her stomach, "not to mention very tired."

"Isn't this the time for a story?" Eleanor poked Iaia.

"Yes. We all need to catch up on what's been happening." Iaia turned to Aleka who looked a little more refreshed after eating, though not by much. "You were the first to disappear. So you need to start."

Aleka looked up from the cup she was idly playing with. "There's not much to tell..." Aleka began in an all too familiar way to Iaia who shook her head with a smile on her face.

Following Aleka's tale, which was short and lacking in details, typical of the dark haired warrior's style, Iaia thought; Iaia told of her group's escape and then turned to the others for their input. She left out how she had over heard Berik and Kynthia's conversations, due to her still sharp hearing. Best to leave their story to them to tell.

The story telling went into the early morning hours. As tired as Lily was, she managed to doze only when her group told their part. When everyone finally made it to their sleeping furs it was with relief that, that adventure was over.

****

Aleka woke after a few candlemarks of sleep. She was sleeping on her side and cupped around a familiar figure. She smiled as she felt Gabrielle stir but only to sink deeper into slumber, pushing up against her to reassure herself that Aleka was still there. She looked toward the entrance of the cave and could see it was just before dawn. Berik and Erica were moving outside to relieve the night guards. Glancing around the dark cave Aleka could make out sleeping forms scattered about the fire that was giving off a soft glow and enough heat from the embers to keep warmth in the cave. Nodding to herself she let sleep overtake her again.

The movement of Gabrielle in her arms woke her.

Gabrielle patted her arm as she rose from under the warm covers and not quite awake, stumbled outside to take care of her morning needs.

****

"Well, what are your plans?" Clorinda asked Aleka. Aleka could feel everyone's eyes on her as she carefully poured herself another cup of tea.

"We need to resume our journey…and you need to resume yours." She turned to Kynthia.

Kynthia's face turned red for a moment.

"You still have not told us your tale." Aleka told her moving her gaze to include Berik who was staying close to Kynthia.

Kynthia looked directly at Lady Clorinda. "We have no tale that can be spoken of lightly…but I can say, Clorinda will not continue her journey without the Sacred Flower."

Clorinda nodded. "It is time for the passing of the Flower." She rose to give the standing Kynthia a hug. They both held each other for a long moment.

"Thank you again. I know you say you are from Lesbos, but I think you are all more than just players for the Muses. My people thank you though some have not shown the welcome you really deserve. Next time you pass Lapurities, we will do you better honor."

Iaia was touched and gave her a hug followed by the rest of the troupe. Aleka stood back and nodded to Clorinda instead.

Aleka could feel the influence of Xena asserting itself more. A good sign was the increase of her personal space, which Aleka didn't have need for such a wide space about her. The other was Aleka was feeling less of a connection. It was disorientating for both characters.

*****

All's Well, If It Can End Well

Clorinda's group left first as they were eager to once again approach Lappurities where they wished to make the center of Adris. Though they had left Lapurities to Labducus' mercenaries Clorinda was sure it could be returned easily to her people as Labducus would no longer be interested. He had problems in his own city and would be calling for as much help as he could.

The women checked on their horses and reloaded the cart with the trunk that Erica and Lily had ridden out to retrieve from where the four women had hid it. The sky was clear when the group left the cave and started on their last three days journey to Paeonia. However, the second morning brought cold rain and their last day was just as dreary, cold and wet. No one was in a good mood when they approached the faded wooden doors that stretched between the tall gray towers, blocking the entrance to what the chiseled stone announced as the Temple of Mecsa.

Agnes looked up into the falling gray rain to see if anyone was peering over the crenelation. It looked and felt deserted. She shifted uncomfortably in her saddle as she could feel the groups collective tension. Here was the end of their journey and there was…nothing.

Xena had a noncommittal expression on her face as she studied the crenellations on each pillar that the scared weathered gate hung between. She could sense no presence or movement, not even a breeze. The rain was falling straight down. There were no loopholes in the pillars. Xena dismounted and studied the mountainside that the two pillars had been carved out of. It didn't appear to be eroding, plenty of winter shrubs holding the earth together and a healthy growth of trees that ran up the sides of the mountain on either side of the two pillars. Even in the rain she knew scaling the sides of the mountain would not get them past the gate. The pillars were part of the mountain and the gate was flush to whatever it was covering. Either with time the mountain sealed itself, or it was originally designed that way.

Impatiently Lily had pulled her horse to the front of the gate and with the hilt of her short sword pounded on the wet wood. The sound surprised them all for it was a loud boom, as if she had been beating on a drum.

"Lily." Erica whispered under her breath. She of course was grateful Lily was hurrying this along but maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have knocked so hard.

"Goddess." Lily laughed a little abash. "If I had known it was going to sound so loud, I would have tapped."

"No one will answer." An old quavering voice told them.

Xena turned to the voice that was squatting under the cover of one of the trees, wet with an equally looking wet dog. Aleka walked closer to the form. The figure was so old Aleka couldn't tell the gender of their informant, much less hear it in the ancient voice. Looking closer she noted the sled the figure was huddled on. It appeared their adviser had no legs.

"Old one," Xena nodded in respect. "how do we enter to pay homage to the goddess?"

The old voice cackled with glee which was stopped short with a bought of coughing. The old clawed hand waved Iaia and Agnes' concerned movements to go to his or her assistance away.

"I have a small shelter up the road. Can't fit all aya," the voice chuckled, "but I'm sure ya know how to build some cover of your own."

"How do ya know we intend to stay?" Erica asked.

"Hmmmp. I can tell ya traveled a long way…" the old one took a breath, "and ya don't look the type to just turn away at a closed door."

"All right. We'll accept your hospitality and share what provisions we have." Xena told the nodding ancient head.

Iaia was thinking that this was certainly not the goddess. Her memory of the old women was not so dim that she couldn't tell the difference in meeting a divine person in disguise and meeting a lost soul in no disguise at all.

"What is your name, Old One?" Xena asked courteously.

"Ha. Hmmm. It's been so long that I have been asked to give my name…let's see…you can call me Cybele."

"Not the same Cybele from Phrygia?" Iaia asked concerned. This just can't be the legendary Queen of Phrygia who no one knew if she was alive or dead.

"Ha. You know of the stories? Hmmm. No. Perhaps you should call me then…Agdistis. Have you heard of her?"

Iaia shook her head. "Noooo. I don't think so. Who is she?"

The old woman was pulled on her sled by the dog that patiently plodded in the rain dragging her mistress behind. The water dripped off the long matted and shaggy coat. It's head was held down and the water ran down its nose onto the muddied road they were now following. About a quarter of a candlemark the dog turned down a well worn path that led into the woods that surrounded the hill.

Agdistis was right when she said her place was small. The covering from the woods kept most of the rain out but the drops that fell were big and cold. Xena found what use to be a shelter for horses. She had the women start on the repair for their own use. It would also leave the old women with more shelter than what she had. Her hut was in sad disrepair. One wall was near collapse and it seemed she only lived in one small room of what once was a three room cot. While Agnes and Grace prepared dinner, Xena and Erica inspected the wall and decided what they could do.

"It looks like it just needs a pole here in this putlog hole and a cross piece in this one here." Xena observed from the outside of the collapsed room.

"Yea. I wonder where the two cross pieces went? It's not like they're easy to make off with."

Xena looked around. "Hmm. Fire maybe. Come on. The sooner we get them cut, the sooner we can get a shelter over our heads."

She studied the roof from her position and decided that some patching was in order as well and gave that core to Brona and Camila. They both had good hands for weaving.

The women took a brief break to take warm nourishment then resumed their work not wanting to spend anymore time out in the dampness than possible. Xena had given Gabrielle instructions to get as much information from their hostess as possible, while she moved around assisting the women as they struggled with repairs in the dim light. It was dark and they were working by torchlight. The shelter for the horses was completed first and the women from that project after securing the horses in the make shift pen went over to help the women fit the poles that were finally ready. The roof was patched with woven pine needles. All that was left was cleaning the debris from the two now usable rooms.

"I'm for just sleeping on the junk, if some of it didn't smell so bad. Did some animal die in here or what?" Gari complained as she leaned up against the straightened up wall tiredly.

"You can sleep in tomorrow morning." Xena told them, as if that was a consolation.

The old woman seemed to be getting more information out of Gabrielle than the other way around, but by experience, Xena knew Gabrielle was doing more than pumping the old woman for information…she was forming a friendship, as was her nature. She never knew Gabrielle to use anyone. It was her concern that if she wanted something from someone, that she should give something in return.

Xena caught the faded eyes of the old woman that glinted in the flickering lamp light. Gabrielle had found some lamps and oil and refilled the lamps and set them so that the small room was reflecting a warm glow. The old woman had hoisted herself up onto a pallet that acted as her chair and bed. The room had been cleaned and rearranged, she noticed. There were some things that once were out of the old woman's reach, that now were more at her level.

"Gabrielle?" Xena's soft voice called to her.

"Hmm?"

Xena for a moment stopped. She had forgotten. She then shrugged her shoulders. To her the journey was at an end and she could feel less of a connection with Aleka then she had at the beginning of the journey. She delivered the circle of friends to the temple gates of Mecsa. For all intents and purposes, that was the end of her responsibility. The itch for the familiar leathers and armor and the feel of her sword was making her irritable. The discomfort of the weather she could ignore but not the missing of her familiar garb that identified her with who she was.

The last three days she had found herself spending more time with Argo and had almost mounted her instead of Itali, the reddish brown horse she had been riding this journey, that morning.

She wanted to talk to the others about her feelings that she believed her connection with the group was completed and she wanted to move on. She wanted to be back to who she was and travel alone with Gabrielle. She was tired of company and tired of keeping up a civil face for the ceaseless questions she was asked. How on earth she had put up with it for so long she didn't even want to think about!

"All right. Everyone grab a place to bed down for the night. No need for anyone to stand watch." She nodded to Lily, "We need to reassess our goals, so everyone think about what you want to do from here. We'll listen to what Gabrielle has to say, the old woman and make our decisions. Alright?"

Agnes and the others nodded. They were becoming restless. It wasn't just from the weather. Exhausted from their work they all found a place that the torch light showed to be safe from unwanted bugs and settled down for deep sleep.

Gabrielle settled next to Xena and curled up with a hand resting on Xena's leg as she sat and looked into the darkness. When she could hear the others breathing deepen into sleep, she slid out from Gabrielle's reach and quietly left the room. Pulling a still damp fur over her she stepped out into the small cleared space around the hut.

Listening to the night sounds she didn't detect the rain continuing, but drops would occasionally fall that would accumulate on the many branches that were forming a protective canopy over the old woman's cot.

Xena stopped by the shelter for the horses and could see a light form detach itself from the others and slowly amble its way toward her.

Xena scratched behind the ears of her golden friend. "Hey girl. You sure deserve a lot of apples."

The mare agreed, bumping her head against her chest then taking a playful nip at her shoulder.

Xena chuckled and walked over to the cart that was left outside of the shelter since it had a protective tarp thrown over it. If the rain was serious they would have found a better place for it but a few drops the tarp could handle.

She pulled the tarp back to regard the contents. It was surprising that with the occasional passing cloud and the tree covering some moonlight actually was shining through onto the cart. A glint of something caught her eye and she leaned forward, holding her breath as she pulled the familiar object toward her.

She pulled her sword from its sheath and for a moment she just held it up loving the moment of its familiarity and the good memories that it carried. So, Lily brought it along, she sniggered to herself. She rummaged around and found her leathers and armor neatly folded in a sack. It was amazing how she hadn't noticed it until now, but then she didn't do much around the cart except help repair the wheel the few times one or the other broke.

"Hi. Can't sleep?"

Hades! Xena turned around slowly. The same moonlight that shined through on the cart formed a glowing outline around Gabrielle.

Xena smiled sheepishly in the dark. "Something like that."

Gabrielle leaned against the cart and looked at the things in her arms, notably the sword.

"I'm glad this is at an end." She told her softly.

Xena sat next to her on the cart. "My parts at an end." Xena told her with certainty.

Gabrielle nodded with a smile that was hid behind the hair that fell to the sides of her face as she looked down at her feet.

"Hmmm. Mine too. I'd like to get back to smaller travel groups, quieter camps, and long moments to study the stars and make up stories about them."

Xena turned to face her with a smile. "I could go for a dry warm cave…far…far…away from others…that's big enough for two people and a horse."

Xena could see the pulse point on Gabrielle's neck jump and heard the little intake of breath.

She turned to face the dark profile that was lit up in the moonlight that rested on them both, giving a soft glow to the woman's features that she could recognize so clearly.

"I say we leave sometime by tomorrow…or I'll do something really embarrassing." Gabrielle informed her in a low sensuous voice.

Xena's eyebrow lifted in a familiar expression of inquiry. "For you or me?"

Gabrielle laughed softly, embarrassed. "You are a hard one to embarrass when that's the intention. However, I do remember an occasion…"

Xena listened to Gabrielle's soft voice tell a story of a time when she was taken off guard and embarrassed by a village they helped after it suffered at the hands of raiders. The grateful village had wanted Xena to take the only thing left of value, a small jewel, an infant. The speech of the newly elected elder had her shifting from one foot to another throwing glaring looks at Gabrielle that she hadn't rescued her from this. The jewel never left the village with them for Gabrielle did step in and rather than refuse the gift, entrusted the village to care for her. The infants predicted future was what made her so valuable.

Xena laughed at the absurdity of them raising an infant on the road, in her line of work, and with her not believing that a prediction meant it was going to happen. Her eyes rested with tenderness on the woman who didn't refuse the gift that was given from the heart of strangers. The warlord would have taken, what she wanted and when she wanted it. The longer she had to wait for something she wanted, the more satisfying it was when she got it. That part hadn't changed much. Thinking about that brought a feral grin to her face, which Gabrielle caught.

"Remind you of something?"

"Yaaa. I'll tell ya bout it later."

Gabrielle lifted herself further up into the cart. "Come 'ere." She whispered to a smirking Xena.

Xena pulled the tarp back over the top railings and crawled under the covering finding very strong arms pulling her down into warm comforting darkness. The Bard's heart beat rapidly under her fingertips and smell of her arousal sent excited chills up Xena's spine. Lips possessively covered hers. Xena's body shivered in anticipation as Gabrielle's tongue played with the outside of her lips, sucking on the lower one then obtrusively pushing between her parted lips. Xena finally took charge and rolled them both over, ravaging the mouth of a willing lover. Hands roaming, pausing, teasing, pulling, as both struggled out of their cloths to feel each other's skin pressed up against the other. Their groans and sighs lasted until the first signs of daylight that lit up the top of the canopy of trees. The sky was blue but the weather was still cold…outside of the tarp.

Both women rolled out of the cart pulling their cloths into place with Xena leading the way to where she could hear water running. There were morning birds doing their usual greeting calls to the raising Helios, and small creatures hunting around for their daily fair. Xena could feel the soft fluttering of a falcon as it stretched its wings from a nights sleep, getting ready to take to the sky and search for its own meal.

Gabrielle's heightened senses were no more but she didn't seem to care for now they could resume their own lives. She shivered and was pulled in closer to the tall woman's body that never seemed to get cold. Their feet made almost no sound as they walked toward the cold water.

While both women bathed Gabrielle recounted the old woman's tale. "It's an odd story, Xena. Brrrrrr." She interrupted herself at the first encounter of the cold water, "How can you stand in this cold stuff without shivering?" It was a question that was asked often between them and an answer was never expected. Xena only smiled and tossed her their herbal soap and Gabrielle resumed her story.

"Anyway, she said a raptor would one day redeem her." She finished.

She looked up at the leathered form next to her as Xena was tying her boots. "If she had said a gray wolf, I would have told her…"

Xena stopped her tying and looked up at Gabrielle who was standing next to her towel drying her hair.

"What?" Gabrielle asked noting the sudden coldness in her companion's demeanor.

"I'm not that person anymore, Gabrielle." She told her frowning. "And if tomorrow you asked me about any of it…I would say it never happened." She finished firmly.

Gabrielle studied the serious blue eyes that were looking directly into hers. Sounds from the cot above them drifted down as the others started to move around. "I…before you forget…before I forget. I want you to know…Iaia loved Aleka. She was number two priority in her life, though."

Xena could feel her heart skip a beat. She reached over and cupped a hand around Gabrielle's cold chin. "Thank you." She sighed looking back toward the cot. "Their paths were going in different directions. Today…we are…sharing a road…where and to what…" Xena shrugged her shoulders.

"We'll travel together." Gabrielle whispered. She reached up and brushed her chilled lips against the soft warm willing lips of her partner.

Slowly Xena pulled away. "We gotta get back and end this road show." She murmured letting her breath heat Gabrielle's skin.

"I hope you know of a nearby private, warm, empty cave that is just big enough to fit two people and maybe, a horse." She whispered before taking a teasing bite of Xena's lower lip.

Xena sighed and straightened up. "Come on." Xena could feel a grin appear on her face as she relished the feel of the familiar leathers, boots, grieves and weight of the armor and sword at her back. Then there was the warm hand resting on her arm from Gabrielle as she listed the foods she would like to have for their own journey.

Agnes was sitting on the outside of the cot with Lily chatting when her eyes caught sight of a tall dark figure whose armor glinted and sparked from a few stray sun beams that slipped through the thick cover of the forest canopy. At first she did not recognize what she was seeing, for she had only seen Xena, the Warrior Princess, once. It was at the beginning of their quest, and she didn't wear her armor for long.

Lily turned to see what her companion looked so stunned about, worrying that she left her sword in the cot and hoping Aleka wouldn't find out or she would have to pay an embarrassing price.

Slivers of sun that broke though the thick wooded branches overhead bounced off Gabrielle's hair and glinted and moved from different parts of the armor of the warrior as the two approached the cot. Both women watched silently as the pair shared laughter and moved with a different grace that Iaia and Aleka possessed. There was no more Aleka in the tall dark figure that showed an alertness to her environment as she scanned around her while listening to her partner who was animating whatever she was saying with her gestures and a shaking head. Lily mentally measured how far it would take for the two to take note of their audience for she knew there were others that watched as Xena and Gabrielle approached. Dressed in armor and leathers there was no mistaking that Xena was no longer the Named.

"Zeus!" Erica whispered near the Agnes. "I got so use to her as Aleka that I didn't realize how different the two are."

"Good mornin to ya!" an old voice croaked from the small room adjoining the doorway the two women were sitting in.

Gabrielle stopped her gestures and waved at the old woman that was on her stoop sipping a beverage.

"Good mornin to you, Agdistis. Did ya sleep well?" Gabrielle's warm voice asked.

"Aye. Never so good in a long time."

Xena said nothing but merely nodded.

Now, that's the Xena I've heard about. A woman of few words, Lily mused.

The old woman pointed to Xena. "Ya look mighty different in that getup. Ain't ch'a a bit cold?" She looked her up and down noticing no appearance of chill.

"No." Xena turned to the others that were peering at her from different places. "There's a cold river off that way. Follow our tracks. After everyone's cleaned up, we'll talk and plan."

"Looks like you already have made yours." Lily couldn't help mentioning.

"Well, we made it to the temple." Gabrielle laughed. "I can't remember anyone saying their destination was to get into the temple."

Grace started to chuckle. "That would be just like a goddess.

"Wait a moment, here." Berik spoke up.

"Why don't we all wait a moment. On a full stomach is the best way to begin this discussion."

"I'll go with that." The old voice croaked her agreement.

Gabrielle smiled at the old face. It hurt her to think how the old woman probably struggled to get by. Before they left Xena and her would make sure there was a lot of split wood and some meat for her. If it were a small enough animal it would keep in this cold.

Gabrielle looked up at her partner who was wearing her usual stoic expression. Xena returned Gabrielle's look with an inquisitive look paraphrased with an upraised eyebrow.

"I was thinking before we leave, we can make sure Agdistis has enough wood and meat to last her a while."

Xena nodded her head. "I was thinking of starting on the wood now, while the others get themselves together." The smirk was unmistakable as it lifted the corners of her mouth and her blue sapphire eyes glinted with mischief.

"Ya know?" Gabrielle pulled one of the leather strips on the tall woman's skirt, "after this, I don't think I'll be wanting to hear the phrase 'getting themselves together' for a while."

"Hmm."

Xena disappeared into the woods to gather firewood and Gabrielle and Grace put a morning meal together for everyone.

By the time the women were gathered around the cot with full stomachs, Xena had a nice stack of wood under the shelter they had rebuilt for the horses. She kept the piles low so the old woman or her dog, if he was trained to drag pieces of wood to the old woman, could easily reach the top of the stack without the rest collapsing.

Chapter 8

Till We Meet Again…

"Before anyone starts…" Gabrielle began, "let me tell you what our hostess has told me about the temple." Gabrielle was standing, as was her custom when she was going to say something that required gestures and…a story.

"I'm going to tell you a tale of a young thief whose ability to steal would have made her the Queen of Thieves, by her telling. One day, before we were all born…in this life…the young thief heard about an orb that shined even in the dark and whoever held it was given the power of foresight. It was in a temple, she had been told, that had no guards, but, it was impossible to get into the temple. This young Queen of Thieves decided the challenge to get into the temple alone, was incentive to make a trip to this distant temple and check it out for herself.

Many seasons had passed and there were many villages and towns this young thief had move through, making her living as she best knew how, until…she had finally reached a village that told her she was near the temple.

The young thief was warned by the villagers, who seemed to know exactly why she was there, not to try to force entry into the temple for there would be a stiff penalty to pay.

The young thief was not frightened of death. She had been surviving on her own for so long, loneliness was to her a punishment and she was already living with it, so she ignored the warnings.

She had tested the doors already. They were ancient and scared with the marks from others that had attempted to force their way in. She tried beating on them for admittance and even entertained herself with the sounds she caused, yet…no one came to the door.

In broad daylight she started to climb the side of the mountain to dig a way though the top of the door. She succeeded in getting in, which really surprised her at how easy that was.

She found the orb, for it was a shining light in the dark room behind the closed doors she slipped over. She held it in her hands and saw…her future. Frightened and then angry she shouted obscenities and curses at whomever the temple it was to and threw the orb against what she thought was a wall.

The young trespasser and would be thief was horrified when the ball that lit up the area it was hurled toward did not show what figure caught the orb and held it as it approached her.

There was no conversation with the unseen figure. The orb was simply…set back…onto…its stand.

The thief does not know how she got out of the temple, just that she found herself approaching a town that she had previously visited, and stole from. She was recognized and chased after and caught.

The villagers passed sentence on her and cut off her legs. They waited until she healed then gave her a dog to pull her on a sled and sent her away. She eventually returned to the temple, and since then has been waiting for a raptor to rescue her, release her to death.

Gabrielle leaned back against the familiar figure that stood behind her when she finished.

The old woman was rocking back and forth on her pallet nodding from her room as Gabrielle told her tale.

Agnes cleared her throat. "Alala has a falcon."

Alala frowned as she pondered the story's meaning. How could her falcon release the woman of her curse? She turned to look out the open doorway at the large owl that was sleeping under the shelter near the horses. The falcon had taken off earlier to hunt for his meal. He was far away for she couldn't reach him in thought.

Xena said nothing about the emblem she bore on her flag when she was a warlord. Whether the raptor symbol was referring to her or not, if there was a way to release the old woman from her fate she wanted to try. She glanced down at Gabrielle whose face was showing she was trying to figure out a solution to the raptor that was suppose to release her new friend.

She slid her hands from Gabrielle's shoulders, where she had naturally put them when Gabrielle leaned into her.

"What about the rest of you?" She asked in a low voice looking around the room at the women who were in various relaxed postures.

"Well, some of us have thought of going to Crometh and check out the local talent." Eleanor told Xena with a grin.

"I heard they have a festival at every full moon in honor of the Muses." Gabrielle leaned forward excitedly.

Xena smiled to herself as she had already made plans for them to spend time there…after they spent some time alone.

"What about the rest of you?" Xena asked in a low tone, nodding toward Lily.

A broad smile was on the woman's face when she looked toward Agnes. "Well, the rest of us thought we might head that way to. After all, it's not too safe for young priestesses to be traveling alone on these roads, especially without some sort of protection."

"And you two?" Erica inquired.

Xena let a little smile curl one corner of her lips. "You might see us there."

Gabrielle laughed and turned to give the warrior a smile. "First things first, huh?" She asked her softly.

Xena nodded, looking down into the eyes that were openly showing her desire. "Yes. First things first." Xena could feel her throat tightening up and quickly pulled herself away. "I'm going over to the temple gates with our hostess…first."

Xena went to the corner where Argo's saddle was and she hoisted it up to her shoulders and headed toward the small corral.

Gabrielle and the others followed the tall woman out as she made her way to the horses. Argo was scratching her head on the railing, biding her time as if she were waiting for her real mistress to come claim her.

"All right girl. Let's get back to business, huh?" Argo curled her lip at her mistress and backed away.

"Argo." Gabrielle told the mare, "It's her or me."

Argo shook her head and snorted stepping back into the shelter.

"All right." Xena told the horse frowning. "You don't happen to have an apple on ya, do ya." Xena asked Gabrielle.

The old woman cackled below them. Xena looked down at the old form that had moved quickly from the cot to the horse enclosure with the others.

"I might have a few." She croaked in her old voice.

****

"Xena, what are you going to do?" Gabrielle asked as Xena tightened the cinch on Argo's saddle.

"Our old friend here and I will go knocking on the front door."

"And…"

Xena just smiled. "Why don't you get our things together so we can leave when I get back."

Xena hoisted the old woman onto Argo's saddle then jump behind her.

When they were out of sight of the others the old woman sighed. "So…what plan do you have?"

"Wait and see." Xena told her quietly.

When they reached the tall formidable gates, Xena slid off Argo's back and effortless lifted the old woman. She carried her to the front gate and set her down. Pulling her bodice knife she handed the hilt to the old woman.

"Knock on the door once. The sound you hear is the sound you make to open the door."

The old woman took the dagger and laughed silently to herself. She struck the door once, and for a frail old lady, it was forceful. The loud boom was deep and reverberated off the gates and under their feet. The old woman's voice had no sound of age as she made the exact tone, which was picked up, by the two adjoining towers, further causing the earth beneath them to vibrate.

The gates opened. Xena stepped back and turned. She mounted Argo and rode back to the cot.

*****

Gabrielle was waiting near the edge of the road. She had said her good byes and didn't want the others to hold them up with questions about what happened to the old woman.

She felt the horses hoof beats before she saw them. A golden apparition appeared on the sun bright road and astride her was a tall dark warrior, whose armor shone in the sun and made her heart stop for a moment. As Argo and her mistress came closer, Gabrielle caught the wide smile on the dark woman's face on seeing her.

Xena pulled Argo out of her rolling canter and over to where the Bard waited, saddlebags and staff resting against a tree, out of the mud.

"Need a lift?" She asked in a seductive tone.

Gabrielle lifted a part of her long winter coat, revealing a bit of her skin underneath. "Know somewhere where I can get…"

She didn't finish what she had to say as Xena slid off Argo and without further conversation pulled Gabrielle into her arms and gave her a long hug.

"Let's get outta here." A gruff voice suggested. Saddlebags were lifted and secured to Argo's saddle. Xena easily vaulted onto Argo's back and gave Gabrielle a hand up.

"I spotted this place, not too far from here…" Xena started.

END