The Road to Corinth
By Xie

“Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Be still and allow the mud to settle.” – Lao Tzu

Gabrielle pushed her rain-sodden hair out of her face, and sneezed. “I’m telling you, Xena, no more crowds. No more towns, no more armies. They’re hotbeds of pestilence and plague.” She huddled into her hooded cloak and sneezed again, either as a form of emphasis or because she couldn’t help it.

Xena glanced at her, amused. “I don’t think you have the plague, Gabrielle.”

“It was a metaphor, Xena.” She sounded indignant and also extremely congested. Xena sighed, and shook her own wet hair off her equally wet forehead.

They kept walking for a while, and when Gabrielle spoke again, her voice was wistful. “I don’t suppose there’s an inn anytime soon? Some hot wine with honey would feel good.”

Xena squinted at the road. “There’s a decent enough one about an hour down the road.” She glanced at the girl next to her. “You should ride until we get there.”

Gabrielle coughed a little, and sneezed. Twice. “Maybe I will try riding. Just until we get there.”

Xena frowned, and gave Gabrielle a leg up onto Argo’s back. Girl, who had vanished into the woods shortly after they’d set off that morning, reappeared. She sat on the driest spot in the muddy road, her head tipped to the side, apparently contemplating Gabrielle’s new perch.

“Let’s go.” Xena resettled the pack containing the regalia wrapped in its magical bindings, and then picked up Argo’s reins. She set off, horse and dog trotting behind her.

Gabrielle sneezed.

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When they got to the inn, Xena sat Gabrielle at a rough wooden table, Girl and the regalia in its pack at her feet. Gabrielle’s forehead was lightly covered in sweat, even though she was shivering with the cold. Xena didn’t ask what she wanted; she just ordered chicken broth and wine with honey, to which she added some herbs from a packet she’d dug out of her saddlebag. She set the goblet down on the table. “Drink this.”

Gabrielle didn’t ask what it was, or even sniff it. She just sipped listlessly at it, her eyes half-closed.

Xena hesitated. Their errand was urgent, and the rain was making the road less passable with each storm. Ships didn’t leave Corinth for Brittania all that often. Unless they were prepared to give every brigand and renegade priestess who might be on their trail a chance to find them and the regalia, hunkering down for a month or more in Corinth wasn’t something Xena was ready to do.

“You should leave me here.” Gabrielle’s voice was flat, but she raised her eyes to Xena’s. She had pushed the hood off her face, and Xena reached out and took the cloak off. She strode with it to the fire, and spread it out to dry. When she came back, Gabrielle was staring at her soup as if she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

Xena picked up the bowl and helped her drink the hot broth, and set the bowl down after she’d had a few sips. She laid her hand on the girl’s hot forehead. “Gabrielle, you’re too sick to go on. We’ll stay here tonight, give you a chance to get well.” Her voice was soft, but it toughened with her next words. “And I’m not leaving you here alone and sick, so don’t say it again.”

Gabrielle looked around the small inn, and shook her head. “We’ll never make Corinth before the ship sails, Xena. We have to keep going.”

“We have time. We have nine, ten days, and we should be there in six.”

The girl frowned. “You said eight yesterday.”

“Six, seven.” Xena shrugged. “If we ride, six.”

Gabrielle shook her head again. “I’ll rest when we get to Corinth.” She sneezed. “And maybe we can stay at an inn tonight, somewhere further down the road.”

Later that evening, Xena cursed every god she knew, and a few she’d never met, for not granting that wish. The rain was coming down harder than ever, and they were both soaked to the skin by the time they found an abandoned barn and made camp. Xena built a fire beneath a section of the roof with a gaping hole in it. The rain falling through the hole in the roof caused the blaze to sputter and smoke, but she made a place for Gabrielle on the least smoky side of the fire.

Girl carefully shook herself off in the doorway, and lay down near the fire until her coat was dry. Then she went and curled on the blankets, her chin on Gabrielle’s leg. Gabrielle didn’t really wake up, but her hand moved down and rested on Girl’s head.

Gabrielle was sleeping so soundly Xena didn’t wake her up to eat the broth she’d heated on the fire. She just left it to simmer on the edge of the coals, along with water for tea.

Xena sat cross-legged by the fire, half dreaming and half watching Gabrielle’s chest rise and fall. Twice the girl woke up enough to cough, but most of her night was peaceful. Finally Xena curled up behind her, and closed her own eyes.

She woke up when Gabrielle rose, but didn’t open her eyes until she felt her come back to the blankets. “Here, have some soup.”

Xena sat up and took the mug from Gabrielle’s hand. The girl dropped down next to her, and drank her tea while Xena finished off the broth. Girl was cleaning the pan Gabrielle had put down for her.

Argo was eating her breakfast of hot grains in the best of the stalls in the abandoned barn, and Xena went outside to check the skies. It wasn’t raining, but the clouds were still dark and heavy.

Gabrielle appeared at her side. “Is it ever going to stop raining?”

“It’s like this in Britannia,” Xena commented, and then froze. She could smell the wet, green hills of that country, hear the rain drumming on a thousand soldier’s shields, feel the ground vibrate with the sound of legions marching. She shook her head, and it all vanished.

“Xena?” Gabrielle’s hand was on her arm. “What is it?”

Xena turned back towards the barn. “If we’re moving on, let’s go. Before the rain begins again.”

Gabrielle didn’t object when Xena helped her into the saddle, and chattered more than she coughed at first. But she fell silent before they stopped for a midday meal. When it started raining again, it was as if she didn’t notice. Xena had to stop and put her hood over her head.

Xena grimly held onto Argo’s reins, and Girl, who often disappeared for hours at a time, only left briefly during a lull in the storm. She came back with a well-fed hen in her jaws, and Xena refused to think about how she’d come by it; the rain made hunting almost impossible, and Gabrielle needed to eat.

But although Xena roasted the hen and used its bones for broth, it was only she and Girl who ate it. Gabrielle was sleeping so deeply nothing Xena did could wake her. And the next morning, Xena turned off the road to Corinth, Gabrielle, unconscious, tied to Argo’s saddle.

The further they got from the Corinth road, the harder the rain fell. Water stood inches-deep on the ground, and carved channels across the road. Trees in the woods, their branches heavy with water, crashed and fell, even though there was very little wind. It was just the relentless, unceasing rain, falling down in such sheets Xena twice had to cup her hands over her mouth just to take a breath. She had never seen such rain, not even in Britannia.

Xena heard Girl give a short bark, and stopped abruptly. She didn’t know how long they’d been walking, but it was getting dark. They should have reached the inn by now, she thought. She hadn’t been there in years, but it was somewhere on this road, less than half a day from the turnoff for Corinth.

She checked on Gabrielle. Her head was lying across Argo’s neck, and her eyes were closed. Even in the rain her face was hot with fever.

Girl stood in the mud next to Argo, her eyes fixed on Xena. It almost seemed like both animals were waiting for something, she thought. She took in a deep breath, then another, and then picked up Argo’s reins. “Come on, Girl,” she said to the dog, and continued down the road.

Somehow after that, the rain seemed less intense, and the road more passable. The sense of doom Xena had been fighting lifted, and in less than an hour, she saw the smoke from the inn’s fireplaces rising up through the trees.

Xena left Argo at the stable next to the inn, and draped the pack with the regalia over her shoulder. The stable boy stood watching, slack-jawed, as Xena carefully untied Gabrielle from the saddle. The girl didn’t even open her eyes, just slid off Argo’s back like a dead man. Xena forced that thought out of her mind, and gathered Gabrielle against her.

“Take off my mare’s tack, rub her down, and feed her,” she said curtly to the boy. “Do it well, and it’ll mean a gold coin. Leave her wet, or cold, or hungry, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

The boy gulped and agreed, but Xena didn’t even look at him as she walked out the stable door, Girl at her heels, Gabrielle in her arms.

_____________________

The first thing Gabrielle knew was rain. She felt it on her skin, icy cold. Then she slept.

The next thing Gabrielle knew was agony. Her chest was burning, and it felt like bands of steel were compressing it every time she tried to take a breath. She tried not to let her chest move, concentrating on how little motion she could make and still breathe at all. And then she slept again.

The next thing Gabrielle knew was Xena’s voice, crooning a lullaby. She thought that it must be raining again, but this time it was just a few drops, and they were hot, and salty.

______________________

Girl looked sadly at Xena from her place at Gabrielle’s feet. Xena lifted the cool cloth and wrung out the extra water, then laid it gently across Gabrielle’s forehead. She didn’t know why she bothered; almost before she took her hands away it was hot again.
The innkeeper had remembered Xena from year’s before, and brought in a local healer, but Xena knew more than he did about this fever. He shook his head and muttered pessimistically. Xena almost threw him down the stairs.

One night, Xena sat in front of the fire, staring at the silk-wrapped bundles of the regalia. “It’s you,” she thought. “Everything the gods touch cuts my life to pieces.” She wondered what would happen if she threw the bundles on the fire, or gave them to the innkeeper’s wife, before remembering that touching the regalia could mean death to the uninitiated.

Including her, and Gabrielle.

As if Xena’s thoughts disturbed her, Gabrielle began to cough and gasp. Xena lifted her up, one arm around her waist, her hand cradling the girl’s damp neck. She pressed her mouth against Gabrielle’s hair, and fiercely willed her cough to subside, her gasps to slow into normal breath. “Hush, hush,” she whispered against Gabrielle’s hot skin. “Shhhhh….”

Gabrielle’s eyes fluttered open, but they didn’t change when she saw Xena, and then they closed again.
_____________________________

Girl lifted her head. Xena was sleeping, exhausted, in the chair next to the bed, her left arm under Gabrielle’s neck.

The dog slipped off the bed and padded to the door. She tried to move the handle with her head, and then her mouth, but it wouldn’t budge. She walked to the window and rested her chin on the wide sill, but the shutters were closed tight against the storm. She sat near Xena’s feet and whined.

Xena fought her way to consciousness. Her dreams were full of images she recognized… the shore of Britannia, its forests … mixed with nightmarish memories of Ceasar, and the faces of the dead. She clawed up out of it, following the sound of Girl’s whining.

The dog had put her paws on Xena’s knees, and was nudging the side of her head. Xena blinked, and then got up and quietly slipped out and down the stairs of the inn, making sure the door was locked behind her.

She watched Girl flitting around the edge of the inn yard, doing her business in the shrubbery. Xena stood in the doorway, out of the rain, the stairway to the second floor plainly in her sight.

When Girl came back, clearly reluctant to leave Gabrielle longer than she had to, Xena bent down and rubbed her ears. “I know just how you feel, Girl.” Together they went up the stairs, and Xena unlocked the door.

In the next moment she had her sword in her hand, its point at the throat of the red-haired woman sitting in the chair next to Gabrielle.

Neither of them moved for a long minute, until Xena snorted and put her sword down. “That’s a good way to die, Maygan.”

The woman smiled, and held out her hand for Girl to sniff. The dog didn’t approach at first, regarding her from Xena’s side. Finally she touched her nose once to her palm, then jumped lightly, like a deer, onto the bed. She lay across Gabrielle’s legs, her chin resting on her crossed paws, her eyes open.

Xena slid her sword into its sheath, and walked to where the pack containing the regalia sat near the fireplace.

“It’s just as you left it.” Maygan’s voice was calm.

Xena nodded, but checked it just the same, and then turned to face the woman. “Don’t bother telling me how you got in here. I’m sure I wouldn’t believe it if you tried.”

Maygan smiled. “You haven’t changed, Xena.”

The warrior smiled. “Don’t be so sure.” Her eyes didn’t move to where Gabrielle lay sleeping, but Maygan’s smile dimmed, and she turned to the sick girl.

“She’s very ill.” She glanced at Xena. “Dangerously ill.”

“I know.” Xena took her last packet of herbs out of her saddlebag, and moved the pot of water off the fire. Before she could add the herbs to the water, Maygan’s hand was on her wrist.

“Don’t. I have something better.”

Xena gripped Maygan’s arm. “I’ve seen this fever before. I’ve seen it kill strong men. What do you know about it?” She shook the woman’s arm. “Tell me.”

Maygan shook her head slightly. “I have nothing like a sure remedy, Xena. I’ve lost more patients than I’ve saved to this thing. But I think that I can help her.” She met Xena’s eyes. “But if I do, I need you to help me in return.”

Xena shook her head. “One of your priestesses already tried to get the regalia. I’m not letting it out of my hands until I put it in the hands of the head priestess at the temple in Corinth. After that, if no one else can go, I’ll take it to Britannia myself. But I trust no one.” She locked her eyes on those of the other woman. “And I know you, Maygan. You won’t let an innocent woman die just because I’m honoring a promise I made.”

Maygan smiled. “Maybe you have changed. The old Xena would have had her knife at my throat, threatening me to save her friend, promises and old loyalties be damned.”

“That Xena still lives, Maygan.” Xena smiled, and it was cold. “Let’s hope I don’t have to prove that to you.”

Maygan took a bag from around her waist, and poured a large quantity of finely powdered herbs into the water. Xena watched her in silence, a silence Maygan finally broke as she waited for the tea to cool. “You said one of my priestesses tried to get the regalia. I saw… something… but I don’t know who it was. She was hidden from me, in some manner I didn’t recognize.” She looked directly at Xena. “And then she died. Who was it?”

“Ellyn.” Xena watched her face carefully as she said the name.

Maygan blanched. “I told the elders not to turn her out. I told them we’d regret that day. What did she do? What happened to her?”

Xena shook her head. “I don’t know. I met her, and I could tell something wasn’t right, but at first I thought it was because she was double-crossing the man I was fighting. But she wasn’t the Ellyn I knew in Britannia. This Ellyn would have driven a knife through my heart to get the regalia.”

Maygan tested the hot tea on her wrist, and then filled a mug with the steaming liquid. Without speaking, she let Xena smell and taste it. Then she returned to Gabrielle’s bedside and lifted the slight young woman until she was almost sitting up.

Xena stayed by the fireplace, watching as Maygan slowly let the tea drip into Gabrielle’s mouth. At first she didn’t swallow, and the liquid beaded on her lip. After a few moments, though, her tongue licked the droplets away, and Xena saw her throat move a little. Xena clenched her fists and stayed where she was until finally, the mug was empty.

Maygan let Gabrielle fall back against the pillows. “What is her name?”

“You didn’t have any trouble getting through the locked door. I’m surprised you can’t tell me her name.” Xena’s voice was heavy with irony.

Maygan smiled. “You never did give the gods the proper respect, Xena.”

Xena snorted. “Never ask a god to do what a good lock pick can accomplish.”

She laughed. “I was right. You haven’t changed.” She looked at Gabrielle again. “And I truly don’t know her name.”

“Gabrielle.” Xena turned her back on the red-haired woman, and walked restlessly to the other side of the room.

“And her protector?” She nodded at Girl.

Xena didn’t turn around. “We call her Girl.”

Maygan regarded the dog with curiosity. “Hello, Girl.”

The dog blinked once, then let her eyes finally close.

______________________________________

Xena didn’t deceive herself that Maygan had come just to help Gabrielle. She’d come for the regalia, though she made no move to so much as touch it – something that made Xena doubt her even more. But Xena had smelled and tasted nothing alarming in the herbs she was giving Gabrielle, and there was no question that her breathing was easier. But she still didn’t wake up.

Late on the third night, Maygan was sleeping in front of the fire, and Xena was lying next to Gabrielle, Girl stretched out in the valley between their legs. Gabrielle’s hair was filthy and matted, her skin clammy. Xena propped herself on her elbow and looked at her face, remembering it awake, alive, laughing, talking. Remembering it full of love. She felt her throat close and her eyes burn, and she let her head drop onto Gabrielle’s breast for just a second, wanting to feel her heart beating, feel her chest rise and fall.

She didn’t know how long she let her cheek rest against the girl’s heart, but suddenly she froze. Gabrielle’s hand was moving, and it feebly reached out, nestling in Xena’s hair.

“Gabrielle?” Xena’s voice broke.

The girl’s eyes opened, and for the first time since they’d arrived at the inn, Xena saw something like recognition in them before they closed again. Girl’s tail was thumping against the bed.

That night, Xena dreamt again of Britannia, but it was just of a bird flying over the shore in the sunlight.

__________________________________

Gabrielle didn’t speak at first. She watched Xena and the strange red-haired woman move around the room. She drank what they gave her to drink, and let her hand rest on Girl’s neck or head when she wasn’t obediently swallowing.

She’d tried once or twice to talk, but her throat was swollen and raw. She knew she stank of sweat and sickness, but Xena slept next to her at night, face buried in her neck, not seeming to care. And she smiled every time Gabrielle looked her way, as if she didn’t need Gabrielle to speak to understand what she was saying.

On the third morning, Gabrielle smiled softly at Xena and whispered, “Good morning.”

Xena touched her hair softly. “I’m assuming that was supposed to be some kind of greeting.”

Gabrielle licked her lips. “Hungry,” she tried again.

Xena laughed. “Welcome back.”

Maygan heard them, and came to the bed. “Hello, Gabrielle.”

Xena didn’t look away from Gabrielle’s face. “This is Maygan. She brought the herbs that healed you.”

Maygan made a dismissive gesture. “They helped her breathe more easily, that’s all. Are you strong enough to eat something, Gabrielle?”

The girl nodded, and Maygan went to the fire and filled a bowl with soup. Xena held the bowl while Gabrielle drank it down, then spooned the meat and grains into her mouth, her other arm firmly behind Gabrielle’s back.

The red-haired woman watched for a minute, and then gestured at the dog. “I think I’ll take Girl outside for a few minutes.” She glanced at the shuttered window, and smiled. “If it’s not raining, maybe we’ll take a nice, long walk.” She pulled her hood up over her hair, and let Girl out the door.

Gabrielle wrinkled her nose. “I stink.”

Xena laughed. “Yes, you do.” She set the bowl down on the table, and put her hand on Gabrielle’s cheek. “I’ve never smelled anything so wonderful in my life.”

Gabrielle’s laugh was almost silent, and she pressed her hand against her throat. “Don’t make me laugh.” She started to cough, and Xena helped her sit up a little more.

Gabrielle nodded towards the door. “Who…?”

Xena hesitated for a minute. “She’s an old friend, who I’m hoping is still a friend. She’s a priestess from the temple of Demeter in Corinth.”

Gabrielle thought about that. “Like Ellyn?”

Xena frowned. “I don’t know. There was a time I’d have said yes, but there was a time I trusted Ellyn, too.” She stared off over Gabrielle’s head, her eyes distant.

Gabrielle squeezed her hand. “How did she find us?”

Xena shrugged. “She says her goddess brought her here.”

“Don’t you believe her?”

Xena smiled, but it wasn’t happy. “I hope she’s lying, because I’ve come to think whenever the gods are involved, things get… complicated.” Then her smile lost its bitter edge. “But I don’t think that’s why Maygan left us alone. Do you?” She leaned down and brushed her lips lightly over Gabrielle’s.

The girl let Xena nuzzle into her throat, her hands tangled in her dark hair. “I wish I could take a long, hot bath.” Her voice was full of longing.

Xena smiled down at her, her eyes soft. “There’s no shortage of water, I know that. Let me see what the innkeeper can do.”

Gabrielle wriggled into the bed a little more happily than before, and then frowned. “Is it still raining?”

Xena nodded, and answered in a near-grunt. “Yes.”

Gabrielle looked at the shuttered window. “That’s not normal.”

“No,” Xena said. “I never thought it was.”

___________________________________

A few days later, Xena was once again leading Argo down the muddy road towards Corinth. Gabrielle was on the mare’s back, warmly wrapped in a cloak Maygan had brought from Britannia, one that she swore would keep off any amount of rain. The red-haired woman was trudging alongside Xena, easily keeping up with the taller woman’s stride.

Girl had disappeared into the woods alongside the road, but Xena frequently caught a glimpse of the reddish dog among the wet green trees. She was keeping a careful eye on Gabrielle, it seemed.

“When will we be there, Xena?” Gabrielle was looking rested, if still somewhat pale and thin.

“Ten days.” Xena’s voice was firm.

Maygan glanced at her, but didn’t say anything.

“But you said…”

Xena cut Gabrielle off. “Ten days, Gabrielle.”

She was quiet for a few minutes, then spoke again. “We’ve already missed the ship, haven’t we?”

“We missed the last one. There’ll be another.”

“Not for a month.”

Xena snorted. “More like fifteen days.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You were sick a long time.”

Gabrielle frowned and started to say something, but Maygan held up her hand. “What is that?”

But Xena already had her hand on her sword, and was facing the woods on her left. Three armed men came out of the trees, and stood looking at her.

No one moved for a long time, but finally the tallest of the men stepped forward and put his sword in its sheath. Xena didn’t shift even a muscle, and Gabrielle dropped her far hand down to touch her staff where it was tied to Argo’s saddle. Maygan was standing silently, a dagger Gabrielle hadn’t seen her reach for in her hand.

“Are you Xena?”

Her eyes narrowed. “That question is getting really old. Who wants to know?”

The soldier reached into his shirt, and Xena kept her eyes fixed on him while he drew out a scroll. She jerked her head, and he handed it to Gabrielle, who opened it slowly. “It’s a map.” She tilted her head to one side. “I can’t tell of where.”

Maygan kept an eye on the soldiers, and came and stood beside Argo. Gabrielle held the scroll so the other woman could see it. “It’s Brittania,” she said.

Xena nodded. “Who sent you?”

The tall man smiled at her. “Does it matter?”

Xena stared at him for a long time. “Only if you want us to do something other than use this map for kindling tonight.”

“My only mission was to give you that map. What you do with it is your business, Xena.”

She laughed. “Whoever sent you was an idiot for thinking I’d take anything from one of Ceasar’s men.”

The man looked at her for a minute, then pushed back the sleeve on his sword arm. A blue tattooed serpent twined its way up his wrist. “I’m not here for Ceasar.” He turned on his heel and vanished with his men into the woods.

Gabrielle frowned, her face puzzled. “Those were Roman soldiers, Xena. What did they…”

Xena shook her head, and turned back to the road. “I don’t know.” Gabrielle sensed she had an idea, but didn’t ask any more questions.

Maygan slipped the map inside her cloak.

Xena managed to find an inn every night until they got to Corinth, and by the time they stopped on a hill overlooking the port city, Gabrielle felt almost like her old self. She sometimes caught Xena looking at her with a shadow in her eyes, and she wondered what it meant. It always went away when she saw Gabrielle looking at her.

“I’ve never been to Corinth.” Gabrielle had come up next to Xena, Girl with her. She looked down at the town, its port full of ships in the water and men on the shore, then glanced at Maygan. “Where is your temple?”

The priestess pointed at a building halfway down the hillside, surrounded by a walled garden. “There.”

Gabrielle looked at Xena. “I’d like to walk down.”

Xena didn’t argue, just nodded. It was an easy path, and the rain was light.

When they came to gate in the temple wall, the rain stopped altogether, and as they passed inside, weak sunlight made the entire garden sparkle for a minute. Gabrielle stood there, entranced, then hurried to catch up with Xena and Maygan. Girl trotted ahead of her as she ran.

A small, dark-haired girl wearing the clothing of a novice appeared from what looked like the temple stable, and bowed to Maygan. She reached up silently and put her hand on Argo’s reins. Xena let her take them, but detached a few bags, including the one holding the regalia, and draped them over her shoulder and arms. Gabrielle had already taken her staff. She shook her head when the girl gestured at Girl. “She’s staying with me,” she said, smiling.

The temple door opened as the three women walked up the stairs, the dog next to them. Another dark-haired novice, this one a little older than the stable girl, beckoned them in. Xena didn’t hesitate or look around, and Gabrielle followed close behind her as they passed into the building.

Once inside, the priestess led them to their left, down a long hall lit by torches. They emerged in a large hall with several tables. Maygan led them to the far end of this room, and through a heavy curtain into a smaller chamber.

A tiny, wrinkled woman in a rough-woven deep blue dress smiled at them from a chair by the fire. “Xena. Forgive me if I don’t get up, but this rain has made my joints ache.”

Xena made a strange motion, almost as though she was thinking of bowing to the old woman. Gabrielle hung back, resisting the impulse herself. Only Girl seemed at ease, trotting confidently to the fire and sniffing at the old priestess’ hand.

Maygan, however, had dropped to her knees at her side. “Are you taking your herbs, Mother?” Her voice was a little awed, and a little scolding, both.

The old woman smiled briefly at Maygan, then looked back at Xena and Gabrielle, her hand stroking Girl’s head. “The young never realize that there comes a day when old age conquers even the most clever herbalist.”

Xena snorted. “It’ll be the only thing that’s ever conquered you, Betrys.”

Maygan started when Xena called the priestess by her given name, but Betrys just smiled. “Time will conquer us all, Xena. Even you.” Then her eyes rested on Gabrielle. “And even you, child.”

Gabrielle smiled at the old woman. “Time isn’t my enemy.”

The old priestess looked at her. “No,” she agreed. “Not time.” She looked back at Xena. “Enough about enemies and my old, aching joints. Maygan, take them to the guest hall, and we’ll speak of the regalia after they’ve eaten and rested.”

Xena didn’t say anything until they were in their room and had dropped their packs on a bench near the fire. There was a meal of roasted chicken, bread, wine, and fruit spread on the table. Unlike at the inn, the shutters stood open. While the weak sunlight had vanished behind the clouds again, no rain was falling in the garden, although there was a wet gray haze over the harbor.

Xena put some chicken and bread on a plate for Girl, and set it on the floor. The dog happily started eating.

Gabrielle stared out at the view. “Is this place under a spell, Xena?”

She shrugged. “Or the protection of their goddess.”

Gabrielle gave a snort. “Then you’d think she could have kept her regalia dry, and me from almost dying, trying to get it here.”

Xena gave a harsh laugh. “When it comes to the gods…”

“I know, Xena, I know: If the gods are involved, everything that can go wrong, will.” She looked at her. “Do you really think that? Do you believe the gods are just out to get us, or playing with us for their own amusement?”

Xena started unpacking one of the saddlebags. “I know some of them are. And so do you.” She didn’t say anything more for a minute. “I don’t know what Demeter wants, or doesn’t want, or if this is a game to her, or something big and sacred. All I know is we haven’t been dry in weeks, you nearly died, and if it doesn’t stop raining soon, I’m going to start growing mold.”

Just then Gabrielle’s stomach rumbled loudly, and Xena grinned. “And I also know you’re starving.”

Gabrielle laughed, and the two women sat down to eat.

No one came for them, so they stripped off their mud-splattered clothing and washed with the scented water they found in basins near the bed. Xena slipped into a clean shift, put her now-dry cloak on over it, and took Girl into the garden.

When they came back, Gabrielle was standing by the window, eyes still fixed on the distant view, absently trailing a wet cloth smelling faintly of lavender across her stomach.

Xena spread her cloak in front of the fire, then stood and watched Gabrielle for a minute. She followed the motion of the girl’s hand and the trail of water droplets tracing a path down her hip. She moved to Gabrielle’s side, and put her hand over hers.

Gabrielle turned around, startled, and dropped the cloth. She brought both her hands up to the sides of Xena’s face, and kissed her. Xena led her by the hand to the bed, and pulled her down into her arms.

Gabrielle lay next to Xena, and held herself up on her elbow. Her hair fell down over the other woman’s face and trailed across her shoulders, almost like a curtain with the light from the window shining through. Xena traced the line of Gabrielle’s jaw with one finger, and Gabrielle bent all the way down and kissed her again. “We haven’t been alone in so long,” she whispered.

Xena pulled her down, almost harshly, and wrapped her arms and legs around Gabrielle. Xena rolled over, pinning her down, and now Xena’s hair fell all around them, and her lips pressed against Gabrielle’s.

_______________________

Xena and Gabrielle woke up the next morning, tangled together. Girl was sleeping in front of the fire, the sun was shining in the open window, and someone was knocking at their door.

They hastily dressed, and followed the silent novice down to the main hall, Girl behind them. “Don’t any of these girls speak?” Gabrielle whispered to Xena.

Xena answered in a normal voice. “They take a vow of silence during certain periods of their training.”

Gabrielle frowned. “I don’t think I’d like that very much.”

Xena choked back a laugh just as they came into the hall. Betrys looked up at them, smiling. On the table in front of her was the map the Roman soldier had given Xena on the road.

The old woman gestured at two places next to her, with plates of bread and cheese in front of them, and mugs of hot tea. “Sit down, Xena, Gabrielle. I hope you had a restful sleep.”

Gabrielle smiled at her. “We did.” She fought back the feeling that the priestess knew exactly why her rest had been so sweet.

Xena swallowed her tea and nodded at the map. “Do you know what this is, Mother?”

She nodded. “Yes. Do you?”

Xena reached out a hand and turned the map so she could see it. She studied it for a long time, then frowned. “It’s Brittania, but I’m not sure… I’ve never been in this area, and yet it seems familiar.” She shook her head.

“It’s where the regalia needs to be taken.”

Xena nodded. “By me?”

“Do you want to take it?” She spoke very slowly.

Xena shrugged. “I promised Mellaina that I’d make sure the regalia went safely to Britannia, but I didn’t promise to take it myself.” She paused. “I’m in no hurry to return there.”

The woman nodded. “And yet your destiny will draw you there again.”

Xena shook her head. “Everyone’s always very ready to tell me what my destiny is. If I go, I go. If not, not. But it’s my choice.”

Betrys looked like she was going to smile, but she didn’t. She turned to Gabrielle. “And you? What do you feel when you think of Britannia?”

Gabrielle smiled. “Nothing. Should I?” She broke off a piece of cheese and slipped it to Girl, who was under the table.

The old woman looked at her, and sadness flickered across her face. Xena was gazing at the map and didn’t see it. “Perhaps. That, however, is your destiny. The question before us now is, who will carry the regalia to Britannia, and how can we protect it until it’s safely there?”

Gabrielle looked at her. “I thought anyone who touched it would die? Isn’t that enough protection?”

Xena looked at her sharply. “It didn’t stop Ellyn.”

Betrys looked pained. “Ellyn was an initiate, and could have touched it… not without suffering some harm, but she might not have recognized it at first.”

Xena shook her head. “I assumed it would just kill you, like touching Prometheus’ sword.”

The old woman nodded. “And you, it would.” She changed the subject. “But there are those who know its secrets, and those who believe they do. It holds power, and there are always those who find that an irresistible treasure.”

Xena’s eyes went back to the map. “So, what next?”

Gabrielle swallowed the last of the cheese, and pointed at Xena’s plate. “Are you going to eat that?”

Xena pushed her plate closer to Gabrielle. “Can Maygan touch the regalia?”

“She can,” said Betrys.

Xena nodded. “Then let her take it to Britannia.”

“And if someone tries to take it from her by force?”

Xena laughed. “You forget, I know Maygan. I’d put my money on her in a fight.”

Betrys stood up. “Come, walk with me.”

Gabrielle scrambled to her feet and followed them, with Girl trotting next to her. For an old woman who couldn’t so much as get out of her chair the day before, Betrys had no trouble matching Xena’s long stride as they went into the garden. They followed a path to the hillside, and stood looking down at the port. It was the same view as from their window.

“Do you see that ship out in the bay?”

Xena covered her eyes, and followed the line of Betrys’ pointing finger. “Yes.”

“It carries Roman soldiers, looking for the regalia.”

Gabrielle frowned. “How do they know where it is?”

Betrys looked at her. “They have their seers and priests, just as we do, Gabrielle.” She looked at the tall ship. “And their gods.”

Xena shook her head. “If you need someone to hold off the armies of Rome, it’ll take more than Gabrielle and me.”

“I was thinking you might draw them off, not hold them off.” She waited.

Gabrielle yelped. “You want us to draw off the Roman legions so Maygan can take the regalia to Britannia?”

“There’s a ship leaving for Gaul at dawn, where Maygan can then find a ship to Brittania. But if the Romans believe the regalia is still here, in Greece, they won’t go looking for it on the seas until it’s too late.”

Xena looked at Betrys admiringly. “It might work. Have you asked your goddess if it will?”

She shrugged. “She tells me what you just told me: It might.”

“How godlike of her.”

Betrys raised an eyebrow at the tone of Xena’s voice, but only asked, “Will you do it?”

Xena glanced at Gabrielle, then back at Betrys. “Gabrielle and I need to talk.”

“Of course. I’ll see you in the temple for the midday meal.” She walked down the path, and as she passed through the arbor at the bottom of the hill, the sun broke through the clouds again.

Xena rested her hands on Gabrielle’s shoulders. “What do you think?”

“At the risk of you accusing me of sounding godlike, I think it might work.” She grinned at Xena, who laughed.

“It’s not the great adventure we set out to have. There’s no long journey to a strange land, or a map to a hidden island, at the end of the Corinth road.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “Are you saying our life isn’t exciting enough? Is that before or after we try to single-handedly evade the Roman legions with no army but a horse, a dog, and the two of us?”

Xena laughed. “All right, then. Let’s tell them.”

When they got back to the hall, Maygan had brought the regalia from the guest rooms, and laid each wrapped bundle on the table in front of her. She was talking in a low voice to Betrys, while three wide-eyed novices stood watching.

“Have you seen this before?” Maygan was unwrapping one of the packages, and shook the silk cloth off the cup Mellaina had used to see the vision telling her to send the regalia to Britannia. Xena nodded.

Maygan gestured to one of the novices, who poured water into the cup from a stone pitcher. Maygan drew one of the other girls forward, and brushed her fingers across her forehead, between her eyes. “Look in the cup and tell me what you see,” she said, her voice both commanding and kind.

The girl looked down at the water in the cup, and her eyes slid out of focus. “Soldiers,” she said after a long pause. “And green hills.”

Maygan nodded, and moved her hand over the surface of the water. “What now?”

Again, a long silence. “Mist on water.” The girl’s voice was toneless. “A boat.” More silence. “A hill.”

Gabrielle stood watching, biting her lip. “Will Maygan get to Britannia safely? Will the plan work?”

Maygan didn’t look at her, just frowned. “What else do you see? Do you see the regalia?”

The girl didn’t look up from the cup. “I see it.”

Maygan brought her hand down, and lifted the girl’s chin. “Thank you. You may go.” She touched the girl again between her eyes, and she blinked, then slumped forward, resting her hands on the table. The other two novices slipped their arms around her waist, and led her to the kitchen.

Xena was sitting at the table, eating an apple. “And we’re right where we’ve always been: It might work. Right?”

Maygan was cleaning and rewrapping the cup, so Betrys answered. “Yes. You’re right.”

Xena shook her head, stood up, and tossed the apple core into the fire that was burning on the hearth. “Gods. You can have them.”

She strode out of the room. Gabrielle looked at the old woman, then followed Xena out the door.

____________________________________

Xena stretched her hand down to Gabrielle. The girl grabbed it, and let Xena pull her up behind her in the saddle.

In the distance, the ship bound for Gaul was sailing out. A Roman soldier pointed up the hill at Argo, her saddlebags stuffed with silk-wrapped metal cups and bowls, and called out something to his comrades.

Xena laughed, and looked behind her at Gabrielle. “Ready for a run?”

Gabrielle smiled at her. “I’m ready.”

Xena patted Argo’s neck, and looked down at Girl. “Then let’s go.” She wheeled Argo around, and Gabrielle’s cloak whipped out behind her.

Gabrielle looked over her shoulder, watching Maygan’s ship vanishing into the grey clouds on the horizon, bound for Britannia.

“Xena?”

Xena was letting Argo set the pace, her reins loose in her hands. “Yes?”

“Do you think we’ll ever go to Brittania, after all?”

Xena glanced back at her, and grinned. The sun was shining, Girl was racing ahead of them, and Argo was flying like the wind. “Only the gods know, Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle wrapped her arms more tightly around Xena’s waist, and held on for the ride.

The end.