Her Own Girl
By Xie

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” - Lao Tzu

Gabrielle opened her eyes just enough to see it was still dark. She felt Girl sleeping on her feet, heavy and warm, and Xena sleeping next to her. She listened, but didn’t hear anything.

Xena shifted against her, and Gabrielle felt a little cold air slip in under the blanket. She burrowed against Xena, closing the gap between them, and wriggled her feet more deeply under the sleeping dog.

The next time she opened her eyes, the sky was still dark, but with that extra radiance it sometimes has just before morning. Xena’s eyes were open, too, and Gabrielle tightened her arm across her waist, not letting her slide out of the blankets. She didn’t say anything, just held on, and tilted her face up to Xena, waiting.

Xena smiled at Gabrielle, and leaned down and kissed her. “We have a long way to go today, we need to get started.”

Xena got up, and Gabrielle sighed, holding onto the warmth of the bedroll for one minute more. Then she pulled her feet out from under Girl, threw back the blankets, and jumped up.

The red dog opened one eye and made a little groaning noise, then went back to sleep. Gabrielle knelt down and checked the bandage on the half-healed sword wound on her shoulder. They’d been on the road almost a week, Girl riding on an improvised perch on Argo’s saddle, while they headed for the port at Corinth. Xena was hoping to find a priestess she knew who lived there, who might be willing to transport the regalia to Britannia for them.

Gabrielle stirred up the fire, and set a pot of last night’s stew in the coals to warm. Xena finished strapping the fabric-wrapped bundles they were transporting to Corinth onto Argo, and walked over to the bedroll. “How’s your shoulder today, Girl?”

Girl blinked at Xena, who crouched down and gently examined the wound. “It’s healing well, Gabrielle. She can walk today, at least for a while.”

Gabrielle smiled, and Girl looked at Xena and thumped her tail.

They returned to the road after they ate and broke camp, and at midday came to a small town on the Corinth road. Xena frowned at the sky. Every hour the clouds got grayer and heavier with water, but the rain still didn’t fall. She counted a few coins out of the saddlebag.

“Get something we don’t have to cook, I think we’ll be in someone’s barn tonight.”

Gabrielle took the coins and went into a small shop, Girl trotting at her side. Xena pretended to check Argo’s foot, letting her eyes sweep around the small village.

Gabrielle looked at Xena’s face when she came back, but knew better than to ask the cause of her carefully blank expression. She slipped her purchases into the bag, and followed Xena a little way down the road towards Corinth before finally speaking. “Xena… what is it? What’s wrong?”

Xena shook her head, and looked down the road behind them. Gabrielle didn’t see or hear anything, but Xena’s eyes were clouded. “Did you notice all the horses in that village?”

Gabrielle thought for a minute. “No, not really.”

“There’s no way a village that size would have that many horses, something’s not right.”

They kept traveling towards Corinth, but after they’d gone less than a mile, Xena stopped again. “Do you hear that?”

Girl was facing forward with her hackles raised, and Argo’s ears were twitching, but Gabrielle didn’t hear anything unusual. She slowly shook her head at Xena’s question. “What is it?”

“Ambush.” Xena’s voice was terse.

Gabrielle took her staff off Argo’s saddle, and listened again. She heard the sound of the wind in the leaves, and a distance noise of rushing water, and then, so faint she could barely make it out, twigs cracking, and a metallic clanking sound.

The road ahead of them was lined with trees, but they had stopped next to a small clearing. Gabrielle saw a glint of something moving up ahead, and then a gang of armed men boiled up out of the woods, racing towards them.

Girl fell back behind Argo, and Xena and Gabrielle stepped in front of the horse. Gabrielle felt the shock on her arms and shoulders as her staff took the force of a vicious blow. The man’s sword flew out of his hands with the impact, and Gabrielle brought the staff down on his head before he had a chance to reclaim it.

Another man hurtled past her, heading for Argo, and Gabrielle whirled around, catching him behind the knees with her staff, and sending him crashing to the ground. She kicked his sword away. He tried to get up, and she brought her staff down on his head. He fell heavily to the ground.

Gabrielle stayed near Argo, and circled around closer to Xena. The mare stood steady even with the sound of sword on sword, and the curses of the fighters. Out of the corner of her eye, Gabrielle saw Girl moving hesitantly around to Argo’s other side, her bandaged shoulder hampering her.

Two fighters came at Xena at once, but she kicked one man’s sword away with her left foot, and knocked the other one down with the flat of her sword. There were three men left, and two of them rushed Xena and Gabrielle while the third circled wide into the clearing, trying to get behind Argo. Girl erupted from behind the mare’s rear legs, fangs bared, and he hesitated just long enough for Xena’s chakram to knock his sword far into the undergrowth bordering the woods.

Girl drove him away from Argo, and Gabrielle managed to get between him and the mare, her staff spinning. He dodged the first pass, but the second connected with his ribs. His face crumpled in agony, and he turned and tried to escape back the way they’d come. Xena tripped him as he ran past, and he didn’t try to get up again.

Xena led Argo into the woods, Gabrielle and Girl following. They came to a game trail and carefully followed it, and then crossed a small stream. Xena stood and listened, Argo’s reins in her hand, and Gabrielle quietly knelt and checked Girl’s shoulder. The wound hadn’t opened.

Xena glanced down at Gabrielle. “They’re not following.”

Gabrielle nodded. “Who were they?”

Xena frowned. “Obviously, they were after the regalia, but they didn’t look like Phliousians. I don’t know who they were.” Xena turned to face Gabrielle. “I know this: They’ll try again. I need to go back to that town and find out what I can about who they are. But I need you to do something, too, Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle fixed her eyes on Xena’s face, her hands tightening on her staff. Girl was sitting next to her, and she looked up at Xena, too.

“We go back to the village, and say we were attacked on the road and need more supplies. Then we split up – I’ll take Argo and what looks like the regalia, and try to draw them off, while you slip away with the real regalia. We’ll meet up about half a day’s journey towards Corinth, at that village where the festival was, you know the one.”

Gabrielle nodded. Xena’s eyes softened, and she stepped close to the girl, putting her hands on either side of her face. “Promise me, Gabrielle, if I’m not there by the next morning, you’ll take the regalia to Corinth without me.”

Gabrielle stared. “Xena, no…”

Xena cut her off. “Promise me.”

Their stood like that for a long time, and Gabrielle finally looked away. “All right.”

Xena turned her face back firmly. “Promise.”

Gabrielle jerked her chin from Xena’s grip. “I promise. Now let’s go.”

Xena sighed, and turned Argo’s head back towards the road.

_________________________________

Gabrielle slipped into the forest behind the village, Girl at her heels and her bag slung across her back. “I hope you’re feeling like hunting, Girl, because Xena threw out most of the food to make room for the regalia.” Girl blinked up at her, then trotted slightly ahead, not even limping on her injured shoulder.

It was only half a day’s journey to the rendezvous point, but it was already dark, so Gabrielle made camp only a few hours out of the village. She and Girl shared what food they had, and then Gabrielle checked her bandage. The wound looked clean and healthy, so she didn’t replace it. Girl thumped her tail.

The rain had held off so far, but before dawn, Gabrielle woke up to drops falling on her face. Girl had burrowed under the blankets, and mumbled in her sleep. “Sorry to roust you, Girl, but in a minute that blanket’s going to soak through, and you won’t like that. Up!”

The fire hadn’t gone all the way out, so she scattered it, and they headed towards the Corinth road.

___________________________________

Xena left Argo, bundles looking just like those concealing the regalia strapped to her saddle, in a dense part of the woods outside the town. She whispered something in the mare’s ear, and walked up about a quarter mile down a game path. A smile flickered across her lips, and she whipped out her sword while spinning around, just as a blade crashed towards her head. The armed man fell, and Xena dropped to her knees on his chest, jabbing at his throat with her fingers.

He stared up at her, his eyes huge and terrified. A drop of blood formed at the corner of his mouth. Xena smiled, her eyes feral. “I’ve just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You have one minute to tell me who sent you, and why, or you’ll die. It’s that simple. Talk.”

The man choked. “Up the road. Phrixos has an encampment. Hired to steal the regalia.”

Xena took the choke off him with one thrust, but then grabbed his armor and hauled him close to her face. He coughed and sputtered, and she hissed. “Hired by who? Why?”

The man shook his head. “Don’t know.” He flinched at the look in her eyes. “I swear, I don’t know!”

Xena loosened her grip on him, and gave his skull a sharp blow with the side of her hand. He fell back, unconscious. She moved through the forest,  next to the road, until she heard a sound. Xena climbed a tree, and saw the edges of an army encampment. This was no bandit camp, no smalltime warlord. This was war.

Xena went back to where she’d left Argo, and rode deeper into the forest, away from the army. She made a fireless camp that night. Near dawn, rain started to fall, and mixed in with the sound of rain on the leaves, she heard something else, a rustling noise, the faintest exhalation of air from a man’s lungs.

She rolled over and sprung to her feet, in time to see a tall figure standing on the far side of Argo, about to mount her. She snorted. “She’ll never move with you on her back.”

The man bolted for the deep woods beyond the small clearing, but Xena launched herself flat-out towards him, and tackled him to the ground. She knelt behind him, hauling him up so his back was pressed against her chest, her arm locked around his neck. She ripped the hood off his head with her free hand, revealing a man with a head of short, dark hair and a mustache.

Xena unlocked her arm from around his neck. “Autolycus. I should have known. Who else would have the sheer gall to think he could steal Argo?”

The thief coughed and rubbed his throat. “Xena. Good morning. Nice day if it doesn’t rain, don’t you think?”

Xena jerked him to his feet. “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re in the pay of this army? That’s not your style.”

Autolycus shook his head. “I have nothing to do with the army. I was hired by Phrixos to retrieve some religious artifacts stolen from the Phliousians. He has a priestess with him.” He stretched his neck, and rubbed his throat again. “And a chest full of gold.”

Xena snorted. “I’ll bet. Well, old friend, you can take me to this Phrixos and his priestess, but I think we’ll just wait and see what he wanted with the regalia before we introduce him to Argo.”

Xena led the mare into the deep undergrowth on the south side of the clearing, and pulled a hooded cloak out of the saddlebag. Then she whispered in Argo’s ear, telling her to stay.

When she got back to the camp, Autolycus was waiting for her. “You know, Xena, maybe going back to Phrixos isn’t the best plan. Maybe we should just take the regalia and be on our way. Maybe I misread the situation…”

“Maybe you should shut up and take me to him.” Xena gave him a hard shove at the small of his back.

“As I was saying, this way.”

Autolycus led Xena to the camp, and gave an apologetic cough when the guards waved him through. Xena rolled her eyes.

They slogged through the mud to what was obviously the commander’s tent. Autolycus started to speak, but Xena’s hand closed like a vise on his shoulder, silencing him. She smiled at one of the guards, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “Tell Phrixos Xena has something that belongs to him.”

The guard hesitated a moment, then jerked his head and disappeared inside the tent. Xena started to whistle. Autolycus looked nervous.

A few seconds later, the guard re-appeared, and held the tent flap open. Xena strolled inside, Autolycus following her.

A tall man with a scarred face was sitting at a rough table. Next to him stood a woman, a cloak around her shoulders, bordered with needlework. A heavy gold amulet hung around her neck. Xena barely glanced at her. “Phrixos. I somehow got the idea you were looking for me.”

He gestured towards the woman at his side. “Not I. She was.”

The woman looked directly into Xena’s eyes. “Xena.”

“Ellyn.”

Autolycus jerked in surprise. “Wait, you two know each other?”

Xena shrugged. “You could say that.”

Ellyn leaned forward, her hands resting on the table. “Xena, I know you have a personal loyalty to Mellaina, but she was wrong to try to send the regalia of Demeter out of Greece. It belongs here. You must return it to its rightful owner.”

Xena looked at Ellyn’s face, and raised a brow. “The Phliousians?”

Ellyn made a dismissive gesture. “The Phliousians are brigands. No, to me. Only I can safely restore it to its intended use. And after all – weren’t you bringing it to me in the first place?”

Xena smiled. “It’s possible we have something to discuss. Alone.”

Ellyn lifted one hand, and everyone but Phrixos and Autolycus left the room. Xena shook her head. “I said, alone.”

Ellyn nodded, and Phrixos, his face red, stood and left the room. Xena gave an almost imperceptible nod to Autolycus, and he reluctantly filed after the warlord.

“Ellyn.” Xena’s voice was fierce. “What’s going on?”

Ellyn shook her head, and held her finger to her mouth. She motioned Xena closer. “Xena, you’re right. The regalia must be taken to Britannia. Do you really think I’d make common cause with these men? But I need their help.” She gazed steadily at the warrior. “Unless I can have yours.”

Xena stared long and hard at Ellyn, then nodded. “Can you get away alone?”

The priestess looked disdainful. “Of course.”

Xena nodded. “Tonight. After the last change of the watch. I’ll take you to where the regalia is hidden.”

____________________________________

Gabrielle stood in the doorway of the abandoned barn, waiting for Xena. She strained her ears, but couldn’t hear anything over the steady fall of rain on the roof, and the wind blowing through the trees.

Girl had gone out an hour or more ago, and Gabrielle wished she’d come back. It was getting dark.

Almost as if in response to her thought, the red dog silently slipped out from the bushes near the path, a hare in her jaw. She trotted up to Gabrielle, and dropped her prey at her feet. Gabrielle crouched down, grabbing the hare by its hind legs, and petting Girl’s head. “What a good girl you are, catching our dinner. I’d be hungry without you tonight, in all this rain.”

Gabrielle started a fire under an overhang off the barn, and cleaned and skinned the hare while it caught. She’d kept the wood as dry as she could after gathering it, but it still smoked and gutted. She shared the cooked hare with Girl, and then curled up with the dog inside the barn, wondering where Xena was that night.

The next morning, the rain was falling harder, and the sky was barely lighter after the sun rose than before. Gabrielle started a new fire, and wished she had something more than some dried fruit for her breakfast. She sat on her heels, Girl’s head on her leg. “I bet you don’t want any dried fruit, do you girl?”

She offered the dog a piece, and Girl ate it up. Gabrielle laughed. “Or maybe you do.” She ate another piece, then gave one to Girl, until they were gone. Then she sighed. “I hope she gets here soon.”

By lunchtime, Gabrielle’s grumbling stomach could be heard even over the beat of the rain. She knew she’d promised Xena if she wasn’t there by now, she’d take the regalia to Corinth. But surely Xena was just delayed by the storm? Maybe she’d just start back the way Xena was coming, and they’d meet on the way. She could pick up the west road to Corinth instead.

Gabrielle pulled her rain cloak out of her bag, and stowed her bedroll with the regalia. She picked up her staff, and called Girl. “Let’s go find Xena,” she said to the dog.

Girl’s ears picked up, and she started down behind the barn, in the opposite direction Gabrielle wanted to go. “No, Girl, come back. Let’s go this way.”

Girl trotted back to her, then turned around and woofed once over her shoulder and went back towards the woods again. Gabrielle shook her head. “Girl, come back here. We have to go find Xena. Come on.”

She muttered to herself as she tromped down the muddy path after the dog. Girl was waiting for her where the path disappeared into the undergrowth, and the minute she saw Gabrielle was following, she darted ahead.

“Girl! Come back!” Gabrielle kept going after the dog, who was for some reason completely ignoring her. Every now and then she caught up with her, but the minute Girl saw Gabrielle, she ran off again. Cursing and stumbling, Gabrielle kept up her fruitless calling for a quarter of an hour.

She eventually came to a pile of fallen logs, woven together in some huge crashing windstorm, now grown over with moss and wet with rain. Girl was sitting next to them, but when she saw Gabrielle, slithered through a gap between the trees and the ground.

“I can’t fit in there, Girl. Hold on, we have to go back.” Gabrielle surveyed the pile of logs, and with a sigh started clambering over them. Just as she got to the highest point, her foot slipped down into the crevice between two trees. She worked it free easily, but there was a long gash on her calf.

After she climbed down, Girl was waiting for her. But not for long. Ignoring the pain in her leg, Gabrielle followed.

The rain didn’t stop falling all day, but after a few hours, Girl led her into a small village. Gabrielle took a few coins from the outer pouch on her bag, and went in for a hot meal. Girl slipped under the table and ate the bits of roast chicken Gabrielle slipped to her.

Gabrielle left the village behind with a sigh, wishing more than anything that she was warm and dry. Or cold and wet, but with Xena.

Girl was still trotting ahead, looking over her shoulder from time to time to see that Gabrielle was following. Gabrielle had no idea where they were, but at least this path was a real path, almost a road, and not a cross country endurance course.

Girl froze, and turned around, a low growl in her throat. Gabrielle gripped her staff and spun around in time to send the man grabbing for her bag, knife in hand, sprawling in the mud. She kicked his knife to the side of the road, and Girl came and put her front legs on him, growling and showing her teeth.

Gabrielle planted the end of her staff on his throat. “Good girl,” she told the dog. She narrowed her eyes at the man. “I know you. You were at Mellaina’s castle. You were one of her officers.”

He spat at her. Girl snapped at him, catching his jaw with the edge of her tooth.

“Bitch,” he hissed. Girl growled.

“Yes, she is,” Gabrielle said pleasantly. “I can be a bit of a bitch myself.” She smacked him in the head with her staff, and his head thudded to the wet ground. Gabrielle looked down at Girl.

“This is odd. How did he know we’d be here, or that we have the regalia?” Girl just looked at her, then started trotting slowly down the road. Hesitating just a moment, Gabrielle went after her. After a few yards, the dog cut off onto a game trail. Gabrielle followed.

_________________________________

Ellyn had taken Xena and Autolycus to a small tent so they could eat and rest until later that night. When they were alone, Autolycus turned to Xena. “What’s going on?”

Xena shook her head. “I don’t know, but I do know I’m being lied to.”

Autolycus nodded. “It seemed awfully convenient. How well do you know this priestess?”

“Not as well as I thought.” Xena looked grim. “I wish I knew where Gabrielle was.”

Autolycus stared. “She has the regalia, not you.”

Xena shrugged.

“You don’t know where she is?”

She shrugged again. “I was supposed to meet her yesterday. If I didn’t show up, she was supposed to take the regalia to Corinth.”

Autolycus looked confused. “Then she’s on her way to Corinth?”

Xena snorted. “Have you met Gabrielle? Of course not. She’s out there, somewhere, looking for me.”

He nodded.

They sat in silence for a while, waiting for the changing of the watch. The Xena checked her cloak, but it was still damp. The rain kept pounding on the roof of the tent.

Ellyn finally came for them, wrapped in a dark cloak, her gold amulet hidden. “Be as quiet as possible,” she said.

Xena and Autolycus followed the priestess into the rain. After they passed the perimeter of the camp, avoiding the guards, Ellyn glanced at Xena. “Where are we going?”

“To the regalia. My friend Gabrielle has it.”

Autolycus started next to Xena, but didn’t say anything.

Ellyn nodded, and after a little while, let Xena take the lead. As they crossed a small stream, Xena noticed the rain was stopping, and there was a small break in the clouds. The moon shone down on the thicket where she’d left Argo.

“Gabrielle!” she called.

The young woman stopped out into the moonlight, Girl at her side. With one stride Xena went to her, and pulled her into a tight embrace. She pressed her mouth to her ear. “She’s lying to get the regalia. This is a trap.”

Gabrielle turned her head as if she were kissing Xena’s neck. “I know, I saw the army camp. And there’s a war party beyond the thicket.”

Xena smiled and stepped back, and turned to face Ellyn. “Give her the regalia, Gabrielle. This is the priestess we were looking for. It seems she’s found us.”

Gabrielle smiled at the woman. “Good, that saves us an unnecessary journey.” She reached behind her, as if she were getting her bag, but picked up her staff instead. Just at that moment, a group of armed warriors appeared behind Ellyn.

The priestess didn’t even look behind her, just smiled. “I’m sorry, Xena, but I think you have something that belongs to me. Hand it over, and I’ll let you and your friends go.”

Xena’s smile glittered in the moonlight. “Not tonight, Ellyn.”

The soldiers swarmed around the priestess, swords drawn. Xena gave a cry and leapt into the air, kicking two soldiers at once in the throat. They sprawled on their backs on either side of Ellyn.

This time three men rushed Xena, while another ducked under his comrade’s arm to swing at Gabrielle. She deflected his sword with her staff, then brought it into his solar plexus, hard. He fell.

Autolycus came up behind Ellyn, and whipped a rope around her upper arms and chest. She struggled, then sank back. He fell on top of her, but got the rope around her arms and bound her tightly. She lay on the ground, furious. “You’ll pay for this, fool. Do not anger my goddess.”

The thief smiled at her. “I don’t know about your goddess, lady, I’m just trying not to anger the tall one over there with the whip.”

She kicked at him impotently with her legs, but he ignored her, whirling around and meeting a descending sword with his own. He surged up towards the man attacking him, and drove him towards Xena and Gabrielle.

The sounds of the fight, and the grunts of the fallen men, were deafening in the darkness, but Ellyn smiled. She edged along the ground until she felt the knife she had deftly worked out of Autolycus’ boot with her fingers, and sawed against it until her bonds were cut. Then she picked it up, and crawled to the edge of the clearing.

Gabrielle drove her staff into the leg of a man swinging a mace at her head, and then cracked him under the chin with the other end. Xena’s sword rang against her opponent’s blade, and before he could parry, she sent him flying backwards with one kick. Gabrielle spun around and saw Autolycus fighting on the other side of the clearing, but before she could go to help him, one of the fallen men reached up and tried to pull Gabrielle down. She hit him in the head with her staff, just as the flat of Xena’s sword came down hard the head of the man she was fighting. He fell in a heap next to his comrade.

Xena and Gabrielle sprinted across the clearing where Autolycus was fighting the last of the soldiers, but before they had crossed half the distance, Ellyn stood up suddenly from her hiding place on the edge of the woods. Her arm, holding Autolycus’ own knife, caught a glint of moonlight as she moved to draw it across his throat from behind.

A red streak leapt out of the thicket. Girl had seen all she cared to see of human blades, but she still fixed her teeth on the priestess’ arm, dragging her down and away from Autolycus. He whipped around and drove his sword into Ellyn’s chest as she lunged upward once more with the knife.

Her eyes looked stunned, and then they froze. She said one word… “No…” and then blood gushed out of her mouth, and she fell back.

Autolycus stood next to Ellyn’s body, his face frozen in shock. Xena rested her hand on his back. “She was going to cut your throat. While your back was turned.”

He nodded, but his voice was numb. “I know.” The man knelt down in the mud, and put his hand on Girl’s head. “You saved me. Good girl.”

Gabrielle beamed down at them. “She is. She really is.”

Xena and Gabrielle buried Ellyn in a shallow grave, while Autolycus sat on a rock, cleaning his sword. After they were done, Gabrielle went and sat on one side of him, while Xena sat on the other.

Xena put her hand on his shoulder. “You were just defending yourself.”

He nodded, and sheathed his sword. “I know.”

Xena looked at his face for a minute, then got up and disappeared into the thicket where Argo still waited.

Gabrielle bit her lip and watched Autolycus’ face. She shifted a little closer to him, and let her shoulder bump his arm. A smile flickered across his face, and he bumped her back.

The thief cleared his throat. “I’m not cut out to be a warrior. I think I’ll stick with my first career choice.”

“Theft?” Gabrielle’s tone was dry.

“It’s an honorable and ancient trade.” He stood up, and bowed to Gabrielle with a flourish. “And with that, fair lady, I’ll say goodbye to you and your fierce companion.”

Xena emerged from the thicket, leading Argo. Autolycus walked up to her, and they gripped forearms. She stood watching him disappear up the path back to the village.

___________________________

Gabrielle dumped another armload of wood next to the fire, so it could dry out overnight. She knelt down and spread out the bedroll, and Girl circled three times, then lay down at the foot of it.

Xena was brushing Argo on the edge of the camp, and Gabrielle undressed and slipped under the blankets. She was drowsing in the fire’s warmth, listening to the murmur of the night insects, when she felt Xena beside her. She opened her eyes.

Xena was kneeling next to Gabrielle, her long hair falling over her shift, her legs bare. She stretched out her hand and brushed her fingers through Gabrielle’s hair, and Gabrielle nestled her head into her palm.

Xena lay down, and Gabrielle pulled the blanket up over both of them. The two women faced each other, legs tangling together.

Gabrielle brushed her lips against Xena’s jaw. “Xena, what do you think happened to Ellyn?”

She shifted against Gabrielle, trailing her hand up and down her thigh. “I don’t know. The usual things, I suppose, power. Pride. Greed. But it doesn’t fit the Ellyn I knew.”

Gabrielle rolled into Xena, bringing her leg up over the other woman’s hip. Xena’s hand moved to the inside of her thigh, tracing the smooth skin there. Gabrielle took a deep breath, and just lay there, feeling Xena’s hand stroking a dizzying pattern from the back of her knee to the tender spot where her thigh joined her groin, and down again.

Xena smiled into Gabrielle’s hair as the younger woman pressed into her thigh, letting her hand slide down her arm and up inside the warmth of her shift, cupping her breast. Gabrielle’s mouth was on hers then, fierce and hot and open. Xena felt herself getting dizzy and a little lost, rolling onto her back and pulling Gabrielle with her.

Gabrielle sat straddling Xena, the firelight behind her, and laughed. Xena reached up and grabbed her hands. “What are you laughing at?”

“How did you know I’d be with Argo?”

Xena thought for a minute. “I knew you’d never go to Corinth without me. And I figured you’d find me somehow.”

Gabrielle tilted her head to the side. “It wasn’t me, it was Girl. She went right to you.” She glanced at her leg. “Over land. By the most direct route possible. Regardless of obstacles.”

Xena laughed. “Sounds like a good match for someone I know.”

Gabrielle dropped down suddenly, and nipped at Xena’s jaw.

“Hey!” Xena sat up, holding Gabrielle’s face in both her hands. “That hurt!”

Gabrielle rolled onto her back, still laughing. Xena bent over her, looking into her eyes, and kissed her.

This time Gabrielle let her legs fall apart as she pulled Xena down onto her, and Xena slid down her body and gently kissed and licked between her thighs. Gabrielle gave a little cry and bent her legs more, and Xena let one hand reach up across her stomach, and clasp the girl’s hand.

They were lying in each other’s arms, the light from the fire almost gone, right on the edge of sleep.

“Xena?”

Xena sighed. “Yes?”

“Are we still going to Corinth?”

Xena didn’t answer right away. “I think we have to. We have to find Ellyn’s order, see what’s going on. And find a way to get the regalia to Britannia, or take it there ourselves. And all that means we go to Corinth.”

Xena felt sleep filling her mind again, but Gabrielle’s voice broke the spell one more time.

“If you knew I wouldn’t go to Corinth without you, why did you make me promise?”

Xena looked at her. “Habit.”

Gabrielle snuggled closer. “Don’t make me promise to leave you again.”

Xena stared over Gabrielle’s head at the dying fire for a long time. Just as she felt the younger woman’s breathing fade into the gentle rhythm of sleep, she whispered, “I promise.”

Continued here…