Chapter Five

Javet was finding the silence of the prisoner harder to bear than the coldness of the secure room. After wrapping Terek's blanket around him, the centaur found that he didn't have much to do besides watch the woman, who always kept eye contact with him, her one good eye never leaving his face. The gloom and quiet agitated Javet. He couldn't tell what time it was, how long he had been there, and with Xena staring him down, he also began to question who was the prisoner and who the jailer was. He felt as if he were trapped in a home haunted by his enemies, with the only exit out being behind a wall of fire. Hearing a noise behind him, he nearly stumbled in fear when he felt a hand clamp down hard on his shoulder.

"Javet, how are things going?"

"Oh, Lorenz!" Javet responded a little too loudly. His beating heart was in his throat as he glanced at his leader. "Everything's fine. No worries."

"Good, good," the red haired centaur murmured while he looked into the cell. The prisoner returned his gaze stoically. "Hand me that pole, Javet."

Wordlessly, the older centaur gave over the pole that he had been holding ever since Terek had left the cell earlier. Lorenz slid the weapon between two slats of the door and grinned at the Destroyer of Nations.

"How are the arms, prisoner?" he asked, just as he slammed the butt of the pole into her right shoulder. Without waiting for an answer, he smashed her left shoulder with equal force, and then next attacked her biceps.

Xena didn't flinch at the pain even though the sensations running through her arms were excruciating. A rippling effect passed up her arms and into her hands, making each nerve ending scream in agony. She hadn't been able to keep up with her exercises ever since Javet had removed the blanket from her head; she had to concentrate on breaking him before she could work on improving her situation. Unfortunately, now she was suffering the effects of the last few hours. Her upper body was almost completely useless, and her legs were aching from inactivity.

As if reading her thoughts, Lorenz swung at her legs, concentrating mostly on her thighs. He pounded on the same spots continuously until several large bruises developed on the tanned skin. Not finished, the centaur hammered at her calves, the muscles there hard and unpliable from the lack of movement or stimulation.

Xena couldn't keep her body from rocking from the force of the blows; her legs felt on fire, but she never lost eye contact with her tormentor. The woman would not let her former enemy win this battle of wills, no matter how much she suffered.

Lorenz could not understand the stamina of his prisoner. Her lack of response at the beating he gave her unnerved him a little, but he couldn't help but try one more tactic to get an emotional or physical reaction from his silent charge. Bringing the pole up to the woman's face, he placed it on her right cheek, turning her head to the left. "Thirsty, murderer? I bet you would like some water right about now," he taunted as he brought the pole to her left cheek, and turned her face back to confront him. The prisoner's left eye was completely closed, but her right eye stared at him impassively. "No answer? Then forget I mentioned it," Lorenz said as he turned away from the woman.

Handing the pole back to Javet, he reminded the centaur needlessly, "Watch her closely. She's up to something."

The leader took one more look at the condemned. "Your trial is set for sunrise in two days. Start praying to Ares, or any god that you think will hear you. You'll need all the help you can get."

Without another word, Javet watched Lorenz move up the slope to the upper part of the prison. The cell seemed even quieter after the big centaur left. Moving to glance at the prisoner, he wasn't surprised that she was again regarding him emotionlessly. The jailer felt a chill run up his spine; deciding quickly, he unlocked the cell door, and removed the blanket that Terek had left him. He stood out of reach of the prisoner, even though he was fairly sure she wouldn't attack him, and tossed the cloth over the woman's head. After hastily relocking the cell, he moved away from the door in order to put some distance between him and the woman. He did not like his job at all.

When she heard the key move in the lock, Xena let out the breath she had been holding. With the blanket again covering her face, she could concentrate on her physical needs. Her arms had quit trembling from the beating, but her legs were throbbing in pain. As she stretched up on her toes, he knotted calf muscles twitched in agony at the movement. Xena took a deep breath, and forced herself to remain still until the muscles slowly began to relax into a normal position. She closed her one good eye and continued her exercises, rocking from heel to toe, feeling her legs at first protesting the movement, and then accepting the pain and working through it. The warrior tried to flex her fingers, but the cold and dampness of the prison had frozen her fingers into half clenched fists. No matter how hard she concentrated, she could not get the finger joints to unlock. The chill had crept into her bones, and for the first time, she shivered involuntarily. Shaking herself mentally, she began to form a picture in her mind. The sun was warm that day, and it felt wonderful on her back...

It was nearly dusk when Gabrielle and Solan entered Kaleipus' territory. The bard felt exhausted, and was relieved to be able to stop at last. Argo also needed a break, but Solan restlessly slid from the horse before the mare came to a stop, and ran to the hut he shared with Kaleipus.

"Uncle! Uncle!"

The grey haired centaur came out of their hut, surprised to see Solan racing towards him. The boy launched himself at his uncle, grabbing him by the waist in a desperate hug. Kaleipus automatically started rubbing the youngster's back, trying to calm him down. When Solan at last let go of his grip, the centaur leader was surprised again to find Gabrielle approaching him. "Solan? What's going on?" He looked around for Xena, but couldn't spot the warrior. "Where's Xena?"

As soon as Kaleipus finished asking the question, Solan again threw his arms around his uncle, and buried his face on the centaur's chest.

His brown eyes drawn down with concern, Kaliepus glanced at the bard. "Gabrielle?" He couldn't help but notice the haggard look to the woman, and the dark circles under her eyes.

"Lorenz has her. He's going to kill her."

A muffled moan came from Solan, and Kaleipus could feel the boy tighten his grip on him. Reaching behind him, the centaur unclasped Solan's hands and brought them around in front of him. He grasped the boy's chin, and tilted it up so the youngster could look him in the eye. "Son, I need your help. I'm going to take Gabrielle to our hut, and I want you and your friend McGowan to take Argo to the stable and brush her down. Can you do that for me?"

Solan silently nodded his head, and after gathering the mare's reins in his hands, he walked over to his friend's home. Soon the two boys were headed to the stables.

"That should keep them busy for awhile," Kaleipus noted, and snaked his left arm across the bard's back and under her left shoulder to support her. "C'mon, let me take you to my home."

The woman remained silent even as Kaleipus drew out a chair for her at the table, and gave her something to eat. Gabrielle chewed mechanically, not even noticing what the centaur had put in front of her. After finishing off her meal with a small mug of ale, the bard continued her silence, simply staring at the table before her. She seemed incapable of initiating any conversation, and ready to drop asleep at any moment.

"Gabrielle," Kaleipus started. "I think I have a plan, but I have to ask you something personal first. Are you and Xena...partnered?"

The bard clenched her jaw as she tried unsuccessfully to hold back some tears. "Yes," she whispered. "Xena and I were married in an Amazon ceremony last year." A few tears spilled on her cheeks as Gabrielle continued, "You don't know how hard it was to leave her there..."

Kaleipus helped the blonde to her feet, and led her to a sleeping pallet. "Gabrielle, don't worry. We're going to get her. I want you to sleep now, because tomorrow we're going back to Lorenz' village. You need to get some rest."

Without protest, the bard lay down on the soft pallet, not even bothering to change into her sleeping shift. Kaleipus untied her boots and removed them before throwing a light blanket over the exhausted woman. Her eyes closed immediately, the ale and her exhaustion working quickly to send her to Morpheus.

Kaleipus returned to the table, and finding a blank scroll, quickly wrote something on it, before rolling it up and attaching his seal to it. Just as he was ready to leave his hut, Solan returned from the stables, with the young dark haired McGowan in tow. "Son, I have to talk to Agenor for awhile about Xena. You must be hungry..why don't you two get something to eat, and I'll be back soon."

Nodding mutely, Solan turned to his friend, and opened a cupboard to look through their supplies. McGowan grabbed some fruit to complete their light meal, and helped his friend with cutting up some nutbread while Kaleipus left the boys. He headed to the main square, looking for Agenor, his advisor and oldest friend.

The blond centaur was with a group of men and centaurs, discussing recent politics relevant to his Nation. Glancing up, Agenor noticed Kaleipus, and invited him over to join the debate. "Kaliepus! You can answer this question! Danaus, here, is certain that..."

The older centaur grabbed Agenor's arm. "Not now, my friend. I need your help in something."

The confident smile of Agenor left his face to be replaced by a worried frown. "What's going on? Have the scouting parties brought back bad news?"

Kaleipus shook his head. "It's nothing like that, but it is important. I want you to take this scroll to the Amazon village in the deep woods. You know the one, don't you? Ephiny is their current queen. And you need to hurry."

Agenor took the scroll from his leader's hands. "I'll leave right away."

"Thank you, my friend. And please hurry."

Dipping his head once in understanding, the blond centaur took the southern exit of the square, headed for Amazon territory.

After watching him leave, the leader turned back to his home. There were nutbread crumbs on the table, but the boys were nowhere to be found. Kaliepus cleaned up the area, and then started a small fire in the hearth to ward off the night's coming cold. Thinking that Gabrielle might need another blanket, he took one from his own bed and went to check on his sleeping guest. He found Solan next to the bard on the pallet, his head resting on her shoulder, both of them sound asleep. Not wanting to disturb them, Kaleipus gently shook the blanket out over the two of them. They both needed as much rest as they could get, because they would be headed back to Lorenz' nation very soon.

Xena didn't know what time it was, but she knew the guards would be changing soon. She could hear Javet pacing outside her cell, and could feel his mounting anxiety over being left alone with her so long. Due to his pacing, Xena again had to temporarily stop her exercises. Her legs were beginning to shake with inaction, and her arms were long past being able to do any sort of movement at all. She tried to lick her lips, but her dry tongue had no moisture to give to her parched lips. Deciding to try breathing relaxation methods instead, she slowly drew her breath in and tried to clear her mind when she heard Terek start down the sloped tunnel to her cell.

Even though Javet was expecting him, he still jumped when Terek arrived. "About time you got here!" he challenged, trying to cover his fear.

Terek looked tired in the dim light. "Well, I'm here now, so you can go," he said as he grabbed the pole away from the other centaur. "And where's my blanket?"

Without saying a word, Javet motioned with his head towards the cell. Terek shook his head and rolled the pole between his palms. "Get going, and don't forget to come back tomorrow." Unbelievably, the older centaur practically ran up the slope, avoiding eye contact with Terek. He was happy to finally leave that silent woman to someone else's care.

Xena remained motionless in her cell, listening to the two guards talk. Even though she was still chained and locked up, she could still have an effect on the jailers. She waited to see what Terk would do next.

The young centaur approached the door to the cell. It looked to him as if the prisoner had not moved in all the time he was gone. The blanket covered her head and shoulders, and her bare feet were planted firmly on the ground. "Xena?" the guard asked. Not really expecting a response from the woman, Terek continued, "I'm supposed to make sure that you don't go to sleep, but I can't do that with the blanket over your head. I could nudge you with the pole to see if you're awake, but I'd rather not do that. Or, I could take the blanket off, and ah...I really don't want to do that either. So...can you somehow let me know you're awake?"

Xena claimed this as another victory, and not a small one. She had managed to get Terek to see her as a person and use her name, and get beyond the 'Destroyer of Nations' title. Past dry lips, she managed to say, "I'm awake."