Chapter 8

After only stopping once on the way, the group of travelers arrived at Kaleipus' village a few candlemarks past dawn. Solan immediately slid from his spot on top of his uncle, and ran to his friend McGowan's house. The centaur let him go, knowing the boy needed some time alone to adjust to his new family situation. The youngster hadn't said a word the whole way home, but Kaleipus knew the lad was confused and hurting. He would let him stay with McGowan for awhile, and then he would try to explain why he let him believe that Xena was no more than a 'friend', and not someone who would have a more personal bond with him.

Kaleipus led the way to his home, and took Xenan from Ephiny's arms. "Wait here," he instructed, and then went into his house, and put the one-year-old in his bed. After throwing a blanket over the child, he returned to the women, to help them move Xena from Argo. Thankfully, Xena had slept most of the night held in Gabrielle's arms, but in the light of day, the abuse she had been through could be readily seen. Not knowing if the warrior had any broken bones, Kaleipus gingerly carried Xena into his hut, and laid her on Solan's pallet, in the room Gabrielle had stayed in the other night. The bard quickly followed, and crawled into bed with her.

"Water?" Xena mumbled as she sank back against the soft cushion.

"I'll get it," Gabrielle said and started to rise from the pallet.

"No, I'll do it. You stay with Xena. That's the best thing for her right now," the centaur reasoned, and headed for the main room of the home.

He filled a waterskin with fresh water, and handed it to Ephiny. He showed her where his food supplies were, and pointed out his room where her son was now sleeping soundly. "I'll be back soon. Help yourself to whatever you want, and give them anything they need. Look for Thasus, or village healer. I'll be sending him over. I have to make sure the horses are taken care of, and I really need to talk to Solan." He paused for a moment. "Is there anything you can think of that you'll need?"

"No, nothing," the amazon replied, and then grasped the centaur's forearm. "Thank you for your help. My queen and her partner mean everything to me, and to my tribe. The Amazons will hear of your support."

Kaleipus nodded his head, and turned to the door.

"And good luck...with Solan."

The centaur nodded once more, and grabbed the reins of the two horses, first leading them to Thasus' home. "Thasus," he called out after rapping on the door. "Your help is needed."

A middle-aged centaur, with dark hair and a wide strip of grey over his right temple opened the door. "My leader, are you injured?"

"No, Thasus, not me. But my friend Xena is at my home...would you look in on her? She's been through an ordeal, and I don't know how badly injured she is."

"Of course, of course," the shaggy haired healer said. "I'll be right there," he added, while gathering up small bags of crushed herbs to make teas and poultices to relieve pain. Not knowing what exactly he needed, he grabbed as many of the different pouches as he could. He hurried to the leader's home, mentally checking off additional herbs and plants that he could gather from the surrounding countryside if needed. Thasus entered the hut to find a curly haired amazon helping another woman to drink from a waterskin, while a smaller amazon propped the second one up. The injured woman had massive bruises on her arms and legs, particularly on her thighs. 'Internal bleeding,' he immediately reasoned, 'but old already. Probably hurts like Tartarus, though'. "I'm Thasus," he told the three women. "Can I help?"

Ephiny moved away from the bed, giving her spot to the healer. "This is Xena. She's been standing manacled in a dark cell for days, with no food or water. We've been giving her some water, but she hasn't had anything to eat yet."

"Ok, let's lay her down. I want to check those bruises, and see if there's anything we're missing." Xena's left eye was still partially closed and swollen as she looked blearily at the strange looking healer. "Xena, I'm going to check you over. If I find a spot that hurts, will you tell me?" The woman nodded mutely as the healer lowered her back to the pallet.

Running his hands through the warrior's hair, Thasus found a good sized bump at the base of Xena's skull, just as the woman groaned in pain. "Sorry. How long ago did you get that?"

"Three days...I think," the warrior rasped. "Water?"

"How about some tea instead? It will help with the pain," he answered and turned to the curly haired woman with a questioning look. "Um..."

"Ephiny," the regent said as she introduced herself. "And this is Gabrielle."

"Ok, then, Ephiny. See the small pouches I left on the table there? Find the sky blue one, and pour half the contents in a mug. Will you make the tea for our friend, here?" He turned back to his patient to continue the examination while the amazon went about getting water hot for the drink. "Gabrielle? Will you get the ochre colored bag, and the brown one too, I think, and bring them to me? I'm going to show you how to make poultices for Xena."

After a thorough investigation of all the bruises, Thasus concluded that there were no broken bones, but the large contusions on the woman's legs bothered him. Although they were big, they should have started healing by now, but the wounds looked an angry black with no evidence of the yellowing of healing. Perhaps because she was left standing still for so long was the reason why the blood pooled and didn't get reabsorbed into the body.

Ephiny returned to the room with a hot mug of tea, and helped Xena to drink it. Any liquid that hit the dark haired woman's throat made her want to gulp it down quickly, but the heat of the medicine made her go slowly. She had just finished the mug when Thasus and Gabrielle approached her with a large bowl.

"Xena, we're going to put this warm poultice on your legs to speed up the removal of the blood that's trapped there. As soon as it gets cool, I want you to tell Gabrielle, so she can put on a fresh batch," the healer explained as he applied the tannish looking goop to her legs. "Aside for that, you have no broken bones, which is good. I want you to have only broth for today and tomorrow, until your body gets used to having nourishment again. Have as much as you want," he added, as he finished wrapping her legs in a soft binding cloth, "but go slowly." Xena was soon breathing slowly and deeply as the warmth of the tea and poultice helped her drift off to sleep.

"Gabrielle, I'm going to make an ointment for her wrists and ankles. Those manacles really rubbed her skin raw. And as long as she's sleeping, let her rest for several candlemarks before putting a new poultice on. Then wake her up, get her to walk around a little, and give her some broth. She should be fine..." he stopped when the bard unexpectedly hugged him. "What's that for?" He wasn't used to amazons hugging him.

"Thank you, Thasus. You don't know how much I needed to hear that."

"Well...," the healer brushed his hands together several times to get the remaining poultice off his fingers. "I'll make that ointment, and be back later."

After the centaur left, Ephiny took the medicine bowl that had been left on the table. "You hungry? I could make something to eat."

"No, I think I'll just lie here with Xena. I don't want her to wake up and not know where I am." The blonde sat down on the pallet, being careful not to jostle the sleeping woman.

"Ok, I think I'm going to take a nap, too. I'm really beat. Call me if you need anything, all right?"

"Sure, Ephiny, and thanks."

The regent left the two women alone and shut the door to the room for their privacy. Xenan was still asleep when she curled up into bed with her child.

Kaleipus took his time rubbing down the horses at the stable. He tried going over in his mind what he could say to Solan to make the boy understand, and to feel better. The only conclusion he came to was that he had to convince the boy that he loved him, and always had. He was also concerned that once Solan got over the shock, that he might want to leave the centaur village, and travel with Xena and Gabrielle. Kaleipus knew if the youngster wanted to go, he would let him, no matter how much it hurt to say goodbye to his son. After adding some oats to the feeding troughs for both Argo and the other horse, he made his way to McGowan's house.

The centaur leader rapped on the wooden side of his neighbor's home. "Danaus? McGowan? Is Solan with you? I want to talk to him." He waited for a reply, but never got one. Instead, he heard a shout, and circled around the home to see the two boys running away from him, up the hill that marked the edge of the village, heading for the caves to the west. Kaleipus shook his head in frustration, knowing it was useless at the moment to make the lad listen when he didn't want to hear. Deciding it was best to return home, he first checked on his guests, and then settled in for a nap himself.

Gabrielle woke up before Xena did. She leaned on one elbow, and let her eyes caress her lover. Already the black eye looked less puffy, and Xena was breathing easily in her sleep. The bard gently cupped the woman's face with her free hand, and bent in for a kiss. The closed eyelids twitched slightly, and then opened to see a smiling bard staring down at her.

"Hey," Gabrielle whispered.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling? Are you hungry yet?"

"Mmmm, yes," the warrior responded, deliberately misreading the blonde's question, and reached up to pull her woman down for a kiss.

Gabrielle didn't resist when she felt Xena's lips press against hers, the agile tongue seeking entry into her mouth. After breathless minutes, the smaller woman broke away, only to feel Xena trying to pull her back down. "Easy, there, soldier. Let's get you up and walking first. I want to see if that poultice is working."

Xena groaned in mock annoyance as Gabrielle unwound the cloth bindings and removed the messy poultice. The bruised area looked less angry than before, and it seemed as if the pooled blood was breaking up. The blonde got up from the bed, and held her hands out to the injured woman. "Ok, let me see those legs move. Come here, you."

The taller woman swung her legs off the pallet, and stood up. Although she was still shaky from the lack of exercise, with the bard holding her, she circled the room several times before pronouncing herself cured.

"Not so fast, Xena. You're not up to warrior speed yet. Let's get you something to eat." As if on cue, the bard's stomach announced it's own rumblings. "I mean, let's get us something to eat."

The two women entered the main room of the house to find that Kaleipus and Ephiny had already started to prepare the evening meal. Glancing around, Xena asked, "Where's Solan?" Her mind worked to recall the details of the previous night's journey. Although she knew that Solan had been in the small group with her yesterday, beyond walking out of the village and reaching the horses, she couldn't remember much of what else happened. She had gladly let Gabrielle take care of her, but now something felt wrong. "Is he all right?"

Kaleipus helped the warrior to a chair. "Now don't worry, Xena. He's with his friend McGowan. He's ok, but I don't think he wants to talk to any of us now."

"Why? What's wrong? What did Lorenz..."

The centaur leader stopped her in mid sentence. "No, it's nothing that Lorenz did or said. But in order to get you out of there, I had to threaten him with a civil war. I had to tell him that my boy...is your son. Solan heard, and well, I'm sure he feels betrayed. I went to talk to him earlier, but her ran off."

"Ran off?" Xena started to rise from the chair. "I've got to find him!"

"Xena," Kaleipus put a restraining hand on her shoulder, and urged her back down into the chair. "I've told you, he's all right. He's with his friend, and the boy's father is one of my best warriors. He'll be taken care of. I'm going to talk to him tomorrow. He needs some time. Now please," he added when he placed a bowl of broth in front of her, "Eat."