Xena was busy
that morning. She awoke around her usual time, feeling marvelous for the amount of sleep
she'd gotten. She suspected she'd be on an emotional high all day and she intended to use
the energy while it lasted. by Katrina
The following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse. It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.
Xex Alert: Oh Boy Is There. .This is a Prurient Piece with a Bit of Kink (If you hear the crack of the whip then you'll be in the neighborhood) Proceed at your own risk. :)
Xena was busy
that morning. She awoke around her usual time, feeling marvelous for the amount of sleep
she'd gotten. She suspected she'd be on an emotional high all day and she intended to use
the energy while it lasted.
For purposes of the warlord's own she'd convinced her lover to sleep in. It wasn't too hard considering their past history and the promise of the evening to come. She used the term "well rested," combined with a lick to a sleepy nipple, to indicate the shape she wanted the bard in later. That had gotten her compact lover to acquiesce, but had also led to passionate kisses that she was barely able to pull away from. Then, her enthusiasm having been stirred up in the best possible way, she finally made it to the training field for the first time since Gabrielle's arrival, and proceeded to spend a tiny tiny tiny portion of that excess energy in a dazzling practice session that positively scared those who happened to be there to watch. There weren't too many present, but there were enough that, by evening, the whole camp heard a version of the practice session that made Xena sound positively Godly (or ungodly, depending on one's religion or mental processes).
After that, she caught breakfast (and Eponin) on the run and headed straight to the new command tent and she started rearranging the army from the top to the bottom. No longer would they be the sleepy eyed mercenaries, soldiers and whatnot who just happened to band together under Nisus and Colchak's banner for the purpose of getting gain. They were about to become Xena's finest. Xena was preparing for war, Her Way.
By the time Gabrielle arrived, the command tent was cacophonously active, with individuals running about to meet Xena's organizational demands. Doba hovered over a map, listening to the warlord discuss the territory she planned to take over in the next week. Aedal bumped into his cousin on his way out and asked with panic in his eyes, "Is she always like this?" He didn't hang around for an answer, but was gone before the bard could even open her mouth to say anything. The slave shook her head in amazement, slid discretely into her place to the side and behind the warlord, and waited vigilantly.
To be truthful, Gabrielle didn't *know* if this was how the warlord acted "all the time." The fair woman had no idea if last night was a typical experience for Xena or if there was any such thing as "typical" when it came to anything her lover did. Certainly she couldn't say that her road travels had been "typical." Most people going from one town to another encountered the occasional bee sting. *They* encountered Gods, monsters, thugs (lots and lots of thugs), pirates, kings, babies, fools, poets, other warlords, Amazons and the like.
Of course, they also did a lot more than travel from town to town, so maybe it evened out. A body seeking adventure will find it eventually (usually never the way anyone quite expected, but never the less). And that was the fun of traveling with Xena. Though her dark lover sometimes held a dour exterior, the forbidding warrior you don't want to travel that road cause I've been there look, there were times when she was joyful too. It was only rarely one extreme or the other all the time. A few consistent nights filled with nightmares (and Gabrielle knew more about those dreams than Xena thought) would make anyone touchy. But even Xena at her worst always had bit of. . .Gabrielle wanted to call it energy, but felt that term was too lame, . .creativity (Solstice came to mind. So did last night) . . .inventiveness (would anyone ever believe her about the flying papyrus?). . .ingenuity (a frying pan as a weapon?! Well, Xena made it so. She sort of used whatever was handy; rocks, tables, chairs, chains, whatever). . .resourcefulness. . .Gods, she could just go down the list and never find an end to the cleverness, the uniqueness of her lover.
Plus, all you had to do was look at Xena's history as the Warrior Princess to prove Gabrielle's point. The warlord had led armies bigger than whole cities. Then there was the fact there weren't many female warlords to begin with, and Xena was the *best* of any of the Warlords. "Has been," indeed. The phrase urked the bard. Why would he call her that? Just because she'd given up the business didn't mean she'd given up the fight. Only now she fought for things that had meaning, not something based solely on anger or Ares' deception.
If anyone could stop the big guy, it would be Xena. The guy may be strong, but muscle wasn't everything and he wasn't near as smart or as talented. Gabrielle stifled the snicker that got a narrow eyed look from Xena. Uh oh, looked like another interrogation. The bard felt her face go impassive. Let Xena guess. The warlord crooked an eyebrow and Gabrielle caught the evil glint in her eyes before Xena turned back around to finish what she was saying. Yep, tonight was going to be fun, fun, fun.
Gabrielle's mind settled onto the matter at hand, and soon she realized what Aedal was talking about. The warlord seemed to have something for everyone to do. Constantly. Not only that, she was in the midst of a hot and heavy plan to take over two other warlord's armies and thus the territory that went with those armies. She was juggling a lot of things at once, successfully.
In a way, it appeared like the blue eyed woman was doing the same thing as Hercules, amassing armies and territories, yet Gabrielle knew that it was different. The intent behind the thinking was different, not to mention the methodology. If what Xena said was true, Hercules was ruling by fear and the might of his body. That wouldn't take anyone very far for very long. The big ones always fall eventually.
Maybe that was the difference. Xena used fear to her advantage, but didn't rely solely on its merits. Xena was no bully. She was a leader. She just knew *how* to bully. Just as she knew *how* to praise, cajole, demand, reprimand, punish, and love so that she got her way. Gabrielle admitted to knowing something was up when Xena deliberately asked her to sleep in. The warlord hadn't wanted Gabrielle in the command tent, probably so she'd miss the confrontation and wouldn't have to deal with "cranky" warlord types. Not that the bard intended to let Xena get away with manipulating her in everything, but some things didn't have to be pursued.
It's funny how the thought leads to the experience. Colchak showed up. His face was the color of the wine he'd consumed the night before. Okay, so maybe her theory was wrong. That didn't mean the idea behind it was incorrect. Xena had been hiding something, but the bard would figure it out later, or she would ask.
Colchak's voice was raw with anger, "XENA! YOU BITCH!!!" The warlord came rushing at the beautiful warrior, yanking at his swords. The next action Gabrielle took was totally unconscious on her part. The young Amazon grasped her staff and surprised herself, acting with primal instinct to protect her lover. Colchak was down on the ground, wheezing in pain, staring up up the length of the warstaff into the impassive face of the shapely warlord's slave, before he even knew what hit him. She'd reacted even faster than Doba, who was still in the act of pulling out her sword.
Gabrielle's swinging blows had been works of art, breaking two ribs, and cracking the collarbones in a couple of swift swirling movements. Colchak looked like he was thinking of struggling up and received a very serious warning glance from the bard, who poked the staff against the man's shoulder, breaking it a little more, and then patted the staff against the side of his head (gently) to make her point. Deadly intent was in her gaze and he laid his head back down.
Gabrielle could feel the blood rushing in her head, in her whole body. She had a deep awareness of her surroundings. Suddenly she knew what Xena went through, knew it intimately, intensely. She felt a urgent surging response in her loins. The only reason she'd stopped swinging the staff was that he quit moving and there was a part of her that wished he hadn't. Gods, if she'd a sword, the man would be dead now and, if the rush she was feeling held, she would have enjoyed it. No wonder Xena smiled.
There was a moment of palpable silence in the tent as people took in the scenario before them. Xena moved away from the table and knelt down on one knee by the stunned warlord. "I should let her kill you. This makes three times, Colchak. Three Times." She backhanded the man hard across the face. Blood started dribbling down the side of his lip. "That is for being a bloody fool." She backhanded the other side, even harder. There was a crunch as if teeth had been broken. "That is for being an asshole and coming close to spoiling my evening." No one knew what the comely warlord was talking about, but Doba assumed that the woman was angry that her slave's life had been at risk. That wasn't the reason though. Xena's blue eyes burned with fire. She had seen the look in Gabrielle's expression and recognized it. She'd known in an instant. If the bard had to, Gabrielle would kill for her, and wouldn't think twice about it.
Xena experienced three compulsions at the same time, one was to kill the injured warlord for pushing her lover to that point, the other was to pack the strawberry blonde off to someplace, "safe," and finally she just wanted pull the bard into her arms and hold her forever. She resisted the urge to kill the man, instead grabbing his face by his injured cheeks. "You've lucked out today. I'm in a good mood." She squeezed and Colchak realized, horribly, that the woman was stronger than she looked. The warlord's eyes narrowed, "There will be no fourth time Colchak. I'll slice your innards where you stand, you got it?" There was a shaky nod. She dropped his head so it thunked against the hard ground.
"You and You!" she pointed to two individuals who were watching the whole event with glazed eyes, "take him to the infirmary." She stared Colchak in the eye, "I will *deal* with you later." The man whimpered.
The warlord stood up on one fluid movement. She took the staff out of Gabrielle's hand and received a look that combined, awe, fear, power and lust. Xena ignored the tingle of desire that started in her belly and led her lover, her mate, to the head of the table. The other stuff would hit soon. Xena sat down and pulled the bard into her lap, knowing intuitively that what the woman needed was to be held.
Gabrielle had tasted the darkness. There was no going back.
©September 1997