From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
           [no violence but some sexual descriptions]   
      
                                   Xena: Roman Gladiator   
      
                                           Chapter Nine   
      
                                           Celebration   
      
      
   As the wine flowed freely on the balcony and there was laughing and   
   celebrating, Doctore ran to assist Xena, who was beginning to falter as her   
   two dead opponents were dragged from the arena.  The balcony emptied as the   
   party moved indoors, while Xena dropped her two swords and allowed Doctore   
   to put one arm of hers around his shoulder and help her walk from the arena.   
   Once they got into the dining area that doubled as the hospital, the   
   physician put folded rags on both the entry and exit wounds to staunch the   
   blood flow, then wrapped her with another, holding them in place. He then   
   started to clean the blood from the rest of her. Just then a slave ran to   
   Doctore, spoke to him then left again.   
      
   "Unbind her wounds," he told the physician.   
      
   "But the bleeding must be stopped," he protested.   
      
   "Dominus wants to put her on exhibition with her wounds showing and blood   
   still running."   
      
   Reluctantly, the physician removed the bandaging. Fortunately, the bleeding   
   had mostly stopped with only a trickle coming from both sides.   
      
   "Are you able to walk?" he asked her.   
      
   Xena nodded at the physician, then said to Doctore, "I don't suppose they   
   want to see me armed."   
      
   Doctore smiled at her attempt at humor but shook his head.   
      
   The two of them walked to the locked lattice gate, which was unlocked by a   
   guard, letting them into the passageway to the rest of the villa.   
      
   "No chains?" she asked the guard, but Doctore answered, "Not this time, it   
   would spoil the effect. Besides, with the guards and your wounds, they know   
   you are no danger to them."   
      
   Xena laughed, which caused pain in her side. "If they only knew," she said,   
   grimacing slightly.   
      
   When they entered the main room where everyone had gathered to feast and to   
   drink, applause broke out for Xena. Doctore stood back, allowing Xena to   
   continue to the center of the room, and to accept the acclaim of the crowd.   
   She first nodded to Batiatus and Lucretia, then turned slowly, almost   
   looking at everyone, but there was only one face she searched for. And again   
   off to one side, holding a tray with bottles of wine was Gabrielle.   
      
   Their eyes locked momentarily, but Gabrielle's expression was pained and   
   troubled. Xena couldn't understand why Gabrielle didn't realize why she had   
   to be the gladiator Batiatus expected her to be; couldn't understand why   
   Gabrielle didn't realize what had to be done despite its ruthlessness and   
   violence.   
      
   But Gabrielle wasn't thinking about the why, but the here and now. From the   
   balcony, watching Xena do battle, she looked unpleasant enough, but seeing   
   her now, as her eyes traveled up and down, was almost overwhelming. There   
   didn't seem to be a spot on Xena that wasn’t covered with red. And embedded   
   in the sticky, drying blood was red tinged sand. Nothing but blood and sand   
   was embedded in her hair, on her face and chest, and covering her belly,   
   arms and legs. Only her back was relatively blood-free, but the sand stuck   
   to it from the sweat that had soaked her. The wound through her side still   
   trickled with blood, both front and back.   
      
   Batiatus was playing the room, going from one small crowd to the next,   
   laughing, demanding the slave girls bring more wine, and pointing out Xena   
   to them and how he'd had seen to her training. All the while, Xena stood   
   still, on exhibition, trying find Gabrielle in the crowd, but she had to   
   circulate, pouring wine into empty goblets.  And when she did finally see   
   her, Xena realized Gabrielle, as all the slave girls, was naked. Again,   
   their eyes momentarily met, then Gabrielle turned and was gone, ordered to   
   fetch more wine. And as Xena watched Gabrielle's back and bare ass as she   
   walked away, she felt a stirring in her loins she hadn't felt since the   
   night before their capture.   
      
   Xena had no idea how long she stood in the one spot, her body had all but   
   shut down, trying to heal itself, not only from the trauma of being stabbed   
   and the loss of blood, but from the mental as well as the physical exertion.   
   Suddenly, she was aware of Lucretia standing in front of her, looking   
   intently into her face.   
      
   "Batiatus," Xena heard her say. "I believe your warrior is about to fall   
   onto her face. Perhaps you should have the physician look to her."   
      
   Batiatus walked over to inspect his Amazon Warrior, and when he looked down,   
   she saw her left leg was covered with blood and her feet were in a puddle of   
   blood.   
      
   "Doctore!" he yelled out, and he came running.  "Take her to the physician.   
   We can't let our newest money-maker fall ill."   
      
   "At once, Dominus," Doctore answered, and again put one of Xena's arms   
   around his shoulders and, accompanied by two armed guards, took Xena back to   
   the gladiator quarters, with a slave girl following behind, wiping up the   
   bloody footprints as they went. And returning from the wine room, watching   
   Xena all but dragged away, Gabrielle couldn't help but shed pent up tears,   
   tears she knew better than to let be seen.   
      
   As soon as they were back in the gladiators' quarters, Xena was taken to the   
   bath and was slowly lowered into it. Almost immediately the water took on a   
   reddish tint. Xena breathed a deep ragged breath, and as she had done   
   before, she submerged herself until her head was resting on the bottom. But   
   she barely got to a twenty-count when she had to rise up to take a new   
   breath. She looked up and Doctore and the physician were there, hands out,   
   to help her out of the bloody-watered tub. The physician bandaged her wounds   
   and Xena, insisting she was fine, limped to her small room to rest and   
   recuperate.   
      
   She slowly laid down, being careful not to aggravate her injuries. She hoped   
   she could sleep, but the images of Gabrielle would not leave her mind.   
   Images of her perfect naked body – full and rounded breasts, her flat belly,   
   her dark blond pubic triangle, her muscle-toned back, and her deliciously   
   shaped ass that was the last thing Xena had seen of her that day. And   
   without realizing it, Xena's hand crept to her crotch and began gently   
   massaging her center of pleasure.   
      
   When she realized what she was doing, she immediately stopped. She knew this   
   would not satisfy her, not this time, not alone. But she had to wait until   
   all were asleep, and it seemed to take them forever to settle down. When she   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)