From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
                                       Xena: Roman Gladiator   
      
                                           Chapter Eighteen   
      
                                                    Away!   
      
                   [just a modicum of violence]   
      
      
   Gabrielle went to sleep with no idea of how to let Xena know what she had   
   found out. So when she was awakened by one of the guards, in her grogginess,   
   she thought she had somehow had figured it out. But when he handed her a   
   pair of manacles and told her to put them on, she was jerked awake to   
   reality. She knew better than to hesitate or ask why, so she put them on and   
   let herself be guided away from the female slave quarters. Everyone one was   
   asleep and no one saw them leave.   
      
   Gabrielle began to recognize the passageway, it was leading to the iron   
   lattice behind which the gladiators were kept. When they arrived, the guard   
   hit on the iron until Doctore woke up and came to see what the noise was.   
      
   "Dominus sent me to get Xena." He passed wrist and ankle shackles through an   
   opening. "Have her put these on."   
      
   When Doctore and Xena returned, she slowly, and reluctantly chained herself,   
   and the guard unlocked the door.   
      
   "If you value her life," he said, indicating Gabrielle. "You will do as I   
   say. I have no problem cutting her throat from ear to ear."   
      
   "Where are we going?"   
      
   "You'll find out," he replied, locking the gate.  "Just go where I tell   
   you."   
      
   They began to walk down the dark corridors of the unused part of the villa   
   reserved for overnight guests, unguarded and barely lit with sputtering   
   candles mounted on the walls. Xena led the way with the guard behind   
   Gabrielle, holding her, his knife at her throat. Several times, when she was   
   told to turn into another passage, Xena would look back at them, making sure   
   Gabrielle hadn't been hurt. They eventually came to an unlocked, open door   
   leading to the outside of the villa. Lucretia, a slave Gabrielle recognized   
   as Hermes,  and a saddled horse were waiting.   
      
   "What's going on?" Xena asked her.   
      
   "I'm granting you your freedom."   
      
   "Just like that? Why?"   
      
   Lucretia hesitated, then said, "Because I care for Batiatus, and I cherish   
   the life I have here. At dawn Batiatus is dispatching messengers to Caesar   
   telling him you are here. He thinks that by seeking favor with him, our   
   position and influence in Roman society will rise. He pays no heed to the   
   many opinions and beliefs about Caesar's growing unpopularity. But I know   
   that when Caesar falls, his supporters and allies will fall with him. And I   
   have no intention of having the House of Batiatus taken down with them."   
      
   While she was talking, the guard removed the manacles from Xena and   
   Gabrielle.   
      
   "Come the dawn," Lucretia continued, "when Batiatus discovers you have   
   escaped, he will send out as many of his soldiers as he can, included   
   archers, with instructions to kill you both, so you must put as much   
   distance between yourselves and this place as is possible. And be minded,   
   his archers are the finest in this part of the country. And maybe you can   
   avoid a rain of arrows, perhaps you can even catch a few of them, but can   
   she?"   
      
   Lucretia stopped suddenly, listening, then went on. "Wrapped in a blanket   
   and tied to the saddle are the clothes and weapons you had when you were   
   captured, plus cheese, dried meat, and a water skin. I suggest you not stop   
   to change clothes until you are well away from here -- into the trees. This   
   horse isn't the fastest we have, but she has good stamina and will carry you   
   far without tiring. Now go."   
      
   Xena immediately jumped into the saddle and with hand down to Gabrielle,   
   pulled her up behind her. But before riding off, she said, "When I suggested   
   that you free Gabrielle and me, you said you were sure I would spread the   
   word it was your doing. But you can trust me, if your part in our release   
   gets back to Dominus, it won't be from me or Gabrielle."   
      
   Lucretia nodded, then as Xena turned the horse, she said, "Xena, when you   
   were first brought here, some of our slaves from Greece were telling stories   
   about you and your war god Ares. Any truth to them?"   
      
   "Well, I don't know what you heard, but Ares and I had our – moments. At   
   first they weren't unpleasant. But as I changed my way of thinking, thanks   
   to Hercules and Gabrielle, our involvement became combative, and it's gotten   
   to the point that some things between us I'd just as soon not think about."   
      
   And with that, Xena kicked the horse in the ribs with her heels and they   
   were off, Gabrielle hanging on as tightly as she could.   
      
   When the darkness had swallowed them up, Lucretia turned and nodded to   
   Hermes, who grabbed the guard from behind, allowing Lucretia to bring out a   
   dagger she had concealed and stab it into his neck, then slicing with it,   
   trying to cut as much of his throat as possible. The guard managed to throw   
   off Hermes' grip on him, but Lucretia then stabbed him in the belly, causing   
   him to double over, and Hermes used his weight to force him to the ground.   
      
   Hermes then turned the dying guard over onto his back, allowing Lucretia to   
   pull his sword from its scabbard. She then chopped down on his neck, trying   
   to cut it off. She chopped at it twice more before he was decapitated.   
      
   Hermes slowly got to his feet. "It is done, Domina," he said simply.   
      
   "Yes, it is done."   
      
   For a moment Hermes looked out at the darkness, in the direction Xena had   
   gone.   
      
   "You wish your freedom?" she asked.   
      
   After a hesitation, he replied, "No, Domina. I would remain here, as your   
   slave."   
      
   Lucretia nodded, then put out her left hand as if to draw him closer to   
   embrace him, and as he got within arm's distance to her, she put her hand to   
   the back of his neck, then plunged the dagger into his solar plexus, just   
   below his sternum. With a hurt and puzzled look on his face, tears in his   
   eyes, he slowly fell to his knees, then to the ground.   
      
   She knelt down next to him, and caressed his cheek with a bloody hand.   
      
   "Doctore knows who took Xena," she said, indicating the dead guard. "And who   
   better to allow them to escape than the spy Cicerius planted. And Xena   
   rewarded his help by beheading him."   
      
   Lucretia took a ragged breath, then said, "Hermes, you have been more than   
   loyal to me, and for that I am most grateful. But I am no fool. You still   
   are but a slave, and I am aware that what one knows, eventually all will   
   know. And I cannot risk that you will reveal what we have done here in a   
   moment of anger against me."   
      
   She stayed by his side until she was sure he was dead, then she picked up   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)