Truth and Consequences
by Taleen

Seven Gods were dead, one was mortal, and the rest had been keeping their heads down for two months.

Xena followed Gabrielle and Eve down the gangplank, tugging gently on the new Argo's bridle. Her companions were horseless and looking with dismay at the long walk ahead of them from the docks at Piraeus to Athens proper. Perhaps there was a market near at hand where they could buy a second horse. They could only afford one--the ship passage from Rome had depleted their resources. Gabrielle and Eve would have to double up. Argo didn't care for extra passengers.

Half an hour later the last of their dinars changed hands. Gabrielle checked over her new mount's gear, making sure the saddlecinch was snug. She swung a leg over its back, then reached down a hand for Eve, but the slender young woman smiled and leapt up without assistance. She'd been a warrior too--once.

Their packs were low on supplies, containing flour, salt, and very little else--they would have to forage on their way north. Amphipolis called Xena... after twenty-five years in the ice cave she had to know if her mother was still alive, and if not, to honor her at her final resting place. Gabrielle needed to visit Potidaea for similar reasons, and Eve--Eve was still learning about Xena's life and her own place in it; she welcomed all with wide-eyed interest.

A steady stream of people moved with them. The crowd's excitement grew, increasing the closer they got to the Agora.

Gabrielle reached down and stopped a passerby. "Excuse me, sir. What's going on?"

"Fresh meat at the market, girlie. On the hoof."

Xena frowned. They were caught up in the horde now, no easy way out. She shrugged. "Let's go see."

The buzz increased--the crowd hummed in the heat like a hive being split. Gabrielle peered around. "Xena? I don't see any cattle. Where are the cattle? Or the sheep, or whatever?"

The dark-haired warrior's face soured. "There are no cattle, Gabrielle, only lambs to the slaughter."

"What?" but the loud voice interrupted her.

"Welcome, welcome to the Grand Athenian Auction. We have some prime specimens for you today, starting with lot number one... Thracian stock, mother and child. The woman is a successful breeder--the proof is her sturdy brat here. Suitable as part of a longterm plan to increase your household. She could tend your own little ones as part of her duties. The boy is a pretty child," the auctioneer leered, "about ten years of age. He is being offered separately."

"No!" the slavewoman screamed, "don't take my baby! Please don't take my baby!" She flung herself at the auctioneer, hauling frantically on his robes. "Don't sell my baby away!"

The master sighed theatrically and signalled. An aide raised a threatening whip.

Before Xena could act a heavily-chained warrior thrust his way from the back, stepping between whip and target. He was filthy, his leathers in tatters, but his glare caused the lash-wielder to back off for the moment.

Even the master seemed wary of this particular merchandise. "Ah yes, my friends, perhaps it would be best to sell them as a set. Your bids please."

The warrior glanced down, then away, as the woman, eyes brimming, murmured her thanks. He'd helped her, yet he seemed to wonder at his own actions.

The auctioneer canted his eyes sideways. That one would have to be punished for his insubordination if he wasn't sold. Not likely anyone would buy him after this little display. Who would want a rebellious slave? Maybe he should be quietly... disposed of and written off as a loss.

The bidding went on.

The chained man's eyes followed woman and child as her new owner led her away--until the tip of the lash scored his cheek. He raised manacled hands, touching the welling blood with his fingertip as if in shock.

Derisive laughter dragged his attention back to the slavemaster and his minion, as the lash snapped out again. The slave snarled in defiance; his hands came up and yanked the whip from its owner's hand.

But the slavers were prepared... four other men immediately drew their blades. Chained as he was, the warrior had little chance of survival if he didn't back down.

"Gentlemen," the auctioneer grinned and spit, "here we have a fine stud to service your present stock. Excellent breeding, by the looks of him, strong and well-made. Or, if you prefer to use him as a bodyguard for your wives and daughters," --this idea seemed to appeal to him--"we can have him gelded for a small extra fee."

Eve snorted. "Well, Mother, looks like he's getting what he deserves after all."

Teeth clenched, Xena growled. "Nobody deserves to be a slave, Eve." She kicked her feet out of the stirrups. "Not even Ares."

"Alalalalalalalala" knifed through the hearts of buyers and sellers alike as the Warrior Princess rose from Argo's back and launched herself in a tremendous forward somersault. She landed hard on the platform, grabbed Ares and flipped them both backwards onto the saddle. He landed badly and grimaced in pain. Xena ducked as she hauled his bound arms over her head and kicked a recalcitrant mare sharply in the ribs. The crowd parted before her.

Gabrielle slipped her sais back in her bootsheaths and, with Eve clutching her tightly, galloped after the golden mare.

Xena dropped two skinned and gutted rabbits on the ground beside chief camp cook Gabrielle and looked around.

Eve arrived with a bundle of sticks, dumped them beside the fire and settled down crosslegged. She began to peel the bark from two branches she had chosen as suitable spits, humming under her breath as she worked. Xena smiled and glanced around again.

They were missing someone.

"Where is he?"

Gabrielle jerked her head upriver. "Went to wash. Believe me," she wrinkled her nose, "he needed it. That was a while ago, come to think of it. Maybe he found more trouble."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Xena grinned. "I'd better go find him."

Ares bathed and pulled on his tattered leather pants and boots. Kneeling on the rocks, he began to scrub his shirt as best he could, trying to copy the techniques of the laundryslaves he'd known.

Xena watched from the bushes, reluctantly admiring the play of muscle under his freshly scrubbed skin. Then she frowned. His back was a golden tan, save for the stripes crisscrossing it in various stages of healing.

He sensed her presence but didn't look around. Instead he continued his futile efforts to get the remnants of his shirt clean.

"Those are lash marks."

"I was a slave," he grunted. "I wasn't a very good one."

"You tried to save that woman and her child."

"So what?" He rubbed the cloth a little harder.

"It's not like you to help someone."

"Yeah. I know. It's a nasty little habit I picked up somewhere." He swished the shirt in the water, rinsing it as well as he could. His movements were jerky with internalized anger.

Xena touched him lightly on the shoulder. He froze, then rose to his feet and turned. There were new scars on his chest as well, a couple knifeslashes and a mass of yellowing bruises.

She gazed at him appalled.

"Not a pretty sight, eh? Here, let me cover it up." The former Olympian wrung out his shirt and yanked it on. The cold wet cloth, semi-transparent where it clung to his skin, caused his nipples to harden.

"I survived, Xena. You don't have to worry about me." He stepped past her and strode away down the path. She stared after him and shook her head, puzzled by her own sense of confusion.

Gabrielle passed the bigger portion of one of the roasted rabbits to the ex-War God.

Eve hunkered in her blanket, twisting her scruffy ponytail and eyeing him suspiciously over her plate.

Too tired to play headgames, Ares chose to ignore her. He finished the meat and wrapped his fine long fingers around a mug of tea, taking an occasional sip as he stared into the mesmerizing flames.

Curiosity got the better of Gabrielle. "If you don't mind my asking, what was that woman and her child to you?" Remembering the careworn face and exhausted body, she continued, "I didn't think she was your type."

"You've always had a low opinion of me, haven't you, Gabrielle? And as a matter of fact I do mind your asking."

Snubbed, the small blonde delicately tore off a chunk of meat and chewed it thoughtfully.

Ares sighed and made an attempt at civility. "She tended my wounds."

"Wounds?"

"Didn't Xena tell you? I'm lucky to be alive."

"How did you... I mean, the slavers... ?"

"I got jumped outside a tavern. I was doing okay 'til one of them bashed me on the head. That was not long after you guys took off. No Xena to rescue me," he said bitterly.

"Until now."

"Yeah. Until now. But Doria helped me, and I'm going back for her."

"Somehow I never associated you with the concept of honor before."

"I've never broken my word to Xena. I've always warned her of impending disaster, and offered her my help."

"You two still wrangling?"

Ares glared at the Warrior Princess as she moved into the firelight. He took another drink, but the tea was cold. He tossed the contents over his shoulder into the darkness behind him and let the empty cup dangle from his fingers.

Gabrielle thought of something else. "Do you miss it? Being a God?"

"What the hell do you think?"

"You don't have to be rude."

"Children, children... " Xena smiled, but his blood was stirred up.

"No, let me tell you. You tear apart our universe, the whole order of things, you let this Michael character give you the power to destroy us all, yet-- " he raised a finger, "I distinctly remember your words when you got your new chakram--you said, 'No one deserves that kind of power.' Next thing I know you're slaughtering everybody!"

Xena's anger rose. "My child deserved to live!"

"So did my family!"

"I was defending Eve!"

"And we were defending ourselves! Is it wrong, Xena, to protect yourself against one who would destroy you?"

"Michael said the old gods must pass..."

"Michael! We weren't exactly 'Hail, fellow, well met' when he tried to destroy the world. If Hercules hadn't... If Michael represents your so-called 'Light'--I pity the world to come. You went ahead and killed us, you murdered my family like it meant nothing to you. Just like Callisto's family all those years ago."

It was a palpable hit, a twist of the blade. Xena looked sick.

Gabrielle challenged him. "Since when were you so big on family?"

"Since I lost most of them. Hephaestus... he lived for his craft, ya know? He was virtually an innocent--"

Xena ground out her words. "Discord was innocent too, I suppose?"

"Discord was never innocent. And Deimos was a bigger idiot than Strife. Poseidon was all wet and Artemis could be a real bitch. But Hades--if you could have heard Cerberus howling his heart out... with all three heads--Xena, without Hades the Elysian Fields will have no protection. Didn't think of that, did you? It won't be Paradise for long. As for Athena--even the Goddess of Wisdom wasn't so smart. I told her to leave you alone, that if we did nothing, it would go away, but the others were afraid. Do you know fear, Xena? Fear for your life?"

Eve spoke up. "You want me dead."

"No I don't. I want us alive. And things back the way they were."

"You sided with Dahak," Gabrielle accused. Xena's best friend had nasty memories of that time.

"Old news, Gabrielle. I wasn't in the mood to be the main course at his little barbecue. I was buying time." He turned to Xena again. "I asked you to trust me, you didn't, and look what happened."

"You killed Eli." The Warrior Princess' voice was flat and uncompromising. The Eastern mystic had been Xena's friend and Gabrielle's teacher.

"It was a mistake. I knew it as soon as I did it."

"To err divine?" Gabrielle interrupted sarcastically.

"To forgive human?" he snapped back.

Gabrielle had the grace to blush. She picked up a stick and poked at the fire.

"Maybe," Ares conceded, "we were arrogant in our power, but did we deserve to die for it? We were living beings with as much right to live as ... she has. You, Xena--you tried to wipe us out--some people call that genocide. But you know something? I forgive you. Because I love you."

With that he threw down his mug and stomped out of the camp, brush snapping and cracking underfoot as he took himself away in clumsy mortal fashion.

Xena, Gabrielle and Eve each had much to think about after he left.

He was curled up asleep beside the fire when dawn broke. Only Xena had heard him come back in the middle of the night, but she'd kept her eyes shut and feigned sleep. Ares' rant had left her even more unsettled, wondering if she could have approached the situation differently. If all the death had been necessary.

Gabrielle started breakfast, a stew of leftover rabbit and a few withered vegetables, with flatbreads to sop up the gravy.

Eve chopped an onion and added it to the pot. She picked up the knife, intending to clean it and put it away; instead, after a moment's thought, she got up and walked toward Ares.

He glanced from her face to the blade in her hand. Her expression was unreadable. He waited while she stared at him until he eventually lost patience. "If you're going to kill me, do it."

Gabrielle locked eyes with Xena and slowly reached for one of her sais. Was Eve going to murder the ex-God? The tough little blonde was not about to let that happen, for Eve's sake, maybe even... for Ares.

Xena watched, calm and sure of her daughter's newfound inability to kill.

Eve turned the blade hilt-first and held it out to him.

"I... wanted to thank you for saving my life."

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for her."

"Well. Thanks anyway." She moved back to her side of the fire, almost missing his words.

"You're welcome."

Ares turned the knife over and over, finally holding it point first against his chest.

Gabrielle, misreading his intent, blurted, "Don't do it."

He cast a quizzical glance at her.

"What you said before, about Dahak and---you've always been practical, looking for loopholes, for ways around things... Suicide isn't practical."

"Suicide? I was just admiring the workmanship." He grinned at her. "But thanks for caring."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Why do I bother?"

Late afternoon. The former War God walked beside the horses on their journey north. Xena eyed him sidelong and finally spoke. "You're very quiet."

Ares shrugged. "What's there to say? You know how I feel. I haven't changed."

"Yes. You have."

He snorted and kept going.

"I think I like you as a mortal."

"You like me? Well, I guess that's a start. I love you. I keep thinking if I say it enough times maybe you'll hear me. I love you, I love you, I love you." His voice turned raw with storm and misery. Blinking rapidly he looked away, then pointed, attempting to change the subject. "There, that looks like a good place to camp for the night."

He led the way into the small clearing, a dozen steps ahead of the horses. Xena followed him with her eyes. "I heard you, Ares," she whispered. "I heard you."

The mossy riverbank made a comfortable couch as Ares sat deep in thought, completely ignoring the cobbled-together fishing-line he'd rigged up.

Xena approached quietly. His eyes slid sideways at her, then away. She settled beside him and gestured toward the water.

"I guess we shouldn't expect fish for supper."

"You're laughing at me."

"A little. You're mortal, but you're not very good at it. I'm surprised you haven't starved to death."

"Actinus wanted his slaves healthy. Worth more that way."

"How long were you... ? "

"A slave? Most of the time since I... left Olympus."

They sat quietly for a minute or two.

"I didn't thank you properly for saving Eve and Gabrielle."

"You thanked me."

"I said, not properly." She leaned toward him, lips parted.

"Stop playing games, Xena. I'm not in the mood."

"No more games, Ares." Her eyes smoldered. "I promise you, no more games. Trust me."

"Based on what?" He spit her own long-ago words at her. "You tease me, you lead me on, then poof! You're gone, leaving me... uncomfortable, to say the least."

She brought her hand up behind his head and pulled him toward her, lips meeting lightly at first, then more firmly. "I'm not teasing now."

He groaned as the kiss deepened. Pulling back he gazed into her eyes. "Once I could have given you the world. Now all I have left is myself. I love you, Xena."

"I know."

"Why did you fight me so long?"

"I was afraid--uh--" she gasped as his lips nuzzled her sensitive throat under her ear, "of my dark side. Of being--ahhh--drawn back into that life I left--" She bent her head and nosed aside his shirt, exposing a taut nipple.

"Xena, by the Gods, Xena, I've waited for you so long..."

"I know," she repeated as she kissed her way over his collarbones, down over his chest, her fingers fumbling with the laces of his trousers.

Eyes widened, Xena looked down at him. "Oh my. I think this may have been worth the wait..."

"May have been?" His laughter was husky with desire, rich and deep and... she paused--something she'd never heard before--happy.

"Don't stop," he panted as she began to stroke.

"I won't."

Eve carried the empty water jugs down the deer-path. Unexpected animalistic noises made her stop and dart into the brush. Cautiously she continued until she could peer through the foliage...

As Xena--as her mother--cried out and collapsed across the naked torso of the man she'd been riding.

Making love to.

Eve curled her lip. Or maybe it was that other, cruder, word. My mother the slut. With the man she, Eve, had once loved.

Ares.

Fascinated and repulsed at the same time, she watched as he tenderly stroked the long black hair away from her mother's ears. Ares' voice, faintly carried on the dulcet breeze, whispered, "I love you, Xena."

Xena's grown daughter scuttled backward through the shrubbery and ran as far away as her breath would allow before she fell sobbing onto the ground.

Xena slid off Ares' sweat-slick body and lay on the moss beside him. Her eyes were closed and a tiny smile played about the corners of her mouth. She stretched languorously, like a cat, almost purring.

The ex-God levered himself up on one elbow and touched her cheek. "You were magnificent."

Her eyes didn't open but her smile broadened. "I have many skills."

He laughed outright then and leaned over her, brushing her lips with his own, slipping his tongue in to shiver around hers. Desire intensified, replenishing their strength and their need for each other. Her body welcomed him, melding rhythms as they arched and plunged and spun out of control.

This time he was on top.

Mortal life was glorious.

Gabrielle felt left out of the loop. Ares grinned broadly, his spirits rejuvenated. Maybe he'd found some magic herb growing down by the water? Eve merely scowled, and Xena--Xena smiled her little cat smile and said nothing.

Golden sparkles filled the clearing.

"Xena? I need your help--Ares! You're alive!" Aphrodite, still wearing black wisps of mourning for her beloved Hephaestus, rushed to her brother and threw her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his chest. "I'm like, so happy to see you, big bro!"

Startled, Ares stepped back and held her at arm's length. "Wha...?"

"Oh Ares, Olympus is in chaos. Now that Daddy's dead Apollo's bossing everyone around like he's the King of the Gods. As if! Mom's still missing, Hermes is Mr. Mope, Cupie--Cupie's lost all his zing and, and--I've been looking everywhere for you. We need you!"

"I'm not a God anymore, Sis."

"Oh pooh, no problem." Brilliant motes scintillated, dusting the air as she held out a silver bowl, its contents rubyred, translucent, shimmering in the sun--"I brought Ambrosia."

Ares swallowed hard and licked his lips, staring at the Food of the Gods. He shook his head--could it really be this easy? He longed to reach for the bowl, to bury his face in the heavenly repast, but first...

"Xena?" Ignoring Gabrielle's noncommittal expression and Eve's distaste he reached out and took the Warrior Princess' hand. "I'd stay with you if you say the word."

She stared at their entwined fingers a full minute before bringing her other hand up to his cheek.

"You're not meant to be mortal, Ares. We both know it."

Slowly she withdrew her hand from his grasp.

He cast his eyes at the ground, then nodded and looked up at her. "If I go... can I see you again?"

"Maybe," her lips twisted in wry amusement. "If you behave yourself."

"I've learned a lot, Xena. I've had a lot of time to think, more than I ever did in ten thousand years. I will remember, this time."

She tipped her head in acknowledgement.

Aphrodite produced a spoon. He dipped it in the bowl, inhaled deeply, and slowly raised the contents to his mouth.

Blue lightning coruscated in intricate patterns down over his body. It dissipated, leaving behind the God of War in immaculate black leather and silver. He held out his arms, admiring the divine glow of his unmarked skin. "I'm ba-ack."

"Welcome back, bro," Aphrodite grinned. "Wait til I tell the others. Apollo's gonna be so scorched." She giggled as her trademark glints outlined her vanishing form.

Xena gazed at him curiously. "So. What's first on your agenda?"

"First, I have a little discussion with my brother about who gets the throne. Unless Michael's already got his fat ass sitting on it. Then... well, you'll just have to wait and see." His laughter, hearty and arrogant, drifted around the three women as he flared out of sight.

"What do you think, Xena?"

"What he said. Wait and see."

War was the talk of the next town--war between neighbors who'd co-existed peacefully for generations.

Gabrielle murmured, "Looks like he's up to his old tricks again."

Angry with herself, Xena didn't answer. She hadn't believed him the first time he was mortal, why had she fallen for his line this time? She hardened her jaw and nudged Argo in the ribs, trotting down the road ahead of the others.

War was also on the lips of the Athenian gentleman--and terror in his heart--when a real, genuine, bonafide, honest-to-the-Gods God of War appeared in his private quarters, threw a sackful of gold on the floor and disappeared with his newest slaves, a Thracian mother and child.

End

If you enjoyed this story, please try the sequel
"Truth and Roses"