Truth and Roses
by Taleen

Xena stormed into Ares' temple and yelled for the War God.

The black-clad Olympian quickly hid something under a scrap of silk and stepped forward to greet the woman he loved. His smile was warm and open, his dark eyes soft...

"Xena! I'm glad--"

The chakram glanced off a pillar, sliced drapery in half, knocked over a rack of swords and took a chunk out of the top of his throne. Ares ducked as it zinged past his ear; he snapped his startled gaze to the Warrior Princess.

"Xena?"

"Shut up, you lying bastard." Her voice was low and savage.

"Wha--?"

"Chaeronia and Lebadeia have co-existed peacefully for eons until you, you sick, conniving son of a bitch! You had to go and start a war between them!"

"Well, it's hardly been eons--"

"I believed you. You said you'd remember this time."

"I did. I do. Xena--"

"You lied to me."

"I didn't! I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"I tell you, Xena, they did it themselves! Look, I don't have time for mortal wars right now. Everything on Olympus is still in an uproar--I'm barely holding my own against my brother." His eyes pleaded for her understanding, her belief. "Ya know, Apollo can be a real shit..."

Xena's sneer did not go away, nor did the ice melt from her pale blue eyes. "Runs in the family."

Ares sighed heavily. "People fight, Xena. Much as I hate to admit it, they don't need me to get into trouble."

Her expression hardened. "Poor baby. My heart bleeds."

Hurt and betrayal washed over his face. Abruptly he turned his back on her, his head dropping between hunched shoulders as he supported himself on the edge of his altar. His generous mouth twisted, his jaw tightened and his eyes lifted unseeing to the ceiling. "I had a gift for you, Xena. Nothing much-- " he cast a glance over his shoulder, met her uncompromising stare and looked away, "but it was from the heart."

"Your heart? Then it's worthless."

With a sharp angry exhalation he whirled and flung something to the marble tile underfoot, daring her to pick it up. "There it is, Xena. I searched the whole world for it." Bitterness made his voice husky. "I should have known better." He left in a blinding bluewhite starflash.

Belligerence changed to confusion as she eyed the floor. She glanced around quickly; there was no sense of his presence. Slowly she knelt and picked up his gift--a single, perfect, blood-red rose.

"That's beautiful, Xena. Where did you get it?"

"Found it," The Warrior Princess grunted as she twirled the scarlet blossom in her fingers. Doubt had crept in on silent feet, dislodging her former certainty.

"It's exquisite."

"Uh huh." Xena chewed her lip.

Gabrielle pursed her mouth and raised one brow. "Something wrong?"

Xena sucked in her cheeks and buried her nose in the petals. She couldn't meet Gabrielle's eyes.

"You saw Ares, didn't you?"

A long pause. "Uh huh."

"And?"

Xena mumbled something.

"I didn't hear you."

"I said he said he didn't do it."

The small blonde warrior blinked. "Maybe he has changed."

"If you believe that I've got a Pyramid to sell you. No, it's another of his tricks. Come on, we've got a long ride ahead of us."

Eve looked up as she finished packing their cooking utensils.

"Where are we going?"

"To stop a war."

"Maybe, if he's changed, Ares would help?" the slender brunette ventured.

Xena fried her with a withering glare; then her expression softened. "And pigs have wings. Besides--" she frowned, "he's busy."

"There must be something you can do. Your people can't afford a war, and neither can Lebadeia."

Enos sighed. The elderly Chaeronian counsellor had been overjoyed to see the Warrior Princess, hoping she could find a solution to their problem. "It is difficult for a people to disobey their rightful King. He orders them to war. What can they do?"

"But it's madness!" Gabrielle interjected.

"Oh, if you only knew..."

"What are you talking about?"

"King Giger... has changed. He... forgets things. If you speak to him he doesn't remember it five minutes later. He changes his mind constantly. He yells at his ministers when they don't do as he commands, even if he just demanded the opposite less than an hour before. And... he hallucinates. He sees monsters under his bed. It's as if he's regressing to his childhood. He even calls for his old nurse, who's been dead a decade... "

"Where's the Crown Prince?"

"Studying in Crete. We sent for him, but... what can he do? His father is the King. His will is law."

"Then pass a new law!"

"Gabrielle, our hands are tied!"

"What if..." Eve had been listening to the proceedings and now she spoke up hesitantly--"What if you just pretend to fight? If we go to Lebadeia and explain everything... it could save lives. Then when the Prince gets here... "

The counsellor tugged on his beard and considered her words with care. For the first time hope colored his voice. "It could work... "

Xena gazed with pride at her daughter, her newly-born child of peace.

Two days later the three women rode out of Lebadeia, plans for a false war in place. King Giger would never know the difference; when his son returned a Regency could be set up and peace "officially" declared.

Gabrielle broke into Xena's thoughts. "I guess he told the truth."

"Who?"

"Ares. He didn't start that war."

"Gabrielle, are you defending him?"

"I'm only trying to be fair, Xena."

"Why bother? If he didn't do it this time, that doesn't mean he won't do it next."

"Xena, he saved my life and Eve's, at considerable cost."

"One bite of Ambrosia later... "

"But he didn't know Aphrodite would help him. It seems to me he's trying."

"So I should sleep with him? Give him the child he wants?"

"I didn't say that." Gabrielle held up her hand. "All I'm saying is... maybe you should give him the benefit of the doubt."

Eve listened closely to her mother and her companion as they discussed the War God. She felt strangely at a loss. Ares had been her lover until he dumped her for her mother. Then he'd saved her life. Oh yeah, he did it for Xena, but... Her mind flashed to the scene on the riverbank. Apparently Gabrielle was unaware that Xena had already experienced Ares' lusty embrace.

Once that would have been Eve. Her skin shivered at the thought of his touch, the taste of his mouth, his skill and power...

Hard to believe her own mother was her rival. Hard to remember that a woman barely five years older than she was now had given birth to her. Xena and Gabrielle seemed more like sisters, the kind of family Eve had never known. Sisters who bickered and bantered, but who loved and supported each other through whatever curves life threw them.

All things considered, Eve believed herself to be a very lucky young woman. Perhaps... she might even forgive Ares for not wanting her anymore.

"I know you're here. You might as well show yourself."

"You always know when I'm around, Xena. Doesn't it strike you that that's the proof of our connection? That we belong together?"

"It proves nothing, so forget it. I will never let you touch me again."

Ares pressed his lips together. "Gabrielle has changed. Eve has changed. I have changed, but you--you don't change. You're frozen in fear and hatred. You can't see past what I was. You're like a great stone face--maybe we should plant you on Mount Olympus so you can glare down over the world."

Xena ignored him and stared into space, unwittingly becoming that which he had described.

"I love you, Xena. But I don't know what else to do. You don't trust me, and it seems I can't trust you."

The Warrior jerked her shoulders, as if warding off a blow.

Ares shook his head sadly, turned his back and walked away. Three steps and he was gone.

Gabrielle's new mount didn't like snakes. White-eyed, it whinnied its panic and reared, toppling her off backward. The stony ground rushed up to meet her, one rock perfectly positioned to knock the small blonde unconscious.

Before the snake had a chance to slither away Xena skewered it with her breast knife and flung its coils into the bushes.

Eve knelt in the dust beside their injured friend. She looked up anxiously, "Mother, we need a healer."

Xena snatched a flask from her saddle, poured water on a rag and patted away the bits of dirt from the cut on the back of Gabrielle's head.

"It looks bad."

"It's a scalp wound," Xena reassured Eve, and herself, muttering under her breath. "They always look worse than they are." Her fingers came away bloody. She grimaced.

An hour later as Xena and Eve rode into Daulis, a makeshift litter dragging deep ruts into the ground behind Eve's mare, Gabrielle was still unconscious.

Her gelding, still half-spooked, tugged at the lead hitched to Argo's saddle.

A townsman pointed the way to the healer's cottage. "She hasn't been here long but her skill is nothing short of miraculous. If anyone can help your friend... "

The door opened to Eve's knock. A ten-year-old boy yelled for his mother and held the door while Xena carried Gabrielle in. A woman who may have been the warrior's age but who looked older bustled out of a back room and directed her to lay the patient on a bed. She made a quick examination and sent her son off to the Apothecary's shop for some herbs.

Xena knelt by the bed and stroked her friend's forehead, murmuring comfort.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Eve asked.

"You could fetch some more water. Linos is still too short to reach the bucket at the well."

Eve nodded and scooped up the two buckets by the door. The first one went down the well with a satisfying splash; she had begun to wind it up when a strong male hand covered hers.

"Let me do that for you."

She raised her eyes and felt herself overwhelmed by the blueness of the young man's gaze. His thick blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight; his smile was wide and friendly as he examined her with interest.

Something unspoken passed between them. Eve blushed and dropped her eyes, suddenly shy.

Xena looked up as the door opened and raised her eyebrows at the sight of the handsome young man with a bucket in each hand. Eve showed him where to put them and, when he didn't seem inclined to leave, led him to a bench. Xena returned her attention to her best friend.

The healer passed her hand over Gabrielle's skull; within minutes the young woman regained consciousness and struggled to sit up. The wound seemed to be mending itself.

"That's quite a talent you have," the dark-haired warrior said thoughtfully.

"It's a gift." The healer smiled as she held a cup of tea to her patient's lips; Gabrielle made a face at the taste.

"Ewww, what's in that?"

"Something to help make you stronger."

"What I need is something to eat, not tea."

"Certainly. You may have some chicken broth."

"Chicken--? I want bread, and cheese, and half a goat. I'm famished."

"Better feed her," Xena rolled her eyes. "Otherwise she'll turn into a Hydra before your eyes."

"You should talk, " Gabrielle grumped. "Ohhh. My head hurts."

"Drink the tea."

The blonde shuddered and fended off the offered cup. "The pain is not that bad, really." She looked at her caregiver for the first time and frowned. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

"I don't think so. I'm new here. My name is Doria."

The furrow deepened in Gabrielle's brow. "I've heard that name somewhere before. Oh well, maybe I'll check my scrolls later. Speaking of familiar strangers, who's that with Eve?"

Eve heard her name and moved forward, her eyes only reluctantly leaving the young man's features. "Mot--Xena, Gabrielle, this is Ilius. He ... gave me a hand at the well."

Xena gave them a quick uncertain smile and glanced at Gabrielle. Her friend waited until the young couple were once more absorbed in each other, then leaned toward the Warrior Princess and whispered, "Better watch it, Xena--you might soon be a mother-in-law."

A scowl and a snarl answered her.

Gabrielle clicked her tongue and dabbed her finger in the air, one point. "Gotcha."

The blonde warrior's curiosity finally got the better of her by suppertime. "So, um, Doria? How did you come to be here?"

"A friend set me up, after he freed me."

"You were a slave? Slaves I mean, you and Linos?"

"Yes, in Athens. My friend was terribly ill-treated--we were both slaves, you see, and I tended his wounds. To think--all along he was a God." She shook her head and passed the bread basket.

Xena and Gabrielle froze. Gabrielle cleared her throat and asked, "A God? Um, which one?"

"Ares. Handsome devil." The healer shook her head. "I felt sorry for him--so hard and yet so vulnerable at the same time."

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged questioning glances.

Doria continued. "He came to my new master's house in Athens, bought me and my son and set us up here. I think he did something else too... " She looked at her hands and gestured, "I think, somehow, he... enhanced my healing skills. That's why your friend recovered so quickly."

Xena sat crosslegged in front of the hearth, holding a mug of wine loosely in her fingers. Her eyes followed Linos as he did his chores.

So like Solan. The pain of her son's loss welled up anew. It gnawed at her constantly in the back of her mind--the things she could've, should've, done differently. She hadn't been able to save him.

But Ares had saved this child and his mother.

Gabrielle read her mind. "I know you hate to be wrong, Xena... "

"Do not."

"Do too. Xena, he didn't start that war and he helped Doria and her son. Look at them, how happy they are. Ares did that. People can change, Xena. Maybe Gods can too."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Xena, " Gabrielle heaved an exasperated sigh, "I think you are seeing it." Giving up, she changed the subject. "Ilius seems to be quite taken with Eve."

"They seem to be quite taken with each other." Xena's gaze hovered on the couple sitting close in the corner. Ilius' strong hands kneaded Eve's shoulders, his long fingers fanning around her throat as his thumbs worked at the nape of her neck. Eve had her eyes closed, totally relaxed...

Ares blitzed out of the dimensional shatterlight and walloped the young man on the jaw, knocking him backwards onto the floor.

Xena reached for her chakram, certain her opinion had been vindicated after all. The God of War turned to her and held up his hands.

"That's right, Xena--you've never met Apollo before, have you?"

Xena's eyes darted to Ilius, who sneered and shimmered into a golden vision. Even his leathers gleamed with the colors of the sun. Anger shot from his sky-colored eyes. "You should've let me do it, brother. She's the reason half of our family are dead. Would've saved the rest of us a lot of trouble." He grinned nastily at Eve before he popped out. A sunburst of light hung in the air for seconds after he'd gone.

Ares transferred his gaze to a stunned Xena. "He would've snapped her neck like a twig. Watch your back around Apollo, Xena. Watch Eve's back. Goldenboy will kill her if he can, to make himself Top God." He curled his lip and snorted. "Saving your daughter is getting to be a habit, one I intend to break. Don't count on me next time." Again, a bluewhite star marked his departure.

The three companions stared at each other in shock, Eve wide-eyed with both hands to her neck.

"Oh my," Doria said. "He didn't stay for tea."

Xena dismounted and groundhitched Argo. She hesitated, took an item from her saddle, firmed her jaw and headed into the temple with determination in her eyes.

Ares didn't move from his sprawl across his throne. He glanced at her indifferently--seemingly--though he ached inside at her beauty. He closed his eyes and turned his head away, resting his forehead on his hand in an attitude of longsuffering.

"What is it now, Xena? What am I supposed to have done this time?"

"Ares... " Xena paused and cleared her throat, "Ares, I was wrong."

He clapped three times. "Big of you to say so. Was that it? I'm a little busy right now."

"I came to apologize, dammit. You're not making this any easier for me."

"Well excuuuse me if I don't get too excited."

"I... misjudged you."

"No kidding."

"Is that all you're going to say?"

"Xena," he sighed, "I have learned if I respond to your... gambits, you spit on me. Apology accepted. There's the door." He twisted his shoulders away from her in an attempt to ignore her, though he found it bloody near impossible to do so when all he wanted was to drown in her loveliness.

Xena took a deep breath and mounted the steps. Standing on the dais she looked down at him, produced the perfect rose and dropped it on his chest.

He shifted position in surprise, touched the velvety petals and looked up at her in wonder. She settled on the edge of the seat, cupped her hands at his jaw and drew his mouth up to hers.

"Xena," he swallowed, "I thought we were back to the 'I sicken you' thing."

"No," she murmured, as her hand slid inside his vest and rested over his pounding heart. Her lips brushed his lightly again, then more urgently as her tongue wove itself around his.

Ares' hand tentatively touched her breast.

She covered it with her own.

"Yes."

End