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The Outsiders

BOOK I - "Eternity Broken"
By Tango

Lao Hsu

"Is is myself that I see in the deep waters?" asked the mother.
"Is it myself that I see reflected in the clear mirror?" asked
the daughter. And they approached one another and embraced.
The heart of the mother beat quicker, and she understood it.
"My child! Thou flower of my own heart! My lotus flower of
the deep waters!" And she embraced her child anew, and wept;
and the tears were as a new baptism of life and love to [her daughter].

Andersen, "The Marsh King's Daughter"

Gabrielle and Xena, dressed in the silk tunics of Ch'in's court, were led into the throne room by two guards. The deep tremble of a bronze gong announced their entrance and the guards melted away, allowing the two women an unobstructed view of the hall.

Gabrielle could not help gaping. It was, quite simply, the largest enclosed space she had ever seen. She could not even make out the far wall. All around them, decorations of ivory and gold coiled along walls and spindly columns, a multitude of lanterns glowed red-gold and vaguely draconian forms raised their sculpted heads towards the impossibly high crossbeams of the ceiling. Tendrils of perfumed smoke made her eyes water slightly.

The gong sounded again, reverberating through the enormous space. A heavy curtain was drawn aside, revealing a high dais and the throne itself. Seated upon it was a slight woman, her face concealed by a layer of white make-up, her body hidden by swathes of embroidered silk. It was impossible to determine either her age or her facial expression - she seemed frozen in colour. On either side of her, stood six men, two of which Gabrielle recognised immediately - Zhing Li and Khao Sun, the emissaries. The others, presumably, made up the rest of the council.

Guards, councillors and servants alike fell to the floor in obeisance on sight of the Empress. Following Xena's lead, Gabrielle bowed her head, but did not fall prostrate.

"Rise!"

The command was delivered in a smooth voice, powerfully clear. It carried easily through the hall. With a start, Gabrielle realised it was the Empress herself who had spoken. Everyone rose.

"Approach the throne," the doll-woman continued, indicating Xena and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle walked beside Xena to the dais, trying not to stare at the Empress. She found it difficult to believe that a woman so swaddled and coloured could be a real, living human being.

Up close, the whiteness of the facepaint seemed even more grotesque; the skin tone of the woman's small hands, folded in her lap, almost swarthy by comparison.

"My kingdom is once again honoured by your presence, Warrior Princess," the Empress continued in her curiously melodic voice, "although I believe your last sojourn in our land was somewhat less than pleasant."

Xena's face was unreadable. "You could say that."

The Empress did not appear in the least perturbed by the interruption - although it was impossible to tell what lay hidden under the facepaint. "We do hope that you will find your present stay comfortable enough to more than make up for past inadequacies."

Gabrielle could almost hear Xena's thoughts. 'Dungeons are not known for their creature comforts'. She touched her friend's arm surreptitiously to prevent these thoughts being voiced.

"You," the Empress indicated both women in a sweeping gesture, "as well as your child, Warrior Princess, are my personal guests in the palace. I would be honoured if you were to accept my hospitality as a gesture of goodwill and friendship, both on my own behalf, and on behalf of my people, in token of their appreciation of my mother's love for them."

Gabrielle inclined her head, pre-empting Xena's response. "We thank you."

"If it pleases my guests," the woman smiled slightly, "I should like to extend an invitation to join me in a private banquet to honour my mother's memory. Lao Ma spoke highly of the Warrior Princess. I should like to learn more of my mother from a woman who had known her so well. Perhaps my people, likewise, may benefit from her wisdom. I should be grateful for your attendance at noon."

Xena bowed slightly and, Gabrielle noticed, a little wryly. "The honour is ours, Lao Hsu."

Gabrielle cringed at the informality - 'your Imperial Majesty' would have suited the scene more - but she knew better than to question Xena's methods. She was trying to sound out the woman, and Gabrielle did not interfere.

The Empress inclined her head and, as if by some magic, the curtain fell again around the dais, concealing both the throne and the immobile councillors from view.

The gong sounded again. Before Gabrielle could begin to wonder what they were supposed to do now, two guards appeared in front of them and turned to escort them from the hall. She followed Xena out, walking deliberately close to the carved columns, trying to catch a few final glimpses of the incredible decorations. She wondered about this banquet of Lao Hsu's. Whatever the Empress had planned, she was certain of one thing - it would have little to do with food.

* * *

The banquet room was decorated in a similar style to the other rooms they had seen in this wing of the palace, with the exception of the subject of the carvings on the walls and furniture. There wasn't a single dragon in sight. Instead, the room was filled with various depictions of the phoenix. Painted reed-screens created the illusion of a smaller and cosier chamber than this really was, and faint smells of spices lingered in the air.

Gabrielle heard Xena whisper out of the corner of her mouth, "This was Lao Ma's private dining room. It hasn't changed at all."

A small table was placed in the centre of the room. A wax candle floated in a bowl in its centre. There were three seats around the table.

To one side of the table, a screen folded open. A servant girl in a red tunic stepped out from behind it, her hair pulled up neatly into a knot. She bowed over folded hands - first to Xena, then to Gabrielle.

"It is my pleasure to truly welcome you both." Her voice was rich and steady - and familiar.

Lao Hsu! Gabrielle stared. This had been the doll-like woman on the throne? The girl raised her face and smiled gently at her guests.

"Please, be seated," she said, taking one of the seats herself.

Xena and Gabrielle sat down. There was no trace of the white-faced formality that had greeted them. Instead, the Lao Hsu's porcelain skin glowed in the warm candlelight, a spark of something like good humour in her liquid almond-shaped eyes. She could not have been much older than twenty years of age.

"Please forgive the coolness of the formal reception - I am afraid my councillors and I disagree on some interpretations of court protocol and I find it necessary to concede them a few small battles in order to win the war."

Gabrielle glanced at Xena, trying to see what her friend had made of that statement, but Xena's face gave nothing away.

"A wise choice," Xena said evenly.

The servants brought out steaming bowls and a platter of meat that appeared to be simmering, as though still on the stove. The smells tickled Gabrielle's nose, reminding her that she had not eaten since early morning.

Dismissing the attendants, Lao Hsu served the meal herself, her hands surprisingly quick and nimble, perfectly at ease. Xena, Gabrielle saw, looked as bemused as she herself felt, though the warrior hid it well. An Empress? Serving her guests? Xena's eyes were half-lidded, intent on observing the woman.

Lao Hsu's movements were sure - not the fumblings of one used to the constant attendance of others. Gabrielle moved back slightly as Lao Hsu ladled steaming soup into her bowl. Even this simple gesture seemed elegant and fluid in her execution, almost a dance.

At last, Lao Hsu sat back down. "Please, eat. We can talk when you have satisfied your hunger."

On cue, a young servant boy approached the table. He bowed, then filled his bowl with a little from each of the bowls on the table and ate quickly. After a brief pause, he bowed again and retreated.

Gabrielle wondered what would happen if the food was indeed found to be poisoned? Would Lao Hsu simply call for another food-tester and new food? How many boys like this one were no more?

She dismissed the useless speculations. There was nothing about the Empress' demeanor to suggest that this food-tasting was anything more than tact - a show of respect for her guests.

Xena spoke. "Lao Hsu, let's skip the formalities. We both know why you called us here. What is it you want with your mother's book?"

Lao Hsu bowed her head again with a smile. "Please, eat first. There will be plenty of time to talk."

And so they ate in relative silence, chopsticks clicking against bowls. Gabrielle tried to concentrate on manipulating the strange utensils, grateful that neither Xena nor the Empress appeared to notice her clumsiness. When the last course was cleared away, Lao Hsu spoke.

"Xena, you have studied my mother's wisdom from her own words, not her book. I have not had that opportunity. My mother feared for my safety and did not raise me at court. I was raised in a monastery, until the time came to accept my inheritance and claim the throne. I have been Empress since my brother's demise."

Xena replaced her chopsticks on the table. "So you did not know that you were Lao Ma's daughter until recently?"

"I did - my origins had never been concealed from me, but I did not think to have the opportunity to govern this land when my brother had usurped the throne. His rule cast a dark shadow over my people - even now, we are still in mourning.

"Xena - Gabrielle - you know I have called you here because I am in desperate need of your help. My emissaries would have made you aware that there is deep division among the councillors?"

Xena and Gabrielle nodded assent.

"This schism is centred around the legitimacy of my claim to the throne, both as representative of the house of Lao - and as a woman. Neither sits well with some of my advisors. I'm afraid that at present, my country is witnessing some very difficult times. You will have seen fields lying fallow because there are not enough men to tend the crops, cattle wandering because there are not enough men to gather them, beggars in the streets of each village."

"Yes."

"I want to help my people, but my reforms require the cooperation of the council. There is simply no time for the petty power struggles that are destroying both my court and my country."

If the anguish in her voice was an act, it was an impeccable one.

Gabrielle spoke up. "What do your councillors intend to do?"

"They seek to undermine my rule, Gabrielle, in the most direct way possible - by undermining my reforms and causing yet more suffering. It will not be too hard for my people to believe that their ruler had failed them once again, embittered as they are by the memories of the Green Dragon, my brother."

Lao Hsu took a sip of tea from a tiny cup, then continued, her voice growing still more anxious.

"The campaign against me is well underway, but I feel that I have come to the end of my resources. I fear that I will not be able to combat it, should the councillors decide to move against me at the next meeting, as I believe they will." She looked between Xena and Gabrielle. "This is why I need your help. I believe that my mother's power will give me the strength I need to return my country to what she had made it. To give my people back their dignity."

Gabrielle smiled at the earnestness in the young Empress' voice. If she truly did care for her country, that alone would make the whole journey worthwhile.

Xena's voice sliced through Gabrielle's thoughts, more than a little acid.

"How do you plan to find the book?"

"I was made aware of its whereabouts by the monks that had been my guardians as a child, Xena. I owe much of my ability to resist the will of my councillors to them. Indeed, I owe them my life, for they have saved it on more than one occasion. They have placed the precious volume in my care in the hope that it will help me where they cannot."

"Where is it?"

"Safe." Lao Hsu extended her hands on the table, palms up, a gesture of supplication that transcended all cultural boundaries.

"Will you help me?" She held Xena's and Gabrielle's hands. "Please, do not answer me now - I shall await your decision tomorrow morning. Today, you are but guests in my palace. I'm sure you'll find plenty here to keep your interest - and bring back old memories, perhaps." She looked into Xena's eyes. "Warrior Princess?"

"Yes?"

"Would you tell me about my mother?"

An uncomfortable silence stretched. Xena talked about Lao Ma very rarely - there were too many painful memories, too many regrets. But finally, the depth in Lao Hsu's eyes called forward whatever part of Xena held the treasured moments of Lao Ma's teaching, not the hurt - and the warrior smiled.

"Your mother... She was a lot like you, in some ways."

* * *

"Well?" Xena was standing in front of a large copper mirror, wincing as Gabrielle combed out her hair.

Gabrielle put down the comb and looked into the reflection of her friend's face. "Well, what?"

"What do you think of Lao Hsu now?"

There was an amused note in her friend's tone - Gabrielle had no doubt that Xena had made her own observations and reached her conclusions a long time ago.

"She seems genuinely concerned about her people's welfare." Gabrielle began thoughtfully, watching Xena pick up Eve and bounce her on her knees. The little girl's laugh tinkled through the apartments.

"She seems a bit - tired? I suppose she'd had enough of the problems with her advisors. It must be difficult to feel so fenced in. Frustrating."

Xena appeared to ignore her, playing with Eve.

"Xena?"

The warrior turned to her friend. "I hope you're right Gabrielle. Because I agree with you - and that's got me worried!"

Gabrielle put her hands on her hips theatrically. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Xena's lips smiled, but her eyes remained serious. "Just because I can't see a trap, doesn't mean there isn't one."

"You've got to be kidding. Xena, if you can't see a trap - there really isn't one." Gabrielle sat on the edge of the bed. "We've spent the entire day talking to councillors - you've seen what they're like. All sweet on the outside, cold like fish on the inside. Except Zhing Li and Khao Sun, that is. Come on, Xena, even I can see it!"

Xena sighed, lying Eve on the bed to change her. "Gabrielle, there's nothing I want more than to believe you. But in Ch'in, things are never what they seem."

Gabrielle shook her head slowly. "Lao Hsu may well be the best thing to happen to Ch'in since Lao Ma's rule. Will you deny these people their chance at happiness - Lao Ma's wisdom - because of my wrong against you? My ... betrayal?" Even now, it was still difficult to say it.

Xena winced at the pain in her friend's voice. "No, Gabrielle - it's not that..."

Gabrielle tried to keep her voice steady. "Please, Xena - do this for me. Don't make me carry this on my conscience, too. Please? Just think about it?"

Xena stroked Eve's cheek, then looked at Gabrielle. "All right."

Gabrielle beamed. "Thank you."

Xena's face remained troubled. "Gabrielle -"

She was interrupted by the entrance of a servant, followed immediately by Lao Hsu. The Empress still wore the plain red tunic, but it was now augmented by a heavy gold necklace in the shape of a phoenix. She carried a parasol in her hands.

"I would be delighted if you agreed to accompany me on a stroll around the gardens."

Xena shook her head. "I'm sorry, Lao Hsu - I'm afraid my daughter needs my attention right now." She emphasised her words with a deliberate wave of a diaper in her hand. Gabrielle cringed - what was the point of offending their host?

The Empress smiled with no hint of distaste. "Of course. Gabrielle?"

At the Empress' indication, a servant offered Gabrielle a parasol, similar to the one Lao Hsu carried. "I would be glad of your company."

Gabrielle looked at Xena questioningly. The warrior gave an almost imperceptible shrug, continuing to dress her daughter. Gabrielle took the parasol with a smile.

"I'd love to."

* * *

The garden was a manicured study in Noble Beauty - infinitely refined to reflect a perfection of form, rather than the chaotic symphony of the wilderness. Paved paths snaked up a gentle slope, surrounded by citrus trees with glossy leaves and luminous orange fruit.

Gabrielle and Lao Hsu walked slowly up the path, towards a round pergola with a curved roof and intricately carved parapets. Small birds chirruped invisibly in the jasmin-perfumed air. They reached the pergola and Lao Hsu sat on a bench inside, folding her parasol.

She smiled in invitation at Gabrielle. "Please, do join me."

Gabrielle sat, smoothing down the silk of her tunic over her lap. "It's lovely here," she said, looking over the parapet opposite, where a weeping willow rustled its leaves in a shallow stream.

"It's peaceful," said Lao Hsu, "a nice change from the court."

"I imagine it would be."

The Empress continued with a small frown, "But there is something terribly artificial about it all. I would have loved to have been born free to explore the world, Gabrielle. Like you. Like Xena."

"Your Majesty," Gabrielle began, but Lao Hsu made a motion of displeasure.

"Lao Hsu," she amended, "our lives are not as free as they seem - what Xena does is difficult and dangerous. In her own way, she is just as bound by her responsibilities as you."

"And you?"

Gabrielle thought about it. She could have spun a morality tale about privileges and obligations for the young woman's benefit, but something in Lao Hsu's demeanour - a kind of honesty - prohibited her from exaggerating.

"I'm more free than Xena is, Lao Hsu - but my responsibilities, my needs, are just as great as hers, and confine me to my own path just as surely." She averted her gaze, not wanting to go on to the painful part - then decided to plow on, regardless.

"I betrayed Xena once. Here, in Ch'in. I'd be lying if I said that I'm not seeking my redemption, still - as much, perhaps, as Xena is seeking her own."

Lao Hsu's eyes grew warm. "I hope you find it one day, Gabrielle."

She said nothing else, but Gabrielle felt a mutual understanding pass between them and drew comfort from it.

They sat in companionable silence for a little while, just watching the eddies of water swirl over pebbles in the stream.

"Xena must be a remarkable woman," Lao Hsu said at last.

Gabrielle grinned. "She has her moments." Then, growing serious again, she added, "Xena is the best friend I have ever had."

Lao Hsu smiled sadly. "I do not recall having ever had a real friend."

Gabrielle turned to look at the white oval of the girl's face - and felt a wave of something like protectiveness.

"Until now," she said.

Lao Hsu's expression was distant. "You'll leave with Xena when the book is open - and so you should, I would not think of holding you back."

Gabrielle did not reply. What could she say? It was true.

"Then I shall be alone again - but at least I shall have my mother's wisdom to help me. It will be a joy to get to know her at last." Lao Hsu shook herself, as if to shake unwelcome thoughts, then rose from the bench and picked up her parasol.

"It's getting late, Gabrielle - will you walk back to the palace with me, or would you rather stay here?"

"I'll come."

Gabrielle followed her up, surprised at just how disappointed she felt. She had been sincere in her offer of friendship and the refusal, however politely phrased and reasonable, stung.

When they reached the lily pond at the gates to the garden, Lao Hsu paused.

"Do you think Xena will agree to help me, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "I think there's a good chance that she will."

The young woman breathed in relief. "Good." Then, "Perhaps you and Xena would consent to remain my guests until I have mastered the use of my mother's power?"

Gabrielle smiled. "I'd like that."

The Empress returned the smile with such genuine warmth, that Gabrielle was ashamed of her earlier resentment. "Then I am most grateful... my friend."

"So am I," Gabrielle replied.

Together, they walked back to the palace.

Open Book

To think I was scared to open the box
New love on the doorstep - isn't it funny, there's
nothing on how it works
Go on, have a look inside
You won't know what you did without it

The Whitlams, "Up Against The Wall"

The large, richly furnished study was dimly lit, the light centred on the writing table in the middle and the heavy book that lay closed on its polished surface. The corners of the room disappeared in shadows - it would have been almost cosy, were it not for the tension that charged the air, heavy and palpable.

Xena and Lao Hsu stood on either side of the table, Gabrielle holding Eve a little way back. It was here, in this room, that Lao Ma had instructed a much younger, more restless, Xena. More selfish and greedy, Xena thought, and thankfully too foolish to realise the immensity of what Lao Ma had offered - else she would had never have refused it then.

She glanced over at the Empress, the girl's fragile-boned face taut with intense concentration, her body rigid. Even so, she looked so much like her mother, that Xena had to remind herself that it would be a mistake to translate Lao Ma's character to this girl. The wisdom and power contained in the book were her birthright, but Xena had every intention of making sure that it was used exactly as Lao Ma had planned - for the good of her people, or not at all. There was no doubt the book was meant for her. She just hoped Lao Hsu would live up to its expectations.

"Ready?" Gabrielle cast a questioning look from the baby in her arms to Xena.

"As I'll ever be."

Xena reached out to take her daughter, gorgeous in an emerald green tunic, embroidered with gold phoenixes. The silk felt cool and damp under her hands. Xena realised her palms were sweating.

"Lao Hsu," she returned her gaze to the Empress, "you know your mother's book contains both wisdom and power - but without the wisdom, the power is worse than worthless. If you try to use it before you've learned to comprehend it," Xena spoke with careful deliberation, each word razor-sharp - "it will destroy you. Do you understand me?"

A little shyly, Lao Hsu inclined her head. "I do. I will not dishonour my mother's memory, Xena - and I will do right by my people. You have my solemn pledge."

Xena continued to look at her a moment longer, meeting only earnest determination in the girl's dark eyes.

So be it.

She balanced Eve's weight on one arm and lifted the cover of the book, the leather every bit as supple and soft as she remembered. Lao Ma's message filled the first page, 'Dove' and 'Hawk' seemingly reaching out towards each other. The rest of the book was shut, as though the fine pages were glued together. Xena had the distinct impression that the book was, for want of a better word, asleep.

The silence in the room grew heavier, even Eve seemed to feel the tension. She squirmed a little as Xena bent forward to lower her closer to the table and placed the girl's tiny hand over the character for 'Dove', then added her own just above it to cover the 'Hawk'. She heard Gabrielle and Lao Hsu draw in sharp breaths - and waited.

Nothing happened.

There was no flash of light, no otherworldly music. Xena withdrew her hand and straightened, holding Eve close, then reached down and turned the page. Lao Ma's book was open.

The room came alive again with relieved sighs from Gabrielle and Lao Hsu, and Eve's giggles as Xena bounced her up and stood back from the table.

"Thank you." Lao Hsu's eyes shone with happiness. She stretched her hand to the book, but stopped just short of touching the page.

"It's beautiful," she said. Her fingers hovered above the script, tracing the lines of neatly formed characters. "Not just the book... the words themselves. Will you read with me?"

Xena shook her head, a wave of softness around her senses, as though memories of Lao Ma reached out from the awakened book to embrace her. She struggled to regain equilibrium.

"I'd rather not." Seeing the girl's face fall, she added more gently, "Your mother will speak to you from these pages, Lao Hsu. You should listen carefully. And we'll listen with you."

Smiling, Lao Hsu called for servants to bring them stools and reading lamps. Xena looked at the girl's glowing face and felt a curious sense of peace. Lao Ma would have been proud of her daughter.

* * *

"Ares!.."

The scream came from somewhere so deep inside her, that the distance warped it, disfigured it, made it impossible to tell whether it was born of terror or need.

Xena sat up with a hard jolt, the dark room tilting alarmingly. Her voice, hollow and terrified, still echoed in her skull. "Ares...res.." She did not know whether she had screamed it aloud, or dreamt it. She clutched the sweat-damp sheets, waiting for the world to return to normality.

The bedroom was silent, redolent with the smells of flowers from the garden, sharpened by the cool night air.

Just a nightmare.

Still, she could not shake the pure horror of the vision - nor, agonisingly, could she recall it completely. She snatched at fragments, trying to reconstruct it, but just as she thought she had, they would slip away and dissolve into nothingness. There was only one thing she recalled perfectly - Eve.

Something had happened to Eve! She had been right there, beside her - but just out of reach. Someone - or something - was there, a figure cloaked in the opaque confusion of dreams, impossible to identify. Looking, watching, waiting to strike. Eve had been crying and she could not reach her, could do nothing at all to save her baby while the sky burned white-hot around her...

Gods! Eve!

Suddenly panicking, Xena jumped off the narrow bed, ripping the covers away, ran barefoot over to where Eve's crib was placed at her feet. Had something happened to her?

Inside the nest of blankets, her daughter slept peacefully, sucking her thumb.

Xena's knees buckled in relief. She sank back onto the bed and bent over the cot to take Eve in her arms. The baby breathed a soft little moan, then settled into her mother's shaky embrace without waking. Xena pressed her clammy cheek against the warm silk of Eve's forehead and stroked her hair.

"No-one is going to harm you, baby," she whispered, the sound of her voice harsh in the darkness, foreign. She walked around the bed to lie down once again, steadying herself one-handed on the side of the mattress. "No-one."

Xena laid her sleeping daughter down in the protective circle of her arms and drew the covers around both of them, curling in on herself. She thought about her nightmare. Why had she screamed for Ares? Or - at Ares? Was it his presence she sensed? Would he try to do something to hurt Eve? Take her away?

She took a deep breath and forced it out slowly, trying to extricate herself from the dread that gripped her. It had been just a dream, after all - reading too much into dreams was always a dangerous idea.

One thing, however, was certain. They had to go home.

* * *

Hours after Xena had gone to put Eve to bed, Gabrielle and the young Empress were still in the study, both absorbed in the volume in front of them. In the flicker of dancing lights, the carved ivory of the room seemed to glow from within, its warmth suffusing Gabrielle's heart. Lao Hsu read from the book, softly, her melodic voice adding a richness of texture to the richness of wisdom contained in the pages.

Gabrielle found herself wishing she had known the woman whose words floated around her, immortal. She thought about her scrolls. Would her words, clumsy though they often seemed to their writer, gain such immortality? Probably not. But it was a lovely dream, a good dream to have in the warm comfort of Lao Ma's old study.

Lao Hsu paused in her reading. Gabrielle raised her head, noticing for the first time that the lamps had begun to splutter, growing feeble. With surprise, she saw that Lao Hsu's cheeks glistened wet in the flickering light.

"You're crying?" she whispered.

Lao Hsu ran her fingers along the edge of the book, then closed it carefully, folding her slender hands over the cover.

"Not any more," she said. Then her reddened eyes softened into wistfulness. "Do you think it's possible to miss someone you never knew, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle reached over and squeezed the girl's hand. "She's with you now - always will be."

The pained look on Lao Hsu's face was too deep, too raw. She needed time. Gabrielle rose from her seat and bowed her head, her hands folded in deference to this court's custom.

"Good night, Lao Hsu."

She waited a moment longer, but the Empress showed no sign of having heard her, focused on something outside the room - outside herself. 'There is something in her,' thought Gabrielle, watching shadows play on the shimmering wetness of the girl's cheeks, 'something deep within her soul. She has suffered, too. And suffering breeds darkness in all of us.'

At that moment, perhaps more so than ever before, Gabrielle wanted to wrap her arms around the girl and protect her from whatever dangers threatened the lonely road she would have to walk to save her land. But there was also a strength in Lao Hsu's bearing, and something like Lao Ma's serenity, that told Gabrielle that the young woman had it within herself to walk that path. Gabrielle retreated from the room, shutting the door behind her quietly.

She entered her sleeping quarters as noiselessly as possible, feeling her way in the dark, trying not to wake Eve or Xena, sleeping next door. She was almost in bed when the doorway between the rooms flickered into view, backlit by a lantern. Surprised, Gabrielle walked up and pulled the screen aside to peer into Xena's room.

Xena sat on the bed, her back towards the door, cradling Eve. Gabrielle came to sit beside her - somewhat bemused that Xena was not feeding Eve, just sitting with the baby, rocking slightly.

"Can't sleep?" she asked quietly.

Xena gave her a rueful smile. "Can. Just don't feel like it."

Gabrielle looked carefully into her friend's face. What she found there shamed her. There were dark circles under Xena's eyes, her cheeks feverish, her dark hair stuck to her forehead. Gabrielle felt her own face flush with guilt. In her concern for Lao Hsu, she had neglected both Xena and Eve.

"Are you ill? Xena, you should have said something!"

The warrior shook her head. "I'm fine - just tired. Can't seem to shake these dreams, that's all." She frowned. "We have to go home, Gabrielle."

"Now?" Gabrielle's eyes widened in incredulity.

"As soon as possible. In the morning. Our job here's done - Lao Hsu is doing well."

Gabrielle breathed out through her nose. "But... you said... Xena, we can't just leave now, Lao Hsu's barely started her learning. She needs you!" The thought of leaving the Empress before the threat of a coup was truly over had not even occurred to her.

"No," Xena said gently, "she doesn't. She just doesn't know it yet."

Gabrielle's eyes stung. "I was hoping we'd see this through..."

Xena stood up and carried Eve to her crib.

"You can stay longer, if you like," she said over her shoulder, tucking the blanket around her daughter's sleepy warmth.

"But... You said we'd do this together!"

"And we have." Xena retrieved the bundle of her armour from a trunk by the wall and returned to stand over Gabrielle, still sitting on the bed. "If you want to stay with Lao Hsu to make sure she copes with her council - and her power - I understand."

"Stay here, alone?"

"Why not?" Xena dumped the pile of leather and metal onto the bed, and began to dress. "She trusts you - you'll keep her in line, make sure she can handle it all. Besides, it wouldn't be that long - the council meeting is after the next new moon." She slipped a gauntlet over her forearm. "I'll catch up with Mum, give her a chance to spoil Eve rotten." She sighed. "Maybe these damn dreams will go away, too."

"What dreams?" Gabrielle passed her the second gauntlet, too stunned to take it all in.

"Just dreams. Something to do with Ares, I think. I've got to check it out." The tone did not encourage further questions.

Gabrielle watched as Xena reached back to buckle her armour. 'Here we go again', she thought. At length, she nodded. Further argument would be a waste of breath - where Ares was concerned, it generally was.

"Okay. I'll stay - but just until the council meeting." She gave her friend a cautious smile. "Why the armour?"

Xena finished dressing and took her sword. "There's no point trying to get to sleep now. I might as well practice some drills before we go." She adjusted the scabbard on her back. "Sleep is overrated, anyway."

Gabrielle looked at her in dismay. "You're a freak, you know that?"

Xena chuckled, a little too brightly. "You're not so bad yourself. Do me a favour, would you? Pack Eve's things for me. We leave at first light."

"Sure. You don't think you ought to tell Lao Hsu?" Gabrielle wondered if breaking court protocol was a punishable offence.

"I was hoping you'd do that, too."

The bard heaved a long-suffering sigh. "All right. I'll do it - just this once. But you owe me!"

"Big time," Xena agreed, walking out.

Gabrielle looked between the empty doorway and Eve's cradle and shook her head. Just when she thought she had Xena all figured out, something like this would happen to turn it all upside down.

She just hoped it wasn't another baby.

Giving up on sleep, Gabrielle took out the saddlebags from the trunk and began packing Eve's things.

Fire and Ice

Pale were the lips I saw,
Pale were the lips I kissed
And fair the form I floated with
About that melancholy storm.

Keats, "A dream, after reading Dante's episode of Paolo and Francesca"

Xena swept down the stairs and walked towards the gate to the garden, keeping up a brisk pace to ward off the night chill and lingering memories of the nightmare. Her body ached for the release of movement, the solid reassurance of a weapon in her hand, obeying her whims, proof that she would never be helpless.

She walked through the lion-guarded gates, running her hand over the cool marble mane of one of the sculpted beasts as she passed it. No human guards required here - the garden was in a massive courtyard, surrounded by the Imperial residence. The trees rustled gently around the lily pond. Xena walked across an arched bridge to the other side, away from the sleeping palace. She stepped forward, then swivelled as if disturbed by an imaginary opponent, drawing her sword in the same movement.

For a long time, the only sounds she was aware of were her own ragged breaths and the swish of the heavy blade, slicing the air around her. Occasionally, the tip would catch a leaf and it would fall to float on the water in calm oblivion to the fury of movement above it.

Dimly at first, then with increasing discomfort, Xena became aware of something disturbing the sounds of her drill - other noises insinuated themselves into her hearing, until she could no longer ignore them. She stopped and lowered her sword, breathing heavily. There it was again! A conversation, two disembodied voices in the night. One was deep and mocking, the other higher, clearly female, but they did not sound at all like lovers. The voices were coming from behind the citrus trees lining the path.

Sword still at the ready, Xena parted the branches of the nearest tree, looking in. There was a clearing there, a rather large one. On the far side were two figures in long embroidered tunics, deep in conversation.

Just then, one of them turned slightly and Xena had to stop herself from crying out. It was Lao Hsu.

Xena crept closer, keeping to the shade of the trees, until she could just make out the words. Something was wrong - she could hear Lao Hsu clearly, disagreeing with something politely, but the other voice seemed slurred, so that she had to strain to distinguish words. It was also familiar. She moved sideways, enough to bring the other figure into full view.

Another shock brought her to a standstill. The sword hilt was suddenly slippery, the blade too heavy.

Lao Hsu was talking to Ming Tien.

Xena's heart caught so violently in her throat that she thought she could taste blood. Everything swung out of focus, she had to will herself back into reality again. It couldn't be! Ming Tien was dead! She had killed him herself, his skull pierced bloodlessly by a tapered bone, a simple hairpin. It had been her debt to Lao Ma - to do what the woman had not been able to do herself - kill her own son. The worst tyrant Ch'in had ever known. How could she have failed? How could it have been not enough?

Then the wind rustled the branches - and Xena knew that she had not failed, but the knowledge brought no comfort. Sickened, she saw the leaves blown right through his tunic and back again. Ming Tien was a ghost.

How? And what did Lao Hsu have to do with it? Xena's stomach lurched - she had miscalculated. The girl was a traitor! She forced herself to listen to what the Empress was saying, cold fury whipping her nerves raw.

"With all due respect, my brother - I cannot! Not yet." Lao Hsu's hands went out in supplication to the apparition in front of her. "Let me deal with this rebellion, let me learn from my mother's wisdom" -

Xena heard Ming Tien snort in disdain.

"Enough!" his voice sounded distant, but no less threatening for it. "You have dallied long enough - I promised you would have the cursed book and do you? Do you?! Answer me!"

The girl was visibly trembling, but her voice remained steady. "I do," she said quietly.

Behind the tree, Xena drew in a breath. So that's how the Empress had known to send for her! Idiot, to have never considered it before now!

Ming Tien's voice was growing louder, hissing like an approaching fire arrow.

"So what's stopping you from using its power? You have it all! You swore to give me life, sister! Do not think to betray me now!"

"No! No... Please, just a few days. I am not strong enough yet - using the power now will kill me!"

Ming Tien hesitated just long enough for Xena to realise that this would probably not impair his plans in the least. Then, evidently having decided that the risk of losing his vehicle of return would outweigh the inconvenience of a wait, he scowled.

"One day. That's all you have, sister - one day. When the moon rises tomorrow night, you will repay your debts!"

Debts - the word sent a chill through Xena, suddenly, dizzyingly, nudging her nightmare into vivid clarity. The hooded, cloaked figure - the watcher - not Ares, Ming Tien! The conclusion shot panic into her - Eve!! He was going to do something to Eve!

It was enough to shake her out of stunned inaction. Without waiting to hear the rest, she moved back to the path, as silently as she could, then half-ran, half-crept back to the gates. When she knew she was well away from them, she broke into a full run, pushing herself to the limit, her lungs pumping the same word over and over again - Eve, Eve, Eve.

That bastard wasn't going to touch her child!

Xena flew through the corridors, vaguely aware of having awakened a sleeping soldier meant to be on watch, of torch flames stretching after her as she passed them - but that did not matter - she had to get her daughter, now!

She burst into her room, tearing the screen aside and grabbed the door frame, momentarily disoriented by the darkness.

"Xena?"

Gabrielle's sleepy voice brought the room back into focus. Xena stumbled inside, desperate to hold Eve. She snatched her child from the cot, holding her so tightly that Eve began to wail immediately.

"Xena, what's going on?" Gabrielle grabbed Xena's arm. "Where are you taking Eve?"

"Get your stuff, Gabrielle - we're leaving! Now!"

Gabrielle pulled at Xena's arm, forcing her back.

"Xena, will you tell me what is going on?!"

Xena made an effort to speak. "Gabrielle, there's no time - I'll explain everything on the way. Hurry, please - it's Ming Tien!"

Gabrielle was already half-dressed when she heard the name. She froze. "What?!"

Xena threw her a coat, trying to silence Eve. "No time - later. Let's go!"

Gabrielle pulled on her coat and grabbed the bags she had packed earlier, all in a daze - "Not again, Xena! Please, not again!"

Suddenly, the doorway darkened. Both women looked up simultaneously - it was Lao Hsu, her tunic torn, her hair falling around her face in a dishevelled heap. She was panting, clutching her chest.

"Please... Gabrielle? Xena? Please - you must leave, now!"

Xena had the girl in a headlock within seconds - Gabrielle only realised it when she found herself clutching Eve, who had stopped crying from sheer bewilderment.

"What did you do, you stupid child?" Xena squeezed her arm until Lao Hsu, held fast, cried out in pain. "What deal did you make with that monster?"

Lao Hsu struggled for breath. "I'll te... tell you everything - just le... let me go, please!"

Xena's arm folded open, her fingers jabbing the girl's throat to block off an artery. Lao Hsu gasped.

"All right then - you have thirty seconds!"

Lao Hsu's eyes were wild in the red torch light streaming in from the corridor. She spoke frantically, her gaze darting between Xena and Gabrielle.

"The monks who raised me used to summon spirits - they didn't know I watched - the day my brother died, I tried it - he came - he said I needed him, but I didn't believe him - later, when the councillors started rebelling, I called him again and he told me about the book - he said he knew how I could open it - in exchange I promised to give him life!"

Xena took off the pinch. Lao Hsu clutched at her neck, taking big breaths.

Xena dragged her up by her hair until she was standing, then shoved her backwards. Gabrielle flinched, tightening her arms around Eve.

"Give him life how?"

Lao Hsu's teeth were chattering. "I... I don't know..."

Xena pushed her again. "Liar!"

"I don't know! He said the power will guide me - that all I need is the Key!"

"What about the Key?"

Lao Hsu's eyes pleaded with Xena. "I don't know, I didn't know until this night - but I suspect -"

"What?"

"I suspect he will try to enter your body - or Eve's." A note of panic made her voice shrill. "That's why you must leave, all of you, before it's too late. I can't delay him after tomorrow night -"

Xena cut her off. "I know." She stepped back and turned to where Gabrielle was standing, her lips white, shaking her head from side to side. "No, Xena - Lao Hsu... No!"

Tears spilled over the Empress' cheeks. "Yes - Gabrielle, it's the truth! It's all my fault - I betrayed your trust... Please, leave, save yourselves, I'll hold him off as long as I can!"

"No."

Xena's voice was suddenly very calm. Both Gabrielle and Lao Hsu looked at her.

"It doesn't matter now whose fault it was. We have one day, we can make it. Lao Hsu will stay -"

She made an impatient gesture at Lao Hsu's protests.

"No, listen to me! You were stupid, but that's neither here nor there now. We have Lao Ma's power - we can use it, but we're going to need your help, do you understand?"

The girl nodded through her tears, suddenly hopeful. "Anything - just tell me what to do, Xena!"

"If we work together, we can create a ... path, a shortcut - get us to Greece. It will leave a trail of power in our wake..."

Gabrielle shook her head, terrified. "But then he'll be able to follow us!"

The blue of Xena's eyes was very cold. "Precisely."

She took Eve from Gabrielle and held the baby's head up to her shoulder, stroking her back. Eve murmured contentedly, oblivious to the tension in the dark room.

"And this is how we set a trap, baby," Xena whispered into the little girl's hair.

Gabrielle shivered.

"After we're gone, Lao Hsu," Xena went on, "try to hold him off as long as you can - but don't put your life in danger! When he demands that you keep your word, say that you've lost the Key - that we're gone home, that you kept us under watch, but we used the power to slip away."

"I'll go with you."

"No. Your land needs you. You have a responsibility to your people, do you hear me, Lao Hsu? You're still Empress. And you can still deal with this coup, you will still have your power."

Lao Hsu made a small sound that may have been a sob - but in the next moment, she straightened and looked directly at Xena, then Gabrielle. "I will not let you down."

Gabrielle, having never seen Lao Ma, thought the woman must have looked just the way Lao Hsu did then.

"Good. Then help me do this," Xena said, setting Eve on the floor. The three women surrounded the child and stretched out their hands. Xena looked over at the Empress. "What you did just now... Your mother would have been proud of you, Lao Hsu. It takes a lot of courage to atone for your mistakes."

The girl did not reply, only held on more tightly to Xena's and Gabrielle's hands.

Gabrielle gripped her hand in return and felt a rush of power streaming through her, coursing between Xena and Lao Hsu. They were channelling it somehow, she realised - connecting to each other and then to something else, something greater. Small, threadlike, lights appeared between their hands, then reached down like a net to encompass Eve.

Gabrielle cried out abruptly - the dark room flared into a myriad flames, brilliant hues hurting her eyes. She squeezed them shut and tried to clasp her hands to her face, but they were held tight on either side of her. In the next instant, the light died, painting the inside of her eyelids with green and purple afterimages. When these swirls, too, disappeared, Gabrielle opened her eyes tentatively - and gasped.

The room was gone. They were outside, on a road winding through a forest. It was still dark, but the air had a pre-dawn translucency that clung to the trees and grass like fog. A few paces to her left, Xena bent down to pick up Eve.

"We're home..." Gabrielle whispered, looking around in wonder.

There was a fork in the roadside. An abandoned carriage stood nearby. This was, indeed, the road to Amphipolis.

"Yes," Xena smiled grimly, "we're home. Now let's make sure we can keep it that way."

* * *

"My lord, we plan to attack before noon - right there." The warlord's stubby finger poked into the rough map on the table in the command tent, leaving smudges. Ares grimaced, and flipped the dagger in his hand again. He hated incompetents. "And then, with the sun in their eyes -"

Ares gasped.

... all at once, she was calling him, her voice growing more and more desperate - where? Where was she? He searched frantically, yelling her name over and over again - and then found her - but it was too late, he knew and screamed, howled - their voices merging into a single stream of horror...

Without warning, Ares dropped the dagger, blade first, onto the table. It lodged in the wood with a low hum, shuddering. The warlord jumped back. "My lord!" he rasped.

Ares' face burned with such rage that the man dropped to his knees with a whimper. "Please, my lord -"

... then he was the only one screaming, her voice had disappeared somewhere - when? Xena!!...

As suddenly as it had begun, the vision cleared, leaving him breathless. The tent still glowed with candlelight, the warlord - oh.

The man was a snivelling heap at Ares' feet. What had he done?

"Get up!"

The man stumbled to his feet, darting frightened looks at his patron. "I- I-..."

"Continue!" Ares barked and pointed to the map.

"Ye.. yes, my lord. As you can see, we have this region..."

Ares pretended to listen. Damn all this to Tartarus! What was wrong with him? This was not the first vision he'd had in recent days, each more insistent than the previous. Was Athena right? Was he really losing it?

Abruptly, a fragment of the vision returned, not an image, but a feeling. Ares pressed his hands into fists, it took all his resolve not to let it break him. The intensity subsided, but the feeling remained. In a flash, Ares understood it for what it was - his bond with Xena. She was back!

"Once we have cut off the supply lines," the warlord continued, "we can..."

Ares struggled not to leave there and then - but with an angry thought, he forced himself to remain the tent, his face impassive. Athena may be a self-righteous bitch, but the woman had a point, much as he hated to admit it.

He could not let a mortal - or two - interfere with everything he was. He was no lapdog, to yap at her heels; by all that was sacred, she had not bothered to tell him when she had decided to journey to Ch'in out of the blue! No, he'd take care of this first - and then see her, when he was ready. He would not imperil his godhood.

"Show me the route you've planned out for your scouts," he said evenly, returning his gaze to the map.

* * *

Xena and Gabrielle pushed the abandoned carriage onto the main road with difficulty. It was no longer the splendid conveyance of the Ch'in embassage - the paint peeling, the wood cracked - but it was still in relatively good condition.

"Come on, Gabrielle - just a bit further. We haven't got much time."

Gabrielle paused to wipe the sweat from her eyes. "This has got to be the weirdest plan you've ever had, Xena." She kicked the narrow wheel in frustration. "Are you sure you can't just use Lao Ma's power to move it?"

In her sling on Xena's back, Eve giggled.

Xena pushed the carriage again. "No," she threw over her shoulder. "I can't. Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to help?"

"Ugh." Gabrielle heaved at one of the wheels, manoeuvring it over a rock with considerable effort. She paused again. "Why not?"

"Because," Xena spoke through gritted teeth, "it doesn't work that way! Besides, it's going to take everything I have just to set the trap for that bastard!"

Gabrielle shuddered and redoubled her efforts.

Nearly an hour later, they pushed the carriage onto a small side road, which, thankfully, led downhill. Nevertheless, it was nearly noon by the time they rounded the last bend and finally saw their destination. The road ended here. A meadow stretched ahead, coming to an abrupt end about two hundred paces away. Beyond the cliff top, blue water shimmered under the midday sun.

"Well." Xena held up a hand to her forehead to block the sunlight. "Looks like this is it."

Gabrielle swallowed, suddenly afraid. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Xena gave her a curious look. "If you have any better ones, I'd love to hear them!"

Gabrielle sighed. "I see your point."

They propped up the wheels with rocks and walked towards the precipice, leaning back against the slope to maintain balance. Gabrielle dug her toes behind the roots of a tree stump on the edge, and looked down. There was a beach below, the sand smooth, but strewn with the occasional piece of mangled steel or wood, perhaps from a recent battle. If there had been any bodies, they must have been buried. A wave crashed into the sand, then melted away. Gabrielle made a grab for the tree stump, feeling light-headed. She heard Eve whimper in her sling.

Xena's arm yanked her backwards. "Whoa, not so fast. We have a carriage to crash first!"

Gabrielle retreated hastily, still a little dizzy. "Uh... Thanks."

"No problem. Let's go."

They made their way back and removed the stops from the wheels. A single gentle push was all that was required - the carriage moved towards the cliff, first ponderously, then picking up speed until it was hurtling downhill with such frightful creaks and moans that Gabrielle thought it would fall apart before it managed to reach the cliff.

It tottered on the edge, the wheels spinning in midair, before plunging down. A second later, they heard the crash of splintering wood.

Xena pulled Gabrielle to the side, towards a winding path. "I think we should take the slow way down."

They ran down to the beach, then walked carefully along the cliff wall, so as not to leave footprints in the sand. What remained of the carriage was scattered around an area twenty paces wide, boards jutting out at odd angles like broken bones, shreds of fabric whipping in the wind.

Xena paused a few steps away from what had been the seat. She looked up, her brows coming together in thought, then back down. "About here, I think."

"So - how do we do this?" Gabrielle asked, following Xena to the spot the warrior had indicated. She decided that it was too late to be scared, but her heart was beating audibly and too quickly for her comfort. Well, there was no help for it. Either this - or Ming Tien.

Xena settled onto the sand, taking Eve out of the sling, which she flung aside. "He's going to come for us, Gabrielle - I doubt he'll wait until nightfall, if can sense the blazing trail we left for him. And I'm sure he can. He needs us - me, or Eve, or maybe you -"

"Me?" Gabrielle squeaked.

"Maybe, if he was planning to use the Key for the power needed to gain a body. Could be anyone, but he needs the Key. Us. So," Xena dug around the damp sand, covering herself in grey granules, "he's going to try to take what he needs."

Gabrielle copied Xena's actions, coating herself and her clothes in sand, then helped her to do the same to Eve. The baby giggled and crawled around, delighted by the sudden freedom of movement.

"You think he'll fall for it?" Gabrielle tried not to sound as uncertain as she felt.

"I'll bet on it." Xena gave her a serious look. "We need to end this once and for all, you do realise that -"

"Yes, Xena, I do!" Gabrielle nearly sobbed, feeling terrible and unable to control herself. "It happened again, didn't it? Just when I thought it was all behind us! If I hadn't encouraged you to open that damn book -"

Xena did not let her finish. "If you hadn't, Ming Tien would have still found a way to return. This way, we can take him out. Permanently." Her eyes softened and she enveloped Gabrielle in a hug, stroking her sand-filled hair. "Don't you dare blame yourself, Gabrielle. We can handle it. Everything's going to be fine, you got that?"

Gabrielle returned the hug fiercely. "I'll do my best."

Xena spared a look at Eve, sitting in the sand beside them, then returned her eyes to Gabrielle. "Let's play dead, huh?" With that, she stretched out on the sand, limbs askew and grinned at Gabrielle's horrified look. "Come on, your best performance."

Gabrielle nodded, then took a deep breath and threw herself onto the cold roughness of the sand, arranging her body in the best approximation of a fall that she could manage. "Ready," she called out into the sand, spluttering as grains squeaked on her teeth.

Before she could work out what was happening, she felt her eyelids getting heavy, then her entire body grow numb. She tried to twist a little, but found herself unable to move. For some reason, that did not frighten her. Just before her eyes drooped closed, she caught sight of Eve sprawled on the ground in the same way, and Xena next to her. Then everything went dark.

* * *

The meeting with the warlord had stretched into the late morning, but it was over at last and Ares could enjoy a bout of swordplay before tomorrow's battle, parrying blows from five, then six opponents - just rank soldiers for now, but at least a couple of them showed some ambition and perhaps even ability. Ares twisted around and hooked the sword of the nearest man away, slicing at his abdomen. The man blocked him neatly.

"Good," Ares nodded, simultaneously turning to block two more blows. This one may be worth watching.

A sharp pain shot through him suddenly, so that he stumbled and three blades sliced through him, emerging harmlessly on the other side. The men who had wielded them lost their footing and collapsed like dominoes.

This time, Ares could not ignore it. Xena. Something was wrong!

Without a word, he vanished. Stunned warriors blinked into the blue-white light.

"Where'd he go?"

* * *

A swirl of green light blasted out above the meadow, resolving into the spiked coils of a dragon momentarily, before shrinking in on itself and turning into the skinny figure of a young man. He appeared to float above the grass, his long embroidered robe disappearing into mist where his feet should have been.

"Xena!" he screamed, and the rage in his voice sent shockwaves along the grass, from the edge of the forest, to the cliff on the other side. "Xena!!!"

His eyes, wild and glowing green like the dragon's form, searched the meadow before coming to rest on two black tracks, leading towards the precipice. A short laugh contorted his features.

"How selfless of you, Xena! But it's not enough. You're just as useful to me dead - isn't that lucky?"

He made a running jump off the cliff, spreading his arms out to float easily onto the sand below.

"What a lovely child," he said, his voice saccharine, "such a pity you had to throw her off the cliff, Xena! Look, she's all broken. But never fear, I will fix her for you. I promise!"

He laughed again and careened towards the figures sprawled on the ground, coming to rest just above Eve's face. "Here, little one, don't be scared," he cooed, bending to kiss her tiny, cold face.

... Xena coiled inwardly, darkness pressing in on her from all sides - but she could hear him, near, so close - just a little more, a step, a touch ...

Ming Tien's lips, pale and ghostly, brushed the baby's skin.

... Xena screamed in soundless triumph - he was hers! ...

The explosion seemed to come from all three bodies on the ground at once, but it was Xena, propelling all the power she could summon through her link to Eve, praying mentally that Gabrielle was strong enough to take it, to lend support without breaking the link.

She heard, clearly, Ming Tien screech in surprised agony, then all sounds combined into a wall of white noise.

A moment later, she knew he was gone.

Now it was just a matter of waiting for herself and Gabrielle to regain enough strength to break out of the spell. It was over. She allowed her mind to drift.

"Hey, look!"

Xena forced her consciousness back to the present. Someone was there!

"It's a baby, sir - and two women. They're all dead."

"Keep moving, Marcus - we're going to lose them if we don't hurry. We don't have time for this, the centurion's gonna kill us. A forced march isn't a walk in the..."

... Xena felt cold, she would have shivered if she could. Roman soldiers? Here? Shit!! She screamed at them mentally to go away. A moment later, the footsteps indeed retreated ....

"By the gods!" the voice sounded again. "Look! The baby. It's still breathing!"

"Well, put it out of its misery and come along!"

... Ming Tien's touch must have wakened her! They were going to kill Eve! Xena strained against the spell, the immobility suddenly no longer her ally but her worst enemy, but it was useless, she was too weak ...

"No, she's fine!"

"How'd she survive a fall like that? It's an omen, Marcus! I'm going to take her to the centurion. Octavius will want to see this one!"

... No. No, they couldn't take her baby! Not while she was bound by her own spell, couldn't fight back! Xena summoned all the strength she still had, trying to reach for Gabrielle's side of the link to break it, but could not...

The footsteps retreated into the distance, Eve's tired whimpers marking their progress.

... Ares!! The scream came from somewhere so deep inside her, that the distance warped it, disfigured it, made it impossible to tell whether it was born of terror or need, and yet she knew it was both - Ares! Save her, damn you! Help her! ...

* * *

Ares materialised mid-stride in his hall in Olympus, opening the portal on Xena as soon as he was close enough to see. Where was she? He waited impatiently for the image to gain shape.

There! He thought he recognised the beach - then his body went cold. Xena's body lay limp and broken on the sand.

* * *

... Xena felt a shock of warmth as something connected to her - Ares? By all the gods, she would kill him for almost letting those men take her - their - child...

Lao Hsu fell onto the sand. Behind her, the remains of Ming Tien's draconian light-trail dissipated. She got up and ran to the figures on the ground. "Gabrielle! Xena - oh no... Gabrielle..."

... Ares!!! Not him! Not him, not him - why not? Was he deaf?! Xena thought she could almost break the spell, but almost would not be good enough - Ares! Dammit, where are you? ...

Lao Hsu sobbed brokenly. "I couldn't stop him in time, he was too strong - I didn't stop him..." Her small hands went out to touch the faces of the two women.

... Xena thrashed within the confines of her body - Lao Hsu! Don't!...

The girl's shrill cry lasted a fraction of a second, then her body contorted wildly, and began to shrink, as though growing backwards. Her hair became a soft down, her face filled out into childish roundness, her limbs shortened...

... The knowledge - hindsight - threatened to tip Xena into insanity - the girl was taking into herself the power that Gabrielle and she were infused with - having destroyed Ming Tien's darkness, it would now destroy Lao Hsu, year by year, until there was nothing left but her innocence - and then, not even that. Why hadn't the girl listened to her, why had she followed?! Damn it all - Ares!!!...

... Still in the aether, Ares heard her calling him, her voice growing more and more desperate - where? Where was she? He searched frantically, yelling her name over and over again - and then found her - but it was too late, he knew and screamed, howled ...

Ares appeared on the beach, a moment before Lao Hsu's body, now tiny and pudgy, burst into flames.

... Ares!!!...

"Xena-a-a!"

... it was too late, he knew and screamed, howled - their voices merging into a single stream of horror...

He ran towards the wreckage, unwilling to believe it...

... Ares... Xena felt the last shreds of strength evaporate and the chill of despair closed in on her, pulling her down into oblivion.

... then he was the only one screaming, her voice had disappeared somewhere...

"Xena! Eve!!"

The baby's shape in the fire disappeared in smoke as the flames writhed. Ares put them out with a thought, his hands to the elbows in red-glowing embers, searching for his daughter, calling out again and again - "Xena! Eve!!" - like a mantra, like some weird magic that could breathe life back into Xena's still form on the sand and into this ash that a second ago was his child - but it was too late. The ash mingled with wet sand and clung to his skin.

They were gone.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Ares stood up, ignoring the blackness on his arms, the wreckage around him. He knelt between Gabrielle and Xena, his arms clutching at Xena's body, her arms, legs, shaking her as if the movement could restore her - but she was a limp rag-doll in his arms, her head lolled in a parody of life. There was nothing else.

He was too late.

Eternity Broken

Truth may seem, but cannot be;
Beauty brag, but 'tis not she;
Truth and Beauty buried be.

Shakespeare, "The Phoenix and Turtle"

He must have sat there for a long time, kneeling before her on the sand as if she were the god and he - a mortal come to worship, because eventually the light became grey, then bluish as the sun set.

'An ordinary day', he thought, lifting his head to look around. The sky was still tinged pink from the sunset, the waves crashed and hissed behind him. Somewhere, a bird shrieked.

It didn't make sense that she should go like this, taking their child with her, and the world should just keep going as though nothing had happened. He looked up at the cliff, then across at the broken carriage and the burnt tree trunk to one side of it. A memory of himself talking to Athena surfaced - here, above this beach - he had brought down that tree off the cliff, angry at her taunts. Could it have stopped the carriage from falling? Could he have stopped it?

His own thoughts returned to haunt him, like wisps of smoke - "take care of this first - and then see her, when he was ready" - and he could have wept, if he knew how.

"I killed her," he whispered to the uncaring wind. His only reply was another cry of a distant bird.

From then on, he didn't stop to think - it was too much, he didn't want it.

He made as if to pick her up her, then thought better of it, took Gabrielle's feather-light body instead and disappeared with it. A moment later, he reappeared, now more confident, slipped his arms under Xena's form - her head dropped back, exposing her neck, he had to lift her higher so that her hair would not touch the ground, then disappeared again.

Inside the mountain cave, Ares carved two coffins from the ice in the walls, never pausing, then set them in the centre of the chamber. He placed both bodies inside carefully, the sand now gone from them, and closed the lids.

The cave was silent, lifeless. Time seemed to stand still here, and the world outside seemed a strange dream - too fast, too warm.

Ares picked up Xena's sword and chakram from the ground and drove them into the ice between the two caskets, a makeshift tribute. He looked down at her face through the sheet of ice - and fought the impulse to free her, stifled the thoughts of doing something - anything - to bring her back. Momentary resentment flared. Ambrosia could have prevented this - he would never have had to stand by her grave then!

But she had never wanted ambrosia. All he could do now was honour her wish. Strange - he had never realised that mortality cast a shadow, or that it would be so cold.

"I handled you all wrong, I know that," he said into the frozen silence, and fractured light sang back wordlessly. He pressed his hands to the ice covering Xena's form and wished he could feel the chill of it through his bones, like a mortal. He glanced back at Gabrielle's body, encased identically in her casket. Figures that the irritating blonde would have been there, with her. But he wasn't.

"She knew what you needed - unconditional - and unselfish - love, and I couldn't give that to you. But I..." - gave you a child, he almost said, and knew that would sound wrong, be wrong.

"... I appreciated you in ways she never could - your rage, your violence," the words were sharp, like shards of ice, he forced his voice to steady - "your beauty."

His fingers dug into the lid of her coffin, he had to stop himself from forcing them clear through.

"When you sacrificed yourself for others, you were hers." He wanted to hate her for it, for the choices she had made - but couldn't summon the energy to feel. "But when you kicked ass - you were mine."

He paused, drawing his fingers along the crystal surface, memorising its feel, the sight of her face - so tranquil - beneath it.

"You're with her now," he said, not to the ice, but to the crystal-strung air around him. "Take good care of your mother for me, Eve."

... I couldn't.

Athena's words rang in his memory - 'she could be dead for all you know, and you wouldn't have a clue'.

Oh, but he did. And it made no difference at all. No fucking difference. They were all dead. And the world just went on.

"I love you, Xena."

* * *

Later, when the sky was light again with the sharp whiteness of morning, Ares stepped out of the cave. He turned back, his face blank, and sealed the entrance with his power. No-one, god or mortal, would ever enter this place.

Eternal life was a gift in many guises. He could protect her now - forever.

END OF BOOK ONE