Warlord Daze

The following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse. It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.

Xex Alert: Oh Boy Is There. .This is a Prurient Piece with a Bit of Kink (If you hear the crack of the whip then you'll be in the neighborhood) Proceed at your own risk. :)

The sky was overcast, the wind cold. It was perfect battle weather, the sun wouldn't shine too brightly, so armor wouldn't blind and the cold would keep them from feeling the sweat. Xena grinned into the day, her expression only slightly blurred with the beginning tinges of battle lust. She didn't even really feel the cold, but her blue eyes scanned the other side of the field, watching Payne's preparations with a deep knowing. Argo stamped and moved underneath her, feeling the tense prebattle excitement. Xena patted the mare's neck soothingly. Yes, this would be a fine one.

She'd made one more offer to Payne, one more concession to Gabrielle's gentling influence, and it had been rebuffed. Now she would battle guilt free, knowing she had done her best to find alternatives and had no other choice. She waved Doba, who looked brown and regal in her cloak and armor, forward. The warrior had changed a great deal in the short time under Xena's command. It was a good thing, for there was a confidence there that she had been lacking. The warlord issued some directives. Her instructions were precise and clear. There would be no mistakes.

Doba brought blooded troops this time. There would be ample opportunity for the newer members of the camp to fight later. She smiled grimly, remembering the battle that had seasoned the newer members. They were much more prepared now and the soldiers to follow would be even more so.

This would be the deciding difference, she thought. The training and discipline, the strategy and intelligence, the absolute thoroughness of Lord Xena would turn the tide of battle and war. Truly the Warrior Princess was a great and thoughtful leader, which Doba had come to admire, along with her Queen. The city states were fortunate that they was not seeking them, but rather the undoing of a power hungry madman.

Hercules. Now there was the conundrum. The man was strong and they said he was smart. He was half god and Xena was. . .Xena was the Warrior Princess, stronger than most men, as inventive and precocious as they come and definitely smarter than the strong man. Sometimes Doba thought her Lord was half god and other times she didn't know what to think. Doba registered the Warlord's sultry gaze as Xena looked upon the battlefield. The warrior felt an inward tremble, recognizing the look as a kind of lust. Her mind leapt to an association and she realized her mistake and knew it was a common one.

It explained all those notes. Those last chances Lord Xena kept offering the warlords she'd met so far. They really were last chances. It was the *very* last opportunity for their lives, which Xena would reap from them. Then she would sow herself, a new seed, a new way, in their place.

Doba assumed the offerings were in behalf of the Queen. Doba was well aware, through the conversations they had, that the Queen was very much in favor of finding other methods, ways of avoiding battle, if possible. This didn't mean she wasn't capable of fighting, just that she sought for the alternatives. Gabrielle was strong enough to do battle. The Queen was as true a warrior as Xena, only different.

Doba looked again, thought again, in those brief moments before battle that she spent gazing upon the face of the warrior. Another mistake, not so different. No, those notes were on the Lord's own behalf. It was self knowledge which prompted Xena to try and avert the battles ahead. Perhaps, that was what a true warrior did, searched for alternatives, fight when they had to. . .It was a bit of deep thinking for now. She'd ponder that later. Her thoughts turned again to what made the difference.

The warlords who were like Payne, would continue to underestimate Xena, thinking her weak for offering them the opportunity to change. They wouldn't recognize the message behind the notes. The warlords who were like Colchak would learn NEVER to underestimate the Warrior Princess and would join her cause. Perhaps they would even adopt the message, the methods as their own. They would learn.

Passion. It was passion that was the true difference. Passion for life, the passion of love, and the passion of a warrior. The warlord, who'd been the scourge of nations, embraced her emotions, pulled them into herself. She would use them, combine them with what she knew and what she could do. It would affect every decision and choice and she would conquer. Lord Xena would pour all that she was and had been and would be, into the battles ahead. Doba smiled softly to herself. No doubt Lord Xena would also pour just as much into the loving and living ahead, if the dark lieutenant wasn't mistaken.

Gods. Payne didn't stand a chance. He should have surrendered while he had the opportunity.

Sweating because of the thought, Doba listened carefully to her Lord and nodded in approval of Xena's strategy. The troops would be spread out some. More than she would normally like, but Xena knew the other warlord. She knew his strategies and planned around them. Doba wondered if Xena knew what Hercules' strategies were or if the man had strategies to begin with or if he relied solely on his might. It didn't matter. Right now, the battle was with the man on the other side of the field. Payne would suffer for his defiance.

Yes, the warlords like Payne would forget the power that drove the Warrior Princess. Doba sniffed inwardly. It would be because they never knew it, or had forgotten it long ago. They would think of it too late, until they saw it in Xena's eyes, until she was using her blade to teach them all that they should have learned in this life. Lord Xena had a reason to fight, a reason to win. Her name was Gabrielle.

Doba turned at Xena's command and began the process of forming the troops, preparing them for that first run. Her heart was at rest, but her mind was busy. May the gods watch over them. At one time she would have thrilled to the thought, but now Doba dreaded to think what would happen if Xena took it upon herself to battle Athens. They would win. That's what would happen. That would be Doba's contribution to history. The fall of Athens, the fall of Sparta.

But Xena didn't want them, not in that sense. Maybe as allies, but not as conquered states. No, the same passion that drove her to battle Hercules was Greece's protection, Greece's reform. She wouldn't take the states because she had other things to live for now. Doba smiled at the thought. Those reasons didn't take up quite as much space as states and nations. Of course, there was already a nation within Xena's grasp, or rather, the Queen's. But it was the same thing, wasn't it.

Doba's seconds scurried and shouted. Armor and weapons rattled. Her people took up the formation and she smiled encouragingly down at them. These were her warriors. They would, if they lived through this, if Doba had a chance to share what she learned, become warriors of passion.

Yes, Lord Xena would leave the ruling to her Queen and the Queen, being wise would hear the counsel of her lover when it was time. Perhaps there would be conquered states, Doba couldn't guarantee there wouldn't, for what if there were states that were like Payne; places that wanted to align themselves with Hercules? Xena would take them over, would bend them to her will. Perhaps her rule would be tight, but it would be better than Hercule's was reported to be. It would be gentled by the Queen and hardened by the warrior. A balance.

Gods, was this right? Doba turned to face the battlefield and raised her sword in the ready to let Lord Xena know all was prepared. Were they doing the right thing for Greece? Thedark eyed warrior grinned into the sky, surprised at her thoughts. There was a day when it wouldn't have mattered, when she would have fought for nothing but a bit of bread and a few dinars.

But the Queen, the woman who was Xena's "slave," her words kept playing in Doba's head. "Peace *is* the best way. It is the way I would prefer everything to be, but sometimes there are things that are worth fighting for, Doba. Things that matter in the long run." The redhead's voice echoed in her head, soft with a hidden ache, "Gods help us when blood is shed. So much is lost. If there must be lost, let it at least be for the right reasons. Reasons that mean something. Reasons like love and honor, life and family, and the freedom to live one's own life." Then she'd smiled with a purpose, "but let's try the other ways first," and she'd handed Doba a set of scrolls and the people had been pouring in since.

Doba listened to the inner lecture and nodded, thinking of the gathering forces in the north, thinking of the way Hercules had trapped the Gods upon Mount Olympus and the brutality with which he treated the conquered peoples. Perhaps another's life was reason enough. She looked to Xena, and thought of the young Amazon who was claiming her own heart. Perhaps love was reason enough.

The horn screamed from the other side and the warriors shouted and clanked into the valley. Doba grinned and hollered. The adrenalin rush through slid through her dark lanky body driving away all the philosophy. Perhaps the battle itself was enough.