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. :)

Gabrielle was right. Ephiny was distinctly unenthused. Though it wasn't the collar that bothered her. A woman who falls in love with a centaur doesn't have that many biases about sex. No, her problem lay with the plan itself. She objected to the Queen placing herself into what was a potentially explosive situation.

She knew she couldn't stop the Queen. Gabrielle had traveled with Xena for years, so Ephiny was fully aware that the bard had faced many dangerous situations previously. She didn't know why this time felt different. Or maybe she did know.

Xena had, in that quirky way of hers, invited the regent along. "You can always be part of the Entertainment," she'd stated with a wicked gleam in her eye. Gabrielle, however, squashed that idea, before Ephiny had time to even work up a good retort.

The fair woman's voice was like liquid caramel. "She can't. I need her to stay with the Amazons." The Queen, the ruler of the Nation, had spoken. The red head's languid gaze assumed no argument and allowed none. Ephiny's mouth closed in astonishment. *That* had surprised Ephiny, even more than the obviously familiar way Gabrielle assumed a position in Xena's lap and the deeply caring way with which the warlord embraced her.

Their kiss had been so soul stirring that Ephiny felt her own body responding. She should have realized. Eponin *had* warned her.

Then Gabrielle had turned to face the regent and began to explain exactly what it was she wanted the Amazons in the camp to do. She spoke with calm authority and an exactness of detail that left the regent somewhat awed and breathless. The lovely blonde Amazon began to appreciate that Gabrielle's time as a "slave," may have given her more "power," more presence, than ever before.

She would have believed differently. Certainly she'd expected. . .Well, she wasn't sure what she expected. When she'd received Gabrielle's note, things sounded so normal, other than her written need for volunteers for troops, that Ephiny had assumed that Gabrielle had been successful in her attempt to win Xena back from whatever dark place the warrior found herself in. She had expected Gabrielle to be the sidekick again, the Queen in absentia, who would probably never take up the mask. She had expected the sweet girl from Potedia.

It never occurred to her that she would find herself sitting at a Warlord's table, eating a Warlord's food, conversing about strategy and being told what her responsibilities were. She was to prepare the Amazons for battle and for retreat. She was not to fight herself, but rather select those who would fight, because She was to keep the Nation alive and to flee with the Amazons to the far corners of the world, if Hercules should win and Gabrielle were to die. In the meantime, the Amazons were accepting the protection of Xena's banner, and would operate according to the conditions the gorgeous Warlord supplied.

Xena lightly stroked the bard's belly with her finger tips. That had shocked Ephiny too. It was not entirely the public display of physical affection, or the fact the warrior fed her lover from the table in such a way that Ephiny felt a definite physical response of her own. It was the "matter of fact" attitude, the acceptance that she and. . "her" bard, might be facing death together. The warlord acted like it didn't faze her at all to hear Gabrielle speaking so plainly of the possibility.

So, that was what upset the brave Amazon. Her Queen had accepted the possibility death, as had the darktressed warrior. They might fight for their lives, but they had planned for the worst.

That was when Ephiny knew that the problem with Hercules was real.

She had hoped that Hercules had been playing a ruse, like she'd discovered with Xena and Gabrielle. Or that they had found a way to wake the half god up. He had been, after all, a very good man. So now she understood, that her most logically, carefully prepared objections would fail. The danger was too real.

Gods, she just *knew* this was a trap. She could feel it in her marrow. Ephiny looked up from the food she could no longer eat and stared into the serious gazes of her friends.

Apparently they thought so too.

The regent, after a few heartbeats, acknowledged the Queen's words and promised, on her honor and in the name of Artemis, to defend and protect the Nation, on behalf of Gabrielle, to her last breath. Gabrielle smiled gently in acknowledgment. She accepted Ephiny's word.

Then she made her own promise. They might speak of death, but they intended to live. Gabrielle and Xena would do everything in their power to return to the Lord's camp whole. They'd also try and find out if there were any weakness that Hercule's may have. That was their whole reason for going. The Amazons might have to fight, but they would not be alone.

Gabrielle took Xena's hand in her own. "I intend to live a long time with my spouse. I have a people to look out for. I'll be damned if I'm going to let Zeus' son get in my way."

The wine in Ephiny's mouth made a fine spray across her side of the table.

Spouse????