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. :)

Well it's not so much sex, although things do get a little steamy.

The inn had been cleared of its usual occupants long ago. Its long dark wooden floor hid a multitude of sins, spilled wine and blood. There was a space cleared in the middle, no doubt for his . . .entertainment. Otherwise the space was taken up by wooden chairs and tables like one would find in any other inn. One could tell immediately where Hercules sat. The chair was opulent and crafted to his size. He took it immediately, slinging a muscular leg over one armrest and resting the trunk of his body on the other. He smiled lazily, somewhat wickedly at first.

That expression changed as Xena sauntered in. Her eyes flickered over him and past him and through him to the other areas of the inn. She went straight past his table, and to his left. She looked at the chair with that same flickering glance. Then she looked at her slave appraisingly. This time her gaze didn't flicker, but lingered and lingered until the woman's face flushed. A very slight smile formed on Xena's lips and she dragged the woman forward, using the chain, until one of her hands neatly held the chain at the collar and her bracer brushed against the cloth of the cloak. The other hand held the free length of the chain and it dangled coldly between them. Her lips came so close to the slave's that Hercules thought Xena might kiss her, but the warlord turned away abruptly.

She jerked her head at her warlords and they took places behind the chairs along the length of the table she'd selected. The slaves took their places behind them. All remained standing.

The loose part of the chain clinked down to the ground. The tawny woman turned away from the slave (though her grip remained solid on the chain at the collar), grabbed the chair that she was standing by and tossed it to the middle of the inn. Xena turned back to her slave. It skidded and tumbled noisily across the floor until it crunched at the leg of a table at the far end of the inn.

There were growls from the residents of that table. Several vicious looking men grabbed their weapons. Xena ignored them and unhooked the chain from the strawberry blonde's collar. She saw Hercules from the corner of her eye, "Sit Down and BE Quiet!" He roared. Then he returned his attention to her. Xena smirked. The rest of the chain dropped to the floor, but the noise was covered by the sounds of chairs being scooted out and leather creaks and metallic groans as the warlords under Hercules' control obeyed his order. Her warlords remained standing, looking steadfastly forward at some point. The slaves held still in like manner. Their faces remained expressionless. Despite the order for quiet there were grumbles that could be heard, but not from her people. It was obvious whose command held better discipline.

Now Xena's lean hands rested on the collar of the cloak which covered her slave. She gazed, without changing her expression much, at the woman she loved and resisted the urge to cover Gabrielle's face with kisses. There would be time for that later. Xena's face said warlord, her eyes said trust me. There was a blink in acknowledgement and Gabrielle was revealed to the world. The only covering on the bard's body now were the cuffs that covered her wrists, her collar and a strikingly beautiful silky set of briefs cut in such a way that they left almost nothing to the imagination.

After a group inhalation of astonishment (which made Xena's smirk even deeper), there was a moment total silence. Perhaps, under other circumstances there would have been hooting and hollering but the moment was so striking, that there were those who could hardly breath, let alone speak. The beautiful warlord's silken voice seemed to ring out, though her voice was pitched quite normally. "You know what I like," she said. Her voice was so seductive that there was a distinctive rise in the temperature of the room. Hercules had to move again and so did several others.

She cupped her lover's face in her hand, then let the fingers drift down the woman's neck. The slave's breathing quickened. The dark warrior's eyes never left the slave's face, but she let the back of her hand drift lower until it rested on the crown of the fair woman's right breast. "Get it for me." She abruptly flicked the woman's rosy nipple, causing the slave to back up and her nipple to sing awake.

Gabrielle's voice was husky, but it was also loud enough to be heard, "Yes, Mistress." Her eyes looked down in acknowledgement and submission. She felt the tendrils of desire snaking it's way from her belly to her loins. Her hazel gaze turned smoky. Her training, however, was firm. Her expression remained as neutral as ever.

She stepped away and forward from the warlord, her eyes scanning. Hercules noticed, to his astonishment, that the woman's attention rested, not upon him, but upon his chair (although she did see more than he thought), then flickered past it as if it were unworthy of her attention. That irked him and suddenly he wanted his chair to be worthy, even though he knew that thought was irrational. It was *His* chair damn it and he was already thinking about giving it to Xena. Except it was rejected!!! He made a mental note to find the carpenter and punish him. His chair should have been selected damn it. Then it occurred to him to feel rejected for other reasons. That part of his ego deflated a bit.

Gabrielle moved to the left and all eyes, except for Xena's people, followed her movement. Xena waited patiently, cocking her hip to the side and resting on one leg. Iolaus watched Gabrielle through narrowed eyes. He was getting angrier and angrier. Those scarlet stripes which lined themselves into a perfect "X," upon Gabrielle's tan back, practically burned into his irises. And then this. . this ridiculous assignment, to seek a chair to fit Xena's taste. That was so unreasonable. There was no way she would find a chair distinct enough or any different from the chair that Xena had thrown to the floor. He clenched his fist (which he'd been doing a lot lately) in frustrated rage. *This* was the woman he was supposed to trust?

Someone was bound to try it. Gabrielle had patrolled (quickly) more than a third of the room, using that same "You have nothing to offer me gaze," on the warlords as she had Hercules (and with similar results), when a man almost directly behind her screamed.

His hand was suddenly pegged to his leg. Xena stormed forward, not running, but not slow either and grabbed the offender by his long stringy hair. She growled angrily into his ear. She wasn't bluffing.

It took every bit of willpower she had, but Gabrielle continued to search as if nothing happened. She didn't even pause at the scream, but where all eyes had been on her before, now they were centered on the Warrior Princess and her victim. Xena grabbed her knife and twisted a little before pulling it out and pointing its bloodied tip at her lover. "You see that?" The man didn't move and his eyes were closed. She shook his head roughly, "Do you?" He groaned out a yes. "She" Yank, "is" Yank, "mine." Another rattle of his head. Her voice, now a low growl, was just loud enough to be heard, "NO one touches what is mine, without my say so!" She shoved him away and he and his chair toppled. She looked out at the crowd. Her voice dripped with menace, "Is that clear?"

There was, a rumble of acknowledgement and a sudden shift in perspective. There were some who could not meet her icy gaze. She laughed and flipped the knife and caught it.

Hercules stood up and strode towards the warlord. She didn't move, other than to relax her body, but watched him cautiously. She held the blade, still bloody, loosely.

He stopped in front of her, very aware that if she wanted to, she could peg him in between the eyes. She looked angry enough to do it, save for a few things. They'd declared a truce and she wasn't, currently, angry with him. 'Fortunately,' he thought. His voice was a rumble of approval, "Xena," he grinned evilly, "You've changed." Then he purred, "I Like it." She smirked in return and turned to wipe the blade on an available shirt. The startled brown man said nothing. Hercules' gaze was enough to quell him. The stain, however, ruined the warlord's new silk shirt.

The strongest man alive bowed lightly to the Warrior Princess. Then he looked at the offender's table and then at his guards. He growled out, "Take care of him." Then he turned to smile at Xena again.

The man looked panicked, "No!" he said. "Wait!" he cried. Hercules ignored him in favor of falling into Xena's azure gaze. He held out his hand, almost gallantly, and Xena accepted. The man was dragged, almost sobbing, behind them, leaving a trail of blood. The doors slammed. There was a scream and then silence, again.

Hercules spoke up, without bothering to look back, "You may converse among yourselves. This is, after all, supposed to be a party! Bring on the FEAST!!!" The silence lingered for a moment, then a musician struck a note and the servers started filing from the kitchen. There was a twirl of noise and soon dancers were on the floor. Then the hooting and hollering began.

Hercules nearly lost his pace when he saw the chair by Xena's place. He realized he'd seen it before, but hadn't really noticed the wooden object. It looked. . .comfortable. Gabrielle stood quietly behind the seat. Iolaus' own expression was somewhat dumbstruck. First she'd found the seat, then convinced (though it didn't take much. There were parts of him that were already ready to stand) the warlord sitting on it to help her. She'd rewarded the man with a dazzling smile and he was definitely walking funny by the time he got to his original place. (He threatened someone with knife and they moved. It was kind of a domino effect after that.)

Xena smiled. She'd known which chair Gabrielle would pick. She looked her approval briefly. The bard acknowledged with a smile in her eyes. Hercules, thinking that the warlord was smiling at him, bowed and released her hand, but not without kissing it first. "Really quite remarkable." He said against her beautiful knuckles. The Warrior Princess raised her eyebrows. "Where ever did you find her? She's nothing like," His expression took on an oddly thoughtful cast, as if he'd switched his words at the last minute" . .anything I've seen, in a long time."

Xena smiled carefully over at Hercules as he settled into his chair. He didn't remember Gabrielle? or. .what? Hmm. Then she lightly touched her lover's cheek, "She was a gift." Gabrielle pulled slightly away, and looked resisting (as she'd been instructed. . .although, she was well immersed in her role now. She didn't even have to think about it). The warlord smiled wickedly, as if she knew that she would win the war with her slave. She took the cloak, which was still settled on the table where she left it, folded it, and placed it on the floor in front of her chair. "My feet are tired. You. There."

The slave settled herself obediently. First she knelt, then placed her palms on the soft fabric and prepared herself. She wasn't sure how long she'd be in the position so Gabrielle got as comfortable as she could, bending her elbows and resting her forehead against the fists she'd made. She heard, rather than saw, Xena settling herself down. Then she felt the weight of Xena's booted feet settle carefully upon her back. Xena avoided the welts, though part of her boot rested on the bottom half of the line. It felt. . .soothing in a way. The screams of the man had unnerved the strawberry blonde and despite her knowledge that it was Hercules who ordered his death, she couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible. But Xena was here and she was safe. That's what the weight on her back told her. Gabrielle's breathing evened and she relaxed for the first time that day.

Xena finally turned to her warlords, who were still standing. "You may sit." There was a rustle of noise as they took their seats. Xena smiled inwardly. Battle number one, had been won.