WARNINGS AND DISCLAMERS

Xena had unsaddled the mare, making sure she had plenty of water, and hay. She then found a stable boy and had just paid him a couple to brush Argo down when she heard Gabrielle scream.

The warrior took off running toward the inn. When Xena was within 10 feet of the door, the bard came hurtling out and straight into the warrior's arms. Xena could feel the small bard trembling against her and could hear her sobs as she pulled the bard away from her a little and steadied her, "Gabrielle what's wrong?" Before the bard could catch her breath to answer the warrior, five men come busting through the same door heading straight for them.

The men had obviously been drinking. They were laughing and staggering slightly as they reached the pair. "Thanks for catching her for us warrior... she's a feisty one, but we're going to tame her right down. We're going to show her what it's like to be with real men." The biggest one said rubbing his head, "and then we're going to teach her the proper way to treat a man."

The other four were still laughing. One of the other's thought for a minute and then said, "Hell warrior after we get her broke in proper we might even be willing to sell her to you for a decent price since you caught her for us." They all roared again and another added, "Nah, she won't be worth anythin' when I'm finished." Again they all laughed.

Xena looked at the men with a dangerous sneer on her face. The warrior hugged Gabrielle to her and gave her a passionate kiss on the mouth and then said, "My aren't you a lovely one," as she hugged the woman tighter to her. The warrior then turned on the five men, "Sorry boys! I think I'll have to keep this one for myself, now go find you something else to do for the night."

"Warrior we seen her first... she's ours, now give her here!" The biggest man said as he advanced toward Xena pulling his sword.

Xena pushed Gabrielle around behind her pulling her own sword and preparing for battle. A smile full of 'bloodlust' spread across the warrior's face as the warlord and pent up emotions of the last few days instantly came to the surface. The warrior let out her battle cry and within just minutes all five were lying on the ground at her feet blooding. The warrior hadn't even broken a sweat and the lust was burning wildly through her body and mind.

Xena stood for a moment, shaking from the rush of adrenaline, trying to quiet her raging blood. The warrior calmed slightly and turned back toward Gabrielle. Her senses were immediately filled with the sight of the beautiful half-naked woman standing in front of her and the warrior froze in place.

"Gabrielle are you all right?" the warrior asked, fearing her own passions if she got too close right now.

Gabrielle stood there still shaking and tears streaking down her face. "Yeah... I think so. My back is burning a little... one of them may have torn it open again." The small bard then headed toward Xena needing the safety of her arms again. Gabrielle wrapped her arms around the warrior's waist clinging tightly to her.

OH Gods! This is so hard my love... Xena thought as she put her arms around the smaller woman's shoulders and held onto her for a few moments and then lowered her lips to the bard's ear and whispered, "Gods Gabrielle... please be careful and remember what I told you about the 'battlelust'."

Gabrielle turned her face up and looked into the depths of the burning lustful blue eyes of the warrior. "Xena I'm sorry, I forgot... I didn't mean..." the bard said as she started to take a step back.

"It's all right... really, just please be careful." Xena said huskily. "Come on now, we'll go get a room and then I'll take a look at your back." The warrior said as her fire continued to intensify in her loins. Xena had all but lost to the 'battlelust' raging inside her as she walked back to the inn with her arm still around the bard's shoulders.

When they reached their things still sitting by the door to the inn where Xena had left them, the warrior stopped and picked up one of their blankets and wrapped it around Gabrielle's shoulders. She didn't want the small bard to be embarrassed any more by walking back in with her tunic all but torn from her body. Xena then placed her arm back around the bard's shoulders and gave her a reassuring hug.

Xena then turned her attention on the shut door in front of her. With the bard securely wrapped in the blanket and her arm firmly around her, Xena lifted her booted foot and kicked the door open and pulled the small bard inside with her.

Xena kept her arm firmly around Gabrielle as she scowled at the group in the common room. The warrior gave them all her best intimidating 'look' daring any to touch or try to take what was now hers and then glared at the man behind the bar. "I want a room and I want it NOW. I also want you to get someone to take our things sitting by the door up to the room. Then I want food and port brought to the room and I want a bath prepared." The warrior looked at the innkeeper dangerously, daring him to refuse.

"But we don't..." the man started nervously trying to explain that this wasn't actually an inn, that the place was actually a brothel of sorts and the man's own women used the rooms to satisfy the paying customers.

The warrior's dangerous sneer broadened. With one arm still securely around the bard, she reached to touch the hilt of her sword with the other. "Do it NOW or you'll be explaining to Hades what you're doing there."

The brothel-keeper decided that it might be better to make some of his regular paying customers a little unhappy than to anger this warrior and end up dead over the use of a room. "Sure, sure warrior... you can have the one at the top of the stairs on the right. Hang on and I'll take you up myself." The brothel-keeper wanted to be sure that if anyone were in the room they got the message to leave and not cause any trouble--he'd like to live and see tomorrow. Simon turned and yelled toward a back room. "Lukus get out here!"

The warrior again lifted her hand to the hilt of the sword not knowing whom the man had yelled at. A red-haired boy about 14 cycles old stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Yeah Pa?" the boy asked.

"Lukus get the warrior's things by the door and take them up to the first room on the right." Simon said to his son.

"Yes Pa!" The boy said as he rushed to the door to do as he was told. Simon then turned back to the warrior.

"Come on I'll take you up now." Simon said as he headed off across the common room.

Xena followed Simon as he headed for the stairs. The warrior kept the small bard hugged up tightly against her as they crossed the common room to the stairs. The warrior gave any and all who dared look in their direction a dangerous glare informing them silently that they'd die for any transgression.

Simon opened the door and was thankful that the room was empty and there wouldn't be an ugly scene with the warrior. "If you don't like this one we can find you another, but they're really all pretty much the same." The brothel-keeper told her nervously.

"This will be fine." The warrior told him as she allowed Gabrielle to enter the room ahead of her. Xena watched as the bard walked over and exhaustedly flopped on the bed. Xena turned to shut the door and the boy was standing there with their things. "Just put them over there in the corner for right now." The boy quickly did as she'd asked and then left and she shut the door.

Simon was watching for his son when he came back down the stairs. "Lukus I need you to stoke the fire under the water and make sure that it's good and hot and then start filling the tub."

"Right away Pa." The boy said as he again hurried away. Simon then turned and headed for the kitchen to make the warrior something to eat.

After shutting the door, Xena walked over and looked down at the bard lying so peacefully on the bed. "Gabrielle... I..." the warrior said looking down at her with the same lust the bard had seen in her eyes in front of the inn.

Xena's eyes seemed to be a darker blue than the bard remembered them as she sat up and looked into the warrior's passionate glare. "Xena... is there somethingÖ anything I can do?" Gabrielle said worriedly.

Xena placed her hand under the bard's chin as she slowly bent over and kissed Gabrielle gently on the lips. Gabrielle's gasped as the warrior's lips touched her, the bard thought she'd gone to the Elysium Fields for a second. Xena jerked back when the bard gasped and looked startled. "Gabri... I'm sorry... I didn't..." the warrior didn't know what to say and turned and walked over to the their saddlebags and started to dig around in them. She found one of her own shifts to replace the bard's torn one and picked up the salve and a clean cloth for a bandage. The warrior then walked back to the side of the bed and looked down at the small bard sitting there.

"Gabrielle I need to look at your back now." The warrior said softly to her.

Gabrielle opened her beautiful jade green eyes and looked up at the warrior. Xena felt her knees weaken slightly under the gaze of the bard.

Xena helped Gabrielle remove the rag that was just barely still clinging to the bard's body. The man had indeed opened a nasty place up on Gabrielle's back. "Gabrielle this is really nasty looking and I think I ought to clean and disinfect it some before I put the salve and bandages back on. I don't want to see it get infected, it really would leave a nasty scar then." Xena said concern in her voice because of the damage.

"Xena that's going to hurt and burn. Are you sure that's really necessary?" the bard said worriedly.

"Gabrielle I've taught you enough about medicine and healing that you know it's necessary. Besides you know that I'd never do anything that I knew would hurt you on purpose, unless it was absolutely necessary." Xena replied as she retrieved some more cloth, a skin of water and the one of ale and returned to the bed.

The bard looked up her a little worriedly, knowing without a doubt that this was going to hurt. "Xena..."

"Here you go my bard take a couple of swallows of the ale before we start. Maybe that will help with the pain a little." The warrior said with the slightest grin playing across her lips and sat down on the bed next to the bard.

Gabrielle took a couple of tiny sips that barely wet her lips. "That wasn't too bad."

"Gabrielle you'll need to take actual swallows to get enough to help with the pain." The warrior laughed lightly. "Just pretend that it's one of my awful mugs of medicine you've had to drink."

The bard eyed the warrior doubtfully, but tipped the skin of ale and took a large swallow and started to cough.

Xena again chuckled a little and waited for the bard to catch her breath.

Gabrielle still had tears in her eyes from choking, but again started to breathe normally.

"Ok my bard take one more and then we'll get started." The warrior told her.

Thinking of the pain that she knew was coming, the bard tipped the skin up and took a couple of big swallows before putting it down and again started to cough.

The warrior chuckled again at the bard's actions, but she was aching inside knowing the pain the bard was going to feel in just a few moments from the ministrations that were going to be necessary to prevent infection.

Gabrielle bit her lip but still did some yelling as the warrior tenderly and gentle cleaned her back. The warrior had just finished putting on the salve that seemed to soothe the pain some and just finished bandaging and helping the bard put on the tunic when they heard a knock at the door.

Xena opened the door and Simon was standing there wide-eyed with a tray of food and a skin of port. He looked worriedly past the warrior to the small woman sitting on the bed and then back up into the cold blue eyes studying him. Simon was sure he had heard the smaller woman screaming and was curious as to what the warrior had been doing to her.

Xena nodded toward the table. "Put it down over there and GET OUT!" The man rushed to comply with the warrior's orders and was more than happy to get away from the angry acting warrior. Just as he shut the door he said, "Your bath with be ready in a half-candlemark."

² Copyrighted January 1998 by DelShannon