ForevaXena's FanFic . . .

A Queen's Ransom

by Julia Ford

Copyright:  April 16, 2001

Gaia was playing.  The warlord who was about to conquer Athens only three weeks ago was romping with a gaggle of pre-teen Amazons who were intent on capturing her.  As Gaia flipped out of their reach they would laugh and shout and try again.  The sound of their laughter mixed with Gaia’s own low musical laugh mingled to create a joyful sound.  Round and round they romped.  Sometimes Gaia would let them get within inches only to bounce over their heads.  Other times she wouldn’t let them anywhere near her.  Who would’ve thought they’d live long enough to see Gaia play?

Certainly Tephiny, the Amazon Regent, never dreamt she’d ever see this day, let alone so soon after the unpleasantness with Gaia’s attempted rape of Deirdre, the healer from Athens.  When the Regent hear the start of the game and its laughter she went out of her hut to see what was afoot.  When she realized the young Amazons were trying to catch Gaia she feared that the warlord would lose patience and smack them hard enough to send them into the next village, but instead she saw Gaia laughing and enjoying herself entirely.

The joyous frolic of the girls and Gaia bought some relief to the tension that had gripped the village.  The Amazon Queen was now more than three weeks overdue and they hadn’t been able to find any trace of her or the warriors who made up her private guard.  Tephiny had send scouts to the north who had traveled all the way to the place where the Queen had attended the peace conference.  By all accounts everything was normal when the Queen and her party had left the conference.  The conference had been a great success and there seemed to be no hard feelings between any of the participants that might have given them a clue as to who was behind the Queen’s disappearance.  Yet, no trace was found of them on the path between the council and the village.  In an attempt to broaden the search, two scouts had been sent out to the east and two others to the west.  Word was expected back from them soon.

As Tephiny continued to watch the romp, Deirdre joined her.

“Deirdre, have you been putting some magical elixir in our warlord’s ale?  I just can’t believe what I’m seeing,” said Tephiny.

“Nope.  I think we’re just starting to see the person Gaia should have been all along,” replied the healer with a smile on her face.  “By the way, she’s starting to think of herself as an ex-warlord, so perhaps we should too.”

“Sure thing,” said Tephiny who paused a moment and then asked, “Is this side of Gaia why you stayed with her despite what she tried to do to you?”

“Yeah, every instinct I own tells me this is the real Gaia.  She just has to be given the chance to find herself.”

As they stood side by side in silence watching the game continue a shadow of concern started to form on Deirdre’s face.  The look of concern deepened with the passing moments until a deep furrow lined the healer’s brow.

“Deirdre, what’s wrong?” asked Tephiny when she noticed Deirdre’s face.

The healer didn’t respond.

“Deirdre,” asked the Regent in a louder voice “please tell me what’s wrong.”

The sound of Tephiny’s voice reached Gaia’s sharp ears.  Gaia paused long enough for the whole gaggle of young Amazons to head towards her a dead run.  Then, at the last possible second, Gaia did a triple back flip to land beside Deirdre and Tephiny as the young Amazons collided in a heap of giggling bodies. 

“Game’s over for today!” called out Gaia.

Looking at Deirdre, Gaia gently put her hand on the younger woman’s face. 

“Deirdre, what do you sense?” asked the ex-warlord.  “Please tell us about it.”

Deirdre shook herself as if to wake up from a trance, smiled briefly at Gaia, and then asked Tephiny, “Who went to scout in the west?”

“I sent Moira and Elise.  Why?” asked Tephiny.

“I thought so….  Tephiny, Moira’s been wounded…badly…her back and her leg…and Elise is finding it very hard going to make it back here with her.  They need help.  They need a litter to carry Moira.  Please believe me,” asked Deirdre.

“I believe you.  Who am I to ignore the famous sixth sense of the healer from Athens?”  Tephiny looked straight into Dierdre’s eyes and then asked,  “Are you ok?  You’re as white as the bark on a birch tree.”

“Yeah,” replied the healer.

“Gaia, look after her,” said Tephiny nodding towards Deirdre.  “I’m going to get things organized to fetch Moira and Elise.” 

As the Regent strode away she was even more troubled about the disappearance of the Queen.  Moira and Elise were two of the top trackers in the tribe.  Perhaps they’d run into the same trouble as the Queen and her guard.  That the tall and strong Moira who could give Gaia a run for her money was hurt so badly that she needed to be carried back to the village in a litter was almost incomprehensible.  Yet, the reputation of Deirdre was formidable. 

When the healer had come into the village at Gaia’s side, Tephiny made it her job to find out about the woman.  What she heard was impressive to say the least.  Deirdre was pure and good and had been blessed with a sixth sense that enabled her know what was wrong with a person, often without them saying anything.  The healer’s sixth sense had also proven to also be boon in that she would know when a person was in need of her, even when the person was alone or some distance away.  Seemed that she had found the nearly dead Gaia that way.  The healer was also brave.  She’d taken the place of one of her staff at her hospice to save that woman from Gaia.  And today’s playtime notwithstanding, Gaia was a very dangerous woman. 

The Regent quickened her pace.  She had to get warriors out to the injured as quickly as possible.

Back on the porch Gaia waited a moment or two to give Deirdre some time to process what she sensed before she asked, “You ok?  And don’t just say ‘yeah’ because I won’t believe it for a minute.”

“You’re a smart woman Gaia.”  Deirdre rubbed her hand over her face before she continued, “Whatever has happened to Moira it wasn’t an accident.  I sensed such awful cruelty.  It felt like I was being hit.”  Deirdre shuddered.

“What do you see when you have these flashes of insight?” asked Gaia as she put her arm around the healer’s shoulders.

“I don’t see anything…I just feel…it’s hard to explain,” said Deirdre who didn’t seem to be able to stop shivering.

“Come on…I’m no healer but you sure look like you’re suffering from shock.  Let’s go back to the hut and I’ll wrap you in a blanket.”

Deirdre looked up at Gaia, thankful for the ex-warlord’s concern, nodded and allowed herself to be led back to their hut.  Gaia put Deirdre to bed and wrapped her in a warm blanket and, when the healer continued to shiver, climbed in to use her body heat to warm her up.  Whatever Deirdre had sensed had affected her much more than she had admitted.

While Gaia was caring for Deirdre, Tephiny was quickly and effectively organizing a rescue party.  Some of the Amazons thought she was crazy to send people out based only on the healer’s intuition, but they had the good graces to keep their mouths shut.  Tephiny was definitely in a “no tamper” mood and nobody was going to argue with her.  Soon four Amazons were making tracks to where they expected to find Moira and Elise.  Then Tephiny went to Deirdre and Gaia’s hut to see if the healer had experienced anything else.

Walking into the hut after knocking softly Tephiny had to smile at how cute Deirdre looked all curled up asleep in Gaia’s arms.

“She ok?” asked the Regent quietly as she moved towards the bed and sat on the chair beside it.

Gaia looked at Deirdre and smiled softly at the sleeping woman in her arms and said, “Deirdre’s soul took a beating because of how strongly she sensed Moira.  Deirdre is sure that Moira’s injuries were caused by cruelty somehow.”

“Cruelty?”

“Yeah, she couldn’t explain it to me, but it really hit her.  Do you want me to go with your warriors in case they run into trouble?” asked Gaia.

“Thanks for the offer,” said Tephiny.  “I thought about asking you to go, but, frankly we have so many warriors out of the village that we’re very vulnerable to attack.  If someone were trying to ‘divide and conquer’ I’d have to say they were doing a great job of dividing.  I need your sword here just in case.  Ok?”

Gaia nodded to Tephiny.  She wasn’t surprised her offer had been turned down.  If she had someone in her camp like herself she would jolly well want to keep tabs on her personally.  What did surprise Gaia was how well Tephiny had prepared an explanation that kept Gaia around but gave her no reason to take offense.  Gaia was starting to have some respect for this Amazon Regent.

It was late the next day when the rescue team arrived back in the village.  Those members of the rescue team who had been skeptical of the healer’s sense of intuition were skeptics no longer.  When they found Moira and Elsie it had been as Deirdre described.   Moira had a broken leg and her back was an awful mess.  For some reason Elsie wouldn’t let the other warriors look closely at Moira’s back.

Tephiny, Deirdre, Gaia and the junior amazon healer were waiting for them as they arrived in the village.  Tephiny had asked Deirdre to help out particularly because the Shamaness was one of the Amazon’s missing along with the Queen.  Resi, the young apprentice was just beginning to learn the art of healing.  Tephiny figured she might learn something from Deirdre.

The litter carrying Moira was brought into the healer’s hut and gently placed on one of the beds.  Moira, the stoic Amazon, didn’t groan but a sharp uptake of air as they set her down was a really good hint of just how badly she was hurt.  The ‘hiss’ Moira let out when she saw Gaia was a whole different matter.

“Tephiny, get Gaia out of here,” demanded Elsie as she turned from Moira to face Tephiny.

“Why?” asked Tephiny.

“Just do it and I’ll explain!”  Elsie was really, really agitated.

Gaia reached over and put a hand on the Regent’s shoulder and said, “it’s ok.  I’ll be outside if you or Deirdre need me.”  With a smile at Deirdre the tall woman turned and walked out of the healer’s hut.

“Ok Elsie, she’s gone.  Care to explain what that was all about?” asked Tephiny.

Elsie replied in actions.  She turned back to Moira, held one of her hands, and then very gently pulled the wrapping off the warrior’s back so everyone could see.

“Oh Artemis!” exclaimed Tephiny and the young healer looked as if she were going to be ill.

There carved into the flesh of Moira’s back was a ransom note.  The Amazons could have their Queen back in exchange for the warlord Gaia.  Ocar, who had lost his father Draco to Gaia’s sword many years’s earlier, had carved his signature into the flesh.  This was the cruelty Deirdre had sensed.  Ocar could have just used a scroll like most people, but no, he liked to instill horror into those he did battle with.

Deirdre, although disgusted with the cruelty inflicted on Moira, immediately set to the task of treating her back.  She was determined to find a way to prevent it from scarring.  She, with help from Resi, very carefully cleaned the wounds.  In a few of the really deep ones Deirdre had to put in a couple of stitches, but she made sure they were very tiny ones not likely to leave scars.  Then she made up some salve to put on Moira’s back.  The mixture was one she’d used successfully before to treat the lash marks of a whip.  The whipped patient had recovered without scars, and she prayed that it would work the same way for Moira’s back.

Once her back was treated Deirdre turned her attention to the warrior’s leg.  It had been severely broken and despite Elsie’s best efforts had not been properly set.  Moira passed out from the pain as Deirdre pulled at the leg to get it back in place.  Through all of Deirdre’s ministrations to Moira the Amazon had not said one word, but the pain obvious in her eyes haunted the healer.  Deirdre was thankful when the warrior fainted.

Tephiny had stood back watching Deirdre work for a few minutes before she left the healer’s hut in search of Gaia.  It was not a long search.  The ex-warlord was pacing the porch liked a caged animal, an animal that the Amazons waiting for the news were keeping at a distance.   Gaia was not used to having someone else in control.  The fact that she had volunteered to leave the healer’s hut didn’t make her any less agitated by that fact.

As soon as Tephiny was noticed all movement stopped.

“Amazons, Moira will recover.  She will need time and our support but by the summer solstice I’m sure she’ll be back to kicking our butts in the games.  There is news of our Queen and I must meet with the council immediately after the supper meal.  Now go and prepare,” commanded the Regent. 

Although there were a thousand questions on the tongues of the Amazons they quickly melted away to set up the council hut and make sure supper was ready as soon as possible.  They knew their questions would be answered after the council meeting.

“Gaia, walk with me,” ordered Tephiny as she turned and walked towards the woods.

The ex-warlord did as she was commanded after struggling a bit to keep from snarling at the Regent.  “Nobody orders Gaia around,” was Gaia’s first reaction but it was quickly tempered by Gaia’s desire to do what would please Deirdre. 

Tephiny heard the swallowed snarl and prayed that the woman following her wouldn’t rip her to pieces.  When they were 100 paces into the forest, Tephiny stopped and faced the ex-warlord.

“What did you ever do to Draco and his son?” asked the Regent.

Of all the things Gaia had thought Tephiny might say, this wasn’t one of them.

“Why?”

“Just tell me and then I’ll explain.”

Gaia sighed and then started, “I met Draco in one of my first large scale campaigns.  He was trying to reestablish his control in the area east of Amphipolis.  Seems once Gabrielle had died, Cupid took the spell off of him and he returned to his warlord ways.  Also, he went back to the woman who had earlier given birth to his son.  He started to teach the boy the tricks of the warlord trade and the boy learned well and grew up big and strong like his father.  But he had something that his father didn’t have…a streak of cruelty. 

When I met them in battle Ocar would have been about 12 or so.  I defeated Draco’s army but even so Draco wouldn’t yield to me.  He refused to surrender.  Instead he challenged me to a fight one-on-one winner takes all.  I toyed with the idea of accepting his challenge, but I’d thoroughly destroyed his army and I’d have been a fool to even consider making a move that would have jeopardized our victory.  So, I humiliated him and executed him instead.”

“With his son watching?” interrupted Tephiny.

“Yeah.  Then I had the kid tied up, tossed in the back of a cart and taken home to his Mommy,” said Gaia.

“Great way to make friends and influence people,” snorted Tephiny.

Gaia ignored Tephiny and instead asked, “Why did you ask about Draco?”

Tephiny looked straight into the ex-warlord’s eyes and said, “His son is holding our Queen and her party.  He let us know by carving a message into Moira’s back.  Seems he’d be willing to trade you for her.”

Tephiny would have like to have seen some emotion register in Gaia’s eyes.  Any emotion would have done.  Disgust, anger, fear, anything would have been better than the cold icy blue of Gaia’s gaze.

Gaia shrugged and said, “Seems he hasn’t grown out of his cruelty streak.”  She looked down for a moment as if pondering what she had just heard, then she looked up with a noticeably softer look in her eyes and asked, “Will Moira be ok?”

“Yeah…Deirdre’s patching her up and is doing her best to make sure she won’t scar.  Her leg’s been set,” said Tephiny pleased that Gaia had asked about Moira.  Perhaps the ex-warlord wasn’t the totally uncaring bitch all the stories made her out to be.

“I assume you want me to hang around until after the council has met?” asked Gaia.

“I can’t ask you to because you are free to come and go as you please.  There is nothing in our treaty about using you to ransom our Queen,” Tephiny hesitated and then added, “but if you would stay I’d appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry.  I’m not going anywhere without Deirdre.”  Gaia turned, started to walk towards the village but turned back to Tephiny when she realized that the Amazon was not following her.  “Anything else I should know?”

“Only that there are going to be a bunch of Amazons really pissed off at you.”

“No kidding.  Tell me something I didn’t know.”  Gaia smiled warily at the Regent.  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep out of their way as much as possible.  I’m going straight to our hut.   Let Deirdre know where I am.”

“Sure.  I’ll walk you there to make sure nobody takes a pot shot at you.”  

“Walk?  Come on Amazon, you can be more creative than that!”  Before Tephiny could say anything Gaia had flipped herself into a tree and extended a hand down to the Regent. Ignoring the hand Tephiny flipped to a neighbouring branch, smiled at the ex-warlord, and led the way through the trees.  Soon they were dropping to the ground behind the hut that Gaia shared with Deirdre.

As Tephiny was about to walk away, Gaia put out her hand to stop her.  “You know, I didn’t have a lot of respect for you when I first walked in here.  All I can say now is that I think the Queen left a decent person in charge.”  With that the tall, strong woman walked into her hut leaving Tephiny standing there with her mouth open.

It was about an hour later when Deirdre walked in with some food for Gaia.  She found the ex-warlord deep in thought.

“Gaia?”

“Yeah?”

“A dinar for your thoughts,” said Deirdre as she put the food down in front of Gaia.

“Thanks for the food,” said Gaia as she took a bite.  “Let’s talk….”

It was dusk when Deirdre went back to the healer’s hut to check on Moira.

Dusk found Gaia high up in a tree looking down on the village.  She could image the debate the council was having.  She knew that she didn’t have many friends and was sure that one faction was for catching her and ransoming her to Ocar.  Trick was that they’d have to catch her first.  The other group would be arguing that the Queen herself had signed the treaty with Gaia and there was no way she’d want the Amazon’s to violate their honour by not upholding their agreement.  The debate would go long into the night as they tried to reach consensus.

“Well,” thought Gaia, “time to end this particular stalemate.”  With stealth that none of the Amazons could have bettered, Gaia made her way to the porch of the council hut and startled the Amazon on guard.  Gaia took almost devilish delight in being able to sneak up on people that way.

“Gaia, stop.  You’re not going in there.”   The guard was young and thought she was risking her life by defying Gaia.  As much as she tried to keep her voice steady Gaia could hear the fear in it.

“Relax.  I’m going in because they’re going to invite me.  Tell Tephiny I’m here and want to address the council with a potential solution.  Don’t just stand there…go!”  The young Amazon went, not wanting to anger the tall woman facing her.

The air was absolutely charged in the council hut.  The Amazons were totally divided.  A minority supported Tephiny and the need to uphold the treaty while the majority of the council was for catching Gaia, chaining her and ransoming the Queen and her party with her.  As the discussion escalated into argument, the verbal barbs became more and more vicious.

“Enough!” roared Tephiny as she stood up and banged her hands on the table.  “We are not a bunch of animal tearing at dead carcass!  We are Amazons!  We don’t attack our allies!  We don’t attach each other either!  There has to be a third option!  We have brains, let’s use them!”

Tephiny glared around the table at the council members in a rage like the council members had never seen her in before.   Many of them shuffled in their chairs as they realized she was right and they had been acting like a pack of animals.

It was in this brief lull that the young voice of the guard rang out saying,

“Excuse me Tephiny, but Gaia is outside.  She says she wants to address the council.  She says she has a potential solution.”

Tephiny sat down and looked around the council table silently asking each of them if they should hear Gaia or not.  Head after head reluctantly nodded yes.  Tephiny could certainly understand their reluctance.  Gaia, despite Deirdre’s faith in her, was still unpredictable and dangerous.  Artemis only knew what solution she’d propose.

“Very well.  We are agreed that we’ll hear her potential solution,” said Tephiny to the council.  Then she turned to the guard and said, “Send her in.”

The guard fetched Gaia, nodded to Tephiny and returned to her post.

“Well Gaia, the council has agreed to hear your idea.  Please have a seat and tell us about it.”

It was a good deal later when the plan had been thoroughly outlined and the Amazons had finished poking and prodding at it.  For the most part the Amazons had been civil to Gaia, although in a couple of cases the hostility towards her seeped out in some of the comments made.  An older Amazon named Galdrith was the most noticeably hostile towards Gaia. 

“Any other questions before we proceed with this plan?” asked Tephiny.

“Yeah, I do,” said Galdrith.

“Go ahead.”

“Gaia, how do we know this plan isn’t just to get the healer out of this village and alone with you?  How do we know you won’t try and rape Deirdre again?”   Galdrith pretty much snarled out the questions as she got up from her chair and walked menacingly towards Gaia.

Gaia got to her feet and met Galdrith’s glare.  She was about to take a step towards the Amazon when she realized that Tephiny had put herself between the two warriors.

“Galdrith, I regret what I tried to do to Deirdre and it isn’t going to happen again.  Deirdre helped me work out this plan and she volunteered to go with me.  If she can decide to trust me, can’t you?” asked Gaia in a softer voice than any in the council had expected her to use in light of Galdrith’s challenge.

“Likely story,” snorted Galdrith.

“Both of you sit down…now!”  Tephiny was annoyed by the older Amazon’s challenge, but in some way’s thankful for it because it gave her the perfect reason to bring Deirdre into the discussion.  “I’ll send for Deirdre and she can confirm that she’s game to give Gaia’s plan a shot.  Ok everyone?”

The council was pretty quiet for the couple of minutes it took the guard to fetch Deirdre from the infirmary.  Tephiny was, for one, thankful for the silence.  With any luck after the council had heard from Deirdre they would agree to Gaia’s plan and Tephiny could start doing something constructive to get the Queen and her party back.  The Regent just hated sitting around in meetings.

Gaia was looking around the council table thinking that she couldn’t ever become an Amazon.  They did way too much talking and not enough doing.  Although she had always asked her lieutenants for their opinions, Gaia had always made the decisions for her army…none of this consensus stuff.  As Gaia continued to look around the council table she was also sizing up her enemies.  Clearly it was Galdrith and the Amazon sitting beside her.  “Yep, definitely trouble,” thought Gaia.

“Tephiny, you asked me to come?”  Deirdre’s clear voice broke the silence as she walked in and stood behind the seated Gaia with her hands on the ex-warlord’s shoulders.  The gesture was not lost on the council.  It was clearly a show of support.

“Deirdre, do you know of Gaia’s plan?” asked the Regent.

“Yes, Tephiny,” replied Deirdre.

“Do you agree to go with us to ransom the Queen, knowing the dangers?”  Tephiny looked straight into Deirdre’s eyes, looking for any sign of fear or trepidation.

“Yes.  I’ll be safe with Gaia and you.  And should I not be, well, I’ll die in good company.”

“Good.  Council, do you have any questions for Deirdre?”  Tephiny waited and as there were no questions asked, “So we are agreed to proceed with Gaia’s plan?”

There was a swell of muttering as the Amazons, even a reluctant Galdrith, agreed.

“Deidre, is Moira stable enough for us to leave her in Resi’s care?” asked Tephiny.

“Yes.”

“Ok, Deirdre, Gaia and I will be leaving at first light.  I leave it to the council to select the other warrior to accompany us as the Regent’s protector.  Other than Regina who will be left in charge of the village, select whomever you want. Good night.”  With that Tephiny stood up, motioned to Gaia and Deirdre to follow her, and left the hut.

Outside in the night air the Regent took a deep breath, stretched and then looked at Deirdre and Gaia.

“Thanks for helping us out.  Without your plan they’d still be in there fighting over whether or not to kill half the tribe trying to catch you in order to hand you over to Ocar.”

Gaia laughed and said, “Do really think it would only take half the tribe to catch me?”

“Nope…it was a figure of speech,” said Tephiny smiling at Gaia.  “Well, we need to get Deirdre some Amazon shamaness duds to wear.  Fortunately our regular healer is about the same size.  Let’s go.”

Gaia and Deirdre followed Tephiny and collected the clothes Deirdre would wear for the trip to Ocar’s camp.  Then all three women retired for the night.  It would be an early start the next day.

First light found Gaia, Deirdre, and Tephiny waiting in the main gathering area of the village.  They had already eaten and were packed for the trip.  Deirdre was wearing the garb of an Amazon healer and was carrying the staff Tephiny had given her.  Gaia was dressed in full armour.  Later she would have to look the part of a captive, but for now she wanted to be prepared for any problems on the road.  Most of all she wanted to protect Deirdre.

“Well, Tephiny, who are we waiting for?” asked Deirdre.

The Regent shuffled her feet a bit because it was a question she really didn’t want to answer.

Gaia groaned and said, “Let me guess.  The council picked Galdrith just to balance things out.”

“Yeah, they did,” said Tephiny.  “I couldn’t order them not to.  Amazon law gives the council the right to select the warrior to accompany the Regent when she goes to battle.  Doesn’t mean I have to like their choice though!”

“Well,” said Gaia, “the good news is that we will be able to keep an eye on one of our enemies.”

“Enemies?” asked Tephiny.

“Yeah, Deirdre may have great intuition about people who need healing, but mine is on knowing who my enemies are.  You’ll see.”  With that Gaia drew her sword, took a look at it and slammed it back in it’s sheath as if to say she was ready for whatever battle was to come.

Just then Galdrith arrived, greeted Deirdre and Tephiny warmly but only gave Gaia a cool nod.

“Come on then,” said Tephiny, “let’s get moving.” 

The party moved out of the village and headed to where Moira and Elsie said they could find Ocar.  They figured they had two days of travelling ahead of them.

Gaia was really enjoying being out of the village.  Except for her two-day sojourn in the brothel after she tried to rape Deirdre she hadn’t been out of the Amazon Village in weeks.  Gaia wasn’t really the Amazon type.  Group meals, group baths, group everything had been getting on her nerves big time.  Gaia was also looking forward to the upcoming encounter with Ocar.  She really wanted to get the Queen and her guard back safe and sound and if she could trounce Ocar in the process all the better.  She hated men who used cruelty to get their way.  There were just little cowards in Gaia’s estimation.

Although Gaia, Galdrith, and Tephiny could all travel through the trees, they traveled by land for the sake of Deirdre.  Even so, they were making very good time and would soon be clear of Amazon territory.

Deirdre felt like she was on the adventure of her life.  She was there with Gaia and Tephiny, two women she admired greatly and she was looking forward to her role in the plan to rescue of the Amazon Queen and the others.  Galdrith bothered her somewhat.  Her level of aggression towards Gaia was worrisome, although Gaia just seemed to ignore the Amazon.  The only cloud on Deirdre’s horizon was a concern that she didn’t know how she would react when faced with Ocar.  She only hoped that she wouldn’t let Gaia down.

The first day’s travel was uneventful and they made camp in a small clearing by a lake.  As Tephiny and Galdrith set up camp and gathered firewood, Gaia and Deirdre went down to the lake to see if they could catch dinner.

“I guess we should cut some rods and figure out what we can use for bait,” said Deirdre as they approached the lake.

“Nope.”

“Nope?  Gaia, what do you mean?” asked the healer thinking that Gaia was just teasing her.

“Deirdre, did you ever hear the stories of how Xena used to fish without a rod?” asked Gaia as she started to strip off her clothes.

“No….”

“Come on, you can swim can’t you?”

“Yes, but how can you catch a fish while you’re in the water?” asked Deirdre who was completely mystified.

“Come on…”

So Deirdre also stripped off her clothes and followed Gaia to a spot about fifteen feet from shore.  As they tread water Gaia told the healer to make no sudden movements.    Deirdre did as she was told and was quietly treading water beside Gaia who seemed to not be moving at all.  Suddenly Gaia brought up one of her hands with a fish on the end of it.  The warrior flung it to shore and then put her hand back in the water.  Deirdre was wide-eyed in amazement and grew even more amazed as Gaia caught several more fish the same way.

“How did you catch them?” asked Deirdre after Gaia said she had caught enough fish.

“Well, you sort of wiggle your fingers to attract the fish and when they get close you punch them.”

“Gaia, let me get this straight.  You wiggle your fingers and the fish just come?”

“Yeah, sort of like this,” said Gaia as she wiggled her fingers under the water close to Deirdre so the healer could see them.  As Deirdre moved closer to see better, Gaia’s fingers accidentally touched the healer’s bare breast under the water.  Gaia stopped and stammered that she was sorry and started to swim towards the shore.

“Gaia, stop.”

The warrior stopped swimming and reluctantly turned back towards Deirdre.  The healer swam up to Gaia and put her hand to the warrior’s face and said, “I know your touching me was an accident.  It’s ok.”

Gaia forced a smile and said, “thanks.  We should get back now.”

As they swam to shore Gaia was shaking.  That brief touch re-ignited Gaia’s yearnings for Deirdre, but she knew she had to put those feelings away.  With a deep breath she swallowed her emotions as she silently walked out of the water, shook herself off, dressed, filleted the fish and headed back to camp.  Deirdre followed not daring to break the warrior’s silence.

Gaia’s tense silence was almost palpable.  When they got back to camp with the filleted fish Gaia would do no more than one syllable answers to any question posed.  Silently she cooked the fish and served it.  She ate a reasonable amount, but nothing like her usual noted Deirdre.

After dinner Tephiny tugged at the sword sheathed on Gaia’s back and nodded towards the path. 

“Galdrith, I’ll be right back.  Protect Deirdre for us please,” said the Regent.

Galdrith wasn’t happy, but did as she was told.  Together with Deirdre she watched Tephiny and the silent Gaia walk towards the lake.   Shrugging her shoulders Galdrith turned to the fire and tossed another log on it.

“Ok, spit it out,” ordered Tephiny when they got to the lake.

“Spit what out?” asked Gaia.

“Whatever is bugging you.  You were fine when the two of you went down to the lake, but since you’ve come back you’ve just, well, shut everyone out.  I can’t have you non-communicative for what we have to do tomorrow, so out with it!”

Gaia paced around the Regent giving her a fierce look that Tephiny just ignored.  Finally Gaia stopped her pacing and looked at the ground.

“I think I’m in love with her.”

“Gaia, in love or in lust?”

“Love, I think, but I’m a damned warlord.  What do I know of love?” Gaia kicked viciously at the sand on the shore.

“Well, ex-warlord, tell me what happened and perhaps I can help you out.”  Tephiny couldn’t believe she was about to have a discussion about love with Gaia.  The Regent ran her hand through her hair as she patiently waited for Gaia.

Gaia was fighting an inner battle.  Every instinct she had was to just clam up and say nothing, yet she somehow felt Deirdre would want her to deal with her feelings.  Finally she told Tephiny what happened at the lake and how ashamed she was of her feelings of desire.  She told the Regent that she started to make her decisions by what she thought Deirdre might like, instead of just going with her first reaction.  By the time Gaia had finished she just wanted to sit down and cry out of both frustration and humiliation.

Tephiny looked at her and quietly said, “you’ve got it bad.  All I can say is go really, really slowly.  Take a long time before you show or tell Deirdre what you’re feeling.  Make sure it’s not just infatuation.  Deirdre cares a bunch for you, but if you betray her trust again by another attempted rape or something you’ll lose her forever.”

Gaia said nothing for a couple of minutes as Tephiny’s words rang in the warrior’s head.  With a sigh Gaia said, “I guess I have to earn her trust back and then hopefully her love.”

“You got it.”  Tephiny smiled at Gaia and suggested they get back to camp before Galdrith did something foolish like come looking for them.  Together they walked back in silence, but this time a relaxed silence.

While Gaia and Tephiny were gone Deirdre decided to take the opportunity to try and get to know Galdrith better.  The attempt was an abject failure.  In the end the only things Deirdre learned was that Galdrith had a profound distrust of Gaia and a hatred of Xena.  The distrust of Gaia made some sense, but Deirdre had been shocked by the Amazon’s curses against Xena when Deirdre tried to persuade Galdrith that Gaia was turning towards a path of good like Xena had.  Finally Deirdre fell silent and wished Tephiny and Gaia would get back soon.

“Thank Artemis,” muttered Galdrith as Gaia and Tephiny walked back into camp.  Night had started to fall and Galdrith had been on the verge of going to look for them.

As it was going to be an early start the next day they all decided it would be best to turn in early.  Galdrith had set up her bedroll on one side of the fire next to Tephiny’s while Deirdre had set hers up on the other side of the fire beside Gaia’s.

“Gaia?” asked Deirdre as she settled down in her bedroll.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve never been in a battle before, as one of the participants I mean.  I’ve only been there to care for the wounded.  I think I’m a bit scared.  Any words of wisdom?” asked the healer.

Without thinking Gaia muttered, “When in battle keep your head.  That’s the words of wisdom Ares said.”

“You’re quoting Ares to me?” asked Deirdre curiously.

“Yeah, those two lines have saved my butt any number of times.  They’re probably the best advice Ares ever gave me.  You see the difference between a successful warrior and a lucky one is the ability to think your way out of whatever situation you find yourself in.  Never panic, never just react …except to defend yourself from whatever weapon has been aimed at you.  If you don’t use your brain, eventually your luck will eventually change and you’ll find yourself on the wrong end of a sword.”  Gaia shuddered a bit at the thoughts of Deirdre on the wrong end of a sword.

“I think I understand.  When I’m operating on someone and something unexpected goes wrong, I could easily lose the patient if I don’t take that half second to think things through,” said Deirdre.

“You got it.  So tomorrow, no matter what happens, keep your head.  It’ll help keep your hide, and ours, whole.”  Gaia yawned, stretched and crawled into her bedroll.  Then she said, “the second most important piece of advice is to get a good night’s sleep before a battle.”

“Ares again?”

“Nope, I overheard Xena saying it once.”

“Goodnight Gaia.”

“Goodnight Deirdre.”

They had made very good time the next morning and by late afternoon they were perched in a tree overlooking Ocar’s camp.  Gaia had been very pleased by how easily Deirdre had been able to climb up with the rest of them.  She had only needed a little help.

“Any sense Deirdre?” asked Tephiny.

The healer closed her eyes and tried to feel the presence of the Amazon Queen and her guard.  Deirdre’s senses were very attuned to sensing people in need of healing and everyone was hoping she wouldn’t sense a whole lot.  For many minutes Deirdre was silent.

Galdrith was not comfortable at all with just waiting for Deirdre, nor for the entire plan for that matter.  Galdrith had been disgusted that they weren’t just going to hand Gaia over for real and get their own out.  Or, at least, fight to free their Queen using Gaia’s sword to help.  When Galdrith had proposed that option at council Gaia had assured them that Ocar’s army was too strong for them.  As she sat there in the tree waiting for Deirdre, Galdrith was angry and impatient.

“Damn this waiting,” muttered Galdrith under her breath.

Before the elder Amazon realized what had happened she was dangling in mid air with one of Gaia’s hands around her throat.

“Shut up you old battle axe,” hissed the warrior “or I’ll rip your tongue out.”

Deirdre sized up the situation and simply put her hand on Gaia’s arm.  Just her touch was enough to make Gaia slowly lower Galdrith until the Amazon’s feet were planted on the tree limb.

As soon as Gaia let her go Galdrith would have made a grab for the ex-warlord, had Tephiny not stepped between the two women and said, “Stop it, both of you.  Or have you forgotten you’re on the same side?” 

Gaia responded by turning to Deirdre and saying, “Sorry I disturbed you.  Anything?”

“Yeah, they are somewhat battered and bruised, but otherwise fine.  What do we do now?” asked the healer.

“I guess it’s time we put the plan in action.  Gaia….”  Tephiny didn’t get to finish her sentence because a very fierce Galdrith was in her face immediately.

“No way!” the Amazon almost yelled at her Regent.  “I’m not risking you simply on the say so of this healer.  Sure she was right about Moira, but that’s not good enough for you to risk your hide here and now.” 

Tephiny looked at the Amazon Warrior in silence…a silence strangely echoed in the woods around them.   It was as if all the creatures of the forest were waiting for Tephiny to speak.  But Tephiny didn’t speak.  She waited and waited until the forest forgot about them and went back about its business. 

“Galdrith,” said the regent in a very low voice, “be a good Amazon and don’t scare the creatures around us.  Now, let’s hear what would you propose that we do instead.”

 “We can scout and try and find out more,” said Galdrith very quietly not wanting to repeat her mistake.  “They won’t be expecting us yet because they wouldn’t have expected Moira and Elise to have made it back to the village as quickly as they did.”

“True,” replied Tephiny, “but we can’t send Gaia to scout.  I wouldn’t expect her to be seen, but if she were it would ruin the plan.  Deirdre, sorry but you don’t have the skills.  Galdrith you’d have to be the one to go.  Galdrith?” 

“Well, you’re right that we shouldn’t send Gaia.  I still don’t trust that she’s not in cahoots with Ocar.”  The Amazon elder glared at Gaia who didn’t react.  Galdrith continued, “but the council sent me to ensure your safety.  Will you be alright if I go?”

Tephiny nodded.  “I expect no trouble from either Gaia or Deirdre.  If we are attacked we will be able to defend ourselves.”  Turning to Gaia the Regent said, “you’re being way too quiet.  You’re a master strategist and yet you say nothing.  Talk to me.”

“Not much to say.  A scouting of Ocar’s camp to see if we can spot the hostages is sound.  Sending Galdrith is reasonable for the reason’s both of you gave.  I’ll defend you.  Go for it,” said Gaia in a very common sense fashion.

Tephiny looked long and hard at Gaia as if to read her mind.  She was sure there was something more going on behind those blue eyes than Gaia was saying.  Then the Regent turned to Galdrith and said, “Go.  We’ll be camping on the other side of the river.  Be back before dawn.”

The elder amazon nodded and slipped away into the trees while the others backtracked to beyond the river to setup camp.

The evening was a remarkably pleasant one for Gaia, Deirdre and Tephiny with Galdrith gone.  The three women, while always remaining vigilant for intruders, talked and laughed as they passed the time.

“Tell me Tephiny, was Galdrith one of the Amazons who opposed entering into a treaty with me?” asked Gaia as she dropped some more wood onto their fire.

“Yeah.  She wouldn’t say why, but she was really, really opposed to the treaty.  She kept saying that making a deal with you was like making a deal with Hates and that nothing good could come of it,” said Tephiny.

“Is she from a long line of Amazons?” asked the ex-warlord.

“Sort of,” replied Tephiny as she poked at the fire.

“Sort of?” asked Gaia.

“Yeah.  Her mother left the tribe after falling in love with a man and then choosing to go and live with him.  After a while she sent word back to the tribe that she had given birth to a baby girl she named Galdrith.  Galdrith’s mom requested that she be allowed to send her daughter to the Amazons for the year following the girl’s twelfth birthday.  At the end of the year Galdrith was to make her own decision about whether or not she would stay with the Amazons or return to her family.”

“So she decided to stay,” asked Deirdre.

“Not exactly.  Galdrith did come and spent the better part of the year with us.  It was a tough year for her as she was very homesick.  I’m told she probably would have returned home if her family had not been wiped out.”

“Tephiny, what do you mean ‘wiped out’?” asked Deirdre.

“Well, a warlord came through her town and ended up burning to the ground.  Galdrith’s family was lost so she stayed with us.  She was very angry that she had not been home.  Somehow she thought she would have been able to defend her family.”  Tephiny poked at the fire before continuing, “I doubt she could have done anything.  I understand her mom was a pretty good warrior and if she was killed then I don’t suppose Galdrith would have fared any better.”

“Tephiny, what was the name of the town?” asked Gaia.

“Cirra, or something like that…it was never rebuilt.  I’m sure what happened to her family is why she hates you.  Misplaced aggression,” answered Tephiny.

“Tephiny, why does Galdrith hate Xena so much?” asked Deirdre.

The Amazon Regent was about to answer that she didn’t know when Gaia interrupted, “because Xena was the warlord who wiped out Cirra.”

Deirdre wasn’t looking a Gaia as the ex-warlord was speaking, but where the Regent saw and heard no emotion Deirdre could feel the ex-warlord’s pain.  She looked up at Gaia with a raised eyebrow.

Gaia smiled softly at Deirdre.  The ex-warlord realized that the healer knew that she was hurting.  Hurting over all the times she had been the warlord like Xena killing people and destroying towns.  Hurting over how her actions had created people like Galdrith – angry and bitter people who had their hearts full of hatred.  Gaia got up went over to sit down on her bedroll.  As she passed Deirdre she very softly said, “I guess I can’t fool you.”

“Nope.”

Tephiny watched the exchange between the two women and even though she couldn’t hear the words spoken the Regent realized that something significant had just happened, she just wasn’t sure what. 

As much as the Regent had been sure that Gaia shouldn’t be Deirdre’s partner, right now she wasn’t so sure.  Perhaps Gaia really did love her.  Perhaps Deirdre could see to a pureness in Gaia’s heart that nobody else had been able to reach.  Tephiny shook her head and got ready for bed.  Gaia and Deirdre had insisted that Tephiny sleep close to them.  When Tephiny tried to disagree, Gaia reminded her of what a state Galdrith would be in if she came back and saw that they hadn’t been protecting her Regent.  Tephiny gave in and settled down beside Deirdre.  Gaia, after a sweep around the camp settled down on the other side.

It was in the wee small hours of the morning when Tephiny woke to a warlord’s scream.  Instinct took over and before she was even properly awake the Regent was on her feet, sword in hand.  As she woke up she became aware of Deirdre at Gaia’s side whispering to the ex-warlord.

“Deirdre?” asked Tephiny.

“Sorry that she woke you.  She’s having a nightmare,” said Deirdre without even looking up.

Tephiny shook her head and ran a hand through her hair and said, “Anything I can do to help?”

“No, I’ll look after her.  Go back to sleep if you can.”

“Ok, Deirdre.”  Tephiny lay down, pulled up her covers and rolled on her side facing away from Deirdre and Gaia.  She was, however, all ears and didn’t sleep until after Gaia and Deirdre drifted off again.  The Regent was surprised by what she heard.  Just as she hadn’t expected Gaia to be able to play, neither had she expected the warrior to feel guilt. 

“Gaia, come on Gaia, it was just a dream.”  Deirdre held the ex-Warlord in her arms and gently stroked her face. 

Gaia said nothing, just looked up into the stars with tears in her eyes.

“Gaia, I know it’s not your strong suit, but talk to me, please?”

Gaia hesitated and then slowly started to speak.  “The story of Galdrith got to me.  I wasn’t at Cirra, Xena was, but I might as well have been.  How many men have I killed?  How many families have I destroyed?  How many bitter women like Galdrith have I created?  I can’t even guess.  Galdrith hates me, and rightly so.  But hate makes people make really bad decisions.  I sure hope she hasn’t let it get all the way into her soul, but what about my soul?  It must be damned by now.”  Gaia went silent.

Deirdre asked, “Have you killed more than Xena?”

“Probably not.  She had racked up quite the body count as the Destroyer of Nations.”

“You bet, yet we know her soul wasn’t damned.  Yours need not be either.  Gaia, as hard as the path of the greater good is, I’ll walk it with you.” 

Gaia tried to hide her tears as she quietly said, “thanks.”

With that Deirdre drew Gaia into a close embrace and held her until sleep overtook both of them.

Galdrith arrived back at camp before dawn and was greeted by three sets of eyes; brown, green and blue all asking the “how did it go” question.

The Amazon dropped down onto her sleeping roll that the others had laid out for her, wearily started to pull off her boots and said, “They are being held at the back of Ocar’s personal tent with lots of guards around them.  There is a tree in the pen they are kept in, but there is an archer stationed in a platform half way up.  Ocar must know that we are pretty good in trees.  I couldn’t get too close, but I did give them the owl greeting just so they’d know we were around.  They are a little the worse for wear, but there didn’t seem to be any major injuries.  Then I checked out the rest of Ocar’s forces.  He has easily 100 well-armed men around the place.  They all seemed pretty well organized and trained.  It wouldn’t be easy to bust them out by force.” 

Gaia and Deirdre, it seemed, had been correct about the condition of the Queen and the other hostages and the preparedness of Ocar’s men.  Galdrith hated the fact they had been right.

“Good work.  Now get a few hours shut-eye.  Deirdre has some preparations to make before we move to Ocar’s camp to exchange Gaia for our people.  Deirdre, please prepare the herbs we’ll need.  Gaia, come with me…we need to talk.  We’ll move out mid morning.  Ok everyone?”   

Everyone nodded and set about their assigned tasks.

As Deirdre prepared the herbs, she couldn’t help but feel as if she were being watched.  The feeling was so bad that while Tephiny and Gaia were away from the campsite she almost woke the sleeping Galdrith.  It was the thought that the Amazon would be really, really grumpy that prevented her.  Instead she took her staff and walked around the perimeter of the camp, but didn’t see anyone.  When Gaia and Tephiny returned Deirdre told them of her feelings and before she knew it Gaia was up in a tree scouting to make sure nobody was around. 

“All’s clear Deirdre,” said Gaia as she dropped to the ground beside the healer.

“Gaia, thanks for checking.  The feeling was so strong.”

“It’s ok.  Everything ready?” asked the ex-warlord as she looked at the pouches Deirdre had neatly lined up in front of her.

“Yeah, I’m ready whenever you are,” said Deirdre.

“Tephiny?”

“Yes Gaia?”

“Do Deirdre and I have time to go for a walk before the exchange?”

“Sure.  It’s still early and Galdrith could use a bit more sleep so there’s no need to rush.  I’ll do a tree level scouting of the area just to make sure Deirdre’s watcher isn’t around somewhere,” said Tephiny.

“Thanks.”

Gaia and Deirdre walked towards the lake.  Although it was still early the day was warming up quickly.  Reaching the shore the two women climbed up and lay down on a large flat rock that was just above the water’s edge and enjoyed the warmth.  They lay there quietly enjoying each other’s company for quite a while before either spoke.  It was Deirdre who broke the silence.

“Will you be ok Gaia?  I don’t really feel comfortable with the plan now that it is time to make it happen.  How will you get away from a hundred armed men?  What were you and Tephiny talking about?  Anything I need to know?  Gaia, don’t think I’m a wimp, but I’m scared.”  Deirdre sat up and looked across the lake.

Gaia reached over and put her hand over one of the healer’s smaller hands.  “Don’t tell the Amazons, but I always have butterflies before a battle and it’s worse on one of these subtle missions.  I’d far prefer to go in busting heads, but we’d never get the hostages before Ocar killed them.  Don’t worry about me, once they think I’m incapacitated they’ll let their guard down…a dangerous thing to do with me!” 

“Tephiny?” prompted Deirdre.

“Oh yeah, we were just going over her story for Ocar.” asked Gaia.

“That’s all?”

“Yep.  Come on, time we got back,” said the ex-warlord. 

As Gaia was getting up Deirdre pulled at her arm.  Gaia allowed her self to be pulled down and looked at the healer curiously.

“Yes?” asked Gaia.

“You keep yourself safe because we’ve a long walk along the path of the greater good to do together.  Got it?”  Deirdre had tears in her eyes as she spoke.

Gaia reached over and gently wiped away the healer’s tears and said, “Got it!  And whatever happens, thank you for walking with me.”

When they go back to camp Tephiny and Galdrith had packed everything except Deirdre’s herbs and were ready to go.  As Deirdre neatly packed the herbs and slung them over her shoulder, Gaia removed her weapons and armour and packed them in a bag that would be hidden once they got closer to Ocar’s camp.  Then, before they left, Gaia took a step into the bushes to take care of some business.

“Peppermint anyone?” asked Gaia as she returned to the camp chewing.

“No thanks,” said Tephiny.  “Is everyone ready to go?  Gaia, are you still sure you want to give yourself up for the Queen?”

“Yeah,” replied Gaia, “I’ll be ok if everything goes according to plan.”

“Galdrith?  Deirdre?”

The other two women nodded their readiness and, with Galdrith in the lead, the group moved towards Ocar’s camp. At the river they paused briefly while Deirdre administered a dose of the herbs to Gaia.  Almost immediately the ex-warlord became very, very quiet.  Deirdre was almost afraid she was too quiet.

Galdrith then tied Gaia’s hands behind her with some fierce looking knots.

“Galdrith, do the knots have to be that tight?” asked Deirdre.

“Yep, we have to really convince them that she is our prisoner, right?” replied the Amazon.

“Yes, I suppose,” responded Deirdre not really convinced.  The healer looked at Tephiny but got no support and Gaia didn’t say anything so Deirdre just fell in line behind the others as they started the walk to Ocar’s camp.

“Halt!” cried out the guard on the edge of the camp.  The group stopped and the man walked up to them, sword in hand.  He relaxed a bit when he saw they were carrying a bough from a pine tree, a sign of truce.

Tephiny stepped forward and said, “I am the Amazon Regent and we are here to meet with Ocar and trade the warlord Gaia for our Queen and her warriors.”

“Very well, he’s been expecting you.  Is she safe?” he asked as he walked towards Gaia and tugged at the cords tying her hands.

“Yes,” replied Deirdre.  “I am a shamaness and I’ve made sure she’s been thoroughly drugged.  She’s in no state to harm anyone.”

“OK, follow me.”

Silently the four followed as they were led towards camp and Ocar’s tent.

Just as they were entering camp, Deirdre gave one of Gaia’s hands a quick squeeze.  It bothered her that Gaia did not react to the squeeze, but as they were now in the midst of Ocar’s camp there wasn’t much she could do.  The healer just prayed Gaia would be ok.

“You men,” said the guard who had been escorting them, “just to make sure they don’t try anything, surround them and wait here while I tell Ocar that his guests are here.”

For Deirdre everything was moving too fast.  Before she knew it she was in Ocar’s tent listening to Tephiny explain that they had managed to capture Gaia with the help of the visiting shamaness who knew of herbs that would cause the person who ingested them to be perfectly docile and willing to comply with any order.  Now, they wanted to ransom their Queen with the captured warlord. 

“You mean to tell me that the fierce warrior Gaia is now docile and willing to comply with my orders?” asked Ocar as he got up and walked around the bound Gaia.

“Yes,” replied Tephiny.

“Then why is she bound?  Perhaps she is not so docile after all.” Ocar was standing toe to toe with Gaia and looking her directly in the eyes.

“We thought you wouldn’t believe it if we just had her walk in here untied.  We didn’t want you to kill her.  Here…”

Tephiny moved behind Gaia and started to untie her hands.  As she did she could hear the hiss of metal as swords all around her were being drawn.  She continued, as Ocar hadn’t ordered her to stop.

“Now,” said Tephiny, “let’s see what we can do to show you what we mean about her being willing to comply with orders.”  The Regent paused briefly and then said, “Gaia, give Ocar a passionate kiss.”

Gaia did as commanded much to the surprise of Ocar and the catcalls of his men.

All was going according to plan, yet Deirdre had the distinct feeling that something was not right.  She could feel none of what Gaia was feeling and she had expected to feel something.  But there was nothing but numbness.

“Well, I’m impressed.  Let’s see if she’ll do something for me.  Let’s see.  I understand that Gaia likes ladies too.  Gaia, go kiss that cute little shamaness over there.  Give her a little feel too,” said Ocar amid the laughter of his men.

Without hesitation Gaia walked over to Deirdre and kissed her while fondling the healer’s breast.  Deirdre was shocked, but tried her best not to show it.  The shock was not because Gaia had followed the order, but because Deirdre really couldn’t sense any emotions from Gaia.  Given what happened while they were fishing, it was inconceivable that Gaia felt nothing while fondling Deirdre’s breast.   Something was seriously wrong with the plan but Deirdre had no option no but to continue.

Ocar walked around Gaia one more time before saying, “I think this could be a lot of fun.  Tell me what I have to do to keep her in this state for a couple of days before I kill her.”

Deirdre saw Tephiny looking at her and knew she had to carry out the plan no matter what she was feeling at the moment.  So she walked over to Ocar, handed him the pouch with the herbs and said, “have her eat the contents of one of the packets in the pouch once a day in the early morning and she will continue to be in this state.”

Ocar took the bag and asked, “and if I give her more?”

Deirdre shrugged her shoulders and said, “she’ll die.”

“She’s going to die anyway, but I want her death to be more exciting a simple drug overdose.  I want it to involve lots of pain,” replied Ocar in a voice that chilled Deirdre to the core.

“Now, we have honoured our part of the deal.  When may we have our Queen and her guard?” asked Tephiny.

Ocar took one more walk around the silent Gaia, smiled as he thought of all the degrading things he could have her do before he killed her, and then gave the order to bring the Amazons into his tent.

As the Amazon Queen and her guard where brought in, Deirdre allowed her thoughts to move a way from her concern over Gaia to appraise the Amazon’s condition.  She was fairly pleased with what she saw.  They were desperately tired, and all of them had cuts and bruises, but otherwise they were fine.

“My Queen,” said Tephiny as she greeted Queen Deepa, “I would like to meet Deeth, a shamaness from another tribe who helped us with Gaia.”

Now Deirdre was surprized to hear herself being called by another name, but did everything she could to keep her head and not show it.  Stepping forward the healer simply said,  “Queen Deepa, I am pleased you are well and now free. Please allow me to help care for your Amazons.”

The Queen nodded at Deirdre/Deeth and then turned to Ocar and said, “Are we free to go?”

“Yeah, I have what I want,” replied Ocar who was still walking around Gaia as if totally fascinated by the silent ex-warlord.

“Then we will leave, but may I suggest it would be in your best interest if we did not meet again?” asked the Queen.

Ocar did not respond in words.  Instead he lashed out to strike the Amazon Queen for her impertinence.    He never landed the blow because Deirdre blocked it with her staff.  Had the fact that this little bird of an Amazon blocked his blow not struck Ocar as really funny, things would have quickly gotten out of hand.  As it was he laughed at them and told them to go.

As soon as they were safely clear of Ocar’s camp, Deirdre and the tribe’s shameness used Deirdre’s supplies to treat the Amazon’s wounds.  While they were working, Deirdre could overhear the discussion that Deepa was having with Tephiny.

“Gaia was an ally in our village under the protection of a treaty she signed with us!  What were you thinking about when you drugged her and handed her over to Ocar?  He’s going to kill her!”  To say that the Queen was not happy was a big understatement.

“Whoa, we didn’t hand her over, this was all her plan.  She volunteered.  The dose of drugs Deirdre gave her was suppose to be so low that it wouldn’t affect her for long.  How drugged she looked really shows that Gaia is a great actor,” protested Tephiny.

“Either that or else something has gone wrong.  And just how is she going to get out of there?” asked the Queen still really agitated.

“She said that if they really thought she was drugged, they would let their guard down and she would be able to slip out on her own.”

One could see that the Queen was not happy with the plan.  Tephiny expected her to say more about it, but instead Deepa asked to meet Deirdre.

“So, Deirdre, you are the great healer from Athens and, it seems, Gaia’s companion.” 

“Yes Queen Deepa,” said Deirdre as she looked up from the wound she was stitching.

“What is your sixth sense telling you about Gaia?” asked Deepa.

“I’m really worried.  All I can sense is the same dullness and detachment that I have been feeling ever since I gave her the drugs.  She should be over the effects by now and just acting.  But it just doesn’t feel right.”  Deirdre’s gut was tied in a knot she was so worried.

Deepa frowned but said nothing.  Ever since that sneak Ocar had ambushed them in the middle of the ford across the Sparta River, the Queen hadn’t had good vibes.  Despite being free she still didn’t and Deirdre’s concerns just inflamed what Deepa was feeling.

“Tephiny, I want Galdrith to go back and try to make sure Gaia escapes as planned,” said Deepa.

“Er, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” replied Tephiny as she could feel Deirdre tense up beside her.