Chapter Five
After a while longer, Aphrodite opened her eyes. "I found her!"
"Thank you!" Gabrielle exclaimed with relief. "I was beginning to think she might be --"
"No. She's fine. But she's not in Greece. That's what took me so long."
"So, where is she?"
"In Italia. In Rome to be specific."
"Rome?" Gabrielle and Xena echoed together.
"Yes."
"You can bring her home, can't you?" Gabrielle asked.
"I can, but she might not want to come."
"I don't understand. Why wouldn't she want to?" Gabrielle asked.
"Is she still a slave?" Xena asked.
"Well, technically she is, but her life isn't as bad as you might think. She's living in the home one of the Senators. She runs his household with a half dozen servants under her. She comes and goes as she pleases, and she has a child, a daughter named Sarah, the Senator's daughter. I wouldn't be surprised that when he dies that he'll free her."
"Well," Gabrielle said, trying to be positive about it. "At least she's not being beaten or tortured, or worse."
"I can bring her here, if you still want me to . . . ."
"No. Not if she's happy where she is, that's the important thing."
"So, if that's it, then I'll be going."
"Gabrielle," Xena said. "Wasn't there something else you wanted to ask?"
"Huh? Oh. Oh yes, there sure was." She replied, then to Aphrodite she said, "I know I owe you a favor, any chance you could tell me what it is?"
"Well you know, Gabrielle, being the Goddess of Love, it's my job to make sure there is enough love spread around so that for a little while people are happy. They sacrifice for the ones they love, and they do without so their lovers can have a little more. But sometimes I'm not really needed, especially when it comes to families. Most of the time families, even when they're separated, still feel that bond and want what's best for each other. And that makes my job that much easier -- gives me more time to concentrate on the offerings in my temples. So you two just keep on caring for each other, and for your families, and I'll be around if you need me."
And with that, she disappeared.
Gabrielle looked up at Xena. "Did I miss something? I still don't know what she wants me to do."
Xena smiled, "I think she was saying this one's favor-free. She's probably still trying to make up for what Ares did, but I don't think I'd push it if I were you."
"I think you're probably right."
"There you two are!" Hecuba said, walking around the corner of the barn. "What's so important back here?"
"Mother, I have something to tell you. But I want to tell you and Father at the same time. So why don't we go back into the house?"
They sat down around the kitchen table, all attention on Gabrielle.
"You remember that I told you Aphrodite, as a favor to Xena, removed the scar I had on my cheek. Well, I decided to ask her if she'd find Lila and bring her home. And she found her. But from what she said, she may not want to come home."
"You can't be serious!" Herodotus said. "We're her family, why wouldn't she want to come home?"
"Let me explain. Aphrodite said that she's living in the house of a Roman Senator and she, apparently, runs things even though she's still a slave. And she might even be in love with him because she has had his child, a daughter named Sarah."
Xena started to mention that Aphrodite didn't say anything about Lila being in love, but maybe it was better if they thought she was. There was silence.
"Then why hasn't she tried to get word to us?" Hecuba finally asked. "She could have done THAT much. She could have let us know we have a granddaughter!"
"I don't know. But I was thinking that if Xena wouldn't mind postponing our trip to Amphipolis, maybe we could go to Rome to see her."
Gabrielle looked hopefully at Xena.
"Of course I wouldn't mind," Xena answered. "A few months more or less won't make much of a difference."
"Thank you, I hoped you say that. I'll make it up to you, I swear I will."
Xena laughed a small laugh. "Where've I heard THAT before?"
"You're not leaving already?" Herodotus asked.
"Oh no. We'll be here a while longer. It's going to take time to get supplies together. Besides, there's still work to be done around here first. We'll be here at least another month or two."
Chapter Six
The next two months seemed to fly by, there was so much to do, so much to catch up on around the farm -- repair the walls of the barn. Add more thatching to it and to the house. Repair the fencing around the pasture. Harvest the summer vegetables and prepare them for winter storage. Prepare the garden for the winter crops. Repair the tools, some of the furniture, the chimney, cut and stack winter fire wood. Xena hunted for deer and wild pigs to be salted and smoked. Gabrielle cut and dried hay for the horses and cows. Even Herodotus felt strong enough to start helping, and supervising.
Hecuba couldn't wait to take Gabrielle into Poteidaia so everyone would know she had come home. But Gabrielle made her promise to say nothing about Aphrodite telling them of the whereabouts of Lila. She knew everyone would want to know where their own daughters or wives were. And Gabrielle knew THAT would be an impossible request.
Instead, she told them that Xena had heard rumors Lila might be in Rome, and they were going to try to find her just as soon as the farm was productive again. There were volunteers to go with them -- Lila had been loved as much as Gabrielle, or any of the other girls, but Gabrielle gratefully declined, saying they should stay home and take care of Poteidaia. Gabrielle's return had brought hope to the other parents that perhaps their daughters might return some day as well.
It was late summer when two warriors decided the farm was in good enough shape that they could go after Lila, hoping that if they found her that she might want to return with them, if only for a visit.
They decided to leave right after daybreak, to get a good start on their journey. Hecuba made sure they had enough trail food, mostly smoked meat and dried fruit, and winter clothes. It was hard for her and Herodotus to see Gabrielle leave again, but knowing she would be coming back to them, and maybe with Lila, made it a little easier.
At the last moment before they rode out, Herodotus handed Gabrielle a leather pouch. It contained forty dinars, almost all the money he had.
"I can't take this." Gabrielle protested. "How will you get by without any money?"
"Gabrielle, you forget this is a small town. We trade and borrow and lend more than we buy. You take it. You'll need it to book passage to Italia, and for food and lodging once you get there. We'll be fine."
Gabrielle dismounted to hug and kiss them both one more time, then climbed back on her horse and she and Xena rode out, heading west toward the coast of Greece, and the Ionian Sea.
"What about your Chakram?" Gabrielle asked before they had ridden too far.
"You're not obsessed with it, are you?" Xena asked in return, only half joking.
"No. I don't think so. Well, maybe a little. But after all, you DID say it was forged by the gods. That's something I'd really like to see."
"Well, I've been doing a little scouting around while we were here, and I'm pretty sure I know about where I buried it. But it may take a couple of days to actually find the place."
"I don't think two days will make much of a difference."
It actually took less than a day. They started near Poteidaia, and followed the path that Gabrielle remembered they had taken. Xena remembered the stand of trees and bushes she had hidden in, and from there it wasn't long before they were digging up Xena's weapons and armor. The iron blade of the sword was rusted beyond use. The bronze breastplate was corroded, but with a little work could have been used, but Xena decided it was a part of her past she didn't want. However, she was right about her Chakram. Once the dirt was washed off, it looked brand new. Gabrielle was fascinated with it. So Xena let her throw it a couple of times, and it almost came back to her.
They decided to ride on until almost dusk before making camp. And were on the trail barely after sunrise.
They arrived in the moderate-sized fishing and trading village of Prevaza, located on the western coast of the province of Epirus, Greece, on the shore of the Ionian Sea. Within three days they had arranged passage on a Roman trading ship that was going to Napoli. From there it would be an eight to ten day horse ride to Rome.
The sea voyage would take them across the Ionia Sea, through the Strait of Messina -- between Italia and Sicilia, and into the Tyrrhenian Sea, and then north to Napoli. The journey would take a month, if the winds were right and they encountered no storms.
Just as they were about to go on board, Xena pulled Gabrielle to one side. "Gabrielle, while we're under Roman jurisdiction, I don't want you to call me 'Xena.' I want you to call me 'Cyrene.' "
"Why?"
"Because the name 'Xena' is too well known to certain Roman Generals." She explained. "And to emperors," she added, her voice hard and hate-filled.
Gabrielle wanted to ask more, curious, knowing there was a good story there, but decided right now wasn't the time.
"Of course. You were 'Cyrene' to me before you were 'Xena.' "
"Just don't forget. The less trouble we make for ourselves, the better off we'll both be."
Except for Xena's unusual nervousness about being so close to Romans, the twenty-seven day voyage was mostly uneventful. At the beginning of the trip, Gabrielle suffered with severe seasickness, but Xena showed her how to apply pressure to certain nerves that eliminated ninety percent of the nausea.
They landed at dusk in Napoli, but had no trouble finding a room for the night. Even though the inn's proprietor was used to dealing with foreign currency, he suggested the exchange their Greek dinars for Roman ducats. He explained that the closer to Rome they went, the more suspicious strangers with foreign coins would be.
The next morning they traded their remaining twenty-three dinars for fifteen gold ducats. Gabrielle was sure they were being cheated, but Xena told her it was just the difference in the value of the money. In Greece they probably could have gotten twenty ducats, but the difference was the fee for the exchange. They bought two horses and saddles for ten ducats. They had hunted during the ride from Poteidaia to Prevaza, so they still had the trail food Hecuba gave them. And they could hunt along the way to Rome.
After two days of travel, Gabrielle's curiosity got the better of her. "Xena, I have a feeling this is something you'd rather not talk about, but what's the problem with you and Caesar?"
"Actually, you're right, I'd rather not talk about it, but I suppose you should know what happened, if for no other reason than to keep you from pestering me about it."
Xena was smiling, but Gabrielle could tell it was a painful memory.
"It was a long time ago, but not long enough. I met Caesar when he was just a Roman general. I won't go into all the details, but I thought we were going to combine our forces. He had dreams to take over the world, something I found very exciting. But he betrayed me. I was 'arrested,' then hung on a cross, and he had both my legs broken with a large maul. I'm not even sure how I got down off the cross. It might have been some sympathetic traveler that came by after the Romans left. But from that day on I have sworn vengeance on Caesar. Someday I'll get my revenge. Some day."
Xena read Gabrielle's mind. "But not this trip," she told her. "We're here to find Lila, not go after Caesar."
Gabrielle breathed a sigh of relief.
Chapter Seven
Their arrival in Rome was greeted with a cold rain. It was mid fall and the weather was unpredictable -- warm and sunny, cold and sunny, cold and rainy. They stabled their horses, found a tavern that had rooms to rent, and settled in to wait for the weather to break. Their only plan was to search the many open air markets. If they were lucky they would find Lila doing the daily shopping for fresh meat and fruit.
The third day the weather turned. Although seasonably cool, it was sunny and the markets were bustling. They would arrive at each one not long after dawn and wait, pretending to be shopping themselves, but actually buying very little. Between paying for the room, and for meals, their money was dwindling faster than they had expected.
They were down to a single ducat the day they finally found Lila. It was near noon on their fifth day of searching. Gabrielle thought she saw her, but couldn't be sure.
"I know I saw her." Gabrielle said, the excitement growing in her voice. "It HAD to be her, I'm sure of it."
They waited for the woman to walk from behind a group of others. Gabrielle was holding onto Xena's upper arm in anticipation. When the woman came back into view, Gabrielle grabbed Xena's lower arm with her other hand, trembling with excitement.
"It's her, it's her!" Gabrielle said, trying to keep from shouting.
Xena watched the woman as she came nearer. She was wearing a long silk dress with a silk robe over it. Her hair was swept up with strands of pearls woven through it. She had dangling earrings of blue and green gems, with matching bracelets and necklace. She was accompanied by four or five less-well dressed young women, and a large, bald, soft-looking overweight man, a eunuch, wearing a long pointed dagger. The woman would make her selection, pay with a gold coin or two, and one of the women leave with it, taking it home.
Gabrielle turned to let her pass without seeing her. She wanted to wait until she was alone. Eventually, only the man remained, following her.
"Is he guarding her? Or making sure she doesn't try to escape?" Gabrielle whispered to Xena.
"I really doubt if she would want to run away. If you were dressed like that, would you? With all the money she's carrying, he's probably guarding against thieves."
Gabrielle and Xena circled around a stall so they would be sure to intercept her. Xena hung back and let Gabrielle get into position. She had her back partially to Lila, her head down, until they were almost side by side, then she turned to her sister.
"Lila." she said looking up at her.
Lila's mouth dropped open with surprise and shock.
"Gabrielle?"
"Yes! It's me!"
Gabrielle put her arms around Lila to hug her. Lila responded momentarily, then pulled back.
"What are you doing here?"
Disappointed at Lila's lack of enthusiasm, she replied, "I'm here for you. I came to see you!"
Lila looked around as if worried they might be seen together.
"What's the matter?" Gabrielle asked, puzzled at Lila's reaction. "Aren't you glad to see me?"
"Yes, of course I am. It's just -- I never expected to see you again."
"But I'm here. Aren't you happy? I don't understand. It's been over eight years since we've seen each other. I would think . . . ."
"Gabrielle. Yes! I'm very happy to see you. You don't know how glad I am that you're okay, but things are -- complicated. Look, right now I have to return home. There are things I need to attend to."
"But --" Gabrielle tried to say.
"Wait. Let me think." Lila turned to the vendor. "Excuse me, do you have something I can write on? And a quill?"
The merchant handed her a small parchment square, a feather pen and ink. Lila began to write, speaking as she did.
"I'm writing down directions to my home. Triberius, the senator who owns it, will be home for supper just before dusk. Then he'll leave for the baths. He never returns until almost midnight. So I want you wait until he leaves. Then we can visit and catch up. Give this to the sentry at the door, he will let you in."
Lila handed the page to Gabrielle. When she looked at it, she said, "Lila, I can't read this. I can barely understand the language. Can't you write it in Greek?"
Xena stepped up and took it from Gabrielle. "I can read it." she said.
Just as Lila looked up at Xena, her guard stepped up, his hand drawing his dagger, ready to defend Lila if necessary.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lila demanded.
"No. Lila. This is my friend. We're together. Lila this is -- Cyrene. Cyrene, my sister Lila."
Lila put her hand up by her shoulder, stopping the eunuch.
"I'm pleased to meet you. But I really have to leave now. You should have no trouble finding the house."
"Lila, wait!" Gabrielle was getting angry. "Just in case you were wondering, Mother and Father are well and they send their love."
Lila hesitated, as if she wanted to say something, but only bit her bottom lip.
"Come after dark." She said. But as she turned to leave, Gabrielle saw that her eyes were wet.
As Gabrielle watched her walk away, Xena put on hand on her shoulder.
Gabrielle turned to Xena. "What's wrong with her? Why was she acting like that?"
"There's no telling. Maybe she's forbidden to talk to strangers, or to foreigners. Or maybe it's just such a shock to her she doesn't know how to react."
They returned to the tavern to collect their belongings. They took them to the stable to put with their horses and gave the owner their last gold coin. Unless they were invited to stay at the Senator's house, they would have to leave the city and find someplace to camp until they returned to Greece.
Chapter Eight
They arrived early and waited until after dark when they saw Triberius, a heavy-set, older man, leave.
Gabrielle announced themselves to the guard and handed the page to him. He took it without looking at it and allowed them to enter. They were met by a young girl, barely in her teens, and she took them to the dining hall. The table was piled with fresh fruit, bread, cheese, and bottles of wine.
"Mistress says you are to eat." The girl said. "She will join you soon."
Xena began to help herself to the food, but Gabrielle only nibbled on a few grapes.
It wasn't too long until Lila appeared.
"Gabrielle!" she shouted out, and ran to embrace her.
Gabrielle returned the hug. Now she was getting the kind of greeting she had expected earlier in the day. They held tight to each other, crying, too overcome with emotion to speak.
"You two are going grow together if you keep that up." Xena finally said.
The two sisters slowly parted, but held onto each other's hands.
"Oh, Gabrielle, I'm so sorry about the way I acted in the market, but Callia tells Triberius almost everything I do. If I had shown too much emotion it would have looked -- suspicious."
"I understand. I knew there had to be a good reason."
"How did you find me? The last thing I remember I was being driven off in a cart and you were in shackles, and your face was -- Almighty Zeus! Your face! There's no scar! I can't believe it. Why is there no scar?"
"Oh, there was a scar all right. Right down here." And Gabrielle drew her finger down from her eyebrow to her chin showing where it once was.
"But how?"
"You won't believe it. But before we get too carried away with our stories, let me tell you about Mother and Father."
"Oh, yes! I was so relieved when you said they were well, but I just couldn't say anything right then."
"I know. Anyway, Mother said Father seemed to lose his will to live after we were taken. Mother did what she could to keep the farm going, but it was just too much for one woman. The work has aged her before her time. She just couldn't keep up with the planting and weeding and harvesting, and the upkeep. When Xe -- I mean, when Cyrene and I got there, the whole place was very run down. But they were so glad to see me, that Father started getting his strength back, and Mother seemed to have a little bounce in her step. And when we left, they were both so much better."
"I'm so glad. But how did you know where I was? How did you know I was even alive?"
"I had some -- help." Gabrielle smiled at Xena.
Lila looked at her and asked. "So Cyrene, how did you know where I was?"
"It wasn't Cyrene who knew," Gabrielle explained. "She has a special friend who -- found you."
"Will you stop being so mysterious and tell me!"
Gabrielle smiled again, almost laughing, "You won't believe this, but it was Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love."
Lila was starting to get irritated. "You're making fun of me, now. Why would Aphrodite tell YOU where I was?"
"Cyrene? You want to step in now? She's your friend."
"Okay. Lila, I once did a favor for Aphrodite and then she returned it. So we had a bit of history together. I called on her again because Gabrielle wanted to ask her if she'd bring you home -- a huge favor that would put Gabrielle very much in her debt."
Lila looked at Gabrielle, not quite sure if she believed the story. Gabrielle nodded her head that it was true.
"So Aphrodite used her magic to find you, but since you seemed to have a pretty good life here, she wasn't sure if Gabrielle really wanted to her to take you from here and send you back to Poteidaia, especially since you have a daughter."
"I don't have a daughter. Triberius has a daughter, I only gave birth to her."
"Oh." Xena said, wishing she hadn't mentioned it. "And it was Aphrodite who removed Gabrielle's scar."
"That's quite a story." Lila said, deciding she would believe it, for now."
"So what about you? How did you end up here -- running all this?" Gabrielle asked.
"After the auction, the other girls and I were put on a ship bound for Crete, at least that's what we were told. But a Roman war ship intercepted us, and took us and most of the other cargo. They called it an import/export tax for Rome, but it was just piracy. We were brought to Rome, put up for auction, and Triberius bought me and one other girl. I've been here ever since."
"I'm glad for you, that you weren't -- didn't have to suffer any."
"What about you? What happened to you, and how did you get your freedom."
"You really want to hear about it? Some of it's ugly. And I'm ashamed of some -- most, of the things I've done."
"Which weren't your fault." Xena put in.
"Yes, I want to know. Tell me everything."
Lila and Gabrielle talked long into the night -- eating, laughing, crying, and reminiscing about their childhood days. Xena mostly listened, joining in only when one or the other would ask her something, or to clarify or correct something Gabrielle would say.
Then they were interrupted by a young boy. "Mistress, the Master has returned. He waits for you to come to his bed chamber."
"I have to go. Can you come back tomorrow evening?"
"Sure. We ran out of money, so we'll have to camp outside the city, but we can be here tomorrow night."
"Wait here." Lila said, and hurried out of the room. Moments later she returned with ten silver ducats.
"Here, take these. There's a inn not too far away, called the Palace of the Gods. It's clean and has reasonable rates. Stay there tonight."
"Lila." Gabrielle objected. "I cant take this."
"Of course you can. Please, stay there tonight and come back tomorrow evening. I love you, Gabrielle. I missed you SO much!"
"I love you, too. And I missed you." Gabrielle said. The two sisters hugged each other, kissed, and then Lila left with instructions to the boy to show them out.
"Well, she was right about one thing, this is a nice room." Gabrielle said as she and Xena climbed into bed for whatever was left of the night. "But I don't know about that 'reasonable rates' part. I mean, six ducats for one room for one night?"
"Well, we do get breakfast with it." Xena replied. "And we don't have to be out until noon, so we can sleep all morning if we want."
"Right! Like you'd ever be in bed past daybreak!" Gabrielle joked.
"Old habits, you know."
Despite her old habits, it was midmorning before Xena woke up. Gabrielle was already awake, watching Xena sleep. Then kidded her the rest of the day about how lazy she was. They ate all they could of the free breakfast, then went back to the stable to pay for one more day. And still had two ducats left. For the remainder of the day they wandered through the markets, killing time until dusk.
After watching Triberius leave, they once again were escorted into the dining hall for another huge meal. Lila joined them immediately, and most of the evening was a joyous repeat of the previous night. But then it was time to get serious.
"Lila, I want you to come back to Poteidaia with us."
"You know I can't do that."
"Yes you can. All you have to do is leave with us tomorrow morning while everyone thinks you are out shopping. We can be half way to Napoli before you're missed."
"You forget I'm guarded, Gabrielle. Callia would never let that happen."
Gabrielle looked at Xena. "She could stop him. She's the absolute best warrior there ever was. He wouldn't stand a chance."
"You don't understand, when I first got here, he was the only one who had any sympathy for me. He taught me the language, told me how I should behave to keep me from getting beaten. He took care of me. I was the sister he had, then lost when she was sold. He's loyal to Triberius, but he loves me. And in a way, I love him too. And if I left, I would never see Sarah again. She'll be six years old right after the winter solstice. Even though I only see her once or twice a month, she lives with Triberius' sister, I could never leave her."
"Maybe someday your parents could come to Rome, to visit." Xena suggested.
"They'd never do that. They've never been more that a few days ride from Poteidaia." Gabrielle said.
"They shouldn't come anyway." Lila said. "I hear talk about dissention among the generals. Many of them are disenchanted with Caesar. Even in the Senate there is discord."
"I wonder why." Xena mumbled.
"Things are going to get dangerous. I'm afraid there may be civil war, and it will be too easy for visitors -- foreigners, to get caught in it."
"Then you're saying we should get out while we can." Gabrielle said.
Lila nodded, not trusting her voice not to break.
"I wish there was some way things could be different," Lila went on. "But I can't leave, and you two shouldn't stay."
"At least you know your parents are alive and doing well," Xena said, "And we know that you are all right. So we will have good news to take back to them."
"Yes," Lila said quietly. "There's that."
"And there's no reason why we can't come back, after all the unrest has quieted down." Gabrielle said hopefully.
"No. No reason at all." Lila agreed.
Both sisters began crying and fell into each other's arms, holding tight to the other. Eventually, the tears ran out. And it was time to say good bye.
"Take this to Mother." Lila said, and removed a silk scarf from around her neck. "Give her my love. And this is for Father." She handed Gabrielle a silver inlaid dagger with her name inscribed on the blade.
To Gabrielle, she gave an ivory and jade comb for her hair.
"I don't have anything to give you." Gabrielle said sadly.
"How about a lock of that beautiful hair, I'm sure Aphrodite wouldn't mind."
There were more hugs and kisses all around, and then Gabrielle and Xena started to leave, but Lila had one more gift. She gave Xena a calf skin pouch containing fifty gold ducats.
"Take care of Gabrielle," she pleaded. "Until you two get back to Poteidaia, you're all she has."
"I'll protect her with my very life if I have to."
After one more night in the Palace of the Gods, Gabrielle and Xena rode away from Rome, beginning their return journey back to Poteidaia, and eventually on to Amphipolis.
THE END