"Story Time" is copyright © 1997 by Morgan MacLeod, all rights reserved. Do not distribute, archive, or repost without prior permission from the author.

Xena and Gabrielle belong to MCA/Renaissance Pictures. Some characters herein are also based on situations belonging to Paramount. All these characters are used here in a strictly non-profit manner, and their appearance is in no way intended to infringe on the trademarks of MCA, Renaissance Pictures, or Paramount.

"Hello Timon. It's just plain Xena now. I'm out of the warlord business."

"I see. News takes some time to reach us here on the coast. You are still armed as a warrior, though."

"I keep my hand in."

"What brings you back to Thalassepolis?"

"A bit of this, a little of that. You know how it is. I don't recognise your associates."

"Ah yes, Climene and Ataxes were still on the village council when last you were here, as I recall. Ataxes was lost at sea three years back, and Climene died of the coughing sickness last winter. May I introduce to you my fellow elders." Timon turned first toward the younger man beside him. "This stout fellow is Deiron, one of our best fishermen, and the third of our number is Melanthe, our midwife."

"Honoured," Xena said, nodding to each of them. "We need to talk, elders of Thalassepolis. But not here."

"Indeed?" queried Melanthe.

Yes. Do you still have your private councils in that little room in back of the Temple?"

Timon nodded.

Fine." Xena turned to Gabrielle and Rillian. "Why don't you get settled into the inn, and I'll have my talk with these people." She handed Argo's reins to Gabrielle. "I'll be back."

Xena began walking toward the Temple of Poseidon, the village elders following in tow, all with an air of slight bemusement, as though they were not quite certain when the encounter had slipped out of their hands and into Xena's. Gabrielle and Rillian stared after them for a moment. Rillian smiled. "Does she do that often?"

"All the time. She may not be a warlord anymore, but she's still... very commanding, if you know what I mean." Gabrielle turned to look at the inn. "Well, we have our orders."

"Yes, we do."

With the formidable warrior princess out of striking range, the stable boy ran out to take Argo to shelter, and Rillian and Gabrielle went into the inn to arrange for rooms, baths, and dinner.

Across the square, in a small but well appointed meeting room attached to the Temple, Xena, Timon and Melanthe had seated themselves around a polished wooden table. Deiron bustled about for a few moments, setting goblets out, and pouring wine before joining them at the table.

Xena sat quietly for a moment, looking at each of Thalassepolis' elders in turn. One after another they tried to hold her gaze as long as possible, but eventually each one had turned away.

"You know why I've come back."

Timon spoke. "Xena, there is nothing you can do. You above all others should know that. You killed it once, and like the Phoenix, it returned. What does it matter if you kill it again? You'll go away, and the next time it returns, can you swear to return to protect us? Will you be here the time after that, and the time after that?"

"Timon. It can be killed. Forever. I know how."

Timon leaned forward in his chair. "What can you do that you have not already done? We have been through this before. It changes nothing." He slumped back in his seat. "The beast is immortal. We must live with this, as our fathers and their fathers lived with this."

"All this does is give false hope to our people," Melanthe continued. "Hope that the curse that was laid on this land can be ended. You can't end it, Xena. No one can. And you know it. You tried that before. You failed."

"I failed because I didn't understand. Now, I think I do."

Anger in his voice, Deiron spoke. "Oh. Now you think you understand. We have always understood, because it is our land the gods have cursed, and our blood that must provide the sacrifice. When we have paid enough in blood, then the creature will go away for a time. When the gods demand more of us, it will come again. This is the way we have always lived. Don't try to change things, you'll only bring more suffering down upon us all."

"Xena." Melanthe's voice was gentle, after Deiron's harshness. "We know you want to help us. We appreciate it. But there really is nothing you can do."

"Go away, Xena," Timon spoke softly, barely more than a whisper. "Go before the people start hoping again."

"You are the most pathetic bunch of cowards I've seen in... I don't know how long." Xena stood, leaning forward, hands laid flat on the table in front of her. "You don't even want to listen. Too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway. It can be killed. It's no more immortal than you or I. My mistake, the first time, was in thinking it was the only one. My mistake, the second time, was in staying away to follow my battle plans until it had stopped hunting, until it had hatched its young and died. This time, I won't kill it until I've seen its lair with my own eyes, and destroyed its offspring. Then I'll kill it. And it will be over." She stood erect once more, looking around the table at the others.

For a few seconds, all were silent. Then, one by one, they shook their heads sadly. "Give up, Xena." Timon said. "You looked for a lair last time, and didn't find one..."

"With only fifty men, and an entire mountain range to search? No one could have found the lair without the help of a god... but while it still lives, it can be tracked. It will lead us straight to its nest. There's no need to search, only to follow."

"Don't do this to us, or to yourself." Melanthe sighed. "It is a curse, some say. Perhaps it is only the price we must pay to the gods for the bounty of the fields and the sea, and the protection the mountains give us. The warlords don't bother us here, no great empires march along our little strip of land and threaten us with conquest. We are happy, here, for the most part. Perhaps the gods ask from us the blood that would otherwise be shed in strife."

"The gods don't want your sacrifices - except Hera, and what she offers in return, you don't want. What you have here is a mortal creature, an animal that will always take easily captured prey over a hard hunt. You've enslaved yourselves to an animal because it's easier to let it kill your children that it is to hunt it down and finish it and its line forever."

Deiron leapt up, anger in his eyes, as his fist slammed against the table. "You don't know what it's like. Get out of this town, Xena. Get out before I throw you out." Barely under control, he stalked from the room. Methanthe jumped up to follow him.

"You didn't know this, Xena," Timon said. "The last time it came, Deiron's daughter was one of the sacrifices."

Xena turned away for a moment, cursing beneath her breath, before turning on Timon once more. "Doesn't he understand I want to end that. There will be no more sacrifices."

Timon smiled sadly. "And how then would Deiron feel, knowing that he did not have to send his daughter to her death?" He sighed. "But that doesn't really matter, because I don't think there's anything you can do."

"Let me try, Timon. Hold back the sacrifices, and let me try." She looks sharply at him. "You haven't begun the sacrifices already, have you?"

Timon shook his head. "No one has died... yet. But I can't stop it, Xena. It's our way."

"Timon, I can end this. But you have to do your part. Don't start the sacrifices. Give me some time."

"I'll do what I can. No promises."

"Use sheep, or goats then. The beast won't know the difference."

"The gods will know. It's always been our way. Only maidens who have not known the touch of man. It's the tradition."

"Find an untouched goat, then. There must be some around."

"The gods demand our blood, not the blood of animals." A noise at the door halted their argument.

Melanthe returned, speaking first to Timon. "He's calmer now." She looked at Xena. "I told him that we couldn't just send you away in the night, not when you'd come so far, and your intentions were good. He'll not bother you, as long as you stay out of his way for a while."

"I understand how he must feel. Just the thought of losing one's child... but you must believe me, I can do this for you. No more children need die in vain."

Melanthe locked eyes with Timon, who said to her, "Xena has asked us to delay the beginning of the sacrifices. I told her that no one has died yet, but that I could make no promises."

The older woman nodded, and turned to Xena. "This is our way. We cannot change it on the chance that things might be different tomorrow. It would be better for all if you would just leave quietly in the morning."

"I will not leave here until this is ended. I had hoped for your help. If you refuse, then I'll do it alone. But I will not leave."

Melanthe shrugged. "That is your choice. Although... remember, if you stay, you and your friends are subject to the choosing, just as any other maiden in the town."

Xena laughed, feeling the irony of the situation all too keenly. This veiled threat was one she had the perfect answer for, thanks to her rival in Gabrielle's heart."If you mean to threaten Gabrielle, don't bother. She's a widow. And as for Rillian or myself, if you can hold either of us down long enough to check our maidenhoods, you'll deserve whatever you get. No maidens of any suitable kind for a sacrifice here. Though that was a brave attempt to scare me away."

"It was worth a try."

"Just let me do what I've come here to do... and hold off killing your daughters until I have a chance to save them."

Timon and Melanthe exchanged glances once more. Finally Timon spoke. "I think that perhaps we need not send anyone to the rock for a day or two. You have that much time."

Disgusted, Xena stalked to the door. "I'll take what I can get," she said over her shoulder as she pulled it open. "And here's fair warning. If you try to stake anyone out, I'll do my best to stop you. Think about that, while you're grovelling in front of your traditions." With a final venomous look at the two elders, she left the room, closing the door behind her with a vigourous yank that rattled doors and shutters throughout the Temple.

On her way out, she paused before the altar of Poseidon, looking up towards the sacred symbols of the god, and the fires that burned on the altar. "Poseidon. Are you listening? Do you know these people believe you drink their children's blood? Do you care? Have you ever spent a moment of your godhood trying to help these people that worship you so much they'll pay you in their own blood?" She waited for a moment, then curled her lip in disdain. "I thought not," she muttered bitterly, and turned her back on the altar. How typical, she thought as she left the temple and headed back across the square towards the inn. As usual, the gods were wrapped up in their own petty affairs, and heedless of the mortals who implored them for aid. The best way to deal with the gods, she had found again and again, was to make sure you had something they wanted, and bargain closely. Gods! Omnipotent children was more like it. She had more respect for that odious cheat, Salmoneus.

Rillian and Gabrielle were seated at a table by the fireplace, platters of broiled fish and fresh greens, and a pitcher of wine in front of them. Both looked up from their conversation as she sat down beside Gabrielle.

"You don't look very pleased with things," Gabrielle remarked after a glance at the scowl on Xena's face.

"Cowards. Shortsighted, murdering cowards. They won't help us track the monster. And they won't give their word to stop the sacrifices."

"But why?" Gabrielle asked, disbelief etched onto her face. "Don't they understand that you want to free them from this thing. That if they help you now, it'll be gone forever?"

"I don't know. Maybe they've lost all ability to hope. Maybe they're just too afraid of change to try. Doesn't matter. We're on our own."

Rillian shrugged. "We have been so far, and we've done all right."

"True, but we could have used some decent trackers." Xena sighed. "Instead, we split our efforts between following that thing, and making sure they don't start the sacrifices."

"How do you plan to do that?" Rillian asked.

Xena glanced around. There was no one within listening range. She leaned in towards Gabrielle and Rillian, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Tomorrow, we head out to that rock ourselves, set up camp nearby. If they bring a girl out to the rock, we wait til they go and cut her free. There's deer, and mountain goats, around here - I trap one, use it for bait instead. And when the beast comes, I follow it while you two wait in case they try to stake out someone else."

"I don't like it," said Gabrielle. "Are you sure you can take that thing on alone, if it sees you following, and turns on you?"

"Gabrielle, don't worry." She smiled. "Besides, I don't hear you coming up with a better idea."

Rillian nodded. "She's right, Gabrielle. Without help, and with the chance that others may be put in danger too, there's not really anything else we can do. At least we know it's possible to drive the monster off."

Xena made a cutting motion with her hand, and leaned back, away from the others. As she did so, the tavern girl came over, a hesitancy plain on her face and in your voice as she spoke to Xena. "Would you like your dinner now? Your friends ordered for you, but asked me to wait until you arrived."

Xena nodded. Gabrielle spoke up. "Uh...Therese, that was your name, right?"

"Yes, miss."

"When you bring Xena's fish, could you also get me some nutbread? And maybe some fruit for dessert?"

"Yes, miss." As the girl walked away, they heard her muttering something about how three women could possibly consume so much food. Gabrielle started to laugh. A minute later, Xena joined in. "I know why I eat so much," she said. "I picked up the habit a long time ago, before I had my own army. This grizzled old veteran of dozens of wars took me under his arm and told me that a real soldier never passes up any chance at three things... sleep, food, and... well, his third choice never interested me all that much." She looked at Gabrielle. "And what's your excuse?"

"Me? I'm just a farm girl. Simple pleasures for simple minds." By now, all three were laughing. The serving girl, emboldened by their hilarity, returned with their requests and set them down, looking at all three as if they were just a little mad.

Xena took a deep breath. "You, Gabrielle, have a far from simple mind. And you can still eat more nutbread than any three other people I know."

Rillian reached out and snatched a piece of fruit. "I'm with Xena on this one. Eat and sleep when you can, you never know when you next chance will be for either. Of course, an argument can be made for that third thing your soldier friend mentioned too, wouldn't you say, Gabrielle?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"We eat and sleep when we can, because the life of an adventurer is fraught with mischance and peril. Maybe we should look the same way at love as well."

"Oh, I don't think that was exactly what he meant," Gabrielle answered quickly before burying her face in her nutbread.

"I know it wasn't," Xena said. "His concerns were a touch less, uh, elevated, shall we say."

Rillian looked at Xena with piercing dark eyes. "But it's still a valid point, isn't it? We need love to survive, just as we need food, or sleep. Why not grasp at it whenever and wherever we find it?"

Xena held her gaze for a moment, trying to read the message behind the words. Had Rillian seen through her, sensed her feelings for Gabrielle? Or was Rillian herself in love with the young bard, and asking Xena's permission, as her guardian, to court her? Either way, this was no conversation she was prepared to enter into. She turned away, forcing a laugh. "You bards! You spend too much time on philosophy for me. I'll stick to fish."

Rillian shrugged. "Fish has its good points, too."

"Next, I want a bath." Gabrielle turned to Xena. "I asked them to get the bath-house ready, so anytime you're ready, we can go. I am so looking forward to being clean, even if it's just for one night."

Xena picked up a few pieces of fruit, and stood up. "Let's go, then. I want to get to sleep early."

The serving girl saw them rise, and hurried over. "You'll want your baths now, I guess."

Gabrielle smiled. "Lead on, fair damsel, to those pleasant realms where hot water awaits us."

"She means, yes, thank you," Rillian added by way of interpretation.

The maid shrugged, and led them outside to the small bath-house. Smoke rose invitingly from the chimney, and as they stepped inside, they saw a large shallow tub, big enough for three or four to sit in, and a line of huge kettles steaming over the fire. The girl started to pour the water from the kettles into the tub, but Xena stopped her, taking the heavy load and pouring it herself. The girl pointed out the case of soaps, oils, and strigils, the rack of towels, and the barrels of cold water should they need it, and left them alone to bathe.

"This is almost as fancy as anything you'd find in Athens," marvelled Gabrielle as she stripped off her clothes and sank gratefully into the steaming water. As Rillian disrobed to join her, Xena took her arm. "Let me look at that wound. I want to make sure it's all right."

Gabrielle looked down at Rillian's leg, and gasped in surprise. "Look, Xena, it's almost gone. There's hardly even a scar."

Xena bent down to look more closely, but Rillian eluded her and sank into the water. "I heal quickly. And it really looked much worse than it was."

Xena looked as her for a moment. "I guess it must have. Either that, or you have your own god of healing hidden in that kit of yours."

Rillian laughed. "Now what god would let me carry it around in my gear, like a spare sock? Stop fussing over me and get out of that armour and into the water before it cools."

Xena obliged, and after some friendly splashing and washing of backs, and combing of long wet hair, all three were clean and relaxed, ready for the long promised sleep in comfortable beds. Delighted to be warm, and comforted by the gentle buoyancy of the water, Gabrielle stretched out in the tub, resting her head on the broad raised shelf that encircled it. Lying back with her eyes closed, her body covered by the still warm water, she let the heat seep into their bones. Slowly her mind began to drift away from the concerns around her. Rillian glanced at Xena, and whispered, "I think she's falling asleep."

Gabrielle, vaguely aware that her name had been mentioned, muttered softly.

Xena smiled. "She's just drifting. I'll wake her up before I head to bed myself. Unless she wakes up by herself when the water cools down."

Rillian nodded, then quietly slipped out of the tub and, swiftly pulling on her clothes, left the two of them alone. Xena lay in the warm water beside her, propped up on one elbow, watching silently as Gabrielle hovered in the twilight between waking and sleeping. She's so beautiful, Xena thought to herself. So open, so vulnerable. It would be so easy to seduce her now. To start with the lightest of touches, fingertips and feather kisses. I wonder what she looks like, flushed with passion. What she sounds like, tastes like... as she imagined the possibilities, her own breath grew ragged, and she felt desire building in her belly, sweeping upwards through her like a wave, sending her heart racing. Her mouth seemed unaccountably dry, and her nipples ached.

Beside her, Gabrielle stirred and began to murmur again. Xena leaned a little closer to listen. "This seems almost like the Elysian fields. The water's so comfortable, I could just sleep here."

Xena swallowed, trying to control her voice. "Do you want more hot water, then, or do you intend to get up and go to bed?"

Gabrielle opened her eyes and turned her head, to see Xena lying half on her side with her head, shoulder, and part of a rounded breast above the waterline, looking at her with a strange intensity she had never quite seen before. "Xena, what's wrong?"

What's wrong, she wants to know. Oh gods, should I tell her? Do I dare? "What do you think, about what Rillian said?"

Gabrielle furrowed her brow, running through all the things that Rillian had said in her mind. "You mean about grasping things when you can?"

"About grasping love when you can."

Gabrielle lay in silence for a moment, hardly knowing how to answer her. "Love takes two," she said at last, carefully.

"Like you and Perdicas."

"Maybe. I don't know. I'm not exactly an expert on the subject." Her eyes opened wide as Xena glided closer to her, raising her sleek muscled body just slightly, almost but not quite leaning over her. Her eyes followed the droplets of water running down the curve of her fully exposed and perfect breast, gathering tremulously on one ruby nipple before falling free. She swallowed.

Xena's voice was low, husky. "Neither am I." Gabrielle could feel Xena's breath against her cheek. "Could you love again, Gabrielle?"

"What?"

"After Perdicas. Could you ever love again?"

Gabrielle's head was spinning from the heat in the air, the pounding of her heart, the sight and sound and sharp fragrance of Xena filling her senses to overflowing. Her body seemed on fire, her lungs paralysed. "I, I, I guess so. I don't know." She sat up quickly, cupping her head in her hands.

Xena drew back. "Gabrielle, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," she quavered. "Everything is spinning around, and I can hardly breathe. My head feels so light."

Xena jumped out of the water, and knelt behind the bard, sliding her arms under Gabrielle's arms and lifting her gently out of the water. "Lie down here, on the ledge. Don't try to move," she said as she leapt to her feet and ran to one side of the room, where the water barrels stood. She grabbed a bucket and filled it with cold water, snatched a towel from the shelves above and dropped moistened before hastening back to Gabrielle. She wrung out the towel, now cool from the water, and kneeling beside the prostrate bard, dabbed at Gabrielle's face and neck.

"How do you feel now?" she asked after a few moments.

"Better. Not so funny." Gabrielle said, her voice still shaky.

"Good. Just relax for a little while, while I get you cooled down a bit. Then I'll help you to your room." Xena began to rub Gabrielle's body gently with the towel, pausing every few minutes to dip it in the bucket at her side.

"What happened?"

"You almost fainted. At least that's what it looked like. Probably from exhaustion and then this heat." She sponged Gabrielle's face and neck with cold water once more. "I think we've been in here too long. Do you think you can stand, now, if I help you?"

"I think so."

"Good. Let me get dressed, and gather up your things. There's some robes here, you can wear one of them to your room." Xena stood, and dressed quickly, then carefully urged Gabrielle to her feet before wrapping her in a soft homespun robe. With Gabrielle's clothes bundled in one arm, and Gabrielle herself supported on the other, Xena led her back into the inn, and up the back stairs to the small room Gabrielle had claimed earlier that evening. With tender care, she settled her into the narrow bed, and arranged the blankets carefully over her. As Gabrielle's eyes closed, she stroked her forehead lightly, and then left her sleeping in the quiet darkness.

Once Xena had closed the door to Gabrielle's room, she stood rock still for a moment in the hall, silently cursing herself in every language she had ever known or heard. What a perfect plan for a seduction, she fumed. Make your lover sick enough to pass out, and then move in for the kill. How could she have even considered seducing Gabrielle, even for one minute? She would not lose control that way again.

Suddenly, she turned, hearing footsteps on the stairs at the end of the hall. It was Rillian, coming up from the common room. Her eyes fell on Xena, standing there in the hall, with surprise. "Where's Gabrielle?"

"Asleep. She spent too much time in the water, and started feeling dizzy. I just put her to bed."

"Oh. Well, I think I'll get some sleep myself," she replied, opening the door to her room. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Right. Sleep well".

With a final glance at the door of Gabrielle's room, Xena turned away and sought out her own bed. Despite the warmth and comfort, sleep was slow in coming. Images of Gabrielle danced before her eyes, taunting her with sweetness and vitality, until at last she slept.

A sudden rapping at her door brought her fully awake. It was still dark outside, though the pale light of the moon shone in through her window. The rapping sound was repeated, with some urgency. "Please, Lady Xena. Wake up, please." It was the voice of the serving girl for the evening before.

Xena jumped out of bed, grabbed her undershift and pulled it on, and reached for the door. The young girl rushed into her room, clearly agitated, her voice unsteady. "Please, you have to help me. There's no one else. And they say you did it before."

"Did what before?" Xena grabbed the girl by her shoulders, and looked her in the eyes. "Calm down. Take a deep breath." The girl obeyed wordlessly. "All right. Therese, isn't it?" She nodded. "Good. Slowly, tell me what's wrong. Start from the beginning."

"It's my brother. Please save my brother."

"What's wrong with your brother?"

"The sacrifice. He's gone out to the rock. You have to save him."

"What are you talking about? The elders told me they would send no sacrifices for at least a day. And what does your brother have to do with the sacrifice?"

"There's already been a sacrifice. Today. They send her out before you got here. My brother went after her. He left me a note. He went to try and kill the creature, to save her. They were going to be married, before the choice fell to her. But he's never fought anything, the creature will kill them both. Please, Xena," the girl wailed. "Please save my brother."