“Ah. Clever.” Xena said. “Same idea, less waste. I like it.”
“So I did.” The girl went on. “I put up a lot of nice hay for the mamas, and they all came to eat it in a row. Then all the lambs came over to get their dinner. But you know what? There wasn’t any left over.”
“Hm.” Xena’s eyebrow lifted.
“But then I realized there was one mama who had two babies under her, and we hadn’t had any twins that year. So I found my lamb.” She ducked her head as the ceiling came down close, and the rock brushed against her back. “But then he got lost again when I tried to catch him.”
The queen chuckled very softly.
“So I figured… “ Gabrielle pressed closer to the pallet, and swallowed. “So I figured I should mark him with something so I could find him again.”
“Getting tight in here.” The man in back commented. “Careful, storyteller.”
“Yeah.” The girl exhaled, leaning in.
“Ah.. the mountain executes my plan.” Xena whispered, lifting her hand to rub Gabrielle’s belly as it pressed close to her. “I am the master of all I survey, even the rocks.”
They eased past a sharp corner, then the way opened up a little again, and Gabrielle was able to stand upright again. “Phew.”
“Bummer.” Xena said. “Here I was hoping you’d end up on top of me, and we’d really give these guys something to groan over.”
Gabrielle managed a smile at that. Her fingers tightened around Xena’s, and she took a moment to steady her breathing before she craned her head and looked towards the front of the line. It was dark ahead of them, and she could just barely see the reflection of the torches carried by the six men who had taken the point.
Behind them, the rest of the queen’s retinue stretched, struggling through the uneven corridor as they carried supplies on bent backs.
Squaring her shoulders, Gabrielle shifted into a more comfortable walking position, but kept her hand firmly closed around Xena’s. “So.” She cleared her throat. “I had to find a way to mark the lamb.”
They were definitely going downhill now. Gabrielle felt like the walls were pressing on her, as though for every step she took downward, the air weighed more. “So I grabbed a bucket of hoof tar…”
Xena made a noise that was a cross between a laugh and a groan.
“Oh, boy.” The man in back started laughing.
Gabrielle grinned slightly. “And me and my brush of tar went to go catch that lamb.” She continued, catching sight out of the corner of her eye the men and women walking behind them, ears cocked, listening for her next words.
It occurred to her that it wasn’t only fighting that marked someone’s usefulness. Swords were no use here, but her words were.
Xena had known that. The girl realized, as she gave the queen’s hand a squeeze. Blood shot blue eyes peered up at her, with a warmth all the cavern’s darkness could not dampen.
She didn’t need to prove herself to Xena. Not anymore. Xena knew.
Gabrielle sighed. Now all they had to do was get out and get home.
Home. It was a shock, really, to realize that she actually considered the queen’s stronghold that way. Home had always been the small, three room homestead her father had built in Potadeia. The main room, with it’s neatly swept floor, and her mother’s carefully hoarded crockery near the fire, and the two bedrooms, her parents, and the smallest of all, hers and Lila’s.
It had been all she’d known.
Funny, how life was. Gabrielle shook her head. So very funny.
**
“What is it?” Xena felt the pallet slow to a halt, and she lifted her head to see. She immediately regretted the motion and it was only by sheer force of will that she kept herself from retching violently. She let her head drop back, as Gabrielle left her side and walked forward to find out what was going on.
“Got some problem ahead, Mistress.” The man carrying the rear of her pallet said.
Xena bit back a sarcastic comment, mostly because it would have taken energy she needed not to throw up. Forcing herself to be patient, she waited until Gabrielle came back, sensing the girl’s presence next to her as she knelt. Slowly, she rolled her head to one side and opened her eyes.
Uh oh. Xena didn’t even need to hear the words. She knew just by looking at the kid. “Blocked?”
A nod. “It… I think some rocks fell down and part of the roof collapsed.”
Figures. “Bring me up there. I wanna see.” Xena directed her bearers. She folded her hands over her stomach as they maneuvered the pallet ahead, the point men pressing back against the walls to let her pass.
The torches revealed a huge mass of granite trouble. Xena studied the slide, mentally ticking off how long they’d been traveling.
Her lip twitched into a wry snarl. “All right. We’ve gotta do this the hard way.” Her eyes studied the line of the rock, and with a mental toss, she threw the dice and hoped she’d guessed right. “Start pitching rocks. Put me down over there, and get moving.”
Without a word, the two pallet bearers did as she asked, setting her down so gently and carefully, she barely felt the contact on her back. With a grunt, Brendan moved up the line, getting read to direct traffic. “Right, lads. Form up now. We’ll pass em down to the bend, and build us a block behind er.”
Gabrielle moved to get in line, but found her foot held in place. She turned to see Xena watching her, and stepped back. “Shouldn’t I help?”
“No.” Xena said. “Your job is me. C’mere and get to work.”
The girl settled next to her as the men began to move the heavy rocks. “What if…”
“Sh.” The queen warned her. “No time for what if’s, Gabrielle. We’ll get through that. Count on it.” She tried to get a little more comfortable. “Now, you were about to put tar in some place real embarrassing. Spill it.”
Gabrielle drew her legs up under her and rested her elbows on her knees, as she took a deep, deep breath.
Count on it.
**
Brendan wiped his forehead, his sleeve leaving a grimy streak behind it. He looked ahead of him, peering into the dark hole they were toiling to remove rocks from. They’d made a good dent in it, but there was no sign of the slide ending, and he was starting to wonder if they’d have to tunnel half through the mountain to get out.
His eyes went to the side of the tunnel, where Xena’s battered form lay, Gabrielle sitting quietly next to her holding her hand. If they had to dig through the mountain, then they damn well would. Brendan watched Gabrielle reach over and smooth Xena’s hair back, a gentle, loving touch that made his throat tight.
Never had anyone touched his mistress so. Not any who’d kept all their bodyparts, that is. The old soldier sighed, and turned to continue his work. But then, Gabrielle wasn’t like any of the others, was she? The mistress had always gone for big, raunchy types before, ones who were as lusty in life as she was.
This little child? Brendan glanced back at Gabrielle. Ah. Life surely did surprise one, it did, when least expected. “C’mon, lads, keep er going.” He directed the line. “We’re gett’n where we need t’be.”
The men in front grunted, and kept passing the rocks back. Fate’s fortune had split the curiously fragile rock into chunks of a size they could move – almost as though they’d been piled there by purpose. Brendan picked up one of the bits and examined it, then he leaned closer to the torch and squinted. “Ah.”
“What?” Xena’s voice was low and strained, but it penetrated the noise of the work.
Brendan walked over and knelt beside her, offering up the rock. “See the side there, mistress?”
Xena lifted a hand and touched the rock, running sensitive fingertips over the edge. “Hammer.”
“Aye.”
The queen nodded. “Thought it looked too planned.” She commented. “Wonder what’s behind it?” Her weary eyes twinkled darkly. “Guess we’re gonna find out.”
Brendan stood up and gave her a brisk nod. “That we will, Majesty.” He turned and went back to the front of the line, helping to move the rocks a little faster. “C’mon there. Maybe there’ll be more’n a way out to find, eh?”
A tired chuckle answered his words.
Gabrielle looked at the opening with interest. “What does that mean?”
Xena had her eyes closed. Now, she opened one of them and regarded Gabrielle. “Only idiots and people with things to hide put ten meters of rock inside a tunnel.” She said. “Which do you think it was?”
“Hm.” Gabrielle rested her chin on her upraised knees. “What if it’s something you don’t want to find?”
“Like?”
The girl shrugged. She picked up a waterskin. “Would you like some water?”
“I’d like someone to take my head off with a suitably sharpened pike, but that’d disappoint you, so I guess water’ll do.” Xena answered. “C’mere.”
Gabrielle carefully lifted the queen’s head up and supported her with one arm, holding the skin to her lips with her other hand. “Does your head hurt?”
For a moment, Xena didn’t answer, then she nodded very briefly. She sucked on the waterskin, keeping a calm, almost disinterested look on her face.
“Okay, well… let me..” Gabrielle slid her legs under Xena’s upper body and eased her down into her lap, cradling her head in gentle hands. “I wish I could do more.”
Xena considered what the men watching them must be thinking. Here she was, allowing herself to be coddled like a baby, when they were busy working their tails off.
She regarded the ceiling, and smiled. It was damn good to be the queen, sometimes. Especially when you had beautiful young women to take care of you. She closed her eyes and shifted a little, feeling a bit of relief from the growing throbbing inside her skull from the new incline of her body.
Or maybe it was just from the nice cushion she was resting against. Xena could feel the curve of Gabrielle’s breast against her cheek, and if she listened carefully, almost hear the thumping of the heart underneath it.
My heart. Xena allowed herself a tiny smile.
It vanished a moment later, as two of the men near the back of the line came running forward, pushing the men out of the way. “Brendan!” One of them gasped. “I can hear em coming in!”
“Peachy.” Xena opened her eyes, reluctantly. “Better get moving faster, boys. Only one way to go.”
The pace picked up appreciably, and the rocks started flying.
“Did ja block the way back there?” Brendan yelled.
“Mostly, aye!”
“Mostly is not good enough!” Xena lifted her voice, making sure it carried. “You’re only gonna be mostly alive if you don’t do it right!”
Gabrielle felt her throat go dry. The rising agitation of the men was something she could feel even from where she was, and Xena’s body tensed as well. She noticed that the queen’s hands were now clenching and flexing, and it suddenly occurred to her that if the attackers did break through, it would be a carnage of bloody chaos inside the tunnel.
Her body urged her to flee. She wanted to just pick Xena up and carry her away, through the rocks, past the damned, annoying blockade, out into the free air just as fast as she could.
Of course, none of that was possible. All she could do is sit there and worry, and hope with all she was that everything would work out and they’d be okay.
Tough work. Gabrielle exhaled. “Xena, is there…”
“Just sit there.” Xena said, sharply. “You’ll get in their way.”
Though she knew the queen was right, it still stung. “Okay. I was just..”
Xena took hold of her hand and looked into her eyes. “Nobody wants to be outta this place more than I do. It’s killing me having to just lie here. So humor me, huh?” She muttered the words, in a very low tone.
Gabrielle bit her lip, and nodded. “I understand.”
The blue eyes twinkled faintly. “Do you?”
“I think so.” The girl said. “Nobody can do things as well as you can, so having to let them gets you a little crazy.”
“Oo.” The queen managed a smile. “Good answer.”
Gabrielle gave her a hug, and watched as three men pushed forward, snatching rocks out of the line and rushing off with them. Xena was right about one thing – having to just sit here and watch was almost unbearable. She wanted to be up and helping, and yet…
And yet, she knew her place was right here. With a sigh, she started gently rubbing Xena’s shoulders, her fingers working on the tense muscles on either side of the queen’s neck.
Off down the way they’d came, she could hear sounds now. Sounds of the men moving rocks, and more ominously, the sound of far off yells, and scrapes.
Was she scared? Gabrielle thought about that. If the bad guys caught them, she’d most certainly be killed, just as Xena would.
A truth surfaced and she was almost shocked by it.
“Hey.” Xena’s voice interrupted her self revelation.
Gabrielle looked down, into the queen’s eyes. “Yes?”
“Listen.” Xena whispered. “If this goes bad…” She paused, and her jaw worked a moment before she continued. “Thanks.”
“For what?” The girl answered, her brow creasing. “I didn’t do anything…well, other than tell a silly story and hold your head.”
Xena lifted their still joined hands and pressed her lips against Gabrielle’s knuckles. “Thanks for showing me what… being a part of humanity would have been like.”
Tears sprang to Gabrielle’s eyes and spilled over, running down her cheeks.
“Don’t.” The queen said. “It’s a good thing.”
Her throat was so tight, she simply couldn’t speak. Gabrielle gathered Xena into her arms instead, and hugged her. The sounds were getting louder, and the men were getting more frantic, but she pushed all of that out of her mind and focused on just this moment.
Just this woman.
Just this feeling.
Knowing this made death a gentle irrelevance. Her fear left her, and the sense of frantic impatience and she was left in a pool of caring that had Xena in its center. She buried her face into the queen’s hair and felt it flow over her, over them, shutting out the chaos.
“Thanks.” She whispered into Xena’s ear.
“For?”
Gabrielle exhaled shakily. “Everything.”
Xena gazed past her shoulder, experiencing a sense of peace despite the frantic working of the men. She knew the future was out of her hands now, and for the first time in her life she was content to let the Fates cast their capricious dice at her feet, to come up whatever side they willed.
She took a breath, and softly began to sing, just a little song, one she remembered from long ago. It had simple, nonsense words and a rolling tune.
Completely unprofound.
And yet, somehow it fit the moment.
But damned if it didn’t make Gabrielle cry again.
**
“Got through!” Brendan hollered. “Push! Push em in!! Move it!!”
Gabrielle let out the breath she’d been holding for what seemed minutes, since she’d heard the sounds of fighting behind them. She and Xena had both been silent for a little while, the queen simply resting in her arms as they watched the men work.
Now, Xena inhaled and nodded slightly, giving Gabrielle’s arm a tiny rub and a pat. “Okay, muskrat.” She said. “Looks like we’re getting ready to move.”
“Yeah!” Brendan’s shout was echoed by the men next to him. “Git the Mistress! Go! Go!”
Moving quickly, Gabrielle slid out from under Xena and settled her back onto the pallet. She scrambled out of the way as the two pallet bearers raced over, their faces covered in torch soot and bits of rock. They lifted the queen carefully, and started forward.
Gabrielle fell a step behind, biting her lip as she saw the tiny space they had to squeeze through. The men in front were making it larger, but the urgency was forcing the soldiers to just shove their way forward as the sounds behind them grew grimmer.
She slipped through behind the pallet bearers, feeling the scrape of granite against her skin as they passed through a very tight area, then suddenly a gust of cooler air hit her.
Air that smelled of earth, and water, and growing things. Surprised, Gabrielle sucked in a lungful of it, peering around the shoulders of the man before her to see what lay ahead.
She didn’t have time to look though, as a cluster of bodies shoved up against her back, and she was almost sent sprawling. She grabbed hold of the back of the bearer’s armor and held on as men and women rushed past her, pushing and jostling.
“Hey!” Xena barked hoarsely. “Easy!”
The men carrying her bolted forward, clearing space behind them and rushing through the darkness with fine disregard for their own safety. Ahead, a torch fluttered, marking the way, and as they ran the tunnel filled behind them with frightened, anxious bodies.
“Fire!”
Gabrielle’s heart clenched.
“Run!”
A woman screamed, just behind her. She could feel heat, coming from that way. She could feel the panic rising there too. It threatened to overwhelm her.
They would be killed. She could sense it. They all could.
Another scream, this one deeper, and the sound of cloth ripping as a man lost control and started clawing his neighbors.
Gabrielle’s heart raced out of control.
“HOLD IT!”
A voice thundered through them, ringing off the rocks and bringing the very air to a standstill. Gabrielle obeyed it without question, her eyes widening as the flickering light grew and outlined a tall figure now standing in their midst.
Wavering, but solid. Commanding their attention by a sheer force of will.
Xena drew in another breath. “EVERYBODY LINE UP. SINGLE FILE. AGAINST THE WALL.” She pointed. “NOW!!!!!”
And every one did. Even Gabrielle.
“All right.” Xena looked at all of them. The pallor of her skin was almost invisible in the dim light, all they could see was the glints off her pale eyes as she stood there, legs braced. “Move out, that way. You six, throw everything you got back into that hole.” Her voice dropped and she looked at Gabrielle. “And you, come here.”
Gabrielle came to stand next to her, shivering a little as the queens’ arm dropped over her shoulders.
“Move.” Xena directed, calmly. “When I tell you to run, RUN.”
The line started to move out. Brendan counted them off, giving each one a shove as they got to the next opening and disappeared through it. “Mistress?” He uttered. “Go.” He hesitated. “If ye can.”
Xena turned and stalked towards the opening, keeping her hold around Gabrielle. “Idiots.” She muttered.
“Are you okay?” Gabrielle whispered. She could feel the shaking in the body pressed against her, and she wondered for a moment if she was going to have to really give carrying Xena a try.
“No.” Came the answer. “But someone has to be the queen.”
“Want me to get the…”
“No.” Xena glanced behind them, and almost stumbled. “Just keep moving.” She saw a growing light the way they’d come and exhaled. “Idiots.”
Gabrielle also looked. “For trying to burn us out?”
“They put so much damn flame down they can’t get through to us.” Xena coughed a short laugh. “If they’d just come after us, we’d be dead by now.”
Oh. Gabrielle struggled on, bearing as much of the queen’s weight on her shoulders as she could. “I can smell grass.” She said, her nose wrinkling as the scent of the outside world came to her again. It was tantalizing, almost taunting her here in the close darkness.
“You can smell freedom.” Xena uttered. “Me too. Gods, I want it. With any luck, we can collapse this damn tunnel back on them and turn them into dead meat.”
Gabrielle blinked the sweat out of her eyes. It was hot inside the mountain now, and she could smell wood burning. The sound of the fire started to get to her, a low, ominous rumble mixed with pops and cracks of the overheated rock.
She wanted to scream. But she just bit the inside of her lip and kept going, striving to ignore the burning in all her muscles.
“Bastards!” One of the men behind them screamed. “Augghh!!!”
She started to turn, but Xena’s arm tightened around her shoulders and prevented it. “Don’t.” The queen said. “You can’t help him.”
“Roll! Roll!” Brendan’s voice rang out. “On the ground, y’damn ox!”
Gabrielle swallowed hard, as a stench swept past them, one of burning flesh and burning hair that was so heavy she tasted it on the back of her tongue. Her stomach twisted, and she clenched her jaw shut as firmly as she could.
She couldn’t help him.
Xena had to pause for a moment, resting her hand against the rock with her eyes closed.
“Xena?” Gabrielle felt a blast of heat hit her in the back.
“I know.” The queen straightened and pushed off, her steely will evident in the fire’s reflection that threw shadows across her firm, determined jaw. “Move, move move. Stupid bastards aren’t going to catch us.”
Gabrielle nodded and struggled on, smoke beginning to fill her lungs. She coughed violently, then almost fell as rocks slid under her boots. She caught her balance just before Xena could try and help her, and continued on. “Move, move move.” She repeated softly. “Home, home, home.”
The queen snorted, very faintly.
A yell. This one of triumph. Xena drew in a breath as she sensed the opening ahead. “RUN!” She let out a yell of her own. “RUN! We’re OUT!”
Ragged, breathless, voices answered.
A cold blast of air, sweeping the drenched hair back off her face, tasting of rain as she inhaled it. Gabrielle felt bodies on either side of them, stumbling and jostling as they erupted from the stone into a driving wall of water that threatened to sweep them from their feet.
“Psha.” Xena spat, hauling her to one side as they crashed against the wall of a steep canyon. The floor of it was already racing with runoff, and it swirled around their boots as more and more of her men came pouring out. “Keep moving!” She pointed down the valley.
Gabrielle tipped her head back, feeling the clean rain wash over her. It was cold, and it stung, but if she squinted hard enough through it she could see racing clouds, and.. yes, there was a star, flickering quickly and disappearing from sight behind a foggy wisp.
The last of the servants went past them, and Xena pushed away from the rock, having caught her breath. Her entire body was trembling, and her head hurt so badly she was seeing stars of a completely different kind than Gabrielle’s.
But they were out.
“Are they going to come after us?” Gabrielle asked, panting.
Xena cocked her head, and listened. A low, muted rumbling came to her, and she smiled with a peculiar, cold bitterness. “No.”
Gabrielle looked back, seeing a last, few figures dash from the opening, then, almost invisible against the darkness, what appeared to be almost a fog puffed out after them. She recognized, in a flash of lightning, that the man that came out last was Brendan.
Then she faced forward and concentrated on keeping her feet in the swirling water, the strain almost unbearable as she fought to support both of them. There wasn’t time, and she didn’t have the strength to wonder about the men chasing them.
She would think about it later. After they were safe somewhere.
“Better get out of this damn gully.” Xena grunted. “I’m not in the mood for swimming.”
Swimming. Gabrielle tried to catch her breath. “Ah, Xena?”
The queen shook her drenched hair out of her eyes. “Tell me you can’t.”
Gabrielle didn’t answer for a moment. “I sink.”
Xena held on to the rock walls, hoping she wouldn’t just collapse. She felt so dizzy, the world seemed to just be shifting without pattern around her. “G…get me outta here..” She managed to say. “I’ll teach ya to swim. Promise.”
Gabrielle felt other bodies around her, and she looked up to find Brendan at her heels, and two other men next to her and Xena.
“Forgive me, mistress.” Brendan hesitated, then took hold of the queen’s other arm. “Joss, get t’little one’s hand there.”
“S’sallright.” Xena managed a low chuckle. “I’ll kill ya later.”
The sky lit up, and Gabrielle looked down the valley, seeing the roiling water at the bottom of it full of struggling people. But she could also see the entrance ahead, where the steep walls ended and something else began.
Something that looked far more open.
It probably wasn’t safety, but just the sight of it made Gabrielle’s heart soar. They had escaped Hades, and if it meant diving into the realm of Posdeidon, well….
Then she’d just have to learn to swim. Gabrielle hugged the sodden body pressed against hers. At least she’d have a good teacher.
Lightning flared, and thunder rolled, sounding almost like laughter as it rattled through the rocks.
**
The only shelter they could find was a scant overhang. It was long, however, and most of them fit under it, pressing their backs against the rock as the rain fell down in cold sheets. Gabrielle pulled her wet cloak around her and looked anxiously at Xena, who was leaning against the stone with her eyes closed.
They had lost most of their supplies, and all of their wagons and animals. All they had left was the soldier’s personal arms, and a few sacks some of the servants had kept on their backs.
Gabrielle felt an almost unreasonable sense of loss, knowing she’d probably never see Patches again. She’d only known him for a few days, and yet in that short time he’d grown on her with his sweet nature and cute ways.
Oh well. She exhaled. At least they were okay. At least, she hoped they were okay. “Xena?” She took the queens’ hand in her own, feeling the chill against her skin. “Why don’t you sit down?”
The queen turned her head and opened one eye, colorless in the faint light. “Then I’ll get my feet wet.”
Gabrielle looked down at both of their legs, completely drenched and mud covered. “Um…”
Xena leaned over and rested her cheek against the top of Gabrielle’s head. “I’m all right. Feels better standing up. Less pressure on my thick skull.”
“You have a very pretty skull.” The girl responded quietly, almost without thought. The rain was pouring down before them, and despite the overhanging ledge it’s mist coated every inch of her. She licked her lips, tasting the sweetness of it, and wondered what would happen to them next.
“Oo… what an amazing discovery I’ve made.” Xena murmured. “I can show you off at court.. make a mint.” She ruffled her thumb through the girl’s wet hair. “Rare, yellow coated sweet talking muskrat.”
Gabrielle smiled, despite all the discomfort. She snuggled closer and felt a little relief as their combined body heat battled the chill. “Where are we?”
“I’m in Elysia. Don’t know where you are.” Xena answered, pulling her closer and giving her a small, surprising nip on the back of her neck.
“Elysia?” Gabrielle whispered, as the surge of blood warmed her from head to foot.
“I’m alive. You’re alive, most of the rest of us are alive, most of them are dead. My version of Elysia.” The queen replied. “I’ve got simple tastes.”
“Oh.”
A crack of thunder rattled the rocks around them.
“We came through the damn pass the hard way.” Xena answered her original question. “We’re on the other side of the mountain.”
“Mm.”
“Which means…“ The queen sighed. “We gotta go back the way we came, because going forward on this side’s bad news.” She looked past Gabrielle’s head, to the string of men and women, most of whom were looking furtively back at her. Injured or no, she realized it was her responsibility to get them back home, and she also realized everyone here knew it.
Someone, as she had said, had to be the queen. Xena closed her eyes as a wave of nauseating vertigo made her knees shake. And sometimes, being the queen sucked. She let out a small breath, as Gabrielle snuck a hand through an opening in her cloak and wrapped her arm around Xena’s stomach.
She was a grown meglomaniacal tyrant, and she certainly didn’t need adorable blond women wrapped all over her to make her feel better even in lousy, cold, rainy circumstances like this.
“Hm.” Gabrielle hugged her gently. “You’ll make it okay. We’ll get there.”
On the other hand, if you were a meglomaniacal tyrant, and you *had* an adorable blond woman wrapped around you, why complain? “Yeah, we will.” She turned her head, glancing over at Brendan who was huddled next to her. “Ain’t this like the old days?”
The old soldier’s face twisted into a wry grin. “Ah, Mistress, that it is.” He admitted. “Cepting I’m a Hades of a lot older, and you’re keeping better company.”
Xena’s eyebrow twitched, then her face relaxed a little, into an almost smile. “Isn’t that the truth.” She uttered, glancing down at the blond head now tucked against her shoulder. “Okay.” She let her head rest against the cold, wet rock. “First thing’s first. We need to find some real shelter, and tally up what we’ve got.”
“Does it have to be a cave?’ Gabrielle murmured.
“What?” Xena looked at her.
“I hate caves.”
The queen blinked. “Now.”
“Mm.”
“Not much choice.” Xena squinted, as a puff of rain blew across her face. Then a thought occurred to her. “Unless…” Long, dusty memories surfaced. “Brendan, wasn’t there a cothold near the foot of the range, for summer grazing?”
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