The wind was so loud the festivities were nearly turned indoors, but the prisoners were rather difficult to move. In the heart of Amphipolis, there was an auction of a small handful of infamous pillagers, thieves and warriors that had wronged many others in the surrounding area. One criminal in particular was known to those parts - Xena: Warrior Princess.

Queen Gabrielle of the Amazons looked over the crowd, and sat herself humbly aside two other villagers where her guards watched from afar. Gabrielle was known to be quite down-to-earth and capable of protecting herself, so the women simply watched their queen travel through the crowd unaccompanied.

The suede that adorned her skirt was pristinely cut and sewn into draping pieces feathered over Gabrielle's thighs as she sat on the bench to watch the day's events. Her hair just tickled her shoulders at the back, and fluttered up by her ears at certain junctures. Her bangs made themselves useful by keeping the sun off her forehead, and the piercing in her left ear piercing did its best to gather the breeze and cool her down. With the elements working their splendid magic, Gabrielle let out a smile quite instinctively as the sight before her. There on the small stage were four men and one woman. Four men, slouched and defeated, and the one woman growling and lunging at her captive audience. Gabrielle had to stifle the easy laughter that found its way out.

"Ain't nothin' to laugh about," an older man insisted from beside Gabrielle, not even bothering to tear his eyes from the woman on stage. "She's killed more people'n you've ever known, Girl ..."

"Is that so?" Gabrielle asked with more interest than condescension. She focused on the brunette as well - noting the half-dressed nature of the prisoner and the astonishing fact that she felt more attuned to the glowing blue eyes than the temptation of the flesh. Those blue eyes were enticingly addictive.

When the bidding eventually began for the men first, Gabrielle waited with a calm patience. Her hands remained folded in her lap until the woman was up for bidding, and then Gabrielle motioned over a woman of her guard.

"You see that woman?" Gabrielle asked.

"The almighty Xena? ... She'd be great for bedding, you know ..." Ephiny smirked, always the first to tease her queen. "Not that you'd get anywhere with that loose cannon."

When Ephiny nudged Gabrielle, the queen was hesitant to explain herself, so she simply smiled in return and commanded: "I'd like to have her."

Not one to judge Queen Gabrielle, Ephiny changed the topic. "Hey, I thought you said Ares would show up? I'm ready to throw my spear into that lousy-"

"Wow, wow," Gabrielle laughed, apologizing to the man at her side when he complained of the noise. In a lower voice, Gabrielle seized Ephiny's arm - unaware of the tingles her officer felt each time she did so - and clarified. "He'll be here, but I need you to do what I say. He's a god, Ephiny. Just trust me."

"Not that trick ... come on," Ephiny managed, already wrapped so tightly around Gabrielle's finger that she was set on doing as she was asked.

"You can do it. He'll be here shortly."

"Yes, My Queen."

Gabrielle nodded, and it was set.

Just as predicted, Ares snapped himself into view just as Xena's bidding had begun. Men of all sorts were standing to their feet and calling out bid-after-bid when Ares stormed toward the stage with his loppy grin to set his chosen one loose. Of course, he had enabled Xena's capture just to free her, but he wasn't bothered with his own tactics. Xena belonged to him and she always had.

"Who dares to try their hand at purchasing this lovely warrior?" Ares called out, half with rage and half with humor at his power over the crowd. "She won't be had."

Xena kept perched where she was - watching the events play out before her - both wrists and her neck chained to a loop bolted to the ground. It only had a small amount of give, and she wasn't sure where Ares's speech was going. Couldn't he simply dissolve the chains? Why the show?

Silent onlookers watched as an Amazon woman - Ephiny - stepped out and confronted the God of War. She held something in a small satchel at her side, and with a smile, she dipped her hand into that bag.

Ares looked her over, and grinned once again. "You up for sale, too?"

Quickly, and so he could not use his powers against her, she pulled out a handful of the shimmering powder, and blew it toward him. With that, he was pulled from his appearance to his spot on Mount Olympus - dreary and fatigued.

With little time to waste, Gabrielle stood to her feet and straightened her shoulders back. "I'll pay for her."

The crowd turned to the woman standing near the back of the seated rows. She was in her late twenties, and she had the markings of an Amazon Queen, although her smile was simple and her build was that of an independent warrior. She intimidated the villagers with her presence and her voice, as sure as it was clear.

With a few steps into the aisle, Gabrielle started her way toward the stage. "Whatever will be your highest bid, I will double the offer."

She turned on her heels, and was met with curious stares.

"Doesn't anyone care to speak up?"

One woman warrior buying another - it was unheard of. Especially an Amazon would never do such a thing, and yet there was their queen, insisting on just that.

Gabrielle squared her shoulders again, and then looked behind her to the stage, where only one person remained. Xena in chains.

Xena growled so low that the vibrations set deep in her throat sounded like a beast's steady breathing. She forced herself to lock eyes with the Amazon that insisted on her purchase, showing the crowd she feared no one, although she wondered about the woman's intent. Xena had been with countless women herself. Did this warrior see her as a slave to be had? It was a new thought to Xena - a woman objectifying her. Yet the blond warrior standing before her was not leering. She was simply stating her bid.

"If there are no objections, I will claim my warrior and we'll be off then."

As jaws dropped at the audacity of one woman to insist she would lead Xena away herself, Gabrielle hitched up her red suede skirt and drew herself up onto the slanted stage of old, nailed boards.

Once she was within Xena's reach, Gabrielle put her hands on her hips. Her eyes locked with the blue behind Xena's shade of tangled hair. Gabrielle crouched to balance on the balls of her feet and quietly spoke to the woman tugging at her restraints. "I might not look like much, but I can hold my own." Then Gabrielle smiled, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. "These are bad circumstances. I want to speak with you. Will you come with me freely?"

Xena darted her eyes out to the crowd, and then yanked on her chains again, unwilling to be so easily bought.

Gabrielle sighed. "I feared it might be this way."

Sensing the Amazon's good nature, Xena allowed her close to unlock the chains. It was all she needed to be free, and then her capturers would be sorry. Xena perched, waiting to hear the click of the lock as the rest of the crowd held their breath, knowing Xena's ability. They had seen Xena's ability when she'd turned from village girl to the most feared warlord in their land.

"There are others here to help," Ephiny offered, having helped herself up onto the stage, resting one hand on her queen's shoulder.

Gabrielle halted her work and glanced up at her most trusted guard. "Ephiny ... let me do this. Alone."

Xena wasn't looking at them, but she wondered if it were a planned spectacle. An Amazon taking her on? Since when had she heard of such a thing? She couldn't recall a woman with such audacity.

"One move of this key, and your wrists are free. Then comes your neck," the Amazon queen instructed.

Xena felt herself calmed by the voice that guided the actions. Caged like an animal, she had been shown no mercy, and there came this woman, speaking to her as if Xena had the right to mercy. However, those feelings only gave hesitance to an action Xena knew would have to come next. She needed to run, and this woman was only in her way.

The wrist cuffs had dropped, and the last lock only released the chain from the neck piece which still gripped tightly at Xena's neck.

As Gabrielle released the last chain, Xena lashed out and pounced on the young queen. She had Gabrielle's shoulders pinned, but just as they landed on the stage, Gabrielle brought her arm in close, and disabled Xena's hold on her right arm. With hips thrust up, Gabrielle tumbled them over so she rolled onto the dark warrior.

It wasn't the first time in her life someone had bested her, but it was the first time Xena had so underestimated her opponent. She would need to put more effort behind her fight.

An Amazon guard aside Ephiny asked her: "Why don't you help her anyway?"

"Two things you have yet to learn," Ephiny instructed Eponin: "Our queen is a stubborn woman."

"And the second?"

"She is more able than you or I. Or Xena, even."

Eponin watched the struggle on-stage as Xena stood and pulled Gabrielle up by her suede tunic. "Oh gods ... W ... why did you offer to help her then?"

Ephiny crossed her arms and grinned as Gabrielle brought her knee into the warrior's stomach - landing on her feet to assist Xena's crouched reaction. "Because it's my job."

Gabrielle's arms flexed as Xena moved to create some space between them. Instead, Gabrielle gripped her clasped arms across Xena's chest - holding the new slave's back to her chest. Facing away from the crowd, Gabrielle braced herself with the thrashing she felt from the magnificently strong Xena.

Ephiny allowed her eyes to trace idly over the technique of her lovely queen - a smile threatening to pull more lovingly at her lips.

Eponin watched in amazement, as she had never seen her queen fight with such ferociousness. "My ... gods ..."

"Oh, this is nothing," Ephiny said without the grin that would usually accompany such a remark. "You should see her when she's woken too early in the morning."

Eponin chuckled at the quip, each of them fascinated by the show.

"I ... I don't wanna hurt you," Gabrielle whispered, feeling a very certain elbow to the middle of her abdomen. Instead of crumbling to the ground, Gabrielle used the leverage of Xena's back to keep herself up.

Just as Xena grabbed her arm, Gabrielle tugged herself free - fearing the infamous pressure points of the fearless woman with raven-black hair. Xena turned to Gabrielle, wanting to run, but knowing her reputation would be in ruins if she fled. For some reason, she wasn't as inclined as she thought she might be to injure the woman before her.

"Does this get you off?" Xena spat out, wiping her mouth on her wrist as she put up her hands into balled fists.

"Hardly," Gabrielle huffed with exhaustion and snorted laughter. "You?"

Xena frowned with anger at the playfulness she saw in her opponent who had a formidable strength. If one had trained all their lives to fight, humor was not usually a regular occurrence in their lives.

"Just walk with me ... out of here," Gabrielle smiled, despite herself. She braced her hands on her knees, and shook her head of the smile. "My apologies ... it's been quite some time since I've fought this way."

Instead of asking questions to inquire further, Xena observed the woman's movements. She would do anything she had to do to get away - to be free. When she saw her opportunity, she took it.

With Gabrielle's change in stance, Xena jabbed her left hand out to Gabrielle's right shoulder - kicking the blond in the chest to send her to the ground. With the wind knocked from her momentarily, Gabrielle lay breathless as Xena pounced and sent her angry fist into an unobtrusive and unexpecting nose.

As quickly as Ephiny saw the change of events, she bolted to the stage - watching in horror as Gabrielle was hit while she was down. Ephiny leapt up the stairs after watching two hits - one to Gabrielle's nose and one to her cheek - and one very surprising block from the seemingly beaten Gabrielle. With both arms, Gabrielle blocked her face, and having turned them, one hand went straight for Xena's neck. The smaller body tackled Xena and pinned her to the ground with both hands pressing to her opponent's windpipe.

"Ephiny ... wrist ... cuffs ..." Gabrielle panted, spitting the blood from her mouth as she glared down at the warrior in her hands. "Playing dirty ... I didn't ... expect that."

Xena couldn't place her feelings. When she looked up into her opponent's eyes, she connected in a way that seemed natural. If she were the type to apologize, she might have done so then, but before she could fully realize what that meant, she was cuffed and yanked to her feet by an angry, protective guard.

The new slave's leather attire produced familiar sounds to Gabrielle's ears as the slave was dragged away. Gabrielle watched after her, panting and frustrated. She had known Xena would be one to contend with, but for whatever reason, she hadn't expected the warrior to hit her while she was down.

Gabrielle was kicking herself for her mistakes. She was feeling down about her instincts later, as well, when Eponin inquired about the event. Over a large dinner, Gabrielle was biting off a large piece of bread when one of her young guards gestured over to her black eye: "You oughtta be more careful, if you don't mind me saying so."

"She minds," Ephiny interrupted, whacking the young woman at the back of her head in as irritated a fashion as possible. With that entrance, Ephiny helped herself to the seat across from the queen, sitting down with a thump on the worn wooden bench. "Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Yeah, she did that enough for the two of us," Gabrielle grumbled with some soft humor, shaking her head. Her hair was soft enough to give her hand a tender welcome as she raked it through, groaning with her well-worn smile. "I think ... I'm gonna go for some sparring. Can I catch up with you later, Ephiny?"

"Of course," Ephiny answered, trying her best at a smile as her queen started off in the other direction. "Son of a Bacchae!" Ephiny hissed under her breath to the young woman at her side. "Never again should I see you undermining Queen Gabrielle. Do you hear me?!"

Gabrielle rolled her eyes just outside of the large eating space - dubbed the Eatery - having heard Ephiny chiding the newest member of the guard. It seemed that no matter her insistence others should treat her as simply as any other person, there were some in the Amazon village who insisted otherwise. She was queen after all, Gabrielle was reminded.

Breathing in deeply with each couple of steps, Gabrielle made her way to the fenced-off sparring area. It was a woven mix of boards that had been reinforced for the best casing of a real fight. It was wide enough so that Gabrielle could practice her leaps and jumps, but not so large that she could lose her staff among the messy mud and hay.

One swish through the air, and her staff felt lifted and mighty. Gabrielle smiled as she twisted and moved, thinking that if she were able to choose any weapon on earth, it would be her staff. It was the thing that grounded her to her Amazon roots - roots which she took dearly to heart after running away from home before she was married off to some strange young man.

The staff whirled through the grey sky, always appearing to reach into the clouds. Gabrielle drew it down, into the dirt with a grunt and a kick, sending it back to her other hand.

She played so thoughtfully with her staff that she didn't sense the company until she heard an entirely unfamiliar voice.

"You're skilled with that thing."