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From: antonior@ccshp1.ccs.csus.edu (Reynaldo J. Antonio)
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories
Subject: 4 Grebo Guru: Xena Pt 1 of  3
Date: 1 Mar 1996 08:10:53 GMT
Organization: California State University Sacramento
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Xena:  Warrior Princess
Part 1 of 3

This is an X-rated story based on "Xena:  Warrior Princess".   It takes place 
between her appearance on "Hercules" and her own series.  Please note that 
this does not have anything to do with plot of either show except for her 
character.  There are creatures and places that are borrowed from other 
fantasy settings, historical periods, and myths too numerous to name, but 
some readers may recognize them, so the author hopes that they're described 
appealingly.

Once more, this is and X-rated fantasy story, not to be viewed by or 
distributed to minors.  If  sexual material offends you or you are sensitive to 
the subjects of sadism, non-consensual sex (e.g. rape, coercion),
humiliation, bondage, or slavery

OR

graphic violence (this IS a warrior's story)

then please discard this article now.


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	Xena could hardly believe her luck when she saw pond.  She had 
been traveling for four days through the foothills, trying to reach the 
Camroot  River.  Now she had found one of its tributaries.  Best of all, the 
stream widened into a stone basin that was sheltered by two large shade 
trees.  The warrior princess set her pack down on a low boulder and trotted 
to the inviting pool of cool, clear water.  She knelt down eagerly and  dipped 
her hands into the water, unable to remember a time when it felt or tasted so 
good as she drank it down.

	When her thirst was slaked, she filled her waterskin and looked 
around.  A grin crept to her face as she spotted a cony running back into the 
reeds.  Later, she stretched out on the bank of the grotto as the sweet smell 
of the cooking meat wafted into the air.  Xena went over her travel plans for 
tomorrow as she started her meal.

	The merchant's guild in Willow River had paid her in gold to escort 
an emissary back from Dunwich, a city-state on the Berlandic coast.  The 
merchants were opening trade negotiations for the first time since Dunwich 
had declared war with a rival nation across the Blood Sea.  Talks had been 
stalled when the last two diplomats had failed to reach Willow River.

	Xena had doffed her weapons harness, although she kept them 
within arm's reach.  She toyed with the buckles of her armor as she stared 
longingly at the pool.  It had been a week since she had left the inns of the 
valley, and the grime from the trail felt detestable.  This was a very nice 
place to stop and relax, but she knew that any other traveler,  human or not, 
would reach the same conclusion.  She assuaged her doubts by placing  a 
blade by the water's edge as she undid the final clasp, then plunged into the 
water.

	She came up gasping, her nipples painfully erect from the pool's 
chill embrace.  She submerged again and dove to the deeper part of  the 
basin, skimming above the glittering sand  on the bottom.  She swam to the 
shallow end and reclined on the gentle slope that jutted out over a twin pool 
downstream.  Refreshed and fully content,  she sighed lazily and stretched 
her lithe form out to bask in the summer sun.


	Xena was right about the pond's attraction to weary, thirsty eyes.  
She probably wasn't aware of how her naked, sensuous body added to the 
appeal.  The scout, a man younger than Xena by better than five years, 
carefully eased the branches back into place as he circled closer to the edge 
of the water.  Apparently, the strange beauty was so intent on pool  that she 
forgot to check his side of stream when she arrived.  He had been getting 
ready to move on to the next outpost along the border when he caught the 
scent of a cooking fire, followed by the splashing of a bather.  Mindful of an 
ambush, he had made his way back to the stream.

	He had gasped aloud when he saw the flash of skin and swirl of 
long hair beneath the surface of the pool.  He ducked back into the woods, 
recalling stories of wood nymphs, maidens of the forest who would cause 
blindness in mortal men who were so brash as to gaze upon their flawless, 
naked bodies.  But he had seen a pack and leather boots by the fire, and 
recalled that all the eternally young beauties in the stories were robed in 
gossamer gowns and fine jewelry.  Curiosity had gotten  the better of him as 
he ventured a peek.  

The girl broke the surface of the water like a graceful dolphin, her 
head thrown back and dark hair streaming down her spine.  He gasped again,  
this time with subdued admiration as she rose fully out of the water.  The 
woman's face was the beauty of the sea under a full moon.  Her eyes were the 
same soft blue as the open sky above.  Her skin was nut brown from her 
journeys, just as his was.  He noticed with astonishment that she bore 
several scars over her body, and the flex of powerful muscles and 
the feline grace of her movements betrayed her as a warrior.  But still, even 
though her hands were not soft, he could see that her touch was as she 
brushed her hair back, and her full, firm breasts and long, tapered legs would 
have made Princess Esmerelda herself furious with bitter envy.

	The thought of the princess snapped him away from the girl's 
tantalizing image.  He had no clue what this strange - and very exciting - 
woman was doing here.  She could be the escort dispatched from 
Willow River, or she could be the one behind the sinister disappearances 
that had been plaguing  Dunwich.  With that grim thought, he drew his 
sword and strode toward the pool.

	The maiden was gone.

	He whirled around in a panic.  She was nowhere on the opposite 
bank.  He approached he pool, scanning the bottom as he made his way 
downstream.  The other pond!  He ran to the edge of the small waterfall and 
peered into the reeds lining the bank. 

	He felt a powerful wrench and found himself tumbling over the 
edge.  He caught a glimpse of the girl, standing in the hollow of the falls, 
just before he splashed into the pond.  His momentum drove him straight to 
the bottom, but  before he could gain his balance he was hauled clear of the 
water, and gazed into blue eyes that were slitted with anger.   

 	Xena cursed herself for being three different kinds of fool as she 
pinned the young soldier down against the rocks.   She cocked her arm back, 
ready to deliver a killing strike.  Before she could follow through, she 
noticed that the fight had gone out of him.

	"Mistress!  I am a ranger of  the Dunwich militia!"

	She gathered two handfuls of the youth's tunic and  pushed him 
flat.  She straddled his legs and kept his gaze locked with the menacing fire 
that danced in her eyes.

	"The castello advised us that an escort would be arriving from 
Willow River."

	Xena's guard relaxed, though she wasn't satisfied with the youth's 
intentions.  The boy visibly wilted with relief and from the exertion of the 
brief but violent encounter.  Xena noticed that the scout was several years 
younger than she was.  And even though he was as covered with the road as 
she might have been, he was still very handsome. It seemed strange to her 
that he was still flushed and short of breath, then she realized with a start 
that she didn't have stitch of  clothing on.  She also noticed something long 
and firm pressing between her spread legs.  She didn't have to look down to 
know it was his cock straining against his trousers, which was all that kept 
him from sliding into her.  His cock  throbbed hotly, as if it had a mind of its 
own and had figured as much.

	Xena climbed off of him with a furious shove.  Not out of 
embarrassment, since she was no stranger to men, and not out of modesty, 
since he must have been watching her for some time and there was nothing 
left to hide.  It was because feeling him there -- so hard, so eager, and, as she 
surmised with a stolen glance at his powerful physique, so capable of  giving 
her a sound, almost brutal, and very satisfying  fuck  -- had awakened a 
hunger in her that gripped at her insides and started a wet, tingling heat in 
her own loins.

	"Where are the others?"  Xena realized that she hadn't introduced 
herself or asked the troop for his name, but she was still trying to stop the 
butterflies in her stomach.

	"I came alone."

	"A single troop patrolling outside Dunwich's borders during a time 
of war?  They told me to expect a party of ten, and report to the commander."

	"I'm . . . I'm not supposed to be here, mistress."

	Xena looked at him with puzzlement

	"I am traveling to Calimport.  I was assigned to the northern unit 
when I received news that Princess Esmerelda and her entourage had been 
captured while sailing south to the Sea Princes.  I 'm supposed to report to 
the keep at Dunwich tomorrow."

	"Why Calimport?  There's no detachment there anymore.  It's been 
an open city for the past three years."

	"Yeah, exactly.  I was going there to charter a vessel.  A mercenary
vessel."

	"This princess means that much to you?"

	"I'm a member of the house guard.  I should have been there."

	"But why mercenaries?  Even with the war, Dunwich could 
dispatch ships to the rescue."

	"They want to wait for a ransom demand.  But I have a feeling that 
they've been captured by slavers.  They aren't too big on ransoms, not when 
they can find a more worthwhile use for captives, if you know what I mean."

	Xena did, and hated knowing.

	"It's not only for her.  My cousin Justin was Princess Esmerelda's 
personal guard.  He had a crush on her and would have done anything to be 
at her side."  The ranger shut his eyes when he thought of what price may 
have finally been exacted on his enamored kinsman.

	"It should have been me out there on the sea.  Justin was in love.  
Esmerelda wanted him, too.  But both of them knew that it could never be.  
Her father reminded them of that, and so did Justin's commanding officer.   
They found a way around it, though.  Since he had distinguished himself as 
her tutor, he earned a rank in the house guard.   Since I had accomplished so 
much overseas for the war effort,  I could choose my own duties.  I chose the 
northern defense protectorate, naming Justin as my replacement.  Now they 
could spend time together away from the city -- and her father.  I was along 
on one of their missions to the Minros Archipelago.   I don't think they got a 
wink of sleep, even though they never left the sleeping quarters."

	He smiled slyly at her and she crossed her arms, trying to hide her 
swollen nipples.  She had drifted into a daydream at the mention of Minros.  
She had heard all kinds of stories of the tropical paradise with lush greenery 
and beaches that had sand as white as sugar.  Her mercenary officers, during 
a drunken feast after pillaging a rich town, swapped fantasies of banquet 
halls with endless fountains of  wine and ale, steaming platters of food, and 
hundreds of small, half-naked, brown-skinned girls who had only grown 
faint wisps of pubic hair and would do any sexual act for the price of asking.

	There was a new swordsman who had joined her army back then.  
He had stolen a few glances at her before he had launched into his particular 
fantasy of the Golden Islands.  His comrades roared at his dream of having 
two women pour fruit juice over him and giving him a tongue bath.  The 
laughter cut short when he described one of the women.  He rattled off all of 
Xena's obvious charms in language that was lewd and plain.

	To everyone's surprise, especially Xena's, whose first reaction 
normally would have been to make a cut with her sword that would render 
his fantasy pointless (no pun intended), she returned a smile that was 
equally lewd and simply said, "Dream on."

	Xena never admitted to anyone that she would share that dream.

	She wanted to question this ranger further, but could tell his desire 
had shifted from her to the other half of the rabbit on the spit.  

	"You're welcome to share my meal," she said.  He was reaching for 
the meat even before she finished.  "But bathe first.  I'm not in the mood to 
share it with someone who smells like a mule.  Don't feel insulted.  That 
pool's the first one I've seen in miles.  The water feels great."

	He started towards the privacy of the reeds.

	"Stay where I can see you."

	The young man glanced at her warily.
	
	"I know what a naked boy looks like," she said, totally aloof.  "And 
I want you where I can be sure you won't sneak up on me in the bushes 
again."

	The ranger flushed with embarrassment, then set his jaw calmly as 
he stripped.

	Xena allowed a smirk as he turned away, the hot fingers of her gaze 
lingering on his ass.  Rank did have its privileges.

	"What's your name, ranger?" she called out.

	"Milan.  And yours."

	"Xena."

	Milan's eyes widened with recognition, then he flushed as he felt 
his heart quicken and his penis swell when he realized who had been 
pressed naked against him.

	Xena wanted to laugh, but something touched her about how he 
kept his gaze even with hers, even though so many emotions were running 
through his body and mind.  One thing for sure, this guy could keep his 
cool.

	"Have something to eat, Milan.  We have to get moving."


	The ship with the bright yellow sails docked smoothly, barely 
making a sound as it came against the pier where the sheik stood.  The sheik 
was a man in white robes piped with golden thread.  A single, huge diamond 
rested in a silver pendant that adorned his turban.  The passenger of the 
schooner was a an obese middle aged man clad in a dark caftan.  His own 
turban was as plane as his other garb, but on his hip rode an ornately 
jeweled dagger.
	
	"Greetings, Tahir Arrani , Master of the Bandar  Guild of 
Assassins."

	"Well met,   Hafez Makhi, Lord of Corsairs," the aging hit man 
returned the elaborate bow.

	"You're just in time, dear friend.  Raiding has gone well this 
season."
	
	Makhi's pirates roamed the waters of the Blood Sea.  Pickings had 
been slim, with more merchants turning to Dunwich's navy and the marines 
of  the Sea Princes' fleet for protection as the war dragged into its second 
year.  That was until Makhi's bold plan unfolded.  They stood atop his 
solution to their problem now.  The dock was not on firm land, but perched  
on the edge of a giant carapace.  The cunning pirate had captured one of the 
zaraten, a race of gigantic seagoing creatures that were the size of an island 
and roamed the warm waters to the south.  Makhi had established a fortress 
on the back of the mammoth turtle and docked his pirate fleet in the hollows 
of its shell.  Arrani was one of the few people who ever knew the 
whereabouts of the floating citadel.  Even if anyone could find it, they 
would have to sail through barrages from the catapults and ballistae that 
ringed the stronghold and  the face the five hundred buccaneers that manned 
them.  Makhi planned to take Calimport, the city guarding the mouth of the 
Camroot River, then sail his raiders up the river and deep into the mainland.

	"So, I hope it is good news, you bring my friend."

	Arrani smiled grandly.  "Yes.  The guild will pay you with new 
weapons.  The blockades are much easier to run these days.  And the khans 
to the east have a weakness for your fair-haired wenches that lets me set my 
prices ridiculously high."

	Tahir Arrani was the sheik's link to the slave markets of Bandar.  
Makhi had been raiding the coastline not only for treasure and provisions to 
sell to mercenaries of the Blood Sea War, but had been earning huge sums 
with the sale of captured youths.  The harems and brothels of the shady port 
cities were never full enough to please their greedy proprietors.

	"Come, let us dine and celebrate good business."

	They went back to his palace.  The marble floors and columns were 
a welcome replica of the guild house where the two had started.  There was a 
banquet of fresh fruits, meats, and warm bread spread out before them.   As 
they were seated, Makhi nodded to his eunuch guard, who ushered in the 
latest spoils of the raid on the coastal cities.

	Seven women, with hair like spun gold and  alabaster skin, stood in 
a line before the two.  They were completely nude, as was the custom for the 
host to display his wives and concubines for his guests.  In Makhi's case 
though, it was his sales pitch to his best customer.  Arrani  was transfixed by 
the voluptuous young slaves, who were drugged with the resin of a bitter 
herb that robbed them of their will and replaced it with animal passion.  
They wore the collars of apprentice slave girls, with their hair pulled back by 
silk barrettes so that the buyer could examine their faces closely for 
blemishes or signs of misuse.  Makhi's personal concubines had prepared 
each one, oiling and milking their skins, shaving and perfuming their 
womanly charms for the act of love.  

	Arrani looked to his host for approval, who smiled and nodded his 
assent.  He held his platter up for the slave boy.  Instead of placing his dish 
there, he spit his unswallowed  mouthful of food into the teen's hand and 
staggered to the girl in the middle of the display.  He reached out with a 
greasy, trembling hand and hefted one of her large breasts.  The areolas  of 
her tits were huge and shell pink.  He reached between her strong thighs 
with the other hand, running a ringed finger between the cleft of her plump 
labia.  He only became aware of Makhi's voice when the eunuch guard 
pressed a scimitar under his chin.

	"I said,"  Makhi intoned with renewed patience, now that he had the 
assassin's attention once more, "that that one is for final sale only.  She is 
the daughter of a noble, so her hands and feet are not toughened from labor."

	"I'll buy her right now!" the trembling guild master said as he 
reached for his pouch.
	
	"Afraid not, old friend," Makhi said benevolently.  "The padishah 
has made an offer already."

	"I'll offer double whatever he did."

	"The weapons shipment?"

	Arrani balked at the thought  He had bought entire barges full of 
slave women for half that price.  But his eyes rested on the maiden, who had 
slid down to the furs that were conveniently placed in the center of the 
audience hall.  Her eyes were almond shaped, like the elves of the Freehold  
woodlands, her lips full and parted moistly as she wrapped her arms round 
his knees.  He had no chance to resist.

	"Done."

	Makhi cackled delightedly and beckoned to three of the women for 
himself.

	
	Princess Esmerelda was only faintly aware of the man's hands on 
her breasts as he sucked each one of her nipples.  As if in betrayal to her 
own body, they hardened underneath the bearded mouth.  She seemed to 
view her own rape as if she were watching it from her bedroom window in 
Dunwich Keep.  The voice that whispered into the old man's ear, telling how 
good his lips felt, was that of a waterfront whore trying to please a wealthy 
customer.  The tongue that trailed down the side of his neck, tasting his salty 
sweat and the heat of his desire, belonged to a woman who had been 
deprived of a man's pleasure for long years.  She watched the fat, hairy man 
press his engorged penis against her smooth thigh, the heat of it was urgent 
and barely containing his seed.   The strange woman captured his head 
between her hands, began to suck on his outstretched tongue like it was a 
ripe plum, tasting the flavor of the morsel he had just eaten.


	Arrani rolled his eyes with lust as the harem girl softly kneaded his 
scrotum and blew a sweet puff of breath into his open mouth.  She swung 
her long, powerful legs over him and swallowed his drooling cock.  He 
licked at the glistening, quivering folds of  her pussy, mouthing the tender 
insides of her thighs and slipping the tip of his tongue experimentally into 
the pink pucker of her ass.  Esmerelda moaned and stroked his cock firmly 
as he snaked his tongue farther in.  She crawled forward on all fours, her 
legs spread wide as she looked over her shoulder at him.

	The master assassin stroked his cock with anticipation as he stared 
at the dripping pussy.  He glanced up at the other girls, who were rubbing 
their crotches as they watched their companion work on their  guest.  He 
motioned to one, a youngster who had just crossed into womanhood, to 
kneel in front of him.  She knelt and wrapped her arms around his waist, 
looking at Esmerelda and licking her lips with longing.  Arrani commanded 
Esmerelda to play with herself, then pulled the teenager's head to his waiting 
shaft.

	Esmerelda leaned against a pillowed  couch, the fingers of both her 
hands plunged into her pussy and anus as she watched the girl fellate the 
leering man.  A drop of saliva drooled out the side of his mouth as he huffed 
with the girl's exquisite rhythm, and the young harem wench stretched her 
tongue out to catch it before she returned to her oral labors.

	Arrani pulled her head away and motioned for her to lay with her 
head between Esmerelda's knees.  He put a hand around Esmerelda's waist, 
his belly pressed against her smooth back.  The slave girl stroked his cock as 
she flicked her tongue across Esmerelda's clit.   She gave Arrani's cock an 
appreciative suck before she guided it into Esmerelda's wet vagina.

	Arrani let out a hooting groan as he sank his cock  into her.  
Esmerelda looked into his eyes, ran her tongue across her teeth with 
unrepentant lust as she wriggled her hips and met his thrusts.  The old man 
couldn't keep the pace long, and after a dozen thrusts he bucked twice as he 
sprayed his semen inside of her.  As he pulled out, the slave girl licked the 
seed from Esmerelda's shaven pussy lips.  Eager to feel the master's thrusts 
for herself, she wiped the spent juices from inside Esmerelda's  pussy and 
smeared it between the cheeks of her own ass, slipping two fingers inside 
her rectum, then knelt prostrate before her master.  The assassin found 
himself gripped with lust greater than anything he felt before as he eyed the 
small girl's waiting pucker.  He spit on his cock to lubricate himself 
and pressed the head of his shaft into her waiting ass.  He was probably too 
big and she was not loose enough, but the harem girl's lust would not be 
denied.  She pressed back with the strength of her supple body and he 
penetrated her sphincter with a lunge that caused him to bite down on his 
lip.  The girl screamed and rubbed her clit furiously as she pumped on his fat 
cock.  Esmerelda was kissing the assassin deeply, her hand at work between 
her legs, too.  Arrani shouted out with release as his seed spurted into the 
girls bowels.  The three of them collapsed back onto the furs and lay panting 
from their carnal exertions. The other harem girls soothed them with gentle 
massages and cool washcloths as they waited for their turn with the master.

	
	Xena and Milan had reached border by nightfall the next day.  He 
had hidden his uniform beneath a set of flat black garments.  They were on 
the oceanside cliffs, with Calimport one day away.  From there they could 
enlist a mercenary crew and start hunting the marauders.  Xena looked from 
the edge of the cliff to the lights of  Calimport.  She was delaying her 
mission greatly, but she had an especially bitter hatred of the slave traders in 
the east.  If Dunwich lost its arms deal with the Willow River merchants, she 
knew where to buy more, and she'd have the money to get them herself! 
	
	Milan stretched out on the blanket.  They wouldn't risk a fire, but 
with the full moon they wouldn't need any light.  Xena came down from the 
promontory, taking off her cloak and sitting next to him.  He could feel  her 
warmth and heard her sigh as she lay back against the tree.  He got up 
promptly.

	 Xena walked over to where he stood.  She touched him softly on 
the shoulder, felt him tense up.

	"Was it something  I said?"  she said with more of a sarcastic edge 
than she intended.

	"You're a woman."

	"Congratulations,  professor,  you've figured that one out.  What do 
you mean , 'You're a woman?'" 

	"The hair, the breasts, the soft  skin, that's what I mean!"

	Xena was speechless.  She had been expecting some sort of 
confession of male ego, like the ones  she had heard from so many men who 
fretted at having a woman at their side in combat.  Not this time.

	"Ever since I could walk, I've done it with sword or lance in my 
hand.  Justin was right when he teased me about being slave to a mistress 
called war.   I was once a favorite of the princess, you know?  I staved off her 
advances politely but officiously, talking about duty and the king's trust, and 
all that.  The truth was I was scared - scared of her charm and scared of how 
helpless I was starting to feel.  At least Justin had the courage to try."

	"A lot of men I've met would rather charge a phalanx of angry 
knights than admit their feelings for a woman," she said amiably.  "Sad, but 
there's no shame there.  And, yes there is more to a warrior's life than battle.  
There are some thrills that don't sing with the clashing of steel.  There are 
some passions that aren't borne of fury, some lusts that aren't for blood.  And 
now you want to know them."

	"I know what I'm missing,"  he said, flustered, mistaking  the 
meaning of her padded words.  "That's what makes it so painful."

	Xena stood before him, resting her hands on his shoulders and 
looking up, deeply into his eyes.

	"Among the Sujel tribes there's a custom.  They never marry, but 
before they go off to war, they hold a ceremony where they each choose a 
mate.  They make love, and ride to battle with the next day.  The Sujel are 
warrior tribes, both men and women, and not many reach old age.  But those 
that survive are always carrying life forward off the battlefield.."  She bit her 
lower lip and hoped that he liked what he had seen enough to take her offer.

	"Are you uncomfortable with me?" Xena wanted to know. 

	"No," he answered.

	"Are you uncomfortable that I'm more experienced?"

	"Not at all."

	"Good.  I want to share with you everything I know."
	
	Milan looked at her.  He kissed her softly.  It was a sweet kiss, a 
kiss to dream on.  The next kiss was a little more than a sweet one, and the 
next was something else. He heard faint pings as she undid the straps of his 
armor, and he worked to free her of hers.

	They stood before each other naked now.  She wrapped her arms 
around his neck and her body fit perfectly against his, as if she had lived just 
for this moment, had been waiting and hungering for him all her life.  His 
touch roamed over the silky skin of her back, her ass, and her supple thighs.  
He felt her lips part slightly, and the tip of her tongue brushed across his 
lips.  He did the same and probed farther to meet hers in her mouth.  Her 
tongue was a playful thing, slipping and wrestling with his.  The soft strokes 
of hers seemed to promise what was to come.

	She smiled warmly at him as they eased down to the blanket.  They 
knelt opposite each other, content to stare with silent but unabashed 
admiration.  Milan thought as he looked at her that even though she was 
older and was a warrior, her face was that of a child now - soft, full of 
wonder, radiant.  Xena eased him onto his back.  She knelt between his legs, 
with her hands resting at the tops of his feet.  She slowly ran her hands up 
and down, up and down his legs.  She took his cock in one hand and very 
gently cupped his balls in the other. 

She gave his shaft a gentle squeeze and caressed it  lightly with the 
tips of her fingers.  Milan shut his eyes and let waves of pleasure roll over 
him.  She kissed him softly, and kissed his chest his stomach, dipping her 
tongue into his navel.  She felt him begin to arch, recognized the language of 
his body.   She stopped and squeezed his cock firmly.  "No, no, not yet," she 
cooed, "There's more.  There's so much more."

	Milan let out a soft cry as her tongue ran along the underside of his 
cock.   Her lips closed over the head and she sucked softly.  She looked up 
at him as she slid it deeper into her mouth.  She pulled her upper lip down 
over the top of it and flattened her tongue along the bottom.   She bobbed 
her head up and down, adding wet, wilting suction as she ran her hand over 
his chest and stomach.  Milan felt his hands and feet, then his arms and legs 
start to go numb, all sense abandoning him except for the soft, moist grip of 
Xena's mouth and the licks of her tongue.  Xena watched his face and felt 
the grip of his hand, until she found his rhythm and kept at it.  She decided 
not to tease him.  She wanted to give him a climax that he would remember 
for the rest of his life, and knew that taking the edge off his lust would help 
him last longer when she finally gripped his cock in her pussy, which was 
already swollen and hot with anticipation.

	She thrilled inwardly as she felt him flex and snap like puppet with 
its strings cut.  His sperm squirted into her mouth in a long, thick, scalding 
streams, coating the roof of her mouth.  It was so thick it was almost like 
paste, and she couldn't swallow much.  She could see the lust in his eyes 
when he saw his seed trickling out the side of her mouth, so she shamelessly 
let it flow between her lips and down her chin.  She gathered his cum with 
her fingertips then licked them clean, then licked up the semen that remained 
on his cock, all the while keeping her smoky, passionate gaze locked with 
his.

	He pulled her up and kissed her deeply.  He rolled her on her back 
and gripped her knees, pulling them up and open.  He left a trail of wet 
kisses from her ankles, to her knees, and inside her thighs,  stopping shy of 
her flushed, puffy lips.  Milan ran the tips of his fingers gently between 
them, pleasure of his own filling him as her moans and sighs drifted to him.  
He slid his middle finger deep inside her, rubbing her clitoris lightly with 
this thumb.  Her breath came in excited gasps, her head rolled back and forth 
as he sucked one of her large, pink nipples as he worked his hand faster.

	Xena grinned with triumph, her eyes squeezed shut with ecstasy as 
Milan  ran his tongue between the lips of her pussy.    He took long licks 
that started at the bottom of her pussy and ended at her navel.  He pulled the 
fleshy outer lips between his, sucking and licking with the wettest of 
intimate kisses.  

	"What  kind of novice are you, young Milan?  I've -- ohhhhhh -- 
never experienced a man  who was as good with his mouth as he was when 
he had talked me into bed!"

	"Justin and I traded notes.  I told him how to make the house guard 
and win the princess's favor, and he told me how to please women.  I used to 
dream of this at night as I slept alone."

	"Mmmmm.   Even Hercules, as strong yet gentle as he was, couldn't 
make me feel like this.  Ahhhhh!  Right there, Milan.  Ohhhhh yesssss!"

	Milan felt a flush of pride to be compared so with Hercules.    He 
rolled his tongue and cradled her engorged clitoris with it.   It was Xena's 
turn to thrash helplessly as he sucked gently.  He squeezed her breasts, 
stroking her nipples between his fingers.  Her teeth clenched and head 
arched back as a string of explosions ripped through her brain and burned 
her loins.

	Milan climbed up and kissed her deeply, letting the warrior 
princess taste her own dark, hot juices.  Xena grabbed his ass and stroked 
the young stud's cock with satisfaction.  It slid powerfully through her 
fingers as he groaned his eagerness to her.  He was ready, and she knew he 
would feel well rewarded when he felt, with his cock,  how hot and swollen 
her pussy was from his attention. 
   
	She pulled him between her legs and scissored them into the small 
of his back.  They kissed deeply, teasing each other with twists of their hips 
and squeezing  each other's ass possessively.  Soon they couldn't stand it any 
longer and worked their loins together.  Milan felt the goose-egg head of his 
cock nudge the wet lips of her pussy open.  He pushed his hips forward 
firmly.  Xena's pussy seemed tighter than he thought it should, and he was 
afraid of hurting her.  Xena drew a sharp breath as her pussy stretched 
around him.  She looked up into his eyes when she felt him pause.  She gave 
him a strange, weak smile and nodded.  She stifled a moan as he finished his 
stroke, which caused a burning, stabbing sensation deep within her as he 
reached her limit and couldn't fit in any farther.   Her eyes flew open and her 
face filled with animal hunger as he pulled out and thrust into her again. 

	Milan had never felt anything like this in his life.  It was like he 
was part of  her, at her very core, and the daggers of pleasure that shot 
through him as the lips of her pussy slid down to the base of his cock were 
lancing into her as well.   Inside she was very warm, and the walls of her 
vagina were so slippery but at the same time clinging to the skin of his cock 
wonderfully.   He saw the muscles of her stomach dance and  flinched 
slightly as her nails raked his back.  He thrust faster and her hands locked on 
his hips as powerful jolts racked her body.   She seemed to go weak for few 
moments, then she wrestled him onto his back and squatted astride him..

	"Was this what you were dreaming of when we met?"  she purred, 
sliding  lazily along him.   She crushed herself against him and clamped her 
mouth over his,  her tongue invading his mouth  ravenously.   As their sweat-
slicked bodies slid over each other, Milan could feel Xena's hard, hot 
nipples poking into his chest as if they wanted to penetrate him.  Their gasps 
and moans mixed together as they  felt an immense wave of lust and pleasure 
build inside.  They locked together and felt the world go into a spin as his 
cum surged into her womb.  They writhed as if they were impaled on the 
same spear of intense pleasure.  Their breaths were like blast furnaces 
against each other's skin as they shared a few more strokes, wincing with the 
unbearably delicious friction. 
  
	"Sleep, my warrior," she whispered as she felt the warm, soft 
blanket of slumber wrap around them.  "The battle awaits us." 
	



Path: newsbf01.news.aol.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!news-e2a.gnn.com!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!newsfeed.pitt.edu!dsinc!ub!csn!news-1.csn.net!csus.edu!ccshp1.ccs.csus.edu!antonior
From: antonior@ccshp1.ccs.csus.edu (Reynaldo J. Antonio)
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories
Subject: 4 Grebo Guru: Xena Pt 2 of 3
Date: 1 Mar 1996 08:11:43 GMT
Organization: California State University Sacramento
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Xena:  Warrior Princess
Part 2 of 3

This is an X-rated story based on "Xena:  Warrior Princess".   It takes place 
between her appearance on "Hercules" and her own series.  Please note that 
this does not have anything to do with plot of either show except for her 
character.  There are creatures and places that are borrowed from other 
fantasy settings, historical periods, and myths too numerous to name, but 
some readers may recognize them, so the author hopes that they're described 
appealingly.

Once more, this is and X-rated fantasy story, not to be viewed by or 
distributed to minors.  If  sexual material offends you or you are sensitive to 
the subjects of sadism, non-consensual sex (e.g. rape, coercion),
humiliation, bondage, or slavery

OR

graphic violence (this IS a warrior's story)

then please discard this article now.


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 	The mercenary ship docked just after dawn in the bustling seaport 
of Bandar.  Though the city itself was just waking and opening another 
business day, activity on the dock went on at all hours.  The vessel docked 
across from two heavily laden cargo ships hauling textiles from the far east.  
Long trains of dock workers grunted under the heavy bundles as foremen 
cursed about schedules and lost wages.  The two warriors were barely visible 
in the crush of humans and demi-humans that were scrambling frantically 
between the docked vessels and the rows of warehouses that separated the 
shore from the market area.

	"By the gods, I've never been in a place so confusing!  And the 
smell!"  Milan urged Xena to get them far away from a fishmonger's cart that 
had collided with one carrying pickled animal parts.  The shouts were 
coming loud and furious in two different languages.
 
        Xena ignored Milan's queasy voice as she scanned the piers.  She 
found the yellow sails that marked the slave ships, which were docked at the 
southernmost pier.  As they neared the end of the pier, the crown thinned 
out.  Xena dragged Milan into a side alley that doubled as an open sewer.

	"The ones in the red turbans and black pants are the harbor patrol.  
Avoid them at all costs.  Most of them are drawing pay from the Assassin's 
Guild.  Also stay clear of the ones wearing bright yellow, those are the 
slavers."

        They picked their way to the adjacent street, which was crowded 
with spice vendors.  The curving route led them to the market yard.  It was 
several acres wide and jammed with stalls and carts bearing goods from all 
corners of the world.  The air was thick with smoke from cooking fires and 
smoking dens as well as flies attracted by food and animal droppings.

        "There," Xena nodded to a row of  long buildings with high 
windows.  "Those are the slave pens.  We have to enter near the far side to 
be close to the slave girls' market."

        The auction yard was a covered area several hundred feet wide.  The 
area in front of the pen for women awaiting auction was crowded with 
shouting and whistling men.  Xena abandoned any thought of getting close 
right now.  They could wait until the first round of bidding ended.  By then 
the first wave of girls bound for the brothels would be leaving, with a surge 
of eager customers behind it.

        Xena did stroll past the opposite end of the auction stand, where   
last-minute inspections and subsequent haggling was taking place.  New 
owners were vigorously wiping off makeup used to conceal scars and 
blemishes or probing and sniffing genitals for disease, while the wholesalers 
dutifully feigned surprise.  Milan gaped as he stared at  a roped off area 
where a masked stud was systematically deflowering a line of women, since, 
by law, virgins could not be sold for prostitution.  Here and there, a bidder 
whispered to a guard and passed a handful of coins while a cohort discretely 
escorted a girl out of line.

        "Why buy when you can just borrow, sweetmeat?"  Milan 
turned to his side to see a woman in dark robes.  She pulled aside the hem to 
reveal one of her long legs and her dusky bush.   She opened her robe farther 
and revealed bare breasts the size of melons.   "Only a day's wage, and you 
don't have to take care of me afterwards."

        She pressed her case by running her hands up his legs as she 
grinned lasciviously.  She gave him a playful squeeze and whispered an offer 
in his ear.  Xena's hand shot between them and drew the working prostitute 
into a swift backhand slap.  The harlot fell heavily on her ass, dropping 
Milan's coin pouch on impact.  She glared at Xena, then bolted off.

        "If I remember correctly, you told me the princess was a blonde."

        "Just admiring the scenery, mistress." Milan protested.

        "Give me a break, ranger.  She had a harelip."

        Xena's lying, Milan thought.  Even she wasn't looking at her face.

        "The princess and her handmaidens are nowhere around here.  
Small wonder.  What do we do next?"  Milan asked.

        "It looks like I get to visit some old acquaintances," she said.  
The expression on her face told that the experience would be less than 
pleasant.

        "Welcome back, Warrior Princess," greeted the man in rich, 
midnight blue robes.  He wore his dark hair long and had a short goatee.  A 
ring of gold adorned his nose and an elaborate pendant fastened his cloak.  
"How long has it been, one month, two . . .?"

        "Four years, Senguro," Xena scowled at two bodyguards that 
towered over her.  They smiled warmly and fingered the hilts of their 
scimitars.

        "That long, eh?  Where does the time go?  I hope you've come back 
to take me up on my dinner invitation."

        "Not this time, Soft-Hand,"  Xena softened her face and smiled, but 
her hand was casually resting on her hip now, near the stiletto.  "I came to 
ask about the slavers who are selling western women."

        "Such information is hard to come by, mistress,"  Senguro was 
loosing interest already.  "What makes you think I know anything about it?"

        "A gold ring with an bloodstone lozenge set in it.  The mark of a 
prime charter master for the Assassin's Guild."

        Senguro dropped all cordiality and his thugs promptly gripped the 
hilts of their weapons.  "Who do not brook invasions of their affairs!  I 
could kill you now, Xena, and no one would say a word about it!"

        "No, you couldn't, Senguro, because you're the last person who 
can afford to call the attention of the Guild Master upon himself.  How 
much have you been holding back this year, Soft-Hand?  Three percent? Ten 
percent?"

        "I would never cross the Guild!  No one who's smart ever does!"

        "And I'm the padishah's daughter!"  Xena grinned mockingly.

        Senguro waved his guards to stand easy.  "You're going to be the 
end of me, Xena.  All this, for a few lousy moments in North Haven."

        "Most men would kill for that chance, Soft-Hand.  Some have,"  
Xena huffed, but they both knew it wasn't an idle boast.

        "I know,"  Senguro said pleasantly.  "So what is it you require?  
The name attached to a poisoned blade?  A head to ease a grieving widow's 
heart?"

        "A girl, Senguro.  A Dunwich maiden with hair like gold and elfish 
eyes.  She probably was here within the last few days."

        "The Guild Master left two days ago for the open sea.  He sails 
back here through the Spindrift Isles, then departs for the east at the new 
moon."

        "You're sure of this?"

        "Have I ever told you wrong?  I didn't think so.  I accept your 
apology, milady, and  you can join me for that dinner to express your 
gratitude."

        "Looks like we part on bad terms again, Senguro.  You'll have to 
stick to whatever nobleman's daughter you're sleeping with these days."

        "Not the same, I'm afraid," he grinned as he faded into the shadow.

        "Don't tell me that he. . ." Milan said with a trifle of jealousy.

        "You believe everything you hear, Milan.  That's your problem."

        "Can we trust him?"

        "No, but he hates the Guild more than anything else.  It was his 
worst mistake, and there's no way out once you've stepped in.  He never 
could think ahead very far."


        The mercenary vessel, the Nightshade, made good time through the 
Straits of  Colchos and headed for the open sea. They could make Spindrift  
Sound by nightfall of the following day, just in time to catch the Guild 
slaver as she navigated the reefs around the islands.  The assassins would 
have to hug the outward side of the reef since the beasts prowling the open 
water were too dangerous and the Duke of Karmanka had a fleet guarding 
the shoreline. 

        They had just sighted the islands when the sun seemed to fade from 
the sky.  Everyone was struck with horror by the sinister pall of fog that was 
rolling across the islands, and soon its tendrils floated towards the ship.

        "Avast!" bellowed Captain Morgantheau, a veteran of seven wars 
on the Blood Sea and retainer to the Dunwich navy.  "Lookouts on the bow!  
Watch for reefs!"  A lot of good that would do.   By the time shallow water 
was spotted, they'd be on top of the reef.

        "What kind of fog is this, Captain?"  Milan's teeth chattered as the 
mist closed around the ship.  The temperature had dropped severely.

        "Devil's fog, boy," he spat into the steam rising off the water.  
"These parts never see mist during the day."

        "Sorcery,"  Xena agreed.  She shrugged her cloak aside, heedless of 
the fog, her blades standing ready.  They all noticed the island at the same 
time.  At first, they thought they had been caught by some land-bound 
current, but a glance convinced them that they were holding their course.  
The island was bearing down on them, pushing a wall of water several yards 
high.  The crew cried out in dismay as a huge boulder crested near them, 
which split open to reveal a cavernous maw that carried the reek of centuries 
from all the oceans of the world.  The Nightshade was broken in half, pieces 
of her hull swirling in the monstrous wave.  Xena looked on in horror as 
Milan was tossed into the air by the heaving deck and plowed under the 
waves.    

        "Get to the forecastle, mistress!"  Captain Morgantheau shoved 
Xena up the ladder to the front of the ship.  She had just grabbed the rail for 
support when the deck collapsed under Morgantheau's feet.  He soon joined 
the rest of the hapless crew in the monstrous hydraulics that sucked the 
broken ship down.

        Xena found a handhold on the lip of the zaraten's barnacle 
encrusted jaws, her feet skidding along the water that surged past her.  She 
felt a rough, cold hand seize her around the wrist and haul her clear.  She 
was carried to the top of the crag and cast down at the feet of a band of 
buccaneers.

        "Behold - Xena: Warrior Princess," scoffed Hafez Makhi.  His grin 
was the last thing she saw before the butt of a spear put the lights out.


        Xena was bound at the wrists and elbows with her legs in hobbles.  
The guards took either elbow and ushered her up the trail and into the gates 
of the citadel.  The little procession drew the attention of dozens of pirates 
manning the trebuchets and battlements.  

        "Hey, look!  It's feared warlord woman herself!"

        "Looks more like fresh fish to me!"

        "Hey, I want that bitch in my bunk tonight!"

        "You can have her!  Crazy slut will probably bust you in half!"

        "She won't be so tough with three or four of us pinning her down!"

        "I don't want her after YOU, Drago!"

        "Hey, show us a little more skin, sweet cheeks!"
 
        The rogues crowded around the trail, wiggling tongues and 
grabbing crotches suggestively.  The guards shouldered through them to the 
doors of the Guild House.  They climbed a set of stairs that opened into the 
audience hall.  Makhi was waiting there with Tahir Arrani.  Several scantily 
clad blonde women sat among a pile of furs in the middle of the room.  One 
of them matched Milan's description of his princess.

        "Take her to the harem and treat her with the potion.  She'll be the 
new centerpiece of my collection."

        Xena went wild with outrage.  Her lunge at the grinning pirate was 
aborted by the guards holding her chains.

        "On second thought," said Makhi, "Entertain her in the lower 
chambers for a while.  Do whatever you want, as long as you leave no scars.  
But I want her tamed."

        Xena shouted with feral intensity, then the lights went out again as 
the guards subdued her.


        Xena woke up with the feeling of something suffocating  her.  She 
had a panic filled moment before she realized that she could still breathe 
through her nostrils.  Gagged, she thought, and blindfolded too.  Her 
forearms and calves were bound in tight sleeves and a belt circled her waist.  
They were chained so she was spread eagle and hanging in the harness.  She 
could tell by the draught on her skin that she was otherwise nude.

        "Looks like she's coming around."  The voice and the footsteps 
came closer.  A hand carefully pulled her blindfold up to rest on her 
forehead.  It belonged to a Nordic man in his early forties, body lean and 
hardened from combat.  His grin, full of sharpened, silver teeth, identified 
him as Rostov, Hafez Makhi's prime assassin.
  
        "This is called the Spider, Xena.  Our interrogator uses this as the 
pedestal of his art.  You probably remember that his art is something that 
most of us do not have the stomach to witness."  Rostov picked up a thick, 
wickedly curved hook from the table, letting Xena watch the light from a 
brazier full of glowing coals glint off it.  He snorted and returned it to its 
stand. "No, we've got other ideas.  A lot more fun, although someone's got 
to serve as the entertainment.  Of course, we've picked you."

        Five pirates barged through the entryway, cursing and snickering, 
tankards of ale spilling carelessly.  They cheered when they saw the naked 
woman hanging in the middle of the torture chamber. 

        "Hold up, boys, let's make her comfortable now, " Rostov released 
a lever and pulled a set of pulleys, tilting the cruciform that held the 
harness forward.  Xena watched the six men as they stripped down.  Their hairy 
legs came into view, then they stepped close enough so she could see them 
hefting and stroking their penes into hardness,  like weapons being 
brandished before the onslaught.  Rostov was the first to touch her.   He 
slicked a finger with his saliva, then rubbed it lightly on Xena's nipples, 
which hardened with the sudden chill.  The men grunted and whistled 
approvingly.   

         Rostov rubbed his cock on her face.  He grabbed a handful of her 
dark hair, pulling her head back forcefully as he pressed his cock against her 
breasts.  He grinned with satisfaction at the loathing and terror in her bright 
blue eyes.  The others stepped forward and replaced him now, running their 
coarse hands over the soft skin of her body.  One was below her with his 
face buried in her tits, sucking and chewing on her nipples.  Two of them 
were fondling her ass while they pumped their inflamed rods up against her 
thighs, while one was lapping at her cunt as he jerked himself off.

         The huge black corsair with scars across his face was the one with 
first bid at Xena's pussy.  One of the others handed him a tray holding a 
cake of grease.  He smeared it along the length of his huge tool, eyeing the 
patch between Xena's legs licentiously  and licking his lips.  He smeared 
another handful  of the lubricant over the lips of her pussy, working two of 
his fingers inside her.  He kept the lips parted with his fingers as he steered 
the dark purple head of his cock into her.

         He groaned as he shoved his hips forward.  His face was knotted 
with pleasure as he twirled and rocked his hips, wrenching his cock around 
inside her.  One of the others had greased her chest up and was fucking his 
cock between her breasts.  The black man came first, roaring at the top of his 
lungs as he emptied his testicles.  The other squeezed her tits together tightly 
as he shot his load there.  The next one moved eagerly between her legs, 
ramming his cock in and pumping her with short, dog-like strokes.  They 
took turns at her pussy until their cum had trickled from her lips and made a 
puddle on the stone floor.  Rostov stood back and watched the five thugs use 
her lavish body, his eyes wide with glee as he worked his inches.  He only 
came forward when he was ready to pop.  He grabbed her hair and held her 
head still as he rubbed the head of his cock on her cheeks and around her 
lips.  He snorted with satisfaction and growled as he squirted his cum on her 
face and in her hair.  The prime assassin gauged the time, decided to give the 
men another half hour before he would call in the concubines to clean up 
and drug her for the master.
  

        The floating citadel made its way east.  The zaraten's massive limbs 
propelled it along at thirty knots, closing the distance inexorably with 
Calimport.  When it stopped, the pirate crew set to a group of giant 
cogwheels.  Groaning and swearing mightily, they turned the wheels until 
the piers were deployed from the recesses in the zaraten's shell.  They went 
to work arming the frigates that would ravage the city and the coastline for 
miles.  It was easy among the hustle and confusion for Milan to emerge from 
his hiding place and start climbing.

        The ranger had been sucked into the giant turtle's wake when he hit 
the water.  Realizing he had only seconds to escape watery death, he caught 
hold on the timbers of the folded pier and lashed himself to it with his pack 
harness.  He rode along for the last four hours, until the creature slowed and 
the pirates' frenzied activity made his ascent possible.  He ducked through 
the jungle and made his way to the guild house.  The servants loading fresh 
supplies had left the side gates open and he rushed into the house in a swirl 
of black robes.

        He was overcome with rage when he found the cell holding Xena.  
The heroine was stripped naked and lashed to a bizarre device.  He 
overheard the groans and crude cheers of the five brutes who were standing 
around the weird rack, groping at her while she hung in a leather harness and 
one fucked her.  Xena's brow was covered with sweat, her eyes squeezed 
shut.  Her face was flushed as she tried to breathe around the leather gag in 
her mouth.

        He pulled back into the shadows, taking two heavy throwing spikes 
from beneath his robes.  He pushed the door open and confirmed that there 
were six targets in the room.  They had not noticed him, too caught up in 
their lust as they waited another turn inside the woman's silky womb.

        He struck the ones waiting at the sides first.  The spikes entered 
their throats, driving them to their knees as they fought for air.  The man 
between her legs was next.  The deadly ranger pulled two leaf-bladed 
daggers from their sheaths and plunged them up under the man's ribs.  The 
corsair vomited blood as the blades pierced his diaphragm and tore his lungs 
open.  The other two, still exhausted from their penetrations, died before 
they could gain their feet when Milan cast the two daggers at them.  One was 
killed instantly as it pierced his eye and lodged in his brain.  The other 
clawed weakly at the cruel knife lodged in his neck as his lifeblood spurted 
from a torn carotid artery.  

        Milan used the body of the rapist as a shield when Rostov fired a 
small crossbow at him.  He cast the body aside and leapt at the assassin.  He 
bowled the older man over and grappled with him fiercely.  Milan was a bit 
bigger, but Rostov was a veteran of hundreds of hand to hand battles.  He 
broke Milan's chokehold when he shoved a palm under his chin, forcing his 
head back.  The assassin had worked a dirk free from his robes and stabbed, 
but Milan easily caught and held his arm.  He shoved Rostov's hand into the 
smoldering brazier.  The assassin screamed as smoke and the smell of 
roasting pork filled the air.  Milan finally sent him down with a fist to the 
back of the neck.

        He retrieved his spikes and daggers, then released the bindings 
around Xena's arms and legs.  She collapsed into his arms and he pulled the 
gag out of her mouth.  Xena gasped gratefully and clung to his shoulder for 
support.
  
        "Milan," she whispered as he put his arms around her.  He took 
water from a pitcher on the table and washed her face.  Looking around, he 
found a cloth to dry her off with, as well as her clothes and armor.  She 
pressed her face into his shoulder and clung to him.  Milan held her gently 
and reassuringly as her horror passed.  With a deep breath, she composed 
herself and took the armor.  They noticed Rostov stirring in the shadows.

        "He's still alive," Milan said, slightly surprised.

        "Not for long,"  Xena said, the steel back in her.  She hefted a 
fallen scimitar menacingly and stalked toward the wounded assassin.

        "Wait," Rostov croaked, "Don't kill me. . ."

        "Tell me what Makhi has planned."

        "Spare me and I'll tell you," he gasped as he clutched his seared 
hand in pain.

        "Start talking, you bastard."

        "He planned to have you drugged and taken into his harem.  He was 
going to put on a show tonight to show you off as his latest conquest and 
acquisition to other masters of the Assassins Guild."  The assassin spit out 
three of his silver teeth and continued.  "They're celebrating before they 
overrun Calimport.  I'm supposed to pick a lieutenant to put on a show with 
you after their feast.  Please, let me go now!"

        Xena's expression hardened as her grip tightened on the scimitar.

        "No!  You promised!"

        "I did not," she said calmly as she rammed the blade through his 
heart, closing the shifty eyes forever.

        "Help me hide these carcasses," she said as she tossed Milan the 
black pirate's uniform.  "Then put this on."

        "What for?"

        "We have a dinner date to get ready for."


        Xena duplicated the drowsy stare that she had seen on the faces of 
the harem girls.  Milan held her by the elbow as they walked into the bath 
house used by the concubines.  Three of them were waiting there, stripped to 
the waist as they prepared a bath for the two new arrivals.

        "Rostov said to come here to get ready," Milan said, trying to act 
officious to cover his arousal by the three exquisitely beautiful and 
voluptuous concubines.  One who appeared to be the leader nodded and they 
removed their skirts and jewelry.  Two of them took Milan's hands while the 
leader took Xena's.  They led them to the marble steps of the bathing pool 
and proceeded to strip them.

        They sat the couple side by side and one poured a pitcher of warm 
water over their heads.  Xena was grateful as the water rinsed away the 
crawling sensations of the brutes' hands and their abominable seed.  The 
girls lathered their bodies with soft sponges and massaged perfumed suds 
into their scalps.  The leader was busy at work with a small razor as she 
denuded Xena's loins.

        "The master likes to observe the small details," she offered in 
explanation.  Xena nodded, then cast a dark glance at the girl who was 
grooming Milan and taking the privilege of caressing and licking his fully 
erect cock.  The ranger, shrugged, as if to say, "Hey, this was your idea" and 
lay back as the girl started to scrape his pubic hair away.

        They were rinsed off and led to a pair of padded  tables.  The girls 
poured a sweetly spiced oil onto their backs, then rubbed handfuls of it into 
their own skins.  They climbed onto the large tables, next to their guests.  
The leader straddled Xena's back and rubbed her shoulders.  Across from 
them, one used her ample breasts to rub the oil into Milan's back.  He had to 
admit, even though they were facing a battle where they were hopelessly 
outnumbered, he was having a great time.  And even though Makhi was a 
pig, he sure could pick the most delectable women.

        They turned them over and finished the rubdown, then led them to 
the harem room where a dozen other concubines lounged and slept as they 
waited for the couple.

        "The master wants us to warm you up for your performance.  But, it 
seems that the pleasure is ours, for once,"  The girls smiled appreciatively 
and with enthusiasm as the two hard-bodied warriors were led into the 
middle of a sea of  pillows and scented bodies.

        Delicate hands with painted nails reached out and stroked, 
caressed, teased them.  They were joined by soft, warm tongues.  Two of 
them had Milan on his back and took turns licking and sucking his cock as a 
third offered her pussy to his mouth.  A girl with short, raven-black was  
kneeling between Xena's legs, brushing the insides of her thighs and her 
labia with a long feather.  Two blondes massaged her breasts while another 
kissed her tenderly.  The other girls caressed  the engaged partners or paired 
off themselves until they could trade places.

        Milan  couldn't see Esmerelda around the chamber, but was sure 
she would be there tonight.  He started to formulate plans but his 
concentration was broken when a wench with a long mane of red hair kissed 
him lightly.

        "If you think you'll  have enough strength for tonight," she asked 
demurely, "I was hoping that you would let me please you for a while."

        Milan nodded, feeling quite overwhelmed.  The girl kissed him 
thankfully and straddled him, taking him inside of her with a practiced 
thrust of her hips.  Her vagina seemed to grab him greedily, then gave his 
cock an affectionate squeeze.  She cooed and whispered to him.  "The 
master likes this with me more than the others.  This is my specialty.  Lay 
back and let me do the work.  I swear you won't be disappointed."

        Xena had been similarly distracted when the brunette rubbed the tip 
of her nose and tongue over her clit.   Xena decided to abandon the strategy 
for now and kissed the blonde back hungrily.  The harem wench whispered 
into Xena's ear and got a nod of agreement.  They arranged themselves on 
their sides, their faces to each other's crotch.  The blonde began, kissing and 
licking Xena's slick pussy as she squeezed her ass.  Xena plunged two 
fingers in and out of the girl's cunt, teasing her clit with her tongue.  She 
paused to look over at Milan, who was hanging onto the table precariously 
as the red-headed girl rode him through wave after wave of orgasms.  Xena 
winked at him and worked on her own girl.

        When the harem girls had sated themselves, Milan and Xena 
crawled to a far corner of the bed and nestled down in a mound of pillows.  
The concubines took it as a gesture that the lieutenant wanted time with 
Xena for himself, so they left them alone.

        "I think I've found a way to spoil their party tonight," Xena 
whispered.  "The guards will be light since most of the pirates will be 
preparing for the raid on Calimport."

        "Yes.  We should be able to escape with the princess quite easily if 
we can prevent an alarm from sounding."

        "I intend to do more than that," Xena said ominously.  "Are you 
ready, young ranger?"

        "As I'll ever be.   Traveling with you, a man has to be ready for 
anything, it seems."

        "You can't say it's been boring," she said.  Despite the grim 
circumstances,  she felt the flame of desire flare in her and she squeezed his 
cock playfully.  She felt a rush of pride as his drained organ writhed and 
hardened in response.  They embraced and kissed passionately, observing 
the Sujel custom once more as the harem girls watched them dreamily. 

Path: newsbf01.news.aol.com!newstf01.news.aol.com!news-e2a.gnn.com!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!newsfeed.pitt.edu!dsinc!ub!csn!news-1.csn.net!csus.edu!ccshp1.ccs.csus.edu!antonior
From: antonior@ccshp1.ccs.csus.edu (Reynaldo J. Antonio)
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories
Subject: 4 Grebo Guru: Xena Pt 3 of 3
Date: 1 Mar 1996 08:16:58 GMT
Organization: California State University Sacramento
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Xena:  Warrior Princess
Part 3 of 3

This is an X-rated story based on "Xena:  Warrior Princess".   It takes place 
between her appearance on "Hercules" and her own series.  Please note that 
this does not have anything to do with plot of either show except for her 
character.  There are creatures and places that are borrowed from other 
fantasy settings, historical periods, and myths too numerous to name, but 
some readers may recognize them, so the author hopes that they're described 
appealingly.

Once more, this is an X-rated fantasy story, not to be viewed by or 
distributed to minors.  If  sexual material offends you or you are sensitive to 
the subjects of sadism, non-consensual sex (e.g. rape, coercion),
humiliation, bondage, or slavery

OR

graphic violence (this IS a warrior's story)

then please discard this article now.


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	Tahir Arrani took his place at the banquet, his prime assassin by his 
side and Princess Esmerelda lounging at his feet.  Eight other sheiks from 
various cartels in Calimport and neighboring countries were in attendance.   Each 
of the dignitaries had two slave girls chosen from the pens.  Seated on his throne 
at the middle of the banquet table, Hafez Makhi watched his guests as they drank 
from gold goblets and feasted on the mounds of rich food.  His normally stern 
face was broken by the smuggest of grins as the chosen moment approached. 
Using the edge of his dinner knife, he struck a small bell that produced a high, 
clear tone.

	"My friends," he gestured to the assembled sheiks, "today we begin a 
venture greater than any other in the history of the Guild.  We have proved what 
this citadel can do on the open sea.  No merchant vessel can get by us.  No fleet 
can stand up to us.  In three days time, Calimport will belong to us!  We shall 
claim the city and control  the entire coastline.  The merchants will have to deal 
with us, and Bandar will become the economic capital of the three continents! 
The agents of our guild are in place and have made preparations for our landing.  
Once Calimport is occupied, we shall sail our barges up the Camroot River, deep 
into the Berlandic plains, taking what the rich farmlands and mining towns have 
to offer.  We shall take anything, ANYTHING, that we desire. . ."

	On this verbal cue, the curtains to a vestibule parted and out stepped 
Milan, leading Xena.  He was naked except for a leather loincloth, his bulging 
muscles glowing from the oil rubbed into his skin.  In his hand, he held a silk 
cord that was clasped to the gem-studded slave collar around Xena's neck.  She 
wore the diaphanous veils of a concubine and gold bracelets around her upper 
arm and a slim chain around one of her ankles.  The eyes of the assembled crime 
bosses and harem girls crawled avidly over the bodies of the two performers.  
There were whispers as the rumors of Makhi's latest accomplishment were now 
confirmed.

	Makhi clapped his hands twice, nodding to Milan.   The costumed 
ranger undid the clasp at Xena's collar and seated himself on the couch in the 
middle of fur-lined floor.  The musicians began a tune, then Xena started to sway 
her hips to the hypnotic rhythm.  Her shoulders joined in, moving in 
counterpoint as she shifted from one leg to the other in the classical form of a 
harem girl's belly dance.  

	Milan, like the others, found himself absorbed by the undulations of her 
sleek abs.  She moved her legs farther apart and snaked from side to side, the 
sinuous motion of her torso causing the men, and a lot of the women, to wet their 
lips.  She danced around the edge of the floor with spins and leaps that allowed 
the slits in her veils to show long flashes of warm skin.  

She stopped in front of one party.  It was made of a man in his twenties, 
who was the youngest sheik, and a pair of dark-skinned women.  She stepped in 
between his legs.  He looked up at her as she twisted sensuously, barely an inch 
away from his face.  She gave him the end of her skirt and spun on her toes away 
from him, unwrapping the skirt and freeing it with a quick snap of her hands as 
she reached the middle of the floor.  She pranced forward as she shed her sheer 
harem blouse and came up to a man across from them.  This time she dropped to 
her knees, her legs spread and her hands cupping her breasts for the man and the 
breathless women.  

The man swallowed hard as she put her hands on his shoulders.  She 
arched forward three times, pushing her chest out, her nipples grazing against 
him.  She whipped her head forward, her hair floating around his face so that 
they could only see each other.  He closed his eyes as she moved forward, her 
lips parted for a kiss, but then she turned and kissed the slave girl instead.  She 
held the teen's face between her hands and offered him the girl's lips, which 
were still moist from the kiss.

Xena leaned back onto the floor, twisting over to her belly with a turn 
of her long legs.  She crawled forward on her hands and knees like a sleek jungle 
cat to the next sheik. As she rose, she gathered her hair up and let it cascade back 
down to her shoulders, a motion that threw her breasts up and out.  She placed a 
foot on his chest, then shoved him playfully onto his back.  She stepped forward 
and placed her feet at the sides of his head, then squatted down as she spread her 
lips for him.  His eyes were locked on the teasing strokes of her hands as she slid 
a finger inside her cunt, playing with herself to coax the moisture onto her lips.  
She ran her fingers around her clit, pulling the top of her pussy upward so her 
pink bud peeked out at him.  The man stretched out his tongue towards the 
welcoming folds of her cunt.  Xena let him lick there a few times, then moved on.

She plucked the berry that Esmerelda was going to feed Tahir Arrani 
out of her fingers.  She slid the tip in and out between her lips a few times as she 
looked into the assassin's glassy eyes, then  nibbled on the end of it to release 
the juice from it.  She rubbed the berry around her lips, on her chin, down her 
neck, around her nipples.  She held the berry out for him to finally take into his 
mouth.

        Xena resumed her dance around the room.  Arrani placed a hand on 
Esmerelda's shoulder and spread his legs apart.  She reached into his caftan and 
pulled his cock out, pumping it soothingly as they watched the dancer.  It was a 
scene that was being repeated around the room as the crowd anticipated what was 
coming next.  

        She returned to Milan, passing her hands over the warmest curves of 
her body as if they were extensions of his imagination while she continued her 
serpentine dance.  She spun around and dropped into his lap.  When his arms 
went around her in reflex, she latched onto them, guiding his strong hands to her 
breasts and thighs as she writhed on top of him.  She slid two of his fingers into 
her pussy, then waved them under his nose before she let him suck on them.

        She turned over, her arms around him and her tits smashed against 
his hard chest.  Some of the slave women watched with envy as she squirmed on his 
lap and ran her hands over the symmetric muscles of his back.  Xena got up and 
lay on her back, her knees pressing his ankles until his legs were spread.  She 
held one tit up to her tongue while she spread the lips of her pussy open for him.  
She ground into the plush fur as she fingered herself, letting the throes of her 
pleasure enchant the crowd.  She turned over, her ass up in the air and pumping 
at Milan, giving him a good look at the way her fingers slid in and out.  She spun 
over again and put her legs up at the sides of his neck and arched into the air, her 
body undulating.  Milan kissed the smooth skin of her legs, which only seemed 
to inflame her more.  She rolled back to the floor and held his knees as she 
pulled herself up, her tits brushing the insides of his legs and her smooth belly 
coming to rest against his cock as they kissed.

        She hooked her fingers into the top of his loincloth, pulling it off 
and freeing his cock.  As she took his thick shaft in her hand, the audience closed in 
to watch.  A couple got down on the floor behind her, staring at her exposed 
vagina.  Others watched as she ran the tip of her tongue over his cock, tracing the 
outline of the large vein that trailed on the side.  She sucked noisily and let 
plenty of saliva run down his cock, performing for their benefit.  Milan did 
likewise, panting and groaning whenever Xena did something exceptional with 
her mouth.
  
        Their torrid display was having the desired effect.  One of the 
sheiks lay on the furs with a harem girl who mimicked Xena's fellatio as they watched. 
Milan got up with Xena's legs wrapped around him, her weight feathers to the 
knotted cords of his arms.  Xena ground her crotch over his as they kissed and 
eased down to the fur.  Some of the people were bold enough to reach out and 
stroke their bodies as they coupled, squeezing buttocks, tits and hard muscles.  
Xena climbed off, stroking Milan's cock to keep him warm and titillated as she 
scanned the audience.  She picked out a petite, slim, brown-haired girl with 
innocent eyes.  Xena grabbed the girl by the shoulders, licking the side of her 
neck and kissing her as she pulled her over to Milan, who was stoking his cock 
and breathing harder as he looked the wench up and down.  The girl gasped as 
she forced herself down on Milan's cock.  Xena picked out the young sheik and 
pulled him down to the furs.  He kissed her wetly as he grabbed her hips and 
entered her.

        Milan looked over at Xena, who gave him a subtle gesture to wait.  
She caressed and licked at the young man until he tensed up, growling behind bared 
teeth as he locked his hips forward.  She put her arms around his neck, moaning 
as she felt him cum inside her.  The girl riding Milan dug her nails into his 
shoulders as she came, whimpering as Milan pushed her on her back and drove 
hard into her slit.  He locked his mouth over hers as he filled her with sperm.  
When he pulled out of her, his cock made a small, soft pop, like the cork out of a 
bottle.  Xena moved Milan out of  the way and moved over the girl into a 69.  
The harem girl opened her mouth to catch the jism as it dripped from Xena's 
pussy lips, while Xena probed with her tongue to lap up Milan's cum.  The 
young sheik was back, still hard as a rock and wanting to penetrate her again.  
Xena smiled and lay back with her knees drawn up and wide for him.

        Milan saw her give a get-ready signal, and noticed that the guards 
were eyeing Xena as she screwed the horny pirate and the two women that were 
licking the wetness from his own cock.   The others had moved away in sticky 
pairs and were oblivious to the surroundings.  Xena's partner came again, 
collapsing into her arms, and this time she seized his chin and wrenched his head 
brutally, snapping his neck with a subdued crunch.  Milan sprang forward and 
flung two of the thick furs at the guards.   They were entangled by the heavy 
skins long enough for Milan to latch onto one's neck and lever himself up to 
plant a heel explosively in the other's windpipe.   Xena heaved the deadweight 
from her and the crowd scattered in sudden panic.  The slave girls milled about in 
a daze as their masters abandoned them.

	Milan caught a hold of Esmerelda and held up the pendant that he had 
hidden, an ivory likeness of Thetis, goddess of the oceans.  Esmerelda suddenly 
choked and heaved.  Milan steadied her as a trickle of dark fluid dripped from 
her mouth, the herb's toxins expelled from her body by Thetis's grace.

	"Milan?" The princess's voice was faint and the recognition in her eyes 
was faltering.  Milan grasped her hands as if she were hanging from them over a 
cliff.

	"Yes, my princess!  We must flee, all of us.  Can you walk?"

	"As long as it's away from this horrid place."

	"I'll gather the rest of our women.  Xena will free the ones in the being 
held in the pens.  We need to find a ship to get away."

	"Milan!  More guards!"

	He rushed to help Xena stop the squads that had arrived.  He relieved 
the corpses of the bodyguards of  two heavy, fearsome scimitars, found another 
and flipped it to Xena.  With a fierce war cry, he waded into the first wave of 
corsairs.  His cry was joined by the shrieks of the dying as the pirates fell before 
the whirling blades of the ranger.  Xena met her own opponents with unbridled 
fury, scattering them like chaff before the wind.  The pirates' escape was 
thwarted by the fluttering roar and thunderous impacts of missiles launched by 
vessels of the Dunwich navy.  The rogues scattered about the guild house, 
knowing that they faced certain death outside as the catapults flattened the 
fortifications as well as inside as the two warriors slew their fellow pirates until 
the floor of the audience hall was slick with blood. They decided that they stood 
a better chance against the bombardment and fled toward the frigates that had not 
been sunk yet.

	When the last of the remaining guards fell dead, the two warriors led the 
kidnapped women out.  Milan checked a girl who had fallen, then looked over at 
Xena.

        "Are you hurt?"   He could not tell from the arterial explosions of 
their victims if any of the blood was hers.

        "Makhi will hurt worse."  She said as she dropped the scimitar and 
reclaimed her weapons from a guard who had taken them for his own.

        "The Lord of Corsairs will answer for many crimes after I drag him 
back in chains.  Justice will be swift to claim that monster."

        "It had better.  If I find him first, you can stop looking."

        "Good hunting, mistress," he said, crossing his weapon with hers in 
parting.  He gathered his charges to leave for the docks as Xena ran through the 
gloomy passageways to the slave pens.


        "Quickly, loyal ones!  We must flee to the docks!"  Esmerelda 
hurried the last of the slave girls to follow Milan and pried a broadsword from a dead 
pirate's grasp.  She blocked the doorway as three buccaneers moved to intercept 
them.  

        The thugs laughed at the naked girl with the sword, but Esmerelda 
was no novice to combat.  She remembered when Justin ordered her to fight nude one 
session.  At first she was amused, thinking that he had finally worked up enough 
nerve to attempt seduction, but ceased laughing when she  noticed the stern 
expression on her tutor's face. 

        "There are some moves that you cannot make while fettered by armor," 
he had told her as he executed a spin and leap that seemed to belong in a ballet, 
except for the wicked jabs and cuts of the blade that would kill a man horribly.  
He taught her how to use her smaller size, speed, and acrobatic talent against 
larger, slower, armored foes.  She was now grateful for the lesson.

        The first pirate sheathed his sword and pulled a coiled whip from 
his belt.  He was intent on taking a prize along on his escape.  A whip was no match 
for a broadsword, but the scorned princess offered no quarter.  The pirate saw the 
flash of steel and heard a sound that he was accustomed to hearing around the 
cook's butcher block, but by the time he realized his arm was missing the 
princess had already run through one of his comrades.  The third was quicker to 
react, but not quick enough.  He sliced through empty air as the princess hacked 
through the flesh between his neck and shoulder.

        Esmerelda had just delivered the coup de grace to her first opponent 
when she heard mocking laughter behind her.  She turned and saw Arrani 
waiting, licking the blade of his jeweled dagger as he sneered.

        "So, my pet,  you prove that the most beautiful things are always 
the most deadly."  His leer changed to malicious snarl.  "Time for play is over.  Now 
I will carve more openings in your flesh for a different sense of pleasure."

        "That kind of talk may cow a slave girl," she said, her eyes flashing as 
she raised her weapon, "but now you face a daughter of the Royal House.  My 
retribution is at hand."

        She lunged and dove between his blubbery legs, as if ducking into a 
small tunnel, except for the hand wielding the sword.  With one smooth stroke, 
she emasculated Tahir Arrani, almost splitting him to his navel.  The assassin, in 
shock from the speed of the attack and the pain of the awful wound, doubled 
over and tried to face her.  She turned and delivered the final blow, just as in her 
lessons.  It was silent in the chamber except for the whistle of the blade, 
followed by the sound of the head of the assassin landing at the princess's feet.

        "For you, beloved," she choked.  Dropping the gruesome weapon, she 
walked out of the guild house, into the light.


	Xena found the slave pens and saw, to her relief, that the women were 
not drugged.  With no time to find the keys, she smashed the locks off the doors 
and helped the women out.  A dozen guards appeared at the entrance of the cell 
block, baring their weapons.  Xena flew at them with her sword poised and a 
curse yelled at the top of her lungs, not caring that she was practically naked 
against the wall of thugs and ranks of archers who were leveling crossbows at 
her.  Athena, Blessed Goddess,  she prayed, protect me as a strike my enemies.  
At least let me fight them long enough for the innocents to escape.

	To her surprise, the archers pulled up their weapons, and the guards 
faltered in their advance.  There was a deafening cry as the women of Dunwich 
rushed to their rescuer's aid.  The guards, still stupidly thinking of the profits 
they would loose by killing the captives, held their fire and set in a position in 
front of the doorway.  But the women, fighting for their freedom and filled with 
the fierce mettle of their city-state, joined the Warrior Princess in the fray.  They 
fought with tooth, nail, broken furniture and bricks that had  been loosened in 
the bombardment, screeching and striking until no marauder was left standing.  
When it was done, seven of their sisters lay dead, and several others with serious 
wounds, but all the guards had been slain, pulled out of their armor and torn to 
pieces by the enraged women.

        Xena organized them to carry the wounded out and sent them on their 
way, then stalked back into the main hall in search of Makhi. She did not have to 
search very hard.

        "Come, Xena," he said as he drew his sword.   "Show me what the 
mainlanders feared in you so much."

        Unlike Arrani, who lived soft in his palace, Makhi was still one of 
the deadliest swordsmen on the Blood Sea.  He met Xena's attack with ringing steel, 
sweeping her blades wide and pressing in for a quick kill.  She brought a knee 
into his midsection, foiling his attack, but it left her flank open to the reverse of 
his swing.  She barely dodged the lethal cut, feeling the bite of steel as the tip of 
the blade grazed her.   The two opponents disengaged and circled, now 
conceding greater respect for each other.

        The two battled without anything but near misses and glancing blows 
telling, but the aging pirate could not hold out for long against Xena's acrobatic 
defenses and the hammering of her twin swords.  He faltered, overextending 
when he tried one last ferocious attack.  She waded in behind a wild swing and 
thrust with one weapon, jabbing him in the shoulder, then the other knocked his 
blade out of his hands.  She gripped the hair of his head, the tip of her sword 
leveled against his spine for the fatal thrust.

        "If you have a god to pray to, corsair, pray that he's listening.
In the name of all whose lives you destroyed and the scars that will never
heal, die!"

        Athena forgive her, she felt glorious.


        Milan was relieved when Xena appeared at the dock.  He had loaded 
the last of the women aboard a naval vessel and had sent them on their way back to 
the mainland.  

        "Where's our princess?"

        "She's not with you?"

        "She never left the guild house."

        They backtracked and found her on the edge of the dock's watch post.
Milan was struck with horror as the princess stepped out on the ledge.  Her 
intentions were made clear by the anguish on her face.

        "Let me die, Milan," she wailed desperately.

        "No, my princess.  I will not let the vile slavers claim final 
victory over us with your death."

        "I'm broken.  They've taken my virtue, my dignity.  They've taken 
Justin!  Everything that mattered is gone."

        "Everything but hope, and Justin's love for you.  It takes more 
courage to live than to die, Esmerelda.  Justin loved you, he would want you to go on, to 
live for him.  He knew that if he should fall, his love would live on long after 
him, that it would comfort you when you were lost, would sustain you when you 
suffered."

        Esmerelda's grief receded, the grotesque horror of the citadel faded 
with her memory of Justin's kind face.  Wise, cheerful, smiling and saying that 
it was a good day for a ride out in the countryside.  Her grief was no longer 
for her fallen champion, but for herself, for having to continue without him
by her side.  She stepped away from the ledge and fell to her knees as she let
the sobs finally come.  Milan took her in his arms and carried her back to 
the ships. 
   
        Xena remained a respectful distance away to leave their grief 
private.  So he has held and comforted me like that, not long ago.  The
princess has done no wrong, but how many women have suffered at the hands of
my men while I laughed about it?  Hercules, my friend, my love, when you held
me in you arms, I felt so secure, so supported, that I had a dream of stripping off my 
armor and weapons and burying them as symbols of  the part of me that 
hated, that lusted for dominion and the blood of those who stood in my way.  
But then I realized that I must bear my arms still, this time to defend.  I
will defend those who cannot defend themselves.  I will defend those who would 
suffer at the hands of people who are like what I once was.  

        "Milan, we must go," she called.

        "Where, mistress?"

        "We must finish this place.  Listen,  this beast we ride, it does 
not normally roam about the waters like this.  Someone is keeping it active. 
It takes strong magic to do so.  We must stop them and release this beast from 
its enchantment, or the citadel will be occupied again.  Follow me!"

        They paused to do battle with small knots of brigands along the 
way.  Dunwich ships had docked and marines were routing the pirates 
stranded on the floating citadel.  The ships cast off and chased down the frigates 
that were escaping.  Milan ordered the marines to fall back as Xena led him towards 
the massive head of the zaraten.  They were stalled by archers who were holed 
up in the heavy bunker until marine grenadiers threw flasks of burning oil 
through the arrow slits.  The two warriors led the charge into the complex. 
	
        "Kill the one with magi's robes," Xena said as she cut down a 
brigand who had survived the flames.

        "I see him," Milan said as he picked a harpoon from a rack on the 
wall. The magician was too busy trying to steady the wounded zaraten to cast another 
spell. The ranger heaved the missile and it smashed through the body of a man in 
black and gold robes, almost passing completely through him.  With the 
enchantment dispelled, the zaraten acted in its own defense and started to dive. 
The heroes headed for the edge of the shell where a Dunwich ship had came 
alongside.  Princess Esmerelda waved for her soldiers to hurry as the living 
island sank.  A wave of panicked slavers swarmed to board the ship, but were 
repelled and cast back into the foaming sea. 

        "Looks like we've won," said Milan, "We've destroyed the black heart 
of the beast, now its tentacles will die off."

        "I'm afraid not," Xena said grimly, "The limbs will grow new 
beasts.  The factions within the guild will now vie for power, and when they reform, 
they'll be back for vengeance.

        "It will be their last mistake," Esmerelda said as they watched the 
burning ships slip beneath the  waves.  The water was thick with the flotsam of 
the ruined fortress and the bodies of the marauders.  "When we get back, the first 
thing I will ask of my father is the curettage of  the port cities.  The guild and the 
slavers will be no more."

        "Bandar's government is rife with corruption,"  the captain of 
the naval ship interjected.  "The city will go to war to protect the guild."

        "Then let there BE war!  These wretches kill our neighbors and sell 
our children.  They will not be able to hide behind the throne of a spineless noble 
anymore.  It won't matter if we keep our mining  colony across the Blood Sea 
when our own city is not safe."


        Princess Esmerelda went to Willow River as emissary, with Milan and 
Xena as her escorts.  They completed the task, and the objective of Dunwich's 
military shifted from holding the mithril mines to patrolling the borders and sea 
lanes.  Xena was right about the slavers. Though the might of the guild had 
suffered from the defeat at Calimport, and even more so in the weeks that 
followed as the bid for power was on, the markets had already appeared in other 
cities.  As long as Esmerelda and Milan lived, though, they vowed that the 
women of Dunwich would not be among the unfortunate females sold there.


	Xena accepted the princess's offer to stay in the keep.  She was happy 
to be close to Milan, who had elected for garrison duty.  But as the days passed 
into the cool winds of fall, she had begun to think more of  the hills of her 
homeland, of the songs of the women during the harvest season.  The pleasant 
citizens of Dunwich, all of a sudden, seemed indifferent.  Their easy charm 
seemed to pale as her need to return home deepened.  Milan sensed the change in 
her and tried to get her to talk about it, but she could never bring herself to say 
what was going on inside of her.  She didn't know how to tell him why she must 
leave or, more importantly, how to convince him that she needed to go on alone.  
Esmerelda had noticed Xena's plight.  She asked her about it one night. 

	"You have been a very gracious host, Princess," Xena reassured her,   
"and I've felt very welcome here.  Everyone has been kind, but I must leave you 
now.  I must return to my homeland."

	"I wish you well, Xena.  You'll be welcome in our city if you ever come 
this way again."  Esmerelda worried her lip and shook her head, saying softly, "I 
wish we had more warriors like you.  And it looks like I loose my personal guard 
once again."

        "What do you mean?  With Justin gone, Milan is even more committed 
to ensuring your safety."

        "Not likely," she said.  "I've seen the way he looks at you, how his 
heart opens every time he hears your voice."

        "He can't come with me.  I've too far to go to reach my home."  She 
shut her eyes, remembering her last words with her mother, remembering the 
words of defiance and bloody ambition.  "It may not be my home anymore."

        "He loves you, Xena."

        "He may love me, but he needs you.  That's more important to his own 
happiness than being at the side of his first lover."

        "Will you tell him?"

        "When I can find the heart to.   If I ever can find the heart to."

        "You can.  You must.  Your feelings are strong, but they have a 
price." 

        "It's too great!"

        "Yes, Xena.  But even though it hurts, there's comfort in such 
pain." 

        "I don't understand."

        "Poor woman.  I guess you don't.  And there's nothing that can be 
done to change how things are or to lessen what you feel.  Alas for you, Warrior 
Princess.  And alas for the man dear to us both."


        Milan was writing at his desk.  It was his fourth draft, finally 
one he was willing to sign, and he did so carefully.  He spread a pinch of sand to dry the 
ink and rubbed his eyes.  Tomorrow he would promote his lieutenant and they 
would both be there when he presented his resignation to the castello.  He had 
turned the problem over many times in his mind, but he always came to the same 
thing.  Something was bothering Xena, something that she wouldn't talk about.  
And if there was a solution to her troubles, she wasn't finding it in the city.  He 
was determined that she wouldn't have to search for it alone.  This time, he 
would not let his career defeat his feelings for a woman.  There was a soft knock 
at his door.

        "If that's you, squire, you're dismissed for the night."

        He gawked as Xena entered the room.  She was clad in a silken gown.  
A pale blue, see-through garment that. . .  

        It was the first time he had seen Xena like this.  When she was in 
her armor, weapons in hand, she had always projected power , but this was a 
different kind of power.  Different, but by no means weaker.

        Esmerelda was right, Xena thought. There was something precious in 
the pain itself.  A lump formed in her throat and she looked shyly at the floor as 
she tried to remember the speech she had rehearsed all afternoon in her suite.  
The words evaded her as Milan rose and opened his arms for her.  You never 
showed me this side, Hercules.  When we parted, I knew it was for the best.  But 
now I want to stay!  I want to ride with him through the meadows in the spring.  I 
want to share my dreams with him, as he has with me.  I want to not have to 
wonder where I can spend the night safely or when I'll be eating again.   I want to 
be able to greet people without worrying if my weapons are within easy reach.  I 
want to hold his power when we are in bed, to feel his heartbeat against my 
breast and hear how sweetly my name sounds in his whispers while we make 
love.  But it cannot be so.  I have a dark road to follow, and he cannot be part of 
it.  This part of me cannot live right now, not with the wraiths of unforgiven sins 
grasping for me in my sleep.

        "Why are you crying, mistress?"

        She looked at him, the desperation almost wrecking her.  "Don't 
call me that, Milan.  We are more than warriors."

        "Aye, dear one,"  he said as ran his hands through her dark hair, 
brushed his lips against the delicate skin of her neck, the soft spot behind her 
ears. 

        On the brink of tears, she was robbed of any chance to tell him.  
The comfort of his arms was something that tore away her resolve.  She had faced 
sword and arrow and fist, most of the time without so much as a flinch, but she 
fell to his gentle touch,  cowered at the aspect of losing him to the cold, empty 
future she faced.

        She stepped away from him as she slipped the straps of the filmy 
gown off her shoulders.  The sadness gave way to something else,  something that 
was much more urgent and replaced the ache in her heart with fire.  The gossamer 
fabric floated down to her feet, and she stepped out of it as she took Milan's 
hands, tugging him onto the bed with her. 

	Xena's body was feverish, insistent as she arched against him.  Her 
strong thighs squeezed him as they kissed.  Her fingers locked in the lengths of 
his hair as he kissed her chin, her throat, the hollows of her clavicles.  He could 
feel the throb of her pulse beneath her skin as his lips caressed the curve of her 
neck.  His hips rocked powerfully with a slow rhythm.  She rubbed her calves 
along the back of his legs, squeezed his ass and felt the muscles there flex as he 
continued his wonderful strokes, but he wouldn't come yet.  Her hands clenched 
the sheets of the bed into sweaty bunches.  Milan took her hands in his, raveling 
his fingers with hers, pulled them over her head as he sped up.  Xena screamed 
out as their flesh pounded together.  In a few minutes, they were interrupted by 
banging at the door.   Milan poked his head out the door and whispered a lame, 
embarrassed excuse to the alarmed servants while Xena giggled.  She'd rarely 
done that, especially not around a man, but she could not deny the feeling as they 
grinned at each other sheepishly and laughed together once the servants' 
footsteps receded.

        He climbed back into bed with her, rolling and tangling in the 
sheets while they rained soft kisses over each other.  This time their embraces 
were relaxed, more tender, as the flames of lust softened into the warmth 
of affection.

        Afterwards, she got up and looked out the balcony at the city that 
was still asleep.  The evening air was crisp and her joy was tempered as she realized 
she still didn't know what to say to him.  She realized that she was hurting them 
both, but she didn't know what to do.  Milan was sitting on the edge of the bed, 
reaching out to her.

        "Come back to bed, Xena, there's still some night left."

        "Hold me, Milan," she said, grateful for the darkness that hid the 
suffering in her eyes.  She knew that this would have to last her a long time.


        The morning sun streamed through the window and warmed Milan's 
face.  He shifted in the pleasant feeling of drowsiness, reached out to put his arm 
around Xena.  He felt only the rumpled sheets were she had been, already cool.  
The room was silent and empty when he sat up and  looked around.  He pulled 
on a robe and started to go to her quarters, but he stopped before he even reached 
the door.  He already knew what he would find.  And even though he was bitterly 
disappointed, he wasn't too surprised.  He looked from his window at the world 
that was waking.  It was a clear day that was indifferent to his sorrow as the 
woman of his heart rode out of his life.

        The lands where she was riding were sunlit, the sky was the same 
soft blue as her eyes.  He watched it all through his tears.