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    Call It Destiny

    Chapter Ten

    With All the Gods As My Witness
     

     “We’ll be in Poteidaia in a few more days. Do you want to go straight home to the farm, or would you rather stop off at your parents' first?”

    “I don’t know. I still don’t think this is such a good idea.”

    “Gabrielle, you know this is the only real choice you have. Anything else would be running away. And the Gabrielle I know doesn’t do that.”

    “Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do. What do you think I was doing when I left Perdicus and Poteidaia?”

    “You were looking for me, not running away. Unless, of course, you knew you were pregnant when you left.”

    “No, I didn’t know it then. But no matter how you try to explain it or justify it, I was still running away.”

    Xena didn’t answer. Her strategy to build up Gabrielle’s courage wasn’t working.

    “But I do appreciate the attempt to make me feel better about myself,” Gabrielle continued.

    Xena looked at her, her brow a bit furrowed, then they both smiled. Each knew the other better than anyone else, even after being apart for over a year. Nothing of any consequence was said the rest of the day.

    They spent the night in an old, rat-infested inn, but it was better than sleeping outside in the cold, drizzling rain that had started just before sunset. Xena figured it would be better for Gabrielle even though it would be another two months before her pregnancy would be evident. She didn’t want Gabrielle to get chilled and catch a cold.

    The next morning, breakfast was interrupted by a rider spreading the message that Callisto was holding Gabrielle hostage and if Xena wanted to see her again, she had better got to Poteidaia as soon as possible. Even though they knew it was a lie, since Gabrielle, obviously, was with Xena, they also knew that Callisto was in Poteidaia.

    As Xena hurriedly saddled Argo, a citizen from Poteidaia who had escaped Callisto’s army galloped into town with news that the village was being held captive by an insane woman with a band of outlaws, and she was threatening to burn every man, woman and child there.  Xena and Gabrielle immediately left for Poteidaia at an equally full gallop.

    They approached Gabrielle’s parents’ farm carefully, but it was evident no one was there, and that there had been a struggle. The inside of the house was in shambles – there were broken dishes and pottery scattered throughout the main room, and the table and chairs were overturned.

    “Damn that Callisto!” Gabrielle cried. “If she’s harmed them, I’ll kill her! With all the gods as my witness, I swear I will!”

    Xena allowed her to vent her rage. Later, she would need Gabrielle to have a clear head if they were to rescue her family and the people of Poteidaia.  But she stopped Gabrielle from immediately hurrying to the village.

    “We have to have a plan, and we have to be careful. I was careless the first time and I got captured. We can’t just go rushing in to do battle with her men. I’d prefer there were no casualties.”

    Despite her anger, Gabrielle knew Xena's call for patience and preparation was the best way to go.

    tbc

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