“c1″> 

“c1″>"We exchanged parry and thrust, strike and
jab.

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Suddenly she stumbled, backwards over one of the
branches cut for the funeral pyre. I saw an opening and my sword
pierced through her chest. I never will forget the expression of
utter surprise on her face when she took her last
breath."

“c1″> 

The
audience was silent, as if an intangible and invisible force held
down their tongues. Even the Queen needed some candledrops to
regain her spirits and pose the next question.

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Was the chakram already in your possession when
you fought the Northern Amazons?"

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Yes, Queen Melosa."

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Then, tell us, why didn’t you use it against
the council."

“c1″> 

Two
strokes with the whip later, the first only making light contact
with the skin between Xena’s shoulder blades, the second
adding another horizontal welt at the small of her back, the tall
woman answered.

“c1″> 

"I
killed them all. I was a better fighter and warrior, in my mind at
least. I wanted to proof to myself that I was better than all of
them combined."

“c1″> 

Xena
again fell silent. She heard the crack of the whip just beneath her
right ear. She felt it circling around the back of her head and
another cracking sound on her left but there was no pain. "It
just wouldn’t have felt right. With the chakram it would have
been murder."

“c1″> 

There
was a long moment of silence before the Queen raised her voice.
"When you were experiencing with herbs, were you on your own
or did you have some kind of teacher?"

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Her name was Perat, she was the Northern
Amazon’s shamaness. She was four or three years my senior but
despite her youth her wisdom extended more than a lifetime or even
two."

“c1″> 

“c1″>"Was Perat the only one?" Ephiny
asked.

“c1″> 

No
answer. Once again, it took more than one incentive to get her to
speak. The original ten lashes from the day before now barely were
visible anymore; instead, there was a pattern of welts
criss-crossing her back.

“c1″> 

“c1″>"No,

“c1″> 

“c1″>"She wasn’t the only
one."

“c1″> 

The
former Conqueror’s body once again involuntarily jerked with
the momentum.

“c1″> 

“c1″>"There was another one. Queen Cyane years earlier
had her banished from the village. This woman – she only was
interested in the dark side of the spiritual powers. She wanted to
control them, to get them to do her biding. She was thriving for
power, power over the very souls of everything living. She spoke to
the dark side of my soul and I was more than eager to listen. Her
name was Alti. She told me that one day I would be able to conquer
the whole world. She told me that I would become the Destroyer of
Nations, the ultimate power in this world and that destroying the
Northern Amazons was the first step. I wanted to believe her. She
told me about the Northern tribe and Queen Cyane in the first
place. And when I first set out to kill the Queen it were her
directions that guided me securely into the
village."