Regrets Chapter 16

Despite her state of exhaustion on the previous evening, Xena was still the first one awake the next morning. She sat up on her bedroll, involuntarily wincing at the soreness between her thighs. It wasn't intense, just…unexpected.

She reached over and nudged Gabrielle. Getting no response, she nudged her a little harder. With her usual protest, the blonde finally woke up.

"It's going to be a scorcher today," Xena told her sleepy friend as she went to awaken Jamen. "We'll have to take it very easy on the horses."

"What about us?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena quirked a grin at her. "Make sure your water skin is full," she responded.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. She had been expecting that.

After eating a light breakfast, they started out. They had traveled a couple of hours, when Xena told Jamen and Gabrielle that the men they were following were traveling very slowly, more than likely because of the heat.

They topped a gently sloping hill and looked at the landscape before them. Jamen voiced it for all of them. "Not again," he said somberly.

Off in the distance, they could see a small village. Smoke rose up at various points among the buildings. It looked very much like the village they had helped yesterday.

"Well, at least we know we're on the right trail," Xena said, flatly. She led the way down the hill to the smoldering ruins.

It didn't take long to assess the situation. The small village, called Glaston, had far more property damage than anything else. There had been four deaths, and there were a few severely injured. The healer was busy helping all he could, but he was quite overwhelmed and Xena offered her help, which he readily accepted. Jamen worked with the uninjured villagers, fighting the fire, and salvaging what they could.

The threesome worked throughout the day, and after getting a few hours of sleep, Xena continued with her aid the next morning. She was surprised when Gabrielle appeared at her side, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Xena suggested the young bard try to get some more sleep; she wouldn't be ready to leave the village for a while. Gabrielle agreed, but wanted to check with Jamen first and see if he needed any help. Five minutes later, she was back at the healing hut. Xena was packing up her healing kit, and didn't look up until she heard Gabrielle's hesitant voice. "Uh…Xena?"

"Yeah?" Xena's eyes narrowed, alarmed by Gabrielle's tone.

Gabrielle was looking extremely uncomfortable, but spoke up anyway. "Jamen seems to be gone," she said.

Xena approached her rapidly. "What do you mean 'gone'? she asked.

Gabrielle shrugged helplessly. "Nobody has seen him for the last two hours," she replied.

Xena reached for her armor and quickly began fastening it. "Great," she muttered. "Just great."

"Where do you think he went?" Gabrielle asked.

"I don't know," came the answer. "I wouldn't think he would go after Barclan without me, but I can't see him taking off on a last minute hunting trip either."

Nodding, Gabrielle handed Xena her scabbard. "You don't think something's happened to him, do you?"

Fully dressed now, Xena didn't disguise the uncertainty in her voice. "I hope not," she said. "Jamen knows how to take care of himself; so let's not think that way."

She exited the hut, Gabrielle at her heels. Xena turned to her. "I need you to stay here," she told Gabrielle. "I don't know what I'm going to run into, and you can do more good here helping the healer."

Gabrielle paused a second, then nodded. She knew it was coming. "Marnimus said several of the village men will go with you to hunt for Jamen," she told Xena.

"I'll go alone," Xena replied, without hesitation. "If he is after Barclan, I don't want the villagers to be hurt."

Once again, Gabrielle nodded, expecting that. "Be careful," she told Xena.

Xena patted her arm. "Always," she replied. She headed for the corral where Argo was being held. Once she was mounted, she rode back to where Gabrielle stood watching her. "This could take a while," she told her. "Don't be surprised if I'm gone most of the day."

"All right." Gabrielle watched her tall friend gallop off, before turning back to the healing hut.

Xena easily followed Mercury's trail away from the village. Judging from the length of the horse's strides, Jamen hadn't been in any particular hurry. Xena also picked up the trail of several of the troops they had been tracking. They were heavily concentrated in one area, which was obviously a rendezvous point of some kind. From there, Xena found it difficult to single out Mercury's hoof prints, but she knew she was on the right track.

It wasn't long before Xena found Jamen's trail again, though. She could tell by the depths of the hoof prints that Jamen had dismounted by now. Looking ahead, she could see she was nearing the crest of a tall ridge. She hopped down from Argo's back, and patted the horse's neck. "Go find Mercury, girl," she told her. "But don't come until I call you." One more pat, and Argo moved off to do Xena's bidding.

As Xena topped the ridge, she could see the other side of it was heavily covered with tall trees. She quickly spotted Jamen's trail again, although he had done an excellent job covering his tracks. Xena doubted anyone else would spot them. It wasn't long before Xena traced him to a tree, and peering up, she could see he was perched far up in its branches. He had climbed to the top of the large maple tree, and had a bird's eye view of the surrounding countryside. Making a mighty leap, Xena scaled half the tree in seconds. Jamen saw her as she quickly scrambled the rest of the way up to sit beside him.

"Fancy meeting you here," he grinned at her.

Xena wasn't amused. She didn't hide her irritation as she asked, "What are you doing?"

Jamen's grin faded. "Take it easy," he said. "I spotted some of Barclan's men on the outskirts of town, and recognized them as part of his elite forces. I knew his camp had to be close, and I thought I'd try to at least find it. I wasn't going to do anything stupid." The look he gave her was of a repentant boy.

Xena wasn't influenced by the look, and continued to scowl as she checked out the view from the tree. "It looks like you found the camp," she mused, as she stared out at the area before them. The ridge flattened out and the trees ended a half a league from where they were hidden. Ahead of them was a large grassy field. There were several large tents set up, and a huge corral that held at least 100 horses. Soldiers scattered the field, most of them in large groups, and were engaged in a variety of activities.

"That big tent in the center is Barclan's," Jamen told her. The tent was flanked on all sides by smaller structures, and a myriad of men. It would be impossible to get close to the tent without being seen by someone.

Xena was busy assessing the encampment as a group of ten men passed underneath the tree she and Jamen were in. They scattered apart, and moved as if they were searching for something. Xena and Jamen could see other groups of men, doing the same thing on all sides of the camp.

When the men were out of earshot, Jamen whispered to Xena, "Do you think someone saw us?"

Xena shook her head. "I doubt it, or they'd be checking the trees. No, more than likely someone spotted one of our horses, and they're probably trying to recapture them."

Jamen nodded, and then visibly relaxed. Being this close to Barclan set his teeth on edge.

"What do you think we should do?" Jamen asked her then. He wasn't embarrassed to let Xena take control of the situation, knowing she had much more experience in this kind of scrape.

Xena's body had been fairly relaxed up to this point, but now she tensed. "Jamen…Does Barclan know what Mercury looks like?"

"Yeah, his men are the ones who trained him." Jamen's eyes followed her line of sight, and his heart sank when he saw Mercury being led into the camp by one of the troops. "This is not good," he said somberly.

Xena shook her head. "No, it's not," she agreed, thinking hard. "Barclan's sure to find out about Mercury…"

"And then he'll be looking for me," Jamen concluded. "And I'm sure he'll realize it's not a social call."

Xena glanced down at her clothing, which was still splattered in blood and gore from her earlier work in the healing hut. Her arms and legs were streaked in the red stuff as well. "I've got an idea," she told Jamen, her eyes glinting.

Back at Glaston, the healer, Antithius was very impressed with the work Xena and Gabrielle had done. He told Gabrielle he didn't need her help anymore, and thanked her profusely for all she and Xena had helped him with.

Several of the men approached her, wanting to go after Xena and Jamen, but Gabrielle was animate about them not following. "Xena will let use know if she needs our help." The men kept their horses saddled, just in case, but obeyed the young bard.

Colvin, Barclan's first lieutenant stepped out of the warlord's tent. "What is it, Emeril?" he asked, but he didn't really need an answer. He could see the situation. Colvin quickly ducked back inside Barclan's tent.

A moment later, he reemerged from the tent. "Escort them in," he told the waiting soldiers.

The tent flap was pulled open, and Jamen stepped inside. It was very dark in the tent, and Jamen blinked his eyes, trying to will them to adjust to the darkness. He could barely make out the head of a figure, on the far side of the tent. The person was seated.

"Hello," Jamen said, walking toward the figure.

"That's far enough!" barked the voice, and Jamen froze. After a long pause, Barclan spoke again. "I didn't expect to ever see you again, Jamen," he continued, his voice dripping with undisguised hatred. "Why are you here?"

Jamen's gaze didn't waver, even though he couldn't quite make out Barclan. "I came to ask you for a second chance," he responded.

The head shifted suddenly. "A second chance?" Barclan's voice echoed.

"Yeah," Jamen answered. "When we last saw each other, I …well I let my anger get the best of me."

Barclan chuckled, the sound malicious and foreboding. "Anger?" he spat. "You weren't angry, you spineless puissant. You were weak. Weak and pathetic."

"All right, I was," Jamen answered. "It was embarrassing. And it took me a while to realize how weak I was."

"Was?" Barclan mimicked. Jamen's eyes had adjusted somewhat, and now he could make out the hateful sneer on the older man's face.

"Was," Jamen repeated. "I thought you were wrong when you didn't show mercy to my friends. But it wasn't long after that when I arrived in a village that I wanted to stay at. The people knew I rode with you, and tried to keep me from living there, but I convinced them I wouldn't hurt them, and they let me stay. They were even nice to me. That is until a bounty hunter rode into town. They turned me over for 25 lousy dinars. Hell, I had more than that in my saddlebags."

"Go on," Barclan said, when Jamen paused for a breath. He sounded intrigued, and much more mild than earlier.

"That's all there is," Jamen shrugged. "Those people were cowards, and they showed me what cowards do…betray your trust and stab you in the back. I know I'm strong, and I'm here to prove that to you."

The cynical tone returned to Barclan's voice. "And how are you going to do that?" he asked.

Jamen grinned victoriously. "By bringing you a gift," he said. He had been holding a thick leather strap, and now he jerked harshly on it. Xena, her hands behind her back, fell face first into the tent. .

Chapter 17
Regrets
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