Regrets Chapter 17
She barely managed to twist her torso in time to avoid breaking her nose. Fresh blood trickled down her cheek to mix with
the dried stains. Jamen couldn't even spare a wince of apology.
Barclan stood in surprise at her sudden entrance. Xena was having the same trouble Jamen had earlier, adjusting to the
darkness, but she made out the figure opposite her sitting back down. She noted it took some effort.
"Who is this, Jamen?" Barclan asked.
"You mean you don't know?" Jamen asked, in return. "This is the infamous Xena…the Warrior Princess." He beamed with
great pride as Xena snarled at him.
"Xena," Barclan repeated, leaning forward for a closer look. "How did you manage this?"
Jamen never batted an eye. "Who do you think the bounty hunter was?" he countered.
"The legendary Xena," Barclan was slowly musing. "How'd you do it?"
Jamen shrugged. "It wasn't easy," he said, "but you were right, Father. Doing good makes a person weak."
"Your father?" Xena hissed then. "Don't tell me you dragged me all this way to show me off to your daddy."" The venom her
eyes shot at Jamen would have made a weaker man soil his britches on the spot.
"Shut up, Bitch!" Jamen growled, and he backhanded her, knocking her to the ground. Xena had anticipated the blow, and
moved so he struck her armor rather than her face. Barclan wouldn't have been able to see that from his vantage point.
"She looks pretty beat up," Barclan was saying. "And you don't have a scratch, Jamen. How'd you manage that?'
"The son of a bitch drugged my port," Xena answered, still on the ground. "Then when I was too out of it to do anything about
it, he beat the shit out of me."
"I had to make sure she didn't get away," Jamen explained with a grin. "It worked."
"Very, very good, My Son," Barclan nodded. It was too dark for Xena to make out his features, but she could tell the bastard
was smiling. He had no way of knowing the gory patches she was covered with didn't belong to her.
Glancing up at Jamen, she felt her heart swell with pride. She knew how difficult it was for him to maintain this façade, but
he didn't waver a bit With any luck, they might be able to end this all very soon.
"However," Barclan was continuing," I'm sure you'll understand why I'm going to tell you I'm suspicious of your sudden
change of heart. Of course, I'd like to believe you're ready to join me for real this time. But you're going to have to prove
to me you're still not weak."
Jamen didn't flinch. "How?" he asked.
Xena could just make out a flash of teeth as Barclan smiled again. She suddenly knew where this was headed.
"Kill the do-gooding bitch," Barclan replied.
Xena's hunch had been right, and she could immediately sense Jamen's shocked reaction. She straightened her body as tall
as she could, despite being on her knees, and let her eyes blaze into Jamen's. She was trying to mentally transmit her
thoughts to him. 'Don't panic…relax, Jamen…we'll get through this somehow.'
"What's the matter?" Barclan was sneering. "Don't have the balls to kill her?"
"It's not that," Jamen responded, his voice still confident. "Don't you think she'd be worth more to us alive? There are a
lot of men who would pay a very hefty price for her."
"Agreed," Barclan replied. "But some will pay just as much for her corpse. Besides…she'll be easier to transport dead."
"And harder to prove it's her," Jamen coolly said. He was grabbing at straws now, and prayed Barclan didn't notice.
"Anyone who does business with me knows better than to doubt me," Barclan calmly told him. Jamen didn't respond for long
seconds. "Well?" Barclan snapped, his patience wearing thin.
Jamen chanced a sidelong glance at Xena, and Xena prayed he could read her signals. His hand moved to his scabbard.
"You're no warrior," Xena spat at him. "You know you couldn't take me in a fair fight, you worthless piece of dung! I won't
give you the dignity of killing me face-to-face. You'll have to stab me in the back." Somewhat awkwardly, she turned her
back to him. She leaned forward, and thrust her still bound arms out behind her, stretching her hands apart as far as she
could. She continued her mental chanting; beseeching silently that Jamen would comprehend what she was thinking.
Jamen drew his sword, mentally bracing himself for the battle that was inevitable. Once he had sliced through the leather
bindings holding her hands, they would have to fight their way out. Xena didn't even have her weapons. They had to hide
them in the woods before Jamen led her into the camp. But somehow, Jamen doubted that Xena's lack of weapons would
slow her down much.
Her keen ears caught the sound as Jamen drew the blade over his head, then there was the distinctive whir of the blade
being lowered at lightning speed…
The actual events took a span of fewer than ten seconds, but at the time, Xena would have bet it took far longer than that.
Instead of the leather bindings being cut, Xena was suddenly thrust forward as something very heavy was unexpectedly thrown
against her. Simultaneously, she felt a very sharp pain in her lower back and was immediately alarmed as she felt darkness
trying to overtake her.
Her ears were ringing, but she could make out Barclan bellowing for two of his guards. She heard the wicked joy in his voice,
and felt a myriad of strong emotions threatening to overtake her. She now realized the dead weight on her back had to be
Jamen's body.
Two uniformed guards entered the tent. "I got 'em both with one strike!" Barclan boasted.
"You killed Jamen?" one of the men asked. "But he captured the Warrior Princess…he wanted to ride with us again."
Xena's already split attention divided even further as she heard activity outside the tent. Barclan obviously thought she was
dead, but it wouldn't take him long to discover otherwise.
Barclan was scoffing at the guard's startled statement. "My son always has been, and always will be weak. Doing one brave
thing couldn't change him."
Xena recognized sounds of fighting on all sides of the tent. "What's going on out there?" Barclan demanded as he heard it
as well.
Another guard opened the tent flap. "We're under attack!" he shouted suddenly. "They're burning down our tents!"
"Gods be damned!" Barclan cursed. "Go get the wagon…send the signal to clear out!" The tent was bathed in darkness as
the soldier let the flap fall closed, as he moved to do Barclan's bidding.
Xena could hear the sounds of the battle drawing closer. She concentrated on the sounds of Barclan's cursing, and waited
until he was on the far side of the tent, his back to her. She couldn't feel any movement from Jamen, including the sensation
of his breathing. She could feel herself bleeding profusely, but realized the pool of blood forming around her was mostly
Jamen's. He was dead…she knew it…but couldn't even think about that until she had escaped. She edged her fingers to
the right, reaching for the sword still in Jamen's hand.
Once it was firmly in her grasp, she steeled herself, and with a mighty push, rolled Jamen to the left, while she rolled right.
The movement caused excruciating pain, but she didn't hesitate, immediately striking down the single guard who stood just
inside the tent's entrance. He gurgled out something, but Xena was already moving toward Barclan.
The sound of the guard alerted Barclan, and he whirled to face Xena. Xena was close enough to see his face now, and what
she saw shocked her completely. She hesitated, and felt a fresh pain, this time in the upper left area of her back, and
almost simultaneously in her right thigh, a few inches above the knee. Xena recognized the feeling of a crossbow bolt
penetrating her flesh. Her legs buckled beneath her, but on instinct, she swung the sword anyway. She couldn't avoid
the darkness this time, but as it overtook her, she heard Barclan's screams of pain as he collapsed, his left leg completely
severed.
Barclan's man had signaled the retreat, and the troops scurried to do just that. The men of Glaston did their best to take
out as many as they could, most of them driven by the memories of their decimated village and hurt kinsmen. Gabrielle
rode behind the healer, and arrived within minutes of the first group. "There's Xena's horse!" she cried out, pointing to
the mare on the outskirts of the camp, and Gabrielle hopped to the ground quickly. She whistled for Argo, and the horse
was galloping toward her immediately.
Two fleeing soldiers were suddenly in her path, but Gabrielle disabled them nimbly. She sensed something was very,
very wrong.
"Argo, where's Xena?" she asked, and when the horse took off again, Gabrielle followed as quickly as she could. Argo
cleared most of the path for her, as she knocked several of Barclan's men off their feet. Gabrielle disabled the rest. Argo
skidded to a sudden stop outside Barclan's tent.
Gabrielle raised her staff in case of attack, and ran into the tent. The smell of blood was overpowering. In a few horrified
seconds, she took in the whole tragic scene. She wheeled and rushed back outside, screaming for Antithius.
He entered the tent a moment later, and saw the young bard standing, seemingly frozen in place. He knelt by the first body,
felling for a pulse. There was none.
Moving to Xena, he made the same movements. Gabrielle drew in a ragged breath, and asked, "Is she alive?"
"Barely," Antithius replied. "But she's losing too much blood."
"And Jamen?" Gabrielle whispered. The healer shook his head.
"No," Gabrielle groaned, as her heart sank.
"Whoever lost this," Antithius said, indicating the amputated leg lying near Xena, Must have escaped through the back of the
tent. There was a jagged hole cut in the material, which allowed sunlight to spill inside the structure.
"Whoever lost that killed Jamen and nearly killed Xena," Gabrielle spat. She could feel hot tears stinging her eyes.
"We've got to get her out of here," Antithius was saying, as the battle sounds around them intensified. He stood and added, "Help me lift her."
Gabrielle quickly obeyed, and they half-dragged, half-carried the unconscious Warrior Princess out of the tent. "I'll take her
on Argo," Gabrielle said, and she quickly mounted the tall horse, and then reached down to help pull Xena onto the saddle
in front of her. "I'll meet you back in Glaston," she said, and ignoring the two arrows sticking out of her friend, she urged Argo
into a fast walk. Even with one of her arms wrapped around Xena, she was afraid to allow Argo to gallop, not knowing if it
would cause Xena's weight to shift. The tears began to flow freely as she wept for Xena and the death of Jamen.
Book One - The End
To be continued soon in Regrets, Book Two
Regrets
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