Epilogue

...Thus ends the story of the Empress Livia, who was once Eve of Thrace, and the man Ares, who was once a god, and the great Xena who remains a warrior in our day. And I, Gabrielle of Potadeia, at last put my name on this scroll and seal it with a single thought, which is also the thought of our great philosophers: that darkness we fear in our own hearts is but the absence of light. For if you light a single candle, does it not banish the night? Yet the darkest of nights cannot extinguish its flame. It is within all of us to find our light – but though others may lead us to it, they cannot kindle it. That we must do for ourselves.

Virgil rolled up the scroll and looked up at his audience. There was the squeak of a stool, the buzz of a fly overhead – and then the small wooden theatre erupted in noise. The applause was deafening; cheers and whistles from the back rows could barely rise above the roar. Someone stood up spontaneously, followed at once by a dozen others and more, until the entire audience was on its feet. The cheering went on and on. Virgil beamed, bowing to each side of the amphitheatre, his face flushed with joy.

"I don't see what you two are so thrilled about," Ares said, stretching his legs down onto the seat in front of him the moment its occupant stood to cheer. He discovered at once why no one else was doing this: the heavy toga he'd been forced to wear attempted to slide right off him. He caught it just in time, tugging it over his left shoulder, and looked up at Gabrielle. "The guy's getting the credit for all your lousy writing."

Xena grabbed a fistful of his toga, pulling him to his feet. "Shut up and start cheering, you bastard." She smiled wickedly. "Unless you want to be introduced to these people as your character?"

"Ohh, blackmail!" Ares reached out suddenly and caught Xena's hand. They looked at each other for a moment, then he raised her hand and ran the tip of his tongue along her finger slowly, making her catch her breath. He pulled her closer. "I love it when you play dirty."

Gabrielle groaned. "Let's go, before you get us banned from every decent theatre in Rome!"

"And what a tragedy that would be," Ares said sombrely.

Xena merely gave him a light push to follow Gabrielle as she made her way out, squeezing through the milling crowd out of the amphitheatre.

The three of them emerged out onto the sunlit square in front of the temporary theatre, where there were rows of makeshift market stalls selling everything from shady hats to sweetmeats for the theatre patrons. One entire stall was devoted to painted wax figurines of Xena, Gabrielle, Ares, baby Eve, and even Varia – or so the names on their little pedestals proclaimed. None of them bore the slightest resemblance to the original models, but that hardly mattered: they were selling out fast. The only one missing was the Empress Livia herself, out of deference.

"Wow." Gabrielle breathed, looking around. Every available wall was covered with brightly coloured posters: "THE OUTSIDERS: A Tale By Gabrielle, the new Bard of Potadeia!!! Discover the history of the Amazon treaty! PREMIERE TODAY! Hurry!!!" – and below in small print: "Translated from the Greek by Publius Vergilius Maro."

Xena smiled warmly at Gabrielle. "Congratulations. They loved it. Even I loved it."

Gabrielle flushed a little. "Virgil did a good job with the translation. See?" She gave Ares a pointed look. "He did not hog the credit. It's my name on those posters."

"You're the 'new' bard of Potadeia?" Ares raised his brows at Xena. "What've you done with the old Gabrielle?"

"Very funny." Gabrielle made a face at both of them. "You try explaining why you look twenty-five years too young to be yourself, to every passing stranger. I wanted a new life." She flicked a coin at the boy behind the nearby stall, and took two pastries. She handed one to Xena, and took a big bite out of hers.

"Mmm..." She took another bite. "And I like this new life."

"It's good," Xena agreed, over layers of filo and cream.

Ares gave the women a hurt look. "Are you just going to let me starve?"

"Yep." Gabrielle breezily popped the last bit of pastry in her mouth, and went ahead to look at the hairpins in the next stall.

Xena laughed at Ares' expression, breaking off half of her own pastry. She held it up to let him take a bite. "Don't worry." She brushed his lips lightly with her fingertips. "I'll take care of you."

Ares laced his fingers through hers, squeezing her hand. "So far, you've forced me to go to the theatre and wear a toga. I shudder to imagine what else you have planned."

Xena gave a low chuckle. "Oh, I have plans for you all right."

Ares turned her towards him a little. Xena's eyes met his, her lips parting slightly. Very slowly, Ares leaned closer to let his mouth meet hers, and nipped at her bottom lip. "Want to tell me about them?"

"I'd love to." Xena grinned. "But not here."

THE END

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