Thanking Bellis for his hospitality and the fast passage, Xena swung her cloak around her shoulders, as she left the ship, with a cheery wave to the crew. The cloak effectively hid her armour and weapons from prying eyes, and a little bit of caution often saved an awful lot of mending. Besides, Narbo was full of Roman Legionaries. A thing in itself that was not surprising because Narbonensis was a Roman province and supported at least four Legions that were champing at the bit to get into the fighting in Gaul.

However, she wasn't looking for trouble with them, and it was unlikely that anyone here would recognise her. The only Roman she held a grudge for, currently, was Caesar and, last she heard, he was still trying to play Emperor in Rome, well away from her, and any chance of her inflicting the vengeance on him that she believed he richly deserved.

As she wandered along the busy docks, she plucked an apple from a trader's cart and threw him a copper for it, before biting into the crisp, juicy flesh. Enjoying the sights and sounds of the port, she was in no great hurry to find her way to Isumbras' establishment, but as she roamed, she began to develop a distinctly 'itchy' feeling, almost as if she was being watched.

Ducking into a side street, she made a couple of quick turns and doubled back so that she could check to see if anyone had tried to follow her. Finishing the remains of the apple, she sucked the juice from her fingers and discarded the core in a refuse heap at the corner of an alleyway, all the while reaching out with her senses and using her eyes to try to locate the reason for her unease.

Long moments were spent in a futile search that revealed nothing to her. The 'itch' had not intensified and there was nothing to suggest that she was either being watched or followed. Reluctant to mistrust her feelings, Xena could only put her worry down to the problem caused by the bounty and the depth of her loneliness, along with the nagging doubt that something didn't quite add up. She wasn't certain that they were the reasons, but with nothing else in evidence, she was almost ready to credit them.

Taking a roundabout route, just to satisfy herself that she hadn't missed anything, she slowly wound her way back towards the warehouse district of the docks. Stopping at the corner of a street, she dropped a small coin to one of the many beggars that littered streets (victims of the fighting in the area) and asked for directions to Isumbras' establishment.

"Just continue on down the road, lady," the beggar told her in a scratchy voice, "it's a big place with a big sign. You won't be able to miss it."

"Thanks," Xena told him and continued down the thoroughfare, still irritated by the feeling that she was being shadowed, yet unable to locate the source of that irritation. She sighed inaudibly trying to shake off her qualms - There's nothing there, for Zeus's sake! - she swore to herself, as yet again she twisted off her planned path and ran a backtracking pattern to check her trail.

When she found the warehouse, she ducked into an alleyway to observe the comings and goings before she committed herself to going in. She watched a heavily laden wagon, pull out of the huge double doors at the front of the building, that she watched swing closed and heard barred with a heavy beam, that was dropped into place once the wagon was clear, "That's Isumbras all right," murmured Xena to herself, "Always a cautious man with his goods." Still she continued to wait.

At just after midday, a stick insect of a little man, let himself out of a small wicket door that stood next to the big double gates. He had hunched shoulders and the obvious look of a clerk off for his lunch somewhere. Deciding it was time for a little closer investigation, Xena moved stealthily out of the alleyway, and made a quick tour of the big warehouse.

Apart from the doors at the front of the building, and a window on the side, not far around the corner from the wicket door, a peek into which showed the clerks small office with manifests neatly piled on the desk, there didn't appear to be any other ways in or out. Not that she didn't believe that Isumbras had some hidden escape route in case of emergencies, but it was well disguised and not identifiable, even with her practised eye.

Still concerned that things felt 'other' than they should, Xena proceeded cautiously as she let herself into the clerks office through the small door. Taking her time and satisfying herself that there was no one else there, she moved stealthily to the rear of the office and listened at the door to the sounds of men working in the big building.

As she eased the door open, her highly attuned senses began to scream at her to proceed with even more caution. The 'itchy' feeling had intensified to such an extent that her skin began to prickle. Her normally graceful movements, became extra fluid as her fighting instincts took control of her body.

Silently dropping her gear, and the cloak, in the office to give herself full freedom of movement, Xena slowly drew her sword before proceeding further into the warehouse. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary here. There were the expected sounds of a few labourers moving about their business in the depth of the heavily stocked building. Long, neat rows of barrels, packing cases and crates, covered the floor space, each in blocks with walkways between them.

The building was brightly lit, so there were few shadows where danger could be lurking. A glance up to the roof revealed nothing other than a wooden gantry that ran around the edge of the building, allowing workers to find cargo that might be hidden from sight at ground level. To the eye, everything appeared as it should be, but there remained an indefinable tenseness in the atmosphere that the Warrior Princess was reluctant to ignore.

Moving with panther like smoothness, Xena glided silently along the central isle of the stacked piles of goods. Her senses were alive, listening for the sound that would warn her of an imminent attack, and hearing nothing other than the rowdy laughter of the workers. As she came to each junction in the walkways, that crisscrossed the warehouse between the stored cargo, she made a careful inspection both to the right and left, before continuing on her stealthy way. She was unsure whether she was glad that nothing seemed to be lurking in ambush, or whether she'd rather something happened to clear the tension that seemed to crackle in the air.

As she neared the far end of the warehouse, she hung back as she inspected a raised platform that stood against the back wall of the building. Upon the platform stood a heavy desk and a scattering of chairs. Behind the desk was a door, probably leading to a back room and the way up to the gantry, if she didn't miss her guess. Sitting at the desk, seemingly working on an inventory, was a man she recognised. He was older, greyer and more lined than when last she had seen him, but she knew Isumbras as soon as she saw him. She would never be able to mistake the greedy ferret like features, nor the eyes that were constantly in motion, gathering information.

Still unwilling to ignore her senses, that were screaming warnings at her to be careful, she waited and watched for a while. No one seemed to be working in the area near her, but she observed three or four men over on the far left hand side of the warehouse, organising a load that was obviously going out in some shipment. A large crate stood covered by a tarp on a flatbed wagon.

Her eyes flicked up to the gantry that ran around the upper part of the building. If the warehouse hadn't been so well lit, it would have made an ideal place to conceal archers for an ambush. No doubt Isumbras had surprised unwanted guests that way more than once, but for now there was no one hidden there.

Nothing seemed out of place, yet the feeling of wrongness persisted. If there was a trap laid here, it was a well hidden one. She had little doubt that Isumbras would betray her if he felt that it was in his interest to do so, and 250,000 dinars was an awful lot of interest! - Well - she berated herself silently, - You can't stand here forever while you make up your mind. If there is a trap here, I'm already up to my neck in it! So I might as well spring it and get things moving before old age creeps up on me. -

She flicked her eyes over the area for one last time, before moving lightly into the open, her sword held, seemingly casually, at her side as she greeted, "Hello Isumbras."

He gave a start as he looked up from his work, and a smile lit his face as he leaned back in his chair and replied, "Xena! You took your own sweet time getting here." He looked thinner she noted as he motioned her forward, "Have a seat," he invited.

"No thanks," she declined politely as she moved forward onto the front edge of the dias, preferring to be able to move quickly if the situation should warrant it.

"Still as suspicious as ever," he noted with a mirthless smile, "I'd heard you'd changed."

"Not that much," she told him, "What did you want me for."

"Ah, straight to the point, as ever," Isumbras laughed, "Well, I asked you to come because a friend of mine wanted to see you," there was an odd gleam in his eye as he said that and a predatory set to his features.

Xena moved back, senses alive to an expected attack, her sword levelled in Isumbras' direction, but her eyes searching for the men she now knew were waiting to rush her. A movement on the gantry made her eyes flick upwards, to an instantly recognisable figure.

"Hello, Xena" greeted his familiar voice. One that stoked the burning rage within her to a white heat.

"Caesar!" she snarled in reply as she began to weave her sword in lazily complex movements ready to cover any assault.

"Are you going to surrender and save us a lot of time and effort? And you a lot of pain!" he drawled in a tone that seemed to make it clear that it made no difference to him one way or the other.

"I don't see anyone here to help you," she told him, well aware that he wouldn't have set this up without a body of armed men for his own protection, not if had any hopes of leaving alive with her either dead or a prisoner. - Depends what he's got in mind! - her inner self told her. She needed to draw them into the open, so she knew what she had to fight.

"You intend to make this difficult?" he arched an eyebrow at her, his brown eyes mocking.

She shook her head and snarled, "Oh no! I intend to make it impossible!"

"Very well, my men could use some exercise!" he scowled.

"If they're anything like that bunch in Rome they need more than exercise!" she sneered.

"Oh, believe me, Xena. These are good. Nothing but the best for the Warrior Princess." He snapped his fingers and a trumpet blared out a single note. Instantly, crates burst open to spew forth legionaries armed with a variety of heavy clubs, staves and nets.

She shot Caesar a mirthless smile that never came close to touching the cold fire that burned in her eyes. Within an instant, stillness became rampant death dealing action as Xena lashed out at the soldiers who rushed her. Two men went down to a sizzling right fist that crashed from one jaw to the next as she swung in a vicious arc. Another eager Roman got a boot in the groin as he tried to grab her from behind. Swinging her sword around her head she cleared a space for herself as men scrambled back, suddenly reminded of their mortality.

With the mad light of battle shining from her eyes, she let loose her fearsome war cry, "Yi,yi,yi,yi,yi,yi!" before leaping high into the air and landing, perfectly balanced, on the gantry rail, her eyes seeking out Caesar. Now was her chance to avenge herself on the man that had twisted her soul into something evil. Without Gabrielle here, there was nothing, and no one, to hold her back and payment was long overdue.

He was still on the gantry, but now surrounded by a dozen soldiers. She smiled eagerly, her whole being infused with the heat of battle and the certainty of revenge. She was preparing to charge Caesar's force when her senses suddenly screamed at her. Left hand moving faster than the eye could follow, she snatched a shaft from the air, noting that it had a blunt head as she did so. The arrow was meant to stun!

Leaping back she was just in time to avoid a volley of similar arrows that thudded heavily into the wooden wall before dropping to the gantry deck. Xena threw a glare to where Caesar had been standing, only to find him gone. He'd taken the opportunity, presented by her pre-occupation with the arrows, to remove himself as a potential target.

Gritting her teeth, the Warrior Princess made the hard decision that it was time to get herself out of this mess. The warehouse floor seemed to be teeming with legionaries and the ones on the gantry were charging towards her with more appearing from the doorway all the time. Much as she hated to lose her chance at Caesar, her enemy had the upper hand here and retreat was her only viable course of action. She promised herself that there would be another time.

Sliding her sword back into it's sheath on her back, she flipped off of her perch, just before the first soldier reached to grab her, performed a tuck roll high in the air, avoiding more stun arrows as she did so, and landed neatly on one of the pile of crates. Legionaries below her, thrust long staves at her, trying to bring her down. Xena kicked them aside and leapt for another pile of crates more to the centre of the warehouse, putting some distance between her and the gantry. As another staff wielder made to prod at her, she pulled the weapon from the soldiers grasp and used it to help her vault from pile to pile avoiding the men who were trying to snare her.

Arrows began to zip at her from archers who had taken up positions on the gantry. She avoided them as best she could, although her body, arms and legs, were getting struck more frequently as she found it difficult to dodge everything coming at her, she did manage to protect her head, however, reducing the chances of them doing major damage.

Using a new tactic, a group of men clambered up onto the stack of wooden boxes ahead of her. Others were closing in around her as they lowered themselves down from the gantry. Confronted by four soldiers directly in front of her, Xena gave voice once more to her ululating battlecry as she rushed them, her captured staff held horizontally before her to sweep them from the crates back to the ground below.

Using her momentum, she leapt the gap onto a stack of barrels that proved to be, unfortunately, unstable. Unable to hold her balance, she went crashing down with them and took a pounding from the heavy casks as they bounced around her. The fall did, though, give her a clear view of the clerk's office .. one look at the main warehouse doors told her that she had no chance of getting them unbarred before the legionaries would be able to overwhelm her. Once into the office, she'd have two options .. crashing through either the door or window, whichever looked to be the most feasible at the time.

As she struggled to her feet, a double handful of Romans rushed into her path, cutting her off from her objective. She drew her sword with a confident flourish, ignoring the bruises garnered from her fall, and growled menacingly, "Out of my way, boys!"

"Get her!" came the order from a decurion, sending the legionaries in to attack.

Xena parried the first club that slashed towards her, reaching out with her free hand to draw the luckless wielder into a smashing head butt. A sweep of her sword cut through the defence and armour of a second man, laying him open from chest to hip.

She dodged to one side to avoid a heavy swipe, but was a little slow and the club hit her solidly on the right upper arm, making it instantly numb and causing her to drop her sword. She dealt the successful soldier a wicked side on kick to the gut that left him heaving on his knees as he tried to suck breath into tortured lungs.

Ducking, she launched herself into a forward roll along the ground to avoid the legionaries who sought to sandwich her. Instead of grabbing the Warrior Princess, the pair ended up colliding with each other as they watched Xena roll away. As she came to her feet, Xena hit the soldier in front of her with a crushing straight left that dropped him like a poleaxed steer. As he fell she saw she had a clear path to the office door. Not hesitating she dived for the opening ... straight into the heavy confines of a special cargo net that had been slung as an obvious contingency if she should escape the trap within the warehouse.

Net and Warrior Princess, fell to the floor of the office in a tangled mess, small sharp hooks in the netting, catching on leather, armour and flesh. But Xena was not ready to give up yet. Drawing the knife from her boot she set to work to cut herself free from the prisoning mesh. An almost blind panic assailed her at the thought of being in His power once more and she fought with an unreserved ferocity that was incredible to behold.

Seeing that their quarry had still not given into the inevitable, the soldiers descended upon her with clubs, intent on beating the defiance out of her, incredulous that she would continue to fight in such a hopeless situation. Slowly, the resistance went out of her, as her bruised and battered body refused to respond to the unfair demands that she was trying to make on it, until she lay still, breathing painfully and heavily.

Her sight was blurred and she felt groggy as the net was hauled off of her. Oblivion beckoned, but she struggled against it and fought feebly as she felt the cold metal of heavy manacles being fastened to her wrists and ankles. Hands pulled her to her knees, while another grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her head back to stare up at the face of a man who stood calmly before her.

Caesar coldly examined his prize. She fought like twenty kinds of demons and he had little doubt that she would spend her last breath to kill him if she could .. and believe it to be well spent! A soldier approached, handing him her sword which he studied along with the chakram that had been taken from her belt. His smile was like the chill of winter as he looked down upon his one time lover.

Her face was swollen with one eye closed and her lip split in two places. Heavy bruising marred her smooth skin wherever it showed. Her breathing was laboured and her one open eye looked disorientated. - But, - he noted with grudging admiration - she shows absolutely no sign of conceding victory. - In her position he wasn't sure that he'd be able to maintain that air of defiance.

"Well, Xena," he said at length, the smooth tones that once thrilled her, now sent the icy fire of rage coursing through her veins. "Maybe you should have taken the chance to surrender to me after all. I warned you about the pain you faced."

Gathering her fast fading reserves of strength, and ignoring the screaming protests from every part of her body, Xena used her will to force herself to her feet. For the barest second she stood eye to eye with her nemesis, before spitting full into his face. Caesar gave no flicker of emotion, nor did he move, but an unseen fist crashed into the side of her jaw and blessed darkness rushed to claim her.

The Roman general carefully wiped the spittle from his face as he dispassionately observed his unconscious prisoner. - Gods, but the woman could fight - he thought to himself, glad that he hadn't had to face her himself .. not that he feared her .. he just knew that his destiny lay elsewhere other than on the end of her blade. Yet, he'd never seen her match and he privately admitted that she was absolutely magnificent - But far more dangerous than a pride of rabid lions - he told himself.

He turned to Brutus whom he'd given the task of setting the net to snare their game, while the rest of them had kept her busy in the warehouse. - That net - thought Caesar looking at the heavy rope that the cargo net was made from - should have stopped any mere mortal in their tracks. But she almost cut herself free from it's strictures. - "Get her under lock and key," he ordered, anxious that she should get no opportunity to effect an escape.

He studied the battered form at his feet for a few moments, "There is never to be less than twenty guards on duty around her. When you get her to the dungeon, strip her of her armour and boots, make sure she hasn't got any more weapons tucked away," he instructed examining the quality of the weapons he held. "Once that's done, she is to remain chained at all times." He handed the sword and chakram to the soldier who brought them, "Have those delivered to my apartments," he instructed.

Turning back to Brutus he told him crisply, "We leave for Nemausus at first light. I want the cage on a covered wagon with six guards, and another twenty around it at all times." he fixed his second in command with a hard stare, "Make sure that the men know I'll have one in ten of the whole special watch lashed if she gets anywhere close to escape, and I'll Crucify every fifth man should she manage to get away from them."

Brutus nodded, they'd heard the order before and the men knew what awaited them if they should fail Caesar, "What of the girl?" he questioned as he signalled for Xena to be taken away.

"Patroclese will keep her safe once he lands." He watched as the Warrior Princess was lifted roughly and carried back into the warehouse where the flatbed wagon now stood, a wooden cage evident upon it. As soon as Xena was bundled into it, the tarp was used to cover the cage making it appear to be a covered crate. "With that irritating blonde in my hands, I'll have Xena just where I want her." he explained.

Caesar's battered, elite, hand picked, maniple of almost two hundred men, (assembled for the specific task of capturing and guarding one woman warrior) formed up around the precious cart and, at their commander's order, marched back to the garrison barracks where they could lodge their dangerous charge behind stone walls and iron bars.