There was a bustle amongst the guard unit as they manoeuvred some heavy object into the guardroom behind the screen of soldiers that trailed at Caesar's heels. Whatever they were doing would become obvious in time. For now, both women's attentions were rivetted upon the Roman Emperor.

As usual, Patroclese entered the cell, leaving Caesar outside flanked by guards .. the door remained open, a noticeably unusual occurrence! Xena sat rigidly on the stone bench with Gabrielle beside her. Outward appearances suggested that the Warrior Princess was calm and relaxed, but there was a tenseness to the line of her jaw, and her eyes remained fixed, beyond Patroclese, on her enemy.

Gabrielle had become instantly aware of Xena's rigidity and the reason for it. Caesar acted as an unfailing goad on the Warrior Princess whenever he appeared. The bard touched her friend's arm lightly and gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance, and as a reminder of her promise.

Patroclese noticed the looks and the touch, and tried to give an encouraging smile of his own. He liked these women. He had tried not to, but there was something about them. Gabrielle had a purity, and for all the death and destruction she had witnessed, an innocence that burned bright. - And Xena? Well, the woman was terrifying, - he was willing to admit, but she also had an honourable integrity that he hadn't expected. The stories about her varied so wildly from a cold, merciless, evil killer to a woman who fought for the innocent against malignant warlords that preyed upon them, that it was almost impossible to find the real woman in them. "Let's have a final look at your back, Xena," he ordered.

It was almost a physical struggle for the Warrior Princess to break eye contact with Caesar. But she complied with the healer and stood carefully, turned her back on him and raised the shirt back with difficulty, hampered as she was by the manacles, and waited while Patroclese traced the fading outlines of the scars. The wounds had healed quickly and well, as the healer already knew. Faint white lines crisscrossed her skin, and the physician was certain, within time, these would also disappear. Patroclese stepped softly to one side to allow Caesar a clear view of Xena's back.

The Roman pursed his lips thoughtfully. He'd been kept fully informed, by Patroclese, of the seriousness and extent of the damage done to his 'prize'. He was well aware that many men had died from far less serious injuries than she had accumulated. Recovery, from any of the wounds that the Warrior Princess had sustained, was usually a prolonged affair. In fact the two hapless guards who had taken a flogging that same evening, still had livid wounds and had been excused from duty.

Yet, here was Xena, once more on her feet. She had been close to death. And now? Well, all of her injuries were healed. The visible indications were fading into nothingness and she showed every sign of regaining her full phenomenal strength within a few days. It was uncanny!

Patroclese was no less impressed, at a nod from Caesar, he moved back behind Xena and once more probed her ribs. All signs of the bruising had long since gone and the bones felt strong and healthy beneath his knowledgeable hands. If he hadn't known that the breaks had been there he would never have been able to identify where the damage had been located, "All healed up nicely," he commented.

Allowing the shirt to drop back in place, Xena turned around to find that Caesar had entered the cell with four of his soldiers, each armed with the heavy batons that they used to quell riots, and to discipline unruly prisoners. The sudden close proximity of her enemy triggered her instinctive reflexes as she dropped to a fighting stance, ready to launch an assault.

Gabrielle stood quickly and grabbed her friend's arm, "Xena," she cautioned in a low tone, concern evident in her voice.

The bard's warning was enough to restrain her warrior impulses; even as the guards snapped their batons forward in readiness for use against their highly dangerous prisoner, the Warrior Princess modified her stance which melted into casual relaxation that belied the readiness for violence just moments earlier. Her eyebrow rose in a half mocking challenge as she stared insolently at Caesar.

"Very good, Xena," the Roman complimented her, his voice full of smug sarcasm as he added, "Perhaps you can be taught obedience." He smiled mirthlessly as he saw her fists clench, her knuckles turning white with the strain required to control her anger.

As Xena looked into her tormentor's eyes, she silently berated herself for allowing his taunts to antagonize her. No one else was capable of doing that. Only him! It sometimes seemed that all he had to do was enter the same room and her hackles rose, causing her to react without thinking and often regretting it. That she seemed to have an almost identical effect on him was no real compensation. She gave him a cool look and said frigidly, 'Have your fun while you can, Caesar," she warned him, "You won't hold us for too long. I seem to remember two other occasions ...."

Caesar interrupted her, full of his brash arrogance, "Ah, but this time is different, Xena. I know everything there is to know about you now," he told her full of self-satisfaction, "and there will be no opportunity for you to escape. The guards know they face death if that happens."

"You're a butcher," she retorted her tone larded with the contempt she felt for him.

"The men are rewarded well for their vigilance," he told her. "It's only fitting that the penalty for failure should be commensurate. And, because I reward them well, any of my men would march with me against the gates of Dis if I asked it of them."

"Did Crassus agree to follow you, or should I say, precede you to Hades .. sorry, Dis?" Xena stabbed at a very tender spot, and had the satisfaction of drawing a glare before she added, "I wonder if his shade respects your decision to execute him." She smiled knowingly as she saw her barb strike home. Anger flared in the brown eyes before he crushed the emotion ruthlessly.

Caesar fumed inside as he contemplated the only person who could manipulate his inner feelings as easily as he normally manipulated others. - I have to avoid responding to her jibes! - he scolded himself. - She's my property. And she will submit to my will! One way or another. -

He brought his hands out from behind his back where they had been hidden by the folds of the scarlet cloak he was wearing. He held up the thin, metal slave collar that he'd shown Xena in the first night's camp on the road to Nemausus. He watched as Xena began to raise her right hand towards the one that rested around her own neck, before forcing it to stillness once more. He noted that the icy fire in her eyes sparked with rancour and frustration.

Gabrielle had remained silent throughout the exchange between the two old enemies. She recognised the explosive chemistry between them. She was well aware that, once, Xena had been totally infatuated by the Roman, but it had turned to a violent, deadly hatred that had set her friend's feet on the path of a dark destiny that she now struggled to leave behind.

- Caesar has so much to answer for! He used Xena towards his own ends and he continues to do so when he can! And yet, - thought the bard as she watched them spar with each other, - their hatred of each other is so passionate it's almost love! - She looked from one to the other and changed her mind, - Not love, but lust! -

The bard shook her head, trying to throw off the concern that she felt for her dark haired friend. She knew that Xena was seething inside, consumed by her lust to kill Caesar, even if it cost her own life! Caesar's lust was far more complex. He needed to dominate. The Warrior Princess was probably the only person he had ever encountered whom he could not bend fully to his will.

Gabrielle knew that she bore an awesome responsibility here. She was the only thing holding Xena back, even in her current weakened condition, from finalizing the account with Caesar. While the Roman held the bard, the Warrior Princess could be constrained to accept whatever punishment, insults or demands he cared to inflict upon her.

So far, Xena had managed to control her ferocious impulses remarkably well, but Gabrielle had seen the fire leap in her friends eyes as her hand had started to reach for the slave collar at her throat. She knew that the twin collar, in Caesar's hand, had caused that reaction, and she watched as the Roman passed it to the guard on his left, who then moved forward purposefully towards the bard. Xena reacted automatically, stepping in front of her friend, drawing the younger woman protectively behind her.

Gabrielle glanced anxiously at the soldiers, outside the cell, who stood prepared with nets and batons in abundance. This was obviously going to be a test of Xena's tractability. "It's not the time for this, Xena!" she hissed a warning to her friend as she moved past her and confronted the guard carrying the collar. "If that thing's for me, you better put it on."

A quick look at Caesar to gain his nod of approval, and the soldier took a firm grasp on Gabrielle's arm and led her from the confines of the cell, to where a brazier, a small anvil and a hot rivet awaited use. Xena saw the bard pushed to her knees beside the anvil and the collar placed around her neck.

As she was bent forward so that the protruding tangs could beaten closed by the fastening of the rivet, Xena moved a pace forward, only to be caught in the strong grip of two of Caesar's men. Her strength, she found, was not sufficient to throw them off. She favoured Caesar with a glare, "You don't need to do that, Caesar!" she snarled.

He smiled. The smile of a teacher instructing a particularly slow pupil, "Ah, but Xena," he began, as a hammer pounded the rivet flat, "as I told you before. Those collars are unique. They are impossible to remove, so should either of you slip through my hands, you will easily be identified for what you are .. runaway slaves! .. and returned to me as soon as you are re-taken. And believe me Xena, you would be re-taken!"

He watched her like as eagle would study the rabbit it was about to take for it's dinner. Gabrielle was brought close to the cell, between two guards, and the Roman could see a flicker of concern in his prey's eyes as the bard tried to keep the hot metal away from her skin.

"You know," he told them both, "those collars are worth a king's ransom. You should feel flattered about how highly I prize you both."

"Great!" said the bard with feeling, "Just what a girl needs. A slave collar that's worth more than she is."

Caesar smiled unpleasantly at her, before turning an amused glance at Xena, "Now did I say that?" he asked, his voice almost purring with pleasure. "Have I given you the wrong impression?" He cocked an eyebrow waiting for some form of reply. When it wasn't forthcoming, he continued, "Believe me, you are both worth far, far more than those bounties I put on you. The collars are merely a compliment to how much I do value you."

He nodded to the pair of guards who held Xena. They forced her back towards the stone bench, where the third of the soldiers, who remained in the cell, became busy trailing a long thick chain through the bars, up through a thick ringbolt in the stone ceiling, and down to where he waited further instruction. Xena strained against the men who held her firmly, while Caesar looked over at his physician, "Your medical opinion, Patroclese?" he asked curtly.

The healer had remained unobtrusive and silent throughout the contest of wills between his master and the Warrior Princess. However, when his professional opinion was sought, he answered promptly and to the point, "She'll be back to her full strength in no more than three days, my Lord."

"As I expected," Caesar said with satisfaction. He motioned for the soldier to continue his task.

A heavy padlock was produced and the chain fastened to Xena's manacles, "You'll have the freedom of your cell," Caesar explained to her, "but that chain will give the guards a measure of further control, should you chance to become fractious. It can easily be hauled in from outside of the cell to restrain you." he pointed out unnecessarily. Xena had recognised the chain's function immediately. Digging deep into her re-establishing reserves of strength, she finally shook off the soldiers holding her. But in spite of her urge to rip out Caesar's throat, she remained standing where she was.

Caesar's lips twisted into a sardonic smirk,"Gabrielle will go to the accommodation I've had prepared for her." He saw and recognised the distrust in Xena's eyes, "Don't worry, you'll see her each day. She'll be brought here so that you can see she's unharmed. I won't let anything happen to my key."

"Key to what," asked Xena idly as she gently tested the resistance of the new chain.

"You of course, Xena!" Caesar gestured expansively, "While I've got your irritating little friend tucked up somewhere safe, I've got the way to control you, my sweet," he told her chillingly. "Everything fits into my plans perfectly."

Xena's penetrating stare intensified as she asked coldly, "And those plans would be?"

He smiled at her patronisingly, "All in good time, Xena."

- He is frustratingly insufferable when he becomes smug! - she reminded herself.

"I'll let you know what I want you to know, when I want you to know it," he told her.

Xena made eye contact with him, before she seated herself with elegant slowness on the cushions covering the stone bench. In spite of the chains she looked like a queen giving audience from her throne. Her poise was so cool and self assured as she projected an image of power and control.

Caesar had seen it all before, yet she still impressed him .. although he masked his admiration well, "Make sure you recover your strength quickly, Xena. We have a long journey to make and I wouldn't want you to fall ill on me again."

"A journey?" she probed, although her tone was one of boredom.

"All in good time," he told her condescendingly, '"for now, learn a little patience and obedience."

His words and tone stung and she flared back, "Or what? You'll have me flogged again. I almost escaped you through that the last time." She heard Gabrielle's sharp intake of breath at that, but ignored it as she focused her attention fully on Caesar.

The Roman's face took on an almost demonic cast as he tilted his head and the shadows, thrown by the torches that lit the cell, shifted, "Oh, no," he told her, a maliciousness evident in his tone that was not lost on the Warrior Princess, "I'll have Gabrielle beaten."

Xena threw the bard a wild look of anxiety as she sprang from the bench and took a step towards Caesar. She saw him wave the soldiers into stillness and halted when he barked commandingly, "Just stop, Xena!" He waited to make certain she would obey him, but as she took another step he told her, "Every time you baulk, rebel or fail to respond to an order, it won't be you who receives the punishment," he said with cold intensity, "it will be her," he snapped, pointing at the bard but never taking his eyes off of the warrior.

Xena halted her forward momentum. She was caught in a cleft stick. Her whole being rebelled at the thought of conforming to Caesar's dictates, but he had Gabrielle. She couldn't allow Gabrielle to be harmed. Caesar knew he had her and moved in to complete his victory. He slowly walked to where she could easily get at his pressure points. He could be dead in less than thirty seconds. Her dark soul screamed to be allowed to exact it's revenge, while she ruthlessly crushed it as she thought of Gabrielle.

"Do you want to test the process?" he asked grasping her jaw with his right hand to turn her head towards where Gabrielle struggled against the two men who held her. Flaccus stood behind the bard with a baton that he bounced against the palm of his left hand. "She'll take the punishments for your transgressions, and the only person you'll be able to blame is yourself, for your arrogant pride."

She shook free of his grip and struggled to control the rage that flared within her demanding vengeance. She turned furious eyes upon him, but inflicted a rigid command over herself, her body almost quivering with the violence of emotions that gripped her.

"What's it to be, Xena?" he asked her solicitously in much the same tone he'd ask someone if they enjoyed a meal, "Are you ready to become the biddable slave?" she nearly winced at the words, "Or do I order a beating? How much do you think she can take?"

Breathing deeply to try and calm herself, Xena backed off a step, and then another, "You seem to have the upper hand for now," she conceded reluctantly.

"Not for now, my sweet," he smiled with good humour, "for good." He flipped a hand and watched as the bard was pulled away, towards the dungeon exit. "Xena!" called Gabrielle, shooting looks of anxiety, and sorrow, mixed with a plea that warned against rash actions.

The Warrior Princess watched powerless as Caesar turned his back on her and left the cell, closely followed by Patroclese and the three soldiers. She stood, following him with her eyes, as he moved unhurriedly across the guardroom to exit by the prison door in the wake of Gabrielle.

Under the watchful gaze of her attendant guards, Xena felt constrained to give a performance of calm acceptance of the situation. Inwardly seething, and seeing no answers to the problem at the present time, she could only struggle with her frustration and rage as they gnawed at her. - There has to be a way out of this mess, - she told herself, - I just have to focus on the problem and work out the solution! -