They were five days on the road. For the Warrior Princess it was a period where the daylight candlemarks were filled with boredom and discomfort, while the evenings offered the prospect of besting Caesar at Chess (something she looked forward to doing as much as she enjoyed humiliating him on the battlefield!).

After the first day, once the camp had been erected and night had fallen, Xena was allowed out of her cage and wagon, and taken into the tent that was always set next to Caesar's. The accommodation was large enough to house her and her watch dogs, usually increased to ten for this situation. She was given a blanket in the middle of the tent for her bed, and she was secured by a chain running from her collar to a heavy bolt driven deep into the ground. This allowed her to sit but not to stand, giving the legionaries a modicum of security from any rash action by her.

Around the outside of the tent, as always, was a guard of twenty men. No one was allowed near the area unless they carried authorisation from either Caesar or Flaccus, effectively cutting her off from everyone else in the camp. All guards were changed on a three candlemark basis to make certain that no one lost concentration about what they were doing. All in all, it was an effective way of keeping the prisoner secure, even without the added threat of Gabrielle hanging over her head.

Each evening, after she had eaten the plate of food she was given, Caesar would visit along with Patroclese, who brought his chess set with him. They barely exchanged words as they both concentrated on the game. For Xena it was a chance to best her captor, for Caesar it provided the chance to beat the Warrior Princess in a non-lethal situation. For both it was proving to be an addiction.

On that first evening as they played, while Xena concentrated on breaking up a slashing attack from her opponent's high priest, Caesar told her quite casually, "It appears that Brutus has found two of your friends."

Her blue eyes snapped up and locked onto his brown ones with startling intensity before she turned them back to the board, - He'll tell me when he's ready, - she told herself coldly, forcing herself to patience and to concentrate on the game.

If Caesar expected her to press him about either the identity of the captured men, or news of Gabrielle, he was sorely disappointed. But then again, her silence didn't really matter, because he knew that each of his words would sting her like fire, "Seems that the thief and the fool got careless," he continued in his bored, casual tone, "I'll really have to decide just what to do with them." He smiled viciously as a harder note crept into his voice, "Perhaps I'll have them executed, as a warning to any other 'friends' that you might have, not to interfere with Roman justice."

She knew he wasn't going to do that. Not when he could use them in a similar vein to Gabrielle. It gave him a stronger hand to play and she was well aware of it! She refrained from commenting, forcing herself to focus on the chess, using her tower to take out the intruding high pries and start a counter-attack of her own.

Caesar studied Xena carefully. He sat on a cushion opposite her, close enough to touch her, close enough to smell the scent of her. Even after long confinement, in dirty, ragged, blood marked clothes, she had an odour that was uniquely her own. Indescribable, it was heady and intoxicating. Coupled with her dark beauty, she was enough to make any man desire her. He smiled at his thoughts, - Desires like that could get a man killed! - He was realistic enough to settle for using her in his plans and the fighting pits. Turning her into a concubine was not an option he considered other than in his dreams. He valued his life too highly. Pushing forward he used his empress to take out one of her horsemen.

She moved her tower forward to threaten his emperor and waited for him to counter the move which would open the board to her empress within three moves and give her victory within five. She allowed a predatory smile to glide across her lips as she looked at him, knowing the game was hers.

Caesar frowned in concentration as he looked at the inevitable end that the move dictated here, "Your battle," he conceded, a hint of anger lurking around the edges of his tone.

"My game, I think you mean," purred Xena contentedly.

"Oh no, Xena," he shook his head in emphatic denial. "The game is all mine and I'm the master of it ... and you."

Xena favoured him with a look that could have driven nails through six inches of steel, "In your dreams," she told him, her voice dropping to a low, menacing, register.

His faced darkened before being smoothed into a broad smile that came nowhere close to touching his hard eyes, "You know, Xena, I think I have been far too lenient with you of late. Since I sent your little bard away, you have grown increasingly ... how shall I put this ... less tractable. Well, you're storing up a lot of punishments for poor Gabrielle. Do you think she'll forgive you for the beatings she's going to receive when we join her in Rome?"

"You haven't got me there yet," she reminded him darkly.

"Ah!" he actually produced a genuine smile, "Still think you can slip your leash and get to your friend before her guards get the message to ... play with her, shall we say. I think she might just welcome the cross after that, don't you?"

Rage and anger blotted out thought as she made a lunge for the monster in front of her, only to be jerked harshly back by the collar and chain at her neck. She lay on the ground gasping for breath, her hands unable to sooth her tortured throat, held short by their own chains.

"That wasn't a bright move, Xena," chided Caesar gently. "I really am going to have to teach you a little humility. Respect for your betters perhaps?" He motioned to the guards around the edge of the tent, "Teach her her place," he told them as he rose effortlessly from his cushion. "Don't damage her too much. Bruise her a little .. just so that she learns a dog does not try to bite it's master."

He left as the ten soldiers began to systematically beat her between shoulder and ankles with their heavy batons. Nothing that would break bones or do vital damage, but enough to leave her battered and sore for a few days. Xena gritted her teeth and allowed only the occasional grunt of pain to escape her, chalking up another tally to add to Caesar's ever increasing score.

When her guards had finished 'chastising' her, Patroclese approached and examined the damage that had been done, "Nothing broken," he told her.

"That was the object of the 'lesson', wasn't it?" she told him rhetorically, "Just Caesar letting me know my place." She failed to hide a wince as she sat on her bruised posterior .. travelling for the next few days was going to be more than a little uncomfortable.

"Why do you go out of your way to provoke him like that, Xena?" demanded the healer, as he applied some salve to the bruised and torn skin around her neck where the collar had bitten deep.

The Warrior Princess turned angry blue eyes on him, "Because it's the only way I can fight him at the moment." and the thought rang in her mind, - If I give up the fight, if I allow him to cower me, then not only does he gain victory but I also lose who I am and I might as well be dead. - She gave a mirthless smile and told the healer seriously, "A little pain is worth it to know that he cannot bend me to his will. It gives me something to live for."

"But that's just stubborn pride talking!" he yelled at her angrily. He had tried hard to fight it, but against all his prejudices, pre-conceived loyalties and general beliefs he found he really liked this woman, "Bend, Xena. Accept your new lot in life. Things will then get better for you and Gabrielle. He values you greatly and you could find living so much more comfortable if you would just submit."

"Never!" she hissed. The word impregnated with all the rage, pride and passion that constituted her being.

Patroclese shook his head sadly and collected the chessmen and board together before leaving the tent, "Goodnight, Xena. Sleep well."

She hadn't slept much that night, not that she ever really slept well. Too many memories of past evil; too many nightmares! A deep sleep was something she had trained herself to avoid. Her latest beating ensured that she would be too uncomfortable to find much rest.

The following day had proven to be the trial she had expected. Her body was a mass of purple, black and blue contusions that allowed her to find no way of sitting without being constantly reminded of her discomfort. Added to this, the rain that had plagued them on their trip to Lugdunum had given way to hot sunshine and thick sticky humidity, that left all the passengers, in the stuffy wagon, irritable.

By the evening stop, Xena was tired, aching, and in a bad mood. Needless to say, Caesar won the evening's chess match as she found it hard to concentrate her focus on the game. The Roman had gloated over his easy victory, but had been disappointed over his inability to torment the Warrior Princess with words, as she flatly refused to say anything to him.

He had ordered another beating before he left the tent, and Xena began to suspect that her punishments had more to do with the physical impression that Caesar wanted to present at his meeting with Verchinex, than with trying to break her spirit. The bruising that he obviously wanted her to show was nothing that she couldn't easily handle and would heal very quickly if not added to. It was, therefore, part of the show that the Roman noble intended to stage.

The next three days had followed the same pattern. Xena became so used to the constant ache and soreness that it no longer had the power to trouble the light sleep that she took at night, - I suppose you can become used to anything over time, - she mused. However, it did leave her with a body that was smothered with skin that ranged in colour from sickly yellow to black, and included a variety of browns, blues, purples and greens that showed through the rents made in her torn and tattered clothing.

On that sixth day, she was aware that the Seventh Legion did not break camp. The guard maniple and the wagon had continued alone on it's march, which made Xena certain that they were nearing their destination. Wherever they had been heading, they reached it by mid-afternoon. The Warrior Princess could hear the sounds of a large tent being erected, larger than Caesar's normal command tent, - A pavilion then, of some sort, - she assumed, - A place to hold the meeting, - was her speculation.

She spent the rest of the hot afternoon and evening stuck in the cage in the wagon. Xena guessed that Caesar wasn't going to take a chance that some Gaulish spy saw and recognised her as she was moved from her travelling accommodation to wherever Caesar planned to keep her for the night. - Of course, - she brooded as she shifted her position in the cage, perspiration running down her face and over her cramped body, - he could always leave me in here all night! -

She almost convinced herself that that was what he intended to do, when dusk had long passed and there seemed to be no movement to let her out. However, several candlemarks after nightfall, Flaccus finally appeared to unlock the cage and supervise her movement.

She had been right. The tent erected was a huge, silken pavilion. She paid it little real attention as her busy eyes checked out the dispositions of the sentries and the lay of the land. Unfortunately, it was a new moon shedding very little light in a cloudy sky, so she got little more than the impression that they were probably in a wide valley, close to the river that ran through it.

With sore aching muscles that had set from the long, uncomfortable confinement, Xena was as much dragged as allowed to shuffle into the brightly lit pavilion. She blinked the glare away and took stock of her surroundings as she was hustled through the wide flaps of fabric that served as a door, and could be raised to open the full front of the tent, making it appear as little more than an extended canopy, allowing for easy access and open observation.

The ground of the pavilion, she noticed had been strewn with rugs and long banks of cushions were scattered down each side to where a table stood opposite the opening with one large, gilded chair behind it. The whole effect looked almost regally elaborate and was designed, she suspected, to make the visiting Gauls feel nervous and out of place.

Behind the table were three fabric doorways that obviously led into rear chambers. Caesar was evidently in one of them, but she had no idea what the other two were for, unless she was to be held in one of them .. though she had expected to be tethered in the central entrance area, especially when Flaccus ordered her to sit down there.

She obeyed his instruction. She tried not to invite any more punishments to herself than those she considered to be strictly necessary. For the most part she obeyed Flaccus and the other guards, but she refused to give Caesar the same obedience; he was the one she saved her resistance for. Her eyes followed the Senior Centurion as he entered the 'room' on the left behind the table.

Ten guards remained watching her, but she was not chained to the ground as had been the normal routine. She sat quietly, and ate the food that they gave her. Just bread and cheese that evening, - But I'm hardly in any position to object, now am I? - she thought wryly as she munched on the brown travel bread and the hard tangy cheese, - Beside's, - she was forced to admit, - I've eaten worse. -

When Caesar didn't appear for the evening chess match, and she still hadn't been fastened down for the night, she decided to test how far this unexpected freedom stretched. Moving gracefully and with fluid strength she stood up and stretched .. as far as she could .. carefully.

She was instantly aware of ten men snapping into increased alertness with batons ready to subdue her should it prove necessary, "Easy boys," she reassured them softly, "I just needed to stretch a bit,"

"Sit down," ordered the decurion in charge, firmly.

Xena smiled obligingly and slowly lowered herself back to her former position on the rugs. Chaffed by inactivity, she allowed her mind to contemplate the coming meeting. She suspected that Verchinex would be there the following day, for she doubted that Caesar would leave himself in too exposed a position for longer than necessary.

In a way it would be good to see the Gaul leader again. After they had slipped out of Rome, and got back to the ship, they had sailed with the chieftain to Massilia and, before dropping him off there, she and Gabrielle had got to know and like the man. Previously, they'd only had the myth to go on, much like he had with Xena herself, and that short interlude had given them both a chance to see the people behind the legends, with the bard, of course, taking notes.

However, although it would have been good to see Verchinex under normal circumstances, this was far from a normal time. She knew that she was going to be used in some way against the Gaul, probably with a direct assault on his honour, it was just a question of what Caesar would demand for it.

As if just thinking of the man had given her the power to summon him, the Roman general appeared from the left hand 'room' flanked by Flaccus and Titus, the Junior Centurion. Caesar allowed his gaze to linger on Xena for a moment, before saying, "Very well Titus see to it." The Centurion saluted and left the pavilion. Caesar turned his attention back to his captive as he seated himself in the throne like chair behind the table. He smiled at her almost benignly, "Well, Xena," he said smugly, "I suppose you're wondering what all this is about."

The Warrior Princess allowed a small quirk of amusement, for his arrogance, to show, before replying, "You're meeting Verchinex tomorrow. Obviously you're seeking to work out some form of truce between your forces and his, so it will leave you free to go back to Rome and announce that all is quiet on the western front. That should give you a chance to pull some of Pompey's teeth and quash some of the rumours about the execution of Crassus."

As he listened to Xena outline his carefully laid plan, the smile had gradually fallen from Caesar's face to be replaced by an angry scowl, - The woman must be a witch, - he snarled to himself as she had more or less detailed his general plan, which no one other than himself had known. - Still she hasn't mentioned her own part in my plans, so perhaps it's just because she's almost as good at manipulating, people and events, as I am. - He opened his mouth to give her some explanation of her part in all of this, but she continued before he could do so.

"You're going to use me, in some way, to manipulate Verchinex's honour. He is indebted to me for rescuing him from your executioners, and you intend to use that to compel him in some way," she told him bluntly, not trying to hide the contempt in her eyes she felt for him doing so, nor the outrage she felt at being used in such a manner, even though she maintained a relaxed outer appearance.

Caesar offered her a slow derisive handclap as she finished her analysis, "Very good, Xena," he congratulated her coldly, "Well, my sweet, having worked out the basic elements, I think you can wait for tomorrow to witness the details at first hand." He snapped his fingers and she became aware of some movement at the pavilion entrance, but maintained her eye contact with the Roman general.

"For now," he continued, "we need to make sure that you're going to be comfortable for the night and ready for the meeting tomorrow." Two guards approached her and hauled her roughly to her feet. A thick, heavy bar of wood was threaded past the crook at her elbow, across her back and through the elbow crook on the other side, effectively removing all chance of using her hands. She strained the muscles of her arms and back to test the strength of the beam, and was not surprised to feel no give.

The bar was five feet long and had a metal ring at either end. Chains were attached to the rings which could be used to steer the prisoner. Flaccus motioned the guards to follow him, and Xena was forced towards the central chamber at the rear of the pavilion.

As she cleared the door flaps, she could see two heavy wooden posts that had been set into the ground. The legionaries manoeuvred her so that she would be facing the entrance and then secured the chains from the crossbeam, through the iron ring at the top of each post, and hauled them in tight so that Xena's upper body was bent forward and her weight rested painfully on her arms and shoulders. More lengths of chain were then produced to secure each of her ankles to rings at the base of each post, and finally, the collar chain was secured to a stake driven into the ground in front of her. Tethered in this way, the only thing she could move was her head .. just a little.

"Now I know you understand the generalities of my designs," purred Caesar, as he entered the 'room'. "This is just a minor precaution to make sure that you don't do anything foolish, and that Verchinex fully understands the situation." His face creased with pleasure as Xena scowled at him, he had mastery here whether she was ready to concede it or not.

He turned to go and then stopped, almost as if a thought had suddenly crossed his mind, "Oh yes," he said turning back, "gag her."

He watched as Flaccus forced the gag into her mouth and tied it tightly behind her head. Xena couldn't fight against it, but she allowed her dislike of this latest indignity to show in her blue eyes.

"Can't have you shouting out and ruining Verchinex's surprise now, can we?" Caesar told her happily. Why do you think I've gone to all the trouble of keeping you hidden from the public gaze?" He ran an almost tender finger along the length of her silky smooth jawline and his smile deepened as she jerked her head away from him as far as she could. "Sleep well, my slave." He told her with almost affection in his voice, "Things will change for you tomorrow ... one way or another."