The sharp tone snapped his attention away from the scroll he was studying. He looked up and recognised his petite wife, Pompeia, as she strode into his office bristling with unsuppressed fury. - Damn! - he silently cursed, as he neatly rolled the scroll and forced a pleasant smile onto his face, "My dear. It's so nice to see you. Did you enjoy the visit with your mother?"

The auburn haired woman ignored his attempt at civility and launched into a stinging attack, "Just who ordered my poor Nicolette to be whipped?" she demanded, "The child is a quivering wreck and was barely fit to dress my hair this morning!"

"Nicolette?" he questioned innocently, guessing that the girl must have been one of the eight slaves used as an example for Xena.

"Yes, Nicolette .... Don't give me any of your innocent looks, Gaius Julius Caesar. You know full well who I mean. Nothing happens within the palace without you knowing about it. Now I want to know exactly why my personal body slave was whipped while I was not here ... You know the only reason that I didn't take the child with me to Mother's was because she was ill."

Caesar gave his wife a long look, - The only reason you didn't take the child with you was because you didn't want to be bothered with a sick slave who wouldn't be able to attend your every whim! - His mind retorted venomously. He gave his second wife a long considering look - She's still a beautiful woman, - he conceded to himself, - Shorter than Xena's irritating blonde friend, but still stunning with her silky hair and those chestnut eyes flecked with gold .. it's just a pity the woman's such a harpy. If it wasn't for her wealth and family connections I would have divorced her years ago. -

Seeing that Pompeia was becoming ever more impatient, Caesar sighed and explained, "It was an oversight on my part," he admitted. He stood up and moved across to the window, motioning the slight woman to join him. "My newest slave," he told her pointing to where Xena continued to carry rocks back and forth across the compound, now further hampered by the extra chains to her ankles that the guards held. The Roman had decided that Xena could miss training at the Coliseum for once. Spending last night, and all of today, hauling rocks around in a meaningless exercise, should at least impress upon her that she had no free will here.

"What has she got to do with my Nicollo?" demanded his wife impatiently. Then took a closer look. For all she had a fiery temper, Pompeia was not a stupid woman. "That's your barbarian wench, then?" she questioned rhetorically, knowing full well just who the woman in the drill-yard was. "Looks quite the ignorant savage doesn't she?" she sneered, not liking the fact that, even in chains, the slave had a beauty that surpassed her own and a bearing that made her seem like royalty, even in her present conditions.

"I'll grant you that she's a savage," Caesar agreed, "but ignorant? Hardly!" He shot a malicious look at his wife, knowing that she hated anyone who could be classed as a rival for beauty and intelligence, "Xena is fluent in at least seven languages and has a passing knowledge of at least five more. She is an accomplished healer .. her knowledge in that area easily putting Patroclese to shame and he's about the best in Rome. She is conversant in the laws of almost every land in our world, having broken nearly all of them in her time, and that's without mentioning her incredible military acumen .. nearly a match for my own .. and the fact that she is probably the most deadly fighter in the known world. Savage, undoubtedly, but never ignorant." He smiled at the growing frown on his spouse's brow.

Pompeia turned away from the window, "She seems just the type of whore that you like to bed, my dear," she told him acidly.

"She and I were lovers, once, many years ago." he responded almost wistfully.

"What happened then? Did the bitch try to kill you?" She had heard vague rumours about her husband's association with the woman in his youth, but had never heard his version and Brutus could not be cajoled to speak of it. - Besides, - she thought, - the woman barely looks old enough to be the one .. if she was, she can have been little more than a child when they met. -

"Oh, no. Xena was totally besotted with me. No," he told her remembering back over the eleven or more years that had passed, "I had her crucified and her legs broken. She was, after all, a pirate at the time and had the audacity to capture and ransom me," he informed her coldly.

Pompeia contemplated her handsome husband. She was well aware that their marriage had been politically motivated. Oh, at the start there was a fervent passion, but that quickly cooled as Caesar's natural inclination for fresh bed partners intruded upon their marriage. After her initial anger and jealousy over her wayward husband's philandering, Pompeia (good Roman daughter and wife that she was) coldly turned her attention to cultivating her ambitions, while turning a blind eye to her husbands amorous antics. The situation soon suited her quite well. She was free to indulge in her own 'discrete' assignations, while wielding the power that being Caesar's wife allowed her. The accommodation was comfortable for both of them.

"And she still escaped you? My, my Julius! Either she was very good, or you still had a lot to learn," she chided him malevolently, "But none of this answers my question about my poor Nicolette," she reminded him primly.

Glowering at his wife for the verbal barbs she had shot in his direction, Caesar sought to keep calm, "On the contrary," he replied casually, "She was the reason for it." He smiled lazily as she narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could demand an explanation of what he meant, he continued smoothly, "Xena is wild and uncontrollable, on two occasions already I've had her beaten close to death, and yet it makes little impression on her .. she's still as intransigent as when I first captured her in Gaul all those moons ago. So you can see she isn't like other slaves. However, she can be managed with the right persuasion."

"How does that concern my slave?" demanded Pompeia.

"Ah, I'm just coming to that, my dear," smiled her husband mirthlessly. "Up until Brutus managed to mislay her, I had the key to ensuring the Warrior Princess' co-operation .. an irritating little blonde bard that travels with our savage. However, without being able to use Gabrielle, I needed another form of deterrent to stop Xena from attempting to escape, or refusing to obey instructions. You see my slave has a weak spot for innocents. Therefore, should she get out of line, she now knows that eight child slaves will take her punishment."

"You used my slave for that?" demanded the small woman incredulously, "She's my property, Julius, not yours. You had no right ..."

"As I said, my dear, it was an oversight. Of course your slave won't be used in that manner again. I'll have Comodus go and buy a new house slave immediately to take your girl's place in the punishment line."

"Make sure you do," warned Pompeia, "Or I warn you, Julius ..."

"I fully understand, my dear. There is no need to threaten me," Caesar assured her placatingly.

"Very well then," she turned on her heel to go, "Oh, Julius," she smiled sweetly, "I thought you should know that the Governor of Reate looks like he could be going over to Pompey's side." Domestic disputes aside, Pompeia knew just where her interests lay, and Caesar knew that she was a very astute and clever politician in her own right. Keeping her husband safe from his political enemies ensured her own continuing power and so she used her contacts to keep abreast of the situation .. which was why she had gone to Reate to visit her mother, "You might want to do something about that in person. A visit from you, should be enough to convince Folanari where his best interests lay, and if not ..." she let the sentence hang.

"Thank you my sweet," Caesar smiled grimly, "As ever your information is invaluable," he assured her with true sincerity. He watched her leave before settling back into his chair to decide just what he would do. As much as he would like to ignore the greedy Governor, Reate was an important area and too close too Rome to allow it to fall under Pompey's influence. His personal inclinations were urging him to remain in Rome .. he had to repair his relationship with Ephiny. His first taste of her had kindled a craving for more! However, being the practical man he was, he knew that his ambition for absolute power came first in all things.

Sighing with frustration, he found himself back at the office window, staring down at the labouring Warrior Princess, - Another problem, - his mind told him. - Do I take her with me to Reate, or leave her here? - realising that he'd already decided that he would be going to the city north-east of Rome.

Ephiny had been keeping a low profile. It wasn't just that she was ashamed about what had happened with Caesar, she was also very embarrassed about it. And, however much Eponin and Gabrielle tried to assure her that no one would say anything, she knew that she wouldn't feel comfortable around the men until all signs of her liaison with Caesar had faded away. So she had shut herself into her rooms and done all her communicating through either the Weapons Master or the bard. Consequently, she was the last in the group to learn that Caesar had left the city for an imperial visit to the city of Reata.

"What! When did he go?" she demanded when Gabrielle came to tell her the news. Suddenly the possibility loomed that the might not come back for the proposed contest between 'Heston' and Xena, which would destroy their careful planning. She desperately hoped that she was not to blame for the Roman's unexpected and unannounced trip.

"Yesterday morning," the bard told her surreptitiously checking out the tell-tale marks that decorated Ephiny's anatomy, pleased to see that they were rapidly fading. "He left before sun-up using his imperial authority to have the gates opened up before dawn, to let himself and his guard through."

"He hasn't taken Xena with him?" demanded the Regent, afraid that all of their hopes were about to tumble down. If he removed the Warrior Princess from Rome there was going to be even less chance of rescuing her than ever.

"No one's sure," Gabrielle replied, trying to hide her own concern at this latest twist in their troubles, "She hasn't been seen outside the palace since you saw her last. If she's there, she's not being taken down to the Coliseum for training." She drew a long breath seeking to remain calm, "I'm going to ask Autolycus to check tonight. He's anxious to check around to see what information he can pick up anyway."

"Just so long as that's all he picks up," commented Eponin dryly, knowing how easily the King of Thieves got distracted by sparkley, valuable trinkets.

Gabrielle grinned at her with something akin to childish glee, "Poni, you're so untrusting. He hasn't stolen anything since that first night when Hercules caught him, but he has brought us back some useful information."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered the dark haired Amazon unconvinced, "Just because none of us has caught him with the goods, doesn't mean he hasn't been collecting them. I just hope he doesn't get caught at it and end up bringing the roof down on top of all of us," she grumbled pessimistically.

Beginning to feel happier, Ephiny solidly hit her friend on her muscular arm, "Stop being such a grump, Poni."

"Ouch!" whimpered the Weapons Master pretending the Regent had hurt her and failing to elicit either an apology or sympathy from either of her two companions.

"Besides," smiled Gabrielle, "The only time Autolycus gets caught is when he wants to be," she assured the doubtful Amazon.

"Oh yeah? What about when Brutus caught him? And he wasn't even trying to steal anything then," Eponin reminded her.

Gabrielle blinked in surprise. She'd forgotten about that, but her agile brain soon had an answer that no one could refute, "That was the Joxer effect. When you have a dangerous, difficult, situation and you add Joxer to the mix, anything that could go wrong automatically increases in probability by about a factor of ten."

The two Amazons looked at her blankly for several heartbeats before Ephiny ventured, "So you're saying that when Joxer's around the chances of trouble increase?"

"That's right," agreed the bard firmly.

"You're saying that an individual person can multiply the chance of trouble?" questioned the Weapons Master.

"Absolutely," agreed Gabrielle with total confidence in her argument.

The two Amazons looked at each other before uttering in unison, "Oh Hades. Are we in trouble."

Looking from one to the other, the bard could see the twinkle of amusement in her friends' eyes, but didn't understand the cause, "Hey look. It's not that bad. Hercules is making sure that he stays out of trouble ..." she looked at them in bemusement as the pair started laughing, "Okay ... what's the big joke?"

"Well," grinned Ephiny as she took a sly peek at Eponin before getting a nod of tacit approval, "We fully understand your theory about the Joxer effect, because the Amazons have had a theory about the 'Gabrielle' effect and it's at least twenty times worse than the one poor old Joxer causes."

"Hey!" growled the bard in slightly more than mock disapproval, "I can't help it if things happen when I'm around."

"Of course not," chorused the Amazons with distinct smirks on their faces.

"Well it's not my fault if I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time .. or should that be the wrong place at the right time .. or maybe the right place at the wrong time," she considered and then scowled at the barely suppressed giggling coming from the other two women, "Cut that out," she ordered beginning to feel picked on.

"Yes your Majesty," grinned the Regent, jabbing Eponin in the ribs.

"As your Majesty commands," smirked the Weapons Master and suddenly grimaced as a thought struck her, "Hey! You know what that means?"

"What?" asked the other two.

"We're sitting here in enemy territory with probably the two greatest attractions for trouble in the known world!" Eponin told them gloomily.

There was silence in the room for many long moments as they absorbed that rather distressing piece of information, before Ephiny had to add morosely, "Hey, we've also probably got the third greatest attraction for trouble around too."

They looked at each other and said in unison, "Xena!"

Staring miserably at her companions, Eponin began to feel that if they didn't do something to snap themselves out of all this gloom and doom they'd soon be in real trouble, "Hey c'mon. Apart from Ephiny's little trouble with Caesar," she squeezed the Regent's shoulder reassuringly, "and our problem sisters, we've all been fine since we got here. We've just got to concentrate on the plan and make sure that we get it to work."

The other two nodded their approval and Gabrielle looked directly at Ephiny before saying, "Which kind of brings us to why we've invaded your privacy, Eph."

The Regent shifted uncomfortably, "Oh yes, what's that."

"Since Caesar is out of the city, we feel that you need to put in an appearance at Jovian's party tonight." She held up a hand to still the Amazon's objections, "Now I know you don't want to, but you really need to get out and mix with people, apart from it being necessary if this plan is going to work. On top of that, there's no chance that Caesar's going to turn up, so we should make the most of the opportunity .. you need to be seen, Eph."

"I'm not ready, Gabrielle," protested the Regent who still couldn't make up her mind if she was raped or a willing participant in the proceedings.

The bard gave her a calculating look. She really was concerned about Ephiny and the effect that Caesar had had on her, but she didn't think the sympathetic coddling that the Regent had been getting from them was helping her put the whole thing behind her, so she decided that it was time for a little 'tough love', "Oh get over it Ephiny! What are you, an Amazon or some village milkmaid that needs protection because she can't look after herself?"

Outrage sparked in the blonde Amazon's eyes as she asked frigidly, "I beg your pardon!"

"You heard what I said," Gabrielle told her indifferently, hoping that the Regent didn't look over at Eponin who was doing an impression of a stranded fish.

"I am Regent Queen of the Amazons! Not some spineless peasant!" snapped Ephiny angrily.

"Well act like it!" returned the bard. "Since it happened, you've sulked in these rooms like .. like .. like ..." the bard grasped for words.

"A spineless peasant?" offered Poni, picking up on Ephiny's phrase, when she had caught on to what her Queen was trying to achieve.

"Too right, Ep!" agreed the honey blonde enthusiastically.

"A spineless peasant?" snarled Ephiny.

"Right," came the joint reply.

"A village milkmaid?" snapped the Regent her voice rising an octave.

"You got it!" agreed the other two.

Eyes flashing, Ephiny looked from one to the other of her 'friends' and came to a decision, - Compare me to some pathetic woman who can't look after herself, will they! - she angrily berated herself, - I'm an Amazon, that's what I am. I'll show these two ... - "Where did you say that this party was tonight?" she demanded in full regal mode.

"Jovian's place. We need you to try and become friends with him Eph, but more importantly with Graccus who we know will be there. He's important to the whole plan. He has to be there and willing to make an offer at the right time, or everything falls to pieces," explained the bard. "He already seems to like you. With Caesar out of the way you're going to have the chance to establish a real friendship with ..."

"Fine," broke in the Regent still snapping with anger, - I'll show them! - her mind continued to grumble.

"Pardon?" asked the bard, wanting to make sure that Ephiny really would do her part.

"I said fine. I'll go to the party, I'll talk nicely to Graccus and make sure that he's interested in the whole thing .. I'll play my part. Fine." returned the Regent as she quickly ticked off the points that required her attention.

Gabrielle tried a tentative smile, "Right. Then I guess Poni and I better let you get ready, you've only got a few candlemarks before you'll have to go." Getting no reaction from her friend, the bard made her way to the door, drawing the Weapons Master after her.

Ephiny watched them start to leave and was surprised to find her anger vanishing along with her morose, self-pitying mood. She wryly recognised what the bard had been doing. As Eponin put her hand to the door handle, she called out to them, "Gabrielle, Poni ... thanks."

Both women turned and smiled at the blonde Amazon, but it was Gabrielle who said, "That's what friends are for, Eph. See you later." And with that, the two women left the suite allowing the Regent to sort through her wardrobe to find something suitable to wear for the evening get together.