Six of the other cots also held patients. In one was the boy, Mattin, who had collapsed on deck after all the children had been safely removed from the devastation of the mess. He had sustained a concussion when the rock had plunged through the planking, having been hit a glancing blow by a beam as it crashed down. Sheraya had decided to keep him in the infirmary until he had recovered.

Three other beds were taken by warriors who had been with Eponin's raiding party. Their wounds were more serious than any of them were willing to own up to and, although not life threatening, the commanding healer had made it clear that she expected the trio to remain in bed under her jurisdiction until further notice. Having had a tiring night, the warriors were soundly asleep .. this condition aided somewhat by one of Sheraya's potions.

The final two beds had the sleeping, exhausted forms of Iolaus and Autolycus, whom Sheraya had judged need to be kept under observation, after they had come so close to drowning earlier in the evening. The fact that Ephiny had asked the healer to keep an eye on the pair and make sure that they didn't try and pull any heroics and get in her hair might also have had something to do with them being confined to the infirmary. But whatever the reason, both men were soon deeply asleep, betrayed by their exhausted bodies and the sleeping potion that the healer had slipped them.

The only other current occupants of the cabin were Lasca and Jade who had pulled nursing duty. Neither of them particularly wanted the task, but neither of them were stupid .. the healer had a blistering tongue and ways to make you feel like children rather than full grown members of the Royal Guard! It didn't help that Sheraya had delivered both of the young women and was not adverse to making them squirm with the stories of their birth's, or some of the less pleasurable antics of their respective childhood's that had often led directly to the infirmary and the healer's care. So the pair had accepted the job they were given and now watched over Eponin with increasing concern.

Lasca carefully swabbed off the perspiration that glistened unhealthily over the waxen skin of the Weapons Master, "She's getting worse, Jade," she muttered to her older companion. Concern showed in her brown eyes as she looked up at the other woman.

Running a hand over Eponin's brow to bush the unconscious woman's sweat soaked bangs away from her eyes she frowned at the heat that she felt burning there. The woman twitched beneath her hands, her lips moving in delirium as she struggled with the raging fever. "C'mon Poni," she softly encouraged, "You gotta fight it. You're not going to let a little old infection beat you are you?" A twinkle lit her unusual brown eyes that were adorned with amber flecks, "Xena wouldn't let something like this beat her."

The pair could almost sense the Weapons Master gathering herself to try and stave off the infection that had laid her low. If there was one thing guaranteed to engage Eponin's competitive spirit, it was mention of the Warrior Princess. The two might be friends, but the urge to best Xena in something .. anything .. constantly drove Poni to push her capabilities.

The young blonde, continued to bathe her commander, attempting to keep the fever from getting too high, "Think we should get Sheraya?" She glanced over to where she could see Joxer struggling to move, the pain gradually prodding him awake, "He might need something too," she motioned with her head towards the man. "Yeah!" agreed the older warrior, shaking her dark brown, curly hair. "I'll go get her. She was just checking over the last of the wounds that the others took in the fighting."

Throwing a quick worried look at Eponin, she darted across to the cabin door and was quickly gone on her errand, leaving the girl alone with the injured. She looked up from her task when she heard a noise behind her, "Shouldn't you be in bed?" she asked pointedly of Mattin.

"I just thought you might need some help," the boy replied. Lasca wasn't much older than he was, she couldn't be much more than sixteen summers, which made him wonder how she could be counted as a warrior in her own right.

The blonde looked at him with piercingly direct eyes, "Go back to bed, boy," she instructed him imperiously, "Sheraya will be here in a few moments and she'll take care of things .. besides she'll blister both our hides with her tongue if you're not in that cot when she gets here."

"You afraid of her?" asked Mattin, "I thought you were supposed to be a warrior?"

"I am a warrior!" retorted Lasca defensively, well aware of her youth and lack of inches .. in fact she and Jade were only slightly taller than Queen Gabrielle and very conscious of the fact that they were on the short side for full grown Amazons. "Go back to bed, boy, before I put you back." She snapped, hating it when her hard won place amongst the warriors was challenged in any way.

"Mattin," he told her calmly.

"What?" she demanded totally confused.

"My name is Mattin. Not boy. Not slave. Not any more. The captain said I'm free now." His face was white with strain and tension as he gently rebuked her. "So I'd like it if you called me Mattin."

Lasca drew a deep breath. With sudden intuition she realised that the boy, - Mattin, - she corrected herself firmly, might be as touchy about his situation as she was hers. "I'm sorry, you're right, .. Mattin," she told him with a slight smile, "But you still need to get back in your bed before Sheraya gets here, or you'll be sorry."

Smiling in return, the slim ginger haired youth, carefully made his way back to his cot, commenting, "She's a terror, isn't she? Not like Patroclese," he told her as he slipped beneath the covers and sent a concerned look at the Roman healer. "He's so kind and gentle."

"Hrrmmph!" snorted the Amazon contemptuously, "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have to be here, and Eponin wouldn't have been hurt," she told him, anger underlying her words.

Mattin smiled sadly, "But if it wasn't for Patroclese, I'd still be a slave in Caesar's house along with my friends."

Unsure of how she could reply to that, Lasca just looked at him and was saved from having to comment by the entrance of Sheraya. The healer threw a look in Mattin's direction and the lad scrunched down in his bed, feeling rather intimidated by the brusque woman. She nodded her approval of his action and moved across to where Eponin lay, trailed by Jade.

"How's she doing?" asked the healer gruffly as she felt the raging fever that the Weapons Master had developed.

Lasca shrugged. She wasn't a healer's apprentice and she knew little about medicine other than what she had been obliged to learn, in classes, about field dressings and personal care of wounds. "She's getting hotter," she ventured inanely. Sheraya's contemptuous glare silenced her.

"We've bathed her to try and keep her cool like you told us," Jade explained, "but her temperature keeps on climbing and she seems to be delirious now. She's been muttering about cooking, and you know how Ep hates anything to do with that. And she keeps twitching like she's trying to fight someone off."

As she listened to what the warrior was saying, Sheraya unwound the bandage and carefully inspected the injury which was puffy and showing definite signs of infection. Sighing deeply, the healer extracted her sharp knife from her kit and cut open the wound, allowing the putrid muck to drain from it.

"Hold her down," she instructed the two warriors, who bore similar looks of revulsion at the proceedings, particularly the stench from the wound. When the pair had a firm grip on the Weapons Master, Sheraya used a little more of the cleansing elixir that she had purloined from Nebula's medical supplies and grimaced as Eponin's eyes shot open and she bellowed in agony.

"Ares balls, woman! Are you trying to kill me? You ham fisted excuse for a healer!" she screamed before lapsing back into unconsciousness.

Jade and Lasca had fought mightily to keep the struggling patient pinned down until she passed out again. They passed a look between each other that clearly stated "How do we get ourselves into these things!"

As the healer once more bandaged the wound, she instructed, "Continue bathing her with cool water, Lasca. Jade I'm going to make up a tea and I want you to make sure she drinks it. It should help bring her temperature down and keep her from thrashing about too much."

"That's gotta help," muttered Lasca, who quickly averted her eyes when Sheraya turned her withering stare at the girl. "Sorry," she muttered.

The healer turned her attention to Joxer, walking over to the young man who had just about returned to consciousness. She checked his brow for fever and felt for his pulse, pleased to note a steady, regular rhythm. She thumbed an eyelid and nodded to herself as it's pair flickered open to inspect her. "How are you doing, Joxer," she asked in a gentle tone.

"Depen's" he answered groggily, "'m I dead?"

"Fraid not," smiled Sheraya.

"An'one get th'nummer of th' chariot tha' hit me?" he asked, trying to hide the excruciating pain he was feeling in his legs.

The healer patted him on the shoulder as his eyes slipped closed once again. Looking at Jade she said, "I'll mix up some herbs to numb his pain. It will most likely put him to sleep again, but in his condition that won't be a bad thing."

"How much should he have?" asked the warrior concern showing in her strangely coloured eyes.

"Get him to drink the entire cup and then try to get him to drink another of plain water. Keep an eye on him and let me know if there's any change in his condition." She checked the puncture wound in his thigh and was pleased to note that it seemed free from infection. Re-bandaging it, she told Jade, "If he starts to develop a fever let me know at once."

"I will Sheraya," she agreed, nodding her head and making her brown curls bob. She watched as the healer made a quick inspection of the other occupants of the infirmary before heading to the galley to brew the two separate herbal infusions for her most critically injured patients.

"Hey, Sprout," grinned Jade as she watched her younger friend tend Eponin when Sheraya had left, "I think you missed you calling."

Lasca's face darkened as she glared at the other warrior. Sprout was a nickname she'd been forced to put up with because of her youth and size. The other members of the Royal Guard called her it all the time and she had learned to accept it. But it galled her when Jade used it, especially as the woman was shorter than she was! a malicious twinkle entered her eyes as a fitting response sprang to her lips, "Just one of my many skills ... Tweaky!"

It was Jade's turn to feel annoyed, "What did you call me?"

"Tweaky," responded the young blonde with a giggle, "Cos I heard that you were always getting your ears tweaked for being in trouble!"

"Why you little brat!" growled Jade menacingly.

"Un, uh, ah!" grinned Lasca shaking a finger at her friend, "Not in the infirmary .. the patients need their rest."

About to ignore that admonition, Tweaky .. um, Jade .. felt a slight lurch under her feet. a quick glance through the stern windows confirmed her initial assumption. "We're moving," she grinned at Lasca. "Xena must have got the boom down."

"Lets hope that they all get back here safely then, huh?" answered the other Amazon.

Malonda gave the signal to pull away from the shore and head back to the ship. She was reluctant to leave Ephiny, she was concerned that the Regent was taking too many chances for a cause that should have very little to do with the Amazons. She looked at the three critically injured warriors laying in the cramped conditions of the boat, and then at the four or five others with fairly serious wounds, - Why should Amazons have to spend their lifeblood to help the Bitch from Tartarus! Amazons owe her nothing! And if our Queen wants to traipse around after the big bad warlord, anything she gets into is her own fault! Amazons can't afford to waste lives in this way! -

She scowled belligerently back towards where she could see Ephiny's boat outlined in slowly lightening sky. - We could lose a lot of sisters here .. all so we can set free a murdering bitch who was finally getting some of the justice she deserved! - She shook her head and concentrated on getting her boatload of responsibilities back to the ship.

- It's bad enough that Ephiny and Eponin want to fall all over themselves to help the heroic Warrior Princess, - she sneered to herself. - But when I look at these women and see the worship in their eyes for the bitch .. it just makes my blood boil! -

The bulk of the ship loomed over them before she realised, "Drop us a line," she growled, failing to hide her annoyance, although everyone thought she was frustrated with Ephiny staying behind. "Tell Sheraya with have injured here."

Once the boat had been secured, Malonda climbed powerfully up the ships side and swung herself over the rail. a quick scan of the deck told her that Nebula was beside the wheel, and she strode over to where the captain stood. "How's it going?" she questioned with a commanding air, flipping her long braided hair back over her shoulder.

The tall pirate gave the chief scout a dangerous look. "Fine!" she snarled, "We'll be ready to sail as soon as that chain is lowered! Where's Eph?" she demanded.

Malonda gave her a dark glare. She didn't like Nebula. Didn't like her assertiveness over Amazons, or the assumption that she could order even the highest ranking of them around. She had spent too long, and worked too hard, gaining her position to be happy with anyone, let alone a jumped up pirate, overriding her authority. "She stayed behind in case the 'Warrior Princess'," she said the title as thought she were biting into lemons, "and the others, manage to get out of the tower and need a ride out to us." Malonda glowered back at the fortification, "She said to take your ship out of the river and they'd row out to it once she either had the others, or were sure that they weren't going to make it back.

"What are their chances like?" questioned Nebula reining in her dislike of the scout for the sake of maintaining the peace.

Malonda shrugged with irritating artfulness, "With the Destroyer of Nations and the son of Zeus in there, I'd bet on them against the Romans .. any sane person who knows of them would."

Nebula bit down on the urge to teach the Amazon a lesson she wouldn't soon forget. She knew that Malonda was good at what she did and was a trusted member of the women warrior's leadership group, but she found it impossible to like her. There was something about the scout that made the pirate's teeth itch. The woman was ambitious and believed in her right to command. Both normally good traits in a leader. But underneath the surface, Nebula could feel a current of ruthlessness that made her feel that Malonda might have more on her agenda than she was letting anyone know.

'All we can do is wait then," she growled, watching the sky as the false dawn lightened it significantly. It wouldn't be long before they were seeing the first blush of sunlight rising above the town to the east. "If they don't get that chain down .. and soon .. we won't be going anywhere for a long, long time ... if ever!"

They stood in uncomfortable silence, watching as Sheraya did what she could to help the wounded Amazons before directing the worst injured down into the infirmary, where she would be able to attend to them in better conditions.

'Wave Dancer' gave a strange little lurch!

"That's it!" shouted Nebula, recognising the fact that her vessel was now drifting on the tide. "Hands aloft and get that sail down so we can get some way on the rudder!" she ordered as she felt the play of the wheel, looking for the bite that would tell her that she had manoeuvrability and control of the ship.

"Get the longboat up on deck and stow it," she ordered as she watched Amazons scuttling up the ratlines to release the sail. "Haul in those lines and make 'em fast," she instructed, the rudder starting to become responsive under her hands on the wheel. "All right, baby, lets get out of this rattrap!" she muttered to her ship as she guided it through the channel, out from under the watch tower and onto the open sea.

It was difficult going along the stony strand. The pebbles slipped away under their feet, particularly Hercules' as he was burdened with the additional weight of the now unconscious Xena .. yet it was a weight that he was proud to bear. His affection for the dark warrior was deep and sincere. She touched him in ways no other women had ever been able to. Of course he had loved and married other women, but the Warrior Princess complimented him; her darkness to his goodness, her many skills with his many strengths. He had a bone deep love for this enigmatic woman, but knew that they would never be more than occasional lovers. It saddened him, but he had learned to accept it long ago.

Toris was supporting Gabrielle's arm. The bard was struggling on the shingle, her body feeling tired and abused after the long day and night it had been through. She kept casting nervous glances behind them, certain that it wouldn't be long before the Romans started pursuing them and knowing that Xena wasn't in any condition to help fight them off.

- How she managed to do what she did tonight, I'll never know. But I swear to Artemis, and any other gods that care to listen, once I get her back on that ship she's going to be staying in bed until the healers say she's fully recovered! - she promised to herself.

She stumbled again and before she realised it, Xena's brother had swept her into his strong arms and headed after Hercules. "Toris!" she hissed, resisting the urge to shout incase it drew Roman attention, "What in Hades do you think you're doing?"

He offered her the lopsided grin that was so familiar when gracing the Warrior Princess' face, "You're exhausted. Let me use a little of my strength to help you." He could see her about to protest and so persisted with his most telling argument, "You're going to need all the strength you've got to make sure that Xena stays still long enough to recover."

She gave him a long look as he pushed his way through the shifting stones, "That was low," she told him.

"I know," he agreed, "but true."

Her green eyes hardened, "You do understand that I could quite easily manage this walk?"

"Of course," he acknowledged with a light grin, knowing that she would have struggled valiantly even if she'd been close to collapse.

"Just so long as we're agreed on that," she insisted.

"Absolutely," agreed Toris, working to keep a straight face.

"Fine .. then for Xena's sake, I'll let you carry me." Gabrielle accepted the situation, settling securely into his surprisingly strong, and comfortable, arms.

The tall, dark haired man felt strangely protective of the bard as she nestled into him. When he had first met Gabrielle, he had found her unrelenting cheerfulness in the face of adversity, irritating in the extreme. Yet at the same time he had recognised, within her, a natural courage and determination that he felt himself to be severely lacking in. He had envied her for it but, eventually, over time, as he got to know her through their occasional meetings and the many letters that she had sent to Cyrene (to keep his mother appraised of what was happening to Xena) he had come to respect and appreciate her uniqueness.

Toris felt strangely comfortable with the honey blonde head resting tiredly on his shoulder. The bard's hair gave off the soft scent of a summer flower garden that he had come to associate with her. He wished that she and Xena could spend more time in Amphipolis so that he could get to know her better. That thought almost made him stumble to a stop!

- Why would I want to get to know Gabrielle better? - he questioned himself, looking down at the bard's face. Her eyes had closed and she had that relaxed, near sleep look on her features. A gentle look stole over his face, - She is beautiful. - He gazed at the younger woman wondering what he could possibly offer her. - She leads such an exciting life with Xena. She's a bard and an Amazon Queen. I'll never be able to compete with any of that. - He shook his head at his own foolish musings. - Still I can dream, - he told himself as he clung to his yearnings.

He continued on, mindful of his precious burden, careful not to jar her in his struggle against the shifting shingle. Ahead he saw Hercules reach the end of the strand and he seemed to be peering out into the murky light of the false dawn, looking for their friends, whom they hoped would be waiting out in the river to come and pick them up.

For the first time since they had emerged from the watchtower, Toris sent his glance across the water to look for their ship and was almost surprised to see that it no longer rode the middle of the river, barred from exiting the Tiber by the chain that Xena had dealt with.

Moving to Hercules' side, the raven haired man asked quietly, trying not to disturb his sister or her friend, "Are we going to have to swim? I don't think either Xena or Gabrielle are up to it."

The demi-god shook his head, his tawny hair whipping about his face, "There's a boat coming in for us," he answered, nodding in the direction of row boat moving towards their place on the shore.

"That's a relief," sighed Toris. "Can you see the ship?"

Hercules gestured in the direction of the open sea to where they could both pick out a couple of lights on a dark shape, "It shouldn't take long to get out there to it."

"How's Xena doing?" he asked concerned about his sister. She'd collapsed twice, now, in one night and it worried him, having never seen it happen before.

"She's been pushing herself too hard," the big man told him. "She really should have stayed in bed after her wounds were attended. But you know your sister."

"Yeah! Stubborn!" agreed the other man with a grin.

A noise back along the strand drew their attention. Both men stiffened, turning to see that a contingent of Romans were hurrying across the shifting stones heading in their direction as quickly as they could manage. A quick check told them that Ephiny would be with them before the soldiers got there. However, getting the boat away from shore before the legionaries could get to it would be a close run thing.

As soon as the boat reached them, Hercules lifted the recumbent form of the Warrior Princess between the thwarts of the boat as Toris did the same with Gabrielle. "Get them out of here Ephiny," he told the Regent. "I'll hold off the Romans and swim out to you once you're clear."

"You can't do that alone," objected the blonde Amazon, as her warriors began manoeuvring the boat around so that they could pull away from the danger. "There's too many of them .. even for you."

"He won't be alone," Toris interjected grimly. "Just take care of Gabrielle and my sister, Ephiny."

"You sure," Hercules raised a questioning eyebrow at the other man.

"C'mon, no time to argue," replied Toris, stepping out of the water and engaging the first of the Romans to reach them.

"Hercules," growled the Regent clutching at the demi-god's arm. "Make sure you both join us safely .. I don't want to have to face Xena if we lose either one of you."

"Get out of here, Eph," the demi-god emphasised his order with a shove on the boats stern, that propelled it out towards the sea a fair distance. "We'll be with you before you know it."

Turning, he waded into the growing battle as Toris bravely battled the odds to give the Amazons time to get his sister away to safety. Grabbing a long piece of driftwood, Hercules charged into the fray from the side, ploughing the soldiers under in a show of brute strength and tenacity. A few judiciously placed blows cleared a small breathing space for the two men, and seeing that the longboat was well away from the shore, Hercules decided it was time for Toris to join the Amazon warriors. So taking him by the scruff of his neck and the seat of his pants, he launched Xena's brother in the direction of the women, knowing they'd pick him up.

"HERCULES! NOOOO!" yelled Toris as he hurtled through the air, over the water, to land with a solid splash no more than ten feet from the rowing boat.

As the demi-god watched in satisfaction, he failed to see a Roman sneaking up behind him with a lump of driftwood of his own. The soldier brought the chunky lump of timber down on the big man's shoulders with a solid, "Thunk!", expecting to see his victim slump unconscious to the ground. His jaw dropped when he realised it wasn't going to happen.

Hercules shrugged his shoulders a bit and turned to face his assailant, "That wasn't nice," he said in a disappointed voice, before unleashing a thunderbolt of a right, sending the man sailing back into his advancing comrades.

Deciding that it was time to go and rejoin his own friends, the son of Zeus threw a couple more soldiers into the growing scrum, tangling them into a hectic mess, before telling them in a loud clear voice, "Tell Caesar that if he messes with my friends anymore .. I'll be coming back .. and I'll pull Rome down around his ears!"

Having left his message the demi-god, waded out into the river, before diving fully into the water and, with strong powerful strokes, swam out to where Ephiny and her Amazons awaited him.