After their exalted spirits die down a bit, Xena asks,

"What brings you here, Sappho?"

"Why ,your Dominous' masterful display of pride and ego for all of Capua to see…and his lovely party favors."

"Do you ever stop?"

"Nay, my thirst for ladies fine and fair shall never be quenched."

"Always so theatrical…" Xena moves from her spot on the palette and positions herself behind Lucretia. Without a spoken word, the couple moves together so that the gladiator could be used as her Domina's back-rest. But of course, Xena takes advantage of the pleasure in wrapping an arm around her beloved's waist possessively.

"I love how Sappho prizes every woman that catches her eye…it's so romantic."

"I appreciate that notion, Gabrielle." Sappho once again sports a most charming smile, "I must call you by your proper name. I hope you don't mind?"

"Of course not, Sappho."

"Good…of course I still would love to use your new title…Domina of the House of Batiatus."

"Don't remind me." Gabrielle looks down in dread, but soon feels the comfort of her champion's arms holding her tighter.

"You two make the most adorable couple." Xena and Gabrielle smile at their friend, then at each other. The once conqueror of nations failed to get an answer to her question, so Gabrielle sought it again.

"Please, Sappho, why are you here?"

"I'd received wind of your fate here…by sources that shall remain anonymous..." Domina nodded her head in consent, even at the sense of Xena's subdued protest. "You and Xena must leave this place. If you stay, you will surely be stripped away from each other again."

"Nothing will keep us apart…I will never leave Gabrielle's side again."

"But in these unstable conditions, you may have no control over your fate, Xena." The warrior's silence spoke of how well the poet had gotten her attention. "I've made way for the both of you to stay at my villa in Lesbos. But the task will be leaving this house without losing your lives." Gabrielle looked frightened. She knew she laid closest to the very threat they spoke of. Quintus would never allow her to leave, would kill her now if he knew the truth about their lack of child or her secret affair with the champion of Capua.

"I've thought of this already. But there are guards at every turn, and the only way out seems to be over a cliff." Xena looks off to contemplate, as Gabrielle chimes in.

"You could fight in the arena…buy your freedom."

"Your fair Batiatus would have her head first. Xena is too valuable to him as his champion." The three friends sat upon the furs concocting plans for escape. "Ilithia…" Xena and her look-alike stare at the poet curiously. "She's the friend of your Domina, daughter of a rich Senator, and wife of Claudius Glaber."

"By the gods, that's perfect." Gabrielle wasn't sure she liked her dark companion's intrigue concerning the flirtatious blonde.

"What about her?" Xena could hear the disdain in her love's voice. For reassurance, and undeniably her own pleasure, she reaches around and tilts Gabrielle's head back with the tips of her fingers.

"Oh, my love…" whispering heatedly to her, "What did I tell you, hmm?" She can feel her Domina shivering in her arms as she brings her lips closer with words, "Only you." Kissing her slowly and deeply, even the gladiator feels the goose bumps going over her skin in waves, and an electric shock going through her body to her core. As they part, Gabrielle falls deeper into Xena's arms and sighs contently.

"What I wouldn't give to be assured by your warrior, Gabrielle."

"Get your own…this one's mine."

"But as Sappho was suggesting…" Xena brings their attention back to the problem at hand, "Ilithia could be really helpful."

"We can't trust her…she'd rat us out just to have the gratification of seeing Batiatus' wife crucified."

"No, my love, I wouldn't let that happen."

"Regardless of your opinion of her, Gabrielle, she still can supply you with the gate to freedom, without ever realizing it." The red-head looked confused. "Invite yourself to her villa, with the Champion of Capua as your accompaniment."

"Ilithia wouldn't be able to resist her."

"Exactly…you may even suggest a favor or two to ensure her consent. Once the notion becomes ritual, take the chance when Glaber is away."

"A general would have many opportunities to be away at war, if for nothing but political reasons."

"I…I don't know. I'm not comfortable sharing Xena with anyone, let alone Ilithia."

"I wouldn't be out of your sight. Nor for a moment would I enjoy any pleasures but the ones you offer, my Amazon Queen." Domina perks up at this comment.

"Well…if it remains as our only means of escape…a life with you is worth it." Gratitude flows through the warrior, if not for Gabrielle's consent, then for her yearning for an eternity together. She takes a motion in an attempt to kneel before her love, while taking a hand in her own.

"I promise you, Gabrielle, it will be worth it." Kissing the top of her hand, Xena completely forgets about the poet's presence as she continued her gentle, adoring kisses ever so slowly up her Domina's arm. Grinning at the intrigued and silenced poet, Gabrielle speaks for her gladiator.

"Sappho…could you give us a moment?" Laying witness to a seemingly pure carnal desire, Sappho can't bare to move as she watches Xena pull the red head to her, effortlessly supporting her body weight with one arm, and indulge in the soft, sweet scented skin of Gabrielle's neck. The sounds the once Bard makes affirm the touches; how glorious they must feel…

"Sappho…leave…NOW." The Darkness emanating from Xena sobers the poet instantly, and without word or comment, she easily finds her strength and flees.

"Xena…you didn't have to scare her off like that." The warrior's eyes met hers: intense, swirling, a deep sapphire, and pupils dilated. Mere inches apart, their heated breaths are felt with a need inescapable and urgent, partially for fear of losing each other again, "I want you all to myself…each time in-between being this close to you feels like an eternity." If the warrior beheld a tendency for tears, Gabrielle would surely see them falling down her beloved's bronze-tinted cheek.

"I know, but its ok now…I have my champion."

"I'm so sorry I ever left you…"

"Shhhh…"

"I swear to you…I will make sure that never happens again. We will be together, in this life or the next."

"I prefer this one." They laugh together and the tension ebbs somewhat.

"Then you shall have it…anything you desire."

"Could you guess what I desire now?" For fear of getting it wrong, the warrior stayed silent. She craved Gabrielle, that she was sure of. But then Domina brings her champion's ear to her lips and whispers "…you…"

Xena had to say goodbye to Gabrielle once again to return to reality. Then she remembered that she had three amazons waiting for her in her cell. Ephiny had stopped pacing, her and her sisters exhausted, hungry, and somewhat crazed.

"When is Xena going to be here?"

"I don't know, Solari," the amazon raised her head of curls from staring a hole into the floor.

"Well, she needs to get here soon...before these guards start to think about stealing Xena's idea."

"She did that to get us to a safe place. She saved our lives."

"Yeah? Where is she now, then?"

"Someone call for me?" They turn to the voice as if there freedom were to be announced. Ephonin grinned and rose to take Xena's arm in friendship.

"It's good to see you…Warrior Princess."

"You as well…" the warrior looked at the women, their shaved heads ironically also physically representative of their desperation. "Gabrielle and I have made passage to a possible escape."

"Gabrielle?" Solari looked at the gladiator as if she'd gone mad, "Impossible."

"I know how outlandish it sounds…"

"It's insulting!" Ephiny holds eyes with Xena, "We've just sent our Queen's soul to Artemis not but three moons ago…and you would stand here, in your delusions, to speak of her name like the breath never left her body."

"I deny not that the life left our Gabrielle…but she yet lives." Solari and Ephonin spectate, expecting a glimpse of proof, or fist throwing one, "You will be reunited with your Queen soon enough, but for now you'll just have to trust in me." Ephiny looked as if she were about to protest, but the weapons master put herself between them, stopping the beginnings of a further extended rant in order to hear what the gladiator had to say. Unspoken words between the two women allowed Xena to go on. "There is a Roman noble woman befriended to my Domina…"

"Hmph, what do we want with that bitch?!" Xena raised back her hand as if to knock the light from Ephiny's eyes. But she stops as she remembers that she knows what they do not: that the woman who's name the amazon defaces is also her beloved. Lowering her hand slowly, Xena sees the fright in the amazon's eyes just before closing her own and taking in a deep, cleansing breath.

"Before I tell you more…" she looks at them, storms raging furiously still, in her eyes, "I think it would be best to sooth your worries and doubts…follow me."

"Domina…" the red-head continues to stare off into space, "Domina?" The hand maid worries she's fallen ill under her watch. As she places a hand on Lucretia's shoulder, her Domina jumps, scarring Navia as well. She'd been pray to fright, her skin as pale as if she'd seen a ghost…her own ghost. "All the furs are clean, Domina."

"…"

"Domina?" The furs and her robes had been stained with blood. Luckily Quintus was away on business once more with concerns of how their new champion may further inflate their purse. Noticing that Navia was watching her, waiting for an answer, she speaks.

"G…good…thank you." She walks to the balcony to get fresh air. But soon she sees Xena with the three little Roman boys from the arena. "Leave me, Navia. I will call on you as needed."

"Yes, Domina." She bows as she takes her leave. Looking down to her champion, Gabrielle can't help but smile. Xena smiles back at her when Gabrielle catches her eye. The warrior quickly does what comes natural to her, especially now that she's scaled the walls up to her beloved several nights before. Step per step, a smooth chain of indents brings Xena's body to her Domina once again. The amazons could do nothing but look on in awe at how quick the warrior was, then motion to take their turn at climbing. Meanwhile, Xena takes the advantage of being alone with Gabrielle. She wraps her up in her arms snugly and kisses her deeply, hungrily. In order to allow her beloved air, the warrior moved her affections to the nape of her Domina's neck. Taking the time to appreciate Gabrielle's strangely new, but all the while familiar scent, the warrior merely breathes, relief evident in her long exhales. But of course the breath, warm on Domina's neck, drives the red head crazy as much as it comforts, leaving her to fall more into the gladiator's arms. Eyes closed, the Lucretia misses the sight of three amazons climbing over the balcony's ledge. Solari takes the view of Xena holding another so soon after losing their Queen, whom the warrior had claimed to love deeper than the seas, as the greatest offense. The amazon charges in a blind fury, while shouting out thoughtlessly. Xena feels the shock run through her beloved's body before she could react fully, then turns at the last second to push on the amazon warrior's chest, sending her back with equal force of the charge, for an abrupt stop. Having placed the other hand on her shoulder simultaneously, Xena twists Solari around and to the ground with her arm held behind her back.

"Be calm, Solari."

"You whore!" Solari's struggling to break free tightens Xena's grip to the point of breakage. Both kneeling, the gladiator whispers to the amazon.

"She is your Queen…" The two other amazons look on at what Solari cannot, seeing as how she was forced to face the opposite direction. Xena notices Solari's muscles relax and try to turn her body in order to witness what has placed a look of astonishment upon her sisters' faces. Ephiny approaches the red head. This woman looked exactly like Xena, though she would admit more regal for dress.

"Gabrielle?"

"Yes, Ephiny…I know it's hard to believe, but it is me."

"This woman is a joke. She could be your sister for all we…"

"Enough, Solari!" Ephiny didn't even give the young amazon a second glance. She looked deeper into the stranger's eyes. She saw pain, but a kindness, a purity despite what these eyes have witnessed, "It is you…" Ephiny could do nothing but embrace Gabrielle tightly in a sense of overwhelming joy. Ephonin, herself a warrior as stoic and as strong willed as Xena, stood a loyal amazon presenting herself to her Queen as the biggest smile she'd ever given spread across her face. Tilting her torso down slightly in a bow, the amazon warrior then took Gabrielle's hand and gave a kind of gentlemanly greeting with as she placed a kiss upon her hand.

"Its good to have you back, my Queen."

"Alright, watch yourself Amazon." Having allowed Solari to stand, the dark warrior goes toward the weapons master with a warning, burning through her, by the fire now evident in the warrior princess' eyes.

"No worries, Xena. Our Queen will always see to it that her heart forever belongs to her champion." At this statement, and with a wink, Ephonin makes the star crossed lovers blush in unison. The group remains silent for only-the-gods-know-how long as Xena and Gabrielle let there friends take in such an overwhelming fact. Finally, the trio's leader spoke.

"So...what do we do now?"

"Well, Gabrielle and I have...gotten ourselves in a pretty tough situation...ya' see...we don't have any real way of escaping the lotus."

"Great, just great..." Solari threw her arms up to the ceiling, "we get out of those cells and scale a building to find out that our "Great Leaders" have no idea how to get out of this place? Fantastic, just perfect."

"Solari, calm down." Solari did all she could at Ephiny's stern order: folded her arms and did all but hold her breath to keep from exploding. "Please, Xena, you must have some kind of plan?"

"Gabrielle is known by a different name here: Lucretia, Domina of the House of Batiatus, and wife of Quintus. He also believes she's pregnant with their son."

"You aren't pregnant?!" Ephiny hesitantly put her hand on Gabrielle's flat stomach to receive a violent retaliation. Slapping the hand away, Gabrielle gives a how-dare-you glare to her regent.

"By the Gods, no!" Xena resumed their tale.

"I've been fighting in the arena, and have become Champion of Capua. Where once I didn't want my freedom, I now have a purpose since I've found Gabrielle." The couple smiled at each other, and the Amazons let them have a short moment, Solari not looking on as warmly as her sisters whom she saw as too easily persuaded. "And now I have no way of purchasing it since Quintus would see me dead before loosing his most profitable investment. Our only lead is to try and get invitations to Ilithia's villa. If we can distract her long enough to sneak you all out, ourselves as well, we may have a good days ride on the romans and have plenty of time to make it back to Greece."

"Wait, who is this Ilithia woman? And why is she so important?"

"Lets just say Ilithia's free time is spent indulging herself to excess and we plan to make Capua's champion her new favorite past time." The Warrior Princess' beloved didn't take kindly to the way Xena had put their plan, but she had to get over her feelings about Ilithia so that the plan could go smoothly. However, knowing that snake, the blond would probably revel in the fact that she caused Lucretia to burn in hatred towards her as she took part in the intimacies of her lover, those that Domina worked so hard to keep to herself.

"So how in Tartarus do we get in?" The youngest amazon had a good point.