DISCLAIMER: Xena, Gabrielle, Argo,
etc. are ©copyright MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. I don’t own them, I
just play with them for a while and, like the good girl I am, I put them back
when I’m done…okay, they get a little worn, but hey…I play hard! Absolutely no
Copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. It’s
intended as flattery toward the creators, writers, and actors of the
characters. All other characters that appear are ©copyright Devlin@xenafan.com.
This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for
private use only and I’d appreciate if you included all copyright notices and
this disclaimer.
VIOLENCE WARNING: There is violence (come on
it’s the Conqueror). The nature of the story is not nearly as dark as some
Conqueror fiction, but it’s essence is still the slave / master relationship
that exists between Xena & Gabrielle.
TIMELINE: My own making. Xena is the
Lord, Conqueror of Greece, but she is almost forty-five years old when she
meets the slave, Gabrielle. Many of Xena’s evil ways have been sedated, but not
all. I call this Xena the “thinking woman’s” Conqueror. She is a woman who
wants to try to do the right thing, but doesn’t always know how.
SEX: Yes, I’ll have some, thank
you. Ooops! I mean, yes there is. It is
our favorite two Soulmates, after all. It’s not gratuitous, but it is quite
explicit when it gets going. This story shows consensual as well as
non-consenting love (master/slave), sex and yes, even some light bdsm between two
adult females.
HIGH ANGST WARNING: I was threatened within an
inch of my life if I didn’t start putting this disclaimer on some (all?) of my
work. I will henceforth rate the angst content with sad faces, one being the
lowest and four being the highest. This story earns: L L (2
sad faces for those without TT Fonts)
UNDERAGE WARNING: Hey, the Supreme Court said
in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union
(1997) that laws against making available, online, certain “indecent”
materials for those under 18 was unconstitutional…look it up! Besides, this is
perfectly “decent.” J
I
only know how others feel about my stories from feedback. Let me know what you
think...homophobes need not apply, however. I’m at: Devlin@xenafan.com
**Special thanks to Jim Kuntz for his permission in using any Lion of Amphipolis references.
The Conqueror
Series
Tale One:
Journey’s End
By LJ Maas
It
would be another two candlemarks before the sun set, but when we came upon the
site for our camp, the tents were already erected and the cooking fires
properly stoked. The wagons and workers always scouted ahead and I commended
Atrius on his choice for the campsite.
I
strode into the tent and immediately felt at home, much more so than in
Telamon’s castle. As was my habit, I set up the same style of tent and requesed
the same interior arrangements for well over 20 seasons. Everything was as it
should be and I yawned and stretched. I knew that if I felt tired after a day
in the saddle, my young slave was probably ready to drop. Gabrielle impressed
me, however, when she removed her own cloak and began to assist me in removing
my clothes.
Once
in my favorite silk robe, I sat back in one of my more comfortable chairs and
enjoyed the goblet of wine Gabrielle set before me. I thought it strange that
she should be so strangely intuitive of my needs considering that she only
started serving me yesterday.
“My
Lord…um, may I…” she asked, pointing out of the tent.
“Of
course.” I said, rising as she wrapped her cloak around her shoulders once
again. I took my signet broach from the neck of my own cloak and clasped it in
place at Gabrielle’s throat. “This will assure that none of my soldiers get too
carried away. If you have any trouble, you come directly to me.”
The
thought of Gabrielle with another, by either force or her own will, left me
feeling angry all of a sudden. A vision of Gabrielle with another filled my
brain, and the visualization caused my jealousy to flare. This was the monster
that I have tried for so many seasons to keep at bay. I’m afraid Gabrielle was
about to get her first taste of my possessiveness.
I
took her chin between my thumb and forefinger and looked her in the eye. “Let
me make this clear, Gabrielle. You belong to me. No one is to make free with
either your body or your affection. If I ever find this to be the case, you
will forfeit your life on the end of my blade. Do you understand me, girl?”
She
nodded her head, and I could literally feel the unexpected fear that swiftly
spread through her. I hadn’t meant to speak so harshly, nor let my jealousy get
away from me like that. It was important to me, for a reason that I couldn’t
yet fathom, not to have Gabrielle fear me, yet here in only one day, my demon
jumped up to make itself known.
I
softened a touch, smiling down at her, and then touched my hand to her cheek.
“I’m sure you will never give me cause for such an act.”
As
an apology, it was weak, but then again, you have to understand that apologies
were not my strong suit. That’s an incredible understatement. The truth is, I
have never used the words ‘I’m sorry’ in my life, certainly never since I came
of age. I have committed acts against even those people who held faith in me. I
have killed men for the thrill it gave me to have their blood on my blade and
beaten women who shared my bed, simply for the feeling of domination and power
that I equated with sexual pleasure. Some of those unfortunates were even
people I had a modicum of interest or trust in. There were times when I would
feel badly afterwards and would offer a gift or kind words in apology, and even
though I felt at times like I wanted to say the words, they never came. It was
bending, and a Conqueror never bends. I knew of no emotion, nor person, that
could possess that kind of power over me, to bring me to my knees in such a
manner.
I
looked down at the frightened creature in my hold and knew that if I would only
say I was sorry for my previous statement, we might share a different
relationship than that of merely slave and master. I sadly wondered where my life
would be right now, had I used those words more often.
“Go.”
I whispered, and she left the tent quickly.
*********************
“Come
here, Gabrielle.” I called to her from where she stood, preparing my clothes
for tomorrow. If the girl continued to be so efficient, she and Sylla would
soon have words. I sat on the edge of the makeshift bed, watching as she
gracefully moved toward me.
“How
may I serve you, My Lord” she responded, kneeling before me.
I
took her hands in my own and placed them on the tops of my thighs, the long
silk robe I wore covering most of my body. The heat from her palms seeped
through the silk covering, and I spread my legs, drawing her kneeling form in
closer. I examined the small hands that felt smooth compared to my own rough and
callused palms. Everyone knew that a slave with skin this soft and smooth,
carried out their duties on their back. I had an urge to do something and I
felt lacking in courage. Me, the nation’s Conqueror, one time Destroyer of
Nations, losing my nerve in front of this small slave.
For
some unknown reason I wanted to kiss her. Yet, even more, I wanted to be kissed
by her.
Now,
of course, I knew what kissing was, but it wasn’t something I ever did with
women. Oh, I’ve attacked a woman’s mouth, driven by lust. Using my teeth and my
tongue, I’ve showed them who was in command of their pleasure, but that wasn’t
really kissing, was it? It wasn’t the tender caress the poets say we should
yearn for. It wasn’t the innocent token that I’d seen exchanged by a pair of
young lovers who found that my private gardens made a suitable trysting place.
I would watch from high above them, from my bedroom window that looked down
into the garden. I knew, even as I witnessed the sight, that what I had in the
past was different from this. What I experienced in my life might satisfy a
certain primal urge, but it never caused excitement in my heart, or a fire in
my loins. I knew that such a thing existed, but for the Lord Conqueror, it had
yet to be.
And
so, I sat there, the ruler of all Greece, a most talented concubine at my feet,
and all my head was filled with were a schoolboy’s visions of a gentle kiss. I
swallowed my pride and my fear of humiliation and decided to ask for what I
wanted. After all, she was here to serve me, and not the other way around. It
would be many seasons down the road before I would realize how arrogant that
statement was.
“Gabrielle,
do you kiss?” I asked, unable to come up with a more definitive question.
“My
Lord?” she looked confused, and with every reason.
“Kissing…have
you kissed the masters that owned you before me?”
“Yes,
if it pleased them, My Lord.”
Gabrielle
was not a stupid woman by any stretch of the imagination. If she were, she
would have been killed long before now. I believe she knew what I was asking,
and perhaps she even guessed why, I can’t be sure. I know one thing, however,
and that was that the look in her eye changed suddenly, and it was apparent, to
even her, that she now held the power between us.
There
were times in the past when that happened to me. Times when I gave in to my
feelings of pleasure, so much so, that the woman or the whore thought they held
me captive with their wiles. In those days, power came above all else, even my
need for pleasure. If I ever saw that gleam in their eye, I would stop whatever
they were doing to me and let the beast in me loose. It never mattered to me if
it was consensual. By the time I finished taking them and showing them who
really held the power, they never wanted to return to my bed. In those days,
inflicting pain seemed the only way to show someone that you were stronger than
they were, that you were above them.
“Were
you…are you good at it?” I asked rather inanely.
I
watched as that same faint glimmer entered Gabrielle’s eye, but this time I
simply didn’t care.
“Perhaps
My Lord would care to judge that for herself?” Gabrielle responded, stringing
together more words than she’d ever spoken before, at one time.
“Yes.”
I replied, as every one of the nerve endings along my spine sparked at the same
time.
“Kiss
me Gabrielle.” I rasped in a rather breathless voice.
She
slid her hands up, across my thighs until they rested against my hips. Pulling
herself up to her knees, she reached up and kissed me, gently at first. Her
lips pressed against my own and I enjoyed the feeling of the smooth, warm skin.
This was what I supposed those lovers felt when they embraced. She kissed me
again, a slow lingering caress and I was helpless to even respond. I was frozen
in place, my emotions running away from me in ten different directions at once.
I
kept telling myself I’d been kissed before, but when Gabrielle reached out the
tip of her pink tongue and ran it along my bottom lip, enveloping my mouth in
an incredibly passionate touch, I felt like a virgin. I placed a hand on each
side of her head and pulled her closer to me, allowing her tongue to explore my
mouth, relishing in the very taste of her. The small blonde’s mouth swallowed
up my moans and, as usual, Gabrielle never made a sound.
Reluctantly
pulling away for air, my heart pounded, almost painfully, within my chest. I
noticed that at least, my young slave’s face was flushed with desire. She may
have had to please this way thousands of times, but this time, it looked as
though she was not completely unaffected.
I
shrugged out of my robe and settled myself onto the bed, stretching my nude
body along the length of the mattress.
“Come
here, Gabrielle, and kiss me.” I commanded, and she let her robe fall to the
floor, laying her body along my own.
My
hands wanted to feel every bit of her body at once, and I pulled her snugly
against me, between my open legs, simply to feel the softness of her skin where
it touched mine. The things her tongue
was doing inside my mouth, caused a raging river to flow from my aroused sex,
and I was soaking wet in record time.
I’ve
kissed women during sex before, rough animalistic sex, a coupling for power or
position. In the last few seasons, I sought to have sex only out of need or for
release. I realized that I couldn’t even remember the last time I had sex with
anyone simply for pleasure; that is until Gabrielle. These kisses were not
hungry and raw; they were gentle and passionate, filled with an easy sensual
quality. When I glanced up sometime later, the candle appeared to have burned
halfway down. We’d been doing nothing beyond light touching and kissing for
over two candlemarks. It was at that moment that I remembered something Delia
said to me once. It made no sense at the time, but clarity in a darkened room
is dependent on how close to the candle you are. Her words seemed like those of
an oracle at this very moment. She told me that all I needed was to be kissed,
thoroughly, and by someone who knew what they were doing. I made a mental note,
reminding myself to tell my cook that she finally got her wish.
My
legs trembled and my body was desperately ready for a release.
I
took Gabrielle’s small hand and placed it between the drenched folds of my own
sex, letting her fingers begin to work their magic. Just when I thought the
night couldn’t become any more embarrassing for me, I came with a loud groan
after perhaps only three strokes against the sensitive flesh. I was much more
than ready and now I did indeed feel like that clumsy schoolboy.
“Gods!”
I groaned aloud, trying desperately to regain command of my trembling limbs. My
climax snuck up on me and overwhelmed my senses before I was prepared for it.
Then
Gabrielle did something that I never expected from a slave. As I leaned over
the small blonde, my body lying more on her than the bed and my forehead
resting on her shoulder, my muscles still quivering over the intensity of my
own climax, I felt her hand on my back. She gently stroked the skin, rubbing
her palm in small circles along the muscles there.
I
had an urge to touch her just then, this young slave who seemed to know all my
secrets, but whom I knew would take them to her death. I lifted my head and
initiated a kiss, which may have aroused me more than she. As our tongues
teased, first in one mouth, then in another, I slipped my hand between her
legs. She was nearly as wet as I and although she might try to deny her
pleasure in my bed, her body spoke for itself. I made myself go slow,
purposefully using light strokes against that silky flesh. Not a sound came
from her throat, but as I rubbed my own center along her thigh, her legs spread
wider in apparent invitation.
It
took everything in me not to drive my hand into her and claim what was mine.
That rush of heady power mixed with the adrenaline of impending orgasm, caused
my mind to revert back to a time when sex was raw and fierce to me, a time when
my release was explosive in its force. I held back the might that wanted to
take and forced myself to give. I controlled my touch and restricted my hand to
those relentless, easy strokes, never even entering her. I slowed my own hip’s
movements to that of a slow, sensual grind, and could begin to feel Gabrielle’s
heart race a little faster, her breathing grow a little more out of control.
Her
submissive silence persisted, however, and I never heard one sound, not a moan
nor a cry, uttered from her throat. If not for the moment that her hand
clenched down on my shoulder and the tiny convulsive movements of her hips, I
would never have known of her release. I left my hand there, the palm covering
the dampness of her mound as I thrust myself against her leg, once, twice, and
midway through the third stoke I came with quite a verbal cry.
Slowly
lifting myself off the small frame below me, I reached down to place a kiss on
the damp forehead. Falling to the other side of the bed, I held out my hand and
quickly grabbed Gabrielle’s wrist to prevent her from leaving my bed. She had a
habit of kneeling at the end of my bed after she’d pleasured me, to either await
my next command or be dismissed. I wanted more from my slave on this night and
instead of putting a voice to me need, I did what I’ve done all my life; I
simply made it so.
“Stay
here, Gabrielle.” I ordered, pulling her body against mine.
I
pulled the blanket up over the both of us and enclosed the young woman in my
arms. I kissed her once more, just as she kissed me earlier. I’m not sure why,
mostly because it felt good, and very right. Gabrielle settled herself against
my shoulder with a look on her face that told me she had no idea what was going
on. That seemed only fair, since I didn’t either. I was by far the strongest
woman in all of Greece, the most feared warrior. I knew only that on this
night, I became something more than the Lord Conqueror. I couldn’t yet put a
name to it, or the emotions that continued to rage through me, but it was
different. This was all very different.