Bloodlines

 

by Vickey Brickle-Macky 11/27/2000

Part 4

 

 

   Virgil woke up to the sounds of the first birds of the morning singing and fighting noisily overhead. It was still fairly dark with a scattering of stars still in the midnight blue sky, but with the promise of the coming dawn beginning to lighten the eastern sky. He said several uncomplimentary words to the birds and grudgingly threw his covers back and sat up. Running a hand threw his unruly hair, he yawned wishing he could have slept just a little longer. Nature was calling so he grabbed on his boots and put them on. When he came back he saw that the fire had burned low. He added a few more logs to it so they could get a warm meal before they took off. He also added a pot of water to boil while he was at it for some tea Satisfied the fire was going good, he picked up his fishing gear from his pack to catch some fish for breakfast. Turning around he saw that Eve looked like she was still sound asleep with the covers over her head. She was a light sleeper especially when they were camping. She had probably acknowledged he was up, and was trying to stay asleep a little longer. He had learned early on she was not a morning person, but she could be instantly awake, and on her feet ready to fight if she had to. For now he was going to let her alone.

        He went to check in Areon and saw that he was awake now and returning from the bushes. The boy looked glad to see him and smiled. Virgil put a finger to his lips and motioned him to be quiet, which Areon understood. He was going to let Eve sleep a little longer. He motioned the boy to follow him down the path which he did wondering what his friend was up to.

        When they were away from the camp heading down the path to the stream Virgil asked," did you sleep okay?"

        Areon shrugged, not wanting to tell him about his nightmares and dreams. "I guess. The birds woke me up," he told him as they walked down the dirt and leaf covered path to the stream.

        "Yeah, me too. They were rather loud," Virgil grinned. "Ever been fishing?" he asked looking down at him.

        Areon shook his head, "No, my Uncle Tosh was going take me this spring when it got warm enough but the solders came and…he died," the boy said sadly.

        "Yeah, ...too bad," Virgil replied sadly ruffling Areon´s dark curly locks. "Well do you want to learn? I´m going to try and get us some fish for breakfast," he said stopping before they got to the bank and looking around.

        "Sure. What do I do?" he asked animated now trying to figure out what Virgil was looking for.

        They went off the path into the forest and Virgil found a rotten log and lifted it. Underneath were a mass of large, fat earthworms and grubs which he scooped up on a broad leaf. Then they went back to the stream where already they could see and hear fish jumping. Virgil smiled, he could already taste them.

        Squatting down Virgil got out his gear and Areon squatted down too imitating him to see what he was going to do next. Virgil then demonstrated the best way to put a worm on a hook which impressed the child. "You try," Virgil encouraged him and Areon mustarded his courage and picked up one of the cold, slimy worms and after a few tries finally got the worm, sort of, on the hook without stabbing himself. Virgil just grinned. "You´ll get better, Not bad for the first time," he praised him. "Now we hold onto the line and throw it out," he said standing up and demonstrating. The line sailed out a ways from the bank and hit the water with a plop.

        Almost instantly he had a hit on the line and had snagged a fairly large fish which he quickly reeled into the shore and landed. Areon was doubly impressed now as he hadn´t thrown his line out yet. Virgil unhooked the three pounder, and tossed him up the bank so he could fall back in. Rebaiting his hook, he threw it out again and encouraged Areon to throw his own line out which he did. It didn´t go as far as Virgil´s but not long after he did he felt something tugging on his line.

        "Virgil! I think I got one!" he said excitedly, his face really lighting up as he felt the fish try to run with the line away from shore and wasn´t sure what to do next. "What do I do?" he asked worriedly looking to him for help.

        "Pull him in, grab the line like I´m doing, and make him come to you," he told him. Virgil was bringing in another fish as he was speaking, so it was a little hard for him to come help him.

        Areon watched what he was doing, and soon got the idea, and finally he got the fish to shore where Virgil could grab it before it could take off again. He showed Areon how to unhook the fish and then let him toss it with the others. Once he had gotten his first one Areon was very enthusiastic to try again. He rebaited his hook, and threw it out. Within minutes he had another one. By the time they were finished they had about eight good sized ones. The next project was to clean and scale them. That part Areon was not too happy about doing because it was so messy, but he did learn how. He didn´t do well at the sight of blood, even fish blood, Virgil noted. He was the very opposite from his two parents, and could tell that the boy was a very gentle soul and very sensitive to everything around him.

        Gathering up the cleaned fishes in some more of the broad green leaves they carried their prizes back to camp. Eve was up and dressed in her armor, Virgil noted and was bending over the fire making some flat flour cakes. At least she could cook. He had learned from Gabrielle that Xena didn´t, and you really didn´t want her to cook if you like your stomach. The simple bread smelled good was already making him hungry. Eve stood up at their approach and smiled at them both especially Areon bouncing happily up to her telling her very excitedly what he and Virgil had been doing.

        "So you caught your first fish? Wow, that´s great," she told him happy that his mood had lightened and grateful that Virgil and him were having fun together.

        "We got a whole bunch," Areon beamed proudly as Virgil unwrapped his package and showed her.

        "You want me to got ahead and put them on?" Virgil asked and she nodded yes. He found some sticks and wove them through the fish. They didn´t have enough oil with them to fry them so they would have to flame cook them.

        While they had been fishing Eve had gathered up their bedding and had most of gear ready for travel. Virgil had to admit if nothing else she was efficient. She had gotten clean clothes out for Areon as she also wanted to get him out of his Gaulish noble´s clothes which might have been noted by the guards at the city gate. He didn´t want to change, but gave in when Virgil told him that he had to look like the children around here. Later when they got to Greece he could wear his clothes again. The boy reluctantly agreed and took off his decorated over and under tunics, and his long pants to change into a short sleeve, simple, plain white woven tunic that most of the children wore. He did leave on his under leggings and boots and kept his carved leather belt with Celtic symbols as it had been a gift from his uncle. Once he had changed he did look more like one of the natives especially since he was one by blood anyway. Here in these lands and Greece he would not stand out which was the important thing now.

        Virgil also changed too, putting on a simple tunic on, but leaving his leather vest on underneath for protection as well as his leather pants. He still strapped his sword belt on and armed himself. Eve meanwhile had put a plain tunic dress over her armor and had braided back her hair to look more like a simple peasant than a warrior. They hoped their disguises as a family would work if they ran into any troops along the way.

        While the fish was finishing cooking Virgil got the horses ready to go. As soon as they had ate they would start out. They ate quickly and Eve packed the leftover food for when they were on the road. Cleaning up the campsite, Virgil brushed out their tracks with pine branches and made sure they hadn´t left anything or traces of their being there behind. Again Areon wanted to ride with Virgil, so Eve let him. She was starting to get a little jealous of how the boy was bonding to her friend, and not to her at all. She saw it was going to take a lot of work to build up his trust and accept her.

        The sun was just beginning to rise when they got back of the road, and started heading for the nearest seaport. They had decided that they needed to get out the country as soon as possible rather than try traveling through it as they originally were going to do. They were going to take the horses with them so they would have to find a ship that also allowed them to take them. Eve was not planning on coming back to Rome—ever. The horses and Areon would be the only reminders of her past life she planned on keeping.

        They kept up a fairly brisk pace all day, passing by several villages, but Eve kept going. Making time was more important to her than stopping for supplies. Another day´s journey would bring them to the coast. If nothing else they would see if they could hire a fishing boat to take them across to Greece. By nightfall the horses were tired and so were they. The area was unfortunately fairly well populated with farms and houses. Camping out as they had been didn´t look too feasible. There was a small town ahead of them in the distance and Eve decided they should try and look for an inn. Virgil wasn´t too sure, but she insisted.

        He followed her shaking his head. Areon was dosing against him and had fallen back into his previous depression once again. Maybe a hot meal and a bed would help the boy. Eve had been pushing them as she would have pushed her troops on a similar mission. They needed to have a discussion about the boy´s limitations. They had all put on their cloaks now, and pulled their hoods forward to cover their heads. Approaching the town, they asked one of the locals where the inn was and got directions. The place wasn´t exactly great looking, but it wasn´t too rough looking either and it had stables for their horses.

        Virgil went in to inquire about a room and putting up the horses. Areon stayed with Eve, sitting in front of her on Storm in the courtyard in case they had to take off hurriedly. So far there had been no sign of troops pursuing them, and none of the locals had seen any recently. Though that did not mean that there might not be any coming after them. Eve had deliberately cut back, and overland using some short cuts she knew. They also had been heading southeasterly all day rather than northward as they had been since it was closer to sea as well. Even a well seasoned tracker would be hard pressed to figure out which way they had actually gone.

        Virgil finally appeared smiling. They had one room left. And the innkeeper´s wife was delighted it was a family going to stay with them instead of the usual travelers she got. Virgil told Eve and Areon as they dismounted that he had told them that were on their way to visit her parents. His name was Ver, and she was Anna, and their son was Lucus. He emphasized to Areon that he had to answer to that name while he was here, and call Eve momma, and him da. They boy frowned at that, glancing to Eve in particular. It did not make him happy having to call her that, but he also understood why he had to as Virgil had told him on the trip that he might have to do it to convince anyone that they were a family like they appeared. He told Eve that she would also have to do some acting too, and call him ‘dear´ and ‘husband´ as well as act like a proper wife. Her eyes flashed fire and she grimaced, but she agreed reluctantly to do so.

        They took their packs off, and handed the horses over to the stable master, who eyed the two horses with envy. He knew well bred horse flesh when he saw it. These were no common horses and he knew that the travelers were not commoners either despite their appearance, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He promised that they would get well fed and bedded especially after Virgil gave him a piece of silver for their care.

        Picking up their bundles with Virgil in the lead they entered the inn. In a lot of ways it reminded him of his parent´s inn, though without all the shrines to Xena and Gabrielle he had grown up with. His mother, Meg, had tolerated all the junk because it did bring people in to see all the stuff and to hear Joxer tell stories about his adventures with the two women. He had also heard how his parents had met initially, something about a princess in trouble that also looked just like Xena, and Meg that they had to help. He couldn´t believe that his mother had ever looked like Xena. Especially after he had met the warrior, but his dad had assured him she had. His mother was a little afraid of the warrior, and had kept her distance when they had visited. Gabrielle on the other hand she was very jealous of, and could see how his dad was falling all over himself when he was around the amazon queen. His parents had had a massive fight when Joxer had announced that he was going to go off with Xena to help find her daughter. The fight was one of the few he had ever remembered them ever having, and his mom had left taking his younger brothers and sisters with her to go visit her relatives for awhile. She still hadn´t returned when he had last stopped by to tell her about his dad, nor had she shown up before he had gone with the group to Africa. Finding out what had happened to her was one of the things he was going to once he got back home.

        Virgil led his group upstairs to their room to leave their belongings. The room was small with one sort of double bed, a chest, a rickety table with a couple of fat candles, and a small pallet on the bare wood floor for Areon. At least the bed had clean sheets and wasn´t buggy. Eve looked at their accommodations ruefully, with a lifted eyebrow to Virgil, and was about to speak to him when the landlady appeared. She announcing that they were serving food, and if they wanted any they better come now before it was all gone. He thanked her, and they put their stuff on the bed. Virgil had taken off his cloak and so had Areon but Eve wouldn´t because it was also concealing that she was wearing armor underneath her tunic, and carrying a sword strapped on her back. He looked at her and with great reluctance she unsheathed her sword and stuck it under the mattress, but she kept her other smaller concealed weapons and the cloak.

        Leaving the room and closing the door Eve pulled her hood over her head and they went back downstairs and found a booth. For such a rural setting the place was very busy and crowded with customers. There were a number of travelers like themselves, some locals, and a group of five rough looking men by the bar that both Eve and Virgil had picked out as pure trouble that were either mercenaries or worse. They were watching them and Eve almost turned to say something to them but Virgil shook his head, no, and sat her down so her back was to them. Eve was regretting leaving her sword in the room already.

        Their food came, a thick, rich tasting beef and vegetable stew, bread and cheese, and wine for the adults and fresh milk for Areon. They ate to almost bursting as they had stopped very little today. They also didn´t talk much either except when they had to. Areon too was quiet following their lead. After they ate they didn´t linger in the dining room. Virgil went out to check on the horses while Eve took Areon back upstairs. The entire meal Eve had felt the men´s eyes on her and knew she was being watched by the scruffy looking group by the bar they had noticed before.

        She had just gotten inside the room and was about to take off her cloak when she heard a loud knocking on the door. She froze, knowing that Virgil had not had enough time to go to the stables and come back.
"Areon, get over by the window—down on the floor by the bed—NOW!" she yelled at him as she grabbed her sword up and faced the door. She frantically motioned Areon to get on the other side of the bed and get down out of sight. He stood there frozen looking back and forth between her and the door frightened to the depths of his soul as it was happening—again. "MOVE!" she screamed at him and he jumped in fear of her, and moved, finally doing as he had been told and ducked down. He peered over the top of mattress even though he knew he shouldn´t be watching, he did anyway. He couldn´t help it. The knocking had increased to banging making the door shake, Eve stood there ready with her sword waiting for whoever was out there to make their next move.

        She didn´t have long to wait as the door was violently kicked open and two of the grundgy warriors she had seen downstairs were rushing into the room which they would soon find out was a fatal mistake on their part. They were expecting easy pickings seeing that she was a woman alone with a child while her man was away. All they had noticed was that she was a pretty thing, and the group had decided she would fetch a good price for them as a lady´s maid. They planned to take the boy too and sell him at first opportunity after they killed the man so they could fill their waning coffers. They had also seen the fine horses they had rode in on and the rest of the group was headed for the stables to get the horses and take care of the man. . Instead of a helpless, crying woman, they were met with a sword wielding wildcat ready to take them on. Before they knew what hit them they were both dead –pierced through the heart before they got three steps into the room. Seeing that there was only two she knew what the remaining ones were up to and knew Virgil would be no match for them alone so she had to go to his aid.

        "Areon—stay here! Don´t move until I come back!" she ordered the boy, and he nodded jerkily afraid to argue, looking at the two dead men at his mother´s feet. He was frightened out of his mind now, and couldn´t have moved if his life depended on it. Eve wanted to go to him, comfort him, and reassure him it was all right, but there wasn´t time. Quickly she told him, "I´m going to go help Virgil. I´ll take care of these two after I come back. Do you understand?" she emphasized, pinning him with her fierce expression.

        "Yes," was all he could choke out, trembling now from what he had just seen and afraid of her..

        "Good," she said, and then left closing the door behind her leaving him with the two dead men. She went down the hall as fast as she could and found her way barred by the heavy set inn keeper´s wife who had been coming up to investigate all the noise and what was happening upstairs. The woman started freaking when she saw the bloody sword in Eve´s hand and her grim expression. Eve knew she had to say something before the woman started screaming

        Quickly and as calmly as she could, Eve explained, "two men tried to grab me. I defended myself and killed them. They´re in our room with my son. He´s okay. The rest of the group is going after my husband and our horses. I´m going to go help him," she told the frightened woman. She had noticed that her hood had slipped back during the fight. The woman´s eyes were getting wide in frightened recognition of who she was. She knew she was Livia as she had seen her before riding with her troops .

        "You´re Livia, ain´t ya?" she stuttered, backing her wide bulk away from her as much as she could on the narrow stairs.

        "No, I´m not! My name is Anna. I´m not her! I only look like her!" Eve protested angrily, trying to calm the woman, and failing, not having the patience, or the time for this. Time was crucial here. She had to get to Virgil.

        The woman was not in the slightest convinced, but she also did not want to make the sword welding woman madder. "As you say," she quickly said, backing down.. "There´s bodies upstairs?"

        "Yes, and my son. I need you to get them out of there," she told her forcibly not wanting to have this conversation. "I´ll be back. I have to go—now!" she emphasized, ending it before it dragged on and on. Then she resumed her hurried flight down the stairs, leaving the woman shaking on the stairs by her close encounter.

        Once the woman knew that Eve had left out the front door of the inn, she began screaming and the innkeeper and the remaining patrons came rushing up the stairs to her aid.

        Behind her Eve could hear the woman screaming and angry shouts and had to ignore them because she could hear the sound of swords clashing coming from the area of the stables, and knew the fight had started. There was no way that Virgil could win against the three toughs she had seen and that made her run faster. She sped across the courtyard, and saw that the stable master was already down on the ground and bleeding, a pitchfork on the ground next to him. A young boy was cowering by a bale of hay clutching his bleeding arm. One of the warriors was down though with killing gashes to his neck and chest. The fight had moved inside, and the horses and cattle inside were screaming in terror and trying to kick their way out of the barn. Rushing inside she saw that the two remaining men had Virgil cornered against a stall door, and were trying to rush him and get past his guard. Virgil saw her but the men were so occupied they had not heard her come in. Before either of the men could react she had dispatched them both before they could even turn around. They were dead with slit throats before they even fell to the ground.

        Virgil looked at her in disbelief that she was there and had killed both men so quickly. He stood there numbly with his sword dangling from his hand as she walked over to him wiping the blood off her sword with a piece of one of the dead men´s shirts. The blood lust was fading from her eyes, but she was not entirely Eve either yet. She reminded him more of Xena after she had killed.

        "Are you all right?" she asked her voice steady, her manner more professional than anything, noting he had gotten nicked on his face, and there were long gashes on his tunic, but no real serious injuries that she could see. There was concern, but no warmth in her voice. He was still dealing with Livia, not Eve.

        Taking that into account he was going to use caution in dealing with her. "Yeah, I´ll live. They came out of nowhere after me. I guess they figured I was easy pickings. The stable master tried to help, but he got cut down before he even knew what happened. Is his kid okay?" he asked putting his sword away, glad to see her, but also beginning to get worried about Areon too. "Where´s Areon?" he asked.

        "Yeah, the kid´s bleeding, but he´ll live," she told him pointing to the boy who had now risen from his hiding place to see if it was safe. The she answered him about her son, "Areon is back in the room. I told him to stay put. The other two of the group tried to jump me. They kicked the door open and I took care of them. The inn keepers wife recognized me, though and I don´t know whether I convinced her I wasn´t me or not. I heard her start screaming, so I don´t know what´s happening now," she explained in a rush, the blood rage leaving her as she began to worry about damage control and what was going to happen next.

        "Shit!" Virgil exclaimed, grabbing her arm, which she resented, but didn´t fight. She let him drag her along with him as they rushed back to the inn to see what was happening there since no one had come out to investigate.

        They walked into total chaos in the main room as the innkeeper had Areon by the arm, and was shaking him, shouting in his face trying to question him. The boy was in tears in sheer terror of what had happened as well as frightened by the man´s rough treatment of him. The two dead men were being carried downstairs by some of patrons with the innkeepers wife following them loudly wailing, and moaning, and wringing her hands. The dead men were placed on some tables while the people looked on and watched. Virgil forced his way through the crowd to rush to Areon´s aid. Reaching the man he fling him back and forcibly took the boy from the man´s grasp.

        "Leave my son alone!" Virgil yelled angrily at him, pushing the man back as he tried to grab Areon again. He gathering up the sobbing child in his arms, and Areon flung his arms around him happy to see him. Virgil was now glaring daggers at the innkeeper, as Areon continued to cry loudly on Virgil´s shoulder, burying his face against Virgil´s chest, trembling in fear. "Why are you questioning him? What´s he done?" Virgil asked.

        "He ain´t done nothing. I was just trying to find out what happened, and who your wife was," the man yelled back just angrily. "Me missus thinks your wife is Livia, the Emperor´s daughter. Said she seen her once riding her horse. Your wife told her she wasn´t. Me missus don´t believe her, especially seeing ‘how´ she killed those men there. Not that they didn´t need killing—but one of them was her cousin—so it´s kind of personal now," he said, sort of apologizing.

        "And what did my son say?´ Virgil asked, hoping Areon hadn´t told the truth. Eve was too, as she stood behind the man watching, her bloody sword hidden in the folds of her cloak ready for anything, and her hood back up to hide her features. Only her eyes gave away her panic, and then only because Virgil knew her. She was trying to keep her expression neutral, until she determined if they were in any danger.

        "I couldn´t get anything out of him except that his momma killed the men. He wouldn´t even tell me his name. I didn´t mean to frighten the lad, but I needed answers. As to the deaths—seeing how it was self defense in all, and they was trying rob you," he spat, glaring at his wife who glared back then turned her face away, turning on her waterworks once again to cover how was mad she was that her cousin had gotten killed before he could do the job she had sent him on. The man looked at Virgil, the child, and noted nervously how close Eve was to him. Not wanting further trouble from these strangers he told him, "I´ll let you stay the night, but you needs to be gone by morning," the innkeeper added, which relieved Virgil, who had been mentally trying to figure out where they were going to spend the night.

        Virgil was glad that the innkeeper had decided in their favor instead of his wife´s. He was getting the impression the man wasn´t too upset about the cousin´s death or his fellows. He did need to tell him about the men in the stable. "Thank you, sir, my family, and I appreciate it. The rest of the gang tried to jump me at the stable. They´re all dead, and unfortunately the stablemaster is too. He tried to help and one of the men killed him. They also injured the boy who was with him. He got a cut on his arm, but he´s okay otherwise," Virgil explained, and as soon as he said that the man spin angrily on his wife who looked frightened now.

        "I told you Ruffo was bad news. His friends just killed Napen, and almost killed my son. I want you to pack your bags, and get your worthless ass out of here—you whore!" He screamed loudly at his wife who was huffing, and sputtering now in fury because she was getting kicked out, and not the strangers who had killed her cousin. The woman was recently wed to the innkeeper, and the boy was from his marriage before. She had told Ruffo to get rid of the kid so she could take over the inn when her husband met an untimely end in the very near future. She was doubly furious now as all her plans were now finished.

        "I´ll get you for this!" she yelled at her husband, as well as at Virgil and Eve. "I´ll get you all! I´ll make you all pay!" she stormed as she stomped off to pack her bags. The people standing around watching jumped out of her way as she pushed through them.

        The innkeeper just shook his head watching her leave, not seeing the worried looks that passed between Eve and Virgil at the women´s words. If it hadn´t been getting so late they would have decided to leave, even as tired as they were. Areon had finally stopped crying and Virgil knew that he had cried himself to sleep on his shoulder. So far the child had yet to have a non traumatic day, which was not good.

        "Are we free to go?" Virgil asked the man who had forgotten they were still there.

        "Yeah, sure, go," he told them, dismissing them as he left his face grim, and headed out to the stables to see what had happened there, and giving orders to get rid of the dead men.

        Most the patrons still hanging around followed too. After everyone had cleared out, Virgil and Eve made their way upstairs to their room. The blood had been cleaned up and nothing else had been disturbed or moved from where they had left it. Virgil carried Areon in and laid him on the pallet, and covered him up. The boy was out cold which was both good and bad. Eve had closed the door, took off her cloak while Virgil was tucking Areon in. She finished cleaning off her sword, resheathed it then took off her sword belt and weapons before she finally sat down on the bed watching him.

         Virgil stood up after he finished making sure the boy was all right. He had noted her actions since they had come in, but he was trying to ignore her, and what she was doing as the whole incident was bothering him on many levels now, especially since she hadn´t made any inquiries about her son or gone near him. She had seemed more concerned about her weapons than how either one of them were doing. It was bothering him at lot that he was more worried about the boy than she was, and it was starting to get him mad. He went over to the window to avoid facing her, trying to keep his temper in check.

        Eve turned and watched him and could feel his anger but she wasn´t sure what was causing it. "Do you think she´s going to cause us any more trouble?" Eve asked trying to break the silence between them.

        He didn´t turn around, and instead kept looking out the window watching what was going on out in the moonlit courtyard. He really didn´t want to talk to her, but he knew he had to. At least she didn´t want to talk on a personal topic. "I don´t know, maybe, maybe not. She was pretty mad and seems to blame us for everything. With luck we should be long gone by the time she tells anyone. And then what does she have—just suspicions—nothing more. I wouldn´t worry about her," he said tiredly.

        Eve noticed he was avoiding looking her, and accepted it. She sighed, "yeah, I guess so. Still, I hadn´t planned on having to kill again, and in front of Areon too," she told him apologetic, really not happy about that part, but she had to defend them. If she had acted like a normal woman she would have gotten raped or worse and so would her son have. "I´m sorry I just stood there downstairs. I didn´t know what else to do. You had Areon, and he wanted you not me any way," she added, and he nodded agreeing with her.

        "I know. Though a few people did think it odd that he went to me instead of you and you didn´t take him. I hate to say this, but I think he feels safer with me than with you," Virgil said still staring out the window.

        "And he´s probably right. I am dangerous. I didn´t even think twice about killing any of those men. That´s what I was trained to do all my life—kill! I sometimes wonder if I can ever not do it—have a normal life? It´s like I can´t stop myself. I hate it," she said sad and angry at the same time, fighting back the tears as she looked down at her blood splattered hands in lap, and the once clean tunic that both showed evidence of the night´s deeds.

        "Areon can´t take any more blood shed. He´s going to be a basketcase as it is. He cried tonight not out of grief for his Dana´s death, but out of terror and fear for what he´s been through and the blood. Before this happened tonight, I was beginning to see signs that he was doing better—now I don´t know what´s going to happen," Virgil told her honestly. "And I don´t know about you either—you are scaring the hell out me—as I see you changing, reverting back to what you were, and I feel like there´s nothing I can do to stop it. There´s even a part of me that says that you don´t even want to fight it. That you enjoy the killing and the blood—that part of you needs it," he told her, not wanting to face her but having to say what was on his mind.

        She swung back her head to look at him, angry and hurt by his words. "How can you say that! I hate the blood, and the killing—it´s wrong, terribly wrong! This is not what I to be! It´s not what I need! I was shown a path, a way out, but it also doesn´t seem to be working—if it ever did! When it first happened at the temple I was in shock as I saw the truth of who I was, and what I was-- I realized I had done to people. At the river the holy man took away my sins, my pain, all those bad things I was or so I thought, and believed it was so and it was going stick permanently—like some sort of cure. But over the months I have gotten to be less and less sure, especially after being around Xena because she and Gabrielle both kill, and they seem all too fine with it. But now I am supposed to be some sort of holy person, some sort of divine messenger, and I can´t see, or feel it within me. I think someone screwed up as I am anything but holy," she told him.

        He shrugged, listening, his arms folded across his chest. "I know what you and your mom saw and I heard all that messenger stuff too. I have a hard time believing any of it too. Gods I can believe in more than all this mumble jumble stuff everyone´s been telling me about. At least I´ve seen them and know they are real—but this stuff—it´s all too weird. You´re the least likely candidate I ever saw for the job," he told her truthfully.

        "I know. But I have all these people telling me I am. All I want is to be just like everyone else and left in peace so I can figure out who I am now. As to liking or needing kill—no, I don´t enjoy it. I do it because I have to and I can. Let´s face it I am better with a sword than you. I spent almost all my life fighting, it´s just pure instinct with me, nothing more," she tried to explain.

        "I know you´re better with a sword and I have been grateful you are or we all would be dead by now, but if you truly want to change you´ve got to give it up—at least until you can find a balance somehow like Xena and Gabrielle have. You have decide if you want to be really Eve before Livia takes you over. That´s what I saw tonight, you were all Livia. Eve wasn´t there at all," he told her trying to be honest, turning around finally to face her.

        She sat there on the bed her hands clasped together listening and agreeing with him, for he was right and she knew it. She was never going to get better and remove the blood from her hands and soul if she kept this killing up. Each time she killed it became harder and harder to be Eve, and the person she wanted to be. It had been difficult to fight Livia down tonight. It wasn´t until she had sat down here on the bed had she been about to force that part of herself back. And Livia was a cold, unfeeling bitch, and that was not who she wanted to be. When she was Livia she didn´t care about anyone, she used people, there was nothing human about her and that had even made Ares nervous on occasion as well as her father, the court and the men she commanded as they were all nothing to her, only her goals and needs mattered. At least now she was beginning to care about people, feel their pain as well as her own, and beginning to reach other to others and try to help them—something she had not done as Livia. Though feeling love still eluded her—acceptance, worry, slight affection when caring about her family, and friends like Virgil she could sort of feel, but there was still this great numbness around her heart that couldn´t seem to melt. She still couldn´t tolerate anyone loving her like her mom kept trying to do—it freaked her that she loved her so unconditionally at times. No one had ever done that before and she couldn´t handle it and didn´t know how to react to it.

        Even Virgil´s acceptance of her bothered her because she didn´t deserve it yet he continued to want to be her friend. He was too good of a man, and she felt like she was an anchor around his neck he was forced to carry because of her mother. And Areon, she wasn´t sure yet what to feel about him. Her heart was so numb and cold. She could at least acknowledge he was her son, her flesh and blood, but nothing yet beyond that. She just didn´t know how to love, or be loved by a child or anyone else. She didn´t want to contaminate him with what she was, but she had done so already. He was terrified of her now. How was she ever going to be able to build any sort of normal relationship with him if she could even figure out what one was.

        She knew she had to say something to Virgil, she could feel his eyes on her waiting for some response from her. Finally she spoke. "I want to be Eve—I just don´t know how to be. I don´t know how to be human, to love, to feel. I have spent my entire life denying I had any feelings for anyone because I could not allow myself to have any weakness or caring for anyone. It was dangerous for them and for myself. I could not allow anyone close—ever. The only emotions I could allow were those of rage and ambition. My feelings did not matter, so I learned not care about anyone else. That is why I don´t know what to do with Areon or how to be his mother," she said, ashamed, but Virgil had to know, needed to know what the problem was.

        He was not as stunned as she thought he´d be as he had suspected that this was the problem and he had heard about how bad the Roman court was. He began to worry if it was even possible to her to change and overcome her conditioning of years. How do you teach a person that has never known love how to love? How do you teach them to feel except for just surface emotions as she had been doing as long as she had known him. Right now there was nothing but icewater in her veins. That was going to have to change if she was going to have any chance with her son. Himself he didn´t care about—whether she liked him or not but he had to figure out some way to help her for her son and own self.

        "Eve, I do understand, really. You´re just going to have to make yourself care, do things with him like Dana used to," he told her gently, feeling real sympathy for her.

        "I just don´t know how to," she protested helplessly looking up at him, shaking her head. "I was never around kids."

        "That´s obvious. Starting tomorrow it´s gotta change for both you and him or you´ll lose him completely," he said seriously, sitting down on the bed facing her.

        "I know. He hates me now and is afraid of me—I saw it his eyes. I don´t want him to be afraid of me."

        "No one does. The best way to start a relationship with anyone is by talking, finding out what they like doing, what they are interested in, what they feel about stuff. Let him tell you about himself and his life before. It will help you get to know him, and also help him with his grief over losing everything he´s ever know. He´s a great kid and I really like him. He doesn´t have a mean bone in his body. I still find it hard to believe he´s Ares´ kid," he said, looking over to make sure Areon had not woke up or was listening to them but he looked sound asleep.

        "Shh, not so loudly. He is asleep isn´t he?" she asked looking over at her son too and hoping he wasn´t listening.

        "Yeah, he was out when I put him down and hasn´t as much twitched since," Virgil answered.

        "Well he is, and maybe Ares isn´t as bad as you think he really is," she said defending her former lover.

        Virgil stifled his laugh as he saw Eve was serious. "I´m sorry I just can´t see it."

        "Well I can as I know—knew him! He could be nice and caring when he wanted to be. He was when I first knew him. And when he was with my mom—I saw sides of him I didn´t know. Maybe he had to be the way he was because of what and who he was and what he had to do—just like me. I had to be the way I was because I was expected to rule the Roman Empire all of it so I couldn´t be soft, I had to be hard and command respect and fear. I was not allowed to be otherwise. Maybe he wasn´t either," Eve told him, wondering herself if that had been the case with the God of War as underneath he did have a heart but he wouldn´t let anyone close to him to see it except her mother—again!

        "Could be, I don´t know. But I do know that Areon isn´t like him or you either. And I know I don´t have any say in the matter but I would like him to stay that way.," Virgil told her seriously as he was starting to get attached to the boy even though the child wasn´t even his.

        "I would too, and you do have a say. You´re way better with him than I am. At least you´ve been around kids and know how to help him—I don´t. But I will try—to learn," she said, meeting his eyes and then looked away embarrassed because of how he had been looking at her. "We´ve got a long day tomorrow. I want to try and reach the coast if we can."

        Virgil nodded, trying to figure out her reaction a minute ago, and shrugged it off. "Yeah, me too. The sooner we´re out to sea the safer I´ll feel. Do you want to take the bed and I´ll take the floor?" he asked, trying to be reasonable about their sleeping arrangements. He didn´t care if they shared the bed, but she might be.
        
        "No, you take it. I´ve slept on worse than wood floors," she said starting to get up, but he grabbed her arm stopping her. She frowned puzzled, wondering why.

        "We could share it. There´s more than enough room. And I don´t bite and can keep to my side of the bed—I promise," he said, and Eve looked over at him doubtfully. "Besides, I´d feel bad if you slept on the floor all night because I´ve seen how you wake up after doing that. You need a decent night´s rest."

        He got a slight smile out of her on that. She did wake up rather grouchily. She did trust Virgil as he also knew what could happen to him if he tried anything. Outside of the incident last night which she had started he had been a perfect gentlemen for months now since she had known him. "Okay, deal. But if he snore you´re on the floor," she told him and he grinned.

        "Deal," he said taking off his boots, then standing up to take his over tunic and sword belt off, then his vest. The pants he kept. He turned and saw that she already had her armor off and was down to her under shift. Without all the clothes in just her short shift, she looked more vulnerable, more feminine than she had before even when she had been wandering around before in just a halter top and skirt. But she was also his friend and he wasn´t going to let anything develop between the two of the even if he was starting to find her attractive.

        She got in on her side and got settled and he did the same, each facing away from the other. The nervous tension was thick in the air but both tried to ignore it as well as thoughts that this may have not have been a good idea but not wanting to move either. "Night," she mumbled, and wrapped the blanket tighter around her because she was chilly now.

        "Night," he replied, and tried to make himself go to sleep. Finally after awhile he did as she did too with the last couple of days´ events catching up to them.

Continued in Part 5

 

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