ACT ONE

FADE IN

Xena gapes at Haimon in disbelief a moment and her expression changes to barely concealed rage. Slowly, she wipes the spit from her face, clearly restraining herself.

XENA:
     Now I know why you did something as stupid as allowing yourself to be ambushed out here in the woods. You obviously have a death wish.

Xena steps closer to Haimon but Gabrielle jumps in between them before either one can react.

GABRIELLE:
     Okay! Ah...let's all just calm down here a moment. (she lays her hands on Xena's shoulders and steers her away from Haimon) Maybe he's confused. He took a hard hit to the head, after all. Or maybe...maybe he has you mistaken for someone else. Let me talk to him, okay?

XENA (looks at Gabrielle then to Haimon, then back to Gabrielle again, and finally nods grudgingly):
     Okay.

GABRIELLE (squeezes Xena's shoulder):
     Thank you. Why don't you go take care of the horses?

Xena glares at Gabrielle a moment, then turns and walks off.

GABRIELLE (walking back to Haimon, mutters to herself):
     I would have thought that at least after a 25-year sleep, all the people who hated her would be dead.

HAIMON:
     Now I know who you are. You're Gabrielle, the Battling Bard of Potidaea. I've heard some of your stories.

GABRIELLE (gets Haimon to sit upon a boulder as she threads a needle in order to tend his wound):
     If you've heard my stories then you know that Xena turned her life around a long time ago. She's not the same person she used to be.

HAIMON (barely flinching as Gabrielle stitches the cut on the back of his head):
     I don't think you have any idea of who she really is, Gabrielle.

GABRIELLE (continuing to stitch Haimon's scalp):
     I don't think you do. She's a good person now. And she'll spend the rest of her life trying to make up for her past. (she thinks a moment then reluctantly asks) What did she do?

HAIMON (through clenched teeth, fighting the pain):
     When I was a baby, Xena's army raided my village. By the time they were done, my home was just a memory. Men, women, children...it didn't matter. No one was spared.

GABRIELLE (finishes dressing Haimon's wound):
     You were from Cirra?

HAIMON (laughs bitterly):
     You really don't know her at all, do you, Gabrielle? Cirra may have been Xena's crowning achievement, but it wasn't the only time she was responsible for the slaughter of women and children.

Unseen by Gabrielle and Haimon, Xena has just led the two horses back and hears what Haimon has just told Gabrielle. She bolts forward, grabs Haimon's arm and roughly hauls him to his feet.

XENA:
     You'd better have some facts to back yourself up with or I'm liable to--

HAIMON:
     I have all the evidence I need right here!

He holds up the pendant hanging from his neck by a strong leather cord. It's large and at one time was obviously a woman's bracelet.

HAIMON:
     This was all I had left of my mother after you were through with Ikaros.

XENA (numbly):
     Ikaros...

Xena's gaze drops to the pendant. Finally, she relaxes her grip and lets him go.

HAIMON:
     So you admit it then?

XENA (looking up into Haimon's eyes. There is something different in her look. It is softer now):
     I remember Ikaros. I--my army was there...

HAIMON:
     I've heard all the stories about how you've changed and on some kind of quest for redemption. And it doesn't mean a thing to me. There's nothing you could possibly do that would make up for what you did to my village. The whole world might forgive you, Xena, but I never will.

Haimon turns and starts to walk off. Gabrielle moves to go after him.

XENA:
     Let him go, Gabrielle.

GABRIELLE:
     But--

XENA:
     Let him go! (she stares after Haimon sadly, and then speaks softly) Haimon...

GABRIELLE:
     Wait a minute... Wait a minute...how do you know his name?

Xena makes no response, staring despondently after Haimon.

GABRIELLE:
     So...you do know him?

XENA:
     Yes.

GABRIELLE (stares expectantly; when Xena doesn't elaborate, she cannot hide her irritation):
     Do you want to talk about it?

XENA:
     No.

She turns and walks off towards the horses. As if trying to decide whether or not to follow, Gabrielle pauses a moment, then turns and follows Xena.

CUT TO

Sabina rides back into the village and dismounts. Her men are running back and forth, packing up the last of the supplies they have looted from the village. Peneios comes up to her.

PENEIOS:
     The men are just about ready to pull out. You took care of our uninvited guests?

SABINA (grins):
     I gave them a lesson in manners they're not likely to forget.

CUT TO

A scuffle between one of Sabina's soldiers and a young woman near the gallows. The soldier pushes the woman away and turns towards one of the hanging men. He reaches for the dead man's hand. The woman throws herself at him again.

VILLAGE WOMAN:
     That ring belonged to my husband! I won't let you--

The soldier roughly throws her to the ground and grabs the hand again, pulling hard at his finger.

SOLDIER:
     Come on, you bastard. Give!

The point of a dagger presses into his throat and he freezes.

SABINA:
     Touch that ring and you'll have a spot up there right next to him.

The soldier holds up his hands in a gesture of surrender and Sabina lowers the dagger, backing up a step.

SABINA:
     We aren't vultures that pick over the dead.

VILLAGE WOMAN (scrambles to her feet and steps up to Sabina):
     No. Vulture is too kind a word for what you are. A thieving, murdering bitch is what you are!

The Village Woman raises her fist to strike. Sabina's hand shoots up and catches the woman by the wrist before she can strike her. She twists her arm so that Sabina now has her arms helplessly pinned behind her back.

SABINA:
     I was willing to walk away and let you be. Just remember when you meet your husband in Tartarus that this was your choice, not mine. (she looks at the soldier) Kill her.

SOLDIER (stares in disbelief):
     Kill her?

SABINA (holding the woman tighter as she begins to struggle):
     You heard me! Take your dagger and slit her throat.

The soldier tentatively pulls out his dagger and hesitates.

SOLDIER (shaking his head):
     I can't. She's a--

SABINA:
     You could always take her place.

Almost on impulse, the soldier steps forward and quickly draws his dagger across the woman's throat. Sabina turns her head to the side and tosses the body to the ground before the blood can stain her. The other villagers gasp in horror.

CUT TO

The six cavalrymen Sabina left at the ambush site, riding slowly up the street. When Sabina sees them, they exchange anxious glances.

SABINA:
     You men! Come here.

Reluctantly, they dismount and lead their horses to her; falling behind one man they have all silently appointed the leader.

SABINA (studies him closely):
     Looks to me like something has taken the wind out of your sails, Troizen. Did you have a problem disposing of our problem out in the woods?

TROIZEN (looks back at his friends and sees that they aren't about to offer him any help):
     There was a small...altercation.

SABINA:
     Altercation? Do you mean to tell me that you and your men are so worthless that you couldn't finish off a handful of half dead men all by yourselves?

TROIZEN:
     No, Sabina! We almost--there was just one left to take care of and then out of nowhere...

SABINA:
     What? Someone attacked you? Another militia?

TROIZEN (nodding furiously):
     Yes! Another militia! There were at least thirty of them and they had us surrounded. It's a miracle we were able to get away.

SABINA (suspiciously):
     Are you lying to me, Troizen? A band that large wouldn't have gone undetected by my scouts.

TROIZEN:
     Well...perhaps it wasn't thirty. I didn't count. (turns to the other men) Did any of you? (they all shake their heads) It could have been more like fifteen--or perhaps even as few as nine or ten--

SABINA:
     And you and these pathetic excuses for soldiers couldn't handle ten men?

TROIZEN (takes a nervous step backwards):
     Oh, but it wasn't just any ten men! They had this leader--a woman...

SABINA:
     A woman?

TROIZEN (nods):
     I've never seen anyone that could fight like that. (holds up his hands placatingly) Except you, of course! She was magnificent. Tall, dark-haired, with a war cry that cuts right through your heart. And she had another woman with her--her second in command, I presume. She didn't look like much--a little thing, no higher than here on me-- (he holds his hand level to his shoulder) --but a regular demon with her daggers...

SABINA:
     Two women? You say one was tall and dark, and the other was small and fair?

TROIZEN:
     Yes.

SABINA:
     You're lying to me, aren't you, Troizen? There was no militia, no ten men. Two women attacked you and drove you off, didn't they?

TROIZEN (panicking):
     I-I...she was big! Twice as large as any of us...

SABINA (to herself):
     Xena. I heard the stories but I never believed that after all these years you would actually show up. (glances at Troizen) Tell Peneios we're moving out immediately. If that really was Xena, this village is going to be getting a visit from her any time now. And if I have to fight her, it's going to be on my terms.

Troizen nods breathlessly, not quite believing that he has gotten off the hook this easily.

SABINA:
     Oh and, Troizen?

TROIZEN (nervously):
     Yes, Sabina?

SABINA:
     If I ever catch you lying to me again--I'll cut out your tongue.

CUT TO

The three men still hanging from the gallows and the dead woman lying at their feet.

CUT TO

Xena, Gabrielle and the Village Elder. Xena and Gabrielle are staring in horror but the Village Elder looks on almost impassively.

XENA (nodding towards the dead men):
     Get them down from there.

VILLAGE ELDER:
     Why?

GABRIELLE:
     They deserve a proper burial.

VILLAGE ELDER:
     Sabina wanted them left there...to serve as an example.

XENA:
     An example of what? The cowardice of every person in this village except these four?

VILLAGE ELDER:
     I-I did what I had to do. I saved the village.

XENA (shaking her head in disgust):
     At what cost, old man? At what cost?

VILLAGE ELDER (defensive now):
     It was their own fault! Sabina was perfectly willing to leave us in peace as long as we met her demands. They're the ones that chose to defy her! There was no reason for them to risk their lives!

GABRIELLE:
     Better a live dog than a dead lion, is that it?

CUT TO

Xena, a quietly anguished look on her face as a memory flashes through her mind.

Xena is cutting down the bodies of the hanged men with the help of a young village man. Xena wraps her arms around the waist of the first dead man to break his fall as the villager cuts the noose. Gently, she lowers the body to the ground and--almost as if to not hurt him--removes the noose from his neck. She looks up at the villager.

XENA:
     You say this was her husband?

The villager's reply is barely audible as we pan to Gabrielle who is looking on. Her head turns slightly to the right as she senses rather than hears something. She holds herself still a moment, then hunches over slightly, prepared to grab her sais. She takes three cautious steps forward and holds. After a moment her expression changes to relief and she straightens.

CUT TO

A boy of perhaps a year crawling out of a straw-filled wheelbarrow. He crawls towards the body of the dead woman. Gabrielle quickly strides forward, taking the child into her arms. She quickly realizes that this is the child of the dead woman and presses the boy's head to her shoulder, turning her body so that his back is to the gallows.

GABRIELLE (murmuring softly to the child):
     It's all right...everything is going to be okay...

CUT TO

Xena looks up and her eyes go wide and a little vacant. She jumps to her feet and rushes towards Gabrielle, roughly yanking the child from her arms.

GABRIELLE:
     What are you doing?

Xena holds the child out at arm's length from her, looking it up and down--as if searching for signs of a wound. She appears to be almost in a haze. After a moment, she blinks and her head jerks, as if she has just noticed Gabrielle.

XENA:
     What? I'm sorry. For a second there I...here. (she holds the boy out to Gabrielle who carefully takes him in her arms)

GABRIELLE (a hint of resentment in her tone):
     If I didn't know better, I'd think you didn't trust me.

XENA:
     No! No...it's nothing like that. I just...never mind.

VILLAGER:
     That's Leonidas, Kimon and Dirke's boy. (gestures towards the hanged man and the dead woman, bitterly) And that's Kimon and Dirke.

GABRIELLE:
     Did they have any family here in the village that would take care of their son?

VILLAGER (shakes his head):
     Not a soul. Dirke had a brother that ran off and joined the Legion of Darien a few summers back. The rest of her family's dead. As for Kimon, he was an orphan. He lost his parents in an earthquake when he was not even eight summers old.

GABRIELLE (turns to look at Xena):
     Someone is going to have to take care of him.

VILLAGER:
     Well...I suppose my wife and I could look after the boy for the time being. We've already got four so what's one more mouth to feed?

XENA (nods and gives Gabrielle a sheepish look):
     You go ahead and take the boy. I can finish up here myself.

With the child in her arms, Gabrielle leaves with the villager. Xena looks around pensively, then tenses up all of a sudden. She walks around the corner of a house, out of the villagers' view, and stands expectantly.

XENA:
     You can come out now.

Ares appears in the usual flare of silver-blue light. As the light fades, he stands looking at Xena, his arms folded, a grave look on his face.

ARES:
     More bad memories?

XENA:
     There are always more bad memories. But this one is...different. (she shakes her head a little and changes the subject) What do you know about this Sabina?

ARES:
     Nothing. (off her skeptical look) Come on, Xena, do you really think I keep tabs on every warlord wannabe who pops up somewhere? (smirks at her) Soon to be an ex-warlord wannabe, I'm sure, now that you're on her trail.

XENA (chuckles bitterly):
     Right.

ARES:
     But it's not really Sabina who bothers you, is it? It's that man who's after her. Haimon. The one who gave you such a warm greeting today.

XENA (darts an uneasy look at him, startled):
     What do you know about him?

ARES:
     Come on, Xena. Didn't you think Ikaros would ring a bell for me?

He reaches out and gently touches her face; Xena shivers and lowers her eyes.

ARES:
     I ought to know something about that man. After all, you left me for him.

Xena looks up at him, her eyes wide with shock and anguish as we:

FADE OUT

END OF ACT ONE