All disclaimers can be found in the first installment...All disclaimers can be found in the first installment...
Part Fifteen -- Betrayed By Every Side
"What’s yours is mine. What’s mine is mine, too.
If you shake my hand, you’d better count your fingers.
What if I do get caught? What if there is no judgment?
If I’m right, I lose nothing. If you’re right, I lose it all."
Megadeth / Dread And The Fugitive Mind
Nysa lay on her back in the grove, the sky beginning to turn rosy as Apollo’s chariot started the first leg of his journey. As her eyes slid from star to star as they faded into the turning sky. The physical pain from her last encounter with Xena had faded with liberal doses of wine. The emotional torment, however, was still fresh in her mind. She tipped the wineskin back, not bothering with the taste. She was mine, she thought to herself for the hundredth time, and she was stolen from me. Xena had her chance and she blew it. Why can’t she just be a good loser and just go away? Another stream of wine went down her throat.
Someone stirred behind Nysa. "Hey, beautiful. You know that worrying puts wrinkles on your face. The last thing we need is a Maenad with a face like a raisin." Kepa leaned into Nysa’s line of sight, then lowered her lips down to touch Nysa’s. There was a second of contact, then Kepa sat back with a thud. "The least you can do is fake it." She turned to look to her left, where Melanthe was snoring contently with her robes covering her hips more for warmth than modesty. Kepa stretched the bunched cloth to cover Melanthe’s shoulders as well. "What are we going to do today? I hear there’s a small village a few days journey east of here that could use some entertainment."
"We’re staying here until we get our sister back." Nysa said with finality.
"Gods, will you let her go? We lost her, so why don’t we cut our losses and find someone else." Kepa sighed as she slipped into her robe. Nysa stood up, dusting off dried bits of grass from her body. She gave the younger member a scathing glance and leaned down to meet her gaze. Kepa steeled herself for the gaze that seemed to peel away the layers of herself until only her raw essence was left.
"She is a Maenad. She performed all the mysteries and she was given a vision by our god. Would you want us to give up on you so quickly if you were taken captive?"
Kepa shook her head. "But it’s apparent that Xena wants her back badly. Frankly, I am not looking forward to having my bones broken because we’ve taken her latest fling. Need I remind you she’s destroyed entire villages because they weren’t fast enough in delivering tribute? You need to be better about picking your fights."
"I’m going to ignore that statement. I only hope that your lack of faith and gratitude for the gifts that we have been given is merely because you haven’t had the first wine of the day and not because you’re a gutless coward." Nysa crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Kepa rose to her feet. "You’d better mind your tongue or find it ripped out by the roots and in the grass -- sister or not."
Nysa shoved Kepa back a step. "You are truly pathetic. Our purpose in this life is to serve the will of our god, and his will is for us to find followers for him. If you don’t think you can handle this, then why don’t you go crawl off and make a farmer happy by dropping some sons for him!" Nysa’s hands flew out to make another strike, but were deflected by a spin of Kepa’s arms. Nysa managed to avoid the other’s defenses with a feint and slapped the younger Maenad’s cheek. Kepa exploded after that, trading defense for an offense that send the pair tumbling to the ground. Nysa found her head being pressed down with a heavy thumb to the soft spot in the temple. She twisted and bucked her hips once to throw her assailant off balance. Kepa rolled away with a grunt. Nysa pressed the advantage with a lunge for Kepa’s throat, but was repelled by a fist to the ear. Both women scrambled to their feet, their faces were masks of blood lust.
"WAIT! Stop it! The both you, stop it!" Melanthe stepped in between the pair. "Nysa, listen to me," she put her arms around the leader and walked her back a couple of steps, "we have to move on. Now that Admentus is dead, the temple no longer needs our protection. We can go wherever the gods want us to be. Maybe we’ll end up in Thrace, or Corinth. The temple there could use us there for a long time. Nysa, let’s put some road between us and this dump." She took Nysa’s hand and delicately kissed the tips of her fingers.
Nysa snatched her hand away from Melanthe’s mouth. "We get Gabrielle back. That is final. You either side with me or against me." She turned her cold stare from Melanthe to Kepa. Melanthe avoided the gaze and looked down at the ground. Kepa met her look head on in challenge. Nysa walked forward, never breaking contact with her. She opened her mouth to say something, then Kepa’s eyes rolled back into her skull, exposing only the glittering whites. All of her muscles seized in one jolt, sending her head jerking back to face the sky. As sudden as they clenched, the muscles slackened and her head drooped. With one shuddering, unsteady breath Kepa’s head lolled up to look at Nysa. There was a new spark in her eyes. The whole way she held her body had changed in ways that were subtle and disturbing.
"Nysa. Do not forget that what I have given you, I can also take away. Heed the advice of your sisters. Turn away from the Chosen of Artemis and let her have comfort with the Chosen of Ares. Failto enact my will and I will punish you without mercy." Kepa’s voice was deeper and carried a more menacing tone than one that she normally used. Nysa swallowed when she realized with whom she was about to address.
"My Lord Dionysus, The Chosen of Artemis has performed all the mysteries. We cannot simply allow her to leave with that sacred knowledge. She is a Maenad and we must--"
Kepa swooped in, grabbing Nysa where her neck and her jaw met with one clawed hand. She hoisted her up in an effortless motion, her eyes flashing like violet lightning. "YOU WILL DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO AND I WILL NOT BROOK DISOBEDIENCE! YOU ARE EXPENDABLE IF IT PLEASES ME! UNDERSTAND?! THE CHOSEN OF ARTEMIS IS NOT TO BE HARMED!" Kepa shook Nysa to punctuate the message before dropping her to the ground. She turned to face Melanthe. "Do you understand my commands?"
"Yes, My Lord. I will not come near the Chosen of Artemis, nor the Chosen of Ares. What would you have us do?" Melanthe bowed her head.
"Go to the temple in Thrace and await my orders. The followers of Hecate are gathering there and I would like to have some of my followers there in the event she tries something. Now go and remember that as my rewards are lavish, so are my punishments." Kepa made a final, long exhale before falling to her knees. She held her head and shivered as Melanthe grabbed a wineskin and dribbled a little bit into her mouth. "Happy now?"
Nysa rubbed her throat and growled.
Continued at Shavings In The Cup
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