Attendants

Attendants

Written by Virginia Leonard

Copyright 1997

"What are you doing?"  Gabrielle asked.

"Sssh.  I'm trying to catch our dinner."

"Oh."  The bard sat quietly, watching Xena shift her weight from one foot to the other.  "And just what is it you're trying to pounce on?"

"Gabrielle!" Xena replied through clenched teeth.

"Sorry, just curious."  Gabrielle leaned over the warrior's back and looked into the darkening forest.  "Xena."

"What?!" the huntress said, snapping her head up and catching the redhead in the nose.

"Eeow!"

Gabrielle grabbed the injured nose as she fell back on her bottom and watched Xena leap from her squatting position to lunge for their dinner.  

The warrior reached out to grab two ears.  She slipped in the mud instead and plunged, face first, down the slick hill to land in the eddy pool at the bottom.

Gabrielle winced with every adjective and adverb that rocketed up from the pool, slamming into her ears then-- silence.

"Oh, Gabrieeelle."

Gabrielle reluctantly walked over and looked down at the mud covered warrior.  Despite her best judgment, the bard burst out in laughter, forgetting, for the moment, how badly her nose hurt.  Pausing to wipe the tears from her eyes, the bard lost her balance and landed on her backside then began to careen...

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"Hold it!  Excuse me Ms. Author or whateveryour name is, can I speak with you a moment?"

"It's Tennstats but please, seeing how we have become rather intimate on occasion, call me TN.  How can I help you?"

"I fail to see why I have to slide down the muddy slope.  Why can't I just walk?"

"Because if you don't slide, I can't set up the next scene properly."    

    

"And if I refuse?"

    

"You'll get a shove."

   

 "I find this very distasteful."

    

"So noted.  Now, where was I?"

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Losing her balance, the amazon princess careened down the muddy slope, landing rather unceremoniously on her back, covered in mud.

    

"You're attractive," Xena stated dryly.

    

Gabrielle shot her friend a look of utter contempt.  "Not a word, not one word."

    

Xena smiled.  She was enjoying a somewhat perverse pleasure at the redhead's expense and, so as

to not to miss a thing, she leaned back on her elbows,  water reaching just below her breasts, and watched Gabrielle fight with the mud and leaves, doing more to spread it around than actually take it off.

    

Gabrielle could see those blue eyes staring at her and instead of finding it unsettling, she found herself enjoying the attention.  She pretended to study the large glob of mud balancing on her finger and after a few moments, the corners of her mouth turned slightly upwards.

    

Xena never saw it coming.  The mud landed with a stinging thwap right between her eyes.  "Oh, now you've done it."  The warrior lunged towards the laughing bard, wrapping her arms around the tiny waist dragging her down into the water.

    

Both heads burst to the surface, gasping for air and in spite of her lack of oxygen, Gabrielle was not about to let Xena have the upper hand.  Taking advantage of the warrior's lowered defenses, Gabrielle stretched her leg out and swept Xena's feet out from under her, sending the six foot frame sprawling backwards into the water.

Gabrielle's senses were on alert as she scanned the water’s surface looking for bubbles, ripples, eddies, anything that would let the bard know where her opponent was.  Nothing.  "Ok Xena, you can come up now.  Xena?"

Hands grabbed her ankles, and before she could react, Gabrielle found herself underwater, choking, and tangled in the long legs of a certain dark headed woman. 

    

Xena reached beneath the water and grabbed the front of Gabrielle's shirt, pulling the

sputtering and spewing bard to the surface.  She hooked her arm around the coughing bard's waist

and held her until the coughing spell was over. 

    

Still standing waist deep in water, Gabrielle found herself in the enviable position of having her arms locked around the warrior's neck.  Xena started to turn away, but the bard would have no part of it.

She caught Xena's chin in her hand, forcing those blue eyes to stay focused on the face of the storyteller.

    

"No you don't.  I've waited too long for a chance like this and I won't let you slip away, not this time," Gabrielle said with such an air of authority that Xena was momentarily stunned. 

Gabrielle's hands clasped behind her companion's neck and pulled Xena's face towards her own.  Lips were about to touch when suddenly, Xena howled, jumping sideways throwing Gabrielle several feet away.  The bard, trying to regain her composure, watched the legendary warrior dancing around in the water. 

"What, in the name of Hades are you doing?"

    

"Didn't you feel it?  Something slimy wrapped around my leg!"  Xena replied, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

    

Gabrielle shook her head and rested her face in her hands.  "Why does it always have to be water?" she mumbled to no one in particular. 

    

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle, I didn't hear that," Xena said, still watching the water.

    

"You weren't supposed to."

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 "Then that must have been for my benefit.  I didn't quite catch it either."

"Ms., sorry, TN, tell me something.  Why does it always have to be water?"

    

"What are you talking about?  Oh, that.  Well, some people find water very sensuous, you know, conducive to setting the right mood."

"Not to put any fires out but...I've got mud lodged in my ear canal, a nose growing exponentially by the minute, a twig stuck in my shirt right between my shoulder blades and something that I'm afraid to identify, stuck in my under clothes.  Every time I close my mouth, my teeth grit and if I were to blow my nose?  Sludge, pure sludge.   Go ahead; tell me what's so sensuous about that?"

    

"Gabrielle, the reader isn't supposed to know that.  They're supposed to think that you are experiencing the most pleasurable moment of your life."

    

"What I'm experiencing is a major pain in the a...."

    

"Anh, anh, anh, my bard doesn't swear.  Alright look, maybe we can lay this one out together.  You tell me what you want in the love scene and I'll see what I can do.  Maybe we can reach a suitable compromise."

   

"Fair enough.  I want to be..."

    

"Wait!  Not out loud, you want to ruin it for the readers?  Come here and whisper it in my ear.  Oh, that's nice but there's one problem.  I'm fairly certain that ice cubes don't exist yet; however, I think

I can get around that."

    

"Hey, Gabrielle!  Ask her if that slimy thing is gone yet?  I'm tired of looking for it."

"Tell her it's gone.  By the way, it was only your foot, but she doesn't have to know that.  I'll take your suggestions into consideration.  Just one question, how do you propose I get you from here to there?"

   

"They're Xenites.  They're very forgiving."

    

"If you say so.  Um, Gabrielle, the hem of your skirt is caught in your belt and... you've got a leaf...stuck...right there on your...there, on the inside of your leg...a little higher."

    

"You're blushing.  You've written me in every stage of undress imaginable, in several compromising situations and you still blush?!"

    

"Writing it is one thing, standing here and looking at it is totally different.  I'm a very shy person."

   

 "BWAHAHA!  My ass you're shy.  And *this bard does too swear!"

    

"It had to be a redhead."

 

"I heard that."

    

"Humpf."

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"Come on lovey, we're taking a trip."

    

Xena took Gabrielle's outstretched hand and stepped from the water.  "Where are we going?"

    

"I have no idea, the brains behind this operation is working on it."

    

Xena stopped and put a restraining hand on Gabrielle's arm, "Gabrielle, tell me you didn't say anything to make her angry."

    

"Me?  Of course not.  She asked my opinion, I gave it."

    

Xena groaned, "That's what I'm afraid of."   Xena looked back in the direction that Gabrielle had

just come from, "Gabrielle, what does she look like?"

    

Gabrielle chuckled, "I've been sworn to secrecy but I will tell you this," Gabrielle pauses, thinking, "no, maybe I won't."

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The doors to Sappho's private chambers stood twenty feet tall and were gilded at the top with gold inlay, embedded with emerald gem stones along the outer edges.  A yellow sunburst covered the double doors and in its center, carved from pure onyx, was a representation of Sappho's crest, a black panther in mid leap with ruby eyes.

    

Xena approached the doors, smiling when the sentries crossed their pikes.  She reached inside her breastplate and pulled out the personal invitation handing it to one of the guards.

    

"I believe she's expecting you.  Follow me."

The guards opened both doors, with practiced precision, and stepped off down the hallway, boots

striking the floor in a military cadence.

    

They reached the seneschal's desk and were forced to wait while she studied the piece of parchment.  She rose from her chair, eyeing, appreciatively, the bard and her warrior companion.

    

She dismissed the guards and waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.  "Her Highness will be pleased that you arrived so quickly.  While I would like to show you to your rooms, my instructions are to bring you directly to her private office immediately upon arrival."

They followed the seneschal down another hallway, lined on both sides with windows, and came

to another set of doors, similar to the first except not nearly as large.  Their guide, without bothering to

knock, threw wide the doors and strode into the room.

    

Sappho looked up from her desk, smiling as soon as she saw who it was.  "Xena, Gabrielle.  I'm so glad you could come, and on such short notice."   She gave each guest a hug then stood back, taking a good look at her friends.  "It's been too long but I can see time has been kind to you both.  Diana, aren't they delicious?"

   

 "Yes Highness.  Those were my exact thoughts."  Diana winked at Sappho then returned to straightening the papers on her ruler's desk.

    

Xena beamed, Gabrielle blushed.

    

"I suppose you're wondering why I've asked you here.  Let me explain..."

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"Aw geez, TN, how long is this going to last?"

     

"How the hell should I know?  I can only write as fast as it comes to my head."

   

 "Hell?"

    

"Never mind, it won't make any sense for another couple of hundred years.  Now, what did you ask me?"

    

“Skip this part and let's get to the good stuff."

 "Gabrielle, I can't skip this part.  It'll ruin the continuity of the story."

    

"Since when do we have to have a story?"

    

"We just do."

    

"Oi, you've been reading too much.  Look, break the paragraph and jump us to the next scene.  I really want a bath, a nice rub down and some general TLC."

    

"No can do."

    

"You're the bleeping writer.  You can do whatever you want to."

    

"Where'd that come from?"

    

"What?"

    

"That sound, bleep."

    

"I thought you did it."

    

"No...must be the  Net censors hard at work.  I'll just sneak it past them later, now, what happens if I agree to your demand?"

    

"You can have anything you want."

    

"Look here, darlin', batting those eyelashes at me won't work, I've become immune; however, for the sake of everybody involved, I'll do it."

    

"You're a peach."

    

"And you've developed a fresh mouth."

   

 "It's your fault; you write me that way."*

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The young lady closed the doors behind her, leaving Gabrielle and Xena alone in the spacious guest suite.  Not long after the one left, did four others enter to take her place.  The two larger ones flanked Xena and the others flanked Gabrielle, gently (or not so gently, as the case may be) guiding the two travelers towards the waiting pool already filled with steaming water and aromatic oils and herbs.

    

Gabrielle stood patiently while her attendants expertly removed her clothing.  She noted, with some surprise, the sensuous pleasures derived from having total strangers undress her.  Instead of feeling embarrassed or vulnerable, she felt the faint stirring of arousal.

    

The two women watched as a mute attendant turned a hand crank, causing two marble slabs to slide across the pool just above the water.   The remaining attendants quickly placed layers of soft cotton cloths over each slab and motioned for their respective charges to lay down.

    

Four hands set about spreading the soothing oils over the bard's body.  She closed her eyes, relaxing under the ministrations of hands that had obviously done this more than once.  They searched out each knotted muscle and applied just the right pressure to coax the tissue to relax.

    

Gabrielle felt her body begin to melt into the warm marble, her mind drifting, her senses heightened and she liked what she felt.  Her face was towards Xena so she opened her eyes and watched as the warrior received the same treatment.

    

The attendants worked in unison, a practiced ballet of erotic touches both tender and firm, starting with her feet, thumbs working the soles, two hands moving up her calves, the back of her knees, the sides of her thighs, going higher until they barely brushed tender and sensitive swollen skin, taunting her as they continued their journey.  Oil slick hands caressed her buttocks, the curves of her hips and roamed over every inch of her back, leaving nothing untouched.

     

Gabrielle could feel their touch on her body and could see the hands on Xena's.  Her senses were receiving double the input and the effect it was having on her was twice as intense.

    

"My lady, it is time to turn over," the voice barely a whisper and the bard obeyed. 

Hands framed Gabrielle’s face, thumbs, side by side, slid across her forehead and down her cheeks.  They lingered at her breasts, two hands pressing, rolling each nipple between thumb and forefinger, coaxing the dark tips to contract and grow harder.  Gabrielle could not have stopped the reactions of her body even if she had wanted to which was rapidly becoming a moot point.

    

Two sets of hands continued downward, stopping to work their oily magic on the bard's stomach.  They followed the crease, where legs met torso and, in turn, ran their fingers through the amber colored hair, pausing long enough to release the hot musky scent that was flowing freely.

    

A low moan formed in Gabrielle's throat, one which she tried to stifle but could not, much like the involuntary rocking of her hips, begun on their own and completely out of the bard's control.  She felt lips at each ear and held her breath when the hot air of her attendant's whispers touched her skin.  In unison, they spoke, "Our lady, we wait for your permission.  Do we stop or is it your pleasure that we continue?"

    

Gabrielle could only manage a weak nod of her head.

    

"And does this mean we continue?"

    

"Yes," she growled.

    

"As our lady wishes."

    

Lips covered each nipple, sucking, teeth gently touching each , holding the erect flesh captive while their

tongues danced across the surface, passing back and forth with increasing speed and intensity.

    

Gabrielle felt her legs being spread further apart until they draped over the edges of the marble table.  Her voice burst from her mouth as two fingers of one hand were filled her followed closely by two fingers of a second hand.

    

They worked as a unit, a perfectly synchronized set of movements intent upon nothing more than bringing the storyteller the ultimate in physical pleasure.  They matched the motion of rocking hips perfectly, reaching deep then pulling almost out, a repeated movement that sent waves of pleasure coursing through Gabrielle’s body.

    

Sensing their lady's imminent orgasm, one attendant withdrew and moved to stand at the top of Gabrielle's head.  She felt arms slip beneath her shoulders, coming back up so that hands had free access to her breasts.

    

The second attendant's tongue quickly replaced the departed fingers, tasting, touching, pressing and teasing, working with practiced skill to bring the bard to the ultimate end.

    

"Sweet, gentle creature, free yourself.  Give yourself to us and let us take you higher," a whisper sounded in one of Gabrielle's ears.  She raised her arms above her head and wrapped them around the neck of her talkative guide. 

"Yes, that's it."  The voice switched ears, "Feel what's happening, become part of it, my hands on your breasts, the fingers inside you, the tongue tasting you." 

Gabrielle felt the tension growing, spreading throughout her body until every muscle was taught, every nerve on fire.

    

"Yes, yes, stay with it.  We're with you, to help you, now, let it go and give it back to us." 

    

Gabrielle cried out, reaching towards her friend, meeting the hand that was already waiting.  They locked their fingers, gripping each other's as if afraid they would be torn apart.  Lightening coursed through their bodies, exploding inside their heads, forcing each woman to hold her breath until every wave of the climax had rolled to its inevitable end.  

               

Only then could their bodies fall back against the padded marble.  Only then could Gabrielle begin to breath.  Only then could she feel her muscles contracting, still, against the fingers lingering inside her and feel the disappointment as they slipped away.

    

"You did well," was all she heard before the attendants slipped, silently, from the room. 

    

She drifted unaware of the passage of time until she heard Xena slip into the warm water.

"Xena, my eyes won't open and my legs don't work."

    

Xena chuckled, "Then let me help you."  The warrior lifted Gabrielle from the marble and lowered her into the water, the bard's legs straddling the warrior's hips.

    

Gabrielle rested her head on Xena's shoulder, nuzzling against the soft skin of her neck.  Xena looked over the bard's head and across the pool.

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"Thanks Stats.  Couldn't have pulled it off without you."

    

"Anytime, my devious friend, anytime.  And don't worry, she'll never know."

     

 "I heard that!"