The next morning Xena as usual rose with the sun. Washed and performed her morning toilet, dressing in her leathers and armor. After harnessing the two horses and packing up she tied the wrists of the still unconscious new slave to the tail of the packhorse and set off.

It only took a few feet for her new sex toy to revive. But it took over a hundred yards for her to get up on her feet. Xena never even looked back. Xena was actually impressed with her new toy knowledge of seven languages. But from what she heard, it comprised of only the gutter trash words.

After about hours worth, Xena stopped at likely cops of willows and cut a few switches. She then walked back to the still swearing thing and wore out two on her backside. That kept her quiet until midmorning when she switched to Etruscan. Xena, still impressed with her language skills used one more on her blossoming chest and hips.

About noon Xena halted the horses at a small stream and her new toy plopped down exhausted right in the stream. "You better drink your fill now. It will be dark before we reach the next watering hole" She informed her new toy. It just rolled over face down in the water and when Xena rode on barley managed to get back up on her feet.

That night Xena stopped at a small stream in a stand of Elm trees and set up camp. She stripped the horse, hobbled them and put feed bags over their mouths. Then set out a bronze pan of water over a small smokeless fire. After eating some cold pheasant she dragged her amusement over to an appropriately placed log and staked her toy out, arched backwards over the log. Using her baggage animal's bridle on her toy, she stuffed a piece of repair leather in her mouth and used the harness to keep it in.

Then retrieving the stub of a thick common candle, she lit it and began dropping it on tender parts of her toy. After the candle was half gone, she removed the gag and allowed her to drink a little and eat a little.

She replaced the gag and used up the rest of the candle.

Then she poured the hot water all over it to wash off the candle wax and rolled up in her blankets for good nights sleep.

Next morning was the same, except the slave woke as soon as Xena had and was compliant as Xena, after breaking camp and outfitting the horses, allowed her a little wine and dried traveler's meat. Then she tied her wrists to a loop of spare harness around her neck, pulling them up between her shoulder blades. And using a spare horse reign connected the collar to her pack animals harness and started off.

Xena shared her food and water through riding and walking phases all he next day with her new silent toy. And by mid afternoon they had reached a midsize town surrounded by a well-maintained wall. As they moved through the town towards the canvasari were itinerant travelers usually found lodgings, no one paid any attention to her pet. Xena took a second floor room and paid for stabling of her horses.

"I can get you a good price for your slave" The innkeeper said. ""She is just a bit of untrained flesh I picked up on the road" Xena replied.

"Then you can stash her at the Auction house while you are in town. They also run a training school" He retorted.

"That will depend on how hard it will be to keep her in line myself" Xena said. Looking into her new toy's eyes.

That night Xena sat in a back corner of the main room, eating a hank of beef and spring vegetables. She had left her great sword in the room and only wore a simple shift. Occasionally she would throw a bit of food on the floor just in front of the slave hobbled at her feet. It had to use it'' mouth to lap up the food as it'' wrists were tied to its ankles.

The room was relatively full of travelers and traders from all over Greece and beyond. But the tables adjacent to her were left empty. Xena's presence always seemed to lead to a little swordplay and occasionally bystanders acquired a little "Collateral Damage".

A few saluted or came over for a few words with the Warrior Princess and Xena even agreed to travel along with one group of merchants to Corinth. As Xena intended on traveling there, hired to train the new Regent's Amazon bodyguard, being paid handsomely for something she intended on doing anyway was a nice bonus.

But nice was certainly not a word one would direct towards the next group who entered the room. Six broad shouldered weather beaten men all dressed alike in blood red tunics elbowed their way across the room and plunked themselves down at a table between the main area and Xena.

Their tightly culled uncut oily mains of hair and red tunics announced to all and sundry their Spartan warrior heritage. Of coarse their arrogant boorish manor reinforced any preconceptions the rest of Greece had of these trained from childhood warriors. They sneered at Xena as they noisily sat and yelled for cheap wine.

Xena continued to eat and occasionally feed, or pore wine on the floor for her pet until one, bored, still unserved Spartan stood up and staggered over to her table.

"What are you doing pouring wine into the floor when this mangy establishments retched staff have not even honored the mighty Spartan armies finest swordsmen with a free pitcher of wine?' he inquired.

"Feeding something more worthy of good wine than some unmannered Spartan rear ranker" Xena replied.

{As the most rear ranks of the Spartan Phalanx were filled with either untried or lowest ratted soldiers, classed unfit to even breed. It certainly was a very soldierly slur}

With a roar the Spartan dove across the table at the Warrior Princess, but Xena was not there and received a stunning blow from a practiced elbow in the back of the neck, and lay still across the trencher holding her half eaten meal. The next two spilt up and circled one to each side and attacked together. Stepping back Xena grabbed each by the hair as they neared bouncing one's skull of the others. Three of the Spartans lay around Xena now.

The next two had clearly failed tactics 101 class and jumped up on the table, one receiving Xena's hobnailed boot in his face and the other a very hard fist just ahead of his left ear.

The last Spartan, years older than his companions spoke. "Nice to see you have not lost your lightening reflexes Xena. It has been two long years since you crushed the Spartan hundred sent against your Amazon friends"

"Nice to see you again Leonidas. I thought they executed Commanders who lost?' Xena replied.

"No, only exiled me with a thousand Spartans, our contribution to the combined army guarding against Persian invasion. It has been rather boring actually" Leonidas explained.

"Then you will have to send back to Sparta for five replacements and explain why they were killed by a mer woman" The Warrior Princess told him. She then reached down and dragged her pet up by the collar.

"I have to take this one out for a walk in case you want to waste another group of Spartans trying to kill me Leonidas" She evilly smiled as she passed him bye.

Outside Xena walked carefully around the lodging establishment and arrived at the stone slave auction barns.

"How may we help such a muscular Woman?' Inquired a rather oily fat man slumped in a pile of cushions.

"The name is Xena" She told him and his instantly pained expression told her he knew of her exploits.

"We have greatly prospered following your conquering armies in the past Warrior Princes," The now fawning man said bowing respectfully.

"This slave need cleaning up and cleaning out while I deal with a few problems" Xena told him.

"Do you wish us to give you a fair price for this scraggly unkept piece of skin and bones?' He inquired.

"No, just do what I asked and outfit it in shackles at wrist, ankle and neck" Xena ordered.

"We will gladly do as you ask Warrior Princess" And at no charge he" told her bowing and scraping most exuberantly.

No sooner had Xena the left her pet at the slavers feet and went back out the door. Than the man struck a nearby gong with a wooden mallet and four muscular female entered. Fetters around their necks proclaimed their slave status, but fine cotton harem pants and halter tops indicated trusted house slaves.

"Clean, clean out, wash and medicate this bag of bones. Find out were it has been and what it has heard of Xena's travel plans. The Spartans have put a great price on her Mistresses head" Two dragged the terrified slave out a nearby door along a plain hallway. At the end they untied her but again hung her by the wrists to a horizontal timber with her feet dangling.

She yelled when a jar of warm water was poured on her and screamed as two set about scrubbing every inch of her body with stiff bristles brushes usually reserved for ceramic floors.

This was just the opening round as stiched leather tubes were inserted in both her lower sex passages.

She did scream quite a lot as the cork was removed from the clay pot suspended over the hot coals sent rather warm water into both passages. Next she was flushed with water from a jar half filled with ice and then wine vinegar.

The nearly incoherent slave was then let down and allowed to recuperate stuffed into a low earthenware storage jar buried up to its neck in the corner of the room. There was literally no room to move inside it. A heavy old grindstone kept the lid on, but a small hole allowed for air.

Much later the unconscious slave was removed and dragged downstairs to the entertainment rooms.

Screams wrenched from the throats of females under torment shocked the slave awake. Guttering torches barely illuminated a scene from Hades. A female was spread wide to a huge "X" and a well-dressed male poked her with hot irons. Another hung by bloodied wrists as on of her own sex cut her skin to ribbons with a long black whip. Her own body told her she was in the clutches of a horizontal rack.

"You are Xena's slave?' a female voice asked. Silence brought the turn of the capstan over her head.

"You are Xena's slave?' Again the question and again the strain on the arms.

"Last time; Are you Xena's slave?" This time a white-hot poker was brought close to her tear-filled eyes.

"Yes" whispered out.

"Were is Xena going?' And the poker drew close to a pink nipple.

"Corinth with the Arabic spice caravan" She volunteered.

"When did she deside to go there" The female voice inquired.

"Tonight I heard their leader hire her as chief caravan guard" She told the unseen voice.

"Very informative, slave. If we find out your mistress hears about this little episode. We will make sure you receive permanent, if short lived tenure here" The voice threatened.

They then released the tension on her body and she was led upstairs by a noose around her neck.

No one had even asked her name, or even that she once had one.

As her battered only nine year old body was dragged back along that cheerless hall to wards the water torture room she swore everyone would tremble at the name Callisto one day.