Xena leaves Gabrielle behind in a village while she scouts ahead to see if they can ford a river. Sometime later she comes upon some villagers being attacked by warriors. She fights them off and rescues a boy that was almost crushed under the frame of a barn the villagers had been working on. But before the warriors leave, their leader orders arrows fired at Xena. She catches two, but a third strikes her in the left side and she falls from her horse. The man whose son she saved earlier, Darius, takes her to his home and helps her to remove the arrow. While she is resting, another of the villagers comes to see him. He’s upset that Xena is still there, but Darius is adament that she remain until she has recovered. He turns to check on the warrior, but she is gone. He goes to find her in the stables with Argo and tells her she should wait until she is better. While they are talking, the warriors have returned and burned the silo with the village food stores. Gabrielle is getting impatient for Xena’s return and getting unwanted advances. In an effort to stop them, she pretends a young warrior, Sphaerus, is her suitor. She talks with him about his father, and then mentions Xena. Sphaerus is startled when he realizes that Xena is the woman he thought he had killed earlier. But he mentions nothing of this to the bard and leaves.
Sphaerus learns from his father, Cycnus, that he must meet with the villagers from before and offer them a peace settlement. Then he and the other warriors are to take the villagers by surprise and kill them. Darius tells Xena of the meeting, and she insists on going. Darius reluctantly agrees, but asks her not to wear her warrior’s clothes. Instead he gives her a dress that belonged to his late wife. At the meeting, other villagers are upset to see Xena is there. Sphaerus, on the other hand, is slightly relieved to see that Xena is still alive. Xena moves toward the back of the room and listens as Sphaerus welcomes the villagers and begins to tell them of Cycnus’s plans for peace. She notices the end of a sword trying to raise the latch on a door at the side of the building. She goes outside and surprises the warriors waiting to ambush the villagers. Sphaerus and the warriors retreat, and the villagers are upset because they believe she’s ruined their chances of a peace settlement. Darius is also upset about what she did, but when he realizes she’s going to leave he tries to stop her.
Xena knows that there is no way that Cycnus will let the village have peace, and since they won’t defend themselves she plans on stopping him herself. Gabrielle has finally given up her vigil and has set out to find the warrior princess. When she finds Xena, she’s angry with her. But to her surprise Xena appologizes and tells her that she has to stop a warlord. She wants Gabrielle to go and stay with Darius and his family, but the bard refuses. As they are walking by the river, Xena hears chariots approaching. She puts Gabrielle onto Argo and sends her down the nearly dry riverbed, while she waits to ambush one of the chariots. Once Xena has control of the chariot, she sets off in pursuit of Cycnus and Sphaerus, who are chasing Gabrielle.
teleplay by Adam Armus and Nora Kay Foster
story by Josh Becker
directed by Harley Cokeliss
music by Joseph LoDucaGuest Cast: Nick Kokotakis (Darius), Stuart Turner (Sphaerus), Jeff Thomas (Cycnus), Nigel Godfrey (Tynus), Morgan Palmer Hubbard (Argolis), Patrick Morrison (Lykus), Ruth Morrison (Sarita)
LogBook entry by Mary Terrell