CONQUERING THE CONQUEROR

pt.30

DRACO
(Angry tone) What do you mean we can't keep going?!

Hector jumped slightly as Draco slammed his fist angerly against the table he stood at looking over a map of the area he and his men had been marching toward.

HECTOR
The heavy rain from last night flooded the river. There's no way we can cross safely and it would take us several more days to find a way around.

Draco scowled.

DRACO
(Angry/ Sarcasm) Great.

The warlord stood up straight from leaning over the table as he turned to face his subordinate.

DRACO
Then I don't suppose there's been any word on Xena's movements?

HECTOR
Still nothing since your last encounter.

DRACO
Interesting.

Hector saw his leader become thoughtful.

DRACO
Just what is that woman up to?

HECTOR
You did wound her pretty badly. So isn't it possible that she succumb to her injury. You did run your sword through her chest after all.

Draco scowled.

DRACO
(Irritated tone) You know Hector you can really shock me with how fucking stupid you are at times. Don't you think that if Xena were dead, we would've heard about it?

Not appreciating the insult, Hector scowled but didn't say anything as he knew it was smarter to remain silent. Because since being given a significant boost to his strength by Ares, Draco had become far more quick tempered and unforgiving. The warlord had clearly become far more comfortable with the power he'd been given and as result taken a far more brutal approach to dealing with whatever the warlord saw as opposition, disobedience or disrespect. Of which a fair number of the men within Draco's army had learned the hard way when several had entered up with fairly serious injuries after having unintentionally angering the warlord when not completing various tasks as he had instructed or even just doing something as simple as saying the wrong thing to him. However, even though Draco's approach in managing his army had changed, the warlord's men still remained loyal and overall satisfied with remaining in his employ. As they had come to claim multiple relatively easy victories across a very good stretch of area that they had been making their way across. Which had even included taking a number of smaller towns and villages that laid just along the boarder of the Conqueror's territory. And with those victories had come the spoils of war, that included a healthy surplus of a verity goods and activities of which along with Draco himself, the soldiers of the warlord's army were more than happy to indulge in and fully enjoy. However while Draco may have been making some headway in laying siege to multiple expanses of land not belonging to Xena, aside from the battle at Amphipolis where he had faced Xena, Draco hadn't yet moved in on any owned by the Conqueror as he was certain he'd be met with heavy resistance along the border. And attempting to slip by Xena's initial forces was a fools errand as he knew the result only him losing far too many men then he felt would be worth it in the process.

DRACO
She's alive. She shouldn't be. But she is.

Not quite as convinced as his leader of Xena still walking among the living, Hector sighed to himself as he decided to play along with the notion of the Conqueror not being dead as of yet.