Xena and Leonidas reached the city of Epirus the next afternoon. The city was swarming with activity as her citizens feverishly carried out the urgent business of preparing for the coming war. Those wealthy enough to escape scurried towards the harbor with as much of their portable wealth as they could carry, but their numbers were few. Only those with money to burn could afford the steeply inflated price of passage as each ship's captain took merciless advantage of the frantic demand to squeeze every last dinar out of this golden opportunity for profit.

Those unwilling or unable to run away from trouble were spending their last dinars on stockpiling food, fuel, and other necessities to allow them to live through the anticipated siege. The Epirote army was too small to take the field and fight toe to toe with Jason's army, so outlasting the attackers was the only real hope of the supporters of Pyrrhus and Adrian.

While the noncombatant citizens saw to their future needs, all the able bodied men either drilled with their assigned militia units or otherwise prepared the city for war. Epirus' professional army was relatively small, but they were highly trained in the art of war. Additional soldiers had been conscripted to eke out the standing army's ranks, but few of these men had ever had much military training. Many could use some sort of weapon with decent ability but most were completely unfamiliar with the skills necessary to fight alongside others as a part of a team. If they couldn't learn those techniques quickly the conscripts would be of severely limited use when the enemy assaulted the walls. Still, they could man the battlements, stand watches, and otherwise free up the more elite army units for use in other, more specialized duties.

Xena deeply approved of the efforts that she'd seen so far. There was no discernable panic in the city's frenetic activity, only order and discipline. Everyone seemed determined to support the King and his heir no matter what it took. That fact alone spoke well of all of Epirus- a beloved royal family and their deeply devoted subjects. Jason wouldn't have an easy time breaking their spirits, the fastest way to end a siege. Xena wasn't sure if Epirus' citizens all believed that Adrian was their rightful future King, but apparently none of them were letting their doubts prevent them from supporting the Prince now. That meant that they would rather break their own laws and be ruled by an illegitimate heir than submit to Jason's rule in compliance with the laws of their fathers. Assuming Jason's claims were true, of course. But it seemed likely that there was a reasonable doubt, since Adrian hadn't wanted to stick around to face the challenge.

Xena and Leonidas slowly wove their way through the crowded streets. The Epirote General paused frequently to speak words of praise and encouragement to those they passed.

"Well, it looks like this city won't be an easy conquest. From what I've seen, morale is high and preparations are coming along well," Xena said with approval. "I couldn't have done things better myself."

"King Pyrrhus has ruled his kingdom well for decades, and his people appreciate his benevolence," Leonidas explained with a shrug. But his diffidence couldn't disguise his pride in his adopted countrymen.

Eventually they arrived at the royal palace located within the stone walls of the city's citadel. The citadel was even more heavily fortified than the city itself, and should Jason succeed in breaching the city's defenses they'd still have it to fall back upon for their protection. It would take a great deal more effort to take it's walls, especially since all approaches to t were sufficiently narrow to hamper the besiegers' attempts. The attackers would be protected from counter attacks by many of the buildings near the citadel's walls, but siege engines would be useless. Jason's army would be forced to make a direct assault on the walls without the benefit of heavy artillery to sweep the walls of defenders or to shatter the walls beneath their feet. All Jason could do was either accept a high casualty rate in an all out assault or settle down for a lengthy siege and wait for attrition and a lack of supplies to wear the defenders down. Either way, victory would not be easy for Jason.

When they got to the palace Leonidas sought out King Pyrrhus' chief physician. He wanted to know if the King was well enough to discuss the situation, but not at the risk weakening the King further. Every moment the King rested peacefully was precious, helping him to regenerate whatever was left of his fading strength. Disturbing him while he rested would only wear him down to no purpose. They could afford to delay a few hours, or even all day if necessary since Jason wasn't expected to appear at their gates for several more weeks. Besides, it wasn't as if their wasn't enough other work for the General to keep him occupied in the meantime. The defense of Epirus was the direct responsibility of Leonidas, not King Pyrrhus. The King had been quite a good commander in his prime but his illness forced him to rely on others to defend his Kingdom.

Pyrrhus' physician told Leonidas that the King was indeed awake but warned him that a long conference was out of the question. The General promised to keep their meeting as short as possible and then took Xena to meet his King.

Xena had never met Pyrrhus personally although she had seen him on several occasions from a distance. So when she saw how feeble and wasted he appeared she was shocked in spite of the fact that she knew he was dying. But Leonidas was even more shocked. When he had left Epirus two weeks ago to coordinate the search for Adrian the King had been very sick, but his appearance then was nothing compared to the way he looked now. Pyrrhus was practically a living skeleton now, and in the darkness, he might have taken him for one long dead in actuality. But while the King's body was failing him so rapidly, his mind was as sharp as ever.

"Leonidas," whispered the King in a hoarse, breathy voice. "Have you found Adrian yet?"

Leonidas hated to crush his hopes, but he couldn't lie to him.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, we haven't yet. My men are continuing to search everywhere, and I'm confident that it's only a matter of time before he's returned to you. But what about you? Have you thought of anything else that could help us in our search?" the General asked, though not with a great deal of hope.

"I'm afraid not," Pyrrhus whispered, eyes closing with grief.

"I see. Well, we haven't yet found Adrian, but I did manage to recruit someone who will be invaluable in our fight against Jason," he said. "Your Majesty, I'd like to introduce you to an old commander and friend of mine, Xena, the Warrior Princess."

King Pyrrhus took a gasping breath in surprise, but immediately had the air forced back out of his lungs by a racking cough. The effort seemed to drain him visibly, but once he regained control of his breathing he made a weak gesture to acknowledge the introduction. Xena answered with a respectful nod and then asked a question of her own.

"If I may, Your Majesty, there are a few things I'd like to ask you," she began. "Your nephew Jason claims to be able to prove that your son isn't the legitimate heir to your crown. Do you have any idea why he thinks that, or what his proof might be?"

King Pyrrhus stared blankly at the ceiling of his bedchamber, his slack face revealing nothing. Or at least, it explained nothing. His very lack of response to so reasonable a question told Xena that he did have a pretty good guess what this was all about, but he didn't want to reveal it to her or anyone else.

"Pyrrhus, it'll make things much easier if I know exactly what I'm up against," she told him with all the persuasiveness she could muster. But the King remained silent. They both allowed the silence to stretch for several more heartbeats, and then Pyrrhus sighed and conceded the battle of wills, though not the war.

"Nothing I could tell you now will matter if I don't get Adrian back and somehow hold off my nephew's army," he evaded with determined pragmatism.

Xena let it go for the moment. Whatever the problem was, he obviously wasn't going to tell her now. So he was right, she was better off focusing on the tasks immediately at hand. She'd find out his secret soon enough when Adrian was found. Besides, she had no desire to contribute to the King's ills by pushing him too hard. His physician had warned them that added stress could possibly cause irreparable damage, mentally as well as physically. She turned to Leonidas and cocked her head to let him know she was ready to go.

Leonidas bowed to his King and promised yet again to defend his Kingdom with all his power, and then followed Xena out of the stuffy sickroom. Once they were well away from there he asked Xena her impressions on the situation.

"So, you're a pretty good healer yourself, if I recall. How good do you think are the King's chances of living long enough to see Adrian return to be his heir?"

"I'm not an expert on this sort of thing, but I'd say his doctors are right, he doesn't have long to live, especially if something happens to weaken his spirit. It looks to me as if he's only holding onto life through sheer willpower. We need to find the Prince as soon as possible, or it won't matter anymore."

"My men are doing all that they can. They'll find him, I know it, but you're right, it had better be soon. All I can do now is make sure that there's still a throne for him to come back to," he told her.

"Right," said Xena, mentally shifting gears to focus on the task immediately at hand. "Well then, tell me about your preparations up to this point, and I'll see if I can think of anything to add to them."

"You got it," he agreed.

Leonidas began by taking her on a tour of the city and it's fortifications while they talked. Epirus was completely surrounded by walls, requiring any attacker to either destroy them, tunnel under them, or try to climb over them, The ground was rocky, making sapping a slow and difficult proposition. The walls were of uneven height but of stout construction and sturdy thickness. They were shortest where the most difficult approaches to the city were located, which actually made the taller sections of the walls the easiest access points for the besiegers. With siege engines to weaken the walls and drive the defenders from the battlements, Jason's army could use ladders and siege towers to fight their way inside the city.

But they wouldn't have an easy time of it. Xena noted workers reinforcing the walls with approval. Carpenters built a second, wooden interior wall behind the permanent stone walls of the city. The secondary wall was about a cubit behind the first. Once the wooden wall was finished, they'd fill the empty space between them with straw and bags of sand, forming a cushion to help absorb any shocks to the stone wall. The added material would support the primary wall, making it resist blows by giving it a bit of flexibility. That would make them much tougher to break down using rams or large projectiles from the enemy's siege engines.

That meant any attacker's best bet for success would be to sit outside the walls and starve them out. But that strategy brought it's own attendant difficulties. The besiegers had to make certain that no one could get in or out, and that Epirus didn't have anyone one else coming to their rescue. If a relieving force did arrive the besiegers would in turn become the besieged, trapped between two armies with no place to go.

Possibly the most difficult part of the job would be remaining disciplined enough not to get sloppy. Sieges meant a lot of hard work with little immediate victories to keep the bored, toiling soldiers happy. If they relaxed their guard too much they'd lose any advantage they'd won, and have to start from scratch.

Even if no one came from outside to break the siege, keeping the city's defenders pinned down prevented those outside from moving too much, as well. So while foraging for supplies would be easier for Jason's army than for the Epirote citizens, it would still be difficult. They could only live off the immediate neighborhood for so long, especially if the city harvested what crops they could early and destroyed the rest. Jason's soldiers would be forced to supplement their stores from other, less convenient sources, which would be expensive, and cause shortages if the supply line was too long.

Jason wouldn't want his troops plundering the countryside too heavily if he wanted to get the citizens of Epirus to accept him as their ruler. If the soldiers destroyed everything the people would never see him as anything but a conquering enemy. Giving them nothing to lose sent them directly into the arms of Pyrrhus and Adrian.

Such problems could cause an impatient commander to try to find a way inside the walls more quickly, either by a direct, bloody assault, or by attempting to suborn a few of the defenders and gain a decisive advantage through treachery.

In a war of this nature, treachery was indeed the greatest weapon of all. Even though the people of Epirus seemed united in defending their Prince, there was a very good chance their own laws made Jason's claims completely valid. By refusing to accept the legal challenge, Pyrrhus had put himself very much in the wrong. So there might be those who would see betraying the city's defenses as the act of a patriot, not a traitor. They could rationalize it as being a greater good to stop an unnecessary war and the suffering it would bring.

The only thing they could do to avoid that was to remain constantly on the alert for potential troublemakers and work to keep the city's morale as high as possible. As long as they had enough supplies and didn't suffer any major reverses, they could do it. But when food ran short or if Jason won enough victories, the likelihood of someone betraying the city's defenses went from being possible to most definite. Even then, most of the city's defenders would do their best to stop any treachery they discovered, but that couldn't stop every attempt of things got bad.

Epirus would fall eventually if Jason kept at it long enough, unless the Kingdom was reinforced by an outside power. Leonidas told Xena that King Pyrrhus had attempted to form several alliances when he realized the danger they were in, but everyone the King could have ordinarily counted on for support declined to become involved in a succession war. Xena couldn't blame them. A war between family members was the ugliest kind.

The King had been offered help by Rome, but as desperate as the situation had the potential to become, he couldn't accept. If he did, he'd keep his throne for Adrian at the cost of his Kingdom losing it's freedom. They would be a tributary of Rome, and give them the foothold they so eagerly wanted in Greece from which to launch the conquest of the entire land. Pyrrhus, and Adrian after him would be King in name, only, while his Roman "Advisors" pulled his strings. They might even depose Adrian, if his cousin proved easier to control than the Prince was. Jason's ambition would assist them in their quest to take all of Greece.

So Pyrrhus had refused their offer of assistance outright. For now, Rome was content to watch and wait, especially now that Caesar was dead and his own successor remained in question. But there were plenty of Roman Generals who would be ready if either side of this war called them in, like carrion crows at a battlefield, waiting patiently to pick the bones of the dead, completely indifferent as to which they fed upon.

All Leonidas and the citizens of Epirus could do now was prepare themselves as completely as they could, by gathering food, water, and other vital supplies while the rest reinforced the walls and drilled with their weapons in formation. Xena could see that Leonidas and his officers had everything well in hand, but that didn't surprise her a bit. Back when he'd been her own second in command, she'd always delegated her army's logistical concerns to him, and he'd obviously only gotten better at those duties over time.

So for now, Xena would leave the preparations up to him. She could use her time instead to walk the city, getting to know each building, each alley, learning every twist and turn of the streets in anticipation of the day when she'd be fighting in them. Once she was comfortable with the layout of the city she'd volunteer to lead a few sections of drill. She couldn't do more than teach them a few basic tricks in the time they had, but she'd being doing it mostly for the sake of the shot it would give to the militia's morale. Knowing that a famous warrior like Xena was on their side would be an immense encouragement for Epirus' inexperienced troops, even before she did anything concrete to prove her worth. And her reputation should also keep anyone with any second thoughts about staying loyal to their King from being too quick to act, out of fear of what she might do to anyone who betrayed her and her allies.

Sometimes a bad reputation was a handy thing to have, Xena reminded herself wryly. She knew what a potent weapon fear could be in her hands.

But the fear of others was a potent drug, one that she'd been addicted to, once upon a time. That made her fear to use it even more, but Xena'd had four years to beat her addiction, and she knew that she could keep herself under control. She just hoped Gabrielle would return before it got to be too much of a struggle. With the bard at her side, nothing seemed impossible.