ACT I

22. EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

We open to a bustling marketplace, filled with stalls of textiles and exotic goods. Nothing appears wrong as we move through it, pausing occasionally at a stall or two as though we were browsing.

We happen upon what seems to be a commotion at one end. It actually is a small group of people, several in simple robes that seem vaguely religious in cut and nature. They aren't needlessly disruptive or overly loud, just enthusiastic.

They all follow a familiar figure in green and gold silk.

ZOOM TO:

23. EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

It is Eve, with a basket on one arm and a somewhat irritated expression on her face. It is clear that the Messenger of Eli is having a bit of a rough day.

The cause is her followers, who all clearly insist upon following her. Several of them hover so close by she nearly stumbles into or over them as she tries to move through the marketplace. This makes shopping for essentials an obvious chore, which tests her temper to no end.

As she examines an orange from a vendor, one of the Elijans (a dark haired boy of maybe twenty named Stelios) quickly moves forward and snatches it from her hand.

STELIOS

This hardly looks fresh.

Eve snatches it back.

EVE

Stop that.

She turns back to the others and glares.

EVE

All of you!

One of the Elijans, a young woman now, moves forward to speak.

SECOND ELIJAN

(reverently)

But, Holy One...

Eve waves her silent, even more agitated than before.

EVE

And stop calling me that!

The Elijans all look understandably confused by her anger. Eve is clearly trying to keep from exploding further, which makes them even more nervous. With some effort, she manages to calm herself enough to speak again.

STELIOS

(somewhat reverently)

Holy One, we only wish...

EVE

(glaring)

I don't want to hear it, Stelios.

STELIOS

But...

Eve brings up a warning finger.

EVE

Shush!

The dark-haired Elijan opens his mouth to argue further. Eve glares harder, lips pressed tight.

EVE

Shhh!

They resume their staring match for several moments before the young man relents. Eve nods, satisfied, and addresses the rest of them.

EVE

All of you go and gather supplies for the next full moon. We'll need enough to last us all, and I mean all of us, until we reach Rome.

The Elijans look between themselves, none of them moving.

EVE

(shouting)

Move!

Alone and in pairs the Elijans leave. The first one who spoke lingers behind, but can't quite meet Eve's stare.

EVE

Including you, Stelios.

The young man looks at her with a strange, almost sullen expression.

STELIOS

As you wish, Holy One.

Eve turns away quick and clenches her teeth.

EVE

And stop calling me that!

She shakes her head at all this and offers a kind smile to the fruit vendor.

EVE

How much for a full dozen?

CUT TO:

24. EXT. ALLEYWAY - DAY

A pair of heavies watches Eve haggle with the vendor. We recognize them from "Strange Tidings". The first, a rather heavyset man with little hair, nods to the second, who is leaner and craftier looking.

HEAVYSET MAN

Well, she's here.

LEAN MAN

Yes.

The first rubs his jaw, then puts a hand on the handle of his knife.

HEAVYSET MAN

Should we take her now?

LEAN MAN

No, not yet. Let's wait until we're sure.

The first nods again.

HEAVYSET MAN

Want to get a drink?

The second one thinks about it for a moment, then nods. They move off to find the nearest tavern.

Behind them, we catch sight of a shadowy figure moving. The figure glides into view for just a moment, then is gone, leaving us uncertain of whom it was watching.

CUT TO:

25.EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

We now watch from a different angle, seeing the pair withdraw into the crowd. A short way over we see Eve very actively haggling with the poor vendor, who is holding his hands up in total surrender.

We pull back a bit, finding we have been watching from Xena and Gabrielle's point of view. Both are wearing cloaks that nearly conceal them from us. Gabrielle is smirking, evidentially having seen Eve scold her followers earlier.

Xena by contrast is almost snarling. Her fists open and close unconsciously. She's clearly got murder on her mind.

Gabrielle sees this and nudges her. Xena glares, only to be met with an equally determined gaze from her partner, who shakes her head once.

GABRIELLE

Not yet. Like we planned.

Xena glares at the now empty alleyway again and walks in the opposite direction. Gabrielle takes a last look at Eve before she follows.

GABRIELLE

(muttering to herself)

I hope this works.

As she turns away, she pauses and goes completely still.

CUT TO:

26.EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

Across the concourse is a figure draped in a cloak similar to hers. A wide, almost sinister smile is visible from under the hood, but nothing further.

CUT TO:

27.EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

Gabrielle's features harden, and she herself turns away.

CUT TO:

28.EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

Eve continues to move through the stalls, heedless of the odd looks given her from several people she passes. At one point she pauses and looks over her shoulder, looking uncertain and unsettled.

We follow her view, seeing only vendors and merchants. The whole scene is almost surreal, as it is ordinary.

Things begin to move in slow motion as she resumes her shopping. We see the pair from earlier emerge from the crowd, deadly intent in their eyes. They look ready to kill her. The lean one even has his knife unsheathed and held ready.

Eve remains completely unaware of their approach. She continues on, nearly running into the dark-haired Elijan from earlier, who is suddenly standing there before her.

EVE

(surprised)

Stelios? What...?

Stelios doesn't speak. Rather he grabs her by her upper arms and swings her around to face the pair behind her.

Eve, while obviously surprised by this sudden turn of events, doesn't appear frightened. In fact, if anything she looks almost relieved.

EVE

(calmly)

Servants of the Emperor Nero, I presume.

LEAN MAN

(formally)

Caesar awaits you in Rome, Livia.

Eve flinches slightly, but quickly recovers herself. She stands tall before them all and nods decisively.

EVE

Then let's not keep Caesar waiting.

(beat)

Shall we?

With that, she easily shrugs off Stelios' grip and shoves her full basket into the first Roman's chest. The heavyset man stumbles back a pace, surprised. Eve shoulders past them both, unconcerned.

The three look between themselves, unbalanced by her abrupt acquiescence. The heavyset man shoves the basket into his partner's chest, nearly knocking over the man in the process, and moves over to take possession of Eve's right arm, gripping it tighter than necessary.

The lean man in turn tosses the basket to the traitorous Stelios and hurries after them. Stelios looks at the basket in his hands for a moment before unceremoniously dropping it and following the others.

The basket and its contents lie there on the ground for a moment, then a pair of familiar boots appears beside it. We pan upwards to reveal it is Xena again, looking even more enraged than before.

Gabrielle, however, is nowhere to be seen. Even so, Xena remains where she is.

XENA

(muttering to herself)

This had better work!

FADE TO:

29.EXT. PORT - DAY

Eve is escorted none too gently towards a docked ship. While she's uninjured and still wearing a determined look, she clearly is getting tired of being pulled along like this. With a simple, graceful move she shakes off the heavyset Roman.

EVE

(testily)

I can walk perfectly well on my own, thank you!

The Romans are clearly getting tired of loosing control of the situation.

HEAVYSET MAN

(equally testy)

Quiet, traitor!

For emphasis, the lean man nudges her in the breast with his dagger. Stelios snickers aloud, but everyone ignores him.

EVE

Poke me with that again and I'll...

LEAN MAN

Move traitor. Caesar is waiting.

A staring contest ensues between the two.

CUT TO:

30.EXT. PORT - DAY

A pair of nearby Elijans sees what is happening and is clearly agitated by the sight of their leader being held captive. They prepare to move forward when familiar hands fall on each of their shoulders.

The two turn together and see Gabrielle shake her head, her features tight and set.

CUT TO:

31.EXT. PORT - DAY

The staring match between Eve and the Romans continues.

EVE

If you're going to kill me...

LEAN MAN

(reassuring)

We are ordered to deliver you to Caesar, alive and safe.

The heavyset man cracks his knuckles.

HEAVYSET MAN

(threatening)

He didn't say you had to be unharmed.

Eve pins him with a stare, then looks between them for a moment, trying to gauge how dangerous these two are. She glances at Stelios, who is unable to meet her gaze.

She catches sight of Xena in the crowd behind them, but is careful to give no sign that she's actually seen her. Eve bites her upper lip and glares at them again.

EVE

There's no need for threats. I said I'd come peacefully.

LEAN MAN

Then go aboard, please.

EVE

(slightly exasperated)

At least stop waving that knife around, will you?

The Roman chuckles and points to the ramp with the knife. Eve rolls her eyes but says nothing further, climbing the ramp as directed. The heavyset man follows her; his lean partner moves to follow but is stopped by Stelios.

STELIOS

My payment.

LEAN MAN

Ah, yes. The wages of betrayal.

The lean man calmly turns and rams his knife into Stelios's chest and shoves him into the water. Eve turns and sees this, a look of horror crossing her face.

EVE

No!

The heavyset man unceremoniously shoves her the rest of the way up the gangplank, stopping further protest. The lean man grins to himself, casually flipping the knife in his hand and quickly wiping it down with a cloth before returning it to its sheath. He looks down at the dead body floating in the water and tosses the cloth in after it and follows up the gangplank.

CUT TO:

32.EXT. PORT - DAY

Xena and Gabrielle, still wearing their heavy cloaks, watch the lean man board.

SAILOR

(distantly)

Cast off!

They watch the ship cast off and leave the dock. Xena is clearly less than pleased with the whole affair. Gabrielle sees this and tries to be reassuring.

GABRIELLE

This will work Xena.

Xena however only has eyes for the departing ship.

XENA

(snarling)

It had better.

Xena stalks off, leaving Gabrielle to watch the ship for another few moments. She spies the same grinning figure from before, standing among the workers on the dock, all of whom move about as though they don't see him.

CUT TO:

33.EXT. PORT - DAY

Another close up of that grin, though now there is more of the face visible: the chin is prominent and pointed, and the teeth are perfectly set and gleaming white. There is something unsettling about this smile, almost insane. It nevertheless seems familiar to us, though the identity of the figure still remains uncertain.

CUT TO:

34.EXT. PORT - DAY

Gabrielle's face hardens once more, determination almost glowing from her.

GABRIELLE

This… Will… Work!

She might be speaking to herself or the figure; we can't be certain. The warrior bard marches off after she speaks.

FADE TO:

35.EXT. IMPERIAL PALACE - DAY

CAPTION

Caesar's Palace

We have a brief shot of the Imperial Palace in Rome, legionnaires and citizens moving about in the foreground.

FADE TO:

36.INT. NERO'S THRONE ROOM - DAY

In a scene reminiscent of "The God You Know", we watch from behind the ornate throne as a chained Eve is dragged into the throne room and dumped before the only other occupant, who is comfortably seated on the throne.

Nero is as he appeared in the teaser, although he is scowling deeply. The scowl remains as she is all but thrown at his feet. He actually sighs and rises to his feet.

NERO

(sounding unimpressed)

The infamous Livia, I presume?

Eve shakes her head and rises to her feet, defiantly meeting the emperor's stare head on. Nero sighs again and draws a sword from beside the throne.

NERO

(still unimpressed)

I had hoped you would give me at least some entertainment. Still...

EVE

(still defiant)

Do you expect me to beg for my life?

Nero looks at her, an almost lazy grin replacing his scowl. He strolls down the dais to stand directly before her. He then traces her cheek with his free hand.

Eve stands completely still under his touch, the first flicker of fear crossing her eyes.

NERO

No.

He brings the sword up, hefting it with calm decision. He suddenly seizes her hair and brings his lips nearly to her ear.

NERO

(whispering)

I expect your blood to decorate this blade. Now!

Nero throws her back to the floor. Eve looks up again, still defiant but not quite as confident, as the emperor raises his sword to deliver the killing blow.

CUT TO BLACK:

END ACT I

ACT II