Deep within Bella Domina, Xenia stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror with two of her doppelgangers working around her fastening an elaborate Victorian-style wedding dress to her.

The white wedding dress was free-flowing from the waist down; however, it began to hug her body from the hips upward until the lace material stopped halfway up her chest. From there, a fine, thin, white, and translucent meshwork covered the upper part of her chest and extended halfway up her neck. The meshwork also extended down her arms forming delicate sleeves.

Xenia admired her beautiful wedding dress in the mirror until the door to her room opened. Through the mirror she saw John Vand enter.

He stood at a respectful distance and bowed his head, “You summoned me, Empress?”

Xenia snapped her fingers and her doppelgangers vanished into puffs of black smoke whisked away by the air as if they never existed, “I was hoping you could help fasten my corset nice and tight for me.”

John nodded his head with a smile, “Why I’d love to empress though I am sure your doppelganger’s can do the job better than I.”

Xenia smiled at him through the mirror, “Come now John, you know I always prefer a man’s touch upon my body.”

He walked up behind her and grabbed the thin but strong laces of the white corset tastefully built into her dress covered by lace and seemingly invisible to the casual observer. As he fastened the corset from top to bottom, he asked, “Trying on wedding dresses for your big day with BloodStar Immortal Nero?”

She smirked as she admired her body and dress in the mirror, “Oh I’m not trying dresses on. This is my dress. I’ve long since picked it out.”

John worked diligently yet also carried on with the conversation, “I’m a bit surprised, I must say.”

“Oh? And why is that John?”

“I would’ve pegged you for a black leather, pvc, or latex dress. Or maybe a BloodStar red wedding dress. Of course, the traditional white looks better on you than anyone else I daresay. A stunning choice.”

Xenia laughed against the pressure of her corset, “Leather, pvc, latex? Well of course I would prefer those materials. They are so dominant. But they aren’t very absorbent, are they?”

“Absorbent, empress?” John furrowed his brow in confusion.

Xenia offered a playful fake gasp, “John! You aren’t too knowledgeable on BloodStar weddings, are you?”

He bashfully smiled and shook his head while he finished up the last few tight stitches lacing the corset tightly shut.

As he did, Xenia’s smile faded to a devilish smirk, “Rather than tell you, I think I’ll show you what I mean.”

He noted her expression but only remarked on the corset, “Fully tied! You can still breathe, yes?”

“Just barely. But I like it that way.” Xenia grabbed a few BloodStar Rose petals and began to softly intercalate them into her braided hair, “Now for the final touch before I am off to my destination.”

“Your destination?” John was once again confused, “Should you not save your wedding dress for your wedding day?”

She turned around causing the lower half of her dress to twirl in the air with her, “Haven’t you heard? There is another big wedding today. It starts very soon, and I don’t plan to miss it.”

“Surely you don’t mean to crash the Heraklinos-Sage wedding? In a wedding dress no less?” John gave her an expectant look as he awaited her answer with extreme interest.

Xenia was bubbly with a wide smile, “You didn’t think I would ever let Erika have her day, did you? She’s meager, insufferable, and incapable of ruling. She as well as the others played a hand in killing me. In killing my unborn heir.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

She turned with an evil glint in her eyes to look at John directly, “Today is much less about her wedding. And much more about my announcement to the world that I have returned.”

John nodded but quickly retorted with a serious and concerned tone, “Empress if I may offer you counsel, this may prove to be unwise with such a strong complement of other warriors in attendance. The list would be the longest known in the modern world. Jarek, Jacek, Erika, Karasu, Erika, Vega, Ramses, Zara, Starfallen, and countless lesser but still powerful ki users from around the world. You would be stepping in to your grave willingly!”

He and she exchanged looks, and he finished by saying, “This is a beautiful wedding dress you have! Even if you do survive and escape after stealing Erika’s day, I would hate to see the dress sullied before your own big day.”

Xenia softly laughed, “Oh my dress will be sullied. But that’s the point.”

She walked towards John and began to run her hand along his chest and then his shoulder and then his back as she circled him, “You don’t know much about BloodStar weddings, but what do you know about the last Great War.”

He gulped as his empress circled him, “A lot, my empress. A lot.”

“Good! Then tell me… how did my mother lose? How did she become a shadow of her former self for the remainder of her life?”

“She was proving to be too powerful on the battlefield. Her opponents became increasingly desperate. So desperate that they sacrificed more than just one life; they sacrificed many Sage lives, present and future, to curb her power abroad. The Sage master at the time cursed her to give their side a fighting chance.” John spoke softly as he recounted the failure of his empress’s mother.

“Correct!” Xenia continued to slowly pace around John with a menacing step, “And who is the first Sage master to be completely clean of that curse?”

“Erika. Erika Sage.” John bowed his head as he spoke.

“Curses are a powerful form of ki calling on past, present, and future if need be. The power of a curse is beyond comprehension, and the effects can be extremely far reaching throughout both space and time. I don’t like that uncertainty, at all. If we have learned one thing from history, we have learned where to strike first.” Xenia stopped in front of John and smiled.

John cocked his head as his thoughts began to race to convince Xenia to reconsider, “E-E-Empress, I-I-I don’t disagree it would be prudent to eliminate Erika Sage first in an all-out war, we are not in an all-out war.”

Xenia caressed his face with her hand, “Not yet, no.”

“And further- furthermore, this would be the least strategic opportunity to attack. You can teleport. You can attack her in her sleep, you can catch her off guard. You can-“

Xenia grabbed his chin with her hand firmly, “I am not a coward! As a princess, as a general, and as a warlord, I have had to tolerate Erika. I am the BloodStar Empress now! And I will no longer tolerate her!”

Xenia threw him to the ground by the grip of his chin, and he looked up at her still pleading, “My only concern is your safety, empress. Jarek alone is a lethal threat. He will kill you. Jarek fighting with-”

Xenia bloodbent John bringing him to his feet and cinching his vocal cords shut as she grit her teeth and brought him face-to-face with her, “Tell me. Tell me to my face how I will die if I go.”

She released his vocal cords allowing him to speak; however, he remained silent. She then softly said, “If you ever predict my death again, I will torture you for the remainder of your life. And I’ll make sure the remainder of your life is unnaturally long for my own enjoyment.”

She released her grip of him knowing she was liable to crush him at any second due to her anger. He fell to a knee and began to beg for forgiveness, “Forgive me, empress. I have irritated you greatly. I have questioned your judgement. I have-“

“John! Shut up!” Xenia walked over to her dresser and picked up a red spherical stone measuring approximately six inches in diameter, “If you want to make amends for your transgressions. If you want to be back on my good side. Find out what this is.”

She handed him the stone, and he was caught off guard by its extreme weight causing his hand to nearly sink like an anchor into the floor. As he inspected it, Xenia crossed her arms and said, “This stone was, for the lack of a better word, drained from St. Michael when I killed him with an ancient weapon. The weapon, a whip, created it.”

John peered into the red stone holding it in both hands noting the stone to be rather warm as the inner contents swirled like a storm within, “A bloodstone?”

Xenia shook her head, “Not a bloodstone. A bloodstone is ki. Ki is an end product. That which you hold in your hands feels alive. It is not an end product but something that I believe creates power. The essence, the source of Michael’s ki.”

John bowed his head, “I will discreetly research this topic with top scientists around the world. They may not be forthcoming, but they will certainly tell me what I want to hear if I agree to fund their labs for the next century.”

Xenia bloodbent him to a standing position and walked towards him with a big smile, “I’m in a better mood already.” She then licked the side of his face from bottom to top and said, “Now I have a few more petals to put in my braids. Run along now. But keep your eye on the live broadcast of the Heraklinos-Sage wedding.”

She walked back to her mirror and smiled at herself, “I give the best wedding gifts.”