Zara quickly started to dial Captain Felton’s private line. The phone began to ring as she urged, “Come on. Pick up, pick up!”
Then a voice picked up, “Queen Zara, I hope all is well. What can I do for you?”
Zara urgently asked, “Where are you, right this moment?”
Felton with a bit of confusion in his voice answered, “We have just finished our sniper training for the morning, and we are in the royal guard field house now. You will be quite pleased to know that our ki-enhanced sniper training-“
Felton was cut off by Zara, “Listen very closely! Xenia is intent on ridding the empire of anyone who would oppose her. That includes me and King Ramses. And that includes the entire royal guard. She is on her way to you right now. Just do as she says, please. I will handle her when I return.”
Felton frowned as he looked up to see Xenia walk in through the front door of the field house. He quietly said into the phone, “She is here. I will have to call you back.”
He then hung up the phone and turned to Xenia greeting her as she walked in, “Warlord BloodStar. Welcome, welcome! To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, and how may we be of service?”
She smiled politely at him and said, “Ramses and Zara have grown increasingly defiant to my orders as they practice diplomacy in the Sage Empire. I have come to find out if the same is true of their royal guard.”
Felton assumed a stern face, “If you mean King Ramses and Queen Zara then I can assure you they have the utmost loyalty to our empire and our Empress Victoria. The same can be said of our elite unit. All fifteen of us would die for the Empress, King, or Queen.”
Xenia was annoyed that Felton had all but corrected her for not using the honorifics of King and Queen when referring to Ramses and Zara. She pushed her tongue against her cheek and crossed her arms before saying, “I see. No mention of your future empress in the list of those you would die for.”
Felton began, “Warlord BloodStar, you hold a very high place –“
Xenia bloodbent his vocal cords shut, and then forced him to his knees in front of her, “The last thing I need is to be corrected and patronized by a lowly captain of the royal guard.”
She bloodbent him further forcing him to kiss her boots and lick them clean while she continued, “I am here to find out if your loyalty to those you hold so dear is an impediment to showing loyalty to me. I am your Warlord and future empress, but your unit has never shown reverence to me. That in combination with the defiance your King and Queen have displayed leaves me to wonder… are you and your soldiers better off dead?”
She released him from her bloodbending hold; however, he wasn’t foolish enough to stand back up. He continued to willingly lick her boots clean and kiss them up and down.
She smiled down at him with her hands on her hips, “Now tell me Captain Felton. Why would I for a second be afraid to kill your entire squad right here? Victoria gives me free reign, and Ramses and Zara are weaklings who I would dare to attack me.”
Felton found himself in an unenviable position. He had started off strong and cocky against Xenia; however, he now realized his massive mistake. There was no bluffing Xenia. She was here on a mission. She was looking for the slimmest reason to kill him, and he had all but given it to her.
He thought hard and finally said in between his kisses, “Warlord BloodStar. Our value to your future empire is plain to see. There are things this unit can do that none can even dream of.”
Xenia sarcastically said, “None? Not even my supremely talented self? I find that hard to believe. Tell me what skills you have that I could never dream of.”
Felton stuttered as he once again found himself explaining his mistakes, “Well, what I meant was-“
She kicked him in the face and said, “Tell me!”
He flew back landing on his back with blood running down his face. He said, “Our skills with the sniper rifle are second to none around the world. Although we are gifted ki users, we have found that our strongest skill set is one of natural intuition and aim with long range rifles.”
Xenia smiled devilishly, “Is that so?” She thought for a moment, and said, “Very well. I like competition more than the average girl. Let’s have one.”
Felton looked up at her from the ground, “Warlord? A competition?”
She laughed, “Yes, a competition involving your best skill. A sniper rifle competition. You can choose the weapon; I will choose the place. We each choose our own terms. If I win, I kill every single one of you. And if you win?...”
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Felton for the first time since Xenia had arrived felt a sigh of relief wash over his body. Powerful ki users had huge disadvantages when it came to skills that required no ki. Not because they weren’t capable but because they never had a need to practice such lowly skill sets that ‘anyone’ could learn. He thought quickly as to make an extremely favorable deal for his unit and his King and Queen. The threat of death for failure didn’t cross his mind for a single second. He was that confident.
He spoke up saying, “If we win, you honor the King and Queen as a separate branch of government devoted to diplomacy. This branch would be written into law as a component that is free of oversight or command by both the Warlord and the Empress.”
Xenia smirked, “Done.”
She outstretched her hand waiting for Felton to stand and shake on it. She said, “I respect a man who is willing to put his life on the line to prove a point.”
Felton stood and shook her hand. She then said, “The location will be my villa rooftop terrace at 3:00 pm sharp. I will have the targets ready. You bring the weapon and choose your champion to compete against me.”
She smiled and said, “I am quite looking forward to a bit of friendly competition.”
Felton nodded, “We will bring one rifle to be shared, so there can be no foul play.”
She blew him a kiss and said, “Very well.” She turned to leave, and Felton called out, “And one last thing. The best sniper on the unit is me. I will be your competitor.”
She merely looked back and smiled at him as she continued to walk out the front door.
Felton turned to his men and yelled, “We all knew this day would come men! And we have quite a favorable opportunity to gain the upper hand for our King and Queen moving forward.”
The lieutenant stepped forward and said, “Captain! Will you be using your M95 Barrett sniper rifle?”
Felton nodded, “Correct, Lieutenant. It is old, clunky, and extremely familiar to me. And most importantly, Xenia has likely never fired one in her life.”
Felton smiled, “Boys! Bring the cigars with you this afternoon. This will be like shooting fish in a barrel!”
The men all shouted, “Hoorah!”
___________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, Xenia had zero concern for her preparation for the competition. After all, her life was not on the line as compared to her competitors.
She returned to her villa and immediately made for the command center. She called St. Michael on the big screen, and he quickly answered.
“Good day, Warlord BloodStar.” He greeted her formally.
She responded, “St. Michael, a good day indeed. I hear the meeting of the world leaders went well?”
Michael nodded, “The overwhelming inclination was to take more action against you. Erika Sage was the only Master to oppose it. As you asked, I strongly supported further action against you and your empire.”
Xenia clapped her hands, “A job well done, Michael! Stoking the flames of war for me. Sending the world further into war. You’ve been a very bad boy. I like bad boys.”
Michael respectfully nodded, “Also, as you asked, I have the preliminary plans for your church to be built outside of the capital city. The plans are… quite grand.”
She smiled, “Yes, it will be a church unlike any other. Once its finished, you will help me christen it with sex and bloodshed, won’t you?”
Michael once again nodded, “I would have nothing less.”
She gave a pleased sigh, “But don’t worry. We can have lots of sex and lots of blood before the church is finished as well. Speaking of which, I will be arriving tomorrow at noon. I will land directly on the Basilica’s roof landing pad.”
Michael nodded again, “I will be there personally to greet you. After which, I can give you a rundown and a tour of your new empire.”
She clasped her hands in excitement, “I’ve always heard such wonderful things about the Holy Light Empire. I am quite excited to defile it with our unspeakably grotesque sexual acts everywhere we go.”
Michael responded, “I think you will find your time here to be enjoyable.” He smiled in earnest and followed up, “In fact, I wonder if you will ever want to leave.”
Xenia lowered her chin and said, “Michael! I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.” She bit her lip and then said, “This afternoon I have a small competition to the death with a disloyal royal guard unit.”
Michael furrowed his eye brows and said, “A competition? What kind?”
She took a seat and crossed her legs and flipped her hair back, “A sniper rifle competition.”
He continued to express confusion, “And are you good with the sniper rifle?”
Xenia laughed, “Good? I’m the best. Before traveling the world and stirring up international drama, I was stuck in my empire for a great deal of my youth. When I wasn’t training my ki, I was training with traditional weapons. My primary weapon was of course a sword; however, I also have achieved mastery with spears, handguns, rifles, knives, maces, javelin, jousting, you name it… I’m the best… even the boomerang.”
Michael was impressed, “I had no idea you had such a deep catalogue of mastery with traditional weapons.”
She responded nonplussed, “Well, I don’t use them often anymore, but I do love to torture with them. Also, it is required to reach the Grandmaster level which my mother expected of my martial arts training.”
Michael laughed, “That is not good news for the poor chaps intending to challenge you this afternoon.”
Xenia laughed with him, “It certainly isn’t. I will be spending the remainder of my time before the competition thinking of how I would like to kill him and his unit once I win.”
She stood from her chair and bid him farewell, “I will see you tomorrow, Michael. Make sure your body is ready for me. I’m going to ride you raw during the course of my stay. And, as you say, if I never want to leave then you are going to need all the energy you can spare.”
Michael smiled at her, “I’ve been anxiously awaiting your arrival. I will be ready.”
Xenia ended the call and made way for her master suite. She walked in to find Peter still present. She asked him, “Missing the dungeon?”
He laughed, “Not quite. Though I have been missing you.”
She gave him a surprised look, “Have you now? Then I have a very unique invite for you. I have found myself entered into a sniper rifle competition this afternoon. Come witness it with me, and once I win… we can celebrate right then, right there.”
Peter smiled at her. He had developed an alarming sense of attraction towards Xenia, his captor. He couldn’t explain it clearly but ever since he had woken up this morning he felt a strong attraction to her, both sexual and affectionate attraction.
He nodded, “Count me in. I have become quite accustomed to watching you win at all things. A sniper rifle competition sounds fun. What are the stakes.”
She smiled and laughed, “The poor loser dies if I win. Death by way of my choice. It’s going to be a show!”