Xenia stood in front of Nadia, “And what is your name? Why has Hammond placed so much faith in you?”

Nadia maintained a respectful tone as she promptly answered, “My name is Nadia Singer. I am a former Navy SEAL of the United States and current member of the president’s cabinet.”

“A former SEAL?” Xenia gasped with excitement, “Then you are quite capable physically and mentally. Hammond and I haven’t spent a lot of time together though he always shows good taste.”

Nadia bowed her head, “I will relay your compliment to him, Empress BloodStar.”

Xenia reached out to Nadia moving a strand of hair out of her face before resting her hand softly against Nadia’s cheek, “Please do. I like Hammond.”

Xenia then pulled her hand away and smiled down at her envelope, “A bold man, Hammond. As I’m sure if the Heraklinos Empire found out about this gift, small as it may be, they would be not so happy.”

Nadia immediately said, “That possibility was discussed. Many were against it. So many in fact that Hammond sent me without the approval of the entire cabinet.”

Xenia smiled and nodded her head to herself, “I know he’s a little old for me, but his decisiveness and insight are both turning me on a little.” She bit her lip before continuing, “Maybe even a lot.”

She then looked to Nadia, “Men really can’t be too old for us girls, can they?”

“They cannot, Empress. Though, regardless, rules and customs don’t apply to someone of your stature.” Nadia answered respectfully.

Xenia laughed, “No! I suppose they don’t!”

She then began to open the envelope and retrieved the card from within with a handwritten note from President Hammond:

“On behalf of the United States, we would like to all congratulate you and Nero both and wish you a long and happy marriage. Personally, I would also like to congratulate you on your rise to Empress. Last we spoke in person, you were a Warlord wearing snakeskin pants in Texas ready to rope cattle. Now, you are an Empress ready to take on the world!...”

Xenia laughed to herself as she recalled the time Hammond gave her information regarding Star Point Base and softly said to herself, “Oh Hammond, you remember me in such detail do you? I must have had an effect.”

“…During that same meeting I also told you that friends look out for one another. Look past their shortcomings and mistakes. Someone who can be counted on in times of need. Friendship rises above war. It rises above politics. I am not writing to you as President of the United States. I am writing to you as a friend. As a friend, I will ensure the United States maintains an open mind to working with the new order of the world as the power structures in place continue to shift towards a new axis, your axis. As a show of good faith, I also present to you a wedding gift. I am sure you have received many lavish gifts, but I hold the courage to say this one may very well be your favorite.

If you are so inclined – please be at the coordinates listed below tomorrow morning to find your gift waiting for you. You may recognize these coordinates as the safety bunker beneath the White House which you have once visited. While I will leave the actual gift as a surprise, I assure you that the security and surveillance systems will be undergoing ‘routine maintenance’ for complete discretion should you want it.

Lastly, I place great faith in Ms. Nadia Singer. If she is still alive by the time you read this, I would be grateful for you to send her back in one piece. Don’t shoot the messenger as it were. Cheers.”

Xenia folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. She then walked to her nightstand and placed the letter in a drawer before turning and walking back towards Nadia.

She laid both of her outstretched arms over Nadia’s shoulders and came face-to-face with her with a smile, “Hammond really knows how to treat a girl, doesn’t he?”

Nadia gave a halfhearted smile through her fear and anxiety and nodded.

“He didn’t even tell me what my gift is. It’s a surprise. God I love surprises.” Xenia then looked Nadia directly in the eyes, “Will you give him my thanks?”

Nadia nodded her head emphatically, “Yes! Yes, of course, Empress.”

Xenia then leaned in and began to kiss Nadia on the lips sensually. In between kisses, Xenia said, “Give it to him just like this.”

She continued kissing Nadia as she moved both of her hands to Nadia’s cheeks and held her head in place kissing her with increasing passion, “And I do mean just like this, Nadia.”

Xenia then licked Nadia’s face from her chin to her forehead before pushing her away, “Just like that. Or I’ll kill you. And trust me, I’ll know.”

Xenia smiled and turned as she began to walk away; however, she abruptly turned around, “Oh but Nadia, you invaded my room. You invaded my privacy. You think yourself better than the Empress of the BloodStar Empire?”

Xenia’s smile persisted though now it was smile of a predator preparing to play with its prey.

Nadia felt a heavy sense of fear wash over her as she realized any hope of leaving this encounter completely unscathed had just gone out the window.

Xenia snapped her fingers, “Nero!”

Nero walked up behind Xenia, “Yes, my Empress.”

“Restrain Miss Singer, please.”

Nero grunted and walked over to a fear-stricken Nadia whose respiratory rate had doubled in mere seconds. She was frozen with fear and indecision. Her instincts from SEAL training told her to run, escape, and survive. However, she also knew there was no hope of escaping. Her only hope now was mercy at the hands of an Empress who knew very little of such mercy.

Nero walked behind Nadia and gripped her neck entirely with just one massive hand. Xenia then walked closer to Nadia, “I want so badly to kill you. So badly.”

She sighed and let out a long breath, “But Hammond, my friend, wants you back alive. He even asked as much in his letter.”

Xenia began to pace in front of Nadia, “So what is a girl to do?”

Xenia then looked at Nadia with an evil smile, “Only the strongest survive. Isn’t that right Miss Singer? So let’s see how strong you are. Let’s see how badly you want to survive.”

Xenia then snapped her fingers playfully, “Nero, darling. Break a bone in every limb, please.”

Without hesitation, Nero snapped one of Nadia’s forearms at a right angle exposing both the radius and ulna along with a mash of exposed soft tissue and blood from severed vessels.

Nadia fell to her knees in excruciating pain as she cried out with a yell. She hardly had time to process the pain as Nero grabbed her other arm and snapped her upper arm in a similar manner exposing her humerus bone as it protruded through the skin.

He then pushed her face forward onto the floor and stomped on both of her lower legs. Instead of having compound fractures of her lower legs with exposed bone, her tibias and fibulas were pulverized to dust within the confines of her body.

Xenia laughed softly to herself as she walked back over to her nightstand and grabbed a small tablet out of a bottle. As she walked back over to Nadia with the tablet in her hand, she snapped her fingers again, “Hold her up please darling.”

Nero grabbed Nadia off the floor and held her facing Xenia.

Nadia was so completely overwhelmed with pain that she could no longer yell and instead just breathed heavily as if trying to survive.

Xenia stuck her tongue out and placed the tablet on the tip of her tongue. She then lunged forward kissing Nadia intensely while holding her head firmly with both hands. While they kissed, Xenia stuck her tongue in Nadia’s mouth transferring the tablet.

Xenia then released her hands from Nadia’s head and took a step back and bloodbent Nadia, “Chew it.”

Nadia was forced to chew the tablet and as she did, an intense, sharp, and unabating pain began to course through her entire body causing her to once again scream out in agony with no stop.

“Originally a gas, I’ve since learned to make Compound X in all states of matter. Tablet form being my new favorite. So, enjoy your X. I hope you survive while it runs its course. The only person who can stop it is me, and you are about to be hundreds and thousands of miles away from me.”

Xenia then opened a void portal and pointed to it with a snap of her fingers, “If you would be so kind, Nero.”

Nero nodded and grunted before taking Nadia’s writhing body and hurling it through the portal.

Xenia smiled at Nero and beckoned him with her finger as she walked back to the bed. She grabbed two more tablets and moved to stand seductively in front of Nero. She pulled at the tie of her robe allowing it to fall to the ground and then placed a tablet in his mouth before taking one for herself and chewing it.

As the pain began to take hold, Xenia ran her tongue over her front teeth and moaned, “Are you ready, Nero? Are you ready? To fuck me. All. Night. Long.”

________________________________________

Elsewhere, in the United States, at a hospital in Washington D.C., a large portal opened in the emergency room. Everyone gasped as they turned their heads to see a body fall out of it with broken bones. The lady who landed in the emergency room screamed and cried in agony writhing on the floor as nurses ran to assess her.