Chapter 46: Only Bad Decisions

Elsewhere, it was nearly 2:00 am in the morning as Senator Arthur Davis found himself within the White House elevator traveling downwards to the subterranean meeting room with the President and the remainder of the war council. He had just returned from his trip from the BloodStar Empire, and he was exhausted. However, the council would not wait to hear his news.

Flanked by two secret service agents, Davis felt safe but also knew they offered little protection against the true dangers of the world. He sighed with exhaustion as the elevator dinged upon arrival. The doors opened, and the agents escorted him to the high-tech and secure meeting room.

As he entered, he heard numerous voices attempting to talk over one another in what was a very active meeting given the time of night. President Monroe turned to see the door open as Arthur walked in, “Senator Davis! At last, we might finally get some useful information to help break our current standstill.”

Senator Davis gulped at the scene. It was apparent that there lay a split amongst the opinions in the room. Unfortunately, he did not come baring any definitive news.

He walked silently to the podium and softly said, “Where to start. Let’s see.”

Senator Hammond rashly called out, “Is she dead or not? Start there!”

Arthur gave a half smile and said, “I wish it were that simple.”

Vice President Morrow shook his head and crossed his arms in his seat, “Great. This isn’t the news we were hoping for. Is it Senator?”

Arthur shook his head, “I’m afraid it’s complicated.”

President Monroe finally took his seat after pacing back and forth, “Fine. Let’s let him brief us. If it’s complicated, we shall do our best to hold all questions until you are finished.”

Arthur nodded, “Thank you Mr. President.” Arthur then cleared his throat, “You have undoubtedly heard the circulating reports of King Ramses and Queen Zara attesting to the confirmation of Xenia’s death.”

The audience nodded in response before he continued, “Well. I was there. I stood shoulder to shoulder with them both before they entered the ceremonial sanctuary to view the fallen Xenia BloodStar.”

He loosened his tie and continued, “They were in the ceremonial chamber for no more than a few minutes before they exited with solemn expressions. Then, it was my turn.”

Arthur paused, and Hammond raised his hands, “Well? And then?”

Arthur replied, “And then I wasn’t invited in.”

The council had a physical reaction to his response. President Monroe raised his voice, “So you went all the way to the BloodStar Empire and Empress Victoria denied you entrance to view her daughter’s body? Does she know that her actions carry earth-moving consequences in situations like this?!”

Arthur nodded, “She knows. She and I took a walk. She imparted to me that she was well aware of how highly Xenia valued her relationship with me. More importantly, she noted that because of my and indeed our relationship with Xenia, she urged us all to maintain a friendly alignment with the BloodStar Empire. She simply said to trust her.”

Vice President Monroe threw a stack of papers from his desk as he raged, “Trust her?! Trust her?!” He stood up and began to pace, “We have to decide whether to submit to the Master Families of the world or sacrifice our country in bloodshed to the Holy Light Empire… and she wants us to simply trust her?!”

Arthur raised his hands, “If everyone would take their seats. I have some musings of my own regarding these actions. Much more tempered musings given the time I have had to contemplate the events on my travels home.”

They all took their seats at Arthur’s request, and he began, “What is in that ceremonial sanctuary? I do think within those chambers lies Xenia or her body. Personally. I think she is heavily injured. On the verge of death. I think King Ramses and Queen Zara are playing the odds, and I think the odds are that a heavily injured Xenia is set to die. I also think that Empress Victoria knows the odds of her daughter’s recovery, but I also think she is hopeful.”

He walked from the podium and took his own seat amongst the council, “She said to trust her. She clearly didn’t want me to see Xenia because I too would’ve assumed her dead. I believe Xenia truly must be on the verge of death, and I believe Empress Victoria is desperate for an ally on the world stage. Now that Xenia is dead or dying… I think Victoria is counting on her daughter’s recovery. And if not… I think she is willing to battle alongside us herself.”

President Monroe held up his hands and said, “Whoa whoa whoa. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. If Empress Victoria intends to fight, we will have more than just the Holy Light Empire to worry about. If she engages one Master Family, she is engaging them all. They have no tolerance for her given her history. And if we can’t count on that route, we are left hoping that Xenia recovers? I don’t like the sound of that all.”

Arthur took a deep breath, “I don’t like the sound of it either. But, what other options do we have?”

Hammond grunted, “We don’t have any good options, and that is why no one will be pleased when we ultimately go with a badoption.”

President Monroe blew Hammond’s comment off and said, “Is submitting to rulership under a Master Family other than the Holy Light Empire such a bad idea? We could preserve our culture and many of our liberties rather than dying in vain.”

Arthur immediately said, “My state, Texas, lies on the border of the Holy Light Empire. Houston has already been annihilated. Texans won’t simply give up. They will fight with or without aid from the BloodStar Empire. The people of my state have always had a standing decision. We fight. That is as true today as it was hundreds of years ago. If you want Texas, come and take it!”

President Monroe stood up angered and shouted, “Then it is your job to save them from themselves in this losing battle!”

Vice President Morrow stood up and calmly said, “Gentleman. Gentleman. Please.” He looked at both of them silently allowing the tension to simmer down and said, “Let’s all get some rest. We have many avenues to consider going forward, and we won’t get far if we debate the merits of each at this time of night while exhausted.”

The council agreed as each member nodded their heads. Several members also yawned. President Monroe nodded, “I think that’s a good idea. Some of us could use some fresh air it seems. This meeting is adjourned.”

________________

The next morning Jacek had awoken early before sunrise to begin his training. He found himself on the royal grounds practicing ki blasts. His powerful blasts left the countryside torn up, and his training looked more akin to terraforming than martial arts.

“aahhhHHHHHH!!!” Jacek’s shirt began to bulge from his underlying muscles gathering the entirety of his ki into a flame like collection around his body. He gave a loud battle cry as the ki energy surged around him more and more until finally a threshold was met which sent his ki parabolic.

As his energy surged further and further around him, his shirt began to shred into the ki leaving him shirtless as he continued to roar. Once Jacek had tamed the flickering ki around him into a calm state of frightening power, he stood hyperventilating.

After a few moments of catching his breath, he roared once again, “AAARRRHHHH!!” A missile like trail of ki shot forth from his body and into the sky. The trail of powerful ki lit up the morning sky as it ascended.

Once in the air, the ki massive ki blast then arched downwards. Citizens of the Heraklinos Empire stood in awe from miles around at the brilliant display in the sky. And as the ki blast shot down from the sky, the people then braced themselves.

The mighty blast slammed into the ground rocking the Earth for miles around. Huge chunks of rock and land went flying. Jacek maintained his aura around him to block himself from the flying debris.

A rock fragment the size of a bus flew directly at him, and he merely roared with his aura as the giant fragment slammed into him nearly disintegrating into a million pieces upon contact.

Jarek looked on from afar in his palace tower thinking to himself, “He is improving by leaps and bounds. Such a concentrated blast, and yet, his ki reserves are hardly touched. He has finally turned his stamina from a weakness to a strength I daresay.”

Jarek mused to himself more, “The fighters to help train him in the Perfect Warrior technique should be here soon. He will be ready. No. He will be more than ready.”

On the ground, Jacek suddenly heard a call to him. An attendant used a loudspeaker from afar as to avoid certain death, “Lord Heraklinos! Master Sage wishes to see you now.”

Jacek called back, “Tell her I will be in shortly after my training.”

The attendant called once more on the loud speaker, “Excuse my persistence my Lord. Master Sage has asked me to relay to you that if you are more than a second late past 10:30 am, she will be sure to make her displeasure known to you.”

Jacek looked at the clock tower in the distance. It read: ‘10:26 am’. He then looked to the attendant and gave a disgruntled scowl. He was shirtless and his pants were ragged having barely survived his training. He thought to himself, “Fine. If she wants to see me immediately then she can bare my lack of readiness.”

He diffused the ki around his body and made way for Master Sage’s suite within the palace.

If there was one thing Jacek didn’t particularly care for it was having his training interrupted. He marched through palace grounds, down the hallway, and around several corners as he rapidly approached Mistress Sage’s suite.

As he approached, his pace didn’t slow, and as he reached her set of double doors… he walked right in without knocking or waiting for any kind of invitation at all.

He walked in to find the welcome area empty, and he called out, “Erika! This had better be good. I was in the middle of intense training.”

The door suddenly closed behind him, and he jumped. He turned to see Erika who had been standing behind the door against the wall. And his jaw dropped.

Standing before him was Erika in an exact copy of Xenia’s all black leather military outfit complete with a riding crop in hand. Jacek looked her up and down thinking to himself, “Holy shit. Skintight. Leather. Perfect fit. She may not fill out the outfit with Xenia’s big boobs, toned ass, or powerful legs, but this is drop dead sexy.”

Erika walked forward towards him, “Erika? Who is Erika? You had better get my name straight. And fast. Because you’re already in trouble. You’re late.” She walked around him while he stood speechless. She ran the riding crop along his body as she circled him and said, “Now what should I do to teach you your lesson.”

Jacek stood in awe and finally answered, “Whatever you please, Mistress Xenia.”

Erika hadn’t expected him to answer with the honorific of ‘Mistress’, but she loved the sound and the power of the title.

She took a few steps back and said, “You have one thing right. Now let’s get another thing right.” She then snapped her fingers and said, “Strip naked. Now!”

Jacek immediately started to strip, and Erika felt a rush of power unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She had one of the strongest fighters and most eligible bachelors in the world jumping at her command.

Once he was done stripping, she left the room beckoning him with her finger to follow her to her room. He followed her into her bedroom to find her laying on her bed partially supported by her pillows at the head of the bed.

She beckoned him once more, and said, “Show me how you worship a goddess. If you do a good job, I’ll agree to be your girlfriend once more.”

Jacek began to climb onto the bed himself, but she suddenly stopped him with the stiletto heel of her boot against his shoulder, “Oh but first Jacek. You have to accept my curse. Now just relax.”

Jacek knew he was much too powerful for her to curse him at will without using all of her ki; however, he knew if he didn’t fight it, she could easily curse him with very little energy.

She gathered a ball of green ki in her palm and began to chant in an ancient tongue unique to her family. She then cast the ki onto Jacek and watched it diffuse and absorb into his body.

He stood still as the curse took its hold. Then, he looked to Erika. She said, “Oh don’t worry. It’s nothing too dangerous. But if you don’t cum in 15 minutes, then you will die. But we have plenty of time. I want you to worship me and love me first.”

She gave him a devilish smile as she leaned back further into the bed and said, “Why don’t you start with my boots.”

Jacek leaned down at the foot of the bed and began to softly kiss Erika’s boots. He slowly worked his way up her boots kissing the toe, then the laces, and finally the bare leather as he continued up to her legs next. He started on the outside of her lower leg and worked his way kissing her softly until he reached her inner thigh.

He ever so slowly began to move up to her abdomen kissing her shiny leather outfit. She moaned with pleasure and arched her back as he continued up to her boobs and chest continuing to kiss her sensually over her outfit.

At last, he reached her neck partially covered by her leather outfit. He stopped at neck level and began to kiss her neck softly and sensually. As he kissed her neck, she ran her leather gloves over his naked body rubbing his chiseled muscles.

She moaned and wrapped her legs around his body on top of hers and said, “Are you trying to give me a hickey baby?” She grabbed his hair and pulled his head up to look her in the eye, “Keep going Jacek. Mark me as your own.”

She then shoved his head back down to her neck as he continued to kiss her and suck on her neck ravenously. Erika had never experienced quite a rush. She had never been the target of a man’s eyes so ravenous for her, and she loved it. She was intoxicated with pleasure and power.

After several minutes, Erika pushed Jacek off of her and said, “You’ve more than made me happy, Jacek. Now tell me my name. Yell it!”

Jacek laid back on the bed and yelled, “Xenia! Mistress Xenia!”

She smiled as she positioned herself between his legs and said, “Now you just relax. It’s my turn to have fun.”

Jacek laid back on the bed and waited for his mistress to have her fun. She knelt down and began to kiss the shaft of his raging hard cock. To see him standing at attention for her with no effort made her feel so powerful and so sexy.

She kissed the shaft of his cock and sucked on it giving him his own private hickey for a few moments until she finally began to suck on his entire cock. She wrapped her lips around the head of his hard cock and did her best to swallow it whole.

She slid his cock in and out of her mouth. Given their intimate foreplay, Jacek was already primed. He neared his climax with speed, and he moaned, “I’m so close, Xenia!”

She stopped briefly and teased him, “You’re close? Want me to keep going?”

He nodded furiously, but she said, “Oh but remember, you were a bad boy. As your punishment, you’ll have to finish it from here.” She ran her hands down her slender waist and leather outfit and said, “But since you’ve done such a great job worshipping me, you can cum all over my chest.”

She laid back on the pillows and Jacek straddled himself over her as he began to jerk his cock to her. She encouraged him saying, “Come on, shoot your load all over me. Give me what I want.”

After a minute or so, Jacek began to cum. He blew his load forcefully all over her chest. His orgasm was so intense, he pumped out wave after wave of cum for nearly a minute until he finally came to a stop.

Erika looked up at him and smiled, “Maybe if you’re on time for our next meeting, I’ll let you cum inside of me. Would you like that, Jacek?”

Jacek nodded and looked down at the mess he had made all over Erika. She quietly smiled and said, “Good job honey. You were more than safe from reaching the fifteen-minute mark of my curse. Can I be your girlfriend now?” She pulled him closer and said, “Actually, I’m not giving you the choice. I amyour girlfriend now. The hickey on my neck proves it!”

She jumped up and laughed before saying, “Now. I am going to go change… unless you want the entire empire knowing what we did. And then we are going to lunch!  Get dressed!”

Jacek sat back on the bed and smiled to himself. While he knew he would never get the sadistic lashing, choking, and mutilation that only a truly overpowering dominatrix like Xenia could dish out, he was more than happy to settle for Erika now that Xenia had died in battle. And while he craved the near-death experiences mixed with sex that only a freak like Xenia would ever dare to try, he also knew those cravings weren’t exactly healthy to indulge in. So, for the first time in a long time… he sat back on the bed completely happy.