BloodStar

“Your big day is finally here!” Constance smiled with glee as she laced up the back of Xenia’s crimson red wedding dress drenched in the dried blood of Erika Sage.

“No. The BloodStar Empire’s big day is finally here.” Xenia smiled at Constance through the mirror in front of her.

“By the way Constance, I forgot to ask you. How did Nero respond to your forwardness when you stopped him from killing Ramses and Zara?”

Constance laughed, “Oh my, you should’ve seen him! I told him we make a good team together, and he choked me with his massive forearm. It was… erotic.”

Xenia watched Constance through the mirror as she relived the moment with a smile on her face, “Well? Did he show any interest?”

Constance looked back towards her empress, “He definitely thought about it. Oh yes, he did think about it. But ultimately, he said something like if I am there to test his loyalty then I will only test his patience. Something very noble.”

“He is nothing if not loyal, my Nero. He is the perfect BloodStar Immortal.” Xenia swooned for her husband-to-be.

“Yes, he may very well be if he were stronger. But he’s not.” Constance gave Xenia a look as if to remind her of the situation, “I can’t make it happen. Not alone. You need to have a word with him.”

“Yes, yes. After our wedding. After this short war. I will talk with him. No. I will order him.” Xenia turned around to look Constance in the face directly, “And he’s going to be oh so mad, so I hope you’re ready to be choked into several orgasms by his massive, erotic forearm.”

Constance growled softly to herself before both her and Xenia turned to an open doorway leading from Xenia’s master suite to a terrace overlooking the BloodStar Plaza at the foot of the castle.

A rumbling caught the attention of both women. The walls and the floor trembled slightly with the cadence of a chant, “Xen-ia! Xen-ia! Xen-ia! Xen-ia! Xen-ia!”

Constance bowed and motioned with her hand for Xenia to proceed, “Your people await you, my empress.”

Xenia slowly stepped towards the terrace doorway feeling the rumble of the chant growing louder and louder. As she stepped out onto the terrace and looked over the edge down upon the plaza, the chant erupted into an explosion of cheers which sent vibrations through Xenia’s very bones.

As she stood on the fifth-floor terrace, she looked down to see every square inch of the plaza covered by BloodStar citizens. The sea of people stretched from the plaza all the way to the coliseum several miles away. Each person held a dozen roses painting the land red as they highlighted a pathway from the castle to the coliseum where the wedding was set to take place.

Constance quietly took her position several feet behind Xenia and looked on thinking to herself, “This. This is true power. Everyone here knows to expect an attack on the wedding after what Xenia did to the Heraklinos/Sage wedding. And yet, not a single person in the empire is scared. Not an ounce of fear with Empress Xenia leading the way.”

Constance teared up and held her head high as she watched Xenia raise her arms and yell, “Are you ready!!! Today we ring in the dawn of a new era! The beginning of an age marked by BloodStar dominance in the world for centuries to come! And you are all here to witness history! Let us mark this new age with my wedding!”

The crowd erupted once more as they cheered, jumped, and hollered.

Although Xenia was only a few feet away, Constance yelled at the top of her lungs for Xenia to hear, “The entire empire has turned out! You don’t plan to… you know… not with this many people!!”

Xenia turned back to look at Constance with a grin, “It seems not even you grasp the depths of my new power. It is tradition. And yes, I will be holding true to tradition.”

Xenia created a portal beside her and looked back at Constance one last time before stepping in, “See you at the coliseum.” She winked and then stepped through the portal bringing her to the ground level of the plaza where it was even louder.

A royal attendant ran up to Xenia and handed her a dozen BloodStar roses which she held with both hands in front of her near her waist. She looked ahead to see a crimson red carpet stretching all the way from the castle to the coliseum. The carpet was approximately two shoulder widths thick.

The walk from the castle to the coliseum had served as a longstanding BloodStar tradition for the people to celebrate the empress even if they could not obtain seats within the coliseum. Also, in keeping with tradition, all supporting citizens whether inside or outside the coliseum brought a dozen roses not only to create a spectacle of crimson red beauty, but also because the empress traditionally imbues healing ki onto each and every rose as she passes turning the roses into Bloodstones of sorts, a wedding gift from the empress to the people.

However, the turn out amounted to virtually the entire empire. Furthermore, each person held a dozen roses, not just one. Nonetheless, Xenia looked on to the vibrant, roaring crowd with the full intent to imbue each and every single rose for her people.

She smiled as she looked forward holding her roses thinking, “The ability to heal, the ability to prosper, the ability to hope, and the ability to unite. I give it all to my people. This empire will be the strongest the world has ever seen. I will make sure of it!”

She then began her walk forward as she approached the frontier of the masses flanking the relatively narrow walkway for her to pass through as she began her miles long walk.

Just as she reached the crowd, she exploded with healing ki allowing it to wash over the crowd falling gently upon the roses. The diffuse nature of the ki wasn’t concentrated enough to directly heal individuals; however, Xenia directed and guided it to concentrate within the roses as she walked.

The crowd began to glow like a beacon of power as she walked through the ocean of cheering subjects reaching out to touch her as she passed, many fainting at just the sight of her even.

Xenia held her roses in position and smiled the entire way as she was showered with love and petals upon her crimson-blood dress. It was no understatement to say she was the foremost beauty in the world, and her empire proudly recognized that with praise as she passed.

Xenia walked several miles along the pathway from the castle to the coliseum exuding vibrant ki to wash over the crowds the entire way. Even as she approached the coliseum, her ki had yet to even begin to fade or falter as she left a wake of beaming red roses amongst her people.

The BloodStar wedding tradition was one of the most notable transfers of power in history from the ruling class to the working class, even if only by a temporary and one-time use method. Few rulers could afford such a transfer, and even fewer trusted their base with such power. In Xenia’s case, however, the healing ki stored in the roses only served to strengthen her people with longer or healthier lives. She also knew it solidified support and loyalty for her no matter what actions she may take in the future.

As she approached the coliseum, two rows of the empire’s top gladiators stood on each side of the red carpet to welcome her as she entered. The last gladiator was Draxus who held his head high, and Xenia winked at him as she passed causing other gladiators and many surrounding citizens to look from Xenia to Draxus with curiosity.

Xenia then walked through a dark tunnel of the coliseum before coming to the exit leading into the bright sunlight beaming off the arena floor. She stood in the darkness of the tunnel reveling in the sounds of her people cheering for her until she finally exited into the limelight.

The coliseum capacity numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and every single seat was occupied for this historic event.

Xenia walked forward holding her roses looking straight ahead towards Nero. She and Nero maintained eye contact as she walked towards him. Nero wore a stark crimson red robe that covered his body entirely as the robe fell all the way to the floor of the arena.

At the center of the coliseum floor, a throne on an elevated platform awaited Xenia. She walked towards and stopped at the base of the steps leading up to the throne. She turned to look at Nero with a huge smile on her face.

“Will you marry me, Nero?” She then reached out offering her BloodStar roses to him.

He grabbed the roses with both hands and smiled, “Yes, Empress Xenia.”

“A full smile!” Xenia smiled back at him with genuine joy, “It makes me feel so powerful being the only woman in the entire world who can make you smile.”

Xenia then turned and began to ascend the steps to the throne where she took her seat and crossed her legs.

She raised her hand to quiet the crowd, and the hundreds of thousands of cheers fell quiet in an instant. The spectators within the coliseum represented the more affluent citizens of the BloodStar Empire ranging from the middle class to the noble elite. Among the crowd, each and every one of the guests couldn’t help but wonder if Xenia had any reserve power left to bless their roses with healing ki.

Xenia looked up at the crowd from her throne on the arena floor to see a stadium filled to the brim with crimson red roses, and she couldn’t help but to beam with pride.

She attached a small microphone to her dress and said, “Before I begin to receive wedding gifts. Allow me to finish imparting my gift to my beloved BloodStar Empire.”

She then raised her hand in the air, and the entire coliseum came alive as Xenia’s healing ki filled the entirety of the coliseum with a beam shooting straight into the sky.

Not only was she fulfilling her traditional gift to the people, but she was doing so in a way which made it abundantly clear she still had ki to spare as the beam shot upwards into the sky burning off a mountain of excess ki.

Constance stood at the level of the arena floor to the side watching in awe, “But how?” Constance looked to Xenia noting her lack of fatigue even after expending so much ki, “Empress or Goddess?”

Xenia snapped her eyes to the side to catch Constance’s gaze and shot her a puckered kiss with her lips. Constance then heard Xenia’s voice in her mind, “Goddess.”