BloodStar

The yacht, Blood Wake, approached a large marina in one of the BloodStar Empire’s largest bays. Constance and Vega, Erika and Jacek, and Ramses and Zara all sat aboard as they planned to soon make their first public appearance as a group all together.

It wasn’t long before the massive yacht was docked and the gangway secured. Ramses and Zara were the first to exit greeted by cheers from a crowd of both reporters and spectators.

Erika and Jacek were next to walk the gangway down to stand by Ramses and Zara at a platform with microphones. They were greeted by a muted but polite cheer from the crowd.

And lastly, Constance walked out hanging on to Vega’s arm. Whereas, her peers before her merely walked out with a polite smile and flat energy, Constance was the exact opposite as she waved emphatically and blew kisses to a crowd which absolutely erupted into a mania of cheers.

The ground shook beneath as the crowd went wild at her arrival; she had attained true celebrity status as she was the last remnant of an old regime. She was a beautiful, edgy, powerful, and dangerous woman in a new age where she didn’t quite fit in.

Zara leaned over to Ramses whispering, “These people are rather annoying with their cheers for Constance Khan. Have they completely forgotten her heinous war crimes? And her generally inappropriate behavior?”

Ramses whispered back through a fake smile towards the crowd, “She isn’t loved by all. She has a fervent minority following though, and they are loud.”

Zara failed to smile at the crowd as she let her irritation with Constance’s reception by the crowd get the best of her, “Yes. I suppose she is novel too. This will all wear off in time. The people will come to realize that we are their leaders. Not a certified murderer who is a necessary evil for us.”

A royal attendant arrived at the platform and quelled the crowd, “Thank you all for the generous and warm reception of our empire’s leaders and our close allies from the Heraklinos Empire. We will begin taking questions with any questions you may have for King Ramses and Queen Zara.”

The crowd stood silent for a moment. Then another moment. And yet another moment as things began to take on a sense of awkwardness. Finally, a reporter piped up, “King and Queen, can you elaborate on the title and role of Mistress Khan’s new position?”

Zara all but rolled her eyes while Ramses took the question, “She will be serving as the highest ranking BloodStar General in our empire. She will be responsible for uniting our armed forces and creating a unified front. An organized empire is one prepared to prosper. Given her extensive background, capabilities, and personal experiences, we have elected to bestow such power upon her to serve our empire.”

Another reporter followed, “Will she have any oversight in her new position?”

Zara took this question, “Make no mistake. King Ramses and I will continue to serve as Commanders-in-Chief of the armed forces. Mistress Khan will be reporting to us.”

Her answer was followed by another longer than expected awkward silence. The royal attendant finally transitioned, “Okay, we will now begin taking questions for Mistress Khan.”

The reporters suddenly erupted once again clamoring over one another for a chance to ask a question of Mistress Khan.

The reporter who won out asked, “Paparazzi pictures are circulating from your recent parties at Khan Castle. They depict lavish dinners, hot tub soirees, and sunbathing on yachts. Are you prepared to take on your role as a BloodStar General in earnest?”

Zara smirked for the first time since they arrived. Constance was unwavering though, “My philosophy is work hard, play hard. I have been playing hard these last few days, yes. But I am now prepared to get to work here in the empire. Anyone questioning my work ethic should first reference my accomplishments in martial arts, achievements on the battlefield, and prior perfect service record under out last regime.”

The next reporter to squeeze out a question asked, “Reports from the Heraklinos Empire have been labeling you as a homewrecker for taking General Magnus as a date to your recent dinner party without regard for his girlfriend, Chastity Lynn Zamora. Rumors are even circulating that you and Vega are now dating. Can you share your side of the story?”

Constance gave a small laugh to herself before smiling and raising the microphone up, “I believe the headline you are referencing calls me a ‘Homewrecking Bitch’.”

The crowd gave a nervous laugh as she continued, “And yes, I can confirm that General Vega Magnus is my boyfriend, and I am his girlfriend.”

Hushed whispers rushed across the crowd in astonishment. Constance continued, “I wouldn’t characterize myself as a homewrecker though. I am more of an empire maker. To be blunt, I am going to prevent a BloodStar civil war, increase prosperity for our empire, and build bridges to international relations that the BloodStar Empire hasn’t seen in a generation. I plan to meld the old culture of our empire with the new culture as we usher in a new era for the BloodStar Empire. Our fellowship here is proof of our progress.”

She paused and then smirked, “Now. Tell me what Chastity Lynn Zamora has done lately? I can’t think of a single significant contribution to her empire. So of course, Chastity is masking her insecurity with name calling when in fact General Magnus simply deserves better. He deserves me.”

Constance then leaned over and grabbed the back of Vega’s neck and began to make out with him. They kissed with full tongue for no less than 10 seconds as the crowd watched in awe.

The crowd began to cheer their kisses on in a thunderous roar until Constance and Vega both stopped as they then began to laugh at the applause they received.

It took a little while for the crowd to simmer down, the whole while Zara was steaming with anger. As the crowd finally came to a softer rumble, the reporter asked, “How serious of a relationship are you and Vega intending to have? Is this love? Or is this simply ‘play hard’ as you say?”

Constance replied quickly, “It’s both.”

The crowd was dumbfounded at her confident and quick answer, and she began to elaborate with full detail, “Our relationship is such that one hour we may be facilitating international treaties together, and the next we may be sharing a romantic dinner communicating our strong feelings for one another.” She paused and then smirked, “I will probably be in trouble for saying this next bit, but somewhere in between the treaties and dinner, we also have passionate sex.”

Zara finally lost it as she grabbed her microphone, “And that concludes the question-and-answer session! We have much work to attend to if you will please excuse us all.”

Constance looked over to Erika and Jacek and said, “I guess I went too far. That is so like me.” She then turned and waved at the crowd and blew kisses as she walked off the stage.

One live reporter could be heard reporting into a camera for the news, “That’s our leader ladies and gentlemen! Confident, sexy, charismatic, accomplished, motivated, and eager to propel our empire on to the world stage. She holds no punches, and you can count on her to provide the detailed truth even if it is sometimes… juicy.”

Zara and Ramses entered into a private royal limo as they made way for the BloodStar Castle. Zara didn’t wait for her attendant to close the car door and instead she slammed it shut behind her and began to yell, “Did you hear that?! The news is describing her as our leader!”

Ramses looked out the dark tinted windows rubbing his chin, “Yes, I did hear that. The people cheering her on is one thing; however, we cannot allow the news to paint her as a leader. That image could spread like wildfire, and it could undermine our own power in the long term even if Constance is cooperative.”

Zara was exacerbated as she said, “I am beginning to think this was a terrible idea. She is out of control, and she only just arrived.”

“Now, now, Zara. We have a firm grip here in the mainland of our empire. And this is much preferred to a potential civil war which could potentially include Constance and Nero teaming up against us.” Ramses tried to paint the other side of the picture; however, Zara wasn’t having it.

“I would love to see Nero leave his precious cathedral Bella Domina, so the combined might of the world can execute him swiftly. Leaving these traitors alive is a mistake. If I had the power, I would kill them myself.” Zara huffed and puffed in anger.

Ramses calmly responded, “I largely agree, but so few have the power to take on Nero and Constance. And lord forbid if Ashrok should side with them. As Jarek told us, the world doesn’t have the appetite for another war, and we should count ourselves lucky that both Victoria and Xenia are dead.”

Zara finally shook her head affirmatively, “Now that we can agree on I suppose. Fine. We can allow Constance to run around screwing Vega and telling the world about it. She only undermines herself by sharing such details. But we should also work very hard to keep her from undermining us.”

Ramses nodded, “It is a point well taken. But her sway over people is also the reason we sought her to aid in avoiding a civil war in the first place. The very thing you fear is the very thing that will set our empire on the right path. We must let her work. Then we can deal with the consequences.”

Zara grit her teeth, “I hate. And I mean hate that you are right. Fine. Let her work. But once things are set right, I want her dead as soon as possible even if it isn’t years from now.”

Ramses nodded, “As the old culture and generations fade from this world, finding global support to eliminate Constance will become very easy. Just give her time to dig her own grave. We already have one family who hates her.”

Zara gave a full smile, “That’s right. Remind me to give the Zamora family a call soon. I have a feeling we might have some shared long-term interests.”

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