Chapter 8: Penthouse Meeting

Chapter 8: Penthouse Meeting

Xenia and Arthur sat across from one another in fine leather chairs within the penthouse suite. Her beautiful yellow dress overflowed from the borders of the chair and onto the floor as she tucked her legs up onto the chair from underneath her dress and said, “It’s so nice to finally meet you in person Arthur. How many months has it been? Six?”

He smiled and nodded, “Yes, just over six months since we began working together.”

Xenia praised him, “I am genuinely impressed with what you have been able to accomplish in such a short time. Having proved yourself, I am prepared to support your ambitions, political or otherwise, in any way I can.”

Arthur’s ego swelled hearing such words from such a powerful figure in the world, “Before we discuss my ambitions, I think it prudent to outline the landscape of the political environment here in my country.”

Xenia motioned for him to continue as she was intent on listening to him. He then said, “Hammond and Morrow are not simpletons. They know this is all a chess match, but they don’t know how deep it goes. Your biggest risk is their uncovering of our relationship.”

Xenia replied, “You do your part, I’ll do mine. And they will never find out.”

Arthur raised his finger, “Now don’t be so sure Princess BloodStar –“

Xenia raised her hand and said, “You may call me Xenia.”

He nodded, “Don’t be so sure Xenia. The two of them consider any and all possibilities. With or without evidence, they have likely imagined this very scenario as we speak. The only things that may change are their degrees of certainty as they uncover additional evidence. While we can be sure they won’t uncover any additional evidence. We can also be sure, they are prepared for every scenario. They will not be surprised by anything we do.”

She laughed, “Oh! Is that so? Will they not be surprised tomorrow? I wager they will be.”

Arthur sternly replied, “Maybe in the moment, yes. But not after they have digested all of the information.” He paused and then continued, “They believe you to be recruiting allies for a world in which you do not fall under Empress Victoria’s protection. They believe your enemies will come for you.”

She scoffed, “Yes, I am so weak and helpless without Empress Victoria. Quite the contrary, I will have never been more powerful once she passes.”

He maintained a serious tone saying, “Yes but will you be able to withstand the collective might of the world if they decide to attempt to extinguish bloodline powers from our world permanently?”

She didn’t immediately respond as she frowned. She eventually replied, “It would be a tall task, but my answer would be yes. It is hard for you to imagine, but my family does not know defeat.”

He threw his hands up and said, “Then why all of this? Why enlist me? Why court the United States?”

She said, “The United States needs my protection more than I need theirs. The Master Families of the world will never relinquish their rule to a democratic or republic rule again. While the United States exists as an example, there will always be the possibility that their people revolt against them in favor of a different form of rule.”

Arthur rebutted, “That may be true, but why would you have an interest in helping the United States then? Again, why all of this?”

Arthur furrowed his brow at this monumental news, “You would share such a powerful tool in the world?”

She smirked and said, “Like I said, I treat those loyal to me very well.”

Arthur was floored. The privilege of living a longer life free of disease was priceless. For him to wield this power himself would give him an enormous amount of influence in the world. He questioned her further, “How do you accomplish such a thing?”

She continued, “Just as other ki users can coat items of interest with their ki such as Ashrok’s nightmare ki. I too can imbue ki albeit with much more limitations. My ki has always been a bit less stable compared to other users of my aptitude. However, my family has developed a stone which holds my healing talents quite well. We call it... The BloodStone.”

This was all news to him, and his mind swam with the possibilities this stone could unleash. As his mind raced, she continued to detail the stone, “I can imbue enough ki for 3 complete healing uses. Use it on yourself, use it on your family, use it on your constituents, or use it on someone that offers a good moment for your political campaigns.”

She could see his eyes filled with extreme interest and lust for such a stone. “I could have this stone readied and presented to you at my departure from your country in front of the other lawmakers as a token of my appreciation for facilitating my visit to the U.S. It would also serve to show the others what a magnanimous ruler I can be.”

He snapped out of his thoughts, “But that would mean in two days? And you have no ki reserves remaining. You completely spent it all today at the hospital. Surely you can’t have recovered so quickly?”

She gave him a devious smile, “Recovered? I was never depleted.”

He was speechless. He thought to himself, “If she wasn’t depleted, then how much ki did she have left in reserves? She’s a monster with her aura if this is true.”

She once again ripped him from his thoughts saying, “I know what you’re thinking. Just how much did I have left in reserves then? To put it simply, I could have healed every single patient in the hospital before even feeling it. Healing requires very little aura from me because it is natural to my blood. In fact, most of my techniques involve blood one way or another, and they all use very little ki. As a trade-off, however; my techniques outside the realm of blood drain my reserves much faster than an average user’s ki.”

Arthur nodded, “That is certainly befitting of what some, including myself, would call the most powerful and gifted ki user of our age.”

She stood from her chair and said, “All of this to say, Arthur, that if you remain loyal to me, you will become a very powerful man. One of the most powerful in history.” She then yawned and said, “But as a beautiful princess, I do still need my beauty sleep.”

Arthur stood from his chair, and said, “Thank you for having me. The gala was a smashing hit, and I look forward to serving your Empire for many decades, hopefully centuries, to come.”

She outstretched her hand to him, and he leaned in to kiss the top of her hand as she said, “Such a gentle kiss. A true gentleman. I look forward to giving you everything your heart desires.”

She then turned and made haste to her bedroom as she called out to him from afar, “Nero will see you out. Goodnight, Arthur.”

He nodded and exited the room to find Nero waiting for him. His heart raced at the sight of Nero who was an enormously muscular and powerful man in both physical strength and ki aura. Nero motioned to him, “I will see to your safe return to your transportation Senator Davis. Right this way.”

Arthur followed along behind Nero as he made his way down to his limousine. He was ready to get some rest for the big day tomorrow.