For a brief moment he considered dropping to one knee and kissing the floor of the landing bay. Realizing his crew might think him one step closer to mad then he already was, he decided against it. He closed his eyes instead and allowed himself a moment to gather his thoughts. When he opened them his gaze automatically went to the observation deck that oversaw the bay. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her. His Empress. He heard his name over the loudspeaker and he bowed his head to acknowledge her Majesty as well as her order to meet him in the briefing room immediately.

******

All through the debriefing he answered her questions and advised her on strategy. When she moved on to the Commanders of the separate divisions, he relaxed and watched her. She listened intently and asked questions when she needed clarification. He did not envy her or her responsibility for the Empire since her husband, the Emperor, had disappeared on a mission as Emissary to a rather remote constellation. True to her blood and Satanic nature she had immediately assumed rule and command as soon as the devastating news had reached her. A lessor woman would have let the Great House slip through her fingers or fall to a devious rival. Although she was not experienced first hand with the administration of an Empire, she had learned by watching her husband and surrounding herself with trusted advisors. He had to admit her intuition and logical thinking were rather uncanny for a "kept woman" as she had been for so long.

The session had drawn to a close and he realized that most of the others had already filtered out. The Empress sat in her big chair and rested her cheek on her hand and yawned. An utterly precious act that so captured her essence, especially since she didn't realize she was being watched. Finally they were alone and he rose from his chair and walked over to hers. Her eyes followed him as he made his way towards her. He walked past her and stood behind the chair...resting one hand on her shoulder. He gave her shoulder a strong squeeze and asked, "How were things while I was gone?"

She didn't answer. Instead she sighed, tilted her head to the side and rested her cheek against his hand. He felt a tear trickle down between his fingers and realized it had been much harder then they had anticipated. Now that the Emperor's rivals had determined she could not be pushed aside so easily their plays for the throne had grown more ruthless as time passed and they continually underestimated her strength. He had been reluctant to lead the last mission as it meant being away from her. He had not wanted to leave her at the mercy of her enemies both known and secret. Not only did he feel a professional duty to her as his Empress....but he felt a deep obligation to her from his heart.

"May I escort you to your quarters My Lady?" He asked gently. She sighed and rose from her chair. He extended his arm and she took it sadly. She wasn't crying. Or upset. She just appeared resigned. The moment the door to the hallway entered her spine straightened and she regained almost two full inches of height from her adjusted posture. She was the Empress once again and her step on his arm was as regal in the empty hallway as it would have been at a ball or an Embassy dinner. She spoke not a word to him as they walked to the Royal Chambers. But her small hand resting on his arm seemed to cling to him....or perhaps it was just his imagination and longing. No matter. They had reached the entrance to the chambers and she entered it without relinquishing her grip on his arm. Without looking at him she inquired as to whether or not he would wish to join her for a drink. He told her that he would like that and once they were in the living quarters she summoned the butler to bring them some refreshments.

She seated herself on the couch and continued to focus somewhere off in the distance. She had yet to look at him or into his eyes. This odd behavior concerned him and he started to worrying that something critical had taken place while he had been gone.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, dropping the formal address. Still, she sat, without moving and for a moment he thought perhaps she had not heard him. Before he could ask his question again she whispered something unintelligible to him. He strained to hear her soft voice but to no avail. He moved around the sofa and knelt in front of her.

"What did you say?" He asked gently. He watched as she swallowed slowly and looked to be drawing on every last bastion of strength she could find. Very carefully she spoke her words again. Each word said slowly and precisely with as little emotion as possible.

"He is not coming back. Is he?" Although she looked in his direction she seemed to stare right through him. He felt such a rush of emotion for her. For all she had experienced and endured. For all she must be feeling. His heart ached for her and more then anything her wanted to touch her soft cheek and reassure her. Instead, he awkwardly patted her small hand that rested on her knee. It was so very petite...like a child's hand. The delicate golden rings and glittering diamonds did their best to make it look feminine...but they feel short in competition with her short blunt nails and callused fingertips from hard work and training at the hands of her Generals and body guard. Her soft skin against his warm palm made his heart race. He entertained a brief vision of them merging and then quickly dismissed it from his head.

He tried to speak the trite words she had already heard a thousand times. That no body meant nothing was for sure. Nothing could be confirmed so she mustn't loose hope. That the Emperor was strong and crafty and may very well be on his way back at this moment. Her eyes flashed and she glared at him.

"Liar."

The accusation stung him as if she had physically slapped him. She launched from the couch and almost knocked him over. "I wish you all would stop lying to me," she cried as she walked towards the door to the bedchamber. She spun quickly and the momentum caused her hair to pull loose from the clip that held it and it showered down her shoulders. He saw a tear roll from her eye and run down her cheek and she continued, "I know the tracker has been destroyed. I know the implications of that....I know the odds are that he is dead."

Her voice sounded stronger with each word, which was a complete contrast to the tears that now flowed freely. "Everyone is lying to me, Kurgan....please don't you start too." With that she turned back and went into the bed chamber. He could see her through the doorway as she paused and just stood against the huge expanse of window that framed the interstellar mass that they were at the center of. Her small frame looked dwarfed against the background of stars. At that moment he truly understood the insignificance of everything that was now happening on the grand scale of the Universal timeline.

For a long while he sat and thought about what she had said. The he stood up and made his way into the bedchamber. She had sat down and pulled off her boots and was sitting in a disheveled heap on the floor. She looked tired and sad. Defeated. He observed absently that she had painted her toenails blue. He wondered if anyone besides the Emperor had ever even seen her toes. And why in the world did she select that odd shade of blue? And why in the world was he lost in thoughts of her toes when there were more important things at hand?

She didn't look up at him so he offered his hand to her so she could stand up. She stared at it for a moment and then took it reluctantly. Without her boots she was much shorter then him and with her hair all askew and her little bare feet she was seeming more and more vulnerable by the moment. Quite frankly he did not terribly like seeing her this way and he started to worry even more about her state of mind.

His face must have betrayed his concern because she chuckled softly and patted his cheek with her hand. "It's okay," she remarked, "I am not loosing it. I am just tired of being alone through all this. Tired of having to live my life like I am still half of a whole...when circumstances require me to be my own whole." She paused, then continued. "It's been two years. I know all attempts to recover have failed. I know even if he had not been able to return physically he would have gotten a message to me. I feel in my heart he is gone." This last sentence caused a hesitation in her voice. Without thinking he moved towards her and she turned and burst into tears as his arms encircled her.

As she cried he held her tightly and tried not to let himself be distracted by the smell of her hair and the warmth of her body...and the way it fit to his like an old puzzle piece. Gradually her tears subsided and she lay against his chest making an occasional sniffle. Eventually she pulled away from him and blushed as she lowered her head. "I guess that wasn't very regal," she remarked.

He used one finger to lift her chin so he could look into her icy blue eyes, rimmed red from her earlier outburst. In them he saw strength, softness, pain, determination and loneliness. Her lower lip pouted out and he gently lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was soft. Sweet. Chaste. For that moment in time nothing existed but the two of them. And then realizing what he had done he pulled back and stuttered an apology.

She looked at him oddly and touched her lips where he had kissed her as he fumbled through an apology and began to make his way for the door hoping to exit and hide the bulge that had grown in his flight suit. As he brushed past her towards the door mumbling she reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. His back remained to her and his face burned with embarrassment at both the impropriety he had just advanced upon her and the outline of his hardness straining against his zipper.

She pulled him back so that he had to face her and when he refused to meet her eyes she dipped her head and returned the kiss onto his startled and slightly parted lips. The electricity that passed between them could have powered a small hovercraft and as her body pressed against his and her kisses grew more insistent he gave into temptation, said to hell with the rules, and wrapped his strong arms around the Empress and returned her kisses.

They stood like that for what seemed an eternity. Alternating between light exploratory kisses and deep wet probing attempts to merge with each other...the stubble of his day old beard scratched her face and the voluptuous curves of her body twisted beneath his roaming hands. As they continued to kiss, she slowly pulled on the zipper of his flight suit...slowly perhaps to see if this was indeed what he wanted and when he didn't object she raked it down and her insistent hands pushed the material off his broad shoulders and he could hear her purr into his mouth with approval. He clasped her form to his body, delighting in the way her soft full breasts pressed into his chest...the way her nipples seemed to be like tiny points of heat. He wanted to feel her naked against him so he skillfully pulled down the bodice of her gown and set her magnificent breasts from their silken prison. She moaned softly as he buried his head in her breasts and licked and suckled them tenderly. Her fingers moved lazily through his hair as she arched her back and pressed her breasts against his feverish mouth that kissed and nibbled and bit her tender flesh.

He swept her into his arms and crossed the expanse of the chamber to the bed. He roughly tossed her down upon the silken sheets and her body bounced upon impact causing her arms and legs to go akimbo and her already tousled hair to flop into her face. She flung her head back and just looked at him with big blue eyes and flushed lips slightly parted and reached for him. He shed the remainder of his fight suit onto the floor before he crawled onto the bed like a hungry animal. He grasped her ankle with his big paw-like hand and pulled her across the slippery sheets to his hard and hot body. She gasped as his full weight descended upon her and he began to bite her neck and collarbone and shoulders. His wet mouth like the kiss of a demon. He wanted to devour her. To consume her. To possess her completely. In one smooth motion he entered her and they both stopped suddenly as he buried himself inside of her.

Quietly they lay. Not moving. Suddenly aware of the joining of their bodies. A small moan escaped her swollen lips and she exhaled roughly against his chest. Slowly he began to move within her. Each thrust caused her to writhe with pleasure and her little hands clutched helplessly at his hips as she tried to pay attention to something other then the pleasure that was slowly spreading through her body. His hands wrapped gently around her throat and his thumbs rested delicately on her collarbone as he began to move with more insistence. Her hands reached up and encircled his wrists and he leaned in to kiss her lips as he drove on inside her. Her breathing became sporadic and she started to whimper softly. Breathless whispers of encouragement tip-toed across his chest and he bore down full force upon her. Through the haze of his orgasm he could hear her crying. Her head was thrown back and her little hands were twisted in the sheets as her body held rigid from her climax. The cry was so long and even and low that it seemed supernatural. When the orgasm had passed she literally collapsed underneath him and tried to catch her breath. He stayed on top of her and kept his strong warm body around her like a protective shell. He reached down to pull up the pile of silken blankets around them and he held her limp exhausted body in his arms as they both drifted off to sleep.