Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

On the morning of the wedding, everyone woke up early, including Candace, who had been sleeping so much that she was already up before the dawn.

The attendants bathed and washed her hair, and then sat her on the dresser chair wearing nothing but a robe as she waited for her wedding dress to be delivered.

"Ready for us, Love?" Jason and Jared popped in with a huge white box.

Candace turned to them with a bright smile. "I can't believe you're both here personally! I thought you would just send the dress over and a couple of attendants would be dressing me."

Jared grinned and dropped a kiss onto her upturned face. "Why would we allow anyone else to dress our wife on our wedding day?"

Jason came up behind him and also demanded a kiss, which Candace gave with joy.

He snapped his fingers and a group of attendants began pulling into the bedroom, trunk after trunk of things to be used on her.

As Jason began to work on her hair with expert hands, Jared worked on her makeup, insisting that they could not trust the attendants with such an important detail and they needed to make sure it was done correctly.

Then they helped her with the underthings and her petticoat.

Last but not least, they dressed her in the wedding gown that they made for her. It was deceptively simple, a white A-line dress that floated with every breath of wind.

The fabric was made of a type of cloth that was magicked so that it shimmered in the light like millions of butterfly gossamer wings pieced together.

Attached to her shoulders were magical petals of fragile white flowers that bloomed behind her. It was created in a similar fashion as the dragonfly wings that they had made for her previous ball gown—real looking, but completely illusory.

The strapless bodice was covered with lace and seed pearls, held up by nothing but sheer magic. Candace was ecstatic. There was no need for glue or constant tugging to keep it up.

They had thought of everything, including the shoes which were flat ballet type shoes made of some comfortable stretchy material in a white color.

It was certainly not Cinderella glass slippers, but it did have the JasonJared signature symbol on it, so it was legitimately high-fashion—at least that was how Jason was selling it to Candace when he saw her face fell at the sight of the uninspired looking shoes.

"Darling, certainly, it's not the kind of wedding shoes you were hoping to be able to wear, but keep this in mind." He made a firm gesture. "Your gown is long and will cover your shoes up. Nobody will see it anyway."

"But I will only be standing in one spot, so I won't be walking much." She protested.

"But Wife," Jared smiled. "You're pregnant. You are not allowed to wear anything but flat comfortable shoes like these until after you give birth."

"That's right." Jason's face was firm. "We cannot chance a trip-and-fall accident which could hurt you and the babies."

When they put it that way, she accepted the shoes with a smile. It wasn't too much of a concession in the end.

"Anyway Darling, don't worry about what's on your feet." Jared's eyes gleamed. "Concentrate on what's on your head!"

The twins lifted from a small gold chest, the royal Empress crown that Empress Anastasia had sent to the bridal chamber. It was a heavy ornate thing with seven radiating points embedded with seven priceless gemstones.

"Take a look." Jason was pointing at the stones on the crown. "There's a blue sapphire, a red ruby, a golden topaz, a green emerald, a purple amethyst, and a pink sapphire."

"Wow, that pink stone looks like my Avgo gem!" She gasped with delight.

"It's the same quality and almost the same size as the replica Avgo gemstone I made for you, but this one is far older."

Jason looked at it with discerning eye. "It's been on this crown for at least a couple thousand years."

Jared smiled. "As far as style is concerned, it's not something that we would design for you, but it's a ceremonial piece that had been in use for thousands of years by so many Empresses of Erenveil."

"It's your right to wear it." They both announced with finality.

"Okay. Let's try it on you. See how it fits." Jared declared, carefully placing it on her head.

"This one doesn't look like the normal one that Empress Anastasia wears." Candace murmured, looking at herself in the mirror.

Jason laughed. "The one that Mother Anastasia wears is a light-weight one that we designed for her. This is ceremonial and never used much except for times like these."

"That's right. This is the real deal, Darling." Jared pursed his lips as he looked at the crown on Candace's head. "It has only ever been used to crown an Empress. The last time it was used was when Clarissa became Empress."

"Okay. Take it off her." Jason clapped his hands at the attendants.

"But why? It's so pretty!" Candace protested.

"It's really heavy and you don't need to wear it right now. We'll put it on you when you're ready to walk onstage." Jared reasoned as he placed the necklaces and bracelets on her.

"But—"

"No arguments." Jason gave her an evil eye. "I don't want you to get a headache before the wedding starts."

By the time they were done dressing and jeweling her, Candace had turned into a royal Empress bride, minus the heavy empress crown.

Unfortunately, the twin grooms were still in their working bodysuits.

The rest of the men had trooped in, wearing their grooms robes of a deep black that was actually a very dark blue, with their dark capes trimmed in white fur with black ermine tips.

Their hair were left untied and flowing down their backs in regal style and they wore huge medallions made of heavy gold on their chests with various colored center stones that represented the same stones on the Empress crown.

They all looked like the heart throb Emperor Grooms that they were—except for the twins who still wore their working bodysuits.

"Oh my word, Wife. You look good enough to eat!" Byron turned his hungry eyes at her.

"Hush. Drink your sangria blood wine so you don't drain my wife dry, you goblin." Lucas snarled with a grin as Candace laughed at their lighthearted banter.

"How are you feeling? Any discomfort?" Leonardo came towards her and began touching her body, checking for anomalies.

"I'm feeling good!" Candace smiled. "I'm just a little hungry all the time."

"The babies are demanding, aren't they?" Slate smiled.

Candace nodded. "I'm sure it's just because I'm still getting used to being pregnant. It will probably get better later on."

Dante shook his head. "It probably won't get much better. After the wedding, you're going to be mostly on some modified form of bedrest."

"Bedrest?" She looked up at him.

Dante nodded. "That many babies are going to take a huge toll on your body, but don't worry. We've got a system in place so you will always be near us."

"We've already started making maternity gowns for you." Jared smiled. "You will love the designs. They are very cute."

"You twins are not ready yet." Lucas stared at them, stating the obvious.

"We were taking care of the Empress Bride." Jason gave a dry response as he dabbed a touch of lip gloss onto Candace's lips with his little pinky while Jared sprayed a touch of perfume onto her décolletage.

"And now she's done. Give us ten minutes to change.." He announced as he and Jared disappeared into the bathroom to change into their grooms wear.

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