Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Dante's moon was a curiosity. On the outside, it looked just like Luna from Earth.

It was a gray almost spherical orb that sported numerous speckled pockmarks from ancient meteorite bombardments.

But that was where the similarities ended.

For starters, it was much smaller in diameter than Luna. It was also hollow, with livable spaces embedded within its 200 kilometer radius.

Furthermore, it was equipped with gravity fields as well as a trans-galactic space drive that could traverse through the universe. It was essentially a space craft that looked like a wandering moon.

Candi frowned as she tried to recall Dante's face, but all she could remember was his spiky blue hair. The past few days had been such a blur of activities and he had not shown his face during the entire time.

"It will be fine. We're just going to go have dinner." He reassured her, seeing her slight frown.

Candi smiled and grabbed onto Slate's outstretched hand. He had mistaken her frown for apprehension, but after having seen how kind the other brothers were, she wasn't all that worried about Dante's disposition.

She just didn't want Slate to leave. For better or worse, he had turned into her security blanket.

As soon as they stepped out of the pod, they found themselves in a large hangar type of chamber where a dozen other transport pods similar to Slate's pod were parked.

They were in a multitude of colors and shapes, some smaller, some larger than the one they had just exited.

"Dante's exclusive collection of pods. Impressive isn't it?" Slate grinned, looking around.

Candi nodded, not sure exactly what was impressive about the pods since she knew nothing about them at all.

A group of men arrived on several hover platforms, the largest of which had soft cushioned cream leather chairs arranged in a circular seating arrangement around a low table filled with fruits and drinks.

Slate led Candi towards the largest hover platform and led her up the few steps that extended as soon as they got close enough to trigger the motion detector.

"Have a seat. The ride should be no more than ten or fifteen minutes. I parked in the closest hangar to the main palace."

There was more than one hangar???

The platform began moving swiftly through wide corridors made of white plaster with regular steel beam girders. They seemed to stretch out forever in an endless series of connecting tunnels.

As they traveled towards their destination, one of the men poured hot tea into tiny dainty cups that looked like pink tulips on green leafy saucers.

Slate reached out with his tree trunk arms and barely touched the cup with his large hands before withdrawing.

"Damn Dante and his cutesy cups. I need something a little more…"

"Manly?" Candi suggested with a laugh behind her hands.

He gave her a wry look.

"I was going to say more durable. This looks so fragile I'm almost afraid to touch it."

In response, the server set a rock glass in front of Slate and held out a bottle. Slate glanced at it and nodded and the server poured some amber looking liquid into the rock glass.

"This is more my speed." He sighed and picked up the glass. With one toss, he swallowed the entire content of the glass.

The platform ride ended all too soon and they reached a large internal courtyard filled with trees that reached upwards into a bright blue sky filled with birdsong and a bright sun overhead.

"What time is it? How could it be high noon?" Candi gasped with wonder as she looked around the lush garden with a large fountain at the center filled with dancing nymphs and a large centaur chasing them around the water sprays.

"We're inside a moon, Candace. It can be whatever timeframe you wish." Slate kept his hand at the small of her back, guiding her through the winding paths as they made their way towards the large gilded double doors.

As Slate threw the doors open, the noise within ceased. There were people milling around, all dressed up in ball gowns of all colors and fancy suits that were of the best quality, but they seemed to have paused whatever they were doing and were simply staring at the open doors.

The silence reached out through the cavernous chamber lit with a dozen enormous crystal chandeliers hanging high above on the ceiling that was painted with a fresco of blue skies and clouds, and cherubs flying about.

The walls were covered with gilded carved wood and blue brocade fabrics. The floor was a mosaic of a pale blondwood parquet flooring that was shining with the kind of clean hard surface that begged to be danced on.

Candi was so busy looking around at the sight that she almost missed the hand that reached out for her.

"Candace." A deep voice called out.

Candi blinked and turned startled eyes at the tall man with a shock of spiky blue hair that almost touched the top of his shoulders. He had full shapely lips and sparkling green eyes that were gazing at her with amusement.

"It seems you've fallen in love with my dance floor." He threw his arms wide.

"It's beautiful! This room is amazing." She gave a nervous laugh. The last time she had seen Dante was at the top of the Hotel Tower right before she left Earth.

"I'm glad you like it. I had it especially prepared for you so you can dance to your heart's content."

Candi's jaw dropped. The place was huge! It was almost the size of a football field. How in the world was she supposed to dance through a place this large?

"You two must be hungry. Let's go to the dinner hall and start the feast." He wound his arm around Candi's other arm and led her to the dining hall, with Slate following behind.

As they moved towards the dining hall, the guests followed them and soon, the dining hall was filled with people.

He seated her at the head of the table as servers filled her plate high with food.

Dante sat on her right side, plying her goblet with wine while Slate sat on her left, watching everything with a gentle smile.

His Candace would be safe here.

It looked as if there were dozens and dozens of guests at her welcoming celebratory party but in reality, each guest was a highly trained personal guard; their only job, to keep Candace safe.

He could leave and go into battle knowing she would be safe.

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