Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Jared smiled at Valeria.

"Valeria Marakesh. The sole Princess of the tropical world of Peoria. Why would you want to leave such a beautiful place, where you are a pampered and adored Princess and go to Erenveil to marry a man you have never even met?"

Valeria looked up at the tall green haired Prince of Erenveil with the soft brown eyes and smiled.

"Do you know how boring being a Peorian princess is? We're not allowed to do very much other than to learn how to be part of the royal scene."

Her eyes became animated.

"I wanted to see more than just Peoria and its surrounding space. All the people around me are avians of one type or another and this was my chance to see other types of people."

"And to marry an Erenveil Prince?"

Valeria Marakesh smiled.

"That would be the icing on top of a delicious cake."

"Thank you. That is all."

Lorem Ipsum gave a silent sigh of relief. Jared was at least civil, and asked a nice boring question that could be aired with some interest.

As Valeria and Jared exited the front, Lorem Ipsum faced the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have one final Prince to showcase. And of course, the Avgo Female he will be questioning has already been up onstage with the Crown Prince. I cannot wait to see what his question will be."

He turned to his assistants who had already started escorting Slate and Bethany.

It was a strangely paired meeting because they were both in identical white hover chairs, having endured some serious injuries.

Slate sat in his hover chair, a brilliant figure in all white save for his long dark hair and his bright blue eyes.

Bethany sat in her chair across from him, waiting. She was at the last position in the Avgo contest, but unlike Olivia, she still had a chance of winning first place.

This was her chance to recover from the previous near-fatal fail. The Prince in front of her exuded so much masculine vibes that she shivered. His clothes could not hide the huge muscles, the strength, and the virility of his body.

Bethany found herself drooling with desire, even though her body was still in pain from the injuries.

"Go home." Slate stared at her with frosty blue eyes.

Bethany's eyes widened. What was his question? This did not sound like something she could answer.

"Even if you win first place, which is not going to happen because you are the least of the Avgo Females, no Prince will choose you as his mate. Go home."

Slate turned his chair and went back to join his brothers, leaving Bethany clenching her teeth and seething with anger.

Lorem Ipsum made a quick gesture for the assistant to escort Bethany back to the table.

"Hahahaha. What a jokester the youngest Prince is." He raised his hands into the air.

"Well, now that you've actually met the Princes and the Avgo Females and learned more about them, now is your chance to vote for your favorite couple."

He sprinkled his fingers into the air and images of the seven Princes and six remaining Avgo contestants hovered in the air.

"Guests here, as well as all of you watching from home, will get the chance to pick one Prince and one Avgo Female of your choice. You have thirty minutes as of," he raised his hand.

"NOW!"

He waved a hand as a timer began to hover in the air, ticking off the seconds of the thirty minutes allowed for the vote.

"The couple with the most votes will win the People's Award, brought to you by the Princes' Fashion House, where you get to dress like a royal and be your fashionably best!"

"We will announce the winners after the thirty minutes are up."

He threw back his head.

"And now, let the dancing commence!" He roared out as the band struck up a happy dance and guests began piling out onto the dance floor.

From behind him, the curtains closed, shielding the Avgo Females and the Princes from the guests.

Candi sighed. She didn't have to pretend to be all smiley and happy, at least for a little while.

"Don't relax your stance, Earth Woman." Jenna hissed through lidded eyes. "Everyone sees how the Princes treat you and there is a venomous snake sitting at the Royal Banquet Table eyeing that Avgo stone around your neck."

Candi nodded and gave Jenna a smile. She had finally figured out Jenna's behavior pattern.

The woman was not being combative or hostile. She was simply trying to warn Candi of the danger that she was sensing emanating from Dahlia.

She was about to go join the Princes when from behind, she felt something fly at her.

Jumping with a swift kick, she buffeted the flying object away with her foot, where it thudded into the wall beside the Avgo Female table.

Had she not moved, she would have been impaled.

She and Jenna stared at each other, then at the direction the object had flown. From the edge of the hallway, she saw a figure disappear around a bend.

Within the space of a heartbeat, she and Jenna had sprung into action. They raced after the offender even as the Avgo Females screamed and shrieked all around them.

On the other side of the stage, the Princes saw what had happened. Several of them sprang up and ran towards the melee but could not even make it to the side where the Avgo Females sat before Candi and Jenna had disappeared around the side.

Leonardo stayed with Slate, who punched at his armrest, frustrated at his inability to come to her defense. They quickly made their way to the object embedded into the wall and inspected it.

It was a star-shaped shuriken, its tips stained with poison. This was no joke. Someone wanted Candi dead and was not averse to doing it in a room full of people, within the very heart of Erenveil Palace.

Leonardo and Slate looked at each other. Their eyes murderous.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Princes had rushed through the hallway in hot pursuit of the perpetrator and the two Avgo Females who had chased after the attacker.

Candi was slightly ahead of Jenna. She was less powerful than Jenna was, having less dense mass, but she was a dancer who was lighter and slightly more agile.

"This way!" She shouted at Jenna as she saw the figure moving around another bend.

As they both raced towards the end of the hall, another figure flew out at them from one of the side halls and tackled Candi.

Before she could react, he had torn the necklace around her neck where the pink gem had been carefully placed by Jason. Apparently it was all he was after because as soon as he had taken the gem, he dashed off into another side hallway.

Candi hit the ground and rolled, trying to break her fall.

As she laid on the ground trying to catch her breath, Lucas, the first Prince to reach Candi, picked her up into his arms.

The other Princes split forces.

Jason and Jared went after the attacker who had thrown the shuriken while Dante and Byron went after the attacker who had ripped the pink gem off her neck.

"Oh my God, you've been hurt!" Lucas breathed as he held her in his arms. "I'm going to carry you back to Leo so he can take a look at your injury."

"Hurt? I'm not hurt." Candi protested as she looked down and saw blood dripping from her neck and staining the top of her pink dress.

The attacker had cut the necklace off her using some vicious weapon which had also taken a gouge into her skin and had hit a major artery.

She was bleeding like a gutted pig.

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