Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Do you know who the Captain of Raptor 437 is?" Slate posed the question to his brothers.

Jason and Jared shook their heads and Lucas looked confused. Leonardo's face was uncaring.

Dante and Byron however, gave swift intakes of breaths.

Slate nodded.

"That's right. Do you think just any random person walking down the street could be a Captain on one of my Command ships?" Slate snarled with barely suppressed fury.

"Niles Garr was made Captain because he has very deep and strong ties to our family and nobody thought he would ever betray us."

Lucas scratched his head. "Are you telling me that your ex-ship captain wanted Candace dead?"

Slate shook his head.

"He has a younger cousin who commands the Royal Guards—the same guards who were responsible for security at the Royal Ball. His name is Joshua Darvin."

Slate's eyes grew frosty.

"Niles betrayed me. Joshua is highly suspect."

"Why have we not rooted this man out once Niles was shown to have been a traitor to the Crown?" Dante scowled.

"Because Dante. Do you remember who his mother is?" Slate raised an eyebrow.

"Oh that's right!" Dante gasped. "The Empress has a twin sister. He's the Empress' nephew!"

Byron pressed his palms to his head. "He's my maternal cousin. His mother is my mother's twin sister."

Slate stood up.

"I'm going to go confront him now."

Leonardo pulled him back down.

"Sit. You're supposed to be an invalid right now."

"But Josh needs to be—"

"I'll take care of Joshua Darvin." Byron's eyes glittered with something that was far more than rage.

It almost seemed personal.

Leonardo turned to Slate. "Candace is just about done with the physical examinations from my doctors. Let's just go get her and you can spend some time with her."

He turned back to Byron. "I'm sure our eldest brother can handle Josh."

"With pleasure," Byron grated through gritted teeth.

======

Candi was sitting up on the bed, bored out of her skull when Slate finally appeared. She gave him a broad smile and patted the side of her bed.

"You're finally here to take me home!"

"Home? Where is the home that you want me to take you to?" Slate asked with a grin as he approached her bedside.

Candi blinked. She hadn't thought about it much, but obviously, home was no longer her apartment in LA. She was now a wanted fugitive there.

The only place that seemed to be home to her was the set of suites that had been carved out for her inside Dante's Moon, along with the museum and dance hall.

"I don't really have a home any more, do I?" She looked up as he sat down next to her.

Slate reached out and gathered her into his arms. This time, he was reserved and composed and didn't seem as if he was starving to death for her touch and taste.

"Your home is anywhere Erenveil has a command presence. You are my queen and wherever you go, that is home."

Candi smiled into his shoulder. Slate always said the nicest things.

"I'm actually healed. I feel just fine so we don't have to remain in his hospital any more."

"I'm glad you're healed, but we will remain here for a bit longer. "

"But tomorrow is the Avgo Event," she gave a mild protest.

Slate pulled back to look at her.

"Yes, but that's tomorrow. For the rest of tonight, the doctors will want you to remain in this room so they can keep an eye on you."

"My room is across the hallway from yours, so I won't be too far away just in case you need me for anything." His blue eyes sparkled with hope and anticipation.

"But I don't have anything to wear to the event." She looked down at her hospital gown.

Slate smiled and tapped her forehead.

"Do you think the twins are going to allow you to appear at any function without wearing one of their creations? Jason and Jared will bring your outfit later on so you will be able to depart directly from this room to the Celestial Pantheon for your Brilliance and Intellect Event."

Candi sighed. The Brilliance and Intellect Event. She absolutely had no idea how to prepare for this one.

Somehow, reading just one more book wasn't going to make her any smarter, and rubbing more lemon on her hair was not going to make her look any more brilliant.

Slate leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Don't worry too much. The Brilliance and Intellect Event is very low-impact. You won't be asked to climb up cliff sides or fight off snarling beasts. You will do just fine."

Candi nodded. She could only trust that it would be something she could surpass with little preparation.

But something in the pit of her stomach kept churning. It was like sitting in a very important examination and not preparing anything at all for the test.

Dinner that night was a muted affair.

Slate had joined her at the dining table that had been wheeled into the hospital room by the staff and was trying his best to get her to eat something.

Candi was not a picky eater. She truly gave an honest effort to swallow down the meal, but partway through, she gave up. Hospital food was normally not that tasty due to dietary restrictions of patients, and it was no different here.

She was staring at her dish of bland looking rice porridge when a knock on the door sounded.

"Just in time." Slate threw his napkin down and went to open the door.

In trooped Jason and Jared along with their two assistants, carrying bags and boxes of things.

"My Dearest Tiny Dancer!" Jared announced as he approached the dining area.

He took one look at her meal and gave a disgusted look.

"Is Leo trying to poison my Tiny Dancer? Get rid of that stuff." He motioned at one of the assistants.

Jason smiled. "It's a good thing we brought some food along."

He placed a stacked basket of steaming dumplings of all varieties, shapes and sizes.

"Ahhhh!!!" Candi shrieked with excitement and picked one out with her fingers.

"Ouch!" She threw it back and forth between her quick fingers. "Hot! Hot!"

She promptly stuffed it into her mouth, burning her tongue in the process. But Candi didn't care. It was soooo good!

"Ummmmmm." She smiled at the dumpling's hot savory taste.

The Princes all laughed and watched as she ate with gusto. Meanwhile, Jared had already begun to pull out the outfit they brought along.

"Since you will not need to do any strenuous physical activities for this next Avgo Event, we have decided to dress you in our family's traditional outfit."

Jared began pulling the paper tissue wrapping from the outfit. With a flourish, he pulled the last of the white tissue to reveal a full length dress of the finest gold muga silk.

It had a large collar that was worn off the shoulders and gathered at the waist, with flounced skirts that fell in voluminous folds all the way down to the floor.

At the center, where each end of the collar met, the pink Avgo gemstone replica that had been forcibly taken from her was now back in place.

Next to the dress, Jason had also produced the finest Princess diadem and bracelets that would go with the pink Avgo gemstone.

Candi's eyes rounded.

"Your family's traditional outfit?" She gasped. "Wait, but you're royalty."

"Yes. This is an outfit that a Princess from our royal lineage would wear. Only the royal women of our lineage are allowed to wear gold muga silk." Jared grinned.

Candi grimaced.

"But I'm not royalty."

"Then I suggest you take it up with the Big Kahuna. He was the one who ordered it to be made for you."

"Big—who?"

Slate's eyes crinkled with merriment.

"Big Kahuna is what we call our father when we're teasing him."

"Wait.." Candi held up a hand in protest. "The Emperor ordered this dress for me?"

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