Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Dante's eyes glittered with what Candi now recognized as suppressed rage.

This was not good.

She turned to the Emperor with a winsome smile.

"My pardon. I did not realize this was Dante's Mother's jewel. I will, of course, return it to the Second Prince at the end of the Royal Ball."

She turned back to Dante.

"Thank you so much for lending it to me tonight. You've been so very kind."

Dante's face grew even darker.

"I did not lend it to you. I asked you to accept it and you agreed. Just as there is no such thing as taking the Avgo gem by force, there is also no such thing as returning the Taralei once it has been given."

"You hear that?" Dahlia's voice held a ring of triumph. "You cannot return that diamond so you might as well hand it over to me at the end of tonight. It will belong to me after this Avgo Event anyway."

Dahlia sniffed. "Where you are going, you won't need any jewelry."

"Keep your filthy paws off the Taralei Diamond." A voice called out from behind Candi.

She turned, looking up into the face of a breathtakingly beautiful woman with thick blue hair that hung down past her waist. Her eyes were the bright green color of glass and her countenance was that of a tall stately Queen.

Her commanding voice brought everyone to their feet except for Slate.

Candi stood as tall as her 5'2" would allow, feeling short and inadequate next to this blue hair goddess. As beautiful as the Empress was, her beauty paled in comparison to this woman.

Dante rose from his seat and quickly made his way to the woman. It didn't take a genius to see where he got his devastating good looks, his blue hair, and his height.

"Mother!" He reached out to her and hugged her. She returned the hug with intensity.

"I'm so glad you could make it. I wanted to introduce you to—"

"The future bride. I see her." She turned back to Candi. "The Taralei Diamond looks beautiful on you, Child. Don't let anyone take it away."

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness." Candi bowed. "I will protect it with my life."

"Anastasia!" The Emperor stood up, his eyes glowing. "You actually came…"

She turned to the Emperor with a wan smile.

"Of course I came. There was someone important I wanted to meet." She reached out and placed her hand on top of Candi's head. "The new holder of the Taralei Diamond."

"Well, no matter what the reason, I'm still glad you came." The Emperor gazed at her with sad eyes full of longing.

The Consort Anastasia turned away from the Emperor.

"Empress. You are looking well."

"Thank you." Empress Clarissa smiled. "You are beautiful, as always."

Consort Anastasia nodded and turned back to Candi.

"Now that I have met the bride, I will be on my way."

"Mother. Have a seat and talk with us for a bit." Dante pushed at Leonardo's shoulder, indicating for the Fourth Prince to vacate the chair.

Leonardo grinned and stepped back.

"Mother Anastasia. Please take this seat and grace us with your presence for a little while. I have missed your bright smile." Leonardo gestured at the chair and bowed.

Consort Anastasia turned to Leonardo and nodded.

"I supposed I could stay for a few minutes. Where is Crystabella?" She looked around.

Lucas turned to her with a winsome smile.

"Our Mother could not attend." He turned to Leonardo. "Which hospital ship is she currently on? I want to visit her after this Ball."

Leonardo shook his head.

"I tried to convince Mother to join us but she is working with a group of physicians on a pressing cure for some strange disease that has been sweeping through one of the far-flung worlds. She is currently on the Theta Blue ship, "

"She is always working. I supposed that is better than having nothing constructive to do." Consort Anastasia sighed and sank down on the chair that Leonardo had just vacated.

Leonardo poured more of the grape juice into a new flute and placed it in front of Consort Anastasia.

"Mother Anastasia, please try some of this. It is very good."

Consort Anastasia took a sip, proclaimed it great, and drank more of the grape juice.

The Emperor, seeing her pleasure at the drink Leonardo brought, gestured at the Attendant behind him to quickly bring more bottles so that the Consort Anastasia would not run out of the drink she liked.

He began plying Consort Anastasia with food and drinks, his eyes never once leaving the Consort's face. It was as if the Empress sitting by his side no longer existed.

Empress Clarissa sat there chatting with Byron, uncaring of his sudden fixation on the blue hair woman across from the Emperor. Anastasia was, after all, one of the Emperor's legal wives. If he doted on a wife, it was his right to do so.

"Where are the twins?" Consort Anastasia asked.

"They will be here very soon." Dante responded. "I heard they were inundated with requests for ball gowns because the Royal Ball got moved up a few weeks ahead of normal schedules."

"Well, we needed to do this and the Avgo schedule was so random that we had to fudge the dates a bit." Empress Clarissa gave a tinkled laugh.

"All we can do is our best, Clarissa." Consort Anastasia agreed.

"Yes, and even then, sometimes our best is not enough." The Empress sighed.

"What are you talking about? The Royal Ball is a smashing success! Everyone is having a great time!" The Emperor indicated at the guests. "And now that Anastasia is here, everything is perfect!"

"It would be more perfect if the twins were here." The Empress noted duly. "We can't start without them."

As if on cue, the two green hair Princes trooped in through the front entrance. They wore deep cream and moss green royal robes, with thin bands of gold on their brows.

The women swooned at their dapper stylish fashion as they marched up the winding gold carpet all the way to the front of the stage where the Royal Banquet Table was situated.

The twins greeted everyone and quickly took their places at the Royal Banquet Table as the lights began to dim, signaling the start of the event.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Royal Ball of the blessed Erenveil summer!" A very familiar voice announced above the general low din of the ballroom.

Candi's lips twitched with amusement.

Lorem Ipsum was here.

He went through the usual shpiel of introductions and chattering aimed at engaging the audience, and then he went to the heart of the matter.

"As you can see on the stage, there are two long tables. One of them is gold and the other is white. If I can have all involved parties to please take the stage, we can promptly begin."

Slate squeezed Candi's hand and leaned over to whisper into her ear.

"I think he means us. I have to go to the gold table. Look for your name on the white table and take your seat there."

"What is this about?"

Slate grinned.

"Don't worry. It's just a meet and greet so that we Princes get a taste of what our future bride will be like."

He surreptitiously licked her ear. "In my case, I've already licked my bride everywhere so I know exactly what you taste like."

Candi's face heated as her womb began to throb. She steeled herself and took a deep breath. This was not the time to be thinking about that.

She leaned back, putting some space between herself and Slate.

The show was just about ready to start.