Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Oh my stars." The Emperor gasped. He turned back to Leonardo. "And what about the fetus?"

"The child belongs to someone else." Leonardo's eyes were grim.

The Emperor shook his head.

"That's a shame, but you know that I have already sent out the marriage decree and her father has accepted. At this point, what people will see is you putting your wife and child into the dungeon."

"I don't care."

"Son, they will declare war!"

"War for what?" Candace jumped up, her blood boiling past the point of containment. "For a woman who slept with another man and is trying to pass off that child as the heir to an Erenveil Prince?"

"Candace. This is not your business child. Have a seat and let me talk to my son."

Candace gasped. "Father. Leonardo is my husband. This is more my business than it is yours!"

"Candace. You cannot marry Leonardo. He is already married."

"That's absolutely correct! He is already married." She patted her chest with an emphatic hand. "He's married to me!"

She turned to Dante. "Do you have the marriage documents, Love?"

"Right here waiting for you Baby Girl." Dante smiled and gave a gesture.

Appearing immediately in front of each person was the marriage document that had been signed by the Emperor and the various Court Advisors.

In clear Erenveil script were all the seven names of Candace's seven husbands. Dante, Byron, Lucas, Leonardo, Jason, Jared, & Slate.

The Emperor sputtered. "How—how is this possible? I only wrote in the three names of the Crown Princes!"

"Are you sure, Father?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "I was there that day and I saw all seven names documented very clearly with my own eyes."

"I saw it too. I was also there!" Lucas grinned.

"As was I." Byron nodded with his hand over his heart.

"You—you boys—" He stammered, looking confused. "But why? You are all still very young! Why would you want to limit your potential so much for a single woman?"

"What potential are you talking about Father? We are all at the top of our game, doing the things we enjoy the most. How has Candace limited us from doing what we love to do?"

The Emperor sighed. "There are so many amazing and beautiful potential mates out there!"

Leonardo rubbed his face with a wearied hand. "Father, I look around and all I see are women like Olivia Faraday."

"I agree." Jared shuddered. "Totally disgusting."

"Which makes our wife all the more precious to us." Slate intoned with seriousness.

"Absolutely. I feel so blessed." Lucas gave a silly grin and a deep happy sigh. "Do you realize that in the entire galaxy, there is only ONE Prime Avgo Female, and she is our wife?"

"And before you say anything Father," Jared held up a hand. "I truly only want to be with my wife. I am not interested in taking a royal consort. This is non-negotiable."

"Likewise." Jason said.

"But I have sent out—"

"We have sent out retractions, Father." Lucas informed him in the same dazed happy voice that he had been using the entire night.

"Retractions? Are you daft? What gives you the right to retract my decrees?"

Candace rose and faced him. "You can accept that the retractions have been sent out using your power as current Emperor, or you can fight the retractions and find yourself the much-loved 'former-Emperor'."

"You—you—are you trying to usurp the throne?" The Emperor shook with rage.

"On the contrary." Candace smiled with patience. "You are still the Emperor because the Seven Co-Emperors have decided to allow you to remain Emperor for awhile longer. How much long you remain the Emperor depends on what happens within the next year."

"I am still the Emperor!" He raged.

"Father, didn't you talk to your advisors about the archaic portion of our laws, taken from the The Ellipsoidal Macrocosm?" Dante asked.

The Emperor scowled.

Of course he had talked to them about it, and he definitely did not like what he heard. He had figured if he ignored it, then it would go away into obscurity.

Unfortunately, his sons and daughter-in-law were not going to let it go. They were going to insist on taking up the reigns.

To be perfectly honest, the Emperor had set it up so that one day in the near future, his sons would take over so he could rest and retire in comfort with his wives.

But this was not yet that moment. They were currently still waging a war against various factions of the galaxy. He still had too much to do!

"Obscured laws should be done away with." The Emperor brushed his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Father," Byron shook his head. "It's not an Erenveil law. It comes directly from the Ellipsoidal Macrocosm which means it can't be changed or voted off the books. It's one of the inalienable laws, a specific directive from the galaxy."

Lucas nodded. "Once the next Primary Avgo Female has chosen her mate, or mates, she immediately becomes the next Empress, making all her chosen mates Emperors. That's how you became Emperor."

"I became Emperor because I was the Crown Prince!"

Byron shook his head. "Had Clarissa chosen someone other than you, that someone would have been Emperor. You just got lucky she didn't know that and ended up marrying you."

"Pfft. I don't believe in all that ancient mumbo jumbo." The Emperor blustered.

"It's not ancient mumbo jumbo Father. The Avgo power is very real." Lucas murmured. "It was the Avgo who chose all seven of us as Co-Emperors. You cannot stop that from happening."

The Emperor blinked in irritation and glanced at Lucas a couple of times. Since when did his extremely shy and mentally dull son become such a decisive, intuitive, sharp man?

He stared at Lucas more closely.

"What the—what is the matter with you lately, Lucas? You used to be the best looking son of mine. Now you look like a homeless bum!"

"Really?" Lucas grinned and rubbed his tousled long hair, bleached almost white by sun and salt water. "Candace, do I look like a homeless bum?"

Candace turned to him with a smile. "As long as you're happy Sweetheart, you can wear beach gear and surf all day long if you feel like it."

"However!" She threw a warning glance. "You are going to have to clean up nicely before your wedding. I refuse to marry a man who is going to show up to his wedding looking like a homeless beach bum."

Lucas laughed, his amber eyes dancing with delight. Because she accepted him exactly as he was, he could be himself without worry of being judged.

He no longer needed to be an actor and fake being happy. He truly was happy!

"Speaking of which," Slate raised an eyebrow. "When exactly is our wedding?"