Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

As the wine continued to be poured from the casks that had been brought out by the servants, Ashwyn waited with nervous restlessness. His attendant had been gone for over an hour and had not yet returned with what he had asked for.

As the lanterns began to dim, he gestured for the attendants to relight them all. Each fuel source only lasted two hours, and the first set of fuel cones had barely been lit when Poppy took off in a huff.

Two hours. He hoped it was enough time for her to calm down a bit so he could at least talk to her.

"Your Majesty," a voice called out behind him.

Ashwyn turned. "Do you have it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed and proffered a small flat box.

Ashwyn took the box and opened the top.

Nestled within the velvet lining was a pendant fashioned from deep gold, holding a large ruby tear drop surrounded by diamonds.

It was a fairly large ruby so the piece was quite heavy. It was also exquisite.

"Very good." He closed the lid and tucked the box into the inner breast pocket of his robe. He hoped this was a good enough peace offering and Poppy would be happy with it.

Now, he could either wait for Poppy to show up or he could go look for her.

A quick look around at the large gathering convinced Ashwyn to sit and patiently wait. He had no idea where she was anyway.

As the lights of the palace lanterns began to glow brightly once more, Ashwyn stood up and began walking around the perimeter of the group.

He did not want to look as if he was pacing, but that was exactly what he was doing. Where in the world had she gone to that she would not return to the dinner when all her brothers and her sister-in-law was still here?

He was about to throw caution to the wind and go look for her when Poppy reappeared, with Mattheus in tow behind her.

Ashwyn moved towards her.

"Poppy." He called out.

She stopped and turned her violet eyes towards him.

Ashwyn let out a silent breath of relief. She no longer looked so angry. In fact, her eyes held a strange glint that Ashwyn could not put his finger on.

"Can we please talk?" He asked her outright, hoping that she would not refuse him in front of everyone.

"Just for a few minutes, Poppy." He begged.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

"Come." He extended his hand and she reached out for him.

The moment their fingers touched, Ashwyn felt a warmth suffuse his entire body and his body began to tingle in a way that he just knew—he knew the chemistry that he felt for her was real.

Ashwyn had heard of chemistry between people but this was the first time he had ever felt it so clearly before.

At that moment, he knew he needed to find a way to be with her, but he also knew one thing for certain. Chemistry between two people on any level could not be created. It either existed or it didn't.

He knew that he could not make Poppy physically attracted to him. All he could do was create the right conditions for her to discover what chemistry was possible between them.

He led Poppy over to the west side where the green house was located and ushered her through.

This time of the evening, there would only be small fairy lights strung about the bushes and the small trees growing inside the glass dome. It would be tranquil enough for him to be able to talk to her.

He had to find a way to open up the opportunity for her to be able to feel chemistry to whatever degree it existed within her. It would either happen or it wouldn't.

"Poppy. First things first. Please…let me humbly apologize for not being clear with you from the very start who I was."

"I was just afraid that…that once you knew I was the king of this world, you would prejudge me and decide it wasn't worth your time to get to know me for whatever reason."

"Reason? Like what?"

"Well…" he waved a hand. "Being with a king has its drawbacks."

"Oh? Like what?" Poppy raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Maybe you enjoy cruising all over the galaxy and don't want to be stuck being on one world all the time. Or maybe you think kings have lots of concubines or consorts around and you don't want to be one of a bevy of wives."

"And is that what you have? A bevy of wives?" She gave a small smile.

"No!" He protested immediately. "No. I've never been married and I don't have anyone at the moment."

His face turned red. "My father just passed away last year, so I haven't been king for very long. My advisors are looking for wives for me but I've been…pushing them off as much as I could."

"Why?" Poppy gave him a questioning look. "Do you prefer to be with a man?"

"No!!!" Ashwyn covered his eyes with flustered hands. "I am only attracted to women—I mean, not lots of women, just—"

Poppy was now trying hard not to laugh.

He sighed. "I'm doing a terrible job of trying to talk with you."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box.

"This is a gift to say I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

Poppy looked at him for a moment and reached out for the box.

"Hmmm." She turned the box around in her hand. "A box this small can only hold one thing."

"I hope you like it." Ashwyn murmured.

She looked up at him with sparkling violet eyes and opened the box.

"Oh my!" She gasped, pulling out the ruby pendant on its gold chain. "This looks like…"

"It's called the Amaryllis Ruby." He breathed.

"Isn't this part of your world's Crown Jewels?"

He nodded.

Poppy handed it back to him. "I can't take your world's Crown Jewels. They belong in a museum or something."

He sighed. How did she know he'd had his attendant take it out of the palace's museum and polish it up just to give it to her?

"If you don't accept it, then it means you are still mad at me."

Poppy looked up at him and shook her head.

"If I tell you that I'm no longer mad at you, will you take this back?"

"No. Once I give something away, I hope the person I'm giving it to will not reject it."

"But this is too valuable for me to take."

Ashwyn's blue eyes softened. "I made a terrible mistake when I first met you and did not clearly tell you who I was."

He sighed. "I even lied about the palace being a hotel because I wanted you to bring your family here to hold their wedding but I didn't know how to present it to you in a way that would allow you to accept."

"I'm truly sorry, Poppy. Please accept this gift and give me another chance."

Poppy looked down at the Amaryllis Ruby. She looked up at Ashwyn.

"When you say 'chance', what are you talking about?"

"Give me a chance to pursue you. I know we're barely even friends, but I believe if we're given a chance to get to know each other, we could be much more than friends."

Poppy stared at him and slowly nodded.

Ashwyn closed his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. He took the box from her hand and pulled the chain out.

"Then let's start with this."

He reached behind her and fastened the chain around her neck.

"You are so beautiful, I can barely breathe when I am this close to you." He whispered.

Poppy reached up to touch the ruby. "Does this mean we are now friends?"

Ashwyn smiled. "Something like that."

Most couples were friends, weren't they?