Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Candi shook her head, her eyes looking up at him with confusion.

Weren't Princes supposed to be leisure royals, languidly enjoying their days at the palace doing whatever it was that Princes do?

Byron shook his head, reading her thoughts with unnerving accuracy.

"Slate is the Prime Warrior. He fights the physical offensive battles every day of his life out there in border skirmishes between space pirates, vigilantes, terrorists, and small insurgent groups."

His eyes glowed with appreciation.

"Danger surrounds Slate every day but he makes it look so easy to dance through all the deadly precarious situations."

"And Dante?"

"Dante fights financial battles against the business oligarchs every moment of every day. A big part of Erenveil power flows through Dante's hands."

"He also has a huge armada of warships that are disguised as business guard ships and everybody knows this. It's a very loosely kept secret. He's probably in his War Room at this very moment, slaying business opponents left and right. It's not called a War Room for nothing."

"That's so true. I know that Leonardo is a doctor with warships." She added.

"That's right. Leo runs the defensive support behind Slate and Dante. His hospital ships take care of the injured that come out of Slate's armed forces. In times of war, and when needed, his hospitals can turn into warships and do double duty."

"And the twins?"

"As for Jason and Jared. Those two head up the intelligence division. The twins run it through their fashion industry because it's easy to send fashionistas and models into places to spy and nobody is any the wiser."

Byron's eyes sparkled with relish.

"Intelligence is one of the most important aspects of war. You win or lose depending on how good your intelligence is."

Byron placed a finger to his lips.

"But keep this to yourself. This is hush hush. Nobody knows of this but the royal family, and now so do you, since you are also part of the royal family."

"What about Lucas?"

"Lucas is a famous actor. He's our Goodwill Ambassador. We send him into places where tension is a bit high and he charms the pants off the ladies who then snarl at the men to back off their cutie-patootie. He's very good at what he does." Byron laughed.

"And you?"

Byron sighed and brushed his long red hair from his eyes.

"I am—or was—the face of the Royal House of Erenveil. Father is the Emperor, but I take care of the day-to-day running of the Courts and Legislators."

"And now you're leaving? Where will you go and what will you do?"

Byron gazed at her with sad eyes full of longing.

"I will be going to my maternal grandparents' world immediately after your next event. I do not want to leave before then."

"Why do they want you to join them when your family is here?"

"They have heard of my adoption, which means they know I am a permanent part of the Royal House. They are most likely hoping that if I am there, my royal family here won't do anything rash."

"When will you be back?"

Byron looked at her without answering. How could he give her a timeframe when even he did not know?

Candi was not having any of that.

"But you have to come back! You can't just leave without an exit strategy!" She wailed.

"You really want me to come back?"

"Yes!!!" She cried. She could not allow Byron to feel abandoned and forsaken.

Something deep within Byron cracked and melted. His heart was suddenly in a puddle on the floor at her feet.

He sank down onto the settee and rested his head on her shoulder.

"If I promise you I will return, will you stay in touch with me so that I have at least a way to be connected to you? So I don't feel so alone out there…"

"Yes!!!" She grabbed his shoulders. "How do we do that? Is there a way to connect even if you're far away?"

Byron nodded.

"How?"

"You know our royal family is a family of blood bats, right?"

"Yes, and?" She inclined her head in query.

"Well, blood bats are…" he waved a hand in befuddlement.

Candi raised an eyebrow. "You're trying to say blood-feeders?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"So you have to consume blood, like vampires?"

He nodded with some reluctance. "Yes."

"And if you don't?"

"We become malnourished. We're not strictly hematophagic because we do get our nourishment from other sources. However, we do need to consume blood on a regular basis to stay healthy."

Candi chewed on her thumbnail as she thought about what he just said.

"So if, let's say you were hungry for blood, would you look at me as if I was…food?"

Byron laughed.

"No Darling. Absolutely not. We're not cannibals. We use animal blood for feeding, and even then, we don't need much. Most of our food is the same as what you eat."

"So why are you telling me your feeding habits?"

"Because I need to share something with you which will allow me to communicate with you."

"Come again?" Candi frowned.

Byron scratched his head.

"How do I explain this so it's easy to understand."

"Some, not all," he held up his hand for emphasis, "of us are telepathic, and the telepathy is a result of us injecting a specific part of our genetic material into another person."

"Injecting genetic material. I'm assuming you're not talking about that in a sexual nature."

"No Darling." Byron smiled "That's something completely different, and I would love to discuss that with you but not at this moment. Right now, we're talking about telepathy, not procreation."

Candi nodded. "I get it. So you basically bite me and inject something into my body to mark me, and then after that we can talk to each other with our minds."

"That's right. We can link up in that manner, but I also have to take a small amount of your blood within me as well. This allows me to find you and connect with your specific genetic marker."

Candi narrowed her eyes. She had read about this in various stories before.

"Will I turn into a vampire if you bite me?"

Byron smiled and shook his head.

"Not at all. For the tiny amount of fluids we would be exchanging, it's not even that big of a deal."

Candi pursed her lips. If it was that simple, then why not?

"Okay. Let's do it now."

Byron blinked. He was not expecting her to agree so quickly.

"You don't—you don't want to think about it? Once this happens, it's a permanent thing. I can't switch it off."

"You mean we will forever be able to communicate telepathically?"

"Yes."

Candi thought about it for a moment. The only thing that bothered her a bit was getting bitten.

"Ae you going to bite me on the neck?"

Byron nodded.

The neck had two major blood vessels which were easily accessible. He could bite her wrist, but it was much easier and less damaging for him to bite her neck.

Candi sighed. What the heck.

How bad could it get for her to be able to stay in touch with a vampire prince for the rest of her life? It would make him feel less isolated out there all by himself.

"Okay." Candi nodded.. "Let's do it."