Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Once Dante was in full control of himself, Candace reached out and gave the twins hugs as well. For some reason, they looked even worse than Dante did.

In their eyes were recriminations, not at anyone but at themselves.

"We failed you, Tiny Dancer." They apologized profusely. "We all failed to show up to support you through an important Avgo event. That's—unforgivable."

She shook her head. "None of this is your fault. The fault lies with those who are responsible for the kidnapping of four Princes of Erenveil.

"They must be made to pay." Her normal warm hazel eyes grew hard and cold.

The brothers all looked at each other. She was their inspiration.

If they'd had any doubts about what needed to be done, she had just blown away all their doubts.

If Candace said the attackers must be made to pay, they would ensure that she would be gifted with substantial repayment, be it in the form of wealth or blood.

Or both.

Since everyone looked exhausted, Slate found quarters for each of his brothers, sending them off to rest until dinner time. They had all been through the wringer within the last 24 hours and needed rest.

Candace was taken to Slate's more luxurious personal quarters where a female attendant had been assigned to help her to undress and changed into more comfortable clothing.

She was lying on the bed resting when Slate returned, an hour later.

He fell onto the bed next to Candace in an exhausted slump, exhaling with relief as his body sank onto the softness of the bed. It had been over 48 hours that he'd had a chance to lie down and close his eyes.

Beside him, the little female that weighed next to nothing, was squirming under his arm that had inadvertently been thrown across her body.

"Ughh. Slate. Why you so heavy!" Candace was struggling to move out from under his right arm.

Slate's body shook with mirth. He removed his offending arm and turned his body towards her.

"Will you sleep with me?"

"S—sleep?" Candi's eyes widened.

"Yes." He closed his eyes. "I'm exhausted. I just want to lie here with you for a bit and just sleep."

Candi was going to respond when she realized that he was already lightly snoring.

His right arm was under him but his left arm was now thrown over her. To make matters worse, he had also thrown his leg over her body, effectively trapping her into his chest.

With nowhere to go, Candi reached around his waist and cradled him in her arms. She closed her eyes and tried to take a nap but the harder she tried, the more awake she became.

The nearness of Slate was disturbing. The memories of all they had shared came flooding back into her mind, making her sad that there was no future for them.

He had been her constant island of stability, her rock that she clung to when things went south. The fact that he continued to be her strength even when it was obvious that she and Dante were a couple meant that he cared for her unconditionally.

He gave her freely and without any strings attached, anything and everything she needed.

If all he was asking for was to lie there and sleep with her in his arms, she was more than happy to be his dakimakura, his comfort pillow.

Within his safe warm embrace, Candi drifted off to sleep soon thereafter.

By dinner time, a small chime sounded, alerting everyone that it was time to eat.

Within fifteen minutes, everyone had trooped into the dining area where the attendants were serving military-style meals.

"Everyone seems to be looking much less ragged." Leonardo smiled. "I was starting to get worried about you men, falling to the ground in exhaustion."

"Please." Slate scoffed. "It would take more than two days lack of sleep to take me down that hard."

"I can't claim that," Lucas gave a shy grin. "I got drugged and knocked out for hours, so I guess I got my allotted sleep time."

Leonardo shook his head. "No brother. Being knocked out does not equate to sleeping and resting."

"You and the others," he looked at Dante and the twins, "need just as much if not more sleep than everyone else just to recover from all the drugs that were pumped into you."

"We don't have time to sleep. We have a fish world to reclaim." Dante launched into the crux of the situation, even as attendants began serving the first course, a light hors d'oeuvre of smoked salmon on brie crackers.

"And why is that the first item on our list?" Byron asked as he chewed on the crackers.

"Wouldn't slamming the five bird worlds surrounding Nymphalidae and saving Empress Anastasia's home world from being overtaken be the first reasonable action?"

Dante smiled. "Because if we reclaim Emporia and return it to its rightful ruler, we suddenly gain an entire armada of warriors to help us in the fight with the birds."

Slate stared at Dante. "You're talking about the space pirates?"

Dante nodded. "I have an 'understanding' with the previous king of Emporia."

"You know Mattheus Cordera?" Jason's eyes widened.

Dante nodded. "I'm sorry Jason. I can no longer allow your uncle to remain in power over Emporia."

Jared's left cheek twitched. "Mattheus is my cousin. His father was our uncle and the previous king of Emporia. If there is anything we can do to help you take Mortimer down, just let us know."

Dante nodded. "There is. I'll let you know when and what is needed."

"I also have quite a bit of pull with the insectoid worlds since I am, myself, half insectoid." Dante continued. "Under my command will be the insects and at least one group of space pirates."

"And of course, I still have command of all the Erenveil space force, as well as your entire fleet of guard ships." Slate reminded Dante.

"And my hospital ships are still warships." Leonardo chimed in.

Dante shook his head. "If I can get the extra forces from the space pirates and the insectoid worlds, you can revert your warships back to hospitals to receive the wounded from the war."

Leonardo nodded. That had always been the option. His crews had always been able to do both duties. They were essentially warriors with medical knowledge.

"Militarily, we have the necessary forces to deal with whatever the birds can throw at us. We need a negotiator though." Slate turned to Byron. "You being a bird makes you the perfect negotiator."

Byron nodded. "Being a negotiator is what I was trained my whole life to do."

"You won't be alone. Poppy is also at the front lines, doing much of the moving and shaking of the chess board herself."

"She is such an amazing woman." Byron breathed with admiration.

"What do you guys want me to do?" Lucas looked up with hesitant eyes.

"Be our front man. Make us look like handsome devils who can do no wrong." Jared smiled. "And this time, none of you men are allowed to hide your faces."

Jason nodded grinning. "We have to come out of hiding and become the Amazing Seven Princes of Erenveil! Jared and I will create the visual costumes for all of us."

"That's right. We must become the superheroes that the galaxy needs." Jared's eyes began to sparkle with that creative shine. "We will make the galaxy swoon with love for us so that when war happens, they will be sympathetic to our cause."

Candi beamed a bright smile at them.

"That sounds like an awesome idea! The Amazing Seven Princes! Wow!!!" Her hazel eyes sparkled. "Is there anything I can do to help in the war effort?"

Slate turned to her with loving eyes.

"You are our source of strength. We need you somewhere safe and healthy so we can do our jobs without having to worry about you."

"YES!" All the men agreed with one voice.