Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

The Emperor looked worried as he faced his oldest son over visuals.

"How could we not get intel that this was brewing?" He barked out.

Dante narrowed his eyes. "The attacks on the Royal Palace were carried out by visuals gathering pods, remotely manned. I have my men chasing down leads at the moment."

"And what of the warships converging into Erenveil space?" The Emperor snarled.

"They were in their own space, doing routine practice drills. They've been doing practice drills for a decade now. This is the first time they've actually done anything hostile."

"And where were you and Slate when all this was coming down?"

Dante's eyes flared. "We were trying to take care of your messy situation with Mother Gwen."

"I don't need you to do anything with Gwendolyn. Just take care of these birds!"

Dante gritted his teeth. "Don't worry, we will. Meanwhile, you need to take care of ALL your Consorts, Father, before you lose any more."

"What do you mean 'lose any more'?" The Emperor scowled.

"Mother Gwen and Lyra are in a safe location. Don't go looking for them. They will not return to you."

"WHAT???" The Emperor's face twisted into an angry knot.

Dante muttered a deep dark curse and waved a hand, cutting off the communication. He didn't have time to deal with his father's tantrums.

There were more reports of casualties and destroyed warships coming through, as well as updated 3D renderings of warships and their placements throughout space.

He gritted his teeth as his visually rendered 3D ships were being surrounded and destroyed in midair before him.

Although his guard ships were the best that money could buy, there was no denying that he was outgunned, two to one.

He glanced at the time clock.

It would be another two hours before the first of Slate's warships would reach the hot zones. All he could do was continue to monitor his people and hope they can do evasive-and-attack maneuverings until backup arrived.

"Sir. King Mattheus Cordera calling." The communications officer called out.

"Put him on."

Instantly, Mattheus' ruggedly handsome face appeared onscreen..

"Looks like you need assistance, Crown Prince."

"Your world is tiny, Mer-King. What can you do?" Dante stared at him cooly.

"Dante, Dante, Dante." Mattheus' chanted, grinning at him affably. "Have you forgotten who I am? I still control a vast section of the space pirates. For a price, I can have my mercenary troops aid you cause."

"Stay out of our business. I don't hire mercenaries."

Mattheus' eyes grew serious. "I don't offer this lightly. My men's lives are just as precious to me as your men's lives are to you."

"I would prefer to stay out of your political games and tussles and let you all destroy yourselves. Unfortunately, Poppy just called and asked me to help you and I have never been able to say no to that woman."

"Poppy contacted you?" Dante glared at Mattheus. This was a different scenario if that was the case.

"Yes. She is two hours away from the skirmish line and she is afraid that you will be decimated by the time she could get to you."

Dante waved another hand, hailing Poppy. Within minutes, her face appeared on visuals alongside Mattheus.

"Brother. You don't have time to wait for Slate to arrive. You need to clear the Avians out quickly, before your forces become too depleted." She launched into the conversation without waiting for Dante to greet her.

"He runs mercenary space pirate ships. If we utilize the mercenary warships, it will look as if I am sanctioning and endorsing pirates."

"If you don't use the mercenary ships, you may not have much to sanction or endorse. Once your forces dwindle down too far, the Avians will take over the capital world Erenveil, and Father will be overthrown."

Mattheus raised a hand. "Can I say something?"

"Speak." Dante shot a look at him.

"I can outfit the ships I send you with the colors and insignias of Emporia. That way you can get the benefits of my ships without the stigma."

Dante didn't even hesitate.

"Discuss the terms of costs with Poppy and send to me two-hundred warships, if you can get it quickly enough."

Mattheus smiled. "Consider it done."

Dante heaved a sigh and signed off with both Poppy and Mattheus.

"Slate. How much farther are you?" He called out to the still-dark screen that he had just pulled into view.

Slate's worried blue eyes popped online.

"The first of my closest warships should joined the fringes and be able to attack the Avian warships from the far side within the hour."

"You can slow it down a bit. Mattheus is going to send two-hundred ships to me from Emporia immediately. They should be here very soon."

Slate bared his fangs. He was still keeping score with Mattheus for having kidnapped him and put Candace in danger.

"Keep your daggers hidden, Brother. He may not be the perfect ally, but we have to keep our friends close, and our enemies closer. Besides, Poppy arranged this, and I trust our sister." **

At the sound of Poppy's name, Slate visibly relaxed. If there was anyone he trusted, it was Poppy and the rest of his brothers.

They were still going over war details when Leonardo popped into view.

"I have reached the Moons of Coraline. On your signal, I will converge and root out King Dilbert and put an end to his Avian reign."

"Hold the line." Dante said. "By the time Slate arrives, his troops can converge and hem the Avian warships into a pocket, with my forces on one side and Mattheus' forces on the other."

Leonardo nodded. "At that time, I will take over the capital world of the Avians and defeating them would only be a matter of time."

Dante shook his head. "Unfortunately, it cannot be seen as an Avian defeat."

Leo frowned. "If we take out King Dilbert, that's a definite loss for the Avian humanoid race. They may not be able to recover from this."

"Which is why we can't do that." Dante reiterated.

Slate nodded. "I have to agree with Brother Dante. If we completely wipe out the reigning monarch of the Avians, that would cause the Insectoids to gain a huge advantage and suddenly, Erenveil would be looking at a war with the insects for dominance."

"Might I remind you that I am half-insectoid." Dante sniffed. "But I do understand what you are saying. In this case, we can only do one thing."

He looked at Slate and Leonardo in turn. With a wave of his hand, Dante called forth another visual monitor.

"Yes?" Byron's red-brown eyes and dark red hair popped onscreen.

"Byron." Dante called out. "Get ready. We're initiating plan B."

Byron nodded. He'd been ready for ages and was merely waiting for the right moment.

"I am on standby and waiting for the word."

Dante pursed his lips. "You need to be around the Moons of Coraline within the hour."

"Too late." Byron smacked his lips. "I'm already here."

"Where, exactly?" Leonardo asked. "I don't want to accidentally hit you when we pull in."

"Don't worry. I'm not on the surface of any moon. I'm currently on one of the cruise lines floating between the moons."

He lifted a champagne flute and took a sip. "I'm here with the Avian Ambassador."

He panned out the view of his visuals and the pert and pretty face of Valeria Marakesh showed up.

Dante laughed. It was the black raven Avgo Female with the purple amethyst stone.

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** Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.. The Art of War. Sun Tzu