Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Your father could disown you." Lady Gwendolyn shrugged.

"He could, but if I made the decision to walk away, then it would be my decision to reject the Crown Prince position. If I stayed and openly rebelled, it would be my father's decision to remove me for being insubordinate."

Suddenly, Süren smiled. "There truly is no one else capable of being Crown Prince. My brother is five years younger than I am, but he is not capable of doing this job."

Lady Gwendolyn smiled. "And why is that?"

"Because he truly hates all the inner workings of running a kingdom. He can barely read a court script without falling asleep. All he wants to do is go out with his warriors and train, build up his muscles, and practice fighting drills."

"And what about you?"

"I am also a warrior." He flexed his large muscles. "But at a very young age, I have been schooled in the ways of the courts and the legislative bodies to prepare for the eventual responsibilities that would be placed on me."

"Süren," Lady Gwendolyn raised a hand. "You will find that, with the position of being King, you will have to make many very tough decisions. This is only the first tough decision you will make. If you can navigate through this and land on the other side safely, you will make a very good King."

"I will do my best, Lady Gwendolyn." He nodded.

"And I will help you where I can." Lady Gwendolyn smiled.

By the time Lyra came back to the table, there was a new understanding between Süren and Lady Gwendolyn. If Lyra felt anything different, she did not show it.

That night, as mother and daughter prepared for bed, Gwendolyn looked at her daughter with worried eyes.

Although she had presented a steadfast and calm exterior in front of the Crown Prince Süren, she knew that things could deteriorate rapidly.

"Lyra. Come and sit by me. Let's talk a bit."

"Yes Mother." Lyra pounced onto the bed and curled up next to her mother, leaning into her as she did when she was a child.

"What do you think about Süren?"

"Mother. He is physically beautiful, and mentally stimulating. As large as he is, he is also surprisingly gentle." Lyra's brilliant blue eyes glittered with excitement.

"Yes, yes. I know about his attributes. My question is not about him but about you. How do you feel about him?" Gwendolyn smiled.

Lyra sighed. "I just met him, Mother, but he's so different from all the boys I've met in the past. He makes me feel so excited and flattered that he is giving me all this attention."

Her eyes were guarded.

"I want to get to know him better, but he lives so far from us, I'm a little bit afraid to let myself get too emotionally invested because what if Father says no? What if his parents don't like me?"

Lyra's eyes darkened. "Also, I'm not sure if this is the way all men are, or if this is uniquely Süren."

Gwendolyn nodded. This was not surprising.

Lyra hadn't had any experience with men. The only males she had ever really had much contact with were her seven brothers.

To be fair, she had also interacted with a few boys from the notable Houses that might have been possible suitors, but Lyra had never seemed this excited before, or filled with this much joy.

Süren, on the other hand, was a full-grown adult who had gone through all the stages of emotional growth. He knew what he wanted in a woman and the kind of woman he wanted to be with.

The chance that it might be Süren who would be hurt by Lyra was rather high because she was so inexperienced.

"Daughter. You have seen how your Father and I interact." Gwendolyn pursed her lips. "What do you think of our relationship?"

Lyra shrugged. "Isn't a marriage supposed to be rather on the dull side? Don't men tend to simply bear the responsibilities of being father and a husband with stoic determination? Father seems to be…"

"Resigned? Going through the motions?" Gwendolyn suggested.

Lyra nodded.

Tears sprang to Gwendolyn's eyes. Was this the example that she had set for her daughter? Did Lyra think that this was all she was allowed to experience?

She took a deep breath. If there was any doubt in her mind that she was doing the right thing, this was it. She could not let her daughter think that what she went through for decades was acceptable.

But then Lyra turned to her and said with clear understanding of her mother's situation.

"Mother. I do realize that you are a Consort, not an Empress. It's completely understandable why Father is like that. He has a lot of wives to take care of."

"And you think that is acceptable?" Gwendolyn asked.

"It's not for me to say what is acceptable or not acceptable." Lyra shrugged. "As long as you are happy and it was your decision to marry him, then who am I to judge who you choose to spend your life with?"

Lyra rubbed her mother's back in an effort to comfort her.

"You must have known what it would be like to be married to a man with five wives."

"What do you mean?"

Lyra grimaced. "He is human too. He will have favorites and not so favorites from the wives that he married for political reasons. There is no way for him to love every woman equally."

"He did choose one." Gwendolyn's eyes were dark with pain. "Anastasia was his chosen."

"Then at least he got a chance to be with one person he chose." Lyra sighed. "Not everyone is that lucky."

"Süren is also a Crown Prince. He will soon be King, and there may be wives chosen for him that he cannot refuse." Gwendolyn gently reminded Lyra.

"But at the very least, he CHOSE me Mother." Lyra's eyes were shining.

This was something Lyra had personal knowledge of. The woman that a King CHOSE was treated very differently from the women with whom he married for any other reason.

Gwendolyn gathered her daughter into her arms and hugged her tightly. She wished she could shelter Lyra from all the storms through life ahead, but she knew that Lyra would need to bravely step forward and face those challenges.

In facing them, she would truly learn how to live and to be a strong, independent woman.

"So what is your wish at this moment? What would you like to choose?" Gwendolyn asked.

"I want some time to get to know him better. I can't marry him until I am of age anyway. I cannot rush this."

Lyra leaned back and look into her mother's eyes. "Would it be too selfish for me to ask him to wait three years for me, and to choose only me, Mother?"

Gwendolyn smiled with clear determination. "Absolutely not.. This would be our only condition for the Crown Prince Süren."