Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

The day that the message came to the Emperor of Erenveil about Royal Consort Gwendolyn's impending marriage to the Grand Duke of Avalia, he was out in the rose garden having a light lunch with the Empress Anastasia.

She was playing a mandolin and singing a song for him as they sat out in the bright sunshine enjoying the last warm days of autumn.

No doubt about it, Anastasia was a decent player and singer, but she was no Gwendolyn.

Gwen was a gifted muse, able to play a dozen instruments at the maestro level. Her singing voice was so amazing, it always stopped everyone in their tracks.

But it didn't matter.

The Emperor turned back to the Empress with adoring eyes. This was his Anastasia.

She didn't need to do anything and he would still think she was the most amazing woman in the galaxy. He was ecstatic just sitting here in the crystal sunshine, listening to the love of his life, singing him a song and playing on the mandolin.

He gazed at the deep blue of her hair, the bright green of her eyes, and his heart pounded so hard he could see stars.

No matter how many times he made love to her, he could never get enough of her sensual body and the way she quivered every time he pleasured her.

She smiled and plucked the last strains of the song. Emperor Rex clapped with joy.

"That was beautiful! You are beautiful!"

He was about to continue gushing his delight when a tap on his shoulder interrupted his joy.

"Your Majesty." The Emperor's attendant cleared his throat. "You have an incoming message from the Grand Duke of Avalia."

Emperor Rex furrowed his brows. The Grand Duke of Avalia? He tried to remember if he had ever met the fellow but nothing was coming into mind.

"What does he want?"

The attendant presented the Emperor with a communications disc.

"Play it."

"Your Majesty. Perhaps you should listen to this one in private."

"Nonsense. There's no one here who is not completely trustworthy. Play it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

He waved a hand and the dull droning voice of the computer began reading the written documentation.

"…this is to inform you that I, The Grand Duke Erden of Mistvale from Avalia, am now engaged to be married to the Lady Gwendolyn of Erenveil."

"What???" Emperor Rex snarled, his eyes bulging. Beside him, Anastasia's eyes were in shock.

The voice continued droning on without pause.

"Our wedding will commence within one week and she will be a permanent resident of Avalia soon thereafter. Details will follow immediately after the wedding has taken place…"

Emperor Rex stood up, shaking with anger.

"Who the hell is this Grand Duke Erden???"

"Your Majesty, he is King Batsaikhan's uncle."

"Uncle? If he's that old, why would Gwen even want to have anything to do with him?" The Emperor scowled.

"Sir. He is actually a few years younger than you."

The attendant waved a finger and a visuals image of the Grand Duke Erden appeared in the space between them.

Emperor Rex stared at the rugged handsome face of Duke Erden and something inside him churned with jealousy and animosity. How dare Gwen leave him for a younger more handsome guy!

"Find out where she is and drag her back!"

"Your Majesty—"

"And while you're at it, call my son Slate. I need to talk to him. NOW!!!"

==========

Slate was in the middle of a war room discussion on the Raptor 600 with Dante and Leonardo on 3D calls when the Emperor's incoming call flashed up into his field of vision.

"Father is incoming. Do you men want to talk to him?"

"Why not." Dante sounded bored. He was playing with something to his right side and didn't look all that engaged.

Leonardo shrugged. They needed a break from all the war chatter anyway.

What was supposed to have been a quick all-out strike to subdue the Avians had turned into a much longer war than they had wanted.

There was support for the Avians from the various human species that did not want insectoids to be the reigning group.

They were very much against Dante holding even one-third of the Crown Prince position, even though the other two Crown Princes were half Ibis and half Lion.

Within minutes, the flustered red face of their Dear Old Dad popped up on visuals, his violet eyes stormy and his long black hair wild and gnarled. It looked like he had been tearing out his hair in frustration.

"Slate! What in the world has gotten into your mother???" He grounded out.

"Didn't we already have this conversation?" Slate threw back at his father.

"No! I just got this!!!" He waved a frustrated hand and the message from the Grand Duke began replaying.

"…this is to inform you that I, The Grand Duke Erden of Mistvale from Avalia, am now engaged to be married to the Lady Gwendolyn of Erenveil…"

Dante chuckled. As the voice droned on, the chuckle turned into a guffaw. Leonardo and Slate joined in until they were all gasping and out of breath.

"Aaaahh! It sounds to me, Father, as if your ex-wife has found a new love interest!" Dante's sparkling green eyes that looked so much like his beloved woman were dancing in delight.

"I hope we are invited to the wedding." Leonardo grinned.

Emperor Rex slammed his hands onto the desk.

BAAM!!!

"I can't believe you boys are not enraged by this!"

"Why?" Slate reasoned. "You said so yourself. You have too many wives to adequately take care of. If another man is able and willing to take care of her, you should let her go and be happy that she's happy."

"She never said anything to me. She just left!"

"Father." Slate shook his head. "She tried to tell you, but you never showed up on the night she wanted to talk to you."

"She could have waited! One more day wouldn't have hurt." The Emperor scowled. "Instead, she just went off without giving me a chance to say anything to her."

"And what, pray tell, were you going to say to Mother Gwen?" Leonardo spoke up.

He was not blind to the way his own mother and Mother Gwen were treated by his father either.

"I would have given her the chance to air grievances and we could have worked on whatever it was she needed."

"She needed your love, Father." Slate sighed.

"She has my love!" The Emperor insisted.

"The kind of love you have for my mother is not what she wants, not what she needs." Slate shook his head.

He knew exactly what Mother needed. It was the same kind of love that he and Candace shared, a romantic soul bond that made his world sparkle with vibrance every time he was with her.

"I love each of my wives, all in different ways. They are all different individuals."

"The way that you love her is not what she wants. Just accept that and let her go." Dante spoke up.

"No matter what, I still want to speak to her!" The Emperor fumed.

Slate glanced at Dante and Leonardo. Father's request was not unreasonable.

"I'll see what I can do to give you and Mother a chance to talk it out."

The Emperor nodded and left the call.

The three Princes sat there and stared at each other for a few minutes.

Leonardo sighed. "Do you really think it's a good idea for Mother Gwen to talk with Dear Old Dad?"

Slate shook his head. "If it wasn't for the fact that I have spoken with the Grand Duke on several occasions, I would have thought that perhaps they were just faking this engagement so Mother could have a clean break with Father."

He turned to Dante. "The Grand Duke is not someone who would fake something like this. He's like you, Dante. A straight-shooter."

Dante roughed up his blue hair. It had gotten rather long due to his wife's penchant for long hair.

"I've also spoken with the Grand Duke. He is actually very stable and steady, a very strong man. I say we have the Duke speak with Father first so Mother Gwen has someone solid backing her up."

Leonardo nodded. "Sounds like a good plan.. Let's go with it."