Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

The ramification of Jason's actions hit them as soon as Candace and the twins stepped into the dining room for their lunch.

The huge ship was fully staffed and could handle hundreds of guests, but at the moment, other than the two Princes and Candace, there was no one else on the ship for them to take care of.

Within the huge dining area filled with hanging chandeliers and dozens of large round linen-covered tables, the three of them sat by a side table that was pushed up against a wall near the kitchen.

Having hung out with Slate quite a few times on his warship, Candace knew the best tables to sit at. Being close to the kitchen area meant the food got to them quicker and hotter, not to mention it was easier for the staff to cater to their needs.

"Are you sure all you want are sandwiches? We could have much fancier stuff." Jason suggested as he eyed the sandwich platter that the servants brought.

Candace nodded and grabbed a ham sandwich.

"I'm not in the mood for lobster and steak at the moment."

Jason and Jared grinned at each other. She was so cute. She fell in love with a luxury cruise ship but when they took her to the dining hall, all she wanted were finger sandwiches.

They had barely finished with lunch and had escorted Candace back to her room to rest a bit when Slate and Dante placed a visual call in to check on the twins.

Jason and Jared headed over to the cocktail lounge and grabbed a couple of drinks before starting the visuals call. A couple of stiff drinks seemed to be a good starting point for whatever mess was waiting for them.

"Hey you guys." Slate walked to his desk and plopped down. He looked as if he hadn't slept for days.

"I'm here." Dante called out on another screen. He was handing off a large stack of completed work documents to his attendant.

"I just got word from Father. He's very upset at all of us for various different reasons." Dante mumbled tiredly.

"Does this have to do with Mother again?" Slate scowled as he gestured to one of his attendants off-screen to do something.

"Partly. We'll get to that later. Biggest issue right now is Haribou world."

Jason and Jared rolled their eyes. That was fast.

Dante turned and glared at the twins.

"What in hell happened onboard the Raptor 650? Why did the Princess of Haribou get kicked off all of a sudden?"

Jason grimaced. "She insulted Candace while at the same time, tried to proposition me, so I kicked her off the ship."

Slate turned a startled eye at Jason.

"What? She insulted Candace?"

"Yes!" Jason pounded on the table. "She said Candace was cheating on her husband with Jared because she saw Jared kissing Candace."

"Oh, she did." Slate's eyes widened with appreciation.

"Yes, and in the same breath, she told Candace to try to get along with her because she was going to marry me and they were going to be in-laws."

Dante rubbed his head with a weary hand.

"Anaïse had every reason to think she was going to be married to you."

"Excuse me?" Jason knitted his brows.

"I hate to tell you this, Jay, but she was sent to meet up with you by her father, who is also in cahoots with our very own Dear Old Dad who has sanctioned the holy union between you and the Princess."

"Are they nuts?" Jason howled. "What makes them think they can determine all this without even telling me of their intentions? Do I look like a—a—"

"A Boy Toy?" Jared suggested, chuckling with mirth.

Jason shot him a dark evil look.

Slate clicked his tongue. "Tch. You know very well that Haribou provides all the war weapons for both Avian and Insectoid sides. Father is trying to secure the goodwill of the King of Haribou so he can control the flow of weaponry."

He turned to Dante with grateful eyes.

"If it wasn't for the fact that Dante secured a large weapons manufacturing world within our territory, we'd be stuck having to be dependent on Haribou for our weapons as well."

Dante shook his head. "It's not producing fast enough and I don't have the fricking TIME to go there to improve and streamline the process because I'm stuck here doing all this bull shit paperwork that Byron is supposed to be doing!"

"Where the hell is he? I haven't seen him in ages." Jared murmured.

"He's out there trying to handle the birds and keep things from escalating worse than they are now." Dante shook his head. "Meanwhile, my mother and her father have been on this side, mollifying the Insectoids and trying to keep them from taking over the galaxy."

"So what does that mean, in regards to the Haribou Princess and myself?" Jason wanted to know.

Dante gave him a pitying look. "Dear Old Dad wants you to marry Anaïse and go take care of the flow of weapons."

"That's a fat NO." Jason threw a desultory look at Dante.

"You think Father is going to give you a chance to turn her down?" Dante sneered. "Think again. I saw a memo in my stack of documents mandating the marriage between you and Anaïse."

"What? Why was I not told of any of this?"

"Because Dear Old Dad doesn't think he has to consult any of us when it comes to whom we marry." Dante leaned back on his chair.

"Lucas, Byron, and me—we got lucky that he decided we were going to marry Candace. Since it was what we wanted anyway, we accepted his decree and didn't challenge him."

"The rest of you guys…" Dante scrunched up his face in perturbation. "You're going to get whoever Dear Old Dad decides you're going to get."

"Fuck." Jared spat, looking away in disgust. With his luck, he would probably get the fish lips girl.

"Hell no. I'd rather run away from home." Jason snarled.

"You're going to have to run out of the galaxy to escape his decree. He's the Emperor, and his word is law in this galaxy." Slate grimaced.

"I need to talk to him." Jason rubbed his eyebrows with distressed hands.

Dante sighed.. "No time like the present."