Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

After the warm bath, she got back into her robe and came back to the bedroom to find a table set up by the window filled with warm foods.

"You didn't have much of a breakfast on the travel pod and it's almost supper time so I had the chefs make you an early dinner."

He seated her at the table and lifted the lids on shrimp and pork and beef with vegetables on the side.

Candi gasped.

"That's a lot of food. Are you going to help me eat?"

He shook his head.

"I already ate. This is your meal."

"Why so much food?"

"The chefs didn't know what you could and could not eat so they made a bit of everything."

At his behest, she tried a bit of everything and proclaimed it delicious. By the time she was done, there was a knock on the door.

Slate smiled.

"Right on time."

Candi looked up, not sure what his plans would entail.

The servant opened the double doors.

"There you are!" A voice called out.

"Looking good!" Another voice joined in.

Candi looked up. It was Jason and Jared.

They stood near the entrance, taking up most of the space with their tall muscular bodies clad in their warrior bodysuits.

Their long green hair were loose, flowing behind them like a pale green waterfall and they smiled at her with warm honey brown eyes.

Slate stood up.

"Glad you two are here. I have to make a quick visit to an old goat. While I'm gone, don't let anyone take her from this place."

"If they want to take our tiny dancer, they'll have to go through us first!" Jason harrumphed.

"Give the old goat a little extra loving from us." Jared winked.

Slate nodded with a snarl.

"I'll double the extra loving and say it's from the two of you."

Jason gave a thumbs-up gesture and turned to Candi with a wink, his soft brown eyes warm and adoring.

"How is our beautiful dancer doing today?"

"I'm doing great, thanks to Slate." She clasped her hands together. "How did you know where I was?"

"How could we NOT know where you were!" Jared laughed.

"Yes," Jason injected. "Everyone saw you drop down from the sky at the Avgo Premier, and then everyone saw you get whisked away by a Prince of Erenveil."

"You've turned into the darling of the show, all with a single magic command. Oh my stars!"

Magic command? Candi was about to ask the twins what they meant when they gave each other high fives and snapped their fingers.

Suddenly, a stream of people came through the double doors.

They pushed and pulled in various tables and chests along with a large carved armoire and something that looked like an apothecary cabinet with a dozen small drawers covering the front. There was even a gilded oval mirror placed next to Candi.

Once they were done, they all bowed and left. Within minutes, there was no one left in the room but Candi, Jason and Jared.

"Perfect. Our equipment is here." Jason rubbed his hands with glee. "Now we can have fun!"

"What are you going to do?"

Jared grinned.

"We are going to play with you, dearest tiny dancer."

He opened one of the chests and pulled out a bolt of pale green brocade, placing it in front of her.

"Hmmm. No. Her eyes are hazel and this thing turns it too green. I want hazel fabric to keep her eyes hazel looking."

Jason slapped his brother over the head with a sheaf of drawing paper.

"There is no such thing as hazel color fabric, you idiot."

Jared smiled.

"There will be when I'm done."

"Focus on her hair. It's a rich honey blonde." Jason pulled out a gem that looked like a deep yellow topaz.

"Oooh. I like that. Let's make buttons out of that stone." He waved his fingers in the air.

"No!!!" Jason cried, but it was too late. In his hands now lay a dozen topaz buttons the size of pennies.

"Jared, you idiot. It took me forever to find a stone that color and that perfect size. I was going to make a pendant for her with that!"

"Oh stop being such a cry baby. I'll find you another yellow topaz later. For now, dry your eyes and take a look at this beauty. You can use this for your pendant. And you're welcome."

He pulled from his pocket a stone that was green and black. He moved it around in his hand and the black parts turned green while the green parts turned black.

Jason's eyes widened.

"You like?" Jared grinned.

"Yes!" He held out his hand and the stone flew from Jared's palm into his.

Between the two of them, going back and forth at each other, Candi felt almost dizzy.

They made her stand. They made her sit. They measured her height, weight, width, head shape, bust shape, butt shape, thighs, calves, hands, feet.

They even measured the distance between her eyes!

And then they built a model of her body out of magic.

It floated in the air, spinning back and forth at their whim while they tried this and that and the other. It also allowed them to make perfect fittings without requiring Candi to do anything.

At one point, Jared stuck a blonde wig on the model because he needed to match her hair color with some complementary shades.

Not to be outdone, Jason also stuck hazel eyes on the model so he could see how his jewelry creations would look with her eyes.

"We're going to need three outfits, Jared." Jason was muttering as he worked the delicate filigree metals with tiny sparks of energy from his fingertips. "You know what that means?"

"Yes. That means you need to create three different jewelry ensembles for the three outfits." Jared responded as he cut fabric into shape with a laser beam shooting from his finger.

"Don't forget her shoes. I have some jewels to affix to the shoes too."

"You don't even have twenty-four hours." Candi breathed. "How are you going to be able to get all that done?"

Jason crinkled his eyes.

"Magic."

She sniffed. It was always the same answer with those men.

Slate returned several hours later and called for a late night snack to be brought into the room.

The twins refused food and continued their frantic work while she and Slate sat by the window, munching on fresh fruit and sponge cake.

"So what did you while you were out?" She tried to tease the information out of Slate, but he was mum.

"Never you mind." He smiled with mischief.

He was sharing a strawberry shake with her when the servants knocked and announced that a delegation from Earth had arrived at the front door.

"Send them away," Jared threw at them even as he was sewing together the flounces of a skirt.

"My apologies, Prince Jared, but they will not leave."

"Are you mice or are you men? Throw them out on their ears!" Jason was not mincing words. He was cobbling the shoe jewelry onto one of the shoes.

"Prince Jason, they have a decree."

"Decree? What decree?" Slate stood up, his blue eyes stormy and fierce.

"Your Royal Highness." The servant bowed. "The Earth delegate has laid claims on the Lady Candace Farrah."

"What claims do they have?" Jared interjected.

"Your Highness. They insist that since she is a citizen of Earth, she must stay within the boundaries of the Earth Embassy and cannot be allowed to roam outside that area."

"She's just a tiny woman. What the hell are they afraid of?" Slate spat with indignation.

The servants looked at each other.

"Defection, Your Highness."

"What???" All three men yelled in unison.