Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Oh no!" She protested. "He doesn't even know I have this. He's been away for the last few days. I borrowed this from the handmaid who helps me get dressed in the morning."

Jared shook his head, clicking his tongue as he surveyed her outfit with a critical eye.

"This is an abomination! It's a scullery maid dress that isn't even laced up properly."

"I purposely left the laces off." Candi grimaced. "It's just easier for me to move around in this when I'm in the museum working with ancient artifacts and books."

"You need working clothes." Jared rubbed his jaw. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have made all sorts of work clothes for you that would have been stylish, beautiful, and appropriate for the Princess of this palace."

Candi laughed. "You're both so busy—"

"Never too busy for our Tiny Dancer!" Jason interrupted.

"Thank you both. You are so very kind. But I'm not really a Princess."

"My sweet darling. You are far more than a Princess. You are a Queen."

Candi smiled. They were both so sweet to her.

"Awww. Thank you. I really missed you both."

Jared took a deep breath.

"It has been a holy hell the last few days. We have been inundated with orders for outfits for Mother's soirée and we've worked our staff to death."

"But we did not forget about our Tiny Dancer. You are the High Queen and you will dress the part."

Candi laughed.

"I was going to wear the purple and gold dress you made for me. It is beautiful!"

Jared waved his hand in protest.

"It is beautiful but it's too dark for this event. This event is the one event that you need to look as if you are a Goddess descending from the heavens!"

Jason nodded. "With your porcelain skin, honey blonde hair, and those stunning hazel eyes, you need something that will floor people and give everyone something to talk about for the rest of this year."

Candi laughed. "I honestly cannot think of anything that would be so stunning that people would talk about for the rest of the—OH MY GOD!!!"

She choked back her words as Jared and Jason waved their hands into the air and a dress literally fluttered down from somewhere above the ceiling.

"Candace, do you know why there is a raven, a phoenix, and a butterfly in the Avgo lineup?" Jason asked.

Candi shook her head.

"Wings, My Love."

Jason flexed his chest muscles and FWOOMPH!!! His large dark bat wings unfurled.

He spread the wings out until they reached their full span and then he raised them above his head.

Candi stared at the tall, powerfully built man standing before her. His long flowing dark green hair spilled out over his shoulders and onto the wings themselves, turning him into a deity. A demigod. A demonic being full of power and grace.

"Do you see?"

Candi nodded, mouth open, eyes wide open.

As many times as she saw the Princes unfurling their wings, it still made her heart thump so hard she could barely breathe.

It was a solid reminder that they were not just regular people like her. With their wings alone, they transcended the mortal to become almost immortal.

"I think I'm jealous." Jared folded his arms and grinned at Candi's reaction to his brother's display of divinity. "Tiny Dancer is impressed with your wings brother."

Jason smiled.

"She's seen them before. I've just been keeping them from her because the last time she saw our wings, she seemed a bit afraid of us and I didn't want to frighten her any more."

Jason flexed his muscles again and the wings retracted, disappearing into his body. He turned back to her, once again looking like a normal man, or at least as normal as a muscular 6'1" man with green hair could possibly look.

"Avgo Females with wings are otherworldly." Jason smiled. "They alone can fly and outdistance others in most instances whereas those without wings struggle to remain relevant. More importantly, they look majestic!"

Candi nodded. The event at the Sky Walk proved without a shadow of doubt that the winged Avgo contestants did better than the non-winged women.

"But I'm just an ordinary human girl. I don't have anything that amazing." She bit her thumb nail with a bit of trepidation.

"So says the woman who has been beating the tar out of the Avgo women as well as eliminating all those mermen on Emporia." Jared scoffed.

"That's different." She rolled her eyes. "I just got lucky."

"No Candace. Don't downplay your brilliance. You have that inner spark that is the hallmark of a true Goddess."

Jared shuddered as he touched a finger to her dress.

"You're just not allowed to wear that disgusting brown bag. Take it off."

"But…"

"I said take it off." Jared's brown eyes were serious as he reached out and began untying the ribbons at her neckline and pulling her dress off.

Too late.

She remembered the times when they were dressing her at their floating island. They had manhandled her in the same way they handled their mannequins.

It was truly professional work for them and they handled it with the intensity of creative geniuses.

It barely took a few minutes and she was stripped bare, standing before them with nothing on but her bra and panties.

Jason and Jared began talking to themselves as they normally did when creating something new.

"Orange?" Jason asked.

"No. Pink." Jared said.

"No. Orange."

"Okay fine. Orangy-pink."

"No. Pinkish orange." Jason insisted.

"Just find a shade in between those colors. Or better yet," Jared snapped his fingers. "We can do an ombre!"

"Yeah. Flow it from orange to pink?" Jason suggested.

"No. Let's flow it from pink to orange. Look at her skin tone. You can't put orange directly at her neckline. It will drown out her coloring." Jared muttered.

"You're right. Use pink for the top. I'll create jewelry with orange gems, to offset." Jason said.

"That's perfect, actually. Add some small peridots for green touches."

Suddenly, they were muttering to each other and arranging the dress that they had brought with them onto her body.

With a few magic touches of their fingers, the colors began blending themselves onto the dress. Jason added pink touches while Jared added the orange color.

"And now for the special touch." Jared breathed.

Jason and Jared looked at each other for a moment. And with a huge grin, touched their hands together.

They pulled their hands back to reveal a semi-transparent, iridescent gossamer silk which they threw up into the air. It settled gently over her entire body, draping down like a misty translucent veil.

Suddenly, the fabric dissipated and translucent pink dragonfly wings with orange fringe tips unfurled from the back of her dress, extending outward until it reached a length that was almost her height.

Candi gasped with delight.

She had turned into a colorful dragonfly fairy!