Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Lucas, hearing his name spoken out loud by the Emperor came over to join the discussion along with Dante, leaving Slate and the twins to man the barbecue grill.

"Excuse me. That was due to my perfect execution of a severely injured man."

"Maybe she wouldn\'t have run away if you were your normal handsome self," Daisy grinned looking up at her brother.

Lucas looked down and rubbed her golden head.

"That\'s what you call a fair-weather friend. They only stick around when things are good, but they will be the first to run away when you\'re half dead and you need them most."

His eyes were grim. "Looks aren\'t everything when you\'re searching for friends or a life partner."

Daisy nodded, taking in her brother\'s advice with a grin. This was the man who had been voted Most Handsome Bachelor of the Galaxy three years in a row. It sounded as if he spoke from experience.

As the family chattered around him, Dante was staring at the score board with a calculating look.

He reached out and gently rubbed Candace\'s shoulders, pressing firmly at a sore knot that he found and sending warm beams of heat from his fingers.

"The next event is Abilities and Expertise. It will be happening tomorrow at the Space Amphitheater. Any thoughts about what you plan to do?"

Candi closed her eyes as she reveled in his gentle ministration of her aching shoulders.

"Does Abilities and Expertise mean what it sounds like?"

"Yes." Dante grinned. "Yes it does. You pick an ability or expertise you\'re good at, and you are given a fixed time onstage to perform."

"I\'m going to put in my vote for a ballet dance routine from you." Byron said in between bites of his chicken wings.

"Yes!!!" Jared injected, coming in from behind her. "Everyone loves to see our Tiny Dancer\'s moves!"

Slate approached the table with another plate of grilled steaks and chicken wings.

"You know, Candace can do more than just dance ballet. She also sings and plays the piano." He set the plates on the table and sat down, joining the rest of the group.

"Perhaps after this meal, I should take her back to my Moon and give her a chance to practice in her dance hall." Dante mused, his fingers continuing their work on her shoulders.

Leonardo leaned forward. "You play piano also?"

Candi looked up at him, suddenly remembering the piano she had jumped on top of the day she met them at the penthouse Tower. She wondered if it was his piano she had clambered onto.

"That\'s right. You have a piano."

Dante cleared his throat. "I can get a piano brought up into the Moon."

Leonardo shook his head. "It would take an entire day to get such a heavy thing to your Moon. By the time you get it all set up, she will have lost half a day of practice time."

He turned back to Candace.

"Come back to my hospital ship. I have a very high quality Steinway in the living quarters you can use to practice with."

"What is a Steinway doing in your hospital?" She laughed.

Daisy chortled, her tiny cupid lips parted with joy.

"My brother Leo is a very good pianist. He\'s the only musician out of all my other brothers." She looked at Lucas. "Except for Lucas. He\'s a singer of sorts."

The \'singer of sorts\' who had won multiple awards for both acting and singing turned to Daisy with a silly grin.

"Thank you for not forgetting me." Lucas gave her a misty-eyed look.

Daisy scampered off her seat next to Candi and clambered onto his lap. He seemed to be her favorite brother.

Taking advantage of the empty seat that Daisy had just vacated, Slate slid himself in between Candi and Leonardo and grabbed a bottle of beer. As long as he had a chance to be near his woman, Slate could not ask for anything more than that.

The family ate and laughed around her as the sun shone down upon the sparkling blue pool water and heat up the paver stones. The flowers bloomed and the butterflies fluttered about. It was just about as perfect a day as it could get.

Candi wanted to push the pause button and enjoy that time for as long as she could, but eventually, the barbecue came to an end.

As the family began to scatter in different directions to go back to their work and various duties, she found herself being shuffled over towards Leonardo\'s transport pod.

"We\'re going to move the Alpha Indigo Hospital closer to the Space Amphitheater so when it\'s time for you to leave, it will only take a few minutes to get you there." Leonardo said as he strapped her into the pod command chair.

As they shot up into the sky, an alert came onto the virtual screen in front of them.

"Leonardo. Divert! I repeat. Divert! Your hospital is under attack!"

A vivacious woman with deep set violet eyes and red hair popped up onto the screen.

"What the hell!" Leonardo cursed . "Poppy, where are you?"

"I\'m about thirty minutes away from Alpha Indigo Hospital. Where are the guys?"

"Hang on!" He waved his fingers and four of his brothers came online.

"Slate, Dante, Lucas, Byron! The Alpha Indigo Hospital is under attack!" The red haired woman informed in no uncertain terms, her violet eyes stormy and filled with fury.

Slate and Dante rose from where they were seated.

"We\'re on our way. Take Candace back to the Royal Palace!" Slate shouted as he took off running.

"Don\'t take her there. They will attack the Royal Palace because she\'s their target!" Dante yelled out. "Take her to my Moon. I have a bevy of guard ships surrounding it! I\'ll be there waiting for you two."

Without hesitation, Leonardo switched courses.

"Why me? Why am I the target?" Candi breathed.

"Because you won the last event, pushing you closer and closer to being the Avgo winner." He turned his aqua blue eyes and gave her a worried look.

"The audience doesn\'t understand because all they see is the glamour of the Avgo Events, but there is a nasty underside to it. The Avgo event has never been fun and games. There is so much power at stake here that people will do anything to ensure their side gets the best chances to secure that power."

"But what could they possibly do with me if they take me hostage again?"

"Darling, some people don\'t want to take you hostage." Leonardo sighed. "They want to eliminate you from the competition."

He turned back to the visual monitors and made a few more adjustments.

"Unfortunately, the more you win, the more of a target you become. If you are eliminated, then the other Avgo Females\' worlds could stand a chance of winning."

Candi nodded. She had already figured as much.

"Who was that red haired woman who called you? She looks familiar…"

Leonardo smiled fondly.

"That\'s Poppy. She\'s Byron\'s maternal cousin. They were born around the same time. She looks familiar because she is the daughter of the Empress\' twin sister."

Candi frowned. "I thought the Empress\' twin sister only has a son, what\'s his name?"

"Joshua Darvin. He\'s Poppy\'s younger brother."

"What? So why would Poppy be warning you of danger, while Joshua sends in the attackers to eliminate me?"

"That\'s because Poppy had a falling out with her family. There was a huge fight between her and her parents and she left her family when she was sixteen. She can\'t stand her mother and she can\'t stand her brother."

"Where did she go?"

Leonardo shook his head.

"We lost track of her for a couple of years. Turns out, she joined a space pirate starship and became a pirate. One day, Dante\'s guard ships caught her pirate ship trying to attack one of his cargo ships. She was sent to Dante\'s holding cell."

"Dante recognized her immediately and pulled her out. After that, she began working for him, eventually becoming captain on one of his ships."

"So that was one of Dante\'s ships calling you?"

Leonardo laughed.

"Remember I told you that I also have my own warships?"

Candi nodded.

"She\'s the Admiral of a fleet of my warships. Dante transferred her over to me when she complained about having to fight pirates all day long." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Apparently, she has a soft spot for pirates."