Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Relax. She\'s been with me all this time. I only temporarily left her there so I could come onboard this cruise ship to meet up with everyone."

The Emperor frowned. "I want to talk to Lyra. She\'s still my daughter."

Gwendolyn nodded. Regardless of her situation with the Emperor, Lyra was still his much-loved daughter.

With Erden\'s help, Gwendolyn placed a visuals call to Lyra.

When the call came through, Lyra was dangling her long legs at the ship\'s bar and sipping on a Virgin Mary as she chatted with Süren about everything and nothing under the sun.

"Lyra?" Gwendolyn\'s face appeared on visuals.

"Mother!" Lyra\'s eyes twinkled with delight at seeing her mother. "How is the Raptor 650? Did Brother Slate put in an arcade like he told me he would?"

"I\'m not sure—" Gwen scratched her head.

"He did!" Jason and Jared interrupted Mother Gwen, shoving their faces into the visuals field, waving and making faces at her.

Lyra giggled at their monkey antics. They were the funniest of her brothers and she always loved being around them.

"Take a look, Sis!" They commandeered the visuals channel and began showing Lyra some still images of themselves and Candace having fun and acting like goofballs at the arcade.

"Wow!!!" Lyra laughed. "I want to come onboard and play with you three!!!"

"Have Süren take you here." Gwendolyn reestablished the visuals with her daughter. "Go now. Your father is here and he needs to talk with you."

"Father is here?" Lyra\'s eyes grew wide. "I\'ll be right there. I\'m leaving now."

She disconnected the visuals call and turned to Süren.

"Did you hear?"

Süren nodded. "Let\'s go. If we leave now, we can be there within thirty minutes."

Lyra gasped. "I didn\'t know they were that close."

"They\'re not. I just have a super fast transport pod. It\'s souped up with the latest gadgets and painted the coolest neon blue. You\'ll love it." He grinned with pride.

"Father is with Mother at the Raptor 650." Lyra sighed as they made their way to the transport pod.

"You think he will be able to persuade your mother to return with him?"

Lyra shrugged. "I don\'t know. Mother truly loves him and will do anything for him. If he convinces her hard enough, she might just return with him."

Süren shook his head. "Uncle Erden is with her. I don\'t think he\'s going to allow that to happen."

"You think my father will allow Uncle Erden to interfere in their marriage?" Lyra looked dubious.

"I don\'t think your father has any choice. Uncle Erden has proposed to your mother and she accepted. This means he\'s her fiancé. He has at least that much right."

"Just as much right to each other as you and me." Lyra dimpled.

She had kicked and clawed another woman on more than one occasion to claim her right, so for Lyra, it hadn\'t been easily obtained.

It had been an epic and hard-won battle.

"Yes. He is just as much your mother\'s fiancé as I am your man, and don\'t you ever forget it." He said as they reached the hangar where his fast blue transport pod was parked.

"Come, My Love." Süren levitated both of them onto the pod. "Let me show you my newest little machine."

============

The star class cruise ship Raptor 650 was surrounded by three full-sized warships.

There was the Emperor\'s Raptor 390, the Grand Duke Erden\'s warship Draken Claw, and Süren\'s Wyvern Fae.

Four warships, two dragons and two blood bats, clustered at the edge of pirate/dragon space would normally have triggered all sorts of warning bells of an impending attack coordinated by a dragon/bat tag team against the pirates.

It was treated however, as if it was simply a social call by neighboring heads of states. The entire situation had been coordinated and facilitated by Slate and Leonardo with full blessing by Mattheus Cordera who had alerted the pirate community of the ship movements.

That was why it was such a surprise when, ten minutes after Süren and Lyra landed on the Raptor 650, several hundred pirate ships surrounded the four star class warships.

The newly-appointed King of Avalia Süren had just escorted his fiancée to the Main Deck when alerts began sounding throughout the ship.

"We\'ve been surrounded, Your Majesty!" The ship officers interrupted the social visits by the Emperor and the Dragon King.

"What? Where are all our warships?" Emperor Rex growled at the officers.

"They are still within hailing distance, Sir. Unfortunately, we are unable to call for help. Our controls have been commandeered."

Süren frowned and tried to contact his own ships.

"Why the hell has pirate ships surrounded the Raptor 650 and you men have done nothing?" Süren snarled.

"Sir. We were told to stand down by Prince Altan." The Wyvern Fae\'s ship captain reported.

"What???" Süren pounded the table in front of him. "Get him online for me."

"Yes Sir."

Within a couple of minutes, the familiar face of his younger brother Altan popped up on visuals. His brilliant green eyes with their unique flecks of gold gleamed in the brilliant light of the afternoon sunshine on Avalia.

"Altan. What are you trying to do?"

"I\'m taking over, Süren. You\'re mad and drunk on power. I can\'t believe you took out our own Father!"

"Altan. Were you not aware he drugged me and tied me up?"

"Of course I knew Süren. Father wasn\'t going to hurt you. He just needed for you to calm down and see reason."

"What reason does a father have for drugging and tying up his own son, Altan. You tell me."

"You have a beautiful fiancée. You just needed to spend some time with her to see that. You have everything already. You don\'t need to take my woman too."

"Yours?" Süren\'s mouth opened with surprise.

"Lyra has been promised to me. Why would you insist on keeping her if you already have Sharina, Süren?"

"What the hell are you talking about???" Süren\'s eyes were bloody murder.

"You know exactly what I\'m talking about. You have a beautiful fiancée and you were the Crown Prince." Altan\'s eyes were furious.

"The throne was going to be yours anyway. You didn\'t have to eliminate Father to get it. And for what? You turned on our father over a girl!" Altan\'s eyes were grief stricken.

"No Altan. Father tried to kill me. It took doctors almost two days to pull me through. I nearly died!"

"You wouldn\'t have suffered like that if you\'d only accepted Sharina. But now it\'s too late."

"So your plan is to do exactly what? Kill all of us out here at the edge of dragon space?"

"Of course not, Süren. I\'m not cruel or vicious like you. I just need for you to take a step back. You\'re not worthy of the crown if you have to kill Father to take over."

"Who put you up to this, Altan?" Süren snarled. His brother was such a wimp. This had to be someone else\'s handiwork.

"Nobody put me up to anything. Baron Hughbert and I are currently working together. He\'s going to help me reclaim the throne from you." Altan\'s eyes were tragic.

"You are my brother. I won\'t hurt you, but I won\'t let you depose of Father and steal my promised betrothed!"

"Your—your promised betrothed? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Lyra is mine, Süren. I won\'t let you take her away from me!"

"Altan. Listen to yourself. How is it possible for Lyra to be yours when I was the one who brought her to Avalia?"

"Father promised her to me!"

"She\'s not some object that Father can just take and give to you!" Süren shouted. "She is a person with her own thoughts and wants. Have you even tried to ask her what she wants?"

"We never got the chance to talk to each other, Brother." Altan shook his head.

"But we will now."