Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

After all that physical activity, the twins were roaring for some food, complaining about how hungry they'd gotten from all that exercise.

Since she did not want to eat inside their bedroom suite, they headed out for the dining room.

As they made their way to the Main Deck, the first thing Candace realized was that everywhere she and the twins went, there was no one but them.

It was quite interesting to be surrounded by all the opulence of a cruise ship and realize that the ship had no one onboard except for the crew and staff because the only passengers were the twins and herself.

Back at the dining room, the servers greeted them and got a table prepared by the large windows overlooking a deep space filled with bright stars.

They sat, facing the starry space, with Jared on her right side and Jason on her left. It would have been awkward except that Jared was right-handed and Jason was left-handed which meant they could eat and cut food without banging into her.

Over a decadent meal of roast goose and creamed potatoes, the twins sprang a surprise on their wife.

"Guess what, Wifey," Jason grinned as he handed her a glass of red wine.

"Hmmm?" She took the wine glass from him and sniffed at the liquid appreciatively.

"Jared and I have decided that we are going to move our permanent home from our floating island onto a similar ship like this."

He raised his glass. "Cheers!"

They all clinked glasses and took a sip.

"What brought that about?" Candace's eyes crinkled with merriment as she buttered a hot cross bun and placed it on Jason's plate.

"We were walking around this ship and realized how super cool it is to live in a traveling palace." Jason responded, popping the entire bun into his mouth.

Plus it looks like you love it, so our new home can be something like this so you can travel in style any time you are with us. It's your home as well." Jared grinned.

She laughed as she buttered another bun for Jared. "It will be costly to keep something like this up and running all the time."

Jared took the bun from her hand with a cheeky grin.

"We make so much money all the time and we have absolutely nothing to spend it on. Might as well spend it on our Candi Baby."

He tore into the hot cross bun with his sharp white teeth and looked around at the high domed ceiling, chandeliers, and Art Deco detailing of the place.

"When Slate asked us to design the interior of this ship for Mother Gwen and Sister Lyra, we didn't think we were going to do such a great job that our wife would fall in love with the place."

Jason laughed. "Wasn't I the one who said that if we were designing this place for Tiny Dancer, I'd put in touches of her signature pink Avgo gems in various places?"

"Right! As soon as we get back to Erenveil, we can start one." Jared licked the butter from his lips. "I want another bun, wifey."

He leaned his head on her shoulder and nuzzled his face into her neck.

"Stop wiping your butter lips on my clean body." Candace laughed as she reached out for another bun to butter for him.

"We don't have to wait to get back to civilization to do this. I'll call and have another ship ordered after dinner."

Jason cut into his goose and speared a juicy piece.

"Open up," he waved the goose breast in front of Candace's mouth. She opened her mouth and he gently fed her.

"Good?"

Candace nodded eagerly.

"Where's my piece?" Jared opened up his mouth.

"Cut your own meat, you lazy bum." Jason clicked his tongue.

Jared laughed as he placed a slice of prosciutto-wrapped melon on Candace's plate and began cutting it into bite-sized chunks for her.

"Try this Baby. It's really good." He popped a chunk into her mouth.

"Hmmm!!!" Candace's eyes lit up. It truly was good, and she was having a fun time eating with them. They were such clowns.

Jared smiled fondly. "I wish it would always be like this for us, just you, me, and Jay."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Candace shot him a suspicious glance.

Jason gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head.

Jared pursed his lips and looked away.

"I saw that." Candace grumbled. "Spit it out."

Jason grimaced. Jared's face was so transparent, They were never going to be able to hide anything from their wife.

"It's Father." Jason sighed.

"What about him? Did he hook you men up with future wives already?" Candace rolled her eyes.

Jason's jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

"I know how your father thinks. Now that he's settled his first three boys, he's onto the next four." she rolled her eyes in disgust. "Who is he thinking about hooking you men up with?"

Jared rested his head on his fist, his face a study of misery.

"He is going to draw royal decrees up sticking Jason with Anaïse and me with Jenna."

"Anaïse and Jenna?" Candace's eyes popped.

That was a surprise. Jenna didn't look as if she wanted anyone but Byron and Anaïse had already been flat out rejected in a very decisive and brutal manner by Jason.

"Jason had already rejected her." Candace pursed her lips. "Is she really going to go through with that, knowing how Jason feels about her?"

Jason nodded wretchedly. "It's not truly just her decision. Her father and our father made that decision independently from us and have already begun the process of making it real."

Candace stared at the cherry pie as if she was fascinated with its lattice top and red filling. Jared saw the direction of her gaze and placed a large portion in front of her.

"There's nothing that says you can't have more than one wife. Do you men truly want to have a second wife?" She asked, piercing the cherry pie with a fork and pulling out a cherry.

"No!!!" They both hollered with hurt indignation. Why would she even think that they would want anyone else other than her?

Candace waved a dismissive hand and shoved a cherry into Jared's mouth.

"Then don't worry about it. Just leave it to me. I'll handle your father."

Jason gasped. "You? How?"

Candace gave an evil laugh. "I know something the Emperor doesn't know."

She pulled Jason's lips apart with a finger and fed him a bit of the cherry pie.

Jason stared at her with bulging eyes, his mouth working on the pie she fed him.

"Pray tell…" Jared muttered.

For a moment, Candace simply smiled a secret little smile. She picked up her coffee mug and stuck her tongue out, licking the frothy foam from the top of her cappuccino.

"Never you mind." She smirked. "Don't worry about a thing."

Jason frowned. "How can we not be worried. He's going to force us to marry women we don't even like."

Candace shook her head. "Don't worry. You won't be forced having to marry anyone you don't want, only the one you want."

"We want to marry you." Jared's eyes were sad.

Jason nodded, mirroring his twin's sad eyes. "The royal decree only names three husbands for you. The rest of us were left out."

Candace reached out her arms and wound them around their necks, drawing them close to her.

"Then I guess I'll have to have another royal decree drawn up, adding you men to the marriage document, don't I?" Candace raised an eyebrow.

"How?" Jason scratched his head. "How are you going to force Father to rewrite the decree?"

Candace smiled. "Don't you worry your pretty little heads over that.. I have my ways."