The Emperor nodded. "That's right. Lucas may not be the best choice to be Crown Prince, but he is at the very least NOT an insectoid."
"And of all my children, he has the highest charisma which will make it easiest for him to rule properly. People will listen to him because he is extremely good looking and can act the part of a perfect Emperor."
He sighed. "However, he doesn't know much about running the galaxy so all you boys are going to have to prop him up in every direction so he doesn't fall over."
"But Poppy is next in birth order." Candi murmured.
"She's a woman." The Emperor sighed. "No one is going to take too kindly to having a female rule the galaxy."
He scratched his chin.
"I take it back. The only group that would support that decision would be the insectoids. Most of their monarchs are females so they don't see any issue with having a woman lead the hive."
"But." He turned to Candi. "This means once you win the Avgo Event, your future husband will be Lucas."
"Your Majesty—" Candi began to protest, but the Emperor would have none of that.
"Call me Father. You might as well get used to it since you are my Daughter-in-law now."
"Yes Father." She acquiesced, looking down at her hands.
"Now, I know it has been a strange situation where you thought your future husband would be Byron, and then Dante, but in this you must do as I say."
His eyes narrowed and he leaned towards her.
"You MUST choose Lucas because if you don't, you will be extradited back to Earth immediately, and we can't have our Primary Avgo Female taken away from us. The only thing that will protect you from this is the Crown Princess position."
Candi suddenly remembered the fertilized egg within her. She lowered her head into her hands and squeezed her eyes tight as a welling of protective instinct rose within her.
At this point, it wasn't just herself she was protecting. She had to protect her egg as well.
Going back to Earth to be incarcerated in jail for years was going to doom her child. She could not allow that to happen.
Misunderstanding her distress for having to marry someone she did not want to marry, namely Lucas, he lowered his voice in consolation.
"Child, you must understand something that all my children have known for a very long time. Royal marriages are not what they seem to be."
He sighed with deep regret.
"It's almost like a curse, marrying into the royal family. There is very little choice in who you marry. It is all up to the throne and what that throne needs to maintain the balance of power."
The Emperor cast a compassionate look at Candi and turned back to Slate and Byron.
"You boys are the only hope of the empire. You win and Erenveil stands. You lose and we vampire blood bats will be chained slaves for the next several hundred-thousand years." His eyes were grim.
Candi opened her eyes. Her egg held a vampire blood bat as well. That child could not be born into slavery.
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A sudden splash of water rudely woke Lucas from what was a dreamless sleep. He blinked and tried to wipe his eyes but found his arms were chained to the bed he was lying on.
The chain was not a big deal. Once he transformed into his bat self, it would not hold up to his strength, but a presence standing above him was already unlocking the chains and removing his shackles.
"Get up, Your Royal Highness. Time for you to go home." A rough male voice called out.
Lucas turned to the voice and found himself staring at a space pirate mask. It had the black and green swirls of the largest space pirate group in the galaxy, the Vert Noir.
He narrowed his eyes. If the Vert Noir were part of all this, then it had to be from very deep pockets. Rogue small planets couldn't afford the rates of the Vert Noir.
He allowed them to lead him to the transport pod. Father must have negotiated something with them and it was best just to do as they say—for now.
He needed to find out what the situation was before he did something drastic.
The transport pod they led him to was ancient, creaky, and had to be at least two generations old.
Six masked Vert Noir were already seated around a dilapidated seating arrangements at the center of the pod. There was a small dirty white table that a couple of the pirates had thrown their feet on as they slouched on the grimy cushioned seats.
Lucas stood near the doorway without moving further into the pod.
"Have a seat." One of the masked pirates indicated a spot across from him with a long slim cigarette holder. "We're not gonna do anything to you."
He stuck the end of the cigarette holder into a small slit where his mouth should be and took a deep drag.
Lucas threw a glance at him and remained standing.
Aside from the nasty smell of the smoke, there was no reason to get chummy. If they were going to let him off, in the near future, he was going to hunt them down and make them regret they'd ever met up with him.
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Suit yourself. It's a thirty-minute ride so you won't have to stand too long."
Ten minutes later, the familiar beautiful face of his sister Poppy came on the virtual monitor.
"Lucas," she greeted him. "I see they didn't damage your Flower Boy face."
"Hey Poppy." He nodded at her. "I was just being a regular Sleeping Beauty for awhile there."
Poppy laughed. "You can relax a bit now. The six men you're with were hired by me to take you home."
Lucas frowned. "What's going on Poppy?"
She waved a hand as if to indicate that it was not the most appropriate time to talk.
"All will be made clear once you return to Erenveil."
"Erenveil? What about Nymphalidae? There's an Avgo Event that I have to attend!" Lucas gritted his teeth.
"That Avgo Event is over. Come home and I will explain everything."
Lucas nodded and disconnected the call with a quick wave of his hand. He was supposed to be with Candace at that event and he had screwed up somehow and left her stranded.
Lucas squeezed his eyes shut and gave a sad sigh. Candace was going to kill him when she met up with him.
He turned to look at the masked hooligans who were sitting around the cushioned benches and sighed some more. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.*
Within the hour, Lucas had been deposited back into the loving arms of his family's armed troops. Lucas had sent two dozen men to escort him back to the Royal Palace where his father and the Empress were waiting.
As soon as Lucas walked into the throne room, he knew something was badly wrong.
Not caring that his clothing had been slept in and his pink blond hair was tangled and sticking out like a homeless bum, two attendants threw a white cape onto his shoulders and pinned it with a huge gold clasp.
Then they led him to the throne platform where his father and Empress Anastasia was standing.
There was a chubby priest and several stiffly robed Advisors standing around with dour faces.
As soon as Lucas arrived, they immediately launched into a quick prayer session over him, the details of which completely flew over his head.
Father was never that religious, and as far as Lucas knew, Empress Mother Anastasia wasn't either. And yet, they were praying over him with solemn faces.
Lucas was now starting to worry. Was he dying of some rare and terrible disease which he didn't yet know about?
Someone handed him a round ball thingy to hold in his left hand and they began sprinkling him with drops of water.
Wait a moment. Was he getting baptized again?
Lucas pursed his lips. This was all starting to stink worse than he was.
He was about to interrupt the incessant chanting of the chubby priest to ask them what in the world was going on when the Advisors began tapping him on the head and shoulders with some kind of wand and chanting some weird ancient words he did not comprehend.
Tap, tap, tap. Chant, chant, chant. Tap, tap, tap. Chant, chant, chant.
"Congratulations, Prince Lucas." The Advisor advised. "You are now our newest Crown Prince of Erenveil."
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* William Shakespeare
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