Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Two days onboard the Raptor 650 flew by in a blur, with the twins and Candace spending playtime with Lyra and Süren while Duke Erden and Mother Gwen hung out in the background and joined in the fun when it suited them.

On the third day, Süren was notified early on of a snag in the plans.

He was in the bathroom going through his daily shaving duties when one of his attendants came in with the news that Sharina's execution had been delayed for another week on a technicality.

"What??? By whom?" He snarled, throwing down his shaver, his dark beard shadow half-shaven and looking lopsided.

"Your Majesty, her father gathered enough signatures from the courts for a retrial."

Süren was furious. This was not an execution by trial. This was an executive order by the sitting monarch. Signatures would not matter.

"Call all the Advisors of the Court. I'm setting up a session in ten minutes."

"Yes Sir."

Within ten minutes, Süren and Erden had taken over one of the 3D offices with a long silver metal conference table and no chairs.

It looked as if the Advisors were all waiting for this call from Süren. They all popped into 3D view, sitting in their appropriate spaces at the conference table.

"Speak." Süren said tersely. He did not want to waste time. Everyone knew what this was all about.

"Your Majesty." A tall thin Advisor with a head full of curly brown hair stood up. "We have decided that the order to summarily execute the Lady Sharina needs to be further reviewed. There seems to be anomalies with the situation."

"Is that right? What anomalies, pray tell?" Süren sat back, his face deadpan.

"Well, Your Majesty." He looked at the document in his hand. "There seems to be no evidence that she was the one who did the actual deed."

"Oh? Pray tell. What deed was that?"

"The—the deed that was stated as the reason for her execution."

"You seem to be well-versed on this situation. Please explain to the rest of the Advisors what deed you are talking about." Süren cast him a look that promised great future pain.

"As has been stated. Lady Sharina is to be executed for the attempted regicide, that is, attempted murder upon a reigning monarch."

The man turned to Süren with pale watery blue eyes.

"Your Majesty, the drug that was found in the syringe in your room was not at the dosage or concentration that would have killed you. Therefore, I argue that Lady Sharina did not attempt regicide."

"I have doctors that will testify that I nearly died, Advisor Krom." Süren raised an eyebrow.

"I have read their testaments, yes." Krom nodded, "but as I understand, your near-death experience was due to the combination of two different drugs which interacted badly in your system. Neither of those drugs alone would have caused your body to go into distress."

"Are you saying she is blameless?" Süren narrowed his eyes.

"I most certainly am not saying that. I am simply saying that perhaps the judgement to have her executed for the crime of regicide is a bit…exaggerated."

"Hmmm. Thank heavens it was my fiancée who rescued me from Sharina and not you, or I would be dead as you tried to figure out whether Sharina was actually trying to cause me harm or not."

"Your Majesty. In all good conscience, although she does need punishment for her deed, we do not believe she deserves the death penalty."

"Oh? So what do you think would be just punishment for her?"

Advisor Krom shrugged. "Perhaps a certain amount of time under house arrest should be sufficient. She is not deserving of death, certainly."

"Krom. How much money did Abberbie pay you people off to come to me and suggest 'house arrest' as the punishment for nearly killing me?"

"Your Majesty." Another Advisor spoke up. "I think you should be aware that Duke Abberbie controls 60% of all the military power of the dragon worlds."

"And?" Süren leaned forward to stare at the second Advisor.

He was a swarthy man with greasy green hair that needed washing badly. Even at 3D visuals, Süren could imagine the wafts of his noxious fumes had he been here in person.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying Pouli? That it's okay for him to attempt to kill me because he controls the majority of the military power?"

"No no! That's not what I'm saying." Advisor Pouli waved his hand frantically in protest.

"I am simply saying that if the death penalty is something that Lady Sharina is facing, shouldn't the one who drugged you with the first drug also be faced with the same penalty?"

Süren gave a smile that chilled everyone in the room.

"What makes you think that the first person has not already met with his fate?"

Süren allowed the Advisors to mutter among themselves for a few minutes as he sat back and took a deep breath.

What Pouli said in regards to the military strength that Abbevie held was something that he had actually considered in-depth alongside his grand uncle, Duke Erden.

Duke Abberbie did have a mighty military presence. Engaging with him would be very costly in terms of dragon death tolls.

"Your Majesty. If you have already punished the first person, would this be enough to assuage your anger so that you can allow Lady Sharina to escape the death penalty?"

"Ah, so you think I'm doing this out of spite to assuage my anger?" Süren smiled again.

Fools.

Süren turned to a rotund fellow in the back.

"Advisor Corben. What is the penalty for assault on a sitting monarch?"

Corben blanched. He was the historian of the Advisory panel, but this wasn't even a difficult or trick question. Everyone knew the answer to this question.

"Your Majesty. Assault on a sitting monarch, whether successful or not, results in the death penalty to be imposed upon the persons or group that instigated it."

Süren turned back to Krom and Pouli.

"Advisor Corben just stated that assault on a sitting monarch, whether successful or not, will also result in the death penalty."

"But Your Majesty! Lady Sharina did not assault you!" Krom argued.

Süren rolled his eyes.

He caressed his fingers over the console.

"Lyra." He called out in a soft tender voice.

The familiar delicate blushing face of the young girl he loved popped up.

As she gazed out over the visuals, her brilliant blue eyes crinkled up in a bright smile upon catching sight of his strong rugged face.

"Süren! I thought you were busy with meetings today."

"I am. I'm in the middle of a meeting with my Advisors from Court." He flipped the visual around so she could see the Advisors and they could see her.

"Listen up Lyra. I want you to describe as clearly as you can what happened when you broke into Sharina's room the day you rescued me. What happened to me, what Sharina was doing. I want as much detail as you can remember."

Lyra's eyes narrowed, her soft red lips pouted.

She could still see, clear as day, what had happened to her precious Süren. Her biggest regret was not being able to finish what she started that day.

"It would be my pleasure."

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