Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

Gwendolyn\'s eyes widened.

"Wait. Do you know what you are agreeing to?"

Lyra turned to her mother. "He asked me to marry him. I formally agreed to an engagement time period of three years."

She turned back to him. "Isn\'t that right?"

Süren nodded, unable to respond. Was she really only fifteen? She sounded so mature and grown up.

"I accept but I do have a couple of conditions of my own." Lyra raised her chin, looking down at him from her standing position with her hands still on her hips.

"Speak," Süren bid.

Lyra held up one finger. "First. You must understand that I am not yet of age to be married. I cannot legally sign any marriage documents for another three years. You must wait for me for three years."

He nodded. "I agree."

Lyra smiled and held up a second finger. "Second, you are allowed to choose only me. I demand to be the only woman in your heart."

He nodded again with a big smile. "I agree."

She turned her nose and looked upward into the ceiling.

"In return, I will agree to not look at any other man around me as possible suitors as you will be the only one in my heart. And when the time comes, I will be marrying only you."

Süren nodded again, his eyes never leaving her face. He sported a big goofy grin that Gwendolyn couldn\'t help but laugh at. However, she had a few concerns of her own.

Gwendolyn raised a hand. "I have a few questions about this."

"You say you will choose only Lyra, but what if other brides are chosen for you by your family? Does that mean my daughter will get pushed further and further back down the line of consorts, as more and more women marry you before she can?"

Süren shook his head, his eyes intense. "I will marry no one but Lyra."

"Your family will not agree to that decision." Gwendolyn sighed.

She, more than anyone, knew what it meant to be a Crown Prince. It didn\'t matter what the Crown Prince wanted. It only mattered what the Crown Throne needed.

"I don\'t care. I would rather give up my Crown Prince title than lose Lyra. If they want to hand the Crown over to my younger brother, then I will gladly hand it back to them on a nice red cushion, along with the fiancée that I did not have a choice in."

Lyra grimaced at this moment. "You could have told me she was your fiancée. At least I wouldn\'t have…assaulted her when she jumped on you."

"Are you kidding???" Süren laughed. "My heart nearly burst with pride and honor that you were defending me against another woman. That told me more than anything, how you felt."

"That may be the case, but next time, talk to me about these important things. Don\'t leave me in the dark." Lyra chided him.

"I will." Süren promised.

Even if it turned out to be one of the most difficult things he promised to her, Süren would fulfill her request.

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

That night, King Batsaikhan contacted Süren for a personal heart-to-heart chat. Things had escalated to the point where some hard lines had to be laid down.

Süren was in his private bed chambers getting ready for bed when the King\'s summoning call sounded.

"So you\'re finally back." The King stared at Süren, with sullen eyes. "How unimportant am I that you neglected to even call me to let me know?"

"Father, you know everything that happens on this planet. How would you not know that I had landed." Süren grimaced.

King Batsaikhan rubbed at his temple and unwound the turban towel that he wore on his head. A tumble of long silky black hair fell down around his shoulders.

"Do you know how long it took for me to assuage the Grand Duke Julian Abberbie that I would properly chastise you for allowing a young female to assault the Lady Sharina?"

"Father. That young female is the Imperial Princess Lyra." Süren narrowed his eyes. "Sharina raised her claws against the Princess. Do you know what the penalty for that is?"

"Of course I do, but we need to play this down, Son. We cannot allow anything to happen to Sharina."

"What about Princess Lyra? She nearly got clawed to death by Sharina!" Süren insisted.

"Well nothing happened to either one of them, so let\'s just keep everything calm and cool. We cannot be dealing with intergalactic incidents at this time."

"All it would take is for the Royal Consort Gwendolyn or Princess Lyra to report this to the Emperor or the Prime Warrior and it will be an intergalactic incident." Süren snarled.

"It would be your job as Crown Prince to keep everything in a calm and happy state. Talk to them and make sure they\'re happy for the duration of their stay with us."

"They will be staying for three years, Father."

"Three—three years? Why so long?" King Batsaikhan gasped, rubbing at his newly washed hair that had just been released from his turban towel.

"It\'s our engagement period. I\'m going to marry Lyra after three years."

"Her mother knows?" King Batsaikhan\'s eyes grew large.

"Her mother knows."

"And she accepts?"

"They do have a couple of demands, but nothing that I was not happy to agree to."

"What? That they will subjugate dragon kind?"

Süren rolled his eyes. "No Father."

"I can\'t think of anything that they could demand that would be a huge issue with us. Still, for her to accept that her daughter will be a Consort, that\'s quite amazing to me."

Süren shook his head. "Lyra is going to be Queen."

King Batsaikhan narrowed his eyes.

"I hope you didn\'t promise them that."

"I did."

"You fool. There is no way for you to fulfill that."

Süren stared at his father. "Did you take the Crown Prince and hand it over to Altan?"

King Batsaikhan shook his head.

"Of course not. You are still Crown Prince, but you will be married in two weeks. The wedding has already been set."

"Father, why do you always do things without talking it over with me first?" Süren scowled.

"I had to promise to marry the both of you as soon as possible just to calm things down. Julian Abberbie was ready to raid your castle looking for the girl who assaulted his daughter."

"Do you know what would have happened to him if he had done that?"

"I\'m not stupid Son. I do understand who Princess Lyra is, but if you marrying Sharina is going to calm the situation down, then marry her you must!"

"And if I don\'t?"

"You have no choice. Marriages are not for children to determine, it is for parents to determine."

"Father. Don\'t push me into a corner with no way out."

"Son." King Batsaikhan sighed. "You make it seem as if I am handing over a terrible woman for you to marry. Sharina is a really beautiful girl who has been reared specifically for the position of Queen."

"And you think Princess Lyra is some riff-raff who would not make a good queen?"

"I did not say that Son." He shook his head. "Princess Lyra is an Imperial royalty from Erenveil. Anyone she marries will count their lucky stars."

"It\'s just me who is the unlucky bastard who\'s not allowed to marry her?"

"Süren. Give her to Altan. He is more suitable for her. He\'s a second Prince who will not be able to have a throne, and he\'s closer to her in age."

"Tell you what Father. I will give him the Crown Prince Throne, and Sharina as well." Süren snarled.

"You cannot do that. Altan does not have your aptitude for this position. You are the Crown Prince and you must take up the responsibility to your world and your race."

"Father." Süren eyed him with fierce determination. "All my life, I have done everything you\'ve ever asked of me. This is the one time when I must refuse. I will not allow you to ruin my life."

King Batsaikhan sighed heavily. "Son. Right now, you will be mad at me, but you are going to thank me in the future."

His eyes were dark and somber as he waved a hand in silent command.

Immediately, Süren\'s bedroom began to be filled with a sweet smelling smoke.

As Süren\'s eyes stared at his father\'s face on the visual display in tragic dismay, his large body sank to the floor in a solid thud.

"Take him away.." King Batsaikhan waved another hand and his visual screen winked out of existence.