บท 155: 24 Hours
As soon as the Emperor had signed off, Leonardo turned to Slate.
"So, Great Fearless Leader, what pray tell, is the next phase of our plans?"
Slate grinned. "I dunno. It just seemed a cool thing to say at the time."
All the brothers groaned.
They had been hoping that Slate would have some grand scheme. Instead, this was turning into a hair-brained joy ride into deep space with no end goal.
As they chatted with each other about the various things that could be the 'next phase of their plans', Candi was establishing a mental link with Dante.
'Are you there?'
'Baby! Did Slate take you off-planet?' Dante sounded concerned.
'Yes. I'm in his transport pod with Lucas, Leonardo, and Byron.'
'Hmmm.' This threw Dante off-guard. 'So the guys all tagged along?'
He mulled this over for a few seconds.
'Good. Good. Let me contact them.'
Instantly, an alert sounded of another incoming call.
"Hey, it's Big Brother Dante!" Slate announced as he popped up the display.
Instantly, the virtual screen showed Dante sitting in a similarly laid out transport pod, alongside Jason and Jared.
"Hey Bro. Good to see you're in one piece." Slate nodded at Dante. "You twins are looking healthy too." He spared a glance at Jason and Jared.
The twins looked a bit off, but they came alive once they saw their brothers and Candi.
"Wow. You look beautiful Candace! But what kind of dress is that you're wearing?" Jason stared at her outfit.
"You should not be wearing anything but a dress from us!" Jared frowned.
"Well at least she's wearing the avgo sapphire I made for her." Jason smiled. "You are so beautiful, my Tiny Dancer."
"Thank you both." She grinned. "Next time I need a wedding dress, I'll be sure to let you both know."
As she and the twins were bantering back and forth in a gentle teasing manner, Dante and Lucas were eyeing each other with wary eyes.
"Dante," Lucas called out in a gentle voice. "I really had no idea what was going on. You know I would never take this Crown Prince position away from you. I don't even know how to be one!"
Byron looked at Lucas with sympathy. He knew how difficult the job was, and Lucas would be in for a tough time ahead.
Dante stared at Lucas with grim determination.
"And yet here we are. They kidnapped me and the twins, and stripped me of my title and my bride. How do you want me to react to all this?"
Lucas looked down at his hands.
"I got abducted too, and when they released me, I was sent back to Erenveil. Suddenly, they heaped all this onto my head even before I knew what was going on." he moved his hand in a confused manner.
Dante sighed. He had seen the visuals of Lucas looking confused and unprepared for it all. He knew that Lucas spoke the truth.
"Father has been playing a pacifist hand for far too long. How many more of us will get abducted for ransom while we sit around and do nothing?" Dante growled.
"Father was trying to keep the galaxy peaceful enough for all of us." Byron sighed.
"Peace at all cost is no peace at all. It merely makes the aggressors more willing to push the war boundaries and see what they can get away with while we keep pushing the peace agenda."
All the brothers looked at each other. Dante was right. He was hitting into the heart of the next phase of the plans.
"Do you have a plan of attack?" Leonardo asked Dante.
"I do. Let's talk about it over dinner shall we?" Dante gave Leonardo a grim smile.
Dinner sounded like a good idea to all the men.
"Brothers." Slate cleared his throat. "Where are you at, currently?"
Dante nodded. "We're about an hour away from the nearest space jump. Where are you heading?"
Slate tapped a few things onto the console of his armrest.
"I just sent you the coordinates. Be there in an hour and we'll pick you up."
"I got it." Dante began entering the coordinates into the pod.
'You're so beautiful that when I look at you, I can barely breathe.'
Candi blinked.
That was undoubtedly Dante's deep rumbly voice in her mind, but he was looking occupied with something he was doing and wasn't even looking at her.
'I'm so glad you're safe.'
'Hold onto good thoughts, My Love.'
He turned his brilliant green eyes at her. 'We will meet again in an hour.'
She smiled at his elegant regal face with that familiar blue hair that was now hanging past his shoulders.
Dante turned back to his brothers.
"I have to make another call to Father, so we're going to disconnect now, but we'll talk again in about an hour." Dante said.
They all said their goodbyes and disconnected the call.
As soon as they signed off, Dante began pacing the floor. Only one more hour to get to the jump and he would see his bride again.
Except he was no longer Crown Prince for some idiotic reason, and this time, it would be much harder to try to wrestle the position back.
It would be Lucas he would have to seize it from.
Lucas was a legitimate son of the Emperor. He was also one of Dante's sweetest brothers.
The shy young boy with the pale blonde hair and warm amber eyes who once could barely say a word without turning red and hiding behind his mother was now an intergalactic star.
A very sweet and kind intergalactic star.
Dante heaved a heavy sigh and returned to his seat.
Flicking his hands quickly, he made the call to the Emperor.
He must have been doing something important because it took almost fifteen minutes for the Emperor to return his call.
"Boys! You're all looking well." The Emperor proclaimed, looking at all three of them in turn.
"You've been busy." Dante responded in way of greeting.
"I just got married!" The Emperor grinned.
Dante rolled his eyes. "New bride?"
The Emperor pursed his lips.
"No. Same old bride. I just got married again to your mother!"
"Why?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you two already married?"
"Of course we are, but the idiot Lucas eloped with his bride Candace and left all these wedding arrangements and food and stuff. What could we do but call it my wedding?"
"And they were okay with it?"
The Emperor shrugged.
"All the guests had arrived with all the gifts and such…I couldn't send them away. Some of those gifts are quite nice!"
Dante sighed. Four of his sons had just gotten kidnapped and he was focusing on how nice the gifts were.
"Father. That Crown Prince position was always supposed to have been mine. Why has it been stripped from me yet again?"
The Emperor heaved a sigh. All signs of his merriment dissipated.
"I know that you are the rightful Crown Prince, Son, but your mother bargained it away to bring you back safely."
He pursed his lips.
"Being alive and the richest man in the galaxy but NOT the Crown Prince is much better than being a dead Crown Prince."
"But Candace is my wife." Dante snarled.
"Listen to me Son. She is THE Primary Avgo Female. She must go to the Crown Prince."
The Emperor looked away.
"The documents have been drawn up. Within 24 hours, she will automatically become his legal wife, per the Avgo contest rules."
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