The Empress nodded her head gracefully.
"We are still a family. As far as our children are concerned, nothing has changed."
Anastasia inclined her head as she looked at each of them in turn.
"I've watched each of you boys growing up over the years, into the successful and amazing men that you have become, and I am very proud of each of you."
Turning back to Byron, her green eyes shone with compassion.
"Byron. Even though a cyclone has ripped through and torn the very fabric of our family apart, I will do everything in my power to mend it and strengthen the bonds of our family."
"You have always been one of the seven Princes of Erenveil and you will always be one of the seven Princes." The Empress insisted with earnest eyes.
She turned to Poppy with a bright smile. "The only difference is that you'll need to get used to having a new sister in the family."
Byron turned to Poppy. She looked so happy now that she had finally been accepted into the family that she was meant to have been a part of, he could not bear to crush her joy.
He turned back to the Emperor and Empress.
"I thank you both for your kindness. Erenveil has been the only home I've known all my life and I will always think of it as my home."
The brothers suddenly turned sharp glances at Byron. They did not like where this conversation was going.
"But I've been contacted by the Emperor of the Worlds of Coraline, where my maternal grandparents reside."
He sighed. "They want me to return to Coraline to help strengthen our ties with them."
"Of course they do. The new Empress is a butterfly, which is a major threat to them." The Emperor sniffed with disdain.
"Avians and Insectoids have been at war, both hot and cold, for as long as there has been a record of history," Empress Anastasia sighed. "All we can do is maintain the balance as best we can so the galaxy can continue to exist as a relatively stable place for our children to grow and thrive."
Byron's red-brown eyes glinted. "Father, Mother Empress. Now that my aunt and mother have been sent back to the Moons of Coraline, I am afraid that if my steady influence is not there, the scales will be tipped."
He turned to Anastasia. "I have gotten word that there are warships already being deployed to your world. Something to do with broken pacts of peace."
The Emperor stabbed his eggs with a vicious jab. "The pact that Anastasia will give up her Empress throne to maintain peace for Nymphalidae."
"That was before Clarissa and Marissa did such despicable evil acts that make my iron-clad stomach revolt with disgust. Anastasia reclaiming her rightful throne was because Clarissa did something that I should have taken her head for."
"The only reason why her punishment was banishment and not death was because I did not want to start an interplanetary incident and launch immediate war on top of all our heads."
It was true.
Regardless of what Clarissa and Marissa had done, they were still Princesses of the Emperor of Coraline. The death of either of these women would have escalated tensions into levels that would be irrecoverable.
War was imminent, but they didn't have to push the button so soon.
Slate narrowed his eyes. "I have a dozen Royal Erenveil warships flying round and round Nymphalidae with the excuse that it is just military exercise to keep the equipment from deteriorating. I could send more there."
Byron gave him a bleak look. "There are two hundred warships from the Moons of Coral headed there at this moment. They will be there in about a week."
The Empress' eyes glistened. The thought that her world would be ground zero, the proxy battle field for the never-ending war between the Avians and the Insectoids was just too much for her to handle.
"Wait. That is when the next Avgo Event will happen." Dante spoke up. "I have not yet reinstated the events."
"You canceled the events?" The Emperor gasped, his eyes bulging with surprise.
"Yes, Father. I canceled it because the most recent murder attempt on Candace had gotten so glaring and obvious that it wasn't even a covert attempt. Someone is truly trying to kill her."
"But it is the Magic and Illusions Event! That's the best one of all the Avgo events." His eyes were tragic. "And besides, there are seven of you boys. Don't tell me you can't protect a single girl."
"Of course we can!"
"Absolutely!"
"They will not have a chance to touch my Candace."
"She is off-limits!"
"I will not allow that to happen!"
All the men chorused at once.
Poppy laughed. Her brothers were so cute. But cute didn't quite cut the mustard in this situation. They needed to know exactly what was happening in order to avoid a catastrophic result.
"We do have an idea who is behind that last incident, Dante." She spoke up into the rabble of Princes.
Dante turned to her. His Inquisitors were still working through the huge number of people, but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
"Who?"
"It looks like something that was instigated by the Galactic Organization." Poppy's violet eyes narrowed with thought.
"Wait a minute. That's the group that petitioned the Board of Directors to include Valeria Marakesh as the third contestant because Anaïse died." Jason interjected.
"Yes, it is," she nodded.
"Wait. Why would the Galactic Organization try to kill off Avgo Females but still want to include Valeria Marakesh as a contestant for the next event? That sounds so oxymoronic." Lucas shook his head.
Leonardo sighed. "It's because the Galactic Organization wants a bird to win in a legitimate fashion so the next Empress will be Avian."
"They were trying to kill one of the contestants because Valeria had completely fallen off the ranks and the only way to get her back on was for one of the ranking finalists to die an unfortunate death."
"Right." Jared nodded. "They couldn't kill Candace so they went after Anaïse."
Poppy spread out her hands in a gesture of futility. "The biggest problem we have is that the Galactic Organization is made up of hundreds of delegates from each of the most powerful First Worlds around the Galaxy."
She clicked her tongue. "Narrowing down that list is a huge chore, and one that won't happen within the tiny time frame we have."
"But Sister, of those delegates, fully half of them are from bird worlds because the birds are so powerful throughout the galaxy." Slate said.
"So if we eliminate all the non-Avian delegates…" Dante suggested.
Slate turned to Dante with a nod.
"Put all your Inquisitors into investigating the Avians. If we concentrate on the Avian delegates, we just might make it in time." Slate finished with a powerful reverberating voice.