"My sisters-in-law? Who would they be marrying, pray tell?" As if she didn't know. Candace plastered a bright smile on her face.
"Well, I was just thinking that perhaps they could get a chance to be better acquainted with the Princes Jason and Jared."
The twins quickly shook their heads.
"Sorry. We're married."
Baron Hughbert chuckled. "You don't have to lie to get out of meeting my daughters. I assure you, I would never press them on anyone. They are my pride and joy."
"Certainly, you have much to be proud of. I'm simply informing you that Jason and I are already married so we aren't available."
"That is a shame. I had not heard of any wedding announcements so I assume the wives you speak of are royal consorts."
He turned to his girls. "My daughters are very well-bred and would be far more suited as First Wives than Royal Consorts."
"No. Actually, our wife is the future Empress." Jason smiled.
"But the future Empress is…" his eyes glanced over at the Crown Princess Candace.
"That's right." Jared confirmed. "We are both married to Candace, and she is not our First Wife."
"She's our Only Wife." Jason finished the sentence.
"I see." Baron Hughbert cleared his throat. "Does the Crown Prince know that his Crown Princess is also your only wife?"
Jason nodded. "Of course. All three Crown Princes know. They are also married to her."
"In fact, all seven of us are married to her." Jared smiled.
Baron Hughbert's eyes popped from his skull as he turned to look at Candace.
He saw a pretty woman but she wasn't SEVEN PRINCES pretty!!!
What in the world did she do that would cause all seven of the Emperor's boys to be so besotted with her that they would marry her and no one else?
It had to be some sort of evil magic spells that causes people to lose their sense of self. This woman must have very strong magic to compel seven men to be in the palm of her hands.
Jason and Jared glanced at each other. The Baron's thoughts were so transparent that they couldn't believe they didn't realize at first, what he was trying to do.
"Thank you for coming to welcome us into pirate space." He stood up. "We appreciate it very much. Next time we talk to Mattheus Cordera, we will tell him that you were a gracious host while we traveled through your jurisdiction."
"I see. In that case, I'll take my leave." He stood up along with his two daughters. No reason to drag this meeting on if nothing would come of it.
Besides, the Baron did not want to have King Mattheus Cordera on his back either. The man was a ruthless dictator of the pirate world and the less contact the better.
Within a very short time, they had left to travel back to their part of space.
"Dragon delegates are coming in twenty minutes. Let's get you out of this dress and into another." Jared pulled at her arm.
"What? Why?" Candace frowned. "I barely have this dress on for an hour."
"Because they've already taken the visuals of you meeting up with the Baron. There will be more visuals of you meeting with the dragon delegates, whoever they may be."
"That's right. We can't have you wearing the same thing for two separate meetings. People will think you can't afford two outfits for two separate groups."
"How ridiculous." She muttered, but she allowed the twins to take her back to the room, where they fussed with her, redressing her in a brand new outfit.
This time, since there was enough time available, they made her up carefully before slipping a black outfit onto her body. It was a jumpsuit type of attire, with an orange pink scarf to complete the look.
On her ears were orange spessarite garnets and on her finger, a large orange fire opal.
"Orange or pink lipstick?" Jason asked.
"Pink. She doesn't have the skin tone to carry off such a bright orange color on her lips." Jared responded.
An attendant knocked on the door.
"Your Royal Highnesses. The dragon delegates are waiting in the parlor."
"We will be there in a few minutes." Jared responded. He turned back to Candace. "Walk towards me, Darling."
Jared stood a foot away and sprayed a mist of perfume as Candace walked to him.
"Hmmm. You smell nice. Like oranges and roses."
"Is that the new scent we just created?" Jason asked.
"Yes."
"What did we decide to call it?"
"Oranges and Roses."
Jason pursed his lips. "Did we decide on that name? I don't think so."
"We didn't come up with anything good and production had already started, so I told them the name of the perfume was Oranges and Roses."
"What?" Jason ground his teeth. "Who's going to drop that much money on a bottle of perfume named 'Oranges and Roses' for crying out loud!"
Jared shrugged. "Who cares. People either like it or they don't. The name's not going to matter that much unless it's truly hideous. It's not like I told them to call it Blood and Gore."
"Or Sweat and Tears." Candace added with a grin.
"Or Piss and Poop." Jared continued.
"You two stop it." Jason grimaced. "That's disgusting."
Candace and Jared doubled over laughing. After a few seconds, Jason joined in their laughter.
The Oranges and Roses perfume would forever be stuck in their minds as the Piss and Poop perfume, but it wouldn't matter because it would turn into Candace's favorite daily scent.
It would also be one that the twins would eventually market under the single brand name 'Candace' and would eventually turn into one of their top selling perfumes for decades to come.
But that is something that would happen in a future time and space.
At the moment, all they had were each other and a scent that would make them secretly laugh each time they caught a whiff of it.
As Candace walked alongside her twins heading towards the parlor to meet up with the dragons, her heart felt a gladness that was infectious. The three of them shared a relationship that was the epitome of light and love and laughter.
It wasn't a mature serious sort of love perhaps, but it was still a legitimate and solid love nonetheless, filled with joy and youthful delights.