Dreams Made Flesh

Hayllian or Dhemlan women who'd mated with Eyrien males. In Luthvian's case, that woman had been Hekatah.
    "You don't know that," she whispered.
    "Oh, yes, I do," he replied softly. As he looked at her, he knew it was time to finish it. She'd been a troubled young woman when he'd seen her through her Virgin Night. She was still a troubled woman…and there was nothing he could do to help her beyond providing her with this house to live in. But he could, and would, protect Lucivar.
    "I lost Lucivar once because of you," he said. "I won't lose him again. So listen carefully, Luthvian, because I will only say this once. Stay away from Marian. Don't interfere in Lucivar s life. If they want each other, that is their choice, not yours. If you do anything to try to take her away from him, I will show you the darkest corner of Hell…and I will leave you there."
    "You'd…You'd kill me?"
    His voice became viciously gentle. "No, my dear.You'll still be among the living when I leave you there."
    She sank to the floor, shaking.
    Satisfied that she understood he would leave her as prey for everything in the Dark Realm that relished fresh meat and hot blood, he walked out of the kitchen. He waited until he had passed through the low stone wall before he caught the Red Wind and rode it to the Keep. Tonight he needed that dark sanctuary while he wrestled with bitter memories that still had the power to hurt.
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    THIRTEEN
    « ^ »
    Unable to sit a moment longer, Lucivar sprang out of the chair. He didn't like this. Didn't like any of this.
    Especially the fact that Saetan had chosen the sitting area of his study as the place for this discussion. He wasn't sure if he was talking to his father or the Steward of the Dark Court. Didn't matter. He knew when he was being cornered.
    "Find someone else."
    "There is no one else," Saetan said quietly.
    Restless, he prowled from one piece of furniture to the next, never looking directly at Saetan but always keeping him in sight. "Why not ask Chaosti? He wears the Gray, and he's First Circle."
    "He doesn't, as yet, have enough experience in bed to handle something like this. And his physical relationship with Gabrielle is still too new for him to respond… appropriately. Besides, his feelings toward Karla are too familial."
    "And mine aren't?"
    "You have the maturity to handle this." Saetan sighed. "I know sex is… difficult… for you…"
    "You know nothing about it!" Lucivar shouted. "You have no idea what it was like, being used that way."
    Seeing Saetan flinch, he regretted the words, but not enough to stop himself from using whatever weapon he could to avoid this particular duty.
    "Lucivar," Saetan said, his voice painfully calm, "Karla is a Gray-Jeweled Queen. Her Territory is divided between the Blood who supported her uncle and the vile changes he was making in their society and the Blood who have waited desperately for Karla to come of age and stand as Glacia's Queen. Until she has her Virgin Night, she is vulnerable and could be broken, could be stripped of the Gray. Without her strength, civil war could erupt in Glacia and devastate her people."
    He knew all of that, but it didn't make it easier. "She doesn't like men," he muttered. "Not that way."
    "Which will make this even harder for her, since she doesn't have interest in the male body to quicken her own body's response." Saetan rubbed his forehead. "If I was physically able to do this, I wouldn't have asked you. I would have taken care of it…because it's Karla."
    Lucivar stared at his father.When the coven first came to visit Jaenelle here at the Hall, they adopted Saetan as an honorary uncle. But over the five years since then, he'd become an uncle to all of them in heart, the man who had trained them in Craft the way no one else in Kaeleer could have, the man who had helped them with problems, disciplined them for mistakes, taught them about honor. Considering the justifiable fears Karla had had about her uncle by blood, having Uncle Saetan take her to bed for her Virgin Night would have been a nightmarish experience for both of them. But Saetan would have done it, knowing he would lose the young woman he loved like another daughter in order to save the Queen. If Saetan would have been willing to pay that price, could he do any less? He was First Circle in Jaenelle's court. So was Karla. He couldn't turn away from a request to help a First Circle Queen. And, really, wasn't this just another kind of battlefield?