Queen of the Darkness

had been no one else. They'd fought with each other, but they'd also fought for each other.
    He had other people now, a wider circle to love. A wife, a son. Maybe that had made the difference. He didn't need Daemon. But, Hell's fire, Daemon needed him right now.
    But it was more than that. Thirteen years ago, he had wrongfully accused Daemon of killing Jaenelle. That had been the first hard shove that had ended with Daemon spending eight years in the Twisted Kingdom, lost in madness. And Daemon had forgiven him because, he'd said, he'd already grieved for a brother once and didn't want to do it again.
    Daemon had believed a painful lie for thirteen years. He'd believed one for a couple of days. Marian had been right to rip into him.
    So he would do what he could to mend things, for his own sake as well as for Daemon's. Because, during those long centuries of slavery when they'd had no one but each other, their anger had sometimes flared to moments of hate, but underneath there had always been love.
    Pushing away from the wall, Lucivar walked down the steps, knelt in the grass beside Daemon. He touched his brother's shoulder.
    Daemon looked at him out of a face devastated by grief before lunging into the open arms.
    "I want her back," Daemon cried. "Oh, Lucivar, I want her back."
    Lucivar held on tight as his own tears fell. "I know, old son. I know."
----
    2 / Kaeleer
    "You're leaving!" Lucivar leaped to his feet and stared at Saetan. "What do you mean, 'leaving'? To go where?" Pacing behind the two chairs in front of the blackwood desk, he pointed an accusing finger at his father. "You are not going to the Dark Realm. There's no one left there. And you are not going to be alone."
    "Lucivar," Saetan said quietly. "Lucivar, please listen."
    "When the sun shines in Hell."
    *Prick,* Daemon said on an Ebon-gray spear thread.
    *And why in the name of Hell are you just sitting there?* Lucivar demanded. *He's your father, too.*
    Daemon bit back exasperation. *Let him talk, Prick. If we don't like what we hear, then we'll do something about it.* "You're leaving because of Sylvia?" he asked Saetan.
    Lucivar froze, swore softly, then settled back into the chair.
    "That's part of it," Saetan said. "A Guardian isn't meant to be among the living. Not that way." He hesitated, then added, "If I stay... I can't stay and be a friend and encourage her to... She deserves to be with someone who can give her more than I can now."
    "You could come to Ebon Rih and live with us," Lucivar said.
    "Thank you, Lucivar, but no. I've..." Saetan took a deep breath. "I've been offered a position at the Keep as assistant historian/librarian. Geoffrey says he's starting to feel his years, and it's my fault that he's had more work now than he's ever had because I'm the one who introduced the coven to the Keep's library, and it's time I started making myself useful."
    "The Keep is only a mountain away from our eyrie," Lucivar said.
    "You will not bring Daemonar to the library."
    Lucivar gave Saetan a sharp smile. "Did you bring me there when I was his age?"
    "Once," Saetan said dryly. "And Geoffrey still reminds me of that little adventure on occasion." He glanced at Daemon. "I'll come and visit both of you, just to find out how much trouble you're causing."
    Daemon felt a tension ease. He wanted to see his father, but not at Ebon Askavi. He would never again set foot in the Keep.
    "The family owns three counties in Dhemlan," Saetan said. "I've divided them between you. Daemon, I'm giving you the Hall and all the land and titles that go with it. Lucivar, you'll have the land that's near the Askavi border. The other property you'll own together."
    "I don't need land," Lucivar protested.
    "You're still the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih because the people want you to be the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih. But Daemonar may not want to rule—or you may have other sons or daughters who want a different kind of life. You'll be the caretaker of that land because the SaDiablo family has been the caretaker of that land for thousands of years. Is that understood?"
    "Yes, sir," Lucivar said quietly.
    "And you?" Saetan said, pointedly looking at Daemon.
    "Yes, sir," he replied just as quietly. Well, that explained why Saetan had insisted on spending the past two months teaching him the family business. He'd thought it was just a way to keep him occupied and too busy to think too much.
    He'd welcomed the work, especially when he realized that Saetan had shouldered the