Twilight's Dawn

your papa and uncle will start forgetting about that around the time we’re planning your wedding. Of course, getting your papa to agree to let a boy have that first kiss could be a problem, but I’ll work on it. I promise I will.”

    As soon as the rest of the family was out of sight, Lucivar wrapped his arms around Marian.
    “Is Daemon really hurt that bad?” she asked.
    “Yeah, he’s hurt that bad,” Lucivar replied. “He was bleeding all that time and hid it.”
    “To protect the baby.”
    “And so that Surreal wouldn’t know, wouldn’t feel the weight of blame for something done when she wasn’t thinking clearly.” He sighed. “But he will be all right.”
    “Did he tell you the baby’s name?”
    He nodded. “And that Surreal chose it.”
    “Lucivar?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Do you think either of them has realized yet that Jaenelle Saetien has the same birthday as Jaenelle Angelline?”

    Later that evening, Surreal looked up from watching the baby sleep to find Daemon standing in the doorway.
    “May I come in?” he asked.
    “Sure.”
    He moved slowly, stiffly, as he approached the bed and came around to the side that held the baby basket.
    “Hell’s fire, Sadi, you look like shit.”
    “You flatter me, as always.”
    “I’m not playing,” she said sharply, then lowered her voice when the baby stirred. “Sit down before you fall down.” How much blood had he lost? And why had the fool allowed himself to keep bleeding like that?
    Because he wouldn’t leave the baby. And she wouldn’t have calmed down if he’d left the room with the baby. So he’d stayed, hiding the wounds and the blood soaking into his clothes.
    They were going to have a little chat about him taking care of himself so that he’d be able to take care of the child. On the other hand, she appreciated his restraint in not hurting her today.
    “Daemon, sit down.”
    He used Craft to move a chair next to the bed. When that didn’t give him a good view of his daughter, he sat on the edge of the bed, wincing as he shifted position. One finger touched a tiny hand.
    He’s already in love with her , Surreal thought as she watched him watch Jaenelle. The baby had a fuzz of black hair, gold eyes, and light brown skin. The delicately pointed ears were the only sign that she wasn’t purely from the long-lived races.
    “Are you disappointed that she’s not a Queen?” Surreal asked.
    The Healer had said it might take a few days for a psychic scent to become strong enough to identify a caste, but the words had been said to ease possible disappointment. Surreal had known within minutes of holding her baby that Jaenelle Saetien wasn’t a Queen. Lucivar had known just by being in the same room with the girl, so she figured Daemon also knew.
    Daemon looked at her, surprised. “Disappointed? No.” His eyes went back to the baby. “Queens are the Blood’s moral center and the heart of the land. Their will is the law, and every single person who lives in their territory is held by their whims. But for all that, their lives are set from the day they’re born, and their lives are never truly their own. We need the Queens, but I’m relieved that my daughter will be spared the weight of those duties. She can become whatever she chooses to be.”
    “I’ll remind of you of that when she announces a new course of study that’s so outrageous just hearing about it makes you snort coffee out your nose.”
    He let out a startled laugh. Then his breath caught from the pain.
    Surreal sighed. “Daemon, we both need to get some sleep before she wakes up and wants another meal.”
    He nodded, clearly unhappy.
    This should have been a wonderful day for both of them, and he shouldn’t have been exhausted from pain and blood loss because of her.
    She snugged the baby basket up against her. “Come on, Sadi. Stretch out here and get some sleep.”
    He studied her, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
    “There’s not much room,” he finally said.
    And if she called in a knife, his throat would be in easy reach.
    “There’s enough.” She thought for a moment. “But it would be smart to put a light shield along the sides so neither of us accidentally rolls off the bed.”
    He stretched out on his left side, the head of the baby basket brushing his chest, and put up the shields as she requested. It hurt her heart to see him moving so carefully because of the wounds and the pain. When the Healer came back tomorrow to check on her,