A/N: Man, I'm tired! I did the mental math on this instead of napping today. A friend of mine did the math on the series and decided that 70 years for a long lived race is about 1 year for a normal blood. This means that Lucivar and Daemon are about 25… the problem comes with Daemonar and his aging. He'd a young man, probably about 12ish to 14ish by the end of Twilight's Dawn. Fourteen is about how old Jillian is when she arrived in Kaeleer (I imagine that she's about 15 by the time of "Shades of Honor"). This means that Daemonar ages that to be able 14 by the end of the book series. He has about 100 years under his belt by the time Saetan dies. I did a mess of calculations and just decided that aging slows at a certain point, and that there's about 500-700 years between Jillian and Daemonar's age.

Another little disclaimer: Daemonar was originally a character I paired with my OC character, but the book Daemonar and my Daemonar are very different. I suppose that I'd assumed that Daemonar would go with Orian, but truthfully, I think the line he has about Jillian makes that pairing much more interesting.

I don't think that this will be too long (I hope not!) but I just wanted to do more with these characters, and I really do love Jillian and Daemonar, and I think this will be cute.

Fun Trivia: most of the past few chapters I've written have been while listening to Five Finger Death Punch's new album, American Capitalist. This is not a suggestion to listen to it while reading my stories, as their music is much better suited to action fics, not romances; but I find their music beautiful and it keeps me focused.

Merry Christmas y'all! (Well… boxing day at this point, I suppose, XD)

"You sure, baby mine?" Daemonar asked Orian. She'd grown up so well. She was Eryien, for true, bred through, but she had those waves and curls in her hair which had only became more pronounced as she aged. She also curled her hair, well over her mother's objects, but that didn't matter that much, not to him.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said softly, nearly whispered. Her skin had paled considerably. He didn't blame her, she was scared. Of course she was. He reached out and took her hand, leaving small kisses on the skin. He smiled, watching her close her eyes as if in ecstasy. Oh, he was very, very proud of his kisses. He appreciated his uncle's training when he'd come of age, though he knew his uncle did not appreciate how he used it. His father didn't either, but that was purely beside the point.

"You're the best choice," he told her, reaching up and resting his knuckles against her cheek, stroking the smooth skin with his thumb.

"I'm not even of full age yet," she whispered softly. She was so terrified.

"It's okay, baby mine. You still have some time," he told her, but that didn't seem to make her relax any. He huffed a bit and put on his most devilishly handsome smile, and then he drew her into his arms and in a long, slow kiss. It was made specifically to distract and to melt a woman's bones and he'd had a lot of practice to perfect it. "And I'll be here for you," he breathed when he pulled away, his lips still brushing over hers and he spoke. He made himself sound like he was out of breath when that wouldn't be farther from the truth.

Orian melted into his hold. "When I form my court, will you be my consort?" she asked quietly.

Daemonar smiled, his 'I just got what I wanted' smile. "I'll think about it," he told her. "I'm not sure how I'll stand being tied to only one woman's bed," he said. That got the desired reaction.

Orian laughed and smacked at his arms until her let her go. "You're such a tease!" she said.

"Hey, I would most assuredly be fantastic for you, but there ain't no love in what I do, and you know how your silly little heart goes pitter pat whenever you take a lover," he teased, pointing at her nose. His finger made little accusatory circles just above her nose. A certain woman would have bit his finger, but Orian just huffed and stuck her tongue out at him, taking a step back so she wouldn't accidentally lick his finger.

"I've been your lover plenty of times," she pouted. She'd had her virgin night a while before, and she'd had a couple of lovers since, though Daemonar was her most frequent.

"Yuh, but only because I'm your rebound after you've gone out with those loser and fall head over heels with them, and then me and father have to go hand their asses to them," he said.

She gasped. "Please, tell me you don't!" she said.

"Well, normally I just do it… but if it's really bad, like your last lover, then I get father in on it," he said.

"Oh Dae, please tell me you didn't!" she near begged.

"Ori, Father's the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih, that bastard really hurt you and you weren't the first. He can't let that stuff slide. The guy was an idiot too, his next planned conquest was my sister. I don't put up with that shit," he said.

Orian smiled knowingly. "You're just like your father," she said.

"Not as much as he wishes," Daemonar said.

Orian shook her head and went up on her toes, kissing Daemonar's cheek. "He's just afraid of you crossing his boundaries, but then you go and set your own boundaries and scare the hell out of him. As I understand it, your other relatives think it's good… that your father needs a taste of what he's been subjecting them to for the past few centuries," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Now it was Daemonar's turn to laugh a loud, surprised guffaw that made Orian laugh in turn for how stupid it sounded. "You're so wicked, no wonder the other Queens want you," he said.

Orian quieted back down. "Yeah, no wonder," she said quietly.

"Ori," Daemonar started, but didn't get very far when the young queen shook her head.

"Dae, if you won't be my consort, will you be my first escort?" she asked.

"That I will do, most definitely," he told her. "Want to make it official?" he asked, picking up her hand and kissing her wrist.

"How official?" she asked, eyeing him.

"A life time contract," he said, tracing his tongue momentarily over the skin that covered the vein on her wrist.

"You really mean that?" she asked.

"Orian, who am I?" he asked, looking up at her and she smiled.

She withdrew her wrist and nicked with her nail before offering it back to him. "Daemonar Yaslana, will you serve?" she asked.

Daemonar leaned down, pressing his lips to the vein, drinking in a small amount of her blood, feeling the sizzle of power that came from her. "I will serve," he said.

It wasn't the real, official ceremony, but it was all they needed. Daemonar healed the wound by pressing his thumb to it, then proceeded to lap the left over blood off her wrist and then clean the blood off his thumb in a very provocative manner. It made Orian laugh. In some ways they understood each other better than anyone else, and in some ways Daemonar had served her since they were kids, since they first laid eyes on her. She knew that even without the informal ceremony they'd just preformed that he would serve her. At the same time, she understood that he actually craved ceremony, and honored them in much the way the grandfather he'd lost long ago had previously.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked.

"Nothing, just thinking how high and honor it is to be first escort to the Queen of Askavi," he said.

She blushed. "I'm not there yet," she said softly. There had only been one ruler of the territory for over 50,000 years, but there hadn't been any ruler since Andulvar Yaslana passed away. Orian would be first queen to rule the Askavi Territory in Kaeleer in over 50,000 years.

"Yes, but you will be," he responded with a smile.

Daemonar Yaslana backwinged into the courtyard of his father's eyrie. He wasn't quiet old enough to have reached majority, but he was a few months away. Orian was many more months away, but she was old enough to start her first court at any time. Technically any Queen could form a court as soon as she'd made her offering. Orian still only wore her Summer Sky birthright, but she had a lot of strength in her, and his uncle had already predicted that she would wear the Green. That was the kind of power that Askavi needed. Now that there weren't Queens who'd worn darker jewels in the past who could have taken the post, but the Province and District Queens somehow felt wrong about passing it along to a woman who wasn't… well, Eryien.

Orian was going to be the transition between Andulvar Yaslana and having queens again. Daemonar knew that they didn't really expect her to keep her court for that long, since she'd be young when she assumed her post, but the other queens seemed to feel like they couldn't just pick a woman from one of the short lived races after Andulvar Yaslana. Orian sort of knew this, but Daemonar understood with a cold clarity. He didn't plan for this to be a few year job of Orian. He knew she belonged in this position and as such he had only a short amount of time to discretely pick the best to serve his lady.

He was starting with his number one recruit necessary for this court- "Jillian!" He called with his normal, boyish enthusiasm, waving at her manically like he didn't see her pressing Tamnar against the stone wall, kissing the young warlord very thoroughly. He felt very pleased with himself as he drew nearer, seeing Jillian pull away and Tamnar mutter something probably very profane under his breath.

"What the hell do you want?" Tamnar asked when he got close enough. He hadn't filled out bad, in fact he'd done fairly well for a Summer Sky Warlord. But he was just a guard and in many ways Daemonar did not like him.

"Jillian, lose the dead weight, I need to talk with you," he said. Tamnar spluttered, but Jillian didn't, she understood his tone.

"Tamnar, would you mind leaving us alone?" she asked.

"You're not really gonna just-"Tamnar started.

"Yes, I am," she said with the strength in her voice that noted her rank: that of a superior officer. Jillian was very well trained, and she wore Blood Opal, which meant that she outranks him. Besides that, no one argued with her when she used that tone.

Tamnar nodded and risked her wrath to kiss her cheek before taking off, heading off wherever.

"You really shouldn't be making out with such a low class guard, especially since he's trying to court you," Daemonar said, wrinkling his nose.

"Oh, like you don't sleep with every woman who will have you," Jillian said, rolling her eyes.

"That's different. You're way too good for Tamnar, he's just a spot on the floor that a hearth witch hasn't found yet," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jillian, you are an incredible woman. You wear Blood Opal, and you have been trained to fight, not only by my father, but by Auntie Surreal and even a little bit by Unka Daemon," he said. He'd reverted back to his old name for his uncle, mostly just because he could and he liked pushing Daemon's buttons. "If that doesn't show how much your worth, alone," he pointed out.

"Thank you," she said, a little surprised by such a blunt complement.

"And you're also incredibly sexy," he said with a smirk.

"Ah, there we are," Jillian said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Now tell me, what in the world do you need from me?" she asked.

"Something very important," Daemonar said , suddenly getting serious. "It's about Orian," he said.

"You didn't get her pregnant did you?" Jillian asked.

"What? No! I'm careful," he said, grumbling.

"Tell your father that," she said. "Or your uncle," she added.

"I did," Daemonar said.

"Oh really?" Jillian asked, leaning against the stone wall.

"My father tried to set some of those lovely little rules he likes to set," he said, rolling his eyes. "And I told him plain and simple that I didn't need them. If I want to sleep with every woman from here to the Hall and back that was my prerogative, not his," he said.

"You didn't!" she gasped, taken in a bit by Daemonar's show (Daemonar was one of the great showmen), but she was smirking.

"Well, after I bruised his delicate sensibilities," he paused while Jillian snorted. "I told him that I like sex a lot, but that my partners are all willing and well aware that I will provide them sex and a confidant in exchange for a welcome to their bed, but I'm not interested in being in love and if they are then they shouldn't go after me. Then I told me that when I inevitably do make mistakes that it's my fault and my job to fix it and I was old enough to deal with my own problems."

"And that worked?"

"Well, I think we now have enough mulch for all of the gardens in Ebon Rih for the next two years," he said with a shrug and Jillian laughed.

"Okay, so what's so bad that you needed to liquor me up with such a story?" Jillian asked and Daemonar smiled. He liked that about her, she was as smart as a whip.

"I spoke to Orian today. After she makes her Offering to the Darkness the Province Queens are going to ask her to be the Queen of Askavi," he said.

"But she's so young!" Jillian said, not alarmed by that so much as figuring out that the Province Queens were up to something.

"They want to use her as a transition so they can get another woman in that spot in a few years," he said. "They feel like they have to bow to Uncle Andulvar's memory, but they want to be back in control," he said.

"And if Orian fails at having a court that large then she'll fail very publically and never-"

"Never be able to have another court, yes, I know," Daemonar said. "Which is exactly what I plan to avoid," he said.

"What's the plan?" she asked.

"Find Orian the best court possible who will serve and protect her, who will be called to her and who will stand with her," he said.

"How are you going to do that?" she asked.

"Well, I'm going to be Orian's First Escort, and I'm recruiting," he said.

"So what do you need me for?" she asked.

"You're going to be Orian's personal guard," he said with a smirk.

"What?" Jillian demanded in a blank, dull voice that was a perfect imitation of his uncle's tone when he was really pissed… damn him for teaching it to her!

"I already listed your qualifications. You are very strong, exceedingly well trained and well qualified, and you are both female and really like Orian," he said. "You're drawn to her like I'm drawn to her… well, not exactly like I'm drawn to her," he said with a chuckle and a smirk.

"Focus," Jillian warned.

"Anyway, you'll be a good addition to the court, because you can fulfill the same function as a male, to protect the Queen, but without being the pain in the ass a male would be," Daemonar said.

"Askavi is safe," Jillian said.

"Safer than where you came from, yes, but not safe," he pointed out. "Especially not from politic games," he added.

"I suck at politics," Jillian said.

"And I'm no better, which is why I need some aristos," he said, gritting his teeth a little. He hated aristos with a passion not seen since his father. "I'm going to go shopping around for males I can't stand for my queen. I'm asking you to help me help her," he said.

Jillian considered for a moment. "Okay, I'll do it," she said.

"Shake on it," he said with a devilish smile, offering her his hand, which she accepted, shaking with a bit too painful grip.

"I'm surprised, you don't have any ulterior motives," Jillian said.

"Oh, I've got those too… tons of those. Most of them involve me finally getting the last of your clothes off and running my tongue over those places that I've been unable to reach before now," he said with a wicked smile.

"Daemonar" Jillian warned.

"What, it's true," he said.

"I'm not one of your girls," she said.

"No, you are a woman, full grown and incredibly sexy," he said.

"Daemonar, I'm over 500 years older than you," she said.

"So what, that's about the gap between my parents," he pointed out. "Besides, older women are very, very attractive."

"I'm not an older woman." Jillian sighed with exasperation. "I'm not going to sleep with you," she stated clearly with great enunciation.

"Then how about making out with me again?" he asked, closing his eyes and puckering up. Jillian shoved her hand in his face, nearly pushing him over if he hadn't expected her to do something exactly that obvious.

"You're hopeless," she said.

"Not hopeless," he said with a saucy smile. "I'm too awesome to be hopeless," he said.

"I will dunk you in the closest body of water," Jillian threatened.

"If you can care me that far, and if you don't mind me dragging you in… with that white shirt…" he whistled. "Oh yeah, that'll be a sweet sight to see," he said with a smirk.

Jillian glared at him. In reality they were both fairly attractive for their age bracket. Jillian had finally reached the age where her physical aging would begin to slow. She wouldn't look any older than twenty-one or twenty-two for a few hundred years. He, on the other hand, was still stuck looking eighteen or nineteen.

Daemonar was built a bit like his father, but a bit leaner like his mother. He'd trained as a guard but he preferred to be an escort. He liked libraries better than mountains and in many ways enjoyed his 'Unka Daemon's' company to his father's. That was something that his father found the most irksome, Daemonar assumed anyway. But he did look like his father, had taken after his looks, and even had his hair long like his dad's. He was tall, broad shouldered, very well build from training with the combination of looks that indicated his Eryian ancestry.

Jillian couldn't be more opposite. Her hair was cut so short that though there was enough there that there was no group, Jillian (with proper care) looked very feminine with her hair cut. Her nails were varnished with a hardening agent that made it show she could easily scratch someone's face up. Besides that she was tall, then and trimly built. She didn't have a super figure like her big sister did. Next to her sister she actually looked like a beanpole, but she had something very drawing about her appearance. Tamnar had been drawn to her. So had, for that matter, Daemonar.

"Come on," Daemonar said, offering his arm like a proper Escort and Gentleman. "Shall we plan who and how we will speak to?" he asked.

Jillian chuckled and despite herself she accepted his arm, letting her lead him in.

A/N: Grah, can't keep my eyes open! I was going to make this a bit longer, but I can't remember what I was going to say. So, tell me what you think?