A/N: Yes, I know I said I'd start working on The Pride, but honestly working on that story is like working on a roller coaster, and this one is a bit more like "choose your own adventure" stories. I think this one may actually be one of my best. This one changes does change a lot of things. Things with Jaenelle (whenever I can get to her) will be very different. What's important first off is to be able try and fix some of these family problems.


Saetan didn't want to go home at first. All he could think of was that he'd lost Lucivar. Luthvian wasn't a specifically cruel woman. She wouldn't set out to destroy Lucivar, she would merely viciously prune away his self esteem and his wants and dreams until nothing was left and she would do this with the best of intentions. That was probably what made it all so bad. She'd been a very troubled young woman when he'd seen her through her virgin night, but she'd also been Tersa's friend. Luthvian had helped Tersa after she'd been broken and she was an incredibly skilled black widow. She wasn't one of the bad ones, but Saetan could never like her.

He stood on the edge of her cottage, completely shielded, watching the young girls of Riada wander away to head home for the evening after their craft lessons. This was a home that he'd built for Luthvian, gave to her and allowed her to live in simply because she had birthed his son, even though she had also given away that son. He remembered the warm spring day it had been built and how just seeing the place sat like a cold stone in his stomach. He'd brought her through to Kaeleer and protected her, even though she hadn't protected Lucivar. He wondered why he hadn't killed her before and then he pushed that thought away. He was never going to be that person who simply killed someone who annoyed him.

He walked silently up to the cottage and inside, hearing a plate shatter in the kitchen. That was how he knew where Luthvian was and he quietly dropped the sight and aural shields as he walked into the room. "Luthvian," he said coldly.

"High Lord," Luthvian said, one hand over her breast as if to soothe the pounding of her heart, though to her credit her voice neither wavered nor showed the fear that she felt. She knew how to handle a male… far too well. "How may I be of service?" she asked, straightening herself out and moving away from the counter top she'd been leaning against when she first found out he'd arrived.

"Lucivar's living in Kaeleer," Saetan said. He wondered if he really felt surprised at her reaction. She looked happy. He was sure that she was, though that didn't mean she wouldn't, with terribly well meaning intentions, completely destroy Lucivar.

"Are you going to let me see him?" Luthvian asked.

"It's more a question of if you will let me see him," Saetan said, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"What?" the Eryien woman asked, not understanding.

"The council has ruled that Lucivar is to be in your care only. I've been told that I can adopt him if you will allow me to," Saetan said.

"Then why have you not brought him to me?" Luthvian asked. Saetan looked up at her with cold golden eyes and the stiff attitude she'd been about to take melted a bit out of fear. He was worried seeing how quickly she went from happiness to demanding.

"He's with his brother," Saetan said. "Winsol is coming up in three weeks. Lucivar is just starting to adjust to being here, it will be better to have you come for the holidays, you can get him after the holidays are over," he said.

"You don't have a say in his life," Luthvian said.

"No, but you live in a house that I own, have a job that I originally provided and I don't forget why Lucivar was even in Terrielle," he said coldly. "He's still not accepted his life here, to rip him away from what he's building so suddenly would be terrible for him," Saetan said, letting his own anger slip away. Lucivar didn't need to see him fighting with Luthvian.

"You won't try and stop me from taking him after the holidays?" Luthvian said.

"No," Saetan said. "I won't."


"Damn it SaDiablo, why is he even going back with her?" Andulvar nearly shouted, pacing in front of Saetan's fireplace in Hell. Saetan had requested the demon prince to come to hell. The High Lord had already made the mistake of having Daemon in the room for one of the conversations, he wasn't taking any chances this time.

"Because the council has decided," Saetan said.

"Screw the council," Andulvar said. Saetan wished he react that way. Instead he sighed heavily, letting his shoulders slump.

"Lady Adelaide is a very reasonable woman," Saetan said dully.

"She gave Lucivar over to that bitch!" Andulvar snapped. Andulvar didn't like Luthvian, but he didn't normally speak so harshly of her, except this time he was just very angry at the entire situation.

"She has stated that Daemon and Lucivar are to remain here, where they will be much better off, and she didn't take Daemon from us," he said.

"She took Lucivar from you," Andulvar pointed out.

"Legally she couldn't have done anything else," Saetan said. "Lady Adelaide will protect the boys with her own life, I could see that in her eyes."

"Yeah, from Dorothea, but Luthvian is going to destroy Lucivar. She'll cut out everything Eryien in him, even clip his wings if she can," Andulvar pointed out. "She still has a hundred years to do it too before Lucivar's of age."

"I know, I know," Saetan said, rubbing his forehead. "Damn it Adulvar, he was so close to being able to have a real life."

"And there's nothing you can do?" Andulvar asked.

"I can try to adopt him," Saetan said. "If Luthvian will allow it."

"Big if," Andulvar snorted. "Anything else."

"I can take the matter up to the council if I feel that Lucivar is being abused," Saetan said.

"Abused and not severely damaged?" Andulvar asked, drawing his wings closer. Eryiens only lived in Kaeleer off and on since he had ruled Askavi. The only other people in Kaeleer who had wings were the Jhinka, and the Jhinka were hated and mistrusted by all blood. No one on that council was going to understand what it mean to be Eryien and though Andulvar could try to support such a petition, but he would be seen as too biased because of his friendship with Saetan and because he'd trained Lucivar before. Forget the fact that he was the only Eryien on the whole damn council and could best explain what it meant to be locked off from their culture.

"Andulvar, please," Saetan said tiredly.

"So what, they can't do anything until he'd hurt more than he's already been hurt? I mean they at least taught him how to be Eryien in the camps and the people around him understood what it meant to be an Eryien while he was a slave. Luthvian doesn't approve of what he is, and she's going to break him down because she's his mother and is supposed to love him!"

"Andulvar, shut up," Saetan said with a cold softness that made Andulvar stop talking. A heavy silence passed between them and Andulvar even stopped pacing, barely daring to breathe. Sometimes he got caught up in Saetan as his friend and forgot Saetan the Executioner… though he never truly forgot, not since Zuulaman. Sometimes it took all his will to stay in the room when Saetan was at his worst. What he didn't know was that Saetan often would hold off the worst until he had left. Saetan didn't want to see his friend flea from him, not again.

"SaDiablo?" Andulvar ventured after the silence stretched far too long.

"I failed him again Andulvar, I know it," Saetan said. "And so I wonder… if maybe I shouldn't get rid of the problem," he said.

"Luthvian, or the council?" Andulvar asked because he knew he had too, though he was almost afraid to.

"I'm not sure yet," Saetan said. "I wonder now… since I've failed them so many times… what lengths won't I go to in order to keep them safe," he said softly. Andulvar couldn't suppress his shiver. There was a line that Saetan would never cross before, but now he couldn't be sure that his oldest friend wouldn't cross every line in order to protect his sons… but that was why he saw hesitation in the High Lord's eyes… he wasn't sure either and his scared him.

"Hold off that decision for now," Andulvar said, walking over to the desk. Most times Saetan had to walk him back from the edge… but sometimes, very important times, it was Andulvar's duty to walk Saetan back from that edge. "You still have the holidays. Let's see how Lucivar and Luthvian react to each other. If you really think that Lady Adelaide is as good as you seem to, then maybe we can work this out."

"I'm not going to let him get hurt again," Saetan said quickly.

"I know you won't, old son, I know you won't," Andulvar replied.


Lucivar didn't know why he was being called to Saetan's office. Saetan would spend a little time with him each day, but they had a very specific room they met in and they would talk about Eryien history for a while and eat little sandwiches that Lucivar liked. He felt a little hopeful. The last time one of them had been called to the High Lord's study was right before they started craft lessons. Daemon loved learning Black Widow craft. He would show off sometimes and Lucivar would just roll his eyes.

He could see some of the practicality of black widow craft, but more that he thought it would be good to incorporate Black Widow craft into a battle plan, and that it would be good to learn how to see beyond it, which was what Lucivar had been trying to work up to asking Saetan. It wasn't that he didn't think the old man wouldn't teach him, he'd probably be very happy to. Lucivar's hesitation was that he wasn't sure how much more he wanted to owe the man. Sometimes he still felt like all of this couldn't be real, though he wanted it to be so much.

More than that he wanted, really wanted Saetan to be his father. He could understand Andulvar better, and he got along with Prothvar more easily… but he felt drawn to the Hayllian man… like he remembered him from a time he couldn't remember. There was a tone to his voice, a cadence that Lucivar found to be familiar and comforting. Things said in Saetan's voice Lucivar heard more easily and remembered more easily. Sometimes he would dream about the man, about a past Lucivar couldn't remember, but he felt comforted and safe… he'd never felt safe before in his life.

He watched what Daemon and Saetan had and Lucivar wished he could have that. He wished that he looked like the man, or something. A part of him really wanted this call to be Saetan telling him that he was a black widow, though Lucivar didn't care about the craft at all. He just wanted something him to the man, something that no one else could dispute, not even himself. That was why he walked alone to the meeting with Saetan and why, for once, he didn't shield.

"You called for me?" Lucivar asked when he came in, going instantly to sit in the chair that Andulvar seemed to gravitate to. It was near the fire, and not far from where Saetan sat. If Lucivar had been to Saetan's office more he might have noted that it was odd for him to not be seated behind his desk, nor was he in his normal chair. He sat by the fire, next to the chair Andulvar preferred… next to the chair that Lucivar who was trying to imitate Andulvar would picke.

"Yes, I did," Saetan said carefully. His voice set Lucivar on edge instantly.

"What is it?" Lucivar said, on the offensive.

"You can't stay here anymore," Saetan said.

"You're sending me back?" Lucivar accused, projecting anger, though he felt his stomach drop out from fear.

"No, never," Saetan said.

"Then where are you sending me?" Lucivar demanded.

"No where," Saetan said. "Someone is coming to take you away, and no, not any of those bitches from Terrielle," he said with such venom that it surprised the young Eryien into staying quiet. "Lucivar… I want you to know that no matter what anyone says you are my son. You're not a bastard, you're not less than anyone. You are my son, I claimed you in the keep's registry and everything after you were born," Saetan said. Lucivar nodded, having gone to see the registry for himself. Daemon had too, but he hadn't needed to see it like his younger brother had needed to.

"Why are you telling me this?" Lucivar asked.

Saetan sighed heavily. "When you and your brother were born… I was a flattered fool, allowing myself to be talked into taking that potion so that I could conceive a child… to help bring a darker bloodline back to the Hayllians," he explained.

"A child, just one," Lucivar observed and Saetan nodded. "I was a mistake," he concluded.

"An accident, never a mistake. For whatever happened to you and your brother I never regretted your existences," Saetan said. "The woman I chose, she was a black widow, broken before she could claim a power that I assure you would have stymied the rise of Dorothea. A brilliant young woman. Durring her pregnancy she asked me to see her friend through her virgin night," Saetan said.

"And you did," Lucivar said.

"And I did, though I didn't know that I was still able to produce children, and the witch swore to me that she had taken the brew… but she was in a place where she couldn't risk not having her night. She too was a powerful black widow and she was afraid if she put her night off any longer that she would be broken," Saetan explained.

"Wait… I don't understand, why was an Eryien woman in Hayll?" Lucivar ask, figuring out that part of the story didn't make sense.

"She didn't look like an Eryien."

"How could she not look like an Eryien?"

Saetan merely gave him a look and one word: "Lucivar."

Lucivar looked at the man and suddenly it hit him. "Luthvian, of course, who else could it be?" he asked.

"Yes, Luthvian," Saetan said.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Lucivar asked.

"I raised both of you boys since you were babies," Saetan said, starting into his story again. Lucivar felt annoyed, but he felt that the other man was building up to the truth. "And I was told that I would be granted paternity by both women and then I planned to take you both back here, to Kaeleer," he explain.

"Then why didn't that happen?" Lucivar asked.

"The day of Daemon's birthright ceremony Dorothea denied paternity," Saetan said.

"Is Dorothea really related to Daemon?" Lucivar asked, looking confused as to how she could deny paternity.

"No, Daemon's mother is a gifted witch named Tersa, have you heard of her?" Saetan asked.

Lucivar nodded. "Daemon's mentioned her once or twice… does he know?" he asked.

"No," Saetan said. "I was hoping to find her and bring her here, but I haven't been able to… maybe it's time I have a discussion with Daemon as well," he admitted.

"I still don't understand," Lucivar said. "What gave Dorothea the ability to deny paternity? Did this Tersa agree?"

"Tersa wasn't even there," Saetan said. "Dorothea said that she had sent another man in after I'd left to be sure that Tersa was pregnant. It was a terrible lie… but I walked away and don't ask me why. That's a story for another day far in the future," he added quickly.

"What about me?" Lucivar asked. Saetan didn't smile, but almost. Lucivar reminded him of a boy sometimes. He still was a boy, but sometimes he had more vulnerable moments than Daemon. Daemon had learned too much how to hide himself.

"Prythian had been feeding your mothers lies about Guardians for a long time," Saetan said. "She truly believed that I would use you for fodder if you were left with me," he said.

"But you wouldn't!" Lucivar snapped. Saetan hadn't realized how much good that small acceptance would make him feel. It healed some of the pain that the High Lord had been feeling every time Lucivar turned away from him.

"No, I wouldn't, and your mother will admit now that she was wrong. Prythian told her that she could protect you, so your mother denied paternity and left you with Prythian, believing that she could come and get you once I had gone. But of course, when she returned to claim you Prythian wouldn't let you go," Saetan concluded, falling into silence.

"I don't understand," Lucivar said. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"That's the hard part," Saetan said with a heavy sigh. "Prythian and Dorothea have been trying to get you and Daemon back by speaking to the Dark Council, the body here in Kaeleer that helps to regulate the territories. I actually helped create it. In any case, the council will refuse any motion those bitches make to get the two of you back. I wouldn't let you go back even if the council agreed, but Lady Adelaide who leads the tribunal is a very just woman… but that has caused another problem."

"Which would be?" Lucivar asked, getting both annoyed and fearful of waiting.

"Lady Adelaide granted me full rights to Daemon because of the paternity was denied but you…" Saetan trailed off, his mouth open by no words coming out.

"But I was denied properly," Lucivar said, feeling his stomach dropping out. "So you're getting rid of me."

"No, Lucivar, it's not like that. I'm already working to try and keep you… but legally the council will not recognize what you and I and anyone with half a brain can see: that you are my son. Your mother will be visiting during Winsol… but once the holidays are over you have to leave with her."

"So you are getting rid of me," Lucivar spat. He hurt damn it! He'd been hoping that maybe he could find a way to link himself to this man and instead he was being tossed aside.

"No, I am not!" Saetan snapped, making Lucivar meet his eyes. "You are not going to be taken from me for forever. You are my son and I'm not going to let anyone take you from me again. Your mother lives in a house I own and I and Daemon with come to visit," he said.

"What about Prothvar, or Mephis, or Andulvar?" Lucivar asked. "I see," he said when Saetan didn't answer. Luthvian didn't like Eryiens… he remembered that from the times that he had been in her home. He remembered how the way she looked at him would subtly shift, as removing his wings as if she could remove the Eryien from him. That look scared him to his core… and he was going to live with her. "Thank you for telling me, High Lord," he said, standing.

"Lucivar," Saetan said, standing as well.

"I'll see you at dinner," Lucivar said and walked out. He needed to be alone.


A/N: What? I cause problems?

This was going to be a Winsol chapter, but it became this instead. This can easily be a lot longer than I first thought. I hope the Lucivar probably will be wrapped up in a few chapters (I hope), because besides the adjustment problems I need to deal with the problems with what happens to Jaenelle, Surreal and Marian now that everything's screwed up. Some things will be better and some worse, that's all that I can say. This was going to be shorted, but I think it will be longer just so I can cover everything… I hope it'll be enough.

Also, for the purposes of this story the age of majority is 1000 for longer lived races.