Saetan gazed at the resigned man who sat at the other side of the large blackwood desk. His gold eyes were dull and lifeless, devoid of any light or sparkle. He was painfully thin, and his normally warm skin was a sickly yellow color. He looked tired, heartbroken, and resigned. The High Lord understood the emotions he saw in those eyes, for they were mirrored in his own. Yet, he could not face the man before him. He knew he would be asked to do something he could not.

"Do it." Daemon's voice was cracked and hoarse.

"Namesake, please."

"Do it." The Warlord Prince repeated.

"Daemon . . . ." The father pleaded.

::DO IT!:: His voice tore through Saetan's mind. ::Please, father. I beg you. I want to go. Let me go, please. Father . . . you are the only one who can do this . . .::

::Daemon, I cannot.::

"Father," he struggled to find control of his slipping emotions. He wanted to crumble and weep into his father's shoulder. "I lost the one person who I could ever love, you must understand that and try to understand why I want you to do this." He whispered.

::I love you, Daemon.::

With tears rolling down his face, Saetan unleashed a wave of Black power. With no barriers around his Self, Daemon's eyes went blank when the power hit him. He crumbled down from the chair. He was in Saetan's arms before he hit the floor. "Daemon, you fool." Saetan brushed the black hair from his son's face. "Namesake!" He yelled, but got no response. Daemon had returned to the Darkness.

Lucivar looked up when he heard the double doors to his father's study open. "Cassie, Daemonar, go see what Mrs. Beale is cooking." He said absently, unable to look away from the pale figure in the doorway. The two young children hurried off down the stairs, racing each other.

Fighting with his own denial, Lucivar spoke. "Where's Daemon?" To himself he wondered, Where is my brother? Where's my Bastard? With a barely perceptible nod towards his study, Saetan started walking down the hall, his eyes distant and unreachable.

Lucivar knew that Daemon would have a hard time with Jaenelle's death, as they all did, but as he saw his brother's lifeless body Lucivar began to understand just how deep his brother's love and devotion had been. He tried to blink back his tears, but could not. ::Bastard? DAEMON!:: He cradled his brother's head in his lap, cursing to unhearing ears. "Damn you, Sadi, why did you have to do this? Why?! You gutter son of a whore, I loved you!"

"Uncle Yas . . . ." Little Cassandra fell silent in the doorway. "Papa? Papa!" Stumbling over the hem of her dress, she collapsed by Lucivar, crying. "Papa! Papa, come back!" The Eyrien took his niece in a fierce hug.

"Cassie, shh. Shhh." His tears wet her hair, and her's soaked through his shirt. "Come on, Cassie." He picked her up and carried her out, numb to the beating of her fists on his shoulders.

"PAPA!"

Saetan met him at the door, having heard his granddaughter screaming. He pulled his son into a tight embrace. "Let it go, Lucivar. Let it go." Lucivar's entire body shook as he wept. Cassie, still in his arms, buried her face in the crook of his neck, whimpering pitifully.

"They're both g-gone." Lucivar's normally steely voice was uneven and cracked. "I never t-thought it would h-happen."

"Neither did I, my son. Neither did I." Saetan slowly pulled away and took Cassie from Lucivar. His free arm he wrapped around his son's shaking shoulders. "The rest of the family needs to know."

Lucivar nodded slightly, leaning heavily on his father. "He was my brother."

"He still is."