Disclaimer: I don't own the Black Jewels, but love the characters. Any faults are mine, not Anne Bishop's.

Kaeleer, SaDiablo Hall

All things being equal, Daemon considered it only fair that this time their roles were reversed. With a grin on his face, he watched the tall man pace back and forth.

"Would you like some brandy?" he asked with exaggerated solicitousness.

His father snarled at him, a growl worthy of Kaelas, the eight-hundred pound Arcerian Warlord Prince that his darling wife insisted upon calling her 'pretty kitty'. "No. I do not want brandy. Nor do I want a sedative, or a whack upside the head," Saetan snapped back.

Leaning against the doorway to the gardens, Daemon laughed, tickled that his father remembered the exact words he'd said to his son at his wedding. It was a heartless sound, and the High Lord snarled again.

"I would have thought you're too experienced to be nervous at your own wedding. It's not as though you haven't done this before, after all."

Saetan stopped pacing to throw him a scorching glance. "I haven't," he replied tersely. "I've never married a woman who might love me, not because she has a lust for wealth and power."

"Ah, Hell's fire and Mother Night." His son winced. "I'm sorry, Father. I shouldn't have said what I did."

Drawing in a deep breath, Saetan shook his head, forcing himself calm down. "No, you're right. I have done this before. But this time it's going to come out right. I think."

Daemon touched his shoulder. "It will. She's the right woman for you, and you're the right man for her. And for Mikal."

Saetan reached out to draw him into an embrace. "I hope you're right. You'd better be right. I'm going to try, even if we're shattering some of the oldest rules the Blood can remember," he grumbled.

His son hugged him back. "It will be all right," Daemon said softly. "Lorn and Draca have said they approve. Everybody's happy for both of you. Everything will work out, you'll see."

Saetan gave a shaky laugh, then kissed him. "Yes, it will. We'll make it work out, she and I together."

Daemon kissed him back, breathing an invisible sigh of relief. As he followed the High Lord of Hell out into the soft golden twilight, he could see Lucivar flash a grin at him. A large crowd, including a radiant Queen of Halaway wearing a magnificent set of emerald jewelry, were waiting for them.

Jaenelle, as a Priestess of the Hourglass, would perform the ceremony.

Marian and Ruthvian stood beside his brother, smiling. Daemonar was so excited, he kept bouncing up and down into the air. Surreal and Rainier stood next to them, also grinning. Draca and Geoffrey were there to represent the Keep, while every one of Jaenelle's First Circle and Coven had come with their partners. The Dhemlan Queens were all in attendance, as was Cassidy, Queen of Shalador Nehele, and her husband Gray.

These people were the ties that would bind Saetan's heart to the living.

There were others gathered here too, including a number of the wild Kindred – the wolves, tigers, and Arcerian cats. Even the unicorns had come, to the wonderment of almost everyone except Jaenelle.

The High Lord had made his choice. He had chosen life over death, and now his children wouldn't need to fear losing him too soon.

Daemon smothered a smile as Jaenelle began to speak.

His father didn't know yet. They weren't telling anyone until this celebration was done. But Lucivar and Marian weren't the only ones who were giving Saetan a new generation of crew for the ships that sailed on the Phantom Sea.

In a few more months, Daemonar and Ruthvian were going to have a new cousin.

-Finis-