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Especially himself

Daemon opened the Coach door, and they both rocked back fro from the eyrie above them

“Can you deal with him?” Jaenelle asked

“I’ll deal”

She left the Coach and raced up the stairs He stayed a couple of steps behind her so he wouldn’t trip her She ran past Lucivar, as standing in the flagstone courtyard in front of the eyrie—standing so perfectly still, as if even a deep breath ht shatter him

Daemon approached his brother slowly, cautiously “Lucivar”

Lucivar continued to stare straight ahead, but one tear slipped down his face

Dae land Marian and Nurian, the Eyrien Healer, were inside with Jaenelle But the other two people he’d expected to find wereFather? he called on a Black spear thread

Daemonar is with me at the Keep, Saetan said Take care of Lucivar

Done Knowing the boy was safe, he focused once again on his brother “Lucivar?”

“Miscarriage” Lucivar’s voice broke “We lost the baby”

Mother Night“I’m sorry”

Daeer over Lucivar’s shoulder, an offer of contact with no expectations Aman

“Is it my fault, Daemon?” Lucivar asked “Is it my fault?”

“How could it be?” Daemon stroked Lucivar’s hair and added another layer to the soothing spells he rapping around his brother

“Sh-she got pregnant during the rut You knoe’re like during that tied her inside Maybe”

“Shh” Dae Saetan was doing htened little boy “Shh”

He wouldn’t let Lucivar say it, wouldn’t let Lucivar keep thinking that But it was possible, and they both knew it That was part of the pain Until Nurian—or more to the point, Jaenelle—said otherwise, it was a possibility

The tears finally eased, but Lucivar still clung to hi the eyrie, he saw Jaenelle first

“Prick,” he whispered

Lucivar straightened up, wiped his eyes, and turned toward her Jaenelle studied Lucivar “If you’ve been out here grieving, that’s fine If you’ve been out here bla to piss off your wife as well as your sister”

“Cat?” Lucivar looked so vulnerable

“There was nothing you had done before—or could have done now—to change this,” Jaenelle said gently “The babe didn’t forht It couldn’t survive, so Marian’s body released it A si, despite how much the heart hurts because of it”

“Marian?” Daemon asked

“She’ll be fine in every way,” Jaenelle said, still looking at Lucivar “She needs to rest for a few days—and she needs to grieve without feeling that you see her grief as a kind of blaht So did you” She turned her head toward the eyrie “Nurian has everything cleaned up Go be with your wife, Lucivar She needs you”

Lucivar hesitated Then he gently touched Jaenelle’s cheek and went into the eyrie