Disclaimer! I don't own WoW. Blizz does, and your soul too.
*** Lordaeron – Tirisfal Glade ***
"Land ho~~~~!" Came the shout from the Stormy Wave crow's nest.
I looked up to see that dawn was slowly breaking, painting the sky with its smattering of clouds a bright orange-red. More importantly, those same orange beams of light were illuminating the green of the trees and brown of the lands in the distance. We had finally made it to Lordaeron after six weeks of pushing the ship's tidesage to his limits. At the captain's wheel, I could see the tidesage face furrow as he continued to work his magic with the Stormy Wave. The ship retracted its sails, giving the tidesage total control over the ship as it made for what Derek said was the royal port.
According to Derek, this port belonged exclusively to the royal family, though some trade commodities were shipped from here to Kul Tiras. In contrast, Lordaeron trade was mostly dependent on land base routes from the other human cities.
To the south of Lordaeron Keep, the seat of the royal family, was Lordamere Lake. Its function was to act like a ferry route for other trade goods heading for the southern parts of Lordaeron; that was why there was a keep built into the middle of the lake, to act as a screen for all the goods heading to the capital city.
"Look there!" Derek pointed out with a grin as he used his spyglass to gaze off into the distance. The shores were quickly approaching and judging from this speed, we would reach the shallow waters within minutes. "They have a reception ready for you!"
Derek had sent a messenger dove a few days prior to inform King Terenas of our arrival. In a way, it was a surprise visit, but we simply did not have time to send a regular letter. In matters pertaining to nobilities, it could even be considered rude dropping by on such short notice. I wondered what kind of reception we were going to get.
"Victoria." I turned around to the High Cleric–also a friend with benefits for the past few weeks–and beckoned her over.
It was a bit...challenging for me to see Victoria acting cool when I had already seen how her facial expression would twist and contort while high on pleasure. Shaking my head to clear up the racy memories, the High Cleric was now looking at me expectantly. I had to give her credit where credit was due. She kept it strictly professional outside of the bedroom.
"Please let the Queen know that we will be docking soon and that there seems to be a welcoming party there for us." I passed on the information to the blonde milf who merely smiled at me and nodded. There was a punch on my arm making me turn to my attacker. "What?"
"You damn well know what!" Derek glared at me. Apparently, it was a small ship and to my embarrassment, everyone knew I hooked up with the battle cleric, judging by how the Proudmoore scion had been giving me a hard time about it during the rest of the journey.
"Ya know, despite being your nation's colors, gotta say that green is not a good look on you, Proudmoore," I teased and felt his fist strike my plate armor with a good amount of force. "Hah! That all you got? I bet your baby sister can hit harder!"
Derek faux glared at me before he and I both shared a laugh. We then turned to look at the closing shoreline. This was it; we have finally arrived at Lordaeron. Derek had informed me in advance that we were going to be making landfall today. That allowed me time to make sure that everyone would be looking their best when we disembark. Now, my armor was clean and my rank insignia was on display, making me appear like a professional soldier. I expected the rest of our party would do the same as we were representing Stormwind.
Speaking of the queen and her party, I noticed the first of their retinue arriving at the upper deck. A moment later, there were multiple audible breaths being sucked in as the queen made her debut in all her glory.
The outfit she had on was not one that I would call a gown, yet it wasn't a simple dress. I knew it was made out of enchanted silk so that dirt could not stick to it, but the design itself was nothing magical. The primary color of this dress was a deep royal blue with intricately woven gold thread as the outline. While the dress did not hug her body like a glove, it did nothing to hide her curves. She was all woman, and she made sure everyone knew it.
The queen exuded femininity, sexiness, and a demure demeanor that could make men do anything to win a smile from her. If that wasn't a deadly combination enough, there was the kill-shot the queen dress had. There, displayed proudly, was the boob window, though not in the slutty way where it starts at the nipples. No, this one was classier as it only showed the top part. It was made to draw people's gaze with the way it pushed her breast up like a wonder bra, but it also squeezed her sizable bust tightly and enticingly together.
I could already tell that many a man had just become smitten by her. As a matter of fact, I allowed my eyes to flicker to my right, just in time to see Derek's goofy love-struck expression. My elbow shot out quickly to hit the Proudmoore scion in his ribs which elicited a surprised grunt of pain. With the queen protected from Derek's lewd gaze, I step forward to greet her.
"My queen." I quickly executed a smooth bow. "You're making all our jobs harder by looking this good."
The queen let out a laugh. "Good thing I have the 'Cub of Stormwind' here to defend my honor, isn't that right?"
'Damn it, Derek!' I cursed the Proudmoore Captain. After he learned that my father was known as the Lion of Stormwind, he saddled me with the mocking 'Cub of Stormwind'. To my horror, the Queen quite liked it and has been using it teasingly since then.
"Your safety is my priority, my queen," I answered with a strained smile.
Luckily, my job was made easier by the presence of the Queensguard who were actually seven sworn defenders formerly of the Kingsguards. That wasn't even mentioning the six handmaidens who served her every need. I would be willing to bet money a few–if not all–of them worked for the spymaster. All the better to guard against the knife in the dark after I had revealed the dragons' infiltration abilities. Right by her side were two conjurers in their mid-thirties; they acted as her advisors. However, I knew their true purpose, one of which was a letter they carried from Aegwynn that was destined for Dalaran.
The queen saw my expression and smiled at me before she looked past me to the shoreline. Her eyes narrow, slightly letting me see the determination in them. I could understand; a lot was riding on her succeeding in getting Terenas backing after all. For me, I was trying to use the knowledge I had that could help with the immediate issue, which was the Horde invasion. A lot of my knowledge was useless within this current time frame. I knew for a canonical fact that if Stormwind used the Lothars to call in the blood debt from the elves of Silvermoon, then the most help we would receive was twelve fucking elven destroyers. Maybe a party of archers if Alleria Windrunner happened to be feeling extra cute that day.
No, I would have to search somewhere else for help.
Currently, the threat of the old god Yogg Saron wouldn't happen unless Illidan tries to crack open the world. Then there's the fact that Deathwing's been exposed, but Aegwynn was on the job so–if anything–that was an issue that had been pushed years down the line. C'Thun and his silithids were decades away from being a true threat. The serrate teeth of the Bronze Dragons were no longer hanging over my head thanks to the Infinite Flight who wanted me to succeed, no matter what it was that I was doing. The Green Dragons were all the way in Kalimdor which was currently surrounded by hazardous navigational mist. None of that knowledge contained anything I could use right on the spot to help fight the old Horde.
Finally, there was Alexstrasza and her Red Flight, but the only way I could get in contact with her was through Krasus who was currently LARPing as a human archmage of Dalaran. I could warned them the Horde was trying to get their hand on the Dragon Soul, but what if that didn't happen yet? Then, to them, I would become a mortal with knowledge of the Dragon Soul and a potential threat. They might decide that my knowledge of it would be grounds for termination. . After all, such knowledge in the hands of 'mortals' was dangerous.
For a species that loved all life, they didn't do much to help it, especially since they clearly did not feel the need to help the humans during the first, second, or third war. It was written that despite being enslaved, Alexstrasza still loved the orcs as a lifeforms, being the aspect of life and all of that. It was unlikely she would ally with us. Of course there was a chance Blizzard got that lore wrong, but was that a risk worth taking?
Further musing on my part was nipped in the bud as the Stormy Wave anchored into the royal port. I let my eyes scan the Lordaeron retinue waiting for us. The one who drew the most attention was a heavily armored man with the stylized 'L' of Lordaeron pressed onto his tabard. The knight looked to be in his early thirties with charcoal-colored hair and a stoic expression on his face. Flanking his side were two people in fancy-looking clothes, something that I could tell was expensive at a glance. They were probably people of high standing since they had been sent to greet the queen. Finally, my attention went to the ten knights standing at the ready behind him. I was able to easily identify them from their heavy armor and their familiar front-horned helm. In their right hand was the iconic knight warhammer from the second war while on the left hand was a large heater shield with the 'L' symbol on it.
'Alright then,' I thought as I saw our welcoming party. 'Time for me to put on my own show.'
The moment the ship dropped anchor, I turned to the group of people I was responsible for, thirty royal guardsmen in total. "Form up! Two single file lines!"
Ingrained drills kicked in as two armored columns of knights were lined up with me at the head. I moved with sharp, quick steps down the recently dropped planks and marched on the dock. The sound of armored men marching in unison was eye-catching as many at the harbor turned their gazes our way. I could imagine how we looked as we approached with a greatsword in our right hand and a lion head heater shield in our left. By the way that the Lordaeron knights were puffing out their chests competitively, we were not any less impressive-looking than them. With my showboating done, I walked straight to the head knight at the head of the welcoming party.
"Hail and well met!" I made sure my voice carried. My vocals have been getting quite the workout since the Redridge fiasco. "I, Knight Captain Callan Lothar of Stormwind, thank King Terenas for honoring us with such a retinue!"
With my proclamation done, I banged my fist to my chest and heard my knights copying it. The Lordaeroni head knight was initially startled but slowly cracked open a smile.
"Hail and well met indeed!" The man's voice boomed as he returned a salute of his own. "I am Duke Lionheart of Lordaeron and on behalf of his majesty, King Terenas, I welcome our distant brothers to our lands!"
And just like that, we clasped arms in greeting. Cheers erupted from both sides as the knights from Stormwind greeted their counterparts. The two fancy-dressed diplomats looked like fishes out of water, unsure of what to do. I judged that the timing was now correct as I coughed into my hand and turned to the royal knights. They understood my meaning as they reformed into two single file lines and cleared the docks.
"May I present to you gentlemen, her majesty, Queen Taria Wrynn of Stormwind!" I proclaimed loudly and turned around to let the queen do her magic.
Judging from the multitude of gasps that came from Duke Lionheart and his knights, I knew she got them enthralled.
"Queen Taria." Lionheart walked past me to greet the Queen with a courtly bow the moment she stepped on the dock. "I am Duke Lionheart and on behalf of King Terenas, I welcome you to Lordaeron with open arms."
He then stood straight back up and introduced the two men behind him. "This is Lord Vayne and Chamberlain Thelas, his majesty's personal advisers."
"Greeting Queen Taria." The first fancy-looking lord called Lord Vayne stepped forward and greeted the queen with a polite bow. "We have prepared a carriage for your journey, wagons for all of your belongings, and horses for your knights. If there is anything else that is needed, please tell us and we shall arrange for it."
The queen smoothly gave them a benign smile and inclined her head slightly in thanks. "I will thank your king in person for his generosity and let him know how envious I am of him for having such capable subjects under his command."
Those were the right words to say as all of the Lordaeron welcoming party seemed to stand a bit taller and did a poor job of hiding their pleased smiles.
Duke Lionheart made his way over to me as the two lords led the queen and the queensguard elsewhere. "Lord Lothar, if you'd be so kind as to follow me, I'll show you to where the mounts are. You'd be pleased to find that they are just as well bred as the Brotherhood's own."
"Please, just call me Callan," I told the man politely. "Lord Lothar is my father's moniker, and I wouldn't want there to be any confusion."
The Lordaeron knight had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Then, shall I address you as Sir Callan?"
"Good enough!" I grinned. "And how may I address you?"
"Lord or Sir Duke," Lionheart replied with a smile.
"Oh, okay." I felt like a fool thinking the man would be open to acting less stuffy. That was when I saw there was mirth in Lionheart's eyes.
"You misunderstand me, Sir Callan," the coal-haired man answered. "My name is Duke, Duke Lionheart."
"Oh? Oh!" I laughed. "So it wasn't your rank but your first name!"
"Not quite." Duke looked quite amused. "I inherited the ducal title from my family a year ago."
"…." It took me a few moments to process that before I looked at him. "You mean to tell me, your full name and title is Duke Duke Lionheart?"
"Correct." Duke nodded with an exasperated expression. "I had two brothers before me who were set to inherit, but one was recruited by Dalaran and the other ran off to join the priesthood. Apparently, the call of the Light was too hard to resist."
"Well then...Lord Duke." I tried my best to keep from laughing. "We'd be in your care."
The man simply exhaled and shook his head as he beckoned us to follow him. We were at the carriage and wagons where Derek's men were giving us a hand in loading up the Queen's belongings.
"Callan!" Derek, who had been overseeing the whole exchange, finally came over and clapped his hand on my shoulder. "I need to get things in order, but I'll catch up with you all on the road."
"Alright, see you then, Derek," I said as I held out my fist and felt Derek tap it with his own. It was a gesture I taught him myself. To date, the only others to know this personalized greeting was Aloman, Keeshan, and Jenkins.
Duke was kind enough to wait until I said my farewell to Derek before he showed us the horses. They were armored and draped with white and gold cloth to denote their origins. Overall, their quality wasn't inferior to what I had worked with. I moved over to the steed and gently stroked his mane. After having brushed my on loan mount a few more times so that it could get used to me, that seemed to earn his trust as he lowered his neck to allow me to ride him.
"Thanks, boy," I said as I easily climbed up. I turned around and saw the other knights likewise mounted their own horses.
At my nod, two Stormwind banners with their iconic golden lion's head on a blue backdrop were raised for all to see. Now, with the onlookers at the port's undivided attention, we rode out for Lordaeron Keep.
*** Khaz Modan – Loch Modan ***
Grom Hellscream was enjoying a rare moment of peace in his war tent. Because of his new status as Warchief of the Horde now, it was every bit as large as the one Blackhand used to have. From his chieftain seat, he gazed down at the large map of the area known as Khaz Modan. Gulping the Dark Iron's potent spirits, Grom growled in pleasure at the way the drink warmed his blood on its way down. He looked down at the numerous metal shapes with the symbol that represented the Horde. They were carved by the dark iron craftsmen and came in various sizes that represented the numbers of his forces.
Once again, Grom found himself impressed by how useful their alliance has proven. The savagery they displayed when they fought their lighter skin cousin was able to impress many of his fellow orcs. Even Ner'zhul suggested that when their campaign here was over, they should absorb the dark iron into the Horde. Naturally, they would cull those that would not serve.
Thanks to the census of Ner'zhul's pet ogre, Dentarg, Grom now knew his forces totaled a little under six hundred thousand, a bit more than what Blackhand had, but so far more effective. Ner'zhul himself was keeping Doomhammer's forces in check with his two hundred thousand warriors that had been streaming over. His spies also reported that, though weakened, Doomhammer was able to scrounge up only a little less orcs than Ner'zhul's forces. It was the clans that were most starved for food that were enticed by Blackhand's former right fist.
Grom's eyes flitted across the icons placed at various strategic positions and was pleased with what he saw. The area called Loch Modan was completely under their control. The dark iron had guided fifty thousand of his warriors under Dentarg's command into the Wetlands, a land to the north, to secure a food supply line. Their secondary objective was to set up an outpost at the mouth of the land bridges and take control of the Thandol Span, a massive bridge that led directly into the humans' territory.
Grom touched the area marked 'Stromgarde' on the map and caressed it. However, now was not the time to strike. The pinkskins will only know of the Horde when Grom finishes the enemy in front of him first. To ensure his victory, he tasked Kilrogg and his Bleeding Hollows to cut off any reinforcement their enemy could from the Highlands and prevent these 'Wildhammer' dwarves from sending any aid.
The Warsong chieftain's eyes fell back onto the map and traced a route that stood out. The route represented their control of the main road that stretched all the way from the Dark Portal to Loch Modan. With the passageway secure, Ner'zhul should begin sending their families to this place to relieve the burden around the Dark Portal. They both knew that having their fellow warriors' families by them would encourage them to fight that much harder.
His thoughts were interrupted when two of his warriors entered, flanking a familiar dark iron shaman and the leader of the current dark iron forces serving the Horde.
"Thrum Ka, Warchief!" The first warrior pounded his fist. "This dark iron dwarf told us you were expecting him?"
Grom could see the two warriors had their hands on their newly crafted axes, ready to kill the dark iron dwarf on the spot if he lied. Smiling wider to show off his tusk and sharpened teeth he nodded.
"Let him in."
That was all the two warriors needed as he obeyed Grom's signal to retreat, leaving them alone. The dark iron shaman immediately got on his knee, a thing they do here to those superior to them, and put his hand to his chest.
"Greetings, Great Warchief. I bring news of the Bronzebeard movement," Thane Rungrum Moltenshaper said. It was not a title given to him by his former king, Dagran Thaurissan. Instead, it was bestowed to him by the orc warchief Grom Hellscream. For the Horde, he was the leader of the dark iron now.
"Have they finished gathering?" Grom's fierce eyes stared at him.
"They have, Great Warchief," Rungrum confirmed. "They are on their way to Loch Modan as you anticipated."
"Good!" Grom laughed. Unlike Blackhand who had been content with splitting his forces to try and find a weak spot, Grom felt it was better to sow fear and let them escape. He would allow them to gather into one massive army, thinking that he was short on manpower. That way, he would shatter them all in one well-aimed strike and break their will. "Are your people's weapons ready?"
"We have taken as much as we could from the Searing Gorge and the Badlands, Great Warchief," the dwarf answered quickly, but his face twisted as if he wanted to say something else.
"What is it?" Grom turned from the map to the dwarf. "You have earned the right to speak."
"While I am confident between your mighty warriors' strength and in my own people's ferocity, there is…an unknown variable..." the Shaman spoke carefully. He did not want to imply that the orcs were weak.
"What variable?" Grom demanded. "And why did you not tell me before now?"
"They are called the gnomes, Great Warchief, and they are allies with the cursed Bronzebeards." Moltenshaper swallowed as he dared not meet the warchief's eyes. "My scouts have spotted them amongst their gathered banners."
"And they are powerful?" Grom's eyes searched from the gnomes' territory which was located to the west.
"Physically, no," the dwarf answered quickly. "However, their contraptions are another matter. Though, of course, I do not doubt our victory, but it could be costly since we do not know what they would be fielding against us."
Grom's eyes furrow creating a noticeable crease before he let out a bellowing roar. "And you did not think to tell me about this earlier?!"
"Please hold your temper, Great Warchief!" the Rungrum begged. "I had, on my own initiative, gotten in contact with several other factions that could help us neutralize their gnomish allies."
Grom stared down at the dwarf. "What other factions had you contacted?"
"They are called goblins, Great Warchief, and they are every bit as inventive as the gnomes," the Shaman hurriedly explained. "However, unlike the gnomes, they are only fueled by greed. A few notable factions are willing to hear you out to work out a potential deal."
Grom took out Gorehowl, his axe, and swung it down on the dwarf, but stopped just a hair away from opening the shaman's skull. The shaman felt the pressure and force that nearly took his life and broke out in an intense sweat.
"The next time you try to go behind my back and do something without my permission, your life is forfeit!" Grom let the axe bite light into the shaman's scalp. Instantly the dwarf bald head was opened and blood spurt forth, flowing down the dwarf face soaking his beard. "Do you understand?!"
"T-Thank you for your mercy, Great Warchief!" The dwarf lowered his eyes in submission. Grom was satisfied that his lesson was taken to heart.
"Now tell me...what do these...goblins want in exchange for neutralizing the gnomes?" Grom went to the crux of the matter. When he heard the price, he could not help but laugh.
"Good! Arrange a meeting with this Blackfuse and Venture company." Grom smiled as he looked at the map. "Tell them I want them here by the week's end."
In one quick motion, he brought his fist down onto the Ironforge miniatures and sent them scattering across the map. These dwarfs will find out exactly how foolish they were to think of being able to challenge the Horde.
*** Tirisfal Glade – Capital City ***
'I've been wrong this entire time,' I thought as our party drew closer to the iconic gleaming spires of Lordaeron's capital city. A little lore inconsistency was now reconciled thanks to Duke Lionheart. During the Second War, the lore simply labeled Lordaeron city, Lordaeron. There was some confusion when, during the third game, the lore developers called Lordaeron 'Capital City'. It didn't even have a proper name! Then when the undead took over, they renamed it Undercity. Before my death, they changed it once again! During the Battle for Azeroth expansion, they renamed it Lordaeron's Keep.
Thanks to Duke, I now knew that the Keep was the original structure built here, and that the city sprung up around it afterward. In the past, one of their kings decided to dub it the Capital City of not only their country, but the entire continent much to the chagrin of their neighbors. Unfortunately for them, as Lordaeron's powers grew, so too did their influence and the name stuck. What it boiled down to for me was that Lordaeron was able to successfully gaslight the other nation to view Capital City as the de facto leader in the north, with the Menethil seat of power in the heart of the city, or as its called, Lordaeron Keep.
'Damn, Lordaeron! You scary!' I thought with a helpless smile as I finally understood it all.
"We're coming upon the gates now, Callan," Duke addressed me casually. We had gotten much friendlier over the duration of our trip. "I'll ride ahead to send messengers to the keep."
My friend grabbed the reins of his mount and sped past our caravan in the direction of the impressive gate. I took this time to inspect my royal knights to ensure that they were in picture-perfect shape. Their armor shone brightly from the vigorous polish they had done the night before. Even I gave my armor another new coating before we left Brill this morning. Our shields with their lion heads emblem caught the eyes of many civilians and merchant caravans. Even our weapons stood out because of the royal knights' greatswords strapped to their backs. Other weapons were strapped to our horses, mainly crossbows or smaller knives, but the sword and shields were the most eye-catching.
Some of the children we passed by stared at us in fascination, and more than a few were even brave enough to run alongside us, pointing and gawking. I gave a few jaunty waves and saw that it made a few of the kids' day from the acknowledgement.
As we got closer to the capital city gate, the stares multiplied, especially when we entered the queue to get inside the city. I geeked out a bit at seeing the seal on some of the merchants. The familiar red fist of Stromgarde had a tough-looking teamster glaring at us due to our party stalling their entry into the city. There was another merchant in a brown stuffy overcoat who gave us suspicious looks, the lightning bolt on a black flag let me know they were from Gilneas. The density of the crowd was a pretty big contrast to when I was in Stormwind City, Capital City just seemed busier. Though, it made sense since they were catering to five of the seven human nations on a daily basis. Massive foot traffic was to be expected.
We were almost upon the gate now so I nudged my horse to trot closer to the queen's carriage. The queensguard acknowledged me with a nod and let me through as I knocked on the window.
"My queen, we will be entering the city shortly. I don't expect that it would take us much longer before we reach our destination." I kept my voice low.
And I meant it. The city looked to be the size of Stormwind City. However, unlike Stormwind City, there was no massive canal running through it. I was told the population was north of a million during their last census. In a way, it was like a major modern city from my previous life with the majority of the people living here packed in like sardines.
Duke met us at the city entrance with the gate guard stopping everyone that was not part of our group from entering. I had a weird feeling in my chest as we crossed the threshold of the city. In a way, it felt a bit like seeing a sick old friend again, only in this case, the old friend was very healthy.
'Holy shit...' I let my eyes dart all over the place taking in the sights. 'I'm really in Lordaeron.'
Lordaeron built their buildings much higher than Stormwind. At a glance, I was able to see that most of the buildings were, at the minimum, three storeys tall with some even taller ones in the distance. However, their streets were much more narrowed compared to the wide stone paved road of Stormwind. There was just enough room for our caravan to move through as the Lordaeroni footmen were acting like a fence to prevent people from blocking our way.
As we proceeded further into the city, I noticed the footmen had a tougher time maintaining order due to the size of the crowd. Fathers would put their sons or daughters on their shoulders to get a good look at us. It was here that the queen finally showed herself as she parted the curtains on her carriage and waved to the people. That drove the crowd even more wild. There were even merchant stalls shouting over the crowd in an attempt to hawk their wares toward her.
The queensguard took up a tighter formation around the carriage just in case. I made hand signals to my knights to be on alert even though I didn't think we were going to be attacked. I even had Victoria in the carriage with the queen as added insurance in case things went pear-shaped. Eventually, the crowd thinned out when we entered a large, and much more spacious, area with cleaner, well-maintained buildings. I recognized it right away. We were in the courtyard before the throne path that led to the castle.
For defensive purposes, there was a water-filled mote separating the throne room path from the rest main road. It was a thirty-foot wide gap and just as deep, its only access point was the massive drawbridge which was currently lowered. On the battlement before it, I saw better armored guardsmen with bows at rest. That was when the main gate opened and a woman dressed in white and gold exited with a small party.
Upon closer inspection of the regal woman, her fancy white dress had delicate golden threads woven into it in an intricate pattern. Her bright gold hair fell in curls to her neck and framed her face quite delicately. There were some signs of gray denoting her age, but it was the crown on her head that let me know her identity. This was Arthas and Calia's momma, Queen Lianne Menethil. Standing next to her was a retinue of heavier armor guardsmen, their warhammers more intricately designed. Their postures showed that they were ready to fight at a moment's notice.
It did not take long for our carriage to pull up to the moat drawbridge. One of the queensguard quickly opened the door while an armored guard on the other side of the mote unrolled a red carpet that extended all the way to the steps of the transport. Queen Taria regally exited the vehicle and, without needing to be prompted, her eye locked onto the figure of Queen Menethil. Without a word to me and anyone else, she walked across the drawbridge to her fellow queen. Queen Menethil, seeing what our queen did, broke from her retinue and met her halfway.
"Queen Menethil!" Queen Taria spoke up in a scandalized tone when they were finally in front of each other. "You are already honoring me too much by personally greeting me. At least let me come to you."
"Please," the older woman rebutted as she held Taria's hands in her own. "You are the queen of Stormwind. I would disgrace my nation if I treated you any less than an equal!"
"Again, you show me too much grace, but it gladdens my heart. Would you honor me by calling me just Taria," the queen told her northern counterpart as she squeezed down on the older woman's hands. "I insist."
"Only if you call me Lianne," the Menethil matriarch countered with a benign smile.
"If that makes you happy, Lianne," Queen Taria surrendered. On hearing her name, the northern queen smiled widely before she turned to look at the rest of us.
"I'm afraid that if we were to bring all of your retinue into the throne room, it would become quite crowded." Queen Menethil looked at one of the diplomats who had traveled with us. "We have set up a special area for your brave party to rest and unpack. Lord Vayne would be happy to show them the way."
The Menethil Queen then took a look at our party, her eyes lingering on me for a second longer before she turned back to the queen.
"If you do not mind it, I think having Commander Brytanni, Conjurer Nestle, and Lord Callan be the representatives of Stormwind to accompany you inside," Queen Lianne suggested to the visiting queen. The fact that Queen Lianne knew who was who in our retinue was not lost on Queen Taria.
"Then we shall do as you suggests," Queen Taria agreed with a nod before turning to the rest of the party. "The rest of you will follow Lord Vayne here to our assigned area."
I turned to my knights and, with a nod, dismissed them to go follow lord Vayne.
"Now, come." Queen Lianne then moved so that she was side by side with Queen Taria and intertwined their arms. "After you've had an audience with my husband and rested, I must insist that we spend some time together. I want to know more about you, your children, and Stormwind."
I blocked out their chatter as we passed the massive wooden gate and looked up at the iconic bell before entering a path that anyone who played Warcraft was very familiar with. It was the same path Arthas walked in the final human campaign ending cinematic. Just like then, there were rose petals raining down upon us. However, instead of the red petals, ours were blue and yellow. Before I knew it, we were in front of 'the' door and beyond that, the throne room.
Two of the heavy armor knights walked ahead and pushed the massive wooden doors open. It took a bit to adjust to the darker room as we entered, but once we did, there–sitting on his throne–was a much younger-looking Terenas Menethil.
The throne room was even more impressive than the cinematic rendition I had seen. There was the infamous circle in the center with some intricate runes carved into it. A glance showed that the balconies that surrounded the room were much more numerous than portrayed in media works. There weren't any balconies behind the king's throne, which made sense. It would be silly of him to trust a foreign power behind his back.
A chilly breeze from the air inside the throne room blew out and made me refocus on the man before us. The cool air brushed up against us before the door closed behind us with a bang. In response, I made sure that I moved a bit closer to the queen as we arrived before the man. Terenas, upon seeing us, smiled widely and got up off his throne to step down from his dais to greet our queen.
"Ah, Queen Taria Wrynn of Stormwind." Terenas approached. He was almost my height and, while still youthful, there were obvious gray streaks in his hair and beard. "It is a great pleasure to meet you, my dear."
Queen Taria extended her hand to Terenas in greeting. He gave her a charming smile as he took Taria's hand into his own and kissed it softly. With the respectful gesture done, he straightened out and threw his arms wide. His head looked upward, turning left and right, before he declared in a loud booming voice.
"Let it be known that Lordaeron welcomes Stormwind with open arms and if anyone here slights them, then that would be a slight against me!" Terenas declared. Queen Taria and I noticed at the same time that the balconies overhead were not empty. They were, in fact, very much occupied by ambassadors from the other five kingdoms and major lords from all over Lordaeron.
His declaration done, Terenas gave Commander Brytanni and Conjurer Nestle a nod of acknowledgement each. However when he got to me his eyes widened in delight.
"Now, on a personal note," King Terenas said as he walked in front of me and let one of his hands drop onto my pauldron. "I am glad to see the blood of the ancient High King Thoradin return to these shores."
Stunned disbelief accompanied the king's statement before I felt a multitude of eyes on me from on high and from the guards nearby. Why would Terenas do this? Why would he...oh.
Oh!
'Oh...you sheisty mother fucker!'
TBC…
AN: Woot and we back! First of all thank you to mah brother Icura for taking the time out to help me edit this. The man is up to his neck in work and other projects! Without him this doesn't get released!
Secondly thanks for all the feed back on the last chapter. There was some controversy but hopefully that is nipped in the bud now. It was intended as humor and shall be taken as such. However, the song is out there now and we will circle back to it one day. Once again thanks for that
Thirdly, I have no clue what Duke Lionheart first name is, but most of the paladins names in the WC3 name generator gave them a first and last name and Duke is a name along with a rank. You know this means? Possibly a Baron Baron Rivendere. Don't dare me, I'll do it! However I think that just for the lulz here. We know Lionheart had family that might or might not be canonical. I'm making it canonical here.
And that's that! I am still looking for a better map while working on a one I am not to happy with. We shall see if I am satisfied. Thank you so much for reading and as always C+C welcomed.
If you like to support me in general the link to the big P would be greatly appreciated!