Prologue

Part One

Silverlaine Keep

Arugal tensed.

The resident archmage of Silverlaine Keep did not like arguing, much less with his wife. Engaging in petty disagreements was beneath him. He had always believed that the truth of almost any situation was self evident, if the observer had the necessary wit and perception. Therefore, to disagree over trivialities implied a distinct lack of intellect on the part of one of the parties involved. Arugal's wife, Jenna, was usually a quiet, obedient, and thoughtful woman. He almost never had any disputes with her.

Her sister, on the other hand...

"Annika says that the Council refused to bring them here because they were uncontrollable," Jenna said, subconsciously crossing her arms over her pregnant belly. Her body language was tense and apprehensive, the look on her face no different. It was one she shared with most of the keep's inhabitants. "Annika thinks that-"

"Annika be damned!" Arugal struck back, finally losing his temper. He took a deep breath, invoking a quick mental exercise to calm himself. Casting spells in the midst of battle and stressful discussions between man and wife had one thing in common – loosing one's temper was never beneficial. "I'm sorry, my dear. I know that you rely on Annika's advice heavily, but this is not the same as planning for the baby. Annika's husband may have dabbled in sorcery, but that does not make her an expert on the subject of-"

"Nor are you, brother dear," interjected a voice, "if you think the Worgen are tame puppies that will bite only whom you tell them to."

Arugal did not need to turn around to know who stood in the doorway. He found it difficult to reconcile how one sister could be so calm, humble, and yet charming, while the other sister had all the charm and arrogance of a rooster and the voice to match. The fact that Annika's husband had studied in Dalaran seemed to give her license, in her own mind, to comment authoritatively on all matter of issues she knew absolutely nothing about. Jenna had a bad habit of listening to her, which made it all the worse.

Arugal loathed her.

"You've escaped the kitchens, I see," Arugal commented, allowing an edge of scorn into his voice, "Are there no more dirty dishes?"

"I was speaking with the scullery girls, trying to reassure them, as you well know. The whole keep is on the verge of panic, after we heard about Elemere."

Arugal turned to her, arms crossed over his chest, with as much civility as he could muster. As much as the two sisters differed in temperament, they had in common in appearance. Jenna's hair was cropped short – it kept her cool during her pregnant summer – while her sister's was long and wild; the rich auburn color, however, was identical. Their tall, slender figures (Jenna's, of course, now sporting a belly), high cheekbones, and dazzling green eyes were gifts from their mother, given to each child in equal measure. There were some in the keep who fancied Annika for her fiery temperament and outspoken opinions that rivaled her pretty face. Arugal loved Jenna for just the opposite reason.

Arugal sincerely hoped that his baby's temperament would take after it's mother and not it's aunt or cousin. Annika's young child Callie trailed along after her everywhere, played with every filthy urchin in the keep and the village below, and had a precocious mouth to match her mother. The girl was standing now at her mother's side, arms wrapped around her leg, staring wide-eyed (and, for once, quiet-mouthed) at Arugal.

Annika and her little whelp came to Silverlaine Keep two months ago, intending to help Jenna with the baby. They had been in Dalaran mere weeks before the undead Scourge attacked it, but somehow managed to depart with time to spare. Arugal wished she'd waited a month. Annika's husband, a man Arugal had never met but endured hearing about almost daily, sent her to Dalaran from Lordaeron for safety's sake, once rumors of the Scourge began to circulate. Arugal still laughed at the irony, considering that Dalaran was now little more than a smoking ruin.

"Elemere is not your concern," he said. "Perhaps the little folk of the keep would not have such prejudice against the Worgen if you hadn't circulated half-truths and suspicions among them."

"Elemere is all of our concern!" Annika snapped back. "They went into the mine and slaughtered everyone in it. People worry they'll do the same to us."

"If everyone was slaughtered," Arugal commented dryly, "then how have you heard of it? Did your learned husband teach you to commune with ghosts?"

Annika put her hands on her hips and scowled, but she had no retort. Another point, thought Arugal, although congratulating himself on out-debating one such as her was akin to priding oneself on being able to win an arm-wrestling match against a toddler.

Jenna leaned up against Arugal, and gently grasped his folded arm. "Please don't argue," she entreated them both, "it upsets the baby." She paused a moment, then looked up to Arugal. He saw Annika's look in those eyes, and it irked him. "Husband," she implored, "she's just trying to tell you that people are scared. Everyone says that the Worgen are killing humans along with undead. What will we do if they come back here?"

"A group of undead had attacked the miners," Arugal said, "The Worgen intervened. They were doing their duty, as they were commanded to do."

"Furthermore, the survivors of the attack," Arugal added, casting an acidic glare at Annika, "who I personally interviewed when they made it back, told me that the miners attacked the Worgen unprovoked. Undoubtedly they were not able to tell friend from foe." This was not strictly what the two men had said when they reached the keep, but they were severely injured and feverish from infected wounds. Arugal highly doubted that their memories of the event were accurate.

Annika opened her mouth in rebuttal, but Arugal simply raised his voice to deliver a final comment. "If those cowardly Kirin Tor had agreed to summon the Worgen when I told them to, then Silverpine would have been cleansed of the Scourge already, and those men wouldn't have been holed up in the Elem mine in the first place." At Arugal's vehement tone, Annika's daughter retreated fully behind her mother's dress.

"And then what?" retorted Annika. "When the Scourge-"

Any further rebuttal was drowned out by the loud droning of the keep's Balehorn – a gift given a former Baron long ago by the Wildhammer clan of dwarves. Its sound was anything but pleasant; the soldiers of the keep joked that it would not only wake the dead, but make them cover their ears as well. Thus, it was an effective call to arms.

Jenna's eyes widened. "It's them, isn't it? They're back. You have to keep them out, please. I -"

Arugal put a finger to her lips. "Go with your sister to her apartments," he said, "Wait there. I'll take care of it, don't worry."

Annika's arms went protectively around her sister, and she began to lead them away, even as the courtyard quickly started to fill with soldiers scurrying to their posts like so many ants. She couldn't resist a parting shot, however, and flashed Arugal a scathing glare over her shoulder.

"Don't you dare let them in here," she said. "Don't you dare."