Mariaetta gazed thoughtfully at the view that had emerged out of the horizon, her almond eyes shining with excitement. Any view of civilization, even if it was an orc war camp, was better than desolate lands she had journeyed through the last few days. He slender, long years suddenly twitched at the sound of her companions hoarse voice.
"One would think that our 'exalted warchief' would have better use of his forces other than posting them in this heaven forsaken land." The orc riding by her side complained.
Mariaetta looked at Brok, a warrior from Durotar with amusement.
"At least they are starting to have a mind of their own," she thought "Better than my kind."
"I believe there is more to this land than what meets the eye." Grimald Silverhoof the tauren said from atop his massive kodo beast mount. To Mariaetta, the tauren shaman's solemn voice sounded liked the earth rumbling.
"What do you think, Mar?" Brok turned to her and asked.
Mariaetta was surprised at the question, since the Orc rarely asked her opinion on anything. But she had gotten used to being called by the shorthand of her full name, something that would have been sacrilegious to her own kind back in Quelthalas.
"Unfortunately it matters not what I think, I am merely an instrument of the Horde." She replied "But I am sure there is something here of strategic importance."
"Hmm...Never thought, I'll hear an elf say that." Brok remarked. Then turning about he shouted to the half dozen orc grunts gathered behind him.
"All right men, I want complete discipline when we enter the camp, rank and file march with the banner held high. If the base battle master finds fault in my command because of your laziness, they'll have my anger to deal with." He shouted commands in a mix of orcish and common. Mariaetta had by this time learned enough of the orc's complicated tongue to know exactly what was being said. However she normally feigned ignorance, and had caught many a lewd remarks about her from among the Orc recruits.
Soon the party was passing through the gates of the camp, with Mariaetta making the rear. She had put down her cloak as was required when entering any orc base. Already she could feel a dozen pair of eyes staring at her from every direction, but that hardly made her flinch. Five years of life in the horde had made unruly stares the least of a Blood elf's discomforts. But then there were aspects to her warrior figure that would be unfamiliar to the general body of orcs.
For one instead of a helm she wore a gem studded metal circlet which looked more like a head ornament than a protection device. But that was however far from the truth – the Adamantium circlet was virtually unbreakable and would stop any weapon from penetrating her skull. The inlaid gems themselves had special properties that helped her focus and improve her intellect.
The rest of her armour consisted of bronze-black breast plate that just covered her bosom, leaving her midriff bare. So were her arms save the ornate silver shoulder pads and gauntlets. From waist to knee she wore a chain-mail skirt, parted in the middle for ease of movement. Metal rimmed leather boots inlaid with white fur completed her attire.
From the metal studded belt around her waist hung two weapons – a cunningly curved long sword and a mace with spikes. But what stood out most was the round shield that was attached to her back. Apart from the carvings on it, it seemed to glow with faint light.
Brok who was at the forefront of the party brought is wolf mount to a stop before an enormous round building with circles of spikes fixed on it from ground to roof. It was the orc command building. A brusque faced orc in full battle gear waited flanked by a dozen axe and shield weilding orc grunts.
"Loktar, commander Groghar, please accept the humble salutations of Brok, servant of Durotar." He said saluting the commander. "I bring reinforcements for the campaign in Sithus."
The fresh grunts had by now followed their leader's cue and kneeled down in salute. Grimald had dismounted but merely gave a nod of acknowledgement to the base commander.
"He isn't expected to do more, he is old enough." thought Marietta as she too gave a bowing salute."Too bad they don't give much weight to a high elf's age."
Despite all the misfortune's that had befallen her race, their physical complexion hardly withered with age. Hence Marieatta had neither a crease on her skin or a blemish in her golden hair despite being nearly sixty years of age. However as far as the orc officer's were concerned she had the status of an orc grunt.
"It pains me to know, officer Brok that my mission here is worth nothing more than a few more fresh meat." The commander replied with a distasteful look at the orc grunts.
Then he turned towards the tauren, and said in a more condescending tone.
"Thank you for coming, Shaman. I always welcome the company of a tauren who speaks to the spirits."
"And I welcome the chance to learn more about the earth spirits" Grimald replied.
"I am sorry if you are disappointed, Battle master. But you will find that these are good men and perhaps if you might not have noticed, we also have a Blood elf paladin."
"I am not blind, officer!" he burst out angrily "Tell her to come here."
Brok did not really need to motion Mariaetta to come forward because the commander's voice was loud enough.
"Greetings, Battle master Groghar." she said with the customary elven bow. "Mariaetta of the Sindorei at your service."
"You are far from Eversong woods, girl" Groghar mocked "What can you do for the horde where the land itself is very worst enemy?"
"Yet our kind has survived the Scourge, when our land was poisoned with death itself." Mariaetta replied coolly.
"Mar is a fine warrior and healer – recently promoted to the rank of a Master Paladin in Durotar, Battle master" Brok complimented.
"I shall be the judge of that," Groghar replied a little taken aback by the bold elf's reply. "You will report to my war matron, Magaa'tha. She will keep you occupied until I find use for you."
The war party was soon dismissed after the base quartermaster had given the customary instructions. Mariaetta found herself on her way to the stable to house her Thalarassian charger after having bid goodbye to .
"You outdid yourself with giving credit to other's Brok," she thought and laughed to herself. "you aren't such a bad sod after all."
However in truth the orc had given only a bare acknowledgement to Mariaetta's prowess in battle. She had proved to him often enough that a warrior can be effective in dealing damage or taking the brunt of an enemy's attack even without the strength of an orc or the constitution of dwarf's and humans. Even though after years of training, she had developed those attributes considerably, what made her more deadly was her agility. She had honed her natural elven reflexes so sharply that what her attacks lacked in raw power was more than made up for in terms of criticality of the strike.
It didn't take much effort for her to convince the orc peon who attended the stables that her horse should be treated differently from the other beasts in the stable. Mariaetta had always preferred to use a little bit of her elven charm and a few silver's to get what she wanted even among the horde.
"Only if the rest of it were as easy," she thought as she entered the war matron's room. Magaa'tha the war matron wasn't all that different from what Mariaetta had imagined her to be. Indeed she had seen enough of them during her time in and around Durotar and a few of them in outland. It was a general orc policy that female soldiers report directly to a war matron and live under her supervision when on a campaign. Another fact was that even though all orc women were trained in combat only those past their child bearing age were recruited. This was in stark contrast to human's who did not have any qualms to sent their young women into the battlefield.
Though Mariaetta greatly admired the 'supposedly barbarian' orc's treatment of their women, it did present a lot of problems for her.
"I heard rumours about an elven wench among the newly arrived from the grunts," Magaa'tha said to her after half a minute of intense scrutiny "but showing fair skin and hair
will not win favours from me."
"I am not here for favour's honourable matron, I will earn my keep in the horde with my blade and shield." Mariaetta replied proudly.
"Good, I will expect no less."Magaa'tha replied satisfied by her reply. "Lilly will show you where you can sleep and eat. I suggest you do so because you've got work tomorrow."
A plump and cheerful looking orc woman suddenly came up to her, and took her hand.
Just as she was exiting the matron's chamber she called her.
"If any of the grunt's here misbehave with you, do not hesitate to tell me. I keep a strict house but I will protect those inside it."
"Yes, matron. Thank you" Mariaetta replied slightly surprised but also glad that there was a women here watching her back. Not that she couldn't take care of herself but life had taught her that that wasn't always enough.
It was late night when she finally found herself alone in her bunk clothed in a grey coverall gown. The orc girl despite her friendliness was frustratingly inquisitive and talkative. She fussed over her so much that Mariaetta started feeling like she was a doll and finally she had to act like she was falling asleep to make her leave her.
Noiselessly she slipped out her bed and kneeled down on the cold stone floor. Then she bent down her head in supplication and remained like that for many minutes. It wasn't long before she was enveloped in sheen of soft white radiance. She was meditating on the light just as all paladin's of the holy light must do to preserve their powers. However there was something immensely peculiar about her doing it – she was of the order of blood knights and they channelled their powers from the new sun well.
"How long will I keep this secret?" she asked herself when she finally finished her meditations and lay down to sleep. Her final thoughts were those of reassurance. "Long enough to complete what needs to be done!"