Disclaimer: I do not own Warcraft. This is purely non-official work of a fan.
Further disclaimer: This work is not based on World of Warcraft, and uses only what I know of the Warcraft universe.
Rated M for violence, some angst, cruelty, and if I make it far enough, mature content.
Please read and review.
Part One
In which the scene is set for the tragedy to follow.
"…BUMBLING LITTLE IDIOT!"
Selena froze at the top of the stairwell, startled by the sudden outburst of her master. Vorik Redmarsh, the head of the Redmarsh merchant family, was a short-fused and angry man by temperament, but even so his tone was extreme. Composing herself, the thirty eight-year old maid kept her grip on the cup of fresh tea in her hands, and was about to keep going when another outraged shout from the office ripped through what had started out as a peaceful morning.
"Get. Out. Of. My. OFFICE!" Came Vorik's voice, and the double doors to the merchant's office slammed open with a noisy clatter. A bundle of ragged clothes with a boy inside was unceremoniously thrown against the railings, and the torn, ink-stained remains of several scrolls came flying out after him. Before Selena could react, the boy had half-picked himself up, and began stumbling away, sobbing quietly.
"Laren!" Selena gasped, but by then he had already disappeared around the corner.
"Selena! Get in here." Snapped Vorik, his tone irritable rather than enraged, although it still made Selena incredibly nervous to step into the office.
Resisting the urge to go after her young son, Selena hurried into the large, circular chamber, where Vorik was waiting behind a large desk, piles of tomes and scrolls stacked upon it. Vorik himself was a tall, gaunt man with whitening hair and pale skin, unimpressive save for a pair of blue eyes that Selena often maintained could burn with an unholy fire when roused. There were smoulders of that same anger still in them now. He was dressed in a tailored suit of red and white silks that was slightly ruffled from the exertion of ejecting Laren from the room.
She set the tea on the desk, careful not to do anything foolish to invoke Vorik's anger again. He was leaning in his high-backed chair now, his rake-thin fingers firmly pressed against his brows in obvious exasperation.
"That little runt of yours is starting to prove more trouble than he's worth." Growled the merchant lord, gesturing towards his table, where the remains of an ink stain could still be seen despite a rather clumsy attempt to clean it off with a damp rag. "He just ruined three bonds with my cousins' branches in Stormwind. Trade deals don't grow on trees, you know."
"Please forgive him, milord." Selena said, politely and cautiously, trying hard not to look like she was making excuses for her child. "He's hardly of age where he can run without tripping."
"He's a pint-sized waste of my time, that's what he is." Vorik snapped back. "And your other son's not much better, although at least he doesn't dump ink on precious documents. Now get out."
Taking the opportunity to escape being in Vorik's immediate proximity, Selena bowed her head and left in a hurry, closing the doors behind her as she left. Then, after counting to ten and not hearing anything further from the irate man, she gave an immense sigh of relief and slumped against the bannister. Since Laren was born, not five years ago, her job was taking a turn for the worse when she had to juggle her considerable household duties and being a mother to the young boy. Her older son of seventeen years was Tehren, who was twelve when she first came to work under the Redmarsh family after her husband Olin had died from a plague. Tehren was one of the household's hired hands, and though he was strong and capable enough to live without Selena's constant presence, he sometimes made it painfully clear that he did not appreciate working for the arrogant and domineering Redmarshes. It was an attitude that was dangerous to have, especially around the ill-natured and potentially violent Vorik.
On the first floor of the stately manor, the main doors opened, and a tall, black-haired youth strode in, wearing a worn, dust-coloured tunic.
"Mother, the orchard harvest has been gathered, and I've left them in the kitchen." He said. Selena nodded wearily, affording her older son a tired smile.
"Good, and not a moment too soon. The Redmarsh family gathering is only a week from now." She replied, coming down the stairs and giving Tehren a gentle hug. "I've got to sort out the best fruit before the cooks just throw the whole lot in."
"Can't be any more rotten than the folks eating them." Tehren muttered, and Selena gave him a rap on the temple, although it was more in jest than any serious act of discipline. Truthfully, she couldn't have been more pleased with how Tehren had grown up, as he was now a healthy, good-natured young man with a strong body from manual work he was involved in all over the estate, and a sharp mind from a few clandestine raids on the manor's library. He reminded Selena so much of her late husband, and she hoped that he could make a better life for himself away from the Redmarshes, but first she needed the money to take care of little Laren.
"Where's Laren?" He asked, and Selena couldn't prevent her crestfallen expression from telling him the truth. Without a further word, Tehren left his mother with a brief nod goodbye and went to look for his younger brother.
Selena gave a sigh of motherly worry. She knew that after Olin's death Tehren became fiercely protective of his family, which he had told her was the only thing keeping him around the Redmarshes. But she couldn't help but feel that his determination to help them and his own strong, but sometimes abrupt manner would get him into serious trouble with the master's family one day.
Not a moment later, the doors opened again, and this time it was a young woman who strongly resembled Vorik dressed in an elaborate frilled blue dress, her pretty face slightly reddened from exposure to the bright sun. Jolene Redmarsh was the only daughter of Vorik Redmarsh, and she was understandably the pampered princess that her doting father had turned her out to be. She even had this flouncy strut when she walked, as if being a child in an influential merchant bloodline was akin to being a member of the royal family.
"Oh, it is so dreadfully hot out there!" She exclaimed, although not really to anyone in particular. Most of the time, Selena thought it was because the vain little peacock enjoyed the sound of her own voice.
"How has the day been for you, miss Redmarsh?" Selena curtsied out of politeness.
"Looking up, Selena. But it'd be so much better if Tehren was around." She sighed wistfully, and inwardly Selena grimaced. Since a year ago, Jolene had become hopelessly smitten with Tehren, and since she was only Tehren's junior by one year, and because she was used to getting things her way since birth, her mind had come to the presumptuous conclusion that they were meant to be together, even though Tehren was completely repulsed by the idea of being in any sort of cordial, let alone romantic relationship with a Redmarsh, and Selena was quite sure that her father would violently oppose to her choosing a menial servant boy as her prospective suitor.
"Have you seen him, Selena? I'd dearly love to find him right now."
"Only a moment ago, and he didn't tell me where he was going, miss Redmarsh." Selena answered, not quite lying. It took her a while to fully master the art of subtly deflecting Jolene away from Tehren, although it wasn't particularly difficult. Jolene wasn't quite the smartest girl in the world, and more often than not she lacked the sense to actually go looking for Tehren.
"Oh, such a pity." Jolene moaned, almost melodramatically. "Do tell him that I'd like to have a nice chat with him, would you?"
That she would do, if only let Tehren have a chance to give her as wide a berth as possible.
"If I see him, I'll let him know." Selena nodded, and the girl sauntered off. Selena left too, as there was much to be done in preparation for the Redmarshes' annual gathering; every year, the entire Redmarsh family, almost twenty powerful merchant heads and their families, would gather in this very household to discuss the direction of their small but considerably influential merchant empire and to enjoy each other's entirely unpleasant company. Such was its importance to Vorik that he would easily have her head if anything went wrong between now and then, and if anyone was bound to get in trouble, it might very well be her two unfortunate sons.
He found him on the cliff near the mansion, sitting on the branches of the venerable oak tree that stood, bent double with age, overlooking the heights. Laren had always come here when he was upset, and he certainly was upset now after the violent berating he'd received from Vorik.
Tehren walked over and leaned against the trunk of the tree, now that he was slightly too heavy to sit on the old branches without them breaking. His brother scrambled slightly higher up the branches in response, to signal clearly that he did not want to talk.
"I'm here, Laren. It's okay." He said, turning his head to behold the magnificent view that could be seen from the cliff edge. Acres of unspoiled forest and grassland, with clear, winding streams running through the expanse in an intricate pattern of natural beauty, and tall, snow-covered mountains on the horizon. It was a rare spot in Lordaeron that resembled what it used to be, before it ever became a kingdom of men, elves and dwarves.
It was amazing, thought Tehren, how such a beautiful picture had to exist so close to the home of the Redmarshes, a whole family of cruel and abusive merchants and swindlers. The mountain that their estate was built upon largely belonged to the Redmarshes, and it soured Tehren's appreciation of the picturesque view from the cliff. Even the old oak tree seemed like it was tired of living close to them, its branches becoming more and more gnarled and bare every year.
"Someday, Laren." He said at length. "Someday we'll be far away from this place, and you'll never have to see that nasty family again."
"Promise?"
"Hmm?" He had not expected Laren to say anything.
"Promise you'll help me an' momma get away from here?" Laren said, scampering down the tree trunk to grasp his brother's wrist, wide-eyed and hopeful. Tehren knew that it was a tall order for him to fufill, and he had no idea how long it would take or how much effort it would involve. He had already begun looking in the town at the foothills of the mountain for better work, something that he could use to take his family away from their servitude to Vorik, but practically everything down there belonged in one way or another to Vorik and his family. He began to wonder how difficult it might be to leave the area entirely, perhaps travel to one of the bigger cities to the south, or even across the border into Azeroth. He had a few skills he'd picked up from the other staff in the household, and one of the guards had the decency to teach him how to fight, but it wasn't much to go on, particularly when he wasn't even twenty.
Then, his mind went back to the days before he lost his father to sickness, to memories of a smiling, bearded man with bright green eyes and a laugh constantly on his lips. This was not the life his father would have wanted for his wife and sons, he realized.
"I promise, Laren." He said solemnly, and his younger sibling gave him a desperate hug, as if clinging to a vital lifeline. I won't let you and mother down, he silently added.
I won't.
Author's Note : I'll try to update this whenever I have the opportunity, as I am now serving my nation's army and have little opportunity to do serious writing for any length of time.