Mirror, Mirror
There was a mirror on the wall.
Luckily, it wasn't a mirror that spoke. It didn't jammer on about who was the fairest, or huntsman, or the hearts of maidens and pigs. But it was a mirror Jaina felt had to come down. Because while it didn't do any of the above things, it still functioned as a normal mirror and showed her reflection. And she was getting sick of looking at it.
"Please, milady, take a seat. There's no need to stand at my beck and call."
Sick of it all…Jaina told herself, leaning on the table beneath said mirror and ignoring Kalec. Sick of it, sick of it, sick of it…
"You know, it's not my place to say, but it looks like you haven't slept in-…"
"Shut up Kalec."
She hadn't slept. Not in days, and not soundly in weeks. And looking at her reflection in the mirror, from shaded eyes to dirty hair, the ruler of Theramore could only get affirmation of said lack of sleep. Her councillors were saying it openly, her servants and soldiers were saying it as diplomatically as people of their station could and now, to top it off, the Aspect of Magic was saying it.
Go'el hadn't said it though when they'd last met, Jaina reflected. Maybe he didn't see. Or maybe he didn't care.
Sighing, Jaina took a seat opposite Kalecgos, currently in his half-elf form and thankfully eating a level of food that was required for said form to be sustained rather than that of a dragon. She'd agreed to help him find the Focussing Iris. She'd even given him a reception as one of his position in this world deserved, a sedate dinner notwithstanding. But she was in no state of mind to engage in the pleasantries that even dragons seemed to follow. War was coming. Its tides were up to Theramore's shores, the Horde was massing, the Alliance was sending reinforcements, Go'el was apparently content to get Garrosh drag the world into the abyss and in the midst of it all, not only had she broken her own rationing orders by giving Kalec this level of food, but was about to go on some Light-forsaken quest in the midst of an imminent siege.
"So, Lady Proudmoore…" Kalec said, breaking the conversation and Jaina's thoughts. "I-…"
"Save it," Jaina sighed, playing with the fire of one of the table's candles, letting her magic flow freely. "I apologise, you eat, we set out tomorrow."
"It…can wait you know," the dragon said. "You need rest and-…"
"I'll tell you what I need," Jaina murmured, picking up some bread and breaking it in too, daring to imagine it was Garrosh's neck.
"And what is that, exactly?"
Jaina remained silent. The silence of not knowing if she cared, or even knew.
It was also the question of why Kalec had chosen her to help him out. True, dragons had relied on mortals before in the things they did, and Jaina supposed that Rhonin couldn't be called on to help every time. Nor could Go'el, what with his work as a shaman and raising a newborn. But why on Azeroth choose her? There had to be individuals better qualified for this line of work, not to mention free of the issue of a looming siege.
But how do you say no to a dragon? Jaina wondered, taking a bite of the bread and finding it as bland as her spirit had become recently. Even a mortal one?
She didn't know. Part of her told her that helping out Kalec might get the Blue Dragonflight on her side in the conflict she knew was coming, but the other part told her it was a longshot, that she should do her job, get back to Theramore and do her job as its ruler.
"You know…" Jaina murmured eventually. "You never said why."
Kalec looked up at her. "Why what?"
"Oh…you know…why," Jaina mused, putting the bread to one side and settling on some wine instead. "Why me? Why ask me to help you?"
"Well, you're an accomplished mage, and-…"
"There's lots of accomplished mages. Heck, your entire dragonflight is composed of magic users. You think my conjurer's tricks are going to save the world or something?"
"A band of mortals helped us save the world against Deathwing. It's not that farfetched."
"Yeah…" Jaina grunted, pouring the liquor into a cup. "You keep saying that…that'll make me feel better."
The mage finished the liquor in a single gulp, only to start on another one. It was pointless really-it was cheap local brew, not that of the elvish or dwarvish variety, not to mention that it was a simple matter for her to purge the alcohol from her body with a simple spell. Of course, she could reach the point where she was incapable of that or anything else, but a single bottle wasn't going to cut it.
"Alcohol," Kalec murmured. "Humans have a tendency to abuse it."
Jaina snorted and pulled a third glass. "You're mortal now Kalec. Live a little."
"Oh, for all the years I have left, I intend to live a lot actually," the dragon said quietly. "But when I see someone like you wasting away like this…well, you're not Anveena, but-…"
Something clicked in Jaina's head. It all made sense now. The grog had helped her see the truth.
"Anveena…" the mage said. Or slurred, though she told herself she couldn't possibly had had enough of the wine to make her this tipsy. "Of course. It make sense now."
"What are you talking about?"
Jaina leant forward, all pride and decorum forgotten. Perhaps the wine was more potent than she thought. Or maybe her body wanted sleep, and the wine was giving it fuel for its protest fire.
"It happens…" Jaina began. "Thrall…yeh, he Thrall then…see Tarethra…in meh."
"You're drunk," Kalec snorted.
"And….then Varen…ses Tiffin…me…" Jaina continued. "Lok the same…Andun…aunt Jaina…"
Kalec sighed and got to his feet. "I take my leave. Goodnight."
"And then…your avatar…Sunwell…gurlfrend…"
Kalec looked at the bottle's writing. "Quel'Thalassian, brewed in 16ADP…" He looked at Jaina in turn. "You been saving this for this show?"
Jaina ignored him. "You…Thrall…Varian…they don't see me, do they? They just see whatever previous loved one they had." She chuckled. "Thrall doesn't care, does he? Course not. Got his new little sl-…"
"For the sake of the friendship I share with both you and Go'el, I'm going to ignore that," Kalec said. "And for your sake, I'm taking you to bed."
"Oh…you do that…"
Kalec grimaced. "That came out wrong."
Jaina wanted to respond. But she couldn't. Her body just couldn't take it. And whatever sleeping spell the dragon was casting on her wasn't helping.
Before she lost consciousness, Jaina caught a look at herself in the mirror. Bloodshot eyes, same old lank hair, frayed clothing…
She wanted to smash it.
Or change her look…
A/N
The idea for this came from the press release for Tides of War, the summary revealing that Kalec and Jaina "form an unlikely bond." This actually put me off it a bit. It raises the possibility of a romance for starters, something I've never felt Golden has excelled at in what I've written of her's. It also adds to a trend I've noticed with Jaina and possible LIs, how she always seems to have a counterpart from said interest's past-Tarethra for Thrall, Tiffin for Varian and in Kalec's case, Anveena.
Anyway, came up with this as a result.