Prologue

Genn Greymane gazed reverently at the suckling babe his wife held close to her breast – Liam, his firstborn, his son, with downy fine wisps of copper hair and the same hazel eyes of his mother. Mia nursed him on their bed, relaxed against the headboard, her wavy auburn tresses still matted with the sweat of labor. Not four hours ago, Liam had entered this world, and Mia, exhausted, had ordered her attendants to leave all be for the moment.

"Already he eats as much as you," she quipped, deftly moving Liam from one exposed nipple to the next as Genn stole up beside her.

"He's a strong lad. Smart too, judging by where he'll no doubt be staying for a while," he glanced meaningfully at her nude form. "Light knows I don't share my wife with just anyone."

She chuckled then winced as the child unlatched himself and, milk drunk, grumbled drowsily in his mother's arms. She raised the sleeping Liam to his father, who took him so gently, as though he feared breaking him. Genn cradled Liam's head in the crook of one large arm, offering the other to his mate to help her out of the labor bed. Her movements were slow, as though she'd forgotten how to move unburdened with child. Genn, ever enraptured by the phenomenal woman he had married, kept his eyes fixed on her as she inched her way around the room. A tattered old robe hung on one of the sitting chairs near their fireplace and fell just to her knees when she wrapped it around herself.

She left it open, rubbing her hands thoughtfully across her recently vacated abdomen. The soft flesh of her stomach was still swollen but looked somewhat deflated, like a ball that had burst an air leak and crinkled slightly at the edges. She rested her left hand comfortably under her breasts, and under the palm, Genn could see the old scar that ran from just under her breastbone to her navel. His countenance must have shifted into something dark at the memories the healed wound brought back, for Mia suddenly began to tie the robe and glanced into his eyes apologetically.

"Leave it," he said huskily. "I would see you."

He laid Liam delicately in the cradle that stood beside their bed and crossed over to where Mia stood in two strides. He pressed her to himself, thanking the Light for what must have been the hundredth time that hour, for the person he treasured most in all the world. Leading her to the bed, he worked his body around her protectively. They would not couple for a while yet - he knew she needed at least one moon to heal – but it did not stop his body from seeking hers in comfortable intimacy.

His fingers now traced the very scar hers had, his mind moving into far away thoughts.

"It's odd, isn't it?" She spoke softly.

"Hmm?"

"To think of myself as...empty. A physical, literal piece of me is gone." Her voice was thick. "And now...now it frightens me to know what I would do to protect him, to love him."

Genn sighed into her hair, all too familiar with that raw, fearful, joyous conglomerate of emotion. "You will do as you must. You will pray, you will fight, you will live or...die..." A lump wedged in his throat and made his voice warble slightly. "You will do as you must," he repeated.

"As you have done?" She queried quietly.

He didn't answer for a long moment.

"Aye."

They did not speak again for a long while. Genn felt her relax into the curve of his body. Shortly after, the soft murmur of her snoring reached him. He smiled a small, sad smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Oh, my beloved." He laid his cheek along side hers as she slept and laid awake, thinking.

Some time later, Genn awoke with a jolt. He was covered in sweat. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps. Instinctively, he reached for Mia but found the bed where she had laid cool and empty. For one nauseating moment, panic threatened to overtake him. But in the next, he heard a blessedly familiar sigh and the insistent demands of an infant.

She was standing in the glass double doors that opened out onto the porch. The top portion of her robes sagged off her shoulders. Droplets of moonlight flowed over her bare skin, and as her chestnut locks fell over one shoulder, he could see the faintest hue of cinnamon tufts resting in her arms. Liam cooed hungrily, flailing as Mia adjusted his latch. Her breasts responded to the babe's nearness by dripping milk onto everything under them. Finally, she managed to get Liam to cooperate, and the tension in her shoulders eased some as he suckled.

Genn stole up beside her, staring at her reflection in glass. She seemed not to notice him but was entertaining her own thoughts so deeply that he was surprised when she spoke.

"I was showing him his kingdom."

Genn felt one side of his mouth quirk up in a smile. "He'll be the first redhead on the throne in generations."

Mia frowned slightly and simply said, "The second."

Genn sucked in a sharp breath, his dreams coming back to him in a flash of rage. The happiness that had begun to creep up into his heart vanished. "We agreed never to speak of him."

"No, you refused to acknowledge a very real part of our lives and our reign."

"Mia, this is supposed to be a time for rejoicing in our son's birth not for reliving the short lived coup of that bastard!" Genn snapped. "The man can burn – is burning – as far as I'm concerned. I don't want you to speak of him again."

"You talk in your sleep, husband."

Genn blinked, utterly confused at the direction of the conversation.

She continued. "You called for him."

He swore loudly.

"Please tell me, Genn." Her voice cracked. "Please. Every time I see our child, I look into the face of a man I don't remember. I am afraid of the memories he cut out of me." She swallowed, trembling slightly.

Genn sighed, running a hand through his hair several times. "It...is a long story."

Mia indicated the child at her breast. "I don't think we were going to sleep much anyway."

We sure as hell aren't now. He thought grimly. He lumbered over to one of the two sitting chairs by the hearth, waving her over to join him. And slowly, as though every word were glass scraping at his throat, he began to fill in the gaps in her memory.

A/N:
Hello, all. It's been a while since I've published, but with BfA dropping (!) and with all of the awesome prepatch content and media releases, the creative juices have been flowing. Most of those thoughts have been on Genn Greymane, who I'm sure will have some significant interactions over the course of the new xpac. I wanted to delve into his past, more as an exercise in character development, and as luck would have it, there is so much room to maneuver until the First War. Aside from the prologue (and epilogue?), this will be set as Genn prepares to assume the throne at the end of his father's reign. Except for a few expendable minor characters, there is only one OC that I am creating here, and none of this is based on a past, present, or future in-game roleplay that I have done.

I just feel that there should be more Greymane stories in the world. If you've read this far, please review!