When Talandriel's mother informed her of an important dinner two weeks later, the warlock's heart skipped some beats.

"Some of the Horde emissaries?"

"Will you listen for once!" Her mother sighed. "Yes, some of the emissaries. It is an honour and we will have to be at our best behaviour although they have no manners."

Talandriel wanted to ask who it was, but she dared not be too inquisitive in case it would anger her mother.

"They are stupid savages," her mother continued. "But we will have to be sure to show we are better than them, although in a polite way."

She looked at her daughter as the girl took out one of her finest dresses, a pale blue one.

"Not blue!" she said, making Talandriel jump. "I am wearing blue tonight."

Talandriel reached for another dress.

"You cannot wear red at dinner! They will think you a harlot!"

"What colour would you want me to wear, mother?" the girl asked, keeping her fury under control.

"Wear something green. These savages like green. And make it something plain, but elegant. We don't want them to think we are dressing up too much to receive them, but they need to think us a family that is elegant and dashing every day no matter who comes for dinner, and at the same time not trying too hard."

When her mother had left the room Talandriel dragged out her worn warlock robes and sniffed at them. They smelled of soap now that they were clean, but she could still sense the hint of blood and mud in the fabric. Her mother had told her to throw them away and buy some new ones, but Talandriel liked the fact that the colour was beginning to fade and the seams ripping here and there. The robes was the first thing she had bought with self earned money, the reward for a quest well done, and she wanted to wear them till there was nothing left to wear.

Sitting down on her bed she fished out the secret box she kept behind the dresser, unlocking it with the key around her neck. She had once told Silvanya that all that was important in the world could fit in that little silver box, and the paladin had laughed.

Putting aside some letters and pretty stones she had collected, Talandriel took out the picture she held dearer than her own life. The serious and hard face of her friend looked out from a pretty, golden frame.

"I want to wear my robes," she told Silvanya, in the hushed voice of a young girl who really expects the picture of her lover to answer. "I want to scream at them and tell them nobody is fooled by their beautiful words and deception. I want to tell them that one of the honoured emissary have seen me on my knees with dirt and blood in my face. That ought to kill them."

Silvanya looked at her in silence, although she did not have much choice.

"Wear something green," Talandriel mimicked her mother. "These savages likes green."

***

When she walked down to dinner some hours later she was wearing green. A plain, green dress with golden patterns and her hair was carefully put up with the help of a maid, on her mother's order.

Standing in the doorway with her parents she was introduced to the Tauren emissary, Dela Runetotem, and her party of Tauren and trolls.

"You have to pardon the lateness of the Darkspear emissary," the Tauren apologized. "He has not yet come to terms with not being allowed his raptor inside the city walls."

Talandriel noticed the ever so careful smirk at the Tauren's lips as she said this, keeping her own smile inside.

When Tatai showed up, only ten minutes late, he was greeted politely by Talandriel's parents, and then introduced to her.

"Talandriel," he said, bowing to kiss her hand after carefully navigating it between his tusks.

Talandriel was once again shocked at the troll's good manners. She had been taught to think of his kind as nothing but savage thieves and murderers, and although his kind voice and good manners might not be the sign of the common troll, it surprised her to find such qualities in his race at all.

The touch of his hand and lips had a funny effect on her body, filling it with warmth. As he was led away by her father, Talandriel's mother leaned close to her.

"Go wash your hand," she told the girl, masking her disgust poorly. "This is going to be a long night with those horrible creatures here."

Talandriel was placed opposite Tatai at the table, beside the Tauren emissary, who she found pleasant, although somewhat reserved. Following the conversations around the table, but knowing her place well enough not to join in, she used her time to look at the troll.

He was dressed in plain dark blue trousers and an ebony coloured shirt with a vest over it, matching his trousers. The elf, who had just seen trolls in armour before was pleasantly surprised to find he was well dressed as well as well-behaved.

"Ya have a beautiful daughter," the troll suddenly said, addressing her parents.

Talandriel's heart sank, feeling sure that once she was mentioned he would tell them of their prior meeting.

Her father mumbled something incoherent, but the troll did not seem to listen.

"An' a very skilled warlock, me sources tell me."

"They must have mistaken her for someone else then," Talandriel's mother answered, looking sourly at her daughter over the rim of her wineglass.

"Na." Tatai shook his head. "Da be da girl. I hear much good word about her. Good warlock, beauty and kind spirit. Dese be da importan' things in a young female."

"Well, you see," Talandriel's father interrupted the emissary, realizing he was being rude, but having had too much wine to be polite. "We don't talk about her too much. She is a horrible disappointment to the family and we just keep her around because it would be even more a disgrace to throw her out."

Two red eyes met Talandriel's over the table and locked to her gaze.

"Me think I believe what I hear an' see," Tatai told her father, giving Talandriel a brilliant, comforting smile.

Then the conversation went back to how frustrating the troll and Tauren found the constant tours of the city they were given, and the fact that it seemed that they never got to talk about anything important.

"We have not even met your leader," the Tauren emissary said annoyed. "All they tell us is that we need to talk to the diplomats, and we're getting nowhere!"

Talandriel spent the rest of the meal drinking wine and looking at the troll, catching his eyes every now and then. When her mother declared Talandriel was to retire for the night, she wished the party goodnight and went to her room.

*****

Oh, I don't know... should I write some more?? ;D