Chapter 3

Alyna held the pillow just under her chin as it allowed her to inhale the scent Sylvanas had left behind. She had left a few hours ago just as the sun rose, and Alyna had decided to remain in bed and try to sleep. Though she had managed to rest for a few hours it hadn't been as deep as she'd hoped. She was glad Sylvanas had stayed the night though, and she smiled softly at the very fresh memories.

Her internal clock was telling her it was time to get up, and she sighed deeply, inhaling more of the general's scent before she threw off the bedsheet and sat up. She groaned deeply as her muscles complained at the movement before a slow smile crept onto her face. Her body certainly hurt, but it was nothing she hadn't asked for, and she was going to savour the aches for as long as she had them.

She moved over to a dresser and realised that someone must have filled a small bucket with water before she had arrived yesterday, as one was already there waiting for her. She poured some of the water into a bowl and reluctantly washed the night's activity from her body. A pair of heavy trunks sat against the wall, and Alyna recognised them as hers. She opened both up and rummaged through them for some fresh clothes.

She then fished out a small makeup bag, and sat down in front of a mirror Sylvanas had given her a few years ago. She smiled to herself as it was such a typical present from the vain general. Alyna winced at her reflection as she saw various bruises forming around her neck and collarbone. She didn't mind them, but her tunic was not enough to hide what they were so she began to cover them up with makeup. When she was done, she pulled on her boots and decided to go in search of breakfast.

She didn't have to go far. As she entered her office she saw Kyala sitting at the conference table reading a parchment. She had set out a few plates of bread, cheese and fruits. She looked up and smiled as Alyna approached, her walk a little unsteady as she realised her inner thighs were slightly bruised.

"Good morning, Captain."

Alyna waved away the title. "Please, it's too early for all that." She settled into the chair next to Kyala and gestured at the food. "While I'm certainly grateful for this, I have a feeling this isn't a permanent perk of my promotion."

Kyala chuckled as she rolled up what she had been reading. "You should definitely not get used to this." She began to fill her plate with various bits of food. "I thought it'd give us a chance to talk before you got to work on your first full day as captain."

Alyna mirrored her friend's actions and filled her own plate. "What's on your mind?" she asked nonchalantly.

Kyala pulled a piece of bread apart and chewed some of it slowly. "You. And Sylvanas." She swallowed what she was eating. "And don't go insulting my intelligence anymore, Alyna. I don't like to pry into other people's personal lives, but the only time I asked about you two you told me it was casual and that was it." She sat back in her seat. "Was that a lie?"

Alyna put down the piece of cheese she was working on. "I couldn't tell you the truth," she started, regret heavy in her voice. "I've not been able to tell anyone the truth."

Kyala stared at her plate as she processed the words, and then shook her head. "Shit, Alyna. What have you got yourself into?"

"From my perspective? A happy relationship."

"A relationship? Is that what you're calling it? It really doesn't look like any relationship I've ever known."

"That … I would have to agree with," she replied, her tone full of sadness.

Kyala leant forward and propped her elbows up on the table as she regarded Alyna closely. "How long's it been going on?"

Alyna counted back in her mind. "A little over eighty years, though she only admitted her feelings to me just before she was promoted to general."

The veteran ranger stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. "You've been in a full relationship with her for fourteen years? And no one's figured it out?"

The captain shrugged. "You did."

"After you both practically screamed it at me yesterday, yes. But before that I thought … well, hell. I thought you two were just having some adult fun."

Unable to stop herself, Alyna blushed. "Uh … ahh … well. It certainly started out that way. I'm not really sure when it became something more. She admitted her feelings fourteen years ago, but I've known for a lot longer that there was more she wasn't saying. We both knew. We just didn't discuss it."

"I can see why! By the Sunwell, Alyna! What the hell will happen when your families find out?"

Alyna shook her head, "I've no idea, Kyala. And I prefer not to think about it."

"Isn't that rather naïve?"

Alyna let out a cynical half-laugh. "Quite frankly I think it's the best thing I've done regarding all of this. You're right, I could think about it. I could worry myself sick about what'll happen, the stink it'll cause, the things that'll be said. I could even try to come up with excuses, and deflections, and ways I can still see Sylvanas once the shit begins to fly. Or … I can just enjoy what we have, while we have it, and see where things go as they happen."

Kyala pressed her fingers back through her hair as she exhaled. "I don't need to know the general well to figure she doesn't see things the same way as you do."

Alyna shook her head. "You're right, she doesn't. She's always looking over her shoulder and waiting for something awful to happen. So you can imagine my surprise when she didn't go with you yesterday."

"Walking in on you two did kind of catch me off guard."

"We saw," Alyna chuckled before turning more serious. "How did Alleria take it?"

Kyala weighed her words carefully before replying. "She didn't seem surprised, and she's not as good as Sylvanas at concealing what she's feeling so I actually think she was expecting to go home alone."

Alyna groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "Crap. We were afraid you would not be the only one to figure it out."

A third voice angrily joined in the conversation from the corner of the room. "No, she wasn't, though I was hoping to be told today that I was wrong." Alyna and Kyala jumped out of their seats just as Alleria's form shimmered into view at the other end of the table. She cast an angry glare at Kyala. "I'm going to admit I'm shit at concealing my emotions as you can well see, but I'm damn good at hiding in the shadows." She turned her gaze towards Alyna.

Alyna recovered quickly. "What the hell is the meaning of this, Alleria? You have no right to spy on me like this!"

For a brief moment a look of regret passed over the elder Windrunner's features. "I had not come here with such an intention. I had actually come to talk to Sylvanas, but it seems she left much earlier than I expected. So I sat here waiting for you to wake when your ranger arrived. I found it curious, so I stealthed myself." She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry I found out like this, but I'm not sorry that I've finally heard the truth about what you're doing to my sister."

"What I'm doing … to …." Alyna felt her body shake with anger and it wasn't until she felt Kyala's hand on her arm that she realised she had taken a step towards Alleria.

"I thought when you joined the Academy you'd be trouble, and when she took you into her unit I just knew things would spiral out of control somehow. I didn't think you'd try and take my family's reputation down with your own though by seducing your own mentor!"

"You think I've had her under some kind of what? Spell?" Alyna asked in disbelief.

Alleria laughed. "Well, we all know that isn't possible since you're the family reject."

Alyna felt the words as they had been intended to be felt, and she found herself laughing through her pain before she raised her own voice back at the older woman. "That's rich, coming from you. You're the eldest, yet your younger sister has not just caught up to you and surpassed everything you've ever done, but completely crushed you in the process! You'll be taking orders from her for the rest of your life and you call me the reject? At least I found my own path!"

The elder Windrunner moved around the table and took a few steps towards Alyna, and the newer captain also took a step forward again just as another form appeared between them.

"That's enough!" Kyala planted a hand on each woman and made sure they could not get within reach of each other. Addressing Alleria in a tone that brooked no argument she said, "Go round to the other side of the table and stay there." Kyala didn't move until Alleria did as she was told, and then she glared at Alyna. "And you, sit down!" Alyna blinked and backed away slightly before sitting back in the chair she had vacated earlier. "Now, as hard as this is going to be for both of you to accept … you need to sort your shit out in a respectful manner or Light help me I'm going to go fetch the general and let her sort you both out!"

Silence reigned in the cabin and Kyala went back to her own seat. To Alyna's surprise, she resumed eating her breakfast as if nothing had happened. Noticing the looks she was receiving from the two combatants, she shrugged. "What? I'm hungry. And no one gets between me and my food. Not even you two. Feel free to talk things out – just don't make me get up again." Neither woman was brave enough to point out that they were the captain's, and Kyala was the ranger.

Alyna glanced at Alleria as the other woman pulled out a chair to sit on. "I'm not trying to ruin your family, or even my own."

"So what are you doing to my sister?" came the sharp reply.

"Hopefully giving her some semblance of happiness."

"By distracting her from choosing a suitor?"

Alyna dropped her head into her waiting palm. "Alleria … Sylvanas can choose to be with whoever she wants to be with. For now, she wants to be with me. But surely you've figured it out by now that even if she wasn't with me she'd not be choosing a suitor any time soon?"

When Alleria didn't reply, the younger woman looked up and saw a genuine look of confusion on the Windrunner's face. "What? You thought it was me?" asked Alyna in surprise. "That I was talking Sylvanas out of marrying?" Alyna waved the notion away. "I've actually done nothing of the sort. If you'd asked me eighty years ago if I thought she'd be married by now, I'd have said yes."

"So why isn't she?"

Alyna glanced at Kyala to make sure it wasn't just her who thought Alleria was being particularly dense, and received a sympathetic shrug in return. She looked back at the other captain. "Because she doesn't like men, Alleria. Not romantically. Or even physically. She's gay."

"She's … what?" Alleria looked like she'd just been slapped.

Alyna shook her head in amazement. "I know your company is quite far away, but surely you know she hasn't slept with a man for … what? A hundred and fifty years? Not since she was in her mid-twenties."

Alleria sat in stunned silence. Alyna felt a small amount of pity for her, so did not say anything more, instead taking a page from Kyala's book by resuming her breakfast. Arguing was hard work, and she was hungry.

"What about you?" came the sudden question.

"Me? You mean marriage?"

Alleria nodded.

Alyna began to peel an orange as she replied. "My parents had a husband picked out for me before I even hit puberty, but when I failed to show any magical talent his family pulled out of the arrangement." She pulled a wedge from the orange and bit into it, enjoying it for a moment before adding, "I can't imagine they've forgot about marrying me off, but since all of their connections are families with strong magical lines I've just assumed they're having problems finding a family who are fine with their magically talented son marrying an inert ranger."

"If they do, will you marry him?"

Alyna blinked at the question. "I … don't know, to be honest. I suppose it depends on whether I think we could get along enough to not want to kill each other. Would I be attracted to him? No. Like Sylvanas, I'm not attracted to men. Would I be happy about it? Hell no. Would I stop seeing Sylvanas if she wanted to keep seeing me? Never."

"Never?" came the surprised question.

Alyna sucked softly on a piece of orange before she answered. "I love her, Alleria. And she loves me. What we're doing is not something we've taken on lightly, and if we felt we could stop we would have done so a long time ago." She looked over at the other woman to emphasis her next point. "What you're asking us to do is akin to asking us to hack off all our limbs. Would we survive? Yes. Would we be living? Not really … we'd just continue to exist and be dead inside." She shook her head in rejection of the idea, "As long as Sylvanas tells me she loves me and wants to be with me, I will fight with everything I am to be with her."

"I wish I had someone who'd say that about me," muttered Kyala quietly, "Male or female." She sighed and looked up at Alleria. "I can't say I'm over the moon that my friend has fallen in love with a woman because I know it's made her life so much more complex. But if she's happy, that's enough for me. From what I've seen, in hindsight, she makes the general happy. Isn't that what truly matters here?"

Alleria tapped the top of the table with her fingers. "It's not that simple."

"It's not that simple because we choose to make it that way," countered Kyala. "We can also choose to accept what they have and allow them to keep it for as long as they can within the bounds of our society. I think, of all the people here, your sister has earnt some measure of happiness if only for a short period of time, don't you think?"

The elder Windrunner buried her face in her hands. "You're asking me to lie for them."

"Hardly," Kyala scoffed. "I'm asking you to respect your sister's privacy by not gossiping about her, the same way I won't be talking about Alyna's private life to anyone. You don't have to lie because you don't have to say anything at all. If people have questions, they can go to the source. Alyna and the general can handle their own issues."

Alyna nodded in agreement, finding it fair. She had not wanted Kyala to lie on her behalf, and was relieved she had not inadvertently placed such a burden on her friend. She watched as Alleria slowly began to nod as well, and she felt a wave of relief crash through her still-aching body. Their eyes met across the table, and Alleria gave her a small hesitant smile. Alyna returned it. "Thank you."

"I … will need some time to get used to the idea of you two being … more," Alleria said slowly.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Alyna replied gently. "If you need to ask for another captain to take your place here, I understand."

Alleria considered the suggestion for a few moments before she came to a conclusion. "No, I think staying will help. Perhaps it's also time you and I got to know each other properly, especially seeing as you're my sister's … girlfriend." While she stumbled over the last word, she didn't shy away from using it and Alyna saw that as a good sign.

"I'd like that." To her surprise, she found she meant it.

They exchanged another smile before Alleria blinked and looked at the table. "I don't suppose you have another plate? I'm starving!"

Kyala almost choked on a piece of cheese as she tried to contain her mirth at the sudden change of topic. Alyna picked up a plate of fruit and relocated its contents to pass the empty plate over to Alleria, who accepted it gratefully. Together, the three women made short work of the remaining food, the conversation turning to lighter topics. Alyna found she was looking forward to getting to know the elder Windrunner. She smiled as she looked forward to Sylvanas' next visit and of having to tell her about today's events. They had dodged a potential disaster, but she was happy she could now talk about Sylvanas to two people she no longer had to hide from.