The Romancer Greatfather Winter
Episode Three:
"Wisthera, you're not going to pin this on me. Also, I still don't understand why you have no idea who gave you that dress." Onyxbane got to his feet and carefully pulled the black lace dress out of its box.
Wisthera did her best to keep up her mean face, but Onyxbane was right. Wisthera knew that she had no reason to be harsh with her boyfriend when she also seemed guilty of having an affair.
"It looks like we both have some explaining to do?" Wisthera smiled innocently.
Onyxbane did not respond to Wisthera's attempt at adorable blamelessness.
"How could you not know? I've done absolutely everything for you, traveled halfway across the world—"
"Onyxbane, before you go any further, please let me explain." Wisthera took her boyfriend's hand and led him to the bed where they sat down. Briefly, she considered lying about her history with Alessandre, but after one look into Onyxbane's eyes, Wisthera recalled everything they'd gone through together in an instant. First, she swindled his sister Opalbane out of gold for years, then seduced him while lying about her true identity, next she singlehandedly destroyed his relationship with a good friend and lover Willypearl, and finally almost handed Opalbane over to Shadowstep's greedy agents in Silithus. One more lie, even a little one really could ruin everything. It was a miracle that this man knew the truth about Wisthera and still wanted to be with her.
"I will tell you who sent this. But… promise not to be mad? I didn't encourage his attention, I don't think," Wisthera worried. "But it was almost three months ago—"
"Three months ago! You were seeing someone while you were with me?" Onyxbane flared up. His white twin braids rose and fell with the angry heaving of his chest.
"Think, my love. We first met in the Searing Gorge, near Blackrock Mountain. I knew you were coming to take revenge on me for your sister… I had only a few days to figure out whether to keep running or face you. In the end, I decided to spend the night with you—"
"Wisthera, we've been through this already. We slept together the first night we met, and you lied to me about who you were for days after—but you were afraid and I understand why you felt you needed to. I'm not angry with you."
"Wait, you're missing something, Onyx." Wisthera hesitated, then pushed forward. "I was a different girl back then, and I guess that also means I thought all guys were different. I slept with you that night, thinking that you would be eager to leave the next morning. It was supposed to be an easy way to get rid of you, without any extra effort… you were supposed to be an arrogant prick—"
Onyxbane frowned. "All men are not like that. I, for one, stayed with you."
Then, Wisthera blushed. "Yeah, you did. You are so loving, Onyx. I never expected in a thousand lifetimes—" then she cleared her throat when Onyxbane frowned at Wisthera going off topic. "Well, I knew you were very special then. But, merely a few days earlier I had the exact opposite luck with Alessandre."
Onyxbane thought for a moment, processing this. "So you're saying that… this guy Alessandre rejected you before you even met me."
Before Wisthera could respond, Onyxbane broke out into rich laughter.
"It's not funny Onyx."
"Oh yes it is! You got rejected. I can just imagine how you reacted."
"I wasn't that bad. I only… found out he was working for King Magni Bronzebeard about something called the Maker's Terrace and the true origins of the dwarves and kind of… spread those secrets around."
"Wait…is that why I keep hearing about a dungeon near to Thelsamar? When I went through there three months ago, the place was crawling with adventurers. I remember being really confused because I thought the only thing interesting in Loch Modan were the threshers in the Loch and the beer basted boar ribs."
Wisthera knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help stealing a smile at her handiwork.
"All those rumors about the dwarves being related to troggs, the scandal that's staggered the Explorer's League… is all because you leaked Alessandre's secrets?"
"Yes. I made it look like he couldn't keep his mouth shut."
Onyxbane couldn't look at Wisthera just then. "I'm afraid to ask--because you are really scaring me right now—but I think I'd better. What exactly did he do to you that was so wrong… that merited his reputation as a rogue being ruined?"
This time, Wisthera really blushed. "Well, my girlfriends and I were hanging out at the tavern in Thelsamar at the time, and there was this rumor about a gorgeous Kaldorei rogue…"
Onyxbane began to groan.
"Well, Myra was saying that this guy was great in bed, only it was really hard to convince him—"
"I don't think I want to hear how this ends,"
"I made them promise me that they wouldn't try anything on him until I got finished with this assignment I had, but they did it anyway."
"What did they do? Out with it."
"The four of them stealthed into his room one night, and… offered to please him all at once. They figured that alone, they had no chance, but maybe together this hunk wouldn't be able to say no."
"Ha! I bet he didn't."
Wisthera frowned darkly at Onyxbane's joke.
"I'm… right?"
"They left me out! I still can't believe they did that without me. There's a rumor going around among us Kaldorei rogues that the greatest lay in Azeroth is this guy named Alessandre—he's practically a legend--and the one chance I ever had was taken away from me by my own friends!" Wisthera flared.
"You wanted to be a part of that disgusting orgy?" Onyxbane challenged her.
"Oh, don't you go judging me. I was different back then, and besides, if you were in his place you wouldn't think it was so horrible. You made a joke about it only a moment ago."
Onyxbane decided that he was not going to get into an argument with Wisthera over which one of them would seek out a foursome or not. Such indulgences did happen every once in a while with Night Elves, but never with that many people. Even for a male Kaldorei, being with that many women was a dream come true, and Onyxbane supposed it might be the same for a Kaldorei woman.
"Alright. I'll take your word for it. But that still doesn't make any sense. He didn't even know you existed. How could you be so mad at him?"
Wisthera pouted. "Because… I tried to come on to Alessandre later and he just gave me the brushoff. Even when I told him I was friends with those four women he slept with, and that I could convince them to do it again… he thought I was pathetic."
Onyxbane saw the hurt in his girlfriend's face and struggled with whether to comfort her or not. Finally, he settled on, "Wisthera. I hate to tell you this, but you have the biggest ego I've ever seen on a woman, or a man for that matter. This Alessandre chose four women over you, and you think it's personal… you think you had a good chance with him even though your friends took a huge risk just to tempt him. What made you think you could win against those odds?"
Wisthera gave Onyxbane a look so cold that he had a sudden impulse to jump off the bed to get away from her.
"I am that good. Are you arguing just how sexy I am? Or do you wish to sleep outside with the orcs and trolls that are visiting Ashenvale of late?"
"No ma'am." Onyxbane answered quickly. As a warrior, he was used to taking orders, and had to restrain the urge to salute. Though she did not look like she was going to welcome it at all, Onyxbane leaned in and gave his girlfriend a kiss.
"Wisthera, I'm sorry about what happened between you and Alessandre—I guess--but why bring it up now?"
"Because… I'm afraid this dress is from him. I don't have feelings for him at all, though he might still be the one that got away… but I want you Onyx, I really want you above anyone else. I'm just afraid that he's not over me yet. He's got this strange revenge-love-hate obsession over me. I don't fully understand why, but I guess I do have that kind of effect on men—"
"Wisthera!" Onyxbane got to his feet immediately and picked up the letter that had come with the dress. "Alessandre did not write this letter. I know for a fact."
"How can you possibly know that, and just what are you accusing me of? And, I'm not letting you off the hook about those undies Willypearl made for you. Don't change the subject."
Onyxbane sighed deeply. "I don't know who sent these crazy things to me. They didn't even come with a letter."
"No letter? That's not like Willypearl at all." Wisthera thought aloud.
"Well, she's not that educated—"
"If she would dare send a gift so obvious, through the mail where I might see it, she would send a letter too. I don't care how dumb she is." Wisthera snatched the underwear from Onyxbane and held it up in the moonlight.
"And so… I'm supposed to believe that you have two men pining after you all these years, sending you strange gifts on Winter's Veil? You are more arrogant than I could have ever imagined." Onyxbane scowled.
Wisthera shrugged and threw the underwear in Onyxbane's face. "You can wear those, you know, but you'll be enjoying them all by yourself. I'm not speaking to you."
Onyxbane grumbled.
That same day in Darnassus…
Priestess Feathershine waited for the nosy Sentinels to leave, and then coyly pushed her way around the worktable into Master Rogue Shadowstep's lap.
"What are you doing?" Shadowstep frowned and tried to work around the elegant woman who wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Don't play hard to get with me." Priestess Feathershine purred and tossed an emerald green lock over her rose colored shoulder. Then she kissed his neck.
Shadowstep rifled through the stack of papers on his desk, but found getting back to work impossible with this distraction.
"Why don't you wear your hat?" Priestess Feathershine nagged.
"I don't wear hats. We've been together for seventy years, and you never noticed?"
Feathershine pushed angrily at Shadowstep's shoulder. His long ivy green ponytail was swept up high, not a strand of hair was out of place. With his red skin and the slight edge of age in his face, it made him look like a man who always meant business. Since the destruction of the World Tree, many Night Elves had started to age pretty poorly, but that Shadowstep had begun to show his age complimented his widely reknowned steely demeanor.
"We are not together, because you are so stubborn and coldhearted. I tell you that all the time. The only thing between us is…" then Feathershine cut herself off. "Why are you being so cold? I stole in here to spend time with you, you know that. There isn't really a crisis with the furblogs near Dolanaar."
"High Priestess Tyrande forced you to watch over the young adventurers in Teldrassil, did she? You poor woman." But he was smiling.
"If one more person asks me to cast a stamina buff on the enormous Ancient Protector 'because it's so blue and shiny' I swear to the goddess an entire generation of Kaldorei will be lost!"
Shadowstep laughed at her.
"And what about you?" she continued, "I thought we were past this little argument of ours. Didn't you get my letter of reconciliation?"
"What letter?"
That was when Priestess Feathershine realized her mistake.
"Then… you were not the one who sent me this strange necklace?" Priestess Feathershine carefully pulled on the chain she had about her neck. Shadowstep smiled as he watched her try to fish the heavy trinket out from where it had sunk into her bosom.
"Always, you need me to help you with these things," he smiled, and had the bauble retrieved and a kiss stolen before Feathershine could react. She blushed.
"What's this?" He stared at the darkly glowing trinket at the end of the chain. Gold rings encased a globe of dark swirling magic. At intervals, green energy burst out. "It looks to be consumed by fel energy. Why on Azeroth would you wear such a thing?"
"Because I thought it was from you." Shadowstep smiled at Feathershine's endearing response and leaned in for another kiss that she gladly gave. Then, she said, "I'm afraid my little love letter to you was misdelivered." Priestess Feathershine pursed her round lips.
Shadowstep admired the necklace for a bit longer then brusquely snatched it from about Feathershine's neck.
"We have a real problem then. Someone very dangerous got your love letter meant for me… Maybe they thought it was truly for them and sent this gift in response. I'll have to get rid of this."
"This is all your fault! I told you turning that spy from Silithus was a bad idea! Some disgusting cultist got my personal letter to you. Who knows how many of our other letters got misdelivered!"
"It was a worthwhile risk to take, since Evenstar is able to get us more information from Silithus. That is what you wanted, wasn't it? To know more about your precious Onyxbane and Opalbane? I still can't believe you made me do your dirty work when I'm already doing my own investigations."
"How dare you! You know very well that I couldn't search for the information myself. High Priestess Tyrande is already punishing me severely, after the fiasco with Opalbane and Willypearl in Stormwind, and I can't afford another mark against me. I'll end up losing my title. I could lose all my novices!"
Priestess Feathershine pushed out of Shadowstep's lap and made for the door of his office.
"Where are you going? We just got started."
"If you want me, and you are truly tired of questioning my methods, or mocking the way we priestesses do things, then you will find me. You will sneak up on me like you always do, and expect me to just fall into your arms like I have been foolishly doing since the day I turned down your wreathe. Why have I never been able to say no to you?" she threw her hands up over her head in exasperation.
"Oh, you've said no to me, many, many times. That is exactly why we are not together now."
Priestess Feathershine paused at the door, her beautiful blue robes swished at her feet. "Do you dare blame that little problem you have on me? I certainly don't have a problem finishing a carnal act, and a woman gets bored waiting for a sorry beau to finish an even sorrier attempt at lovemaking."
"I don't see you sleeping with anyone else! And that's supposed to be a secret between us, Feathershine!"
Feathershine raised an imperial eyebrow at Shadowstep. "You are a filthy liar, a cutthroat, and a stubborn, arrogant ass. Nor do I like the way you use people to satisfy your own ends. I don't know why I put up with you."
Shadowstep coolly leaned back in his chair and propped his boots up on the messy table before him.
"It's because I'm a real man, unlike the pathetic boys who are always making eyes you when they visit the Temple of Elune. I know what I'm doing, and I know you. Though, I don't understand your obsession with those two orphan whelps you saved. However, I think your decision not to sleep with that meathead Onyxbane was sound."
Feathershine raised both eyebrows at him this time. "How do you know this?"
"The woman you are so angry at me for using, the clever Wisthera, was desperate to give me any kind of information that would save me from ruining her. When she reported back to me after your trip to Silithus to save Opalbane, she knew that she failed her mission and did whatever she could to avoid punishment. The result is that I also know several embarrassing things about you that are supposed to be secrets. Heh! And you frown at my methods."
"Are you threatening me? After all we've been through together, you would tell all of Darnassus about Onyxbane and I, just to keep your secrets?"
Priestess Feathershine cringed as she recalled the embarrassing moment between the perverted Onyxbane and herself on the ship from Darnassus to Menethil Harbor nearly a month ago. Clearly, Priestess Feathershine had not made enough of an effort to emphasize to the young man that she loved him like a son. After failing to romance the human mage Willypearl and the rogue Wisthera, the over eager Onyxbane insisted on further making an ass of himself by coming on to Priestess Feathershine.
"We are through, Shadowstep!"
Shadowstep only shrugged and smirked as he watched Priestess Feathershine leave. As soon as the door was closed though, he leapt to his feet.
"You'd think that, after a hundred years, some Night Elf would come up for a remedy for that embarrassing little problem of mine. Feathershine is so angry with me, I'm sure the Temple of Elune will be buzzing about it by next morning! If she outs me, though, I'll be forced to reveal her secrets." then, he began to pace. "But before that, there are our many lost lovenotes to consider…Why, oh why can't I keep my hands off that infuriating woman?" Master Rogue Shadowstep groaned.
