Magina turned away and began to head back, out of the garden, the way he had come. He felt like the Invoker didn't understand him, as if he disregarded his hatred and dismissed it as not justified. But it was!
He would have to take the same way down from the platform he had used to get up because it was the only path of which he could be sure that it would lead him down. But it also meant that he had to spend the night up here because the sun was already setting and even if he blinked as often as he could he wouldn't reach the edge of the platform before the sun had gone down. Eventually he could use his Hearth Stone to get away but the additional time on foot would help him clear his mind. He didn't know what he had expected to gain by searching the Invoker but clearly it had not worked. He had just reached the entrance of the garden when the Invoker grabbed his arm.
"Wait. Stay. Don't go."
Magina spun around and glared at the mage. "Why not?"
The frown had reappeared on the Invokers face. "I… please don't. I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you angry. You are right, I have participated in wars but I have my own reasons for it. Don't you think the mages tell horror stories about you? So maybe the world would be better without you as well? I definitely understand your wish for vengeance, I was on a similar quest some time ago. But in the end it will gain you nothing, that much I can tell you. But first of all, there are mages who don't participate in wars. I have met some. And second, I don't engage anymore. I have changed and I don't let the world get to me anymore" He shrugged. "Like I said, I learned not to let the wish for vengeance consume me and I decided to let the world be. I have a long time ago stopped to let the matters of the world affect me." His frown deepened and he looked onto the ground. He still had his hand on Magina's arm and the Anti-Mage could feel the warmth of his fingers on his skin. He had strong hands, his skin soft.
"I can't change the past but I can say that I have changed. And I can't change your past but maybe it is time for you to not let it consume you like it does. Don't you think you deserve to live a happy life instead of chasing after mages all day long and see only dead and blood?"
Magina had honestly never thought about that. He had simply gone on after a kill, the vengeance and the hatred driving him on. Not once had he stopped to think about how his life could be. He only knew how his life had been if the mages hadn't slaughtered the monks. But when he looked at the golden trees around him, at the cobblestone path and at the magnificent palace, it was as if this could be a place where he could live another life. One where he didn't chase mages and where he wasn't a monk, either. A third possibility, one he had never before thought about. And when he looked at the Invoker, at the frown on his beautiful features that didn't make him look fierce this time but rather vulnerable somehow, he felt a tug in his heart. A tug towards the mage in front of him, though he was sure the vulnerability was a trick of the light.
Could he, this far away from the world, for a man he had just met and who was a mage, put his vengeance aside? But it wouldn't be for the Invoker. It would be even more for himself. So he would have the chance for happiness. He mulled over it for a long time. The Invoker released his arm and took a step back and Magina raised his gaze to his. He looked into those white eyes and behind him the sun touched the rim of the platform, bathing everything in a soft red glow.
He was still not absolutely sure about what he should do but somehow it felt so right to be here on this platform together with the Invoker. As if he had waited his whole life for this. Magina didn't know if he could just snap his fingers and forget the hatred he had for all things magic. But maybe it was time to try it. And the separation of this platform from the rest of the world would make it so much easier.
Of course there were still way too many evil mages in the world but was it really his job to kill them all? Or maybe he could simply take a break, stay here a while and look to what it would lead. He could still go back afterwards and continue chasing mages. It couldn't hurt to stay here for a while and to let the world take care of itself. It had worked before the Anti-Mage had begun his quest so it still had to work without him.
The red light of the fading sun let the blond hair of the Invoker glow softly and his eyes got warmer. His beauty seemed so absolute, Magina wondered why he was still hesitating.
He stepped forward and dropped his weapons. The clatter of the metal on the cobblestones was loud in the silence around them and the Invoker gave a slight jerk. The mage was a few inches taller and Magina had to tilt his head a little to keep their gazes locked together.
He took a deep breath. Now he would change his life, change what he was and what he did. Even if it would be only for a limited time, it was a change he had never even contemplated before.
"Okay. I think it might be worth a try to stay for a while."
The Invoker searched his face, as if he didn't believe him, as if he was searching for a sign that he had heard correctly. And Magina wanted to give him that sign. So he took another deep breath and did something he had never done before. He smiled. It was only the hint of a smile, the corners of his mouth tugged upward the tiniest bit. But it was the right thing to do. The Invoker seemed to relax and his frown disappeared.
"I am Kael'thas Sunstrider. Welcome in my realm. If you care to follow me I will show you were you can put your weapons. I will also show you around since my palace is rather spacious." He bowed his head slightly as a gesture of welcome. Then he waited until Magina had picked up his weapons before heading in the direction of his palace. The switch to that overly polite behaviour was a little strange but Magina said nothing. He had expected some other reaction but maybe he had been hoping for too much too fast. Only because he had that extreme physical reaction to the mage didn't mean the mage felt the same. Or that he would directly act on it.
It was getting darker very fast now but suddenly in front of them on the sides of the path lights began to glow. They were red orbs, the size of a fist, and hovering in the air. They didn't shine very brightly but gave just enough light for Magina to see the path and the man beside him. They passed the house on the bent and neared the gate to the palace. The gates opened of their own accord and swung outward silently. When they had walked through, they closed in the same manner.
The palace had a main entrance with a wide staircase, the door framed by statues acting as pillars to a high archway. The whole palace inside of the walls was illuminated by those red glowing orbs that floated everywhere. When Magina looked back he could see that they dimmed behind them and eventually they went out. As if they were attuned to the Invoker. Kael'thas. He repeated the name a few times in his head to get the feeling of the foreign sounding syllables. It was an old name, but the Invoker was very old. Magina felt like a child compared to the mage and he was suddenly nervous and insecure, something that had surely never happened before.
They entered the palace and Kael'thas turned right immediately. They followed a wide hallway with a few closed doors on the left side.
"I don't use the rooms behind these doors, therefore they are closed. You are welcome to look behind them if you wish, though. I will show you the rooms I use and the ones where you can stay. Everything else is open to your curiosity."
Magina wanted to ask why he lived in such a big palace if he didn't need all that space but he simply nodded. The Invoker glanced at him shortly but said nothing more. The hallway made a turn at a corner and opened directly into a huge room. It had a high ceiling and windows that began at the floor and reached up to the ceiling. The red glow from the orbs from outside was visible through the windows. They were framed by red curtains and the window sills were wide enough to sit on them, which meant the walls were thick enough to create such wide window sills. The room was empty except a huge table with exactly two chairs, one at the side of the windows and one across from it, and more of those statues that had already been in the garden and at the doorways. To compensate the lack of furniture, the floor and the ceiling were mosaicked with swirls of red and gold and here the purple of the Invoker's tunic was to be found. There seemed to be no pattern behind the mosaic and it made the room look opulent. The orbs in here shone brighter and illuminated the whole room.
"This is the dining room. The meal will be ready in a few minutes. I will get more comfortable before dinner and I will show you the room you can stay in so you can put everything that you don't need away. Maybe freshen up a bit. Does that suit you?"
Magina nodded again. He had never been in such an imposing room, least of all in a palace. The only things that kept him calm were the silence all around and the deep voice of the mage next to him. His presence somehow soothed him.
They left the hall through a door on one side and entered a smaller hallway. The doors here were all open and in the first one was a bed and at least a chest and a wardrobe. While passing it Kael'thas identified it as his room. They passed a few more open doors, one definitely a library and one that looked like a laboratory. Nearly at the end of the hallway the Invoker stopped.
"This is the room where you can stay. You will find everything you need inside. When you are ready, you are free to join me in the hall for dinner. Now please excuse me."
Entering the room, Magina thought that it looked very similar to the bedroom they had passed, the one the Invoker used. A huge bed in the middle, a chest, a wardrobe and a table with a basin of water. The wardrobe was open and empty and the basin was filled with water, a towel on the back of the chair ready to be used. A weapon rack on one side seemed almost to be designed for his weapons and he put them there. His backpack was stashed in the wardrobe. Then he took his gloves off, put them on the table and used the water to wash his hands and his face.
He sat down on the bed and took a few moments to gather. He had gone from hunting a mage to staying in a mage's palace in no time at all. And the Invoker seemed so sure and confident about everything, it made Magina realize that he knew nothing about living in such a place. He only knew how to survive outside of a house, how to find mages, how to skirt unnecessary danger and how to kill. Nothing of those skills was of use here. And again he wondered why he had kept going after the Invoker even when he had admitted to himself that he couldn't kill him.
But when he went to the hall and entered the room, at least that question was answered.
The Invoker stood at one of the windows, looking outside. He had removed all his armour, his cape and the neck protection. He was now only wearing his tunic over his shirt and the trousers. Though Magina had thought especially the neck protection and the shoulder plates had only been to make the mage look more imposing he had to say that he didn't need those things to achieve that. Without those entire things his body was outlined and Magina could see that he really had wide shoulders and he seemed not to lack muscles underneath those clothes. He still emitted this aura of confidence and power even though he looked more like a normal man now. Or like a normal elf, with this pointed ears. His hair was still tied back from his face and fell straight to his shoulders. It looked darker and shimmered red in the light of the orbs outside. The Invoker's features seemed softer in the light, not so fierce and hard, more welcoming, though he scowled like always.
He looked spectacular in the low light and Magina felt the already familiar tingling in his body and the tug towards him, the urge to be near him growing into the need to be near him. He took a step forward and Kael'thas turned his head and looked at Magina. "Come in." He indicated the chair on the opposite side of the windows. "Take a seat."
He then walked to the other chair. The table was already set, a plate for both of them and a glass with water next to it. On the table were fruit and vegetables, some salad and bread. Magina hesitated a little but he was hungry and had only eaten dried meals for weeks. They ate in silence and Magina cast glances at the Invoker from time to time. But the meal was good and when he was full the Anti-Mage leaned back and sighed.
The Invoker had finished as well and now he stood up. "Let's go to the library. It is more comfortable there."
Inside of the library was a couch flanked by two armchairs in front of a fireplace. Two small tables stood next to one of the armchairs, one was filled with glasses of varying sizes and forms and on the other one several bottles were lined up. They contained different kinds of alcohol.
Kael'thas took one of the bottles and filled two glasses with a golden liquid. He handed one to Magina and sat down in one of the armchairs.
So Magina took the other, sniffing at the drink in his hand while sitting down. He had not had alcohol often because first he didn't want to get drunk and second he didn't have enough money to buy some. He decided not to try it because it didn't smell that good. Why ever others drank it, it couldn't be because of the smell. And when it tasted like it smelled it couldn't be because of the taste, either. Since he still didn't want to get drunk there seemed to be no reason for him to drink it.
He kept the glass in his hand, though. He was used to always having his weapons with him so it was strange to have his hands empty. He cast a look at the Invoker from the corner of his eyes and saw the mage scowling at him. The bright light from the lamps inside this room had chased the softness from his features.
He looked gorgeous but somehow unreachable and Magina felt absolutely out of place. He had thought that he would know what to do when he had found the Invoker but he still didn't. He felt still as off balance as before. So he stood up and put his glass on the table.
"I'll go to sleep."
The Invoker didn't respond other than nod in his direction and so Magina headed to the room where he had put his things. He took off everything except his trousers and got into bed. It was soft and comfortable and Magina sighed as he drifted into sleep.