She was finally asleep. Her wounds had been healed, although she'd have faint scars on her shoulder from that horrible bite, but the priests said that she wouldn't have any lingering effects from the attack.

"She won't turn into a worgen?" I asked.

"No. I believe that only humans can be turned into worgen," the priest told me. "She should rest now. I'll come and check on her in the morning."

I gave a nod, settling myself in a chair by her bed to wait for her to wake up.

Occasionally, I reached over to brush a lock of hair away from her face, a faint lingering feeling of concern coming over me.

But I hadn't only felt concern. When I'd found out that Faith's team had been massacred, and that someone had heard her scream, I'd been seized with pure fear. My body had grown, if possible, even colder than it usually was, and I'd started imagining scenarios where I found her flayed alive, hanging from a tree, or worse, raised as a member of the Scourge.

I'd allowed her to believe that she had dreamt my coming to her room to make love to her. Even now, months later, I couldn't believe that I had done it. I hadn't gotten much out of it, not physically, although I knew myself capable of enjoying carnal pleasures in my state of undeath. The first time I'd realized that, I'd been shocked, but I hadn't lied to Faith when I'd told her that sex was the furthest thing from my mind. Usually.

I'd purposefully alienated her over the past few months because I'd wanted her to get used to not being with me all the time. She was making an effort to move on, but the shroud of grief still encircled her like a dark cloud. Would it ever leave her?

I looked at her. She had looks that had always been pleasing to the eye, and there had been a time where I could have stood there watching her for hours. I found that I still had those moments on occasion, which was when I was roughest with her. I couldn't appear weak.

"You could have been killed, you foolish girl," I said to her. "What would I have done then?"

Part of me wanted to beat the life out of her for having put herself in such a situation. I was enraged at the fact that someone had tried to kill her, and the fact that the someone in question had been a servant of the Scourge enraged me all the more.

"Why you?" I asked. "Are you too good?"

I suspected that was what it was. She wasn't known as Blackfire for nothing. While I'd been in the Scourge, Arthas had been furious at how many of his soldiers she'd defeated with that one spell. And now that she'd gotten some additional training in Dalaran, she didn't get tired as quickly, so she was much more efficient.

Faith opened her eyes when she heard me. Her gaze focused on me and she smiled briefly. "Sylvanas… do you need anything?" She shivered.

"For you to sleep and get better quickly," I told her. "Sleep, Faith." I got up and went to the closet, pulling out an extra blanket and placing it over her.

"Will you stay with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled again and closed her eyes, only to open them again, looking more alert, "Where's my… Sylvanas, did you see –."

I held up the picture she carried of me everywhere, "You mean this?" I asked her. The picture was a little more tattered than I remembered, but I felt the spell that Faith had woven around it so that it wouldn't deteriorate more. I handed it to her and she kissed it before putting it under her pillow.

"Maudlin fool," I muttered. She heard me, and a small smile played on her lips. I heard her murmur that she loved me and watched as she drifted off.

There was a knock on the door as I sat back down. "Come in," I said in the lowest possible voice, which still carried in the room.

The door opened, and Rotvine came in, "My Lady," he said. "I brought you this in case you wanted to do something while you waited for Faith to wake up."

I glanced at him, startled by the fact that he had noticed something. I supposed it was obvious, as I'd never bothered to stay in a room with someone injured to wait for them to get better. But this was Faith. I still felt something for her. What that something was, I couldn't be sure, but she was the last remnant of my old life, and I wanted to keep her safe.

"Thank you," I told him finally, taking the sheaf of parchments from him and sitting down again.

The latest Scourge reports. I made notes on them, mentioning that Arthas now had the worgen in his service. I'd already dispatched someone to Dalaran to warn Rhonin. I hadn't mentioned Faith being hurt.

I worked for several hours on the reports. Three times, Faith woke up, startled. But every time she did, she would see me and go back to sleep, my name on her lips. Once, she even took my hand and fell asleep holding it. She didn't let it go for an hour.

Morning came. I glanced at the clock above the fireplace, which showed me that it was six o'clock. Putting the report down, I stretched a little, then crawled into bed with Faith, meaning to wake her up slowly. In her sleep, she reached for me and wrapped her arms around me, tucking herself under my chin. My mind flashed back to the few times we'd shared a bed, when it had been damn near impossible for us to breathe because we were so close to each other. We'd slept like this, with me holding her so tightly that my fingers had been sore the following morning.

I had loved her. I would have died for her.

"Ah," I said in a low voice, smirking a little, "I did die for you."

"I didn't want you to," she murmured. "I'm sorry, Sylvanas. I shouldn't have… left you there to –."

"Shh, Faith. Wake up."

She stirred and opened her eyes. "Are you really here?" she asked, once she'd blinked a couple of times.

I hid a smile, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." I could tell she wanted to kiss me. "You stayed."

"You asked me to stay."

"I… I didn't think you would."

"Don't get used to it."

She dropped her head onto my shoulder, "Will you make love to me?"

Would I do what? "Faith."

She looked at me and blinked. The blush on her cheeks indicated that she'd been conscious of what she'd just asked me to do. "I'm sorry." She rolled away from me, forcefully, I could tell, and got to her feet. But as soon as she tried to take a step forward, she swayed and fell back down onto the bed. I caught her.

"Priests or shaman?" I asked her, keeping my hands on her shoulders.

"You'll have to help me get there."

"Again, don't get used to it. Come on." I put an arm around her and helped her up. She swayed again and her eyes unfocused, so much so that I considered carrying her to the healers. "Or maybe you should just stay in bed. Lie back down."

"No… I want to come with you."

"Stop behaving like a child," I snapped. "Come on, lie down and I'll go get someone."

Faith really didn't want to see me go. I saw a haunted look come to her face when I got ready to leave her, and against my own counsel, I knelt in front of her, taking her face in my hands, "I'll be right back." My lips touched her forehead and I left before she could pull me back again. I was furious with myself for falling under whatever spell she seemed to have woven around me.

I asked one of my advisors to bring me a healer, any healer, after which I went to my room to change into my normal armor: black leather leggings and a leather jerkin, both torn in places. When I went back to Faith, she saw that I'd changed and frowned at me.

"You know," she said, "you can be queen of Undercity and not dress like you're dead."

"But I am dead, Faith."

"I understand that, but you could wear something more appropriate to your stature."

"Such as?"

"Will you let me go shopping for you?"

"Absolutely not," I said. I'd been very vain when I'd been alive, caring about my appearance maybe a little too much. I had to be the best, and that included being the best-looking. But now, such things were beneath me. "I am not going shopping with you."

"I didn't ask you to come shopping with me," she said, although the look in her eyes betrayed the fact that it was exactly what she wanted. "I'm asking you if I can… forget it, I'll do it anyway."

The healers arrived, three of them in total, and each looked over her, telling me that she'd be okay, but that she would probably need to stay in bed another day and avoid any strenuous physical activity for some time.

"What in the world am I supposed to do in bed all day?"

"Sleep. Rest."

"But I need to train! We have to find replacements for the members of the corps who died yesterday."

I put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her back down when she tried to get up, "You'll do no such thing. You'll stay in bed and do what you're told. Other people will handle your duties while you recover." I put a finger to her lips, "Be quiet."

I sent Faith's healers away and looked at her, "I want you to stay in bed today, do you understand?"

"Sylvanas –."

"Do not test my patience. Stay here, sleep, and when you feel like you can walk fifteen feet without needing to sit down, come and see me." I glared at her to make sure she understood my meaning, and left.

I didn't expect her to listen to me. When I heard a knock at my office door shortly after the sun had set, I knew it was her. Exasperated, I opened the door, "What?"

"Hi," she said shyly. "Are you busy?"

"I'm running a city, Faith, what do you think?"

"I think that you should look at these." She held up an armful of material.

"Wait, you went shopping instead of staying in bed like I told you?" My voice got progressively higher and higher with each syllable I uttered.

"No. I had them come to me. I didn't leave my bed until just now, well, except to go to the bathroom and take a shower."

My anger dissipated a little and I stepped aside so that she could come in, "When I say that you should rest, I mean it."

"You try staying in bed for a whole day."

"I've had to do it. Remember when that poisoned arrow pierced my foot and you came over to nurse me back to health? I know it's boring, but you won't get a chance to rest like that again for a while."

"Anyway, I feel a lot better now." She swayed slightly and braced herself on the wall.

"I can see that." I pushed her down into a chair, "So, you bought me clothes and you expect me to try them on. You do realize that I wouldn't have condoned this even when my heart was beating."

She knew. I could tell by the way she coyly looked over at me. I simply stood there, nearly glaring at her. I had no patience for this. "My clothes are the way they are because they decay on my body."

"I know and I can fix that."

"Are you planning on fixing it for every Forsaken in Undercity?"

"If I did that, I'd have no energy left to fight the Scourge."

"That's what I mean. Stop wasting your time buying clothes for me."

"No! Let me be nice to you! I love you, and you're going to have to get used to it!"

I was… what? "Get used to it?"

"Yes. Get used to my being in love with you, and try this on." She handed me a robe made of soft inky black leather.

I decided to humor her, because it was either that or get into a screaming match. I began to take off my jerkin, and I saw her amber eyes widen.

"You're going to do this… here?"

"I'd like to get this over with as quickly as possible," I said. Amazingly, I felt amused by the whole situation, and I would have laughed had this happened before the Scourge invasion.

Faith stared at me as I got undressed, her limpid eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. Had I given her my consent right there, she would have leapt on me and not let me go for days.

"Stop staring at me as though you haven't had a decent meal in weeks," I told her, slipping the robes on.

I don't think she heard me. She was too busy memorizing the details of my desiccated skin. I walked to where she was sitting, getting so close to her that she hitched in a breath.

"You do realize, Faith, that you're fantasizing about having sex with a corpse?"

"It's not… I'm not –."

"Yes you are. I know you, even now. This is the same look you got in your eyes when you accidentally caught me changing a few years ago. You would have jumped me had your parents not been in the next room."

I pulled away from her, and she started breathing normally again, making me wonder whether she'd held her breath because I smelled dead or because she had trouble breathing around me in any case. "You want me to deal with the fact that you're in love with me, and I want you to deal with the fact that I'm dead. It's not going to happen."

She looked up at me. I could only guess what was going through her mind, but the sentence she spoke next had nothing to do with it, "How do the robes fit?"

The robes? I looked down. "They're fine." They had slits down the sides so that my legs would be free when I walked. They weren't my usual style, but I supposed they'd do the trick in a pinch.

"Good. I'll leave the rest of the clothes in your chambers then." Her voice trembled.

"You do that."

She left, and for a while, I stood there, wondering what in the world that had been about. She had never been assertive with me before, but I was glad that she was finally standing up for herself, even if it was with me. It was a bit of a rush.

Faith stayed in Undercity for the required week, not even venturing into the ruins. I could tell she hated the inactivity, for I wouldn't even allow her to train, so she shopped. She bought me a whole new wardrobe, an expense that inwardly made me flinch, even if she was using her own money.

"There are just other things you could use your money on," I told her.

"I've put spells on everything so that you'll be able to wear the clothes without them decaying on your body too quickly," she said, completely ignoring my statement. "And don't worry, this is the last time I plan on being stuck in bed for a week, so I won't be doing this again anytime soon."

It was with difficulty that I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her. What she was planning was to take a ride to the Alterac Mountains, a trip that would take her a little over a week. I didn't want her to go, but her newfound independence meant that she didn't listen to me as easily as she had before. I enjoyed the challenge, but I hoped that she wouldn't keep defying me like this, or things were going to get ugly fast.

"Last time you did something as basic as go to the border," I told her as she got ready to leave, "you were nearly killed."

She looked at me, "I'm sorry, Sylvanas, are you worried about me?"

"You are my most experienced mage. It would be a great loss to Undercity if we lost you."

A snort, "Undercity, right."

"Remember what you promised me."

She froze. It was a low blow, to remind her of the day we'd parted at Fairbreeze Village, and I saw emotions playing on her face as though I were reading a book. "I am living, Sylvanas. Everything I do, I do because of you. Because of who you are now, and for the person who died alone at Arthas' hand." Her eyes were almost clear as she spoke, a true feat. I nodded.

"Good. Safe travels then."

I wanted to watch her leave, but instead, I turned back and went to the throne room, where I held court for the rest of the day. I was antsy, unhappier than usual, and none of us got a lot of work done that day.

"You seem calmer when Lady Everstone is around, my Lady," said Rotvine to me.

"Calmer? What do you mean I'm calmer?" I was perfectly calm.

"She soothes you when she's near you. All of Undercity knows it, which is why not so many people showed up today."

"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped. I didn't need to be soothed.

But I did notice, during the week Faith was absent, that things looked very different in Undercity. I found myself in her room once, with no clear idea as to what I was doing there, except to try to feel her presence.

What was wrong with me? I shook my head and exited the room, only to collide with something very warm, and very agitated.

"Faith!" I exclaimed. "What in the Sunwell are you doing back so quickly?"

"Oh, Sylvanas, something horrible has happened."

She certainly looked upset. "Speak."

"It's Giramar and Galadin… they've been kidnapped."

Giramar and… "Vereesa's sons?"

She nodded, as close to panic as I'd seen her since getting her out of the ruins of her village.

"How do you know this?"

"She and Rhonin normally live close to Alterac, and I saw her when I was there. Sylvanas, she looked so scared, we have to do something."

"And what do you suggest we do exactly?"

"We have to find them!"

"I'm sure they've already got people looking."

"Sylvanas, these are your nephews we're talking about! They're only three years old… they're your blood!"

I gently took her arm and led her to my office, sitting her down and calling Rotvine to take notes, "Did anybody see anything?"

"Not really, no. Apparently it happened on the day that I was ambushed. The caretaker remembers an elf who looked a lot like Vereesa walking around, but she didn't think anything of it at first."

"Lirath looked a lot like her, but he's dead, and as far as I know, hasn't been resurrected, so he wouldn't be walking around to talk to her kids." I hadn't thought about my brother in years, and found that doing so now was unpleasant. None of us had taken his death well. Faith's sister Ravenna, as a matter of fact, had fainted in shock because she'd liked him so much, despite him being a few years younger than her.

"It definitely wasn't Lirath," Faith told me. "Vereesa has a picture of all of you in her home, so the caretaker would have recognized him. But maybe… do you know of anybody else besides Vereesa who survived the Scourge from your family?"

"What a thing to ask me," I told her. "You'd know that better than me. Or you would have had you not been focused on me all this time."

She just looked at me, her eyes wide, so I leaned on my desk and thought about it. As far as I knew, only Vereesa had survived the Scourge, although I had no technical idea as to where my parents were. My aunts and uncles had all died, and so had all my cousins.

"Anything?"

"I don't get flashes from people I know Faith. I really don't have a clue who it could be."

"Should we go back there and ask her?"

"If you think she'll consent to tell us anything. See how much the caretaker remembers."

Faith nodded and immediately made to leave again, but I caught her hand.

"Slow down and listen to me. I want you to take a team with you. Grab a couple of my rangers. I think Velonara should be free. She'll be able to track whoever took them."

This time, I did follow her as she made, not for the horses, but for our bat handler so that she could move faster over the terrain.

Be careful, I thought.

I didn't know what to expect. The last thing I wanted was Faith on a mission to find two missing three-year-olds, even if they were my nephews. But she was so determined that I couldn't refuse.

She returned the following day, more agitated than before. In her hand, she carried a sketch of someone I recognized immediately.

"Zindarin?" I cried. "He's alive?"

Faith's eyes were huge, looking like translucent pools of molten amber, "My love…" she whispered, "Velonara tracked his movements to the border with the Plaguelands."

The Plaguelands. I would have shivered, but I couldn't. As it was, I didn't know what to feel. "We need to organize a recon mission. Find me the best trackers we have and bring them to me. Is Velonara still out there?"

Faith nodded, "She's there with twenty members of the corps."

"Good. We'll find her."

"We? You're coming with us?"

I wasn't about to let Faith venture deep into Scourge territory so soon after having nearly been killed. "Yes."

We were ready to go a couple of hours later, and set out atop our skeletal horses. Faith rode Prince, and together, they looked like a paradigm of good and purity.