Auriana

Three days after Auriana had last seen Varian, she found herself camped out at the Alliance staging grounds in Gorgrond. As luck would have it, her attention at the front had been desperately needed, and she had spent the last two nights holed up in a small tent while the jungle rains poured down outside. Unable to return to Stormwind, Auriana had instead sent the King a quick personal missive apologising for her morosity the last time they had met, promising that she'd see him again soon.

Between them, the Alliance and Vol'jin's Horde had captured most of Gorgrond, save for the Pit, the Iron Docks, and Blackrock Foundry itself. Auriana was very proud of the territory her men had secured over the last week, and she was eager to finally test herself against the might of Blackhand and his forbidding Foundry. Of course, both the Pit and the Iron Docks would need to fall before the Alliance turned its attention to the Foundry, but they were in a good position to capture key positions over the next week.

Auriana had ordered her men to take a brief respite before launching an assault on the Pit in the coming days, and she had taken the opportunity to return to Lunarfall. While Auriana would never begrudge the necessity of her presence at the front, she had to admit she was looking forward to sleeping in her own comfortable bed. The last few days had been filled with hard fighting in the oppressive jungle, and Auriana welcomed a break as much as any of her men.

She arrived back at Lunarfall late in the evening, teleporting directly into the small study outside her bedchamber. Auriana sighed happily as she went to remove her protective armor, placing the muddied pieces of her set down on the table. Once divested of her shoulderplates, gauntlets, and outer robes, she moved towards the bedroom, only to stop abruptly in the doorway as she was filled with an overwhelming sense of disquiet.

Auriana had superb instincts, and right now every one of them sang caution. Her heart pounding with sudden urgency, Auriana turned nonchalantly back to face the study, but the room appeared entirely empty. Auriana frowned, but she trusted her gut far more than she trusted her eyes, and she very carefully summoned a magical shield about her person.

It proved to be a fortuitous decision as she was suddenly struck from behind. An orc assassin appeared out of nowhere, driving Auriana forwards and slamming her head into the thick oak desk of her study. Her head pounding, Auriana struck out blindly, summoning a great burst of flame. At point blank rage, she burned a hole right through the orc, collapsing him to the ground in a heap of charred viscera.

A second assassin unstealthed on Auriana's left, approaching her more cautiously than his companion. This orc seemed to respect her power far more than the first eager assassin, and he came on more cautiously. Auriana hurled a frostbolt in his general direction, but with her mind scattered from the blow to her head, she swung wide. The orc seized his opportunity and leapt forward, brandishing a viciously carved hunting knife. Auriana moved too slowly, screaming as the point of the knife entered her upper arm and thrust deep into the flesh of her bicep. The orc grunted in satisfaction, and made to withdraw the knife for a second, deadly strike. Auriana gripped his wrist doggedly, digging in her nails and holding him fast against her body. She flooded her hand with power, and frost raced down her arm and into his body. The orce grunted in shock as the ice flooded his veins, and he struggled desperately to pull away. Auriana was in a world of pain, but she refused to let go, determined to freeze the assassin solid.

Startled and howling with pain, the orc forcibly released his grip on the knife and staggered backwards, and Auriana saw her opportunity. In the orc's confusion, she ripped the knife from her own arm and struck like lightning, embedding the blade hilt-deep in his meaty neck. The orc's eyes widened in surprise as his lifeblood gurgled through the gushing wound. Auriana withdrew the knife and struck again without mercy, opening his throat from ear to ear. Warm blood gushed over her hands as the orc fell to his knees, mingling with the blood from her own wounded arm.

Auriana was breathing heavily, her shaky hands still clutching the knife. She heard the sound of frantic banging on the door outside, and she realised someone else in the building must have heard her scream. It appeared that the orcs had locked her inside, trying to prevent any hope of rescue. Given that she had teleported directly into the study, she hadn't had the chance to check the locks.

Auriana placed the bloody knife down on the table, and slowly made her way to the door. She opened it to see a snarling Lieutenant Thorn, her talons and teeth bared, and Delvar Ironfist with his vicious axe raised. Behind them stood an entire squad of guards, each and every one of them with their weapons free.

Ironfist roared in displeasure at the blood coating Auriana's arm and hands, and burst past her into the room with his axe held high. Thorn was slightly more measured in her movement, though she jumped in front of Auriana protectively and howled.

"Where are they?" the dwarf snarled.

"Dead," Auriana said wearily, peering around Lieutenant Thorn's furred bulk. "See for yourself."

Ironfist moved around the table to inspect the two orc corpses.

"Ha!" he growled proudly. "It'll take more than two orcs to take down our Commander!"

While Ironfist rifled the corpses for any signs of identification, Thorn's attention was focussed entirely on Auriana.

"You need to sit down," Thorn said. "That's a nasty wound. You'll need a healer."

Auriana didn't argue, taking a seat and probing the wound gently with her fingers. It was a deep wound, and the edges were ragged where she had ripped the knife from her bicep without caution. It stung painfully, but any pain from the injury was dominated by Auriana's fury. She felt more violated than she had when the Burning Blade had attacked Lunarfall. It was one thing for a group to launch an all-out attack on Lunarfall as a military target, but it was quite another thing to enter her room and try to kill her personally. Auriana shook with both rage and adrenaline, and she had a sudden desire to march right out to Blackrock Foundry and challenge Blackhand to single combat.

"How did they get past the wards?" Thorn asked worriedly, as a slender priest went to work on healing Auriana's wounded arm and cleaning the blood from her hands.

"They must have been carrying magical protection," Auriana said, gritting her teeth against the pain. "Wards aren't foolproof, they can be dismantled or broken."

"What were they after?" Thorn pressed.

"Me, I suppose," Auriana said. "Or… oh, damn…"

She shot to her feet, pushing the healer away and rushing into her room. At her personal desk, she kept a series of both official and personal papers. Auriana kept the most critical information in a magically protected safe. However, the safe's magic was difficult and time consuming to open, so she often kept less important documents, including personal letters, in the locked drawer of her desk.

"Dammit! They've been through my papers," Auriana swore, seeing the shattered desk lock.

She rifled through the papers quickly. Nothing seemed to have been taken, but that didn't rule out the possibility that the orcs had already relayed the information back to their masters by magical means. Fortunately, the magic around her safe had not been breached, and Auriana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anything important, Commander?" Thorn asked.

"Nothing vital," Auriana said, frowning. "At least, I don't think they'll be able to get much out of the mess hall schedule, or my personal letters to Khadgar or Jaina. Our troop numbers, locations, and other critical information is still protected."

She didn't add Varian's name to the list of people with whom she corresponded, though several of the letters in the drawer had been from him. Auriana doubted that the orcs would find anything useful in such letters, but the threat to the secrecy of her relationship left Auriana thoroughly rattled.

"I've given orders to double the watch," Thorn said, "And I will station four guards outside your room this evening."

"Thank you," Auriana said gratefully.

"I'm stayin' in yer room tonight, Commander," Ironfist added.

"Er… that really won't be necessary," Auriana said, raising her eyebrows. "My chambers are now secure, and I very much doubt the Iron Horde will make another attempt on me tonight with the garrison on full alert. I would appreciate the removal of the corpses, however."

Ironfist looked as if he very much wanted to protest, but instead stepped out of the room to organise a clean up of Auriana's study. Thorn gave her a similarly skeptical look, but Auriana gave the worgen her most stem command face, and Thorn wisely remained silent.

It took some time to remove the bodies of the two orc assassins, but Auriana was finally left alone. She wasted no time changing into a loose fitting nightgown and crawling into bed, pulling the sheets right up to her neck. Both her arm and her head pounded, despite the healing she had received, and Auriana knew it would be difficult to fall asleep. She closed her eyes, trying to relax, but she was unable to shake the overwhelming sense of unease that overcame her as she lay alone in the dark. She was furious at being made to feel unsafe in her own garrison, but it didn't help the fact that every slight creak of the building sent a thrill of adrenaline through her veins.

She opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling and biting her lip. Auriana knew very well that there was only one place she would feel safe tonight, but she warred with herself as she considered what it would mean if she left Lunarfall for Stormwind. Auriana prided herself on her independence, and she certainly didn't want to go scampering off to Varian every time she got a fright. On the other hand, the thought of his strong arms and warm chest was undeniably appealing, and it didn't take long before Auriana had slipped out of bed and teleported herself directly to the King's chambers.


As Auriana had expected, Varian was fast asleep, his long limbs splayed wildly across the large bed. She approached him cautiously and softly called his name, hoping to gently rouse him from his deep slumber.

"Varian," she said. "Wake up."

As she reached the foot of the bed, Auriana stretched out her hand to gently touch his foot. Far too late, she remembered that while Varian slept like the dead, he had an uncanny ability to wake up almost instantaneously if he detected a possible threat. Her fingers had barely grazed his ankle when the King suddenly exploded into movement, lunging forwards and pulling her down towards him. Auriana cried out in shock and pain as Varian pinned her between his mighty bulk, one of his enormous hands closing over her throat.

"Varian!" she choked. "Stop!"

She fired a desperate bolt of fire from her left hand as her vision clouded, hoping to hit the nearest wall sconce. Fortunately, her aim was good, and the torch ignited, bathing the room in dim orange light. Varian's eyes widened in horror as he recognised her face, and his hands instantly relaxed. The pressure on Auriana's chest released as Varian shifted his weight, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light.

There was a sudden loud banging on the outer door of Varian's chambers.

"Your Majesty!" one of the guards called. "Your Majesty! Is everything alright? We heard shouting."

"I'm fine," Varian hollered back. "Just… just a bad dream. Return to your post."

"Are you certain, Your Majesty?" the guard shouted.

"I'm fine," Varian repeated firmly. "Goodnight."

The room fell silent, and Auriana heard the quiet footsteps of the guard walking back down the hallway.

"What were you thinking?" Varian demanded. "I could have seriously hurt you, and I never would have forgiven myself if I had."

"I… wasn't thinking," Auriana admitted. "I…"

"What happened?" Varian interrupted, pointing to her arm. "Did… did I…?"

Auriana looked down, and was surprised to see that the bandage on her arm was darkening with blood.

"Oh, no," she said quickly. "I was attacked by Iron Horde assassins earlier this evening. Our little tussle must have opened up the wound."

"There was an assassin in Lunarfall?" Varian said worriedly, clambering off the bed and gently pulling her to an upright position.

He moved away to find something to stem the bloodflow, returning with an old shirt that he quickly cannibalised into makeshift bandages.

"Two of them, actually," Auriana said, as Varian worked diligently on her arm. "They were waiting for me in my chambers when I returned from the front in Gorgrond. I think they were after intelligence, but they were more than willing to take the opportunity to try to gut me."

"They were in your rooms?" Varian said, pausing his handiwork to stare at her intently. "How on earth did that happen?"

"I have no idea. Suffice to say I'm not pleased," Auriana said darkly. "That's partially why I'm here. I think it's fairly clear that we have an intelligence problem on Draenor, and it's not my area of expertise. I was hoping to engage the services of SI:7's counterintelligence division to help me patch our weaknesses."

"Whatever you need, it's at your disposal," Varian assured her, his eyes dark with concern. "I'll accompany you tomorrow and give the orders personally."

"Thank you," Auriana said gratefully.

He gently moved his hands away from her arm, where he had doubled up on the bandages and stopped the bleeding.

"Why didn't you have this healed?" Varian asked.

"I did," she explained ruefully, "But I wasn't expecting to be thrown around the room when I came to see you. It was a fairly deep wound."

"I'm sorry," Varian said earnestly, gently kissing her cheek. "You know I never meant to hurt you."

"I know," Auriana assured him. "Really, it was my fault. I shouldn't have startled you out of sleep like that, I know you can be… edgy."

"Too long spent as a gladiator," Varian grunted.

He fell silent, his darkly handsome face lined with worry. Auriana watched him carefully, her eyes raking over every familiar crease and line of his face. Varian caught her eye and smiled uncertainly, raising an eyebrow.

"You said that SI:7 was only part of the reason you were here…" he said slowly.

"Well, I could have just come in the morning," she said. "I… I didn't feel safe at Lunarfall, so… I came here."

Varian leant forward suddenly, gently capturing her jaw in his broad hand.

"You came here," Varian repeated slowly. "You came to me."

Auriana smiled softly, leaning into his hand. She knew she wasn't a demonstrative person, but she wanted to impress on Varian just how much she wanted to be here, with him.

"I take it that means you'd like to stay the night?" he asked.

"Yes," she said tentatively. "If… if you'll have me."

"I'd never turn you away," he said emphatically. "Here…"

He swiftly pulled the sheets back, gesturing for her to get into bed. Auriana accepted his offer gratefully, rolling onto her good side as she laid back and rested her head on one of the thick, plump pillows. Varian crawled in beside her, cuddling up to her back and pulling her gently into his arms. He was careful not to bump her injured arm, and Auriana relaxed gratefully into the warmth of his powerful embrace.

"So... " Auriana said, sighing happily. "I got stabbed tonight. How was your week?"

"Not quite so eventful," Varian said drily. "The most exciting thing that happened to me was Anguile trying to marry me off to his daughter."

"What?" Auriana said, stiffening slightly. "Did he just come out and… ask you?"

"Not in so many words, but his intent was obvious," Varian explained. "The girl is just about to come of age, you see."

"Would… er... would you consider it?" Auriana asked, trying to keep her voice light and casual even as she felt a fierce rush of unexpected jealousy uncoil in her stomach.

"I have no desire to entwine the future of my kingdom with that man, and his daughter struck me as having all the personality of a wet blanket," Varian said.

There was a strange warmth in his voice, and Auriana wondered if he wasn't somewhat pleased at her not so subtle protectiveness. Auriana was surprised by her own gut reaction, but there was no denying that the thought of Varian with some pretty young noblewoman roused her ire. Despite her insecurity over Varian's greater experience in relationships, she had never actually felt jealous before, and she wasn't sure she liked the feeling.

"Besides, I have you," Varian added.

"I'm not exactly the belle of the Stormwind court," Auriana pointed out.

"No. You're just one of the most powerful women in the world, and one of the mightiest defenders of the Alliance," Varian said drolly.

Auriana blushed furiously at the compliment, and the knot in her stomach lessened slightly. Varian's hand slipped to her hip and he pulled her closer, kissing the soft skin of her neck.

"I don't want some court flower, I want you," he added fiercely.

"You have me," Auriana murmured.

"Good," Varian said huskily as he buried his face in her hair. "I'm glad you understand."