Braelyn woke up feeling like death. No, worse than death; obviously, she'd died and been brought back to life as Forsaken. She could even see the bright, shimmering outline of a Val'kyr standing above her.

"You're awake," Lorelai said, smoothing down her white priest's robes. "Good. We need to have a little talk about your behaviour last night."

"Afnjefjdfk," Braelyn mumbled through dry, cracked lips, pain shooting through her groggy brain. "No talking... words make the stabby stab in my brain."

"Take this," the priest said in a clipped tone, forcing a vial into Braelyn's hand. She sighed as the human dropped it, making her have to guide it the woman's lips. The purple hangover remedy worked quickly, banishing the headache, and calming the nausea twisting the hunter's stomach.

Braelyn had a few minutes of blissful calm before the memories of last night returned in one painful swoop. She saw Rommath and Denaria together in his lab, saw herself getting drunk at the inn, meeting the troll, stripping off her dress...

"Oh my gods, I gave a troll a lap dance!" she whispered in mortification, covering her face with her hands as she blushed all over her body.

"Yeah, toots, ya did," a male voice said, and Braelyn looked over to see Boxer sitting in her chair. He was not smiling, which was surprising; normally he'd be laughing his arse off at Braelyn's embarrassment. "Lorelai and Halduron saw it all... as did Rommath."

Braelyn winced at that, but then remembered how she felt when the man she loved told her she was unimportant. She straightened her shoulders, tilting her head proudly. "Good."

"Good?!" Lorelai exclaimed. "It damned near killed him to see you getting frisky with that troll."

"Then he knows how I felt when I saw him having sex with that warlock tart."

"He was drugged, B," Boxer explained, patiently. Braelyn snorted.

"Drugged?" she sneered. "Is that the best excuse he could come up with? A bit too convenient for my liking. And, yet, you believe him?"

"I'm a priest, Braelyn Hawke!" Lorelai snapped, glaring at the human. "I know what someone looks like when they're recovering from a potion like the one given to him. It was a Lust potion, the most potent one available. It causes obsessive thoughts on top of the lust, and can cause pain if the victim tries to resist. It's nasty." Braelyn could only stare as the usually calm priest scolded her. "Not only that, I have known Rommath since before your great-grandparents were born; he would never stoop so low as to cheat on someone."

"It wasn't real!" Braelyn said. "He never cared for me, it was just a trick, a ploy! He was just playing with the poor, stupid human wom... " Her words were cut off as Lorelai slapped her hard across her left cheek. She felt her skin burn, and stars danced at the edges of her vision.

"If you honestly believe that Rommath is the type of person to do that, then you never deserved him!" Lorelai glared at Braelyn one last time before walking out the door.

"Wow, never thought I'd see Lorelai mad enough to hit someone," Boxer whistled. Braelyn stared at him, hand cupping her injured cheek. "Listen, toots, you and I both know that crazy warlock is just the kind of person who'd do this kinda thing. She doesn't take rejection too well, ya know?"

Braelyn nodded. "I know," she said softly.

"I saw Rommath as I arrived this mornin', Sweet Pea; the man did not look good at all. He was torturin' himself about how he hadn't seen Denaria for what she is; a deceitful, manipulative bitch. He hates himself for hurtin' ya, is mad at you for pullin' that crazy shit at the bar, and has no idea how to talk to ya 'bout it."

"Really?"

"Really. He wants that troll dead, B," Boxer said grimly. "If Halduron hadn't kicked the troll outta town this mornin', I swear your boy'd be stringin' him up in the Bazaar to use as trainin' dummy."

"I... don't know how to react to this," Braelyn confessed. "Part of me believes you and Lorelai about the potion..."

"The other part?" Boxer prompted when she paused.

"Doesn't want to believe."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because, what's my excuse?" Braelyn said.

"Uh, what now, Sweet Pea?" the goblin asked in confusion.

"If Rommath was drugged, then he's an innocent victim," Braelyn said in a pained voice. "But me? I don't have that excuse. I chose to run away, to get drunk, to throw myself at that troll. Damn it!" she hit her pillow in anger. "I knew that Denaria was after him, knew she wasn't above pulling a stunt like this! And I let her win! I should've stayed, should've fought her, fought for him."

Braelyn curled up in a ball, screaming in frustration. "Why can't things be easy, for once in my life?"

Boxer came over to her and patted her shoulder. "C'mon, B. Go take a bath, have something ta eat. You'll feel better, and then ya can go and fix things with Rommath."

Braelyn nodded, slipping out of the bed to head for the bathroom. She let out a startled squeak as Boxer slapped her on the arse playfully. "Next time you wanna get drunk, toots, let me know, will ya? I'd love ta see ya dance!"

"BOXER!"

Boxer was right about the bath. It did make her feel better, clearing her head so she could think things through calmly and rationally. By the time the water was cold, Braelyn knew what she had to do.

She called for Auriel, asking him to take her belongings across the street to Aethas' house. The chef, who Braelyn now understood to be more of a manservant, was startled, but agreed to do so, noting with some concern the humans sorrowful eyes.

The truth was, Braelyn wasn't sure that she and Rommath could work out their current issues. There was just so much pain and doubt, justified or not, lingering in her heart. What she was sure about was that if they were to have any chance at all, she needed time to think and heal. More importantly, she needed space. To always be around Rommath would just make it harder to come to the right decision.

She put on simple linen dress. It wasn't blue, but an emerald-green colour. She swept her hair up into a bun, and called for her pets. As if sensing her mood, they let out little encouraging sounds, Bitey rubbing against her legs.

Steeling herself, Braelyn headed down to the library, where she knew Rommath would be at this time of night. Normally, she'd be with him. When she entered, she found him sitting at his desk, a mountain of paperwork in front of him. She noticed that he was still wearing his helm, hiding half of his face from her.

She stood there, just watching him work for a few minutes before giving a little cough. She saw him tense. He raised his head, and his eyes were... unreadable. He's hiding himself from me, Braelyn thought, a little hurt.

"You're awake at last," he said, voice calm. He clearly did not want to give anything away, and Braelyn felt blind. How was she able to do this without knowing what he thought or felt?

"Yes," she said, and, deciding to just get things over with, added quickly, "I came to say goodbye."

She was pleased to see that did affect him slightly, seeing his eyes widen, and his hand clench around his quill.

"Where are you going?" he asked, in that terribly emotionless voice.

"To stay with Aethas," she replied, trying to keep her voice as calm as his. "Just until I can think things through." She dropped her head, unable to look at him anymore. She heard him get up and walk over to her. He didn't touch her.

"Don't run away from me again, Braelyn. Talk to me. Tell me how to fix this," he said, and she realised that his voice wasn't emotionless, just tightly controlled, as if he was afraid of what he'd say. "Whatever it takes, I will do."

"I don't know that we can fix this," she confessed, and it broke her heart to hear him gasp in pain.

"What I did... " Rommath began, but Braelyn stopped him by placing her hand on his chest. Dear gods, but she wanted to hold him again.

"It isn't about what you did," she told him. "It's what I did. How I reacted. What I thought. I need to come to grips with that. Even though I know what happened to you, part of me still doesn't believe it. Being around you, when we both have so much anger and pain... it's just too much."

"I don't blame you for anything," he said. "You were more a victim than I was. It was you she really wanted to hurt." He growled when she didn't respond.

Her hand flopped to her side as Rommath moved away from her. "Go then," he said, "and may Sunreaver give you the peace you need." Braelyn could hear a faint twinge of jealousy in his voice.

She turned and started to walk away. She'd just reached the doorway when she heard him call out to her. She paused, but did not face him. She felt his hands land on her shoulders, his thumbs gently stroking the bare skin of her neck.

"Before you go, I want you to know one thing," Rommath said, and she could feel his warm breath waft gently across her hair. "I never slept with Denaria. I pushed her away before it got that far, and came looking for you." Braelyn let out a sigh. "I don't know if that means anything to you now, but I needed you to hear it."

Braelyn nodded once, then left their house.

Rommath never expected Braelyn to stay away so long. He knew she was stubborn, but this...

It's been three weeks.

He paced around his laboratory relentlessly, a glass of wine in one hand. He couldn't stand to be in his library now; not when she wasn't there, sitting in his lap and feigning interest in whatever alchemical treatise he was attempting to study.

The glass shattered spectacularly when it hit the wall. He remembered when she dropped the vial all those months ago, alerting him to the fact that she spoke Thalassian. Then he remembered the broken bottle of wine as she caught sight of him and Denaria together.

He snarled in anger. Damn that warlock bitch! This is all her fault!

If it hadn't been for Denaria, Braelyn would still be here with him, not hiding from him at Sunreaver's house.

Damn that mage bastard, too!

He wanted to go to her; to pick her up and carry her home. It's where she belonged, here in this house, with Rommath. Annoying him with her damn lynx, and kissing him goodbye when he left for work.

He missed her.

But his pride wouldn't let him go to her. Not when she so obviously didn't want to see him. He called for another glass of wine, wishing he could forget her, or at least go back to hating her for being human.

Damn that stubborn hunter!

"When did you realise that you love him?" Aethas Sunreaver asked, chuckling when his human guest blushed a violent shade of red and almost choked on her wine.

"I don't..." Braelyn began hotly, then gave up when she saw the look the mage was giving her. "I started feeling attracted to him early on in my stay. We'd argued about political dissidents in the city, and he got all up in my personal space. I couldn't help but notice how attractive he is."

"An argument, what a surprise," Aethas teased. Braelyn stuck her tongue out at him.

"I didn't realise that my feelings had become really serious until after the raid, when I apologised to him for..."

"Another argument?"

"Hey, no one likes a smartass, Sunreaver!" Braelyn snapped. The archmage raised his hands in a placating gesture. "He was so... sweet when he came to me that night," she continued, a dreamy smile gracing her lips as she remembered their first kiss. "However, I think I only accepted that I was in love with Rommath when I saw him and Denaria kissing, and that of course lead to... "

"Another argum...ugh!" Aethas grunted as Braelyn's shoe hit him in the head.

"No argument, just me acting like a drunken hussy," she said, preparing to throw her other shoe if necessary. "I can't believe that I did that. I can't believe that he's forgiven me for that."

"You believed what he said before you left then?" Braelyn nodded. "Then why are you still here?"

Braelyn paused, not sure how to answer. In the past three weeks she'd done a lot of thinking, isolating herself from the outside world for fear that if she went out, she'd find herself walking straight back into Rommath's arms. She'd come to forgive Rommath for kissing Denaria, accepting that he was not at fault. She also accepted that he forgave her for her reaction. It had taken a lot of time, however, to forgive herself; not so much for the drunken dancing, but for continuing to doubt him when she'd learned the truth.

"I'm afraid," she confessed, biting her lower lip. "I might have pushed him too far away this time. Stayed away too long. I can't bear the idea of facing him again, and finding out he thinks I'm not worth it."

"May I tell you something?" Aethas asked, leaning forward. When she nodded, he added, "It may come as a bit of a surprise." He paused, licking his lips.

"I was in love with your mother," he said, and Braelyn nearly dropped her wine.

"I... what?"

"This was back when she began her mage training, well before she met your father," Aethas said. "I thought she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. Thankfully, she felt the same about me, and we spent many happy years together. I would have married her..."

"What happened?" Braelyn asked feeling very awkward. She had no idea that her mum had loved anyone but her father.

"Her parents disapproved of her seeing an elf; they wanted their daughter to marry a human, and have pure-blooded human children," Aethas' words were tinged with bitterness. "I wanted her to ignore them, confident that they'd accept us in time, but she didn't want to disappoint them. She chose to avoid getting married altogether, while I wanted to make our relationship official. So I pushed her... and the more I pushed, the more she resisted. Eventually, we had a massive argument, and she left. I was convinced she would come back, but..."

"She didn't."

"No," Aethas said sadly. "Ellysan is a very stubborn woman. Just like her daughter."

"Yeah," Braelyn said sheepishly, "I've heard that a lot."

"I waited a long time for her return, but the next time I saw her was at her wedding to your father."

"What?!"

"When I got the invitation, I was in a lot of pain, but I had to see... So, I went, and I saw how happy she was with Jasper, how much they truly loved each other, and I realised that it was all for the best. He seemed to know how to work with her stubbornness, not against it."

"How... how is that supposed to help me?" Braelyn asked. "Are you suggesting that I don't get back together with Rommath?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all," Aethas explained. "What I'm saying is, that you if you love him, and want to be with him, then you need to go tell him that. Don't keep him waiting, not knowing. It's cruel." He watched Braelyn frown as he spoke.

"Braelyn," he said, drawing her eyes to his. "The hardest part of what happened with your mother was when I received the wedding invitation. I stared at it, thinking 'what if' for hours. 'What if I'd gone after her, would it be our wedding? Or would we have separated regardless?' It was a nightmare.

"Even though I came to see that we wouldn't have lasted anyway, that she was destined for your father, if I'd gone to her, we may have had a little more time together. We could have ended our romantic relationship in a more positive way.

"I can't tell you if you and Rommath are destined to be together for the rest of your lives, but do not let stubbornness and pride end it for you early. Ten days, or ten decades... take what time you can. Don't leave yourself open to the pain of wondering 'what if'."

Braelyn swallowed, looking at Aethas with wonder. It must have taken a lot to confess that to her, and even to allow her into his home, given how much she looked like her mother.

"Thank for telling me, Aethas, it must have been hard," she said. "And I promise, I will go and speak to Rommath tomorrow."

"Good," Aethas said. "I know that he has been troubled by your staying with me so long. He never met your mother, but he knew that I was involved with her at one stage. I think he feared that I would seek to relive that romance with her daughter."

"Okay, that's kind of disturbing," Braelyn said. "No offence, Aethas."

"None taken."

"But, you know what this means, right?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"What?" Aethas said, noticing the glint with some apprehension.

"You could have been my dad!"

Braelyn decided that if she was going to speak to Rommath, she would do so in public. That way Rommath would probably keep his temper in check if he reacted negatively.

She stopped in at a bookshop to buy him a gift. She knew that she didn't have to, but she wanted to. She even borrowed the money from Lorelai, so Rommath wouldn't be paying for his own gift. She would have asked Boxer, but... goblins. His terms probably would've involved her handing over her first-born child.

When she entered Sunfury Spire, she could feel everyone turn their eyes on her, but she ignored them. She had her eyes fixed firmly on Rommath, who had noticed her entry almost straight away. He tensed up, his back going rigid, and she could see the confusion in his eyes. He wasn't expecting her to come here.

"Miss Hawke," Lor'temar said with a polite bow, "what you brings you here? I'm afraid I have no news from Stormwind."

"I was hoping to speak with the Grand Magister," Braelyn replied, trying to ignore the grin Halduron sent her way, or the two thumbs up he gave Rommath.

"Very well," the Regent Lord said, "but I must ask you to be quick." Braelyn nodded as she walked to one side. Rommath seemed to hesitate, but, seeing her beseeching look, followed after her.

"What is it?" he asked, stiffly.

"I... wanted to give you something," Braelyn said, handing him the brightly wrapped gift. He accepted it automatically, giving her a puzzled look when he unwrapped it and read the book's rather bland title; Everything You Need to Know About DIY Repairs.

"I had it personalised," Braelyn said, gesturing for him to open it. She saw Rommath's eyes twitch in amusement when he read what she had written;

Can we fix it?

Yes, we can!

Rommath laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound Braelyn had every heard; rich,deep, and loud. So loud it caused everyone to stare at them openly, abandoning all attempts at subtlety. The Grand Magister never laughed. "I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of this," he said.

"Do you forgive me?" Braelyn asked softly. Rommath slid an arm around her waist, drawing her to him. Even though she couldn't see his mouth, she knew he was smiling.

"Only if you forgive me for refusing to see Denaria for what she is."

"Done," Braelyn said happily, smiling when he reached up, lowered his helm and kissed her, right there in front of everybody. She could hear Halduron laughing madly in the background, and stuck her middle finger up at him. He just laughed harder.

Lor'themar Theron just looked on in bewilderment, the last person in Silvermoon to find out about the Grand Magister and the human hostage. He was about to politely interrupt when a messenger hurried out of the portal room. The courier ran up to the Regent Lord, panting heavily, and handed him a rolled parchment.

"Message for you, my Lord," the messenger gasped.

Lor'themar took the scroll, raising an eyebrow when he saw the wax seal. He raised his eyes to his Grand Magister, who was now standing with his forehead resting against Braelyn's. He coughed loudly, and the couple pulled apart, though Rommath kept a hand resting on the small of Braelyn's back.

"I just received a letter from King Varian," he said. He watched as Rommath's face tightened, and the human woman turned to him with a gasp, and a gentle murmur of surprise.

"What does it say?" Rommath said as he tightened his arm around Braelyn's waist, tucking her into his side.

Lor'themar broke the wax seal, splitting the lion's head in half. He sighed. The message the scroll contained would probably devastate Rommath and the girl. He cleared his throat and began to read.

To: Lor'themar Theron, Honourable Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas

From: Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind.

Lor'themar,

After speaking with her parents, I am prepared to offer you a deal in exchange for Braelyn Hawke's safe return. I am afraid that Jaina is adamant about not releasing any Sunreaver prisoners, and the other Alliance leaders are uneasy about trading any other Horde captives. What I can offer you is this; building materials or any other supplies you might need for the restoration of Silvermoon City, to the value of 100,000 sovereigns.

Send word if the terms are agreeable, by tomorrow morning if possible. We have members of the Argent Crusade standing by to teleport to Silvermoon to collect Miss Hawke.

Varian Wrynn.

AN- geeze, poor bastards can't catch a break.

Next Chapter: Lor'themar makes an interesting proposition that neither Rommath nor Braelyn expect, but will it lead to a happy ending, or only delay the inevitable?