Chapter 14: Father Samuel

On the third day Anduin was kicked out of the Library. Not by the caretakers, or the librarians, but by his own father.

"For the love of the Light, Anduin." Varian had urged, "Go outside. Play in the snow, talk to some people. Just take a break."

Anduin admitted that he'd been rather high strung since the attack. His research had taken a turn from looking for proof of a Legion attack to studying the War of the Ancients. He spent hours in the library reading every account he could find, badgering emissary Jademoon endlessly until even her seemingly endless patients met an end. Anduin would have loved to ask Lady Tyrande some questions, as a Night Elf who was not only alive during the war of the Ancients, but had actually fought against the Legion and won.

"I don't have time for a break." He had argued, "We need to know everything we can before the next attack."

His father nodded in agreement, "Yes, but you don't have to be the one to do so. I have people working on gathering information. You don't need to work yourself to death."

"I have a duty." Anduin pointed out.

His father ruffled his hair, smiling fondly, "Not yet you don't. One day my son, you'll be king and you'll have years and years of stress and worry ahead of you. You shouldn't take these days of rest for granted."

Anduin grumbled to himself as he walked aimlessly through the halls of the keep, unsure of what to do with himself. Hs father had ordered him to stay away from the Library for the rest of the day, and no doubt the guards would snitch on him if he went anyways. He thought about sneaking out of the city for a bit, heading towards the small cave that overlooked the ocean, but the first snows of winter had fallen and the path would be deadly slippery. And no doubt his Father wouldn't be pleased if he snuck out - there had been a fierce lockdown ordered on the city and the coming and going of people was being strictly monitored.

But going outside did seem like a good idea. He walked back to his bedroom, grabbing a warm fur lined cloak and thick hide gloves before heading towards the open courtyard.

It was empty compared to the crowds that summer brought. Right now it was mostly filled with the nobles and others who lived within the Keep. The sand filled pits where soldiers spent days practicing were covered in snow. But the main trails had been cleared and Anduin found himself walking down them, enjoying the sharp tingling the cold brought to his skin.

A figure caught his attention. A woman was sitting on a bench away from the other ladies of the court. She wore a large fur cloak, similar to his own, and a fine Navy blue dress underneath. Her skin was pale, as was the fashion amongst ladies of the court. Her hair, however, was notoriously out of style, cut short to just above her shoulders and hanging down and loose in natural waves. Of course nobody would dare comment on this, due both to her status, as well as her reputation.

But Anduin just smiled, walking over to her, "Tess!"

Princess Tess greymane turning to look at him, a single perfectly arch eyebrow raised as she studied him. A moment later a genuine smile graced her face as she stood up to greet him.

"Anduin." She gave him a polite hug, carefully not to overstep boundaries in public, "What brings you here?"

"Er-" He rubbed the back of his neck, his face flushed, "I was kicked out of the library."

Tess didn't look surprised and made no move to hide her humour, smirking at him and his red cheeks, "Time out?"

Anduin glared, "Apparently I'm stressed."

"Oh well, we can't have that." Tess teased, "You'll get wrinkles. And we wouldn't want to tarnish that pretty face." She reached forward to pinch his cheek and he slapped her hand away.

"Must you?" He grumbled.

"I'm sorry." She said unapologetically, "But you're very easy."

"I didn't come over here to get harassed."

She tilted her head in confusion, "Then why did you come here?"

Anduin shifted awkwardly, looking around to make sure that nobody could overhear them. He had a feeling this conversation was going to be embarrassing but it had been nagging at the back of his mind since before the attack.

"Well...you're a woman." He began, wincing as he realized how idiotic he sounded.

Tess nodded at him like he was slow, "Yes?"

Anduin ignored her tone, instead taking a deep breath, deciding to get it out as quickly as possible, "There's this...girl, and she's a bit upset with me and I talked to my father, but he suggested I talk to a woman about it but I don't really have many options and I was hoping you could help me."

Tess paused a moment, taking it all in, before a dangerous smirk crossed her face, "Oh, this is about Miss Fairchild."

Anduin startled, "You know her?"

"I know everybody." She gave him an unimpressed look, "It's my job."

"Right." Anduin frowned, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable, "How much do you know?"

"More than you do." She smirked.

Anduin chuckled but there wasn't much humour in it, "Well then. Er- My father suggested that I keep my distance for now until she's less angry."

Tess snorted in a very unladylike manor, "Yes, well. No disrespect to His Majesty, but that's hardly the best idea."

"Why?" Anduin furrowed his eyebrows, "He explained it like...foreign diplomacy."

"Oh?" She raised a mocking eyebrow, "And I'm sure every woman would love to be compared to a foreign country. It makes our little hearts all a flutter." She pressed a hand to her chest and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Okay okay." Anduin held up his hand, "I get it. I get it. But what I am supposed to do?"

Tess looked at him curiously for a moment, as if trying to figure out his motives. Anduin shifted away from her, always a little freaked out when she did that. He always got the feeling she was looking straight through him.

"You've been thinking of this as a leader." She started, tilting her head slightly, "But maybe you should think of it like a healer."

"What?"

"Miss Fairchild's pride is wounded," Tess pointed out, "She thinks you pity her."

"I don't!" Anduin defended for what felt like the fiftieth time.

Tess looked pleased, like he'd reacted just the way she wanted, "Then why did you do it?"

Anduin didn't respond. She didn't need to explain what she meant, but Anduin felt himself at a loss for words as he went over it in his mind. Why had he given her the gold? He didn't pity her, and he didn't have a 'crush', no matter what his father thought. He'd just wanted to do something nice.

But there were hundreds of people who needed help - who would have been thrilled with a gift from the crown as such. Why was he so determined for her to get the gold? Despite her not wanting it?

"I don't know." He grumbled, not making eye contact.

Tess nodded, "Well there you go. Miss Fairchild believes you pity her - you need to prove that you don't. But you can hardly do that if you don't even know why you did it."

Anduin perked up a bit. She was right. Miss Fairchild hadn't been upset about him buying her farm so much as she was by the concept of 'charity'. Maybe if he proved that it wasn't that, she would take the gold. And forgive him.

"Thanks." Anduin climbed to his feet clumsily, smiling wildly, "Thank you."

Tess tilted her head with a smirk, "I do my best."

"You're the best." Anduin smiled at her, before turning to head back to the keep. He had a lot of thinking to do.

Collecting the money was simple. It had taken five minutes at the Stormwind treasury where a stern looking woman had handed her a form to sign and take to the keep, and then handed her a large sack of gold. Addy had stared at it in shock, still unable to comprehend that it belonged to her.

But while that was easy, finding a trainer was turning out to be tricker than she had thought.

She'd assumed that finding a trainer would be the easy part, but that wasn't the case. Most of the trainers in the city trained large groups of people at once, and from what she'd seen they only progressed slightly further than what Gryan had taught her. After that the individuals either found mentors or, the more common choice, went out to become adventurers in Alliance lands, training themselves and doing deeds for gold and trinkets.

But she didn't want that. She wanted a proper mentor. If she was going to start training she would be trained by the best. But the longer she searched the more she realized that she might need to go north to Ironforge, or maybe even further north to Light's Hope. The thought made her stomach churn, she didn't want to leave Stormwind. She'd been here only months, but it was the closest thing to a home for her now.

She continued her work at the bar. Business had never been very good, but now it seemed even more barren. Addy spent her days cleaning dishes over and over, sorting bottles, and struggling to stay awake. Mr. Tim had been spending time in the secret basement more often and more people were joining him, with people coming in the pub in large groups. They would give her a sharp look before disappearing behind the door. More than once she had the urge to ask Mr. Tim about the room, her curiosity getting the better of her. But she knew it wasn't worth losing her job over.

A few days after she accepted the money she got another letter. She saw the royal seal and frowned. She opened it but didn't recognize any names or numbers, so she tossed it into her dresser, making a mental note to go see a scribe at some point.

Addy managed to make a scribble with a quill onto the form that could theoretically be considered a signature. She rolled it up and decided to walk up to the Keep to hand it in.

It felt weird going to the keep for anything other than going to the courtyard while Gryan met with the king. She desperately tried to force the image of her and Gryan walking home through the empty halls. The halls certainly weren't empty today, filled with chatting noblemen, petitioners and soldiers rushing through the halls. She kept her head down and prayed that she could get in and out without seeing anyone who might recognize her.

But she had no such luck.

As she walked down the hall she was dismayed to see Prince Anduin walking towards her. She saw his surprise at seeing her, and hoped that he wouldn't stop to chat, but again luck wasn't on her side.

"Miss Fairchild." The Prince paused, and Addy stopped her walk as well. "How are you?"

Addy wasn't sure how she felt looking at him. The old rage she felt had dimmed away and now she felt nothing but a slight annoyance. But mostly she was just tired.

She gave him a clipped, "Fine." hoping he would take the hint and leave her be.

He didn't. Instead he looked down sadly, "My Condolences for Captain Stoutmantle. I...I hope you got my letter."

Addy paused for a moment, her lips turned down in a frown. So the letter had been from him. She nodded, but didn't give away that she hadn't actually read it.

But he didn't pry, just nodding and looking terribly awkward, avoiding her gaze "Well, I do apologize, for the part I played."

Addy snapped her head up, looking at him incredulously, "How is it your fault?"

The Prince winced, "When you're the one making the orders, every death is your fault."

Addy was surprised by this. Sure she had initially felt a bit bitter, but she'd quickly realized she was being immature and stupid. She'd never thought for a second that the Prince might feel guilty. And the more she thought about it, the more she felt angry.

"It's hardly your fault." She snapped at him.

Anduin looked up at her with wide surprised eyes. Addy cursed herself for finding it slightly adorable.

"Gryan was killed by the Legion." Addy forced out, bitting her cheek to keep her bottom lip from wobbling, "Blaming anyone else is a waste of my time and energy."

Anduin froze, looking down at her with wide eyes. They weren't wide in surprise, or in shock, but rather a startling realization. Like her words had shifted his entire world view for a moment, until he shook his head slightly and his eyes came back into focus.

He laughed lightly, shaking his head as he looked down with a large smile.

"You're laughing at me." She glowered.

"No." He whipped his head up, still smiling as he shook his head, "No I just realized...you're right. Maybe I should take your advice."

Addy was surprised, and started to shift awkwardly. She wasn't sure what to say in response to that. So she just stayed silent, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

The Prince seemed to notice her anxiety and straightened slightly, giving her a wide smile, "I won't keep you much longer."

Addy let out a breath, trying not to show how relieved she was to be leaving. She gave a small bow of the head and a mumbled, "Your Highness." Before quickly walking down the hall, her head ducked.

"Anduin." The Prince called after her.

Addy frowned, turned to look at him, "Pardon me?"

"You can call me Anduin." He looked a bit nervous, "Your Highness is a bit...formal."

Addy wasn't sure where he was going with this. Of course it was formal, that was the point wasn't it?

"Alright?" Addy nodded, a bit unsure with what she was agreeing to. But a moment latter his face brightened and she thought that it might have been worth it. Prince Anduin should always look so happy. There must be something terribly wrong with the world for him to ever not be smiling.

She gave him another small bow before turning to leave, feeling his eyes pressing into the back of her skull as she walked away.

After she spoke with the accountants, Addy found herself at a loss of what to do. Part of her wanted to go to the courtyard to train, but she knew it was now covered in snow. She found enough courage to slowly approach one of the guards and ask if there was a training arena somewhere covered.

The guard pointed her in the direction of Old Town, saying there were several old training rings around and the overhanging roofs usually covered them from the most of the snowfall. He also suggested heading over to S1:7 headquarters, where they had indoor facilities. But Addy wasn't exactly looking forward to running into Shaw or the strange lady any time soon, so she walked past the entrance to the headquarters and instead went in search of a more private arena.

She found one in a shady back corner of the district, but it was empty and it took only a few minutes to clear what little snow was on it. The swords weren't as high of quality, and the sand pit was filled with overgrown weeds and large rocks, but it would do.

She started her usual rotation, moving back and forth between the rotting dummies, turning and trying to avoid tripping. More than once she stumbled, but ignored it, not as bothered when there weren't people watching her failures. She readied her sword and prepared to go again.

She turned, expecting to see the blank space of the arena in front of her.

Instead her sword clashed with a large mace, and it took all of her strength not to drop the sword out of her hand. It reverberated up her shoulder and she gasped loudly as her feet slid back in the sand.

The man standing in front of her had dark brown skin, with long purple and red hair in long dreads which were pulled back into an elastic at the back of his head. He held an impressive amount of facial hair that was the same colour. His eyes were a piercing blue that narrowed as she made eye contact with him. Her own blue eyes must have been wide in surprise.

He smirked, pulling his mace back and swiping at her again. Addy yelped and brought her sword up, barely blocking the swing. She struggled to regain her footing as the man came at her again. She swiped his mace back again, then quickly tried to move around him before he cornered her against the weapons rack.

"What are you doing!" Addy yelled at him, terrified as the man started towards her again.

"Dodge" The man said gruffly before he brought his mace straight down on top of her. Addy took his advice and quickly jumped sideways into the dirt. She started to roll away as fast as she could, climbing to her feet and holding her sword out in front of her.

He was already there, slamming his mace into the blade of her sword, then sliding it down to the hilt. Addy gasped as the weight shifted to the handle as he locked his mace with her hilt. A second later he twisted his arms and then her sword was flying out of her hands. He caught it in his free hand, and curled his mace around her neck, holding her still as he pushed her sword towards her neck.

The point of the sword tapped her lightly against her skin, not even hard enough to draw blood.

"And you're dead." The man spoke simply, immediately lowering his weapons and tossing her her sword. Addy stumbled a bit trying to catch it, her heart pumping and her adrenaline pounding through her.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded through breaths, holding a hand to her chest.

The man studied her with his bright eyes, unnerving her. For a moment she gripped her sword, certain that he was going to attack her again.

Instead he just started speaking, "You're form is good, but your footwork is sloppy. You might have lasted longer if you weren't tripping over yourself every five seconds."

Addy gapped at him, "What?"

"This sword." He motioned to the one in her hand, "Is no good. It's too big for you, and not balanced properly. You'll need a properly sized one."

"Who are you?" Addy repeated with less heat than before, her eyes still narrowed and her hand still gripping the sword.

His calculating look vanished, and her gave her a soft, kind smile, "I'm Father Samuel."

"You're a priest?"

"A paladin." He corrected.

Addy stared at him with a furrowed eyebrow. She thought about the Paladin's she knew about. Tirion Fordring, Uther the Lightbringer, Gryan…Father Samuel didn't look like any of them. In fact he had more in common with the Adventures who liked to make their way through Sentinel Hill.

"What do you want." She snapped at him, "To pummel me in a dark alley?"

"Pummel? Perhaps." The man spoke seriously, but there was a spark in his eyes that Addy didn't recognize. Humour maybe. "Or maybe I just wanted to meet you."

"Is this how you introduce yourself to everyone." Addy demanded, still not releasing her grip on the sword in her hand.

He made a non-committal noise which confused her and she frowned. She was starting to doubt the man's claim of being a paladin - maybe he really was just some low brow adventurer, or maybe just a homeless man who knew a thing or two about fighting. Either way, she wasn't entirely sure he wasn't going to try and mug her.

"Why would you want to meet me." Addy snapped at him, "I'm nobody."

"Well, yes." Father Samuel snorted, and she bristled "Yes, you are. But, you're a nobody who seems to want to become a somebody,"

Addy glared, "I'm not one for word games, just tell me what you want or leave me be. I'm hardly in a mood to chat."

The man raised an eyebrow, but didn't look impressed by her bravo. Instead he raised his large two handed mace again. Addy subconsciously took a step back, cursing her self with a wince. He seemed to notice and smirked.

"You're looking for a trainer, am I correct?"

Addy paused for a moment, her face blank as her mind attempted to understand what the man was saying, but she just couldn't. It was ludicrous! There was no way her luck was that good, as to just stumble upon a trainer in the middle of the slums.

Addy narrowed her eyes at him, suspiciously, "And?"

"Don't be dense, girl." The man snarled, "You are looking for a trainer, and I am a trainer. But I won't take any idiots under my wing."

"I'm not an idiot!" Addy flushed red, fuming.

"Then don't act like one." He ordered, standing up straight and looking her up and down, "If you want to train with me you'll need to understand a few things-"

"Who said I want to train with you." Addy snapped. She knew she was being petty and childish, but she felt a burning rage and embarrassment.

"Because I'm the best damned Paladin trainer south of the Span, girl." He started to slowly circle her, which had her struggling to keep eye contact with him, "You'd be a fool to refuse - so tell me, girl, are you a fool?"

"No!" Addy hissed, straightening her back, "I'm not."

The man seemed pleased, "Good. Now, as I said, you need to understand what you're getting yourself into. I need to know you're committed."

Addy nodded, her rage leaving and being replaced by excitement. She was finally getting somewhere, "I am!"

"Are you?" Samuel tilted his head, raising a mocking eyebrow, still circling her, "Because this isn't going to be easy. You want to fight the Legion? Then that's how I'll train you."

"I want to kill demons." Addy responded, trying to keep her voice strong and certain.

He nodded, "Then listen up! Rule one: You do what I say, when I say it. I say run, you run, I say fight, you fight, I say pat your head and jump on one foot...?" He trailed off looking at her expectantly.

Addy hesitated, not sure if he was serious. He nodded his head at her and she huffed, lifting her foot and awkwardly jumping while patting her head.

"Good." He smirked, stopping in his circling. He crossed his arms, muscles straining against his thick forearms, "Now, do you own any Trousers? Leggings?"

Addy looked down with a pinched look, "What's wrong with my dress?"

He gave her a disbelieving look, "Just...get some trousers and a shirt. And get good leather, and make sure it's comfortable - nothing's worse than getting a rash from bad craftsmanship."

Addy pondered how much that would cost, but quickly removed those thoughts from her mind - this is what she was waiting to spend her money on, "Okay."

"Next we have to get you into shape."

Addy huffed, looking down at her flat stomach.

Samuel looked skyward, taking a step forward and pushing her shoulder lightly. Addy yelped as she stumbled backwards, falling to the ground with a loud 'umf'.

"You're weak." He snapped. "Paladin's wear plate armour, and that shit isn't light. How can you be expected to carry a sword, fight a demon, wear armour, when the lightest gust of wind knocks you over? Now do you know what a sit-up is?"

"Yes." Addy said through gritted teeth.

"Good." Samuel didn't look perturbed by her anger, "Do them. This is your centre, if it's weak - you're weak. You could be the strongest man alive but if your centre is weak you'll still be easy pickings. Understood.

Addy nodded, "Yes."

"When you're not training with me, you're still training. Understood?"

Addy paused for a moment, and Father Samuel noticed, her eyes narrowed

"Well don't keep me waiting girl, spit it out."

Addy shifted, her jaw clenched, "Where did you hear I was looking for a trainer?"

He shrugged, "Around. Believe it or not there's not a whole lot of us who stay this far south. Most head up North to the Plaguelands or Northrend. And more so...Captain Stoutmantle approached me, he spoke about you."

Addy felt a lump rising in her throat and quickly swallowed it. She's pushed all thoughts about Gryan out of her mind - she couldn't afford to think about him right now, or else her entire resolve would fade away in depression and tears.

She quickly pushed down her thoughts, determined to continue with her train of thought, "Did...the Prince have anything to do with it?"

Father Samuel startled, seeming genuinely confused, "The prince? No...why?" He narrowed his eyes.

"No reason." Addy quickly assured him, but her face had split apart into a wide smile. This was real! A real trainer, a friend of Gryan's, who actually wanted to train her. She shook her head in disbelief, "Why now? Why did you wait, why not approach me sooner."

Samuel shrugged, "Because you have something now you didn't have before."

"Motivation?" Addy guessed with a pinched look of confusion.

Samuel chuckled, looking at her with amusement.

"No...gold."

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews last chapter, your tears fuel me. You guys are super sweet and I love each and every one of you. I feel like I should say more but it's 5am and I need to go to bed my lovelies.

Feel free to leave a review with any comments, concerns and questions and bless you all

Until Next Time,

-Ash