EDIT: (6.22.10) This chapter has been edited to reflect details developed after its release to keep them consistent and accurate. Sorry for any confusion and thanks to Mousie for pointing them out!

A/N: I live! It's been a while, hasn't it dear readers? I am so sorry for the hiatus. If you'll read my profile, you'll see that I've had a lot of recent changes (all good, I assure you) in my life that have kept me busy. But I've picked up my pen again, so to speak, and am eager about continuing Sirens of Azeroth and moving on soon to new projects. Thanks again for your patience!

Chapter 20: The Night Elf's Lament

Night spread over Stormwind City much too fast it seemed, and when it came Leyla did not return to Cathedral Square as she told Azurian she would. She felt a great amount of guilt with standing him up, a man whom she cared for very much and had not seen in years. Yet Azurian thought she was in Stormwind studying as a priestess, a notion so far from the truth that it made her ill to think of what he would say if he found that out. This nervous fear convinced Leyla to stay away from Cathedral Square and the Park for the rest of the day. She even secluded herself to her bedroom in the inn, paranoid that she could run into him somewhere in the city. It was where Raezel found her, sitting on her bed near the window with her large journal in her lap.

"Leyla, what are you doing up here alone?" she asked, closing the door behind her. "Everyone is downstairs at dinner. Aren't you hungry?"

Smiling faintly, Leyla shook her head and put her writing quill down on the bedside table. "Not particularly," the night elf replied. "I just, ah, wanted some time to myself."

Raezel's smile was wry as she moved to the foot of the bed to sit. "You wear your emotions on your sleeve, Leyla, and it's all too obvious something is bothering you," the woman said with a tilt of her head. "If you don't want to talk about it, then I will leave you be. But, if you do, I am here to listen and offer what advice I can."

Leyla nodded, nibbling the inside of her lip and casting her glowing eyes to the painted rose on her book's leather cover. Anxiety was continually building inside her; even though she had avoided Azurian that whole day, each hour that passed reminded her that the royal ball was drawing nearer. If she still wanted to attend—which she genuinely did—she would doubtfully be able to evade him. Leyla could not come up with another solution beyond staying in the inn while the other courtesans attended a rare and decadently extravagant event without her. Raezel had been a source of wise advice and council before. If there was anyone she could talk to, it was her.

"I saw someone today," Leyla finally said after a moment. "A druid from Daranssus that I was…am close to." She paused, sighing through her nose and looking up at Raezel. "He doesn't know, of course. About me being a courtesan."

Raezel's brows rose and she nodded. "Ah, I see," she replied. "And you didn't tell him." The night elf shook her head and the woman hummed softly. "Are you ashamed to do so?"

The question was not one she could answer quickly and the courtesan pursed her lips and furrowed her brow pensively. "Not…necessarily ashamed," Leyla answered after consideration. "Just…afraid, I suppose, of what he'll think. Of what he'll say. That he'd be ashamed of me." With a heavy sigh, Leyla shook her head. "Forgive me for being so cryptic. It doesn't help at all for you to understand the situation."

Sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest, Leyla draped her arms around her legs and leaned toward Raezel. "His name is Azurian. He's a childhood friend of my older brother and of mine as well. He and Alaric were always like siblings, but the two of us…" Her ice blue cheeks flushed and Leyla could not help a dreamy smile that was all too telling. "We had always been fond of each other. He was my first love and one who, as my father always said, would be a good match for an accomplished priestess of the Sisters of Elune."

Leyla snorted softly. "Of course, when it was evident I would not become that, my parents' opinion changed about our courtship."

"Did Azurian's?" Raezel asked, shifting to lie on her side.

The night elf shrugged weakly. "I like to think that it didn't, but it was hard to tell at times. We were already drifting apart as it was shortly before Hyjal. He excelled just as much at his studies as Alaric did, and with my father as their mentor and their skills celebrated among the Cenarion Circle, the two of them were quite well known and respected in Teldrassil. I, on the other hand, was floundering in my studies and, unfortunately, getting just as much notoriety for it. The daughter of Druid and High Priestess Jadefern, sister of the soon to be great Alaric Jadefern, a failure as a priestess. It was the topic of whispered gossip for a while, though I heard it quite loud and often from my parents."

Leyla released another heavy breath and frowned. "Azurian and Alaric both tried to assure me that it was alright my calling was not as a priestess, but I could tell they were both disappointed that I had no true talents to pursue beyond my harp playing. It was that, I suppose, and all of the tension that came from the dissent of my parents and our peers that drove a wedge between Azurian and I. He and Alaric left Darnassus not even a few months after Hyjal and returned rarely, especially when they went to fight for the Cenarion Circle in Sithilus. They both wrote letters, but Azurian's began to get quite infrequent after a while. Then they just stopped. Even though we never officially ended our courtship, it felt like it was over long before he left."

While the night elf remained quiet and contemplative, eyes cast toward the bed, Raezel watched her with a slightly passive expression, though her eyes were sympathetic. "Do you still have feelings for him?"

Lifting her head and blinking at Raezel as if the question shocked her, Leyla's brows furrowed. "I'm…I'm not really sure," she murmured. "I suppose, in a way, I always will. He was my first and very kind to me. But I think I let the words of my parents diminish my feelings for him. I let them convince me that I wasn't worth his affections and that we would never be right for each other." She shook her head with an annoyed huff. "I realize how stupid it was to let my parents influence me in such a way, but our lives have still ultimately guided us to different places now." Her smile was wry and sad. "I can't imagine that even he would think a courtesan a sound choice for a druid's lover let alone wife."

Raezel was quiet again, lips pursed and a small hum rumbling in her throat as she rocked back slightly. "That is quite an unfortunate circumstance. One that I sympathize with. Well, at least in regard to disappointing your parents. Although my own experience was…quite different."

Eyes lifting, Leyla blinked at the other courtesan's faraway expression. She knew how secretive Raezel was about her past and remembered that Cara said the woman very seldom talked of it. Yet Raezel seemed to be offering a small glimpse into her life that Leyla was all too tantalized by to leave her words at that. "How so?" she asked, shifting to move closer to Raezel.

The woman's forest green gaze remained on the bedspread, eyes blinking slowly as she remained quiet briefly. "Both of my parents as well as my brother were paladins. The Goldsteele Family has produced clergy members and defenders of the Light for generations. My father and brother both were among the first paladins among the Knights of the Silver Hand."

"Were you?" Leyla asked, knowing the name of the first order of holy paladins from readings and conversations in Darnassus.

Shaking her head with a small chuckle, Raezel gave a smile that seemed rueful. "I'm not that old that I was among the first, little elf. But no, I never made it to the point that I was a Knight. I would have, perhaps, had my parents and I not had a falling out of sorts." Eyes shifting to Leyla, though still distant, the woman patted the night elf's hand gently. "So I sympathize. The expectations of family and peers can be overbearing and unrealistic in regard to what they envision for our future, especially when it is not what we want or plan for ourselves."

Raezel's lips quirked into a genuine smile. "You are becoming a beautiful courtesan, Leyla, and you seem to realize that you are doing well if not enjoying it to some degree. Even if you do not remain with us, your experiences are now a part of you. You are, and always will be, a Red Thorn, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. It is taboo, what we do, and many have a negative perception of a woman who would sell her body. But I know that you have come to learn that being a courtesan is so much more than that. Your friend Azurian and your parents, should you decide to tell them, may not understand and even refuse to, and in that case, there is not much you can do to persuade them otherwise."

She squeezed Leyla's hand. "In the end, it is your life and you must be satisfied and happy with what you have made of it. And not according to anyone else's standards."

Pursing her lips thoughtfully, Leyla met Raezel's gaze, wanting to find it easy to believe in such words with the woman's wise, warm eyes reassuring her so tenderly. It was all easier said than done, though, being so confident in her life choices that she could withstand the inevitable criticism of her family and Azurian. Before joining the Red Thorns, Leyla had done nothing on her own without the approval of her parents or peers. Now, faced with having to reveal the truth to Azurian and possibly her brother, mother, and father of what she had become, she couldn't fathom any of that being easy to deal with.

"No use fretting about it now, though. Why don't you go come down to dinner with me, get some sleep after, and venture out tomorrow to find yourself a nice dress for the ball?" Raezel suggested, rising from Leyla's bed and smoothing down her skirt. She smirked and brushed a stray strand of the elf's amethyst hair from her forehead. "You'll accomplish nothing but trapping yourself in a boring night alone and thinking of things you can't change, if you don't go."

Leyla nodded reluctantly. "I know," she admitted with a sigh. Her lips quirked into a grin and she chuckled. "Besides, I don't think Amaru, Cara, and the twins would forgive me if I decided to mope around and hide from my ex-lover rather than attend the ball with them."

"They would be absolutely livid with you," Raezel laughed, putting a friendly hand on Leyla's shoulder, urging her to rise from the bed. "Now come. Let's go have dinner. The others should still be down there, preening over their dresses."

The night elf nodded with a faint smile, letting her journal slide off her lap onto the bed as she rose with Raezel and walked toward the bedroom door. "You know that if Azurian does see meat the ball and finds out that I'm a courtesan—"

Waving her hand, the woman snorted softly. "As my mother used to say, we'll get to that bridge when we cross it," she assured her, opening the door. "Besides, one druid is no match for several angry women, let alone any of Bella's girls. I don't think the demon lords of the Legion are…"

The pair chortled on their way down the hall. Leyla couldn't argue much with that.

It was a great disappointment that, when she felt a strong need to be around others, Leyla found herself alone. In the late morning, when the night elf came down to breakfast, Allison told her that most of the other Red Thorns had already left the inn. Raezel had business to attend to before ball that next night, the twins were once again at the SI:7 headquarters in Old Town, and Cara had gone to Goldshire to visit her family. The other courtesans were also out and about, most still searching for dresses for the Lion's Ball. Trying not to take being excluded from her friends' plans personal, Leyla simply resolved to get out of the inn, despite her fears of running into Azurian.

Allison suggested a clothier in the Mage's Quarters as the best place to look for a dress, so after eating a light meal by herself while idly listening to the discussion between a group of soldiers about a rumored Scourge attack in Durotar, Leyla left the inn. The weather was slightly overcast, leaving the city shadowed and much cooler without the sun to warm the cobbled streets with the smell of rain faint in the air. Whether it was because of the dreary weather or the fact that most travelers that came through Stormwind had ventured out by the mid morning, the streets were scarcely populated, filled with a heavy, lethargic quiet.

The much too somber atmosphere threatened to further dampen Leyla's spirits. Briefly, she considered seeking out Van and Isha in Old Town, or even Azurian, perhaps looking for him in the Park. Yet only members of SI:7 were allowed into the headquarters of Stormwind's elite rogues, and speaking with Azurian would only bring about an inevitable awkward and potentially disastrous conversation sooner. With a sigh, Leyla tucked her scarf around her head and bundled under her cloak, continuing her walk to the Mage's Quarters alone.

The friendly greeting of the clothier's owners and the brilliantly colored robes and dresses displayed for sale in the store was welcomed warmth. The store seemed much more energetic than the city it was in, filled with patrons milling about garments on wooden dummies and folded on tables with attendants flocking around them. It was quite a comical scene and Leyla chuckled at the sight of a dwarf scurrying with a pile of slippers taller than her toward a pair of demanding noblewomen. She moved carefully through the crowd and the tables of clothing to a dummy wearing a long black gown embroidered with silver, thoughtfully fingering the intricately embroidered sleeve.

"Hmm, not an appropriate choice for a royal ball, is it, elfie? Don't want to look like you're going to funeral, do you, though I'm absolutely sure you'd look stunning in black regardless."

Turning her head to regard the familiar voice that belonged to the handsome, smirking human, Leyla blinked in surprise before she giggled and tipped her head. "The last time a man in a dress shop flirted with me, he turned out to be a dog," the night elf retorted, folding her arms and hooding her eyes in a playfully aloof gaze. "Though he did have good taste in clothing."

The ranger laughed, warm green eyes crinkling with mirth as he approached Leyla and gently took one of her hands. "Well, fortunate for the both of us, I am not a dog," Darcen Swift replied with a smooth grin before kissing the back of Leyla's knuckles. "But I do have excellent taste in women's dresses, as I enjoy looking at the beauties dressed in them."

Giggling with a roll of her eyes, Leyla pulled her hand from the ranger's. "Is that what you are doing now, Darcen? Offering advice to the beauties of Stormwind?" she asked, smirking.

"Well, among other things. I also have a coat that was in need of a bit of tailoring before the Lion's Ball tomorrow."

Leyla arched a long brow. "You're going?"

Darcen snickered, putting a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "You don't think a lowly ranger could earn an invitation to dine and dance with the nobility of Lordaeron?" He laughed and waved a dismissive hand before Leyla could apologize. "I jest with you! I'm only invited to act as covert guard with the other rangers. Ever since that Prestor woman's treachery and Lord Wrynn's true return, protection of the king and the prince has been stringent and enforced. We shall be milling about the ball's attendees in secret." He dropped his voice to a whisper and put a hand to his mouth. "But don't tell anyone."

The courtesan laughed behind a hand and lowered her own tone playfully. "I promise not to."

Chuckling, Darcen gave her a wink, crossing his arms. "And what of you, lovely Leyla? I assume the Red Thorns will be gracing us with their seductive talents tomorrow evening?"

"Oh, I think near naked dancing and dueling is a little to provocative for a royal ball," Leyla answered with a snicker. "We're to be escorts for those that would like a pretty woman on their arm and have the gold to pay for one."

"Ah, then it is a shame my pockets have been a bit light, as of late," the ranger said with a small tug of his lips, actually looking crestfallen. "I will just have to watch you from afar as you dance with some portly, aged nobleman."

Leyla laughed and gave him a pretty smile and a pat on his arm. "Don't look so sad. I promise to save a few dances for you, if you'd like."

Brows lifting and lips smiling once more, Darcen made a small bow. "I would be honored, Lady Leyla, to dance with you, and I shall hold you to that promise." He grinned and looked at the ebony dress. "Now, would you allow me to perhaps offer my services as a dress expert and help you pick out something a little less somber? And, afterwards, take you to lunch?"

Blushing faintly, Leyla chewed the inside of her lip while debating the offer. She immediately thought of Azurian and felt a pang of guilt. He was the man she had been in love with most of her life, her first in many regards, and she couldn't even bring herself to meet him when he asked her to. Yet now that she felt lonely and in need of company, she was hasty and eager to accept Darcen's invitation. The thought of running into Azurian or the druid happening upon her while with the human only made that guilt stronger. Being alone on such a dreary day, however, wasn't any more appealing.

"You hesitate," Darcen said with a lift of his brow and a small smile. He raised a hand. "Think no more of it. I'll take my leave, Lady Leyla, and—"

"I'll come," Leyla interjected. She smiled at him, still blushing, and nodded. "I'd like to have lunch with you." Biting her lip again in thought, the night elf cast her eyes away. "I didn't mean to hesitate, but it's just that…I've been dealing with a problem of sorts lately that's got me a little distracted. I'd hate to be awful company."

Darcen pursed his lips in concern, then smiled tenderly. "Did I mention in addition to being an expert on dresses, I'm also a great listener? I would be glad to offer an unbiased, attentive ear, if you need one and even some advice if I can help.

Meeting the human's soft, friendly green eyes, Leyla blinked, lips parting to politely refuse him. Yet upon a second consideration, the night elf nodded, her expression becoming a bit brighter. "I would very much like that," she replied, earnestly grateful for the offer.

With a nod of his head and a return of his jovial, rakish smile, Darcen put a hand to the small of Leyla's back and gestured toward another display of dresses. "Then let's find you something that will look even more ravishing with you in it first," he said with a charming wink. "We can't have a beautiful woman forlorn and without a proper dress for the ball. That would just be a travesty!"

Chuckling and rolling her eyes, though her cheeks flushed faintly, the courtesan smirked at the grinning ranger. "You really are too charming for your own good, Darcen Swift," she teased him, shaking her head.

Darcen smiled wider and gave the night elf another wink. "No. I'm just charming enough."

The Pig and Whistle, with its warm, rustic interior and hearty meals, was the perfect place to escape the dreary afternoon and the light, cool rain that came with the ugly weather. For Leyla, the bowl of ham soup had done much to soothe her troubled spirit, but it was Darcen's company that had truly made the difference. Though she had spoken to Raezel and received good advice from her mentor and friend, it was nice to have a fresh perspective, especially that of a male. Leyla had always valued having confidantes of both sexes, and she almost always went to her brother when she needed a male's advice. Alaric was much more humble than Darcen, but there were many similarities between their personalities. The ranger's patience and kindness reminded her of him, which was perhaps one reason why she enjoyed his company.

"So are you more worried about what this, ah, Azurian will think of you being a courtesan? Or of what will happen if he tells your brother and parents?" Darcen asked after a gulp of his mead, wiping his mouth and putting his napkin on the empty plate in front of him.

"Both, really," Leyla replied with a smile and a wry purse of her lips. "It was hard enough knowing I disappointed him when I didn't become a priestess. Even though we are no longer lovers, he's as close to me as Alaric is." Her ears drooped a little and her eyes fell to her hands, playing idly with the ring and Steamwheedle pendant at her throat. "Though I have begun to discover my own life separate from my people and the desires of my family, I still don't wish to be alienated from all of them."

"Well, of course not. Family is important to everyone." He smiled sardonically. "And I suppose, no matter what race you are, a profession in which a woman sells her body is not one looked favorably upon." The ranger snorted with a shrug. "But really, is it any worse than a mercenary killing for a profit? Or a soldier earning wages to feed his family by slaughtering his enemies on the battlefield? They kill to ensure the safety of others. You do what you do to bring happiness to individuals who, more often than not, consider driving a dagger through their chest to escape from the miseries of this world." Darcen shrugged again. "You could argue the ethics of both without coming to either a black or white answer. And I don't think there is one."

Listening attentively to Darcen and honestly surprised by his open-minded point of view, Leyla chuckled a little at the irony of his words. "Madame Bella said the same thing, when she first talked with me about being a courtesan," she told him, fondly thinking of the squeaky but strong goblin woman. "And Raezel has said something similar. But I suppose, having been courtesans, it's natural for them to think that way. Most people—including my family and Azurian—wouldn't." She sighed heavily, sitting back in her chair and glancing off to a wall. "And it's difficult to explain…"

The ranger hummed thoughtfully and nodded. "Aye, that it is, and unfortunately most wouldn't be so accepting either." Smiling, he shook his head. "But if Azurian cares about you, and your family loves you—as I am sure they do—they will eventually come to accept it, at least. They may not like it and get terribly upset with you, but sooner or later they will know there is nothing they can do to change who you are and what you've decided to do with your life." Darcen winked. "That is, as long as you stand by the decisions you've made and assert that they are right for you."

Leyla's ears turned a light shade of red and she dipped her head with a bashful, but meditative smile. "I do," she replied. The night elf lifted her head to meet the ranger's eyes and nodded. "I do, really. And, if…when it comes to that, I will tell them so." Leyla couldn't help a small grin and a laugh. "I just hope they won't be angry for too long. We night elves aren't immortal anymore, you know."

Laughing with her, Darcen made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Ah, you still live a hell of a lot longer than we do. Hopefully they won't hold it against you for a large majority of your life." His expression became sympathetic. "But you're young, and from what you've told me they dote on you, despite their narrow-mind ways. They can't possibly disown you or anything, even if they threaten to."

Leyla snickered with a shake of her head and a wry smile. "Obviously, you haven't known many night elf parents. Your own must have been very understanding."

Darcen's smile was still soft, if not a little sad. "Ah, if they were, I don't remember," he told her with a somber shake of his head. "They died in Stormwind's fall during the First War. I was just a boy then." He shrugged. "I suppose it's just a personal trait, developed from knowing all types of people from different backgrounds. The matron of the orphanage I grew up in was a Sister of the Light and always preached about being understanding and open. Maybe that's where it comes from."

Tenderly smiling back at him, Leyla reached across the table and gently touched his hand where it rested on the wood. "Well, wherever it's from…I'm glad for it," she replied. "Thank you, again. For your advice. And for listening."

Blinking as his eyes lifted lowered to look at her blue-hued hand resting on his, and then up into Leyla's glowing eyes, Darcen's face colored a little and he cleared his throat with a bashful grin. "Ah, I am glad to be of help to you, Lady Leyla," the ranger said, clearing his throat, taking his hand away to scratch the back of his neck.

Amused and inwardly charmed by his embarrassment, Leyla drew her hand away and replaced it back at the ring of gold on her necklace. The door of the tavern swung open, drawing the courtesan's attention to the light that spilled in from it as a pair of husky dwarves entered. "It stopped raining, I think. I should get back to the inn. We're meeting with Raezel this evening about the ball."

"Then let me be a gentleman and escort you back, m'lady," Darcen crooned with his handsome smirk, rising from the table and sweeping around it to pull Leyla's chair out for her. "I'd like to spend all the time with you I can before you are swooped away by some arrogantly pretentious, fat, rich noble tomorrow and don't even look my way as he attempts to waltz with you being only half your height."

Laughing as she put her cloak back around her shoulders, Leyla walked at Darcen's side toward the front of the tavern. "Sounds like someone is a little sour," she goaded him, smirking.

"Mm, perhaps just a little." The ranger gave Leyla a smile that made her cheeks burn as he held open the door for her. "That Azurian fellow really was a fool to give you up. Priestess or not, you're still absolutely charming and beautiful."

The words did nothing to lessen the flush of her face and ears and Leyla brought the hood of her cloak up to her head before taking Darcen's offered arm to hide her reddening skin as well as shield herself from the light drizzle. "Once again, you really are too charming, Darcen Swift," she murmured, hooding her eyes mischievously under the drape of her hood.

Darcen met her stare with a rakish gaze of his own, putting a hand on hers where it rested on his forearm. "And once again, I'm just charming enough."

Laughing cheerfully with the ranger, Leyla walked with Darcen down a cobbled street of Old Town to the canal tunnels that would lead them back to the central district of Stormwind. From the opposite end of the passageway perpendicular to the tunnel the pair traveled, a set of glowing gold eyes beneath the hood of a feathered cloak watched the night elf and the human covertly and curiously before, with a swish of long garments and echoing steps, they were gone.

A/N: A short, transitional chapter without much action, I know, but there were some of my beloved hidden hints and tidbits in this one for you to ponder about, if you found them. And because I've decided to make this story 30 chapters instead of 25, I've moved around the planned chapters a bit. Next chapter will be the Lion's Ball and we will come closer to the culmination of the Stormwind Arc. And I promise, my next update will be MUCH sooner than 6 months from now. See you soon!