Chapter Thirty-Five – Deceiver
I sat down on a chair and regarded the room I was in. It was nicely furnished. The pieces of furniture were not too expensive but not too cheap. The chair, on which I was sitting, and the table in front of me were made out of hard oakwood. On the table stood a plate of food and a few jugs filled with tea or apple juice. The tablecloth was blue and decorated with yellow flower patterns.
My gaze rested on my son who was playing with his toys. He was sitting in the middle of the toy castle he had built. The castle's structure reminded me of Lordaeron. There was a massive building in the middle which was surrounded by thick walls and lots of turrets. Toy soldiers with resembled archers were standing on top of the walls and turrets.
The figure which looked very similar to me was standing in front of the front gate with a few knights which were wearing heavy armour and blue tabards. Just like the knights of Lordaeron - And the knights of the Alliance in general.
There was even a figure which looked similar to Sylvanas. I wasn't sure if he knew who Sylvanas was and what she was doing. I didn't even know who had made these toys. It seemed that this mysterious person had put a lot of effort into making these toys.
Marcus was holding the Sylvanas figure in one of his hands while he moved catapults with his other hand. It seemed that Sylvanas and some undead creatures were attacking Lordaeron. I watched him for a while, giving him a smile whenever he looked up at me. Sylvanas' servants were defeated by the Knights of Lordaeron and her catapults were destroyed. In the end, my figure fought with the Sylvanas figure. My figure defeated Sylvanas eventually and captured her. Marcus put the figure of me on his bed and threw the figure of Sylvanas in the nearest corner of the room.
He rushed to me and climbed on my lap, wrapping his arms around me. He pressed his head against my chest and closed his eyes. It surprised me every time where I was seeing him that he wasn't afraid of me. It didn't bother him that I was undead nor did it bother him that my body was as cold as ice. He kept hugging me, not caring that he was shivering. I put my hand on his head, running my fingers through his hair. I put a blessing on him which made him immune to the cold and prevented that he would get sick.
I regarded him for a while, caressing his head without saying anything. I looked up when I heard that the door was opened. His mother entered the room. She was carrying a tray with a few bowls. She put the tray on the table and kneeled down to hug Marcus. He returned the hug happily and kissed her cheeks softly.
Vanessa giggled and sat down on a chair next to me, putting our son on her lap. Marcus' eyes widened. His mouth formed a wide smile when he noticed that all the bowls were filled with different kinds of sweets. He leaned over the edge of the table and grabbed the nearest bowl, almost knocking it over.
"Carefully, honey" said Vanessa and brought the bowl to her son slowly, making sure that he didn't take too many sweets. "Don't eat all of them at the same time. These are the sweets you get for today". She pointed at the sweets in Marcus' hand, signalizing him that he should be careful with them and shouldn't eat all of them at once.
He nodded and put a bonbon in his mouth, giving us a happy smile which I returned. I noticed that Vanessa was regarding me, joy and happiness were written all over her face. Her eyes rested on me when she put a kiss on our son's forehead. They also rested on me when she began to put a few grapes in her mouth. I gave her a smile, wondering why she was looking at me the entire time.
Marcus looked up at me eventually, regarding me with a thoughtful look on his face. "Can I ask you something, daddy?"
"Of course, you can" I responded and leaned forward.
"Who is that woman who shouted at you and why was she so angry?"
"Well" I started and made a thoughtful face as I was trying to figure out an answer he could understand. "Her name is Jaina and she is really important for me"
"So, you spend a lot of time with her?" he asked.
"Yes, I do"
"So, she is a friend of you?"
"Well, she is more than a friend for me but I will explain that to you if you are older" I told.
"But I'm important too, right daddy?" he asked, looking at me with big eyes.
"Of course, you are"
"And mommy too?" he asked, showing these big and cute eyes again.
"Err, yes. Of course"
"More than me?" he asked curiously.
"I like you both the same way. I don't have a favourite" I responded and ran my fingers through his blond hair.
"And her?"
I tilted my head. "Who do you mean?"
"Your friend" he answered and kept staring at me.
"Well, I like her too, my dear son"
"I don't like her"
"Why?" I asked, sounding very surprised. I hadn't expected that, to be honest. I mean, it was hard to predict anything because this entire situation was weird enough. I had never expected to have a son, at least not with a woman who wasn't Jaina.
I had found out that I had a son but I had never spent time with him before. I wanted to make up for that and spend more time with him but this turned out to be very difficult. First of all, Jaina, the other leaders of the Alliance and I had to make sure that the Burning Legion wouldn't invade our world again. Also, we had to prevent that the Horde would go to war with us.
Then there was Jaina who wanted that I would spend as much time as possible with her. I knew it would be very difficult for me to find the time to visit my son and Vanessa. It would be a lot harder if my son really disliked Jaina because that would mean that I couldn't take her to him, which meant that I had to choose between them. I hated making decisions where both outcomes would make a person sad. I had to find a solution for this or I would be forced to neglect one of them. I wasn't planning on letting the Alliance down nor was I planning on spending less time with Jaina. What should I do?
I continued to look at Marcus who was making a thoughtful face. "She wants to have you for herself. She doesn't want that we are spending time together. She doesn't like mommy and me"
"That's not true. She doesn't hate you nor does she want to have me for herself. She just has problems to accept that you are my son. She doesn't want to push you away. She just needs time to get used to you and your mommy"
"Why is it so difficult for her to accept me?" he asked. He was making a sad face as if he was blaming himself for this. I sighed and put my arms around him, giving him a comforting hug.
"I don't know, my son. I don't know"
"Look, Marcus. Jaina has nothing against you and me. She has just overreacted a little when she has found out about your existence"
"But why hasn't she showed up since the argument with daddy? She could have visited us already" He looked at Vanessa. His eyes told me that he wanted to know an answer.
"I don't know, honey"
"She is very busy. There is a lot going on between us and the Horde. She wants to make sure that there will be no bad blood between Alliance and the Horde" I explained and gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry, she will visit you as soon as she can"
"Hopefully" he said quietly and made a depressed face. I put my hand on his shoulder, caressing his cheek with my other hand. "Don't worry, she will come. You just have to be patient" I spoke.
"Promised?" he asked.
"Promised"
He smiled and slipped off his mother's lap, walking to his toy castle. He rebuilt it and started to play again. This time, my men and I were the attackers and Sylvanas was the one who hid in the main building of Lordaeron. Just like she was doing these days. The only difference to our current situation was that I was not planning on attacking Undercity.
Vanessa sat there for a while and watched our son while playing with his toys until he got tired. She picked him up eventually and brought him to his bed. She wrapped the blanket around him and read a bedtime story to him. The story was about a prince who fought against a scary dragon to rescue a queen. Marcus really liked the story except for the part where the prince kissed the princess and married her in the end.
I chuckled, remembering that I hadn't really liked girls in my youth. At least not before I had met Jaina. She had changed me so much and had made my life better. I didn't know what I would have done without her. Without her, a lot would have been different. Maybe I would have fallen in love with another woman, then I would have become the Lich King's servant and would have never gotten free because no other woman would have taken the same risk Jaina had taken to rescue me. I owned Jaina a lot and I knew I had to show her how grateful I was to have her.
A thought came in my mind. I had to surprise Jaina. I had to show her how important she was to me and what she really meant for me. I had to surprise her or make something special for her. Maybe a romantic candlelight dinner. Oh wait, we were both undead... That was unfortunate. Really Unfortunate. But I knew that I would be able to find another, maybe even better idea.
Marcus looked at me for the last time before he closed his tired eyes and fell asleep very quickly. His mother placed a kiss on his forehead, regarding him for a few moments. She turned around and gave me a small smile as she came closer to me.
"Let's go to the next room and talk there. I don't want to wake up our son accidentally" she said and moved towards the door.
"Fine" I responded and followed her out of the room. She sat down on a chair as soon as we entered the next room to the left. I didn't hesitate and took a seat opposite to her.
"I have to thank you" she said, giving me a smile.
"For what?" I asked, giving her a questioning look.
"For bringing Marcus and me to Stormwind City. Icecrown Citadel is not the ideal place to raise a child. There were no other children who could have played with Marcus. Now he has the chance to find friends and grow up in a much better place. He can become a normal boy who doesn't have to see many of these undead, ugly creatures every day"
"I only did what everyone would have done. You have to thank King Varian for allowing you two to stay here. Not me. I haven't done anything noteworthy"
"Don't say that. You could have held us in Icecrown like the Lich King did. But you didn't. Instead, you have brought us to this wonderful place" she responded and put her hand on my left hand. She made a worried expression as if something bad had come in her mind out of sudden. "King Varian doesn't know that Marcus is your son, does he?"
"Of course not. I don't want to risk that Sylvanas' spies would find out about our secret. Jaina, you and I are the only ones who know that Marcus is my son. I haven't even told Calia about this" I responded, trying to pull my hand away from hers. It didn't work quite well because she moved her hand with mine.
"But you intend to tell her, right?"
"One day where Sylvanas is not a threat for Jaina and me anymore. I don't want that Marcus gets hurt. I will tell Calia about him but first I have to make sure that Sylvanas is harmless and not able to harm our loved ones"
"How do you want to achieve that? Kill her? Capture her? Or do you want to do something else?" she asked curiously and caressed the back of my hand. Her touch was soft but I ignored the feeling of her skin against mine and didn't show her that I was enjoying this a little.
"I don't know, to be honest" I responded and stared at the ceiling, wondering if Sylvanas will leave me in peace one day.
Vanessa gave me another smile "You will find a solution. I'm pretty sure about that"
"I hope" I whispered and began to stare out of the window. I regarded the beautiful view of the harbour of Stormwind City. The sun was about to sink so that the horizon was glowing in bright red light.
"Everything is going to be fine. I promise" she caressed my hand once again. Her smile became wider when I turned my head to her and regarded her. "Anyways, let's talk about something else"
"What do you have in mind?"
"We could talk about our past"
"There is nothing about what we could talk" I responded and gave her an irritated look. "We spend a night together with your sister. We had sex one time. That's all that happened between us"
"I'm the mother of your child, Arthas"
"I know but that doesn't mean that there is more than friendship between us. You know that I love Jaina with all of my heart" I responded and managed to pull my hand away from hers finally.
I ignored the hurt look she was giving me. I knew which tools women were using to get their wills. I have grown up with a stubborn sister so I knew that women loved to sulk to force a man to surrender. I wouldn't fall for her tricks. I didn't look at her to prevent that the look she was giving me would make me weak.
It seemed that Vanessa had no answer for this but it didn't seem that she had already given up. I didn't need to get known better to her to notice that she was not the type of woman who would give up that easily. I knew that she would not stop to try to talk me into something I didn't want to do. I had to find a way to switch topics without her realizing that I didn't want to talk with her about this.
"You are a very special person, Arthas. You are the kindest, best looking and bravest man I've ever met" she spoke and leaned over the table a little so that her head was closer to mine.
"I guess I have to thank you for this compliment but that doesn't change anything between us. I respect you because you are Marcus' mother and a very nice person but I don't want anything more than friendship. I love Jaina and I will never love someone else nor do I ever want to cheat on her. No woman in the universe is worth enough to risk breaking Jaina's heart. There is no woman who could ever replace Jaina. I'm sorry to say that but I have no romantic feelings for you nor do I want you in a sexual way" I told and made a small pause. "My heart and body belong to Jaina. Not to someone else"
"You are lame, Arthas. The most exciting men are those who risk something and don't say no to an affair" she spoke and shook her head.
"I would rather be boring than cheating on the woman I love" I responded, pulling my hand away before she could grab it. I expected her to give me a hurt look but instead, she was giving me an angry look. Her eyes were narrowed. Her lips were pursed. She was frowning and biting her bottom lip hard. I expected her to shout at me, throw things at me and insult me but she didn't. Instead, she remained calm and the angry look disappeared out of her face.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and regarded me without saying anything else. I remained silent as well, regarding her with a raised eyebrow.
"So" she spoke eventually, not saying anything else.
"So what?" I asked and leaned back against the chair, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
"You won't go out with me, right?" she asked, making an impassive face.
"Of course, I won't go out with you. Have you missed that I'm in a relationship with a very charming woman?"
"She is not that charming as you might think"
"What do you mean?" I asked irritated.
"Just look at her. She looks anything but beautiful. I, on the other hand, am breathtakingly beautiful. Jaina may have looked gorgeous in life but now she is undead and looks like a rotten corpse"
"That's not true" I shouted, sounding louder and more aggressive than I had wanted. "She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met, even as an undead. I would never want to change anything about her, especially not her look. She is gorgeous. Besides, I don't love her because of the way she looks. It is true that I'm really attracted to her look but that's not the only thing I love of her. I love her the way she is. I love her character, her quirks and the way she is looking at things. She always sees the good in people, even if the portion of goodness is very little. She always tries to find a peaceful way to solve problems. She has a good heart, even if it doesn't beat anymore. I really love everything about her"
I stood up because this pointless discussion was over for me. I wanted to give Vanessa time to think about her behaviour and figure out what she had done wrong and which line she had crossed. I turned my back to her and was about to walk out the room when I felt a hand on my shoulder which prevented me from moving any further. "DON'T YOU DARE TO EVER LEAVE ME ALONE AGAIN" Vanessa screamed.
I turned around. My eyes widened when I saw that Vanessa's eyes were glowing dangerously green. I didn't know what was going on with Vanessa nor did I know what she was about to do. I was hit by something before I was even able to react. A magical bond was wrapped around my body and prevented that I could move. My arms, as well as my legs, were tied together, causing that I feel on the ground.
She walked over to me, regarding me with a wide grin and predatory eyes. She put a magical gag in my mouth, preventing that I could scream and ask for help. She bent down and started to remove my tunic.
What is she doing? She is not going to... She wouldn't...
I couldn't believe this, nor could I believe that I've been fooled by this woman who had pretended to be a nice person. The truth was that she was a psychopath. A jealous psychopath who would do everything to get her will.
She removed all of my clothes except for my underwear. She gave me a wide grin, starting to remove her own clothes. She got fully undressed, regarding me with a much wider grin. I had to admit that she had a really erotic body but her good look was not enough to make me willingly. She will never be able to break my will and force me to do whatever she wanted.
She was about to remove my pants when a sharp ice splinter hit her in the left shoulder. A loud cry escaped her lips and she staggered backwards. I turned my head a little, my tense body relaxed a little when I saw Jaina standing in the door. She had crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her eyes were narrowed and she was having a melancholy look on her face. She was everything but happy to see this awkward scene.
Jaina tilted her head and scrutinized Vanessa. Her eyes rested long on her dark green eyes and the green glowing tattoo on the left half of her face. Vanessa had removed the splinter and gotten dressed in the meantime.
"Dare to lay your hands on Arthas again and you will lose them" spoke Jaina. Her voice was low and sounded dangerous.
"Look who is here. Jaina Proudmoore finally shows up after leaving Stormwind for two weeks" she spoke with a provocative voice.
"My absence doesn't mean that you are allowed to fuck my boyfriend, you dirty whore" responded Jaina, lifting one of her hands. She created another ice splinter and let it rotate around its own axis, signalizing Vanessa that she was ready to attack. "Especially because he doesn't want you and your filthy body
"At least my body is not cold as ice and doesn't rot. Arthas won't ever want to enter your rotten, smelly pussy after he has tested mine" she spoke, giving Jaina another provocative grin.
This insult had triggered something in Jaina. She didn't even give Vanessa a verbal reply. She gave her a physical reply in the form of the ice-splinter which hit her other shoulder. Vanessa cried out in pain but she didn't wait long to pull the splinter out of her shoulder.
Jaina walked to me and cut the bond with an ice-dagger. She helped me up and stepped in front of me.
"Stay away from her, Arthas. She is manipulated by the Burning Legion" she shouted and pointed at the glowing tattoo.
I gave Jaina a surprised look. "Wait... What? How could you know that?"
"I can feel fel-energy in her. This can only mean that a demon has transferred portions of its powers to her" she explained and created an arcane barrier around us.
"Are you serious?" I asked, still looking at her.
"Yes, she is right" spoke Venessa. Her voice sounded a lot deeper.
"Why are you supporting the Burning Legion?" I asked, giving her a look, which told her that I demanded an answer. But she didn't say anything in return. She just stood there, the ice-splinter in one hand while she closed her wound by casting a spell with the other hand. She tilted her head and looked at us, giving us a provocative smile.
She didn't give us a verbal answer, instead, she shot a green sphere at us. The sphere, which made out of fel-energy, came in contact with Jaina's barrier. At least the barrier was strong enough to protect us from this spell. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the process.
"Is that all you have got?" asked Jaina and shot an arcane blast at Vanessa, hitting her right in the chest. Vanessa was flung away and collided with the opposite wall. She got up very quickly.
Suddenly, a painful cry escaped her lips and her face distorted in pain. She arched her back and pressed her hands on her sleeves. Two massive wings came out of her back and two horns grew out of her forehead.
"Arthas Menethil belongs to me" she cried out with a deep, demonic sounding voice and charged forward, trying to scratch Jaina with her hands which had turned into massive claws. She didn't look like a real demon, more like a weird mix between a demon and a human. Like a human whose transformation into a demon had stopped out of sudden.
Fortunately, Jaina managed to dodged and counter her attack. Vanessa was flung away, a sharp ice-splinter stuck in her rips. She got up and tried to attack again but I hit her with my hammer before she reached Jaina. She got up eventually, giving me a very surprised look. It seemed that she had expected that I would stand still like a statue and only watch the happening. I had done the exact opposite and had supported Jaina instead of doing nothing. I didn't know if there was a way to free Vanessa from the demonic influence but at least I wanted to prevent that Jaina would get hurt by her.
"You are siding with her? That's disappointing" spoke the half-demon and charged forward. She hit me with one her feet, sending me to the ground. She didn't hesitate and jumped on Jaina, sending her to the ground as well. Vanessa lifted her massive claws and tried to hit Jaina. But Jaina managed to roll away before any of these sharp and pointed fingernails scratched her.
She got up and hit Vanessa with a fireball. Her clothes caught fire but Vanessa didn't care. She walked circles around Jaina while regarding her with narrowed eyes. I grabbed my hammer as soon as I was back on my feet and charged at the Vanessa. My hammer's head hit her in the stomach, causing that she spit a large amount of dark green blood out. It turned out that the holy light was very effective against the half-demon. It caused that the half-demon was heavily in pain which was reflected by her face.
"You will pay for that" Vanessa snarled and turned towards me, giving me her full attention. This foolish move allowed Jaina to sneak up behind her and ram Frostmourne in Vanessa's side. Jaina didn't hesitate and grabbed the demon by her hair, bashing her head against the nearest wall. One time, two times, three times until the demon lost her consciousness and passed out on the floor.
"What was that?" I said after I had come to terms with what had happened. I regarded the unconscious Vanessa whose demonic body parts had become normal again.
"A demon has taken control over her" responded Jaina and bent down, examining Vanessa's body. She turned Vanessa's head a little and wiped a strand of hair away, revealing more of her neck. Her index finger pointed at the glowing mark on the left side of Vanessa's neck. The mark was a symbol which consisted of two letters - 'M' and 'G' - The M stood on top of the G.
"What does that stand for?" I muttered, making a confused look.
"Mal'Ganis" whispered Jaina. She didn't even look at me. She just stared at the body as if she was looking for something. I stepped to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Is everything alright?"
She turned around and gave me her brightest smile. "Of course, my dear" she whispered and caressed my cheek with her left hand. I returned the smile and put a soft kiss on her right cheek.
"Have I misheard you or have you really said the name of this bastard who was responsible for the spreading of the plague in Lordaeron?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She looked into my eyes, giving me a worried look. "Yes, I have said his name"
"Why?"
"Because this mark is his"
"Where do you know that? There could be a lot of other demons whose initials could be M and G"
"Mal'Ganis is the only demon who wants something from you. You know that demons do not truly die outside the Twisting Nether. I think that he has returned because he is looking for vengeance"
"Where do you know that?" I asked and stared into her sky-blue eyes.
"I could explain that to you but that would take too long. You trust me, right?"
"Yes, I do"
"Then trust me in this case and accept that it's Mal'Ganis who wants to capture you"
I had hoped that I would never see this bastard again" I said quietly and regarded Vanessa once again.
"He may have returned but we will send him back soon to the hell where he belongs" promised Jaina and put her hand on my back. Rubbing it slowly. "Would you mind putting your clothes on?"
"Of course" I responded and got dressed quickly, blushing a little for whatever reason. "What do we do now with our new knowledge?"
"We have to inform Varian first and then we will check if we can help Vanessa. Maybe we can free her from the demon's influence"
I still can't believe that the Burning Legion is trying to invade us again"
"Demons are not known for giving up easily. I'm pretty sure that they will attack us over and over again until they conquer all of Azeroth" she explained.
"Then we have to prevent that the Legion achieve their goal"
"Yes, we have to and this time we have to defeat them once and for all.
I nodded and laid Vanessa on the bed, covering her with a blanket. Jaina cast a spell on her which prevented that she could cast any spell or stand up from the bed.
"Come, let's go to Varian. We have a lot to discuss with him" she said and took my hand, brushing her thumb over the back of my hand. I gave her a smile and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She returned the smile and intertwined our fingers. Together we walked along the corridor which led us to the throne room of Stormwind Keep.