Son of Kael'thas
Chapter Thirty-Four: Three Wishes
"Mommy…"
Saturna felt a tightness in her chest when she tried to answer. The air no longer flowed through her but constricted. She breathed in again, tried to expand the space around her beating heart. A heartbeat… a heartbeat… how loud it sounded. She wanted to cry, how precious to hear it again.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, son. Oh, Belorim are you alright? I tried, Mommy tried to protect you from Illidan and everyone else… Baby, my little baby, are you finally safe?"
"Mommy, you have to wake up."
"I can't… so tired…"
"No don't sleep." Belorim began to cry. "I don't want to have nightmares again, I don't wanna be scared for you anymore. I trieded so hard, but I couldn't help you. Please let Daddy help you. He helped me and it wasn't bad. Please Mommy."
"Sunshine… will bite you, will hurt you if you get too close." Saturna began to fear the heartbeat. It filled her ears, quickened. And there was another throbbing, more gentle, close to her heart. Then his voice…
"Starshine. Sweetheart, please wake up, please. I could never forgive myself if I lost you twice."
"Mommy, you have to wake up." Belorim began to cry now.
Saturna felt the fear again. She opened her mouth, not to breathe but to cry. "No, never again, not with you. Not after how you hurt me…"
"No! Mommy, no, don't go!"
"Saturna? Saturna it's me, Kael'thas. Come on now breathe. I know you can hear me, don't let go, don't give up just yet. Anveena explained that I don't have the magic to bring you back if you don't want it, no one does. Please, my sweetest heart, my Bloodknight. Live, fight and live… Belorim? Son, calm down. Rest. Everything is going to be alright…"
She sensed that Kael'thas moved away from her, to tend to their son. Cold without him, cold. It had been so long since she felt anything at all. Saturna realized Kael'thas had been keeping her warm…
"Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a handsome Prince. When he smiled, the sun rose. And when he was sad, it rained. The most beautiful people in the land came from all over Quel'thalas to see him. His father, the King Anasterian, loved him, so much. And his mother Anthene'alas…" Saturna knew the name of Kael'thas' birth mother. It had been her job to know, to remember.
"…The King of Lordaeron, a Human man had a son named Arthas. He came as well to pay homage, though so much had changed and fallen apart since then. But once, Saturna remembered how her mother told it, Prince Arthas had come to Silvermoon. Both of them so young, like children. King Terenas bade his young son to shake his contemporary's hand. 'One day you will rule your kingdoms together…'
But Prince Arthas was too young to understand. He hugged Kael'thas.
'Such a tragedy what befell our people Saturna, so sad. Once things looked so perfect. The sun always in the sky, magic thick in our veins, we Elves did not bleed, not even in my grandmother's time, but now…' Saturna remembered her mother lift up the rag then. The inside of her elbow was still bleeding.
"No, mom, don't think of that." Their house, once a mansion, was in ruins all around. Her father gone to search for their cousin, a city guard lost in the Scourge retreat, the fighting.
"Oh, sweetheart, I can't bear to tell it again—"
"Please, for me? I need for you to tell me one more time, then I'll feel better."
Her mother wiped a tear from her eye with the inside of her wrist. There was a scar just above there. It looked bad, infected, but with so many other people sick there was nothing she could do. Saturna wished that she'd been trained to heal people…
'Prince Kael'thas Olvi'athan Sunstrider grew into a handsome, talented Prince. Good enough for a princess, perfect you, my daughter. You are my princess. Yes, he went away to Dalaran to see about a friendship with Humans and Arthas. But he came back. He came back for you dear. Because you've been good for all your life. Minding your mother and father, being good to your friends, tending to your lessons, putting up with your cousin…'
Together they laughed. Saturna masked her hoarse coughing as best she could, so that her mother wouldn't worry.
'Because you are my daughter, with a good heart, who never hurt a fly and never asked for this, this destruction, Kael'thas came back and made you his Queen. He gave onto you, my princess, the love that you deserved and fought hard for at Court. But not just there, what does that matter any more now, with King Anasterian and everyone else dead and gone… The Prince came back because you are just an innocent. You deserved better than cruelty and Human selfishness. Rape, and murder, and the burning of land, a Plague meant even to torture the dead, make them Undead. Kael'thas came back for you, sweetie, and made everything right again.'
Saturna didn't want to finish the old bedtime story, what if it was her mother's last?
"…and then they lived happily ever after."
Her mother nodded.
"Mom, you changed the end, for me. Thank you."
"…No, that is the way it always was. What your father and I wanted for you. You are a good girl. And maybe your chance to be a Lady of the Court isn't over yet. Things will be fixed again, won't they. Back exactly as they once were. You'll wake up and find out that this was all a dream. Your handsome Prince will kiss you awake, just like in the fairy tales."
Saturna remembered that she blushed. For someone as amazing as Kael'thas, a boy—no, he was a man now—to kiss her…it made her very shy.
"Mom… maybe if I wake up, and you too, and the world isn't perfect again…Maybe that won't even matter, because we'll fix it. I would fight to make it right again. I don't think any of us should wait around and despair."
"Don't be a warrior dear…that's so brutish. The hard way to go about saving and fixing things. Just be loving, and study your magic. Your father and I will see to the rest, whether it is a Prince or no, we'll have you marry well. You'll be taken care of. Don't worry about the future."
But her mother had been wrong. Loving another person, that was the greater challenge.
Then her father came back with her cousin, shouting that Kael'thas had returned. Saturna's mother gave her a knowing wink and they helped each other up out of the ruins of the old house to hear this great speech. Her mother tried not to laugh as Saturna slipped on her pink tabard and got the banner she'd painted for the other Fangirl Scouts…
"Mommy, not towards the Light. Go the other way…"
"It isn't what they said it would be. No, Bim, it's too hard."
"Daddy can be scary, but mostly he's good. I promise."
"Is he? Sweetheart… are you sure?"
Belorim seemed to smile in her mind, the way he always did. "We grew up."
Kael'thas leaned over Saturna on the bed. Belorim was alright, he had been dreaming, that was all, talking in his sleep. His mother seemed to struggle though.
Saturna was blue like rain water. She was little more than a gentle aura, a ghost. The small spark of Light magic in her soul manifested, incarnated. She felt soft in his hands, against his skin. Rapture to look upon, to have again.
Somehow, Kael'thas felt he knew what the matter was. "Let me… love you."
No…
He hugged her sleeping form. "Let me hold you, be with you…"
I couldn't bear for you to hurt me again…
"Let me kiss you." And he did.
Saturna opened her eyes at last. There was that handsome smile again. The first thing he said to Saturna was,
"This would be the second time that my being inside of you has saved your life." And then he stole another kiss, with more tongue.
It really wasn't the sort of happy ending her mother had been talking about, but Kael'thas wasn't that sort of handsome Prince either. Saturna hugged him and tried not to cry, tried not to like it too much.
…
"Kael'thas, stop."
Belorim snored a little while he slept in a bed far across the room. But Kael'thas was wide awake though. He didn't stop kissing her.
"You're back now, that's all that matters. Saturna, oh sweetheart… thank you for coming back, oh thank you. I love you." He kissed her and hugged her again. "I'm so sorry that I didn't see before. I feel so awful. But I'm not going to let you down again, I promise."
"But Kael'thas… We can't—"
"I need to have you. Please,"
"This isn't a dream, this isn't a hallucination—"
"You think I don't know that? You are the love of my life, and I'm never going to let you go. Not again. And besides, he's asleep—"
Saturna recoiled then disappeared. Kael'thas sat up immediately, looked around. "Oh no, please don't tell me…"
"This is real life, Kael'thas. My life." Her voice came from near the door.
"How in the world are you… doing that?" The door seemed to open by itself. She was leaving.
Kael'thas ran outside the cottage and called for her. Pyorin, Sunthraze, and Fennore were waiting right on the doorstep alert and ready for a fight. Liadrin, Daphne and Tempest were a ways off, standing together on the dark coastline. Kael'thas could barely see them.
"You let her just walk past you?" he accused the men.
"Who?"
"Saturna! She's… disappeared somehow. I will kill that Anveena, I swear to all the gods—"
"You'll do no such thing!" Now Saturna the ghost was down the hill somewhere.
"Sweetheart, this isn't funny."
"I'm not coming back until you promise to be reasonable."
He got angry. "I was so reasonable—"
"I can't think with you seducing me like that, it isn't fair, like the last time. And that's the first thing you do with me, after being through so much and gone for so long!"
The Bloodknights all gave Kael'thas a look.
"It's not about that…" but clearly that was a large part of it. "Starshine, love, please be reasonable." He jogged down the hill and out of sight. That is where Saturna's voice seemed to lead him.
He saw her then. At first Kael'thas thought it was a trick of his eyes but the spirit woman recoalesced from the air, countless points of blue magic coming together, like an arcane torrent spell happening in reverse…
She sat at the edge of the field, against the golden shield wall that surrounded Sunwell Isle. Though that was hard to make out in the dark. When he approached, she warned him to stay a few feet out.
"You're… naked." He smiled and suddenly realized why Saturna was being so elusive. When was the last time he felt so giddy and girl-crazy, at thirteen? Then Ruthsalia came to mind and Kael'thas instantly tried to banish the idea. "You just make me crazy, the way I feel about you… and I am so happy, overjoyed that you're back. This is miraculous. Of course the first thing I want to do is make love to you—"
"How do you even know that we can?"
We'd better damn well be able to. Kael'thas cursed Anveena as a response, on impulse.
"I didn't know that I could disappear like that… or that I would lose my nightclothes because of it." Saturna hugged her shoulders. "Could you turn around, or something…"
He took off his tiered black cape and handed it to her. Saturna gave Kael'thas a look that made him feel like he was going to have to turn around anyway. That made it worse, of course because then he was forced to imagine that she looked… exactly like the painting.
"Great, now I can't think."
"Good. I want you to be at a disadvantage. Kael'thas, you've got a lot of explaining to do. I can't believe you ran around with all those other women, and in front of our son—"
"Oh no." he raised a hand for her to stop then crossed his arms. "We aren't having this argument, not when I was technically single, lonely as hell—"
"No, just horny."
Kael'thas was shamed by her accusation but stood his ground. "Of course I was. I am a mortal man with needs… and you saw fit not to tell me that you were still around, because of the mark Illidan put on your body—"
"Don't say his name to me again."
Kael'thas took a breath instead. "Saturna. What I did, I did because it was too painful being in love with a ghost, a mere memory of you. I was still living—am still alive—and I needed to be with someone else. To live my life, or else go insane… and what kind of father could I be to Belorim if I wasn't capable of being sensible, if I was driving myself crazy with grief?"
"I'm so angry with Tempest and Sunthraze for trying to set you up on all those dates—"
Kael'thas flinched. "Let's leave Tempest out of this! I mean… Well, I'm not going to condemn you for trying to drag our son off to the afterlife, without my permission. You were a vengeful, angry ghost, I get that. I forgive that. Especially when I've done so much worse over the years."
"But this is our son we're talking about, Kael'thas. As much as I want to believe you… You couldn't possibly."
Kael'thas felt silly with his back to her so he turned around, regardless of her feelings. He was disappointed that Saturna had wrapped the cape around herself much like a towel, not the fun way, like in the picture. But it still looked like it was a chilly night…
"Eyes up here, Prince of Quel'thalas."
Kael'thas cleared his throat. "Look, I do forgive you. After what I saw of Belorim's nightmares… I understand. I feel horrible about what Illidan did to you. I'm even more furious at myself for allowing it to happen."
Saturna bowed her head, and hair a scant shade paler than her ethereal blue slipped into her face, the way it always did. "And I feel horrible for ever letting myself become that angry or obsessed over you, to burden our son with my pain."
Kael'thas stayed on track. "… But you don't want me back, is that it, Saturna? You know, just because I chose to live my life, to move on and be happy if you couldn't doesn't make me a jerk, it doesn't make me a cheater. It makes me a normal, decent person."
Saturna made a fist of grass, plucked it with a snapping noise and said nothing.
"You can be my fangirl all you want to. But you can't be psycho."
Saturna kept staring at the ground. She ripped up another handful of grass. Kael'thas refused to be intimidated.
"And if you ever put our son in danger again, you will hear from me about it."
She wouldn't look at him. She gnawed a fingernail now, looking a bit savage. Kael'thas shook his head in disappointment. "So you're not going to talk to me, not at all? You're just going to be angry with me for all eternity? You're not even going to try?"
She folded her arms angrily and turned away.
"Alright then." He straightened. "Maybe when we first met at the Black Temple, I was desperate, Saturna, but not anymore. This really hurts, but you have a right to the kind of life you want, and I'm not going to beg. Over the last three years, especially after your other friends showed up at Tempest Keep, I've been growing and changing. I worked very hard to let go of my anger. When it was finally presented to me, I chose not to join the Burning Legion. I chose to come home and take care of you and our son, like you always wanted. But this time I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for myself. Because I want the right things for my son, and his future. And…if that means I have to get my act together, then fine. I'm willing to do that. And if you want to go your own way, then that's alright too. I hope you don't think I brought you back so that you could be my slave or some kind of obligated lover. I don't need that from you or anyone else. I wanted to bring you back because you are a good person and you deserve to live. If not for my actions then you would have never died in the first place. I will regret that for the rest of my life. But I refuse to let it consume me."
Still she said nothing
Kael'thas opened his hands as if to say something more but there really wasn't anything else to say. "Fine." His voice faltered at first but he was confident at the end, sure that he was in the right, for once. "I'll go, if that is what you want. You're free of me at last, congratulations…"
"Okay, I won't obsess over you anymore."
He stopped and waited.
"And I won't hurt our son, I promise. It was wrong of me to do, I was just so angry with you… but not anymore. Kael'thas I'm so sorry."
"So then we're—"
"Not so fast, I have conditions for you too. Yes, you had a right to move on and love again. And I'll accept that while I was practically out of the picture it was none of my business. But if we're going to do this… I don't want to go through the pain of watching you date other women again. I love you and I want you. And I'm the mother of your son. We've been down that road before… No starting over, Kael'thas. You have to marry me."
He strode over, a hand covered his mouth while he looked pensive, a little reluctant. Saturna was unhappy to see it, but knelt in the grass and waited helplessly for Kael'thas to make up his mind. Then he got close enough for her to see that he was actually smiling at her.
"You vixen you. Offering me an ultimatum? All of Saturna or none of her, is that it?"
"Well, I don't care, if that's what it takes—"
"Done."
He sat cross-legged in front of her, leaned a chin in palm and gazed at his now fiancée admirably. "What did you think, that I would say no?"
Saturna blushed. She had. Because he had said no before… but Kael'thas was different now. He was even respecting her space, though it was easy to tell that he didn't want to just sit there and look at her. She recognized the old look. Kael'thas was in love with her, madly… but he wasn't going to set the island on fire over it. He had her, he must have known it… but she had him too. He was behaving for her.
"Now sexy… what is your second wish?"
Saturna almost forgot to answer. "Oh um… secondly—why are you so distracting?"
"Because you know that as soon as we get married I am going to bend you over and—"
"Ahem. I'm not going to be a third wheel anymore… to you know who."
Kael'thas stopped smiling.
"And after what Illidan did to me… I considered him your enemy years ago, and he is still my enemy now. I won't stand for anything less."
"One dead Demon Lord coming up." Kael'thas said in an even tone. "I don't know how I am going to do it, but I will kill Illidan for you. And for myself. To avenge your death and protect our family. The only question is… do you want his head on a golden platter? Or a silver one?"
Saturna couldn't believe he said it. And Kael'thas meant it too. He leaned back on the heels of his hands and yawned.
"You can be so coldhearted—"
"You know you like it. Alright what's your third demand—er, wish. Not that I think you're demanding. This is a little fun actually. I wonder what I'll get for fulfilling your every desire… or maybe you'll owe me something for each time you broke your oath in the last few minutes and went against your Prince?"
Saturna gasped.
"Yes, let's turn your Bloodknight oath into something dirty… that could be a fun game, don't you think? Very good on a honeymoon between a fangirl and her Prince. Yeah, I'm looking at you. Dead at you, Starshine. Now, hurry up and finish playing with me."
She blushed at how naughty he was being with her. It was almost too much. "One… last thing," she managed without falling apart. "When we first spoke about being together… I explained how I couldn't be with someone who would put our lives in danger. And later I made sure you understood that I didn't want our son raised in Tempest Keep. Kael'thas… I don't want to make it sound like an ultimatum but really it is. We can't… I won't compromise one set of beliefs for another, or pretend like it doesn't hurt to see you give up the bright future you deserve. If you want to be with me… you have to return to Silvermoon." She covered her face, unwilling to see his disappointment. "No exceptions."
The grass rustled as he moved. "Here, come lay next to me."
"Oh, Kael'thas don't. No, I can't endure any more of your flirting if we can't be together after everything."
"Will you stop arguing with me? Come on, indulge me a bit. Here, fangirl, fangirl…"
"I'm not some puppy."
But when she lay next to him in the grass, Kael'thas gave her a pat on the head. "Now, turn around."
"The guys are right up the hill—"
"We could spoon, yes… but that's not what I'm trying to do to you. Look out there, through the barrier."
The golden magical shield lent a dreamy glow to the red and white turrets of Silvermoon City against what was fast becoming the dawn. The Sunfury Spire was most apparent at this vantage point. Delicate towers and balustrades floated over each other in a breathtaking stretch of the imagination, so beautiful… but it was not a dream. It was the real majesty of Quel'thalas, right before their eyes.
Kael'thas kissed her neck. "Do I get extra points for making your dreams come true, before you could even ask?"
"Oh, Kael'thas…"
"Oh Kael'thas is right." He wrapped arms around her hips and pressed against her. It felt good. Saturna allowed herself to enjoy the feel of him again, so passionate and dirty… but breathtaking.
"It's going to be hard," he teased her, "but worth it. We have another fight ahead of us, together, but we are going to punish Illidan and get Silvermoon back. Do you want to do it with me?"
Saturna fought him only a little.
"Yes, I'm seducing you. No it isn't fair. But I've never been very good at behaving myself. Especially around you, my Queen." He smiled against her neck and slipped a hand up under the fabric, along her thighs, between them…
Saturna whimpered prettily.
"That's what I thought. I'll thank Anveena for that, at least. Mmm… now are you still going to object to having me between your legs? Mind you, this is the magical wang we're talking about, that made the blind to see, or maybe if you prefer, the lips that brought you back from the dead. Or, I can always… keep doing this. Since you enjoy it so much..."
"DADDY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MOMMY?!"
Kael'thas nearly cried. Saturna scrambled to her feet and smoothed down the makeshift black cape-skirt. She ran and met Belorim halfway, swooped him up when he tripped, giggled and rolled down the hill. Sunthraze, Pyorin, and Fennore came right on his heels, all of them with smug looks on their faces.
"Bim Bim! My sweet little baby, how I missed you!" she kissed him all over his face, squeezed him tight.
Next were her Bloodknights. "Mommy!" Sunthraze hugged Saturna and picked her up off her feet. Pyorin and Fennore embraced her next, thanked the Sun and the gods and, Anveena and everything for delivering her safely.
"My boys, my other babies…" Saturna's muffled laughter rose up from their fierce hugs. Liadrin heard and came running with Tempest and Daphne.
"Saturna!" Daphne cried.
Tempest ran in and picked up their old friend, screamed wildly. "Don't you ever, ever get drunk and go on a mission across Outland to get into Kael'thas' pants ever again, do you hear me?! Daphne and I were just joking that time!"
Liadrin went to nab Tempest by her long ear but she ducked. Saturna came in with an eager hug that finally quelled the Bloodknight Matriarch's vengeful impulses.
"My sweetheart… you're all in one piece." A glance over Saturna's head at Kael'thas. "Thank you for saving all my Bloodknights. We nearly gave up on our mission, and on ourselves."
Everyone spoke excitedly at once while Kael'thas lingered nearby in what was left of the forest shadows.
Pyroin agreed. "Thank you, Kael'thas. For bringing back our Commander."
Kael'thas turned back to the sunrise and Saturna joined him. "Not just your Commander anymore… my wife, my Queen, the mother of my son, my everything."
Sunthraze perked up. "Your Queen? Wait, so does that mean… Don't joke with us now."
Saturna bit her lip. She put every effort into not going quite as far as she wanted to. Kael'thas smiled and motioned for everyone to take huge steps back. Then he picked up Belorim and asked his son to cover his ears. The others barely got a chance to do the same…
"Alright, Saturna, but I'm going to remind you that you have me all to yourself finally, so it's got to be the last one. Make it good."
"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
And now it also had a sort of banshee quality that penetrated the bones. Lovely.
That afternoon…
Lady Liadrin married them. It was quiet and simple, by the beach. Kael'thas couldn't stop smiling which was especially rare for him. Saturna looked oddly serious the entire time, more devoted to this moment than any other task she'd done for her Prince. With the sun at its summit and nothing but blue ocean all around them, Liadrin smiled with tear-stained cheeks and said the final prayer:
"Forever and ever, come Light or storm, let love rest upon their shoulders, grow within their hearts, put laurels on these royal heads…"and she smiled especially at Belorim then, who was still hugging his mother's leg. "I won't… ask for a blessing. I think that through knowing you Kael'thas, Saturna, and Belorim, we're already very blessed." Liadrin's voice broke at the end and she couldn't speak anymore.
"An ulcer really isn't a blessing, Lady Liadrin."
Daphne and Tempest glared at Sunthraze. Saturna looked ready to haunt him for the rest of his life. Pyorin chewed a thumbnail and shrugged his big shoulders, trying not to laugh. Fennore and Mavia hugged and gave giddy smiles unbefitting a warlock and demon pet.
Kael'thas kissed Saturna happily, and it was hard not to cheer. That was their music.
Pyorin took Sunthraze aside afterward. "They're like bridesmaids, aren't they?"
"Huh? Oh gods… your starting to look like you did when that Olvi'athon thing first came up. Whatever it is, Pyorin, I want no part of it!"
"No, man, just… hear me out, okay? Weddings are a great place to meet women. They're all emotional, thinking about babies, the whole nine. It'd be so easy for us to swoop in and, you know…"
A glare. "Well there's a downside to that too, Pyorin. Do you really want to start something with either Daphne or Tempest when they have those things in mind? A commitment right out of the gates? Come on, meathead, forget about it."
Pyorin smiled proudly. "Yeah… I want that. But not with Tempest!" he shoved Sunthraze. "You really haven't got any faith in me at all have you? I am capable of learning from my mistakes, though I'll admit to being slow on the uptake at times."
Sunthraze shuffled from one foot to the other, peered over tall Pyorin's shoulder. "Do you mean… I'm serious now, don't go one way and then back in the other direction. You want the redhead? Or the blonde?"
"No, that's what I'm asking you. Shortstuff." Pyorin clapped him on the back. "I know you still love her. Everyone does. If you're that crazy for Tempest after all she's done to you, then I advise you to put out that sort of fire, and fast. Don't let her get away. I'm not letting Daphne get away. I learned my lesson."
But they stood there staring at the women who giggled with Saturna, truly intimidated for a long time.
Pyorin cleared his throat. "We're Bloodknights, so we can do this right? Our lives for our Prince and all that."
Sunthraze winced. "My Life for My Prince, my ass. My tight, unbroken ass. I could just kill Kael'thas for finishing this out so well. Now we have to go and get our women too, damn him."
Pyorin laughed heartily. "Yeah, and he took Saturna finally. To be honest, I'm so glad that she got what she wanted in Kael'thas."
"Would you have married her too? I mean… done right by her if Kael'thas had screwed up again somehow."
"I'd do anything for that woman. Any of the women in our Blood Nexus, really. Glad that I won't have to though."
"Same." Sunthraze cracked his knuckles. "Think he'll be able to take good care of her?"
"He will. Kael'thas is a good man. Well, now anyways."
"I still can't believe that she's back."
"You know, we don't have to go and get the girls right now. Let's hang out with Saturna for a bit."
Liadrin pretended not to hear when Tempest said to Daphne, "Come on, Virgin. We're Bloodknights. If we can save a Prince, we can totally talk to two guys."
"One guy!" Daphne snapped.
"Uh, right. Just one this time. Well, go on. I'm not going first. They've been so outstaged by Kael'thas so bad today, Pyorin and Sunthraze are probably freaking out thinking that they have to marry us or something."
Daphne smiled prettily. "You wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life with someone as charming and devoted as Sunthraze the Sly?"
The flash of jealousy across Tempest's face was all the confirmation Daphne needed and she told her best friend that.
Down along the beach, Kael'thas bounced Belroim up and down while his mother wriggled her translucent blue toes in the sand. She wore a simple white dress that the breeze liked to play with. Then, Saturna got a strange smile and took one step out into the water, then another. To feel water again, for the first time…
"You can walk on it now, you know." Kael'thas said, and she tried it. Another squeal. Kael'thas whispered to his son. "We're going to need earplugs, I can tell."
"Oh shush!"
Liadrin walked down and joined them in the surf. "How does it feel, Kael'thas, to finally have everything that you want? And all you had to do was embrace the ones that you love."
"He hasn't got everything." Saturna replied, somber.
Kael'thas did not want to say Illidan's name again but he nodded at his perceptive wife. "And then I have to convince the people across that water that I'm worthy to rule. There is also the Horde and the Alliance to convince… not to start a war with Quel'thalas the moment I sit on my throne again. We couldn't defend against all of that, the way we are now."
Belorim laughed loudly over their conversation.
Liadrin frowned. "The two of you are up to something. Another mission, Saturna?"
"No." and she went to hug her husband and son. "This is just our life together. It's going to be a fight. I've accepted that."
Kael'thas turned and kissed his wife's forehead. "I'm doing this for her and Belorim and everyone else, Liadrin. Will you help us?"
It seemed too large a prospect now. Hadn't they just finished some fantastic adventure? Gone further than any of them could have ever dreamed…
Just to see Kael'thas smile.
Liadrin crossed her arms. "You're far too charming for your own good. There's no logical reason to be so committed to you, you know. I've come to that conclusion Kael'thas. You're a normal person just like everyone else. But still… we follow, we salute you, we can't sleep well if you're not happy. We're all fangirls in a way, aren't we Saturna?"
Saturna stroked her son's hair with a hand just as wispy in the wind. The air passed through her, but Anveena's magic held, kept the resurrected Bloodknight a trick of hope.
Kael'thas looked into her eyes with longing. "Those people up on the grass, arguing?"
"Yes, my Prince." Liadrin readied for her first order.
"Keep them as far away from me as possible tonight… I love you Saturna. I never stopped."
Belorim watched his parents kiss again and was finally able to think, all by himself this time, that it was gross. He hopped down and ran to join Liadrin in herding the Bloodknights.
"Mmm… Kael'thas? You're burning that painting."
"The porn-trait? No, I'll just put it in storage or something."
"It's me or the painting. And I'd like to think that's a lot easier than deciding between me or Kil'jaeden."
"Damn…Yes, my Queen."
They knelt in the waves. It felt so good to become lost in the feel of each other, to indulge in all life is and should ever be.
THE END