A Calm Before The Storm

Victoria spent close to a week in Windrunner Village as she didn't have the mental strength to go back to being a Queen just yet, so soon after losing close family friends. Instead she spent most of her time with her sister Alleria who loved Snow more than anyone she had ever met, keeping both the young elf and Nightsaber company as they seemed to bond very quickly.

On the final day she was spending time with her family before returning to her city, she saw her mother getting ready for what looked like an important night out with her father, smiling at the back of Sylvanas' head as she was deciding what she was going to wear twenty minutes before they were meant to leave. "You know, some would say you had all day to sort this out."

Sylvanas looked in the nearby mirror to look at her daughter who was smiling at her, rolling her eyes at the Queen. "Aren't you supposed to be looking after you brother and two sisters whilst your father and I spend a rare night alone in Silvermoon?"

"Wow, a rare night?" Victoria walked towards her mother, picking the outfit for her and handing her black leggings, a black mageweave cloth low cut shirt as well as matching fingerless gloves and a pair of leather boots. "What's the special occasion? Or is it just so you two can be alone?"

"It's so we can be alone." Sylvanas told her, spinning her finger around in a circle so her daughter would turn around whilst she got dressed. "As much as I love your brother and two sisters, the week we spent in Winterspring reminded me how much I had missed being with your father with no distractions." She placed the low cut shirt over her body and reached for the leggings placed beside her soon after. "He doesn't know where we are going, but there's this new place opening up in the Court of the Sun. Apparently it's so exclusive that it's already booked for the next two years despite being open for three weeks."

"Sounds amazing. So I have to ask, how did you both get a table?"

Sylvanas smiled, pulling up her leggings and telling Victoria she didn't have to keep looking at the door. "To put it simply: I'm Sylvanas Windrunner."

Victoria laughed and nodded her head approvingly. "Sounds about right."

"Also the owner is a loyal Sunblade follower, despite their less than ideal past. So because Athrodar and I are married, we can both get into any place we like in Silvermoon because I was the Ranger-General and belong to the Windrunner family and he is the last heir to the Sunblade name, despite dropping it for mine." Sylvanas reached for her makeup, picking up the dark crimson lipstick, black eyeshadow and eyeliner. "It's odd, but so many people still follow the Sunblade family, despite everything that has happened."

"How long do you think you will be?" Victoria asked, watching Sylvanas give her a look that she interpreted as many things at once.

"I don't think we will be coming home tonight." Sylvanas told her, placing a hand on her cheek and rubbing he thumb across it. "In fact, I don't plan to come home at all tonight." She told her, winking at Victoria who groaned in response.

"I hope you both enjoy your night alone." Victoria said once Sylvanas was ready, recieving a kiss on the cheek and catching the lipstick stain on said cheek shortly after when she looked into the mirror. "Thanks..." She muttered, almost hearing Sylvanas chuckle as she left Windrunner Manor with Athrodar.

Returning to the living room, she saw Alleria curled up with Snow as they both slept on the rug in the middle of the room, looking over to Tahnir who was slowly drifting off too. "This is going to be easier than I thought." She mused, reaching for a nearby blanket and throwing it over her sister and Nightsaber to keep them warm, though it was mostly for Alleria.

Sitting down next to Tahnir, she smiled when he leaned on her and closed his eyes. "Tired, are we?" She asked, feeling him nod his head. "Well, then I suppose you best sleep." She told him looking around for something to cover him with and thanking the Titans that Athrodar left his cloak out. "Here, to keep you warm." She said after stretching for the cloak and grabbing it with her fingertips.

"I feel like I'm underdressed." Sylvanas whispered, looking around the restaurant and noticing every woman was wearing a dress.

"Honestly? I think you are fine." Athrodar said, taking hold of her hand and kissing the back of it. "You chose to wear something you're comfortable in whilst somehow manaing to not only show off your cleavage, but also being the most beautiful woman in here by a mile."

Sylvanas grinned at Athrodar who kissed the back of her hand again. "Easy tiger, I'm already yours." She told him, hearing him chuckle and lookg around the restaurant again, smiling to herself at how packed it was yet somehow still having the best table in the house. "I have to say, if we get to go places like this because of who we are, then marrying you was the best thing to happen to me."

Athrodar stared at his wife who was too busy looking around and admiring the entire room to have noticed his blank expression. "Sometimes I wonder if you truly love me or if you're using me to get the things you want."

Sylvanas looked back to Athrodar and his blank expression, grinning and him and tapping the top of his hand. "Definately using you to get the things I want, sweetie." She told him, watching him begin to smile and knowing he understood she was joking. "Of course I truly love you. It's been a little difficult for the both of us to express said love from time to time, but it's nights like these that I look forward to."

"Me too." Athrodar said, taking hold of her hand again and rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. "Do you think Victoria will be okay baby sitting her siblings?"

"Of course." Sylvanas told him, watching the waiter come towards them from the corner of her eye. "She runs a city, how hard can it be to look after three children who were practically asleep when we left?"

"Well... With my mother spending time with the Dawnstrider family for a couple weeks and Cedani being nothing like her older sister, she will be alone when the baby eventually wakes up crying." Athrodar began to chuckle when Sylvanas tried to hold in her laughter. "She is going to hate us by the time we return."

"We probably should have warned her about her sister beforehand." Sylvanas told him, looking up at the waiter who stood beside their table.

"Ready to order?" He asked, looking back and forth between Sylvanas and Athrodar.

Victoria was sleeping next to her brother on the couch they were both laying on, being startled by the sound of Cedani crying in the next room and trying to get up without waking up her brother, a task easier said than done as he was curled up in her arms. "Exactly like our mother..." She whispered to herself, referring to how they both needed to be held by a loved one to get a good nights sleep.

Carefully extracting herself from her brother, who was sleeping on her arm, she quickly made her way over to Cedani who was crying in her cot and picking her up, instantly smelling what the problem was. "Wow... that pungent." She muttered, rocking her sister in her arms and making her way to the nearby changing table. "Right... Now how did they do this?" She asked herself, a little confused on what to do next.

Whilst Victoria was trying to figure it out, Cedani had stopped crying and was staring up at her sister who had remained calm, but was screaming on the inside. "Don't judge me, I've never done this before." Victoria said to Cedani who continued to stare at her.

"You know she can't talk, right?" Elaria asked, standing by the door.

"Oh thank the Titans..." Victoria breathed, looking over to Elaria. "Can you help me?"

Elaria snorted at her request. "I don't know how to look after children. Luna might, let me go get her."

"No, wait!" But before she could stop her, Elaria was already out the door and off to get the Draenei. Victoria sighed and looked back at her sister. "Don't you pee on me." Just as she said it, the Queen frowned. "That might be the boys who pee on people..."

Victoria spent close to five minutes struggling to figure out how to put on her sister's diaper before Luna came in to save the day, laughing lightly at the mess Victoria had made of it already. "How you have done this, I will never know." The Draenei said with a smile on her face, taking care of Cedani for the young Queen. "It's okay, little one." She whispered to the baby in her arms. "Aunty Luna is here to take care of you now."

Elaria watched Luna walk away with Cedani and taking her to the living room where the rest of her family were sleeping. "Your parents still out?"

Victoria nodded her head. "They are. Probably for the rest of the night too."

Elaria looked over to Luna who had a smiled permentantly attatched to her face, looking down at Cedani who yawned in her arms. "I think your sister has convinced us to stay here for the night, or until your parents return."

Victoria placed her hands on Elaria's arm. "Thank you..." She muttered, pressing her head against the same arm she was holding. "I can't do this alone. My sister, albeit adoreable, is difficult to get to sleep."

Elaria chuckled and placed a hand on her head. "Luckily for you, Luna loves your brother and sisters. So this is nothing."

"There is no way you have been planning this for the last few days." Athrodar said, hugging Sylvanas from behind as they stood at the front of the ship they had booked for themselves.

"Maybe it has been a month in the making." Sylvanas told him, leaning back against her husband. "I had to pull a few strings for this, especially because I wanted it to be at night." She felt him kiss her neck, tilting her head a little and exposing more of it for him to worship. "This gives us so much privacy, minus the ship's Captain." She span on her heel to face Athrodar, gazing into the green glow of his eyes as he looked into the blue glow of hers in return. "These last five years have been so special to me..." She began, looking away as she tried to keep herself calm and looking at Athrodar only made her more emotional.

"You know what? You don't have to say anything." Athrodar smiled at Sylvanas when she looked back at him. "Just enjoy each other's company, look out into the ocean, up at the stars or into each other's eyes. There doesn't need to be any speaking."

Sylvanas smiled and closed her eyes the second she pressed her ear to Athrodar's chest. "Then we won't speak." She whispered, hugging him tightly.

They both remained silent for longer than Athrodar was expecting, knowing Sylvanas couldn't keep quiet for long when it came to talking about her feelings towards him, a far cry from the first few months they were together when she could speak abouy anything but her feelings. Of course he knew she was going to speak anytime soon as she had something on her mind that she clearly wanted to say. "Okay, you can say what you wanted to say." Athrodar told her, grinning when she span around to face him.

"These last five years, away from everything, have been so special to me." Sylvanas repeated, adding a little more than last time as she went over what she wanted to say time and time again in her head whilst they remained silent. "The me before the Third War could only dream of having this life. She would be so proud of everything we have done and could never have imagined she would have four children that she loves more than anything and a husband..." Sylvanas shook her head, trying to fight back the tears and looking up at him with eyes that were sparkling in the night as the tears were on the brink of escaping. "A husband who has changed her life so much that she never wants to go back to how things were." She took hold of his hands and looked deeply into his eyes, letting her tears roll down her cheek as her heart ached with love. "A husband who has done everything to make her the happiest she has ever been."

Athrodar placed his hands on either side of Sylvanas' face, leaning down and kissing her lightly. "I have said this numerous amounts of times, but I know you love hearing it every time. You have changed my life far more than I could ever have imagined. I was lost after Arthas was slain, I came to you for the feeling of home I needed and you delivered tenfold." He began to chuckle lightly and press his head against hers. "Yes, that may have been partly due to you strapping me to your bed whenever possible, but I knew after a year of being in Undercity with you, that I didn't want to spend my life anywhere else but by your side."

"When you fell in love with Victoria, I was worried you were going to make her your next conquest and throw me aside, but after you forced me to get to know her." His smile widened when Sylvanas rolled her eyes. "Yes you did, don't deny it." He brought her in for a hug, having her ear pressed up against his heart because she loved the sound it made. "I fell in love with her, then everything else just snowballed into what we have now. She was what we were fighting for."

"Yes she was." Sylvanas agreed, holding onto her husband whilst the ship sailed towards the Isle of Quel'Danas for their final trip of the night. "Now we have four beautiful children who we are fighting to protect." She told him, tugging on his shirt to drag him down to her lips, gently kissing him and going back to pressing her ear against his chest shortly after. "Everything is how it should be."

"That it is, my love." Athrodar whispered in her ear, stroking her hair lightly and feeling their hearts beat as one. "The rest of our lives together, away from danger and in each others arms."

Victoria woke up the next day to the sound of three knocks on her bedroom door, stretching her arms above her head and yawning as her first thing for the day. "Come in." She told them, looking down at herself just as the door was opening and letting out a sigh of relief to find out she slept in yesterday's clothes.

Thal'ena looked down at her Queen who was rubbing her eyes. "Coming back today, your Grace?" She asked, smirking when Victoria began to climb out of bed and noticed she wore nothing from the waist down. "Did you also only get out of half your clothes yesterday?"

Victoria reached for the bed sheets and wrapped it around her waist to cover herself up. "For the first time, I am thankful you saw me half naked. If it was my brother or sister who woke me up... I don't even want to begin explaining."

Thal'ena picked up some nearby leggings and threw them at her Queen who seemed to look lost. "Here." The Royal Magister said, turning around when Victoria gave her a pair of pleading eyes the moment she caught the leggings. "Fine... Just so you know, it's nothing I haven't seen before. For a Queen in a relationship with her General, you are very open about who you spend time with when she isn't around." She began to smile at herself in the mirror. "Sometimes I like it when your very open... Gives me a lot of joy hearing you scream my name."

"Hey!" Victoria snapped at her Royal Magister who began to chuckle. "None of that talk in this house. My brother and sister don't need to hear what I get up to on my free time... Especially when they know I'm with Sera." She looked Thal'ena up and down whilst her back was still turned to her. "Why are you here anyway? Did you burn the city down in my absence?"

"What? No, of course not." Thal'ena turned back around, looking at her Queen reach for her cloak. "The council are... For the want of a better word, agitated. A demon attack so close to Stormwind and then their Queen going home shortly after for a week hasn't exactly sent good vibes throughout the higher ups."

"I lost two loyal friends, Thal'ena. My father lost two of his best friends... I had to tell my family and keep Athrodar company." As she threw the cloak around her, Victoria rolled her eyes when the Royal Magister took over when it came to putting it on her Queen. "I can do this on my own, you know."

"I know, but since you're mourning your two close family friends with your father, who doesn't look to be here right now, or your mother for that matter, I have to look after the clearly emotionally broken Queen I serve with all my heart and energy." Thal'ena smirked at her Queen who sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Or are you telling me you have recovered and are returning back to Stormwind today?"

"You know I'm returning back to Stormwind today." Victoria told her, stepping around the Royal Magister once her cloak was attatched to her person. "Why isn't Sera here?"

"She is still recovering, your Grace. And she is working on getting everyone back to Sentinal Hill and the surrounding farms with very little chaos." Thal'ena shrugged her shoulders and smiled at her Queen. "That means you have me for the day."

"I suppose that's better than nothing." Victoria muttered, grinning to herself when she heard the Royal Magister gasp. "I'm kidding. You know I love having you around."

Thal'ena cast mirror image and made all of her clones, as well as herself, hug the Queen tightly as a group. "Do you love all of me?"

Victoria giggled and nodded her head. "Yes, I love all of you." She said, having all the images fade away when Thal'ena called them all back to her. "Go spend time with my siblings, I need to gather a few more things before I wait for my parents to return home."

"Then we return home to Stormwind?" Thal'ena asked.

"Yes." Victoria answered, picking up some of her clothes and placing them on her bed. "We need to prepare for the Burning Legion."

Thal'ena stood by the door, keeping her hand on the handle but not opening the door. "Do your parents know about the looming threat?"

"Yes and no." Victoria told her, looking over to the Royal Magister who was frowning at her. "They know that we were attacked by demons last week, but don't know that we are on the brink of an invasion."

"Are you going to tell them?" Thal'ena now asked, a little concerned at her families safety.

"There have been no signs that an invasion is happening in Quel'Thalas, or Northern Lordaeron for that matter. My family are safe up here, just like they want it to be." Victoria pulled her hood up and looked over to the Royal Magister who remained unconvinced. "They will be fine. My parents can handle themselves, Elaria and Luna too. And with some of their rangers retiring with them as well as frequent patrols from nearby Farstriders, they will be fine if an attack does happen here."

"I don't know... Could we leave a handful of guards here? They did bring me back to life, I would feel comfortable with knowing they are safe." Thal'ena watched her Queen continue to pack her clothes. "Please." She added on the end of her sentence, making Victoria stop moving.

"Okay... I will. I'm telling you they are safe here already, but I will leave a small guard here to watch over things." Victoria closed the backpack full of clothes and looked over to her Royal Magister. "I will tell them why, once they return."

"Thank you, your Grace. I know you will feel better about it as well."

"I know." Victoria agreed, smiling at her Royal Magister. "I suppose it's a vacation for the soldiers when I put them here."

Thal'ena followed her Queen to where the rest of her family was, sitting down beside Elaria who was sleeping on one of the couches. "Does she still sleep for most of the day?" The Royal Magister asked, looking over to Luna who nodded her head. "Some things never change."

Whilst Thal'ena was trying to keep some distance between herself and Elaria, Victoria sat beside her sister Alleria who curled up beside her big sister. "Mom and Dad will be here soon." Victoria told her, kissing the top of Alleria's head. "Then I will say goodbye to them and then I will have to leave." She saw her sister look up to her with pleading eyes. "I will visit more often, I promise. I will bring Snow too, okay?"

Tahnir sat on the other side of Victoria, being pulled into a hug by her that she was currently sharing with Alleria. "Can I visit Stormwind soon?" He asked, hearing Victoria chuckle.

"Of course you can. You just have to ask mom and dad first. I can't take you with me without them knowing or they'll yell at me." Victoria looked over to Thal'ena who smirked at her. "I don't like it when they yell at me..." She muttered, hearing Thal'ena now laugh at her.

Close to two hours passed by before Athrodar and Sylvanas returned home with Sylvanas being hugged by Tahnir the second she walked through the door, falling to her knees to hold onto him. "Someone has missed me." She said, smiling brightly at how tight her son was hugging her.

"I hope they weren't too much trouble?" Athrodar asked, hugging Victoria.

"They were fine, dad." Victoria told him, melting into the hug. "I have to leave soon." She glanced over to Thal'ena who stood nearby. "I am leaving a small group of soldiers here for a few weeks, okay?"

"Okay." Athrodar pulled back from the hug a little and looked down at his daughter. "Do I want to know why?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't..." Victoria muttered, hearing Thal'ena clear her throat and groaning. "Fine... For the past year has been building up to an invasion from the Burning Legion. I am placing a guard here to protect you and our family just in case this place is attacked. It's very unlikely since there has been no evidence to suggest they will attack Quel'Thalas again, but after listening to Thal'ena I have decided to place a small group here."

There was a long pause before anyone spoke, leaving Victoria a little worried that she has done something wrong by keeping the news of the Burning Legion away from her parents. That was until Athrodar smiled and hugged her again. "Okay." He whispered, kissing her on the cheek and practically stunning the Queen with how calm he seemed. "I'll tell your mother, Titans knows she will react poorly to you keeping secrets."

"But not you?" Victoria asked.

"I understand keeping secrets if it means protecting your family." Athrodar raised an eyebrow at Victoria, giving her a cocky grin at the same time. "Or did you forget about Pandaria already?"

"No... But that didn't turn out so well for you now, did it?"

Athrodar laughed and shook his head. "No, I suppose you're right."

Victoria pulled back and looked up at her father. "Stay safe, okay? And don't worry about me, I will handle this invasion the only way I know how. Protecting my people and keeping it away from my family."

Athrodar picked up Alleria when she ran to him, resting her on his hip whilst they both looked at Victoria. "Just don't get yourself killed, okay? You know Sylvanas will want you back in one piece."

"I know, dad." Victoria looked over to her mother who was now holding onto Cedani in her arms. "Let me say goodbye to her before you bring it up. I don't want to be here if and when she blows her top."

Athrodar chuckled and nodded his head agreeingly. "Smart move."