Betrayal
"Get out."
Athrodar frowned, confused on what was being said. "Why? I have given us and our family that safety we have wanted. I'm not leaving until you explain why."
"Because you are making a deal with your fucking Great Grandfather!" Sylvanas yelled at him, shaking her head and walking away from her husband. "I... I just don't understand, Athrodar. What could you possibly be thinking? We are now never going to be safe with Dael'Thaelas watching over us."
"He won't do anything-"
"You don't know him, Athrodar!" Sylvanas sighed and sat down on their bed, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes. "Why didn't you listen to me? Why did you think he will leave us alone after taking everything he has to offer?"
Athrodar stood in front of Sylvanas, placing a hand on her cheek and having it slapped away from her. "Baby... I didn't think he -"
"No, you didn't think." Sylvanas got up and walked passed Athrodar, placing her hand on the door handle. "Don't follow me. I want to be alone and away from you."
"Sylvanas..." Athrodar muttered, walking towards her. "Come on, let's talk about this."
"No, Athrodar. We already spoke about this and yet you still went to him." Sylvanas opened the door and left him alone in the bedroom.
"Damn it..." Athrodar muttered, sitting down on the side of the bed and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I should have listened to her." He told himself, picking up a nearby picture frame and throwing it across the room.
This all started when Athrodar arrived three hours after leaving Stormwind, he was immediately called upon by Sylvanas who knew something was wrong the moment he returned with two of Dael'Thaelas' rangers.
Sylvanas had returned to the throne room with mixed feelings. She wanted to break down and cry as Athrodar had done the one thing she never wanted him to do. But a big part of her was seething with anger, so much so that she didn't even want to look at him right now and was even ignoring Victoria who was asking her what was wrong.
"Mom?" Victoria asked, stepping towards her and hearing her angered breathing. "What happened?"
"Your father is a fucking idiot, that's what happened." Sylvanas closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down by taking deep breaths. "He made a deal with Dael'Thaelas and right now, I want nothing to do with him. If he comes looking for me, tell him exactly that. I don't want to look at him at all."
Victoria looked over to Tanadia and Thal'ena, all three of them watching Sylvanas walk out of the Keep and into the city. "Wow..." The Royal Magister muttered, looking over to both sisters. "I have never seen her that angry."
"It was like she was the Banshee Queen again." A voice said, making all three women look over to the owner of it.
"Viraleth!" Victoria cried, running to the Chief Scout of Silvermoon. "What are you doing here?"
Viraleth hugged the Queen and smiled when she was hugged back. "I came to see you. Halduron has given me a two week holiday for being so damn good at my job." She pulled back and looked at the Queen. "So Athrodar fucked up, hey?"
Victoria sighed and nodded her head. "Apparently so."
"Also, Dael'Thaelas is alive!? I thought he was killed years ago."
Thal'ena shrugged her shoulders smiling at the ranger when she looked over to her. "It appears we were wrong in that."
Tanadia fiddled with her hands, looking down at the floor. "I'm going to go talk to him." She told the three women in the throne room with her.
Viraleth stood beside the throne and watched the priestess leave them to find her father. "How is she coping without her mother?"
"She still smiles a lot." Victoria told her, looking up at the ranger. "But there's always sadness behind her eyes and she has retreated into herself and Athrodar. He is her only parent left and Thalina told him to look after her." She smiled a little, but just like her sister as of late, it had traces of sadness behind it. "She hasn't spoken to Anduin since it happened and I don't think she intends to."
"Why would she speak to Anduin?" Viraleth asked. "They're not...?"
"They are... or were?" Victoria shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said, she hasn't spoken to him since it happened and I think she wants to just be alone with our father for a while. Especially when she hasn't spent much time with him before this war started."
Tanadia walked towards Athrodar's bedroom and knocked on the door twice, having it open before her instantly and seeing her father's face go from relief to sadness to a warm happiness in a matter of seconds. "Good morning, hun." He said softly, inviting her in.
"Is it true? You've gone to Dael'Thaelas when Sylvanas said not to?" The priestess watched her father sit down on the side of the bed and heard him sigh. "Oh, papa..." She said quietly, walking over to him and hugging her father. "Why?"
"Because he has an army and I want to protect our family. I don't want to lose anyone else, we've lost to many friends and family already." Athrodar felt Tanadia's hold around him tighten and smiled a little, moving his arms around her. "I just want to keep you safe."
"I get it, papa." Tanadia told him, closing her eyes and melting into the hug. "But Sylvanas has left Stormwind Keep. She looked really angry."
Athrodar sighed and pulled back to look at his daughter. "Did she say where she was going?" He asked, watching her shake her head and thinking about all the places Sylvanas would go to be alone and coming up with only one place. "Okay, no problem. I think I know where she is going anyway."
Tanadia watched her father grab his cloak and throw it around himself. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No. I think this is something I have to do on my own." He sighed again and pulled his hood up. "She will probably be furious with me and I don't want you to see her like that."
"Okay, papa." Tanadia said, watching him leave the bedroom. "Just don't push her away!" She yelled down the corridor.
"I won't." He yelled back, smiling a little when the young priestess smiled at him.
"Go away, Athrodar." Sylvanas said out loud, not turning her head to look at him as he approached her slowly from behind and wiping her eyes just in case he could see her face.
"Not until we sort this out." Athrodar told her, looking out at the ocean before them. He had found her in the one location he knew he would find her, a hidden beach beneath Windrunner Spire that she had showed him the first day they were back here. "Our family needed to be protected, I have been given the means to do that."
Sylvanas let out a long sigh, shaking her head and looking out at the ocean too. "By making a deal with the worst possible man." She said, sitting on the sand and hugging her knees against her chest. "You didn't even bring it up with me. That's what hurts the most."
"I didn't think I had to." Athrodar admitted, not moving from the spot he stood at, several steps away from her. "How many times have you done something behind my back? How many times have you gone out of your way to do something and only telling me about it after you've done it?"
This time Sylvanas scoffed. "Doesn't matter. This time you really fucked up."
"Answer my question." Athrodar said calmly, knowing he was never going to win a shouting contest with her.
"Four times. Okay? Four times I have gone behind your back and done something without telling you. But none of them are like this." She closed her eyes and lowered her head a little. "It's like you didn't listen to me or your mother about Dael'Thaelas. Two women who you care about and who knew what he was like."
"I didn't sign my life over to him, I just -"
"Don't even say it. The fact you think he doesn't own you now means you have no idea what you've done." Sylvanas glanced over her shoulder for the first time since his arrival. "This is what he does, Athrodar. He offers you a poisoned apple and then holds the cure as close as he can to his chest until you're literally eating out of his hands." She looked back towards the ocean and clutched at her chest with one of her hands, feeling her heart begin to ache. "Something I never thought you would fall for..." She muttered.
Athrodar thought about what she had just said, trying not to believe it whilst also having a small voice in the back of his head telling him he gained everything a little too easily. "Even if that is true, he wouldn't do anything to his last surviving heir. Especially one that has the backing of his daughter's army, his sister in laws army and, when Lor'themar finds out, Silvermoon's army."
"You just don't get it..." Sylvanas muttered, shaking her head and wiping her eyes again, hating that the one person she thought would be different from his family, was falling into their trap.
"Then explain it to me." He said softly, taking one step forward but not risking another.
"You're his now. I am not surprised if he has his scouts surrounding us, listening in to everything we are talking about." Sylvanas pulled her hood down her face, trying to hide from everything. "Just leave me alone, Athrodar. I can't even look at you right now."
That stung him. This was a woman he had loved more than life itself and he knew she felt the same, but this? Being told she couldn't even look at him? That had cut deep. "Baby.." He whispered, taking another step forward.
"No, Athrodar." She said, holding onto herself tightly. "G-get away from me. I... I don't want to hurt you, but I w-will if you even touch me."
He could hear the raw emotion in her voice, knowing he had destroyed what trust she had in him. "I'm not leaving." He told her, sitting down on the sand a few feet behind her. "I won't touch you, I won't even make you look at me, but we have to talk about this."
"There's nothing more to say." She told him, hating that she was about to say the next part. "When I return to Stormwind, I'm taking my kids and leaving."
"Baby, please... Don't do this." Athrodar pleaded, knowing Sylvanas was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them. If she said she was going to do something, she was going to do it.
"It's too late for that." She said quietly, standing up and placing her hand in her pocket, stroking her finger over the hearthstone located there. "We're going to stay with Vereesa from now on. I am going to tell her everything. Don't even try to get in contact with them unless I say you can. Otherwise you will never see them again."
Athrodar watched her pull out the hearthstone and shot up onto her feet. "Sylvanas don't!" He yelled, watching her vanish before him and leaving behind only one thing. The ring he gave her when they married the first time. He collapsed down onto his knees and picked it up, feeling his heart shatter in his chest and his stomach flip many times over. He had never felt so... weak. He wanted to throw up, but couldn't. He wanted to bury his head in the sand and cry his heart out, but couldn't.
Instead, he remained on his knees, in the sand, for hours. By the time night rolled around was when he decided to return to Stormwind, but not without being intercepted first. "He has asked for you." The hooded figure said that handed Athrodar a missive. "If you don't show up, you will be dragged there. He is always watching." The hooded figure told him now, vanishing into the night shortly after.
Without even opening the missive, Athrodar knew where he was. "Of course he was going to be there." He thought, making his way to Sunblade Village, or at least the ruins of it. "I should never have trusted you." He said out loud the moment he arrived in the center of the ruins. "I have lost everything in less than a day because of you!"
"You have? Your daughter is still with you." Dael'Thaelas walked out of the shadows and looked at his great grandson. "Even that adopted one."
"Her name is Victoria, you bastard." Athrodar spat through gritted teeth, glaring at the Sunblade Lord. "My wife has left me, she has taken our daughters and, when he has finished the Farstrider Academy, she will take my son too." He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, taking two steps towards Dael'Thaelas. "Tell me right now why I should ever listen to you again."
"Because of this." Dael'Thaelas said calmly, thinking Athrodar's hand on his sword was nothing more than an idle threat. He reached into his pocket and chucked over an amulet. "Wear it and come with me."
Doing as he was told, Athrodar wore the amulet and followed Dael'Thaelas, keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword just in case he needed to fight, but most of all it was to slash it across Dael'Thaelas' back if the opportunity arose. "Where are we going?"
"You want to know how I survived the attack on the Sunwell? How our family army is still around after we followed our Prince to his doom?" Dael'Thaelas nodded at the group of mages they were walking to, standing in the middle of all four of them and pointing to a spot in front of him. "Stand here."
"What are you about to do?" He asked, looking around at the mages.
"Trust me." Dael'Thaelas whispered to him seconds before they were transported somewhere else entirely. The darkness of the Ghostlands was quickly replaced with a hall of gems, magic and most of all, an army. "Whilst we were with Kael'thas in the Tempest Keep, I had our best mages work on a pocket dimension. Just like the one you faced in Silverpine Forest all those years ago. Only ours was powered by those giant crystals you see everywhere."
"Fel crystals." Athrodar corrected him, recognising the giant green crystals powering this illusion. "I should have known you were still in league with the demons."
That made Dael'Thaelas laugh. "Please... We were never in league with the demons. Our Prince was, that's true. But we only followed him to secure our survival." He then lowered his head and sighed deeply. "The loss of my son was a sacrifice I was not willing to make. He was supposed to be here, but he insisted his death would give off the illusion we were wiped out."
"How does any of this help me get my family back?" Athrodar asked him, not caring in the slightest about this little history lesson.
"It won't. But that's not why I brought you here." He stood on the balcony over looking their vast number of soldiers. Close to double Silvermoon's strength, though that's not saying much as they had a fraction of what other factions had as an army. "This is our army." He shook his head and turned to face Athrodar. "Correction, this is your army."
Athrodar stood beside his great grandfather and looked down at what was close to three thousand elves. All of them either rangers, priests, mages or spellbreakers. "With this, you could have taken Silvermoon for yourself." He looked over to Dael'Thaelas who had a neutral face. "Why didn't you?"
"Because I still serve Silvermoon. I don't want the city for myself, that belongs to the Regent Lord. No, I am using this army to take the fight to the Burning Legion because they took my son from me." Dael'Thaelas looked back at the army before him. "Your wife is right to not trust me, I wouldn't either. So her reaction to you taking up my offer is a logical one and I can't fault her for that. But believe me when I say, I am not trying to manipulate you. I can't come out of hiding, ever. You're the only one who can lead this army and I just hope that you will."
Athrodar looked back at the army frowned a little. "So why now? Why didn't you contact me when the Legion first started their invasion?"
"Because you hadn't freed Illidan yet. You have an army behind you now, sure. But he has spent countless years fighting them, perfecting his skills and knowing where to take the fight to them and how to kill them." Dael'Thaelas looked back at the army too. "And if I gave you the army when the Legion first invaded, Sylvanas would have left you and taken your children like she has now. Which means there would be no covert mission to free Illidan and we would be one powerful ally short."
He hated to admit it, but Athrodar was impressed with how much Dael'Thaelas had planned this all out. The only draw back to it all was losing his family, a price he was sure was not worth it. But now, as she had already gone, he has no other choice, except the three circling around in his head right now. "What happens to me and my family if I refuse?"
"You lose the war." Dael'Thaelas told him honestly. "This army will tip the scale in your favor. They have been trained to fight demons, they know how to cut through the Burning Legion with ease. Refusing to take them would be a mistake."
"But accepting their help will make me lose Sylvanas forever." Athrodar told him, placing a hand in his pocket and slowly circling the ring inside it. "That is.. unless I kill you and take them as my own."
Dael'Thaelas laughed and watched Athrodar pull out his sword and point it at him. "Take a look down there, boy." He said, nodding towards the army.
Athrodar followed his instructions and saw every bow and spell was pointed towards him, even the four rangers flanking them as Dael'Thaelas' body guards had their bows drawn at the youngest Sunblade. "I see that's not an option either." He said, looking back to his great grandfather. "You have really put me into this tight spot, haven't you?"
"I have thought of everything, boy. You can either refuse to take them and lose the war, take them and potentially lose your family, or kill me and lose everything. Even your life." Dael'Thaelas had a smug look on his face which irritated Athrodar and he knew it. "There's only one real option to this and you know it."
Athrodar sighed and lowered his blade, wanting to force it through the Sunblade Lord but knowing that would get him nowhere. "Fine..." He muttered, placing his sword back in its scabbard. "I'll use your army to fight the Burning Legion."
"Good." Dael'Thaelas said, signalling over his second in command. "This is Leothein. He is my second and shall now be yours."
Athrodar watched him bow his head to both of them. "Can I call you Leo for short?"
"If that's what you want to do, then sure." Leothein said, looking over to Dael'Thaelas. "My Lord, I will make sure he is safe."
Dael'Thaelas smiled at his second and looked over to Athrodar. "He was a Ranger-Captain of Silvermoon before we had to go into hiding. He the experience you will need to command this army, just tell him what you want and he will lead them." He began to smirk at his great grandson. "Unless that's commanding them to kill me, then I will have to say that will backfire."
"Worth a shot though, right?" Athrodar said, looking back to Leothein. "Can I take you all back to Stormwind now? I'd rather have you somewhere I know I can call on you without having to wear this amulet and have four mages to summon us."
"They can be there within the hour." Dael'Thaelas told him, nodding over to Leothein who began to gather up all the soldiers. "You made the right choice." He then told Athrodar who looked away from him.
"I made the only choice." He told him, taking off the amulet and being ported back to the Ghostlands immediately.
