Our Past Before War

After being on the Broken Shore for a week, they had killed seven Lieutenants that were dotted around the small island. Athrodar had remained in camp after the injury to his shoulder left him unable to use his bow and partly able to use his sword. Liadrin kept him company whilst the rest of the camp went off to find the other Lieutenants Illidan told them about, talking more about Tanadia than anything else. Not that he minded, it made him happy to hear about her progress whenever the Paladin got an update on how she was doing in the Netherlight Temple.

"So tell me, have you only fought that one Lieutenant whilst the rest of the camp have at least three under their belts?"

Athrodar sighed and looked away from the Paladin. "It's not like I had the opportunity to join them. Sylvanas has practically tied me to this bed until I have recovered." He pulled on the one restraint keeping him on the bed, tied to his good arm so he couldn't use something sharp to cut himself loose. "Little annoying to be honest."

"And if you weren't tied down, you'd get yourself into more trouble." Liadrin smirked at him. "Though I will admit, I have enjoyed spending some time with you. Brings me back to the old days when we were in Quel'Thalas." She began to feel nostalgic and a little sad. "It makes me miss Thal..."

Athrodar looked at the Paladin who sat on the side of his bed, noticing her gaze was off into the distance and guessing she was thinking back to their past, one he couldn't remember. "What were those times like?" He asked her quietly, making her head turn to face him and noticing her watery eyes. "Did I say something...?"

Liadrin shook her head, laying across his legs to look up at the roof of their tent. "We were close, all four of us. You, me, Thal and her brother. When you weren't teasing her, that is. Over the century and handful of decades before Arthas invaded, we spent a lot of time doing what friends do. Spending nights in the forests, days on the beach, shopping when Thal and I convinced you to join us. See I was a priestess back then and very girly... Now I'd rather let other people go shopping."

Athrodar laughed and nodded his head. "Yes, I can see that."

"Anyway." Liadrin sat up, looking over to Athrodar and smiling a little at him. "When those pesky Dawnstriders were busy, we would spend time together. Some of the time it was you teaching me to use a sword because I had badgered you for years to teach me. Other times you spent a couple days on the Isle of Quel'Danas to watch me study and to be my little cheerleader.

But most of all..." Liadrin looked down at her hands. "We were the two people we could tell everything to. I mean, other than Thal... But when she wasn't around, you were the next best thing." The Paladin sighed. "I miss those days. They will never come back, but I suppose it's nice to look back at them." She saw Athrodar look down at the ring on his finger and began to feel guilty when she remembered something major about him. "Oh... Sorry. I forgot you don't remember those days."

Athrodar waved away her apology. "It's fine. I'm used to feeling left out of memories when someone brings them up." He began to grin when he saw Liadrin felt bad. "I'm kidding. It doesn't affect me at all. I'm more focused on making memories with my family than remembering the past. Friends too if they play their cards right."

Liadrin let out a small laugh. "Like you'd ever get rid of me. With your daughter practically at your hip, when she's not at the Netherlight Temple, I am going to be around you so much I might as well live with you."

A horn was sound in the distance to signal the return of one of the groups, interrupting both Athrodar and Liadrin with the latter leaving the tent to check who it was and bowing her head at Victoria who returned with her mother, aunt, uncle and Royal Magister as well as her Ranger-General and Stormwind's army mixed in with Dalaran's mages. "Liadrin." Victoria said with a smile, walking over to the Paladin and hugging her. "How is my father?"

"Hating that your mother has tied him to the bed." Liadrin told her, smirking at the Queen who had a grin on her face. "I've kept him company, but he insists he wants to leave."

"I'll keep him company." Sylvanas told the Paladin.

"Just don't do anything that means his arm isn't healing." Liadrin told her, hearing Sylvanas sigh. "I mean it. That spear had some demonic energy on it. I have cleaned out the wound but it's a slow heal." She looked back to the tent she left Athrodar in. "He can move it, but winces from time to time."

Sylvanas placed a hand on Victoria's shoulder and kissed her on the temple. "Join us when you can. You know your father hates being there on his own."

"I know." Victoria said, smiling at her mother. "I'll be there once I get things sorted with Cyndia and Thal'ena."

"Okay." Sylvanas smiled at her before walking with Liadrin to the tent, ignoring her warnings and climbing into the bed and hugging Athrodar tightly. "How are you?" She asked him, pulling back from the hug and seeing his slightly annoyed look. "Don't give me that, you're like an injured animal. I have to stop you from straining your injury by tying you up."

"Could have kept me company." Athrodar told her.

"Ow." Liadrin said beside the two of them. "I thought I was good company."

Sylvanas grinned when she looked back to Liadrin. "I'm sure you were. Maybe he was just bad company to have."

"Oh he was. Until the last few hours, he was mostly grumpy." Liadrin looked over to Athrodar who closed his eyes. "I told him a little about the past, not that he remembers. But it was nice to remember those days."

Sylvanas looked at her husband and kissed him on the cheek. "Once this war is over, you can make new memories."

"After we deal with Dael'Thaelas." He said, forgetting Liadrin didn't know he was alive.

"Your Great Grandfather!?" Liadrin practically yelled, shocked at this news. "What the fu-"

"Shh!" Sylvanas hushed the Paladin, placing her hand over her mouth. "Nobody knows." She looked back to Athrodar. "We... We are planning to kill him. He poses a threat to our children and I don't want him near them."

"Anything I can do?" Liadrin asked once Sylvanas' hand was removed. "He never sat well with me..." She glanced over to Athrodar. "When we were younger, he'd keep Athrodar away from us for a week and when he'd return, he would never want to talk about it."

Sylvanas laid down beside Athrodar and pressed her ear to his chest. "We are planning to assassinate him, we just... Don't have a plan. He's very well hidden and guarded."

Liadrin sat at the bottom of the bed and frowned. "Why not just kill him the next time you see him?" She shook her head and looked over to Athrodar shortly after saying that. "Actually, how did you come into contact with him again?"

"That's a long story..." Athrodar muttered.

"We'll tell you later." Sylvanas told the Paladin, closing her eyes as her mind began to focus on only Athrodar's heartbeat. "Right now I want to hold onto him. I don't like that he wasn't by my side out there." She moved her head up a little to kiss him, burying her head now in his neck. "I want to do more, but you've told me I can't."

Athrodar smiled and held onto his wife as tightly as he could, keeping his eyes closed as she traced one finger on his chest, drawing circles on him and planting a kiss on her cheek. "I know exactly what you would want to do, especially since you've tied me down."

Sylvanas giggled and planted a trail of kisses up his chest and to his lips. "Oh I would definitely take advantage of that." She purred, kissing him again and placing both her hands on his face, deepening the kiss and moving to lay on top of him. "You should leave, Liadrin. I can't stop myself from breaking your only rule."

Liadrin sighed and shook her head, standing up and walking away from the bed. "Unbelievable. Now I see why Victoria likes to keep some distance between the two of you when you're alone."

"Ignore her." Athrodar whispered, trying to move his free arm but wincing a little at the wound he got from Hakkar began to hurt. "Untie my good arm, just for an hour."

Sylvanas shook her head, keeping a mischievous grin on her face. "Not a chance." She whispered back to him, sitting up so she was straddling his hips and placing a gentle hand on his cheek. "You are my play thing now, until Victoria has finished with her duties as Queen for the day."

"Will that take hours?" He asked, hopefully.

Sylvanas just smiled down at her husband. "Why, eager to have some fun with your wife?"

"It has been over a week, almost two." Athrodar told her. "I don't know if I can wait going into a third week."

Sylvanas laughed this time, it was melodic and filled his heart with warmth just hearing it after going a few days without that sound. "It's okay, my heart. I won't let you wait that long. I have been waiting to come back to you for four days. That Lieutenant was a slippery bastard."

"Then let's not wait any longer." Athrodar told her, shifting a little where he laid to try and kiss her, but ultimately being stuck in his laying down position due to his good arm being tied down.

"Deal." Sylvanas said, recognizing his attempts to move was to kiss her and leaning down to kiss him instead.


"I just don't understand how that was me." Tanadia looked up at the Naaru in front of her, hearing it's peaceful chiming and cheerful harmony as it floated above the ground. "I don't know how to fight. My Papa has only just started to teach me... I can't even swing it hard enough to be a threat."

"Trust me, little priestess." Saa'ra said, her voice full of warmth. "Your training has just begun with a sword, yes. But you have come to the right place to become even stronger with the Light."

Tanadia frowned and looked down at her hands, casting two holy spells in them and closing her hands to cancel the spells. "How long am I going to be here? I want to help my Papa fight the Legion."

"Are you not enjoying your stay here?" Saa'ra now asked, her voice soothing the priestess a little.

"No, I am... It's just." Tanadia sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I miss my Papa... Liadrin visited over a week ago but had to leave because he got injured. I promised him I would stay here and get better at being a priestess, but I worry about him. I lost my Mama to the Legion and I don't want to lose my Papa too."

"Your father is safe. Liadrin is a trusted Paladin and he didn't receive a fatal wound." Saa'ra's voice put the priestess at ease, removing any doubts she had about staying in the Netherlight Temple. "The class is starting soon. Come find me when it is over, we still have much to discuss."

Tanadia smiled a little and bowed her head to the Naaru. "I will. I just have one question. Why me?"

"As you have seen in the vision, you will become a mighty weapon for the Light against the forces of evil. Lady Liadrin dotes on you for a reason that is more than you being her best friend's daughter. She too can see the power you currently posses and will one day posses."

Tanadia looked down at her slippers, having changed to a more comfortable attire compared to her priestess robes she used to wear in Stormwind. "Okay... I just... It's hard to see that future. Maybe it will be some years in the future because I am not even near that good."

"You will be, little one. But first you must go to your class, the Prophet won't wait forever."

Tanadia listened to the Naaru and began to make her way to the class that was about to be taught, sitting nearer the back and away from prying eyes as during the first day of her arrival, she was thrown a lot of attention her way by the rest of the class for two reasons. One of them was because she was the Princess of Stormwind, the other being one of the few in the Temple that was actually having a conversation with a Naaru before they got there.

She was paying attention of course, she liked to study about the Light and its many spells as well as the history of such a power, but she did get distracted every now and then when a priest or two looked over to her and whispered to their friends. She had never had this treatment in Stormwind, but she figured it was because that was her home. They dare not say anything when she could just tell her sister.

Here was different however, this was neutral ground. She didn't feel bullied either, far from it. She had many people try to be her friend, but she always told them she had to talk to Saa'ra who, since her arrival, has kept her focus on the young priestess and nobody else, minus the Prophet and a few high ranking priests of the order.

Once the class had finished, she braced herself for the seemingly daily ritual of being asked to study with at least a quarter of the class, questions about being a Princess by most of the girls there who had dreamed of being one as a child or, the most bizarre one for Tanadia, being asked out by the very brave few who tried and failed to win her over by over complimenting her.

Ever since her mother died, she had no interest in that sort of thing and had actually broke up with Anduin when she ran into him at the Temple the first hour she arrived. Now she just wanted to have that vision come true by studying and working hard, whilst also trying to get back to her father when she felt she was ready to leave.

Returning to Saa'ra, she knelt down in front of the Naaru and began her daily prayers, something she wasn't told to do, but felt like these times alone with the Naaru who was speaking to her were the perfect times to do it.

"Love is playing a big part in your life right now." Velen said softly, interrupting the young priestess. "I am not here to say it shouldn't, but perhaps it isn't helping in your studies."

Tanadia frowned at the prophet. "What do you mean?"

"You got some questions wrong yesterday on the short quiz that I know you know." Velen looked sad after telling her. "Perhaps it isn't love that is distracting you, but loss."

This made Tanadia looked down at her knees, remaining on the floor in her prayer position since Velen walked up to her. "I haven't gotten over my mother's death. Is that what you're saying?"

Velen nodded. "Precisely. That and the news of your father's injury is weighing heavily on you." He gave her a warm smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Go back to him, just until you're ready to come back with a clear mind."

"But I'll feel as if I failed." Tanadia told him.

"No, little one." Saa'ra said. "Your studies will be put on hold. You wouldn't have failed. Go to your father, I can sense it's distracting you, even in your prayers."

Tanadia nodded slowly and sighed. Hating that she was essentially stepping back from her studies, something she had never done up to then. "Okay." She muttered. "I'll out my studies on pause until my head is clear." She looked at the Prophet and then the Naaru. "Thank you, both. I don't wish to disappoint anyone, but telling me I am distracted has helped. I can see that now."

"Return to your family, for now." Saa'ra said, soothing the young priestess. "I'll talk to again when you're ready to continue."


Athrodar woke up in the middle of the night, smiling to himself as his wife was draped over him and remembering what happened a few hours ago. They had exhausted themselves with their time together and it showed. Sylvanas slept in the same position they finished in, minus having himself buried inside her.

He tried to move his left arm, the arm the spear had pierced and began to wince at the pain. Although this didn't make Sylvanas wake up, it did cause her to hold onto him a little tighter. "You could have untied me." He whispered, leaning towards her and kissing the tip of her nose. "I can't hold onto you like this."

Sylvanas stirred and woke up momentarily to tilt her head up and kiss Athrodar on the lips lightly, closing her eyes again and falling back to sleep on his chest, letting out a soft sigh and listening to his heart.

"Papa?" A small voice called out, one Athrodar recognized as Tanadia the second she called out for him again, watching her poke her head into the tent and smiling at her frown. "Is this a bad time?"

"Honestly... This is as good as it will get. I can't move my right arm as it's tied down and I can't move my left arm because I had a spear pierced through it." He looked down to Sylvanas who was draped across his body. "And she is too tired to move. So I am sort of stuck like this for a while."

Tanadia sat down at the side of the bed, placing a hand on her father's arm and smiling at him. "I'm glad you're okay."

Athrodar began to frown at his daughter this time. "Why are you here? Not that I don't want my little girl here, but I thought you would still be in the Netherlight Temple, training to be an even more powerful Priestess."

Tanadia laid down beside her father the best she could, cuddling up to the side of him. "Turns out I am distracted by my worry for you. Saa'ra and Velen told me to come back when I was certain I wouldn't be distracted." She looked at Athrodar who looked down at her, smiling at him. "I know that will be when you are healed and I don't have to worry about losing another parent."

"You don't have to worry about losing me. Your step-mother will see to that. She would kill me if I died." Both Athrodar and Tanadia laughed, the young priestess holding herself closer to her father. "But if you are still worried, I won't argue with you being here."

"Good. Because I am staying until you are ready to fight again." Tanadia told him, smiling at Sylvanas who was half awake after all the talking.

"When did you get here?" Sylvanas asked, yawning and sitting up, stretching her arms above her head.

Being thankful they were in such a rush to be alone, Athrodar let out a small sigh of relief when Sylvanas had kept her clothes on so Tanadia couldn't see her naked. "She got here a couple minutes ago. She was worried about me so she is staying here until I am fully healed."

"Oh, good." Sylvanas was straddling Athrodar's waist the moment she sat up. "I love having you with us, little one."

Tanadia smiled brightly at Sylvanas. "I love being here with my family, so here I am."

Sylvanas looked out the tent as saw it was still dark. "Well... Since you are here, I suppose we could all sleep until the morning. Get a head start on the day tomorrow by you helping Liadrin heal his arm and I go to the boring meeting that is sure to happen."

Tanadia yawned and nodded, having not slept and been awake for almost twenty hours since this morning and making her way here from the Netherlight Temple. "Sounds like a good plan." She said softly, laying beside her father. "Though I got a feeling he will be awake until we wake up. He was awake before I got here."

"I will, but I'll stay here to keep you all safe... Tied down and with one arm working."

Sylvanas chuckled and kissed Athrodar on the lips. "I'm not untying you. If I do, you will injure yourself before you're back to full working condition."

"I promise I won't get myself into trouble before I'm healed." Athrodar told her, smiling at Sylvanas who raised an eyebrow at him.

"No." She said, resting her head on his chest. "Now shh, your daughter and I are going to sleep."