Sharing Truths

"The Amani aren't a real threat at the moment, but they are gathering in numbers." Dael'Thaelas said, handing his King a glass of wine before sitting down beside him. "Their attack will end the same as it always has ended, with them being pushed back because of the Gatekeeper, but I think they know that."

"So what are you saying?" Anasterian asked, sitting on the balcony connecting to his bedroom with his lifelong friend.

"They might try to sneak out of Quel'Thalas and take the lands in Lordaeron whilst we're all distracted." He told him, taking a sip of wine from his glass. "They have Jintha'alor in the Hinterlands that they might try to get to by taking all the land between here and there."

"What do you want to do about it?" The King asked, knowing his friend always had a plan for the problems he would bring up.

"Keep a group of scouts near Zul'Aman maybe?" Dael'Thaelas suggested, shrugged his shoulders and looking at the family ring on his finger. "I've sent word to my son to return to Tranquillien and keep an eye out for me." He looked over to Anasterian who took a sip of wine from his glass. "That reminds me, what's this I hear about Athrodar being suspended for two months?"

"It would have been a year, since I gave the all clear for Larysa to tell his unit to scout Lordaeron, but he's your great grandson and we've both been that age before, not listening to orders given to us by our Captains or in my case, my father." Anasterian began to chuckle, being joined by Dael'Thaelas shortly after. "Besides, if this thing Kael'thas and those humans are concerned about is true, he will probably only have a week, maybe two suspended instead of the full two months. I'm going to put him in the Ranger-General's company when we find out what's so important about Kalimdor."

"You know about the arrangement, right?" Dael'Thaelas asked, just to make sure.

"Of course. Think of this more as an experiment, to see if they can work closely together whilst maintaining a professional relationship around other rangers." Anasterian picked up a nearby pipe and cast a small flame on the tip of his finger, lighting the dried sungrass in his pipe and then doing the same for Dael'Thaelas. "If they can't, then I think your arrangement to have them marry and produce the next line of Sunblade offspring would have been a waste of time."

"A cruel experiment, but one I know they will pass." Dael'Thaelas told him, taking a couple puffs of his pipe. "I did miss these nights with you, old friend. Sitting on your balcony, overlooking the city at night and having a drink or two."

"It has been a long couple decades since the last time." Anasterian said, looking back into his bedroom when two knocks were sound on his door. "Excuse me. Unlike the great Lord Sunblade, I never get to rest."

"You should try it some time." Dael'Thaelas told him, hearing the King chuckle as he made his way to his bedroom door. "Might make you more agreeable to your son."

"My son makes my life difficult when he argues with the Convocation." Anasterian yelled back to him, opening the door and taking several reports off the royal messenger and thanking them before closing the door and returning back to Dael'Thaelas. "I understand why he does, they're a tough bunch to like at the best of times, but if he is to be King soon, he has to get along with the one group of elves that will help him more than anyone."

"Looking to give up the throne?" Dael'Thaelas joked, getting a small smile from his friend and then suddenly growing concerned when he saw seriousness in his eyes. "What is it?" He asked, sitting forward to look the King in the eyes. "Anasterian?"

"I'm dying, old friend." He told him, looking over to Dael'Thaelas who frowned at him. "I've known for some time now. I'm slowing down, my magic isn't what it used to be and I've lost my footing more than once these last couple years." He placed a hand on the crown he was wearing, taking it off is head and placing it on the table between them. "I don't know how long I've got left, but I know I won't see the next decade out. Which is why I need you to do something for me when I do go."

"Anything." Dael'Thaelas said.

"There's a letter the Convocation will receive when I do die stating that you are to be the head of the council and the primary advisor to my son." He saw Dael'Thaelas begin to think about it, reaching over and placing a hand on his arm. "It's not an order, it's a request. I trust nobody else to advise him, but I won't force it upon you to take up that role."

"If I refuse?" Dael'Thaelas asked, watching Anasterian smile a little and look down at the ring on Lord Sunblade's hand.

"Then the Convocation remains as is." He looked up to Dael'Thaelas again and saw he was thinking about it. "It's time you stepped away from the sword and the bow, Dael. You're not much younger than I am, you must be feeling your age too."

Dael'Thaelas chuckled and looked down at the ring on his finger again. "I will admit that I was slower than usual against the Amani today. Still better than the rest, but I knew something wasn't right." He moved his hand to his knee and rubbed it a little. "It's the knees."

"It always is." Anasterian said with a laugh. "I can't stop myself from groaning sometimes when I stand up after sitting for too long."

"It's climbing up onto my mount for me." Dael'Thaelas told him, getting another laugh from the King. "Perhaps I should throw myself into politics full time. I've relied heavily on Larysa for so long that I might be a little rusty getting back into things."

"I'd watch out for her if I were you." Anasterian warned. "She's very opportunistic and reminds me of you too much."

"What are you saying?" Dael'Thaelas asked him.

"She might try to take your position in the Convocation if given enough time. Just keep an eye out on her and try to outmaneuver her before she takes that final step and forces you out."

Dael'Thaelas picked up his pipe and began to tap his finger on the arm of the chair he sat in. "I'll keep that in mind."

"You've been distracted since yesterday." Vilandil said, walking beside Athrodar as they wondered around Silvermoon. "Something on your mind?" He asked, slowly smirking at his friend. "Or someone?"

"Sorry, I'm just thinking about my suspension and what to do for the next two months." Athrodar told him. "You all have something to do and will probably return to your classes and training in the next day or two, so it's just trying to pass the time until I can go back to being a ranger again."

"No... I don't think that's it." Vilandil said, watching Athrodar frown at him. "You've been more distracted than usual. I think you know what to do and that's to train like you usually do on your weeks off." He narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "What's on your mind?"

Athrodar sighed, hating that he had to lie to his friend if he wanted to keep Sylvanas' secret, but at the same time he desperately wanted to talk to someone about it outside of Sylvanas and her friends and family. At this moment in time he had only his family to talk to about this and he was still angry with them all except his mother, but if he returned home to talk to her, he ran the risk of running into any of the other members. "Look, Vilandil..." He began, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "If I am to tell you this, you need to promise me, promise me, that you won't tell another soul."

"Okay, this seems big." The priest muttered, standing face to face with the Lieutenant. "I won't tell anyone, I promise you."

Checking his surroundings, Athrodar leaned in closer to Vilandil who leaned in closer to him too. "I am distracted because I am thinking about the Ranger-General."

Vilandil frowned and pulled back. "Why?"

"She's who I was with for that week off." Athrodar whispered to him. "Sylvanas and I..." He began to smile when he thought about her. "I love her and she loves me."

"Already?" Vilandil asked, tilting his head at the Lieutenant. "Aren't you jumping into it a bit prematurely?"

"Probably." Athrodar admitted. "But I can't stop thinking about her and she..." He closed his eyes and sighed. "She has had to wait for a long time for this to even happen."

"What do you mean?" Vilandil now asked.

"There was an arrangement between her and my family for almost three decades that said when the time came, she and I would start a family." Athrodar saw Vilandil's eyes widen and held up his hands. "It's a brief summary of the whole thing, but I haven't stopped thinking about her since that week and we're taking it slow. Well, slower than I usually take it."

"So you've not...?"

"No, we haven't." Athrodar told him, watching him nod slowly. "She wants it to be on her terms and I agree."

Vilandil smiled and placed his arm around the Lieutenant. "Well.. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, mom."

"Anytime, son." Vilandil said, grinning at him. "So when do you introduce her to your friends?"

"Not for a long time." Athrodar told him, looking over to Sunfury Spire in the distance. "Like I said, she wants this to be a secret so only her family and closest friends know and only my family know, Melonara and now you and Liadrin."

"Not Thal?" Vilandil asked, tilting his head at him.

"Do you trust her to keep a secret after all this time?" Athrodar asked him in return.

"That's a good point." The priest muttered, hearing Athrodar chuckle. "I'm happy you seem to be happy though, I've always wanted you to settle down."

"Liar, you just didn't know what to say." Athrodar told him, making the priest laugh.

"That's true." Vilandil looked over to Sunfury Spire too. "How do you think she will react if we both just drop in to see her?"

"She'll either be hurt that I didn't keep it a secret, or she'll be angry that I didn't keep it a secret." Athrodar looked over to Vilandil who smiled. "Both options I hate."

"Then we won't go see her." Vilandil said, looking over to Thalina and Liadrin who were coming their way. "Okay, let's go." He said when they met up with the other two of their group. "You've got another five hours with us and then you are free."

Athrodar chuckled and shook his head. "Saying it like that makes it seem like a punishment."

"What did you find out about Kalimdor?" Sylvanas asked, standing beside Lor'themar who had returned from the forests of Quel'Thalas and looking at Kael'thas who was waiting for the Convocation and his father. "Is what's happening over there connected to Arthas and the undead?"

"I think so." Kael'thas said, facing both Lor'themar and Sylvanas. "There was a prophet that contacted Lady Proudmoore telling her to take as many people as possible over to the continent before death claims them here."

"It might have just been for safety." Lor'themar said, getting a nod of agreement from Sylvanas.

"But why Kalimdor? Stormwind would have been an option too." Kael'thas told them. "No, there's something happening on Kalimdor and I need you both to find out what it is when you leave in two days."

"Wait, what?" Lor'themar asked, looking over to Sylvanas. "Are you okay with this?"

"It was my idea when we spoke about this the day the humans arrived here." Sylvanas told him, grinning at the Ranger Lord. "Chin up, Theron. You know you'll love it. Just your company and my company, exploring Kalimdor and hopefully finding some sort of evil super power to crush beneath our boots."

"I feel like you've had a dream about this moment recently." Lor'themar said, watching Sylvanas begin to smirk. "You have, haven't you?"

"Well... Can you blame me? It's a mysterious continent that could have many secrets we might find."

Lor'themar saw the look of wanderlust in her eyes and began to smile at her. "You're really excited for this." He looked over to Kael'thas who noticed the look too. "When do we leave?"

"I need to speak to the Convocation and the King first, inform them of what I think is happening on Kalimdor and ask for two companies to protect the humans until they have a place to set up a new home." He stroked the small tuft of hair on his chin in thought. "It should work and I'll accompany you two as an ambassador of sorts."

"You know where I am if we get the all clear." Sylvanas said, glancing over to Lor'themar who seemed to think on it. "Come on, Theron. Think of it like the old days, us two in the same company, fighting the Amani to protect our homes."

"Except it's on a different continent, on unknown lands and against a probably unknown enemy." Lor'themar told her, sighing when Sylvanas looked as confident as ever. "Fine, I'll come too."

"There he is." Anya whispered, looking up at Clea who stood over her whilst she was in a crouched position. "He has company though."

"Then we have to be quick." Clea told her. "Remember, we're doing this for the General."

Anya nodded her head once. "Right. It's to make sure she is safe around him. After all, he is a Sunblade. They have the power to make people disappear."

"Although true, I'm telling you that's never happened." Clea said, glancing down to Anya who rolled her eyes. "Name me one person who they made disappear."

"That uhm... Guy. The one who always did..." Anya began to frown, trying to remember the person she was on about. "Maybe I had a dream about that..."

"Do you always have kidnapping dreams?" Clea asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"Not always. But they always seem to be the nights I sleep the most peacefully..." Anya looked over to Clea who was a little concerned, smiling brightly at her. "Let's go get him!"

"Since you've got two months off, why don't you come watch us train someday? Perhaps you'll learn something from a different style of training." Thalina suggested, looking over to Liadrin who sighed at the offer. "What?"

"He won't want to come watch us train our spells. It's completely different to his style of training that it would be pointless." Liadrin looked over to Vilandil who was remaining quiet on the matter. "Don't you agree?"

"I'm not getting involved. Athrodar knows what my training is like so he doesn't have to come see me." Vilandil looked over to Athrodar and frowned when the Lieutenant wasn't where he was seconds before. "Athrodar?"

"What are you two doing?" He asked, being dragged away from his friends by Anya and Clea, looking around the room they pushed him into. "Does Sylvanas know?"

"Of course she does." Anya said, smiling innocently at him. "We're here to get every little bit of information out of you."

"What do you mean?" Athrodar asked, hearing Liadrin, Thalina and Vilandil yell his name in the background. "Can I at least tell them I've been kidnapped by you two so they don't get the wrong idea?"

"Hmm..." Clea looked out the nearby window and watched the three of them begin to walk away. "Too late, they're gone." She heard Athrodar sigh and began to smirk. "Lighten up. We're more fun to be with anyway."

"That's subjective." Athrodar told her. "What do you want to know? Sylvanas already knows everything about me that she wants to know, what else is there?"

Anya made her way towards him and stood as close to him as possible. "Does your family kidnap people?" She asked, standing so close that she was breathing on him.

"No?" Athrodar responded, not sounding too certain in his answer. "But knowing what has happened over the last two decades or however long it has been, I wouldn't be surprised if they do."

"I knew it!" Anya yelled, making Athrodar flinch at the sudden increase in volume.

"I don't think that was an admittance." Clea said, dragging Anya away from him. "What do you plan to do to our General?" She asked now, moving Anya out the way and patting the top of her head when she saw how happy she was at not being proven right or wrong with her guess. "We've read your file... Or at the very least heard about what you do to those women you spend a night or two with. Are you going to sleep with her and then leave her?"

"What? No!" Athrodar sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She didn't send you here to ask questions, did she?"

"Well... No."Clea smiled innocently at him now. "Forgive us?"

"What do I get out of forgiving you both?" Athrodar asked them, looking at Clea and then over to Anya. "And what's stopping me from telling Sylvanas about you two ambushing me?"

"Wait!" Clea yelled, standing in between Athrodar and the door. "What do you want?" She asked him.

"To let me leave here." Athrodar told her.

"Deal." Clea said, moving out the way and smiling at him. "You can leave."

"Viraleth was right... He doesn't like to joke around when he's angry." Anya muttered, making Athrodar stop by the door.

"Actually that reminds me." He said, turning back around to face them. "Since you know her, what's Viraleth's family name?"

"Her family name is -"

Anya was interrupted by Clea who put her hand over her mouth. "You've already got what you wanted." She said, grinning at him. "You can go now."

"What? Come on, tell me." Athrodar pushed, watching Clea remove her hand from Anya's mouth and watched as both of them remained silent. "Damn it... I should have asked for her family name instead of leaving."

"Bye!" Clea said, pushing Athrodar out the room and closing the door behind him.

"We are going to have so much fun teasing him." Anya said with a laugh, making Clea laugh too.

"Yes we are." She agreed.

Making his way back to his friends, Athrodar was intercepted again after a couple minutes of looking for them, only this time it was one of the last people he wanted to walk into. "There you are." Dael'Thaelas said, holding out his arm to stop Athrodar from walking away from him. "Almost three weeks without seeing you and yet you're still trying to run away from me?"

"I'm not trying to run." Athrodar told him, keeping his gaze off his great grandfather. "I have nothing to say to you, my father or anyone else in this family."

"Good, then this shouldn't take too long." Dael'Thaelas said, placing a hand on Athrodar's shoulder and walking him away from the public eye and into a different building than he was in with Anya and Clea. "Sit." He said, gesturing to a nearby chair and signalling two of the rangers guarding the room to leave. "How far have you gotten with the General?"

"What do you mean?" Athrodar asked.

Dael'Thaelas smiled and let out a small laugh. "That's not very far then." He said, looking over to Athrodar who was now watching him carefully. "I know we've had our differences, but this arrangement with Ranger-General Sylvanas can be called off as easily as it was put together." He told him, watching Athrodar now glare at him. "You will do what it expected of you as a member of the Sunblade name."

"And what is that, exactly?" Athrodar asked him.

"You will bed her, wed her and hopefully by then, you would have bred her. Do you understand?"

Athrodar held in his anger as best as he could, looking away from his great grandfather and focusing on his breathing as well as trying to calm himself down before he done something he would later regret. "Yes..." He said through gritted teeth.

"Good." Dael'Thaelas said, walking towards the door and opening it. "I'm going to leave you alone now so you can sulk and complain how unfair I am being. But I expect results within a year otherwise you can say goodbye to the General and whatever life you have thought about between you two."

Athrodar waited until the door shut behind his great grandfather and then waited another few minutes until he knew he was alone before standing up off the chair, picking it up and throwing it against the wall. As soon as the chair broke apart when it hit the wall, he let out a roar of anger and clenched his fists tightly. He knew Dael'Thaelas wanted something more than just a marriage between his family and a family renown for Ranger-Generals and now he had an answer. He wanted him to have a child with Sylvanas that would eventually be married off for more political gain the moment Dael'Thaelas got his claws into them.

He didn't want that to happen, but the only way to stop that as far as he knew was to leave Quel'Thalas. He was almost certain he couldn't talk Sylvanas into leaving the forests and people she swore to protect, yet he didn't want to leave her after everything that has happened in the last fortnight. For now, he had to sit through whatever his great grandfather had planned and pray that Sylvanas would understand the situation they now found themselves in when he told her.

"Father, a word?" Kael'thas asked, watching Anasterian look up from the report he was reading and nodding his head when he saw his son.

"Larysa, leave us." He said, waiting for the Sunblade politician to leave before standing up and gesturing towards the balcony connecting to his private office. "This way."

Once alone on the balcony with his father, Kael'thas put his hands behind his back and looked out towards the city. "I want to request two ranger companies to help Jaina and the humans find a place to call home on Kalimdor as well as scout the continent for any potential threats that I believe are there."

Anasterian raised an eyebrow at his son. "What threat do you think is there?" He asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. I read some books that necromancy and the use of undead soldiers were present during the War of the Ancients and that made me think the Burning Legion are back, or at least are forming in Kalimdor." Kael'thas saw his father look away and knew he was thinking of that possibility. "I wanted to check the royal library just to make sure. I know Dath'Remar Sunstrider fought against them and I was hoping to look at my great, great grandfather's library and ancient books to see if my suspicions are correct."

Anasterian nodded his head slowly, looking back at his son. "I will allow you to take two companies with you to Kalimdor if you can find something in our library that confirms your suspicion."

Kael'thas bowed his head. "Thank you, father." He took two steps away but then stopped and turned to face Anasterian again. "I know we've not seen eye to eye a lot over the last several decades, but if my theories are correct and we find the Burning Legion on Kalimdor, I promise you I will be around more when we've dealt with them."

Anasterian began to smile and made his way over to his son, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment before stepping closer a little more and hugging him. "I would like that very much, son."