***Many Years Ago***

Shades of red and orange danced across Sylvanas's features as the pyre crackled and burned. Nathanos studied her from where he stood; a Ranger like the rest of them and yet forever apart for being human. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered so long as he had Lady Sylvanas's favor, and the skill to back her confidence up.

And she would need him in the coming days. He frowned at the pyres, arranged in an arrow-like formation. Lireesa Windrunner was the point, her two seconds forming the rest of the head and a dozen more rangers the shaft. Each pyre held aloft the body of someone Sylvanas had called friend or family.

He looked again at Sylvanas. She stood rigidly still, her hand grasping the shoulder of the young elf next to her. Sundreamer's child was holding up remarkably well, the only outward sign of her grief how close she stood to Sylvanas and how tightly she clasped her hand over the one on her shoulder.

Kalira could be a problem, but the competition was now gone. Nathanos focused on Feydori's pyre. The woman had been holding Sylvanas back for years, by virtue of both emotion and position. It mattered no longer. Sylvana would be Ranger-General and Nathanos would be the sharpest arrow in her quiver. The way it was supposed to be.

Sylvanas stepped forward, guiding Kalira with her. Cast in the light of the flames she looked radiant as she took a breath and began to sing. The dirge was ancient and moving, bolstered by the pain and anger writ on Sylvanas's face.

Another voice joined hers, high and sniffling. Sylvanas's hand tightened on Kalira's shoulder as they sang together. Just a child, she was allowed this display of emotion, but Nathanos could hear no break in Sylvanas's voice, nor see the tears he knew she kept back.

After the last note faded, they stayed. After the bodies had been reduced to ash and ember, they stayed. Sylvanas and Kalira, and Nathanos ever vigilant.

The remaining mourners had departed hours ago. Sylvanas stared into the embers where her mother had been, her eyes flicking to other pyres on occasion. A specific pyre more often than the others, Nathanos noted.

"My ladies. It grows late and their ashes have returned to the forest."

Sylvanas did not look at him. Instead, she approached her mother's pyre. He stared slack-jawed as she dug her fingers into the ashes. They must have burned her, but she did not flinch, or make a sound. She rubbed the ash in her palm around with her thumb, then lifted her hand to her face and dragged her fingers, leaving trails of ash diagonally across her face, then smudged some of it around her eyes.

Kalira hesitated, then spread a streak of her mother's ashes in a single line on her right cheek with two fingers. Then she walked slowly to Sylvanas, and did the same for her.

Kneeling in front of her, Sylvanas put her hands on Kalira's shoulders. To Nathanos's shock, tears streaked through the ash on Sylvanas's face, glittering in the moonlight.

"Little one, have you kept up your lessons?"

"Yes." Kalira nodded, blinking her eye as she let out a shaky breath.

"Can you be true?"

"I can strike true, Lady."

Sylvanas smiled, a grim expression with the ash in the dim glow of the embers. "Call me Sylvanas." Her eyes flicked to Feydori's remains. "Or mother, if you wish. But can you be true?"

Kalira frowned. "There's a difference?"

"There's a great difference. To be true is to hold to your convictions. Listen to the advice of others, but never allow yourself to ignore your own instincts."

"So be true to your heart," Kalira said. "Mother used to say something like that."

"Yes..."

"I can be true, mother."

Sylvanas studied Kalira's face, then smudged a line down the center of her forehead. She whispered, almost too low for Nathanos to hear. "I take you into my house, Kalira Sundreamer. From now until eternity."

Standing, Sylvanas called out. "Nathanos, return to the city."

"What of you, Ranger-General?"

She looked at him sharply, her eyes lost in the darkness of the ash and Nathanos felt something like fear trickle down his spine. "Tomorrow, Nathanos. Tomorrow I will be the Ranger-General of Silvermoon. Tonight I will be the monster the Forest Trolls speak of to frighten their children. Tonight, Kalira and I will avenge the fallen."

"Allow me to accompany you, my ladies." Nathanos bowed, hand pressed to his chest. "You are more than capable of this task, but it never hurts to have someone at your back."

"You would be the first I'd ask to cover my back," Sylvanas replied. "But this is something we must do alone."

She turned away, and Nathanos watched as she and Kalira faded into the darkness of the forest like wraiths.

*** Now***

Once her mother was ready for travel, Jaina had personally seen her back to Kul Tiras with the other survivors from Dreadnaught. There was little else she could do but offer her condolences to the families of the lost; and the stack of letters on her desk had slowly grown over the following weeks until she'd had one for every lost sailor on those seven ships that had a family she could find.

The last of those had just been sent out, and Jaina took the opportunity for a stroll through the city. She hadn't since before the battle at sea and felt disconnected from Orgrimmar.

That she felt that way, and felt the need to fix it, gnawed at her, but not as much as the observation that she was being watched. She was always being watched, but today it was so blatantly obvious that it was beginning to get on her nerves. She'd had a dozen people brush past her and even more 'casually' asking her how she was.

Jaina almost wished she'd ignored Sylvanas's command to stay away from the Hold for the day. But the Warchief had been oddly insistent on it; not quite an order, but a heavily implied suggestion.

"Kalira, how many Alliance spies have you seen in the past ten minutes?" She asked, stopping at a stall and ordering a sausage-on-a-stick.

Kalira quirked her eyebrow. "Four. Including this vendor."

"Interesting." Jaina took the sausage from the suddenly nervous looking vendor, and continued to walk. "I've seen three times that many."

"You can't be serious." Kalira followed Jaina, glancing back at the stand with a relieved look. No sausage for her this time. At least that had clearly been her hope before Tyra caught up with them and shoved one into her hand. She stared at her girlfriend like she was imagining tearing her limb from limb, and then, while still holding eye contact, smushed the meat against Tyra's face.

Jaina watched the exchange with amused bemusement. "It's not that bad."

"I'm dead and it made me sick," Kalira said.

It was a welcome bit of levity, and Jaina just shook her head as Tyra wiped off her face and licked her fingers clean. "You Forsaken and your weak constitutions."

"I think someone killed and raised her stomach years ago," Kalira muttered, drawing a raspy laugh from Tyra.

"Anyway, I'm serious." Jaina spread her hands out in a vague motion. "They're keeping a closer eye on me than you are. I appreciate their concern, but what I get up to in privacy is my business."

"Ain't sure the throne room is all that private, Lady."

Jaina sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Thank you for pointing that out, Tyra."

"Yeh welcome."

"Can we please not talk about that?" Kalira asked, shuddering.

"What, that yeh mum has been havin' Lady Proudmoore like-"

"I want a divorce."

"We ain't even married."

The two continued to bicker behind Jaina and thankfully moved off the subject of her sex life. Jaina preferred not to think of it either. Like everything in her life, things happened, she placed them in a box, stacked the box on top of other boxes, shoved the whole thing somewhere dark and full of cobwebs with all the rest of the boxes and then locked the door behind her.

Just when Jaina thought that she might have escaped any further questioning by the Alliance, she was approached by a rather short Orc and his wolf pet.

If by 'orc' and 'wolf' one meant a gnome in an orc mask and a Worgen doing a poor impression of a hound. Jaina knew a Worgen rogue who'd perfected that trick; apparently it was harder than it looked.

Jaina just stared at the two of them. The Worgen shifted uncomfortably, looking around as he sat awkwardly on his haunches.

"Hulloo miss," the Gnome said, in his best impression of a deep, tough voice. "I mean, Lewk tear Oogare!"

The Worgen cleared his throat, and then in a normal, dry voice said, "Bark."

Through gritted teeth and with a wild look in her eyes, Jaina hissed, "I'm going to pretend this never happened, I suggest you both do the same. And put some pants on!"

She turned on her heel, storming away as she heard Tyra ask if she could pet the puppy, Kalira's laughter echoing behind her.

The gall. If one more Alliance spy approached her, she would lose her mind.

Taking a deep breath, Jaina fiddled with the doll in her pocket. It helped calm her a little bit and she absently wondered who Minuial and Galnir had found to watch their children while they were investigating Sylvanas's rumors. She hoped it was someone with a lot of energy and who was well-rested; that person was not Jaina.

But it made her wonder something, and she came to a stop, turning to face Kalira and Tyra. "This is obviously an open secret. But how did you end up adopted by Sylvanas?"

Kalira came to an abrupt stop, staring at her with eyes that were a slightly different shade of red from Sylvanas's. "Why?"

"I'm just curious. I barely know anything about you, and then I discover I have a step-daughter."Jaina kept her voice low; it wasn't exactly a state secret, but it was still clearly a sensitive subject. She wondered if spies had ever reported it to Anduin. He had to have known by now, surely.

Thinking about it, she was pretty sure that Sylvanas so casually revealing it must have been calculated, knowing the information would get back to the Alliance one way or another.

"She was close to my mother," Kalira said, no inflection in her voice. "My mother was killed before the Second War. I was barely old enough to join in the defense of Quel'Thelas during the Third. I was the first Dark Ranger she raised."

Jaina kept her expression as carefully neutral as Kalira's voice had been bland, but her mind was a whirlwind and her chest felt like ice had settled next to her heart. "Did you wish for that?"

"I was dead," Kalira replied. "There was no way for her to ask."

It was an evasive answer, but before Jaina could press her on it, she heard someone call her name. Turning around, she saw a familiar Kaldorei jogging towards her. Jaina felt her eye twitch as Yukale came to a stop in front of her. "You too?"

"What?" Yukale tilted her head, brushing a strand of violet hair out of her eyes.

"Look, I understand that King Wrynn is concerned, I would be too in his place, but this is getting ridiculous." Jaina spun around, arms outstretched. "Now he's sending Champions to check on me?"

"I'm just-"

"Three days," Jaina declared. "Three days. Tell Anduin to make his people leave me alone for three days."

"But-"

Jaina didn't let Yukale finish her sentence.

Anduin sank back on his throne, rubbing both of his hands over his face. This was not how he expected this day to be going and it was, in fact, not even on his bingo card.

He dropped his hands to the arm rest and sighed tiredly as the woman in front of him dripped water on the floor. "And then she teleported you into Stormwind Harbor."

Yukale nodded her head, twisting her finger in her right ear and then patting at her head to knock water out. "Yes. Well, about thirty feet above it. I surfaced and realized I wasn't alone."

She started to wring out her hair.

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Anduin turned his head towards Mathias Shaw. "And how many of our spies are left in Orgrimmar?"

Shaw squinted one eye, clearly not happy. "One, your majesty. She left the Shiv alone."

"That's… actually a small relief," Anduin admitted.

"I just wanted to say hello," Yukale complained.

"We may have been keeping too close a tab on her of late. Perhaps we went a little overboard." Anduin lifted his hand and pressed it to his face. How the hell was he going to tell Genn? For that matter, what could they do? It wasn't Sylvanas who'd expelled most of the Alliance spies from Orgrimmar, and both she and Jaina were well within their rights to do so.

"You think?" Yukale snapped. Her eyes widened and she quickly added, "Sir."

Letting out a snort, Anduin waved his hand. "Go dry off and get something warm to eat. There is something we need to discuss, but it can wait until later."

She gave him a rigid salute and then quickly retreated.

"Ravenwing does have a point," Mathias said, folding his arms and watching the rogue until she was gone.

"Yes. I can't imagine how it would feel to have most of the planet gossiping about your sex life," Anduin said, with full awareness that his own status was often a topic of discussion. But it had to be worse for Jaina; at least he knew the gossip was mostly speculation. He shook his head. "I don't… I don't know what's been going through her head. Sylvanas has always been hard to read, but Jaina...Before Garrosh, she was always the one reaching out to people. Seeking out the best in them. Getting to know them."

"You're wondering if this arrangement with the Horde has made her form some sort of bond with Sylvanas."

Anduin nodded. It was obvious that she'd developed friendships within Orgrimmar, which might tip the balance in Sylvanas's favor. Becoming Sylvanas's friend would only make that worse. "She could always be... making Sylvanas relax around her. To lower her defenses."

From the look on Shaw's face he believed that about as much a Anduin did. He couldn't explain rumors, nor the fact that Jaina and Sylvanas hadn't really tried to argue against those rumors. If anything the Warchief had practically revelled in them.

The sound of pounding feet cut off any response from the spymaster as Genn Greymane burst into the throne room in full Worgen form. He skidded on the water left behind by Yukale but managed to stay upright. "Your majesty!"

Sighing, Anduin wondered if his father had ever had days like this. "I'm already aware of the situation with our spies, Genn."

He shook his head. "No. Anduin. It's something much worse."

Jaina's vision was obscured by a blindfold, and she was forced to rely on her two shadows as they guided her to a destination. "Is this really necessary? This is embarrassing."

"'Fraid so," Tyra said, keeping a tight grip on her elbow. "By the way, the Dark Lady was thrilled at what yeh did, Lady."

"I'm not thrilled, but I'm not upset at myself either," Jaina admitted. It had actually felt good. Not just the release of power, but the principle of the thing. As a bonus, it was also a warning to Sylvanas; she could easily dunk all her shadows in the water too, if she wished.

"She laughed for five minutes straight." Kalira made Jaina stop, then pulled her onto a slightly raised platform.

Jaina suspected she was in Grommash Hold, just from the sounds and general way the air moved around her, and when the elevator started she knew she was right. "I wish I'd seen that."

"Seen what?" Sylvanas answered her instead, and Jaina felt around, realizing Tyra and Kalira had sent her up alone.

"Your reaction to my stunt a little while ago."

"Step forward." The smile was evident in Sylvanas's voice, and Jaina hesitated for only a split second before she took a few steps.

"Very good. Come closer."

Unsure if she actually trusted Sylvanas or not, Jaina took another cautious step. Cold hands ran up her arms, and she felt Sylvanas move behind her before the blindfold was removed.

Jaina blinked as she adjusted to the light.

The indoor archery range was gone, replaced by a space that had been partitioned in three by half-walls. The largest space contained the bar and a large, circular couch, as well as a table for drinks. The next partition was on the east side of the room, containing a desk with one of Jaina's typographers on it, a raised, tree-like platform with a cushion on which Varian was lounging imperiously, a number of filing cabinets, and assorted other odd and ends.

The last space was nearest the stairs, cluttered with bookshelves and a regular writing desk. A bright copper rail in the ceiling formed a semicircle around it; thick blue-velvet curtains were pushed back against the wall, but could be easily pulled around to close it off from the world. It wouldn't hide the flash of teleportation or muffle unauthorized voices; but it would be a visual barrier. Privacy without secrecy.

And there remained a clear path to the Sanctuary.

"I'm… what?" Jaina struggled to take it all in, unable to process what she was seeing.

Sylvanas looped her right arm around Jaina's waist, her other hand brushing through her hair. "You are my Consort, and you deserve a better space to work than part of our bedroom."

"What about your archery practice?"

"An indoor archery range was always a bit excessive, and there's a training room in the residency," Sylvanas pointed out.

It registered that Sylvanas had done this for her. She thought she might have needed to sit down if Sylvanas wasn't propping her up.

There was a place for her to do the mundane paperwork that she enjoyed and the Horde desperately needed her help with, and a separate space for her magical theorycrafting and … simply reading books. There was even a space to relax with a drink. "I don't know what to say."

"For your first task, our current tax code is due to expire in two years and needs to be reworked, and I have been informed in no uncertain terms that none of my clerks are paid enough to provide me with a coherent summary of the current legislation. I'd like you to review it. I made sure to keep the bar fully stocked; you'll need it."

"I am pretty sure that people being unable to read through Horde taxation law sober is how it got into that state to begin with."

"I look forward to listening to you complain about it."

She felt Sylvanas smile against her ear and excused the shiver that ran through her as excitement for her own space. And paperwork. Tax code wasn't exactly sexy, but she'd spent years working on fairly nonessential administration. Easy, public record things with no room for interpretation. Even when she'd overhauled the filing system, she'd only had limited access to the files themselves. This would be something completely under her control and a level of trust that made her almost nervous.

"What, like we'd go home at night and you'd listen to me rant about property tax versus sales tax while getting ready for bed? That sounds awfully mundane."

"I don't mind listening to you when you're excited about something, Jaina." Sylvanas stepped away from her, walking towards the bar.

Jaina caught herself on the couch and sat down before she could lose her balance. She watched as Sylvanas poured them each a glass from that rare bottle she'd never let Jaina touch before. She felt a sudden lump in her throat, which only got worse as she looked around her new office and Sylvanas's general demeanor sank in. Oh gods, don't cry.

Gratefully, she took the drink from Sylvanas and sipped it. It was warm and smooth, instantly setting her at ease. "Oh, that's good."

Sylvanas sat next to her, leaning back on the couch and throwing her left arm over the back of it. Her eyes locked onto Jaina's, and Jaina had to talk herself out of kissing her. Doing so felt like it would cross some kind of line, one that she'd drawn and steadfastly adhered to despite temptation to the contrary.

But she wanted to. And that scared her. Jaina broke the eye contact and took another, longer sip of her drink, Sylvanas twirling locks of her hair around her fingers.

"So you approve?"

Jaina swallowed, and nodded. "Yes. I do. Thank you."

Sylvanas's fingers slid down the side of Jaina's neck, and she looked at her with an expression Jaina was beginning to learn the meaning of. "Very good. I would hate to have to burn this building to the ground and start anew."

"That's a little much, isn't it?" Jaina laughed, knocking back the rest of her drink and praying it wouldn't loosen her tongue too much. But she needed the fortification as Sylvanas leaned against her, lips exploring the side of her neck.

She should stop her. But she didn't. Instead, she cupped Sylvanas's face and turned it up. But before she could give into the terrifying desire to kiss her, someone emerged from the elevator.

"Warchief!" It was Galnir, returned early from his mission, and he came to an abrupt stop when he saw the compromising position they were in.

His wife emerged after him and spoke. "We have news. Naga have begun an offensive on a dozen coastal towns and fortresses and we've lost contact with our forces in Silithus."

"Just the Horde?" Jaina asked, standing and adjusting her robe.

Galnir shook his head. "No. Booty Bay and Boralus have both gone silent, and there were reports of Naga all along the western coast of the Eastern Kingdoms."

"Our spies in Feathermoon Stronghold and Whisperwind's new sapling?"

"Also silent."

Jaina turned back to Sylvanas, trying not to let her concern show.

Sylvanas stood slowly. "Lady Proudmoore, I want you to teleport the Horde Leadership to the Hold, and then send Tyra to Stormwind before you join us. We are convening a war council."