Chapter 22 – Confusingly painful
Her cheek touched the stone cold floor as she laid flat on it and stared out of the cell with an empty look. She had lost count of how many days she had been trapped down here because it felt like an eternity. Senior Sergeant Grimsford had visited every day and slipped her some bread. Jaina was grateful, but it was not nutritious enough to live off. As well, she had found company in the female orc in the cell next to her named Orasha Lonefang, and she had shared her bread with her. Therefore, she was now malnourished and she had no energy. But Orasha had been great for Jaina down in the dungeons. She was a kind orc, a Frost Wolf clan orc, and she had told Jaina tales from her life. She had been young when Thrall came to the clan and always admired him. Orasha had earnt her last name when she had hunted one night and returned with a fang from a notorious prowler all on her own. She had ended up in the dungeons when Garrosh was appointed Warchief for the simple reason that she was a good friend of Thrall's. Unfortunately for her, Thrall probably thought she was dead as Garrosh had been good at making orc's disappear. Jaina tried to ensure her that Thrall would have helped if he knew, but it only made Orasha sob. They both knew she was forgotten, just like everyone else in this cold, godforsaken cave.
Jaina had tried to spark flame spells to warm herself and Orasha, especially at night, but to no use. She was too weak and all she could cast were smoke. She was starting to give up. At first, she had been sure Sylvanas would come and get her at some point, thinking Sergeant Grimsford had talked with her. Now, she was losing that hope. It surely did not look like anyone was coming for her. Orasha had begged Jaina not to give up, attempting to comfort her, but to no use.
"Jaina… Jaina! Someone is coming!" Orasha shook the cell bars to gain her attention. Jaina did not move, but she could hear footsteps, and they were not the usual sneaky ones that belonged to Senior Sergeant Grimsford. Still not moving, Jaina could see feet stopping outside her cell. Howls and cries from other prisoners overpowered the person's voice, but Jaina knew whose feet they were.
"Get her out of there…" the voice hissed. Jaina was too weak to resist when the guards grabbed her arms and dragged her to her feet. "NO! Jaina! Please, don't hurt her!" Orasha screamed. Jaina wanted to shout that she would be back for her, but she did not even know where she was going herself. "Take her to the infirmary. And Sergeant, stay with her and notify me when she is less…" The voice scoffed. "Pathetic…" "Of course, my Queen". Senior Sergeant Grimsford crept behind the guards that practically carried Jaina to the infirmary. As Jaina was carried out, she rested her eyes on Warchief Sylvanas and it was like her red glaring eyes were whispering sorry for her actions. Jaina's vision suddenly went blurry and without knowing it herself, she passed out.
Jaina opened her eyes and looked around her. It was no longer the daunting prison cell that met her sight and the atmosphere was quiet. She sat herself up in the bed and smelt the clean sheets. It looked like she had been cleaned herself too and she was wearing a white gown. As her vision became stable she quickly realised she had made it to the infirmary.
"Sylvanas…" She whispered. In a blink of second, before she had even finished the Banshee Queen's name a tall person arrived at her side and a cold hand grabbed hers. "Jaina, dear". It was without a doubt Sylvanas Windrunner. Jaina took a deep breath as she looked up at her former lover. "How could you do this to me?" Jaina's eyes filled with tears and she could not help but let them stream down her cheeks. Sylvanas quickly dropped her hand as if she had expected her to say the complete opposite. "Good to see you are conscious". Jaina wiped her face and cleared her throat. Of course, it was not like they were going to have an actual, real conversation.
"Yep, all better! I wish to return to Dalaran now" Jaina said. Sylvanas gritted her teeth. "No, I did not release you from the dungeons to have you bail on me. We are going to resume our pact. We have a job to do". "Excuse me?" Jaina was confused. What exactly did Sylvanas want from her? "Just let me go Sylvanas. What is the point? There is nothing more to say. Let's just forget we ever happened and we can live our lives". It was like another knife to Sylvanas' chest. "NO!" She exclaimed and slammed her hand at the glass of water on the bedside table so it fell on the floor, breaking into a million pieces. It made Jaina jump. "You are going to work with me whether you like it or not, Lady Proudmoore. You owe me that much". Jaina almost laughed. "Owe you? You threw me away in the dungeons to die for God knows how long and I owe you? I don't think so". Sylvanas felt anger starting to build up inside her. She wanted to be civil with Jaina, but there was too much water under the bridge at this moment in time. "Yes, you attempted to murder me in my sleep. You will pay for that by assisting the Warchief of the Horde instead of your beloved Kirin Tor". Jaina blinked. A part of her hated Sylvanas for making her work with her, but the other part of her suddenly felt a rush of excitement. She managed to hide the latter rather well. "I suppose you wouldn't be yourself if you didn't punish me. Evil bitch…" Jaina crossed her arms and looked out of the window. Orgrimmar looked rather normal and lively opposed to where she was sat now. Sylvanas scoffed. "When you are better, you can report to my chamber". She stomped out. Jaina watched as Sylvanas walked away. She was confused over how she had ended up in this situation. Everything that had happened between them suddenly seemed outright tragic from start to finish. Jaina laid back down as she suddenly felt disoriented and dizzy. If she was going to work with Sylvanas as originally planned, she needed her strength. Because it was not going to be easy and she could not work out how she felt about the Banshee Queen right now.
