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Once upon a time in Dalaran…
There was this guy, named Faltheriel Darkweaver, who Kael'thas vaguely remembered from different shadow spell classes that he had taken over the last four years. Kael'thas had never remembered him, never truly noticed him, until now, after graduation. They were the only two Highborne working in the Spectral Laboratory on a Plague serum over the summer.
Faltheriel could be very irritating and he kept looking over his shoulder at everything that Kael'thas was doing. Kael'thas was a little used to it, being somewhat of a celebrity wherever he went, but Kael'thas now shifted aside so that his back was facing Faltheriel.
"How is your experiment holding up?"
Somehow, Kael'thas was very sure that Faltheriel hoped to ask him something else, like it was all leading to some grand invitation for them to run off to the tavern afterwards and become best friends. Or, worse. Faltheriel could be so intense.
"It's… fine."
" 'Fine' is not very descriptive. I mean, this is for the records. Dean Sweeney asked me to keep very detailed records, Kael'thas."
"Then it's not coagulating at the rate that we thought. Better?"
"That does not sound fine, like a good situation, to me."
"Right, but it's about what we expected—"
"By what percentage is it not what we expected, though?"
"Faltheriel…" Kael'thas growled, hunched his shoulders.
"It's just that I think you and I could greatly improve our communication skills if we—"
"No."
"No, what? I didn't even get to ask you anything, yet."
"I'm the one running this whole experiment, I'm the lab master, I'm the graduate, I'm the one in line to join the Kirin Tor sometime soon, I'm sure. Not you. Okay? When I say something is fine, it's damn well fine!"
"… … You're being very snippy today, my Prince."
Kael'thas had been sitting around in his room, brooding, and using too many arcane crystals of late. Then, he fell back on his other little obsession, experimenting with his warlock spells. It wasn't the studious part of the conjuring he liked, the research he did before trying a new, riskier spell… he knew that it was the fel magic itself, the rush that brought him to the brink of bliss, similar to the arcane crystals. Most Highborne used arcane crystals, but even Kael'thas knew that he would be approaching a limit very soon if he didn't slow down. He was just very, very stressed with everyting going on.
And then, he learned that Dean Sweeney had a few quests—err, projects—for students who could make themselves available after right graduation. Dalaran and the Humans, naturally, were grateful for any help they could get with the Plague, and happily offered room, board, meals and course credit to anyone willing to stay on campus during the summer. Kael'thas, of course, being royalty and done with all his studies (he'd graduated with a degree in 'all the magics', if you recall), did not need any of these things. And that embarassed him a bit, that the others surely noticed that about him, that there was no real point to him still being in Dalaran by now—but Kael'thas had made up his mind that he wasn't leaving Dalaran without Jaina, period. So he was going to find a reason to stay. He did care about the Plague in any case—he was, indeed, very concerned about how it affected everything in the Eastern Kingdoms, like a lot of the Dalaran University students were—and then it also helped him to keep his mind off… other things.
In the end, I distracted myself. I remained focused on what truly mattered, adapting to my current situation and finding a way out of my current situation. I guess it was with the same singlemindedness that a priest focuses solely on the Light when they face a difficulty… is that weird? I didn't think I had that sort of faith in me…
Kael'thas looked at the unfolded paper in front of him. Since he got the letter from Lord Sunthraze Sunthraze, he found himself re-reading it, especially that passage, many times. Kael'thas had already read about Sunthraze's arrest in the newspapers, but the inside story was fascinating. And it was uncomfortable, somewhat, that Sunthraze had also written asking him for money after his release. Then again, as a Sunstrider, it came with the territory. But hearing from Sunthraze again, after so many years… That one letter created this soothing feeling that was hard to want to re-live, every single time that he read it. He'd kept the letter in his arcane magic textbook, then in his satchel, and once, when he almost dropped it in the street, Kael'thas moved the folded letter to his pocket and left it there for the last couple of days.
It did occur to him that it might be enchanted or something, like if someone had been trying to play a trick on him? But no, Kael'thas finally admitted to himself that it was the perfect thing for him to receive in the mail, during all the hell that was his life, recently. Official decrees brought by royal messengers for him to sign, letters from his father asking when he would come home, The obligatory letter from his step-mother each month that was patently passive aggressive… Advisor Sorn's protests about the way Kael'thas was handling his whole life… then, at last, a warm note from a friend. From Sunthraze. Kael'thas also secretly hoped he wasn't actually that lonely.
Kael'thas had a few clean empty vials around him, and one burner with the largest vial suspended over it, hovering with the help of nearly imperceptible arcane magic. Green liquid bubbled and steamed away while he waited for it to purify.
When Faltheriel tried to look over again, Kael'thas picked up his clipboard and pencil, scribbled anything on it.
Really, the work with the Humans was meant to distract him from him from his life, in the same way that he was currently trying to use the letter from Sunthraze to distract himself from his work. Kael'thas wondered how Jaina was doing. Surely, she'd come around soon and want to speak to him again. Either she'd come to her senses or the ring would draw her to him at least one more time. That was precisely how he designed it, hadn't he? It'd been almost a month, right?!
"Aww… who wrote that to you?"
Kael'thas snatched the letter back up and refolded it.
"Oh… Do you have a secret admirer, Kael'thas?" Faltheriel waggled his fair eyebrows.
"No."
"Other than Jaina Proudmoore?"
Kael'thas tensed again.
"I can't believe you got engaged like that and didn't tell anyone—"
"Shh! It's… well, it's just not public knowledge yet."
"Another royal wedding! I love those! A beautiful spring day, or summer—early summer isn't so bad. Crowds cheering along the parade route, red and gold phoenixes everywhere. You dressed up in your military regalia, her in the dress… a designer gown! And all those speeches, all those stars coming from far and wide. Then interviewing people on the street, fans of Jaina crooning over how they missed their chance to marry her, and then of course, your personal cadre of fangirls, claiming they missed the chance to snap you up, Kael'thas—"
"Ugh, Faltheriel…"
"So romantic, and something we Highborne could all really be proud of. The perfect holiday. I can't wait!"
Kael'thas set the folded letter down again, "Well, I suppose I would love it too, obviously." He chanced a glance back over at Faltheriel. "And you know, I would make it such a perfect day for her. A wedding for her to always remember."
"Where do you want to go on your honeymoon?"
"Actually, Northrend is nice this time of year."
"Skiing!" Faltheriel clasped hands together, brightened, "I can just see the two of you, cozied up by the fire after a crisp day on the slopes."
"Well, Jaina doesn't ski. But I'm sure I could teach her."
"Oh, you can do anything, Kael'thas…" then, Faltheriel stopped himself, because he was smiling far too much. He leaned down and checked something off on his clipboard instead. He then took some tongs and placed a vial over the burner on his side. Blue flame raised up and the green ichor sample that he had began to turn murky.
Kael'thas raised his eyes to the lone door on the other side of the lab. There was a plaque next to it. Whatever was through that door, down in the basement, was giving him a strange feeling. He'd felt it since beginning his work in the lab some weeks before. Usually, he'd just run down there and indulge. The best weird things could be found in Dalaran basements, and he was all but confimed that was some kind of strong… fel energy.
Then again, he was trying, and hard, to cut back. Overindulging fel energy was the gateway to a lot of rotten habits he'd read far too much about over the last four years. The kinds of things that could completely corrupt a warlock. Like sleeping with your succubus, doing strange soul-twisting experiments alone in your room to see how much you could take… Kael'thas didn't want that to get any worse. Really, he had a lot of odd hobbies, didn't he? And these… secret activities… always made him bad-tempered when he got used to indulging in them, but then he suddenly couldn't because he had to get back to normal life. That was probably what made him snap at Jaina in the first place, after the night they slept together.
"Another ineffective batch," Kael'thas dryly observed. Why was real life so damned boring all the damned time? Well, he also reasoned that most normal people weren't stuffing down an almost perverted obsession with demon magic.
Faltheriel was saying, "…Yes. Doomweed doesn't help. We'll have to try gloomweed again. Probably a higher concentration of it."
Kael'thas made a note in the same large record book nearby, made a scholarly smirk, "Whenever we do serum analysis, why does it sound like we're the ones working for the Lich King?"
And he said it a little too loudly for the tastes of the Humans bending over the other long metal tables in the lab. A few annoyed looks went their way.
Faltheriel whispered, "Highborne will never be fully welcome in Dalaran, I fear."
Kael'thas further confided, "Do you know what I really wanted to work on, that Dean Sweeney wouldn't let me get within arm's reach of? That memory deteriotion spell. Now that's a fascinating line of research, but the Humans are going about it all wrong. But if they let us Highborne in on it, we'd get it right off the ground."
"That's top secret Violet Hold stuff, Kael'thas! I mean, it leaked in the papers, but I thought only I knew who was managing that particular line of research."
Kael'thas whispered back, "And I thought I was the only one too, till now. You and I should pack up this little circus side show, Faltheriel, and get to work on the real stuff. I already have a few theories of my own."
"Same here. Kael'thas, I am so with you the moment you break down that door for us Highborne." He sighed, unhappily, "One of these days..."
Kael'thas watched Faltheriel go to the wood paneled wall behind them. Lots of square drawers with elegant metal handles meant for one finger to hook through and slide them out, one by one. Faltheriel tried a few labeled 'Gloomweed Mixture' until he found the right type.
Kael'thas kept wanting to turn his head and look over at the door to the basement again. It was starting to feel… seductive, somehow.
Kael'thas blew out a bored breath, then turned back to observing the only other Elf in the room. Faltheriel was trim, excellently groomed, and fairer than himself. Kael'thas looked elsewhere for a moment, a smidgin perturbed at another male Elf being more attractive, more capable, and let's face it, more normal than he was. Mostly. Faltheriel probably got all the Human ladies with none of the problems… Wait, was Faltheriel wearing mascara?
"So, Kael'thas!" Faltheriel placed the bundle of gloomweed on the table, "Let me tell you about this guy I met last week over drinks at Cantrips…"
Or, all of the guys, with none of the drama.
It made Kael'thas feel relieved for a reason he didn't want to think about too much. Probably knowing that there was a little less Elf competition in the dating pool, around Dalaran. Eventhough he was with Jaina. Or, was he? Well, Kael'thas reasoned he did have his pride.
Faltheriel went on gossiping about himself, excitedly, "…But, you know, I'm already seeing this nice girl. Or, I think I am? You know how those things are. So I probably shouldn't encourage him."
"…Oh."
"Oh?"
"I didn't know… well, that's nice, to hear you're dating people. Different kinds of people. I'm not dating anyone." Kael'thas frowned. And then, before Faltheriel could correct him, "You know, this is a letter from an old friend, since you did ask—he just got out of jail," before Faltheriel could interrupt again, "long story—but he's even seeing someone! Well, he mentioned about this girl he met while he was locked up! That's just crazy."
Faltheriel put a hand on his hip, waited.
"Well, I mean, I do have Jaina."
"Yes, you do." Faltheriel put a hand on Kael'thas' shoulder, encouraging him.
Kael'thas tried not to flinch. They weren't exactly best friends. Or, friends. Or acquaintences. It was strange, Faltheriel kept finding reasons to talk to him like they were, or to touch him. Wasn't he doing that?
"But it's still… stupid." Kael'thas furrowed his brow, "Everyone has an easy time with it but me, just because I'm royalty. Things get so… stupidly complicated when it comes to dating, sex, everything."
"Now, Kael'thas…" Faltheriel patted his back again, a little lower this time. Kael'thas paused reaching for the next vial he needed for the experiment. He had this acute visceral reaction to Faltheriel in that moment for some reason. Kael'thas had to slow down or else freak out completely.
"My dear prince, you are a wonderful, attractive person with all of your natural teeth."
"Uh, what do my teeth have anything to do with it?" Kael'thas laughed nervously.
Faltheriel went on, and finally moved his hand, "It matters to certain celebrity collectors, but never mind that. My point is, you will win the lady, your truest love. You will marry him, and you will have a perfect royal wedding that I will have a personal invitation to and the whole kingdom will be very proud of."
"You… will? Wait, did you say 'him?'"
Faltheriel shrugged, smiled prettily, "My mistake."
The lights went out. All the students working in the lab looked up and made various noises of complaint at the arcane crystals in chandeliers, now dark.
"It will take forever for the magisters to get up here and repair those. It did the last time." Faltheriel folded his arms and complained.
"Everyone! Don't panic…" Kael'thas picked up a cloth from the table and wiped his hands. It was his job to see to it, as the lab master, "Faltheriel and I will go get this fixed right now."
"We will?!" Faltheriel brightened. Then, when Kael'thas flinched at him again, "I mean, of course, my prince."
"It's in the cellar. Besides… I've kinda been wanting to explore around, down there. Now I sort of have an excuse. You can handle going down into the cellar with me, can't you?"
Faltheriel was going to say something inappropriate, obviously, from the mischevious look on his face. Instead, he snapped his mouth shut, folded hands behind his back and followed.
The sign on the wall by the stairs said that no one was permitted down in the cellar where the lei lines and arcane constructs were kept, except for the Dalaran University magisters, and it was even written in Thalassian. Both Faltheriel and Kael'thas boldly ignored it.
As soon as the two Highborne men left, the Humans started chatting loudly about how it was a such a horrible idea for them to go…
As Faltheriel and Kael'thas made their way down the staircase, they passed a sub-basement level that felt especially dark. It wasn't the lights, however. It was starting to feel like there was this… presence down in the cllar. Shadow magic, or fel… Kael'thas cleared his throat. It was honestly starting to turn him on.
"Is it warmer, down here?" Faltheriel wondered.
"I would never admit to that."
"Kael'thas, I think I heard they keep the warlock equipment down here. Is that what you mean?" Faltheriel tried to ease the tension both of them were feeling.
"No, that's in the Cluster. Or, in the Eighth Quad. Either where the warlocks study or sleep… not on this side of campus."
"…Oh." Faltheriel then cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"You're not scared, are you?" Kael'thas teased.
"You're the one who's squeezing that folded up letter in your pocket, like it's got some magical powers, like it's a protective trinket or something."
Kael'thas glowered, "I am not. I just don't want to drop it, that's all."
"What kind of 'old friend' is this fellow who makes you all excited about his letters, and who just got out of prison, hrm?" then, Faltheriel illogically snapped, "And you're going to risk a royal wedding over it!"
Kael'thas exhaled a very annoyed breath. Why he kept letting himself forget that he knew Faltheriel after every class, study session and work assignment with him, was starting to become very obvious.
For a Highborne, manipulating arcane magic was second nature, and so it always felt absurd that they were restricted from going into the cellars of university buildings and doing the equivalent of jiggering a light switch back on, for themselves. It was what both Highborne men ended up thinking, the deeper they went, the larger the warning signs in Thalassian became.
"Really, it's offensive." Kael'thas commented, without having to explain why to Faltheriel.
"Well, it doesn't offend me, actually. We're no experts. I am pretty annoyed though."
Funny, that was how Kael'thas was beginning to feel about Faltheriel. Not quite ready to snap him in half for being so irritating, but getting there, "But they act like we're all a bunch of addicts or something, unable to control ourselves. Like we're going to run up and… and hump anything made of arcane magic if there isn't a sign or a guard to stop us on this campus. It's almost obscene. I'm so glad I finally graduated…"
"Well, we do all live near the Sunwell."
"Right, that's what I mean. We all live right near the Sunwell, we're used to it, so what are they worried about?"
"Aren't we all a little dependent on arcane magic, though? There are some studies that say Highborne are becoming a kingdom of arcane addicts."
"…Human studies, I bet." Kael'thas grumbled, "And all that stops the moment, no, the very second I marry Jaina. I am going to make sure that marriage changes everything."
"Oh, now you're marrying her again. Before you weren't sure."
Kael'thas noticed that Faltheriel was getting testy. Both of them were getting irritated. There was something, no… someone, down in that basement making both of their magical Highborne instincts get defensive. With his warlock training and experience in so many other areas, it was almost clear to Kael'that at this point.
And Faltheriel must have been thinking precisely along those lines as well, whether he realized it or not, "Kael'thas. I want to go back upstairs."
Really, they should have found the generator for the lights, by then. In addition to the warning signs in Thalassian, the arcane machinery must have also been hidden, or needed to be puzzled out by someone with the proper training, who understood how things worked. A second safeguard against those who trespassed.
"Kael'thas… please?"
Kael'thas ignored Faltheriel.
They came to the final level. It was nearly all dark now, except for the faint blue glow that came from their eyes. Kael'thas opened his red gloved hand. A pale yellow flame ignited there. It hovered and swelled while Kael'thas modified it to the proper size, so that they could see. Old book bins, spider webs and stacked cages from experiment subjects. Some were animal-sized. Some were… man-sized.
Kael'thas walked a few more paces. Faltheriel crept behind.
"I hear something." Kael'thas said, but he was keeping his voice as calm as possible.
"I don't."
"You wouldn't, unless you came to stand near me. Right here, Faltheriel."
Faltheriel refused.
"Oh-ho! Before it was, 'I can't wait to follow Prince Kael'thas down into a dark basement where we can be alone together—"
"I try not to make my flirting that obvious, thank you very much."
"Don't thank me. I'm definitely not interested. Just to make that clear, while we're on the subject."
Faltheriel pouted. His long ears drifted down, slightly.
"Come on…" Kael'thas dared him, "You coward. We're some of the most powerful conjurers in the Eastern Kingdoms, specially selected to run these important experiments for the mighty Dean Sweeney during summer break…"
Faltheriel huffed laughter.
"…At least I know I am." Kael'thas' dared to use his rich voice, to try and entice his partner in crime. Kael'thas was starting to get very eager for the prize, himself, "Are you sure you don't want to hear it, Faltheriel?"
"What is it?"
"It's… breathing. That's the noise."
Faltheriel went back and gripped the railing to the stairs. "I want to go back up and join the Humans, Kael'thas. We're no better than them, we're all horrible and pathetic together. That's what I decided."
"Seriously, though. You should stay in my light. I wouldn't hang out in the shadows down here, if I were you."
Faltheriel hastily re-joined him in the pale circle of yellow light. Something skittered by their toes and Faltheriel yelped, grabbed Kael'thas.
Kael'thas gave him a look.
"You were the closest thing to grab!"
"Usually, you don't grab someone by both lovehandles. Will you cut it out!"
"Ohmygods…" Faltheriel let go and raised both blonde eyebrows. "I do hear it. It is breathing… like you said. And it sounds so tortured! Is it dying?"
"It's even breathing, though. Growling, but even. Sort of like a jungle cat. I think it must be asleep."
"Does Dean Sweeney know it's down here?!"
"Probably, it's just an experiment. If it's still alive, then they must come down and feed it from time to time. Maybe it stays up all night long. I bet they secretly… tend to it, in the night."
Both Highborne men crept in further. Faltheriel covered his mouth with both hands.
"Why do we even want to see this thing?!"
"Shh! Don't wake it up…" Kael'thas was more than smiling, intrigued. The thrill was wonderful, singing to him by now, "We might as well get something out of being lost down here. And, I'll have something compelling to write home to Sunthraze."
"Sunthraze! The double Sunthraze? That nut who started the Silvermoon riots? He's the one writing to you?"
Something gleamed, when Kael'thas turned angrily with the light in his hand to face Faltheriel and defend his friend. Then, both men shared a look. Kael'thas turned back, brought his hand around slowly, this time. Faltheriel winced and squeezed Kael'thas' other arm.
A dusty shelf, a pile of books, several small cages, old ones, with feet carved at the bottom. The way some old furniture and bathtubs used to have clawed feet carved at the bottom. Then, the largest stone-carved claws of them all, supporting a frame of bars. They didn't know how high up they went. Kael'thas raised his hand.
Both he and Faltheriel held their breaths.
They didn't react at first, when they saw the face. It was a pleasant face, a feminine one. Odd, yet familiar. As their eyes settled on it, as their senses became more comfortable with it, their gentile instincts made them not want to upset or startle… her. And she stood behind the bars with hands at her sides, perfectly still. Not breathing, not blinking. Though the eyes were as yellow as amber when Kael'thas held his hand and the small flame about there. He lowered his hand so that she wasn't irritated by the light. Or, was she real at all? She wasn't moving a stitch. Though Kael'thas and Faltheriel could have sworn they'd heard her… breathing, before. Faltheriel shook his head, was about to say that it was 'just a statue.'
Then, she blinked, smiled with pointed teeth. And suddenly the world came back, she was green, so green, and Faltheriel pulled on Kael'thas hard, to drag him out of there.
Both men ran up the stairs, breathless. When they got to the top, Faltheriel was red-faced and looked ready to cry. Kael'thas let out victorious laughter.
"You idiot! What if something happened to you and Sylvanas and all her Farstriders blamed me for your royal demise?"
Kael'thas was laughing so hard, though, he had to lean on the doorpost, "What a rush! Yes!"
"You're sick!"
"No, that was awesome!"
They couldn't have been down in the basement for long, but all the other students had left for the day. Except for one. She was seated on a stool by one of the long, metal tables. She stood when she saw Faltheriel and Kael'thas lingering by the 'Do Not Enter' sign clearly printed next to the basement stairs.
"…Lady Jaina?"
Jaina Proudmoore looked from Faltheriel to Kael'thas.
"Hey, Faltheriel." Jaina swept the hand with the red and black ring through her long hair. She took a calming breath, and then eyes flitted to Kael'thas.
"Lady Proudmoore," Faltheriel suddenly got all his compsure back, "Let me be the first to congratulate you on your engagement and to personally offer myself as a wedding consultant—"
"Go away, Faltheriel." Kael'thas said next.
Faltheriel backed off slowly, hands folded behind his back. Then, he strolled away and let himself out into the sunlight, through the double doors on that side of the lab. All laboratories in Dalaran let out into a small garden on one end other than the main entrance, just in case they needed to air out the place for an experiement, or run from a fire…
Faltheriel also might have been whistling the wedding march as he went, though Jaina and Kael'thas were too distracted to really be listening to it.
"…Hey." She regarded Kael'thas with even less interest than she had shown strange Faltheriel.
Kael'thas put a fist in his pocket. His fingers crunched Sunthraze's letter.
"Funny. You don't sound engaged to me at all, right now. Though you've still got my ring on your finger."
"Can we talk?" she eyed him, then walked the same way Faltheriel had gone. Back out into the light.
There was a small green gate from the garden, back out to the tree-lined main road. Faltheriel had clearly gone off that way himself, as it was left open. But now, as Kael'thas and Jaina sat in the secluded garden, and he listened to her explain, once more, about all the hardship his mother's ring had caused her, Kael'thas' fingers tensed and his nails began to dig into the paper in his pocket, bore holes into the letter from Sunthraze.
Then, Kael'thas thought of how much he had been enjoying those words, that genuinely kind sentiment from back home. It came back to him…
I remained focused on what truly mattered, adapting to my current situation and finding a way out of my current situation…
"Jaina, I can't get the ring off of your finger. Only you can do that, and figuring out how is the whole point. That's the way it works, and I'm sorry that it's been making you so unhappy, that you only felt safe enough to come and speak with me now." Kael'thas heard himself saying that. He couldn't believe he was saying that, being so diplomatic about it. He certainly felt worse, like he wanted to yell. Possibly, it was the intense fel and arcane magic he was missing. But it also felt like she and him had made no progress, since he first proposed. Well, since he made her wear the ring, "Is there anything else that I can do, to help you with the situation that you and I are both in, right now?"
She tensed, then looked confused. Like she hadn't expected him to be so direct or considerate with her. Up until that moment, Jaina herself had been speaking quickly, anxious and defensive.
Kael'thas gently tried it again, "Do you have a better sense of how you feel… about me? Aside from this situation."
"There is no 'aside from this situation', Kael'thas! Honey, this is all a big part of how I have to feel about you, the way you've been treatin' me!"
I guess it was with the same singlemindedness that a priest focuses solely on the Light when they face a difficulty…
"Alright, I…" Kael'thas swallowed, "I hear you. I hear what you are saying to me. From now on, I will try to be…" it took him a while to get it out, "More approachable."
"Less insane!"
"…Yes. And I am very sorry that I came off as anything… less than gentile, and… and as a man very in love with you, who has a great deal of adoration and respect for you, before."
Jaina sank back on the green painted garden bench. Ivy leaves had been carved on the feet and armrests. Kael'thas had been sitting on a low wall nearby, that was surrounding a fountain. It poured softly from the mouth of a blue laquer sagefish leaping from the center. Kael'thas got up, then came near, chanced a seat next to her.
Jaina looked straight ahead. She was still nervous, but she was letting him do this. Kael'thas feared to even breathe and ruin that moment.
"You sound like you are actually hearing me, like you said. Which is… which is weird, you know, for you."
"I got some inspiration, recently. A letter from a friend."
"You wrote to someone about us!"
He raised a hand, spread fingers in that red and gold embroidered glove, for her to calm. "No, but someone, a very kind… undu'diel of mine, out there, he decided to write and share some insight. And it was very good timing. So you can relax. Please relax, Jaina. I don't want to do anything more to upset you."
She folded hands in her lap. "I don't want to ask what that strange Highborne word is, you just used."
"It means… something like a sidekick, from what I remember. It meant more in Dath'remar's time. Mostly, it's just slang for the intelligentsia to use, like myself." Kael'thas pretended to boast.
Jaina was busy staring at the fountain. Sometimes, she tuned him out, he could tell.
Kael'thas sneaked a down along her body then, what she was wearing. A simple white lace dress with a blue sash around the middle. But she looked radiant in it.
He looked at the brick walls of the laboratory, the vines climbing up there and flowering. And Arthas still hadn't come to claim her yet? Or to try and kill him, yet? Arthas was an idiot.
Jaina's warmth, her light scent, her radiance…
"You really are different now, aren't you, Kael'thas? Thank your friend for me."
I didn't think I had that sort of faith in me…
Kael'thas leaned back. He then rested an arm casually on the bench behind her. As if he might put an arm around her shoulders, next. Jaina looked at him, like she knew it was coming, but she didn't stop him.
Kael'thas tried it. Then, he hugged Jaina.
"You look very beautiful today, Jaina."
No, she was super hot. She was prettier than a succubus, seriously. Jaina was more smokin' than a shiva in a fel volcano!
Kael'thas silently thanked the maker he hadn't said that one out loud.
"…Decent of you to notice." Jaina also had this natural, regal bearing. There was a pure nobility of spirit within her, it was like he could actually see it, sometimes. But he was always making her so angry.
"Jaina. I will always notice how beautiful you are, and tell you so. When we are married."
"Or, you could just tell me now."
Kael'thas smiled at that, "Fair enough." He felt her shoulder, squeezed it. Then, the point of their conversation came back to him, "You were going to tell me something, before. Something important about, well, Arthas. I want to know what's been worrying you so much."
His calm tone, the tenderness, was having a real affect on Jaina and that was wonderfully obvious to him now. He looked down and took her hand. She let him do so. That felt really good to notice.
"Let me help you." He mouthed to her, "As much as I can help you, Jaina, please let me. I do love you."
She put her hand over his, felt the fine gold embroidery on the insides of the fingers. Likely, Jaina had never seen Elven gloves so exquisitely tailored before. They were also enchanted to feel especially soft at the touch—just something Highborne tailors liked to do, to keep patrons loyal to their brand. But Jaina began to smooth her whole hand over his, believing it was his own aura, arousing her senses.
And, Kael'thas tried not to make a big deal out of the fact that she was also letting his hand rest over her warm thigh.
"You look incredible. And this is very, very nice." Kael'thas couldn't hold that back anymore.
She inhaled an excited breath. He hadn't seen that in a long while, how she enjoyed the feel of his body as well.
Jaina looked at him intensely. Kael'thas decided he was going to kiss her.
Then, "Arthas cheated on me."
"…What?"
"We don't know who, me and daddy. But he is going to find out. It happened during that stupid convocation in Stormwind. I found out that's where he was, instead of being at graduation. And I thought he was busy… beleaguered by zombies or something!"
Kael'thas thought through all the implications as quickly as he could. Wasn't it a good thing, well for him? Didn't it drive the wedge between Jaina and Arthas—so obviously there in the first place—even deeper? Kael'thas knew he was fiend enough to toss his mother's ring into the mix and split the crack between Jaina and Arthas that much further… but for Arthas to… he thought Arthas had worshipped Jaina. Arthas was certainly extremely territorial with her while at school. Really, only the war and the Plague itself had kept Arthas so far enough away from Jaina in the first place, for Kael'thas to finally make his move after four long years of waiting for any opening.
Kael'thas started to feel insecure all over again. He thought of the letter in his pocket and tried to stay focused on what the new situation with Arthas meant to him. Just himself and Jaina. And that he could get out of his situation, that yes, he could hope to and then execute that hope as well as any plan.
"And how do you feel about that? Are you alright, Jaina? I am sorry that it happened."
"I don't think you really are."
"Maybe that's because he deserves to fail."
"And you don't deserve to win!"
Kael'thas leaned his head back, exasperated with the same argument happening all over again.
But that in and of itself was enough for Jaina. She stood up and got away from him. She covered her face and fumed.
"Look, here's the thing-I made him so upset, Kael'thas, I really let him down. And he knows about us, obviously. That's why he retaliated!"
"But it's not the first time he's cheated on you."
"And just how do you know that?"
Kael'thas crossed his arms.
"I know him better than anyone! You're just making assumptions. Yes, he's a big flirt, but it never goes farther than that. I can trust Arthas. You're the one I can't trust!"
Kael'thas growled, "I'm offering you marriage. The only thing that puffed-up paladin fool ever offered you was a roll in the hay every weekend and during holiday breaks. That should be so obvious to you by now, Jaina! What is wrong with you?"
"How could you say something like that to me!"
Kael'thas leaned over his knees, a very dark look on his face, "I just. Did."
Jaina looked panicked all over again. Kael'thas instantly regretted how he'd put it. She weaved around him when he reached for her. She got out of the garden, she ran away. He heard her crying. It was just the same as before…
Kael'thas felt his heart beating in his chest, so hard. He began to feel incredibly angry.
Kael'thas went back inside the lab. He propped the doors open so that at least some sunlight could come in. The lab assistants had put all his equipment away. He leaned down, opened the cabinet and set it all back up again. He opened the record book, got his clipboard out, sharpened his pencil. Three pencils. He was meticulous and carefully measured every ingredient. There were more important things in the world, weren't there? He could be curing the Plague itself right now! He was focused and he was determined. He wasn't going to feel tempted to… to erupt again or do something else stupid, just because Jaina gave him a hard time.
Then, the pencil point broke. Kael'thas covered his face.
The laboratory was quieter than ever before. Kael'thas barely heard the fountain and the birds outside. Calm down. The lab was clean, it was sane, it was safe. Kaell'thas then pulled Sunthraze's letter out of his pocket, uncrumpled it. Maybe he could just respond to Sunthraze's letter. Wasn't he always going to? Didn't he have to? At least… maybe it was a way for him to… Someone to tell. He didn't have anyone to talk about it with, not really.
Kael'thas ripped a page out of the record book, sat on the stool nearby, began to scribble something, anything…
Dear Sunthraze… a very thoughtful letter… I wonder if you would consider…
But he couldn't expect Sunthraze to care? To open up to him completely like that, after so many years? What if someone even found and read his letter? They'd know how insecure, how freaked out he was, that he didn't really know the first thing about what he was doing with Jaina.
Then, Kael'thas looked up and he saw the sign by the basement door. The sign that was only for Highborne, telling them what to do, telling them they didn't belong. But he did belong, dammit! He was the smartest, most capable bloodmage in the place—in fact, a master in all of the schools of magic-hadn't he invented it!
And the garden outside, where Jaina rejected him also. Kael'thas began to feel hemmed in. He was feeling… A daring look crossed his features. He got up, snatched the letter off the table and went directly down into the basement.
Kael'thas didn't know why he was sure, only that he was absolutely certain that the thing in the basement wanted to see him again. It was the same good warlock instinct that had guided Kael'thas through countless successful experiments and discoveries all through his schooling. He didn't like to neglect a feeling like that. A reward, a real reward was connected with seeing this dangerous creature again, studying it, understanding it. And she wanted to be understood. Desperately. Whosever project she was, they had forgotten about her, badly neglected her. So he was going to go into the 'no Elf' zone and he was going to succeed where they failed!
It was a darker instinct, it was an insane way of thinking. It was impulsive and illogical and it had told Jaina she was an idiot in not so many words and sent her running away, in tears, yet again. It was the part of himself that always swerved toward danger, but he secretly loved it. He craved it. He needed the rush, to lose control, to feel that bliss.
A cold, clear thought filled his mind when he reached the bottom of the stairs. This was not something that Sunthraze would do.
"I'm not supposed to be here." Kael'thas told himself. He had to say it out loud, "This is dangerous and no one knows where I am. I shouldn't just… give in like this. To my frustrations, to my hate for… this place, and this stupid crap with Jaina, this unholy everything that I have to deal with every day, in and out, never being… good enough!"
He lowered his gloved hand with the flame he'd been using to light his way. He gripped the railing for the stairs. But he still couldn't decide to go.
"Kael'thasss…"
Kael'thas raised his eyebrows. He took a step nearer.
"Ksskssskss…"
She was almost… purring to him?
Kael'thas walked closer. Once more, he saw the clawed feet, larger, and larger, like an army of demons and beasts standing at attention in front of him. Knowing he would soon, and steeling himself for it, the light passed over those gleaming yellow eyes again.
They were reptilian. He took a nervous breath. How had he missed it all before? She was a Naga. Extremely dangerous, indeed. Forbidden to be anywhere near Human lands.
"How do you know me?" he tried to sound confident, but he came only a little closer. "What do you want from me?"
"Your smile." She winced, at the light in her eyes. Kael'thas lowered it, but he was still transfixed by the presence of such a rare, such a truly deadly creature. It wasn't how a Naga fought, he'd read. It was how they thought, how they… planned things. She was certainly not there, beneath the lab he had chosen to work in for the summer, by some accident.
"You want more than just my smile… my lady."
She preened and looked very pleased at him calling her that.
"Your friendship, then. Your trussst, your power, your resourcesss. Your armies, your guile, your magnificent intelligence." She rasped. But her voice, her presence was also intoxicating. It was hard not to fantasize, about possessing her power completely, as his warlock pet. Could he… would she let him do that?
"An… alliance, with the Naga? The Highborne are already, actively, engaged in an alliance with the Humans, the Dwarves and the Gnomes. The Night Elves as well, all the great races of Azeroth are allied against evil—do you mean to join us?"
He knew better. She wouldn't have come to him secretly, for that.
"Kael'thasss… Lord Illidan is my master and he is the one who wantsss you mossst of all."
"Illidan? I-Illidan Stormrage, the betrayer?"
"A great evil is taking over thisss world. There is nothing you can do. Not alone. Especially not with Arthasss running thingsss…"
"Arthas doesn't run a damned thing, as far as I'm concerned. And definitely not well. Least of all his own love-life."
She smiled, or sneered at him, he wasn't sure with all those teeth.
"You would know, wouldn't you? You positioned him, for that. You cuckholded him so well." She slithered once, snaked her hips, her long mermaid's tail, her entire body. The Naga woman watched him be fascinated by her, "Join with us now, Kael'thas, and perhaps we can sssave your people. We are the only onesss who can do it. But Lord Illidan's gift is not free. It could never be, not from sssomeone ssso great."
"I don't understand you, or any of this. It's just the Plague. It only needs a cure. It's difficult, true, but in time..."
"No, Kael'thasss… it needs a hero. You could be that hero." Her yellow irises widened, like a hungry cat, more than ready to pounce.
"What is your name, beautiful creature?"
She laughed, as if he was in her parlor, or cowering before her throne, not holding up the only light she had seen in a long time, on the other side of her cage.
"Lady Vashj. You and I are going to have… ssso much fun together."