New chapter is up. Thanks for reading. I'm very glad you're enjoying my ramblings.


Kenya sat next to Anduin's bed, silently praying to herself and whatever deity was listening.

Anduin had gone up against Garrosh Hellscream and nearly lost his life when he was crushed under the debris from the Divine Bell. The healers had saved his life, but told Varian the injuries would pain his son indefinitely. It hurt Kenya's heart to think someone so young would live the rest of their lives with such an injury.

It had taken hours for her to convince Varian he needed to get some sleep, allowing her to take his place by Anduin's bedside. Even with the reassurance that he would survive, the king refused to leave, wishing to see his son wake up before getting any rest himself. Fortunately, Kenya was able to persuade him to see reason. Kenya was basically the only person who could make Varian see reason when his emotions were high.

Kenya idly twisted the ring on her left hand. Varian had only proposed to her two weeks earlier and the weight of the beautiful gold band with green and white jewels still felt foreign to her. She'd never really worn jewelry in her life, but this ring was one she was proud to wear. This ring symbolized the love between her and Varian.

There was a slight groan from the bed and Kenya smiled as Anduin's eyes opened.

"Hi." He said weakly.

"Hi, yourself. You've had alot of people very worried about you, ya know? You came far too close to dying on us." Kenya said lightly, trying to hide the concern from her voice. She had been just as worried about the young man as his father. Anduin was now her family, too.

"Sorry."

"I'll need to wake up your father. I basically had to threaten him with bodily injury to get him to go get some rest. He's going to be relieved you're awake."

Anduin sighed and reached out and took Kenya's hand. "Not yet."

Kenya gave Anduin a puzzled look.

"Why? He's been worried sick."

Anduin shook his head slightly, but Kenya could see it pained him to do so. "He won't understand."

"Understand?" Kenya asked, confused, then realization hit her. "You think he's going to be mad at you?"

"He'll think I was foolish to go after Garrosh the way I did. He'll blame himself for letting me stay on Pandaria alone. He'll blame himself for me getting injured."

"Well of course he will. He's a father. And you and I both know when anything bad happens, particularly to you, he always blames himself. He'll be mad at himself and he'll be mad at you, but you know he'll get over it. He loves you more than anything. More than his own life." Kenya squeezed Anduin's hand supportively.

Anduin nodded weakly, then looked down at Kenya's hand in his. In particular, the ring on her finger, and smiled.

"He finally gave you the ring."

"You knew about the ring?" Kenya asked, kinda surprised.

"Of course I did. He showed it to me before I left Stormwind to go back to the Exodar. He wanted my opinion on if I thought you'd like it. He was so nervous that you'd hate the ring, as if that would ever be a reason you'd refuse to marry him." Anduin wiggled a little, trying to get more comfortable, but seemed to give up with a groan. "Do you know when you'll get married?"

"We were thinking about doing it when you got back from whatever you were up to over here, but now…" Kenya sighed. "...now you and I will probably be sent back to Stormwind without Varian. You so you can heal, and me so I will be safely away from here. I'm sure he will insist on staying until the Alliance has a secure foothold on this island. It might delay things a little."

"I'm sorry." Anduin said sadly.

Kenya shook her head. "Don't be. Varian's the king and he must do what is best for the Alliance. I can wait for as long as necessary. I have no plans to go anywhere."

"Happy to wait, which means you're still nervous about becoming queen." Anduin squeezed her hand, guessing at the reason behind her reluctance to talk about this particular topic. He'd started to notice before returning to the Exodar. "Don't be. You are going to make an amazing queen. You're well liked by everyone in Stormwind, you're beautiful, but certainly not weak or delicate. You're pretty much…"

"Perfect." Varian said from the doorway. He was leaning on the door frame, his arms crossed.

Kenya smiled at Anduin, turning to face Varian. "It's rude to sneak up on a woman, ya know?"

"You were supposed to wake me the moment Anduin woke up." Varian gave her an angry look, but both Kenya and Anduin could tell it was forced.

Kenya scoffed. It wasn't a sound you'd normally hear from a queen. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. He just woke up like 2 minutes ago. Light forbid I take a couple of minutes to talk to him."

She turned back to Anduin, giving his hand a final squeeze. "I'll let you and your father talk. Get some rest and I'll see you later."

Varian was right behind her when she stood. She turned to him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, then headed towards the door.

"Crazy Wrynn men. What am I getting myself into joining this family?" She grumbled, just loud enough for both Varian and Anduin to hear. She heard both of them chuckle. She hoped her little bit of joking would be enough to make the coming conversation between father and son a little lighter.


To Be Continued...