New Home

"We're home!" Anya cried, climbing off the ship and laying down on the grass of Eversong Woods beneath her. "I have missed you, grass."

"She does know we had grass in Kalimdor, right?" Sylvanas asked, watching Clea shrug her shoulders. "Great... Well, you deal with her, I am going to see if I can bump into Athrodar."

"What happened to waiting a week?" Clea asked, watching the General make her way towards Silvermoon in the distance. "We've only been on the ship for two days, plus the day he left, that's three days."

Sylvanas stopped and looked back towards Clea. "I need to tell him about this." She told her, placing a hand on her stomach. "If I hold off on it and he finds out sometime in the future, he will hate me even more than he does now."

Clea folded her arms across her chest and looked at the General. "It's your call." She said, knowing that Sylvanas was going to go through with it anyway, but she was still willing to give her a second option.

"I'm going to try to bump into him and tell him." Sylvanas told her, heading off to Silvermoon once more.

"Why do we try to help her if she only listens to a tenth of what we say?" Anya asked, rolling onto her back and closing her eyes as the sun beamed down on her face.

"Because we love our General and it's fun to watch her crash and burn without our input." Clea told her, laying beside Anya shortly after. "Now we wait for the final verdict on her talk with him."

"We're evil." Anya said, getting a laugh from Clea and laughing herself. "It's fun."

"Yes it is." Clea agreed.

"Wait here, okay?" Athrodar smiled at his mother who smiled up at him. "I'll be five minutes, I just need to find the Prince and he will make us a portal to Stormwind."

"Alright." Illana said, closing her eyes when her son kissed her on the forehead. "Mel and I can wait."

Athrodar looked over to Melonara and held up his hand, showing all five digits to her and mouthing the word 'five'. "Alright." Melonara said, smiling at him. "I'll keep her company, stop worrying."

Athrodar smiled and bowed his head at the pair of them, leaving the two of them alone whilst he made his way to Sunfury Spire in the hopes of running into the Prince as soon as possible so he could leave this place for good. The moment he entered Sunfury Spire though, he bumped into the last person he wanted to see at this moment, looking over to Sylvanas who took a couple of steps back when they both walked into each other. "S-sorry." She said to him, keeping her eyes off Athrodar so she couldn't see him glare at her.

"So you're back too." Athrodar said, not glaring at Sylvanas but not exactly giving her a welcoming look either.

"I.. Yes." Sylvanas closed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly, hating that she couldn't string a sentence together. "Listen... Can we talk?"

"You have five minutes, I'm leaving for Stormwind."

Sylvanas widened her eyes and looked at him in shock. "W-what? Why?"

"Because I'm not staying in a place where I can't trust anyone. Nor is this a place that is safe for my mother." Athrodar watched Sylvanas take a step forward and place her hand on her stomach. "Why do you want to speak to me?"

"I..." Sylvanas looked down at her hand on her stomach and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant." She told him quietly, not looking up to see Athrodar's reaction to the news. "I found out the day we... Ended things." She began to slowly look up at Athrodar who looked confused, happy and sad all at the same time. "I was going to tell you after we had finished on Kalimdor, but -"

Athrodar let out a small laugh, interrupting her. "Of course you were going to wait, keeping secrets for as long as possible is what you're the best at."

"It's not like that." Sylvanas told him, opening her mouth to speak but being stopped once more when Athrodar began to laugh again.

"Let me guess, this is some sort of plan to get us to get back together so we can live happily ever after with our child, forgetting about the fact that you kept my father's death from me in the process?" Athrodar shook his head and folded his arms, turning away from her. "I..." He closed his eyes and sighed, slowly turning back to look at her. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Sylvanas shook her head, watching Athrodar walk towards her and smiling a little when he placed his hand on her stomach. "I wasn't going to tell you until after the war because if I told you before hand and died, I knew you would be crushed." She placed her hand over the top of his and looked down at her stomach. "How long are you going to be in Stormwind?" She asked him, looking up to look at his face again and noticed his attention was focused on her stomach.

"For a long time." Athrodar told her. "I'm thinking a couple of centuries. Enough time to start a new life and hopefully Dael'Thaelas would be gone by then, I would have forgiven you and Kael'thas would be King."

Sylvanas looked down at her stomach again and kept her hand over Athrodar's. "What about this one?" She asked, feeling Athrodar rub her stomach lightly and smiling a little wider. "Do you want to be in their life?"

"Of course." Athrodar whispered to her. "I would make my father look bad if I chose not to be in this one's life." His attention returned to Sylvanas' face and watched her look up at him too. "We can work things out later, but it would require them to come to Stormwind to be with me."

"I'm sure a week or two every month with you will be fine." Sylvanas told him. "Maybe longer if I'm out with my company for more than two weeks."

Athrodar nodded his head and removed his hand from her stomach, fiddling with his family ring shortly after. "That's fine." He told her, looking down at the ring now. "I'll let Kael'thas know where we are staying in a couple days, then you can keep me updated about our child."

Sylvanas nodded her head and smiled a little at him. "I still love you, you know? I never meant to hurt you."

"I know, but I still can't stand to be around you for more than we are now." Athrodar told her, it was meant to be harsh but also a fact. He didn't want to be near her for any longer than he was at this moment in time and he needed her to know that, so they wouldn't at any point in the future. After all, he still couldn't trust her, look at her and could barely talk to her without feeling anger and rage build up inside of him. "I need to go."

"Okay." Sylvanas said, stepping back from him. "The Prince is with the Convocation."

"Thank you." Athrodar said, leaving her alone in Sunfury Spire shortly after.

Sylvanas watched the door close behind him and smiled to herself, placing her hand over her necklace. "That went better than I could have hoped. At least the conversation was more civil than the last time we spoke." She smiled a little brighter and held onto her necklace a little tighter. "Progress." She said, moving her hand to her stomach. "At least he knows about you now."

"Ready to leave?" Kael'thas asked, getting a nod from Melonara, then Athrodar and Illana shortly after her. "Good."

"So what happened when you bumped into Sylvanas?" Melonara asked, standing beside Athrodar whilst Kael'thas began to work on the portal to Stormwind, trying to not overhear them but also focusing on listening to them at the same time.

"She told me she's pregnant." Athrodar said, smiling when he heard his mother and Melonara gasp as well as Kael'thas raise an eyebrow at him. "She found out the day I found out about dad." He said, looking over to his mother. "She was going to tell me after the Burning Legion was dealt with, but I put a halt to those plans."

"I'm going to be a grandmother?" Illana asked, watching Athrodar nod and hugging him tightly. "I'm going to be a grandmother." She then said, smiling brightly. "Do you know what it will be? I hope it's a girl."

"I don't know yet, neither does Sylvanas." Athrodar told her, looking over to Melonara who smiled at him. "But we both agreed that I can look after them for a week or two every month, maybe longer if she is busy."

"Does anyone else know?" Kael'thas asked.

"Other than you three and I suppose those close to Sylvanas, I don't think so. Though I think everyone will find out in time when a bump starts to show, or she is absent for a couple weeks because she's just had a child." Athrodar looked over to Kael'thas when the portal to Stormwind opened up. "Don't tell anyone until she is okay with everyone finding out."

Kael'thas waved away his concern. "It's okay, I wasn't planning on telling anyone." He said, waving his hand towards the portal in front of him. "Your chariot awaits."

Athrodar laughed and bowed his head to the Prince. "Thank you for this."

"Any time." Kael'thas told him, placing his arm in front of Athrodar when Illana and Melonara walked through the portal, stopping the young Sunblade. "When you get to Stormwind, you might be approached by a mage. She's a friend of mine and has been in Stormwind for a few months."

"Okay. What do you want me to do?" Athrodar asked him, getting a sly smile from the Prince.

"She is working in Stormwind as a normal mage and has contacts with a handful of the nobles in the city. You are going to help her with anything she needs." Kael'thas saw Athrodar frown and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you're going to love her. She has a very charming personality, trust me."

Athrodar laughed lightly and nodded his head. "So she's a flirt."

"More or less." Kael'thas agreed. "Just don't fall for her, otherwise you'll find that you're telling her everything you keep a secret from your loved ones."

"Noted." Athrodar said, grinning at the Prince. "Any hints on what she looks like? Or her race? You've been in Dalaran for a while so I have to ask, she might be a human."

Kael'thas nodded his head understandingly. "Fair question. She's a high elf. Black hair, average height. Trust me, in Stormwind she sticks out."

"I'll keep my eye out for her then." Athrodar said, looking over to the portal.

"You can go now." Kael'thas said when he saw his attention was on the portal. "She'll find you soon enough. She knows you'll be in the city."

Athrodar shook Kael'thas' hand and pulled him in for a friendly hug. "This is it then. I'll keep you updated with what's going on in the city, other than that. I suppose I'll see you next if you visit or when Sylvanas has had the baby. Whatever comes first."

"I'll see you after the baby then." Kael'thas said, pulling back from the hug. "I'm going to be focusing on rebuilding Dalaran, helping Jaina and her new settlement and visiting here a lot more over the next decade or two."

Athrodar nodded his head and smiled at him. "Best of luck to you then."

"You too." Kael'thas said, watching Athrodar step through the portal and closing the portal behind him shortly after.

"Where are we on the Amani situation?" Sylvanas asked the Convocation, King and the Ranger officers present in the meeting. "The last I heard, they had left Quel'thalas and had paired up with their sister colony in the Hinterlands."

"That's still the situation for the Amani, minus Zul'Aman which I have taken from them three days ago." Dael'Thaelas told the General. "We have scouts watching their new city, reporting back to us every twelve hours with updates."

"And has anything happened of note? Even after you've taken their sacred city away from them?" Sylvanas asked, getting several head shakes in return. "So, what? They're just waiting there?"

"There's the occasional back and forth between the city and the small fishing village on the coast, but nothing note worthy." Aerinan told her. "By the looks of it, only the fishermen are going back and forth."

"Something isn't adding up. Why would they leave, allow us to take their sacred city unopposed and do nothing in the meantime?" Sylvanas tapped her finger on the table in front of her and looked over to the King. "Can you think of anything, your majesty?"

Anasterian tapped a finger on the armrest of his chair, slowly nodding his head. "The world as we know it is changing. Demons are attacking, the dead are no longer staying dead, our distant cousins have started talks with us to form an alliance of elves once again. Orcs and humans are working together, if only briefly." He looked over to the General who was nodding her head slowly now. "They would have seen these events too and decided that change was coming to them as well. They might be waiting on the Zandalari to get in contact with them once more and form another Troll empire, or they have other plans I have not yet conceived of."

"So our plan is to just wait then?" Sylvanas asked, getting a few nods of approval. "Fine. But I would like updates on what is happening in the Hinterlands the moment they come in."

"That can be arranged." Dael'Thaelas said, looking over to Aerinan and getting a nod from him. "What about the Kaldorei? Any news on them?"

"Their ambassadors are arriving tomorrow." Kael'thas said, remaining silent up until that point. "Any questions after that can be directed to them, as long as it's not insulting."

"It wouldn't be insulting to ask what changed their minds about welcoming us back into the fold, would it?" Dael'Thaelas asked. "After all, nothing has changed since the day they banished us. We still use magic, we have our Sunwell. Only our appearances have changed, some would say for the better. So I'm curious on what has changed."

"We showed we can work well with them." Sylvanas told Lord Sunblade. We helped them against the Burning Legion, showed them we aren't much different to them except for appearances and upbringing. I believe the High Priestess knows we're a great asset to her people and can see a strong future between our two people." She looked over to the Prince who smiled and nodded at her. "I believe we will work well with them too. Tyrande knows what she is doing, she has been their leader for ten thousand years and they have remained strong throughout that time. We will see what the next few months will give us before we make our final assumption, but I think this is for the better."

"I suppose we'll find out then." Dael'Thaelas said, standing up and looking around the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some family matters to deal with."

"If it's Athrodar, you're too late. He left for Stormwind this morning with his mother." Kael'thas told him, watching Dael'Thaelas turn back around and face him. "He left at midday, after I made a portal for him."

"You let my great grandson leave without telling me beforehand?" Dael'Thaelas asked, narrowing his eyes at the Prince and looking over to the General who had grown silent. "I take it you knew about this?"

"I did." Sylvanas said. "I'm not happy with it, but I fully understand."

"He would still be here if you just told him about Tahnir the moment the messenger left." Dael'Thaelas said, looking back to the Prince and ignoring the glare from Sylvanas.

"So it's my fault he feels like Quel'thalas and its forests aren't safe for him or his mother?" Sylvanas asked, standing up and glaring at Lord Sunblade. "Yes, I didn't tell him about his father and yes that means we are no longer together, but he told me he doesn't feel like this place is safe for his mother. I thought Sunblade's looked out for each other, but clearly if they're not related by blood, they become a liability." Her attention turned to Larysa who's focus was on the Sunblade ring on her finger. "He was your son, yet you couldn't even look at him or his wife without disgust. He knew all of your secrets and how corrupt your family truly is, which made him an enemy."

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Larysa said, looking over to the General. "I loved my son. Fine, I wasn't the best mother in the world, no where near it. And yes, he wasn't fully on board with the family business, but I still loved him." Her attention returned to the ring on her finger and closed her eyes tightly. "I can't even picture his face or remember his voice and that hurts me more than knowing he's gone."

Sylvanas' glare softened and looked down at the necklace she was wearing. "I... I'm sorry." She said, sitting down again and ignoring Dael'Thaelas who was staring at her. "I didn't mean what I said."

"Are we done here?" Lord Sunblade asked, getting a nod from the King. "Good, then I'll be off."

"Keep me updated on the Amani, Dael'Thaelas." Sylvanas said, seconds before he left the room, knowing he had heard her.

"How did you get this again?" Athrodar asked, watching Melonara lift up a crate full of wine and place it on the counter.

"I'm an elf in Stormwind. How do you think I got it?" Melonara asked him rhetorically, getting a laugh from Illana when she overheard her. "See? Your mother knows."

"I should have guessed that..." Athrodar muttered. "How much did it cost?" He now asked.

"I got it down to half its value by just using my womanly charms." Melonara told him, though not answering his question.

"How much was it, Mel?" Athrodar pushed, knowing she was trying to avoid the question.

Melonara sighed and looked at the crate of wine she had just placed down, mumbling the price of the tavern she had just purchased so Athrodar couldn't hear it.

"What was that?" Athrodar asked, grinning and making his way over to her. "I didn't quite here it."

"Five thousand gold." Melonara told him, hearing Illana gasp. "It's okay! I used most of my money to buy it." She glanced over to Athrodar and smiled innocently at him. "And some of yours."

Athrodar narrowed his eyes at her. "How much of mine?"

"Half?" Melonara said, not quite knowing how much she used.

"So you spent ten thousand gold of my own money?" Athrodar asked, watching Melonara frown and knowing she miscalculated how much she had used. "I'm a Sunblade, remember? Even if Dael'Thaelas hates that we have left, I still have my inheritance that he can't touch."

"That's a good point..." Melonara muttered. "And for the record I only used a thousand. I didn't have enough of my own money for the drinks if I used it all."

"Excuse me?" A voice said, making Athrodar and Melonara look over to the owner of it. "I'm looking for an Athrodar?"

"Of course you are..." Melonara muttered, noticing an elf woman standing at the entrance and pushing Athrodar forward. "Single for four days and already you have women asking for you." She told him, going back to moving the drinks behind the bar.

"I'm Athrodar." He said, offering a hand to the woman who took hold of it tentatively.

"Kael said I would like you." She looked him up and down and began to grin. "I can see why. I'm Lana'thel, Magistrix of Silvermoon and the Prince's Stormwind spy."

"A Magistrix and a spy?" Athrodar said, nodding his head slowly. "Kael'thas told me to be careful around you."

Lana'thel laughed and playfully hit him on the arm. "Don't worry about that. You're safe with me, after all, you're going to be seeing a lot of me from this point forward." She placed a hand on his arm and looked around the tavern they were in. "This will be my safehouse as such for the foreseeable future. I'll come by often, maybe bring a noble or two with me." Her attention returned to Athrodar and smiled at him. "You know, to do my job."

"I get it." Athrodar said, looking down at the hand on his arm and smiling when everything Kael'thas warned him about her, was proving to be true. "So where are you staying in the meantime?"

"In Stormwind Keep. Unfortunately, my job also requires me to sometimes sleep with the nobles just to get information from them, even if they're vile." Lana'thel shrugged her shoulders and began to lean against Athrodar's arm. "It's not all bad though. The lifestyle outside of the bedroom is very comfortable, on top of having almost absolute freedom wherever I decide to go here. Other than killing someone, I pretty much can do what I want." Lana'thel frowned at her choice of things to do with her freedom. "And maybe insult the King. I can't do that."

"Speaking of the King, does he know what you're doing here?" Athrodar asked, getting a head shake from Lana'thel. "Fair enough. Any chances of him finding out?"

"I shouldn't think so." Lana'thel said. "He recently lost his wife and there's this whole bandit uprising happening to the south-west in a town called Moonbrook. So he's a bit preoccupied at the moment." She moved her hand down to his and took hold of it. "Hey, show me around this place. Might as well get used to my surroundings on the days I'm not sleeping in the same bed with those nobles." She noticed Athrodar looked down at their hands and smiled. "What? I'm not making you nervous am I?"

"Of course not." Athrodar told her. "I just got out of a relationship with someone I thought I was going to spend my life with because she lied to me for almost a month." He continued to look down at their hands and smiled a little. "Not that it should stop me from holding hands with someone, I just don't know if I am comfortable with it or not."

"Well let me make you comfortable." Lana'thel whispered to him, dragging Athrodar along with her when she began to walk further into the tavern. "Tell me who she was and I will have your back should she ever walk back into your life."

"She's the Ranger-General actually and she is going to be in my life indefinitely, unless she dies or I die." Athrodar smiled a little. "She's carrying my child at the moment, something I found out a few hours ago."

"Oh, so you're that friend of Kael'thas I've been hearing about." Lana'thel giggled and hugged his arm now. "The young, hot bachelor who was tamed by the Ranger-General." She frowned and looked up at him. "Wait, so you've ended things with her? It must have been some lie because she is a one in a billion elf with just her looks alone."

"Well I think keeping the death of your mates father from him for a month does qualify as something a one in a billion elf would do." Athrodar told her.

"Oh.." Lana'thel hugged Athrodar tightly. "I'm sorry about that. And to think you're having a kid with her too..." She pulled back and saw a frown on Athrodar's face, smiling at him. "What? Never had a beautiful woman hug you because you received bad news?"

"Not one I have only been speaking to for five minutes." Athrodar told her.

"Well listen. I'm going to be your best friend here, so take it from me. If your child turns out to be a girl, never bring her here when she reaches maturity. Take it from someone who has a daughter, the human men here will throw themselves at her and if she doesn't know how to get out of it, she will be dragged into a family life quickly." Lana'thel began to smirk at him. "Luckily for me, I'm a mage and I can stop my family from expanding because of these human nobles, but if she's not a mage... Expect several children from her if she lives in Stormwind for more than a year and doesn't know how to get out of relationships with ease."

"Noted." Athrodar said. "But I think I can handle it."

"If you say so." Lana'thel muttered, taking hold of his hand again and dragging him along, walking by Melonara and smiling at her. "Hi, I'm.."

"Don't care." Melonara told her, frowning at the bottles in her hand and the bar before her. "I'm busy sorting this out and if you're only here to sleep with him, then I don't need to know your name."

"She's not here to do that, she's a friend of the Prince who we will see often." Athrodar told Melonara, watching her glance over to Lana'thel.

"Then I'm Melonara, pleased to meet you." She said, going back to the bottles in her hand.

"I'm Lana'thel. And if you need help, I'd say put the Stormwind Red beside the Silvermoon white. Trust me, these people like both and don't really care if you get them wrong, a drink's a drink." She began to laugh and looked over to Athrodar. "Especially since you're in Old Town. This place is for drunks, ex warriors and rogues of all kinds. You come here to drink, not to taste test."

Melonara placed the bottles down and smiled, looking over to Lana'thel. "Okay, I like her." She said, making her way over to the Magistrix. "How often is often?"

"Probably three, maybe four times a week." Lana'thel told her. "Depends on what I'm doing that day." She looked back to Athrodar and pulled on his arm. "Come on, let's start this tour."

Melonara laughed when she saw Athrodar mouth 'help me' to her, shaking her head and looking over to Illana who raised an eyebrow at her. "Your son has been kidnapped by a very intrusive elf."

"As long as he behaves himself, I don't mind." Illana told her, getting a laugh from Melonara.