Uncovering Secrets

"This place is packed."

Athrodar looked over to Melonara who was picking her nails, shaking his head and returning his attention to the two pints of Ironforge Brew he was pouring. "I know. Strange how I am the only one working out of the two of us though, isn't it?"

"You're enjoying it." Melonara told him, grinning at Athrodar who shook his head again. "Okay, fine... Hand me those and I'll be back to help." She said, taking the pints off him and making her way to the patrons who ordered them.

"Need any help?" Illana asked when she watched her son struggling to keep up with the orders.

"Please." He said, smiling when his mother kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." He said when he saw her start to pour some drinks too. "Once again, Mel would rather entertain than actually work."

"It keeps them coming back." Illana told him. "She is very good at it too. They love her because she knows how to keep them both entertained and wanted here." She looked over to Melonara who was laughing with a group of humans who were sitting at the far end of the tavern. "It's like you've said in the past, she's practically made for this life."

Athrodar laughed and nodded his head now, placing two more pints onto the bar behind him and looking over to Melonara. "I suppose she does more for this place than any of us by just entertaining everyone and anyone." He looked over to Lana'thel when she entered the tavern, frowning when she looked to be in a rush. "What's up with you?"

"I need a place to hide." Lana'thel told him, looking behind her and towards the entrance of the tavern. "Now!" She snapped, following Athrodar to the back room. "Thank you."

"Do you want to tell me what this is about?" Athrodar asked, watching Lana'thel look behind him every couple of seconds as if she was looking for someone. "Lana?"

"I stuck my nose into somewhere I shouldn't." Lana'thel told him, looking up at Athrodar who stood over her whilst she remained sat on a chair. "Those bandits in Westfall? They have members hidden in the city. I think I disturbed the hornet's nest and now they're after me. I was being followed by two men earlier but thought nothing of it until I left Stormwind Keep and began to make my way to the Mage District." She looked over to the door and then back to Athrodar. "I led them here because I knew they would follow me. I need you to deal with them."

Athrodar nodded his head slowly, placing a hand under her chin when she looked down and lifting her head up so she was looking at him again. "I'll take care of this, okay?" He said softly, getting a smile from the mage and kissing her lightly. "Stay here."

Illana watched her son return to the bar the moment two men entered the tavern, looking over to the men and noticing their swords strapped to their waists. "Athrodar." She said, looking over to her son who stood beside her, placing a hand on the blunderbuss behind the bar. "What's happening?"

"Don't worry." He said, smiling at his mother and turning his attention to the two men who made their way to the bar. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for an elf. She came in here a minute or two ago and we would like to ask her questions." One of them said to Athrodar, looking him in the eyes whilst the other scanned the tavern for Lana'thel. "If you could show us where she went, we would be most grateful."

"Ah. Well, that's where we have a problem." Athrodar told them, resting one arm on the bar whilst his other was underneath the bar, holding onto the blunderbuss. "I saw that elf you were talking about, but I'm afraid I can't tell you where she went. You see, I promised I would keep her safe only a few seconds before you came in here and I'm nothing if not an honest man." He saw them both look over to him now with slight glares of their faces. "So, I'm sorry to say this gentlemen, but you won't be getting your hands on that elf. Not whilst she's in here."

One of the men drew a knife from the belt and pointed it towards Athrodar, threatening him with the blade. "Now listen here, elf. I know some very powerful people and if you continue to keep her from us, I will use those connections to tear this place down and kill anyone who stands in our way."

Athrodar sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't take too kindly to your tone, or the blade pointed at me." He told them, looking over to his mother and then back at the two men. "Especially when you're threatening me in front of my own mother. Now, I'd like to think this was just a lapse of judgement, that you're both tired and are just looking for something to drink and you would like to apologise for speaking like that to me."

They both laughed as the second one pulled out a knife and pointed it Athrodar shortly after. "You have to be joking, right? You're in no position to make demands and assumptions about us when you have two blades pointed to your throat. Now go get that elf and we will be on our way. No harm will come to you or your lovely mother."

Athrodar looked over to Melonara and gave her a slight nod before looking back at the two men. "I'm really sorry to hear that." He told them, pulling the blunderbuss up onto the bar so it was pointing at them, placing a hand over the trigger. "You see. One thing I would like to tell you before you do go through with your plan is quite simple really and it will help you out in the future."

"What is it?" One them asked.

"When you enter a tavern, never threaten the guy pouring the drinks." Athrodar told them, nodding to the several soldiers who were holding onto their swords, guns and other weapons at the two men at the bar. "Now would you like to rethink your last statement?" He asked them, moving a finger to the trigger on his blunderbuss. "Or would you like to see what's faster? My finger on this trigger or your knives?"

Both of the men looked at each other, placing their knives back and looking back to the soldiers again. "Fine. Keep her, but you tell her to keep her nose out of things that don't concern her."

Athrodar watched the two of them leave the tavern, placing the blunderbuss back beneath the bar and looking over to his mother. "That went better than I expected." He told her, getting a hug from his mother. "Turns out running a popular tavern has its advantages."

"Are you good?" Melonara asked when she returned to the bar, getting a nod from Athrodar. "They were looking for her, weren't they?"

"They were." Athrodar said, looking towards the back room and kissing the top of his mother's head. "I'll tell her the coast is clear."

"Tell her that I don't want any more trouble in my tavern too." Melonara told him, watching Athrodar leave to talk to Lana'thel.

"Are they gone? "Lana'thel asked the moment Athrodar returned, watching him nod his head and making her way over to him quickly, hugging him tightly. "Thank you." She said, watching the door close behind him. "I didn't know where else to go."

Athrodar kissed her on the cheek when he felt her hug tighten, pulling back a little when he heard her begin to sniff and watching a few tears stream down her face. "Hey, you're safe." He told her softly, wiping a few of the tears away with his thumb and watching her smile a little at him. "I told you that I will protect you whenever you enter my tavern." He pressed his head against hers when she pulled him down towards her. "Mel isn't happy, but I'm sure you could have figured that one out."

Lana'thel smiled and moved her arms around him again, squeezing him lightly. "I don't care. I was scared they had more friends and would drag me away to some dark alley and silence me." She gripped onto the back of his tunic tightly. "They're a part of the Defias brotherhood and they're planning something big. I overheard them talking about a ship, but I don't know where it is or what it's for. I just know it's going to cause a lot of destruction wherever it goes."

Athrodar thought back to all the stories he had been told by Lana'thel about this bandit group and the nobles of Stormwind, the riots after the Stonemasons weren't paid by the nobles, the death of the Queen shortly after, the neglect the poor had been getting. It only made sense that this ship would be targeting only one place. "I believe they're going to attack Stormwind with it." Athrodar told her, getting a slot nod from Lana'thel when she thought about it.

"That makes sense." She said, cupping his face in her hands. "You are proving more and more useful as the weeks and months go by." She told him, kissing him on the lips. "Why that General lied to you and couldn't trust you, I will never know." And moved her hands down to his arms and squeezed them lightly. "Someone as strong, bright and energetic as you..." She began to smile to herself. "I may have to take you as mine once this is all over."

Athrodar chuckled at the statement, moving his hands to her waist and kissing her again. "I don't think I will deny your request should you ask what I think you will ask."

"Good." Lana'thel purred, moving one hand up to his face again and stroking his cheek lightly. "I was going to stop this whole spying on the nobles by sleeping with them anyway. It was going to make things messy should I ask you what I may or may not ask you."

"Now that does make me happy." Athrodar whispered, leaning down and kissing her again, only to have Lana'thel deepen the kiss and wrap her arms around him. "I don't like sharing anyway." He whispered to her, making her chuckle in his ear.

"Neither do I." She whispered back to him, kissing him on the cheek, lips and then neck before pulling back. "Now then. What do you say to becoming mine and mine alone? We've spent almost two years having fun and I've found it more and more difficult to keep you off my mind. So what do you think, do you want to become my mate?"

Athrodar smiled and pulled her in closer again. "Definitely." He whispered, pressing his head against hers. "I'm just going to have to let Thalina down gently and then I'm all yours."

"And the General?" Lana'thel asked, looking him in the eyes. "I know you have feelings for her still, especially since she's the mother of your child and all."

"We've not been together for two years, and we were only together a month before that." He took hold of her hand and kissed the palm of it. "We've had a much stronger relationship over these two years of sleeping together than I ever did with her. She will hate it, but she has our son to distract herself with."

"Good." Lana'thel purred. "Looks like I will have to go back to flirting with the nobles instead of sleeping with them. Less messy that way and more fun for me. Their fun however... Well I don't care about that, I'm just looking for information."

"I do have one rule though. It shouldn't be too hard to follow." Athrodar smiled when Lana'thel frowned at him.

"What is it?" She asked him.

"Anything that could affect me or my family, shouldn't be hidden from us." He told her. "I don't want you to do what the General did and keep my father's death from me. If you hear anything about someone I know or care about, tell me."

Lana'thel smiled and cupped his face in her hands. "I'll tell you the moment I know, don't worry." She said, kissing him again. "I have learnt from other's past mistakes, I won't do that to you."

"Good. Then I am more than happy to be yours." Athrodar told her, moving his hands to the back of her legs and lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. "And only yours." He whispered.

"Brilliant." Lana'thel whispered back to him. "Now unless you're needed back out front, I want you to take me to bed so I can thank you for helping me."

"I'm sure Mel and my mother can handle it for an hour." Athrodar told her, hearing Lana'thel laugh.

"Bold of you to think you can go for an hour with me." Lana'thel teased, giggling when Athrodar began to kiss her along the neck.

"What's the urgent news from Ashenvale?" Sylvanas asked, standing opposite Kael'thas who was reading through the report in his hands.

"The orcs have built a stronghold in Ashenvale." Kael'thas told the General, handing her the report. "They have been skirmishing with the orcs for weeks, but every time they kill one, the orcs send two more to replace them. They are asking for our help in this matter." He saw Sylvanas look over to him. "I think it's just a show of power more than using our rangers, but the company or two you send need to be ready for a fight should it come to it."

"I have a company or two in mind." Sylvanas said, getting a grin from the Prince.

"Let me guess, Dael'Thaelas and the poor soul who has to go with him?" Kael'thas asked, getting a laugh from Sylvanas.

"You know me too well." She said, looking over to her son who was being distracted by Anya and Clea who were playing with him. "Anything to get him away from Lord Sunblade for as long as possible."

"Has Athrodar seen him recently?" Kael'thas asked, watching Sylvanas keep her attention on her son. "General?"

"He has." She said, looking back to the Prince. "He visited two weeks ago and left last week. Talanas loved every second of it and I'm almost certain Athrodar did too." She smiled at the week with him, looking back at her son. "He has been asking when daddy will be back and It's hard to tell him that it will be another month."

Kael'thas smiled and watched Talanas giggle and play with Anya and Clea, smiling to himself. "Does he know about Lana'thel?" The Prince now asked, glancing over to Sylvanas who's face went from smiling to sadness the moment the Magistrix's name came up.

"He doesn't. How do I tell him that his father has found someone else to love who isn't his own mother?" Sylvanas looked back to Kael'thas and sighed. "I'm not even convinced he really loves her. He is too afraid to show her off to anyone outside of Stormwind and when I do visit, she is never there."

Kael'thas smiled and nodded his head slowly. "I find it hard to believe myself sometimes. But I've spoken to them both and they seem adamant they're courting." He shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to Talanas. "A part of me however thinks he is just stuck, that he doesn't know who he actually loves and has chosen the closest person to him." He looked back to Sylvanas who frowned at him. "He is with Lana'thel, but he speaks a lot about you whenever I visit him. He wants to know how you are, what you're doing, if you're courting anyone yourself." He back to smile at the General. "It's very telling that he still loves you, you're just never around each other for more than a week so he doesn't act on it."

"I wish you hadn't told me that." Sylvanas muttered, waving over her son and kissing the top of his head when he hugged her tightly. "Because now I am going to try my hardest to win him back." She told the Prince, hugging her son tightly in her arms. "Having fun?" She asked him, getting a laugh and a smile from Talanas.

"Yeah!" Talanas told her, his voice full of joy.

Sylvanas looked over to Anya and Clea, kissing the top of her son's head again. "Are auntie Anya and Clea behaving?" She now asked her son, though it was mostly aimed towards the two rangers.

"We're behaving." Anya told the General, looking down at the stuffed toy in her hand and shaking it in front of Talanas to make him laugh. "Well, Clea is behaving."

Sylvanas let go of her son, watching him make his way towards Anya and hug the stuffed toy when she handed it to him, pulling him back into her embrace and kissing him on the cheek several times, hearing him giggle and watching him hug his toy tightly. "I would fight that mage of yours to get him back if I have to, by the way." She said, looking over to the Prince who laughed now. "If only to have him in this one's life permanently and not for one week a month."

"And so you can having him all to yourself." Clea said, overhearing the General who rolled her eyes at her. "Am I incorrect?" She asked, getting a laugh from Anya.

"No, you're not." Sylvanas said, looking over to the two rangers. "It is a big part of why I would have him back, but also just so he can be with his son." She kissed her son on the forehead this time, hugging him tightly when he giggled. "He would love to have his father around a lot more."

"Where's papa?" Talanas asked, looking up at his mother.

"He's gone back to his home." Sylvanas told her son, stroking his hair and smiling at him. "He will visit us again soon, I promise."

Kael'thas watched Talanas continue to hug his stuffed toy, smiling at the Windrunner child when he smiled at him. "Tell you what, I'll visit Athrodar in the next week or two and I'll talk to him." He offered, looking over to Sylvanas who shook her head at him. "No?"

"I don't want to pressure him into making a decision like that." She told the Prince, looking over to Anya and Clea who were entertaining Talanas whilst he was secure in his mother's arms. "I want to have him decide he wants to be with me in his own time and not force it out of him."

"That day will come." Kael'thas told her. "I know it."

"It will." Sylvanas said, smiling at the Prince. "Now however, I have plans to meet my sister in Dalaran. Her twins are the same age as my little one here. So he will have someone his own age to play with physically." She looked over to Anya who smiled at her. "Mentally however, he has these two."

"I heard that." Clea said, looking over to Anya who seemed to be playing with some of Talanas' toys that she brought with her. "I'm not sure she did however."

"Look, it's a little Ranger-General!" Anya said, excited and fascinated by the toy at the same time, holding it up and showing them the toy. "She even has your steeled concentration."

Sylvanas sighed and looked back to the Prince. "Again, they're like my daughters."

Kael'thas laughed and nodded his head. "At least your son has sisters."

"I have some news." Lana'thel said, smiling at Athrodar who stood behind the bar. "It's to do with those bandits."

"Still trying to uncover stuff about them even after they threatened you?" Athrodar smiled and leaned on the bar, looking the Magistrix in the eyes. "Okay, go on. Tell me what you've found."

"So you know how they were refused their payment, those stonemasons that rebuilt Stormwind?" She watched Athrodar nod his head, making her smile widen. "Turns out, the nobles were tricked into thinking they hadn't done a good enough job by none other than Lady Katrana Prestor."

Athrodar frowned at the name. "Isn't she like some super powerful noblewoman?"

"Yes." Lana'thel said, taking hold of his hand. "She is practically untouchable here and the strangest part is she just appeared out of nowhere. Nobody can give me a straight answer to where she came from, all they know is she is wealthy, powerful and has very close ties to the King."

"Probably more so now that his wife is gone." Athrodar said, looking over to Melonara who dropped off two empty pints for him to clean. "So what has this got to do with the bandits?" He asked, picking up the two pints and cleaning one of them.

"I have reason to believe she is working with the leader of the Defias Brotherhood. One named Edwin Vancleef." Lana'thel looked around the tavern and noticed it was practically empty save for the handful of loyal patrons. Granted it was in the middle of the day and a Tuesday, so she didn't expect much more than this. "Seeing as the King is holding back against the bandits plaguing Westfall and parts of Elwynn Forest, I can only presume she is doing something to him to keep him from helping his people."

"Like an enchantress?" Athrodar suggested, getting a nod from Lana'thel.

"Precisely that. I haven't seen her use any spells, but she is doing something to him." Lana'thel watched him pick up the second pint and began to clean that one shortly after. "I have also heard rumors that the King is leaving on a ship to Theramore sometime in the next week or two to meet with Lady Proudmoore and the Horde leader Thrall. Perhaps it's to discuss the future between the Horde and what remains of the Alliance, but there's not enough information for me to know what's happening."

Athrodar looked back to Lana'thel and frowned at her. "He plans to meet with Thrall?" He asked for clarification, getting a nod in return. "The orcs killed his father, correct?" He got another nod from Lana'thel and looked back to the pint in his hand he was cleaning. "Perhaps he has seen Lady Proudmoore and her friendship with the Orcs and Tauren and thought if she could do it, there might be hope for them to build a friendship between the two factions."

"Maybe..." Lana'thel muttered, looking over to Melonara who sat down beside her and rest her head on his arm. "Long day?"

"Boring day." She told her, watching Athrodar place the pints upside down on the side so the water could drain away. "What super secret thing has she discovered today?"

"Apparently we can't trust Lady Prestor." Athrodar told her, looking over to Lana'thel who rest her head against Melonara's that remained on her arm. "I have to ask, because I've heard rumors of this being true. But can't mages sense other mages when they're magic is strong?"

"We can." Lana'thel told him.

"Well, wouldn't you know she was a mage just by being near her? Or at the very least just being in Stormwind Keep?" Athrodar asked, hearing Lana'thel sigh in return. "Or is that a no?"

"I couldn't sense it even if she was the most powerful mage in the world." Lana'thel told him. "She has this necklace that she always wears that hides her magic. That's why I know she is a mage, but I just don't know what she is capable of. It dampens her magic too, so it makes it hard for her to cast spells. She is still able to cast spells however, it just takes a lot of mana to do so with that necklace."

"Well if she has a spell on the King, it has to be pretty powerful to keep him under her thumb like this." Athrodar said, looking over to Melonara who fell asleep on Lana'thels arm. "I believe you're stuck here now." He said the moment he saw her, smiling to himself.

"That's not too bad." Lana'thel told him. "I get to sit here and watch you for however long she is asleep for. I have done my daily espionage for today, so now I get to sit back and relax."

"Gives me something to look at too." Athrodar told her, leaning over the bar and kissing the Magistrix lightly. "The best scene in this tavern by far." He whispered to her, hearing Lana'thel chuckle.

"Look at you, still trying to flatter me. I'm already yours, Sunblade. There's nobody better in the city." She told him, making Athrodar laugh in return.

"Which is why I like to keep you here, otherwise you will find someone better once you leave the city and I'll be all alone." He told her, looking over to Melonara who remained asleep. "And stuck with her."

"Thankfully I have nowhere else I'd rather be." Lana'thel whispered to him, pulling him in for another kiss with her free hand and pressing her head against his shortly after. "Right here is perfect, my love." She added, closing her eyes and smiling when he kept his head pressed against hers.

"Yes it is." Athrodar agreed.