Some Good With The Bad

"You look so weird in those robes." Melonara said, holding back her laughter when she saw Athrodar in the Convocation's ceremonial robes.

"Thank you..." Athrodar muttered, glancing over to Lana'thel who smirked at him. "Not you too?"

"What?" Lana'thel asked innocently, wrapping her arms around one of his. "You look really cute in them."

"We all wear the same ones." Athrodar told her, making Lana'thel laugh more. "What?"

"The difference between me wearing it and you wearing it is that I can pull this off." Lana'thel told him, hugging Athrodar tightly and looking over to Illana. "Whereas you look like you're very uncomfortable and it's cute."

"I think he looks nice." Illana said, straightening out his robe and placing a hand on his cheek. "Very handsome."

"Your mother is right." Lana'thel whispered to him. "You do look very handsome."

"And you look as beautiful as ever." Athrodar whispered back to her, kissing her lightly and hearing Melonara's disgust. "What?" He asked her.

"Couldn't you just do that in private?" Melonara asked them. "It's bad enough we're back here and potentially going to see Lord Sunblade. I don't need my day more ruined by watching you two suck face..."

Illana slapped the back of Melonara's head making her flinch and glare at her. "Behave whilst you're here." She told her. "I won't have my daughter showing us up."

Melonara pouted and looked away from the three of them. "I behave myself all the time..." She muttered.

"Sure you do." Lana'thel teased, moving her arms around Athrodar's neck and getting up onto her tiptoes to kiss him. "Let's get inside and find a place to sit. Somewhere away from Lord Sunblade preferably and close to the Prince, for both support and for when he will eventually want to talk to us."

"Alright." Athrodar whispered to her, pressing his head against hers. "I love you."

Lana'thel smiled and kissed him again. "I love you too."

Entering Sunfury Spire, the four of them found somewhere near the front of the rows upon rows of chairs to sit, away from Lord Sunblade and Larysa as well as Aerinan who were on the opposite side of the great hall they were all in. "This is perfect." Illana said, not looking over to the other three Sunblades present and hugging her son's arm. "It's such a shame I returned home on a terrible day."

"I am happy you're here though." Athrodar told his mother, kissing her on the temple. "Kael'thas will be happy to see you, Talanas too." He kissed her on the temple again, pressing his head to the top of hers and feeling her hold onto his arm tighter. "If you stick around, I'm sure the General will love to see you too. You know how much she loves visiting with your grandson just so she can talk to you for a few minutes."

Illana smiled and nodded her head. "Hopefully I get to see both my grandson and Sylvanas at the same time. I know you're not with her and you're with Lana'thel, but I do still see Sylvanas as a daughter, especially over the last couple of years when we've got to talking more."

Lana'thel, overhearing them, smiled sadly. "Can we talk after this?" Lana'thel asked Athrodar when she got his attention, watching him look her in the eyes and knew something was off with her.

"Of course." He whispered, looking over to Melonara who was too busy looking our for Anya and Clea to even acknowledge the three of them.

"You're here!" Anya cried when she entered the hall, making most of those present look over to her as she ran towards Melonara who ran towards the overjoyed elf.

"Of course I'm here!" Melonara told her, hugging Anya and having Clea hug her too when she made her way towards her in a more calm manner. "I'm Athrodar's family and he could bring his family with him." She smiled at Anya's excitement to have the third part of their group back. "How have you both been?"

Sylvanas smiled and rolled her eyes, shaking her head shortly after when she walked passed Anya, Clea and Melonara, making her way to the front and sitting on the same side and row as Athrodar, Lana'thel and Illana. "Not too late, am I?" She asked Illana, smiling and kissing her on the cheek.

"Of course not dear." Illana said, focusing her attention on the General now.

"Boy you don't look happy." A voice said, sticking their head between both Lana'thel and Athrodar, though their attention was on the Magistrix. "I didn't think you were this close to the King, mom."

"Better late than never, Thal'ena." Lana'thel muttered, looking over her shoulder and towards her daughter. "And it's a funeral."

"Yeah, yeah." Thal'ena looked over to Athrodar and tapped him on the shoulder. "She's not giving you a hard time, is she?" She asked, snorting shortly after. "Not like you'd tell me if she was. Mother has a great way of making those she cares for ignore me."

"I don't ignore you, Thal'ena." Athrodar told her, looking towards her now. "And your mother isn't giving me a hard time at all. In fact, it was only last night when -"

"Stop!" Lana'thel hissed, placing a hand over Athrodar's mouth and going a little red in the cheeks. "I might be close to my daughter, but I don't want her knowing in detail what we do at night." She glanced over to a smirk and a cocked eyebrow from her daughter. "It's bad enough she knows how to wind me up without my sex life coming into it."

"There's a very easy joke there about you two that I am just going to let linger in the air." Thal'ena said, patting Athrodar on the shoulder and leaning close to his ear so she could whisper to him. "Have fun with mom, daddy." She purred, giggling shortly after and sitting down in the chair behind the two of them.

Athrodar looked forward as well as Lana'thel, the Magistrix knowing all too well what her daughter was like that she could see Athrodar was getting hot under the collar without even having to ask him. "I am so sorry." She whispered, taking hold of his hand. "I would have thought she could behave at a funeral, but clearly I was wrong."

"N-no.. It's... It's fine." Athrodar said, pulling on the collar of his shirt to try to get some air. "Wow it's hot in here."

Lana'thel began to smile when she saw he was feeling really uncomfortable, placing a hand on his back and engulfing the hand in frost magic to cool him down. "Better?" She asked him, getting a sigh of relief and a nod from him as a response. "Good." She whispered, kissing him on the cheek and looking to the entrance of the hall, noticing a human and three Kaldorei walking into the hall. "Looks like our Prince has invited some esteemed guests."

Athrodar looked over to the entrance of the hall and quickly recognised them all. Jaina, Tyrande, Malfurion and Shandris had all turned up to the funeral. "Clearly our Prince is trying to build good relations with them in such an intimate environment." He muttered, slowly nodding his head. "It's smart. It would be an insult if they didn't pay respects to the former King of the city they are working with now. So being here is to uphold relations and to possibly talk terms of their new arrangements."

Once every Convocation member, Farstrider Officer, family and friend had made it to the Great Hall, Kael'thas and Vandellor walked in and closed the doors behind them, the Prince making his way to the front rows and sitting beside Lana'thel and Athrodar, much to the annoyance of Lord Sunblade. "We're here for you." Lana'thel told him, taking hold of his hand and smiling at the Prince. "Whatever you need."

Kael'thas smiled a little and watched Vandellor make his way to the front, standing beside ornate coffin that held the late King inside. "Thank you." He whispered back to the Magistrix. "I'll inform everyone else after the ceremony, but there will be food and drinks in the throne room once this is done so people can talk and celebrate my father's life."

Lana'thel smiled and squeezed his hand a little. "I'm sure everyone will have a good time."

Over the next hour, several members of the Convocation that were close to the King, Lord Sunblade being one of them, spoke about their past with Anasterian, some personal stories or a joke or two that would get everyone laughing lightly. The whole thing made the Prince realise how many people were close to the King, a lot more than he thought which made him a little sad at how little he knew about his father over the last few decades after spending many years in Dalaran. When the final member of the Convocation said what they had to say, singing their praises of the late King and his reign, Kael'thas stood up and made his way to his father's coffin to place a flower he had been holding onto since he arrived. "We both know it was mom's favourite." He said quietly to the coffin, smiling and placing a hand on the coffin shortly after. "And because of that, I know it was yours too."

Athrodar watched his Prince whisper a few words to his father's coffin, leaning closer to Lana'thel who was holding onto his hand tightly. "Come here." He whispered to her, feeling the Magistrix lean on him now and moving his arm, that she let go of, around her in a half hug to comfort her. "I've got you, just let it out."

Sitting behind them, Thal'ena began to smile when she saw Athrodar comfort her mother, leaning forward and trying to get in between the two of them. "I love you, mom." She whispered, kissing Lana'thel on the cheek when she looked over to her. "I just wanted to tell you just in case you feel like I never tell you enough."

Lana'thel smiled and placed a hand on her daughter's cheek. "I love you too." She told her, glancing over to Athrodar. "And if you'd give him a chance, Athrodar will love you like the father you deserve."

Thal'ena looked over to Athrodar and let out a small laugh, patting him on the arm. "I'm okay if he doesn't. It feels weird having him be the father figure in my life at only a couple decades older than me."

"And I am just getting started with fatherhood with my son. I don't know if I can be the father figure to someone who is basically my age." Athrodar said, getting a chuckle from Lana'thel.

"Fair point." She said, looking back to Kael'thas who was making his way back to them. "Is that everyone?" She asked him, getting a slight nod from the Prince.

"It is. Vandellor is just going to talk for a few more minutes before I tell everyone about the throne room." He took hold of Lana'thel's hand again when she offered it, smiling at the Magistrix. "Thank you for coming, by the way." He said, leaning forward to look over to Athrodar. "Both of you."

"Of course." Athrodar said, smiling at the Prince. "Like Lana said, we're here for you."

Ten more minutes went by before people began to stand up and pay their respects individually with Kael'thas informing them of the second part to the funeral in the throne room. "We'll meet you there." Lana'thel told the Prince, getting a nod from him and looking up to Athrodar. "Come with me. I need to talk to you."

"Uh oh." Thal'ena said out loud, smirking at her mother and Athrodar. "That doesn't sound good." She laughed, watching her mother drag Athrodar away.

"What's wrong?" He asked when she closed the door to the room she dragged him in.

"How long has it been going on?" The Magistrix asked, keeping her attention away from him. "You and the General. I know about you and her sharing a kiss or two and it's not a friendly one either." She glanced over her shoulder and towards him, watching Athrodar look down at the floor. "Thal'ena saw you and her over the last few days. I didn't put her up to it, she done it on her own." She fully turned to look at him now. "So how long?"

"A couple weeks before you said you wanted to be with me." Athrodar told her, stepping forward and placing a hand on her arm, smiling a little when she leaned against his hand. "But I will stop everything this second if it means you aren't hurting anymore." He then said, stepping forward again and placing his other hand on her other arm and feeling her lean back so he was hugging her from behind. "You're who I want to be with, Lana. I'll marry you right here if that proves my devotion to you."

Lana'thel looked over her shoulder and up at him. "Then do it." She told him, watching Athrodar frown and tilt his head a little. "Marry me." She turned when she heard Athrodar let out a nervous laugh, looking him in the eyes. "I'm serious."

"Okay then." Athrodar said with a smile, moving his hands up to her face and leaning down to kiss her. "Then I'll marry you." He let out a nervous laugh and hugged her against him. "Except I don't have a ring." He looked down at his hand and smiled brightly at one of his fingers. "Hold on." He said, taking off one of the few rings he has on his hand, placing it on her finger and laughing lightly when it sat on her finger loosely. "It might be a bit big, but it's a placeholder until I get you a real one."

"That's fine." Lana'thel told him, holding onto him tighter. "I just have one rule."

"You want me to keep my relationship with the General professional when our son isn't involved." He said, getting a nod from the Magistrix and kissing the top of her head. "Then I will do exactly that. Again, I don't want you to be any more hurt than you were at finding out."

"Just to warn you now, I will be harsher on her for a few weeks." Lana'thel told him. "She's trying to take you from me, I need to lay down the law and show her that you're mine and mine alone."

Athrodar smiled and hugged her a little tighter, though he felt bad for what was about to happen in the near future. "I won't stand in your way. I fully understand why you're going to do it." He pulled back from the hug and kissed her again. "We need to get to the throne room before people question where we've gone."

"After you." Lana'thel told him, taking hold of his hand and smiling up at him. "Fiancé of mine." She teased, smiling brightly at him when he smiled at the name.

"When do you want the ceremony?" Dael'Thaelas asked, standing opposite Kael'thas and beside Larysa and Aerinan.

"The day after the public funeral, like we discussed. I haven't changed my mind and I think it would be in poor taste if I'm named King before the people can say their goodbyes to my father." Kael'thas took a sip of his drink and watched Lord Sunblade nod his head slowly. "I will need both you and Athrodar by my side along with Vandellor when the ceremony begins. I need to have my Convocation heads up there and the High Priest who will be hosting the ceremony."

"We will be there." Lord Sunblade told him. "I'll make sure he doesn't miss it."

"Good. Thank you." Kael'thas said, looking around the throne room to try and find Athrodar, noticing he was holding Lana'thel close to him as the pair of them slow danced to the music that was being played, along with several other couples who were in attendance today. "No fighting with him either." He said, looking back to Lord Sunblade who was watching Athrodar from afar. "I'll tell him the same on the day, but I don't need the two heads of the Convocation arguing on the day I am made King."

"I will keep my lips sealed unless you need me to speak." Lord Sunblade told him, bowing his head to the Prince.

"Again, thank you." Kael'thas said, looking over to Athrodar once more. "I'll go inform him now actually, seeing as he is here."

Noticing Kael'thas was making his way over to them, Lana'thel smiled and closed her eyes as she pressed her ear to Athrodar's chest. "Our Prince is coming over. I am going to tell him about our engagement."

"Alright." Athrodar said softly, kissing the top of her head and holding her against him a little tighter. "I want to see his reaction anyway, so I want you to tell him too."

"I hope I'm not interrupting." The Prince said when he reached them, smiling when he saw Lana'thel shake her head. "Good. I just wanted to tell you that I need you both to behave on the day I am to be King. I have spoken to Lord Sunblade and he has agreed, but I just need to hear you both agree too."

"We'll behave." Lana'thel told him, looking up at Athrodar. "Especially my fiancé." She said, smirking at Athrodar when he raised an eyebrow at her less than subtle attempt to tell the Prince of their new engagement.

"I'm sorry?" Kael'thas said, smiling at the pair of them when he saw them both nod.

Whilst they were talking, Sylvanas stood with Melonara, Clea and Anya who were having their own discussion, glancing over to Athrodar, Lana'thel and Kael'thas just as the Prince took hold of the Magistrix's hand and looked at the ring on her finger, feeling her heart sink when she quickly pieced together what their conversation was when she saw all their happy faces, Kael'thas kissing Lana'thel on the cheek and then hugging Athrodar. "E-excuse me." She said quietly to the three women around her, making her way towards the twin doors of the throne room and quickly exiting Sunfury Spire.

"I'm happy for you both." Kael'thas said, laughing lightly. "Odd day to get engaged, considering what we're here for, but I suppose some good with the bad doesn't hurt."

"You're engaged?" Thal'ena asked, overhearing the Prince and standing between him and her mother. "When did this happen?"

"Apparently only a few minutes ago." Kael'thas said, grinning and bowing his head to the three of them. "I should start talking to the others before your mother kills me though. I've seen that glare before."

Athrodar looked over to Lana'thel who was glaring at the Prince for outing her like that. "Yes, we're engaged." He told Thal'ena, moving an arm around Lana'thel and making her features soften when she felt his arm around her. "And yes it was fairly recently."

"That explains where you went then." Thal'ena muttered, shaking her head and smiling brightly at her mother. "I'm happy for you!" She said with such joy, it frightened the Magistrix at the change of personality her daughter was showing. "It's about time you found someone to love like that."

Lana'thel smiled and hugged her daughter after a couple of seconds, squeezing her tightly. "Thank you, my little Firebug." She whispered, not noticing Illana had made her way over to them when she eventually found her and Athrodar.

"There's my soon to be grandmother!" Thal'ena cried, hugging a confused Illana tightly.

"I'm sorry? What is she on about?" Illana asked, looking over to her son who smiled at her and raised Lana'thel's hand up so she could see the ring he placed there. "Wh... When?" She asked, looking over to Melonara when she heard her gasp. "Did you know about this?"

"Of course not." Melonara said, looking over to Athrodar and jumping at him to hug him. "You big lug, why didn't you tell me?"

"It just sort of happened." Lana'thel said for him, taking hold of Illana's hands. "We were talking and h said he will marry me if it proved he is devoted to me and I told him he should do it. Next thing I know, he's taking a ring off his finger and placing it on mine." She smiled and kissed Athrodar when he let go of Melonara. "And I couldn't be any happier than I am now."

"Nor I." Athrodar said with a bright smile, hugging and kissing his mother on the cheek when she hugged him. "I know you are too." He whispered to her, feeling her nod her head against his chest.

"My baby is engaged, of course I'm happy." She said, hugging Lana'thel shortly after. "Welcome to the family." She whispered to her, kissing Lana'thel on the cheek now. "The one and only rule is to make sure you disappoint Lord Sunblade."

Lana'thel laughed and held onto Illana a little tighter. "An easy task." She told her, getting a laugh from Illana in return.

Sitting on the steps leading up to Sunfury Spire, Sylvanas hugged her stomach and sniffed, sobbed and then sniffed again, letting her sadness wash over and consume her entire being. This was one of the worst days of her life and it had nothing to do with the funeral. She had just lost her chance to win Athrodar back for good with him becoming engaged to Lana'thel. It was hard enough to try and win him over slowly and over time without wanting to kidnap and force him to be with her, now it had become impossible due to both the laws of Silvermoon and her own personal rules.

Elves took marriage as seriously as the humans, the only thing keeping them from divorce would be death, no matter how much both spouses hated each other. Anyone who tried to break a marriage apart would be shunned by society and ran the risk of losing everything they had worked for. On top of that, anyone caught in the act of adultery would be banished from the forests of Quel'Thalas and disowned by family and friends, something that was not negotiable no matter what your rank was.

"I'm dying alone." She whispered to herself, crying some more and not hearing the set of footsteps approaching her from Sunfury Spire.

"General?" A voice said, sounding both calm and a little concerned at the same time.

Sylvanas wiped her eyes and quickly tried to compose herself before looking over her shoulder towards the newcomer. "Oh, it's you." She cleared her throat and stood up, turning to face the owner of the voice now. "What can I do for you Thalina?"

The young Dawnstrider smiled a little and placed a hand on the General's arm. "You saw the ring too, huh?"

Sylvanas nodded her head slowly, trying to stop herself from crying once again. "I did." She said with a small voice.

Thalina smiled a little wider at the General, rubbing her arm for comfort. "If it means anything, I hate her."

Sylvanas let out a laugh and wiped her eyes again. "So do I." She told her, getting a laugh from the young Dawnstrider mage. "There's nothing really wrong with her either, which makes me hate her more. The Convocation members love her, she's beautiful too and her daughter is just a younger model of her." The General let out a frustrated sigh.

"We should start a cult or something that is dedicated to hating her." Thalina joked, getting another laugh from Sylvanas. "I suppose we have each other now to fall back on and talk about Lana'thel behind her back."

Sylvanas smiled and looked down at the ring on her finger. "Can I ask you something?" She asked, watching her nod her head. "Why are you so nice to me? I know you love him too and knowing that I love him and have son with him must burn you up inside. No pun intended of course."

Thalina smiled a little. "I hated you too, don't worry. But now we have a common enemy. She is beautiful like you said, but she's also a better fire mage than I am and she has won his heart before I even had a chance to take him after you messed up." She looked over to the General who frowned at her. "Sorry, but it's true. I had a handful of dinners with him, but it never amassed to anything outside of dinner."

Sylvanas placed her hand over one of Thalina's and smiled at her. "Looks like we'll both be hating on them for afar now."

Thalina nodded her head in agreement. "Yes we will."