Making Changes

"Who span the lie this time?" Lana'thel asked, crossing one leg over the other as she sat down on a chair, facing Athrodar.

"Dael'Thaelas." Athrodar said, leaning up against a nearby table and watching the Magistrix closely for her reaction. "He spoke to the girl's mother. She confirmed everything and I believed him when he spoke to me about it."

Lana'thel nodded her head slowly, picking at her nails. "This was when he spoke to you in private earlier today, wasn't it?" She asked him, watching Athrodar nod and sighing to herself, standing up and making her way over to the young Sunblade. "Come here." She said softly, extending her arms out to him and hugging Athrodar tightly when he stepped into her arms. "He's lying." She whispered in his ear. "You of all people should know Dael'Thaelas wants something and will say anything to win you over." She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Did he say anything like that?"

Athrodar looked down and began to think. "He did say he wanted to repair his relationship with me, or at the very least be on good terms when it comes to the Convocation." His attention returned to her, having her cup his face in her hands and smile at him. "I believe him, Lana."

"This is why I am here for you." Lana'thel told him, kissing him lightly. "Lord Sunblade, the General and everyone in their circles know how to convince you that this story about the recruit being your daughter is true. Luckily I am here for you to tell you it's all lies, just so they can work on getting you away from me."

"She is my daughter, Lana. At some point, someone has to be telling the truth. I can get behind the General and her Chief Scout lying, but not Liadrin and certainly not Dael'Thaelas." He heard her sigh and began to frown at the Magistrix. "I know my great grandfather. He is many things, but a liar isn't one of them. He will tell you straight to your face if something isn't right, even if it hurts your feelings. He would never lie."

"They have really gotten in your head, haven't they?" Lana'thel shook her head and pressed it against his chest. "Please don't tell me you've spoken to that recruit." When there was no response from him, Lana'thel knew exactly what his response would be. "Damn it Athrodar..."

"What? Lana, she is my daughter." Athrodar told her, walking away from the Magistrix. "I know she believes it too. I mean, why would anyone lie to this extent just to break us up?"

"Because they're scared of us, Athrodar." Lana'thel told him, hugging him from behind and pressing her cheek against his back. "Listen to me, baby. They're scared of us. Two members of the Convocation who appeared out of thin air, talking closely to the King who gave them very powerful positions in his Convocation. I am his spy master and you are the head of the Convocation. They have a right to be scared of us." Lana'thel kissed him on the back a few times, hugging him a little tighter. "We have the power to take on anyone who tries to oppose us."

"They're not scared of us." Athrodar said, taking hold of one hand. "Are they? They can't be scared of us..."

"They are." Lana'thel whispered to him, slowly spinning him around so he was facing her. "Everyone is scared of us. Everyone is against us." She purred, pulling him down and kissing him. "We can trust nobody but family and each other. Watch out for the rest of them, okay? You'll notice them try to get close and ask you for things that they would normally never ask for." She stroked a finger across his cheek and smiled at him when she saw him begin to think. "Trust me, it will happen. Lord Sunblade will try to get close to you or the General will try to convince you of something else that will put a rift between us."

Athrodar smiled and pressed his head against Lana'thel's, feeling her stroke the back of his head whilst he moved his hands to her waist and held her in place. "I love you." He whispered to her, watching her smile and say it back to him. His mind was focused on something else however, something Sylvanas told him only moments before he told Lana'thel about Victoria. How Sylvanas would react if she was in Lana'thel's place and the contrast between the two reactions. "I need to return the academy." He told her, hearing her sigh.

"I wanted to spend some more time with you." Lana'thel pouted, moving her hand down to his crotch. "Preferably alone." She added, looking up at him with her bottom lip pushed out, batting her eyelashes at him. "Just ten minutes. Fifteen if you're a good boy."

"Twenty." Athrodar suggested, getting a laugh from the Magistrix.

"Deal." She purred, dragging him towards their bedroom.

"So when are we leaving?"

Sylvanas flicked through the reports, glancing up to Clea who had asked the question and returning her attention to the same reports in her hand. "A couple more days of planning and getting everyone ready, then we are leaving for Stratholme and pulling Alina's company back from Eastern Lordaeron to help guard our lands with Lord Sunblade whilst we're fighting in Stratholme."

"How likely are we to win?" Clea now asked her, looking over to Anya who was napping on a nearby sofa with Talanas sleeping beside her.

"If this Ashbringer does what Alexandros says it does, I think we stand a pretty good chance at cleansing and taking back the city." Sylvanas told her, looking over to Anya and her son as well and smiling a little. "That does mean I have to leave him with his father, but I think Athrodar is excited to have his son with him."

"And nod that he has this daughter, she might meet her brother whilst we're away." Clea told her, making Sylvanas smile a little brighter at that news. "I can see you like the idea of that."

"Only because I am certain I am winning him over." Sylvanas said, keeping her gaze on Anya and Talanas. "I haven't spoken to him for a few days since he told that recruit, but I have heard from Viraleth that something is bothering him and only after he spoke to Lana'thel." She looked back to Clea who frowned at her. "I don't think she is accepting that recruit as his daughter."

"Why is this good again?" Clea now asked her.

"It's good because I have already told him how I would react in her shoes and knowing that it's a different reaction to how Lana'thel has reacted might start to put doubts into his future with her." Sylvanas returned her attention to her son. "He will see that I'm less of a headache when it comes to the recruit and will look at a future with me more favorably than he does that Magistrix."

Clea nodded her head slowly, turning her attention to Anya and Talanas as well. "Have I ever told you that your scheming can turn borderline scary sometimes?"

Sylvanas smiled triumphantly. "No, you've never told me that. But the reason I'm so good at this is because I know my enemy and how she reacts." She let out a small laugh and tapped a finger on the desk in front of her. "So don't become my enemy, otherwise I will do what I can to take Anya from you."

Clea gasped and placed a hand over her heart. "I would never allow that!" She told the General who laughed a little more.

"Good, then you have nothing to worry about." Sylvanas said, flicking through the reports a little more.

Finishing the last of the reports on her desk, Sylvanas looked over to the entrance of her office and sighed a little, tapping her hands on the top of her desk out of boredom. "It's a little annoying though. I was expecting him to at least come here to talk to me by now."

"You could go to him." Clea suggested, watching the General nod her head slowly and stand up. "Wait, I didn't think you would do it immediately."

"Why not?" Sylvanas asked, throwing her cloak around herself and reaching for the door. "I know he wants to talk to me, he's just trying to avoid it." She pulled her hood up and over her head, looking over to her son who continued to sleep next to Anya who was holding onto him to keep him both safe and to just hug him whilst they both napped. "Make sure he eats before I get back. And I suppose Anya too."

Clea looked over to the two of them and smirked. "I can do that. Don't worry." She looked back to the General for the last time. "Just make sure you get it out of him that Lana reacted how you think she did.

"He'll admit it." Sylvanas told her with such confidence, Clea thought she had already been told before even asking him. "He'll want me to ask him about it just so he can talk to somebody about her reaction."

Clea smiled and looked back to Anya and Talanas. "Well, good luck."

"So how did my mother react?" Thal'ena asked, sitting on the opposite side of Athrodar and grinning at him when she heard him sigh. "She still doesn't believe you are that recruit's father, does she?"

"She doesn't." Athrodar said. "She thinks everyone is lying to me and she makes a good point when I ask her about it, but I can only agree for so long."

"Yeah... She does this. A lot, actually." Thal'ena told him, making Athrodar frown at her. "She has major trust issues. Like... Really, really bad trust issues. I'm sure she told you why she hasn't found anyone to settle down yet. Something about finding the right person and not wanting to break her small family apart. Am I close?"

Athrodar nodded his head. "You are, actually. Wait, so does that means she trusts me enough to want to marry me?"

"It does." Thal'ena told him. "It makes me genuinely that she can trust someone enough to get to that stage in life. But at the same time, you need to be careful around her." Thal'ena leaned back and began to bite the nail on one of her thumbs. "She can spiral fast. So much so that she will believe everyone is out to get her and it will consume her thoughts to the point that she will believe nothing anyone will say."

"You speak as if she's done this before." Athrodar said, watching Thal'ena nod her head slowly.

"Why do you think she was the Prince's spy? He knew she had to be in an environment where she could manipulate people and trust nobody except him." Thal'ena smiled a little, though it had heavy traces of sadness throughout. "No doubt he told you to be careful around her the first time you met her."

"He did, actually." Athrodar muttered, thinking back to that time. "I thought it was because she was good at getting information out of people."

"It's one of the reasons." Thal'ena told him. "The other is the trust thing. Now that you're experiencing it first hand, I need to warn you about her. Whatever happens, don't feed into the paranoia. Fight her at every front until you are certain she believes you."

"What happens if I don't?" Athrodar asked her, watching the mage shake her head a little.

"She will get you believing her side of things. Then you will lose your friends, your family. You won't be able to look at anyone the same way again until you are freed from that mindset." Thal'ena began to hug herself and look off into the distance. "Trust me... You don't want that."

Athrodar reached over his desk and placed a hand on her knee, feeling her jump a little and bringing her back into reality. "You've experienced that, haven't you?"

Thal'ena smiled a little at him. "Let's just say I wasn't always this fucked up. I used to get happy over a bed of flowers. Now I just like tormenting people whenever I can." She stood up and stretched. "Just don't feed into her delusions, okay? Try to help her see the truth or she will be lost and foreign to you very quickly."

Athrodar watched her leave, being left alone for a few minutes before being joined by Sylvanas who knocked on the door to his office lightly. "Can I come in? You look like you need the company."

"Come in." Athrodar said, standing up the moment she entered his office and walking over to the General, hugging her tightly and feeling her slowly move her arms around him. "I'm starting to feel like I've made a huge mistake."

"What's wrong?" Sylvanas asked him, tilting her head up to look at him.

"It's Lana'thel. She... She has trust issues and after speaking to her daughter, this isn't the first time she has done this." Athrodar shook his head and held onto the General a little tighter. "She doesn't believe that Victoria is my daughter and thinks everyone is lying to me."

"What do you mean this isn't the first time she's done this?" Sylvanas asked, pulling back and cupping Athrodar's face with her hands. "Talk to me." She whispered when he closed his eyes and shook his head a little.

"She has huge trust issues." Athrodar told her. "She will do everything in her power to convince you of the delusions. For instance, she thinks everyone is out to get us, to break us apart and they're all lying and spreading those lies to drive a wedge between us and..." He shook his head again and felt the General hug him tightly. "I don't know if I can convince her that she's being paranoid and that hurts me, a lot."

"Listen." Sylvanas whispered, making him look at her. "I know you love her, Athrodar. But it sounds like she needs some help and not from you." She placed a hand up when she saw him frown at her. "This isn't me telling you to leave her, but at least tell Vandellor about this or something. He is a High Priest and the King's healer, he might have some answers for you."

"I.. I don't know if she will listen to him." Athrodar told her, moving his hands to her waist and looking into the General's eyes. "Like you said, I love her. But... She is making it difficult to be with her when she says everyone I know and love is lying to me, even if I know they aren't." He leaned a little closer to the General, watching her gaze into his eyes and gazing into her eyes in return. "I just want to be with someone where our future is set in stone the moment we realise our feelings for one another. Not have doubts creep into my mind when I figure something out about them months, if not years down the line."

"Well..." Sylvanas said, placing a hand on his chest. "You know me, I am certain we both love each other." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled a little at him. "I know I can make you happy, but I won't do anything unless you are wanting to be with me."

Leaning closer to the General, Athrodar now stood a few inches away from the General. "I do want to be with you..." He whispered, having her brush her nose against his. "Ever since I told Lana about Victoria, I have wanted to be with you, alone... For several hours."

"And why's that?" Sylvanas whispered to him, standing so close to him that she knew he could feel her breath on his face.

"You would have accepted Victoria the moment I told you." Athrodar told her, kissing the General lightly and pressing his head against hers. "You wouldn't have thought that everyone is lying to me and I need that right now." He kissed her again, feeling the General deepen the kiss and wrap her arms around his neck, moving his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. "I need stability right now and I believe you are that stability." He told her when they broke apart, having Sylvanas kiss him hard and pull him towards his desk.

"Then be with me." Sylvanas purred, pushing several items off Athrodar's desk and sitting on top of it, giggling when she went back to kissing him and laying down on the top of desk, moving her hands through his hair whilst she felt him begin to pull up her tunic.

Once he removed her tunic, Athrodar began to pull down her leggings whilst tracing kisses from her neck down to her breasts, feeling her gasp, moan and chuckle at his worshiping of her body. "I have missed you," He whispered, pulling off her leggings and looking the General in the eyes when she sat up on the edge of his desk.

"I have missed you too." She purred, pushing Athrodar onto his chair with her foot and hopping down off the desk, taking his tunic off now and sitting down on his lap. "I want to be yours, Athrodar." She whispered in his ear. "And I want you to be mine." She tilted her head a little to the side when he began to kiss her on the neck, smiling and holding his head in the same place so he could worship her more. "Tell me that I'm yours." She moaned, feeling Athrodar place his hands on her lower back and being pulled a little closer to him. "Tell me." She begged, placing a hand on the hem of his leggings and pulling them down a little.

"You're mine, Sylvanas." Athrodar growled, pushing himself inside the General and hearing her gasp at the sudden feeling of fullness. "You belong me to, Sylvanas and I belong to you."

"Yes!" Sylvanas yelled, biting her bottom lip and wrapping her arms around him, pressing her ear against his chest and rocking her hips. "I am yours, Athrodar. I am only yours." She pulled back a little and kissed him hard on the lips shortly after, parting his lips with her tongue and deepening the kiss. "Nobody will ever touch me like I let you touch me." She breathed, moaning into his ear and feeling him twitch inside her.

"Good." Athrodar whispered back to her, holding her against him and feeling the General rock her hips a little faster. "I'm going to speak to Lana'thel later and tell her the truth about Victoria." He looked into the General's eyes when she pulled back to look at him. "If she still doesn't believe me, I will leave her and make my way to you."

Sylvanas stopped rocking her hips and placed her hands on his face. "Are you serious?" She asked, getting a nod from him in return. "Then I will wait for you in my office for you to return to me, because I am certain she won't believe you."

"Confident as always, General." Athrodar said, hearing Sylvanas chuckle and begin to rock her hips again. "Someone wants to get this over with so she can have me back."

Sylvanas grinned and placed a hand over his mouth. "Stop talking, Athrodar. I am focusing." She told him, knowing he was getting close and holding onto him tightly when she felt him reach climax inside of her, throwing her head back and letting out a loud moan that echoed throughout the office and parts of the corridor he office was in. When she came down from her peak, she began to chuckle a little and kiss him all over his face, panting and quickly leaning against him. "Talk to her." She whispered, not wanting to move but knowing if he was going through with his plan, she had to climb off him. "Leave her for me. We both know she won't accept that recruit."

"I know..." Athrodar muttered, kissing the top of Sylvanas' head the moment she buried it in his neck. "Come with me? I might need backup if the conversation takes a bad turn."

"Of course." Sylvanas whispered, kissing his chest and making her way up to his lips. "I suppose it would be better if we return to my office together than have me waiting for you anyway."

"Let's get going then." Athrodar suggested, smiling when the General didn't move and knowing she was either too tired to move, or just didn't want to. "Come on, my General." He whispered in her ear, hearing her groan.

"Not yet... I want to remain in the arms of my lover for a few minutes longer." Sylvanas told him, wrapping her arms around him tighter. "Can't I just have that?"

"Okay, fine." Athrodar said, chuckling lightly and pressing his cheek to the top of her head, cuddling the General who began to smile the moment she pressed her ear to his chest. "We can stay here a little longer since this cuddle has been a long time coming."

"Yes it has." Sylvanas agreed, making her heart beat the same rhythm as Athrodar's. "I am so close to having you back, Athrodar. We can finally start our family and our son will have both of his parents in his life forever."

"I would like that, actually." Athrodar told her. "To be with my son every day when I return home. To not have to go so long between visits."

"And a future wife who will take in your daughter and treat her as her own should she want to be in our lives." Sylvanas told him, making Athrodar smile at that future. "However, that may have to wait a while if she doesn't visit in the next few days." She then told him, pulling back and looking into his eyes, placing a hand over his heart to keep that connection going. "Halduron, Lor'themar and I are leaving in a few days to fight beside the Silver Hand Paladins and help in retaking Stratholme."

"This was your plan all along, Windrunner. Sleep with me so I can then look after our son without it being much of a hassle." Athrodar smirked when she heard her chuckle lightly. "Don't think I don't know your plans."

"You got me." Sylvanas said, reaching for her tunic and leggings on the floor beside them. "Might as well get ready to talk to Lana'thel."

Putting their clothes back on, Athrodar threw Sylvanas' cloak around her and tied it to her shoulderguards, almost taking a step back when he saw her in a different light to when she sat on his lap only a few seconds ago. She looked beautiful, more beautiful than she had ever looked and she was less than a day away from being his again. "Sylvanas." He said, making her look over to him and tilt her head a little. "Just... Stay there." He said softly, placing a hand on her cheek and leaning forward to place a soft kiss on her lips, feeling her place her hands on his arms and holding onto his tunic tightly when the soft kiss quickly turned passionate, pinning the General up against the door to his office and picking her up so she could wrap her legs around him. "I love you." He told her when they broke apart from the kiss, gazing into her eyes. "I have never stopped loving you, even after I moved to Stormwind."

"I love you too." Sylvanas cooed, landing back on her feet when she unwrapped her legs from around him, smiling when he pulled her hood up and had it rest on her head. "Thank you. Shall we get going?

Athrodar opened the door a little and nodded his head. "Let's go." He said, opening the door fully and almost walking into Lana'thel who was seconds from knocking on the door.

"I thought so." The Magistrix said when she saw Sylvanas standing beside Athrodar, hair and clothes still a mess and the smell of sex in the air. "Should have known you were spending time with this slut."

Before Sylvanas could react, she caught a glimpse of Athrodar standing in front of her and between herself and Lana'thel. "Bold talk coming from the elf who slept with every nobleman in Stormwind to get information." Sylvanas said, hearing Athrodar sigh.

"Both of you stop." Athrodar said, moving one hand back and having Sylvanas take hold of it. "Lana, I think we need to go our separate ways. I have tried to convince you that this recruit is my daughter for a couple days now and every time I bring her up, you shoot me down and tell me that everyone is lying to me." He looked over his shoulder and towards Sylvanas. "I don't need that in my life, not when I have many people wanting what's best for me and my daughter."

Lana'thel shook her head when she saw Athrodar and Sylvanas look at each other, noticing the smile on the General's face and quickly engulfing her hands in flames. "She has corrupted you, Athrodar!" The Magistrix spat, taking a step forward. "She has corrupted you with her lies! That recruit isn't your daughter! She is just trying to break us apart!"

"No, Lana'thel." Athrodar said, looking back at the Magistrix. "You're the one breaking us apart. You can't seem to grasp that I have a daughter now and instead of trying to understand, you are working so hard to isolate me from everyone I know that you've hurt our relationship in the process."

"Baby don't say this." Lana'thel said, taking a step forward and watching both Athrodar and Sylvanas take a step back from her. "I love you, Athrodar. You love me too, we're engaged, we're trying to have a baby." She looked over to Sylvanas who was hugging Athrodar's arm. "Don't throw away our future over this... Liar."

"See?" Athrodar said, having Sylvanas squeeze his hand. "I can't do this anymore. Thal'ena told me this isn't the first time you've done this either. She has warned me about your past and how it has changed your own daughter forever. She made me realise that I can't have this in my life, not when I have my own son to look after and now a daughter I want to build a relationship with." He looked back to Sylvanas who smiled up at him a little. "I need stability now and I'm afraid you can't give me that... Not now, not with how you're acting."

Lana'thel watched both Sylvanas and Athrodar begin to walk passed her, noticing the smirk on the Ranger-General's face and feeling something inside her snap, engulfing her fist in a brighter flame and launching a fireball into Sylvanas' back, making her yelp out in pain when the power of the spell knocked her off her own feet and burning away most of her cloak and the back of her tunic. Just as she was about to let loose another spell, the fire in her hand extinguished when Athrodar stood between her and Sylvanas. "Move out the way!" She yelled, glaring at the General who was writhing in pain, trying to put out the non-existent flames on her back. "I have to do this! She has corrupted you and breaking that connection will make you see clearly."

Athrodar didn't move, hearing several rangers rush towards the three of them and nodding at them when they all had their bows aimed at the Magistrix. "Get out of here, Lana'thel." He said, looking back to the Magistrix. "Before I make these rangers arrest you for assaulting the General."

Lana'thel looked Athrodar in the eyes and saw he was serious, having several tears fall from her eyes. "She has corrupted you, Athrodar." She told him, feeling her arms be taken from several rangers and be put into restraints. "She has corrupted you!"

Athrodar watched the Magistrix kick and scream against the four rangers escorting her out the Farstrider Academy, quickly having his attention taken by Sylvanas when he heard her writhe on the floor behind him, letting out several painful sobs and rushing to her side. "Hey, I'm here." He said, looking at her back and noticing several burn marks on her back but no fire. "We need to get you to a healer." He told her, picking Sylvanas up and trying his best to not touch the burns on her back.

"Tell me... Tell me you're done with her." Sylvanas said, gritting her teeth as her back screamed at her, looking up at Athrodar with a few tears in her eyes due to the pain she was in.

"I'm finished with her." Athrodar told the General, watching her nod her head a little and smile at him before burying her head in his chest as he looked to find Liadrin or at the very least Vandellor.