The wind in the Howling Fjord was calm today. The sky was clear, not a cloud in the sky. Herds of shoveltusk were being directed to grazing grounds by worgen and deathknights. Farms spread out from the outskirts of a small city on the edge of a cliff.
Down below, a town not connected to the city except by the Howling Keep and a path carved out of the cliff side. Calwood Harbor and New Alterac were small. Most of the undead lived in Scourgeholme. Icecrown Citadel had the powerful undead and necromancers of the entire Scourge. All that the Howling Fjord had was a few deathknights, fewer necromancers, lesser undead, and people that had joined the Scourge.
Sapphire's father had found out that a lot of people had been displaced with the Cataclysm. They had been looking for new lives. Being very careful, Arthas had sent out his cultists to see if the poor people, those affected by taxes for the war with him before, would be willing to come to a place where they were wanted.
Not all had been so willing to come. All had been warned they could not come back. Some had come, found out about the Scourge, and tried to escape. Arthas did not kill those who were not very happy with their situation, but they were not allowed to leave. Arthas, while kinder than he used to be, was adamant that no one found out about the Scourge. Tensions between the Horde and Alliance were hot.
Sapphire looked down as she flew over Lake Cauldros. She skimmed the water line, beating her wings silently. Fish swam through the water, but Sapphire had never mastered the trip of grabbing a fish out of the water. All she ever got was wet feathers.
She flew around a bit, leaving the lake behind. Sapphire saw a pack of worgen running over a grassy stretch of land. Sapphire flew north, toward the mountains. She saw abandoned vrykul, Alliance, and Horde settlements. The idiots had practically forgotten Northrend after the Cataclysm, and after that, they were too busy fighting with each other to care about the continent to the north. The Scourge was fine with that. It was better to be left alone right now.
It had been years since the war with the Scourge. The world had been changed with the Cataclysm. A new continent by the name of Pandaria had been discovered. Sapphire would have gone to the new land, but she had her children to look after. Lethumo, however, took it upon himself to go to Pandaria. Silvia had gone with him, unknown to him. She had hitched a ride there on a boat and gotten herself into a lot of trouble before finally finding her father. Lethumo had been furious with the girl, but Silvia refused to go back to Scourgeholme. She had wanted to stay with her father. The night elf did not know how to be stern with Silvia, so she stayed.
And Lethumo was glad that Silvia had stayed with him. For she saved him multiple times. And more importantly, befriended a very nice female pandaren. She told the pandaren, who was called Meizhen, all of the best and worst qualities of Lethumo, much to the night elf's horror. But obviously Silvia was very good at matchmaking, because Lethumo took Meizhen back home, and demanded Arthas marry them. Silvia got a mother from that, but she also brought home several animals known as otters, and a baby dragon turtle. All the otters could be seen in Lake Cauldros. Sapphire, finding the creatures adorable, did not try to eat them. She had even fed them on occasion.
An orc by the name of Garrosh Hellscream had been overthrown as Warchief, and Sapphire was a bit glad because of it. Because of him, Theramore had been destroyed, Sapphire's mother permanently changed. Sapphire felt a little closer to her mother, because they both had been affected by magic. But Jaina had a quick temper and Sapphire had to be careful to what she said near her mother.
And Arthas...Poor Arthas. Sapphire's father bore the front of Jaina's anger a lot of the time. He could handle it. Jaina was colder than she used to be, but Arthas was the Lich King. No one could be colder than he was. But Sapphire knew Angelica might not like her parents sometimes. She was better off than Sapphire though. She had Marwyn and Falric like Sapphire. But also Autum. Autum was now apprenticed to Kel'thuzad, and lived with her new husband Falric. Tryg lived in Icecrown too.
Sapphire soon got bored on her morning flight, and soon flew back toward the largest thing in the region. Howling Keep. It was huge, and Sapphire liked it. Icecrown Citadel was home, but it was not hers. It belonged to her father. Howling Keep, which used to be known as Utgarde Keep, was hers now. Hers and Ethan's to share.
Finding a nice open window, Sapphire dove inside. She surprised Rot and Terra, who were resting on a couch.
Sapphire did not stop to apologize. She kept flying. Through halls, over stairs. She flew past chandeliers. Having been an expert on the layout of Icecrown Citadel, Sapphire had taken it upon herself to know every nook and cranny of her domain.
She flew through the King's Hoard, which was no longer a treasure room. Ethan had scrounged up whatever riches were left in the Keep, and put them into a vault. Now, the room was used for other things. Racks of weapons and armor went along the walls. Several worgen were napping in the room. She flew over them silently.
Sapphire landed at the entrance to the throne room. Two worgen stood there, and they both looked at the owl. One was huge, with short, dark brown fur. His left ear was torn. The other worgen was much smaller, with grey fur and white spots on his muzzle.
"Greetings, Wolf Mother. The King has a visitor, in case you did not know," The big one said.
Sapphire hooted and watched the two worgen open the doors. She transformed back into her real body. She looked at the two worgen.
"Thank you."
They bowed their heads submissively as she entered the room. Sapphire walked in.
Ni'kua barked, trotting over to her. Sapphire pet him affectionately.
Ethan sat on his throne, back straight. When Sapphire sat in it, she was relaxed. Ethan was very serious on the throne.
He was talking to a ghoul, which took a lot of patience. Sapphire went over to a statue of a plaguehound, and started scratching Ni'kua in places he most wanted to be scratched. The plaguehound rolled over onto his stomach.
Sapphire waited until Ethan was done talking to the undead, and then she went over to him. He brightened up at the sight of her. The girl wasted no time, and sat down in his lap.
"Hey!" Ethan protested. Sapphire did not react besides kissing him. Ni'kua barked at them. He looked very amused.
Sapphire pulled away from Ethan. "How are you today?"
"Wonderful. You?" Ethan said, pulling her back. He kissed her again.
"All right. I was just going to take Arty, Calia, and Serenity for an educational trip. Terenas is training with one of your worgen."
Ethan nodded. "Then I shall go see how he's doing. Have fun on your...educational trip."
"Daddy!"
Arthas groaned, slowly opening his eyes. He looked around.
Angelica put her face into his view. She smiled. With her teddy bear, the girl hit him.
"Wake up! Get up, Daddy!"
He looked over at Jaina. She was fast asleep, scowling. Lately, that was all she did. Arthas reached over to her, and brushed her white hair. It seemed to be a tradition to have white hair in this family. Arthas got it first, then Sapphire. Her son Terenas had been born with white hair. And now most of Jaina's hair was white.
Arthas smiled back at his daughter. The girl bounced up and down on the bed.
"Okay. Okay. I will get up. You want breakfast?"
"I want ice cream!" Angelica said. She clutched at her teddy bear. Angelica was so small. Arthas thought she was smaller than Sapphire had been at her age. But fed more at least. Angelica's ribs would never show through her skin.
"No. But we have strawberries from New Alterac's farms. Would you like strawberries?"
Angelica nodded vigorously. "Yes, please!"
Arthas got out of bed, and went over to where he kept his armor. Angelica watched him put it on. She ran over to him, still holding her teddy bear. She put the teddy bear in a chair, and picked up her father's helm.
When he went to pick it up, he did not see it. He turned around.
Angelica had put the Helm onto her teddy bear. She giggled. "Teddy is King!"
"I need that. Besides, aren't you a little old for that teddy bear?"
"No..."
Arthas took it off of the teddy bear. He put it on, and Angelica scowled. Arthas picked her up, but she was soon getting to old for that. The little girl sighed, and hugged Arthas. The man took her from the room. With a quick glance at his sleeping wife, Arthas closed the door.
"Can I have a bunny?" Angelica asked.
"No."
"Bear?" The girl prodded.
Arthas raised an eyebrow. "No, that's worse."
"How about a horse?"
"When you are older."
Angelica did not like the sound of that deal, and pouted to show her disappointment. She looked around from Arthas carrying her. She squealed.
"Tryg!"
Arthas put the girl down, and she ran at the ghoul. Tryg, who had been happily collecting cockroaches, groaned at the sight of the girl. He fled from her, shambling away.
"No! No hugs. No."
Arthas shook his head. "Tryg, just hug her. She's not going to bite."
"That an...opinion."
Angelica giggled. "I like Tryg. He's so funny."
The ghoul hissed at her, and cowered behind Arthas. The Lich King made an irritated noise.
"I don't have time for this." He walked off, leaving Tryg to Angelica's mercy. The ghoul whimpered.
Serenity gasped, looked all the way up to the top of the Citadel. It was huge. The dark metal of the Citadel was intimidating. It was cold here, and Serenity was shivering. She was bundled up very warmly. Arty and Calia were there too, equally covered in fur coats and hats. They were shivering as well. Alfie was unhappy, tail drooping. He did not like this place. They stood in the Court of Bones, at the foot of the steps. Gargoyles went along the edges of the walls, and Serenity was eager to look at them closer. Until one jumped off the ledge, and flew away. She was a little more hesitant then.
Serenity looked over to her mother. Sapphire was wearing black robes, but her neck, hands, and feet were bare. Her hair glowed white, uncovered by a fur cap or even hood.
"This is Granddaddy's Citadel?" Calia asked, bored. Serenity held a book, whose title read History of the Scourge. She opened it, and found the right page. Then, the girl read out loud.
"Considered the greatest fortress of the Scourge, Icecrown Citadel is located in the frozen wastes of Icecrown Glacier. The Citadel is built around the Frozen Throne that once held the spirit of Ner'zhul until he joined with Arthas Menethil to become the new Lich King. It is constructed from saronite, which is the...blood of Yogg-Saron?"
Serenity looked disturbed by that. She looked up at her mother. Sapphire smiled.
"Don't worry about that."
Arty looked at the Citadel with a look of fear. "I don't like this place..."
"You have been here before, sweetheart. When you were a baby. See that building over there. That's the Cathedral of Darkness. Don't worry. Nothing here will harm you...Nowadays. I grew up here."
Arty frowned. "Really? Okay..."
The young boy took his mother's hand. Calia rolled her eyes, and Serenity was reading her book. Sapphire thought their attitudes would change once they entered in the Citadel.
Falric smacked the younger deathknight. He yelped, but then attacked Falric furiously. Their swords flashed as they caught each other. The deathknight trainee slashed at Falric, but he deflected it well. Falric grinned.
"My wife could do more damage to me, whelp."
That egged the younger deathknight on, and he swung faster and harder. But Falric saw an opening, and took it. He ducked under his opponent's sword, and used his own sword. The younger deathknight gasped as the sword barely touched his groin. Falric grabbed his throat.
"Try that again?" Falric growled.
Autum had been watching, and now she clapped. "Yay! You won!"
The man turned to give her a dark look. "Was there any doubt, Autum?"
She shook her head vigorously, and ran over to him. He let go of the deathknight, and embraced the young woman. He kissed her fiercely.
"Good."
He looked up, and saw Sapphire approaching with her children. He whispered in Autum's ear.
The girl whipped around. "Sapphire!"
Sapphire raised her hand in greeting. Autum went running over to her.
"Oh, your children are adorable as always. Hello, Arty, you cute little thing. And Sapphire, you are looking fine today. Where's Ethan?"
"Home. Listen, why don't you take the kids and show them around the Citadel? I need to...talk with your husband."
Autum nodded in understanding. She took the children away, talking really fast.
"Oh, this place is so cool. I will show you the Frozen Throne, Shadow Throne, the Pit of Saron, The Crimson Halls. Falric and I live there now..."
Sapphire watched them leave, and turned to the deathknight. He grinned.
"Oh, Are we going out to a brothel tonight?"
"No. But we are going somewhere," Sapphire said meaningfully.
"I will go get Marwyn then. He should be playing with Angelica."