Chapter re-posted. Hope you continue to enjoy.

Attros was in no mood to work. He took the spell he had been working to disassemble to the meadow with Kia, just so it looked like he intended to work. Truth be told, when he was with Ki, there was no hope of any work getting done, so he wasn't sure why he even bother to pretend. He was fairly certain she saw through the ruse anyway.

This wasn't the first time their alone time had been interrupted by Lantash. The dragon was being very needy, but Attros was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't interrupting them on purpose, just to keep them apart. Kia said the dragon liked him well enough, but you never could tell with dragons. Particularly young dragons. They had an intellect of a much older and wiser being, trapped in the body of a child.

Attros put away his notes and scroll, then headed towards the large open field where members of the dragonflight usually congregated. There was still a few good hours of daylight left and with any luck, he'd be able to pull her away from Lantash long enough for them to take a walk. Kia was a very special woman and he felt lucky she seemed to like him just as much and he liked her. He had been drawn to her from the first moment they met. She was beautiful, of course, but that wasn't the only thing that attracted him.

Attros only made it halfway to his destination. He passed by the residence tower just in time to see Kia emerge on the arm of another man. Attros almost got angry until he recognized the man. Why was the King of Stormwind in Northrend. The two talked quietly as they headed to the tower of magic. Kia looked very comfortable walking with him. True, Attros had never met the king, but he always seemed the grim and gruff type.

Attros knew Kia had lived in Stormwind of a year, but he hadn't realized she knew King Wrynn personally, though he shouldn't have been surprised. Kia was the daughter Malfurion Stormrage. It would make sense for her to be looked after by the human royals while in their city.

He stopped outside the tower of magic and waited. Ten minutes later, Kia emerged alone. She was so deep in thought, she didn't even see the young man waiting by the door for her.

"Was that the king?" He asked.

Kia startled, whirling around and reaching for her sword, which she kept at her side everywhere she went. She stopped the motion as soon as she realized it was Attros speaking.

"Attros! Don't do that!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He replied, only approaching her when her hand stopped moving towards her weapon. He had seen enough of her skills with the weapon to know he didn't want to be on the sharp end of it.

Kia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's alright." She turned to head back towards the residence tower without another word and Attros followed obediently.

"Are you okay, Ki? You seem rattled."

"I'm just thinking of everything I need to do before I leave." Kia replied. She didn't want to hurt Attros. He was a good man.

"Leave?" he asked, stopping her movement by getting in front of her.

Kia signed and looked up into his gorgeous eyes.

"I've been asked to go on a mission by the king. I plan to portal to Stormwind tomorrow with Quinn and hopefully Lantash. I'm sorry Attros." Kia was sorry. She genuinely liked Attros. She could easily see herself falling in love with him. He was good looking, intelligent, romantic and just a overall nice guy. Even Quinn like him.

"What does this mean for us?" He asked, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

Kia looked down at the ground. This was the first time she had ever broken up with someone. She didn't like the feeling. She finally sighed and look up into his eyes, placing a gentle hand on his cheek. "It would be unfair to both of us to try and keep up a relationship when we don't know for sure how long it'll be before we see each other again." She took his hands. "Believe me, I don't want to leave you. You've been one of the best parts of coming to Northrend. But this is important."

Attros nodded. He wanted to argue, but what could he say? If she had been personally commanded by the Varian Wrynn to go on a mission, then she really had little choice.

Attros pulled her into a hug and she accepted it wholeheartedly.

"I'll miss you." Kia said quietly.

"I'll miss you too." He pulled away just enough so he could look at her. "But think of it this way, if what we have is meant to be, than sometime down the line, we'll see eachother again."

"I like your optimism." Kia replied, hugging him again.

Attros didn't tell Kia that it wasn't so much optimism as a means of trying to cope with her departure. He hoped he would someday believe his own words.

To Be Continued...