The world seemed so much bigger than Sapphire ever imagined. She had been to so many places. The Barrens, Kul Tiras, Stormwind, Moonglade, Acherus and now she would visit this place called Hearthglen. Though apparently a part of the Plaguelands, the forest they appeared in did not look like the one she could see from Acherus. Some of the trees still had scars from the plague, but their pine needles were green and growing.

Though Jaina let Tryg come along, she did not seem to trust the ghoul to enter a large settlement of people. But Tryg listened to Sapphire so she just told him to find a place close by that should come visit him. Rot was a lot easier to hide so long as Sapphire shoved him into her bag. Tanomoan meanwhile could not contain her happiness at being surrounded by nature again. She flew through the tree branches above them, squealing in joy.

Fear crept into Sapphire's heart as she saw the guards at the gates to Hearthlgen. Her mother promised Hearthglen was safe, but the fierce looking paladins did not reassure Sapphire at all. Just as they approached the entrance, a patrol of them was leaving. Sapphire winced as they strode past in that bright armor. Their weapons gleamed menacingly.

Rot growled in the bag on her shoulder. Sapphire clutched him tightly. A cold feeling seemed to sink its claws somewhere deep in her chest. Despite all this, her mother did not appear at all discomforted by the paladins and even strode up to one of the ones guarding the gate.

"The Highlord is expecting us," She said.

Sapphire hid a little behind her mother. The guard did not act hostile. He seemed to recognize her mother and nodded.

"Lady Proudmoore, you are welcome here anytime. Everyone here has heard of Theramore. My sincere cond-"

Suddenly her mother's face turned dark and she swiftly interrupted the man.

"Thank you, but I do not wish to keep Tirion waiting."

With that, she turned back to Sapphire. Sapphire bit her lip, but her mother did not seem angry at her. She held out her hand to Sapphire, smiling softly. The girl quickly took her hand and they entered Hearthglen together.

Sapphire kept close to her mother as they went by tons of mortals going about their lives. As they walked by, Sapphire could almost hear their heartbeats. They all seemed relatively friendly a few even smiling and nodding at Sapphire as they passed. Yet if they knew who she was would they still be so nice? How quickly would they scream for a guard or pull out their own weapons.

As if she knew Sapphire's unease, Tanomoan landed on her shoulder heavily and immediately started to lick her reassuringly. It did not help.

They approached a rather ramshackle house set apart from the rest of the other buildings. Sapphire was immediately distracted by the small fenced in garden next to it. She saw an older human man bent down with his back towards them.

"Tirion!" Jaina called out amicably.

The man looked back briefly, then slowly got to his feet brushing the dirt off his hands and knees. He then turned around.

A sound like the shattering of glass exploded in Sapphire's ears, which was quickly replaced by the screaming voices of the damned. Her chest felt like it was being stabbed by an unknown assailant. While it was midday and had been warm so far, a blistering cold wind howled in agony around her.

Rip his throat out.

She knew him. He was the one. Though unarmed and unarmored, this was the paladin that not only defeated her father but also shattered Frostmourne.

Agony threatened to drown her. Her blood pulsed through her veins painfully and a deafening noise thundered in her ears. Sapphire staggered back. Tanomoan chirped in confusion, clutching tightly to the girl's shoulder. Rot barked in alarm.

"Sapphire?" She heard her mother say her name with a concerned voice, but Sapphire did not turn back to look at either her or the man in the garden. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her. She needed to get away from this place. She didn't know why she felt this way or where she might go.

Sapphire rushed through the town. Air could not seem to find its way to her lungs. She could not breathe. She saw the stables where horses were kept and figured that would be the place where the least people would be. She pushed open the stable doors. Horses closest to the doors snorted in surprise at the new appearance of a person. A quick look told Sapphire no one else was inside. The smell of horses and hay was overwhelming, but not unpleasant.

After quickly closing the doors, Sapphire found an empty stall. She went to one corner of it and attempted to control her breathing. Her hands trembled. Deep inside, she felt a dangerous desire in the pit of her stomach.

A desire to savage the old man. He was the enemy.

Tanomoan crawled down her shoulder to her lap. The little darter rubbed her head against Sapphire's arm and chirped. Her chest muscles relaxed slightly and finally Sapphire breathed in deeply.

Briefly Sapphire became aware someone else had entered the stables. Someone was talking to the horses in a soothing voice.

"Would you like an apple, Mirador?" The person said.

The sound of a fresh apple sounded nice, Sapphire thought. Hunger gnawed at Sapphire's stomach. She slowly opened the door to peer out. A young paladin stood across the row, petting a horse on its snout. Sapphire could only see the dark braided hair of the young man but he petted the horse gently.

Sapphire left her hiding place. She could now smell the freshly cut apple slice and felt her mouth water.

"May I have some of that apple?" She asked nicely.

The young paladin immediately turned around in alarm. He thought he was alone. Now Sapphire could see his face. The two starred at each other.

"Grendel?"

"Snowfur?"


Jaina watched Sapphire flee down the street. Though only knowing her for less than a day, Jaina had not seen any real signs of emotional problems. Yet the second she saw Tirion, the girl had attacked like she had been stabbed. Her little dog stood in the dusty road, looking as confused as Jaina felt.

Tirion took off the gloves he had been wearing in the garden and came out to stand next to Jaina, a sorrowful look on his face. She turned and started to apologize, but Tirion just waved a hand forgivingly.

"It is alright. That poor girl. I saw great pain in her eyes just before she ran."

What horrors had Sapphire experienced in her short life? Surrounded by cold and walking corpses all her life. Though she knew a lot of the atrocities Arthas had committed as the scourge, she never asked what Icecrown Citadel had been like by anyone who ventured into it. The worst of the worst horrors must have been there and Sapphire grew up seeing and experiencing everything there. Seeing Highlord Fordring probably brought all that trauma back to the forefront of her mind.

Jaina attempted to excuse herself from Tirion. "I should probably go after her."

Tirion's kind face had a stern quality to it. "Perhaps. But perhaps you and I should take this opportunity to talk about the girl as well as recent events."

Immediately Jaina grew cold toward him. He wanted to speak of Theramore. Like everyone else who had not been there, he wanted to give her his "condolences." As if that would help anyone.

"We can talk about my daughter. That's it. Highlord Mograine did not tell me much. What did he tell you?"

Tirion gestured that he wanted the two of them to walk. As much as she did not want to, Jaina acquiesced and they began to walk together.

He looked at her sharply and answered her question. "Darion only told me that she is Sapphire Menethil which is a shock to the both of us. In the entire war, there was no hint of her existence. Even you did not mention her."

Jaina winced. "Because she was stolen from her crib the very night she was born."

Tirion let out a sigh. "So, hidden all these years. Not even a scrap letter or cultist's mad ravings ever brought her up. Not only was she raised in Icecrown, but she witnessed the demise of her father, given that reaction toward me."

Rather suspiciously, the paladin suddenly looked all around. Hearthglen was not the most populated city and the sun dipped low in the sky. Most people would be in the main keep or their own homes eating dinner with loved ones and friends. Only guards patrolled. The two of them stood in an open place, where very few spies might hide.

Tirion seemed reluctant to continue speaking in such an open place despite all this.

Jaina decided to take control of the conversation and get straight to the point. "While I appreciate your hospitality in receiving both of us, I am needed in Dalaran and my daughter is eager to see it for the first time.

The girl would not only enjoy Dalaran, but she would be a lot safer than anywhere else, especially Hearthglen. Even though unlikely that the Forsaken would dare attack the stronghold of the Argent Crusade, it was still situated within the Plaguelands where conflict happens often. Sapphire had some strong aversion to paladins based on how she acted as they entered and when she saw the Highlord. No, it would be a lot better if they left for Dalaran as soon as possible. Yet Tirion did not seem to agree with her.

"You are her mother and that is your right to think so. Yet I'm curious if you have truly thought this through. Have you thought of all the consequences? Are you going to disguise her or show her off to the world as your daughter?"

Before Jaina could even begin to protest, Tirion continued. His voice never rose up in anger yet there was an edge to his words.

"Your daughter will be exposed to so many people with very little experience in dealing with them. What if the Horde learns of her existence? What about the Alliance? I know of a certain hot blooded king? Are you even going to tell him or shall he found out from secondary sources? If the general populations learn of her, have you thought of the potentially violent ramifications?"

Though he showed no visible anger, Tirion's words cut like a knife. As much as she would have liked to bitterly retort to his assertions, he was not wrong. Jaina had not thought of all the consequences. While she was Sapphire's mother, it did nothing to counteract the truth that she was a Menethil. She was the child of a monster. Many people might be willing to kill her, or send others to do it for them.

She was also the heir to Lordaeron and Kul Tiras. Lordaeron was under the Forsaken's control and heavy blighted from the plague, but there were always power hungry people who would take advantage of the situation. If they did not call for Sapphire's death outright, some would demand the Forsaken to give up their land back to Sapphire and the few living people with ties to Tirisfal and the other lands. More violent voices might suggest going to war over the land and destroying the undead menace.

Jaina closed her eyes and forced herself to speak. "You are right. I barely even know her. To drag her into all of that so suddenly..."

Tirion took this time to reach out and put a hand on Jaina's shoulder as a show of comfort.

"The Light has plans for her, I'm sure. Enjoy a few days just getting to know each other and perhaps an idea will come to us."

He saw something to the right of them, suddenly smiling. Jaina looked and saw Sapphire in front of the main keep. A young human paladin stood there while a large silver grey hyena smothered the girl in licks. A huge smile was plastered on the girl's face.