Sisters of Westfall, Part 2: Whispers

Sentinel Hill, Westfall

After they'd finished dinner with Iduna, the sisters headed out for a drink or two - conjuring ale wasn't something Elsa could do just yet. Iduna declined to join them, preferring to stay home, but encouraged them to go out and have fun.

They walked along the dusty road as the shape of Sentinel Hill's main fortification loomed large over them. Ever since the end of the Great Cataclysm, Westfall had become substantially safer; in the time before the war, roving gangs of bandits and highwaymen would waylay unsuspecting travelers, taking their possessions and leaving them for dead on the sides of the roads. Walking from one town to the next after sunset was practically a death sentence for all but the most hardened warriors.

With the Westfall Brigade and the kingdom of Stormwind's resurgence, Westfall was on the whole a much safer place. The occasional goretusk or vulture still attacked naive travelers, but neither sister felt especially unsafe as they walked into the center of Sentinel Hill as the sun began to set. In addition to being the largest town in the province, Sentinel Hill was also the home of the army base where Anna trained.

Amidst the bustle of new recruits reporting for training, the sisters found their way to the tavern on the army base, the Westfall Inn. Anna had spent more than a few nights during basic training at the Inn; the ale was cheap (always is in military towns) and the patrons mostly her fellow soldiers, so reasonably well-behaved and as safe as you could be in Westfall.

She'd donned ordinary farm clothes instead of her army uniform, and Elsa had left her Kirin Tor apprentice robes behind in favor of her old farm clothes as well, the better to avoid getting their uniforms dirty. Neither Westfall nor the bar were known for being clean, tidy, orderly places. Anna dragged her sister excitedly into the bar, eager to show her a slice of her army life.

The innkeeper, a brown-haired, middle-aged woman named Heather, stood behind the large wooden bar in her red blouse and tan corset as she poured mug after mug of beer for the patrons. At the far end of the room, a squad of Stormwind's soldiers cheered at a table, a round of cards in progress. Anna sat down at the end of the bar with a smile. A woman clad in dark grey leather and a poorly-fitted cloak covering most of her face sat on the stool next to her, her hand in the air.

Heather sauntered over to the mysterious woman. "What'll you have, honey?"

The mysterious woman's eyes bulged momentarily before she regained her composure. "T-three pints of bitter brew for the table next to the booth, please," she said, watching Anna cautiously out of the side of her eye. Anna smiled at her, sensing something familiar about her, but the woman gave no reaction at all, wordlessly taking her beers back to her table. Anna huffed and shook her head, then greeted the barkeep happily, motioning for Elsa to stop standing behind her and join her at the bar.

"Anna Jansen! Haven't seen you in a few days," Heather said with a grin. "We just got a new keg of Admiralty Ale from Kul Tiras, just your style." Heather poured a mug of the Kul Tiran ale and slid it down the bar, then offered a jesting wolf-whistle at her companion. "Who's this, new girlfriend?"

Elsa immediately turned bright red as Anna guffawed. "No, this is my sister Elsa. Elsa, Heather. Heather, Elsa. She's just come back from studying in Dalaran. Can I get an ale for her on my tab, too?"

Heather nodded and slid another mug down the bar, the heavy glass coming to a stop perfectly in front of Elsa without so much as a drop spilled. "Thank you, Heather!" Anna chirped before sitting down at one of the corner booths, its tall back creating a secluded little cubby. Elsa scooted in next to her with her beer.

"This is… actually not bad," Elsa said, sipping the foamy brew. She'd been a bit spoiled; Dalaran was home not only to the greatest magic users of Azeroth, but also a major hub for diplomacy and trade. That meant its restaurants and bars were second to none in terms of quality. The Westfall Inn's beer wasn't quite as high-end as the food and drink at the Legerdemain Lounge in Dalaran, but still quite good. "So… what's involved still with your knighthood candidacy?"

Anna took a long draught of the ale, burping unceremoniously afterwards, to her sister's chagrin. "What? Wizards of Dalaran don't burp?"

"Not with such… vigor."

"Well, get used to it if you're going to hang around us army brats. Anyway, it's mostly paperwork now, like I was telling you before dinner. I have to have an officer - a Knight-Captain or higher - endorse me, and then I sit before a board of Knight-Champions, review what I've done as a trainee, and hopefully earn my commission." Anna leaned closer, to avoid talking too boisterously.

All Knights of Stormwind, in addition to swearing fealty to King Wrynn, also had to pledge to uphold the five virtues of the kingdom: courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and compassion. Trainees had to demonstrate in various challenges how they embodied each of the values.

She reflected on her four years of training thus far and what was left, shaking her head at the memories, good and bad. Long days and cold nights hiking in the fields, camping in the plains, practicing endless drills. Sitting for hours in makeshift classrooms, reviewing military strategy, how the Horde managed to conquer Stormwind decades ago.

She'd made it her personal mission to embody the virtues as Agnar had, to train harder than any other Knight-Cadet, to grow the Jansen name's reputation in the service of the kingdom as her way of honoring Agnar's loss.

"Knight-Captain Danuvin says I'm almost ready. I've passed the trials for honor, courtesy, justice, and courage, so all that I have to prove is compassion," she smiled as she took another gulp of beer, suppressing a giggle. "It's a shame it isn't just passion. I'd have a much easier time proving that," she smirked, blowing her sister a kiss.

Elsa spit her beer across the table. "Anna! In public?" she hissed, cleaning her mouth with her sleeve. "I mean, I don't disagree with you, but… really!" After another sip to regain her composure, she spoke in a normal voice. "The Kirin Tor has something similar but a lot more involved. There are all sorts of crazy rituals and invocations, and you have to apprentice under an archmage even as an adept for a long time."

Elsa's journey to the Kirin Tor was a mirror image of Anna's. She'd discovered her affinity for the magical arts purely by accident as a child, summoning ice and snow spontaneously in play. Fortunately, by that point, Agnar had a number of friends in the army and brought her to the Tower of Azora in Elwynn Forest for a consultation. The mages there had helped Elsa calm her fears as a child, and recommended as she hit adulthood that she study in Dalaran to make use of her abilities. Instead of letting her fears of hurting others with her abilities control her, Elsa's time in Dalaran had let her blossom, see all the good she could do in the world with her abilities.

"I'll still be studying with Archmage Elandra probably for a few years more, after I become an adept. By the…"

Elsa cocked her head as she overheard a few snippets from the booth next to theirs, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She put her finger to her lips, gesturing to Anna that something was up as she wove a small spell to enhance her senses slightly. In the next booth behind Anna, hushed voices were whispering ferociously, hoping the din of the tavern would mask their conversation.

Elsa scooted closer to Anna so she could be nearer the booth's occupants and hear more easily, just on the other side of their seat. Anna laced her fingers with Elsa's and turned her head to listen in as well, pretending she was just snuggling with her girlfriend. Heather looked across the room from the bar and arched her eyebrow before going back to cleaning glasses.

"It's almost time, Syd said we're ready to make our move," hissed a low male voice. "Katal, do you have what you need?"

Anna looked at her sister, wondering what they were overhearing. She made a mental note to remember the whispered name, Katal. She scrunched her brow - that was an unusual name, one that didn't even sound like a name to her. The woman's partially obscured face came back to her, the sense of familiarity nagging at her.

The mysterious woman's voice replied sharply. "Yeah, I got what I needed in Booty Bay, Almazim. I followed your orders exactly."

The man's voice, Almazim, seemed unsatisfied. "Okay, so Katal, you head for Saldean's place first and work your way to the others from there. Jaysh, you and your boys head for Alexston's farm. Once we're done there, we move onto the rest. Remember what the boss said, hit hard and fast, no survivors, got it?" Boots scuffled against the booth as the occupants stood to leave.

Anna motioned to get up immediately, but Elsa placed her hand on her forearm and shook her head. She counted to five on her fingers, made a show of yawning and then loudly said, "Well, we should be getting home. I'm sure Mama doesn't want to be up late worrying about us." With that, the sisters stood and walked out of the tavern, placing a few silver coins in Heather's tip jar as they looked to follow the mysterious strangers.

"Where did they go?" Anna asked, surveying the roads just outside Sentinel Hill as the sun set across the land. "They couldn't have run away that quickly."

Elsa scanned the landscape as well, mystified. "I don't see them at all. Maybe they had horses? Either way, that didn't sound good. It sounded almost like they're going to attack the farms in the area."

"We should warn Farmer Saldean - I heard the leader say they were going there first."

Elsa shook her head and took Anna's hand, pulling her towards home. "We should get home as fast as we can. Mama's all alone." They broke into a run as they headed up the dusty road.


Author's Notes

Ooh, the mystery woman. She's trouble. Then again, the whole situation is trouble. Buckle up, because tomorrow's prompt is sacrifice.

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