Chapter 29
Alyna watched as Sylvanas walked around the remains of what had been her office furniture. Varimathras had been very thorough in destroying the queen's private domain in his rage.
The captain made a small sound of amusement as she watched. "I guess he didn't like you."
Red eyes flicked up to regard her. The queen slowly walked towards her, stopping right before the captain. With their small height difference and Sylvanas' slight heel on her boots, Alyna found herself looking up into red embers.
The queen's words were almost soft. "Is it time to thank you yet?"
Alyna blinked at the informal tone. "Perhaps. Though, I cannot take all the credit."
The corner of Sylvanas' mouth twitched in a small smile. For saving her life, she could, and they both knew it. She let it slide. "Yes. Talnia. That was an interesting development." She tilted her head slightly. "I trust you have no objections to her resuming her duties. In a different company, of course."
"You're demoting someone?"
The queen shook her head. "No. Nalaren and six others died at the Wrathgate."
The captain lowered her chin. "That is regrettable. What happened?" Sylvanas briefly summarised the events at the Wrathgate. When she was done, Alyna shook her head in disbelief. "How did Putress get the plague there without Nathanos knowing?"
Sylvanas levelled her gaze with Alyna's. "Nathanos knew," she said slowly. "They had orders to use it in the event of an impending victory for Arthas."
Alyna took a moment to process the information. She had helped oversee the development of the plague and she knew what it was capable of. Her only surprise was that Sylvanas had thought to use it at the Wrathgate. However, she found she agreed with the intention. If Arthas had begun to mass raise Horde and Alliance soldiers, the size of his new army would have been undefeatable without drastic measures.
"I assume the warchief doesn't know?" she guessed.
The queen's ear twitched. "Thrall considers such tactics dishonourable, no matter their necessity. Only you, and Nathanos, know the truth of what happened."
"Others know of its existence," she pointed out.
"Yes," Sylvanas agreed. "I will have Nathanos handle that and any remaining barrels." Red eyes burned into Alyna's black ones. "The Horde must never know the truth."
She nodded her understanding. "What do you require of me now?"
The queen began to walk to the door leading out of her office. "Walk with me."
"Sylvanas?" She turned immediately and Alyna could have sworn she saw what looked like hope pass over her features. The captain stepped tentatively closer to her queen, a little unsure how to broach what was on her mind. "You should know that I had been coming to see you. When I saw what Varimathras did." She felt awkward and it annoyed her. "To talk."
"Oh?" managed the surprised queen.
"I think … we … still need to have that talk. If you're willing." Why was this so hard? "But, I wanted you to know I am no longer angry at you."
It appeared to be the queen's turn to feel awkward. She lowered her eyes and shifted her weight. "I do not regret the choice I made, Alyna, but you should know I regret why I made it." She sighed and closed the distance between them, raising her gloved hand to cup her captain's face. Alyna found she welcomed the contact.
"I trust you, Alyna. I am just … unaccustomed to dealing with doubt, and I allowed it to influence my decisions." A leather-clad thumb stroked her face slowly. "I should have trusted my instincts. And you." Their eyes locked and Alyna felt drawn closer to the woman in front of her. "I'm sorry."
She believed her. Alyna raised her hand to cover her queen's hand, squeezing it lightly.
It drew a small tentative smile from Sylvanas. Her words retained a soft note as she continued. "I have a city to put back together, and I … need … you … to be a part of that. But once we have things in hand, we will have that talk." The queen dropped her hand and Alyna knew they were switching to a more formal footing now. Considering their conversation over, Sylvanas turned and left the office.
Obediently, she followed her queen.
Sylvanas led the way to the apothecarium. During the short walk she explained that one of the wounded orcs left by the canal had reported seeing the Alliance arrive from the sewers. They had gone straight to the apothecarium and had subsequently left with more fervour than they had entered. The queen wanted to see for herself what had angered the king.
Alyna now watched silently as the queen stood over the body that had been Putress. Around the large room were tables containing the various paraphernalia used for performing experiments that she had become accustomed to seeing. Also evident was that humans were the primary test subject. Their remains were everywhere in various states of condition and decay.
The queen moved down to the far end of the large room where she could see into cells that were held in several side rooms. The captain knew she would find many more human corpses, most horrifically mutated. Alyna had been responsible for the deaths of a few, but the majority had died from the effects of the experiments performed on them.
Alyna felt something brush against the side of her leg and she looked down. Looking back up at her with dark green eyes was the plaguehound that had shadowed her for the past few days. She had told the creature to stay here, not expecting to ever see it again. Yet, here it was. Sitting beside her. Wagging its stump of a tail.
She almost missed the queen walking back to her position on the higher level of the apothecarium, looking up just as Sylvanas stopped at her side.
"I want the apothecarium sealed off and everything here destroyed. With fire, if you must." Alyna nodded and the queen turned to look down at the gruesome experiments. "It's bad enough that Wrynn saw this; it will make him insufferable to deal with. I will not risk further distractions should our allies also see what is beyond their comprehension."
"It will be taken care of, my Lady."
Sylvanas turned to face her and paused. Her eyes narrowed. "Are your eyeteeth longer?"
Alyna raised a bone white eyebrow as she automatically ran her tongue over her fangs. "I am quite drained. It is normal for them to extend when I need to feed. My mask previously hid it from view."
The queen titled her head very slightly. "It pleases me you no longer wear it." As she shifted her weight, so did her demeanour change back to being more formal. "I cannot let you go hunt, so you will have to send a team to bring you back something. The Grand Executor should be arriving soon, and I need you to coordinate with her to secure the city. Once that is done, we can reopen the portals and bring our people home."
Alyna nodded her understanding as the queen's features shaped themselves into a frown at her next words. "Once the portals are open, Thrall will be sending his Kor'kron Guard to act as the new peacekeepers in Undercity. That demonic traitor has left me no choice but to accept an orc military presence watching over our every move. For now." She gestured at the apothecarium. "This is your priority. This must be dealt with before we have orcs openly spying on us."
"Understood, my Lady," the captain replied.
"Good. There is one more thing," Sylvanas started. She looked down at Alyna's leg. "Why do you have a plaguehound sitting by your leg?"
The plaguehound appeared pleased to be finally getting some attention and it started to wag its tail vigorously again. It somehow instinctively knew not to try and approach the queen.
Not knowing where to begin explaining the creature's presence, and realising they were short of time, Alyna simply said, "I think it likes me."
Sylvanas opened her mouth to say something, and then apparently thought better of it. After fleetingly raising her eyes to Alyna's she turned on her heel and left the apothecarium.
One week later …
"And finally, Bragor Bloodfist has arrived with his Kor'kron." Sylvanas watched as Alyna read from her report using the light cast from the candles on her desk. "I gave him the list of guard posts and standard patrols. He said he will consider it."
The queen made a sound of annoyance at the back of her throat. The two women were sat each side of her writing desk in her personal domain behind her office. She had expected to find her bed, desk and racks in ruin, but she had realised with amusement the tunnel leading to her private quarters was too narrow for the demon.
"Inform the Captain," she started, "that he is welcome to do so, but I will approve any and all changes to the guard patterns in my city, before implementation."
"Of course." The captain dipped her quill in the inkwell they had shared for the meeting and scratched a note on a separate list. She then put her quill down on her lap and shrugged. "That's all I have."
Sylvanas put her own notes on the desk and looked across at Alyna. She gave the woman a small smile. "You have been invaluable this past week. I want to thank you."
A white eyebrow raised slightly. "Two thank yous in a week? Should I worry?"
"I can go back to taking you for granted if you would prefer?" That earned the queen a light chuckle. When it abruptly stopped Sylvanas looked at the woman directly, managing to catch a flash of sadness on the typically cool features. She considered letting it pass but decided not to. "What is it?" she asked tentatively.
Alyna placed her papers on the desk with the quill on top before she sat back and folded her hands on her lap. "For a moment, this just felt …" She trailed off.
The queen added gently, "Like old times?"
The captain nodded. It was clear she was wanting to pace, so Sylvanas gestured at the floor in front of the bed for her to do so. They both rose together. As Alyna began to pace, the queen moved around to the front of her desk. She half-perched on the corner, one leg lightly swinging, as she waited for Alyna to work through her thoughts and emotions.
Alyna eventually stopped and looked at the red eyes watching her. "What do you want from me, Sylvanas?" She took a step forward. "And I don't mean from your captain. From … me."
The queen turned her gaze down to her upturned left hand. She passed her thumb over where her wedding ring was under her glove and then looked back up at Alyna. "I don't know."
The captain blinked. "I … was not expecting that." She exhaled slowly despite not needing to, the action serving to calm her. "What do you know?"
Sylvanas could not help the low chuckle as she gave the woman a helpless shrug. "That it's complicated."
"You're being evasive," came the accusation.
"Am I?"
"I know how you feel, Sylvanas." It was the queen's turn to exhale with a calming breath as Alyna slowly closed the distance between them. When the captain took hold of her hands and removed her gloves, she limply allowed it. When she continued to cradle her left hand, she did not resist. Both women stared at her wedding ring as the candlelight softly shone off the metal. "What happened to you?" came the soft question.
It surprised Sylvanas in its perceptiveness. She was apparently different enough that it showed despite her efforts to the contrary. As Alyna continued to hold her left hand, the queen resting her right on her lap, she slowly tried to answer the question as truthfully as she could manage.
"The rings … I never quite got around to telling you what they can do. In truth, I forgot all about it since we can no longer activate them ourselves." She paused. "They hold a part of who we … were. An emotional memory." She gave the attentive black eyes a coy quirk of her lips. "I wanted you to know while you were alone in Quel'Danas that I was always with you. Should you have desired it, you could use the ring to experience for yourself what I feel for you."
"What you feel …" Alyna said slowly. "Not … felt?"
Sylvanas made a small sound of amusement at the astute observation as she lowered her eyes. She did not answer the question, directly. "You were right about me." She allowed her bitterness to creep through into her words. "I treated you as a resource, primarily because I had no idea how else to treat you. How to feel about you. I had spent years trying to not feel when it came to you and I was not ready to look at the emotions you engender in me."
She looked up at the hand Alyna was still holding, and then into black eyes. "When you were taken to Utgarde, I gave up. I told myself you were as expendable as anyone else because it was easier." She gave a wry snort of amusement. "And then, Liadrin." Alyna chuckled darkly, leaving Sylvanas the impression the woman had had her own encounter with the infuriating matriarch. The queen's demeanour grew serious at the memory. "She activated my ring. And … I felt you. Everywhere. What you had felt for me. What we had. Everything I had tried to forget. I now remember it all. And I lo—"
A gloved leather finger suddenly pressed against her lips, interrupting her. "Please," Alyna begged softly. "Don't say it."
Feeling more than a little overwhelmed that she almost had, Sylvanas mutely nodded before muttering, "I'm sorry."
"You do not have to apologise for feeling the way you do, Sylvanas," Alyna noted quietly, earning herself a curious furrow of the queen's brow. She let go of the pale-grey hand and removed her own gloves, dropping them onto the desk. She looked down at her own ring as she continued. "I'm the one who should be sorry for not being able to return your feelings."
"That is not your fault, Alyna."
"I know." The captain closed her eyes for a moment. "I have the memories we made together, and I do … reminisce. But because I can't experience certain things, they feel broken." Alyna held out her hand for the queen's again, and she received it without hesitation. She turned the strong hand over so she could see the ring clearly. "What I do know, is that when I compare what I know I can feel about then, to how I feel now, there is no difference. I know that when I am alone with you, this existence is easier to bear. And I know that when we are apart, there is a void left that is greater than the feelings I can no longer conceive." Intense black eyes looked down into the silent red ones. "I cannot return your feelings as you deserve, but I wish I could." The emphasis on the last words penetrated through into the queen's very being. "Is that enough for you, Sylvanas?"
The unflappable queen was enveloped in a storm of emotion at the question. Above it all, a single word was screamed, no longer the quiet voice at the back of her mind.
"Yes."
Sylvanas stopped thinking. With her free hand she reached up to grab the side of Alyna's hood, and she pulled. As the captain moved down, the queen stood up to press their mouths together. She held onto the hood and felt an arm wrap around her waist to pull their bodies closer, their other hands intertwining as the kiss deepened.
Before she knew it, she was slowly walking Alyna backwards to the bed, her fingers looking for the straps and ties that kept the woman's leathers tight around her body. She felt deft fingers doing the same to her own attire. Finally, she stepped out of her boots and pressed a hand against Alyna's bare chest, pushing her onto the bed. As her white-haired ranger pulled herself further up it, Sylvanas climbed on and crawled up to straddle her. Wordlessly, she entwined their fingers again and pushed Alyna's arms above her head as she lowered her face to resume their kiss.
When she could feel Alyna's hips start to squirm beneath her and she chuckled into her mouth. One thing that had not changed about Alyna, was her demanding need to have her appetites sated. She had never been shy about her desires when they were alive, and though the sensations they both felt were now dulled, it did not stop her from wanting them satisfied once she got going.
She broke the kiss and moved her mouth to whisper huskily into the ranger's ear, "Tell me what you want."
Alyna turned her head as much as she could with her arms still pinned, and whispered, "Everything."
Sylvanas let go of the woman's hands and used her own to cup Alyna's face. The last time such a request had been made, they were still alive. She examined the smooth features of the woman she would do anything for, and when she fell into the dark pools that watched her in return, she knew the request was genuine.
It was unexpected, but in her loneliest times when Alyna was in Northrend the banshee queen had hoped for this day, and she was ready. She sat up and slipped off Alyna before sliding off to the side. She opened a drawer in the bedside cabinet and pulled out a pair of leather cuffs, a leather collar with a metal ring on it, and various leather strips, placing them on the bed behind her. She then opened a lower drawer and retrieved a strap on, its harness, a plug and a dildo.
When she turned back to Alyna she paused for a second in surprise; she could see Alyna's chest rising and falling rhythmically in her anticipation of what was to come, and she was clearly unaware she was even doing it.
She feels alive, she realised.
With the toys retrieved, Sylvanas swung herself back around to pull Alyna into another soul-searing kiss. If only for these short flashes in time, she decided she would happily help this woman feel alive for as long as they were together.
Sometime later …
When Sylvanas felt Alyna's muscles finally relax from her latest orgasm she gently patted the rump currently pressed up against her groin, and then slowly moved her hips back. Alyna shuddered from her position on all fours and surrendered a soft moan as the strap on left her body. The queen trailed her fingers down the captain's thighs and calves to undo the leather straps holding the woman's legs apart, before lastly removing her own harness. She slid forward to lie down on her back.
"Come," she called softly. Alyna crumpled into her waiting arms. Sylvanas sighed in contentment, her voice low as she half-purred, "That's my girl."
Alyna managed a vague murmur in response.
Sylvanas cradled the finally sated Alyna in her arms, her hands moving as softly as she dared over what skin she could reach.
Eventually, Alyna stirred. "Mmmm. That was not so complicated," breathed the captain, her eyes closed.
The queen responded with a deep chuckle. She threaded her fingers gently through strands of white hair as she explored her own thoughts and feelings during Alyna's recovery.
Sex had been a strange concept to Sylvanas for many years. Once the burn of her 'awakening' had subsided, she had never considered it again. Biological drive was a condition for the living, not the undead. She had always known that some of her dark rangers were sexually active, but she did not understand what drove them.
Then Alyna had come back into her life and they were initially thrown into bed together to deal with her own awakening. Sylvanas had learnt in those moments that though her physical sensations were dulled they could be compensated for with rougher touches. In time, as the pair had become closer, she had finally noted she had developed an ache to be more with Alyna, and biology had nothing to do with it. Her physical attraction was not the raging hormonal fire she had felt in life, but she recognised the duller version for what it was. She finally understood that it was the mental and emotional connection that had been rebuilt that sparked her more baser instincts. It had led her to one irrefutable reality.
She needed Alyna now, in every way.
Dark eyes surveyed her face. "What are you thinking about?"
"You. And what you do to me," came the honest reply.
Alyna's mouth twitched playfully. "As I recall, it was you doing most of the doing."
Sylvanas moved her hand to dig her nails roughly into the ranger's back, dragging them with intent across the smooth expanse down to the swell of her bottom. Alyna arched her back in response, hissing lightly in pleasure as the queen growled, "Behave."
When Alyna settled back down, eyes on her queen's face, she said more seriously, "We have always provided balance for each other. You do as much for me as I for you."
Before she realised the words were there, the queen said, "I worry for you, Alyna. I feel I have started you down a path I shouldn't have." In an instant that was as naked as she was, Sylvanas then added, "It scares me."
The captain sat up slightly at words neither of them had ever expected to hear from the banshee queen, the ring on her collar clinking softly. "This is to do with my embracing certain aspects of myself that I despised on my arrival here?" The queen nodded slowly.
Alyna tilted her head slightly, attempting to think through the still compromised state of her mind. When her words came, they were slow as she tried to articulate her thoughts. "I was made into this for a specific purpose; to rule a race of monsters that serve a monster. It was a fate I didn't want, and it started a cycle of rebellion and punishment that essentially revolved around my nature; what he wanted me to be, verses who I am. You …" she smiled slightly, "after some initial setbacks, have let me try to figure out who I am now." Alyna reached out to gently tuck strands of pale-yellow hair behind the queen's ear, the leather cuff brushing against her cheek. "I still have a way to go, but the important thing here is … whatever I become, it will be my choice, because of your support, and nothing to do with that man."
Sylvanas gazed at Alyna somewhat guiltily. "I do not feel I have provided you with much support of late."
The ranger settled herself back down into the safety of her queen's arms, the conversation leaving them both feeling vulnerable. She felt Alyna's hand settle on her stomach. There was no sign of the horrific wound that had nearly killed her, but the dark-grey scar left by Frostmourne still persisted. Silently, Alyna dragged her more claw-like nails over the taut abdomen of her queen, avoiding the scar as she always did. Sylvanas felt her nipples harden in response.
Alyna turned her face to look up at her queen. By the mischievous look in her eye, she was not oblivious to the response her touch was getting, but her tone remained serious as she said, "We are both learning here, Sylvanas. About ourselves, and each other. We won't always get it right. We just need to keep talking."
Using the ring on Alyna's collar, Sylvanas pulled the woman into a tender kiss in reply. She no longer felt as guilty about her actions, but she could not help the sensation that she had, at least for period, had a greater negative impact than Alyna was admitting to, or even realised. Despite Alyna's assurance, she knew she had to be more thoughtful about her treatment of her captain in the future.
No, not just her captain. Her lover.
She smiled.