Revenge of Kael'thas
Chapter Three: Is she more than meets the eye?
JAINA PROUDMORE, I COMMAND YOU TO PUT AN END TO THIS AFFRONT!
Jaina rushed into Thrall's chamber, screaming. A whirlwind came with her. The cold blizzard frosted Thrall's elite guards, their feet stuck in place. Vol'jin, leader of the Darkspear Trolls, froze solid in the middle of a spear-throw.
"I should slap your face, Thrall. This is NOT what we agreed to. Do you know how much I've risked on us and on this justice?!"
Thrall took a deep breath. "You know as well as I do that Kael'thas cannot stand trial in both Orgrimmar and Stormwind. Though I wish it were possible for the world to be united on such things--"
"Tyrande herself admitted that she no longer trusts me, nor will anyone else in the Alliance to take me seriously after word gets around. I was already drowning politically, because I opened my heart to you. And now you betray me?!"
"This is simple. Kael'thas Sunstrider is more valuable to me as an ally. I have not betrayed you--"
"I swear to the gods and all the vivid schools of magic that if you tell me you're just 'borrowing him...'"
Thrall shrugged, "Well, in essence... Illidan is going to Darnassus for trial afterwards, and as part of the exchange, I guaranteed Kael'thas--and his family--a safe home."
"You cannot enact refugee status under article twenty-three in our Theramore Treaty--"
"Actually, if you consider ammendment fifty-five, article two..."
END HIM. END HIM NOW, UNRAVEL IT ALL!
Jaina came to a stop before Thrall and his throne. Her terrified look flashed to anger. It was the sort of spiteful glare only a girlfriend could manage, and it caused Thrall to close his mouth and give up.
Jaina slapped him anyway. "You're right Thrall, this is very simple. When you tried to apprehend him, Kael'thas promised you Outland, I know it, I can just smell it all over you. And in that moment, you decided your ancestors are more important than mine. But what about my justice, what about my father?! Thrall, I lost him because of you in the battle for Kalimdor, I don't care if he was a criminal... I sacrificed my father for peace, but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter, does it? Nor does it make any difference to you that Kael'thas turned against the Alliance, and went off to Outland and caused all kinds of havoc as a result. We Humans were suffering and Kael'thas turned his back on us. Later, he tortures the Draenei and evicts them from their home in Tempest Keep. Oh, but to you, Orcs are more important than the Alliance. Orcs are more important than Humans, plain and simple."
Thrall cracked his neck while red flush in his bruised cheek faded. "...Or, you could have asked how it is that Illidan Stormrage is still alive, when your spies surely know as well as mine do, that Kael'thas killed him mere days ago. But yet, you insist on starting a fight with me. This is an argument I thought we'd settled a long time ago, Jaina." Thrall cast a Healing Stream totem. Cool water bubbled up from the carved wooden idol. Soldiers melting free or stalking up behind Jaina Proudmore in the room instantly relaxed.
"All of you, leave us. And Vol'jin?"
"Ya, Warchief mon?"
"If you ever aim a spear at my girlfriend's head again, you will become a fast victim of the nastiest frost shock I can manage."
Vol'jin was the last of the people to saunter, kicked-looking, out of Grommash Hold.
"Jaina, please, have a seat." Thrall offered his very throne.
Jaina was flustered, she grabbed the armrests and leaned forward, breathing hard. Thrall lifted her chin, and rubbed her cheek with his palm in soothing circles. "You know that I care for you..."
"I know that you care for me..."
"I would never do anything truly against you..."
"You would never do anything truly against me. I know that."
While she meditated, Thrall leaned in and kissed her. Jaina closed her eyes and enjoyed it. "Thank you. These last few days, Thrall, I've just been so upset."
"I know. It's because you feel guilty. But there's only one thing I can't see, because my own heart gets in the way."
"What is it, Thrall-shock?" a sweet smile.
Thrall laughed, charmed, but then made himself serious again. "...Exactly how long have you been cheating on me?"
Jaina slapped him again. Thrall jolted the fur and bone seat back down onto the stone floor when Jaina attempted to get up and blink away. "I don't know what you're talking about! I wouldn't sleep with Kael'thas, that's absurd."
Thrall gave her a bewildered look that clarified it was definitely not Kael'thas he had been considering. He wrankled his brow in disgust once the shock faded. "Well now, that's another surprising worry. But Jaina, that is not who I am talking about."
OH BABY. PLEASE GO THERE, I WANT TO SEE HIS FACE... the rest of the Lich King's voice faded in Jaina's mind when Thrall refreshed his Healing Stream totem.
"I'm not sleeping with Arthas."
"Yes you are."
"Oh my gods, I told you already that I'm NOT!"
"Then why does he have this puppet-master control over you? You're whole, I can sense that; you haven't been enslaved through Undeath or some other necromantic means. Has he threatened you somehow, or anyone in your family? Has Arthas spoken to you at all?"
"How would he even do that, from far away in Icecrown? Maybe... maybe from time to time, I send letters out of habit, but it's not like I have his actual address in Icecrown, and he never answers them or actually reads them."
"Why do you feel like you have to write to him? You shouldn't be doing that, Jaina. Now, who is the one most betrayed?"
Thrall swallowed. Jaina was uncomfortable. He looked at her as if it was the last time he was ever going to see her again, and with Thrall, those sorts of looks always hit home. Like back when they first met, and Jaina knew from his smile, that they were going to fall for one another, and fast.
"They are harmless letter sent out into the blind darkness; they're practically diary entries sealed up in a postbox someplace in Dalaran for all we know. Lots of people are probably sending Arthas hate-mail these days, in fact, why aren't you making protest? Thrall, your accusations are completely unfair, and I have been so deeply offended this morning. Now, you had better move before I blast a fireball through your middle so that I can get out of this damned chair!"
Thrall stepped aside. "You may not know it, but Arthas is still in your heart somehow. He is in your blood, as the Orcs say. You lust after him, after all these years."
"Don't you think I would know whether or not I've had sex these last few weeks? Shouldn't you?!"
Thrall was completely caught off guard by that statment and he glared at her. "It might not be sexual, it could also be residual anger, a blood-lust. You should try to forgive him, Jaina. It's hard, I know. Kael'thas was angered when I told him the same thing about Illidan, but this is the way of life. You can either dominate the anger, or you can struggle beneath it."
"HA! I hope that bastard Arthas burns and dies..."
"I wish I could believe your sentiment. Goodbye, Lady Jaina Proudmore."
Jaina stood beneath the grand archway of Grommash Hold. A hall lit by loud, crackling tribal fires was beyond. Bones informed the architecture, tanned kodo hides lined the walls. This was the heart of Thrall's vision, a great and proud beast that rested at the heart of his country, and dreamed. Like the white Echeyake resting in the Barrens savannah. The legendary lion was rare and beautiful. His nobility and strength widely known. Adventurers sought him out because he was good, not to terrorize or hunt the beast. And so, Echeyake, the great white mist, the great hunter lived on. Jewel of nature, he had inspired mortals and so preserved himself through great spiritual power.
Ogrimmar was the same. A sacred place that all in the Horde were drawn to, a beacon of hope. Many people in the Alliance had heard stories of Grommash Hold and thought it was an evil place, and that when Orcs spoke of blood within, that they wanted to start wars. But Thrall had warned her about her anger. He had asked her for peace. And didn't Stormwind also honor lions?
All the world was tangled, wayward grass, but Thrall was its watchful lion. Few people, Orc or Human, realized the Warchief had such a far-reaching perspective. His was a rare mind and heart, and it was painful to walk away from such fierce, unwavering love. Even now, Jaina wanted run into his arms, have the courage to trust him again.
"Jaina, I promised myself that I would never tell you this, but... the fates showed me that we would not stay together, because we were too different. This is terrible, I never wanted to lose you in such a way," his voice broke, but then Thrall steeled himself. "...I hope you can forgive me for trying."
WOW, WHAT A LINE.
"Sure Thrall, I give you permission to blame your failure as a man on destiny if that makes you feel any better. It's definitely what I'd do too, if I just realized that, through being a selfish jerk, I handed the love of my life back over to her ex boyfriend."
REALLY? YOU'RE COMING TO ME NEXT, LIKE FOR REAL? MAN, THAT WOULD BE... OH GOSH, THAT WOULD BE SO ELITE, JAINA!
Jaina blinked as if she hadn't heard something right, but then swore and, with a flick of her wrists and several points of violet arcane magic, made herself disappear.
Vol'jin was the first to return, his expression grim. "Mebbe I woulda' died from frost shock. But den, mebbe you wouldn't look like a big zhevra's ass right now. Sweetiepie Mista Thrall-shock, mon, I tol' you from the start dat snooty girl be out of your league. Guess we gonna' go get drunk wit' Cairne now, and I gotta make a new batch of Kungaloosh. Lady Sylvanas could bring... Eh, dun' want to invite her dis time. She always too much of a downer. We men dun' want to get dat low."
Thrall sat down and pounded a fist into his open palm. All he could think through the fear, the sorrow, the rage... was that Kael'thas and Illidan better damned well have been worth this sacrifice.
In Silvermoon...
Kael'thas swore profusely every time Advisor Sorn handed him another document to sign. The Kor'kron Elite standing at four corners of the red royal desk really rent right through his nerves.
"... Sorn, I am not signing a document that is going to allow Orgrimmar to send someone to oversee a care-taker government in my own city!"
A female Orc shaman pounded her fist directly below the dotted line. Vials of his father's ink, feathered pens, precious gold magical objects, a blue scrying orb and other of Anasterian's trinkets clattered all at once, and then thumped back into place. Kael'thas signed and grumbled.
"Thrall promised that the Caretaker would be one of the more forgiving races of the Horde, since he'd have to live in the palace with your fragile ghost Queen and Belorim, especially. Wasn't it nice of the Warchief to consider your family? But even more amazing, there will be manipulation of circumstances for you this time, my King. Thrall has managed to thwart the one thing that none of your enemies thus far has ever been able escape. Collar or no, armies or no, technology, political power, magical acumen... Thrall guessed your one most secret weapon against those hoping to control you, and he has truly set you up to fail this time if he picks a Caretaker from the Horde race I'm thinking of."
"It'll be Undead. His goal is to freak me the fel out, still. Do you know my ass is still numb on the left side?" leaned up out of the chair to show the guards. The Orc woman averted her eyes.
"That's just it, your Majesty. This secret weapon is so natural to a Sunstrider, it even happens when you're trying to be crude. You have sex appeal."
"Oh gods, Sorn no... And now the Orcs are laughing at me."
"Yes, but she could have been slamming your skull into the wall, when you were clearly flirting in hopes that she might be distracted and go easier on you."
Orcish grunt, and another stack of agreements shoved into Kael'thas' face. And there was a stern reminder to read through this next contract too. "Trust me, madam, I didn't flirt with an Orc woman on purpose. As the old man said, it's all accidental, biological... alright, and so when I notice it happening, I exploit it. But in the same way I'd exploit any other weakness in an enemy."
"The Caretaker is going to be a Tauren, Kael'thas, I just know it."
"Ugh, oh by the Light and every other vivid school of magic... Thrall wouldn't be that cruel, to send a grass-eating, dung-flinging, and shod--"
"My wife is Tauren."
Kael'thas flinched and looked up at an especially toothy male guard at the northwest corner of his desk. Sorn stood directly across from Kael'thas, next to the outspoken Orc. Sorn adjusted his monocle and chuckled.
"And I'm... sure she's a pretty... grass-eating, dung-flinging thing too. My, what fine sharp teeth you have. I bet that you, sir, work out... gnawing on things. Next treaty, please."
Growls all around.
"And there it goes again. The gender doesn't even matter. Kael'thas, Lady Vashj failed to destroy you because she wanted you, The Legion--an entire group of villians--avoided recruiting you, I heard from Liadrin, because one of their own..." a snicker, "had a very bad infatuation with you--"
"You were with the Legion, Blood Elf King?"
Kael'thas shushed Sorn, and smiled at the third Orc guard. "What my not-dead-yet Advisor is referring to is a small incident with a certain fanboy Legion Ranger they sent after me, who just wouldn't... die. And Sorn was supposed to see to him being executed anyway, so it was his fault."
"It certainly was not, no one told you to borrow Illidan's Fel Orcs and send them after Faltheriel. And also, while I'm speaking of Illidan, he never took full revenge on you either because he wanted your power so badly. Then of course, is my most pristine example. At one time, even Saturna Whiteblade was your enemy."
"Oh, she was a fun one to seduce, though."
The Orcs looked disturbed, but really, as long as Kael'thas signed Thrall's treaties, they were relieved not to grapple with any more of his strange personal life, or personality.
"Yes..." Sorn reminisced. "Saturna Whiteblade was once our greatest enemy, back before we realized what cruelty Illidan and Vashj were truly capable of. But then, she fell madly in love with my King and they lived happily ever after. Though, I would not have used the word 'seduced' in reference to your Queen. Nor would I have been so proud of fooling her."
Kael'thas grinned wide as he signed another page. "Oh I have no shame at all, why would I? It was cold-blooded seduction. She went first, and then I had my turn. You know, I don't think I ever revealed to you that Lady Liadrin sent Saturna all the way from Silvermoon, armed with a white solar festival dress to do me in, did I? A man has to defend himself against such cruel designs, doesn't he?"
"Well, now you make her sound like some sort of... Gnomish... femme-bot. Kael'thas, have you heard of those? Femme-bots are machines that engineers make to look exactly like real women. They can speak and dance and everything, but are only programmed for a singular purpose. And do you know what happens when one gets in the way of the mission, that is, too close?"
"Saturna wasn't... brainwashed or programmed or anything like that." Kael'thas frowned and wrote faster. "She's just genuinely sweet and obsessed with me. Maybe it looks too good to be true to someone who doesn't understand our love, but really, I am that... capable, and charming, and I even have sex-appeal, you yourself said so. I won Saturna and I deserve her, now will you drop the subject, Sorn?!" then, Kael'thas slammed down his stylus.
Many of the trinkets on Anasterian's old desk were upset, and Advisor Sorn startled. He raced to set them all properly again. "It was only another one of my little jokes, your Majesty. Don't you remember a good while ago when I joked it was Saturna's fangirl ghost come to haunt you and steal your underthings while at Tempest Keep? Heh, I suppose, though, back then I was nearly dead-on."
"Sorn! It wasn't funny then, and it isn't funny now. I order you, once and for all, to shut up!"
Sorn had been shouted down before, standing in this exact same spot by another, far more merciful Sunstrider. The old man set his jaw tight. Clearly, some line had been crossed.
A knock on the door. The Kor'kron Elite inspected it, and allowed Saturna to enter the royal office.
"Ah, Starshine... we were just talking about you. Orcs, I'm done for today."
Four green guards cracked their knuckles, necks, or leaned on the desk. They didn't answer to him.
Kael'thas looked nervously to Sorn, but the old man turned away, to the far wall.
"I... well, as we already discussed this morning I am about to re-instate the Convocation of Silvermoon, ahead of schedule. And, I just signed the last of your papers. So, it's only proper that you all enjoy the time I'm saving you and the care-taker minister or my future head of state, or whatever Thrall wants to call the person who is going to sit in my throne, nannying me, while I try to call sensible shots around here. That is, I mean to say, I'm giving you all something like a day off."
It took a further offer of free rounds of Sunstrider Special Reserve at Saltheril's Haven, before the guards agreed to leave he and Saturna alone. Sorn stubbornly waited to be dismissed first before going. Then, he left, flashed a concerned look at Saturna, and closed the door.
"...did I hear Sorn try and convince you that I was some sort of... Goblin robot?" Saturna hugged around Kael'thas' neck, floated ghastly into his lap and kissed him.
Kael'thas stroked his wife's pale, translucent hair lovingly.
She kissed the end of his nose. "Oh no, it seems that someone else around here is blue. Though, it's an improvement from all the shouting at Tempest Keep. Oh, Kael'thas, cheer up already." When he didn't, Saturna snuggled into his shoulder. "Gee, I wonder what we could ever do to cheer up the most handsome, talented man in all of Quel'thalas? All alone in this room together. And our son well taken care of, with a fair team of royal baby sitters?"
Kael'thas answered after a long, quiet moment. "We were made for one another Saturna. I needed you, exactly, and you needed me. I think... I'm sure that's all Sorn was trying to say."
"It's so adorable when you pout, Kael'thas. You should have more bad days."
"And I should take you on this desk, for being so absolutely perfect to me. Though... well it'd be a first for us, with you as a ghost. I apologize if I was insensitive."
Saturna was of a different mind, however. "Mmm! Please do. I'm Queen already, you eliminated the greatest threat to our family--and the Horde, might I add, that is surely what Thrall saw in you too. And I, officially, finally, saved you. Come on, Sunshine, you deserve it and I deserve it." she kissed and tugged his high red collar.
"...Except," as he followed her kisses, "that this is also my father's old desk."
"Oh. So... not kinky for you at all?"
Kael'thas groaned, and rubbed the heels of his hands over tired eyes. "I'm afraid not. And remember, I come from a family of shameless lechers, so I'm pretty sure that dear old dad had my step-mother on this desk. And those disgusting, trampy, enchanted breast-prints are probaby all in the carpet, smeared in some of the stained glass, or deep beneath that fast wall-paper job over there... Ugh, that's it, I definitely need this whole room refurbished."
They made their way around the desk, to leave. "What about you, are you alright, Saturna? I know you had a rough morning."
"Hrm? Oh, well I was very upset earlier--you know why--but I'm all done now."
"Just like that? Did you flip some sort of switch or something? Heh, no one forgives me that fast."
She squeezed his hand. "Maybe Blaize is in enormous trouble, but it's not as if he didn't earn it. I guess... as people go along in their lives, they are always finding out who true friends are. And trust me, if you could have heard how Blaize spoke to me after the incident--you would be on your side too... you would be on your side, hrm, that sounds funny."
Kael'thas snatched Saturna into a hug, lifted the ghost woman off of her feet--she floated a little up out of his arms--but then he caught and kissed her. "Love you. I just love you, darling. And yes, Blaize did get what he deserved, don't you ever question that."
"Kael'thas... where do you think Blaize will go? I'm still worried, this all fell apart so suddenly."
"World's End Tavern in Shatthrath City, about noon tomorrow."
Saturna blinked. "Um... excuse me?"
"Oh, someplace... we can only ever guess. I mean, I guessed. Just now. Don't worry about General Nathaniel Blaize, though, sweetheart. This was fair treatment for him, and then for your father. Now remember, I put Lord Byron Whiteblade in the Convocation of Silvermoon, too, which should make you feel better."
"Yes, it was very fair of you. Nepotism is a time-honored tradition. Speaking of family, you should see how our son took to the new bedroom--"
"Ack! Why did you show him that... it's crazy, and more than a little disturbing. Not to mention the brand new royal bedroom is supposed to be ours."
"Hehe. It's my doll collection I think he likes... You know," Saturna paused with her hand on the door nob. Her fingers wavered slightly in an invisible breeze that was not from this realm. "Belorim misses you. You aren't around him very much, even though we haven't been in Silvermoon for long. All these treaties to sign, and the talks... he's afraid of the Orcs, Kael'thas."
"But yet he always loved the red Fel Orcs as much as Illidan did."
Saturna covered her mouth. Kael'thas' mind raced in a desperate attempt to figure out if he'd said anything wrong.
"You promised me that you wouldn't say his name again."
"I know, and I'm sorry."
You aren't still resentful that I gave the boy to you, Kael'thas? He was a gift, nor should you take any resentment toward me out on the child. My son.
Kael'thas made a fist and stifled the soul link with Illidan. Saturna was already on her way out of the door. "And, Starshine, I know that you don't dye your hair, but you should start. It's going black, or gray or something from stress."
Stay in the Black Temple, Illidan. Do not speak to me again through this link unless spoken to. To her, you are dead, and I've yet to find a way to explain it otherwise. Those are the rules.
Tyrande is still here with me Kael'thas, and my spies report that Malfurion has been freed to Darnassus. Azeroth is on the dawn of knowing. Please protect yourself and think of a lie for her soon.
Don't you nag me about how to deal with MY WIFE!
"...Yes, dear."
Saturna had stopped cold in the hallway. "I heard that."
Kael'thas made a fist, then released it. "What... did you hear?"
Saturna listened again. Kael'thas felt his heart racing. There was a part of himself that wanted to go down on knees, beg her forgiveness already. When at last he cleared his mind, though, he heard it too. A definite presence, someone barely visible walked right through Saturna, and reached a clawed hand out to Kael'thas.
"Saturna, get back!"
Mage-duels often began like this. One powerful sorcerer ambushed the other. When their abilities were matched, it was the edge on an opponent that made deadly difference. At the Academy in Dalaran, one never asked 'Why' when another student attacked. Good marks were terribly painful to get through scholarship, and sheer elimination--a leg too broken to stand and cast a spell on, a shield cast around an opponent in the dark of a tavern-party which silenced him for a day or more before an exam, or worst--and Kael'thas had done this to Jaina once--a spell lock so complex and convoluted, that she had been eliminated, at least magically, for an entire semester. She, nor Arthas, could de-code it fast enough for her to make up the missed grades. Kael'thas graduated at the top of their class. Arthas wasn't a student at the Academy, but he found a way to be around and harrass Kael'thas during every holiday break Jaina had free. It was frustrating enough when Kael'thas actually dated Jaina, and insufferable after the two of them broke up and Arthas unleashed the brunt of his contempt on his rival for Jaina's heart. And so, during that last horrifying semester, Kael'thas did the unthinkable and targeted the object of adoration instead of the man himself. It was a cowardly, backwards thing to do. But it was also a cold, and perfect strike. Both of them were left looking as ridiculous as their on and off again 'I'm not really ready to marry or propose to you yet, but let's make out right in front of Kael'thas on the way to class every day' stupid, stupid relationship. Stupid!
Kael'thas knew it was Jaina even before she blinked past him. They crossed each other, mid-spell, because he knew to do the same. Energy to energy, his red to her blue, particles of each person filtered just barely unscathed, and then their faces coalesced out of the slowed-stop of reality.
"You bastard..." Jaina was saying.
"So Thrall dumped you too, huh?" was Kael'thas' response.
A feminine shriek. Jaina's hand formed out of thin air next, and the first thing she did was release a shimmering bolt of ice. It swelled and took up nearly the entire hallway. The rest of her body appeared, second.
Kael'thas made a fist and punched the head of the icebolt. The spell burst into a thousand glittering pieces. Then, he fully appeared, and called a curse down upon Jaina's blonde head.
"I just had my hair done!"
"For your last date with Thrall? This freakish make-up thing with me? Or, for your first date with Arthas?"
"I HATE you, Kael'thas Olvi'athon Sunstrider."
Saturna pressed up against the wall when Jaina targeted her next, then the ghost-woman disappeared.
"You'd take this out on my wife? Oh, you've gone crazy."
Jaina walked to the empty spot along the wall, grasped it. Kael'thas kept his arm outstretched, ready to blast at her with anything. Palace guards came running with their shields raised, but Kael'thas shouted for them not to come any closer. They were stopped several yards out, but Jaina Proudmore was that dangerous.
"That was your wife? She isn't a Tauren."
"Why the fel would she be?!"
Jaina turned circles and leaned up on her toes, glancing all around the hallway, and over Kael'thas' head.
"Hey, down here! You started a fight with me, remember."
"Yeah, I know. You punched a piercing frostbolt with your bare hand, which means you aren't just a Bloodmage anymore, you've done something else terrible to yourself to get that powerful... but the scientist in me wants to know what the fel kind of creature your wife is."
"She's an elf. I wouldn't be caught dead with another Human woman."
Jaina sniffed the air. "Purest form of arcane magic I've ever encountered, almost as strong as the Sunwell. Twenty parts per million."
"Stop it Jaina, you're going down the wrong path here, I warn that I will kill you--I don't care what Thrall thinks--if you go where I think you're going with this..."
Jaina snapped out of it. "Thrall thinks that I cheated on him! Did you start that rumor? Are you still out to ruin my reputation, and my life? Valedictorian at the Academy wasn't enough for you, was it? And so the first thing you do, when you get back to Azeroth..."
"Saturna, darling, I know there are a lot of crazy things being being said right now, but I did not ever cheat on you with Jaina Proudmore."
A disembodied, "I know, Sunshine..."
"Sunshine?! So you have stupid pet names for each other? And that voice... that is a mortal voice, Kael'thas. This woman isn't conjured, she's real."
"What of it? And I'm not the source of your relationship problems with Thrall. How dare you come into my castle and accuse me, I could take this as a declaration of war with Theramore Isle, you know."
"Thrall has got you in a caretaker government, your hands are tied from a military standpoint. Ha, don't talk State with me. Did you just call your wife Saturna? Saturna Whiteblade? The fangirl Bloodknight? I thought she was dead."
Kael'thas threw forth his other hand and fired a shadow spell at Jaina. She called a frost shield and absorbed it. Meanwhile, she folded her arms pensively. "How did you resurrect a woman who had a Naga rune scrawled into her dead body. Does she even have a body?"
Kael'thas told the guards to come on already and take Jaina. But they were too afraid now.
"No, I know you, you would want to have sex, you can't live without that, Olvi'athon. So she does have a corporeal form. And, she can also disappear... I walked right through her earlier, didn't I? I felt it... cold. Cold like Arthas and the afterlife."
"How do you know what Arthas feels like? Or, was he cold and a waste of skin even back then?"
"Why do you get to be with your dead ex-girlfriend, but I lost my Arthas?! I'm not a bad person, but you are vile. I've only ever done what I thought was right. How can fate be such a scheming bitch all along? You get to be valedictorian, you get to play with your powers and destroy another planet, Thrall lets you come back to this castle... and you have some chickie fangirl ghost wife, and a son too, I hear? This just can't be."
Suddenly, Jaina blinked across the room. Kael'thas turned around to see Saturna wrested in Jaina's arms. Jaina pulled Saturna by the undead hair, craned her neck to look all over the ghost Queen and into her eyes. "Gods, I should have known. How could I have missed this? Who else in her right mind would help you? And it's only by her consent that you're back here, Kael'thas. But what I want to know is, considering what's going on in Dragonblight these days, how in the Titans' names did you ever convince a blue dragon to help the twisted cause of the Blood Elf Prince?"
Kael'thas did not think. He raised both arms and both he and Jaina disappeared. Saturna was left gasping for air and calling her husband's name in the empty hallway.
Far and away, a place with water all around...
Jaina reappeared over the black ocean. She thought that she saw the flicker of phoenix-fire above, but when she righted herself--for she was falling too fast--any semblance of Kael'thas had gone. Jaina could not deal with him now, however. In only moments, she would break against the sharp water, burst as if hitting stone from so high up. She guessed that she was not very far out from Quel'thalas, for Kael'thas to move this fast. Jaina cast a spell of her own, disappeared just a hair's breadth above the surface of water, and in the next moment, blue particles of her magic-self raced to catch Kael'thas--hurtling red energy--both of them speeding faster than light and sound, the world so sluggish that it was dumb and stuck around them. He wanted to protect his wife, but Jaina wanted to know more, she wanted to see Saturna Whiteblade again and learn the last secret of her unfair resurrected life, stop the cruel twist of fate that gave her to evil Kael'thas and stole Thrall and Arthas away, avenge the imbalance!
The red spectre of Kael'thas passed through a bright violet shield. The sudden dome flashed into place over the trees, castle spires, and coastline of Quel'thalas. Jaina slammed immediately to it, re-formed as her Human self, and screamed when the power of this magical barrier--the size of the entire kingdom--sparked to life. Caretaker government or no, there would be no ambushing Kael'thas or Silvermoon again anytime soon. How was Kael'thas this powerful?
"You over-powered, selfish, scheming sonofabitch!" she screamed, before blinking out of sight again.
Jaina went back to Dalaran. Her assistant, a solemn Night Elf woman named Pained, asked about 'the talk with Thrall', but Jaina went directly into her bedroom and slammed the door in the Kal'dorei's face.
Dear Arthas,
She's twenty parts per million of the purest arcane magic known to man... she's the Sunwell. Arthas, she's made from the Sunwell. The Sunwell still exists, and Anveena, I hear her name is Anveena these days... I'm not making any sense, but the Sunwell herself has sided with Kael'thas! And she resurrected the woman Kael'thas loved. Saturna had died. She went to the Black Temple and did something stupid three years ago, she deserved to get killed for trying to date Kael'thas in the middle of a war and change him. Then she whored herself all about there, I heard a rumor that she was with Illidan too, and Kael'thas' General before even that... you must know the story. I just can't... The molecules of her alchemy are outstanding, Arthas, that is what makes me so livid about all of this. Here, I can map it out for you exactly. I think she may just be Undead enough for us to...
And Jaina found herself going on, feverishly, for pages. One look at the specimen, and Jaina had analyzed Saturna completely, from head to toe. Jaina knew exactly what Kael'thas' wife was made of, she had hypothesized the why, and then theorized Saturna's natural weaknesses in her present state. Arthas would be fascinated to know, he wouldn't be able to resist, in fact. Then he would finally come back. He would get Saturna, then thank the woman who set it all up in the first place. Jaina would not even get in any trouble for it. She didn't have to spell it out, Arthas would pick it right up, he could be that vicious, imagine the possibilities... And then Kael'thas would finally get what he deserved for making so many people suffer. There was no way that she was going to let Kael'thas get away, if Thrall was not brave enough. Stormwind would never get its chance, but Arthas, somewhere, was still the Prince of Lordaeron, wasn't he? And he was a paladin, he could bring Kael'thas to justice.
At last, the Lady of Theramore put her pen down. A marble bust of her late father had long been in the corner of her eye. She walked over to the statuette and touched it lightly, with a finger. Jaina cried. No, she could not be like her father, who would rather wreak havoc and die, than try to live with reformed green Orcs. This was cold-blooded revenge. And it was not against Kael'thas.
"Oh my goodness... what is wrong with me? Do I really have it in me to just hand over an innocent to Arthas? Whether I like Saturna Whiteblade or not, she's just a person. A person who suffered greatly... How is this crazy idea of mine different from anything that Arthas does, or that his minions do in Northrend? I can't mail this." Jaina felt sick. A part of her searched for that angry voice... wasn't there a voice sometimes, propelling her forward? Alone, she lacked the guile... perhaps it was that Orgrimmar had no magical barriers, but Silvermoon and Theramore Isle had invisible shields that could block out hauntings, invasive curses... Now, she had a headache. Jaina wouldn't dare become desperate now and blame her actions on some kind of... other presence. These actions of late were solely her own. No one else was to blame. Perhaps, deep down, she really was her father's daughter? Jaina crumpled the many pages of letter, and went to lay down.
But, there was already a blue troll sleeping there. He popped up all of a sudden, directly onto his big feet, crouched, and waved.
Then, someone's cold hand covered Jaina's mouth from behind. She stiffened immediately, and passed out.
"Eh, Zabran, why are ye always the one to startle her? I'm a Dwarf, and I kin hardly reach up that high." the Dwarf Deathknight lay frozen Jaina down carefully on the floor.
"Cause I tink it's funny." Zabran didn't laugh though. He lazily swept an arm out, and a black portal to Icecrown opened. The gate was hemmed in by twisted black bone. Bright orange fire hissed and flickered at its base.
"Hey, what's that, Zabran? Another love letter for the Lich King?"
Zabran shrugged. "Look, mon, de other servants of Arthas keep dyin' cause dey do stupid tings like touch stuff dat don't belong to dem. Da rule is, we come in, we freeze her, we take her through da portal, got it?"
"Oh, what's this here about Kael'thas' Undead wife? Seems she got a first-hand look at the new Queen. Ha! And Jaina's a jealous fruitbat ain't she?"
Zabran snatched the letter and read it himself. "You get her, I get dis."
"Hammers and all, Zabran! But I was the one who found it--"
"I know, I'm just smoothin' it out for ya." Zabran pressed it against his armored chest, and tried to un-crinkle the paper. "You da one gonna show it to da Master... and if he keel you, then I don't get in any trouble for taking it. But if he like da idea, den I keel you for stealin' it from me."
The newest partner of Zabran, the Dwarf deathknight blanched. "Ahaha... ha... I see, that's a good joke, ol' Zabran."
"Yah mon, joke."
Then, over Pained's polite knocking on the door, the three of them left.
She should have locked her window...
Saturna lingered near the cold glass of the royal bedroom. She gazed up at the moon and hugged her shoulders. Where was Kael'thas tonight? Someplace else, she didn't care. Saturna had not wanted to sleep with him. She was far too upset, and confused by how Jaina touched her, or looked at her. Of course, Kael'thas loved her, and he did everything he could to save her. In fact, he assured that Jaina Proudmore was most likely dead.
Like Illidan. But Saturna had this strong feeling, it was an old feeling too, whenever Kael'thas was lying to her. And for some reason, today, that impulse came back stronger than ever.
But then Sorn came in, shouting that Malfurion and Lady Vashj had taken Darnassus. They were amassing an army, too. Saturna wanted to know what happened to Tyrande, then. Who had she left Malfurion for?
Kael'thas got angry, he shouted at her, really yelled this time. Saturna did not want to face Belorim like that. She did not want to face Kael'thas again like that. And not after this terrible day. There was yet, another secret between them. This time, rather than wait for a fast explanation, Saturna chose to trust instinct and isolate herself from anyone who might help Kael'thas with his lie. Of course she was eager to be with her husband again, for the first time since Anveena raised her and made gave her a new body and life. It would be special for them... but sex had long been Kael'thas' way of completely undoing Saturna and she finally accepted that the thrill of being with him wasn't just because he felt good. Her husband used it as a weapon, and she always liked watching Kael'thas use power. Some place in her heart cherished his cruelty, thought his ability to dominate her and every other person or situation was sexy. So then, what did Kael'thas see in her? Someone to oppress? Did that turn him on? And so making love to a King who--in a way she still could not perceive--had stolen his crown, avoided his son as if he was guilty that he'd stolen him too, and then also his wife? What was he so afraid of? This was not a man Saturna could justify sleeping with, not yet.
Whom could she turn to, to ask for an honest opinion, even if it was criticism of Kael'thas? Blaize was gone. The other Bloodknights were sworn to loyalty, and out celebrating Kael'thas' victory, in fact. Lady Liadrin said something about someone running off to Undermine... And Saturna's parents would only tell her to go back to the palace and 'be a better wife and Queen to Kael'thas, that's what we raised you for.'
"Ugh, my parents were always pushing me into the royal seat too. But I find that relatives are a lot like dogs, Saturna, you can expect them to be loyal, but only to a point. Sometimes, they go to far, get rabid while they live with you, trying to control your life... it's why I put my father down."
The voice had been muffled. There were several large windows that lined the long wall in that dark room. Saturna pressed up against the cold glass to try and see where it had come from. Then, glass broke. A great big silvery greave kicked playfully at the toe as someone shook glass free at the final window pane, then pulled his leg back in. A man's hand reached in next, flipped up the latch at the base of the window with a poised flick of fingers--he was used to dropping in ladies windows, wasn't he? The hand withdrew up and carefully over cut shards of glass, then disappeared back into the darkness. Finally, the whole window creaked gently open, as if it were still possible to be polite about all this after kicking in glass. At last, a man hoisted himself over the precarious window ledge and landed hard on his feet. Saturna thought it was some terrible joke at first. No guards were coming. Did they already know? Kael'thas?
It was a Human man. He carried no sword, nor did he wear any apparent armor. Fine black slacks, a tailored shirt, sweeping night-blue cape. Heavy, loud, clomping oversized boots. Well, no, there was the armor afterall. He kicked out a little as he walked, so that he could step down hard on the soles, throw himself off balance only to work the swagger of strong shoulders into his walk. Or, was this mean way of walking meant to cover how he never quit the joy of swinging his arms since boyhood? He wore three audacious rings on each finger, but all six were far too exotic and unmatched; a man worked his entire life to earn something so gilded or meaningful through military service or scholarship, and these were six lifetimes' worth... had they been pilfered? The Human's eyes were dark. In this faint light, they seemed more the weary wear of a man who'd spent far too many nights of his young manhood indulging drink, debauchery and what else. The sloppy smile intimated that he didn't regret a moment of his trifling past, either. Perhaps he'd never stopped. But since he wasn't yet dead, then he'd mastered the lifestyle. Passage of time had not caught him, misdeeds had not come back to haunt him, he'd outlived and laughed at every misfortune. All that, and the happy whistling off-tune as he walked, caused the man to rove from intimidating in one step, to easy and natural in the next. When Saturna stared, he opened his arms, bade the Queen to come closer and try her luck finding out exactly what sort of mood he was in.
"Like my boots? Care to lick them? I've crushed skulls with these."
Saturna clutched her nightgown closed and grimaced. "I... don't know you?"
"Yes you do. By the way, your husband's shield was a big bitch to get through, I had to leave Frostmourne in there to wedge the hole open. And actually, I'm a fan of yours. Well, your work anyways. No one, and I mean no one--still alive--has ever been able to get to Kael'thas the way you do. He's completely obsessed with you. Loves you, adores you... just you. No one and nothing else. Not even his son. I mean, damn! I wish I could just twist Kael'thas' arm like that."
"Kael'thas loves our son. And I'm going to call the guard--"
Arthas stepped into the moonlight and bowed low, grand. "Oh, you wouldn't do that to another handsome Prince would you? My Queen, the illustrious Saturna Whiteblade... all my hopes of screwing Kael'thas died when you did and then you... well, you stopped screwing him. I wanted him to die in that fire with you--I just knew that you'd lead him spectacularly astray, or at least throw him directly into Illidan's angry path... but somehow, Kael'thas escaped alive. And you'd died. Well, the whole of two worlds thought you were dead and cursed forever. But yet, here you are, conveniently sort of living again, Undead and not causing him anymore trouble. I mean, none at all? What is up with that? But Undeath and trouble... those happen to be my specialty. You see, my most recent puppet just ruined her assignment and broke to pieces. But, before she snapped, she told me that there was a brand new toy waiting for me in Silvermoon. And this one is Undead too--she's far easier to control--isn't that convenient? Which means I am going to get this Achievement afterall, and The Game can go on."
Saturna opened her mouth to scream, but Arthas pulled her near with a thread of purple energy that erupted from her chest, and leapt, lightning quick, into the palm of his hand. He tugged her, hugged her, smelled her, did a little happy foxtrot with Saturna and dipped her low.
"No, no, precious, don't talk. I can't let you ruin this moment for me. I'd like to think it's my Princely charm that sent you racing across the room right now, not any Deathknight powers."
"What do you want?" Saturna tried to fight, disappear, something. But then, when she looked into those sparking blue eyes... Yes, he was, indeed, another Prince. What in the world was she doing? This was insane, what was wrong with her, giving instantly in to men like these!
"Why, my dear, I've come a'courting. How would you like to come away with me and live in a beautiful palace made of ice? You can have all the servants you want, though Zabran seems to keep killing off his partners. We had a Human with him just last week. You can also ditch the kid who isn't really his to begin with, and then you will be living a new, single life, care-free. All you have to do is pledge your soul to me."
"What is going to happen to Kael'thas?"
Arthas stamped his foot and rolled his eyes up at the ceiling. "Oh, no, no, no. Can't we leave some special things for after we're bonded master-to-slave? We should spend some time getting to know one another first before we get down to the dirty naked dance, the exchange of sweat and blood, the physical secrets. If not, then there won't be any trust in our relationship. That's the mistake that Illidan and Kael'thas made years ago, in case you missed the joke. Saturna, right now, you're still a Lich King virgin and I'd like keep you that way, when I have big plans for Kael'thas, and you have a really complex role in it all. I thought it up these last twenty minutes on the way over, too, aren't you impressed? Just come here, honey," he waggled a finger, "you're the bait."
Saturna gained resolve. "I am a Bloodknight, forged to oppose the very forces you set loose across Azeroth. And, it is my ultimate goal in life to kill you, Arthas!"
"You know, I was being romantic and polite." Arthas frowned, seized her back, then blew against her ear. "I could just take your damned soul."
Then, he tried it.
Saturna stood in the middle of the floor, shaking. Nothing happened.
"How the flying fuck..." Arthas tried again, making a fist. "Is this because I left Frostmourne behind? But I don't need the sword for this kind of summoning, when you're twenty-parts-per-million... well damn me and roast pigs! Saturna Whiteblade, your soul already belongs to someone else."
"It's Kael'thas!" she defied Arthas.
"Heh, no, it really isn't. I would be able to sense something that pathetic. I know his Nerdboy magic." Arthas paced. "Jaina was right about every little detail regarding you, except for this. Saturna, please come to Northrend with me. Now I'm worried about you, don't you believe me? You are being lied to, and ruthlessly. Wouldn't you like to know who set you up like this?"
"I... no! I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Why not, because of stranger-danger? Oh, right. I laid waste to your homeland. Well then... with your soul the way it is, I can't really take you without your consent. Are you sure you don't want to run away with me forever? I happen to have it on good authority--that of a soon to be Death God--that I am a handsome and available Prince."
THE LICH KING AGREES THAT ARTHAS IS A HANDSOME AND AVAILABLE PRINCE.
"See?" Arthas cleared his throat after the Death-god voice. "And I swear I've never been a ventrilloquist in life."
"I won't go with you, Arthas; I'm absolutely sure."
"Double sure? One hundred percent with a cherry on top? Hrm... would you like to try a popsicle?"
"No, I don't want anything of yours!"
"Saturna, do you like petting kittens?"
"Yes."
"Chocolate? Kael'thas? Sex? Would you like a new dress?"
"Yes.. yes.. yes..."
"Do you like the color purple? Want to come with me to Icecrown? Bunnies?"
"I said yes already!"
...And that is how Arthas got Saturna Whiteblade to come with him to Northrend.
Author's Note:
I know what you're thinking: What happened to General Blaize? What about the royal bedroom? Or, the doll collection? And Bloodknights in Undermine, what the heck! Yes, and... a bunch of other things that I glossed over. I didn't forget. All those things will be in the next chapter. But not the enchanted boobs, that's much later.