After the attacks and after all of the funeral arrangements, I had a lot of free time. Perhaps too much, because I began spending more and more time in the library of the house, having Aggie bring up the meals. No matter how much I tried, she refused to leave the house. For good reason, I suppose, because if it had been left only to me, the large house would've been a dusty mess in less than a week.
At first, I only spent a few hours a day in the library because Aggie insisted that I had to be available in case mourners came by to express their condolences. No mourners ever came to the house. I had always guessed that it was because they weren't sure if I would be the sad, grief-stricken daughter or the furious woman, the one who was left behind. After I realized that no mourners were ever going to come through our gates, I spent whole days at a time in the library.
It was one of the few times in my life that I was honestly able to thank my father. He had amassed thousands of books over the years about thousands of topics because he had intended for my brother to be the knowledgeable warrior. Eventually, in my father's ideal world, my brother would be a general or a commander. For me.. Well, there were different plans set aside for me. Whether or not my father's intentions were good, the books were here and I planned to use them. Of course, I didn't find much to work with. Apparently the elves had a lot more to do with the Worgen than the humans did and Gilneas had been shut off so long that most of the books only briefly mentioned them.
Around the time that I began extending my stays in the library is when the mist began to settle around me. At first I resisted the calmness and quiet that it granted me, but over time I found that it helped numb me. I was no longer furiously flipping through pages, looking for specific words, but rather I was analyzing each and every page, with the mist sifting through the information and deeming what was or was not relevant. Months later, I would find out that Aggie frequently walked about the library while I occupied it, but I was so engrossed in the books and so shrouded by my protective mist that I never even realized that she was present.
One day, the gloomy Gilneas clouds decided that they were ready to mourn the loss of life and the loss of humanity. The tears of Gilneas poured down like I had never seen before and the thunder was loud enough to actually penetrate a bit through my mist. As I tried to concentrate on an especially old book with some of the words faded, Aggie swung open the large door to the library and stood there for a moment, pale-faced, before I looked up. "What is it?"
She took a sharp breath before she said, "There's someone here to see you."
"Who?" I hadn't even heard knocking at the door but that was probably thanks to a combination of the grief-filled roars in the sky and the numbness of my own mind.
It was the only time I witnessed Aggie show some signs of nervousness. She shifted uncomfortably and wrung her hands. "Perhaps you should just come.. But please, Talenne, be careful.." I remember how I just sat there for a moment and the mist lifted. Is it that bad? I thought to myself. So bad that even Aggie doesn't know how I'll react anymore? Am I so unpredictable.. Then the mist slammed back down onto me, and these thoughts disappeared. I rose up, swept past Aggie and stood at the top of the staircase, looking down to see who dared to disturb my research. I saw him standing there and for a second, I fought the mist that was clouding my vision because I simply couldn't believe it.
I took a deep breath and began to descend the stairs. I was trying my absolute best not to stumble or fall on the steps because it was tough to concentrate on walking with the mist trying to stifle my senses. When I was halfway down the stairs, he looked up and his stance and eyes grew wary. This made my heart drop and my hand tightened a little bit on the railing as I thought, Even you?
At the bottom of the stairs, we both stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Looking back, I realize that we were both sizing the other one up, deciding who was more dangerous to who. Then I spoke. "Liam," I said, giving a small curtsey. I was never big on the whole damsel-in-distress and proper manners thing, but I still had some respect. I heard Aggie gasp loudly and looked up just in time to see her flinch a little at my casual addressing of the prince of Gilneas. I turned back to him and hissed, "I mean, Prince Greymane."
A sad expression flitted across his face and he took a small step towards me. "Talenne.. You know you don't need to use those titles."
"Well, I'm not quite sure where I stand with the monarchy these days." I fixed my gold eyes onto him, but he would not make eye contact. The mist loosened its grip on me a bit. It was most comfortable when people were uncomfortable with me.
"I.. I never came by to express my regret at the loss of your family," he began, keeping his eyes downcast, "and I am sorry for that. They were good people. My father would have come with me, but there's a lot to be done now that we've settled everything in the city again."
I did not say anything but I watched Liam's face carefully, my eyes narrowing. He simply would not make his eyes meet mine. Why? I asked myself. Because he's afraid or because he's ashamed? Or maybe he's regretting that one of us actually survived. I shook my head. I had to make myself stop that kind of thinking.
Liam spoke up again, very tentatively. "Talenne.. We need someone to fill your father's seat. He was a very important man on the council and I know the loss is bad, but now that the city's rebuilt, we can get back to business.." The swishing of the mist drowned him out as he began speaking faster and faster. Then it all became too much, the tightness of the mist and the buzzing of his voice in the background and I could still hear Aggie creaking on the landing above us and the thunder roaring in anger outside. I shut my eyes tightly and clenched my fists, gritting my teeth tightly.
He stopped talking. "Talenne? Are you alright, are you listening?" He was so engrossed in what he was saying that for a moment, I think he forgot what I had become and he foolishly took a step toward, stretching his hand out to lightly touch my arm. The instant that his fingers brushed my arm, I snapped, grabbing his hand with mine, as tightly as I could. Much to my horror, the fingers of my hand had already transformed into long, dark amber claws. When I brought my panicked eyes up to his frozen ones, I saw the reflection of my face, and the fangs that were beginning to lengthen in my mouth.
I snatched my hand back and stumbled a few steps backwards, snarling at Liam. I didn't look, but I could hear Aggie dashing down the steps. "Prince Greymane, please, she'll be fine, just give her a moment.." But I was already yelling, and I drowned her out.
"No, Liam, I'm not listening! You would dare come into this house and talk to me about my father's place on the council? If he was so important on the damned council, perhaps a few men could've been spared to make sure he wasn't murdered here! Were we so out of the way from the city? Too far to send a few archers?" In my hand-turned-claw, a ball of shadow energy began to swirl. The mist hissed and spun happily. Liam stared at my hand, a genuinely perplexed look on his face.
"Talenne, what are you talking about? And what is that? What have you been doing?" Why does he look so surprised? I remember thinking. He is ashamed that I was left behind.
"Get out, Liam," I said, in a low voice, the voice that was growing huskier by the second. "Get out and do not ever return to this place. If you send messengers, you won't get them back. Fill my father's seat with whoever you please."
He took a step forward, despite Aggie trying to keep him back. "Talenne! Please, tell me what you're talking about! Talenne! Look at me, please. Talenne!" He paused, gritted his teeth, and then whispered, "Talon.." At this, I knew I simply could not take anymore.
"You never came, Liam! Never!" The shadow ball grew bigger and I felt the power surging through me, the whispers of the darkness, the delighted screeching of the mist. "Why? Because of this?" I held up my other hand, my other claw. "Because I changed?"
He didn't say anything, but his face looked genuinely confused. At the time, however, I didn't notice that. I slammed a fist into the wooden cabinet behind me and roughly pushed open the double doors leading into a corridor next to me, walking as quickly as I could away from the foyer. I heard shuffling footsteps as he began to follow me, but I boomed out, "LEAVE!" The footsteps stopped, and a moment later they started up again, but towards the front door.
The next time I saw Liam would also be the last time. I wish I had known. But I didn't know and at the time, I think I came close to hating him.
I sat in the corner of the kitchen until my hand returned to normal and I couldn't feel the fangs anymore. The shadows of the dark room caressed me and tried to comfort me and even the mist shrunk away a bit from the shadows. I fell asleep there and I dreamed. But the dreams were nightmares because I lived it all over again, the forced lessons, the demons, the attacks, the hate, the screams.