A/N: There is a bit of deviation from the actual events of Tides of War, since I haven't read it (sad confession time), but I grasped the basic gist. Consider this to be taking place after Kalecgos has talked Jaina in off the ledge. But there's still the matter of that little Incident in her backyard...

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize... Whoops, Wrong One

It was a long walk from the incoming portal location in the Mage Quarter to Stormwind Keep. Varian Wrynn did not see a need to halt his casual conversation with Genn Greymane in the throne room in the rare moment of peace between entreaties by citizenry for one thing or another. He'd received the message of Jaina Proudmore's arrival and ordered refreshments; he spared a thought to wonder what became of the Horde attack she'd requested reinforcements for. Perhaps the Horde were routed and she was coming to give him the report personally? It was fortunate Anduin was present, to hear of such a glorious victory.

Overall, he was in a good mood, anticipating good news. When the Lady of Theramore strode furiously up the hall to his throne, however, the smile slid off his face.

She'd changed dramatically, her hair no longer blonde but white as snow. As she approached, he saw that her eyes were also eerily pale. Her very bearing was different as she approached his throne. Her right hook was noticeably stronger as she sent him reeling against the chair back, banging his head and making his ears ring.

"Where were you?" she yelled angrily.

Rubbing his jaw and exchanging a shocked look with Greymane, Wrynn blinked. "What... I... did my men not arrive in time?"

"Yes," she snarled hotly, "they arrived in time and fought bravely. They turned the Horde assault into a rout. They shielded the city from fel magics of all kinds. They would be regarded as heroes by the people of Theramore... if any survived to praise them!

"Days before I was informed of the attack, your men captured a Horde sympathizer," she continued relentlessly in the stunned silence. "Your men broke her easily, for she was no soldier. Neither was she a clever spy with ill intent. Several of my men were slain when the Horde rescued her and the troll she accompanied. Do you know what I learned from Shaw? When the dust had settled and I demanded answers? Your men were not asking her about the imminent attack! I found that you have been chasing this woman for months out of some paranoid fear that she threatens you!"

"Just a moment, Jaina...," Wrynn interjected, raising a finger. She knocked his hand aside.

"Your 'intelligence' network," she went on, "that should have had its eyes on Orgrimmar, that should have taken note of a mustering of the size that descended upon my land, that should have noticed when Northwatch fell, were chasing after this woman. This sad, broken woman clutching a troll's tusk to her breast in tears, bruised and bloody and begging them to stop hurting him, pleading with me to help her because your men would not hear anything she said if it did not match what they wanted to hear..." She paused to take a shuddering breath. "No. Your men were torturing an innocent woman and a member of the Horde for no better reason than you feared for your skin. Your precious hide."

"I sent men when you requested it!" Wrynn shot back. "All right, I admit my... men were diverted... elsewhere, but I sent troops! I supported your plea to the Kirin Tor for their aid! You said they turned the tide..."

"Do you know how I learned of the Horde attack?" she asked quietly, yet her voice seemed to echo in the silent room. Turning to her attendant, she took a bulky object wrapped in silks. Removing the covering, she revealed Fearbreaker, the Dwarven hammer gifted by Anduin himself. Solemnly, she returned it to the young man's hands. "He no longer feels worthy to bear it, and asked me to give it back."

"Is he...," Anduin whispered, stricken. She shook her head, then turned her baleful gaze to the King once more.

"While you were hunting a woman who holds no importance to the Alliance," Jaina snarled, "and your vaunted spy master directed his men's eyes to her comings and goings, they should have been looking to Orgrimmar. They should have informed me of the increased military activity at Dranosh'ar. I should have had longer than a few days to prepare. I should not have been informed by a member of the Horde that the Horde was planning an attack of this magnitude! Baine Bloodhoof sent a messenger that I might prepare myself for the coming storm!"

Wrynn recoiled almost as much as he had when she physically punched him.

"And then I find your spies on this continent are not minding what may be occurring in tandem to the north, because they are chasing an Orc! One Orc! Pray, tell me what he has done to offend you?"

"Never mind about that," he replied hastily. "You said the Horde forces were repelled..."

"To no avail!" she cried. "The Kirin Tor shielded us as best they could, but one of their own betrayed them and us!"

"But... you said..."

"The bulk of the Horde forces were surrounded within the city, for the betrayer Thalen Songweaver was not stopped in time," she snarled. "They lured us in, Varian. The Horde forces were brought to bear as bait. Our forces... mine and yours... were in the city when Garrosh Hellscream struck."

Varian Wrynn's breath quickened as Jaina paused. She looked to be ready to fly apart with rage and... grief. Or perhaps she already had, and the woman he was seeing now was only the barely patched together remains of that explosion.

"What...," he whispered, and lost his voice.

"Gone," Jaina breathed. "Theramore is gone. There is nothing left of my people but what you see before you."

"Garrosh," Wrynn growled, beginning to shake with fury. "We will retake the city, I promise you that. This will not stand!"

"Idiot," she hissed. "There is no city. He saw to that. His allies did not turn away from Kael'thas without taking his craft and methods with them. They used the focusing iris, Varian. They constructed a mana bomb of unprecedented magnitude." Her voice shook and she bared her teeth in furious anguish. "Garrosh dropped this bomb on Theramore. It is a crater. The 7th Legion, gone. My apprentice and my personal guard, dead. The leader of the Kirin Tor... Rhonin..."

Bowing her head, she paused for a moment to compose herself. "Thousands... thousands of people, Varian," she whispered.

Swallowing, Varian cautiously began, "You said... Baine Bloodhoof... warned you. Didn't he say... anything... about...?"

"They didn't know," Jaina rasped. "If your misdirected spies cannot tell you, I will. Garrosh does not listen to the other leaders. He has granted amnesty to the Blackrock Clan and his own Kor'kron Elite is now peopled by those bloodthirsty wretches. There is growing animosity among the leaders in Kalimdor." Shaking her head, she said, "If Baine had known of the bomb, he would have told me. He is too honorable a man not to."

Sighing, she said quietly, "I nearly followed in Garrosh's cursed footsteps. Nearly... exacted the sort of toll on the citizens of Durotar that would have seemed a necessary sacrifice to Arthas himself, but for the wisdom of Kalecgos." Taking a deep breath, Jaina glared at the King. "Your men had their eyes on the wrong Orc, Varian. Point them where they need to be looking. This is only the beginning."

References to Diary of a Mad Gamer Chick:

Troops mustering in Orgrimmar - chapters 47 and 48
Horde forces depart - chapter 49
Attack on Theramore - chapters 50 and 51
The Bomb is dropped - chapter 52
Eyewitness account from Kuadanath - chapter 67

Fearbreaker = Dwarven hammer given to Baine Bloodhoof by Anduin Wrynn in The Shattering, the book covering the pre-Cataclysm events.