Ch 7 – The Frozen Wastes of Icecrown
Highlord Tirion Fordring gazed at the King of Stormwind. "It is imperative that I take Jamiy, Helene, and Grekko with me. Priests of the skill that the two possess is uncommon and in high demand. Jamiy already serves on my staff." He said. He took a step forward. "It also allows time for the Lady Marquise to heal." He said softly.
Varian took a breath and nodded. "Yes." He then unfolded his arms from where he leaned against the wall. "Very well. Take them with you to Northrend. I will keep Rhenn safe." Varian said. He moved to drop into a chair.
The House of the Argent Crusade was lavish in the expensive wood in the furnishings. Varian liked it in the home. It had the Light here and it was helping Rhenn. He folded his long legs before him. "How is she?" He asked.
Tirion sighed and dropped to poke at the fire to stir it back to life. "The babe is peaceful in her womb, but I know not how long that will last." He sighed and straightened. "They added a stitch to try to keep her secure. Even still her lying in may come sooner than most. I have ordered her off her feet as much as is possible and a diet to keep her and the baby well." The paladin then shook his head. "She could still lose the…" His words came to a halt when he saw Rhenn appear. "You should be resting child." He said, his voice soft and scolding like a father chiding his child.
She dropped into a chair near the fire. "All I do is rest. I shall go mad from boredom." She said.
Varian chuckled. "I seriously doubt that." He looked at her. "We shall find you tasks that you can do while sitting or lying."
Rhenn rolled her eyes and laid a hand on her belly as she watched the flames dance on the log before her.
Tirion coughed lightly and then stepped to her side. "Lady I am bringing Helene, Jamiy, and Grekko with me to Northrend. We wish to hold the scourge at bay. There is a place we believe we can stand our ground." He took s slow breath. "We leave as soon as we are able. Shall I deliver any messages to them from you?"
Rhenn took a breath and shut her eyes. She then looked up at Tirion. He winced seeing the bruising about her nose and cheeks. The bruising was starting to fade, but it was still tender. No woman deserved to be struck so.
She nodded. "Tell my children that I wish them well and may the Light bless them and keep them safe." She said before she looked back at the fire. "And their father also."
Tirion smiled a little. So she still loved him. Good, perhaps they yet could repair what had been torn asunder. "Light keep you both safe as well, my Lady." He said gently taking her hand. It was cool. He rubbed the knuckles light before pressing a soft kiss to the back. He let set her hand back on the chair arm before bowing lightly to the King.
Varian nodded. "Light bring you all home safe Tirion."
Tirion nodded and left the house to round up the twins and their father. It has been at the request of Grekko that he has offered to bring the man with them. He needed space from his estranged spouse who refused to see him. Though Tirion hardly could find fault in her actions, he did wish to mend the pain there for his friend, and not just the physical.
Grekko stood beside Highlord Tirion Fordring on the bench that overlooked the scourge infested necropolis of Scourgeholme. There was the distant sound of one of the crypt lords bellowing to the risen crusaders about it.
Tirion sighed. "So many brothers and sisters lost and raised again. It is a fate worse than hell I think. To die, be raised to fight those you once loved, watch them die at your hand, and then die once more."
"The Light gives us hope." Grekko said. It had become a mantra of sorts to him. Since he had been estranged from his beloved wife he had been spending hours begging her forgiveness as well of that of the Light. He had betrayed everything in his marriage. He had called her a whore when a friend was trying to help her. He shook his head. He still had no idea why he had been so full of a jealous rage. Thrall knew her as well as he and Varian did. There was no reason to…
"Are you listening Grekko?" Tirion's voice permeated his conscious.
Grekko looked up sharply. "Your pardon." He said. "What were you saying?"
Tirion's gaze held sympathy. "Understandable. I was discussing move to enter Scourgeholme and kill the three leaders." He then nodded toward the rest of Icecrown. "Then we will ride the Skybreaker north. There is a narrow flat plain which I feel we can engage the enemy and make a stand." He took a breath. "The time of the Argent Crusade is now. We must strike before the scourge army becomes too powerful that the peoples of the world can no longer stand."
"It sounds like a good plan sir."
"Find your daughter and son will you. I have matters to discuss with my orderly and we have an injured man whom Helene has been healing. I wish to know his progress."
Grekko nodded and bowed. "As you wish, my lord." He retreated away again somewhat lost in his own thoughts.
Rhenn winced and looked down at Thrall and a priest named Amalthea. Her knees were up and her feet were flat on the bed with a sheet over her lower body. Thrall was between her legs feeling and examining her. She was far enough along she was starting to show. Varian sat beside her gently caressing her hair and holding her hand. The King was worried. Rhenn had been becoming pale and reclusive. She also was not eating as much as he felt she should.
Thrall rose from where he had been examining her. The shaman had delivered many a child in his time and attended many women during pregnancy and after birth. He looked at Varian and then eased Rhenn's legs down.
Both Rhenn and Varian watched him as he washed his hands and dried them. He walked to her bedside and closed his eyes. "Rhenn…" He looked down from her gaze. "I do not think you can birth this child."
"What is wrong?" Varian asked as he drew Rhenn close feeling her shiver lightly.
"The baby is low and already straining the stitches." He swallowed and looked up at Rhenn. "I love children and life Rhenn, but if you were to lose it without help you could hemorrhage and die within a few minutes. I am not sure you life is worth the risk."
Rhenn took a deep breath to steady herself. "What do you recommend?"
"I make you a drink to mix in your tea and you relax."
"You wish to make her miscarry?" Varian gasped. He pulled Rhenn closer. "Why would anyone destroy a life on purpose? It is innocent and…"
Thrall ignored the King and looked at Rhenn. "The decision is up to you." He sighed. "It is not an easy choice I know, but I feel that Highlord Fordring was correct. The child will certainly come early, but how early is anyone's guess. The longer it remains the more time it has to grow within you, but if it were come in the next few weeks…" He trailed off. "It would not survive."
Rhenn nodded. "Can you leave me for a moment?"
"Of course." Thrall said bowing to her.
"You as well Varian." Rhenn said. "I need to think on this."
He looked down and reluctantly let her go. The two men and the priestess walked down into the front room of the house. The guards nodded to them. All of them were handpicked by Tirion to guard Thrall and Rhenn.
"How can anyone make such a choice?" Varian asked Thrall. "You ask much of her."
"I do not wish my friend to die. If we are here we can help her and I can ease the bleeding." Thrall said. "Uncontrolled…" He looked at the King of Stormwind. "You have witnessed it firsthand."
"And would rather not repeat it."
It was more than an hour later when Rhenn appeared. Her eyes were puffy from weeping and seemed to be weakened. She was using the banister to prop her up. Varian went to her and looked at her. "Are you well?"
She looked up at him and then looked at Thrall. "I will do as you ask." She said softly.
Thrall nodded. "Then give me a few moments to make you the willow tea and mix the herbs Tirion prepared for you." He said. ""King Varian can you please take her upstairs and see to making her comfortable." He looked at the young king and the healer. "Kindly remove the stitch from her."
Varian nodded. Though not thrilled with taking orders from a Horde, he obeyed knowing it was for the greater good of Rhenn if he complied. He swung her fragile body into his arms and walked back to her bedchamber. He laid her down and gently watched her relax. "I'm here for you." He said softly.
She nodded. "If I die…please tell my children I…"
Varian pressed a finger to her lips. "There will be no such talk of that." He said firmly. "You will tell them yourself how much you love them and be telling your grand babes."
The healer gently reached into her and cut the stitch. Rhenn shifted a little in discomfort, but nodded as the woman bowed and left them. She settled back and looked up at Varian who was watching her his scarred face tight with worry.
Thrall came into the room. He carried a mug of steaming tea.
Jamiy was looking over the maps that Tirion Fordring had left out. He sighed and studied them. He did not hear Tirion the tent.
"You miss her already don't you?" The Highlord asked.
Jamiy jumped a little and turned to his mentor. "Forgive me. You startled me."
"Have you told your mother and father of your marriage yet?" Tirion asked casually.
Jamiy was stunned. How had he known that he had wed the Silver Covenant Ranger Captain Sheerah. "No." He took a breath. "We felt we could not wait." Jamiy said.
"And the child in her belly is why Lady Vereesa keeps her busy in Dalaran I am certain." Tirion said evenly watching the boy steadily.
Jamiy looked up sharply and Tirion read his answer in the young man's shocked eyes. "How did you…?"
"I am a paladin as you are. I can sense new life in a woman as you can." He said then chuckled. "Though, her ripening figure will soon make it known to the world. Also, I doubt that Lady Vereesa would keep her best lieutenant confined to keeping the peace in Dalaran for any other reason." He shifted the papers. "How long have you too been lovers?"
"More than a year." Jamiy said knowing there was little point to lying with a man whom had already guessed so much.
"The Lady Rhenn will be thrilled to have a grandchild, I am sure." Tirion said. "You did well keeping it a secret until recently." He chuckled. "Fatherhood tends to make a man giddy and grin like an idiot. You are not alone in this. I was the same when I found my own wife was carrying my son."
Jamiy sighed. "My sister was the only one who knew. She came to my wedding. I promised her we would marry in the Cathedral of Light for Momma, I mean the Lady Rhenn." He looked as Tirion dropped into his chair. "Is my mother well?"
"She sends her regards and prays for you." Tirion said looking down at a paper before looking back up again.
Jamiy took a breath. "Helene said that the pregnancy was in jeopardy." He watched his mentor. "She said you were looking after her. Now you are here with the Argent Crusade men. Who is looking after her?"
"Thrall and the King. Thrall is a shaman whom I am sure has cared for many delicate women." Tirion found a marked letter for him. He opened it and read it.
"The Horde leader is with my mother?" Jamiy gasped. He could not quite keep the dismay and distaste from his voice.
"Yes." Tirion said distractedly as he frowned. "They have been friends since before your birth."
"But he is a Horde, my lord." Jamiy said. He watched Tirion's face.
"Does that really matter when we have a greater enemy to defeat?" Tirion admonished softly. Jamiy looked down a moment. "Thrall has been friend to Rhenn for years and I know he cares for her. He would never do her harm. You must trust in that." He shifted through the papers and then lifted one. The Highlord's eyes closed and he sighed as he shook his head. He read it and nodded.
"My Lord?" Jamiy asked.
"King Varian wrote a dispatch to me." He said. "Three hundred more troops will be arriving to take the oath at the Vanguard tomorrow."
"That is good news."
"It is not all good in the letter." Tirion said. He rose to his feet. He walked to the entrance to his tent. He nodded to the guard. "Fetch me Lady Helene and Lord Grekko."
The man nodded and quickly found the two talking nearby. "Highlord Fordring requires you in his tent."
"At this hour?" Grekko asked.
"Yes."
They walked to the tent and enter. Grekko bowed to Tirion as did Helene. "You sent for us?" He asked.
Tirion sighed. He passed Grekko the note. "I am sorry." He said and walked passed them toward the meeting room in the front of the tent to allow the family their privacy.
Grekko looked down at the note. "'I regret to inform you that the Lady Rhenn miscarried the child she was carrying in the early hours of the morning. She is resting now and recovering. Please tell her family.' The baby…?" Grekko gasped. "She lost the baby."
"Don't make it sound like it was her fault father." Jamiy said.
"No…I don't mean it that way. I mean it in shock." Grekko said quietly.
Helene stepped forward. "Her cervix was weak father. It was likely she would not have carried it to term anyway."
Grekko dropped heavily into a seat. "This is all my fault." He began to weep. "If I had not hit her…"
"It was an accident." Helene said.
Grekko winced. That was the convenient lie that Tirion had told them. He sighed. "But a babe…" He would bear the guilt of striking her until the day he died.
Helene embraced her father and Jamiy sighed. He then came to them and they all three wept for their loss. From the entrance Tirion watched them silently. It was for the best, but no less hard.
It was well after dark when Thrall came to check on Rhenn. He was surprised to find she was not in bed. He looked about the room and found her sitting against the wall near the fire, her legs tucked up to her chest like a child. She was only a thin night gown that left little of her body to the imagination. Silent tears were falling down her cheeks.
"Rhenn?" He asked gently as he knelt beside her.
She looked up. "I…There was hardly any pain." She said her voice strained.
He shut his eyes and nodded. "How do you feel?"
"I…" She looked down and started to weep again.
Thrall was not used to the tears of women. Though his heart hurt for her, he had never had a mate and there for did not know how to comfort a woman who hurt so. He looked at the bed. The bed sheets were in a pile. He saw the blood on them. Gently he gathered them up and walked to the door. He would fetch new ones so she could rest and make her some calming tea. That would help her.
Varian met him in the hall. "How is she?"
Thrall nodded to the bundle.
Varian nodded and swallowed. Thrall walked by him and Varian spoke making him pause. "Why did you not go to Sylvanas or the trolls?" He asked. "I know the blood elves are self absorbed, but the others are good friends no?"
"Friends is pushing the relationship." Thrall answered. "Sylvanas would have taken me, but she nearly lost Undercity in an uprising coup. I cannot trust her people to keep me alive." He asked. "The Darkspears would help me, but they are simple and could easily be murdered by Hellscream to get me." He sighed. "Reaching out to Rhenn seemed like the logical option." He bowed to the King.
Varian regarded him. That did make sense. He would protect the orc not only for Rhenn's sake, but for his own reasoning. Thrall knew Horde battle tactics and a skilled battle master. Varian would use both should the need arise.
"I will go make her some tea and bring her fresh sheets." Thrall said moving toward the stairs.
"Send her orderly Kallin up as well." Varian said.
Thrall nodded.
The King entered the bed chamber without knocking and saw Rhenn huddled on the floor. He dropped to his knees beside her. "Are you well, sweetheart? Can I get you anything? Do you hurt?" He asked softly as he pressed a bit of hair back behind her tear drop ear.
She looked up at him. The sadness and pain in her eyes nearly made his heart break. He gently pressed a kiss to her brow. He gently lifted her in his arms. She was limp like a rag doll at first, but then she reached up and wrapped an arm about him. She shivered and pressed her face against his shoulder and became to sob. He held her as the sobs wracked through her entire body. She needed this. She needed to cry to ease her body and mind, but it hurt all the same.
He enfolded her in his embrace and held her gently rubbing her back until she had sobbed so much her body was exhausted and limp in his arms. Her eyes were shut and he felt her breathing ease. She slept. He dared not move lest he wake her.
Kallin was working on some embroidery by the fire waiting for a call if there was a need for help. She had her own tears of sorrow on her cheeks that showed in the firelight.
He looked at the fire. Very few times he had opened his heart so. Only to three people in his adult life. Tiffin, the beautiful common girl who had captured his heart at harvest, his son, who at his birth was perfect, and now Rhenn, his most trusted friend who needed him more than ever.
It was morning such as it was in Icecrown. Things were often so bleak in this land. There was no sun, just a small lightening of the dark sky during the day.
Grekko sat sipping some tea as he watched Highlord Tirion's Argent Crusaders prepare to go to battle. Tirion himself was talking to a young woman, Jamiy, and Helene. The young woman was the younger by a few years. Grekko wondered why in Light's name did, Tirion have a child on the field of battle. The girl bowed and turned away.
As she shifted her long robes a tiny creature emerged from them. He blinked. An imp. The child was a warlock? She started to make her away to the tower for provisions when Helene caught up to her.
"Welcome. What is your name?" Helene asked.
The girl paused and looked up at Helene. The beautiful priestess was the envy of many women. She cocked her head to the side from under her cowl. "Lillina." She said.
Helene took in her skin that almost had a pale blue cast in the low light and her high boned features. "Highlord Tirion said you were a friend." She said. "We are only two of ten women on the battle field. I like to get to know my sisters in arms." The child was a Night Elf, well not fully. The roundness of her jaw and eyes were human. A half elf like herself.
Lillina smiled. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Not calling me a child. You called me a woman."
Helene smiled. "You are beautiful. Was your mother a night elf or your father?"
"My parents were humans and dead." The girl said. "Though I have heard rumors my father is one of the Lich Kings men. If that is the case he is dead to me."
"Such poor wretches deserve pity not hate Lillina. Their lives were stolen. They cannot help what they become."
"But the Knights of Ebon Blade are free."
"That takes more hated than you can imagine and channeling it toward the Lich King to severe the link and hold he has on them. It is not easy and very painful." Helene said. "It can be done, but some would rather just die." Helene turned to the young girl. "Perhaps your father is among the Knights. When the war is quieter I will take you to inquire of Highlord Morgaine."
"He is fearsome I have heard and very handsome for an undead."
Helene chuckled. "You are young to know of such things." She then chuckled. "But yes, he is a hard man. After serving the Lich King as one of his best men, he knows he is hunted and is always on guard. He is a good man, however. You will see when you meet him. All the Knights are. You must look past what they done, though they do not and see them as they once were, a person."
"You are amazing. No wonder everyone likes you." Lillina said.
Jamiy trotted up to his twin. He smiled. "The Knights and Argent Crusade commanders have killed the three leaders of Scourgeholme. Now we prepare to march t the rendezvous point with the Skybreaker and from there we land in the Valley of Fallen Heroes to free the slave champions of the scourge that are fallen heroes and press to the citadel."
Helene bowed. "I will gather my staff and make ready. Come with me Lillina." She said leading the girl to her tent even as a horn blew to begin the muster of the army to make ready to fight.