Twisted Fate
Chapter 1

It had been three weeks since the night atop the Bazaar and Nariel still smiled every time she thought of it. It hadn't been the first time that she went off at night with Sath'rovok, nor had it been the first time they made love. In truth, nothing unusual had really happened that night except that she had felt everything so much more. His words had struck a deeper tone, his kisses had seemed more passionate, and he had just seemed so much more in love with her that night. It had made everything exceptionally special. It had saddened her when the next day he was called away on assignment. She didn't even know where – "I'm sorry my love, I don't even know until I get to the barracks" he had said. "All I know is that it will be about a month and a half".

Over a month to go before I see his face or hear his voice again. She thought sadly. Still, she had been having some luck finding her own work, which kept her occupied. At first it had been more of the same. Lots of eavesdropping, a little theft here and there. Never anything exciting. But then, she had finally gotten the first assignment to lead her outside of the city. It was a discreet transaction between the elf who had hired her - who she strongly suspected to be a warlock - and a Forsaken in Tranquillen, south of Quel'thalas. It still hadn't been overly dangerous – the most unexpected thing to happen the whole time was when she knocked over a crate of the Forsaken's wares by accident only to find a severed head staring back at her. Still it was a first step. She had moved up from being stuck in the city and she had been content with that at the time. That had been at the end of the first week without Sath'rovok.

Her patience had been tested by the end of the second week, after three more jobs. Only one had led her away from Silvermoon – this time to a scout patrolling the road, barely outside the walls – and all of them were message deliveries. So when she met up with the figure who placed her in all of the jobs she had managed to find at the end of the third week, only to find out that her new assignment was yet another message delivery, she had snapped.

"I am not a damn delivery girl!" she had yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration.

The slender elf had glanced at her casually before giving her a dismissive wave of his hand.

"You are for now." He said, turning back to his work.

"The hell I am!" She shouted, throwing the envelope back towards him. "I'm better than this!" she yelled. "I want something better.

He had watched it bounce off his shoulder and fall to the ground, his face turning to a scowl before picking it up carefully and turning to her.

"You will take what scraps I decide to throw you and be grateful for them, or I will see to it that your future work will make being a…delivery girl…look like a queen." He had said slowly, his eyes narrowing towards her, adding "Think carefully before you speak again."

Nariel had wanted to scream, to rip the elf's infuriating head off. But she had said nothing, instead scowling at him before slowly reaching up to take the envelope from his outstretched hand.

"Good girl." He said, a taunting smirk spread across his mouth as she turned and stormed out.

Fairbreeze Village. She fumed. Not only am I still delivering people's mail, but I'm not even going as far to do it! She thought bitterly. It made her want to scream. She mulled over her current situation as she walked along the road. Why am I even bothering with this? She grumbled to herself. If I wanted to do odd jobs, I'd just open up a damn shop. It wasn't that she wanted to be an assassin or anything after all – that kind of rogue work was a bit deeper than she wanted to go – but she didn't feel like it was asking too much to be put to proper use as a spy in an Alliance city or scouting some of the more untamed areas of the world. She wanted to go out and explore. She wanted adventures. She wanted to look back on these years later on in life and have stories to tell, not sadly recall the missed opportunities.

She sighed as she walked along, kicking a rock until it skittered off the edge of the path into the grass. The journey from Silvermoon to Fairbreeze Village was just under a day and a half by mount, but she had none and by foot it was nearly twice as long, so when she saw the village come into sight over the top of a hill she gave a relieved sigh and felt her steps quicken just a little. She walked into the town and stepped over to a fence at the side of the road, resting against it while she dug through her pack for the letter. It was addressed to the innkeeper under a name she didn't recognize, but she was familiar enough with the village to spot the inn – the largest building – right away. She stepped inside and approached the bar, where a tall blonde elf was reading over a lengthy scroll.

"Excuse me" she said to the woman, who peered up from the scroll.

"Yes?" replied the innkeeper, seeming somewhat annoyed at the disturbance.

"I'm looking for Marniel Amberlight." Nariel said, placing the letter on the counter.

"Oh! That's me." Said the woman, suddenly interested.

"For you." Nariel replied simply, waving at the note. "Will you be sending a reply?" she continued as the woman scanned the message.

"No, it's not necessary" the innkeeper said before turning back to her scroll without as much as an acknowledgement.

Such excitement. Nariel grumbled to herself, turning from the bar. Surely one day they will sing songs of my adventures. She sighed sadly at the thought. Or maybe at least for my patience in dealing with ungrateful innkeepers. She mused.

She glanced around the inn at the various people seated at the tables and booths. Her eyes immediately caught a pair of elves in the corner, a male and a female. He was seated with his back to the wall and she was in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck and her long black hair reaching down almost to where his arm was looped around her back. They were locked in a passionate kiss, as oblivious to the rest of the world as it was to them. A quiet laugh broke out as their kiss finished and Nariel heard a muffled sound before another giggle.

At least Sath and I go somewhere private. She thought to herself.

Her mind drifted back to her lover for a moment, and her eyes shifted to the man who had leaned forward into the light a little bit more. His hair was the same shade of blonde, and he would be roughly the same height. In fact his eyes were the same pale shade of green as well.

Nariel felt her amused smirk fade slightly.

His face has the same shape. She thought, taking a step towards the pair.

His voice has the same tone… She took another step.

It was then that the pair stood up and stepped fully out of the shadow of their dark corner of the room and into the light. In that moment, Nariel felt her heart stop.

No.

He shouldn't be here. She thought, trying to reason away the sight before her as her thoughts derailed into a tangle of questions.

He can't be here…but…

"S-Sath?" she whispered uncertainly.

At the sound of her voice, he froze. His body language spoke volumes to her. The way his shoulders tightened, the way he stopped mid-step, even the surprised gasp she heard. It told her everything she needed to know, confirming her worst fear even before she saw him turn to her. If any uncertainty remained, the look that spread over his face as he realized who had called his name dispelled it with ruthlessly quick finality.

It was Sath'rovok. Her friend since childhood. Her lover for almost as long. They had been a perfect pair, inseparable. And there he stood, with a giggling black haired female hanging onto his arm.

"No." Nariel said, shutting her eyes to deny herself what they were showing to her.

"Nari…" Sath'rovok said.

"NO!" She shouted, scrambling for a way to shut off her hearing as well.

This isn't happening. She thought as she backed away. He's not here. She tried to convince herself. This is just a bad dream. But the moment she opened her eyes again her heart shattered, unable to deny reality any longer.

"This…is where you've been?" she whispered quietly.

"This was your assignment?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

Sath'rovok said nothing in reply, but looked away.

"I can't believe…" Nariel said quietly, her voice trailing off.

Without another word she turned and stumbled towards the door. As she stepped out into the daylight she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Nari wait -" Sath'rovok started.

In a flash she turned on him, a dagger at his throat.

"Don't" she said, her voice wavering as she spoke the only word she could manage.

His look of fear gave her no more satisfaction than the terrified scream of the female elf. As she stood there, anger began to grow inside of her. Finally her voice found a way to speak the confusion and pain that tore at her heart.

"How could you Sath?" Nariel whispered. "This is why you've been so much more passionate isn't it?" she asked, her voice rising. "You weren't even thinking about me." she said, stating rather than asking it.

Her hand trembled as the shock waves rippled over her, and she pressed the blade a tiny bit deeper into his neck as the rage welled up. A droplet of blood broke the skin and trickled down the edge of the dagger. Her own eyes finally cracked, tears beginning to slip down her face.

"How long have you been lying to me?" she lashed out. "I trusted you with everything!" she screamed at him. "How could you do this?"

Her questions slipped out quickly. Even if he had not been paralyzed with fear, he would not have had a chance to answer them. Nothing he might have said could have eased her pain anyways.

She inched forward, glaring into his eyes as he tried to lean away from the dagger. Slowly they grew closer. Like so many times before she could feel his breath, but this time it brought her no comfort. She searched his eyes looking for any sign of remorse. For any sign of regret at his loss or a desperate wish that he could undo what he had done, but there was only fear. Fear for his own safety. Perhaps for that of his new lover, but for Nariel there was nothing.

No regret.

No apologetic sorrow.

Just…nothing.

Finally she stopped, pulling her dagger down and backing away. He watched her move carefully, unsure whether to expect her to speak or end his life, but she said nothing. He would never hear her voice again; if nothing else she was determined to claim this small victory. Turning to where his charger was tied to a fence nearby she moved over and with a single slice, cut the rope and jumped atop the horse before he could object.

She looked at him one final time and saw her life in pieces. She was nobody. A delivery girl. She was barely a rogue to begin with, and now she had failed to hold on to the only part of her life that had ever been worth something.

Sath'rovok.

He had been hers forever. How long had he wanted to get away from her? She loved him and she hated him. Her mind went blank. She wanted to be away from here; away from him. Now. She didn't care where. She jerked the reins of the horse to the side and set out as fast as the creature could go. The inn, and the hated love of her life grew smaller and smaller behind her until they disappeared, and when they were finally no more than a speck in the distance she let the tears fall freely, uncontrollably.

What did I do to push him away? She thought.

She rode for as long as the horse could run. By the time it stopped, she didn't know where she was or even what direction she had ended up in, and neither did she care. All she knew was the pain of her heart shredding itself over and over again, each question a knife tearing into it while a lifetime of love unraveled in a single act of betrayal. Finally she dismounted, stumbling to a nearby tree and falling to her knees before curling up beneath it. As the stillness of the night descended upon the world, her mind was caught in the maelstrom of confusion and agony. Her final thought before drifting off to merciful unconsciousness was the one thing she feared she may never know:

Sath'rovok…why?