The creature clicked its beak impatiently as I approached. I knew not to get too close, for it wasn't used to undead, and it would surely have my hand if I tried to touch it.

It was beautiful and strong, its pale golden feathers pristine, and tipped inky black at the neck.

"You're sure it will withstand living in Tirisfal Glades?" I asked the Sin'dorei who was holding its bridle.

"Oh, she'll be fine here, if it's the Scourge you're worried about. She was raised in the Ghostlands, so she knows the dark, and even allows Forsaken to handle her."

I nodded, walking around it and examining it. It was a gorgeous specimen of a hawkstrider, one of the most impressive ones I'd ever seen. They didn't usually come in that color, normally being red, blue, black, or green. Its eyes were blue, another unusual trait, and seemed shrewd.

Kneeling, I examined the creature's two legs, noticing that their color was also darker than a normal hawkstrider's, but looked very strong, ending in steel-like talons. Clearly, this bird had been bred for war.

"Impressive," I murmured. "Does she have a name?"

"Different people called her different things. You can call her anything you like."

"I'll let Faith decide."

Truth be told, I was a little apprehensive about how she would accept the hawkstrider. Weeks had passed since Prince's death, and she hadn't yet spoken of getting another mount. I'd toyed with the idea of giving her a skeletal horse to ride, but they really were uncomfortable for her.

"That is one gorgeous hawkstrider."

That voice, which had the same chilled undertone of death mine did, made me frown. Its owner had taken to following me quite a bit since she had arrived in Undercity, not paying attention to my irritation whenever she did so. I didn't even allow Faith to follow me like a lost puppy, although she probably would have done if I'd let her.

Cindera stepped into my line of sight, and the hawkstrider made an unhappy noise, tensing, its foot scratching at the ground.

"I thought so too," I said.

She came closer to me, and the hawkstrider lunged at her, causing her to jump backwards with a cry.

I rather liked this bird.

"She'll do." I told the blood elf, taking a bag of gold from the folds of my cloak and handing it to him.

"You'll be pleased with her," he said, bowing to me.

"It's not me she's got to please." Carefully, I took the hawkstrider's bridle. The bird looked at me sharply, and I stared right back at it until it relaxed. It could have easily gouged out my eyes from its height, but for now, it seemed to trust me.

I led her towards where the stables were located, sensing Faith before I saw her. I inhaled, smelling her perfume, "Faith," I said.

She came out of Prince's stall. She didn't look like she'd been crying, but she'd been close. "Hi," she said quietly. Her eyes held mine for a while, before sliding past me towards the hawkstrider.

The bird broke free from me and immediately went to her, rubbing its face against hers, careful to avoid her eyes. It gave a soft contented squawk as it did so, and Faith smiled, raising a hand to stroke its neck.

I really liked this bird.

"It's magnificent," she said. "What's its name?"

"You want to name her?"

Faith looked at me, "Me?"

"She's yours."

Now she seemed stunned, "You… what?"

I smiled a little, "You need a new mount. I thought you'd like this one."

Faith stared at me for a moment, before looking back at the hawkstrider, then at me again, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. She seems to be a good judge of character, judging by the way she's nuzzling you like that."

"Thank you," she whispered. She stepped towards me, the hawkstrider following her, and took my hand. The next thing I knew, she was kissing me deeply, and my head spun, my knees going weak.

I pulled away, only too aware that Cindera was watching us. I cleared my throat, feeling speechless for a second. Faith's cheeks were red, and she trembled slightly. Clearly, we'd both felt the same thing during that kiss.

"So…" I managed at last. "Name?"

Faith squeezed my hand gently, "Lady."

I smiled again, "Sounds good to me. Any reference to another lady you know?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said quickly, winking at me.

The hawkstrider nudged her again, and she turned towards it, still holding my hand.

"What do you think?" she asked. "Do you like the name Lady?"

The bird cocked its head to the side and nudged her again.

Both of us chuckled.

"I think she likes it," I said, extending my free hand towards the hawkstrider, who very briefly nudged me.

Faith looked at me, "Thank you, Sylvanas." There was no mistaking her sincerity.

I pulled her close, kissing her gently, "You know I love you, right?" I spoke in a private voice, once that I had only used a handful of times in my life and undeath.

"I know. I love you."

Yeah, she did. I could see it in her very being, and the intensity of her love scared me a little. Even now, after decades of being surrounded by that love, I felt overwhelmed by it.

"I'll let you two get to know each other a little. There's a meeting I'd like you to attend later if you don't mind."

"The Agamand Situation?" she asked.

"That's the one."

"I'll be there."

I squeezed her hand again, and left her and Lady alone. They already seemed the best of friends, from what I could see, which I was happy about. Faith needed more creatures to love besides me.

I went back to my office for the rest of the day until it was time for the meeting I'd summoned Faith to.

She arrived twenty minutes early, as was her custom, and, to my surprise, so did Cindera, getting there only a minute after her. I wasn't too happy about that, as Faith and I used our time before meetings to go over notes. Cindera's early arrival shook the plan a little, as she insisted on staying as close to me as possible.

She sat down at the head of the table next to me, which was a spot that I had always reserved for Faith. I bristled, but Faith briefly shook her head at me.

Right. I tell people where to sit. I'll just tell her to move.

I got to my feet, moving to stand next to Faith and taking the notes she was holding, looking them over quickly. We didn't talk – we didn't need to in this case, as we could practically read each other's minds. But Cindera had other ideas.

"So, what's this meeting about exactly? Koltira told me I could sit in, did you know?"

"Obviously," I said. "Or I would have asked you to leave immediately."

"What do you mean?"

Faith looked up from her notes, "Her Majesty is the one who decides who goes to the meetings she presides over. Koltira asked her, and she approved. Had she not done so, you wouldn't be here now."

"I'm kind of wondering why you're here," she said.

"Enough." I handed the notes back to Faith, "Get out of that chair."

My tone was commanding enough for her to obey me immediately.

"Where do I sit?"

I pointed to the other end of the table. "That chair over there."

"But it's so far from you…"

The look on Faith's face changed from one of hostility to one of fury, the same look she'd directed at Arthas the last time we had seen him. But she held her tongue.

"Be that as it may, you're not high enough in the Undercity food chain to sit closer to me during meetings. So take that seat."

Undercity food chain. I still cringe when I think that I said something like that. Faith glanced at me, then back at Cindera to see what she would do. It almost looked like she was going to refuse, which would have been unwise. But after a few seconds, she got up and moved to the chair I'd indicated. Her eyes didn't leave mine.

People began to arrive. If they were surprised to see the death knight, they didn't say anything about it, simply standing behind their usual seats and waiting for me to start the meeting. I didn't sit down until everyone had arrived, and Cindera didn't notice that she was the only one already seated, or if she did, she didn't care. Faith took her seat next to me, which calmed me down. I hated meetings. Under the table, I pressed my leg against hers, and she gently returned the pressure. Old habits died hard. We'd done that sort of thing all the time at dinner. It had driven me almost mad with need.

"I'll try to make this as quick as possible," I said, "as I know we're all busy with preparations for the Northrend campaign." I looked towards Faith.

"As you know, the Scourge is more active than we've seen it since it first defiled our lands. Not only in Northrend, but here too."

Everyone nodded.

"We've been attacked inside the city, but there have also been attacks in Orgrimmar and Stormwind. I –."

"Should we care about Stormwind?" asked Cindera, interrupting me.

Faith shot her a glance, "Well, considering how many people live in Stormwind, imagine what it would be like for Azeroth if the city completely fell to the Scourge. As far as that threat is concerned, there is not Horde or Alliance. There is just us and Arthas' forces."

I nearly groaned. The last thing I wanted to do was work with the Alliance, but Faith was right. The Scourge was too active right now to hold grudges.

"I'm less than thrilled to have to work with Stormwind, but there's not much else we can do right now. Orgrimmar will be sending forces to the Borean Tundra, at Warsong Hold, led by Garrosh Hellscream. As far as we know, the Alliance will also be bringing forces at Valiance Keep."

Faith conjured a map of Northrend and Lordaeron, placing it on the wall and marking the areas I had just spoken of.

"For our part, we've set up a few towns in the Howling Fjord and Dragonblight. They'll be our bases against the Scourge. Now, the first Forsaken soldiers have already left for Northrend, but the crux of our army will be leaving in a month. But before we do that, we need to take care of a little problem here in Tirisfal Glades. Faith?"

Faith waved a hand at the map, and an area lit up.

"The Agamand Mills have become what appear to be the largest Scourge outpost in Tirisfal," she said. "I don't think I need to rehash the story of what happened to the family, but while they were slain, they still walk, along with everyone else who used to work the mills." She looked at everyone, "The Scourge there is slaying members of the nearby Scarlet Monastery and using them to bolster their forces. This isn't news to anybody, except for the fact that they number nearly four-hundred undead now."

I winced, unsure as to how I had let the situation there get out of control so quickly.

"Didn't we send forces there, Captain?" asked someone.

"We did, and we thought we'd gotten rid of the problem. Obviously we were mistaken there."

"I'm open to suggestions," I said. I already knew who I wanted to send to take care of the Scourge there, but I wanted to hear other ideas before I made up my mind.

"Can't we burn it all?" asked Cindera.

"Burning down Agamand Mills is not an option," I said. "We'd end up burning that entire section of Tirisfal Glades, and I don't really want to turn our home into a barren wasteland. Although, of course, fire will be our last option if things really get dire."

"Do we know which necromancer is raising them?"

"Dargol," I replied. "A Scourge captain. We need to take him out, even though I'm positive that the Scourge will send someone else in his place eventually." I waited, looking at everyone around the table, one by one.

"I have a suggestion, my Lady," said Faith quietly.

I turned my head towards her, thinking suddenly that she was too beautiful to be in Undercity. She needed to be surrounded by light, not darkness. "Yes?"

"Well, the First Magi Corps will be going to Northrend in a month's time. We have a lot of new recruits who could use some breaking in before they're sent up there."

"Is the situation so dire that we need to send the Corps in?" asked Rotvine.

I gave a nod, "I had that idea myself the other day. I would hardly be justified in sending troops to Northrend if I can't get rid of the Scourge here."

"I thought that Captain Everstone was staying here for that?" he said.

"This problem needs to be addressed sooner rather than later," said Faith. "And the new recruits from both the First and Second Magi Corps haven't had enough experience fighting the Scourge."

"You're talking about sending three hundred troops to Agamand, Captain."

"Do you suggest that we break them in on the Scourge of Northrend? Because that'll be a massacre."

"Take it easy," I said. "Does anybody have any other suggestions?"

"The First Magi Corps is the best bet we have against the Scourge so far," said Koltira. "How many new recruits do you have?"

"Two hundred and twelve," replied Faith. "And I believe we have nearly a hundred in the Second Corps."

I looked down at my notes. The First Magi Corps now had nearly five hundred members, which was more than we'd ever had. The Second and Third Corps had two hundred members each. They were also good, but less experienced. I'd be sending all of the First Magi Corps to Northrend, and part of the Second. The others would stay here and take of the Scourge on the home front.

"Could you use death knights in the corps?"

I shook my head, "The Magi Corps are so named because of their abilities to use magic. How many death knights have you got at your command, Koltira?"

"One hundred and ten, so far."

Faith scribbled something down on a spare bit of parchment and pushed it towards me. UC Mounted Regiment?

"I could give you your own unit if you'd like. But your death knights would have to go through basic training before I could really make up my mind."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Your Majesty. I'll get right on that."

"Good. I'll want you to report back to me as soon as you have at least fifty people ready. In the meantime, for the Agamand situation, I agree with Faith's idea. I'll send the new recruits to cut their teeth on the Scourge there. Faith, your responsibility."

She nodded, "Yes, my Lady."

I heard a derisive snort coming from Cindera's direction and glanced at her, "Something funny?"

She didn't answer, and I decided to let it slide.

"Meeting adjourned," I said finally. "Faith, stay a while, there's something else I need to talk to you about."

Faith nodded, not moving as everyone else got up and left the meeting room. Cindera took the longest, wanting to linger, but eventually, she left as well.

"I'll have the Corps ready to go by tomorrow."

"I know you will. That's not what I wanted to tell you."

I stood up and began to pace. I didn't want to have to do this, but Thrall had asked, and Faith was the best I had. I placed my hands on the table, my fingers turning white with the pressure I was putting on them to try and keep myself calm.

"Sylvanas… what –."

"I'm sending you to Northrend."

Faith stared at me for a full ten seconds before she got to her feet and walked over to where I was. "Was it your decision?"

"No, of course not."

She put her arms around me from behind, resting her head against the back of my shoulder, "When did you get the word?"

"Yesterday. The Sunwell knows I don't want you to go anywhere."

"You wanted me to stay here," I said. "That's why you want to rush to take care of the Agamand Mills."

"I should have handled that a long time ago. I just didn't expect them to reproduce that quickly." I reached behind me and placed a hand on the back of her thigh, "At least you're happy to be going."

"Mmm. I'm happy to be doing something to fight Arthas on his front, it's true. But I don't want to leave you. Come with me."

"And leave Varimathras alone to take care of Undercity? He'll run it into the ground." I turned around and she pressed herself into my arms.

"We have a month," she whispered. "A whole month together before I leave."

"You'll be in Agamand for some of that," I replied, kissing her forehead.

"I know. But I can still come home every once in a while."

I knew she wouldn't do that, no matter how much she wanted to, she'd stay there and do her duty until everything was over.

"So, who's going to take care of the Scourge here while I'm gone?"

"I am."

She looked up at me, "I guess you'll do," she whispered. She began to release me, and I braced myself for it, wanting to hold her closer. But I let her go, leaning back against the table. "I'll go check on the corps, then."

I nodded, "I'll send Cindera with you too."

"With me? Why? Where?"

"To the Mills first, then possibly to Northrend."

"Might I make a suggestion about that?"

"No, Faith. She's good, I've seen her fighting the Scourge."

"Okay. But you just told Koltira that you were going to give him his own unit."

"I am, and I'll attach that unit to the First Magi Corps."

She just looked at me. I knew she wanted to argue, but she knew better.

"Would you rather she stay here with me while you're in Northrend? She'll worm her way into my bed."

"No she wouldn't. You wouldn't let her." But she didn't sound so sure. Her eyes took on a hurt look.

"No. I wouldn't let her. You don't need to look at me like that."

"But she's dead. You could be with her."

"This is Undercity. A lot of people here are dead, and yet I chose to stay with you when you come back to me. It has nothing to do with the fact that you're alive, but more with the fact that you and I have too much history together for me to let you go." I brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her gently.

"I really should go," she said. Her voice was trembling.

"Pull yourself together before you go."

"If I relax against you, I won't go anywhere for the rest of the day. You might as well take me to bed now."

I laughed, "Will you stop trying to get me to take you to bed? I will, before you go. And you'll remember it."