I kept my eyes on her back for a while. I hated this separation, although I wouldn't have admitted it to anybody, not even to her. My beautiful, brave girl.

"Northrend is taking its toll on her," said the Warchief gently.

"She can take it."

"Yes. But I hope that it won't irrevocably change her. This is an ugly war we're fighting, Sylvanas."

"I thought all wars were ugly, Warchief."

"You know what I mean. She shouldn't be going through this."

"You asked me to send her to this hell. If you want to change your mind, let me know and I'll take her home right away."

"I would, but she's been invaluable to us here. Her helping the Alliance was a stroke of genius, although I know she did it because she's kind, and she hates the Scourge so much she'll help anybody to get rid of them."

"A stroke of genius? How?"

"We'll be able to plead our case for working together against the Scourge. Faith is right about that. We won't manage it unless we stop bickering."

I grimaced. I saw where he was coming from. There weren't enough of us to fight the Scourge on our own, but I still hated having to work with the Alliance.

I slowly followed him to the meeting site, finding that Lor'themar was already there with Vol'jin and Cairne. They greeted me cordially enough, although I detected a flicker of both annoyance and fear in Lor'themar's eyes.

"I hear Faith has been doing well here," he said to me.

"Very well, yes," I replied.

"How is Faith?" asked a tauren who was with Cairne. I recognized him as Faith's tauren father Atalo.

"She's here, actually. So's Hamu. They're getting supplies."

"They are? So you've seen them? They're doing well?"

I nodded.

"You should go see them, Atalo," said Cairne. "You haven't seen Faith in a year."

"If there's time, I'll go see her after the meeting. Otherwise, it's okay. Taisha and I have been writing to her and Hamu. It's fun to know what they get up to."

"Has Faith told you everything that happened to her?" I wondered. "Because she tries to hide things from me."

"Probably because she doesn't want to worry you. She tells us what happened after the danger has passed. Hamu does the same thing."

"Doesn't it frustrate you?" Part of me was still upset with Faith for not telling me the truth.

"Of course it does. But we don't tell them when bad things happen to us either, otherwise they'd be frantic. Would you tell Faith if you'd nearly been killed?"

"No, because she'd drop everything and come to me, no matter what that entailed."

"Well, there you have it. You can't blame her for doing the exact same thing you're doing, can you?"

I could, and did. I was her queen, not just her lover. She had chosen to serve me, and therefore had the obligation to tell me everything that was going on with her, whether good or bad. I didn't reply, instead going into the building with the others and taking a seat and the long table, between Cairne and Lor'themar.

The Alliance was already there, and they watched us with distrust. Finally, Rhonin came in with Vereesa, each of them sitting at both ends of the table. I smirked. This might have been a summit between the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance, but there was no doubt that we were the minority there.

"I want to thank you all for coming," began Rhonin. "I know you're all very busy, so I want to make this quick so that you can all return home and keep working on the war effort."

"That's much appreciated, Master Redhair," murmured Thrall.

"First of all, I received the report from the First Magi Corps of Undercity, regarding what happened at Taunka'le Village."

I glanced at my brother-in-law, my eyebrow raised.

"Captain Everstone mentioned at least one thousand members of the Scourge in that part of the Borean Tundra. Did we know there were that many?"

"Thassarian had an inkling of those numbers," said Varian. "He would have done something about it, but he was fighting against a lich, and we all know how difficult those are to take out."

"You should have warned us," said Cairne softly. "Taunka'le Village was very close to that area, and now, whatever's left of it belongs to the Scourge."

"And they probably raised everything that was in there," said Tyrande acidly.

"They didn't," I countered. "Faith made sure to set as much of the village on fire. The Scourge wouldn't have been able to raise anything from the ashes, including Chief Wintergale."

"That captain of yours is becoming quite the hero, isn't she? She's Horde, and yet she helps humans and gnomes. What's with that?"

I glared at Varian, "I believe she already answered that question earlier, didn't she?"

"I for one, am extremely grateful to Captain Everstone for saving two of my people," said High Tinkerer Gelbin Mekkatorque, king of the gnomes. I was surprised to see him there, being as I'd heard that he was having problems in Gnomeregan. But despite all of that, he had sent some of his people to Northrend to help against the Scourge.

"She's got a big heart," I said in a low voice.

Rhonin nodded, "With that said, we are all grateful to the Horde for helping with the Scourge that was also assaulting Valiance Keep. Now, we need to worry about the rest of those undead forces."

The meeting went on for over two hours, with everyone discussing where their forces were in Northrend. We avoided mentioning run-ins against each other, for that would have degenerated quickly, but by the end, everyone agreed that working together would be the best solution.

"I know it's difficult for you to understand, and even harder to filter down to your people. But while you are in Northrend, I don't want to hear about any of your forces clashing against each other."

It was with difficulty that I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Faith would be happy about this decision, but I was less than thrilled.

We adjourned the meeting, getting up slowly, looking anywhere but at each other. Vereesa walked past me without even glancing in my direction, which stirred me a little. I wondered what she was thinking.

"Sylvanas," said Thrall. "A word, please."

I followed him outside, "What is it?"

"I received a report from Garrosh about Faith."

I snorted, "I already know he doesn't like her."

"No, he doesn't – that's evident in his report – but nevertheless, he was impressed with her. She took her turn on watch for longer periods than anybody else so that the others could rest, and as much as it killed Garrosh to admit it, her use of fire really saved them back there. She even trained the shaman a little."

"I'm happy to hear it," I said. This wasn't news to me, although it made me proud to hear it coming from the warchief. "She's turned into a good leader."

"I'd go so far as to say that she's an excellent leader. Perhaps you should think about pulling her off the front lines and have her direct the war effort."

A smile played on my lips, "I would, but she's adamant about fighting the Scourge herself. She won't refuse a promotion, but no matter what I do, she'll still be on the front lines. She hates the Scourge, and she's terrified of them, even if she won't talk about it, but she'd rather be there herself."

Thrall nodded, "Yes, I gathered that. She should be going from place to place via portal, not going with the soldiers, but she insists on staying with them, doesn't she?"

"She can be stubborn when it comes to that, not that I fully blame her." I stopped talking abruptly, standing up a little straighter. "Faith. Come out from behind there."

Thrall turned around just as Faith walked out from behind a building. She was blushing at having been caught, and couldn't look at me directly.

"Spying on us, Captain?" Thrall sounded amused.

"No. Not really. I just… I need to get back to the Hammer, so I wanted to bid you goodbye."

"Did you get everything you needed?"

"Yeah. I have no idea how we're going to fit everything through the portal, but we'll manage."

"Let's take a look."

We went to Krasus' Landing, where we saw a considerable amount of supplies that had been amassed against a wall.

"What in the world did you do, empty the stores?" I couldn't help but laugh. She must have spent every bit of coin she had. "Where's your stuff?"

She pointed to a backpack in a corner.

"That's all you got for yourself?"

"I travel light, you know that. As long as I have my spellblade, I'm fine anywhere."

I looked at her, noticing that she did have on a new set of black leather robes that had been lined with black fur. The Undercity crest was etched on her left breast, right over her heart. "These fit you well," I murmured.

She came to me, rising on her tiptoes to kiss me gently. "I'm going to miss you," she said.

"Don't think about that." I brushed a lock of hair from her forehead, "Oh, I almost forgot, your tauren father's here."

"Atalo? Where?" The desperate look in Faith's eyes receded slightly as she smiled.

"He was accompanying Cairne." I looked around, "There he is."

In a flash, Faith had broken away from me and launched herself at the tauren, who gave a joyful cry and caught her in his arms. Hamu was next to him, smiling.

"Oh, my beautiful sun child," said Atalo, nuzzling her. "You've lost weight, my daughter."

"We're at war," she said.

"That is not an excuse not to eat."

"I'll eat more, I promise," she said to him. "That's why we got all that. There's a lot of food there."

I shook my head, fully aware that she wouldn't. Fighting the Scourge had already taken a lot out of her. She was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, but her cheeks were a little sunken in, and when I'd held her, I had felt her ribs against me.

"Good. You can't fight the Scourge on an empty stomach."

Faith grinned and came back to me. I could tell she wanted to hold me, but there were too many people around now, so she settled for standing as close to me as possible without actually stepping on my feet.

"So, where are you off to now?" Atalo asked her.

"Back to the Hammer for a short while, then I have to take the troops back to Venomspite before I make my way to Wyrmrest Temple."

"Did Alexstrasza give you a timeframe for when you needed to be there?" I asked, turning my head to look at her.

"Before the end of the month."

"You should get there sooner then. Have Rotvine take everyone to Venomspite. He'll be fine. That way, you'll be free to go to the temple."

"Are you sure?"

I gave a nod, gently bumping my hand against hers.

"Does that mean I can stay longer here with you?"

Her eyes were wide, with an innocence I didn't buy into for a second. "Silly girl."

"Oh, you love me."

"That I do. I wish I didn't, though, it would make things a whole lot easier, I think."

"But we'd be sad."

"Because we're both bursting with happiness on a regular basis, are we?" I squeezed her hand briefly, "You have to go."

She hugged me tightly, pressing her body to mine and placing a soft kiss on my jaw, "I love you," she whispered in my ear."

I closed my eyes, "I love you too. Should I even bother telling you to be safe?"

"Safety's overrated." She released me, a look of pain flickering over her features as she did so.

Together with a couple of other mages, she created a large portal so that she and the others could get all of the supplies to Agmar's Hammer. Then, before I was ready for it, she stepped through it and vanished.

The familiar feeling of emptiness I experienced every time Faith and I were apart from each other stole over me again, so strongly that I felt overwhelmed with it for a while. I couldn't think. Memories flooded me of the countless times I'd ridden away from Everstone Village, often with tears in my eyes.

"It is never easy to say goodbye to the ones we love most."

I shook my head at Atalo's statement. "It doesn't get any easier with time, I can promise you that."

"Even the Scourge was not able to drive your love for Faith away. That is a good thing."

I had always thought that death would never part me from her. "I suppose. But I let her get away with a lot."

"I'm sure she feels the same way about you."

I smirked, "Probably."

"Might I ask you something? I know Faith isn't my real daughter, but Taisha and I have come to love her as such. What is it that you have planned for her? In the long run?"

My insides seemed to contract, as though they'd been doused in ice, "Are you asking me if I'm going to marry her?"

"I guess I am, yes."

"I should have done, before I died. Now… no. She's alive, I'm dead. I will never let her marry me."

"But you're with her. You make love to her, do you not?"

I frowned, "That's a bit personal, don't you think?" Had he been anybody else, I would have snapped.

"That may be, but you take what you want from her, and she takes what she wants from you. You are in a relationship with each other, even if you don't want to call yourself her girlfriend."

"That sounds so pedestrian," I muttered.

"Isn't that what she is? Your girlfriend, your lover, your significant other? Whatever you want to call it, you're with her. Why would marriage be such a stretch?"

"You think that Faith marrying me is going to make her happy. I can tell you that it won't. What would make Faith happy would be for someone to reverse what's been done to me. Erase time, bring us back to the day before the Scourge invaded so that we can better plan against them. But we can't do that."

"No. We can't. You know, I met Faith just a short while after she lost you. Her grief was still very raw. I'd never seen anybody so sad in my life. She was like a walking creature of despair. I don't know how she fought against the Burning Legion after what happened to you, but she did."

I nodded, "It was a coping mechanism for her. As long as she was busy doing something, she could forget about what had happened to me at least for a time."

"Yes. When she started staying with us, we would stay up part of the night, listening to her screaming in her nightmares. She would scream your name so loudly that she would barely have a voice the next day."

"She still has those nightmares. She tries to hide them from me by putting a spell around herself when she sleeps, but I still hear her, even if the rest of Undercity doesn't." I looked at him, "When did her eyes stop glowing?"

"About a month after she came to Mulgore. Her grief for you was so intense that I think part of her really did die with you. She couldn't say your name without falling apart. One day, we noticed that her eyes had lost their glow, and we couldn't figure out what had happened, because we'd never been near elves before. It was an orc shaman who told us it had been the grief."

"Thank you for putting her back together."

"We didn't have that much to do with it. She's the one who did all the work."

She was stronger than she had ever thought. I'd always known this. But as I thought about how much pain she had been in, my heart broke. "So, what you're telling me is that I should either marry her, or leave her."

"I think that you should do what's best for her, and not what's best for the Horde or Undercity."

"Leaving her is not an option. I don't mean for me, but for her. You suggest to her that I leave her, and see what kind of reaction you get from her."

Atalo gave a low snort, "I suspect she would fall apart for a while, then pull herself together again if she saw the good in it."

I wasn't so sure about that. More to the point, I didn't want to leave her, so I wouldn't. I turned towards where I could see Icecrown Glacier.

Arthas was there. Arthas who had done this to us, who had robbed us from a lifetime of happiness. He had killed me and raised me, which had been bad enough, but in doing so, he had irrevocably torn Faith apart, which I couldn't forgive, even now. Fury coursed through me.

"Whatever you're thinking," said Atalo quickly, putting a hand on my arm, "it's not going to help."

"Maybe not, but it would sure feel good."

"Do you think that killing him will bring either of you peace of mind?"

"I hope we can find out soon enough."

I took my leave from Faith's tauren father a short while later, and began getting ready. An idea had been percolating in my mind ever since I had arrived in Dalaran, and the opportunity was too good to pass up. Sure, I might be killed in the process, but I had to try. Faith would understand, I hoped.

AN – Hmm, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I wrote it kind of fast. I was toying with the idea of a Scourge attack on Dalaran, but that didn't seem feasible, so I left it out and put in Sylvanas' talk with Atalo instead.