She had known it was me all along. I'd realized it almost as soon as I had seen her. My Faith. My darling.

She pulled me down to her and wrapped herself around me, her tears still flowing. She was trying to control herself, but I knew her well enough to realize that she wouldn't stop crying for a long time.

I kissed her forehead, holding her close. I didn't say anything, nor did she. Our feelings couldn't be put into words. All we could do was feel them and wait for whatever it was to pass.

Snippets of my life flashed before me. Faith and I climbing to the tops of one of the tallest trees in Southern Quel'Thalas to be able to see our homeland from above. Several celebrations where she and I had almost literally danced around each other without touching once. The moment I'd realized how much I loved her. The moment I realized how much she loved me.

My eyes closed, trying to shut out everything except for the woman in my arms.

"I didn't realize…" I whispered.

"What?" her voice was choked with sadness.

"How much you still love me. I thought it would have dimmed a little because of the way I am now."

"I can't love you any less, Sylvanas."

I pressed my lips to hers softly, "I love you. Do I tell you that enough? I love you."

This brought a fresh surge of tears, and for several minutes, neither of us said anything else as we both tried to calm down. I didn't cry, but seeing Faith like this was tearing me apart inside. Gently, I unclothed her so that I could feel her skin against mine.

She shivered, but seemed to appreciate the contact. "I love you."

I nodded against her, rubbing her back gently. Gradually, she relaxed her grip on me. Never completely letting me go, she dozed, only to wake up every few minutes to check that I was still with her. "I'm not going anywhere," I whispered to her. "You can sleep."

"I want to stay awake with you."

"That won't happen. You're exhausted. Try to sleep. I'll keep watch over you, my love."

"Will you marry me?"

I didn't answer, kissing her deeply instead, rubbing my knee between her legs. She gave a low cry, deepening the kiss until she all but fell apart in my arms. "Better?" I asked.

She nodded once, a shiver coursing through her body. "You always know what to do."

"With you, anyway," I said. "Sleep now, beautiful."

Miraculously, she did, for a few hours, holding onto me for dear life. She dreamt, and it wasn't pleasant, but she didn't wake, instead saying my name in an anguished voice until the nightmare passed. By the following day, she was calm, if absolutely frozen from having spent all night with me.

"I can't believe you disguised yourself to come here," she told me as she took a hot bath. I sat on her bed, watching her every movement.

"I wasn't about to let the anniversary pass without being near you. I couldn't have."

"I'm realizing that. I'm sorry, Sylvanas, I should have requested leave and come home to you."

"No. There's too much to do here. Now that the Scourge managed to get a necromancer in here, they're going to do it again."

"But you have a lot to do too, in Undercity." She stepped out of her tub, her body dripping with water. I licked my lips at the sight and she looked down at herself, "Does it please you to look at me, my Lady?"

"It always has, and you know it," I told her. I pulled her to me so that she stood between my legs, "How much time do you have?"

"Seconds," she whispered, running her fingers over my face. "You're here. You actually came to me." She sounded amazed.

"I didn't want to be alone today," I whispered to her. "As to why I disguised myself, I wanted you to be more open about the way you felt in general. I know that you usually tell me how you feel, but I wanted you to talk to me as your friend."

"You are my friend," she murmured. "My best friend. My girlfriend. My lover." She straddled my hips, kissing me. We made love right there. It was rapturous, and made me wonder, not for the first time, what it would have been like to make love to her while I'd been alive. Would I have been flushed? Would I have been able to breathe? My lips were on her skin, her hand in my hair, stroking my scalp as she gasped for breath.

Her body was mine, and mine was hers. We did everything we could think of, trying to keep quiet but not managing it for an instant. I bit her shoulder as I climaxed and she shed a tear when her time came, calling out my name and rocking herself onto my hand.

I'm not sure how long we lasted. A while. Feeding off each other. Even when we finished, I still felt an overwhelming need for her, and she for me. I was in no way satisfied, but we couldn't stay in bed all day.

Besides, it was time for me to go talk to General White.

"Are you cold?" I asked Faith as we left our quarters. A fine shiver laced her form, and it wasn't one of lust. I'd long memorized those.

"Icecrown isn't the warmest place in Northrend," she responded.

"And I probably didn't help matters any by sticking to you like a leech."

She smiled, "I rather like it when you stick to me."

"Good response. Still, I'll make sure that we send some warmer clothes for the living soldiers. You can hardly fight comfortably while you're shaking from cold."

"Comfortable fighting, that's quite a novel concept, Sylvanas. I never pegged you for a visionary."

"Wise-ass," I told her, pulling her to me and kissing her forehead.

She looked at me, and with an innocent look, moved my hand down to cup her behind, "I thought you loved my ass?"

"When you get home, I'm locking you up for weeks, you hear me?" I lowered my voice, "You will not be able to walk when I'm through with you."

"I can't walk now, love."

I snorted laughter, feeling my lips cracking, "That was just the appetizer."

Still smiling, we made our way down the winding corridor until we reached General White's room. The soldiers standing guard on either side of the door gave a shout when they saw me, automatically pulling their swords from their scabbards in shock.

"Lower your weapons, soldiers," said Faith in a commanding tone. "Now."

They didn't move, staring at me with such incredulity that I could only smile, which probably scared them more.

General White opened the door, and, seeing me, gave a shout of his own, leaping backwards.

"You're making everyone scream this morning," Faith told me.

I glanced at her, my eyebrows raised, before looking back at the general. "General White, forgive my intrusion, but I've been wanting to come here ever since I received Faith's first report. I think that you could use some help."

To his credit, General White recovered quickly from his shock and let us in, closing the door behind us. "Lady Windrunner, we absolutely were not expecting your presence here, though it is an honor. To what do we owe your visit?"

"I came here on a personal matter regarding both Captain Everstone and myself," I said, leading Faith to the roaring fire. "But it's obvious to me that there are many improvements that could be made here, not the least of which being the amount of soldiers you have at your disposal."

"You can help us with that?"

"Certainly. I can't send you many of them, as all of us are stretched thin right now, but I can at least send you fifty, and ask for my fellow leaders to help you as well in that regard."

"Thank you, your Majesty. That would be most welcome. I suppose that the Argent Crusade isn't sending us more people because the Argent Vanguard is just over the breach."

"But you're fielding attacks almost every day, and if you keep losing your soldiers to the Scourge or to reassignments, you won't manage much longer, General."

"Captain Everstone has been a great help to us since she arrived," he said, glancing at her.

I nodded, "I believe you. Incidentally, I should tell you now that I was the latest Forsaken recruit who arrived here."

"Cara? Captain you didn't mention that."

"I knew that she'd reveal herself eventually," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, General."

"I suppose that if we had known that you were coming, your Majesty, we would have been a bit more… alert."

"And the Scourge's attacks would have been a lot more intense," said Faith.

"The Alliance might have had something to say about it," I added. "Not to mention that Thrall would have had me court-martialed for walking into a war zone without warning."

"Is that a possibility?" Faith's tone was sharp now.

"I'll be leaving this week, hopefully before he realizes that I'm here. I do have some business in Northrend, namely in Venomspite, and I would take Faith with me, except that I'm not her leader here."

"You're always my leader," she murmured softly.

I ignored her, "I'll send you more troops. Hopefully I can bring them up from Grizzly Hills."

"Thank you." He looked at me, then at Faith, "Might I ask what that personal matter was that you had with the captain?"

"This week marks the tenth anniversary of the fall of Quel'Thalas, General."

He recoiled, "Oh… I did not realize that it had been ten years already. I suppose I should have. My wife's family perished in Lordaeron."

"I'm sorry," said Faith sincerely. "Is she still living?"

A nod, "She's in Stormwind with our first child. I haven't met him yet."

"You haven't taken leave since he was born?" I asked, surprised.

"It's not easy to take leave from this place. Last time I did, we lost a hundred men."

I chewed on my lip gently, "You should do so now while I'm here. I'll take over duties while you're gone. I don't think you need to worry about a Scourge incursion now, considering what happened yesterday."

"What if they find out you're here?"

"I still have enough potion to disguise myself as a Forsaken once more. If it comes to that, I'll use it, but I'm confident I won't need it. You'll be able to go to Dalaran then take a portal to Stormwind to stay there for a day or two."

"I'll have to write to the king for that. He's the only one who can allow me to take leave."

"Tell him you're leaving me in charge, General," said Faith, stepping forward. "King Varian knows who I am."

"And she's the highest-ranking member here, except for you."

"I suppose that Captain Everstone would be considered an excellent leader, especially against the Scourge." He turned away from us, looking out the small window, out of which we could all see a frost wyrm flying gracefully in the distance. "All right then. I will accept your offer, but only for twenty-four hours. I don't want to be gone for too long."

"You'll come back rejuvenated, trust me," said Faith. "Getting off the front lines for just a day can make a huge difference in a soldier's life, as you very well know."

He took a seat at his desk, immediately writing a letter, which he had me look over, much to my surprise. "What would you say if one of your soldiers wrote this to you?"

"My soldiers wouldn't ask me for leave to see their families," I told him.

"Before you died, Sylvanas," said Faith quietly.

"Before I died… I penned several such letters, only to crumple them up and throw them in the fire. I wish I hadn't done so, now." I read over what he'd written and nodded, "You might want to add that you'd be willing to bring new recruits over with you when you come back here, that way it'll give you a better excuse to go to Stormwind."

It took several bits of parchment, but finally, he had a letter that satisfied all three of us. He asked a dwarf mage to bring it to Stormwind, and to return with an answer within the hour, if he could.

Faith and I stayed with the general, going over various scenarios that I was sure would never come to pass, although we all wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.

We got Varian's reply as we looked over emergency exit plans, should the unthinkable happen.

General White nearly ripped the parchment in his haste to unroll it.

"He's granted me permission to stay for three days. He's also giving us fifty new soldiers. I should have asked for more."

"Had you asked for more, he wouldn't have been as forthcoming," I told him. I knew something about how Varian operated, and what the general had written had been just right. Anything else would have been considered too much. "You should get ready."

"I need to address the men. They're going to panic if they see you without warning."

And so, General White called a meeting in the cafeteria. Everyone showed up, even the guards who were on patrol duty, and by the time the three of us walked in, the room was full of chatter and men enjoying a mug of ale.

The soldiers looked over at us, and I heard a collective gasp as they recognized me. The few Forsaken who were there leapt to their feet and saluted me, as did the Sin'dorei. I saluted back, nodding to them and motioning for them to sit back down.

General White held up a hand, "Lady Sylvanas decided to pay us a visit to see how things fared here, due to Faith's reports on our situation. She has pledged her several more troops to give us a hand, and will remain here while I take a three-day leave to go back to Stormwind and get some new recruits that King Varian has also pledged to us."

A succinct summary, if not entirely true. The soldiers seemed to be stunned silent.

"I will leave Captain Everstone in charge while I'm gone, but you won't have anything to worry about. We don't think that the Scourge will attack again so soon after what happened yesterday, and if they do, I know that they're more than capable of handling it."

Questions started pouring in once we sat down. Soldiers begging to go on leave as well, while others asked whether he would bring letters home for them, or bring back food from the capital. I smiled, looking at Faith, "Good to know that warfare really hasn't changed much since my days as Ranger-General."

"What would make you think that anything has changed?" she asked me. "Soldiers still want the comforts of home when they're facing the same situations we are." Her gaze burned into me, "They want to know that the person they love will always be there for them. Sometimes, the thought of a loved one is the only thing that sustains them when things get dark."

I put a hand on her leg, "You are my light," I said quietly. "You know that, don't you?"

"I do now," she whispered back, covering my hand with hers. The tips of her fingers stroked my wedding finger, and I looked down. But just as I was about to say something, she broke contact with me.

The three days Captain White left us were rather peaceful. The Scourge did nothing more than attack our windows, and once, I took a team out to the outskirts of Scourgeholme to free some prisoners we heard had been taken from the Argent Vanguard.

Faith was never far from me, constantly keeping me in her line of sight. If I had allowed her, she would have attached herself to me, not leaving my side. As it was, we spent our nights together. I watched her sleep after we made love.

I would be leaving on the day General White returned. Neither she nor I spoke of it, instead spending our time learning each other all over again. But as always, our impending leave-taking hung in the air between us, souring my mood, and making it difficult for Faith to focus on me without wanting to cry. It was a familiar feeling, one we had both wrestled with our entire lives.

"I wonder if there will ever be a day when you and I will be able to enjoy being together without having to worry about the next time we'll be apart," she murmured against my neck. She was shivering. I covered her with an additional blanket and pulled her closer against me.

"Maybe someday." I ran my fingers through her hair, "You still want to marry me?"

"Yes! Are you… are you…" she pulled her head away, looking at me with wide eyes.

"No, I'm not proposing. I'm just asking." I brought her close to me again, "Although I don't suppose that would keep you with me all the time."

"Sylvanas, if I were married to you, I would never leave your side."

I believed her. She would rule with me, my princess. "If you married me, you'd have to die."

"No I wouldn't. I could marry you while still alive. You know I'd fulfill my duties as your wife admirably." She climbed on top of me, beginning to kiss me, rubbing her body against mine. Her hand dipped down between my legs, rubbing me through the material of my leggings. I bit my lip against the pressure of Faith's hand, gently grinding against her.

"You're trying to end me, aren't you?"

She smiled before bringing her lips to mine in a sensual kiss. I placed my hand at the back of her head, stroking her neck gently in a way I knew could make her moan. She gasped into the kiss, her fingers suddenly yanking my leggings down and beginning to sneak inside of me, one by one.

"Ah, Faith…" I hissed at her. I closed my eyes, arching my back as pleasure began to trickle up and down my spine. Faith fastened her lips to my neck, sucking greedily. I could feel warmth coming off of her in waves, and wanted more of it. More of her. More time.

"Scream for me," she whispered to me.

"You don't… want… me to scream… oh, have mercy on me and go faster…"

She chuckled, nipping at the underside of my chin and complying, rotating her wrist and beginning to work her fingers in and out of me at a frenzied pace. Despite not wanting to scream, I did give a loud cry, which made her smile in triumph.

"And release…" she said, kissing me.

I didn't need her to tell me twice. Acting of its own accord, my body convulsed as I climaxed around Faith's fingers, whimpering indecently, something I would make her pay for. With interest.

"You see?" she asked, the picture of innocence. "I'd be a great wife. I could see to your needs, make you release yourself into my hand," she held up her hand, showing me the evidence of my climax. "I wonder how that works."

"What, because I'm dead? I suppose even dead body parts react to external stimulation. At least mine do. To yours."

She shook her head, her smile a little sad. I was about to pounce on her when there was a knock at the door.

"Lady Sylvanas? Captain Everstone?"

"Oh, I don't believe this," whispered Faith, quickly grabbing a towel from the bedside table and wiping her hand while I pulled my leggings back up. This took longer than it normally would have, as they'd somehow gotten tangled in my boots.

"Come in, General," I called. Faith was trying to scramble out of bed, but I held her securely against my side, figuring that it'd be pointless to hide what we'd been doing.

He walked in, stopping in his tracks when he saw us. A dull blush spread over his face, and he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's no bother," said Faith, still trying to extricate herself from my arms. She looked back at me, "Will you let me up? Please?"

Squeezing her against me once, I let her go, getting to my feet at the same time, "How was your trip, General?"

"Oh, it was good, thank you for the opportunity, your Majesty. I've brought back the soldiers, but there's something you need to be aware of."

"What is it?"

"The Horde and the Alliance are planning an attack at the Wrathgate."

"Angrathar," said Faith in a low voice.

I nodded, "I know. Preparations still need to be made for the battle. It won't happen for at least two weeks."

"Is that why you're here?" asked Faith. "You came to prepare everyone for battle, and you didn't tell me?"

"The Warchief has your orders, and you will be asked to go to the Kor'kron Vanguard in a few days, unless he's changed his mind. Personally, I'd prefer if you weren't at the battle, but it's not up to me this time."

"We all know that I'd rather come home with you," she told me. She glanced at the general, "We should increase our training sessions. If there's to be a large battle, I'm guessing that a lot of us will be called to the front."

"It's likely, indeed."

I nodded, "I'll be leaving tomorrow morning to go to Venomspite. I have things I need to do there with Grand Apothecary Putress."

"You could leave tonight if you'd like."

"Sylvanas shouldn't travel through Icecrown at night," said Faith. "Arthas will know she's here and grab her faster than we can blink."

"Can you not make her a portal?"

"To Venomspite? I certainly can."

I smiled, "But she doesn't want to. I'll leave tomorrow, General, if that's all right with you. Faith and I still have things to talk about before I go."

"I think all of us could use a good dose of talking," he muttered under his breath. Faith hid a bout of laughter behind a cough. "Well then, good night. We should talk to the men about this in the morning, so that they know what to get ready for, in case their orders come."

Faith and I settled back into bed, but our minds were elsewhere. She was looking at me, her fingers tangled with mine, except that the look in her eyes was worried.

"You're going to see Putress?"

I gave a nod, "I received word that his weapon's ready."

"The Plague, you mean."

"Yes."

"The one I worked on?"

"The ectoplasm you provided really helped, apparently."

"Did he figure out whether it works the way you want it to work? Against the living and the undead?"

How she knew the way I wanted the newest strand of Plague to work was beyond me. I'd tried to keep her as far away from it as I could, but I hadn't done a great job at that, "I believe so, yes."

"Make sure he aims carefully. He could kill us all with that thing, if it works correctly."

"Well, obviously I don't want any of our soldiers to die. We even need the Alliance, as fodder for the Scourge, anyway."

"We don't need them as fodder, we need them to help us! Sylvanas –."

I put a finger to her lips, "When this campaign ends, you and I are going to have a little talk about the fact that the Horde and the Alliance are at war with each other."

She freed herself from me, "I know they are. But I keep telling everyone that we should work together to defeat the Scourge. Why do you think I joined the Argent Crusade?"

"To give me a headache," I retorted. "You don't like Putress very much, do you?"

She shrugged, "I have mixed feelings about him, but he seems loyal to you, so I can't say much about that. I haven't really had a lot to do with him."

"Good."

"Except that appearances can be deceiving. Be careful, okay?"

"I always am." I kissed her forehead.

"What about Cindera?"

"What about her?"

"You told me that she'd gone back to Undercity?"

"Just for a while," I said. "She'll be joining you at the battle. Please continue working with her, if only to keep an eye on her."

"You still think she's innocent?"

"Baby, I can't prove that she had anything to do with your kidnapping. So until evidence crops up, I'm going to have to trust her. But keep an eye on her for me."

She nodded, wrapping her arms around me for a cuddle, "You won't be joining us at the battle." It wasn't a question.

"If any of the Horde and Alliance leaders joined, everyone would be trying to protect us, and the battle would be lost. You'll fare better without us."

I could feel her heartbeat, "I'm going to miss you," she sighed.

"I'll miss you too. But we'll be together again before you know it. If this works the way we want it to, we'll kill Arthas at the Wrathgate, and it'll all be over."

Kill Arthas. The words sounded hollow to me. I wanted him dead more than anything, but I was beginning to think that his death wouldn't bring me the peace I craved. Judging by the look on Faith's face, I figured that she was feeling the same way.